Part 1: International Talent /

Key findings

Part 1 of a 4 part insights series on UK tech talent. The nationality of workers in the UK’s digital tech industries

1) Non-UK nationals working in digital tech

The digital tech sector has a higher proportion of non-UK nationals working in it, at 13% compared to the rest of the UK economy, at 10%.

Share of employment by nationality in non-digital 2015

Nationality Share of employment
Rest of EU 6%
UK 90%
Non-EU 4%

 

Share of employment by nationality in digital tech 2015

Nationality Share of employment
Rest of EU 6%
UK 87%
Non-EU 7%

 

2) Non-UK nationals are better educated than their UK counterparts

Non-UK nationals are better educated than their UK counterparts, they have a higher share of Master’s and PhD qualifications. Non-EU workers at 17.6%, the rest of EU at 12.5% and the UK at 10.5%.

Nationality Proportion of workforce with Master’s degree or PhD
Rest of EU 12.5%
Non-EU 17.6%
UK 10.5%

 

3) EU and non-EU digital tech workers in London

London has the highest share of the digital tech workforce comprised of EU and non-EU workers, at 31%.

Region Rest of EU Non-EU UK
All other regions 3% 3% 94%
East Midlands 4% 3% 93%
Scotland 5% 5% 90%
West Midlands 2% 3% 95%
North West 2% 4% 94%
South West 2% 3% 95%
East of England 5% 4% 91%
London 11% 20% 69%
South East 5% 7% 88%

 

4) Employment for EU nationals

Non-EU workers make up a larger share of employment in digital tech than EU workers – however, employment for EU nationals has grown faster than non-EU nationals from 4% to 6% between 2011 – 2015

Year Rest of EU Non-EU UK
2015 6% 7% 87%
2014 5% 7% 88%
2013 5% 7% 88%
2012 5% 8% 87%
2011 4% 7% 89%

 

Tech Nation Talent

A four-part series of reports on the talent and skills dynamics of the UK tech sector.


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International talent report Infographic