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Robert Walters plc

Introduction
Projects and Transformation
Data Science, Analytics and Product
Security and Infrastructure
Architecture and Engineering
Salary Guide
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Meet the Team
PREVIEW MODE


TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION MARKET OVERVIEW


ROBERT WALTERS LONDON: H1 2023


























AS WE ARRIVE IN H2, HAVING FACED SIGNIFICANT HEADWINDS, THERE ARE FINALLY SIGNS
OF RECOVERY ACROSS LONDON’S TECH AND CHANGE ARENA AS JOB VACANCIES INCREASE BY
26%. BELOW, OUR SPECIALIST TEAMS PROVIDE INSIGHT ON THEIR MARKETS BASED ON H1
ACTIVITY AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.  




PROJECTS AND TRANSFORMATION




THE CONTINUATION OF DOWNSIZING ACROSS MAJOR CORPORATES AND COST REDUCTION
INITIATIVES PUTTING MANY MAJOR PROGRAMMES ON ICE HAS MEANT THAT H1 2023 HAS SEEN
A VERY ACTIVE CANDIDATE MARKET AND CLIENTS TAKING TIME, OFTEN EXTENDING
RECRUITMENT PROCESSES TO ENSURE THEY SEE THE VERY BEST TALENT IN LONDON.

Robert Walters’ Projects and Transformation team has experienced increased
volumes of Financial Services and Payments candidates hitting the market due to
layoffs across UK and EU banks and FinTech’s, following the collapse of Silicon
Valley Bank (March 2023) and rationalization within big tech at the close of
2022. Whilst this has added lots of great talent into the candidate pool, the
hiring focus continues to be on quality and top Change/ Programme operators are
actively engaged in multiple processes.  

The Insurance sector as well as Legal, Advisory/ Consulting businesses have
shown real resilience as well as growth, as firms look to better understand/
govern/ protect their data or augment Tech/ data stacks and cloud infrastructure
as part of large-scale IT Change and Agile implementations/ transformations.
Within Change leadership circles ESG, along with Equality, Diversity and
Inclusion remain high on the agenda, with well-defined functions and champions/
cohorts driving best practice.  

Due to market uncertainty and right-sizing, RW’s P&T team has encountered
increased levels of caution from those engaged on active programmes/ in roles,
who have been less likely to explore new opportunities. In cases where there is
negative PR around a business or sector, as well as rumors of redundancies there
is often intense scrutiny on the candidate side before investing time in
interview processes.  

During H1, primary activity on the interview front for mid-level candidates has
been across large enterprise as the scale/ start-up ecosystem is viewed with
increased skepticism. Risk of being caught “Last In/ First Out”, increases in
cost-of-living and Share Package/ Equity events being scarcer, are often sighted
as a major impact in candidate appetite to change roles. At the senior end of
the Transformation market, whilst there have been some budget cuts and roles
being put on hold, the right opportunities continue to pique interest of talent
on assignment or otherwise. Role positioning and business structure, work/life
balance, hybrid working options all playing a part in decision making, often
ahead of base pay/ total compensation – providing packages are broadly
competitive.  

 * Salaries aligned to 2022 levels. Slight decrease in Contractor rates due to
   market saturation      
 * Hybrid working remains the norm/ expectation – Usually 2-3 days in office
 * Clients move away from Fixed Term Contract role offerings, as finding
   themselves left as a weaker option vs. both Perm and Contract (Inside/
   Outside IR35)  

Our outlook for the second half of the year is that major corporates will
release more budget for hiring as we come into the autumn. The focus here will
be on business teams hiring in long-term solutions/ FTE or building strategic
teams to handle broad portfolios. Tech Change will maintain a more specialist/
niche focus as experts are deployed to drive the modernization of Cloud and Data
Infrastructure as well automation and provide governance around Tech builds/
Transformation.  


TALENT DEMAND/SHORTAGES     

 * Enterprise/Business Architecture roles becoming more prominent, with
   consulting firms pushing to bridge these gaps
 * IT Programmes focused on long-term cost savings/ business automation and
   Insight (Workday, Salesforce, SAP, etc.) 
 * Transformation professionals from Security backgrounds a growing theme
 * Proven specialist Buy Side – Programme Managers and pure Sell Side/ FO, Risk
   and SME Reg’ professionals  




DATA SCIENCE, ANALYTICS AND PRODUCT




SIGNIFICANT LEGACY GROWTH HAS BEEN CONSOLIDATED OVER THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR,
WITH MANY FIRMS ACTIONING LAYOFFS, EITHER DUE TO LACK OF BUDGETS OR HAVING TO
RIGHT-SIZE.

