The West Midlands has been named the country’s fastest growing tech sector and the region’s thriving digital industries are expected to create thousands of new jobs by the end of 2025.
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According to a new government report released ahead of Birmingham Tech Week, the region has been recognised as a top performer for digital growth and is predicted to create an additional 52,000 roles in the sector over the next four years a bumper increase of 55 per cent since 2019.
Tech growth in the region grew by an average of 7.6 per cent a year between 2014 and 2019, the fastest region in the UK. Going forward it is expected to generate at least £2.7 billion for the local economy by 2025.
It comes as new figures compiled by job search engine Adzuna and investment analysts Dealroom for the UK’s Digital Economy Council and Tech Nation show tech companies in the West Midlands are on track to raise more venture capital investment in 2021 than they did a year earlier, and tech job vacancies advertised in the region have almost doubled since December 2020.
Tech companies in the West Midlands have raised £454 million in venture capital funding already this year, compared to £358 million last year, while tech vacancies have increased from 5,099 in December 2020 to 9,287 in October 2021.
As more people work remotely, it will also give tech entrepreneurs the reliable connectivity they need to start and run businesses from anywhere in the UK, even in remote areas.
The West Midlands was recently named as one of the areas set to benefit from the government’s £5 billion Project Gigabit the biggest broadband rollout in British history.
Around 194,000 hard to reach homes and businesses across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire will be given access to gigabit broadband, thanks to a government investment of between £183 and £311 million, with procurement set to start in November 2022.
The region also benefits from having the highest proportion of households with internet access at 97 per cent.
Birmingham has an average advertised salary of £51,774 for digital tech roles according to Adzuna. The highest paying jobs in the city include data architect, average advertised salary of £76,052; technical architect, average advertised salary of £74,043, and python developer, average advertised salary of £63,480. ■