Gain essential insights into the South East England electronics and embedded software talent market with our H2 2025 report. This guide explores how demand has evolved across one of the UK’s most competitive engineering regions, highlighting the skills, hiring pressures and market dynamics shaping recruitment in the second half of the year.
Back to Talent Reports
Electronics (South East England) H2 2025 Talent Report
Daanish Rauf
12th Jan 2026
Download the PDF.
Key Highlights
- Market Trends: Demand for embedded software and electronics engineers remained consistently high throughout H2 2025, with the strongest pressure at mid-to-senior level. The South East continues to be one of the most competitive regions in the UK, as defence, aerospace, automotive, medical devices and deep-tech startups all compete for the same limited talent pool.
- Emerging Skills: Employers show a strong preference for engineers with low-level C and C++, RTOS experience (including QNX, FreeRTOS and VxWorks), and embedded Linux. There is also growing demand for software-defined and connected systems spanning IoT, autonomy and edge computing, alongside expectations that engineers can debug at board level and contribute to system integration, not just application code.
- Hiring Challenges: Hiring timelines are extending as competition intensifies and most in-demand engineers are already employed. Clients report increasing difficulty attracting candidates without offering above-market salaries or flexible working, which has become a baseline expectation even for traditionally on-site roles. Many teams are becoming top-heavy, with senior engineers stretched due to a shortage of strong mid-level talent.
- Future Outlook: Demand is expected to remain strong into 2026 as investment continues across defence, mobility, medical technology and deep-tech scale-ups. Employers that can offer clear technical progression, exposure to complex system-level work and genuine flexibility will be best positioned to secure embedded and electronics talent in the South East.