IEC 61508 Contract Job Trends in the South West

IEC 61508
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring IEC 61508 skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 6 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 104 95 152
Rank change year-on-year -9 +57 +1
Contract jobs citing IEC 61508 35 20 1
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 1.02% 1.15% 0.031%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 7.01% 6.47% 0.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 1
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £525 - £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 - £550
75th Percentile £575 - £575
90th Percentile - - -
England median daily rate £550 £75 £550
% change year-on-year +633.33% -86.36% +12.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 17 0
10th Percentile - £61.25 -
25th Percentile £61.25 - -
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 -
75th Percentile - £68.75 -
90th Percentile - £69.25 -
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £72.75
% change year-on-year - -10.65% +11.92%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
South West

IEC 61508 falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the South West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 499 309 564
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 14.61% 17.79% 17.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 290 172 324
10th Percentile £355 £235 £263
25th Percentile £413 £393 £402
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £514 £509 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.08% -3.10% -
75th Percentile £580 £628 £600
90th Percentile £675 £698 £700
England median daily rate £500 £505 £525
% change year-on-year -0.99% -3.81% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 37 76
10th Percentile £14.00 £26.88 £12.24
25th Percentile £21.16 £31.25 £14.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year - +44.44% -30.77%
75th Percentile - £68.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.48 -
England median hourly rate £35.00 £34.50 £24.00
% change year-on-year +1.45% +43.75% -43.53%

IEC 61508
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing IEC 61508 relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

IEC 61508 job vacancy trend in the South West

IEC 61508
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing IEC 61508.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing IEC 61508.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Contract Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IEC 61508 within the South West region over the 6 months to 6 June 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
Bristol -5 32 - - 11
Somerset - 3 £550 -
IEC 61508
England

IEC 61508
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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:

Development Applications
1 3 (8.57%) Rational Rhapsody
2 1 (2.86%) GitLab
General
1 8 (22.86%) Aerospace
2 3 (8.57%) Automotive
2 3 (8.57%) Law
2 3 (8.57%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 29 (82.86%) Software Engineer
2 12 (34.29%) C++ Software Engineer
3 11 (31.43%) Java Engineer
3 11 (31.43%) Java Software Engineer
4 5 (14.29%) Developer
5 4 (11.43%) Java Developer
6 3 (8.57%) SC Cleared Java Developer
7 2 (5.71%) C Software Engineer
7 2 (5.71%) C/C++ Software Engineer
8 1 (2.86%) C++ Developer
8 1 (2.86%) Safety Engineer
8 1 (2.86%) Software Safety Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (82.86%) Middleware
2 14 (40.00%) Qt
Miscellaneous
1 3 (8.57%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 1 (2.86%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 35 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 5 (14.29%) SDLC
3 4 (11.43%) Multithreading
4 3 (8.57%) Ontologies
4 3 (8.57%) V-Model
5 2 (5.71%) Problem-Solving
5 2 (5.71%) Time Management
6 1 (2.86%) CI/CD
6 1 (2.86%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 32 (91.43%) Ada
2 17 (48.57%) C++
3 15 (42.86%) Java
4 4 (11.43%) C
Qualifications
1 9 (25.71%) SC Cleared
1 9 (25.71%) Security Cleared
2 3 (8.57%) Chartered Engineer
2 3 (8.57%) Degree
3 1 (2.86%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (91.43%) Def Stans
2 14 (40.00%) MISRA
2 14 (40.00%) MISRA C
System Software
1 1 (2.86%) Docker
Systems Management
1 3 (8.57%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 1 (2.86%) IBM