Tech scene flourishing with 4,500 jobs up for grabs
Scotland’s tech scene is flourishing with almost 4,500 jobs looking to be filled and startups continuing to catch the eye of venture capitalists, a new report reveals.
The country is one of the UK’S biggest tech hubs, with the highest number of verified start-ups (2,442) outside of London and the south east of England, according to data by Tech Nation, the growth platform for tech companies and leaders, and job search engine Adzuna. The number of venture capital rounds increased in 2020 to 96, up from 87 in 2019, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
There are currently 4,414 open tech roles in Scotland according to new data by Adzuna, with 31 per cent of all vacancies in Edinburgh tech or It-related.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder at Adzuna, said: “Scotland is a brilliant place to set up a tech base, with tech giants and local enterprises setting up shop in places including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife and Dundee.
“As companies look to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, hiring the right talent will become a challenge, particularly for specialised roles like product managers and solutions architects.”
Last year, two Scottish startups were named among the ten winners of Uk-wide growth platform Tech Nation’s Rising Stars programme. Edinburgh’s Neatebox, which harnesses tech to help disabled people in their day-today lives, and Glasgow-based Talking Medicines, which provides pharmaceutical companies with real-time data intelligence, received a support package to help them scale, grow and build their networks.
The figures on the growth of Scotland’s tech industry have been published as the government’s Digital Economy Council and Tech Nation prepare to host a digital roundtable to discuss the challenges facing the sector as it works to create jobs and help the region recover from the impact of the coronavirus.
George Windsor, head of insights at Tech Nation, said: “Scotland’s tech scene has evolved into a dynamic sector, encompassing everything from space to biotech and fintech.