The composition of IT occupations has changed over the last seven years and further changes are forecast.  The most common IT professional job role in the UK is ‘Software professional’.  This is set to increase in importance by 2014, together with IT strategy and planning.  In contrast, the share of ICT managers, IT operations technicians, IT user support occupations, Database assistants and Computer engineers is set to decline by 2014.

Regionally, Greater London and the South East account for 38% of employment in IT and Telecoms occupations, which is expected to increase further by 2014.  The next highest share of IT and Telecoms occupations is in the East of England accounting for 11%.  The north of the UK is forecast to have a declining share in IT occupation.  Although IT activity is predicated to increase in Scotland, the North East and the North West, their share of total employment is expected to fall.

Source: e-skills UK 2004a, Data provided by e-skills UK based on Labour Force Survey (January-March 2006) and e-skills UK/Gartner Consulting 2004

Source: e-skills Bulletin 2005 (issue 14 – Q3). Based on Labour Force Survey.

For more data on the composition of the workforce see:

The average advertised salary for IT and Telecoms professionals is approximately £943 per week (Salary Services Ltd.).  This figure is significantly higher than data from the Office National Statistics, which suggests that actual weekly earnings are £641.  There has been an increase of 3% in actual IT and Telecoms salaries, but salaries for all UK workers only rose by 2%.  ICT managers and Strategy and planning professionals report gross earnings of more than double the national average of £388.

Women working in full-time IT and Telecoms roles earn less throughout their working lives than their male counterparts.  However, in the female dominated occupation of ‘Operations technician’, women earn slightly more than their male counterparts. 

Women aged 20-29 years earn 2% less than men in the same age group.  However, this differential increases to 20% for those aged 30-39 years, 40-49 years and those aged 50 plus.  Men and women aged 50 plus earn approximately 70% more than those aged 20-29 years.  For more information earnings by age and gender go to the equal opportunities section. 

There are also regional differences of IT and Telecoms staff gross weekly earnings.  IT and Telecoms staff in London earn £747 per week compared to staff working in Wales, the North East and Northern Ireland who earn less than £500 per week.  For more information see regional dimension. 

An IT/Telecoms professional with a degree or other higher qualification earns around £15 more a week.  In comparison, those with a higher degree (such as a Masters or Doctorate) are likely to earn £95 per week more.

Weekly advertised earnings for database staff have decreased by 2%.  Larger than average increases are reported for systems development positions by 4% and software engineering by 3%.

Source: e-skills UK Bulletin 2005 (issue 14 – Q3 and issue 13 Q2).

For more information on gross weekly earnings by IT and Telecoms staff see:

Although, IT operations and development programmers have experienced a reduction in numbers, systems integration, networking and business analysts have grown.  In the future, there will be increased demand for business analysts, web support, IT architects and security specialists.  There will be an increasing demand for networking specialists and systems integration competencies.

There is a short supply of IT architecture skills and this is predicted to continue with the growing importance of IT architecture and infrastructure.

The nature of IT solutions will change in the future as IT products and services develop.  An increased understanding of the way in which solutions are deployed in different industries will be required so there will be a need for solution analysts.

Project and programme management skills will be required by IT professions as there is an on-going concern over large IT projects and a need to understand drivers to deliver business change through IT.

Source: e-skills UK/Gartner Consulting 2004

e-skills UK offers a range of resources for potential entrants, careers advisers and careers advisory organisations on the careers website including information on the sector and various job roles, together with case studies and routes into work.  Additional resources are also available from e-skills UK including a DVD/Video of occupational profiles and written job profiles.

A variety of key roles in the IT sector are identified by Prospects and detailed information is available. Some selected examples include: applications developer; web designer; IT consultant; systems analyst; and systems designer). For information on these roles and others in the sector go to the Prospects website case studies.

The learndirect website also has detailed occupational profiles for the IT and information management sector. These profiles include information on entry points, training, working environment, employment opportunities and expected annual salary.