Continuous Improvement Contract Job Trends in the South East

Continual Improvement
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Continuous Improvement skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 30 40 63
Rank change year-on-year +10 +23 +4
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 269 177 164
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.21% 5.17% 3.30%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 7.37% 5.83% 3.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 165 99 86
10th Percentile £301 £410 £356
25th Percentile £350 £450 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £537
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% +2.42% +7.40%
75th Percentile £550 £638 £648
90th Percentile £658 £689 £700
England median daily rate £500 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -5.66% -3.64% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 11 11
10th Percentile - £13.25 £16.25
25th Percentile £12.50 £21.00 £35.55
Median hourly rate £16.00 £52.50 £61.00
Median % change year-on-year -69.52% -13.93% +113.47%
75th Percentile £58.00 £59.53 £71.41
90th Percentile £92.52 £61.76 £72.33
England median hourly rate £28.79 £51.25 £65.00
% change year-on-year -43.82% -21.15% +4.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Continuous Improvement falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 3,648 3,037 4,408
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 84.27% 88.78% 88.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,396 1,883 2,815
10th Percentile £224 £250 £213
25th Percentile £400 £404 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £518
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -0.97% +1.97%
75th Percentile £600 £623 £615
90th Percentile £688 £675 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 333 112 251
10th Percentile £14.80 £19.37 £17.00
25th Percentile £17.00 £25.56 £26.13
Median hourly rate £23.58 £42.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -44.53% -22.73% +28.87%
75th Percentile £55.00 £62.50 £66.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £68.63 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.15 £34.75 £43.84
% change year-on-year -27.63% -20.73% +25.25%

Continuous Improvement
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Continuous Improvement relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Continuous Improvement job vacancy trend in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the South East over the 6 months to 10 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Continuous Improvement in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the South East over the 6 months to 10 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Continuous Improvement in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Continuous Improvement within the South East region over the 6 months to 10 January 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
Thames Valley -2 131 £425 -22.73% 138
Berkshire +1 101 £374 -32.05% 92
Hampshire +23 74 £475 -11.63% 77
Buckinghamshire 0 25 £500 -9.09% 21
Surrey +10 24 £500 -20.00% 37
West Sussex +1 14 £500 +11.11% 22
Sussex 0 9 - - 3
Kent +5 8 £594 +7.91% 33
East Sussex +5 6 £600 -14.29% 21
Oxfordshire -13 5 £529 +17.61% 28
Continuous Improvement
England

Continuous Improvement
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 8 (2.97%) Confluence
2 5 (1.86%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.49%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (1.12%) Camunda
5 2 (0.74%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.37%) CMS
6 1 (0.37%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.37%) Umbraco
Applications
1 21 (7.81%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (5.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (4.09%) MS Visio
4 9 (3.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (3.35%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.74%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 5 (1.86%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (1.49%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 3 (1.12%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.74%) Workday HCM
5 1 (0.37%) assyst
5 1 (0.37%) iTrent
5 1 (0.37%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.37%) Oracle BRM
