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Tech recruitment outlook: high demand for specialist skills will drive the market in 2026 | Computer Weekly

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Tech recruitment outlook: high demand for specialist skills will drive the market in 2026 | Computer Weekly


As we move into 2026, some clear trends will crystallise in the UK tech recruitment and talent market. The seeds of this were sown in 2025 – against a subdued economic backdrop and rising labour and other costs, businesses took a cautious approach to hiring – but there were demand hotspots for specialist tech skills and roles including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security.

Tech is fundamental to modern enterprise, which insulates it more than other sectors from economic highs and lows. Gartner predicts that global IT spend will increase by nearly 10% in 2026 – far exceeding GDP growth in most major economies. This increased spend will fuel aspects of tech hiring too.

Data is key to the AI ‘iceberg’

AI will be top of the agenda. However, the success of AI relies on a number of other contributing skills and specialisms, which will therefore be critical. A useful analogy here is an iceberg. AI is the visible tip – but there is essential work going on below the waterline.

Most crucial of all is data. It used to be said that we are all technology companies, but it’s truer to say that we are all data companies now. You can’t make AI work without good data – the focus has to be on how businesses acquire, organise, structure and secure data so that AI can turn it into meaningful insights. For that reason, we expect to see strong and growing demand for data roles (architects, engineers, scientists) as well as related areas including cyber security (data security being critical) and platform engineering.

Meanwhile, the market for generalist tech skills and roles will most likely remain at flat or see very modest growth, similar to 2025. The traditional staples of the IT workforce – testers, Java developers, routine coders – essentially perform repeatable tasks that are increasingly being outsourced or offshored, or indeed replaced by AI itself (checked and supervised by members of the human team).

However, on the positive side, there are some encouraging signs from the US, where there has been a pick-up in tech hiring volumes in the second half of 2025. With the UK and other economies generally following the US trend on around a six-month time lag, this could bode well for the market in 2026.

Against all of this, there remain some significant unknowns. There will come a tipping point around AI, a pivotal moment when, in one or more sectors, an organisation makes a significant breakthrough that enables them to truly supercharge their business. This will spark a domino effect among competitors scrambling to keep up, galvanising the tech recruitment market across the piece – somewhat akin to the e-commerce boom of the 1990s and 2000s, perhaps.

When this will happen is impossible to know – it could be during 2026, or it could be later. But at some stage, the market will shift and shift quickly.

Upskilling and reskilling

A key part of an organisation’s AI journey is having the talent needed both to develop/deploy it and to actually use it effectively. The fundamental realisation here is that AI is not a whole skillset in itself – rather, it is an add-on to other existing skills, such as engineering, data, cloud, and so on.

Therefore, it isn’t a question of mass-recruitment of “AI professionals” – who largely don’t exist anyway – but rather a case of upskilling and reskilling all the good talent you already have. This can be done through encouraging staff to safely test and experiment themselves, making formal and informal AI-related training and learning resources available, and knowledge augmentation and skills transfer from contractors who come into the business.

This should be a case of pushing at an open door, with tech staff highly motivated to upskill themselves given AI’s key importance. I expect that many hiring processes will include testing for AI proficiency and certifications in the coming years.

However, this is an area where Harvey Nash research shows businesses need to do more. AI is the biggest area of skills shortage, but over half of respondents of our 2024 leadership report admitted they have no or only limited AI upskilling programmes in place.

Talent-sourcing models

With such rapid shifts in the tech industry, companies’ talent and resourcing models are changing too. Traditional permanent and contractor hiring of technology talent is still the backbone, but more strategic and flexible solutions are also coming into play – recruiting firms must rise to this challenge. Instead of reactive hiring programmes, there is significant growth in “statement of work” agreements where recruiting firms take a real stake in processes, and “hire-train-deploy” programmes that deliver workplace-ready talent.

Organisations’ tech skill needs are evolving faster than we have ever seen before – the speed of change is only going to increase. The challenge for businesses is how they keep pace and ensure they have the right skills in the right place at the right time. It’s going to be another fast-moving and exciting year.



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Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray Is the Easiest Part of My Nightly Routine

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Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray Is the Easiest Part of My Nightly Routine


I’ve always approached taking melatonin supplements with skepticism. They seem to help every once in a while, but your brain is already making melatonin. Beyond that, I am not a fan of the sickly-sweet tablets, gummies, and other forms of melatonin I’ve come across. No one wants a bad taste in their mouth when they’re supposed to be drifting off to sleep.

This is where Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray comes in. Fellow WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins first gave it a go, and reported back favorably. This spray comes in two flavors, lavender and mint, and is sweetened with stevia. While I wouldn’t consider it a gourmet taste, I appreciate that it leans more into herbal components known for sleep and relaxation.

  • Photograph: Molly Higgins

Onnit

Instant Melatonin Mist

Keep in mind that melatonin is meant to be a sleep aid, not a cure-all. That being said, one serving of this spray has 3 milligrams of melatonin, which takes about six pumps to dispense. While 3 milligrams may not seem like a lot to really kickstart your circadian rhythm, it’s actually the ideal dosage to get your brain’s wind-down process kicked off. Some people can do more (but don’t go over 10 milligrams!), some less, but based on what experts have relayed to me, this is the preferable amount.

A couple of reminders for any supplement: consult your doctor if and when you want to incorporate anything, melatonin included, into your nighttime regimen. Your healthcare provider can help confirm that you’re not on any medications where adding a sleep aid or supplement wouldn’t feel as effective. Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray is International Genetically Modified Organism Evaluation and Notification certified (IGEN) to verify that it uses truly non-GMO ingredients.

