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 2 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 461 377 228
Rank change year-on-year -84 -149 -8
Contract jobs citing C 219 186 433
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.41% 0.57% 1.12%
As % of the Programming Languages category 1.56% 1.74% 3.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 62 68 216
10th Percentile £328 £375 £398
25th Percentile £400 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £474 £531 £538
Median % change year-on-year -10.78% -1.16% -2.27%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £600
90th Percentile £699 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £500 £538
% change year-on-year -10.00% -7.06% +2.48%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 37 85
10th Percentile £51.93 £51.70 £45.09
25th Percentile £65.00 £54.25 £61.25
Median hourly rate £68.00 £68.00 £67.25
Median % change year-on-year - +1.12% +3.46%
75th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £75.00
90th Percentile £70.13 £87.50 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £68.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% +7.69%

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 14,011 10,681 12,215
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 26.15% 32.84% 31.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,112 7,106 8,422
10th Percentile £363 £341 £350
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.90% -4.67% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £742 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 525 298 357
10th Percentile £28.00 £29.00 £30.00
25th Percentile £48.00 £36.69 £46.18
Median hourly rate £65.00 £55.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +18.18% -15.38% +4.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £67.44 £70.00
90th Percentile £78.45 £79.13 £78.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +4.00% -3.85% +4.00%

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 2 September 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 2 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for C in the UK

C
Top 14 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 2 September 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 -65 208 £473 -14.00% 879
UK excluding London -44 172 £450 -10.00% 680
Work from Home -37 70 £500 -9.09% 309
South East -17 57 £475 -5.00% 184
East of England -10 54 £700 +30.23% 187
London -88 38 £513 -16.33% 271
South West -39 33 £450 -20.88% 125
West Midlands -28 20 £450 - 31
Midlands -37 20 £450 - 60
Scotland -30 5 - - 52
North of England -89 4 £400 -6.43% 71
Yorkshire -41 2 £400 -20.00% 16
North East -45 1 - - 12
North West -59 1 - - 45

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 5 (2.28%) Tuxedo
2 3 (1.37%) WebSphere
3 2 (0.91%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 2 (0.91%) Oracle Workflow
4 1 (0.46%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.46%) ColdFusion
4 1 (0.46%) Confluence
Applications
1 11 (5.02%) Simulink
2 3 (1.37%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 2 (0.91%) BASE24
1 2 (0.91%) Oracle Retail
1 2 (0.91%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.46%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 13 (5.94%) AWS
2 11 (5.02%) Azure
3 9 (4.11%) GitHub
4 7 (3.20%) GitHub Copilot
4 7 (3.20%) IaaS
5 6 (2.74%) Azure DevOps
6 3 (1.37%) SaaS
7 2 (0.91%) Amazon S3
7 2 (0.91%) AWS IoT
7 2 (0.91%) AWS Lambda
7 2 (0.91%) Datadog
7 2 (0.91%) Entra ID
7 2 (0.91%) GitHub Actions
7 2 (0.91%) OCI
7 2 (0.91%) Power Platform
7 2 (0.91%) Serverless
8 1 (0.46%) Amazon ECS
8 1 (0.46%) Amazon EKS
