Linux Contract Job Trends in the South East
Linux
England > South East
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Linux skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 44 | 27 | 27 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -17 | 0 | -10 |
| Contract jobs citing Linux | 326 | 241 | 297 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the South East | 4.95% | 6.66% | 6.93% |
| As % of the Operating Systems category | 42.89% | 37.36% | 38.62% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 227 | 174 | 183 |
| 10th Percentile | £275 | £204 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £450 | £364 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £537 | £475 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +13.05% | -5.00% | -4.76% |
| 75th Percentile | £610 | £550 | £608 |
| 90th Percentile | £642 | £600 | £650 |
| England median daily rate | £525 | £520 | £550 |
| % change year-on-year | +1.01% | -5.50% | -1.79% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 28 | 8 | 18 |
| 10th Percentile | £44.55 | - | £46.11 |
| 25th Percentile | £59.94 | £12.50 | £63.63 |
| Median hourly rate | £60.00 | £13.00 | £70.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +361.54% | -81.43% | +4.07% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.47 | £25.19 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £70.78 | £76.23 | £71.13 |
| England median hourly rate | £65.00 | £65.00 | £67.50 |
| % change year-on-year | - | -3.70% | +8.00% |
All Operating Systems
South East
Linux falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills in the South East.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills | 760 | 645 | 769 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East | 11.54% | 17.81% | 17.94% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 496 | 453 | 507 |
| 10th Percentile | £204 | £190 | £200 |
| 25th Percentile | £305 | £219 | £325 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £480 | £438 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.71% | -2.78% | +5.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £578 | £538 | £584 |
| 90th Percentile | £638 | £600 | £650 |
| England median daily rate | £465 | £450 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | +3.33% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 81 | 59 | 33 |
| 10th Percentile | £16.00 | £12.50 | £23.05 |
| 25th Percentile | £21.00 | £15.50 | £35.58 |
| Median hourly rate | £32.50 | £18.87 | £58.49 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +72.23% | -67.74% | +1.72% |
| 75th Percentile | £60.00 | £25.15 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £67.47 | £64.80 | - |
| England median hourly rate | £32.29 | £24.00 | £60.72 |
| % change year-on-year | +34.54% | -60.47% | +25.44% |
Linux Job Vacancy Trend in the South East
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Linux relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.
Linux Daily Rate Trend in the South East
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux.
Linux Daily Rate Histogram in the South East
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Linux in the South East over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Linux Hourly Rate Trend in the South East
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux.
Linux Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Linux in the South East over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Linux 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 Linux within the South East region over the 6 months to 16 October 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 | -6 | 154 | £545 | +13.84% | 147 |
| Hampshire | -3 | 115 | £550 | +8.64% | 97 |
| Berkshire | -29 | 67 | £500 | +11.11% | 70 |
| Buckinghamshire | +14 | 55 | £575 | +4.55% | 22 |
| Surrey | -22 | 37 | £455 | +119.28% | 45 |
| Oxfordshire | -3 | 32 | £525 | +37.70% | 59 |
| West Sussex | -13 | 12 | £425 | -15.00% | 22 |
| Middlesex | -18 | 6 | £198 | - | |
| Sussex | -3 | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| Home Counties | - | 1 | £600 | - | |
| Linux England |
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Linux Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Operating Systems
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windows | 50.6% | 165 |
| 2 | Windows Server | 16.9% | 55 |
| 3 | Unix | 16.3% | 53 |
| 4 | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | 15.3% | 50 |
| 5 | Ubuntu | 7.1% | 23 |
| 6 | CentOS | 5.5% | 18 |
| 7 | Embedded Linux | 5.2% | 17 |
| 7 | Windows 10 | 5.2% | 17 |
| 9 | Debian | 2.5% | 8 |
| 10 | Oracle Linux | 2.1% | 7 |
| 11 | macOS | 1.8% | 6 |
| 11 | Rocky | 1.8% | 6 |
| 13 | Android | 0.9% | 3 |
| 13 | Solaris | 0.9% | 3 |
| 15 | AIX | 0.6% | 2 |
| 15 | HPUX | 0.6% | 2 |
| 15 | Windows Server 2012 | 0.6% | 2 |
| 15 | Windows Server 2019 | 0.6% | 2 |
| 19 | Data ONTAP | 0.3% | 1 |