Retail Contract Job Trends in England

Retailing
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Retail in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Retail over the 6 months leading up to 19 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 134 89 86
Rank change year-on-year -45 -3 -1
Contract jobs citing Retail 723 707 934
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.95% 2.89% 2.47%
As % of the General category 3.40% 4.56% 4.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 465 381 539
10th Percentile £200 £306 £278
25th Percentile £363 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £505
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +3.96% -3.81%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £765 £739
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £500
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -5.21%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 15 65
10th Percentile £12.75 £16.40 £11.09
25th Percentile £12.95 £19.69 £12.15
Median hourly rate £16.71 £32.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -48.58% +103.13% -19.23%
75th Percentile £46.25 £50.00 £21.37
90th Percentile £57.05 £62.60 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £17.89 £32.50 £16.00
% change year-on-year -44.97% +103.13% -19.23%

All General Skills
England

Retail falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 21,286 15,488 22,174
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 57.52% 63.30% 58.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,445 10,017 14,493
10th Percentile £300 £300 £270
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.41% -3.18%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £763
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,335 579 1,658
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.00 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.69 £19.94 £15.29
Median hourly rate £25.08 £30.81 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.60% +18.48% -22.76%
75th Percentile £59.25 £60.38 £50.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £25.75
% change year-on-year -16.67% +16.50% -24.06%

Retail
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Retail job vacancy trend in England

Retail
Daily Rate Trend in England

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail

Retail
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Retail in England over the 6 months to 19 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Retail in England

Retail
Hourly Rate Trend in England

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail

Retail
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Retail in England over the 6 months to 19 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Retail in England

Retail
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 Retail within the England region over the 6 months to 19 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 -38 402 £538 -3.59% 356
South East -34 101 £423 -22.30% 251
North of England -50 82 £500 +11.11% 215
Midlands -47 70 £495 -1.00% 185
East Midlands -12 42 £495 -1.00% 114
North West -32 42 £513 +13.89% 107
Yorkshire -37 36 £506 +31.49% 91
East of England -15 33 £498 -5.24% 87
West Midlands -59 27 £463 -11.90% 71
South West -12 19 £261 -26.41% 79
North East -5 4 £206 - 19
Retail
UK

