Is There A Demand On IT Project Manager Skills To Expand And Diversify In 2025?

The last few years have not been easy on IT project managers. A significant percentage of IT project managers have faced long periods of unemployment and increased uncertainty as some organisations continue to delay projects.

During the IT heyday of 2022, when investment in digitalisation projects was high, IT project managers were in demand. However, due to the recessions and geopolitical issues that have followed, a number of businesses are taking a more cautious approach when committing to projects beyond those that are critical.

Whilst the economy appears to have mainly stabilised, many businesses are still hesitant to fully invest in their IT landscape. This means that both permanent employees and contractors within IT project management are struggling to secure work. In order to thrive in 2025, many should consider expanding their IT project manager skills to make themselves more employable and attractive to employers as the market changes and evolves.

The state of IT project management

Before 2022…

In the late 2010s, cloud computing and the Internet of Things were gaining traction among companies, with many businesses exploring how cloud integrations and transformation projects could benefit them. Then, Covid-19 reared its head in 2020, placing a pause on many IT projects. While some companies improved their IT landscape purely out of business critical need to support remote workforces, there was some hesitancy from others due to market conditions being so turbulent. However, overall, many businesses recognised the utility of greater digitalisation through migrating to the cloud. In fact, in April 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reported,“…we have seen 2 years of digital transformations in two months”.

This excitement around investing in IT created a snowball of digital transformation projects that continued into 2021 with 70% of companies having a digital transformation strategy/ plan in place. In both 2021 and 2022, we saw a strong candidate-led market with skilled project managers receiving higher pay/rates/benefits and the ability to pick and choose roles.

Since 2022…

However, since 2022, the UK economy has been largely negatively affected by macroeconomic events such as wars overseas, a recession, high interest rates and changing governments.

The IT market in particular has faced significant layoffs, which are still continuing to this day, partly as reaction to macroeconomic events creating instability with budgets and changing focuses from tech giants to implementing AI over other IT projects.

Over 600,000 tech jobs have been cut since 2021, with the largest reduction taking place in 2022. All of this has created hesitancy and uncertainty from organisations around committing to long term IT projects, with hiring freezes and significant project delays becoming more common. This has created a difficult environment for project managers, many of whom have faced long periods of unemployment.

In 2025…

Currently, while there are no big promises of significant economic growth, the market has stabilised and there have been some signs that the IT market is picking up. However, it’s unlikely we will be returning to the heights of 2022. In order to future proof their careers due to changing client expectations, IT project managers will need to expand their skills and specialise in order to increase their chances of landing good opportunities.

Changing client expectations

The pendulum between a candidate or client-led market has swung significantly in favour of businesses over the past few years. With opportunities few and far between, for each project manager role there are often thousands of applicants. This changing market has affected client expectations.

Clients are increasingly evaluating IT project managers based on their hands-on experience within particular sectors and projects. Whilst, before a good generalist project manager was considered for a role, clients are now often more particular about the background of their project management candidates. For example, in infrastructure engineering, project managers who have directly worked on specific technology migrations are often preferred over generalists who lack that practical exposure.

Additionally, there’s a growing demand for project managers to hold more specialised accreditations. These accreditations, such as those that are recognised by PMI (Project Management Institute) offer more specialist training on globally accredited courses. They may help project managers secure better work, over more general certifications like PRINCE2.

Expanding an IT project manager’s skills to specialise in a particular area of IT and gaining specific accreditations, can greatly increase an IT project manager’s chances of securing great work in 2025.

Expanding IT project manager skills in 2025

AI

AI has been revolutionary in tech and many organisations are looking for ways they can integrate AI and improve efficiencies. IT project manager skills will need to know how to implement AI and machine learning tools into their processes to stay ahead of the game in 2025.

AI will not remove great IT project managers, rather it will help support and optimise parts of their role. Incorporating AI will likely become unavoidable, so project managers will need to be comfortable with utilising AI tools in their projects. By understanding their processes deeply, project managers will be able to tailor AI tools to help support parts of their role, such as with scheduling, reporting, or tracking progress. With 70% of project managers integrating AI into their workflows, it is a crucial skill for project managers to include in their repertoire in 2025.

Soft skills

Whilst soft skills have always been needed in IT project management, there is an increased need for project managers to have these skills to complement the use of AI, which may be covering some more practical tasks. This includes:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Collaboration
• Conflict management

IT project managers need to know how best to motivate a team, some of whom may be working remote, and understand how best to divide tasks and support individuals to do their best work.

Hybrid methods

Project management is often divided between two different methodologies. Firstly, is the traditional waterfall method in which each task is completed one after another. Then, there is the agile methodology which offers greater flexibility. In the agile method, projects are broken down into shorter “sprints” with regular check-ins and testing.

In more recent years, the agile method has grown in popularity with 71% of businesses using it. However, a hybrid approach is growing in popularity with in-demand IT project manager skills now often having knowledge of and experience working with a hybrid waterfall-agile methodology.

A hybrid project management methodology involves IT project managers moving between the two methodologies, using either one or an adaption of one depending on the stage of the project, the tasks they are working on, or because of the personalities on the team. By knowing how to work in order to get most out of their teams and adapt to improve efficiencies, project managers can have a significant impact on their projects.

Data literacy

Data literacy and understanding how to leverage data within projects is a key IT project manager skill for 2025. IT project managers now have real-time data and analytics at their fingertips thanks to BI platforms and tools. By utilising both real-time data and data available from previous projects, IT project managers can know how and where to allocate resources and when to adapt deadlines. It can help with forecasting and planning, as well as risk management and tracking performance.

Being both data literate and AI savvy can help to increase efficiencies during IT projects. Additionally, being able to make data driven determinations can help project managers make better decisions faster and reduce the chances of a project failing.

VIQU IT is an award-winning IT project management specialist recruitment agency. If you are looking for a new IT project manager role for 2025, please get in touch with our team here.