Our Data Science and Data Engineering recruitment teams have been privy to broad
restructuring initiatives across multiple clients, evidenced by ‘Heads of’ being
let go, roles being merged, (e.g. Head of BI/ Data Engineering, merging with Ho
Product into single positions), offshoring of UK teams and firms with appetite
only for hiring to replace critical roles after heavy approvals are met.  

In H1 we have worked on pockets of hires in product companies, where new roles
are almost always innovation or AI focused as well as a solid pipeline of hires
for skilled Data Science, Data Engineering and Product talent into FinTech,
Banking and Insurance/ Re-Insurance markets. Domain exposure is playing a
heavier part in decision making for our clients, with proven relevant business
exposure often putting the best technical talent over and above the competition.
Candidates are considered about entering the marketplace and both clients and
talent remain very risk averse (protecting their time, existing roles, budgets
etc.).  

 * Domain experience helping to sway decision making, in addition to pure
   technical capabilities
 * Salaries and Rates are stable at 2022 levels
 * More activity from candidate side coming into mid-year as market thaws/
   talent seeks new challenges
 * Non-technical roles in Product teams favoring those from technical
   backgrounds as markets are strong  

Compensation across the Data arena remains high on the agenda for professionals
with a typical increase of +15% being requested from headhunted talent/ those in
existing roles. As with other areas of Technology, candidates are seeking
security, along with exposure to innovative products and people!  

Businesses which can demonstrate how they prioritize true data driven decision
making continue to offer professionals in these markets, as they offer
innovative platforms for development/ improvement and leadership teams which
don’t hide behind hierarchy and bureaucracy.  

Visa sponsorship remains a very tough ask though we have seen some examples of
this within Quant Analytics well as Data Engineering, for those who already in
the UK and only require transfers to new sponsors.  


TALENT DEMAND/SHORTAGES 

 * Quant Analytics and Data Engineering skills
 * Senior leaders/ Growth Managers with deep SME knowledge of industry rather
   than generalist Data/ business expertise
 * Real Generative AI specialism  

Our teams do predict more roles coming live in the market in the second half,
but processes will continue to be drawn out. Whilst more clients will open to
agency usage vs. direct hiring and leveraging private networks, budgets will
remain tight and growth slow until big tech start to drive hiring in volumes in
the new year.  

High performing industries like Re-Insurance will see steady growth as they
absorb the competitor talent on the market. Broader hiring will based on
requirements for new technologies, research and implementation of Large Language
Models (LLM) and other GenAi. 





SECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE




OVER H1, THROUGH THE INFORMATION SECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE MARKET WE HAVE SEEN
A LOT OF ACTIVITY WITH LAYOFFS, GROWTH AND ATTRITION ACROSS WHAT IS STILL A
CANDIDATE HEAVY MARKET.

Specialisms around DevOps as well as Cloud/ Cloud Security (AWS/ Azure/ GCP)
continue to be a significant driver for hiring plans across both Infra focused
Change programmes, moderisation and rationalisation. Additionally, there has
been a big push from employers to bring Tech Support functions back into the
office, with many new roles pushing for 4 days on site and some event fulltime!
 

To combat skills shortages RW’s Security and Infrastructure teams have seen many
larger companies looking within themselves for talent/ to train existing staff
and benefit through limiting their leavers. Whilst sometimes a longer-term play,
in particularly short markets, upskilling current staff serves as a more
economical approach compared to taking time out to source externally, often
facing the risk of failing to onboard for extended periods/ stark upticks in
costs.

 * Buying market has become more buoyant as appetite for new roles increases in
   the candidate community
 * Continuation of Cloud/ Cloud Security focus across Infrastructure projects
   driving hiring in Financial Services and Healthcare
 * Salaries across more vanilla Tech Support roles diminishing as space evolves
   into more DevOps driven environment  

Our consulting team predicts a continuation of the above skill requirements
throughout H2 in addition to an increase in instances of Financial Services
firms hiring specialist Blockchain Security professionals, inclusive of those
who have worked on Mobile and IoT devices, Network Control and IAM. This will be
a tight market where those with prior exposure, albeit from start/ scale-ups or
more established Blockchain services providers will be able to command
significant increases above market, particularly via consultancy agreements.  

