With so many career paths to choose from, navigating the job market can be extremely challenging. That’s why we at BusinessNameGenerator.com were keen to unearth the UK’s most sought-after and highly coveted professions in 2023, alongside revealing the companies that are currently leading the way in the UK when hiring for those positions.
Before delving into the intricacies of the contemporary job market, we took a seed list of over 40 jobs considered to be on the rise and in demand in 2023 from Glassdoor, LinkedIn and Edmissions. These professions were evaluated and ranked by looking at a number of factors including:
- The average salary for that job role,
- The average number of applicants for that job title,
- Search volume data around that job role,
- The average Glassdoor statistics for companies that tend to hire for that job role, including employee benefits ratings and company diversity ratings.
With this in mind, it’s time to unveil the job roles that were deemed the most desirable, and the companies that are not only hiring for those professions, but also ranking highly when it comes to their ratings too.
Key Findings
- Jobs in tech, computing and engineering lead the way for in-demand job roles in the UK in 2023.
- Machine Learning Engineer was revealed as the No 1 job role in the UK in 2023.
- Product Manager roles averaged the highest score on salary, job applicants and search volume factors.
- Companies hiring for Software Engineers rank No 1 for Glassdoor statistics.
- Amazon, BT, Tesco and the NHS all rank within the top 10 workplaces most wanted.
What Are the Best Job Roles in 2023?
When choosing a job role, candidates will consider multiple factors before committing to a position, including aspects like salary, employee benefits, working hours and company culture. To help make that decision a little easier for applicants, here are the UK’s best job roles in 2023.
Machine Learning Engineer is the UK’s No 1 Job Role in 2023
Our data established that a machine learning engineer was the number one job role in the UK in 2023. The job role received a very impressive overall score of 74 out of 90. Machine learning engineer roles warrant one of the highest average salaries in the UK at £66,322.
Unsurprisingly, machine learning engineer roles receive more applicants than the majority of job roles, with our findings suggesting that these types of roles receive on average 199.4 applicants.
Companies that hire for machine learning engineer positions were also found to be one of the highest scoring on Glassdoor when it comes to employing diversity, with an average Glassdoor diversity rating of 4.2 out of 5 between the companies tested.
Software Engineer Roles Are Second Best
Following closely behind as the second-best job role in the UK is software engineer, scoring a significant 73.4 out of 90. With 26,000 searches for this job title and 411,834 companies in the UK offering this role, it is an extremely sought-after career choice.
Those in a software engineering role can expect to earn an average yearly salary of £55,317, plus companies hiring for this role having an impressive Glassdoor rating of 4 out of 5 on average.
Product Manager Roles Place in Third
Product manager emerged as the third most favourable job role in the rankings, with an advantageous score of 66.8 out of 90. Those following this career path can expect to earn an annual average salary of £63,826 plus other company benefits, with companies offering this role receiving a 4.1 out of 5 for their range of benefits. Companies hiring for a product manager have an average of 10,057,016 followers and have around 256,793 employees.
Cloud Engineer Roles Are Up in Fourth Place
Ranking as the fourth most popular job role in the UK is cloud engineer, totalling an overall score of 65.8 out of 90. On average, companies hiring for this role scored 4.2 for their company benefits and 4.0 for their diversity and inclusion, gaining them a favourable 4.0 out of 5 on Glassdoor.
Cloud engineers can expect an average yearly salary of £55,671 and the bonus of working in a thriving and diverse environment. Companies offering this role have on average as many as 414,771 employees across the UK.
Data Scientist Completes The Top 5
The role of Data Scientist completes the top 5 best jobs in the UK in 2023, with a score of 64.7 out of 90. With an earning potential of £55,520 on average annually, and companies offering this role scoring 4.1 out of 5 for their diversity and 4.2 out of 5 for the range of benefits they offer – the role of data scientist carries many perks for those in the industry.
What Are the Most In-Demand Jobs in 2023?
From job posts receiving hundreds of applicants to job openings racking up thousands of online searches, which UK job roles emerged as the most sought-after and in-demand in 2023?
Product Manager Roles Are most Sought After
Our findings established that product manager roles were the most sought-after in the UK in 2023. On average, these types of roles received 134.4 applicants per post on LinkedIn. Furthermore, the average salary for product manager roles was £63.826.
