Data from international recruitment expert, Robert Half suggests demand for IT and technology specialists has begun to rebound, with the majority of businesses planning to increase headcount in these remits by the summer.

The findings come from the company’s latest Hiring Intentions survey, where more than half (53 per cent) of employers said they planned to increase their permanent headcount in the first half of this year, up seven-percentage points on H2 2024 figures. This is indicative of a rebound in the market, following rounds of layoffs last year.

The data also paints an optimistic picture for temporary work, with 34 per cent of employers planning to increase contract resources and 43 per cent intending to hire more project-based professionals in the remit throughout the next six months. This marks an uptick of nine and five percentage points respectively.

“Despite a tough year in 2024 our analysis suggests that IT and technology hiring is rebounding, which is good news for the UK economy as a whole,” said Craig Freedberg, Regional Director at Robert Half. “Employment trends in this remit often pre-empt broader growth in other areas and we hope that this optimism will trickle into other specialisms, providing some much-needed optimism in amongst the recent doom and gloom.

“However, while there were layoffs last year, the pool of talent available for employers remains limited, largely due to the growing skills shortages across specialist IT and technology remits,” he added. “Our data shows that 78 per cent of employers have concerns around finding the qualified talent they need in IT and technology. These individuals will still be feeling the effects of the upheaval last year and may be reluctant to make a career move, meaning that businesses will have to work much harder to engage with and attract top talent.”

Stay up to date

Keep me up to date to receive all the latest news and updates.