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 13 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 407 316 193
Rank change year-on-year -91 -123 +63
Contract jobs citing C 209 225 555
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.76% 1.25%
As % of the Programming Languages category 1.67% 2.24% 4.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 68 88 214
10th Percentile £230 £273 £325
25th Percentile £413 £400 £426
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £500 £530
Median % change year-on-year -3.75% -5.66% -11.67%
75th Percentile £550 £625 £588
90th Percentile £629 £810 £706
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £466 £536
% change year-on-year +1.88% -12.93% +2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 39 191
10th Percentile £61.25 £57.00 £46.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £60.50 £57.50
Median hourly rate £67.50 £68.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.74% +4.62% +13.04%
75th Percentile £70.00 £85.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £74.63 £95.00 £88.75
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 12,548 10,051 12,959
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 29.30% 34.11% 29.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,338 6,636 9,140
10th Percentile £354 £356 £350
25th Percentile £413 £423 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -5.75%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £650
90th Percentile £719 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £488 £488
% change year-on-year -2.56% - -3.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 490 240 501
10th Percentile £41.55 £21.25 £30.63
25th Percentile £54.14 £35.00 £46.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% +4.17% -6.80%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.00 £67.38
90th Percentile £77.50 £85.00 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £63.75 £61.60
% change year-on-year +1.97% +3.48% -5.23%

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 13 March 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 13 March 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 13 March 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 -82 196 £500 - 417
UK excluding London -50 162 £475 +1.88% 418
East of England -5 66 £525 +31.25% 77
Work from Home -35 60 £468 -6.50% 143
South West +3 58 £450 -24.37% 86
London -81 42 £488 -18.75% 37
South East -60 16 £500 - 109
North of England -62 7 £531 - 56
Scotland +3 6 £65 -77.19% 27
Northern Ireland +2 5 £425 - 6
North West -32 3 £450 - 20
Yorkshire -56 3 £531 - 27
Midlands -69 3 £550 +228.36% 62
East Midlands -36 2 £525 +213.43% 31
Wales -8 1 £460 -12.38% 10
West Midlands -62 1 £575 - 31
North East - 1 £625 - 9

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 (1.44%) Confluence
2 1 (0.48%) Apache
2 1 (0.48%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.48%) SharePoint
Applications
1 8 (3.83%) Simulink
2 3 (1.44%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.96%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.48%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 5 (2.39%) BASE24
1 5 (2.39%) Payment Gateway
2 2 (0.96%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.48%) Actimize
3 1 (0.48%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.48%) Loan IQ
3 1 (0.48%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.48%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 14 (6.70%) Azure
2 13 (6.22%) AWS
3 9 (4.31%) GitHub
4 6 (2.87%) GCP
5 5 (2.39%) Azure DevOps
5 5 (2.39%) Power Platform
6 3 (1.44%) Amazon S3
6 3 (1.44%) AWS CloudFormation
7 2 (0.96%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 2 (0.96%) Amazon EKS
7 2 (0.96%) Azure Monitor
7 2 (0.96%) Cloud Computing
7 2 (0.96%) Dynamics 365
7 2 (0.96%) GitHub Actions
7 2 (0.96%) IaaS
8 1 (0.48%) Amazon EC2
8 1 (0.48%) Azure AKS
8 1 (0.48%) Microsoft 365
8 1 (0.48%) PaaS
