UK Telecoms Recruitment Insights 2024

APRIL 2024

The biggest talking point in the UK telecoms market at the moment is the ongoing merger between Three UK and Vodafone. Whilst announced last year, an element of doubt has been cast recently due to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) announcing an upcoming investigation. 2024 hasn't started with the optimism that I predicted last year and this is partly due to network rollouts generally being slower than expected. From speaking with telecoms professionals in my network, it sounds as though the next few months will be similar, followed by an increase in recruitment activity in Q3 and beyond. 

However, it's not all doom and gloom, there are areas with the UK telecoms market seeing high levels of recruitment activity, mainly within sales. We are noticing a demand from telecoms companies for sales roles e.g. Business Development Managers and Sales Directors. The reason for this is likely due to such companies wanting to lay the foundations and be in a position that when the market picks up they will be in prime spot to win new business.  We are also seeing a demand for Network Architects too. Overall, a slow start to 2024 but hope isn't lost and I expect the desire for sales professionals to continue in the coming months, followed by an increase in recruitment activities from the latter part of the Q2 and beginning of Q3.

OCTOBER 2023

With revenue of £31.8bn in the last 12 months the UK telecoms market grew compared to 2021, and when an 8.5% increase in growth is predicted by the end of 2023, the outlook for the telecoms industry in the UK is looking very positive. As stated by the research news website, Statista, “The deployment of next-generation networks has been a core focus for operators, with fibre broadband and 5G mobile services bringing faster download speeds to consumers and businesses across the British Isles.”

Back in January, I predicted that the most activity within the UK telecoms recruitment market for the next six months would be: acquisition, design & construction, project management and network engineering within IP, cloud, and software. Since then, we have made multiple placements within Acquisition, Design & Construction this year and we still have several positions open at this time as our clients ramp up the upgrade and roll out of the UK’S 5G wireless networks. As expected, our clients have also been hiring for Project Managers and network engineering skill sets.

Top 5 jobs in demand

1. Acquisition Managers
2. Site Design Engineers
3. Build Managers
4. Business Development Managers
5. Infrastructure Architect

Skill sets in demand

1. Acquisition, Design & Construction
2. Google Cloud Platform
3. Solution Architecture
4. Infrastructure Architecture
5. Security Engineering

My predictions for the next 6 months will be the further need for professionals within Acquisition, Design & Construction in addition to Business Development Managers with telecommunications experience as companies look to win new business opportunities in their respective specialist product domains.

January 2023: UK telecoms Market: Current in-demand jobs and predictions for 2023  

With $54bn market expected to grow at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of more than 2% between 2021 and 2026, the UK telecoms market is seeing plenty of recruitment opportunities opening up. Despite, figures from data website Statista concluding that the UK’s telecoms market value has decreased during the last decade, the rate of its decline was the lowest between 2020 and 2021 (£440m), compared to the £4.21bn reduction between 2017 and 2018. One could argue that the UK’s telecom market is in a better shape now than five years ago. With that said, here are the hottest telecoms jobs in the UK in 2023.  

The most in-demand telecom jobs in the UK. 

Pendy Hou, from our London office highlights the five telecommunications jobs he is currently seeing more clients recruit for, and what is causing the surge in demand. The nationwide rollout of 5G sites and upgrades is resulting in a big demand for Acquisition Managers, Design Managers, Build Managers and Delivery Managers. Software Architects are also in high demand due to telecom and IT convergence. With more reliance on software and software products, this is expected to continue throughout 2023.  

Skill sets in demand 

To help with the ongoing projects occurring across the UK, the skill sets that telecommunications businesses are seeking include: telecoms professionals with experience in acquisition, design & construction of telecom sites; and software experts with experience in cloud technology. If you are a telecoms professional and the above describes you, browse the latest jobs on First Point Group’s website as you’re in high demand. 

Quickfire predictions for 2023 

The areas that we think will have the most activity within the UK telecoms recruitment market over the next six months are: acquisition, design & construction, project management and network engineering within IP, cloud, and software. To find out more about the UK telecoms market, contact Pendy or browse our website to see the latest telecoms jobs in the UK. 

October 2022: Three of the hottest telecommunications jobs in the UK in 2022.

