Tech Market Intelligence: Ireland & UK

Tech market intelligence combines salary benchmarks, hiring demand signals, and year-on-year pay movement data to help candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters understand what the technology labour market is actually doing, well beyond generic salary surveys.

Our salary and market data is sourced from published compensation benchmarks and kept current on a rolling basis. The figures shown reflect the most recent source year available for each country (2026 for Ireland, 2026 for the UK).

We currently publish market intelligence for Ireland and the United Kingdom. Each country page covers top-paying roles, most in-demand skills, and fastest-growing jobs.

Start with the salary guide for your country to find the benchmark for your role. Cross-reference with the fastest-growing jobs report to understand whether your discipline is in a growth phase. Use the take-home calculator to convert any gross figure into net pay before entering negotiations.

Yes. Contractor day rate benchmarks are published separately under Contract Day Rates for Ireland and the UK. Each role page links to the equivalent permanent salary page so you can compare both. Use the Irish contractor calculator or the UK IR35 calculator to convert any day rate to a net take-home figure.

AI and machine learning engineering is the fastest-growing discipline in Ireland in 2026, with year-on-year salary growth of 7–10% and a significant rise in open roles from both multinational R&D centres and Irish AI-native startups. Platform engineering, cloud security, and EU AI Act compliance roles are also growing faster than the market average. Our fastest-growing jobs report for Ireland tracks growth signals across all disciplines on a rolling basis.

In the UK in 2026, the most in-demand technical skills are Python, Kubernetes, Terraform, TypeScript, and cloud-native architecture. GenAI implementation experience, FinOps, and DevSecOps are increasingly cited in job specifications as must-have rather than nice-to-have. Our in-demand skills report for the UK tracks hiring signal strength by discipline and is updated on a rolling basis.

The Ireland tech job market in 2026 is strong for specialised and senior roles but more selective at junior levels. AI, platform, and cloud engineering face acute shortages of qualified candidates. Enterprise hiring by multinationals in Dublin is recovering after the 2023 to 2024 correction period, and the contractor market is expected to grow 15–20% through 2026. Roles requiring EU AI Act knowledge are an emerging growth area with limited candidate supply.