The UK economy is losing up to £3.5 billion every year as tens of thousands of women leave the tech sector due to stagnant career development, unequal pay and weak leadership skills, according to a new landmark report released to mark Ada Lovelace Day.
The 2025 Lovelace Report: Unlocking £2-3.5 trillion, published on Tuesday, shows that between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave the industry every year – an exodus that experts warn is undermining the country’s ambitions to become a world leader in artificial intelligence and digital innovation.
Despite making up just 20% of the tech workforce, women are twice as likely as men to leave, with the losses felt most acutely by mid-career professionals who should form the backbone of the UK’s digital economy.
The report’s authors say the problem isn’t that women can’t get into the tech industry, but that the system isn’t retaining them. More than three-quarters of women with 11-20 years of experience said they had waited over three years for a promotion, while half earned below-average salaries for their seniority.
Although 90% of women in the industry say they want to take on a leadership role, only one in four believe they can. This is attributed to a lack of sponsorship, opaque promotion pathways and a work culture that undervalues women’s contributions.
The report estimates the annual cost of £1.4 billion to £2.2 billion in lost productivity when women leave the tech industry, and a further £640 billion to £1.3 billion in attrition, as women move between employers in search of better pay or opportunities.
Elizabeth Anderson, executive director of the Digital Poverty Alliance, said the findings highlight how structural inequality and digital exclusion reinforce each other.
“With women 14-22% more likely to experience digital poverty than men, Ada Lovelace is an important reminder of the need to close the gender gap in access to technology,” said Anderson.
“Without the right tools, connectivity and digital literacy, many women face a self-perpetuating cycle of exclusion that limits their ability to participate in the labor market.”
She added that the problem goes beyond access to devices in the workplace, noting that digital exclusion is now “exacerbating existing inequalities” by limiting access to education, healthcare and financial planning.
“Celebrating Ada’s legacy isn’t just about honoring the past – it’s about ensuring every woman can thrive in a digitally connected world,” she said.
The report warns that the UK’s inability to retain female tech professionals comes at a dangerous time. The government’s AI and digital skills strategy aims to grow the national AI workforce 20-fold by 2030, but the industry already faces a shortage of 98,000 to 120,000 skilled workers in AI, cybersecurity and infrastructure.
Industry leaders say the country risks falling further behind the United States, Canada and Singapore unless it tackles workplace inequality and embeds employee retention incentives into industrial policy.
“This isn’t just about fairness – this is an economic emergency,” a senior technology executive told Daily Sparkz. “If half of your skilled workforce leaves the company before reaching management level, you not only lose talent, but you also sabotage your own growth strategy.”
Each year, Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the pioneering mathematician who, in the 19th century, imagined machines that could process both ideas and numbers – a vision that foreshadowed the birth of modern computer science.
But 184 years after Lovelace’s comments on Charles Babbage’s analytical engine, the report argues that the UK is still failing to build the inclusive innovation ecosystem she envisioned.
The researchers conclude with a stark warning: unless companies address career stagnation and gender inequality, the UK will continue to “bleed talent and opportunity”.
“On Ada Lovelace Day, this research is both a celebration and a call to action,” the report said. “Women have been at the heart of technology since its inception – and Britain cannot afford to lose the next generation of its brightest minds.”
