EDINBURGH’S tech sector contributed nearly £4billion in revenue to the economy last year and employs almost 60,000 people, according to Tech Nation’s Bright Tech Future Jobs/Skills report. The city is responsible for creating three of the UK’s leading tech unicorns(startups valued at over $1bn).
These successes have helped contribute to the number of local jobs in digital tech, increasing by more than three times the UK average between 2014 and 2017.
George Windsor, head of insights at Tech Nation, said: “Edinburgh has established itself as a thriving tech hub not just in Scotland but across the whole of the UK. The Tech Nation report reveals it has played a key role in the success of the UK’s booming tech sector, contributing billions into the economy and punching well above its weight to beat UK averages for job creation, salaries and digital tech turnover.”
Recent figures on venture capital investment into the UK tech sector showed that 2019 will be a strong year overall. Tech companied have received $6.7bn of investment so far this year and Scottish tech firms have raised $53m in funding already in 2019.
One in five job vacancies advertised in the Scottish capital are in the tech sector and Edinburgh offers the highest salaries for people filling these roles, after London. The average tech sector job in the Scottish capital pays £42,500, almost 15% more than the average non-tech job in the city.
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