Research
Data engineer jobs: what the research says
Data engineers build the pipelines and warehouses that analysts and AI tools depend on. The role pays well and is growing as a share of UK IT job adverts, but very few adverts are for beginners. We reviewed the research to see what this means for graduates, and why we teach engineering as an upgrade once you have trained as an analyst.
Summary
Five key findings
- Part of an IT group in critical demand. The ONS classes data engineers in the group “IT business analysts, architects and systems designers”, which Skills England rated as in critical demand in 2025. The rating covers the whole group, not data engineers alone.
- Employers expect data infrastructure jobs to grow. In the World Economic Forum’s global employer survey, big data specialists were the fastest-growing job to 2030, and data warehousing specialists were sixth.
- It pays well. The median advertised salary for UK permanent data engineer jobs was £70,000, against £50,000 for data analysts, in the six months to 26 September 2026. These figures cover all experience levels.
- Its share of IT adverts is rising. Data engineer jobs made up 1.77% of the UK permanent IT job adverts tracked by ITJobsWatch, up from 1.30% a year earlier and 1.47% two years earlier.
- Few adverts are for beginners. ITJobsWatch recorded 11 “Junior Data Engineer” and 1 “Graduate Data Engineer” adverts, against 2,081 for “Data Engineer”. Nine in ten data engineer adverts that gave a salary offered at least £45,000. Building engineering skills on top of analyst skills is a practical route in.
1. Demand in the UK
Data engineers sit in a group in critical demand
Skills England rates the wider occupation group, not data engineers alone. The ONS job coding index places “data engineer”, “big data engineer” and “data warehouse developer” in the group “IT business analysts, architects and systems designers”.
- Critical demand. Skills England rated this group as in critical demand in its 2025 analysis, meaning substantially higher demand than usual.
- Three signs of demand. Pay growth, and the number of job adverts and visas compared with the size of the workforce, all pointed to critical demand.
- A large group. About 193,200 people work in these roles in the UK, including many who are not data engineers.
Skills England publishes these as official statistics in development, based on data up to 2025. They measure the level of demand, not a shortage of workers.
Critical demand
IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, the group that includes data engineers.
Skills England, Occupations in demand 2025; ONS, SOC 2020 coding index
2. The outlook
Employers expect data infrastructure jobs to grow
The World Economic Forum surveyed more than 1,000 employers worldwide about the jobs they expect to grow between 2025 and 2030. The two fastest-growing data roles are the ones closest to data engineering.
The 15 fastest-growing jobs, 2025 to 2030
Ranked by expected net growth (%). Data roles are highlighted.
- Big data specialistsData
- Fintech engineers
- AI and machine learning specialists
- Software and applications developers
- Security management specialists
- Data warehousing specialistsData
- Autonomous and electric vehicle specialists
- UI and UX designers
- Light truck or delivery services drivers
- Internet of things specialists
- Data analysts and scientistsData
- Environmental engineers
- Information security analysts
- DevOps engineers
- Renewable energy engineers
Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025, Figure 2.2. Global survey.
- Big data specialists come first. They are the fastest-growing job in the survey, and the report’s UK profile names them among the roles expected to see significant growth by 2030.
- Data warehousing specialists are sixth. Designing and running warehouses is a core part of data engineering.
- AI and big data lead the skills list. Employers expect them to be the fastest-growing skills.
These are employers’ expectations, gathered worldwide. They are not a UK forecast for data engineers.
3. Pay and adverts
Well paid, and a growing share of IT adverts
ITJobsWatch tracks UK permanent IT job adverts. In the six months to 26 September 2026, data engineer adverts paid more than analyst adverts and made up a bigger share of the market than a year earlier.
Median advertised salary, UK permanent jobs
Six months to 26 September 2026. All experience levels.
Source: ITJobsWatch, data engineer and data analyst job statistics.
Show the data as a table
| Job title | Median advertised salary | Nine in ten adverts offer at least |
|---|---|---|
| Data engineer | £70,000 | £45,000 |
| Data analyst | £50,000 | £32,496 |
1.77%
Data engineer jobs as a share of UK permanent IT job adverts, up from 1.30% a year earlier and 1.47% two years earlier.
Skills most often asked for
Share of UK permanent job adverts with each job title that mention the skill
| Skill | Data engineer adverts | Data analyst adverts |
|---|---|---|
| SQL | 37.0% | 47.0% |
| Python | 33.9% | 35.6% |
| AI | 19.5% | 29.1% |
SQL and Python are among the skills data engineer adverts ask for most, and both are core to the Data Analyst track. Source: ITJobsWatch, six months to 26 September 2026.
4. Getting in
Few adverts are for beginners
Data engineering is a strong career, but most adverts are for people with experience. That shapes how we teach it.
