The headline ambition

The UK government has set an ambition, with employers, to open around 200,000 genuine entry-level digital and technology jobs, including apprenticeships, over the next decade. That averages about 20,000 entry-level jobs a year, delivered through a single Skills Deal bringing together work experience, T Level industry placements, apprenticeships and entry-level employment. The Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan, published on 21 October, sits alongside a projection that around 800,000 digital and technology roles will need filling over the same period in sectors backed by the Industrial Strategy.

Why entry routes are narrowing

The plan argues that the first rung of the ladder has become harder to reach. Employers increasingly ask for experience even for starter roles, and the share of core cyber security adverts open to candidates with less than a year's relevant experience fell from 25 per cent in 2022 to 16 per cent in 2025. Unemployment among cyber security graduates reached 11 per cent for the 2022-23 academic year, compared with 6 per cent across graduates as a whole, underlining why a plan focused on entry routes matters for young jobseekers.

What to watch next

Through TechFirst, the government aims to reach one million young people with meaningful artificial intelligence and technology learning by 2028, including 400,000 pupils from the most disadvantaged schools. Eight employers, including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and Arm, have already committed more than 10,000 work experience and placement opportunities over three years. Placements are not jobs, however, so the test of this plan will be how many lead to apprenticeships and sustained paid employment, and whether annual progress reporting keeps those categories separate.

Sources: GOV.UK | HR Review | Business Quarter