Client Server Market Report Q3 2023

TECH REPORT

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

Q3 2023

03. Market Report 04. Salary Survey 10. Women in Tech 11. Talking Tech 12. Get in touch

Contents.

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The Market Reality

Driven by technology powered by people Our tech market report dives into the dynamic and competitive realm of talent acquisition within the technology sector, shedding light on emerging trends, challenges and salaries across various roles.

All data has been sourced from Client Server’s placement and database figures.

For more information about available roles or how we can grow your tech team, visit our website: www.client-server.com

This summer has brought significant fluctuations to the technology recruitment landscape. In Q3, we witnessed one of the most substantial declines in placements in over three years. It’s no secret that the economy is facing considerable pressures right now, including inflation, interest rates, and the rising cost of living.

However, it’s not all pessimism and despair.

Yes, businesses are adopting a more cautious approach to hiring due to the uncertain economic outlook, but the demand for quality technologists persists, and the hunger for AI expertise continues to grow as the tech industry adapts to its impact. Identifying top talent remains a challenge, as companies cannot afford to lag behind their competitors. This is particularly crucial considering the anticipated uptick early next year when businesses seek expansion opportunities and candidates seek fresh starts. Although we still face a bumpy road in the short term, I feel there is plenty of room for optimism in the medium to long term.

Nick Boulton CEO

Up to £49K

£50K - £79K

£80K +

Average Salary

Q1&2 2023

Junior 23%

Mid 39%

Senior 38%

£41K

£66K

£98K

Q3 2023

Development

Junior 11%

£40K

£55K

£105K

Mid 37%

Up to £49K £50K - £79K

Senior 51% £80K +

“The Development market in London is currently providing a fantastic opportunity for companies who are looking to hire.

Competition for top candidates is considerably less than it has been in the past so businesses can pick up top talent.

That being said, we are seeing the market beginning to improve so those companies do need to move quickly otherwise they will face a more challenging landscape.”

Tom Kemp Team Lead | C++, C#, Mobile, Front End, UX/UI

Salary Survey

Data, Infrastructure & Cloud

Q1&2 2023

£70K +

Junior 11%

Mid 17%

Q3 2023

Up to £44K £45K - £69K

Junior 16%

Mid 42%

Senior 42%

Up to £44K

£45K - £69K

£70K +

Average Salary

Senior 72%

£35K

£55K

£89K

£35K

£53K

£100K

“While the demand for senior engineers across both DevOps and security has not wavered too much, it is apparent that companies are not focusing on hiring mid-level engineers and instead have placed a greater workload on senior engineers across the business in a way to cut costs.”

Gavin O’Reilly Principal Consultant | DevOps & Security

Product & Management £80K +

Average Salary

Senior 33%

£53K

£66K

£105K

£55K

£66K

£96K

Q1&2 2023

£60K - £79K

Junior 11%

Q3 2023

Up to £59K

Junior 14%

Mid 57%

Senior 29%

Up to £59K

£60K - £79K

£80K +

Mid 56%

Development £65K +

Average Salary

Mid 38%

Senior 52%

£37K

£55K

£80K

£40K

£51K

£85K

Q1&2 2023

£45K - £64K

Junior 10%

Q3 2023

Up to £44K

Junior 6%

Mid 44%

Senior 50%

Up to £44K

£45K - £64K

£65K +

“We have seen several old clients popping up with new positions of growth hires in the development market outside of London, alongside new clients showing up with urgent requirements for new projects on the horizon for their companies. All the signs are leading to the market picking back up albeit slowly but we can see budgets starting to be released to the hiring managers and subsequently, the wider parts of the UK market have started to pick back up at the tail end of the year.”

David Loubser Team Lead | Full Stack

Salary Survey

Non-Development Average Salary

Senior 64%

£31K

£56K

£92K

£36K

£50K

£80K

Q1&2 2023

£65K +

Junior 14%

Q3 2023

Up to £44K £45K - £64K

Junior 20%

Mid 47%

Senior 33%

Up to £44K

£45K - £64K

£65K +

Mid 21%

“The infrastructure, testing and DevOps markets have generally plateaued in terms of demand with a lot of companies only hiring for attrition at the moment. Salaries remain competitive but companies are now expecting more for their money when it comes to ticking the “nice to have” boxes on job specifications.”

