It’s January, which means it’s the time when we share the five sectors your recruitment agency needs to know in 2019.

In 2018 we selected GDPR, AI, Space, Cryptocurrency and Fintech as our sectors that would experience growth throughout the year.

So, let’s see what 2019 has to offer!

Fintech in 2019

The sector employs 76,500 people and research by Innovative Finance predicts the sector will exceed 100,000 employees by 2030, creating 30,000 new jobs, while the number of companies will more than double to 3,300.

In the previous 12 months London has been named Europe’s Fintech capital and AI capital. London has also defied Brexit uncertainty, by being home to over a third (37%) of Europe’s tech unicorns – which shows how attractive the UK is on a global scale.

While 38,926 vacancies associated with Fintech have been advertised in the UK in the last 12 months – almost three times less than the 101,700 jobs posted in traditional banking in the same time period – the industry has seen a huge average monthly increase of 9% in the number of vacancies posted.

Over the last five years, 55% of UK recruiters and HR professionals have seen a general increase in financial services hiring rates, rising to 62% and 59% for those recruiting for challenger banks and Fintech firms, respectively.

Fintechs to watch in 2019

  • Monzo – can the newly crowned ‘unicorn’ become a tech-titan and take on the big players?
  • Chip – off the back of one of the most successful crowdfunding rounds on Crowdcube, the savings app is helping millennials save money.
  • Freetrade – Freetrade lets users invest in stock markets around the world, with zero commissions or fees.
  • Cleo – Cleo is an intelligent assistant that helps users manage their finances.

 

Biotech & Pharmaceutical in 2019

UK biotech firms raised more than £1.5 billion in 2018, exceeding the total raised in 2017. Reports of a US-based fund planning to invest $1 billion and the British Business Bank announcing the creation of a £2.5bn British Patient Capital fund will help to grow the sector overall.

The global biotech market expected to register 12.3% growth by 2020 and be worth $727 billion by 2025.

2,000 new discovery scientists from global pharmaceutical companies to the UK over the course of the next five years, and create 10,000 new jobs in emerging new companies.

UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) stated that the UK’s biotech sector is primed to close the gap on San Francisco and Boston, the world’s two leading centres, after receiving more venture capital funding than any other country in Europe last year.

Companies to watch in 2019

• Kymab – the Cambridge-based company is on its way to becoming the latest UK unicorn.
• NodThera – NodThera is a biotech engaged in treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation
• AdoRx Therapeutics is pursuing the discovery of new cancer therapeutics.

 

Space in 2019

Today, space is one of the UK’s biggest success stories. The UK space industry adds £7 billion to the economy, supports 70,000 jobs, is growing four times faster than the rest of the UK economy, has the most highly skilled workforce in manufacturing, and enjoys 7% of the global space market – a market forecast to be worth £543 billion by 2020.

  • The turnover for the UK Space Sector has grown to almost £15bn a year.
  • The overall world market for the Space industry is likely to grow from £160 billion in 2008 to at least £400 billion by 2030.
  • Space is a vibrant and high growth sector and the proposed expansion plans will provide an estimated 100,000 new jobs in the UK – 100,000 high-skilled high technology jobs over 20 years, year-on-year growth of inward investment for Space-related activities over the 20-year strategy.
  • Year-on-year growth is five times greater than the wider economy since 1999
  • The space sector has tripled in value since 2000

Companies blasting off in 2019

  • Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), the pioneer that ‘changed the economics of space’ is building 22 payloads for the Galileo navigation service, with 12 more on the way.
  • Guildford-based Earth-i is developing Europe’s first video from space service, offering high definition video data and insight to customers in logistics, finance, resource management and other knowledge intensive sectors
  • AAC Clyde has become the number one supplier of shoebox sized ‘cube sats’.

 

Blockchain in 2019

Sean Kiernan, the chief executive of DAG Global, said: “The UK is a major global financial hub and in recent years has become a fintech leader as well. At the same time, it is starting to demonstrate significant potential to become a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy,”

Glassdoor Economic Research is delivering much needed good news to the crypto community saying that despite extreme price volatility and regulatory uncertainty, the number of crypto jobs in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector has risen by 300 percent since the same time last year.

Developers with blockchain skills have become the hottest commodity in the freelance marketplace, according to a new study. Demand for some skills soared by over 500 per cent in the last year (those associated with blockchain, cryptocurrency and ICOs), while many others can demand in excess of £100 per hour for their time. Sectors requiring blockchain developers are becoming more aware that blockchain can bring substantial benefits.

Companies to watch in 2019:

  • SETL – SETL is a multi-asset, multicurrency institutional payment & settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology.
  • BlockEx – BlockEx is a digital asset exchange platform that manages the entire lifecycle of blockchain based digital assets, including origination, issuance, exchange, settlement and redemption.
  • TokenCard – TokeCard lets users load cryptocurrency onto a card and use it like they would any other credit or debit card.

 

Creative Industries in 2019

The creative industries is one of the UK’s biggest exports, currently accounting for 9.4% of all UK service exports, nearly double their share of the economy. The sector currently contributes over £90 billion to the country’s economy, says a new report by the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The sector contributes more than a quarter of a billion pounds to the UK every day, or roughly £10.5 million every hour and added 80,000 jobs in 2017.

The creative industries sector deal aims to increase creative exports by 50% by 2023, sustain a forecasted growth of £150bn by 2023, and boost employment in the industries by 600,000 over the same period.

Jobs in the creative industries are set to grow twice as fast as the UK average by 2024, new research has claimed.

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Ongoing Brexit uncertainty, the Sino-US trade war, and global economic problems in emerging markets has cast doubt on some industries. However, these five sectors above are storming ahead, with demand for candidates and roles increasing despite this uncertainty. So now would be the ideal time to reach out to businesses in these sectors.