IT & cyber security UK job market report: Trends, insights, and statistics [January 2026]
Based on January 2026 data taken from Adzuna, one of the UK's largest job search engines, we've identified the clear trends and figures that define the state of the booming Cyber and IT Security sector job market today.
What's on this page?
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- Cyber and IT security salary trends
- Trends in demand for cyber and IT professionals
- Industries hiring cyber and IT security professionals in 2026
- Common benefits offers for cyber and IT roles
- Trends in remote and hybrid working for cyber and IT roles
- Demand by location for cyber and IT roles
- Where this data comes from and what it means
- Is a cyber or IT career for you?
IT & cyber salaries are 24% above the national average, and rising
- The mean UK salary for cyber and IT security roles overall in 2025 was £51,734, which is 24% above the national mean salary.
- The mean salary has stayed steady for these roles, with a very strong growth trajectory (matching industry demand) since November 2025, growing from £42,416 to £51,234 (20% growth)
- Even entry-level salaries for IT security and cyber roles can range from £35,000 up to £75,000. Senior roles can reach as high as £180,000+.
Demand for IT & Cyber Security roles rose 20% October to December 2025
- 11,381 unique job posting for IT and cyber security roles were posted over 2025, which Adzuna rates as 'HIGH' compared to the average for all occupations in this location.
- 10,643 new job postings appeared over this time, which, again, Adzuna rates as showing 'HIGH' demand
- After a slight slow-down over the Christmas period, we can see a sharp uptick in demand in January, which is predicted to continue growing, and to spike again in April. This makes it a perfect time to start upskilling ready for a Spring recruitment drive.
Nursing & healthcare industries among the top hiring IT and cyber security professionals
The demand for cyber and IT security professionals continues to increase across diverse sectors into 2026. As the number of cyber attacks affecting all types of businesses rises, organisations are feeling the critical importance of having security professionals within their workforce.
As technology evolves and the need for effective and certified security professionals expands, cyber and IT security plays a pivotal role in protecting systems and data, and identifying and responding to threats across various growing fields.
This data is from October 2025 until 23rd January 2026.
Top benefits for IT and cyber security roles include flexible working and pension schemes
- This work benefits data is calculated from 2,218 (48.6%) of the overall unique job postings from October 2025 to January 2026 - these 2,218 postings contained salary and benefits data.
- 2,853 (62.5%) unique postings offered at least one benefit.
31.2% of IT & cyber security roles offer hybrid working
- 31.2% of cyber and IT security job roles were listed on Adzuna as remote (6.5%) OR flexible (24.7%) roles
- 68.8% required on-site work
- 6.5% were fully remote
The South East sees most demand for IT cyber and security roles
London leads data job demand with cyber and IT security job openings on Adzuna, reflecting its status as a major business hub. The South East follows, and the North West thereafter for October 2025 to January 2026.
Where does this data come from and what does it mean?
To create this report, we've partnered with Adzuna, one of the UK's biggest job search engine platforms and an extremely comprehensive source of job market data.
Based on millions of job postings, the Adzuna Intelligence database gives us a better understanding of job or specific role demand in the cyber and IT security sector.
It also helps us identify trends related to salary, geographic location within the UK, the kinds of benefits that are being offered to cyber and IT security professionals, and much more.
These insights into the cyber security job market provide an overview of October 2025 to January 2026. In some cases, we provide data going back to January 2025 so you can compare last quarter against the previous periods.
The purpose of this? To give you insight into the job market that can guide your career choices as well as decision about training and development within the cyber security sector, ensuring better alignment with market demands.
The following cyber and IT security job titles were included when collecting the data for this report:
- Cyber Security Analyst
- Cyber Security Architect
- Cyber Security Consultant
- Cyber Security Engineer
- Cyber Security Manager
- IT Security Administrator
- IT Security Analyst
- IT Security Engineer
- IT Security Technician
- IT Security Manager
Find out if a career in cyber security is right for you
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