Meanwhile, the average monthly search volume in the UK for the term ‘product manager jobs’ was 14,000 searches. All of these factors contributed to the product manager job role receiving the high score of 26.2 out of 30 in this section.
Machine Learning Engineer roles Hit Average Salary Highs
The job role of machine learning engineer ranked as the second most in-demand, with an impressive overall score of 24.5 out of 30. The highly desirable job has 3,800 people searching for it, alongside 199.4 applicants per post on LinkedIn, on average. Those in the position of machine learning engineer will also take home an excellent average yearly salary of £66,322.
Data Scientist Roles Are The Third Most-Desired Job
Data scientist emerged as the third most-desired job role in the UK, with a favourable score of 21.8 out of 30. A job post for this role racks up on average 107.2 applications from potential candidates on LinkedIn, whilst the job role was searched for online 18,000 times. Those fulfilling a career as a data scientist can also expect to earn an average annual salary of £55,520.
Java Developer Role Ranks Joint Third
The next job role, In joint third place is java developer. The role has been searched for 7,000 times, and an average of 124.6 candidates applied for the position on job posts on LinkedIn. The average yearly salary for a Java developer is £57,280, contributing to the role receiving a respectable score of 21.8 out of 30.
UX Designer Role Completes The Top Five
UX designer also ranked in joint third place, earning a high score of 21.8 out of 30 overall. The job title had 7,400 searches online and an average of 225 candidates applied to job posts for the role on LinkedIn. The average salary for this job role was calculated as £53,350.
Best Companies for the Most In-Demand Jobs
It’s undeniable that some of the biggest, most successful companies will be hiring for the UK’s best job roles. Still, a big test of how good a company is to work for is how the company is rated by employees (both previous and present) on Glassdoor.
Taking what Glassdoor listed as the top ten companies for 40+ job roles, we used five key Glassdoor statistics as factors to calculate an average score for each job role. So which job roles emerged as having the best workplace environment, based on the companies hiring for them?
Companies Hiring For Software Engineers Earn The Highest Scores
Our findings established that on average, companies that hire for software engineer roles tend to have the best overall Glassdoor ratings, with an average of 4.0. Companies that hire for software engineer roles also tend to have the highest diversity scores (4.2) and employee benefits scores (4.2) on Glassdoor. All of these ratings contribute to companies that hire for software engineer roles receiving a 43.4 out of 50 score for Glassdoor statistics in this campaign.
According to Glassdoor, some of the leading companies in the UK for hiring software engineers include global companies like Amazon, BT and Google.
Companies Hiring For Cloud Engineer Roles Are in Demand
Companies looking to employ cloud engineers usually had the highest-rated results out of those reviewed, with an overall score of 41.8 out of 50. Contributing to this was an impressive Glassdoor rating of 4.0 out of 5, made up of a 4.0/5 for the benefits offered to employees and a 4.2/ 5 for the companies’ diversity.
When it comes to companies hiring cloud engineers, some of the major companies worldwide are on the lookout, including the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Cloudreach and IBM.
Companies Hiring For Machine Learning Engineer Roles Are Highly Rated
The results found that companies employing machine learning engineers received the best ratings for their company culture and diversity, totalling an impressive 41.1 out of 50. Earning themselves a Glassdoor rating of 4.0 out of 5, companies hiring machine learning engineers also received a diversity rating of 4.2 and an employee benefits rating of 4.3.
Companies included in these results span a range of industries, from technology (Apple and Samsung Electronics) to food delivery services like (Deliveroo) and even social media (TikTok).
Companies Hiring For Marketing Manager Roles Dominate The Market
It emerged that companies hiring for the role of marketing manager were amongst the highest rated, gaining an advantageous score of 38.3 out of 50. These companies averaged a 4.2 rating for their diversity and 3.8 for their range of benefits, scoring them a respectable 4.0 out of 5 Glassdoor rating.
Companies falling into this group range from media and entertainment companies like Walt Disney and Sky, to packaged goods companies like Unilever and L’Oreal.
