2025 Tech Hiring Insights for 2026

What 2025 told us about the tech hiring market

As 2025 came to a close, the UK tech hiring market showed signs of stabilising. Confidence improved as the year progressed, but hiring decisions remained careful and considered, with a clear shift towards capability over headcount.

Some of the key themes we’ve seen include:

• Strong demand for senior and specialist roles, particularly where impact and delivery are critical

• AI awareness becoming a baseline expectation rather than a niche skill

• Slower junior hiring, raising longer-term questions around future skills and succession planning

Across the market, demand was strongest for senior and specialist roles. Employers focused on hiring people who could deliver impact quickly, particularly across software engineering, data, AI, cybersecurity and transformation programmes. AI awareness is no longer a niche requirement. It has become a baseline expectation, especially for senior hires and delivery-focused roles, and is increasingly shaping how teams are built.

At the same time, junior hiring has continued to slow. While this has supported short-term efficiency, it raises important questions around future skills, succession planning and long-term talent pipelines. Many organisations are now starting to think more strategically about how they balance immediate delivery with building sustainable capability for the years ahead.

Our 2025 roundup brings together what we are seeing day to day at Spectrum IT, alongside wider market research, LinkedIn polls and conversations across our tech community. Together, they highlight a market that is steady but evolving, where the hiring decisions made now will have a lasting impact on capability, cost and retention in 2026.

Read the full 2025 Tech Hiring Insights