The top 5 in-demand tech roles for 2022

Last year, we predicted the most in-demand tech roles of 2021 at both the start and the end of the year. And based on the activity we saw on our platform, it seems we had our finger on the pulse. Whereas 2021 saw a demand for specialist tech roles like cloud specialists and solutions architects, this year, we predict there will be a stronger focus on roles that relate to digital transformation.

The last two years have transformed the way that companies communicate with their customers and employees. Many businesses were faced with the choice of embracing digital or going bust. It’s no surprise then, that this year, we expect to see demand for candidates who can help companies deliver digital transformation projects.

Let’s take a closer look at the most in-demand tech roles for 2022:

IT Support

Like last year, IT support is on our list for 2022. With much of the UK workforce still operating from home, businesses will continue to need increased IT support this year. We’ve continued to see high activity on our platform for IT support engineer roles that require candidates to support internal staff both face-to-face and remotely.

According to Computer Weekly, demand for IT and business services was at its highest ever during the first quarter of 2021, with just over $17bn being spent on IT – 11% more than the same period in 2020. As more companies embrace remote working long-term, we predict that the demand for IT support will continue throughout 2022 and beyond.

As such, we expect that top IT talent will be able to negotiate their employment terms more effectively this year. Companies therefore need to consider what IT support workers want from a role. Higher salaries, flexible working, and learning and development opportunities will likely be top priorities.

Employers should therefore demonstrate their commitment to attracting IT talent by providing clear salary scales on job adverts, highlighting training and upskilling opportunities, and company benefits.

Cybersecurity

According to our Confidence Index 2021, 36% of IT professionals believe that a cyber security specialism will be needed to succeed in the tech industry in the next five years – up 3% from the previous year.

Likewise, the UK Government reports that 77% of businesses say cyber security is a high priority for their directors or senior managers, while seven in ten charities (68%) say the same of their trustees.

With cyber attacks on the rise since COVID-19, businesses need to be extra vigilant. With employees working from home, internal company networks are more vulnerable to hackers. According to Statista, cyber attacks since the COVID-19 pandemic has mostly been in the area of data exfiltration and leakage, including the unauthorised transfer of data from devices. Phishing emails are also a common source of attacks.

Given the UK’s cyber security skills shortage, demand for qualified professionals is at an all-time high. Companies need to address the shortage by engaging with the next generation of tech workers and making them aware that cyber security is a viable career option. For example, an increasing number of companies are partnering with schools and colleges to raise awareness of the role and to help students realise that cyber security isn’t limited to the tech sector.

Business intelligence and data management

At CWJobs, we’ve seen an increase in demand for business intelligence and data management roles and we expect this continue throughout 2022. This echoes research from Gartner that predicts one third of large-scale organisations will adopt decision intelligence by 2023. Likewise, Report Linker estimates that the business intelligence market will reach $33+ billion by 2025.

The last few years have seen companies place increasing emphasis on streamlining business processes. As such, business intelligence professionals are now in high demand, as companies have a need for data analysis to gain a holistic view of operations.

Likewise, data management will become ever more important this year. As companies continue to acquire increasing volumes of data, the relative supply of data management professionals continues to decrease. As such, candidates with data management expertise will have their choice of companies to work for in 2022.

What’s more, as artificial intelligence continues to take hold in everyday business operations, candidates with experience in augmentation will be even more sought after. Gartner predicts that by 2022, augmented data management could reduce manual data management tasks by 45%.

Software development

In 2022, software development will remain one of the most critical IT sub-disciplines. Our Confidence Index 2020 revealed that 24% of tech companies said that implementing new software was one of the most time-consuming tasks related COVID-19.

As businesses look to the future and start planning for growth, software development skills will continue to be a valuable asset in enabling digital transformation and driving revenue.

Tech candidates are already taking advantage of the demand for software development, with and increasing number upskilling in the discipline. According to StackOverflow’s 2021 Developer Survey, more than 50% of software developers have been coding for less than a decade, and more than 35% have less than five years’ experience.

The survey also finds that despite IR35, the number of independent contractors and freelancers has increased from 9.5% in 2020, to 11.2% in 2021, which could be seen as the result of flexible working arrangements. As such, companies should continue to embrace flexible working options in order to attract software development candidates and appeal to the increasing number of self-employed workers.

Mobile app development

Even before the pandemic, mobile applications were hugely popular. According to ComScore, in 2017, people spent 87% of their time using mobile apps rather than directly on the web.

With many businesses forced to close their physical stores and offices during COVID-19, mobile apps became a lifeline to ensuring companies could continue to engage with customers. In fact, during the second quarter of 2020, mobile app usage grew 40% year over year, reaching an all-time high of 200 billion hours in April 2020.

As such, Statista predicts that mobile app revenue will reach around $613 billion USD by 2025. With mobile app usage showing no signs of slowing down, the demand for mobile app developers will continue to increase throughout 2022 and beyond.