What the 2018 Autumn Budget means for UK tech professionals

Ahead of last week’s Autumn Budget, there was much speculation about the promises Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, would make in his statement. We can report that the Budget includes significant additional support for cutting-edge science and technologies that will “transform the economy, create highly skilled jobs, and boost living standards across the UK”.

If you haven’t had time to listen to Philip Hammond’s hour-long speech or browse through the 86-page red Budget book, read on for a summary of what the 2018 Autumn Budget means for the UK engineering industry and the people who work within it.

Investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
 

• To build on the UK’s position as a world leader in innovation and new technologies, the Budget announced a £1.6 billion investment in science and innovation including funding in Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, future manufacturing, and nuclear fusion.
   
• To attract, retain and develop world-leading research talent, the government will invest up to £50 million in new Turing AI Fellowships to bring the best global researchers in AI to the UK.

AI recruitment specialist, Chris Rosebert, comments:

“This is a big step in the right direction. We are currently working with a number of leading AI companies based in the UK who have plans for large-scale growth. The ability to continue to attract the best talent from Europe, The US and Asia will be key to their success and determine the location of their new offices."

View our latest jobs in AI & robotics
 

Addressing challenges in cyber security
 

• To stimulate the use of cutting-edge science and innovation in government, the Budget announces a new £50 million per year fund designed to address the most pressing challenges in areas such as public health and cyber security. The fund will focus on joint programmes between government and industry and will begin in 2021.

Cyber security recruitment specialist, Jonathan Martin, comments:

“It’s great to see government and industry in collaboration on such a critical subject area. We envisage this money will help fund programmes that will define standards and share best practice in cyber security. We also expect to see the funding support education initiatives to help train and upskill a new wave of engineers, which will help bridge the predicted shortfall of 1.8 million cyber security workers by 2022.”

View our latest jobs in cyber security

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