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 25 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 408 350 188
Rank change year-on-year -58 -162 +55
Contract jobs citing C 222 179 545
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.48% 0.61% 1.25%
As % of the Programming Languages category 1.73% 1.78% 4.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 65 73 227
10th Percentile £363 £270 £325
25th Percentile £413 £338 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £535
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% -6.54% -5.48%
75th Percentile £550 £625 £588
90th Percentile £626 £675 £706
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £413 £538
% change year-on-year +21.21% -23.33% +7.60%
Number of hourly rates quoted 90 39 189
10th Percentile £60.00 £54.40 £46.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £61.00 £59.00
Median hourly rate £67.50 £68.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.74% +4.62% +11.68%
75th Percentile £70.00 £85.00 £70.00
90th Percentile - £87.50 £85.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £68.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -0.74% +4.62% -

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 12,847 10,044 12,821
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 27.55% 34.03% 29.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,519 6,801 9,116
10th Percentile £352 £360 £350
25th Percentile £413 £419 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £650
90th Percentile £713 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £479 £488
% change year-on-year -0.78% -1.80% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 555 246 482
10th Percentile £41.94 £22.49 £31.25
25th Percentile £54.55 £34.18 £46.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% +4.17% -1.92%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.00 £68.75
90th Percentile £77.50 £85.00 £78.68
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £64.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year +1.56% +2.40% -

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 25 April 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 25 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for C in the UK

C
Top 17 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 25 April 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 -42 211 £500 - 349
UK excluding London -10 171 £500 +21.21% 348
Work from Home -5 74 £460 -8.00% 343
East of England -9 69 £525 +31.25% 68
South West -12 49 £475 -20.83% 50
London -87 45 £447 -15.66% 34
South East -42 34 £500 - 111
North of England -65 7 £613 - 60
Midlands -58 5 £525 +213.43% 40
Northern Ireland - 5 £425 - 4
West Midlands - 4 £488 - 16
North West - 3 £450 - 24
Scotland -3 2 - - 21
North East -17 2 £625 - 13
Yorkshire -59 2 £613 - 23
Wales -9 1 £460 -12.38% 7
East Midlands -37 1 £525 +213.43% 24

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 4 (1.80%) Confluence
2 2 (0.90%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 2 (0.90%) Oracle Workflow
3 1 (0.45%) Apache
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.45%) SharePoint
Applications
1 9 (4.05%) Simulink
2 4 (1.80%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (2.25%) BASE24
1 5 (2.25%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (1.35%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.45%) Actimize
3 1 (0.45%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.45%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.45%) Loan IQ
3 1 (0.45%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.45%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 13 (5.86%) AWS
2 12 (5.41%) Azure
3 8 (3.60%) GitHub
4 5 (2.25%) Azure DevOps
4 5 (2.25%) Power Platform
5 4 (1.80%) GCP
6 3 (1.35%) Amazon S3
6 3 (1.35%) AWS CloudFormation
