Salary Drift in Technology Recruitment: Q1 2026
Technology salaries shifted significantly in Q1. Here's what IvyLens data shows about where companies are raising budgets and what that means for fee potential.
Salary drift is the upward movement of advertised compensation on a role that fails to close. It's one of IvyLens's most predictive signals. When a company increases the salary band on a reposted role, it's a strong indicator of urgency and willingness to engage external support.
Q1 2026 drift by sub-sector
IvyLens tracked +18% average salary drift on Technology roles that were live for more than 45 days during Q1 2026. The highest drift was concentrated in:
- DevOps / Platform Engineering: avg +22% on the original posted salary
- Data Engineering: avg +19%
- Security / GRC: avg +17%
- Full-Stack Engineering: avg +14%
Fee implications
Salary drift directly increases fee potential. A role that started at £60,000 and drifted to £72,000 is a 20% increase in the base fee calculation, from £7,200 to £8,640 on a standard 12% rate.
More importantly, companies in this position have already shown they're willing to spend more to solve the problem. That's a fundamentally different conversation than a first-time posting.
Where to look in Q2
Based on Q1 patterns, IvyLens is tracking elevated friction signals in Security and Data Engineering heading into Q2. These are roles where demand consistently outstrips supply and where companies typically move from direct hire to agency engagement within 4 to 6 weeks of posting.
The live IvyLens feed shows every role with active salary drift, sorted by win probability. Join the waitlist to see current opportunities in your sector.
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