In-demand tech roles for Autumn 2021 and beyond

According to McKinsey, at one point during the pandemic, the rate of digital adoption increased by five years, over a period of just two months. With key areas such as healthcare and retail becoming increasingly digitalised, there’s now a greater demand for tech products and services, and for the people who develop them.

As a result of this digitalisation, tech sector job vacancies now account for 12% of all open positions in the UK, with the total number of vacancies having reached 132,000 per week in May 2021. Almost 1 in 4 (22%) tech jobs are now categorised as ‘remote’ – double the amount since September 2020.

FE News reports that over the five years, an additional 2 million tech roles will be created in the sector as a result of the increase in demand for tech skills. Back in February, we published an article that highlighted the top five in-demand tech roles for 2021. As we enter the final quarter of the year, let’s take a closer look at what tech roles we expect to be most in demand over the coming months and into 2022:

Software developers

As we predicted at the start of 2021, software developers are still in high demand and we’d expect to see this continue into 2022. We reported that between the first and the third lockdown, software development remained the most popular IT sub-discipline with the most applications received. This has continued throughout the year and looks set to do so into the next.

CWJobs’ Confidence Index 2021 reveals that the top drivers of confidence for the state of the UK tech industry are the importance of technology in maintaining business continuity, the tech being produced, and the UK’s status as an IT leader. All of these drivers show the importance of software development in today’s business landscape. With companies continuing to embrace remote working, software development skills will continue to be a valuable asset in enabling digital transformation and driving revenue.

According to Stack Overflow’s 2021 Developer Survey, there has been a 3% decrease in the number of developers who are employed full-time. The number of software developers that say they are independent (contractors, freelancers, or self-employed) has risen from 9.5% in 2020 to 11.2% in 2021. Despite the restrictions imposed by IR35 legislation, it seems that there has been a shift towards more flexible working arrangements in software development.

Web designers

In our article at the start of the year, we predicted that web designers would be in high demand. As an increasing number of companies embrace digital transformation in a bid to reduce office space, the need for new websites and brand identities will continue into 2022.

The retail sector in particular, has seen a significant increase in online sales. The Office for National Statistics reports that at the height of pandemic restrictions in April 2020, total online sales were almost double February levels.

Similarly, Deloitte’s Retail Trends 2021 report reveals that footfall at the end of May 2021 was down on 2019 levels and that online sales are proving robust, and expected to grow at above market rates in the future. As more companies embrace digital transformation, the more consumers will come to expect brands to have an online presence. In turn, this will ensure the demand for web designers continues throughout the rest of the year and beyond.

Data scientists

A new addition to our list, data scientists gather and analyse data to generate insights for a company. With much of the UK workforce still working from home, the need for companies to share data in areas of security, fraud, and track and trace, has become essential. Despite being a relatively new role, a report from the Royal Society reveals that demand for data scientists has tripled over the past five years, rising by 231%.

The skills most commonly required by employers for data scientist roles, include big data, scripting languages, machine learning and SQL databases. Hiring for specialist skills in the current tech landscape is challenging, so companies should plan ahead for their big data requirements.

In 2018, the World Economic Forum revealed that 96% of companies were planning to hire new permanent staff to fill big data roles. In the wake of COVID-19, we’d expect to see more companies making big data a top priority.

Artificial Intelligence architects

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies realised the benefits of automating tasks for more efficient workflows. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve routine tasks carried out by humans, business process management, image processing and speech recognition. In the healthcare sector, it can even be used to diagnose disease.

An artificial intelligence architect builds AI models using machine learning algorithms and uses emerging technologies to make decisions around the platforms, products, vendors and processes of a business.

According to McKinsey’s survey, The State of AI in 2020, most high-performing organisations have increased their investment in AI in response to the pandemic. Top performing companies in the healthcare sector in particular, have seen an increase in AI use amid the pandemic (44%), as have those in retail (26%), and telecom (24%).

With many top performing companies already embracing artificial intelligence to improve their business processes, we predict that others will soon follow suit. Companies looking to hire for this specialist skill set, should aim to nurture their talent pipeline now, as top AI architects will be in high demand in 2022.

UI/UX designers

We predict there will be an increase in demand for User Interface and User Experience designers from Autumn 2021 and beyond. With the rise of healthcare and retail app development throughout the pandemic, consumers now have more purchasing power and higher expectations when interacting with brands and digital products.

According to InVision’s Product Design Hiring Report, as far back as 2019, 70% of design managers were recruiting more designers into their teams and expected their design teams to grow by an average of 21%. The same survey also revealed that UI/UX designers were the most in-demand product design job.We predict that in 2022, more companies outside of the tech sector will begin to embrace user experience design. As such, companies with UI and UX designers in their teams will have a competitive edge in their sector.

To attract top tech talent for in-demand roles, companies need to communicate what they stand for. Investing in branded company pages on our platform can help companies demonstrate their values to a wider talent pool. Recruiters can also benefit from our Video Recruiting tool, which helps conduct interviews remotely.