AREAS IN DEMAND

5G

The continued rollout of 5G across the UK as well as upgrade projects across the operators has resulted in a demand for resources either directly with the operators or through suppliers with the end-customers being the operators. There is also continued work for swapping out Huawei 5G equipment.

Expansion of Network

The expansion of networks is resulting in a demand for resources in in the Network Operation Centre (NOC). There is further demand for IP networking experience and the demand for professionals with Cisco/Juniper certifications to monitor and support their networks.

Project Managers

There is a demand for Project Managers across a wide range of technology backgrounds but in particularly for Cloud / SDN / NFV. There seems be an increase in collaboration and the integration of equipment from different vendors so candidates with exposure to similar projects are preferred

Below are the three most in-demand jobs in telecoms in the UK market along with their typical job description:

HOT JOB ONE: 5G DELIVERY MANAGER

• Support the project team to deliver the Design & Build activities.
• Maintain an up-to-date program of works in the client internal database that records progress against deliverable activities for each live site in the delivery manager work stack.
• Managing activity in a virtual team environment and ensuring all planning and reporting is prompt and correct.
• Programming of works in line with customer prioritization and volume targets including leading a detailed site-level gating activity prior to accepting planned works into the program.
• Ensuring works are completed within the KPI’s set out by the project and driving quality in all aspects of the delivery process.
• Ensure the partner reviews and resolves any documentation or site defect within the agreed KPI’s for the issue type.

HOT JOB TWO: NETWORK SUPPORT ENGINEER

• Join a team of highly skilled engineers covering 24/7 support.
• Provide 3rd line technical support within a multi-vendor environment.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance to customers throughout their journey, from Activation to Decommissioning.
• Shape the Customer Experience by delivering excellent post-sales operational support, including but not limited to Service Activation, Case Management, and Incident Management. 
• Lead complex troubleshooting with Distribution Partners, relying on Principal Engineers and technical teams when appropriate.
• Ensure fluid and constant communication flow with Distribution Partners during troubleshooting, while managing internal stakeholders.
• Enrich the knowledge Database capitalizing on operational feedback.

HOT JOB THREE: PROJECT MANAGER

• Detailed planning and execution of Software Upgrades considering e2e prerequisites, dependencies, and priority calls within the Programme.
• Ensure complex, multiple dependencies, upgrades are tested and agreed upon with all stakeholders before being deployed.
• Ensure consistent e2e horizontal sync across the program for SW upgrades.
• Ensure client and end-customer processes are applied as requested by the Programme Leadership Team.
• Ensure adequate and transparent communications channels throughout the full project organization, both internal and Customer. 
• Ensure that all reports are created and delivered as needed for the Programme and requested by the Customer/Client management.
• Ensure exact resource forecasting and associated financial approvals.
• Ensure Project Managers/Technical Project Managers are delivering the project’s scope with optimized cost as much as practical as per the approved budget.

The telecommunications jobs market in the UK is currently booming and 2022 is expected to see exponential growth. If you are considering a career move for a new job in telecommunications, contact me or our team in London. 

September 2022: Three Hottest Telecoms Jobs in the UK

In his latest article, experienced telecoms recruiter Pendy Hou, from First Point Group’s London office discusses the main growth areas within the UK telecommunications market and the latest hot jobs in telecommunications. In May 2022, First Point Group released a market update highlighting the various investments being made into the UK telecoms market, helping to fuel the £30+ billion market. Recruitment in the UK telecoms market is buoyant and has been throughout 2022. Pendy highlights the three most sought-after telco jobs in the UK right now with their respective job descriptions, then predicts what he believes will be the main factors affecting the UK telco market in the coming months.

The 3 most in-demand jobs in telecommunications

1. Delivery Manager

• Lead and coordinate delivery requirements with respect to construction activities and other activities as they arise relating to the construction and upgrade of sites.
• Planning and management of construction services needed to secure an efficient delivery process and a timely customer acceptance.
• Good people management and team motivation skills are a must!
• Excellent planning skills. Ensure planning information is maintained in the project tools and that all documentation is handled in a structured manner and uploaded to the required repositories.