8 1 (0.48%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 19 (9.09%) Ethernet
2 7 (3.35%) RS-232
3 6 (2.87%) 3GPP
3 6 (2.87%) Modbus
3 6 (2.87%) RS-485
4 5 (2.39%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.91%) Network Security
6 3 (1.44%) 5G
6 3 (1.44%) 5G NR
6 3 (1.44%) Bluetooth
6 3 (1.44%) LTE
6 3 (1.44%) MVNO
6 3 (1.44%) RS-422
6 3 (1.44%) SMPP
6 3 (1.44%) SMS
7 2 (0.96%) DNS
7 2 (0.96%) HTTP
7 2 (0.96%) Wi-Fi
7 2 (0.96%) Wireless
7 2 (0.96%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.87%) NonStop SQL
2 5 (2.39%) OLTP
3 4 (1.91%) Power BI
4 3 (1.44%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.96%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.96%) Metadata
5 2 (0.96%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.96%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.96%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.96%) SQL Server
5 2 (0.96%) Tableau
6 1 (0.48%) Apache Cassandra
6 1 (0.48%) Apache Iceberg
6 1 (0.48%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.48%) Elasticsearch
6 1 (0.48%) Hadoop
6 1 (0.48%) MySQL
6 1 (0.48%) Oracle Exadata
6 1 (0.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (0.48%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 23 (11.00%) Rational DOORS
2 19 (9.09%) Git
3 14 (6.70%) JIRA
3 14 (6.70%) Rational Rhapsody
4 8 (3.83%) PVCS
5 7 (3.35%) GitLab
5 7 (3.35%) Visual Studio
6 3 (1.44%) Jenkins
7 2 (0.96%) JMeter
7 2 (0.96%) Selenium
7 2 (0.96%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.48%) Crashlytics
8 1 (0.48%) ER Studio
8 1 (0.48%) fastlane
8 1 (0.48%) Polyspace
8 1 (0.48%) Postman
8 1 (0.48%) Rational Team Concert
8 1 (0.48%) Xcode
8 1 (0.48%) XCTest
8 1 (0.48%) XCUITest
General
1 34 (16.27%) Electronics
2 33 (15.79%) Social Skills
3 20 (9.57%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (8.61%) Aerospace
4 18 (8.61%) Finance
5 13 (6.22%) Law
6 11 (5.26%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (4.31%) Public Sector
8 7 (3.35%) Banking
9 5 (2.39%) Automotive
9 5 (2.39%) Manufacturing
9 5 (2.39%) Military
10 3 (1.44%) Games
10 3 (1.44%) Telecoms
11 2 (0.96%) Avionics
11 2 (0.96%) Publishing
12 1 (0.48%) Financial Institution
12 1 (0.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.48%) Local Government
12 1 (0.48%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 79 (37.80%) Software Engineer
2 65 (31.10%) Embedded Engineer
3 44 (21.05%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 33 (15.79%) Developer
5 27 (12.92%) C Software Engineer
6 23 (11.00%) C++ Software Engineer
7 21 (10.05%) C/C++ Software Engineer
8 19 (9.09%) Embedded C Engineer
8 19 (9.09%) Embedded C Software Engineer
9 13 (6.22%) C/C++ Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (6.22%) Embedded C/C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.22%) Embedded C/C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (6.22%) Embedded C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.22%) Embedded C++ Software Engineer
10 12 (5.74%) Product Engineer
10 12 (5.74%) Products Support Engineer
10 12 (5.74%) Software Support Engineer
10 12 (5.74%) Support Engineer
11 10 (4.78%) Software Developer
11 10 (4.78%) Validation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (8.61%) Middleware
2 7 (3.35%) .NET
2 7 (3.35%) Yocto
3 6 (2.87%) Flash
3 6 (2.87%) WinForms
4 4 (1.91%) HTML
5 3 (1.44%) ARM Templates
5 3 (1.44%) JSON
5 3 (1.44%) Kafka
5 3 (1.44%) REST
6 2 (0.96%) CSS
6 2 (0.96%) OpenMP
6 2 (0.96%) Protocol Buffers
6 2 (0.96%) Qt
6 2 (0.96%) RESTful
6 2 (0.96%) WebSockets
7 1 (0.48%) .NET Framework
7 1 (0.48%) JNI
7 1 (0.48%) WCF
7 1 (0.48%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 34 (16.27%) Embedded Systems
2 31 (14.83%) FPGA
3 15 (7.18%) PCIe
3 15 (7.18%) VHDL
4 6 (2.87%) Tandem
5 5 (2.39%) Algorithms
5 5 (2.39%) EMV
5 5 (2.39%) Verilog
6 4 (1.91%) Cloud Native
6 4 (1.91%) Data Centre
6 4 (1.91%) IoT
7 3 (1.44%) CUDA
7 3 (1.44%) Cyber Threat
