Aerospace Contract Job Trends

Aerospace
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Aerospace in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Aerospace over the 6 months leading up to 20 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 282 403 276
Rank change year-on-year +121 -127 +126
Contract jobs citing Aerospace 375 130 365
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.92% 0.42% 0.82%
As % of the General category 1.57% 0.68% 1.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 110 39 74
10th Percentile £82 £354 £275
25th Percentile £425 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £548 £632
Median % change year-on-year -8.76% -13.22% +14.82%
75th Percentile £613 £646 £688
90th Percentile £713 £673 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £536 £600
% change year-on-year -6.72% -10.67% +12.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 163 40 180
10th Percentile £30.00 £27.02 £23.37
25th Percentile £42.00 £39.52 £40.00
Median hourly rate £57.35 £56.38 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +1.73% +2.50% -15.22%
75th Percentile £70.36 £65.63 £65.00
90th Percentile £82.45 £70.38 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £58.00 £58.75 £50.00
% change year-on-year -1.28% +17.50% -21.41%

All General Skills
UK

Aerospace 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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 23,915 19,148 26,083
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 58.56% 62.07% 58.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,933 11,608 16,787
10th Percentile £300 £285 £265
25th Percentile £404 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £643 £650
90th Percentile £735 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £477 £500
% change year-on-year -0.42% -4.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,478 624 1,661
10th Percentile £13.69 £15.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £16.45 £20.12 £15.16
Median hourly rate £23.00 £29.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.69% +11.54% -5.45%
75th Percentile £51.53 £57.50 £52.50
90th Percentile £73.46 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.13 £25.00
% change year-on-year -18.89% +8.50% -

Aerospace
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Aerospace relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Aerospace job vacancy trend in the UK

Aerospace
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Aerospace.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Aerospace

Aerospace
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Aerospace over the 6 months to 20 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Aerospace in the UK

Aerospace
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Aerospace.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Aerospace

Aerospace
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Aerospace over the 6 months to 20 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Aerospace in the UK

Aerospace
Top 15 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Aerospace within the UK over the 6 months to 20 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
UK excluding London +87 330 £500 -6.72% 507
England +84 321 £500 -8.76% 490
South West +49 103 £450 -17.88% 116
East of England +29 75 £492 -18.00% 71
South East +24 73 £581 +28.04% 147
Work from Home +4 60 £518 -22.76% 146
Midlands -47 27 £650 +92.59% 46
Scotland +23 23 £65 -84.71% 59
London -39 21 £650 +1.56% 57
North of England -61 20 £70 -87.98% 70
East Midlands -17 18 £650 - 18
North West -30 13 £78 -86.55% 48
Wales +5 9 £550 - 15
West Midlands -50 9 - - 28
North East -9 7 £70 - 4

