The 10 highest technology salary increases for the year ahead 

While last year saw certain tech trends tighten in investment, demand for talent remains at a record high, as employers continue their search for professionals who can support a continued digital transformation. And spurred by the rise of AI and other emerging technologies, 2024 promises plenty of potential for growth and innovation.

To fulfil this potential, however, organisations must keep pace with a hiring market that’s heavily influenced by factors such as a cost-of-living crisis, emerging technologies, and multifaceted candidate expectations.

In our UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2024 guide, we received insights from over 1,300 employers and employees in the tech industry, offering a comprehensive picture of tech salaries, recruiting trends and candidate expectations.

Our latest data gives rise to three crucial questions:

• What’s influencing tech salaries?
• Which top jobs in tech are seeing above-average increases?
• Will salary inflation continue?

Salary growth tempers despite rising skills shortages

Despite our survey data revealing a record-high number of tech employers experiencing skills shortages (95%) – peaking even higher for the public sector (97%) – salary growth slowed in the last year, partly due to organisations scaling back tech investment amid economic concerns. The average tech salary increased by 3% over the last year – a marked decrease from the prior (7%) and slightly below this year’s UK average (3.5%). 

However, a continued cost-of-living crisis has compelled employers to keep salaries competitive in order to attract and retain top talent. During the last 12 months, 78% of employers increased their employees’ salaries, with over a third (35%) increasing salaries by 5% or more. 

The public sector witnessed slightly stronger salary growth last year in the push to close the pay gap, with 83% of employers increasing tech salaries. Almost two out of five private sector employers (65%) attribute this increase to rising costs of living, with public sector employers sharing a similar sentiment (63%).

Certain tech professionals see well-average pay increases

Amid last year’s slowdown in tech salary momentum, our survey data shows that some areas exceeded this year’s UK average salary increase – most notably cloud (4.3%), architecture (4.1%), and intelligent automation (4%). 

As organisations handle growing amounts of data and opt for off-site storage solutions, cloud and data professionals have seen a significant uplift in demand. Cyber experts are equally sought after in the current geopolitical climate, and with increased investment in AI, employers are seeking specialists who can review their security frameworks, policies and tools to protect against increasingly sophisticated threats.

Experts who can help organisations incorporate generative AI and other emerging technologies into their tech stack have seen particularly sharp salary spikes, and machine learning roles are among some of the highest paid jobs in the industry.

Tech salary growth continues – but candidates expect more

Tech salary growth may have levelled out following last year’s sharp uplift, yet our salary data still points to an upward trajectory. Looking forward, almost three quarters (71%) of tech employers expect to increase staff pay in the coming 12 months, just slightly below the UK average (77%). Prevalent tech skills shortages, coupled with ongoing cost of living concerns, may mean that organisations can’t afford to fall below market salary expectations when luring tech talent from the security of an existing role.

With that being said, our survey data suggests that there is an appetite amongst candidates for roles that offer meaningful career progression and a clearer sense of organisational purpose. Nearly four in five professionals (79%) consider an employer’s purpose to be important when considering a new position, while the top reasons cited for leaving previous jobs were a lack of fulfilment (36%) and poor career progression (32%). 

It’s therefore incumbent on organisations to provide a balance between competitive remuneration and fulfilling workplace opportunities – those that keep tech workers’ skills sharp and in-demand.

For a comprehensive look at salaries across the entire tech industry, along with exclusive employer insights, download our UK Salary and Recruitment Trends 2024 guide.