C Contract Job Trends

C
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring C skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 20 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 393 289 188
Rank change year-on-year -104 -101 +76
Contract jobs citing C 207 260 557
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.51% 0.84% 1.25%
As % of the Programming Languages category 1.69% 2.51% 4.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 65 99 209
10th Percentile £68 £300 £325
25th Percentile £400 £440 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £523 £535
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% -2.34% -10.83%
75th Percentile £588 £625 £588
90th Percentile £645 £810 £690
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £535
% change year-on-year - -11.21% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 37 198
10th Percentile £60.00 £58.42 £46.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £62.00 £56.65
Median hourly rate £66.50 £67.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.48% +3.85% +13.04%
75th Percentile £70.00 £85.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £74.75 £95.00 £88.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.50 £67.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year -1.48% +3.85% -

All Programming Languages
UK

C falls under the Programming Languages category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring coding skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for coding skills 12,279 10,342 13,068
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 30.07% 33.53% 29.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,156 6,632 9,223
10th Percentile £352 £355 £350
25th Percentile £413 £419 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -5.78%
75th Percentile £608 £638 £650
90th Percentile £714 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £484 £500
% change year-on-year -0.83% -3.20% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 471 232 502
10th Percentile £41.25 £21.33 £36.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £36.50 £46.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% +4.17% -7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £85.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £63.75 £62.50
% change year-on-year +1.97% +1.99% -3.85%

C
Job Vacancy Trend

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

C job vacancy trend in the UK

C
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

C
Daily Rate Histogram

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

Daily rate histogram for C in the UK

C
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

C
Hourly Rate Histogram

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

Hourly rate histogram for C in the UK

C
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing C 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
England -122 192 £488 -7.14% 534
UK excluding London -63 156 £475 - 553
East of England 0 66 £525 +31.25% 88
Work from Home -48 57 £442 -11.55% 223
South West -3 55 £475 -20.17% 83
London -95 42 £461 -23.17% 85
South East -48 13 £500 +5.26% 159
North of England -66 8 £550 - 68
Scotland +1 7 £65 -77.19% 94
Northern Ireland +3 5 £425 - 4
North West -25 5 £550 - 34
Midlands -58 2 £575 +76.65% 62
Yorkshire -67 2 £531 - 23
East Midlands -28 1 - - 38
West Midlands -50 1 £575 - 24
North East - 1 £625 - 11

