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 14 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 104 94 76
Rank change year-on-year -10 -18 +10
Contract jobs citing Retail 928 656 991
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.28% 2.72% 2.71%
As % of the General category 4.21% 4.24% 4.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 552 348 547
10th Percentile £234 £313 £286
25th Percentile £409 £413 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £525 £515
Median % change year-on-year -3.43% +1.94% -1.90%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £638
90th Percentile £738 £756 £738
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £505
% change year-on-year -4.76% +3.96% -4.72%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 15 85
10th Percentile £13.16 £15.25 £11.38
25th Percentile £15.84 £16.30 £12.15
Median hourly rate £21.00 £22.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% +40.63% -19.23%
75th Percentile £23.75 £52.50 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £62.60 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £21.00 £29.00 £16.00
% change year-on-year -27.59% +81.25% -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 22,021 15,486 21,277
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 54.21% 64.21% 58.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,641 10,031 13,702
10th Percentile £306 £300 £280
25th Percentile £411 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -2.38% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £503 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -3.37% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,453 661 1,781
10th Percentile £14.22 £13.85 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.00 £16.95 £15.50
Median hourly rate £30.58 £27.25 £30.50
Median % change year-on-year +12.22% -10.66% -6.15%
75th Percentile £63.75 £55.25 £52.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £65.25
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £27.30 £30.16
% change year-on-year +9.89% -9.48% -10.82%

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 14 May 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 14 May 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 14 May 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 -17 503 £538 -2.71% 401
North of England -32 125 £511 +13.61% 245
South East -12 124 £463 -7.50% 268
Midlands -24 85 £495 -1.00% 148
North West -1 75 £518 +3.50% 147
East Midlands 0 49 £495 -1.00% 75
East of England -11 49 £509 -3.05% 111
Yorkshire -50 47 £513 +38.51% 87
West Midlands -46 36 £500 +11.11% 73
South West -18 29 £333 -33.50% 74
North East -17 3 £201 -73.17% 15
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 (3.56%) Confluence
2 14 (1.51%) SharePoint
3 11 (1.19%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 7 (0.75%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (0.65%) CMS
6 4 (0.43%) SAS
7 2 (0.22%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.22%) Microsoft Exchange
7 2 (0.22%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.11%) CICS
8 1 (0.11%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 33 (3.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 21 (2.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 19 (2.05%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (2.05%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (1.40%) Chatbot
5 11 (1.19%) MS Visio
6 8 (0.86%) Photoshop
7 6 (0.65%) Adobe Illustrator
8 3 (0.32%) InDesign
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 2 (0.22%) UserZoom
10 1 (0.11%) 3ds Max
10 1 (0.11%) Adobe After Effects
10 1 (0.11%) Adobe XD
10 1 (0.11%) Maya
10 1 (0.11%) PlantUML
10 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
10 1 (0.11%) Spreadsheet
10 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.16%) Shopify
2 16 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.97%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.75%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 7 (0.75%) Oracle Retail
4 7 (0.75%) SAP Retail
5 6 (0.65%) Finacle
6 5 (0.54%) SAP CRM
6 5 (0.54%) SAP MDG
7 4 (0.43%) Temenos T24
8 3 (0.32%) Magento
9 2 (0.22%) BambooHR
9 2 (0.22%) Dynamics AX
9 2 (0.22%) NetSuite
9 2 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