7 2 (0.90%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 2 (0.90%) Amazon EKS
7 2 (0.90%) AWS IoT
7 2 (0.90%) Azure Monitor
7 2 (0.90%) Dynamics 365
7 2 (0.90%) GitHub Actions
7 2 (0.90%) GitHub Copilot
7 2 (0.90%) IaaS
8 1 (0.45%) Azure AKS
8 1 (0.45%) ChatGPT
8 1 (0.45%) Copilot Studio
8 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 22 (9.91%) Ethernet
2 15 (6.76%) Wireless
3 13 (5.86%) Software-Defined Radio
4 7 (3.15%) TCP/IP
5 6 (2.70%) 3GPP
5 6 (2.70%) Modbus
5 6 (2.70%) RS-232
5 6 (2.70%) RS-485
6 4 (1.80%) Network Security
7 3 (1.35%) 5G
7 3 (1.35%) 5G NR
7 3 (1.35%) Bluetooth
7 3 (1.35%) DNS
7 3 (1.35%) LTE
7 3 (1.35%) MVNO
7 3 (1.35%) RS-422
7 3 (1.35%) SMPP
7 3 (1.35%) SMS
7 3 (1.35%) SpaceWire
7 3 (1.35%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.70%) NonStop SQL
2 5 (2.25%) OLTP
2 5 (2.25%) Power BI
3 4 (1.80%) SQL Server
4 3 (1.35%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (1.35%) Tableau
5 2 (0.90%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.90%) Metadata
5 2 (0.90%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.90%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.90%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.45%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (0.45%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.45%) Apache Cassandra
6 1 (0.45%) Apache Hudi
6 1 (0.45%) Apache Iceberg
6 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.45%) Data Lake
6 1 (0.45%) MySQL
6 1 (0.45%) Oracle Exadata
Development Applications
1 27 (12.16%) Rational DOORS
2 22 (9.91%) Git
3 17 (7.66%) JIRA
4 16 (7.21%) Rational Rhapsody
5 8 (3.60%) GitLab
5 8 (3.60%) PVCS
6 6 (2.70%) Visual Studio
7 3 (1.35%) Subversion
8 2 (0.90%) Jenkins
9 1 (0.45%) Appium
9 1 (0.45%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.45%) CMake
9 1 (0.45%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.45%) ERwin
9 1 (0.45%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.45%) LoadRunner
9 1 (0.45%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.45%) PowerBuilder
9 1 (0.45%) PowerDesigner
9 1 (0.45%) Selenium
General
1 44 (19.82%) Social Skills
2 31 (13.96%) Electronics
3 25 (11.26%) Aerospace
4 20 (9.01%) Analytical Skills
5 16 (7.21%) Finance
6 13 (5.86%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (5.41%) Law
8 10 (4.50%) Manufacturing
9 7 (3.15%) Banking
10 5 (2.25%) Public Sector
11 4 (1.80%) Automotive
11 4 (1.80%) Avionics
11 4 (1.80%) Games
12 3 (1.35%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.90%) Japanese Language
13 2 (0.90%) Military
13 2 (0.90%) Publishing
14 1 (0.45%) Korean Language
14 1 (0.45%) Local Government
14 1 (0.45%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 89 (40.09%) Software Engineer
2 75 (33.78%) Embedded Engineer
3 52 (23.42%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 35 (15.77%) Developer
5 26 (11.71%) C Software Engineer
6 23 (10.36%) C++ Software Engineer
7 22 (9.91%) C/C++ Software Engineer
8 17 (7.66%) Embedded C Engineer
8 17 (7.66%) Embedded C Software Engineer
9 13 (5.86%) C/C++ Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (5.86%) Embedded C/C++ Engineer
9 13 (5.86%) Embedded C/C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (5.86%) Embedded C++ Engineer
9 13 (5.86%) Embedded C++ Software Engineer
10 12 (5.41%) Lead
11 11 (4.95%) Senior
12 10 (4.50%) Software Developer
12 10 (4.50%) Validation Engineer
13 9 (4.05%) FPGA Engineer
13 9 (4.05%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (5.86%) Yocto
2 7 (3.15%) .NET
2 7 (3.15%) Middleware
3 6 (2.70%) WinForms
4 4 (1.80%) HTML
5 3 (1.35%) ARM Templates
5 3 (1.35%) Itk
5 3 (1.35%) Kafka
5 3 (1.35%) REST
6 2 (0.90%) Flash
6 2 (0.90%) HTML5
6 2 (0.90%) JSON
6 2 (0.90%) Qt
7 1 (0.45%) GStreamer
7 1 (0.45%) NumPy
7 1 (0.45%) OpenMP
7 1 (0.45%) RESTful
7 1 (0.45%) SciPy
