Hardware Engineer Job Trends

Hardware Engineer
UK

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK is £45,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 8 January 2026.

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

6 months to
8 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 533 570 553
Rank change year-on-year +37 -17 +271
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 114 138 157
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.19% 0.25% 0.29%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.21% 0.27% 0.31%
Number of salaries quoted 41 71 106
10th Percentile £26,000 £42,500 £26,250
25th Percentile £28,000 £45,000 £27,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +29.41% -5.56%
75th Percentile £61,000 £67,500 £57,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £68,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,000 £55,000 £45,000
% change year-on-year -14.55% +22.22% -

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 54,184 50,447 51,400
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.62% 92.94% 95.28%
Number of salaries quoted 33,461 26,369 39,567
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,200 £30,750
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £41,566
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £96,539
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -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 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Top 16 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 January 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 +21 104 £47,000 -14.55% 59
England +15 86 £49,500 -10.00% 54
Work from Home +83 58 - - 3
North of England +19 24 £75,000 +57.89% 8
South West +23 19 £26,000 -56.67% 7
South East -15 18 £53,500 -14.40% 15
North West +26 15 £75,000 +57.89% 1
Midlands +10 15 £45,000 -28.00% 10
East Midlands +10 10 £45,000 -10.00% 8
Scotland +8 10 £26,150 - 7
East of England +2 9 £60,000 +9.09% 11
Yorkshire -7 9 - - 5
West Midlands +10 5 £57,500 -23.33% 2
Northern Ireland - 5 - - 1
Wales - 4 - - 2
London +56 1 £37,000 -17.78% 3

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

For the 6 months to 8 January 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 (42.98%) Cybersecurity
2 14 (12.28%) Validation
3 12 (10.53%) Break/Fix
4 11 (9.65%) Problem-Solving
5 10 (8.77%) Degree
6 9 (7.89%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (7.02%) Security Cleared
8 6 (5.26%) Customer Service
8 6 (5.26%) HNC
9 5 (4.39%) Collaborative Working
9 5 (4.39%) Linux
9 5 (4.39%) Project Delivery
10 4 (3.51%) 5G
10 4 (3.51%) Agile
10 4 (3.51%) B2B
10 4 (3.51%) C
10 4 (3.51%) C++
10 4 (3.51%) Customer Engagement
10 4 (3.51%) EMC
10 4 (3.51%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
10 4 (3.51%) Master's Degree
10 4 (3.51%) Microsoft
10 4 (3.51%) Microsoft Office
10 4 (3.51%) Performance Analysis
10 4 (3.51%) Performance Testing
10 4 (3.51%) Requirements Analysis
10 4 (3.51%) Requirements Gathering
10 4 (3.51%) SC Cleared
10 4 (3.51%) SD-WAN
10 4 (3.51%) Stakeholder Management

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 4 (3.51%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.88%) AutoCAD
2 1 (0.88%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.88%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.88%) OrCAD
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.88%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 4 (3.51%) 5G
1 4 (3.51%) SD-WAN
1 4 (3.51%) WAN
2 3 (2.63%) Structured Cabling
3 2 (1.75%) SAN
4 1 (0.88%) Bluetooth
4 1 (0.88%) Ethernet
4 1 (0.88%) GSM
4 1 (0.88%) RS-232
4 1 (0.88%) RS-485
4 1 (0.88%) UWB
4 1 (0.88%) Wireless
Development Applications
1 2 (1.75%) Rational DOORS
General
1 13 (11.40%) Analytical Skills
2 10 (8.77%) Electronics
3 7 (6.14%) Social Skills
4 6 (5.26%) Avionics
4 6 (5.26%) Public Sector
5 4 (3.51%) Documentation Skills
6 3 (2.63%) Aerospace
7 2 (1.75%) Health Technology
7 2 (1.75%) Legal
7 2 (1.75%) Wearables
8 1 (0.88%) Manufacturing
Miscellaneous
1 5 (4.39%) Data Centre
1 5 (4.39%) Self-Driving Car
2 4 (3.51%) GNSS
3 3 (2.63%) Analytical Mindset
3 3 (2.63%) Driving Licence
3 3 (2.63%) Self-Motivation
4 2 (1.75%) Smartphone
5 1 (0.88%) 3D Printing
5 1 (0.88%) Acoustics
5 1 (0.88%) Analogue Electronics
5 1 (0.88%) Arduino
5 1 (0.88%) Embedded Systems
5 1 (0.88%) Fibre Optics
5 1 (0.88%) FPGA
5 1 (0.88%) Renewable Energy
5 1 (0.88%) Robotics
5 1 (0.88%) Verilog
5 1 (0.88%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 5 (4.39%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 49 (42.98%) Cybersecurity
2 14 (12.28%) Validation
3 12 (10.53%) Break/Fix
4 11 (9.65%) Problem-Solving
5 6 (5.26%) Customer Service
6 5 (4.39%) Collaborative Working
6 5 (4.39%) Project Delivery
7 4 (3.51%) Agile
7 4 (3.51%) B2B
7 4 (3.51%) Customer Engagement
7 4 (3.51%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
7 4 (3.51%) Performance Analysis
7 4 (3.51%) Performance Testing
7 4 (3.51%) Requirements Analysis
7 4 (3.51%) Requirements Gathering
7 4 (3.51%) Stakeholder Management
7 4 (3.51%) Test Assurance
7 4 (3.51%) Test Automation
7 4 (3.51%) Virtual Environments
8 3 (2.63%) Coaching
Programming Languages
1 4 (3.51%) C
1 4 (3.51%) C++
2 1 (0.88%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 10 (8.77%) Degree
2 9 (7.89%) BPSS Clearance
3 8 (7.02%) Security Cleared
4 6 (5.26%) HNC
5 4 (3.51%) Master's Degree
5 4 (3.51%) SC Cleared
6 2 (1.75%) A+ Certification
6 2 (1.75%) CCNA
6 2 (1.75%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (1.75%) HND
6 2 (1.75%) MCSE
6 2 (1.75%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (1.75%) Network+ Certification
7 1 (0.88%) Chartered Engineer
7 1 (0.88%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (1.75%) SLA
System Software
1 2 (1.75%) Embedded Firmware
1 2 (1.75%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 1 (0.88%) BMC PATROL
Vendors
1 4 (3.51%) EMC
1 4 (3.51%) Microsoft
2 3 (2.63%) Dell
3 2 (1.75%) Siemens
4 1 (0.88%) Snow