Aerospace
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 6 (1.60%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.07%) CMS
3 3 (0.80%) Apache
3 3 (0.80%) Confluence
4 1 (0.27%) Alfresco
4 1 (0.27%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.27%) Documentum
4 1 (0.27%) Jupyter
4 1 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 16 (4.27%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.87%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.33%) Simulink
4 3 (0.80%) Siemens NX
4 3 (0.80%) Stateflow
5 2 (0.53%) CATIA
5 2 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.27%) FrameMaker
6 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.27%) PTC Creo
6 1 (0.27%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.27%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 18 (4.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (3.47%) Teamcenter
3 9 (2.40%) SAP EHS
4 5 (1.33%) SAP HCM
5 3 (0.80%) SAP EWM
5 3 (0.80%) SAP MM
6 2 (0.53%) SAP GRC
6 2 (0.53%) SAP Oil and Gas
6 2 (0.53%) SAP Payroll
6 2 (0.53%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.27%) Demantra
7 1 (0.27%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.27%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.27%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.27%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 13 (3.47%) Azure
2 8 (2.13%) AWS
3 7 (1.87%) Microsoft 365
3 7 (1.87%) Power Platform
4 4 (1.07%) Azure DevOps
4 4 (1.07%) Google Workspace
4 4 (1.07%) OpenShift
5 3 (0.80%) GitHub
5 3 (0.80%) GitHub Actions
6 1 (0.27%) AWS CloudFormation
6 1 (0.27%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 1 (0.27%) Azure Monitor
6 1 (0.27%) Azure Sentinel
6 1 (0.27%) Entra ID
6 1 (0.27%) Smartsheet
6 1 (0.27%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.13%) Firewall
2 6 (1.60%) PABX
3 4 (1.07%) DHCP
3 4 (1.07%) DNS
4 3 (0.80%) Ethernet
4 3 (0.80%) VPN
5 2 (0.53%) Cisco ASA
5 2 (0.53%) Network Security
5 2 (0.53%) SpaceWire
5 2 (0.53%) TCP/IP
6 1 (0.27%) BGP
6 1 (0.27%) Cisco Wireless
6 1 (0.27%) HTTPS
6 1 (0.27%) LAN
6 1 (0.27%) MPLS
6 1 (0.27%) Multicast
6 1 (0.27%) NX-OS
6 1 (0.27%) OSPF
6 1 (0.27%) SAN
6 1 (0.27%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.87%) Power BI
2 3 (0.80%) MongoDB
2 3 (0.80%) SAP HANA
3 2 (0.53%) Metadata
4 1 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.27%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.27%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.27%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 16 (4.27%) Rational DOORS
2 13 (3.47%) Git
3 11 (2.93%) GitLab
4 6 (1.60%) Jenkins
5 4 (1.07%) JIRA
5 4 (1.07%) Rational Rhapsody
6 3 (0.80%) Maven
6 3 (0.80%) Rational Team Concert
7 2 (0.53%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.53%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.27%) SonarQube
General
1 81 (21.60%) Manufacturing
2 70 (18.67%) Social Skills
3 26 (6.93%) Aviation
4 20 (5.33%) Automotive
5 18 (4.80%) Electronics
6 16 (4.27%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (4.00%) Finance
8 13 (3.47%) Documentation Skills
9 12 (3.20%) Pharmaceutical
10 11 (2.93%) Organisational Skills
11 10 (2.67%) Military
12 6 (1.60%) Avionics
13 5 (1.33%) Legal
13 5 (1.33%) Public Sector
14 4 (1.07%) Environmental Health
14 4 (1.07%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (1.07%) Publishing
15 2 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 2 (0.53%) Telecoms
16 1 (0.27%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 47 (12.53%) Software Engineer
2 46 (12.27%) Systems Engineer
3 41 (10.93%) Senior
4 25 (6.67%) Support Engineer
5 22 (5.87%) Lead
6 21 (5.60%) Architect
6 21 (5.60%) Consultant
6 21 (5.60%) Principal Engineer
6 21 (5.60%) Technical Support
7 18 (4.80%) Technical Engineer
8 17 (4.53%) Technical Support Engineer
9 16 (4.27%) Administrator
10 13 (3.47%) Analyst
10 13 (3.47%) Electrical Engineer
11 11 (2.93%) Senior Manager
11 11 (2.93%) Test Engineer
12 10 (2.67%) Embedded Engineer
12 10 (2.67%) IT Engineer
12 10 (2.67%) IT Manager
13 9 (2.40%) Embedded Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (3.20%) SAP Fiori
2 10 (2.67%) Middleware
3 5 (1.33%) LDAP
3 5 (1.33%) REST
4 4 (1.07%) Elastic Stack
4 4 (1.07%) Kafka
4 4 (1.07%) Spring Boot
4 4 (1.07%) XML
5 3 (0.80%) Apache NiFi
5 3 (0.80%) Flash
5 3 (0.80%) HTML
5 3 (0.80%) ModSecurity
5 3 (0.80%) OpenID
5 3 (0.80%) Qt
5 3 (0.80%) SAML
6 2 (0.53%) Unity (Game Engine)
6 2 (0.53%) Unreal Engine
6 2 (0.53%) Web Services
7 1 (0.27%) AngularJS
7 1 (0.27%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 17 (4.53%) Self-Motivation