8 1 (0.46%) AWS Step Functions
8 1 (0.46%) Cohesity
Communications & Networking
1 21 (9.59%) Software-Defined Radio
1 21 (9.59%) Wireless
2 9 (4.11%) Ethernet
3 4 (1.83%) Bluetooth
3 4 (1.83%) TCP/IP
3 4 (1.83%) Wireshark
4 3 (1.37%) DNS
4 3 (1.37%) Internet
4 3 (1.37%) MQTT
4 3 (1.37%) RS-232
4 3 (1.37%) RS-485
4 3 (1.37%) VXLAN
5 2 (0.91%) ATM
5 2 (0.91%) Firewall
5 2 (0.91%) WAN
5 2 (0.91%) Wi-Fi
6 1 (0.46%) 2G
6 1 (0.46%) LTE
6 1 (0.46%) NAS
6 1 (0.46%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (4.57%) Ingres
2 6 (2.74%) Relational Database
2 6 (2.74%) SQL Server
3 4 (1.83%) RDBMS
4 3 (1.37%) NoSQL
4 3 (1.37%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.91%) NonStop SQL
5 2 (0.91%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.91%) Power BI
5 2 (0.91%) Redis
5 2 (0.91%) SQLPlus
6 1 (0.46%) Big Data
6 1 (0.46%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.46%) Elasticsearch
6 1 (0.46%) KDB
6 1 (0.46%) Kdb+
6 1 (0.46%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.46%) Snowflake Schema
6 1 (0.46%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 25 (11.42%) Git
2 21 (9.59%) Rational DOORS
3 12 (5.48%) Rational Rhapsody
4 10 (4.57%) Jenkins
4 10 (4.57%) JIRA
5 7 (3.20%) Team Foundation Server
6 5 (2.28%) Oracle Forms
7 3 (1.37%) GitLab
8 2 (0.91%) CMake
8 2 (0.91%) CppUnit
8 2 (0.91%) PetaLinux
8 2 (0.91%) PVCS
8 2 (0.91%) Subversion
9 1 (0.46%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.46%) git-flow
9 1 (0.46%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.46%) Mocha
9 1 (0.46%) Sinon.JS
9 1 (0.46%) Visual Studio
General
1 56 (25.57%) Social Skills
2 27 (12.33%) Aerospace
3 22 (10.05%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (8.22%) Electronics
5 14 (6.39%) Law
6 10 (4.57%) Manufacturing
7 7 (3.20%) Documentation Skills
7 7 (3.20%) Finance
7 7 (3.20%) Public Sector
8 6 (2.74%) Banking
9 4 (1.83%) Military
10 3 (1.37%) Automotive
10 3 (1.37%) Front Office
10 3 (1.37%) Investment Banking
11 2 (0.91%) Avionics
11 2 (0.91%) Games
11 2 (0.91%) Japanese Language
11 2 (0.91%) Retail
11 2 (0.91%) Telecoms
12 1 (0.46%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 85 (38.81%) Software Engineer
2 52 (23.74%) Embedded Engineer
3 43 (19.63%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 27 (12.33%) Senior
5 24 (10.96%) Developer
6 21 (9.59%) C Software Engineer
7 18 (8.22%) C++ Software Engineer
8 17 (7.76%) Lead
9 13 (5.94%) C/C++ Software Engineer
10 10 (4.57%) Linux Engineer
11 9 (4.11%) Embedded C Engineer
11 9 (4.11%) Embedded C Software Engineer
11 9 (4.11%) Senior Developer
11 9 (4.11%) Software Developer
12 8 (3.65%) Development Engineer
12 8 (3.65%) DSP Engineer
12 8 (3.65%) DSP Software Engineer
12 8 (3.65%) Test Leader
13 7 (3.20%) Software Development Engineer
13 7 (3.20%) Software Team Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (6.85%) Yocto
2 7 (3.20%) .NET
2 7 (3.20%) Terraform
3 6 (2.74%) REST
4 5 (2.28%) JSON
4 5 (2.28%) Middleware
4 5 (2.28%) XML
5 4 (1.83%) LDAP
5 4 (1.83%) OpenTofu
6 3 (1.37%) ADO
6 3 (1.37%) COM
6 3 (1.37%) HTML
6 3 (1.37%) ODBC
6 3 (1.37%) WebSphere MQ
7 2 (0.91%) FastAPI
7 2 (0.91%) Keycloak
7 2 (0.91%) PyTorch
7 2 (0.91%) QML
7 2 (0.91%) Qt
7 2 (0.91%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 38 (17.35%) Embedded Systems
2 21 (9.59%) FPGA
3 17 (7.76%) Device Driver
3 17 (7.76%) RISC-V
4 10 (4.57%) Legacy Systems
4 10 (4.57%) MicroBlaze
4 10 (4.57%) Verilog
4 10 (4.57%) VHDL
5 9 (4.11%) PCIe
6 8 (3.65%) Private Cloud
7 7 (3.20%) Algorithms
8 5 (2.28%) Data Protection Act
8 5 (2.28%) IoT
8 5 (2.28%) Virtual Team
9 4 (1.83%) ARM Cortex
9 4 (1.83%) Distributed Systems