9 2 (0.22%) Payment Gateway
9 2 (0.22%) Salesforce CRM
9 2 (0.22%) SAP ERP
9 2 (0.22%) SAP MM
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 93 (10.02%) Azure
2 70 (7.54%) AWS
3 53 (5.71%) GCP
4 50 (5.39%) Power Platform
5 25 (2.69%) Snowflake
6 22 (2.37%) Dynamics 365
7 21 (2.26%) GitHub
8 17 (1.83%) Microsoft 365
9 15 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (1.62%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
10 13 (1.40%) BigCommerce
10 13 (1.40%) Figma
10 13 (1.40%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (1.19%) Entra ID
12 10 (1.08%) Google Workspace
12 10 (1.08%) Miro
12 10 (1.08%) SaaS
13 9 (0.97%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (0.97%) Cloud Run
14 8 (0.86%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 16 (1.72%) VPN
2 15 (1.62%) Firewall
3 14 (1.51%) WAN
4 12 (1.29%) RFID
5 11 (1.19%) Wireless
6 8 (0.86%) ATM
6 8 (0.86%) Cisco Nexus
7 7 (0.75%) LAN
7 7 (0.75%) Wi-Fi
8 6 (0.65%) BGP
8 6 (0.65%) OSPF
9 5 (0.54%) Cisco Firepower
9 5 (0.54%) Network Security
10 4 (0.43%) Cisco ASA
10 4 (0.43%) EIGRP
10 4 (0.43%) NFC
10 4 (0.43%) VoIP
10 4 (0.43%) VSAN
11 3 (0.32%) MPLS
11 3 (0.32%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (4.96%) Power BI
2 27 (2.91%) BigQuery
3 16 (1.72%) Data Warehouse
4 12 (1.29%) MySQL
4 12 (1.29%) SQL Server
5 10 (1.08%) Tableau
6 9 (0.97%) Data Lake
6 9 (0.97%) Metadata
7 6 (0.65%) Relational Database
8 5 (0.54%) Data Vault
8 5 (0.54%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.43%) Delta Lake
9 4 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
9 4 (0.43%) Semantic Layer
10 3 (0.32%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.32%) Big Data
10 3 (0.32%) DynamoDB
10 3 (0.32%) Looker
10 3 (0.32%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.32%) Oracle OLAP
Development Applications
1 71 (7.65%) JIRA
2 14 (1.51%) Git
3 12 (1.29%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.86%) GitLab
5 4 (0.43%) Maven
6 3 (0.32%) ERwin
6 3 (0.32%) Subversion
7 2 (0.22%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.22%) JMeter
7 2 (0.22%) MLflow
7 2 (0.22%) Selenium
7 2 (0.22%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.22%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.11%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.11%) Gatling
8 1 (0.11%) git-flow
8 1 (0.11%) Hudson
8 1 (0.11%) Mockito
8 1 (0.11%) webpack
8 1 (0.11%) Zephyr
General
1 271 (29.20%) Social Skills
2 240 (25.86%) Finance
3 96 (10.34%) Analytical Skills
4 82 (8.84%) Banking
5 58 (6.25%) Marketing
6 45 (4.85%) Organisational Skills
7 39 (4.20%) Manufacturing
8 36 (3.88%) Retail Banking
9 33 (3.56%) Investment Banking
10 31 (3.34%) Corporate Banking
11 27 (2.91%) Presentation Skills
12 26 (2.80%) Public Sector
13 25 (2.69%) Documentation Skills
14 24 (2.59%) Telecoms
15 22 (2.37%) Influencing Skills
16 15 (1.62%) Legal
17 13 (1.40%) Back Office
18 11 (1.19%) Advertising
19 10 (1.08%) French Language
20 8 (0.86%) Private Banking
Job Titles
1 142 (15.30%) Architect
2 137 (14.76%) Analyst
3 119 (12.82%) Senior
4 101 (10.88%) Project Manager
5 82 (8.84%) Business Analyst
6 70 (7.54%) Lead
7 55 (5.93%) Senior Manager
8 54 (5.82%) Solutions Architect
9 37 (3.99%) Technical Manager
10 33 (3.56%) Designer
11 32 (3.45%) Consultant
12 29 (3.13%) Enterprise Architect
12 29 (3.13%) Senior Project Manager
13 26 (2.80%) Data Architect
13 26 (2.80%) Developer
14 23 (2.48%) Product Manager
15 20 (2.16%) Programme Manager
16 18 (1.94%) Data Engineer
16 18 (1.94%) Network Engineer
17 17 (1.83%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.23%) VML
2 27 (2.91%) Middleware
3 22 (2.37%) REST
4 21 (2.26%) React
5 18 (1.94%) Spring
6 16 (1.72%) Node.js
7 12 (1.29%) AngularJS
7 12 (1.29%) Spring Boot
8 9 (0.97%) CSS
9 8 (0.86%) PySpark
10 7 (0.75%) Kafka
10 7 (0.75%) LangChain
10 7 (0.75%) OpenTelemetry
11 6 (0.65%) GraphQL
11 6 (0.65%) HTML
11 6 (0.65%) jQuery
11 6 (0.65%) MACH
11 6 (0.65%) OAuth
11 6 (0.65%) OAuth2
11 6 (0.65%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 67 (7.22%) Product Ownership
2 28 (3.02%) Cloud Native
2 28 (3.02%) EPoS
3 27 (2.91%) Driving Licence
4 25 (2.69%) Data Centre
5 24 (2.59%) Onboarding
6 20 (2.16%) FMCG
7 19 (2.05%) Data Structures
7 19 (2.05%) Management Information System
7 19 (2.05%) Self-Motivation
8 14 (1.51%) Legacy Systems