7 3 (1.44%) Java Card
7 3 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
8 2 (0.96%) ASIC
8 2 (0.96%) Device Driver
8 2 (0.96%) Distributed Systems
8 2 (0.96%) Legacy Code
8 2 (0.96%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 51 (24.40%) Linux
2 13 (6.22%) Ubuntu
3 11 (5.26%) Windows
4 10 (4.78%) Embedded Linux
5 8 (3.83%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (1.44%) Unix
7 1 (0.48%) Android
7 1 (0.48%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.48%) CentOS
7 1 (0.48%) Debian
7 1 (0.48%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.48%) OpenVMS
7 1 (0.48%) Windows Embedded Compact
Processes & Methodologies
1 117 (55.98%) Software Engineering
2 41 (19.62%) Validation
3 31 (14.83%) Problem-Solving
4 29 (13.88%) CI/CD
5 25 (11.96%) Test Automation
6 20 (9.57%) Workflow
7 19 (9.09%) DevOps
7 19 (9.09%) Unit Testing
8 16 (7.66%) Requirements Analysis
8 16 (7.66%) Software Testing
9 15 (7.18%) Embedded Software Development
10 14 (6.70%) Agile
10 14 (6.70%) Signal Processing
11 13 (6.22%) Verification and Validation
12 12 (5.74%) AI
12 12 (5.74%) Workflow Management
13 11 (5.26%) Containerisation
13 11 (5.26%) Performance Tuning
13 11 (5.26%) SDLC
14 10 (4.78%) Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 123 (58.85%) C++
2 48 (22.97%) Python
3 33 (15.79%) Embedded C
4 30 (14.35%) Ada
5 22 (10.53%) SQL
6 19 (9.09%) Embedded C++
7 18 (8.61%) JavaScript
8 17 (8.13%) Shell Script
9 14 (6.70%) Java
9 14 (6.70%) MATLAB
10 9 (4.31%) Bash
11 8 (3.83%) C#
11 8 (3.83%) PL/SQL
11 8 (3.83%) Rust
12 6 (2.87%) SystemVerilog
13 5 (2.39%) COBOL
13 5 (2.39%) ProC
14 4 (1.91%) Fortran
15 3 (1.44%) Perl
16 2 (0.96%) VB
Qualifications
1 65 (31.10%) Security Cleared
2 52 (24.88%) SC Cleared
3 14 (6.70%) Degree
4 6 (2.87%) DV Cleared
5 5 (2.39%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (1.44%) ISTQB
7 2 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
7 2 (0.96%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 2 (0.96%) Postgraduate
8 1 (0.48%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.48%) CCNA
8 1 (0.48%) CCSAS
8 1 (0.48%) GPEN
8 1 (0.48%) GWAPT
8 1 (0.48%) GXPN
8 1 (0.48%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
8 1 (0.48%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.48%) OSCE
8 1 (0.48%) OSCP
8 1 (0.48%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (11.48%) Def Stans
2 12 (5.74%) MISRA
3 11 (5.26%) DO-178B
4 9 (4.31%) QA
5 6 (2.87%) IEC 61508
6 5 (2.39%) ISO 8583
7 4 (1.91%) PCI DSS
8 2 (0.96%) Data Quality
8 2 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.96%) MIL-STD-1553
8 2 (0.96%) MISRA C
8 2 (0.96%) Software Quality Assurance
9 1 (0.48%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.48%) AUTOSAR
9 1 (0.48%) DO-254
9 1 (0.48%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.48%) IFRS
9 1 (0.48%) IFRS 9
9 1 (0.48%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.48%) NIST
System Software
1 22 (10.53%) Firmware
2 14 (6.70%) Docker
3 11 (5.26%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (4.78%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (1.44%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.96%) vCloud
6 2 (0.96%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.96%) vSphere
7 1 (0.48%) FreeRADIUS
Systems Management
1 12 (5.74%) Kubernetes
2 9 (4.31%) Terraform
3 3 (1.44%) Ansible
4 2 (0.96%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.48%) Functional Safety
5 1 (0.48%) Grafana
5 1 (0.48%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 13 (6.22%) Red Hat
2 12 (5.74%) IBM
3 11 (5.26%) VMware
4 9 (4.31%) Oracle
5 8 (3.83%) ANSYS
6 7 (3.35%) HP
6 7 (3.35%) Microsoft
7 6 (2.87%) Intel
7 6 (2.87%) Xilinx
8 5 (2.39%) Microsemi
9 4 (1.91%) Cisco
9 4 (1.91%) MathWorks
10 3 (1.44%) Thales
11 2 (0.96%) Dell
11 2 (0.96%) Lauterbach
11 2 (0.96%) SAP
12 1 (0.48%) Citrix
12 1 (0.48%) Dynatrace
12 1 (0.48%) NetApp
12 1 (0.48%) Virgin Media