UK big data jobs scarcer than other IT roles but command highest salaries

Big data jobs only account for eight per cent of overall jobs in areas that have skills shortages

Vacancies for people with big data skills in the UK were fewer than in other IT job areas, but salaries are typically higher, according to the Tech Cities Job Watch Report by recruitment firm Experis.

The report looks at the hiring demand and salaries within 10 UK cities that are developing reputations as technology cluster hubs: London, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Sheffield. It focuses on five key technology disciplines in which there are a shortage of skilled IT professionals across the country: IT security, cloud, mobile, big data and web development.

The fewest advertised roles between October and December 2014 were in the big data and IT security disciplines. But big data professionals are being offered the highest average salaries of the five technology disciplines assesed. In the capital, the average salary for big data professionals was £62,499, this was followed by an average salary of about £45,000 in Glasgow and Bristol. The overall average across the 10 UK cities was £58,941. The top three big data skills in demand for this quarter were for Hadoop, Semantic Web and Hive.

The average permanent salary for IT security staff in the 10 UK cities was £55,119, followed by cloud computing (£51,280), mobile (£47,638) and web development (£40,460).

The capital has the highest average salary in every discipline.

Experis noted that over a quarter (28 per cent) of the latest technology jobs were advertised in cities outside of London.

"There are strong indications to suggest that tech job opportunities are on the rise throughout the UK," said Geoff Smith, managing director of Experis Europe.

"We're seeing an increasing number of London-based companies establishing remote working centres to ensure their hunt for IT skills doesn't miss out on talent that sees more appeal in the quality of life outside the capital - this could be one of the factors driving this shift.

"And with the continued investment in rail and road infrastructure to better connect northern towns and cities, the future is looking bright for businesses that take the right steps to manage their talent pool," he added.

The report states that Cambridge had the second highest average salary because of the "competitive recruitment of Cambridge University IT graduates in the area".

"In Glasgow, growing demand for big data, IT security and web development skills is leading to a candidate shortage, which is driving up rates and salaries," the report said.

Experis suggests that the average salaries for IT security professionals in Glasgow (£50,804) and Edinburgh (£50,323) may be driven by Scotland's strong financial services sector - an industry that is investing heavily in security technology.