Tech City accelerator program facilitates strong digital jobs growth

Post date: Feb 02, 2017 10:51:45 AM

Digital recruitment in and around London’s Silicon Roundabout has been getting a significant boost from Tech City UK’s Future Fifty initiative. Accelerator programme Future Fifty supports rapidly growing tech firms as they expand their operations, ensuring they have the resources they need to scale up effectively.

According to the Tech City Blog, the number of jobs created by companies that belong to the programme rose by 30 per cent since June of last year, a figure that’s considerably higher than the 5.4 per cent national average. Clearly, Future Fifty is doing something right.

Future Fifty businesses enjoy a leg up

The Future Fifty website explained that the programme gives growing digital enterprises a helping hand by connecting firms with investors and government initiatives, essentially plugging them into the marketplace. Notable success stories include Web-based household appliance retailer Ao.com and residential property website Zoopla. Along with genomics company Horizon Discovery and online takeaway service Just Eat, Ao.com and Zoopla generated a whopping total of £1.18 billion on London’s capital markets after going public, according to the Tech City blog. The four organizations are now considered to be among the 12 Future Fifty Alumni, each of which present an example of the success that businesses in the tech sector can enjoy when given adequate financial support.

“Growth-stage companies are vital to the U.K.’s tech ecosystem,” said Philipp Stoeckl, director of the Future Fifty program, as quoted by the news source. “As a leading source of innovation and jobs, it is important that we continue to attract and support the world’s most promising companies to grow and scale their businesses in the U.K.”

“With increased IT-sector growth come digital jobs.”

Digital jobs abound in London

With increased IT-sector growth come digital jobs in London, particularly in the software development realm. Research by Tech Nation found that more than half (57 per cent) of digital jobs advertised by Future Fifty businesses over the past year were software development positions, Tech City UK reported. Customer service came in at a very distant second place with 11 per cent.

Two software-related positions made it onto Glassdoor’s most recent list of the 25 best jobs in the country, meaning they scored highly in terms of job availability, professional opportunities and yearly salary. The software engineer role, which involves designing and coding software applications, was ranked 10th on the list. Meanwhile, the job of solutions architect, which entails drawing up plans that form the basis of developers’ software-building operations, was listed at No. 14.

Encouragingly for people who don’t have formal qualifications, IT-related degrees are not always necessary when it comes to digital recruitment in London. In a piece for The Guardian, contributor James Burt – himself a tenured software developer – asserted that hiring managers often prioritize candidates with passion and enthusiasm for programming over those with formal accreditation. As the country’s tech sector continues to grow and create jobs, there will be more opportunities for such individuals to enter the industry.