Overview of the IT and information services sector in the UK

At the centre of everyday life and found in almost all industries and businesses, information technology (IT) is a huge driver of growth in the UK

What areas of IT can I work in?

Industries that fall under the IT umbrella include:

• computer programming;
• computer consultancy;
• computer gaming;
• computer networking activities;
• computing facilities management;
• data processing;
• data hosting activities;
• internet service provision;
• telecommunications;
• web portals.

Within these industries, there are many spheres of work available to graduates, including:

• art and design;
• design and development engineering;
• electrical and electronic engineering;
• financial management;
• human resources management;
• information technologies;
• marketing and PR;
• operational management;
• project management;
• production management;
• strategy and planning.

The IT and computing sector is forecast to continue to expand, and to be a key element of business growth. Employment in the sector over the next decade is projected to grow nearly five times faster than the UK average.

Who are the main graduate employers?

Many of the largest companies in this sector are organisations that play multiple roles. The sector varies immensely in occupational scope and breadth, and so do employers.

In the private sector, big employers are typically international companies such as:

• Accenture;
• Capgemini;
• Cisco;
• Cognizant;
• IBM;
• Infosys;
• Logica;
• Microsoft;
• Tata Consultancy.

In addition, however, over half of IT professionals find roles outside of the IT industry. Other industries that are big employers of IT professionals include:

• financial services - firms such as JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley;
• retail - major retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury and Co-Operative Group;
• telecommunications - providing mobile services, land telephony, broadband and Video on Demand services. Key players are BT, Vodaphone, Orange, O2 and T-Mobile;
• public sector - which includes local authorities, central government and the NHS;
• manufacturing - a key user of all aspects of IT, opportunities exist in multinational engineering companies in the oil, pharmaceutical, automotive parts and energy industries;
• games development - many of the larger companies have studios in the UK and include companies such as MGS, Sony, Rockstar and Square Enix. UK companies in the games industry include developers such as Codemasters, Rebellion, Sports Interactive, Blitz and Crytek UK.

Many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industry provide a range of specialist services, particularly in consultancy and technical roles. Common jobs for graduates are software designers and engineers; web developers and producers; computer analysts and programmers; web designers, IT consultants; help desk technicians.

What's it like working in the sector?

Graduates entering the IT and information services sector can expect:

• a relatively high salary - the average gross weekly earnings for an IT professional in 2011 was approximately £37,920. The most recent Association of Graduate Recruiters Survey suggested that starting salaries throughout the sector would be around £26,250 in 2013 for graduates;
• typically long working hours - employers emphasise getting the project done rather than maintaining standard 9am-5pm hours;
• freelancing and self-employment opportunities - it is not unusual for graduates to go straight into self-employment, particularly in web development or programming.

What are the key issues in the IT sector?

With the current situation in the global economy, business is operating in a climate of uncertainty, and this makes companies reluctant to make major decisions. Infrastructure and technology upgrades are not always a priority. This is considered by far the biggest pressing issue for UK IT firms.

The sector is highly innovative, but also subject to constant technological development. This can present a significant challenge in ensuring businesses and staff are able to adapt to constantly changing technological requirements.

The fast-moving nature of parts of the industry, and the continuing growth of the sector means that many employers are experiencing significant skills demand. Recruiters reported difficulties recruiting software developers and programmers and web designers, and found the following skills most likely to be in short supply: .NET, ASP.NET, Dynamics, SharePoint, Visual Basic, Visual Studio, C# and PHP. The sector also reported gaps in sales skills, business skills, higher level technical skills and sector knowledge.

Data security, privacy and intellectual property issues are all important in the sector and businesses spend significant resources to deal with current requirements and to be prepared to adapt to a changing legislative landscape.