UK tech vacancies easier to fill than any other European country
New analysis by the world’s largest job site Indeed has shown that the number of UK tech sector vacancies posted on the platform doubled (up by 101 per cent) between October 2020 and October 2021.
In October, 37 per cent of the UK tech vacancies listed on Indeed were classified as ‘hard to fill’ – that is, they had not been filled within 60 days of being posted.
By contrast, Germany (47 per cent) and France (39 per cent) had higher shares while over half of tech vacancies in the Netherlands (57 percent) and Belgium (51 per cent) were deemed ‘hard to fill’.
Filling tech positions – many of which require people with specialist, in-demand skills – is trickier than it is for most jobs. Just 16 per cent of all UK job postings on Indeed go unfilled for more than 60 days.
There are two possible reasons that may explain why Britain’s tech employers are finding it easier than their peers in Europe and the US.
The first is a steady increase in the popularity of tech jobs. Over the past two years, the number of jobseekers clicking on UK tech vacancies has risen by 34 per cent.
The second is that British tech jobs have become more popular among foreign applicants. In October 2021, more than one in 10 of the prospective candidates clicking on UK tech vacancies were based overseas. Two years previously, in October 2019, overseas applicants accounted for just 7.9 per cent of interest.
During those two years, interest from EU candidates has remained flat, but enquiries from tech jobseekers living beyond Europe have picked up markedly.
Bill Richards, UK managing director at global job site Indeed, commented: “While the proportion of UK tech vacancies classed as ‘hard to fill’ is high at 37%, this number is the same now as it was two years ago. Crucially, as the demand for staff from tech employers has picked up, but so too has the popularity of tech as a career.”
“Tech sector vacancies are attracting a third more interest from jobseekers now than they did two years ago, and more than one in 10 of those prospective candidates is based overseas – a sign that a job in UK tech remains an attractive proposition among foreign tech professionals”, he added.