C
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 3 (1.45%) Confluence
2 1 (0.48%) Apache
2 1 (0.48%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.48%) nginx
2 1 (0.48%) SharePoint
Applications
1 10 (4.83%) Simulink
2 3 (1.45%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.45%) Stateflow
3 2 (0.97%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 5 (2.42%) BASE24
1 5 (2.42%) Payment Gateway
2 2 (0.97%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.48%) Actimize
3 1 (0.48%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.48%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.48%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 17 (8.21%) Azure
2 16 (7.73%) AWS
3 10 (4.83%) GitHub
4 8 (3.86%) GCP
5 4 (1.93%) Azure DevOps
6 3 (1.45%) AWS CloudFormation
6 3 (1.45%) Power Platform
7 2 (0.97%) Amazon EKS
7 2 (0.97%) Amazon S3
7 2 (0.97%) Azure Monitor
7 2 (0.97%) Cloud Computing
7 2 (0.97%) Dynamics 365
8 1 (0.48%) Amazon EC2
8 1 (0.48%) Amazon ECS
8 1 (0.48%) Amazon GuardDuty
8 1 (0.48%) ChatGPT
8 1 (0.48%) GitHub Actions
8 1 (0.48%) GitHub Copilot
8 1 (0.48%) Power Automate
8 1 (0.48%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 19 (9.18%) Ethernet
2 11 (5.31%) RS-232
3 6 (2.90%) Modbus
3 6 (2.90%) RS-485
3 6 (2.90%) SpaceWire
3 6 (2.90%) TCP/IP
4 4 (1.93%) 3GPP
5 3 (1.45%) Bluetooth
5 3 (1.45%) MVNO
5 3 (1.45%) Network Security
5 3 (1.45%) RS-422
5 3 (1.45%) SMPP
5 3 (1.45%) SMS
6 2 (0.97%) DNS
6 2 (0.97%) HTTP
6 2 (0.97%) VSAN
6 2 (0.97%) Wi-Fi
6 2 (0.97%) Wireless
7 1 (0.48%) 5G
7 1 (0.48%) 5G NR
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.90%) NonStop SQL
2 5 (2.42%) OLTP
2 5 (2.42%) Oracle Database
3 3 (1.45%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (0.97%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.97%) Power BI
5 1 (0.48%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.48%) Hadoop
5 1 (0.48%) Metadata
5 1 (0.48%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.48%) MySQL
5 1 (0.48%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.48%) Oracle Exadata
5 1 (0.48%) SQL Server
5 1 (0.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.48%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 24 (11.59%) Rational DOORS
2 17 (8.21%) Git
3 13 (6.28%) JIRA
4 11 (5.31%) Rational Rhapsody
5 8 (3.86%) PVCS
6 7 (3.38%) GitLab
7 5 (2.42%) Jenkins
7 5 (2.42%) Visual Studio
8 3 (1.45%) Artifactory
8 3 (1.45%) ClearCase
8 3 (1.45%) Rational Team Concert
9 2 (0.97%) KGDB
9 2 (0.97%) Selenium
9 2 (0.97%) SonarQube
10 1 (0.48%) Appium
10 1 (0.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 1 (0.48%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.48%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.48%) GDB
10 1 (0.48%) MSTest
General
1 33 (15.94%) Electronics
2 27 (13.04%) Social Skills
3 21 (10.14%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (9.66%) Finance
5 19 (9.18%) Aerospace
6 14 (6.76%) Documentation Skills
6 14 (6.76%) Law
7 9 (4.35%) Public Sector
8 6 (2.90%) Banking
8 6 (2.90%) Military
9 5 (2.42%) Manufacturing
10 4 (1.93%) Automotive
11 3 (1.45%) Financial Institution
11 3 (1.45%) Games
11 3 (1.45%) Telecoms
12 2 (0.97%) Aviation
12 2 (0.97%) Avionics
12 2 (0.97%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.97%) Publishing
13 1 (0.48%) Health Technology
Job Titles
1 77 (37.20%) Software Engineer
2 60 (28.99%) Embedded Engineer
3 44 (21.26%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 36 (17.39%) Developer
5 27 (13.04%) C Software Engineer
6 22 (10.63%) C++ Software Engineer
7 21 (10.14%) C/C++ Software Engineer
8 19 (9.18%) Embedded C Engineer
8 19 (9.18%) Embedded C Software Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) C/C++ Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) Embedded C/C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) Embedded C/C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) Embedded C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) Embedded C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (6.28%) Senior
9 13 (6.28%) Support Engineer
10 12 (5.80%) Product Engineer
10 12 (5.80%) Products Support Engineer
10 12 (5.80%) Software Support Engineer
11 10 (4.83%) Senior Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (8.70%) Middleware
2 8 (3.86%) Yocto
3 7 (3.38%) Flash
3 7 (3.38%) HTML
