posted 4th December 2025
If you’re navigating the IT job market in 2025, it’s crucial to understand the forces that are shaping hiring and careers this year. After a tumultuous few years, the tech employment landscape has stabilised in some respects, but new trends have emerged that both job seekers and hiring managers must heed.
From shifts in work location norms to the explosive demand for AI skills, these trends define where the opportunities lie and what candidates need to succeed. In this blog, we break down the top five IT recruitment trends of 2025 so you can stay one step ahead in your career or talent strategy.
1. Return to Office Gains Momentum (Especially for Learning and Collaboration)
One of the most talked-about shifts in 2025 has been the push by many companies to get employees back into the office – at least for part of the week. After a long period where remote and hybrid work were the norm, this year saw a pendulum swing towards in-person work.
Major tech employers like Amazon and Dell moved to stricter in-office requirements, often citing benefits to culture and training. Many organisations believe certain tasks – especially innovation and mentoring – happen more effectively face-to-face.
Why this trend matters for hiring:
For candidates, this means you’ll encounter more job postings specifying on-site or hybrid schedules. Fully remote roles are harder to come by; only about 10% of tech job postings in 2025 offer fully remote work now, a steep drop from previous years.
Candidates, especially younger professionals or early-career jobseekers, should be aware that a demand for fully remote working or very limited office time can drastically reduce the number of available roles. Many companies feel that learning and professional development are best achieved when junior staff are surrounded by more experienced colleagues. The office environment allows for spontaneous feedback, mentoring, and the kind of on-the-job exposure that remote work often limits.
Increasingly, employers are asking remote-leaning candidates: "Why do you want to work remotely?" If you have a genuine reason such as health considerations, caregiving responsibilities, or location constraints this can become part of your negotiation. However, being flexible about hybrid arrangements often leads to broader options and more attractive offers.
Employers have noticed a growing preference from early-career talent for some level of in-office engagement, which is why many now promote training programmes, mentorship, and collaborative office days in their recruitment messaging.
2. AI Skills Are a Game-Changer (Amid an AI Hiring Boom)
No trend has generated more buzz in 2025 than the rise of Artificial Intelligence across industries. Companies are racing to harness AI for competitive advantage, which in turn has sparked a hiring boom for AI-related roles and skills.
The demand is not limited to tech giants with sectors from finance to healthcare are bringing on AI talent to build smarter products and automate processes. Job titles like Machine Learning Engineer, Data Scientist, AI Researcher, and Prompt Engineer (a role focused on optimising AI model outputs) have become increasingly common.
How AI is affecting IT roles:
Even for roles that aren’t explicitly “AI jobs,” familiarity with AI has become a valuable asset. For example, software developers are expected to know how to integrate AI APIs or leverage AI-assisted coding tools (like GitHub Copilot) to boost productivity. Project managers might be coordinating projects that involve AI components. IT support teams are now dealing with AI-driven chatbots as part of their service desk solutions. The bottom line is that AI fluency is becoming a core skill.
That said, many companies are still unsure where and how AI will have the most impact. They recognise that AI will change the landscape, but practical use cases are still being trialled and tested in many organisations. This presents an excellent opportunity for candidates with specific knowledge of how to implement AI in real business scenarios. If you can demonstrate hands-on experience, such as improving a customer process with AI, training a custom model, or deploying an AI-based chatbot, you’ll stand out in interviews.
Professionals who stay informed about responsible AI practices, such as preventing biased outcomes or safeguarding data privacy, also demonstrate foresight and leadership which are traits highly valued by hiring managers.
3. Salary Growth Flattens, Except in Niche Specialties
After years of rapid growth, tech salaries in 2025 saw a noticeable plateau. Many companies that were throwing big money and stock options in the 2020-2022 period (to attract scarce talent) pulled back as the market normalised. Economic factors and a few high-profile rounds of layoffs in late 2024 contributed to more cautious budgeting for headcount.
In Europe and the UK, recruiters also reported a stabilisation of pay after the sharp increases earlier in the decade. What does this mean for job seekers and employers? Primarily, a more balanced negotiation field: candidates are not commanding huge jumps in pay as frequently, but companies are also careful to offer competitive (if not extravagant) compensation to secure the skills they need.
Winners and losers – role-specific trends:
While overall wages levelled off, certain niche roles bucked the trend with continued salary growth. If you have expertise that’s hard to find, you likely still saw strong offers. For example, cloud security engineers and DevOps professionals with Kubernetes expertise remained hot commodities with rising pay, since their skill sets are critical and relatively rare.
On the other hand, more generic roles (like entry-level IT support or general software developers in oversaturated markets) experienced stagnation or even slight dips in real wages, as a larger talent pool and minor pullback in hiring led to less upward pressure on pay.