2. Design Manager

• Driving all design dependencies for multiple projects on major mobile operator’s network from design phases of site to build
• Design lead at the front end of the design to the back end of the build, driving through design dependencies and supporting and clearing any design issues
• In-house technical lead for site meetings with Internal staff, Stakeholders, ASP’s, and Customer

3. Project Manager

• Customer and partner engagement. Manage these relationships by building confidence and trust with clear communications and assured expectation management
• Establish and communicate clear project goals and baselines against scope, timelines and (/or) cost, even when delivering in Agile increments.
• Work with Solution Architects to break down project deliverables across several delivery teams, secure the necessary resources and plan realistic delivery dates by driving out inter-team dependencies and risks
• Identify agile delivery opportunities, with constant cross checks on end business value
• Drive project execution: track delivery, expect change, own change management, pro-actively seek and resolve blockers

Predictions for the UK telecoms market in the next 6 months
The main focus for the telecom’s recruitment market will be sourcing the right talent for businesses. There is currently a high, continuous demand for telecom professionals, specifically the above job roles, due to nationwide rollouts of telco projects. Currently, it’s very much a candidate-driven market, telco professionals have multiple options and offers, which is great news for them, but it means that businesses need to showcase their company, projects, and roles in the best possible fashion to be the most appealing. From a recruitment perspective, because it’s a candidate-driven market, our clients are finding new alternative recruitment methods to fill the roles. One of the most popular ideas is to hire graduates and training them. This plan can be good for the long-term health of UK telco businesses, and the industry as a whole, but to fill a short-term telco job, businesses may need to increase salaries in order to recruit the telecoms professionals that they need. Hopefully, the changes to the IR35 rules may tempt many that took permanent roles to go back into contracting and shake up the market slightly come April ’23. There is also talk of adding several roles to the “approved” visa list to ease especially the fibre rollout skills shortage in the short term. This again will be for 2023.

May 2022: The UK telco market goes from strength to strength in 2022

The UK telecommunications market continues experiencing a surge in activity. From the increase in Open RAN investment, to the UK Government’s £10 million bid to make UK ‘a world leader in telecoms R&D’, or the UK and Japanese Government’s promising further collaborations, or the UK Government launching the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) - organisation dedicated to expanding innovation in the UK telecoms sector and diversifying the country’s supply chain. To use a famous quote from a UK telco company ‘The Future’s Bright’. 

Open RAN – the good times are coming 

The UK government has committed £250 million of investment to ‘support and accelerate’ the development of ‘open and interoperable RAN technology’. This is great for the UK telco market, and we are certain to see an increase in Open RAN recruitment over the coming months. Over the last 12 months we have seen telco companies working with recruitment agencies specialising in Open RAN recruitment. Philip Jones, Regional Head based in our London office said:

“With so much activity and development happening in the UK telecoms market, especially around Open RAN and Disaggregated Networks, these are exciting times. We look forward to seeing how all this activity will affect telecommunications recruitment and the creation of jobs in telecoms. Watch this space…” 

As quoted in Telecoms.com “Open RAN is becoming a hot topic of discussion within the telecom community of the United Kingdom. The government has set a goal to boost Open RAN deployments considerably, aiming to reach a target of 35% of the country’s mobile network traffic being carried over Open RAN by 2030.” 

Getting ahead of the game are Vodafone and Samsung who, as reported in RCRWirelessNews, are set to expand their Open RAN sites to 2,500 and be completed by 2027, covering large parts of the South West and Wales. 

UK and Japan Collaboration 

In March 2022, the UK and Japanese Government’s announced their intention to work closely on telecoms supply chain issues and developing new tech e.g. 6G and OpenRAN. As reported in telecoms.com Yuji Sasaki, Japan’s Vice-Minister of Policy Coordination for International Affairs Yuji Sasaki said: “It is my great pleasure to announce the telecommunications cooperation framework between Japan and the UK which will promote vendor diversification.” How this collaboration plays out we will wait and see but it is certainly exciting for the UK telco market. 

UKTIN 

UKTIN as it sounds will be mainly focused on Open RAN, a technology that the UK government has seen as a method to boost competition within the telco sector and reduce reliance on single vendors. The creation of UKTIN was first proposed last year by the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce, a government body tasked with expanding the UK telecoms sector’s ecosystem. In December 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced a ‘joint ambition’ alongside the UK’s mobile operators that 35% of the country’s mobile data traffic would be carried over Open RAN architecture by 2030 as reported in total telecom.