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 26 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 29 42 57
Rank change year-on-year +13 +15 +15
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 273 154 180
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.11% 4.78% 3.35%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 7.30% 5.35% 3.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 172 84 88
10th Percentile £303 £379 £400
25th Percentile £350 £447 £459
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £471 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -10.29% -4.55% +5.06%
75th Percentile £556 £638 £653
90th Percentile £674 £684 £700
England median daily rate £500 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 8 14
10th Percentile - £13.25 £20.50
25th Percentile £12.50 £19.06 £36.25
Median hourly rate £16.00 £40.19 £60.57
Median % change year-on-year -60.19% -33.65% +111.97%
75th Percentile £58.00 £60.49 £71.87
90th Percentile £91.30 £66.74 £76.55
England median hourly rate £27.61 £50.00 £42.00
% change year-on-year -44.78% +19.05% -30.00%

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 3,742 2,877 4,734
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 83.71% 89.26% 88.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,460 1,762 2,943
10th Percentile £250 £250 £213
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% +0.99%
75th Percentile £600 £615 £614
90th Percentile £688 £675 £688
England median daily rate £503 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.29% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 328 105 323
10th Percentile £14.50 £18.58 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.00 £24.18 £21.00
Median hourly rate £23.58 £42.88 £48.40
Median % change year-on-year -45.02% -11.40% +7.56%
75th Percentile £52.87 £62.50 £63.52
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.95 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.15 £34.06 £36.50
% change year-on-year -26.15% -6.70% +7.35%

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 26 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 26 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 26 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 +8 133 £423 -19.52% 178
Berkshire +8 107 £375 -29.91% 116
Hampshire +21 79 £500 -9.09% 84
Buckinghamshire -6 23 £500 -4.76% 34
Surrey -2 18 £438 -30.00% 68
West Sussex +1 14 £500 +97.04% 30
East Sussex +6 9 £600 -7.69% 33
Sussex +1 9 - - 4
Kent +3 8 £594 +7.91% 50
Oxfordshire -14 3 £529 +17.61% 31
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 7 (2.56%) Confluence
2 5 (1.83%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (1.10%) Camunda
3 3 (1.10%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.73%) WebLogic
5 1 (0.37%) Tomcat
Applications
1 21 (7.69%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (3.30%) MS Visio
3 8 (2.93%) Microsoft Project
4 7 (2.56%) Microsoft Excel
5 5 (1.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (1.10%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 6 (2.20%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
2 3 (1.10%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.73%) Workday HCM
4 1 (0.37%) assyst
4 1 (0.37%) iTrent
4 1 (0.37%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.37%) Oracle BRM
4 1 (0.37%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.37%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.37%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 78 (28.57%) Azure
2 61 (22.34%) AWS
3 39 (14.29%) GCP
4 13 (4.76%) Azure DevOps
5 12 (4.40%) Google Workspace
6 9 (3.30%) SaaS
7 8 (2.93%) Microsoft 365
7 8 (2.93%) Power Platform
8 7 (2.56%) GitHub
9 6 (2.20%) Entra ID
9 6 (2.20%) IaaS
10 5 (1.83%) PaaS
11 4 (1.47%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (1.10%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 3 (1.10%) Azure Machine Learning
12 3 (1.10%) dbt
12 3 (1.10%) OCI
12 3 (1.10%) Power Automate
12 3 (1.10%) Serverless
12 3 (1.10%) Vertex AI
