Middleware Contract Job Trends in England

Middleware
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Middleware skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 220 271 354
Rank change year-on-year +51 +83 -33
Contract jobs citing Middleware 448 217 201
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.22% 0.88% 0.53%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 5.72% 3.90% 2.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 276 120 145
10th Percentile £380 £394 £413
25th Percentile £460 £454 £486
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £563 £550 £600
Median % change year-on-year +2.27% -8.33% +4.35%
75th Percentile £691 £700 £719
90th Percentile £781 £768 £783
UK median daily rate £550 £525 £600
% change year-on-year +4.76% -12.50% +4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 22 3
10th Percentile - £61.25 £54.00
25th Percentile £61.25 £62.75 £58.13
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year - -7.14% -
75th Percentile - £65.75 £74.38
90th Percentile £68.00 £68.68 £74.75
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year - -7.14% -

All Software Libraries and Frameworks
England

Middleware falls under the Software Libraries and Frameworks category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring technical specification, industry standards, software libraries and framework skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for technical specification, industry standards, software libraries and framework skills 7,829 5,557 7,567
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 21.25% 22.62% 19.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,242 3,775 5,401
10th Percentile £358 £363 £350
25th Percentile £420 £425 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £538 £540
Median % change year-on-year -2.33% -0.46% -6.09%
75th Percentile £625 £663 £663
90th Percentile £738 £788 £775
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.38% - -6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 223 87 193
10th Percentile £35.05 £27.34 £21.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £51.78 £40.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £48.72
Median % change year-on-year - +33.42% -25.05%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £78.70 £83.38 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £48.72
% change year-on-year +4.00% +28.28% -25.05%

Middleware
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Middleware relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Middleware job vacancy trend in England

Middleware
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Middleware.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Middleware

Middleware
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Middleware in England over the 6 months to 17 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Middleware in England

Middleware
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Middleware.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Middleware

Middleware
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Middleware in England over the 6 months to 17 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Middleware in England

Middleware
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Middleware within the England region over the 6 months to 17 March 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +68 218 £613 +9.87% 46
North of England -23 74 £525 -4.55% 25
Midlands -11 63 £500 +5.26% 10
South West -17 55 £68 -87.64% 14
West Midlands -39 42 £500 - 4
North West -13 38 £469 -14.73% 11
Yorkshire -30 36 £530 +11.58% 6
South East -33 23 £505 -12.17% 29
East Midlands -14 19 £402 -15.37% 6
East of England -21 14 £492 -32.14% 9
Middleware
UK