8 14 (1.51%) Mainframe
9 13 (1.40%) Mobile App
10 10 (1.08%) AI Agents
10 10 (1.08%) Greenfield Project
10 10 (1.08%) Virtual Team
11 7 (0.75%) CCTV
11 7 (0.75%) Enterprise Cloud
11 7 (0.75%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (0.75%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 43 (4.63%) Windows
2 20 (2.16%) Linux
3 7 (0.75%) Android
3 7 (0.75%) Mac OS
4 6 (0.65%) Unix
5 5 (0.54%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.43%) zOS
7 3 (0.32%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.22%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.11%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 204 (21.98%) Stakeholder Management
2 203 (21.88%) Agile
3 170 (18.32%) Problem-Solving
4 140 (15.09%) E-Commerce
5 115 (12.39%) Migration
6 109 (11.75%) Roadmaps
7 100 (10.78%) Project Management
8 96 (10.34%) Analytics
9 90 (9.70%) Customer Experience
10 81 (8.73%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 79 (8.51%) ERP
12 73 (7.87%) Continuous Improvement
13 70 (7.54%) Scrum
14 69 (7.44%) AI
15 68 (7.33%) Change Management
15 68 (7.33%) Project Delivery
16 66 (7.11%) Decision-Making
17 65 (7.00%) Workshop Facilitation
18 62 (6.68%) User Acceptance Testing
19 61 (6.57%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 57 (6.14%) SQL
2 51 (5.50%) Python
3 28 (3.02%) Java
4 22 (2.37%) JavaScript
5 10 (1.08%) PowerShell
5 10 (1.08%) Shell Script
5 10 (1.08%) TypeScript
6 6 (0.65%) Bash
7 5 (0.54%) Kusto Query Language
8 4 (0.43%) Scala
8 4 (0.43%) VBA
9 3 (0.32%) Apex Code
9 3 (0.32%) Bicep
9 3 (0.32%) Kotlin
9 3 (0.32%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.32%) SOQL
9 3 (0.32%) SOSL
10 2 (0.22%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.22%) Korn
10 2 (0.22%) R
Qualifications
1 48 (5.17%) Degree
2 39 (4.20%) Security Cleared
3 25 (2.69%) SC Cleared
4 15 (1.62%) PMP
5 10 (1.08%) PMI Certification
6 9 (0.97%) CSPO
7 8 (0.86%) CCNP
7 8 (0.86%) Cisco Certification
8 7 (0.75%) APMP
8 7 (0.75%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (0.75%) DBS Check
8 7 (0.75%) Master's Degree
9 6 (0.65%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (0.54%) CISSP
10 5 (0.54%) MBA
11 4 (0.43%) CCIE
11 4 (0.43%) CCSE
11 4 (0.43%) CCSM
11 4 (0.43%) ITIL Certification
12 3 (0.32%) CRISC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (4.20%) QA
2 38 (4.09%) Data Quality
3 34 (3.66%) GDPR
4 31 (3.34%) PMO
5 15 (1.62%) SLA
6 14 (1.51%) Accessibility
7 10 (1.08%) PCI DSS
8 8 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 5 (0.54%) NIST
10 4 (0.43%) IFRS
11 3 (0.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.22%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.22%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.22%) GRC
12 2 (0.22%) WCAG
13 1 (0.11%) COBIT
13 1 (0.11%) GAAP
13 1 (0.11%) IFRS 9
13 1 (0.11%) NCSC
13 1 (0.11%) Solvency II
System Software
1 19 (2.05%) Docker
2 18 (1.94%) Active Directory
3 6 (0.65%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.54%) Virtual Machines
4 5 (0.54%) VMware NSX
5 4 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.22%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.11%) RACF
Systems Management
1 21 (2.26%) Terraform
2 13 (1.40%) Kubernetes
3 9 (0.97%) Microsoft Intune
4 7 (0.75%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (0.75%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 6 (0.65%) Argo
5 6 (0.65%) Istio
6 5 (0.54%) SCCM
7 4 (0.43%) Grafana
8 2 (0.22%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 2 (0.22%) Ansible
8 2 (0.22%) CA Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.22%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.22%) MOM
8 2 (0.22%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.11%) Control-M
9 1 (0.11%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.11%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.11%) zSecure
Vendors
1 79 (8.51%) Microsoft
2 69 (7.44%) SAP
3 58 (6.25%) Oracle
4 47 (5.06%) Salesforce
5 43 (4.63%) Google
6 38 (4.09%) Databricks
7 24 (2.59%) Adobe
8 15 (1.62%) ServiceNow
8 15 (1.62%) Sitecore
9 14 (1.51%) IFS
10 13 (1.40%) Cisco
10 13 (1.40%) VMware
11 11 (1.19%) Palo Alto
12 9 (0.97%) CheckPoint
13 8 (0.86%) Fortinet
13 8 (0.86%) Temenos
13 8 (0.86%) Zscaler
14 7 (0.75%) Workday
15 6 (0.65%) F5
15 6 (0.65%) IBM