TIGA 2026 skills shortage report: UK studios are outsourcing around shortages, not solving them
Summary
TIGA's 2026 skills shortage report shows studio-reported shortages fell from 70% to 29%, but industry contraction - not talent gains - drove the decline.
57% of affected studios outsource work; 82% of new hires are experienced practitioners, bypassing the graduate and apprentice pipeline entirely.
Programming remains the critical bottleneck at 57% of affected studios, with no scalable fix as the UK lost 1,537 dev roles in the year to September 2025.
"Skill shortages have eased in line with the wider industry downturn, but they have not disappeared"
01
Contraction masks the shortage, not talent supply improvements
Shortage rates fell from 70% to 29% across three TIGA surveys as 36,000+ global games jobs disappeared since January 2022.
UK dev roles fell 4.5% in the year to September 2025, ending 14 consecutive years of growth.
Fewer open roles mechanically reduce reported shortages.
79% of affected studios still cite a lack of qualified applicants as the primary driver.
02
Outsourcing and senior-only hiring are compressing margins
57% of affected studios outsourced work in the past 12 months; 40% report a growing need to outsource further.
82% of hires are existing practitioners vs. 17% graduates and 1% apprentices.
62% of studios report shortages increased workload on current staff, creating retention risk on the same senior talent pool everyone is chasing.
68% made internal promotions - filling gaps but not expanding capacity.
03
Programming is the least substitutable shortage at four times the next discipline
57% of affected studios flag programming as hardest to fill vs. 14% for Art and 14% for Design.
Studios are redefining roles (47%) and adding training (51%), but median training is only 8 days per employee per year.
31% of studios report leadership and management skill gaps, compounding risk as internal promotions elevate staff without managerial depth.
Events
Companies
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Games
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Locations
United Kingdom
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