Retail
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 33 (4.56%) Confluence
2 15 (2.07%) SharePoint
3 12 (1.66%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 12 (1.66%) Apache Airflow
4 11 (1.52%) CMS
5 4 (0.55%) WordPress
6 3 (0.41%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Exchange
7 2 (0.28%) SAS
8 1 (0.14%) SharePoint Server
8 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.14%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 25 (3.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (2.35%) Microsoft Project
3 13 (1.80%) Microsoft Office
4 12 (1.66%) Chatbot
4 12 (1.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (1.38%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.55%) Photoshop
7 3 (0.41%) Adobe Illustrator
8 2 (0.28%) InDesign
8 2 (0.28%) Trello
9 1 (0.14%) 3ds Max
9 1 (0.14%) Adobe After Effects
9 1 (0.14%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.14%) Adobe XD
9 1 (0.14%) Maya
9 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.14%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 16 (2.21%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (2.07%) Shopify
3 12 (1.66%) SAP Retail
4 10 (1.38%) Dynamics CRM
5 8 (1.11%) Oracle Retail
6 6 (0.83%) Finacle
6 6 (0.83%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 5 (0.69%) SAP Payroll
8 4 (0.55%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.55%) Temenos T24
9 3 (0.41%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.41%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
10 2 (0.28%) BambooHR
10 2 (0.28%) Sprinklr
11 1 (0.14%) Oracle Cash Management
11 1 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
11 1 (0.14%) Payment Gateway
11 1 (0.14%) Sage X3
11 1 (0.14%) SAP CAR
11 1 (0.14%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 82 (11.34%) Azure
2 49 (6.78%) Power Platform
3 47 (6.50%) AWS
4 39 (5.39%) GCP
5 23 (3.18%) Azure DevOps
6 20 (2.77%) Dynamics 365
6 20 (2.77%) GitHub
7 16 (2.21%) Microsoft 365
8 15 (2.07%) Snowflake
9 14 (1.94%) GitHub Actions
10 12 (1.66%) Google Workspace
11 11 (1.52%) Figma
11 11 (1.52%) SaaS
12 10 (1.38%) Entra ID
12 10 (1.38%) Miro
13 9 (1.24%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (1.24%) Cloud Run
13 9 (1.24%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
13 9 (1.24%) Serverless
14 8 (1.11%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 15 (2.07%) RFID
2 13 (1.80%) VPN
3 11 (1.52%) WAN
4 10 (1.38%) Wireless
5 9 (1.24%) Firewall
6 8 (1.11%) NFC
7 7 (0.97%) LAN
8 6 (0.83%) Cisco Nexus
8 6 (0.83%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (0.55%) BGP
9 4 (0.55%) EIGRP
9 4 (0.55%) OSPF
9 4 (0.55%) VoIP
10 3 (0.41%) MPLS
11 2 (0.28%) Cisco ASA
11 2 (0.28%) Cisco Firepower
11 2 (0.28%) Network Security
11 2 (0.28%) SAN
11 2 (0.28%) SD-WAN
11 2 (0.28%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (5.67%) Power BI
2 20 (2.77%) BigQuery
3 17 (2.35%) Data Warehouse
4 13 (1.80%) SQL Server
5 12 (1.66%) MySQL
6 11 (1.52%) Metadata
6 11 (1.52%) Tableau
7 7 (0.97%) Data Lake
7 7 (0.97%) Data Vault
8 6 (0.83%) Delta Lake
9 5 (0.69%) PostgreSQL
10 4 (0.55%) Redis
10 4 (0.55%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.55%) Snowflake Schema
10 4 (0.55%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.41%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.41%) OLAP
11 3 (0.41%) Oracle OLAP
11 3 (0.41%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.41%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 68 (9.41%) JIRA
2 9 (1.24%) Git
2 9 (1.24%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.97%) GitLab
4 5 (0.69%) ERwin
5 4 (0.55%) Maven
5 4 (0.55%) MLflow
6 3 (0.41%) Selenium
6 3 (0.41%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.28%) PowerDesigner
7 2 (0.28%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.14%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.14%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.14%) Gatling
8 1 (0.14%) HP UFT
8 1 (0.14%) Mockito
8 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.14%) Xcode
8 1 (0.14%) Zephyr
General
1 241 (33.33%) Social Skills
2 172 (23.79%) Finance
3 80 (11.07%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (9.13%) Banking
5 58 (8.02%) Marketing
6 33 (4.56%) Public Sector
7 32 (4.43%) Manufacturing
8 29 (4.01%) Organisational Skills
9 25 (3.46%) Investment Banking
10 24 (3.32%) Retail Banking
11 23 (3.18%) Corporate Banking
11 23 (3.18%) Influencing Skills
12 21 (2.90%) Documentation Skills
13 18 (2.49%) Presentation Skills
14 12 (1.66%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.38%) Legal
16 9 (1.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 8 (1.11%) Financial Institution
18 7 (0.97%) Publishing
19 6 (0.83%) Private Banking
Job Titles
1 122 (16.87%) Analyst
2 97 (13.42%) Project Manager
3 87 (12.03%) Architect
3 87 (12.03%) Senior
4 66 (9.13%) Business Analyst
5 61 (8.44%) Lead
6 38 (5.26%) Senior Manager
7 35 (4.84%) Solutions Architect
8 33 (4.56%) Consultant
9 27 (3.73%) Technical Manager
10 22 (3.04%) Senior Project Manager
11 18 (2.49%) Programme Manager
12 17 (2.35%) Product Manager