Apart from that, there may be some trial and error on the ideal amount for you, and how much time it takes to kick in. Some may feel the melatonin sooner than others. For my colleague Molly, it took about an hour. Melatonin can’t do all the heavy lifting, so make sure you’re ready to go to bed when you take it, and that your sleep space is set up for sleep success, down to your mattress, sheets, and pillows.



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I Tested Bosch’s New Vacuum Against Shark and Dyson. It Didn’t Beat Them

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I Tested Bosch’s New Vacuum Against Shark and Dyson. It Didn’t Beat Them


There’s a lever on the back for this compression mechanism that you manually press down and a separate button to open the dustbin at the bottom. You can use the compression lever when it’s both closed and open. It did help compress the hair and dust while I was vacuuming, helping me see if I had really filled the bin, though at a certain point it doesn’t compress much more. It was helpful to push debris out if needed too, versus the times I’ve had to stick my hand in both the Dyson and Shark to get the stuck hair and dust out. Dyson has this same feature on the Piston Animal V16, which is due out this year, so I’ll be curious to see which mechanism is better engineered.

Bendable Winner: Shark

Photograph: Nena Farrell

If you’re looking for a vacuum that can bend to reach under furniture, I prefer the Shark to the Bosch. Both have a similar mechanism and feel, but the Bosch tended to push debris around when I was using it with an active bend, while the Shark managed to vacuum up debris I couldn’t get with the Bosch without lifting it and placing it on top of that particular debris (in this case, rogue cat kibble).

Accessory Winner: Dyson

Dyson pulls ahead because the Dyson Gen5 Detect comes with three attachments and two heads. You’ll get a Motorbar head, a Fluffy Optic head, a hair tool, a combination tool, and a dusting and crevice tool that’s actually built into the stick tube. I love that it’s built into the vacuum so that it’s one less separate attachment to carry around, and it makes me more likely to use it.

But Bosch does well in this area, too. You’ll get an upholstery nozzle, a furniture brush, and a crevice nozzle. It’s one more attachment than you’ll get with Shark, and Bosch also includes a wall mount that you can wire the charging cord into for storage and charging, and you can mount two attachments on it. But I will say, I like that Shark includes a simple tote bag to store the attachments in. The rest of my attachments are in plastic bags for each vacuum, and keeping track of attachments is the most annoying part of a cordless vacuum.

Build Winner: Tie

Image may contain Appliance Device Electrical Device Vacuum Cleaner Mace Club and Weapon

Photograph: Nena Farrell

All three of these vacuums have a good build quality, but each one feels like it focuses on something different. Bosch feels the lightest of the three and stands up the easiest on its own, but all three do need something to lean against to stay upright. The Dyson is the worst at this; it also needs a ledge or table wedged under the canister, or it’ll roll forward and tip over. The Bosch has a sleek black look and a colorful LED screen that will show you a picture of carpet or hardwood depending on what mode it’s vacuuming in. The vacuum head itself feels like the lightest plastic of the bunch, though.



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Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing

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Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing


Brandon Herrera, a prominent gun influencer with over 4 million followers on YouTube, said in a video posted this week that while it was unfortunate that Pretti died, ultimately the fault was his own.

“Pretti didn’t deserve to die, but it also wasn’t just a baseless execution,” Herrera said, adding without evidence that Pretti’s purpose was to disrupt ICE operations. “If you’re interfering with arrests and things like that, that’s a crime. If you get in the fucking officer’s way, that will probably be escalated to physical force, whether it’s arresting you or just getting you the fuck out of the way, which then can lead to a tussle, which, if you’re armed, can lead to a fatal shooting.” He described the situation as “lawful but awful.”

Herrera was joined in the video by former police officer and fellow gun influencer Cody Garrett, known online as Donut Operator.

Both men took the opportunity to deride immigrants, with Herrera saying “every news outlet is going to jump onto this because it’s current thing and they’re going to ignore the 12 drunk drivers who killed you know, American citizens yesterday that were all illegals or H-1Bs or whatever.”

Herrera also referenced his “friend” Kyle Rittenhouse, who has become central to much of the debate about the shooting.

On August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, traveled from his home in Illinois to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, brandishing an AR-15-style rifle, claiming he was there to protect local businesses. He killed two people and shot another in the arm that night.

Critics of ICE’s actions in Minneapolis quickly highlighted what they saw as the hypocrisy of the right’s defense of Rittenhouse and attacks on Pretti.

“Kyle Rittenhouse was a conservative hero for walking into a protest actually brandishing a weapon, but this guy who had a legal permit to carry and already had had his gun removed is to some people an instigator, when he was actually going to help a woman,” Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic strategist, said on Fox News this week.

Rittenhouse also waded into the debate, writing on X: “The correct way to approach law enforcement when armed,” above a picture of himself with his hands up in front of police after he killed two people. He added in another post that “ICE messed up.”

The claim that Pretti was to blame was repeated in private Facebook groups run by armed militias, according to data shared with WIRED by the Tech Transparency Project, as well as on extremist Telegram channels.

“I’m sorry for him and his family,” one member of a Facebook group called American Patriots wrote. “My question though, why did he go to these riots armed with a gun and extra magazines if he wasn’t planning on using them?”

Some extremist groups, such as the far-right Boogaloo movement, have been highly critical of the administration’s comments on being armed at a protest.

“To the ‘dont bring a gun to a protest’ crowd, fuck you,” one member of a private Boogaloo group wrote on Facebook this week. “To the fucking turn coats thinking disarming is the answer and dont think it would happen to you as well, fuck you. To the federal government who I’ve watched murder citizens just for saying no to them, fuck you. Shall not be infringed.”



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