Communications & Networking
1 13 (4.76%) Network Security
2 11 (4.03%) Firewall
3 8 (2.93%) DNS
3 8 (2.93%) VPN
4 5 (1.83%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.47%) DHCP
6 3 (1.10%) Broadband
6 3 (1.10%) IPv4
6 3 (1.10%) IPv6
6 3 (1.10%) MPLS
6 3 (1.10%) VLAN
6 3 (1.10%) WAN
7 2 (0.73%) Intranet
7 2 (0.73%) NaaS
7 2 (0.73%) SD-WAN
7 2 (0.73%) Software-Defined Networking
8 1 (0.37%) 5G
8 1 (0.37%) DWDM
8 1 (0.37%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.37%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.83%) Oracle Database
1 5 (1.83%) Power BI
2 4 (1.47%) Metadata
3 3 (1.10%) Data Lake
3 3 (1.10%) Data Warehouse
3 3 (1.10%) Metadata Repository
3 3 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
3 3 (1.10%) Pinecone
3 3 (1.10%) Relational Database
3 3 (1.10%) Weaviate
4 2 (0.73%) DynamoDB
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Database 11g
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Database 12c
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle ODI
4 2 (0.73%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.73%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 2 (0.73%) Tableau
5 1 (0.37%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.37%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.37%) Redis
Development Applications
1 20 (7.33%) JIRA
2 6 (2.20%) Jenkins
3 5 (1.83%) GitLab
3 5 (1.83%) Selenium
4 2 (0.73%) Bitbucket
4 2 (0.73%) Cucumber
4 2 (0.73%) Cypress.io
4 2 (0.73%) Git
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle APEX
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Forms
4 2 (0.73%) REST Assured
4 2 (0.73%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.37%) Appium
5 1 (0.37%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 1 (0.37%) JMeter
5 1 (0.37%) LoadRunner
5 1 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.37%) SpecFlow
5 1 (0.37%) Subversion
5 1 (0.37%) WebDriver
General
1 137 (50.18%) Social Skills
2 70 (25.64%) Analytical Skills
3 49 (17.95%) Finance
4 35 (12.82%) Public Sector
5 17 (6.23%) Organisational Skills
6 15 (5.49%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (3.30%) Law
7 9 (3.30%) Legal
8 8 (2.93%) Aerospace
8 8 (2.93%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (2.93%) Manufacturing
8 8 (2.93%) Retail
8 8 (2.93%) Telecoms
9 7 (2.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 6 (2.20%) Marketing
11 5 (1.83%) Automotive
11 5 (1.83%) Billing
11 5 (1.83%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (1.47%) Environmental Health
13 3 (1.10%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 37 (13.55%) Lead
2 25 (9.16%) Senior
3 17 (6.23%) Analyst
4 15 (5.49%) Delivery Manager
4 15 (5.49%) Support Officer
5 14 (5.13%) Project Manager
6 13 (4.76%) Service Manager
7 12 (4.40%) IT Support
8 11 (4.03%) Consultant
9 10 (3.66%) Designer
9 10 (3.66%) IT Assistant
9 10 (3.66%) IT Support Assistant
9 10 (3.66%) Service Delivery Manager
9 10 (3.66%) Support Assistant
10 9 (3.30%) IT Manager
11 7 (2.56%) Test Manager
12 6 (2.20%) Architect
12 6 (2.20%) Azure Engineer
12 6 (2.20%) Cloud Consultant
12 6 (2.20%) Technology Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.56%) .NET
1 7 (2.56%) REST
2 6 (2.20%) React
3 4 (1.47%) Node.js
3 4 (1.47%) Oracle Fusion
3 4 (1.47%) SOAP
4 3 (1.10%) AngularJS
4 3 (1.10%) Faiss
4 3 (1.10%) RESTful
5 2 (0.73%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 2 (0.73%) Playwright
5 2 (0.73%) Unity (Game Engine)
5 2 (0.73%) Unreal Engine
6 1 (0.37%) Kafka
6 1 (0.37%) OAuth
6 1 (0.37%) OAuth2
6 1 (0.37%) OpenID
6 1 (0.37%) Play Framework
6 1 (0.37%) SAP PI
6 1 (0.37%) Visualforce
Miscellaneous
1 17 (6.23%) Enterprise Software
2 14 (5.13%) Product Ownership
3 13 (4.76%) Data Centre
4 11 (4.03%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.66%) Virtual Team
6 9 (3.30%) PMI
7 8 (2.93%) e-Learning
7 8 (2.93%) Security Operations Centre
8 7 (2.56%) Analytical Mindset
9 6 (2.20%) Cloud Native
9 6 (2.20%) PKI
10 5 (1.83%) Legacy Systems
11 4 (1.47%) CMDB