Additionally, there will be a further demand for Security Software Developers
with almost half of all software buyers putting more emphasis on security of the
product than on its functionalities! The increased implementation of advanced
Machine Learning and other AI techniques in identifying and responding to
threats means AI remains front and centre of many firms IT/ Security strategy.  


TALENT DEMAND/SHORTAGES 

 * Specialist skills and exposure across AI and Blockchain environments to drive
   Security rates/ salaries up into 2024
 * Cloud Security Architects, with exposure across Supply Chain/ 3rd Party
   Assurance
 * DevOps and SRE talent who embrace IaC/ Developers moving to build and deploy
   Infrastructure using OOE   





ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING




THE LONDON TECH MARKET HAS GENERALLY SLOWED OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS, WITH MANY
FIRMS, INCLUDING LARGE FAANG ORGANIZATIONS, ANNOUNCING SIZABLE LAYOFFS.

This trend has been widespread and has also impacted numerous start-ups due to
decreased or more strictly scrutinized access to further/ rounds of fundraising.
The response has been that many business have either scaled back teams
significantly in consolidation, acted to reduce burn rates or closed their doors
altogether.  

In product firms we have seen a growing interest from clients in the onboarding
of more “hybrid” skills, for example Solutions Architects positioned more as
Principal Engineers, or Data Architects having to take on more modelling/
pipeline engineering. Development talent is scrutinised more heavily with more
fixed requirements for hybrid work vs. pure remote, as well as both stakeholder
and technical interviews often being conducted ahead of offers being made.  

Across enterprise firms throughout FS, Insurance and Consulting our teams have
seen consistent levels of hiring as businesses snap up those from big tech and
product firms which have downsized/ who bring fresh ideas. We have noticed an
increased demand for Microsoft Azure and .Net-related frameworks. Significant
investment is happening within AI, where companies are often driven by the fear
of falling behind their competition/ to make savings in the long-term through
headcount reductions or the alure of creating new lines of business from their
datasets.  

Major corporates present the bulk of the London market appetite and candidates
are often part of multiple interview processes as they hedge on delays/
initiatives being shelved. Due to the overall market uncertainty across
Technology, we find that most candidates are open to a conversation providing
properly positioned. Most candidates are now willing to commit to hybrid
working/ are more appreciative of the long-term benefits of regular team
interaction vs. a heavy bias for remote set-ups, particularly from Developers
during 2021-2022.

 * Significant increase in competition for new roles, in some cases more than 4x
   compared to 18 months ago
 * Growth of salaries has slowed
 * Bonuses, Pensions and benefits playing critical part in decision making/
   Longer-term view from Tech talent when considering new offers (vs. Shares/
   RSU packages of prior years)
 * Visas rarely on offer via agency channels, unless very niche skill-sets  

Whilst budgets remain tight, it is challenging to foresee the outlook across
Development and Architecture roles improving drastically. This said, we have
recorded significantly increased levels of advertising across both Technical and
Data Architecture within global firms and are witnessing a rise in role levels
for Software Engineers (Full Stack, Front End and Back End) so the signs are
positive!  


TALENT DEMAND/SHORTAGES

 * React and Kotlin engineering talent remains in short supply
 * Increased requirement for .Net/ C# coding skills 
 * Back End Engineers with skills across DevOps/ SRE, required by firms looking
   for Dev teams to own deployment pipelines/ save on headcount
 * Solution/ Enterprise Architects who have worked on Omni-channel models, for
   firms looking to bring a more customer focused approach to legacy products
   (Insurance in particular) 




SALARY GUIDE 




CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ROBERT WALTERS SALARY SURVEY.








EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION




ROBERT WALTERS USES A RANGE OF DIFFERENT METHODS TO ENSURE WE ARE REACHING AND
ATTRACTING DIVERSE CANDIDATES.


ED&I ADVERTISING SOLUTION

Traditional role advertising methods often capture only a small part of the
market, making it difficult to attract a diverse shortlist of candidates. 

