IR35 delay sees 'spike' in tech firms looking for contractors - recruiter

UK tech industry expected to 'maintain resilience' amid COVID-19 pandemic, according to Robert Walters

The government's postponement of the IR35 reforms has caused a surge in tech firms seeking contractors to bolster their services, according to data gathered by recruitment firm Robert Walters.

The recruiter said it had seen a "spike in interest" from firms seeking IT contractors, particularly for business-focused or critical roles in tech, suggesting that there will be no slowdown in IT projects as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As digital infrastructure becomes the focal point for many internal business discussions, we do not anticipate a cancellation or slowdown in tech projects," stated Ahsan Iqbal, director of technology at the recruitment firm.

"In fact, there will be a revised focus on firms' digital offering, with particular attention on improving e-comms channels through better CRM systems, upgraded website capabilities, improved security and enhanced accessibility and use of data."

Programmer jobs made up one fifth of the new tech-related contract roles created in the past four weeks, while consultants and specialists made up 13 per cent.

"As pressure mounts in the coming weeks and months on IT departments to help support remote working capabilities as well as business continuity plans, firms will look to strengthen their team with contract staff who have prior experience of in-house systems and a provide a strong sense of being able to ‘hit the ground running," Iqbal added.

The recruiter anticipates that competition will increase for traditional areas including developers, data, security and cloud professionals - pushing contract rates up as much as 30 per cent.

Overall, the UK tech sector is expected to "maintain resilience" amid the current global climate, according to the compiled data.

The first quarter of 2020 saw tech vacancies rise 44 per cent in Manchester, 27 per cent in Birmingham and 26 per cent in Milton Keynes compared with the same period last year.

"At the moment, the tech sector has experienced a spike in demand and so - unlike other industries such as aerospace - no immediate impact has been felt regarding hiring freezes," said Iqbal.

Robert Walters cautioned that it was too early to report on any impact to hiring and long-term recruitment as a result of the crisis, but picked out certain industries that will see increased demand for tech support.

"The UK was already pioneering work within healthtech and edtech, and now more than ever this will be put to the test," Iqbal said.

"In addition, technology that underpins remote working - such as cloud computing, business apps, mobile tools, unified communications, project management tools, and videoconferencing - will no doubt be rapidly hiring as demand for their tools increases.

"Retailers who didn't invest in e-commerce will be going through a difficult period right now and will have to assess whether they have the resources to be able to enhance this for future, competitive purposes. Of the tech roles advertised in the last four weeks, 13 per cent were in trade or retail.

"Other areas of opportunity will be in insurtech, supply chain and agritech - as after health these are some of the industries experiencing the highest level of demand."

He added that the tech sector is well versed and adaptive to the remote working policies being implemented by organisations across the world.

"The tech community is largely global - with different skillsets being used in different locations - and so professionals in the sector are quite used to using remote communication solutions in order to stay connected with their team or counterparts in other countries," he continued.

"Because of time differences, flexi-hours have always been a part of the IT culture and it is not unheard of to work three or four days a week if timings have been carefully considered to complete projects.

"In addition, video interviews and remote onboarding is not something that is new to tech professionals - especially contractors who often work away from the team - and so there will be little adjustment during this period."