2 16 (4.27%) Management Information System
3 14 (3.73%) FPGA
4 10 (2.67%) Operational Technology
5 9 (2.40%) Legacy Systems
5 9 (2.40%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.13%) VHDL
7 7 (1.87%) Security Posture
8 6 (1.60%) Algorithms
8 6 (1.60%) Data Centre
8 6 (1.60%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.60%) PCIe
8 6 (1.60%) SCADA
8 6 (1.60%) Smartphone
9 5 (1.33%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.33%) Onboarding
10 4 (1.07%) Learning Management System
11 3 (0.80%) CAN bus
11 3 (0.80%) State Machine
11 3 (0.80%) Verilog
Operating Systems
1 25 (6.67%) Windows
2 20 (5.33%) Linux
3 7 (1.87%) Windows 10
4 6 (1.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (1.33%) CentOS
5 5 (1.33%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.80%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.80%) Windows Server 2016
6 3 (0.80%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.53%) Debian
8 1 (0.27%) FreeRTOS
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2003
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 63 (16.80%) Software Engineering
2 44 (11.73%) Continuous Improvement
3 35 (9.33%) Validation
4 33 (8.80%) Problem-Solving
5 32 (8.53%) Configuration Management
5 32 (8.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 31 (8.27%) Roadmaps
6 31 (8.27%) Stakeholder Management
6 31 (8.27%) Systems Engineering
7 29 (7.73%) Cybersecurity
8 27 (7.20%) Agile
9 23 (6.13%) PLM
10 20 (5.33%) Data Management
10 20 (5.33%) Project Management
10 20 (5.33%) Verification and Validation
11 19 (5.07%) Risk Management
12 16 (4.27%) Analytics
12 16 (4.27%) Decision-Making
12 16 (4.27%) ITIL
12 16 (4.27%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 29 (7.73%) Ada
2 24 (6.40%) C++
3 19 (5.07%) C
3 19 (5.07%) Python
4 15 (4.00%) MATLAB
5 8 (2.13%) C#
6 7 (1.87%) PowerShell
7 6 (1.60%) Java
7 6 (1.60%) Shell Script
8 4 (1.07%) SQL
9 3 (0.80%) Bash
9 3 (0.80%) Fortran
9 3 (0.80%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.80%) SystemVerilog
10 2 (0.53%) ABAP
11 1 (0.27%) Embedded C++
11 1 (0.27%) Google Apps Script
11 1 (0.27%) SAPscript
11 1 (0.27%) VBA
Qualifications
1 191 (50.93%) Security Cleared
2 122 (32.53%) SC Cleared
3 37 (9.87%) Degree
4 27 (7.20%) BPSS Clearance
5 22 (5.87%) DV Cleared
6 5 (1.33%) CISSP
6 5 (1.33%) Microsoft Certification
7 4 (1.07%) AWS Certification
7 4 (1.07%) Azure Certification
7 4 (1.07%) CISM
7 4 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
7 4 (1.07%) PMP
8 3 (0.80%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.80%) CompTIA Security+
8 3 (0.80%) PMI Certification
8 3 (0.80%) TOGAF Certification
9 2 (0.53%) CCNA
9 2 (0.53%) Chartered Engineer
9 2 (0.53%) Master's Degree
10 1 (0.27%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (5.07%) Def Stans
2 18 (4.80%) QA
3 15 (4.00%) NIST
4 7 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 7 (1.87%) SLA
5 6 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
5 6 (1.60%) Data Quality
5 6 (1.60%) ECSS
5 6 (1.60%) ISO 9001
5 6 (1.60%) NCSC
6 5 (1.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 5 (1.33%) IEC 61508
6 5 (1.33%) NIST 800
7 4 (1.07%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.80%) DO-254
8 3 (0.80%) GRC
8 3 (0.80%) MISRA
8 3 (0.80%) MISRA C
8 3 (0.80%) PMO
9 2 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 14 (3.73%) Active Directory
2 7 (1.87%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (1.33%) Docker
3 5 (1.33%) Firmware
4 4 (1.07%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.53%) QEMU
6 1 (0.27%) Slurm Workload Manager
6 1 (0.27%) Terminal Services
6 1 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 12 (3.20%) Ansible
2 9 (2.40%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.13%) Podman
4 5 (1.33%) Check_MK
4 5 (1.33%) Red Hat Satellite
4 5 (1.33%) Terraform
5 4 (1.07%) Grafana
5 4 (1.07%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.80%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
6 3 (0.80%) PingFederate
7 2 (0.53%) Cisco Prime
8 1 (0.27%) Argo
8 1 (0.27%) Iperf
8 1 (0.27%) Kibana
8 1 (0.27%) logstash
8 1 (0.27%) Nessus
8 1 (0.27%) Nmap
8 1 (0.27%) SCCM
8 1 (0.27%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 44 (11.73%) SAP
2 23 (6.13%) VMware
3 15 (4.00%) Twitter
4 14 (3.73%) Microsoft
5 13 (3.47%) ServiceNow
6 11 (2.93%) Red Hat
6 11 (2.93%) Siemens
7 10 (2.67%) Cisco
8 5 (1.33%) IBM
8 5 (1.33%) Xilinx
9 4 (1.07%) Google
9 4 (1.07%) Oracle
10 3 (0.80%) Altera
10 3 (0.80%) HubSpot
10 3 (0.80%) Intel
10 3 (0.80%) MathWorks
10 3 (0.80%) Microsemi
10 3 (0.80%) Ping Identity
10 3 (0.80%) Salesforce
10 3 (0.80%) Veeam