What do IT professionals really want?

To find out which factors are most important when it comes to searching for a new job, we surveyed over 1,000 IT professionals in the UK.

Which factors are the most important? A bigger salary? More holidays? Or a more inclusive culture?

Salary

In many industries salary is the biggest influencer.
In the tech sector people are looking for more than just an income.
25% of tech experts did say salary would be the defining factor in a job search but an overwhelming majority valued other aspects.

75%

salary is not
the main reason they would accept a job offer

Benefits

Hiring managers often think benefits and extras can make a job offer look more attractive.
However, only 5% of participants value bonuses, traditional benefits and holidays the most.

1%

Bonuses

3%

Traditional Benefits

1%

Holidays

Women do not value bonuses or traditional benefits, and holidays only scraped 1% of their vote.
To hire the best talent in the tech sector you must go beyond traditional benefits.

Deciding Factors

With 75% of respondents highlighting other areas than salary as their most important factor, and so few respondents highlighting traditional benefits as a factor, just what do IT professionals want?

14%

Flexible work/hours

22%

Types of projects/challenges

13%

Location/commute

Offering IT professionals interesting projects and varied challenges is the most important factor. Flexibility is also high on their agenda – this is supported by the importance of location/commute.

Gender

Every individual has priorities when looking for a job; it could be more exciting projects, a better commute or a more inclusive culture.
Our survey found that while over a quarter of men want a better salary, it is the type of projects/challenges that are the most important to women.

Reasons to take a job

Male

Salary	26%
Types of projects	21%
Flexible work/hours	14%
Location/commute	14%

Female

Types of projects	29%
Flexible work/hours	25%
Salary	17%
Culture	8%

Seniority

When split by level of seniority, it is those at the early and latter stages of a career that value other aspects of a job more highly than salary.

Entry level

Mid Level

Senior level

Manager/
Director level

Locations

The common factors across regions are salary, flexible working, types of projects and location/commute time.

Salary is not the most important factor in some regions of the UK, although in the regions it is, it is by a considerable margin.

Scotland

Type of projects/challenges
Salary
Flexible working

North East

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Location/commute time

North West

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Flexible working

Yorkshire

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Location/commute time

East Midlands

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Flexible working

East of England

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Flexible working

London

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Flexible working

South East

Salary
Type of projects/challenges
Flexible working

South West

Flexible working
Salary
Type of projects/challenges

West Midlands

Flexible working
Salary
Type of projects/challenges

Wales

Flexible working
Location/commute time
Salary

Age

When looking at the importance of the tech stack and languages used by companies, age group is a stand-out point of interest.

Over one third of participants aged 18-24 rate tech stack/languages/frameworks as the most important factor when accepting a job offer.

What is the MAIN reason you would take a new role?

Tech stack/languages/frameworks used

Opportunities

Over 80% of respondents had applied for a job in the last six months and 73% had applied for a job in the last month.

Even at manager/director level, there is no such thing as settling into a role.

Have you applied for a new job in the last

6 months?

84%

YES

16% no

Have you applied for a new job in the

last month?

73%

YES

27% no

Manager/Director who have applied for a job in the

last month

80%

YES

20% no

How we can help

Flexibility, location, a variety of work and challenging projects are must-haves for IT professionals. Our survey shows that the IT sector is highly active, even at manager/director level.

If you need help finding the right IT professionals for your business, get in touch:

To view all of the insights from our survey, download the full report:

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