7 1 (0.45%) WCF
7 1 (0.45%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 41 (18.47%) Embedded Systems
2 38 (17.12%) FPGA
3 18 (8.11%) PCIe
4 14 (6.31%) VHDL
5 9 (4.05%) Algorithms
6 8 (3.60%) Device Driver
6 8 (3.60%) Verilog
7 7 (3.15%) IoT
8 6 (2.70%) MicroBlaze
8 6 (2.70%) RISC-V
8 6 (2.70%) Tandem
9 5 (2.25%) Data Centre
9 5 (2.25%) EMV
10 3 (1.35%) Cloud Native
10 3 (1.35%) Cyber Threat
10 3 (1.35%) Java Card
10 3 (1.35%) Legacy Systems
11 2 (0.90%) ASIC
11 2 (0.90%) Data Structures
11 2 (0.90%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 54 (24.32%) Linux
2 19 (8.56%) Embedded Linux
3 11 (4.95%) FreeRTOS
3 11 (4.95%) Windows
4 3 (1.35%) Unix
5 1 (0.45%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.45%) Debian
5 1 (0.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.45%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (54.50%) Software Engineering
2 44 (19.82%) Validation
3 38 (17.12%) Problem-Solving
4 32 (14.41%) Test Automation
5 29 (13.06%) Workflow
6 28 (12.61%) CI/CD
7 23 (10.36%) Signal Processing
8 18 (8.11%) Digital Signal Processing
8 18 (8.11%) Embedded Software Development
9 17 (7.66%) DevOps
9 17 (7.66%) Workflow Management
10 16 (7.21%) Agile
10 16 (7.21%) Requirements Analysis
10 16 (7.21%) Unit Testing
10 16 (7.21%) Verification and Validation
11 13 (5.86%) Technical Leadership
12 12 (5.41%) Software Testing
13 11 (4.95%) Performance Tuning
13 11 (4.95%) TDD
13 11 (4.95%) UML
Programming Languages
1 121 (54.50%) C++
2 54 (24.32%) Python
3 41 (18.47%) Embedded C
4 28 (12.61%) Ada
5 23 (10.36%) SQL
6 21 (9.46%) Embedded C++
7 20 (9.01%) MATLAB
8 18 (8.11%) Java
9 11 (4.95%) Bash
10 8 (3.60%) C#
11 7 (3.15%) PL/SQL
11 7 (3.15%) SystemVerilog
12 5 (2.25%) COBOL
12 5 (2.25%) Rust
12 5 (2.25%) Shell Script
13 4 (1.80%) JavaScript
13 4 (1.80%) ProC
14 2 (0.90%) Perl
14 2 (0.90%) PowerShell
14 2 (0.90%) VB
Qualifications
1 60 (27.03%) Security Cleared
2 46 (20.72%) SC Cleared
3 15 (6.76%) Degree
4 9 (4.05%) DV Cleared
5 8 (3.60%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (0.90%) CCNA
6 2 (0.90%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (0.90%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (0.90%) ISTQB
7 1 (0.45%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.45%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
7 1 (0.45%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 1 (0.45%) Six Sigma Black Belt
7 1 (0.45%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (9.91%) Def Stans
2 11 (4.95%) QA
3 7 (3.15%) DO-178B
3 7 (3.15%) MISRA
4 6 (2.70%) IEC 61508
5 5 (2.25%) ISO 8583
6 4 (1.80%) PCI DSS
7 3 (1.35%) Data Quality
7 3 (1.35%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.45%) DICOM
8 1 (0.45%) DO-254
8 1 (0.45%) HL7
8 1 (0.45%) IFRS
8 1 (0.45%) IFRS 9
8 1 (0.45%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.45%) MiFID
8 1 (0.45%) MISRA C
8 1 (0.45%) NIST
System Software
1 23 (10.36%) Firmware
2 12 (5.41%) Docker
3 11 (4.95%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (4.50%) Virtual Machines
5 8 (3.60%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.90%) Oracle RAC
6 2 (0.90%) vCloud
6 2 (0.90%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.90%) vSphere
7 1 (0.45%) FreeRADIUS
Systems Management
1 9 (4.05%) Kubernetes
2 8 (3.60%) Terraform
3 4 (1.80%) Ansible
4 2 (0.90%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.45%) Grafana
5 1 (0.45%) HP ALM
5 1 (0.45%) Nagios
Vendors
1 16 (7.21%) IBM
2 11 (4.95%) VMware
3 9 (4.05%) Xilinx
4 8 (3.60%) ANSYS
4 8 (3.60%) Cisco
4 8 (3.60%) Intel
4 8 (3.60%) Oracle
5 7 (3.15%) HP
5 7 (3.15%) MathWorks
5 7 (3.15%) Microsoft
6 5 (2.25%) Microsemi
7 4 (1.80%) Lauterbach
7 4 (1.80%) SAP
8 3 (1.35%) Google
8 3 (1.35%) Thales
9 2 (0.90%) Dell
9 2 (0.90%) Perforce
10 1 (0.45%) Citrix
10 1 (0.45%) EMC
10 1 (0.45%) Veritas