Mike Gilmour Team Lead | Ops & SIT

Product & Management £80K+

Average Salary

Mid 54%

Senior 8%

£49K

Q1&2 2023

£60K - £79K

Junior 38%

Q3 2023

Up to £59K

Mid 50%

Senior 50%

£60K - £79K

£80K +

£66K

£85K

£62K

£82K

All European roles €73K +

Average Salary

Mid 64%

Senior 17%

€35K

€56K

€79K

€45K

€61K

€77K

Q1&2 2023

€46K - €72K

Junior 19%

Q3 2023

Up to €45K

Junior 25%

Mid 58%

Senior 26%

Up to €45K

€46K - €72K

€73K +

“The European market has recently taken a bit of a downturn since Q1, following the trends seen in both the UK and globally. Companies in Europe are becoming more focused on cost saving than revenue generation and we have seen an uptick in roles in the non-tech space which has balanced out the decrease in software engineering positions.

Although companies in the Fintech space are not tending to hire, currently we have identified pockets of the industry where there is still investment both in terms of funding and recruitment. Industries such as Security and AI are receiving big contracts both from the public and private sector and there has been a clear shift away from Fintech companies being the top hirers in 2023.

Salaries across Europe have leveled out significantly following the huge amounts of inflation we saw last year and the market is certainly much more even than previous quarters. As previously, locations such as Budapest, Krakow, and Barcelona seem to be the most attractive tech hubs for UK-based companies to expand their European presence.”

Nick Heath Europe Team Lead

Salary Survey

Europe.

All Roles

Senior 58%

Q1&2 2023

$120K - $200K

Mid 42%

Q3 2023

$75K - $119K

Junior 14%

Mid 14%

Senior 72%

Up to $74K

$75K - $119K

$120K - $200K

Average Salary

$55K

$100K

$165K

$111K

$168K

“The past Quarter has seen the market stabilise somewhat, with August, in particular, being relatively quiet. Average salaries have increased by 10%, however, it is still very competitive for job seekers so we are finding candidates are forthcoming in requesting a salary of the same as (and in some cases, less than), their current/last salary, rather than expecting a pay increase when changing jobs.

The best candidates are typically receiving 3-4 offers and recruitment processes can be as quick as one week for Senior positions, so hiring teams still need to put their best foot forward.

As has been the case for some time, and probably will be for the foreseeable, hybrid working is strongly preferred.”

Salary Survey

Australia.

& Singapore

David Leadbitter Managing Director

Encouraging women to pursue careers in technology Diversity & Inclusion is something we are passionate about. We work with a number of different stakeholders to promote initiatives to improve the number of diverse people working in the tech sector.

In 2022, 13% of our placements were female and we’re proud to say that already in 2023, we’ve seen an increase to 16% of our female hires.

We are always striving to improve these figures year on year and will continue to do our part to shrink the diversity gap.

With that being said, we will be attending The UK’s Largest Tech Event for Women in November, the Women of Silicon Roundabout.

Please come and say hello to us on our stand on the 22nd and 23rd of November. We are looking forward to meeting with you all!

DOM with BARKER

CALLIE with CROMER

COMING SOON SARAH with PERSOV

Talking Tech is Client Server’s video podcast streamed on LinkedIn. Every episode we focus on a particular trend in the UK’s tech scene. We’ve had shows about women in tech, the hiring market, career development, and more.

Keep an eye on our LinkedIn page for episodes or get in touch if you want to be on our next one!

London.

Esher.

P: 020 7090 2500 E: info@client-server.com

P: 01372 476 500 E: info@client-server.com

Cardiff.

Sydney.

P: 020 7090 2500 E: info@client-server.com

P: 02 8295 3700 E: infoau@client-server.com.au

80 Cheapside London, EC2V 6EE United Kingdom

2 Fitzalan Road Cardiff, CF24 0EB United Kingdom

Get in touch.

Thames Mews, Esher, KT10 9AD United Kingdom

Level 14, 5 Martin Place, Sydney NSW, 2000 Australia