The rise of connected technologies is sending demand for mobile technology skills soaring in the UK, a report published this week claims.
However, as more businesses implement IoT technologies, so-called “citizen developers” could play a part in helping to transform the market, according to the Tech Cities Job Watch report from recruitment company Experis.
Released on a quarterly basis, the report monitors IT jobs posted in five technology disciplines (big data, cloud, IT security, mobile and web development) across ten major UK cities.
These are: London, Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Read more: IoT held back by skills gap, say a third of execs
Demand for mobile soars
The highlight finding of the report is that, over the past year, demand for permanent IT staff boasting mobile skills has grown by 39 percent. There’s also been a 26 percent rise in contractor roles.
Mobile roles topped the rankings of the five primary disciplines for the first time in the report’s history. accounting for 28 percent of all technology jobs posted in the third quarter of 2017.
Despite growth here, the report found that the rise in demand fluctuations isn’t matched by a corresponding rise in remuneration. In other words, while the number of permanent and contractor roles advertised for mobile skills grew significantly, salaries failed to keep in pace with inflation. Permanent salaries grew by just 1 percent, and day rates by 2 percent.
Other areas of technology showed similar patterns. There were only modest salary rises in permanent big data roles (1 percent) and cloud computing roles (1 percent).
Meanwhile, web development fared slightly better, despite a drop in demand for these roles. Permanent salaries in the discipline saw a rise of 2 percent, respectively. Remuneration in IT security, on the other hand, fell by 3 per cent.
Read more: How can organizations close the IoT skills gap?
Emerging disconnect
Martin Ewings, director of specialist markets at Experis UK & Ireland, said: “Despite the growth in app development across the tech industry, the results show an apparent disconnect between increasing demand for these roles and the salaries they command.”
“We’ve seen an explosion in the Internet of Things (IoT) in recent years, with multiple industries experimenting with new mobile and web applications. Both disciplines play an integral role in innovation within organisations, as developers continue to build and experiment with this connectivity.
“But the results from this research tell us that companies are taking a new approach to tackling the technology skills crisis they are facing in this area.”
He added: “While hiring additional permanent and contractor mobile skills to tackle IoT remains a priority, businesses are also looking to upskill from within the business and outside the IT team through citizen developers.
“On this basis, businesses should aim to foster a culture of learnability, upskilling and transferable skills within their organisation. The pace of change is such that specialisms in technology can quickly become obsolete.”
Read more: IT managers fear shortage of IoT skills, report says