London tech salary growth outstrips global rivals
Salary growth for UK techies outstripped all other locations last year as the country retained its status as a global tech hub.
London software engineers enjoyed a salary hike of 13 per cent from 2018 to 2019, taking the average wage to £74,000, according to new figures from job search firm Hired.
The fastest increase in pay was bagged by gaming engineers, whose average salary jumped 25 per cent last year amid a boom in the UK’s gaming industry.
Overall, developers now earn £37,000 more than the average Brit as the sector continues to offer the big bucks for top talent.
London also steamed ahead of its global rivals, posting a greater salary increase than Toronto, New York and San Francisco, which secured rises of nine, seven and six per cent respectively.
It follows figures released last month by Tech Nation showing that investment into the UK’s tech startup scene topped £10bn in 2019, posting the fastest growth of anywhere in the world.
The world’s top tech salary rises
| Rank | Location | Salary increase (value) | Salary increase (%) |
| 1. | London | £8,400 | 13 |
| 2. | Toronto | £4,000 | 9 |
| 3. | New York | £7,000 | 7 |
| 4. | San Francisco | £6,360 | 6 |
For techies searching for the best paid developer roles, embedded engineers took home an average annual salary of £82,000, up from £70,000 in 2018.
Blockchain engineers and computer vision engineers also topped the list with average salaries of £81,000.
“This data, aside from highlighting some of the trends driving digital transformation globally, is a great motivator for tech talent in the UK, empowering them with insights that will help them to understand current hiring trends and their market worth,” said Gordon Smith, general managing for Europe at Hired.
“While salaries for software engineers continue to rise globally, the UK led the way in 2019, cementing the country’s place as one of the world’s top tech hubs.”
He added: “To continue this unparalleled growth in the UK, employers, aside from offering competitive salaries, need to ensure that understanding what top talent want from their jobs is a main priority for hiring managers. ”