Job vacancies in the UK games industry have grown by 20% this year despite the pandemic, and is set to triple in jobs over the next five years.
While many industries have been negatively affected by the global coronavirus pandemic, it looks like the games industry is set to come out ahead. Sales of video games, gaming PC parts, and game consoles have shot up in recent months as many of us are stuck at home and some other forms of entertainment are unavailable.
Employment in the UK games industry grew by a surprising 20% this year against a backdrop of nation-wide unemployment spikes. According to a new report by tech recruitment specialist Robert Walters, the number of staff in the UK games industry is expected to triple over the next five years.
RELATED: The UK games industry is experiencing a boom period during Covid-19
Around 47,000 professionals work in the UK games industry, and that covers a surprisingly large range of different job roles and disciplines. Game development studios are home to programmers, artists, producers, and operations roles, but recent years have seen growth in other roles such as accounting, HR, and marketing.
The report contains a detailed breakdown of the games industry across England, highlighting that jobs are actually spread widely across the country -- only 28% of English jobs in games are in London compared to over 50% of jobs in the film industry. The report also has insight into the industry in the Republic of Ireland, which has seen a major boost recently in e-sports.
RELATED: Derry-based game development studio Hypixel Studios acquired by Riot Games
The report unfortunately doesn't have any information on Northern Ireland, which has a smaller but rapidly growing games industry centred around Belfast and Derry. This year has seen several major deals for NI games companies, including the final buyout of Derry-based Hypixel Studios by global games industry giant Riot Games.
Tom Chambers, Senior Manager Technology at Robert Walters, comments: "With the average contribution per employee of the Gaming sector sitting at £80,000 – double the national average and the most productive of all the creative industries in the nation – there is no industry quite like Gaming that is able to evidence its high potential in helping to uphold the UK economy as we navigate out of the pandemic."
You can sign up to request a copy of the full report on the Robert Walters website.
Source: Written based on press release
