Over two thirds (67%) of young adults are considering a career in tech, according to new research by CWJobs. That’s equivalent to over 4.5 million entry level workers.
The survey – carried out among 1,005 16-24-year-olds – found that young people are turning to the tech sector in search of job stability. Despite recent layoffs at the major tech firms, respondents ranked IT and technology as the industry to provide the best career prospects during a recession (44%), above finance (31%), education (28%), healthcare (27%) and legal (22%).
In fact, over half (55%) of respondents agreed a career in tech is more appealing right now because it offers stability during tough economic times – although a further 27% claimed a career in tech has always been appealing.
With the cost-of-living crisis intensifying, the top reason young people are considering a career in tech is because it pays well. They would hope for a starting salary of £30,472 but could have their expectations exceeded: skilled tech workers claimed the average entry level tech salary in their organisation is £33,036.
The tech specialities that young people are most interested in include gaming (32%), data analytics (23%), IT support (23%), cybersecurity (23%) and artificial intelligence (21%). This somewhat reflects the specialities that skilled tech workers believe will create the biggest job opportunities in 2023. This includes cybersecurity (37%), IT support (30%), artificial intelligence (29%), cloud (27%) and data analytics (24%).
Dominic Harvey, director at CWJobs: “The recent high-profile tech layoffs are not indicative of the situation in the wider industry. IT candidates continue to be in extremely high demand, so it's a relief that entry level workers haven’t been put off by the recent wave of redundancies. To attract more talent and close the skills gap, the industry needs to keep raising awareness of opportunities across UK plc – beyond just the dominant tech companies.”
*UK population of 16-24-year-olds July-September 2022 = 6,840,000 (according to ONS stats). 67% = 4,582,800.
