Backed by the government and with foreign investment pouring into technology funds in the UK, digital talent has never been in greater demand. We look at the key developments and advancements in a new era of digitalisation that is creating lots of opportunities for skilled contractors.
As announced in the recent Autumn Statement, the government has committed £1bn to upgrade the UK’s internet infrastructure so that every household has access to full fibre broadband. The big tech giants – Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon – are all here to stay for the long term, creating thousands of opportunities for engineering and software development contractors. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth bank, in partnership with SoftBank of Japan, is also set to launch a new technology fund based in London that’s worth up to $100bn. The sector is clearly flourishing in the UK.
In terms of the most important branches of technology, Artificial intelligence (AI) is rarely far from the headlines as the race is on to build ever smarter machines. Computer science and research contractors are highly sought after in a niche industry that’s accelerating fast. All the big tech companies are investing in ‘machine learning’, the fastest growing subset of AI and universally acknowledged as the next revolution in technology – machines that are capable of mimicking human behaviour. The same technology is for example also being used in cybersecurity to help companies anticipate attacks.
Competition hots up for cloud/SaaS contractors
Many companies are already investing heavily in their digital infrastructures to meet client demands as efficiently as possible. This has created opportunities for in-demand specialists, particularly software engineers, those with experience of mobile platforms as well as sales and marketing specialists. The government alone has some 18,000 contractors on its books as part of its digital transformation strategy.
Cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) is one of the hottest areas driving demand for IT engineers and mathematicians, needed by organisations to create complex systems to migrate their infrastructure to the cloud and provide a safe environment for their data. Knowledge of platforms such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure is highly desirable, making the market for cloud engineering contractors one of the most lucrative around.
The increased need for IT teams to be more commercial and streamline internal processes has led to the introduction of ‘DevOps’ – where software developers work in unison with IT operations teams who implement the software updates and manage the systems on which they run. This makes for a far more time-efficient process, enabling the much faster deployment of applications. Contractors with a background in building internal DevOps platforms and custom-based software solutions are therefore highly prized assets.
UK-wide opportunities for digital contractors
While London remains Europe’s biggest technology hub – according to recent research by technology investment firm Atomico, there are more developers in London than New York – the good news for contractors is that there are mini hubs sprouting up across the UK. Cities like Manchester, Bristol, Reading, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leicester all have established digital tech industries. Opportunities abound for contractors with backgrounds in digital marketing, business software, data analytics and fintech, to name but a few.
While all the indicators would suggest that Brexit is not having much of negative impact, at least in the short term, there are concerns about the future given that there is not enough homegrown talent to fill all the vacancies. The sector is reliant on ‘tech migrants’, and while Britain’s universities have the highest number of science, technology and maths (STEM) graduates under 30 in Europe, these figures are inflated by foreign students and researchers. Only time will tell what the net impact of any talent exodus could mean for the future.
A survey of the UK tech industry by recruiter Harvey Nash found that the majority of organisations were not imposing any hiring freezes – in fact, they consider the current climate to be the perfect time to grow headcount. The sector itself is also renowned for forward thinking working practices – a recent report by global recruiter and technology specialist Hydrogen in partnership with My Family Care found that for 88% of tech workers, flexible working was the most important benefit they were looking for when applying for a role.
It’s an exciting time to be working in the UK’s technology sector. An appetite for innovation has led to an unprecedented growth in start-ups and companies are investing heavily in their digital systems and technology. For contractors with specialist ultra-niche skills, the outlook couldn’t be any brighter.
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