Summary

• The Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan estimates approximately 800,000 digital and technology roles will need filling between 2025 and 2035, including both additional positions and replacement recruitment.
• Government and industry have set an ambition for 200,000 entry-level jobs over ten years, counting apprenticeships but not short placements or ordinary training activity.
• TechFirst partners have committed more than 10,000 placements and experience opportunities. The plan also aims to reach one million young people with technology learning by 2028 and links employer commitments through a Skills Deal.

Britain has set an ambition to open 200,000 entry-level technology jobs over the next decade, responding to evidence that employers need more technical staff while qualified newcomers are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain their first industry role.

The Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan, published on 21 October, estimates that approximately 800,000 roles will need filling across priority occupations and technology businesses between 2025 and 2035.

Government and industry want around one quarter of that recruitment demand to be reflected in entry-level opportunities, including apprenticeships. The 200,000 figure is an ambition rather than a forecast of vacancies already funded or employers’ binding recruitment commitments.

The Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan brings together work experience, placements, apprenticeships and employment routes under a proposed Skills Deal, with employers asked to make measurable commitments that can be monitored over time.

Workforce demand includes replacing existing employees

The government’s estimate of 800,000 roles is not a prediction that the technology sector will create 800,000 entirely new jobs.

Its analysis combines approximately 550,000 additional positions across 30 priority digital and technology occupations with around 250,000 roles that will need replacement as employees retire or leave their jobs.

Those estimates cover occupations identified across Industrial Strategy sectors, alongside replacement demand within the Digital and Technologies sector itself.

Replacement requirements outside that sector are not included for all priority occupations, meaning the figure is necessarily an estimate based on a defined set of activities rather than a complete count of all future technology recruitment.

Government analysts also acknowledge that their projections do not model the effects of AI on employment demand.

That limitation is important because the adoption of AI software may alter the responsibilities of junior employees, change the number of people required for certain activities or generate demand for new specialist functions.

The estimate therefore provides a planning assumption rather than a precise forecast of the jobs that will exist in 2035.

Annual skills assessments are intended to help refine understanding of which occupations face shortages and where employers need different capabilities.

The government is also establishing further research into the economic effects of AI, reflecting uncertainty about how automation will influence entry-level recruitment.

Entry-level vacancies are becoming harder to obtain

The plan identifies a contradiction in the technology labour market: employers report shortages of experienced workers while many people with relevant qualifications struggle to gain the experience required for their first role.

In cybersecurity, the proportion of job advertisements open to applicants with less than one year’s experience fell from 25% in 2022 to 16% in 2025.

Meanwhile, 64% of cybersecurity advertisements in 2025 requested between two and six years of experience.

These findings indicate that entry requirements have tightened in a specialist field, even as organisations continue to describe difficulties recruiting suitably qualified staff.

The government’s analysis identifies competition for jobs and changing employer expectations as possible explanations. It does not establish that AI caused the reduction in entry-level hiring.

Although some of the largest recruitment declines occur in occupations where AI capabilities have advanced, the plan explicitly warns against interpreting that relationship as proof of causation.

Employers may favour experienced staff because they can operate independently sooner, particularly when organisations are reluctant to invest in extensive training.

However, relying predominantly on experienced recruitment can weaken the route through which junior workers develop into the specialists businesses will need later.

The Skills Deal is intended to encourage employers to provide structured opportunities rather than assuming qualifications alone will prepare people for every workplace requirement.

TechFirst expands routes into the workplace

TechFirst forms a substantial part of the government’s plan to introduce young people to technology careers.

The programme is now accessible to secondary schools across the UK, with an ambition to reach one million young people through meaningful AI and technology learning by 2028, one year ahead of the original timetable.

The government intends for 400,000 participants to come from the most disadvantaged schools, addressing unequal access to careers information, technical activities and connections with employers.

Alongside that education programme, technology companies including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Cognizant, Arm, Kainos, QinetiQ and AtkinsRéalis have committed more than 10,000 work experience and placement opportunities.

Those commitments represent opportunities to gain workplace experience, not 10,000 confirmed permanent jobs.

They must also be distinguished from the separate national ambition for 200,000 entry-level jobs.

The plan establishes that only qualifying jobs, including apprenticeships, will count towards that employment target. Work experience, short placements and training for employees remaining in their existing roles will be recorded separately.

This distinction is intended to prevent the same activity being presented simultaneously as a placement, a training completion and a new job.

Employers will be asked to provide information about opportunities delivered, allowing subsequent reporting to assess whether initial commitments translate into actual participation and employment.

One Skills Deal brings separate routes together

Employers currently encounter several programmes for supporting new entrants, including T Level industry placements, apprenticeships, undergraduate placements and wider work experience schemes.

The government wants the Skills Deal to provide a clearer route for businesses wishing to participate, asking each employer to make a specific commitment suited to its size and requirements.

The available routes include work experience, industry placements, apprenticeships and jobs for new entrants or career changers.

Companies will be expected to update the government on delivery annually rather than relying solely on commitments made when joining the programme.

The definition of entry level is based on experience, not age. A role may qualify when the employer requires less than one year of relevant experience, even if the successful applicant is changing career or returning to employment.

Individual occupations may still require technical qualifications, so entry-level does not mean that every specialist position can be filled without prior learning.

The government wants local authorities, colleges and industry networks to help businesses identify suitable candidates and design placements that provide meaningful tasks and supervision.

Smaller companies may require additional assistance because they often have fewer employees available to support trainees and apprentices.

Implementation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will need to reflect devolved skills arrangements, rather than assuming that a uniform English delivery model applies throughout the UK.

Government contracts carry employment expectations

The plan also connects public procurement with opportunities to develop technical skills.

Government changes to social value guidance increase the weighting attached to relevant community benefits from 10% to 20% for applicable contracts worth at least £5 million.

Technology suppliers bidding for government work may support those objectives by offering apprenticeships, placements or other opportunities connected with employment and training.

The government intends to include relevant commitments within contract performance arrangements, allowing progress to be assessed rather than accepting procurement promises without subsequent evidence.

However, such requirements must be proportionate to the work being purchased and the supplier’s ability to deliver appropriate opportunities.

Employment commitments also need to reflect the skills required for the work, particularly where suppliers operate specialised engineering or security services.

The government’s broader technology priorities include AI, cybersecurity, semiconductors, quantum technologies, engineering biology and advanced connectivity.

These fields require specialist researchers, but commercial adoption also depends on technicians, engineers, system integrators and staff capable of applying technology inside existing organisations.

Techopia previously examined the TechFirst AI apprenticeship pathway in North West England, a specific route combining initial training with a Level 3 apprenticeship.

The new national plan extends beyond that pilot, setting out how existing education and employment routes could be coordinated with employers across the technology sector.

Its effectiveness will depend on whether companies create sustained jobs, provide useful practical experience and support the progression of participants into technical employment.

The government has committed to annual reporting, which should allow subsequent assessments to distinguish recruitment actually delivered from the original 200,000-job ambition.