10 3 (1.37%) Cloud Native
10 3 (1.37%) Fixed Income
10 3 (1.37%) Low-Code
10 3 (1.37%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 79 (36.07%) Linux
2 26 (11.87%) Embedded Linux
3 15 (6.85%) Unix
4 13 (5.94%) FreeRTOS
4 13 (5.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 9 (4.11%) Windows
6 2 (0.91%) Android
7 1 (0.46%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.46%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.46%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 118 (53.88%) Software Engineering
2 39 (17.81%) Agile
3 31 (14.16%) Problem-Solving
3 31 (14.16%) Test Automation
4 29 (13.24%) Signal Processing
5 25 (11.42%) CI/CD
5 25 (11.42%) Validation
6 23 (10.50%) Digital Signal Processing
7 21 (9.59%) DevOps
8 19 (8.68%) Data Management
8 19 (8.68%) UML
9 17 (7.76%) Systems Engineering
10 16 (7.31%) Software Testing
11 15 (6.85%) Technical Leadership
12 14 (6.39%) Integration Testing
12 14 (6.39%) Workflow
13 13 (5.94%) Configuration Management
13 13 (5.94%) Migration
14 12 (5.48%) Embedded Software Development
14 12 (5.48%) System Integration Testing
Programming Languages
1 125 (57.08%) C++
2 56 (25.57%) Python
3 34 (15.53%) Embedded C
4 28 (12.79%) SQL
5 23 (10.50%) Ada
6 18 (8.22%) Java
6 18 (8.22%) MATLAB
7 17 (7.76%) PL/SQL
8 14 (6.39%) ProC
9 10 (4.57%) Embedded C++
10 9 (4.11%) C#
10 9 (4.11%) Perl
11 7 (3.20%) SystemVerilog
12 5 (2.28%) Bash
12 5 (2.28%) PowerShell
12 5 (2.28%) VB
12 5 (2.28%) VB6
13 4 (1.83%) JavaScript
13 4 (1.83%) Rust
13 4 (1.83%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 62 (28.31%) Security Cleared
2 48 (21.92%) SC Cleared
3 24 (10.96%) Degree
4 11 (5.02%) DV Cleared
5 7 (3.20%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (2.28%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.91%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.46%) CCNA
8 1 (0.46%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.46%) CompTIA CySA+
8 1 (0.46%) GCIA
8 1 (0.46%) GCIH
8 1 (0.46%) GIAC
8 1 (0.46%) PhD
8 1 (0.46%) Six Sigma Black Belt
8 1 (0.46%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (9.13%) QA
2 12 (5.48%) Def Stans
3 9 (4.11%) MISRA
4 8 (3.65%) DO-178B
5 3 (1.37%) ISO 15022
5 3 (1.37%) ISO 20022
6 2 (0.91%) ISO 26262
7 1 (0.46%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.46%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.46%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.46%) ISO 8583
7 1 (0.46%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.46%) MIL-STD-1553
7 1 (0.46%) NCSC
7 1 (0.46%) NIST
7 1 (0.46%) NIST 800
7 1 (0.46%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.46%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 31 (14.16%) Firmware
2 17 (7.76%) Embedded Firmware
3 11 (5.02%) Docker
4 7 (3.20%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (2.74%) Active Directory
5 6 (2.74%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.91%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.46%) KVM
7 1 (0.46%) Slurm Workload Manager
7 1 (0.46%) Squid
Systems Management
1 9 (4.11%) Puppet
2 8 (3.65%) Kubernetes
2 8 (3.65%) Progress Chef
3 3 (1.37%) Ansible
4 2 (0.91%) Salt
5 1 (0.46%) Grafana
5 1 (0.46%) Kibana
5 1 (0.46%) Nagios
5 1 (0.46%) Packer
Vendors
1 24 (10.96%) Oracle
2 13 (5.94%) IBM
3 10 (4.57%) Xilinx
4 8 (3.65%) Intel
4 8 (3.65%) Red Hat
4 8 (3.65%) SaltStack
5 7 (3.20%) VMware
6 5 (2.28%) Microsemi
7 4 (1.83%) Cisco
7 4 (1.83%) MathWorks
8 3 (1.37%) Actian
8 3 (1.37%) Lauterbach
8 3 (1.37%) SAP
9 2 (0.91%) Google
9 2 (0.91%) HP
9 2 (0.91%) Microsoft
9 2 (0.91%) Perforce
9 2 (0.91%) QNX
9 2 (0.91%) Sitecore
9 2 (0.91%) Splunk