Adify, our bespoke, in-house tool, ensures that every job advert we write
adheres to diversity and inclusion best practice. The pioneering toolkit offers
20 ways to ‘re-engineer’ recruitment processes to genuinely help drive more
diverse hires for our clients. This innovative, machine learning software
identifies bias wording in job advertisements and replaces it with more neutral
language, ensuring that your advert appeals to a wider, more diverse talent pool
of candidates. The analysis improves overall reach of your adverts by removing
gendered wording, ensuring mobile friendliness and advert readability so it
attracts a more diverse audience. 

Learn more about Adify here.


CANDIDATE SOURCING TOOLKIT

In partnership with industry and D&I experts, we've developed a complete
candidate sourcing toolkit. The detailed, step-by-step D&I sourcing toolkit
provides industry leading strategies to win top talent, build strong and diverse
talent pipelines and aid your internal D&I strategy decision-making. 

Please click here for more info on the Candidate Sourcing Toolkit.


ED&I STRATEGY REPORT

Partnering with specialist ED&I organisations including Qlearsite and BYP
Network, Robert Walters has produced an ED&I Strategy Report for UK & Ireland. 


ROBERT WALTERS RECRUITMENT INCLUSIVITY AUDIT

Our pioneering, data-informed, diverse hiring audit of your end-to-end
recruitment process to enable meaningful change.

To request a consultation with one of our specialist practitioners, please click
here.




KEY BENEFITS

 * Provides immediate actionable recommendations to minimise bias
 * Audits every aspect of your recruitment process
 * Fully remote audit with zero face to face interaction required
 * Includes analysis of both content and processes
 * Removes subjectivity from your diversity and inclusion approach
 * Understand how you compare to your competitors
 * Audit is conducted by highly experienced Diverse Hiring practitioners
 * Key findings and recommendations presented back and shared via secure portal


KEY FEATURES

 * Analysis of 257 data points
 * Blending academic research and best-in-class case studies from
   over 100 sources 
 * Typically 75+ recommendations for quickly actioning meaningful change
 * Reporting, including key findings and recommendations provided
   within 30 working days
   







OUR EIGHT LENS FOCUS









MEET THE TEAM


TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION, LONDON




PROJECTS AND TRANSFORMATION

Rachel Evans

p: +44 20 7509 8772
e: Rachel.Evans@RobertWalters.com

Ciaran Moloney

p: +44 7553 099775
e: Ciaran.Moloney@RobertWalters.com

Conor Lloyd

p: +44 20 7509 8060
e: Conor.Lloyd@RobertWalters.com

Meghan Coleshaw

p: +44 20 3036 6559
e: Meghan.Coleshaw@RobertWalters.com


ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING

Ben Litvinoff 

p: +44 20 7509 8267
e: Ben.Litvinoff@RobertWalters.com

Stefan Spaulding 

p: +44 20 7509 8026
e:  Stefan.Spaulding@RobertWalters.com

Varaidzo Mudiwa 

p: +44 20 7071 7014 
e: Varaidzo.Mudiwa@RobertWalters.com

James Wilson 


p: +44 20 7509 8192
e: James.Wilson@RobertWalters.com 


Albertine Hedley 


p: +44 20 7509 8198
e: Albertine.Hedley@RobertWalters.com 


Lila Franco 


p: +44 20 7509 8483
e: Lila.Franco@RobertWalters.com





DATA SCIENCE, ANALYTICS AND PRODUCT

Orlando Ruiz 

p: +44 20 7509 8127
e: Orlando.Ruiz@RobertWalters.com

Alvin Liu 

p: +44 113 360 0095
e: Alvin.Liu@RobertWalters.com

Clare Xie 

p: +44 20 7509 8615
e: Clare.Xie@RobertWalters.com

Joshka Van Der Walt 

p: +44 20 7509 8113
e: Joshka.VanDerWalt@RobertWalters.com

Savannah McCabe 

p: +44 20 3036 6574
e: Savannah.McCabe@RobertWalters.com


SECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE 

Darius Goodarzi 

p: +44 20 7509 8040
e: Darius.Goodarzi@RobertWalters.com

Jared Wolfaardt

p: +44 20 7071 7032 
e: Jared.Wolfaardt@RobertWalters.com

Cassandra Day

p: +44 20 3036 6586
e: Cassandra.Day@RobertWalters.com

Jenna Sykes

p: +44 20 7509 8302
e: Jenna.Sykes@RobertWalters.com