Three quarters of UK tech employees dissatisfied at work, study finds

Over 77% of tech workers in the UK are unhappy in their current jobs and actively seeking out new roles, according to a new report by tech marketplace Hackajob.

Two years ago it conducted a study to understand what tech employees truly wanted from their job. Over 70% of tech employees wanted to work completely remotely in 2021, whilst the majority of employers thought that tech teams should be in the office up to three days a week.

Two years on, and amidst a shaky economy and multiple layoffs, its again analysed exactly what it is that tech talent are looking for in 2023 and beyond.

According to the report – What Do Tech Talent Want in 2023 – which surveyed over 1,000 people working in tech, only 11% of UK workers are content to stay in their current role, whilst 20% of tech talent are ready to leave their jobs as soon as possible.

“In today’s highly competitive tech landscape, attracting and retaining top tech talent has become more challenging than ever before. With an ever-growing demand for highly skilled professionals, companies are under immense pressure to hire the best talent, and fast,” said Mark Chaffey, CEO in the foreword of the report.

Hackajob warned that perks such as flexible working have now become commonplace and no longer differentiate a good company from another, whilst some unexpected benefits have emerged as essential to employees, such as company culture.

After compensation, candidates are most attracted to a role and organisation by the overall culture (15%) and mission (13%). When asked what they loved most about their current company and what makes them stay, almost half of all surveyed (44%) said company culture followed by flexible/remote working (13%).

Remote working (61%) is the aspect tech talent enjoy most about their jobs, ranking above tech stack (34%), benefits (25%) and location (21%). The biggest work-related frustrations and challenges include salary (34%), lack of learning and development (32%) and not feeling valued (32%).

83% of tech talent said they want to see a 4-day week introduced, and while working on their own terms is highly important to tech talent – remote working (61%), flexible working (57%) and location (21%) are amongst some of highest aspects to why they enjoy their current roles.

“The best benefits package really hone in on what is valuable to people,” said Chaffey. “Crucially, perks shouldn’t all focus on the workplace itself. Tech talent want to spend their free time either exercising, spending time with their family and friends, working on a project or hobby and progressing their learning and development. The best benefits package will empower talent to have free time to do whatever they choose.”