The Lovelace Report 2025 has revealed a major economic hemorrhage within the UK’s technology sector, estimating that the country incurs an annual loss of £2 billion to £3.5 billion due to the high rate of female attrition. The report finds that between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave their tech roles each year, with nearly half exiting the industry entirely. This exodus is hitting hardest among experienced mid-career professionals, who should form the backbone of Britain’s digital economy but are instead getting stuck in a “sticky middle” where career progression stalls.
The report directly debunks the common myth that women primarily leave due to caregiving responsibilities, which only 3% of women surveyed cited as their main reason for leaving. Instead, the real drivers are systemic failures: 25% cite a lack of career progression, 17% point to inadequate recognition, and 15% identify pay inequity. Over 75% of women with 11 to 20 years of experience reported waiting over three years for a promotion, significantly longer than the industry norm.The financial cost of inaction is severe. The UK government risks falling short of its goal to scale its AI workforce twentyfold by 2030, as the tech sector already faces a deficit of over 98,000 skilled workers. The Lovelace Report emphasizes that retaining women is an “economic emergency,” calling for urgent structural changes such as ensuring pay matches progression, providing sponsorship for mid-level women, and making career maps transparent to curb the talent drain.
