Public Sector Contract Job Trends in Northern Ireland

Public Sector
UK > Northern Ireland

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Public Sector in contract job vacancies in Northern Ireland. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Public Sector over the 6 months leading up to 26 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 20 11
Rank change year-on-year +7 -9 +19
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 19 8 15
As % of all contract jobs in Northern Ireland 9.05% 5.56% 8.98%
As % of the General category 16.38% 6.84% 15.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 7 0 5
10th Percentile £372 - £416
25th Percentile £439 - £600
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 - £650
Median % change year-on-year - - +116.67%
75th Percentile £572 - -
90th Percentile £614 - -
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 2 4
10th Percentile £12.31 - £13.41
25th Percentile £12.94 £22.50 £15.15
Median hourly rate £13.57 £23.00 £16.12
Median % change year-on-year -41.00% +42.68% -
75th Percentile £17.05 £23.50 £17.34
90th Percentile £19.10 - £19.54
UK median hourly rate £22.00 £25.00 £21.00
% change year-on-year -12.00% +19.05% +5.00%

All General Skills
Northern Ireland

Public Sector 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 Northern Ireland.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 116 117 100
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Northern Ireland 55.24% 81.25% 59.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 57 60 57
10th Percentile £194 £147 £180
25th Percentile £378 £225 £250
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £325 £435
Median % change year-on-year +53.85% -25.29% -3.33%
75th Percentile £600 £488 £569
90th Percentile £646 £575 £647
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 14 20
10th Percentile £12.69 £23.00 -
25th Percentile £13.93 £24.18 £12.25
Median hourly rate £21.55 £26.59 £15.69
Median % change year-on-year -18.95% +69.47% -2.70%
75th Percentile £25.00 £48.48 £19.31
90th Percentile £27.25 £78.47 £23.54
UK median hourly rate £23.58 £30.00 £26.00
% change year-on-year -21.42% +15.38% -7.52%

Public Sector
Job Vacancy Trend in Northern Ireland

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Public Sector relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Northern Ireland.

Public Sector job vacancy trend in Northern Ireland

Public Sector
Daily Rate Trend in Northern Ireland

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Public Sector.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Daily Rate Histogram in Northern Ireland

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Public Sector in Northern Ireland over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Public Sector in Northern Ireland

Public Sector
Hourly Rate Trend in Northern Ireland

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Public Sector.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Contract Job Locations in Northern Ireland

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Public Sector within the Northern Ireland region over the 6 months to 26 February 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
County Antrim +6 18 £525 -
County Armagh - 1 £385 -
Public Sector
UK

Public Sector
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Northern Ireland 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 1 (5.26%) SharePoint
Applications
1 6 (31.58%) Microsoft Excel
1 6 (31.58%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (10.53%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (5.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (5.26%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 2 (10.53%) AWS
2 1 (5.26%) Amazon S3
2 1 (5.26%) Azure
2 1 (5.26%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 2 (10.53%) Firewall
1 2 (10.53%) Internet
2 1 (5.26%) Cisco Wireless
2 1 (5.26%) Intranet
2 1 (5.26%) LAN
2 1 (5.26%) MPLS
2 1 (5.26%) SD-WAN
2 1 (5.26%) SNA
2 1 (5.26%) WAN
2 1 (5.26%) Wireless
2 1 (5.26%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (5.26%) Amazon QuickSight
1 1 (5.26%) Data Hub
1 1 (5.26%) Parquet
1 1 (5.26%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 1 (5.26%) JIRA
1 1 (5.26%) Postman
1 1 (5.26%) TestRail
General
1 8 (42.11%) Social Skills
2 5 (26.32%) Organisational Skills
3 4 (21.05%) Finance
4 2 (10.53%) Analytical Skills
4 2 (10.53%) Telecoms
5 1 (5.26%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 4 (21.05%) Architect
2 3 (15.79%) Project Manager
2 3 (15.79%) Senior
3 2 (10.53%) Analyst
3 2 (10.53%) Enterprise Architect
3 2 (10.53%) Project Assistant
3 2 (10.53%) Project Support Assistant
3 2 (10.53%) Solutions Architect
3 2 (10.53%) Support Assistant
3 2 (10.53%) Test Analyst
3 2 (10.53%) Test Manager
4 1 (5.26%) Administrator
4 1 (5.26%) Consultant
4 1 (5.26%) Data Migration Analyst
4 1 (5.26%) Network Consultant
4 1 (5.26%) Network Engineer
4 1 (5.26%) Senior Analyst
4 1 (5.26%) Senior Developer
4 1 (5.26%) Software Developer
4 1 (5.26%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (5.26%) Apache Avro
1 1 (5.26%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 3 (15.79%) Driving Licence
2 1 (5.26%) e-Learning
2 1 (5.26%) Management Information System
2 1 (5.26%) Operational Technology
2 1 (5.26%) Public Cloud
2 1 (5.26%) SCADA
2 1 (5.26%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 1 (5.26%) Windows
1 1 (5.26%) Windows Server
1 1 (5.26%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (42.11%) Continuous Improvement
2 4 (21.05%) Collaborative Working
2 4 (21.05%) Mathematics
3 3 (15.79%) Collaborative Culture
3 3 (15.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 3 (15.79%) Validation
4 2 (10.53%) Budgeting and Resource Allocation
4 2 (10.53%) Cybersecurity
4 2 (10.53%) Data Analysis
4 2 (10.53%) Data Collection
4 2 (10.53%) Master Data Management
4 2 (10.53%) People Management
4 2 (10.53%) Project Delivery
4 2 (10.53%) Project Management
4 2 (10.53%) Resource Allocation
4 2 (10.53%) Time Management
5 1 (5.26%) Customer Service
5 1 (5.26%) Inventory Management
5 1 (5.26%) Problem-Solving
5 1 (5.26%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 2 (10.53%) Python
2 1 (5.26%) PowerShell
2 1 (5.26%) SQL
Qualifications
1 6 (31.58%) Security Cleared
2 5 (26.32%) HND
3 3 (15.79%) Degree
3 3 (15.79%) HNC
3 3 (15.79%) SC Cleared
4 2 (10.53%) CCNP
4 2 (10.53%) Cisco Certification
4 2 (10.53%) ISTQB
5 1 (5.26%) CCSP
5 1 (5.26%) DV Cleared
5 1 (5.26%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (5.26%) NIST
1 1 (5.26%) SLA
Systems Management
1 2 (10.53%) FortiGate
2 1 (5.26%) Ansible
2 1 (5.26%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 8 (42.11%) Microsoft
2 2 (10.53%) Cisco
3 1 (5.26%) CheckPoint
3 1 (5.26%) Fortinet
3 1 (5.26%) HP