5 1 (0.37%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.37%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 75 (27.88%) Azure
2 55 (20.45%) AWS
3 37 (13.75%) GCP
4 13 (4.83%) Azure DevOps
5 12 (4.46%) Google Workspace
6 11 (4.09%) Power Platform
7 10 (3.72%) SaaS
8 9 (3.35%) GitHub
9 8 (2.97%) Microsoft 365
10 6 (2.23%) Entra ID
10 6 (2.23%) IaaS
11 5 (1.86%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (1.86%) PaaS
12 3 (1.12%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 3 (1.12%) Lucidchart
12 3 (1.12%) OCI
12 3 (1.12%) OpenShift
12 3 (1.12%) Power Automate
12 3 (1.12%) Serverless
13 2 (0.74%) Apple Pay
Communications & Networking
1 13 (4.83%) Network Security
2 11 (4.09%) Firewall
3 8 (2.97%) DNS
3 8 (2.97%) VPN
4 5 (1.86%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.49%) DHCP
6 3 (1.12%) Broadband
6 3 (1.12%) IPv4
6 3 (1.12%) IPv6
6 3 (1.12%) MPLS
6 3 (1.12%) VLAN
6 3 (1.12%) WAN
7 2 (0.74%) NaaS
7 2 (0.74%) SD-WAN
7 2 (0.74%) Software-Defined Networking
8 1 (0.37%) 5G
8 1 (0.37%) DWDM
8 1 (0.37%) NGN
8 1 (0.37%) Radio Access Network
8 1 (0.37%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.97%) Power BI
2 5 (1.86%) Oracle Database
3 3 (1.12%) Data Lake
3 3 (1.12%) Data Warehouse
3 3 (1.12%) Oracle Reports
3 3 (1.12%) Relational Database
3 3 (1.12%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.74%) DynamoDB
4 2 (0.74%) Metadata
4 2 (0.74%) Oracle Database 11g
4 2 (0.74%) Oracle Database 12c
4 2 (0.74%) Oracle ODI
4 2 (0.74%) Pinecone
4 2 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 2 (0.74%) Tableau
4 2 (0.74%) Weaviate
5 1 (0.37%) Big Data
5 1 (0.37%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.37%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.37%) Redis
Development Applications
1 21 (7.81%) JIRA
2 7 (2.60%) Jenkins
3 6 (2.23%) GitLab
4 5 (1.86%) Selenium
5 3 (1.12%) Bitbucket
5 3 (1.12%) Git
5 3 (1.12%) Rational DOORS
6 2 (0.74%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.74%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.74%) Oracle APEX
6 2 (0.74%) Oracle Forms
6 2 (0.74%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.74%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.37%) Appium
7 1 (0.37%) Gatling
7 1 (0.37%) HP UFT
7 1 (0.37%) JMeter
7 1 (0.37%) Katalon Studio
7 1 (0.37%) LoadRunner
7 1 (0.37%) Subversion
General
1 136 (50.56%) Social Skills
2 68 (25.28%) Analytical Skills
3 50 (18.59%) Finance
4 27 (10.04%) Public Sector
5 18 (6.69%) Organisational Skills
6 13 (4.83%) Influencing Skills
7 12 (4.46%) Manufacturing
8 9 (3.35%) Legal
8 9 (3.35%) Retail
9 8 (2.97%) Aerospace
9 8 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
10 7 (2.60%) Law
10 7 (2.60%) Telecoms
11 5 (1.86%) Billing
11 5 (1.86%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (1.49%) Aviation
12 4 (1.49%) Environmental Health
12 4 (1.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (1.12%) Automotive
13 3 (1.12%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 36 (13.38%) Lead
2 26 (9.67%) Senior
3 23 (8.55%) Analyst
4 15 (5.58%) Support Officer
5 14 (5.20%) Project Manager
6 13 (4.83%) Consultant
7 12 (4.46%) IT Support
8 11 (4.09%) Support Assistant
9 10 (3.72%) Delivery Manager
9 10 (3.72%) Designer
9 10 (3.72%) IT Assistant
9 10 (3.72%) IT Support Assistant
10 8 (2.97%) Service Manager
10 8 (2.97%) Test Manager
11 7 (2.60%) Architect
11 7 (2.60%) IT Manager
11 7 (2.60%) Service Delivery Manager
12 6 (2.23%) Azure Engineer
12 6 (2.23%) Cloud Consultant
12 6 (2.23%) Technology Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.60%) .NET
1 7 (2.60%) REST
2 6 (2.23%) React
3 4 (1.49%) Oracle Fusion
3 4 (1.49%) RESTful
3 4 (1.49%) SOAP
4 3 (1.12%) AngularJS
4 3 (1.12%) Node.js
5 2 (0.74%) Faiss
5 2 (0.74%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 2 (0.74%) Playwright
5 2 (0.74%) Unity (Game Engine)
5 2 (0.74%) Unreal Engine
6 1 (0.37%) Elastic Stack
6 1 (0.37%) Keycloak
6 1 (0.37%) Lightning Web Components
6 1 (0.37%) OAuth2
6 1 (0.37%) Play Framework
6 1 (0.37%) Spring Boot
6 1 (0.37%) WebdriverIO
Miscellaneous
1 17 (6.32%) Enterprise Software
2 13 (4.83%) Data Centre
3 12 (4.46%) Onboarding
3 12 (4.46%) Product Ownership
4 10 (3.72%) Virtual Team
5 9 (3.35%) Security Operations Centre
6 8 (2.97%) PMI
7 7 (2.60%) e-Learning
