Hiring conditions are stabilising, but not evenly. If you are planning hiring for the second half of 2026, timing matters, and so does knowing exactly where the pressure is building fastest.
Here is what the data is telling us, and what I think organisations need to do about it.
Hiring is beginning to stabilise
The prolonged hiring downturn is showing signs of levelling out. Recent KPMG/REC data points to permanent hiring declines becoming more marginal across the UK market, and technology and engineering remain among the strongest-performing sectors for permanent vacancy activity.
The window for securing high-calibre talent in critical roles is starting to narrow as confidence gradually returns. If you have been waiting for the “right moment” to make a critical hire, that moment is closer to closing than it looks.
IT spend is accelerating
Global technology investment is not slowing down. Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending will reach $6.31 trillion in 2026, up 13.5% year on year. Data centre systems investment is set to grow significantly, alongside continued acceleration in AI infrastructure, software and cloud spend.
Where investment flows, hiring demand follows. Boards approving technology budgets in H2 should expect the workforce conversation to follow close behind.
Salary growth is not even across the market
Some disciplines, including AI, cyber, senior cloud engineering and advanced data capability, continue to materially outperform the broader market. Constrained supply and growing strategic demand are driving that gap, and technology continues to command some of the highest advertised salaries in the UK.
This is a market moving at two different speeds. Treating your whole workforce plan as a single, uniform market is the fastest way to misprice the roles that matter most.
Five actions to prioritise now
Based on what we are seeing across thousands of live roles on our platform, here is where I would focus attention through H2:
- Secure hires for critical, hard-to-fill roles before competition intensifies further. The window is narrowing, not closing.
- Audit the AI tools used across hiring, HR and employee monitoring ahead of upcoming regulatory deadlines.
- Rebalance retention investment as replacement costs and hiring timelines continue to rise.
- Treat AI literacy as a capability expectation, not a future training initiative.
- Review progression and retention data for women in technology, particularly at mid-career and leadership levels.
Where this leaves you
The question for H2 2026 is no longer whether to hire. It is which talent model fits which problem, and how quickly your organisation can adapt. Our H2 2026 Workforce Insights Report breaks this down role by role, with live salary benchmarks across every technology discipline.
If this raises a question for your organisation, my team and I are always happy to talk it through.