Middleware
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 14 (3.13%) WebSphere
2 13 (2.90%) Confluence
3 11 (2.46%) Apache
3 11 (2.46%) Tomcat
4 8 (1.79%) Apache Geronimo
4 8 (1.79%) Apache ServiceMix
4 8 (1.79%) CICS
4 8 (1.79%) Red Hat Fuse
5 6 (1.34%) Oracle Workflow
6 5 (1.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 3 (0.67%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.67%) Apache Spark
7 3 (0.67%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.67%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.45%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.45%) CMS
8 2 (0.45%) IBM HTTP Server
8 2 (0.45%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.45%) nginx
9 1 (0.22%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 7 (1.56%) Microsoft Project
2 4 (0.89%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (0.89%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.45%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 20 (4.46%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.79%) Oracle Receivables
3 7 (1.56%) Oracle General Ledger
3 7 (1.56%) Shopify
4 6 (1.34%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (1.12%) Oracle EBS
5 5 (1.12%) Oracle Payables
6 4 (0.89%) Bloomberg AIM
6 4 (0.89%) Fidessa
6 4 (0.89%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 3 (0.67%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.67%) Oracle 11i
7 3 (0.67%) Oracle Cash Management
8 2 (0.45%) CODA-Financials
8 2 (0.45%) Dynamics NAV
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle Assets
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle Financials
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 2 (0.45%) SAP EWM
8 2 (0.45%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 124 (27.68%) Azure
2 61 (13.62%) AWS
3 42 (9.38%) GCP
4 30 (6.70%) SaaS
5 16 (3.57%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (3.35%) Boomi
6 15 (3.35%) Dynamics 365
7 13 (2.90%) Salesforce Service Cloud
8 11 (2.46%) OCI
8 11 (2.46%) Power Platform
9 10 (2.23%) Datadog
9 10 (2.23%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
9 10 (2.23%) Serverless
10 9 (2.01%) iPaaS
11 8 (1.79%) AWS Lambda
11 8 (1.79%) SuccessFactors
12 7 (1.56%) Amazon EKS
12 7 (1.56%) Azure Logic Apps
12 7 (1.56%) Entra ID
13 6 (1.34%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 25 (5.58%) Firewall
2 10 (2.23%) HTTP
3 8 (1.79%) LAN
3 8 (1.79%) TCP/IP
3 8 (1.79%) WAN
4 6 (1.34%) Multicast
5 4 (0.89%) DNS
5 4 (0.89%) tcpdump
5 4 (0.89%) Wireshark
6 3 (0.67%) DHCP
6 3 (0.67%) IPv4
6 3 (0.67%) IPv6
6 3 (0.67%) SAN
7 2 (0.45%) Network Security
7 2 (0.45%) Reverse Proxy
7 2 (0.45%) VPN
8 1 (0.22%) Ethernet
8 1 (0.22%) HTTPS
8 1 (0.22%) NAS
8 1 (0.22%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.90%) SQL Server
2 11 (2.46%) DataStage
3 9 (2.01%) Data Warehouse
3 9 (2.01%) Oracle Database
3 9 (2.01%) Power BI
4 6 (1.34%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (1.12%) Snowflake Schema
6 4 (0.89%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.89%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.67%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.67%) Big Data
7 3 (0.67%) Data Hub
7 3 (0.67%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.67%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.67%) Oracle Database 10g
7 3 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.67%) Redis
7 3 (0.67%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.45%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle BI Publisher
Development Applications
1 22 (4.91%) GitLab
2 21 (4.69%) JIRA
3 19 (4.24%) Git
4 16 (3.57%) Jenkins
5 9 (2.01%) Jaeger
6 6 (1.34%) JUnit
7 5 (1.12%) Ant
7 5 (1.12%) Gatling
7 5 (1.12%) JMeter
7 5 (1.12%) Rational Rhapsody
8 4 (0.89%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.45%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.45%) GCC
9 2 (0.45%) GDB
9 2 (0.45%) Gradle
9 2 (0.45%) Introscope
9 2 (0.45%) Mockito
9 2 (0.45%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.45%) Postman
10 1 (0.22%) REST Assured
General
1 138 (30.80%) Finance
2 129 (28.79%) Social Skills
3 62 (13.84%) Banking
4 58 (12.95%) Analytical Skills
5 34 (7.59%) Public Sector
6 25 (5.58%) Documentation Skills
7 18 (4.02%) Retail
8 17 (3.79%) Influencing Skills
9 15 (3.35%) Investment Banking
10 13 (2.90%) Presentation Skills
11 12 (2.68%) Financial Institution
12 11 (2.46%) Front Office
12 11 (2.46%) Law
12 11 (2.46%) Legal
12 11 (2.46%) Manufacturing
13 10 (2.23%) Aerospace
13 10 (2.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 10 (2.23%) Marketing
14 5 (1.12%) General Ledger
14 5 (1.12%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 153 (34.15%) Architect
2 80 (17.86%) Solutions Architect
3 44 (9.82%) Developer
4 34 (7.59%) Senior
4 34 (7.59%) Software Engineer
5 33 (7.37%) Lead
6 23 (5.13%) Analyst
6 23 (5.13%) Technical Architect
7 22 (4.91%) Integration Architect
8 21 (4.69%) C++ Software Engineer
8 21 (4.69%) Support Engineer
9 17 (3.79%) Consultant
10 16 (3.57%) Java Engineer
11 14 (3.13%) Salesforce Architect
11 14 (3.13%) Systems Analyst
12 13 (2.90%) Payments Architect
12 13 (2.90%) Payments Solutions Architect
12 13 (2.90%) Project Manager
12 13 (2.90%) SAP Architect
13 12 (2.68%) SAP Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (13.39%) REST