- Few junior job titles. In the six months, ITJobsWatch recorded 11 “Junior Data Engineer” and 1 “Graduate Data Engineer” adverts, against 2,081 for “Data Engineer”.
- Salaries start higher. Nine in ten data engineer adverts that gave a salary offered at least £45,000. For data analyst adverts, the figure was £32,496. That points to more experienced roles.
- Analysts are moving across. dbt Labs, which surveys data teams each year, reports some data analysts taking on data modelling work, moving closer to engineering.
That is why our Data Engineering upgrade comes after the Data Analyst track. You learn the SQL and Python that data engineer adverts ask for most, and you can apply for analyst roles as soon as you pass. Then you add the engineering skills that employers pay more for. The upgrade costs £3,000, and your Job Payment rises by £2,000.
Where advertised salaries start
Nine in ten UK adverts that gave a salary offered at least this much (the 10th percentile), six months to 26 September 2026
Source: ITJobsWatch, 10th percentile of advertised salaries for data engineer and data analyst jobs.
Show the data as a table
| Job title | 10th percentile salary |
|---|---|
| Data engineer | £45,000 |
| Data analyst | £32,496 |
5. The full picture
What the research doesn’t say
Good decisions need the whole picture, so here is what the evidence does not show.
Critical demand is for a wider group
Skills England rates the whole group “IT business analysts, architects and systems designers”, not data engineers alone.
Medians aren’t starting salaries
The £70,000 median covers adverts at all levels of experience. Junior roles pay less, and few are advertised.
Job board samples change
ITJobsWatch’s sample of adverts more than doubled in a year, so we compare shares of adverts, not raw counts. Adverts are not the same as hires.
AI may reduce some junior work
Stanford researchers found that employment of US software developers aged 22 to 25 fell by nearly 20% from its late-2022 peak. In our view, engineers who understand the whole system, not just the code, are best placed.
6. What it means for you
If you want to become a data engineer
Start as an analyst
You learn the SQL and Python that engineering builds on, and how the data you will later engineer is actually used.
Build pipelines you can show
Employers want evidence. Scheduled, tested pipelines on GitHub say more than a certificate.
Learn the tools adverts name
SQL and Python first, then orchestration, cloud platforms, data modelling and data quality testing.
Use AI, and understand the system
AI can write code quickly. Employers still need people who can design, test and fix the pipeline around it.
Method and sources
How we did this research
We reviewed official statistics, employer surveys, job board data and industry research, most of it published between January 2025 and September 2026. We used only figures we could check in the original report or dataset, and we say where figures are global or from the US rather than the UK. ITJobsWatch figures cover a rolling six months, so we give the date we took them. We will update this page as new data is published.
- SOC 2020 Volume 2: coding index, Office for National Statistics
- Occupations in demand 2025, Skills England, December 2025 (updated January 2026)
- Future of Jobs Report 2025, World Economic Forum, January 2025
- Data engineer job statistics and data analyst job statistics, ITJobsWatch, six months to 26 September 2026
- State of Analytics Engineering 2025, dbt Labs, May 2025
- Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence, Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, Stanford Digital Economy Lab, November 2025
FAQ
Questions about data engineering careers
Is data engineering a good career in the UK?
The evidence is positive. Data engineers sit in an IT group that Skills England rated as in critical demand in 2025 (the rating covers the whole group, not data engineers alone), the median advertised salary for UK data engineer jobs was £70,000 in the six months to September 2026, and employers worldwide expect big data and data warehousing roles to grow fast. But few adverts are for beginners, so most people need experience or strong evidence of skills first.
Can graduates become data engineers straight away?
Some do, but few adverts are aimed at beginners. In the six months to September 2026, ITJobsWatch recorded 11 “Junior Data Engineer” and 1 “Graduate Data Engineer” adverts in the UK, against 2,081 for “Data Engineer”. Building engineering skills on top of analyst skills is a practical route, which is why our Data Engineering upgrade follows the Data Analyst track.
What is the difference between a data analyst and a data engineer?
Data analysts use data to answer questions and explain results to the people making decisions. Data engineers build and run the pipelines, databases and warehouses that get clean, reliable data to analysts and other systems. Both use SQL and Python.
How much does the Data Engineering upgrade cost?
£3,000, paid before you start the upgrade, and your Job Payment rises by £2,000 to £6,000, still only if you get a qualifying job. You can upgrade once you pass the Data Analyst track. See our pricing page.
We are currently at capacity
Thinking about data engineering?
Book a free 30-minute call. We talk through your background and goals, starting with the Data Analyst track and the upgrade that follows. You can still book a call to register your interest in a future round.