The number of UK civil servants working in digital, data and technology (DDaT) roles now exceeds 20,000, according to new figures from the government. DDaT roles now make up 4.2% of the civil service workforce, the Cabinet Office’s annual statistical bulletin on the civil service reveals.
The median salary for DDaT positions is above the civil service average, the figures also reveal, but still significantly short of salaries for comparable roles in the private sector.
There are now 22,050 people in DDaT roles in the UK civil service, the bulletin reveals, a 62% increase from 13,590 in 2021. This outpaces the overall growth of the civil service headcount, which grew 5% year-on-year to 510,080.
DDaT roles include data scientists, front-end developers and content designers. It is the third-largest profession in the civil service, behind operational delivery (which makes up 53.4% of the workforce) and policy (6.9%).
DDaT salaries in 2022
Salaries for DDaT workers are higher than the civil service average. The median salary for a DDaT role is £38,600, 16% higher than the civil service average of £30,110.
Out of the 31 professions listed in the bulletin, DDaT is the sixteenth highest paid. The best-paid professions are education and training inspectors, planning inspectors, and legal.
Civil service DDaT salaries are still substantially lower than average IT salaries in the private sector. The average salary for IT vacancies in June 2022 was £56,239, according to job ad search engine Adzuna, up 2.14% from the same month last year.
Where are most DDaT jobs based?
London is home to the largest number of DDaT roles, with 4,310 jobs located there. This is followed by the South West, with 3,730 roles. However, the South West has the highest concentration of DDaT roles, with 8.0% of civil services jobs there being DDaT positions, followed by the North East (7.1%).
The regions with the lowest amount of DDaT roles are Northern Ireland, with just 70, and the East Midlands, with 820. There are 70 roles based overseas and a further 940 roles in Scotland.
High turnover in civil service staff
Overall, the UK civil service hired 69,400 people in the last year, the highest number since 1975. The Ministry of Justice hired most recruits, with 18,180 - more than a quarter of the overall intake.
But more people left the civil service than in any year since 2011/12: 44,220 people left, with more than half resigning.
The DDaT profession within the civil service was created in 2015 to support the ongoing digital transformation of the UK government. In 2017, the government published a capability framework, defining the responsibilities and requirements for DDaT jobs in the public sector.
Read more: Senior civil servants told to get to grips with AI and cloud computing