2 40 (8.93%) Kafka
3 36 (8.04%) SOAP
4 23 (5.13%) Lightning Web Components
5 21 (4.69%) XML
6 19 (4.24%) Qt
7 16 (3.57%) Visualforce
8 14 (3.13%) .NET
8 14 (3.13%) Oracle Fusion
9 13 (2.90%) RESTful
9 13 (2.90%) Spring Boot
10 12 (2.68%) JMS
11 11 (2.46%) FIX Protocol
12 10 (2.23%) Apache Camel
12 10 (2.23%) OpenTelemetry
12 10 (2.23%) Web Services
13 9 (2.01%) Node.js
13 9 (2.01%) RabbitMQ
13 9 (2.01%) React
14 8 (1.79%) Apache Axis
Miscellaneous
1 35 (7.81%) Management Information System
2 28 (6.25%) Cloud Native
3 23 (5.13%) Data Centre
4 20 (4.46%) Public Cloud
5 19 (4.24%) Enterprise Software
6 18 (4.02%) Product Ownership
7 17 (3.79%) Legacy Systems
8 14 (3.13%) Distributed Systems
8 14 (3.13%) Onboarding
9 10 (2.23%) Mainframe
10 8 (1.79%) BYOD
10 8 (1.79%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (1.79%) VSAM
11 7 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
12 6 (1.34%) Algorithms
12 6 (1.34%) CMDB
12 6 (1.34%) Legacy Applications
12 6 (1.34%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 5 (1.12%) AI Agents
13 5 (1.12%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 72 (16.07%) Linux
2 32 (7.14%) Windows
3 23 (5.13%) Unix
4 14 (3.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 13 (2.90%) AIX
6 12 (2.68%) Ubuntu
7 11 (2.46%) Solaris
8 8 (1.79%) CentOS
9 7 (1.56%) Windows Server
10 3 (0.67%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.67%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.45%) Windows Server 2008
11 2 (0.45%) zOS
12 1 (0.22%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.22%) Rocky
12 1 (0.22%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.22%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 122 (27.23%) Agile
2 102 (22.77%) DevOps
3 86 (19.20%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (18.75%) CI/CD
5 80 (17.86%) Microservices
6 79 (17.63%) Integration Patterns
7 65 (14.51%) Roadmaps
7 65 (14.51%) Software Engineering
8 63 (14.06%) Migration
9 62 (13.84%) Technical Leadership
10 60 (13.39%) Stakeholder Management
11 51 (11.38%) ERP
12 46 (10.27%) Data Modelling
13 44 (9.82%) Validation
14 40 (8.93%) Computer Science
15 38 (8.48%) Continuous Improvement
15 38 (8.48%) Mentoring
15 38 (8.48%) Observability
15 38 (8.48%) Waterfall
16 37 (8.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 77 (17.19%) SQL
2 66 (14.73%) Java
3 43 (9.60%) Ada
4 40 (8.93%) Python
5 38 (8.48%) C++
6 23 (5.13%) Apex Code
6 23 (5.13%) JavaScript
7 21 (4.69%) Shell Script
8 19 (4.24%) PowerShell
9 18 (4.02%) C
9 18 (4.02%) C#
10 16 (3.57%) Bash
10 16 (3.57%) PL/SQL
11 9 (2.01%) Rust
12 8 (1.79%) COBOL
12 8 (1.79%) SOQL
13 7 (1.56%) MATLAB
14 6 (1.34%) Perl
15 5 (1.12%) Korn
16 3 (0.67%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 69 (15.40%) Security Cleared
2 59 (13.17%) SC Cleared
3 46 (10.27%) Degree
4 25 (5.58%) Computer Science Degree
5 18 (4.02%) Master's Degree
6 12 (2.68%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (2.46%) Azure Certification
8 9 (2.01%) PMI Certification
9 8 (1.79%) PMP
10 7 (1.56%) AWS Certification
11 6 (1.34%) TOGAF Certification
12 5 (1.12%) SAP Certification
13 3 (0.67%) DV Cleared
14 2 (0.45%) Oracle Certification
15 1 (0.22%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
15 1 (0.22%) ITIL Certification
15 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 1 (0.22%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (8.26%) Def Stans
1 37 (8.26%) IEC 61508
2 34 (7.59%) GDPR
3 18 (4.02%) MISRA
3 18 (4.02%) MISRA C
4 15 (3.35%) QA
5 12 (2.68%) Data Quality
6 10 (2.23%) SLA
7 9 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (1.79%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 7 (1.56%) NIST
10 5 (1.12%) GAAP
10 5 (1.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.89%) HL7
11 4 (0.89%) SEPA
12 3 (0.67%) Accessibility
12 3 (0.67%) IFRS
12 3 (0.67%) ISO 20022
12 3 (0.67%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.67%) PSD2
System Software
1 41 (9.15%) Docker
2 14 (3.13%) Active Directory
3 5 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (0.89%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.45%) Oracle RAC
6 1 (0.22%) GPFS
6 1 (0.22%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.22%) Lustre
6 1 (0.22%) Slurm Workload Manager
6 1 (0.22%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 52 (11.61%) Kubernetes
2 29 (6.47%) Grafana
3 25 (5.58%) Prometheus
4 14 (3.13%) Ansible
5 9 (2.01%) Kiali
6 7 (1.56%) Check_MK
6 7 (1.56%) Podman
6 7 (1.56%) Red Hat Satellite
7 6 (1.34%) Terraform
8 5 (1.12%) ITRS Geneos
8 5 (1.12%) SCCM
9 2 (0.45%) CA Wily
9 2 (0.45%) Control-M
9 2 (0.45%) Oracle RMAN
9 2 (0.45%) SCOrch
9 2 (0.45%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.22%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.22%) HP Fortify
10 1 (0.22%) Istio
10 1 (0.22%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 62 (13.84%) Oracle
2 59 (13.17%) Microsoft
3 44 (9.82%) SAP
4 42 (9.38%) Salesforce
5 33 (7.37%) MuleSoft
6 28 (6.25%) IBM
7 22 (4.91%) Red Hat
7 22 (4.91%) VMware
8 20 (4.46%) Splunk
8 20 (4.46%) Workday
9 15 (3.35%) Databricks
9 15 (3.35%) ServiceNow
10 12 (2.68%) AppDynamics
10 12 (2.68%) Dynatrace
10 12 (2.68%) Software AG
10 12 (2.68%) TIBCO
11 9 (2.01%) Google
12 8 (1.79%) Solace
13 6 (1.34%) BMC
14 5 (1.12%) Dell