Mid-Year IT Recruitment Trends & Insights 2025
The IT Recruitment Landscape in 2025 So Far
As we reach the halfway point of 2025, it’s clear the IT hiring landscape continues to evolve - driven by rapid innovation, increased demand for cybersecurity, and a growing emphasis on cloud infrastructure. Businesses are reviewing their IT strategies in light of budget pressures, skills shortages, and growing cyber threats. For many, this mid-year checkpoint is a crucial opportunity to assess how recruitment plans need to adapt.
At Dynamic Search, we’ve analysed hiring patterns, market data, and client activity to bring you the key trends shaping IT recruitment in the first half of 2025.
1. Cybersecurity Talent Remains a Priority
The demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to outstrip supply. From SOC analysts to cyber threat intelligence leads, businesses are seeking skilled individuals to support their growing security functions. In particular, organisations are investing in:
- Cloud security and zero-trust architecture expertise
- Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR specialists
- Incident response and detection engineers
The talent shortage means hiring managers are increasingly open to candidates from non-traditional backgrounds - such as service desk professionals moving into SOC roles.
2. Cloud and Infrastructure Roles Are Evolving
Cloud adoption is no longer a differentiator - it’s the norm. However, 2025 has seen a shift in focus from implementation to optimisation and security. Businesses are seeking infrastructure engineers and cloud specialists who can:
- Improve performance and cost-efficiency across hybrid environments
- Strengthen cloud-native security and governance
- Streamline operations through automation tools like Terraform and Ansible
We're also seeing increased demand for networking professionals who can support secure, scalable environments across multi-cloud setups.
3. Contract vs. Permanent Hiring: A Balanced Approach
The beginning of 2025 saw a notable uptick in contractor hiring, particularly for project-based work in cloud migration, security audits, and infrastructure upgrades. However, as budgets become more predictable, companies are gradually shifting back to permanent hiring to build internal capability.
The most successful organisations are adopting a blended model, using contractors for short-term gaps while investing in permanent hires to secure long-term growth.
4. Salary Pressures and Counter-Offers Are Back
Salary expectations remain high, particularly in cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure roles. Candidates with in-demand skills are receiving multiple offers - and counter-offers are increasingly common.
To remain competitive, employers must act quickly during the hiring process, offer flexible working, and provide clear progression pathways.
5. Employers Are Looking Beyond Technical Skills
Across all IT disciplines, there’s growing emphasis on soft skills and cross-functional collaboration. Clients are seeking individuals who can:
- Communicate effectively with non-technical teams
- Lead on strategy and business alignment
- Adapt to fast-changing tech stacks
This is especially true in infrastructure and networking roles, where professionals are often bridging gaps between legacy systems and modern environments.
6. The Rise of Internal Upskilling
Many businesses are choosing to invest in upskilling existing staff rather than entering competitive external hiring markets. We've seen growing interest in:
- Cybersecurity training for helpdesk and 2nd line engineers
- Certifications in Azure, AWS, and Kubernetes
- Mentoring programmes to build internal leadership in IT
Recruiters who understand internal structures can help identify which roles should be hired externally - and which can be developed internally with the right support.
Looking to Hire in Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, or Cloud?
Dynamic Search works closely with businesses across the UK to connect them with top IT talent. Whether you're scaling your security team, building out your cloud capability, or strengthening your infrastructure function, our specialist recruitment services can help.
Learn more about how we work and how we can support your next hire on our services page.