Tech sector job hiring and business activity outstrips rest of UK economy

It said employment trends in the tech sector were outstripping those seen across the UK private sector as a whole. The headline UK Tech PMI index measuring UK tech sector business activity posted 60.0 in March, well above the crucial 50.0 no-change threshold and close to the 10-year high of 60.9 recorded at the end of 2013, indicating business activity growth in the tech sector outstripped that of the UK economy as a whole. Almost half of tech companies (49%) expect to employ additional staff over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the PMI Employment Index shows that current job hiring by UK tech companies is close to its strongest for three years and faster than the UK private sector average. Tech sector business activity growth in the first quarter of 2014 was only marginally slower than the 10-year high reached at the end of 2013, supported by steep rises in incoming new work and the lowest rate of cost inflation for over four years. Tudor Aw, head of technology at KPMG, said: "Recent falls in share prices of technology stocks have led some to question the health of the tech sector, but all the data in this report point to a UK tech sector that is in rude health, and increasingly optimistic in its outlook on business activity and recruitment plans." Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, added: "UK tech companies clearly punch above their weight in terms of contribution to UK GDP growth... "Tech companies stand to benefit from two key domestic economic tailwinds this year, which are rising business investment as confidence in the recovery takes hold and improving household spending power as wages finally start to climb more quickly than consumer prices."