Companies Hiring For Full Stack Engineer Roles Our Interest
Findings show that companies looking to employ a full stack engineer have the fifth-best ratings on Glassdoor, earning a score of 35.4 out of 50. Receiving average Glassdoor ratings of 4.2 for their diversity and 3.9 for the benefits they offer, the likes of Barclays, Google, Apple, Accenture and Cognizant Technology Solutions are currently hiring for full stack engineers.
Who Are The Most Wanted Workplaces in 2023?
When it comes to the UK’s best job roles, some companies are successful enough to be hiring for a number of them, making them all the more desirable to prospective candidates. But which companies come out on top for their diverse job offerings?
Amazon Leads The Way
Amazon is one of the biggest hiring companies in the UK, as it appeared in Glassdoor’s top ten companies to work for in 20 out of 40 job roles. Amazon is primarily an online retailer, but some of the job roles that Amazon offered were as diverse as business development manager, HR manager and software engineer.
Ranking as the second biggest company hiring for the most-wanted roles is Barclays, with 13 out of 40 job roles. The bank, based in London employs a range of varied roles from customer service manager (or assistant), enterprise architect, and operations manager.
Barclays and BT Are Amongst The Biggest Hiring Companies
In joint second place alongside Barclays is BT, with the company already employing 13/40 of the most desirable job roles. The telecommunications company offers roles in several different areas, from enterprise architect to finance manager and HR Business Partner.
Accenture, an information technology services and consulting company, emerged as the third company boasting the most in-demand job roles with 12 out of 40. Offering a range of positions from content designer, project manager, full stack engineer, data engineer and java developer.
The NHS Offers In-Demand Job Roles
Despite the issue of inadequate pay for NHS workers and multiple job cuts being a persistent frustration and concern across the UK, the NHS still scored 9 out of 40 in the rankings.
This could be attributed to many people being drawn to the company due to its impact on the lives of millions of people and the pride that comes with public service. The best UK job roles currently existing in the NHS are project manager, dentist, HR manager, care assistant and finance manager.
Supermarkets Score Highly When it Comes to Hiring
When comparing supermarkets, Tesco reigned supreme with 10 out of 40 jobs on offer, whilst Sainsbury’s offers 7 out of 40.
Tesco’s job offering included customer service manager (or assistant), mobile engineer, personal shopper, sales manager, delivery driver, diversity & inclusion manager, delivery manager, front end engineer, and UX designer.
Sainsbury’s hired for a lot of the same roles as Tesco including personal shopper, customer service manager (or assistant), delivery driver and more.
Conclusion
In 2023, as a testament to where our collective working lives are heading, so many of the top jobs in the UK are based in tech, computing and engineering. Job roles such as machine learning engineer, software engineer and cloud engineer led the way when it came to top salaries, a vast availability of jobs and wide interest in people applying for those roles, plus a large number of companies with strong Glassdoor statistics hiring for those roles.
Many of the top jobs are found at some of the biggest companies operating in the UK, with global corporations such as Amazon and Meta hiring for most of the current in-demand job roles. British institutions such as the NHS, Tesco, BT and Barclays were also established to be hiring for many of the most in-demand job roles in the UK, including some job roles that many people might not associate with these brands, such as UX designer and content manager.
Of course, there is no such thing as the number one job role or number one company to work for. For every person, there is a career path that is perfectly suited to them. What is clear is that in the UK in 2023, there is still an abundance of fantastic opportunities and careers for people to get involved in.
Methodology
We used seed lists from Glassdoor, LinkedIn and Edmissions to establish a top 40 list of the job titles that are the most on the rise and in demand in the UK today. There were no initial metrics behind these seed lists.
We then took to Glassdoor to see what it listed as the top 10 companies hiring for each of those 40 job titles. We analysed the Glassdoor stats of these companies to calculate how the average company for each of these 40 job titles scores when it comes to things like employee benefits and diversity, plus the average size of the companies that tend to hire for each of these 40 positions, as well as the overall Glassdoor rating. We also looked at the average number of LinkedIn followers that the top 10 companies hiring for each job title had and factored that into our scoring.
Next, we took to LinkedIn and looked at the top five job postings for each of our 40 job titles. From this, we worked out what the average salary being offered for each of our 40 job roles is, plus the average number of applicants that a posting for each of our 40 job roles received.
Our final metric was testing the search volume results for each of our 40 job roles, for this we used the search term “[job title] jobs” e.g. “Software Engineer jobs”.