7 7 (2.60%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (2.23%) Management Information System
8 6 (2.23%) PKI
9 5 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
9 5 (1.86%) Cloud Native
10 4 (1.49%) Hybrid Cloud
10 4 (1.49%) Learning Management System
10 4 (1.49%) Life Science
10 4 (1.49%) Operational Technology
10 4 (1.49%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.49%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.49%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 26 (9.67%) Linux
2 25 (9.29%) Windows
3 5 (1.86%) Windows Server
4 4 (1.49%) Unix
5 3 (1.12%) Windows 10
6 2 (0.74%) CentOS
6 2 (0.74%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.37%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.37%) Solaris
7 1 (0.37%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 77 (28.62%) Agile
2 75 (27.88%) Problem-Solving
3 59 (21.93%) Change Management
4 58 (21.56%) ITIL
5 55 (20.45%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 46 (17.10%) Service Management
7 45 (16.73%) ITSM
8 39 (14.50%) Stakeholder Management
9 37 (13.75%) Performance Metrics
10 28 (10.41%) Decision-Making
11 27 (10.04%) DevOps
12 26 (9.67%) Roadmaps
13 23 (8.55%) Cybersecurity
13 23 (8.55%) Project Management
13 23 (8.55%) Service Delivery
14 21 (7.81%) ERP
14 21 (7.81%) Incident Response
15 20 (7.43%) Collaborative Working
15 20 (7.43%) Root Cause Analysis
15 20 (7.43%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 21 (7.81%) Python
2 14 (5.20%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.09%) SQL
4 6 (2.23%) Bash
5 5 (1.86%) C#
5 5 (1.86%) Java
5 5 (1.86%) PL/SQL
6 3 (1.12%) Perl
7 2 (0.74%) Bicep
8 1 (0.37%) Apex Code
8 1 (0.37%) JavaScript
8 1 (0.37%) Scala
8 1 (0.37%) TypeScript
8 1 (0.37%) VB
Qualifications
1 86 (31.97%) Security Cleared
2 61 (22.68%) SC Cleared
3 32 (11.90%) Degree
4 21 (7.81%) DV Cleared
5 15 (5.58%) PMI Certification
6 11 (4.09%) CISSP
7 10 (3.72%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (2.97%) ACCA
8 8 (2.97%) CIMA
9 7 (2.60%) Cisco Certification
9 7 (2.60%) ISTQB
9 7 (2.60%) PMP
10 5 (1.86%) CCNA
10 5 (1.86%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
10 5 (1.86%) Microsoft Certification
11 4 (1.49%) Azure Certification
11 4 (1.49%) CCNP
11 4 (1.49%) GCIA
11 4 (1.49%) GCIH
11 4 (1.49%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (6.32%) GDPR
2 15 (5.58%) PMO
3 13 (4.83%) QA
4 12 (4.46%) NIST
5 10 (3.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (2.97%) SLA
7 5 (1.86%) Data Quality
8 4 (1.49%) Accessibility
9 3 (1.12%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (1.12%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.74%) GRC
10 2 (0.74%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 2 (0.74%) NCSC
10 2 (0.74%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.37%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 1 (0.37%) COBIT
11 1 (0.37%) JSP 440
11 1 (0.37%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.37%) SOC 2
System Software
1 11 (4.09%) Docker
1 11 (4.09%) VMware Infrastructure
2 9 (3.35%) Active Directory
3 6 (2.23%) vSphere
4 5 (1.86%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.74%) Firmware
5 2 (0.74%) KVM
5 2 (0.74%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.37%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 11 (4.09%) Ansible
2 9 (3.35%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.97%) Terraform
4 4 (1.49%) Nagios
4 4 (1.49%) SCCM
4 4 (1.49%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (1.12%) Grafana
5 3 (1.12%) Podman
5 3 (1.12%) Progress Chef
5 3 (1.12%) Prometheus
5 3 (1.12%) Proxmox
5 3 (1.12%) Puppet
6 2 (0.74%) CSIRT
6 2 (0.74%) vRealize
6 2 (0.74%) vRealize Orchestrator
7 1 (0.37%) Amdocs OSS
7 1 (0.37%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 1 (0.37%) Rancher
7 1 (0.37%) SELinux
7 1 (0.37%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 47 (17.47%) Microsoft
2 34 (12.64%) Google
3 22 (8.18%) Oracle
4 18 (6.69%) ServiceNow
5 15 (5.58%) VMware
6 8 (2.97%) SAP
7 7 (2.60%) Cisco
7 7 (2.60%) Juniper
7 7 (2.60%) Splunk
7 7 (2.60%) Workday
8 6 (2.23%) Zscaler
9 5 (1.86%) Salesforce
10 4 (1.49%) Fortinet
10 4 (1.49%) SolarWinds
11 3 (1.12%) BMC
11 3 (1.12%) CyberArk
11 3 (1.12%) F5
11 3 (1.12%) Palo Alto
11 3 (1.12%) Red Hat
11 3 (1.12%) Tenable