Hardware Engineer Job Trends

Hardware Engineer
UK

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK is £50,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 8 November 2025.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 596 496 632
Rank change year-on-year -100 +136 +346
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 69 259 102
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.13% 0.38% 0.19%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.15% 0.40% 0.20%
Number of salaries quoted 36 138 67
10th Percentile £37,000 £38,000 -
25th Percentile £45,000 £43,750 £26,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +22.22% +20.00%
75th Percentile £70,938 £65,000 £57,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £61,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £45,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +22.22% +20.00%

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 46,066 64,284 51,077
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.12% 95.03% 95.51%
Number of salaries quoted 28,668 36,353 39,628
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £31,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £42,238 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% -4.17% -
75th Percentile £73,750 £75,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £46,000 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -8.00% -4.76% -

Hardware Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Hardware Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Hardware Engineer job vacancy trend 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 8 November 2025.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Top 15 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 8 November 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 -81 62 £50,000 -9.09% 54
England -90 52 £57,500 +4.55% 54
Work from Home +40 27 £42,500 -29.17% 28
South East -19 15 £72,500 +45.00% 23
Midlands +23 11 £45,000 -21.74% 3
South West +8 11 £50,000 -20.00% 8
East Midlands +15 9 £45,000 -5.26% 2
Scotland +8 8 £26,150 - 3
North of England -9 8 £75,000 +57.89% 7
East of England -6 7 £60,000 +9.09% 9
North West -7 5 £75,000 +57.89% 4
Yorkshire +6 3 - - 3
West Midlands +8 2 £57,500 -4.17% 1
Wales - 1 - - 1
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 1

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 8 November 2025, Hardware Engineer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Hardware Engineer in the job title.

1 19 (27.54%) Validation
2 18 (26.09%) Problem-Solving
3 17 (24.64%) Degree
4 11 (15.94%) C++
4 11 (15.94%) Cybersecurity
5 10 (14.49%) 5G
5 10 (14.49%) B2B
5 10 (14.49%) SD-WAN
5 10 (14.49%) Test Automation
5 10 (14.49%) WAN
6 8 (11.59%) Security Cleared
7 7 (10.14%) BPSS Clearance
7 7 (10.14%) Mathematics
7 7 (10.14%) MATLAB
7 7 (10.14%) Physics
7 7 (10.14%) Prototyping
8 6 (8.70%) Blender
8 6 (8.70%) Data Analysis
8 6 (8.70%) Firmware
8 6 (8.70%) Inertial Navigation
8 6 (8.70%) Linux
8 6 (8.70%) Mathematical Modelling
8 6 (8.70%) Python
8 6 (8.70%) QGIS
8 6 (8.70%) SDLC
9 5 (7.25%) C
9 5 (7.25%) Collaborative Working
9 5 (7.25%) Customer Service
9 5 (7.25%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (7.25%) Project Delivery

Hardware Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Applications
1 6 (8.70%) Blender
2 3 (4.35%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (2.90%) OrCAD
4 1 (1.45%) AutoCAD
4 1 (1.45%) EPLAN
4 1 (1.45%) Microsoft Excel
Communications & Networking
1 10 (14.49%) 5G
1 10 (14.49%) SD-WAN
1 10 (14.49%) WAN
2 2 (2.90%) SAN
3 1 (1.45%) Bluetooth
3 1 (1.45%) Ethernet
3 1 (1.45%) GSM
3 1 (1.45%) RS-232
3 1 (1.45%) RS-485
3 1 (1.45%) Structured Cabling
3 1 (1.45%) UWB
3 1 (1.45%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (8.70%) QGIS
General
1 19 (27.54%) Analytical Skills
2 10 (14.49%) Social Skills
3 7 (10.14%) Electronics
4 4 (5.80%) Avionics
4 4 (5.80%) Documentation Skills
5 2 (2.90%) Legal
5 2 (2.90%) Public Sector
6 1 (1.45%) Aerospace
6 1 (1.45%) Aviation
6 1 (1.45%) Manufacturing
6 1 (1.45%) Presentation Skills
Miscellaneous
1 11 (15.94%) Self-Driving Car
2 10 (14.49%) GNSS
2 10 (14.49%) Self-Motivation
3 7 (10.14%) Algorithms
4 4 (5.80%) Data Centre
5 3 (4.35%) Analogue Electronics
5 3 (4.35%) Analytical Mindset
5 3 (4.35%) Driving Licence
5 3 (4.35%) Embedded Systems
5 3 (4.35%) FPGA
6 2 (2.90%) Smartphone
6 2 (2.90%) VHDL
7 1 (1.45%) 3D Printing
7 1 (1.45%) Acoustics
7 1 (1.45%) Arduino
7 1 (1.45%) Device Driver
7 1 (1.45%) Fibre Optics
7 1 (1.45%) Renewable Energy
7 1 (1.45%) Robotics
7 1 (1.45%) Verilog
Operating Systems
1 6 (8.70%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 19 (27.54%) Validation
2 18 (26.09%) Problem-Solving
3 11 (15.94%) Cybersecurity
4 10 (14.49%) B2B
4 10 (14.49%) Test Automation
5 7 (10.14%) Mathematics
5 7 (10.14%) Physics
5 7 (10.14%) Prototyping
6 6 (8.70%) Data Analysis
6 6 (8.70%) Inertial Navigation
6 6 (8.70%) Mathematical Modelling
6 6 (8.70%) SDLC
7 5 (7.25%) Collaborative Working
7 5 (7.25%) Customer Service
7 5 (7.25%) Project Delivery
8 4 (5.80%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
8 4 (5.80%) Requirements Gathering
8 4 (5.80%) Stakeholder Management
8 4 (5.80%) Test Assurance
8 4 (5.80%) Virtual Environments
Programming Languages
1 11 (15.94%) C++
2 7 (10.14%) MATLAB
3 6 (8.70%) Python
4 5 (7.25%) C
5 1 (1.45%) Embedded C
5 1 (1.45%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 17 (24.64%) Degree
2 8 (11.59%) Security Cleared
3 7 (10.14%) BPSS Clearance
4 4 (5.80%) HNC
4 4 (5.80%) Master's Degree
4 4 (5.80%) SC Cleared
5 3 (4.35%) DV Cleared
6 2 (2.90%) A+ Certification
6 2 (2.90%) CCNA
6 2 (2.90%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (2.90%) HND
6 2 (2.90%) MCSE
6 2 (2.90%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (2.90%) Network+ Certification
7 1 (1.45%) Chartered Engineer
7 1 (1.45%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (1.45%) SLA
System Software
1 6 (8.70%) Firmware
2 5 (7.25%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 1 (1.45%) BMC PATROL
Vendors
1 4 (5.80%) EMC
2 3 (4.35%) Microsoft
3 2 (2.90%) Dell