11 4 (1.47%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (1.47%) Hybrid Cloud
11 4 (1.47%) Learning Management System
11 4 (1.47%) Management Information System
11 4 (1.47%) Operational Technology
11 4 (1.47%) Web Conferencing
12 3 (1.10%) Mainframe
Operating Systems
1 25 (9.16%) Linux
1 25 (9.16%) Windows
2 5 (1.83%) Windows Server
3 4 (1.47%) Unix
4 3 (1.10%) Windows 10
5 2 (0.73%) CentOS
5 2 (0.73%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.37%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.37%) Solaris
6 1 (0.37%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 77 (28.21%) Problem-Solving
2 72 (26.37%) Agile
3 62 (22.71%) ITIL
4 61 (22.34%) Change Management
5 55 (20.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 51 (18.68%) ITSM
7 50 (18.32%) Service Management
8 45 (16.48%) Stakeholder Management
9 39 (14.29%) Performance Metrics
10 29 (10.62%) Service Delivery
11 26 (9.52%) DevOps
11 26 (9.52%) Roadmaps
12 24 (8.79%) Decision-Making
13 23 (8.42%) Incident Management
13 23 (8.42%) Scrum
14 22 (8.06%) ERP
14 22 (8.06%) Incident Response
15 20 (7.33%) Collaborative Working
15 20 (7.33%) Root Cause Analysis
15 20 (7.33%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 23 (8.42%) Python
2 15 (5.49%) PowerShell
3 10 (3.66%) SQL
4 8 (2.93%) Java
5 6 (2.20%) Bash
6 5 (1.83%) C#
6 5 (1.83%) PL/SQL
7 3 (1.10%) Perl
8 2 (0.73%) Bicep
8 2 (0.73%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.73%) TypeScript
9 1 (0.37%) Apex Code
9 1 (0.37%) Scala
9 1 (0.37%) VB
Qualifications
1 93 (34.07%) Security Cleared
2 65 (23.81%) SC Cleared
3 26 (9.52%) Degree
4 22 (8.06%) DV Cleared
5 15 (5.49%) PMI Certification
6 10 (3.66%) CISSP
7 9 (3.30%) Computer Science Degree
8 7 (2.56%) ACCA
8 7 (2.56%) CIMA
8 7 (2.56%) ISTQB
9 6 (2.20%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (2.20%) PMP
10 5 (1.83%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
10 5 (1.83%) Microsoft Certification
11 4 (1.47%) Azure Certification
11 4 (1.47%) CCNA
12 3 (1.10%) CCNP
12 3 (1.10%) CISM
12 3 (1.10%) GCIA
12 3 (1.10%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (5.49%) PMO
2 14 (5.13%) GDPR
2 14 (5.13%) QA
3 13 (4.76%) NIST
4 11 (4.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (2.93%) Data Quality
5 8 (2.93%) SLA
6 4 (1.47%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (1.10%) Accessibility
7 3 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.73%) GRC
8 2 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 19770
8 2 (0.73%) NCSC
9 1 (0.37%) COBIT
9 1 (0.37%) COSHH
9 1 (0.37%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.37%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.37%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.37%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.37%) SOC 2
System Software
1 13 (4.76%) VMware Infrastructure
2 11 (4.03%) Docker
3 10 (3.66%) Active Directory
4 6 (2.20%) vSphere
5 5 (1.83%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.73%) Firmware
6 2 (0.73%) KVM
6 2 (0.73%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.37%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 11 (4.03%) Ansible
2 9 (3.30%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.93%) Terraform
4 5 (1.83%) SCCM
5 4 (1.47%) Nagios
5 4 (1.47%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (1.10%) Grafana
6 3 (1.10%) Podman
6 3 (1.10%) Progress Chef
6 3 (1.10%) Prometheus
6 3 (1.10%) Proxmox
6 3 (1.10%) Puppet
7 2 (0.73%) CSIRT
7 2 (0.73%) Nessus
7 2 (0.73%) OpenVAS
7 2 (0.73%) vRealize
7 2 (0.73%) vRealize Orchestrator
8 1 (0.37%) Argo
8 1 (0.37%) Rancher
8 1 (0.37%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 42 (15.38%) Microsoft
2 35 (12.82%) Google
3 24 (8.79%) Oracle
4 19 (6.96%) ServiceNow
5 17 (6.23%) VMware
6 7 (2.56%) Workday
7 6 (2.20%) Splunk
7 6 (2.20%) Zscaler
8 5 (1.83%) BMC
8 5 (1.83%) Cisco
8 5 (1.83%) Juniper
8 5 (1.83%) SAP
9 4 (1.47%) Fortinet
9 4 (1.47%) Salesforce
9 4 (1.47%) SolarWinds
10 3 (1.10%) CyberArk
10 3 (1.10%) F5
10 3 (1.10%) Palo Alto
10 3 (1.10%) Red Hat
10 3 (1.10%) Tenable