Hardware Engineer Job Trends

Hardware Engineer
UK

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK is £48,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 15 September 2025.

The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 611 475 657
Rank change year-on-year -136 +182 +392
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 59 336 115
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.12% 0.43% 0.19%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.13% 0.45% 0.20%
Number of salaries quoted 38 207 58
10th Percentile £25,375 £34,000 -
25th Percentile £41,875 £43,750 £26,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,000 £52,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.57% +16.67% +5.88%
75th Percentile £60,750 £65,000 £58,438
90th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £72,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £48,000 £52,500 £45,000
% change year-on-year -8.57% +16.67% +5.88%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 44,026 73,874 58,090
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 89.61% 95.25% 93.95%
Number of salaries quoted 25,758 44,964 44,983
10th Percentile £28,250 £30,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,000 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year - -8.33% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £73,750 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £92,500 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -5.00% -4.76% -

Hardware Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings that featured Hardware Engineer in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Hardware Engineer over the 6 months to 15 September 2025.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Top 13 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Hardware Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 15 September 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
UK excluding London -144 51 £48,000 -8.57% 62
England -131 41 £50,000 -9.09% 60
Work from Home +22 16 £47,500 -17.39% 13
Midlands +2 16 £45,000 -21.74% 14
East Midlands +24 13 £45,000 -5.26% 9
Scotland +60 10 £26,150 -47.70% 4
South East -27 10 £73,750 +47.50% 19
South West +30 6 £50,000 -23.08% 7
East of England -63 6 £60,000 +9.09% 16
West Midlands +7 3 £57,500 -4.17% 5
North of England -22 3 £50,000 +11.11% 1
Yorkshire - 2 - -
North West -37 1 £50,000 +11.11% 1

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 15 September 2025, Hardware Engineer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Hardware Engineer in the job title.

1 17 (28.81%) Problem-Solving
2 16 (27.12%) Validation
3 15 (25.42%) Degree
4 14 (23.73%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (20.34%) C++
5 12 (20.34%) Firmware
6 11 (18.64%) Self-Motivation
6 11 (18.64%) Social Skills
7 10 (16.95%) MATLAB
8 9 (15.25%) Mathematics
8 9 (15.25%) Physics
8 9 (15.25%) Algorithms
9 8 (13.56%) SD-WAN
9 8 (13.56%) Self-Driving Car
9 8 (13.56%) Inertial Navigation
9 8 (13.56%) GNSS
9 8 (13.56%) Test Automation
9 8 (13.56%) Blender
9 8 (13.56%) Prototyping
9 8 (13.56%) Mathematical Modelling
9 8 (13.56%) SDLC
9 8 (13.56%) QGIS
9 8 (13.56%) 5G
9 8 (13.56%) Data Analysis
9 8 (13.56%) Python
9 8 (13.56%) WAN
9 8 (13.56%) B2B
10 7 (11.86%) Electronics
10 7 (11.86%) Analogue Electronics
10 7 (11.86%) Embedded Firmware

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Applications
1 8 (13.56%) Blender
2 3 (5.08%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (3.39%) Simulink
4 1 (1.69%) AutoCAD
4 1 (1.69%) EPLAN
4 1 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (1.69%) OrCAD
Communications & Networking
1 8 (13.56%) 5G
1 8 (13.56%) SD-WAN
1 8 (13.56%) WAN
2 2 (3.39%) SAN
2 2 (3.39%) Wireless
3 1 (1.69%) Bluetooth
3 1 (1.69%) Firewall
3 1 (1.69%) GSM
3 1 (1.69%) UWB
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (13.56%) QGIS
General
1 14 (23.73%) Analytical Skills
2 11 (18.64%) Social Skills
3 7 (11.86%) Electronics
4 4 (6.78%) Public Sector
5 2 (3.39%) Legal
5 2 (3.39%) Manufacturing
6 1 (1.69%) Aviation
6 1 (1.69%) Presentation Skills
6 1 (1.69%) Telecoms
Miscellaneous
1 11 (18.64%) Self-Motivation
2 9 (15.25%) Algorithms
3 8 (13.56%) GNSS
3 8 (13.56%) Self-Driving Car
4 7 (11.86%) Analogue Electronics
5 5 (8.47%) FPGA
6 4 (6.78%) Data Centre
6 4 (6.78%) Embedded Systems
7 3 (5.08%) Analytical Mindset
7 3 (5.08%) Driving Licence
7 3 (5.08%) VHDL
8 2 (3.39%) Operational Technology
8 2 (3.39%) Smartphone
9 1 (1.69%) 3D Printing
9 1 (1.69%) Arduino
9 1 (1.69%) Device Driver
9 1 (1.69%) Life Science
9 1 (1.69%) Mainframe
9 1 (1.69%) Renewable Energy
9 1 (1.69%) Verilog
Operating Systems
1 5 (8.47%) Linux
2 1 (1.69%) Mac OS
2 1 (1.69%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 17 (28.81%) Problem-Solving
2 16 (27.12%) Validation
3 9 (15.25%) Mathematics
3 9 (15.25%) Physics
4 8 (13.56%) B2B
4 8 (13.56%) Data Analysis
4 8 (13.56%) Inertial Navigation
4 8 (13.56%) Mathematical Modelling
4 8 (13.56%) Prototyping
4 8 (13.56%) SDLC
4 8 (13.56%) Test Automation
5 6 (10.17%) Collaborative Working
5 6 (10.17%) Customer Service
6 5 (8.47%) Coaching
7 3 (5.08%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
7 3 (5.08%) Performance Analysis
7 3 (5.08%) Performance Testing
7 3 (5.08%) Schematic Capture
7 3 (5.08%) Virtual Environments
8 2 (3.39%) Case Management
Programming Languages
1 12 (20.34%) C++
2 10 (16.95%) MATLAB
3 8 (13.56%) Python
4 5 (8.47%) C
5 1 (1.69%) Embedded C
5 1 (1.69%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 15 (25.42%) Degree
2 6 (10.17%) Security Cleared
3 4 (6.78%) BPSS Clearance
3 4 (6.78%) HND
4 3 (5.08%) DV Cleared
4 3 (5.08%) SC Cleared
5 2 (3.39%) A+ Certification
5 2 (3.39%) CCNA
5 2 (3.39%) Cisco Certification
5 2 (3.39%) Master's Degree
5 2 (3.39%) MCSE
5 2 (3.39%) Microsoft Certification
5 2 (3.39%) Network+ Certification
6 1 (1.69%) Chartered Engineer
6 1 (1.69%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (1.69%) SLA
System Software
1 12 (20.34%) Firmware
2 7 (11.86%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (1.69%) PowerHA
Systems Management
1 2 (3.39%) SCCM
Vendors
1 3 (5.08%) EMC
1 3 (5.08%) Microsoft
2 2 (3.39%) Apple
2 2 (3.39%) Dell
2 2 (3.39%) HP
2 2 (3.39%) Mentor Graphics
3 1 (1.69%) IBM