Technology Salary Guide: What Should Employers Consider in 2026?

In this article: Job titles alone do not tell you what a fair salary looks like. Specialist skills and scarce technologies can command a genuine premium. Advertising too wide a salary range can suggest a role has not been properly defined. Article by Sam Payne.

Salary remains one of the first questions in almost every recruitment process. For technology employers in Cambridge, setting the right salary is not simply about finding an average figure online, role scope, technical specialism, experience, location and working pattern can all materially change what a candidate expects.

A job title isn’t enough to set a salary by

Two businesses can advertise a Senior Software Engineer while looking for completely different people. One may need a highly experienced individual contributor focused primarily on development, another may expect architecture, mentoring and significant stakeholder interaction. The same applies across Data, Infrastructure, Cyber Security and Product.

Specialist skills command a premium

Candidate availability matters. A broadly experienced Software Engineer working with a common stack may sit in a very different market from someone with niche embedded, AI, cyber security or specialist data platform expertise. Where a combination of skills is particularly difficult to find, employers may need to pay above a generic market average.

Does hybrid working affect the market?

Yes. Working pattern has effectively become part of compensation. A Cambridge role requiring five days onsite competes for a smaller geographical candidate pool than one offering two or three days of home working. That does not mean businesses must offer remote working, but greater onsite requirements can influence the salary or overall proposition needed to attract candidates.

What else should employers look at beyond base salary?

Bonus, pension, equity, private healthcare, annual leave, flexibility, commuting costs and progression can all influence a decision. Advertising an unnecessarily broad range, for example one vacancy spanning £50,000 to £90,000, can also suggest a requirement has not been properly defined, and clear ranges help candidates self select.

So what should employers actually pay?

Enough to be competitive for the specific person you need. ACR Technology works with employers across Cambridge and the East of England to provide current market feedback and salary insights across Software Engineering, Data & AI, Cloud & Infrastructure, Cyber Security, Product & Delivery and Technology Leadership. This means we can help you answer this question on a role by role basis and give your IT recruitment process a much stronger starting point.

By Sam Payne, Head of Technology Recruitment at ACR Technology

ACR Technology works with employers across Cambridge and the East of England to provide current market feedback and salary insights across Software Engineering, Data & AI, Cloud & Infrastructure, Cyber Security, Product & Delivery and Technology Leadership

Get in touch to hire your next tech team.