Lastly, keep an eye on benefits beyond salary. With flatter salary growth, things like career development opportunities, work-life balance, and company culture have become even more important differentiators. A role that pays a bit less but offers mentorship, certification sponsorship, and a flexible schedule could be worth more in the long run for your career and well-being. Many 2025 candidates are thinking holistically about offers and smart employers are highlighting these aspects to attract talent when they can’t win on salary alone.
4. Cyber Security Takes Centre Stage in Hiring
Cyber security has been a priority for years, but 2025 amplified it to new heights. With a string of headline-grabbing cyber-attacks, from ransomware crippling infrastructure to massive data breaches at well-known firms, companies doubled down on building robust security teams. This year, demand for cyber security professionals hit record levels, and roles in this field commanded significant attention (and often premium compensation) in recruitment.
Expanded roles and team sizes:
Organisations are not only hiring more cyber security engineers but also broadening the types of roles. The classic positions — such as Security Analyst, Network Security Engineer, and IT Auditor — are now joined by highly specialised ones like DevSecOps Engineer (integrating security into DevOps workflows), Cloud Security Architect(focusing on secure cloud deployments), and Threat Hunter (proactively seeking out signs of intrusion).
Even mid-sized companies that previously might have had just one “IT security guy” are now looking for entire teams or outsourcing to Managed Security Service Providers, which themselves are staffing up. This means that if you have any cyber security certification or experience, 2025 is a great time to leverage it.
For job seekers, highlighting your security mindset is key.
Even if you’re not applying to a pure cyber security job, showing that you take security seriously can set you apart. A software engineer might mention, “I always implement secure coding practices and ran regular vulnerability scans on our apps,” which signals to the employer that you won’t be a weak link in their defence. If you are aiming for a dedicated cyber role, make sure to stay updated with current events and tools knowledge of the latest zero-day exploits or familiarity with frameworks like NIST CSF and MITRE ATT&CK can often impress during interviews.
Given the chronic talent shortage in cyber security, some companies are more flexible on hiring criteria here than in other domains. They might waive a degree requirement or consider candidates from non-traditional backgrounds (like someone from military intelligence or even a self-taught ethical hacker) if they can demonstrate skills. This is a field where hands-on ability can trump credentials. If you have a home lab or have contributed to open-source security projects, mention it. Enthusiasm and practical know-how go a long way.
5. Growth in Managed Service Providers (MSPs) Drives Job Opportunities
Another significant trend in 2025 is the continued growth of Managed Service Providers and the corresponding rise in jobs at these companies. Businesses of all sizes have been outsourcing more of their IT needs to MSPs, from helpdesk support to cloud management, to focus on core business and control costs.
As a result, MSPs expanded rapidly and were hiring aggressively throughout the year. In the UK, basic industry research shows MSP growth of around 12–15% in recent years. This space has become one of the most active sectors in the UK tech industry, with new players entering all the time. These entrants are not only from overseas, but often homegrown entrepreneurs starting MSPs with minimal barriers to entry and relatively low start-up costs.
Why MSPs are booming:
Several factors are at play. First, the lingering effects of remote/hybrid work have led companies to seek external help for managing distributed IT operations. Over 50% of MSPs reported that remote-work solutions, like setting up secure remote desktop infrastructures and managing cloud-based collaboration, were a top growth driver.
Second, cyber security is a huge selling point. Many businesses feel safer having dedicated experts from an MSP handle their security, especially if they can’t afford a large in-house team.
Third, MSPs are capitalising on specialised tech trends such as offering AI-as-a-service or IoT device management to clients who lack those capabilities internally. The net effect is a robust market where MSPs need talent across a spectrum of IT roles.
What this means for IT professionals:
If you enjoy solving problems, working in varied environments, and continuous learning, MSP roles offer strong potential. While the work can be fast-paced and occasionally unpredictable, with client needs changing frequently, the exposure and accelerated learning curve make it ideal for ambitious tech professionals. The managed services trend in 2025 looks set to continue, making MSPs a valuable career path for both entry-level and experienced candidates alike.
Conclusion:
The IT recruitment landscape of 2025 is shaped by a mix of stability and rapid change. On one hand, the frenzy of past years has calmed with hiring rates holding steady and salaries generally plateauing, but on the other hand, new waves like AI and evolving work arrangements are redefining what employers look for.
By understanding these top five trends, you can position yourself more effectively whether you’re job hunting or looking to advance within your current organisation. Embrace the return to in-person collaboration if it can boost your growth, invest time in acquiring or sharpening AI skills, and stay flexible in your salary expectations while ensuring you get fair value (considering the whole compensation package). If cyber security is your forte, know that your skills are in high demand make the most of it. And don’t overlook the booming MSP sector as a fertile ground for opportunities.
By staying agile and informed, IT professionals can turn today’s hiring trends into tomorrow’s career wins.
If you are currently in the market for a new sales or technical IT role or are looking to hire top talent in the cloud, cyber security, or managed service spaces, please get in touch to learn how we can help you.
You can get in contact with us by emailing contact@tsrltd.co.uk or calling 020 3837 9180. We look forward to working with you!
