Technology employers are adopting skills-based recruitment more rapidly than the wider UK market as shortages of specialist candidates continue to constrain hiring, according to research from Michael Page.
The recruiter’s 2026 Talent Trends research found that 85% of technology organisations now assess candidates using demonstrated skills rather than relying principally on qualifications or previous career history. The corresponding figure across UK employers is 66%.
The shift is taking place in a relatively tight technology labour market. Only 38% of technology professionals surveyed said they were actively looking for a new role, compared with a national average of 50%.
At the same time, 59% of technology hiring managers identified the limited availability of skilled candidates as one of the largest barriers they face when recruiting.
Skills-based hiring is intended to widen the pool by focusing on whether candidates can perform the work rather than using previous job titles, degrees, or conventional career paths as proxies for ability.
The approach can be particularly relevant in technology, where tools, platforms, and disciplines can develop faster than formal qualification systems. Employers may need skills that did not exist in the same form when experienced candidates entered the labour market.
Michael Page found that technology hiring managers value creativity, analytical thinking, communication, resilience, and adaptability alongside specialist technical expertise.
More than half of respondents said skills-based hiring can increase fairness and reduce bias, while a similar proportion said it makes matching candidates to current and future capability requirements easier.
Candidate attitudes are also supportive. Some 61% of technology professionals said they were more likely to apply to an employer that hires on demonstrated skills rather than education or career history, compared with 58% across the national sample.
James Barrett, managing director for technology and consulting at Michael Page, said: “The bigger challenge is the scarcity of genuinely high-demand talent, concentrated in areas such as data architecture, business change and cyber security.”
The research also shows how artificial intelligence is becoming embedded on both sides of recruitment. Some 72% of technology hiring managers said they now use AI during the hiring process.
Reported applications include reviewing CVs, compiling interview notes, and supporting hiring-panel decisions. Half of technology hiring managers said they would be more likely to recruit a candidate they believed had used AI effectively.
Technology employers also appear more confident in identifying AI-assisted applications than the wider market. Only 18% said it was difficult to determine whether a candidate had used AI, compared with 28% nationally.
Barrett said: “The issue is not whether it’s used, but whether it’s used transparently and effectively.”
Changing the assessment process does not resolve the underlying shortage of specialist capability. A company can remove unnecessary credential requirements and reach a broader group of candidates, but it still competes with other employers for people with scarce experience in areas including cybersecurity, data, AI, and transformation.
Technology businesses are competing for that talent not only with each other but also with banks, retailers, manufacturers, professional-services groups, government bodies, and other organisations investing in digital change.
Retention and internal development therefore remain important alongside recruitment. Employers can build capability by retraining existing staff, creating clearer progression routes, and identifying transferable skills that allow employees to move into shortage areas.
Skills-based recruitment also puts greater pressure on assessment design. Practical exercises and structured interviews need to test capabilities that are genuinely relevant to the role rather than replacing one arbitrary screening mechanism with another.
The strongest candidates can also afford to be selective when relatively few are actively looking for work. Pay remains part of the decision, but role quality, leadership, flexibility, progression, and the credibility of the organisation’s technology strategy can influence whether experienced specialists are willing to move.
Michael Page’s wider Talent Trends programme draws on almost 60,000 respondents globally, including more than 3,000 in the UK. The technology findings indicate that recruitment methods are changing faster than the supply of skilled people available to hire.
Skills-first processes may help employers identify a wider range of capable candidates, but building sufficient technical talent will continue to depend on training, retention, mobility, and investment in the workforce as much as recruitment itself.
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