With 2025 well underway, Rachel Sim, Consultant at Livingston James, reflects on the challenges and opportunities that have impacted the technology sector over the last few years.
In 2024, Scotland’s tech market faced significant challenges, continuing on from the trends we saw throughout 2023. High-profile mass redundancies – driven by over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, and evolving demands from new and emerging technologies – led to nearly 3,500 tech job losses across the UK by the end of summer 2024. Whilst hiring lulled until the end of summer, the announcement of the budget gave better clarity to organisations about their economic responsibilities and the levels of support they will receive moving forward.
The Scottish Government stated their ambitions to make Scotland “one of the world’s most attractive places for entrepreneurs and startups”, however, more investment is required to ensure early-stage organisations are motivated to keep their business in Scotland. £321 million was pledged to be invested in Scotland’s enterprise agencies to support emerging technologies so hopefully, we will start to see the impact of this as we continue through 2025 and beyond. Edinburgh and Glasgow continued to lead the way for the Scottish tech sector, with Edinburgh securing the most investment in Scotland and ranking third for the UK – a credit to the innovative talent the city nurtures through education, tech accelerators and innovation hubs.
Scotland still lags behind the wider UK in terms of the pace of growth of their emerging tech businesses with just two businesses being recognised in Deloitte’s 2024 UK Technology Fast 50 awards: Glasgow-based Utopi and Edinburgh-based LendingCrowd. However, it is positive to see that Utopi represents a business that will have a positive impact not just on the economy, but societally and environmentally.
There were several positive growth areas for the Scottish tech sector, particularly in niche areas such as space tech and agritech, driving demand for specialised skills, and leading to the emergence of new roles focused on innovation and sustainability.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) remained the buzzword of 2024. Regardless of sector, there was a demand from, and of, c-suite executives to embrace technology which drives efficiency and for both technical and non-technical staff to upskill, particularly embracing generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot. Going hand-in-hand with AI is the emergence of low-code / no-code tools, with the required technical skills for the latter being less extensive than traditional development platforms.
Continuing from 2023, the contract market appeared to be in decline with continued stringency around IR35 regulations and employees looking for better levels of job security following the prominence of redundancies. Demand for skilled professionals in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data analytics has continued to be most sought after by clients. With 70% of employees already seeing the effects of AI and emerging tech reshaping the workplace, it is evident that clients and candidates alike need to embrace these advancements and develop their technical abilities to ensure they can maintain a competitive advantage and close the digital skills gap in 2025. The picture is optimistic, with nearly half of technology hiring managers planning to increase permanent headcount and a quarter set to increase contractor recruitment.
Scotland’s tech sector in 2024 faced a challenging yet transformative year, grappling with economic uncertainty, redundancies, and the evolving demands of emerging technologies. Despite these hurdles, there were promising developments, including government investments, regional innovation, and growth in niche areas which will support Scotland in standing out from a global perspective. While Scotland’s pace of growth lags behind the wider UK, the success of companies like Utopi and LendingCrowd highlights the potential for impactful, sustainable innovation. With AI and low-code / no-code tools reshaping the workplace and demand for specialised skills on the rise, 2025 is presenting an opportunity for Scotland to close the digital skills gap and solidify its position as a hub for tech talent and innovation.
To find out more about how Livingston James can support your technology recruitment needs, please contact [email protected].
Reflections on the Technology Market from Rachel Sim
With 2025 well underway, Rachel Sim, Consultant at Livingston James, reflects on the challenges and opportunities that have impacted the technology sector over the last few years.
In 2024, Scotland’s tech market faced significant challenges, continuing on from the trends we saw throughout 2023. High-profile mass redundancies – driven by over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, and evolving demands from new and emerging technologies – led to nearly 3,500 tech job losses across the UK by the end of summer 2024. Whilst hiring lulled until the end of summer, the announcement of the budget gave better clarity to organisations about their economic responsibilities and the levels of support they will receive moving forward.
The Scottish Government stated their ambitions to make Scotland “one of the world’s most attractive places for entrepreneurs and startups”, however, more investment is required to ensure early-stage organisations are motivated to keep their business in Scotland. £321 million was pledged to be invested in Scotland’s enterprise agencies to support emerging technologies so hopefully, we will start to see the impact of this as we continue through 2025 and beyond. Edinburgh and Glasgow continued to lead the way for the Scottish tech sector, with Edinburgh securing the most investment in Scotland and ranking third for the UK – a credit to the innovative talent the city nurtures through education, tech accelerators and innovation hubs.
Scotland still lags behind the wider UK in terms of the pace of growth of their emerging tech businesses with just two businesses being recognised in Deloitte’s 2024 UK Technology Fast 50 awards: Glasgow-based Utopi and Edinburgh-based LendingCrowd. However, it is positive to see that Utopi represents a business that will have a positive impact not just on the economy, but societally and environmentally.
There were several positive growth areas for the Scottish tech sector, particularly in niche areas such as space tech and agritech, driving demand for specialised skills, and leading to the emergence of new roles focused on innovation and sustainability.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) remained the buzzword of 2024. Regardless of sector, there was a demand from, and of, c-suite executives to embrace technology which drives efficiency and for both technical and non-technical staff to upskill, particularly embracing generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot. Going hand-in-hand with AI is the emergence of low-code / no-code tools, with the required technical skills for the latter being less extensive than traditional development platforms.
Continuing from 2023, the contract market appeared to be in decline with continued stringency around IR35 regulations and employees looking for better levels of job security following the prominence of redundancies. Demand for skilled professionals in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data analytics has continued to be most sought after by clients. With 70% of employees already seeing the effects of AI and emerging tech reshaping the workplace, it is evident that clients and candidates alike need to embrace these advancements and develop their technical abilities to ensure they can maintain a competitive advantage and close the digital skills gap in 2025. The picture is optimistic, with nearly half of technology hiring managers planning to increase permanent headcount and a quarter set to increase contractor recruitment.
Scotland’s tech sector in 2024 faced a challenging yet transformative year, grappling with economic uncertainty, redundancies, and the evolving demands of emerging technologies. Despite these hurdles, there were promising developments, including government investments, regional innovation, and growth in niche areas which will support Scotland in standing out from a global perspective. While Scotland’s pace of growth lags behind the wider UK, the success of companies like Utopi and LendingCrowd highlights the potential for impactful, sustainable innovation. With AI and low-code / no-code tools reshaping the workplace and demand for specialised skills on the rise, 2025 is presenting an opportunity for Scotland to close the digital skills gap and solidify its position as a hub for tech talent and innovation.
To find out more about how Livingston James can support your technology recruitment needs, please contact [email protected].
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