4 5 (2.42%) CSS
5 4 (1.93%) AngularJS
5 4 (1.93%) Node.js
5 4 (1.93%) React
5 4 (1.93%) REST
6 3 (1.45%) .NET
6 3 (1.45%) ARM Templates
6 3 (1.45%) Electron
6 3 (1.45%) JNI
6 3 (1.45%) JSON
6 3 (1.45%) Kafka
7 2 (0.97%) OpenEmbedded
7 2 (0.97%) OpenMP
7 2 (0.97%) Qt
7 2 (0.97%) RESTful
7 2 (0.97%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 32 (15.46%) FPGA
2 29 (14.01%) Embedded Systems
3 15 (7.25%) PCIe
3 15 (7.25%) VHDL
4 6 (2.90%) CAN bus
4 6 (2.90%) Tandem
5 5 (2.42%) Algorithms
5 5 (2.42%) EMV
6 4 (1.93%) Distributed Systems
6 4 (1.93%) IoT
6 4 (1.93%) Verilog
7 3 (1.45%) Cloud Native
7 3 (1.45%) CUDA
7 3 (1.45%) Data Centre
7 3 (1.45%) Device Driver
7 3 (1.45%) Hedge funds
7 3 (1.45%) Java Card
7 3 (1.45%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (0.97%) Analogue Electronics
8 2 (0.97%) ASIC
Operating Systems
1 56 (27.05%) Linux
2 15 (7.25%) Windows
3 13 (6.28%) Ubuntu
4 8 (3.86%) Embedded Linux
4 8 (3.86%) FreeRTOS
5 4 (1.93%) Unix
6 3 (1.45%) CentOS
6 3 (1.45%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.48%) Android
7 1 (0.48%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.48%) Debian
7 1 (0.48%) OpenVMS
7 1 (0.48%) Windows Embedded Compact
Processes & Methodologies
1 112 (54.11%) Software Engineering
2 42 (20.29%) Validation
3 29 (14.01%) Problem-Solving
4 26 (12.56%) CI/CD
5 18 (8.70%) Software Testing
6 17 (8.21%) DevOps
6 17 (8.21%) Test Automation
6 17 (8.21%) Workflow
7 16 (7.73%) Unit Testing
8 14 (6.76%) Containerisation
8 14 (6.76%) Requirements Analysis
8 14 (6.76%) Signal Processing
9 13 (6.28%) Agile
9 13 (6.28%) AI
10 12 (5.80%) Embedded Software Development
10 12 (5.80%) SDLC
11 11 (5.31%) Systems Engineering
12 10 (4.83%) FPGA Design
12 10 (4.83%) Performance Tuning
12 10 (4.83%) Verification and Validation
Programming Languages
1 118 (57.00%) C++
2 51 (24.64%) Python
3 31 (14.98%) Ada
4 29 (14.01%) Embedded C
5 26 (12.56%) Java
6 22 (10.63%) JavaScript
7 20 (9.66%) SQL
8 19 (9.18%) Shell Script
9 18 (8.70%) Embedded C++
10 14 (6.76%) Bash
10 14 (6.76%) MATLAB
11 10 (4.83%) C#
12 9 (4.35%) Rust
13 7 (3.38%) PL/SQL
14 6 (2.90%) Fortran
14 6 (2.90%) SystemVerilog
15 5 (2.42%) COBOL
15 5 (2.42%) Perl
15 5 (2.42%) ProC
16 4 (1.93%) Go
Qualifications
1 64 (30.92%) Security Cleared
2 51 (24.64%) SC Cleared
3 18 (8.70%) Degree
4 6 (2.90%) DV Cleared
5 3 (1.45%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (1.45%) Computer Science Degree
5 3 (1.45%) ISTQB
6 2 (0.97%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 2 (0.97%) Master's Degree
6 2 (0.97%) Postgraduate
7 1 (0.48%) CCNA
7 1 (0.48%) CCSAS
7 1 (0.48%) Cisco Certification
7 1 (0.48%) GPEN
7 1 (0.48%) GWAPT
7 1 (0.48%) GXPN
7 1 (0.48%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
7 1 (0.48%) OSCE
7 1 (0.48%) OSCP
7 1 (0.48%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (10.14%) Def Stans
2 12 (5.80%) MISRA
3 11 (5.31%) DO-178B
4 8 (3.86%) IEC 61508
5 6 (2.90%) QA
6 5 (2.42%) ISO 8583
7 4 (1.93%) PCI DSS
8 3 (1.45%) ISO 26262
9 2 (0.97%) IEC 62304
9 2 (0.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.97%) MIL-STD-1553
9 2 (0.97%) MISRA C
9 2 (0.97%) Software Quality Assurance
10 1 (0.48%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.48%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.48%) AUTOSAR
10 1 (0.48%) DICOM
10 1 (0.48%) HL7
10 1 (0.48%) MiFID
10 1 (0.48%) NIST
System Software
1 23 (11.11%) Firmware
2 15 (7.25%) Docker
3 11 (5.31%) Virtual Machines
3 11 (5.31%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (1.45%) Embedded Firmware
5 2 (0.97%) vCloud
5 2 (0.97%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.97%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 13 (6.28%) Kubernetes
2 10 (4.83%) Terraform
3 5 (2.42%) Ansible
4 2 (0.97%) Podman
4 2 (0.97%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.48%) Functional Safety
5 1 (0.48%) Grafana
5 1 (0.48%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 16 (7.73%) Red Hat
2 12 (5.80%) IBM
2 12 (5.80%) Oracle
3 11 (5.31%) VMware
4 8 (3.86%) ANSYS
5 7 (3.38%) HP
5 7 (3.38%) Intel
6 6 (2.90%) MathWorks
7 5 (2.42%) Microsemi
7 5 (2.42%) Microsoft
7 5 (2.42%) Xilinx
8 4 (1.93%) Cisco
9 3 (1.45%) NetApp
9 3 (1.45%) Thales
10 2 (0.97%) Atlassian
10 2 (0.97%) Dell
11 1 (0.48%) Proofpoint
11 1 (0.48%) Sitecore
11 1 (0.48%) Splunk
11 1 (0.48%) Xamarin