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 24 March 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 554 584 526
Rank change year-on-year +30 -58 +257
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 141 64 344
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.18% 0.15% 0.39%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.20% 0.17% 0.42%
Number of salaries quoted 54 38 254
10th Percentile £26,225 £40,250 £22,750
25th Percentile £30,000 £43,750 £30,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +15.79% +31.03%
75th Percentile £62,500 £60,938 £60,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £69,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,500 £55,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -2.73% +15.79% +31.03%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
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 70,665 37,313 82,697
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.05% 90.19% 94.59%
Number of salaries quoted 45,086 23,014 62,767
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £28,500
25th Percentile £39,500 £42,809 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £91,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £53,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -5.66% +6.00% -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 24 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Top 17 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 24 March 2026. 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 +4 125 £53,500 -2.73% 37
England -5 109 £53,500 -2.73% 29
Work from Home +38 53 - - 5
South East -26 35 £60,000 +4.35% 12
North of England -27 27 £75,000 +57.89% 2
South West -10 19 £26,000 -50.00% 3
North West -5 18 £75,000 +57.89% 1
Midlands -15 15 £50,000 +8.11%
West Midlands +5 10 - -
East of England -17 10 £45,000 -18.18% 11
Scotland -15 8 £50,000 - 8
Yorkshire -45 8 - -
Wales - 6 £80,000 - 3
East Midlands -35 5 £50,000 -
Northern Ireland - 5 - - 1
London - 3 £70,000 - 2
North East - 1 - - 1

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

For the 6 months to 24 March 2026, 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 49 (34.75%) Cybersecurity
2 22 (15.60%) Degree
3 18 (12.77%) BPSS Clearance
4 13 (9.22%) Break/Fix
4 13 (9.22%) Coaching
5 11 (7.80%) HND
5 11 (7.80%) MATLAB
5 11 (7.80%) Validation
6 10 (7.09%) Mentor Graphics
6 10 (7.09%) Simulink
7 9 (6.38%) Problem-Solving
7 9 (6.38%) Security Cleared
8 8 (5.67%) Prototyping
8 8 (5.67%) Schematic Capture
9 7 (4.96%) Firmware
9 7 (4.96%) HNC
10 6 (4.26%) EMC
11 5 (3.55%) Mentoring
11 5 (3.55%) Test Automation
12 4 (2.84%) Agile
12 4 (2.84%) C
12 4 (2.84%) Project Delivery
12 4 (2.84%) Python
12 4 (2.84%) Requirements Analysis
12 4 (2.84%) SC Cleared
12 4 (2.84%) Structured Cabling
13 3 (2.13%) 5G
13 3 (2.13%) B2B
13 3 (2.13%) C++
13 3 (2.13%) Collaborative Working

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 10 (7.09%) Simulink
2 3 (2.13%) OrCAD
3 2 (1.42%) Microsoft Office
4 1 (0.71%) SOLIDWORKS
Cloud Services
1 2 (1.42%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 4 (2.84%) Structured Cabling
2 3 (2.13%) 5G
2 3 (2.13%) SD-WAN
2 3 (2.13%) WAN
3 1 (0.71%) Ethernet
3 1 (0.71%) RS-232
3 1 (0.71%) RS-485
3 1 (0.71%) SAN
Development Applications
1 2 (1.42%) Rational DOORS
2 1 (0.71%) LabVIEW
General
1 34 (24.11%) Electronics
2 9 (6.38%) Social Skills
3 8 (5.67%) Aerospace
4 7 (4.96%) Manufacturing
5 6 (4.26%) Analytical Skills
5 6 (4.26%) Avionics
5 6 (4.26%) Public Sector
6 5 (3.55%) Health Technology
6 5 (3.55%) Wearables
7 4 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
8 2 (1.42%) Finance
8 2 (1.42%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (0.71%) Advertising
9 1 (0.71%) Legal
Miscellaneous
1 17 (12.06%) Analogue Electronics
2 5 (3.55%) FPGA
3 4 (2.84%) Self-Driving Car
3 4 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
4 3 (2.13%) Acoustics
4 3 (2.13%) Data Centre
4 3 (2.13%) GNSS
4 3 (2.13%) IoT
4 3 (2.13%) Robotics
5 2 (1.42%) Algorithms
5 2 (1.42%) Device Driver
5 2 (1.42%) Driving Licence
5 2 (1.42%) Embedded Systems
5 2 (1.42%) VHDL
6 1 (0.71%) Analytical Mindset
6 1 (0.71%) ARM Cortex
6 1 (0.71%) Fibre Optics
6 1 (0.71%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 2 (1.42%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 49 (34.75%) Cybersecurity
2 13 (9.22%) Break/Fix
2 13 (9.22%) Coaching
3 11 (7.80%) Validation
4 9 (6.38%) Problem-Solving
5 8 (5.67%) Prototyping
5 8 (5.67%) Schematic Capture
6 5 (3.55%) Mentoring
6 5 (3.55%) Test Automation
7 4 (2.84%) Agile
7 4 (2.84%) Project Delivery
7 4 (2.84%) Requirements Analysis
8 3 (2.13%) B2B
8 3 (2.13%) Collaborative Working
8 3 (2.13%) Customer Engagement
8 3 (2.13%) Requirements Gathering
8 3 (2.13%) Software Testing
8 3 (2.13%) Stakeholder Management
8 3 (2.13%) Test Assurance
8 3 (2.13%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 11 (7.80%) MATLAB
2 4 (2.84%) C
2 4 (2.84%) Python
3 3 (2.13%) C++
4 2 (1.42%) Embedded C
4 2 (1.42%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 22 (15.60%) Degree
2 18 (12.77%) BPSS Clearance
3 11 (7.80%) HND
4 9 (6.38%) Security Cleared
5 7 (4.96%) HNC
6 4 (2.84%) SC Cleared
7 2 (1.42%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.71%) A+ Certification
8 1 (0.71%) CCNA
8 1 (0.71%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.71%) MCSE
8 1 (0.71%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.71%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (0.71%) ISO 9001
1 1 (0.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 1 (0.71%) PCI DSS
1 1 (0.71%) SLA
System Software
1 7 (4.96%) Firmware
2 1 (0.71%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 1 (0.71%) BMC PATROL
Vendors
1 10 (7.09%) Mentor Graphics
2 6 (4.26%) EMC
3 2 (1.42%) Dell
3 2 (1.42%) Microsoft
3 2 (1.42%) Siemens
4 1 (0.71%) Snow