12 17 (2.35%) Service Manager
13 15 (2.07%) Data Architect
13 15 (2.07%) Developer
14 14 (1.94%) Designer
14 14 (1.94%) E-Commerce Manager
15 13 (1.80%) Data Engineer
15 13 (1.80%) Enterprise Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (2.77%) REST
1 20 (2.77%) VML
2 19 (2.63%) Middleware
3 15 (2.07%) Spring
4 11 (1.52%) AngularJS
4 11 (1.52%) PySpark
4 11 (1.52%) React
5 10 (1.38%) scikit-learn
5 10 (1.38%) Spring Boot
6 8 (1.11%) .NET
6 8 (1.11%) Node.js
7 7 (0.97%) CSS
7 7 (0.97%) HTML
7 7 (0.97%) PyTorch
8 6 (0.83%) LangChain
8 6 (0.83%) OpenTelemetry
9 5 (0.69%) jQuery
10 4 (0.55%) JSON
10 4 (0.55%) Spring MVC
10 4 (0.55%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 47 (6.50%) Product Ownership
2 27 (3.73%) Driving Licence
3 24 (3.32%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (3.04%) Cloud Native
5 20 (2.77%) Onboarding
6 19 (2.63%) Management Information System
7 18 (2.49%) Data Centre
8 17 (2.35%) FMCG
9 16 (2.21%) Data Structures
9 16 (2.21%) Legacy Systems
10 15 (2.07%) EPoS
11 11 (1.52%) Mobile App
12 9 (1.24%) IoT
12 9 (1.24%) Virtual Team
13 8 (1.11%) Analytical Mindset
13 8 (1.11%) Reference Data
14 7 (0.97%) Algorithms
14 7 (0.97%) Greenfield Project
15 6 (0.83%) Enterprise Software
15 6 (0.83%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 34 (4.70%) Windows
2 19 (2.63%) Linux
3 9 (1.24%) Mac OS
4 4 (0.55%) Android
4 4 (0.55%) Apple iOS
4 4 (0.55%) Unix
5 3 (0.41%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.41%) zOS
6 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
6 1 (0.14%) VMS
6 1 (0.14%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 171 (23.65%) Stakeholder Management
2 166 (22.96%) Agile
3 139 (19.23%) Problem-Solving
4 104 (14.38%) E-Commerce
5 89 (12.31%) Project Management
6 78 (10.79%) Migration
7 75 (10.37%) Analytics
8 74 (10.24%) Roadmaps
9 70 (9.68%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 65 (8.99%) Workshop Facilitation
11 60 (8.30%) Customer Experience
11 60 (8.30%) ERP
12 59 (8.16%) Scrum
13 58 (8.02%) Continuous Improvement
14 57 (7.88%) AI
15 56 (7.75%) DevOps
15 56 (7.75%) Project Delivery
16 55 (7.61%) Change Management
17 50 (6.92%) Business Intelligence
18 47 (6.50%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 60 (8.30%) Python
1 60 (8.30%) SQL
2 24 (3.32%) Java
3 17 (2.35%) JavaScript
4 14 (1.94%) PowerShell
5 11 (1.52%) Bash
6 9 (1.24%) Shell Script
7 8 (1.11%) Kusto Query Language
8 7 (0.97%) C#
9 4 (0.55%) TypeScript
9 4 (0.55%) VBA
10 3 (0.41%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.41%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.28%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.28%) Google Apps Script
11 2 (0.28%) Korn
11 2 (0.28%) PHP
11 2 (0.28%) R
11 2 (0.28%) SOQL
11 2 (0.28%) SOSL
Qualifications
1 44 (6.09%) Degree
2 22 (3.04%) PMP
3 20 (2.77%) Security Cleared
4 17 (2.35%) PMI Certification
5 8 (1.11%) Master's Degree
5 8 (1.11%) SC Cleared
6 7 (0.97%) APMP
6 7 (0.97%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (0.97%) MBA
7 6 (0.83%) CCNP
7 6 (0.83%) Cisco Certification
7 6 (0.83%) CISSP
7 6 (0.83%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (0.55%) CCIE
8 4 (0.55%) CISM
8 4 (0.55%) CRISC
8 4 (0.55%) CSPO
8 4 (0.55%) ITIL Certification
9 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Certification
9 3 (0.41%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.56%) Data Quality
1 33 (4.56%) QA
2 27 (3.73%) PMO
3 18 (2.49%) SLA
4 16 (2.21%) GDPR
5 13 (1.80%) Accessibility
6 6 (0.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (0.83%) PCI DSS
7 5 (0.69%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.55%) IFRS
9 3 (0.41%) NIST
10 2 (0.28%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.28%) NCSC
10 2 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.14%) COBIT
11 1 (0.14%) GAAP
11 1 (0.14%) GRC
11 1 (0.14%) MiFID
11 1 (0.14%) Solvency II
11 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 17 (2.35%) Docker
2 13 (1.80%) Active Directory
3 4 (0.55%) VMware NSX
4 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (0.41%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.14%) RACF
6 1 (0.14%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 19 (2.63%) Terraform
2 15 (2.07%) Kubernetes
3 7 (0.97%) Grafana
3 7 (0.97%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 6 (0.83%) Argo
4 6 (0.83%) Istio
4 6 (0.83%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.41%) SCCM
5 3 (0.41%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
6 2 (0.28%) MOM
7 1 (0.14%) Cacti
7 1 (0.14%) Control-M
7 1 (0.14%) Nmap
7 1 (0.14%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.14%) ZABBIX
7 1 (0.14%) zSecure
Vendors
1 67 (9.27%) Microsoft
2 59 (8.16%) SAP
3 49 (6.78%) Google
4 44 (6.09%) Oracle
5 31 (4.29%) Salesforce
6 23 (3.18%) Databricks
7 22 (3.04%) Adobe
8 13 (1.80%) ServiceNow
9 10 (1.38%) Sitecore
10 8 (1.11%) Temenos
11 7 (0.97%) CheckPoint
11 7 (0.97%) Cisco
11 7 (0.97%) VMware
12 6 (0.83%) Avaloq
12 6 (0.83%) GoldenSource
12 6 (0.83%) Workday
13 5 (0.69%) Apple
13 5 (0.69%) BMC
13 5 (0.69%) IFS
13 5 (0.69%) Palo Alto