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

6 months to
17 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 419 353 190
Rank change year-on-year -66 -163 +62
Contract jobs citing C 214 182 546
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.47% 0.62% 1.24%
As % of the Programming Languages category 1.67% 1.82% 4.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 64 81 231
10th Percentile £360 £274 £325
25th Percentile £413 £391 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £500 £535
Median % change year-on-year -3.75% -6.54% -6.96%
75th Percentile £550 £625 £588
90th Percentile £626 £675 £706
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £464 £538
% change year-on-year +7.82% -13.80% +7.60%
Number of hourly rates quoted 87 38 187
10th Percentile £60.00 £54.10 £46.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £60.50 £59.50
Median hourly rate £67.50 £72.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.90% +11.54% +13.04%
75th Percentile £70.00 £85.00 £70.00
90th Percentile - £91.50 £86.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £72.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year -6.90% +11.54% -

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 12,828 10,002 12,852
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 27.88% 34.07% 29.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,540 6,762 9,133
10th Percentile £355 £358 £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 £477 £488
% change year-on-year -0.42% -2.15% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 547 241 476
10th Percentile £42.28 £22.50 £30.94
25th Percentile £55.00 £35.00 £46.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% +4.17% -4.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.50 £67.50
90th Percentile £77.50 £85.00 £77.50
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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -66 204 £500 - 409
UK excluding London -20 163 £500 +7.82% 408
Work from Home -9 72 £460 -8.00% 125
East of England -4 66 £525 +27.27% 82
South West -3 48 £475 -19.49% 61
London -90 46 £447 -15.26% 44
South East -37 30 £500 - 119
North of England -66 7 £613 - 56
Midlands -72 5 £525 +213.43% 53
Northern Ireland - 5 £425 - 1
West Midlands - 4 £488 - 23
North West - 3 £450 - 22
Scotland -6 2 - - 32
North East -17 2 £625 - 7
Yorkshire -53 2 £613 - 27
Wales -10 1 £460 -12.38% 13
East Midlands -36 1 £525 +213.43% 30

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 (1.87%) Confluence
2 2 (0.93%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 2 (0.93%) Oracle Workflow
3 1 (0.47%) Apache
3 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.47%) SharePoint
Applications
1 9 (4.21%) Simulink
2 4 (1.87%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (2.34%) BASE24
1 5 (2.34%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (1.40%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.47%) Actimize
3 1 (0.47%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.47%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.47%) Loan IQ
3 1 (0.47%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.47%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 13 (6.07%) AWS
2 12 (5.61%) Azure
3 8 (3.74%) GitHub
4 5 (2.34%) Azure DevOps
4 5 (2.34%) Power Platform
5 4 (1.87%) GCP
6 3 (1.40%) Amazon S3
6 3 (1.40%) AWS CloudFormation
7 2 (0.93%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 2 (0.93%) Amazon EKS
7 2 (0.93%) AWS IoT
7 2 (0.93%) Azure Monitor
7 2 (0.93%) Dynamics 365
7 2 (0.93%) GitHub Actions
7 2 (0.93%) GitHub Copilot
7 2 (0.93%) IaaS
8 1 (0.47%) Azure AKS
8 1 (0.47%) ChatGPT
8 1 (0.47%) Copilot Studio
8 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 20 (9.35%) Ethernet
2 11 (5.14%) Wireless
3 9 (4.21%) Software-Defined Radio
4 7 (3.27%) TCP/IP
5 6 (2.80%) 3GPP
5 6 (2.80%) Modbus
5 6 (2.80%) RS-232
5 6 (2.80%) RS-485
6 4 (1.87%) Network Security
7 3 (1.40%) 5G
7 3 (1.40%) 5G NR
7 3 (1.40%) Bluetooth
7 3 (1.40%) DNS
7 3 (1.40%) LTE
7 3 (1.40%) MVNO
7 3 (1.40%) RS-422
7 3 (1.40%) SMPP
7 3 (1.40%) SMS
7 3 (1.40%) SpaceWire
7 3 (1.40%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.80%) NonStop SQL
2 5 (2.34%) OLTP
2 5 (2.34%) Power BI
3 4 (1.87%) SQL Server
4 3 (1.40%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (1.40%) Tableau
5 2 (0.93%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.93%) Metadata
5 2 (0.93%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.93%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.93%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.47%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (0.47%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.47%) Apache Cassandra
6 1 (0.47%) Apache Hudi
6 1 (0.47%) Apache Iceberg
6 1 (0.47%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.47%) Data Lake
6 1 (0.47%) MySQL
6 1 (0.47%) Oracle Exadata
Development Applications
1 25 (11.68%) Rational DOORS
2 22 (10.28%) Git
3 17 (7.94%) JIRA
4 16 (7.48%) Rational Rhapsody
5 8 (3.74%) GitLab
5 8 (3.74%) PVCS
6 6 (2.80%) Visual Studio
7 3 (1.40%) Subversion
8 2 (0.93%) Jenkins
9 1 (0.47%) Appium
9 1 (0.47%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.47%) CMake
9 1 (0.47%) Crashlytics
9 1 (0.47%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.47%) ER Studio
9 1 (0.47%) fastlane
9 1 (0.47%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.47%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.47%) Selenium
9 1 (0.47%) SonarQube
General
1 42 (19.63%) Social Skills
2 30 (14.02%) Electronics
3 24 (11.21%) Aerospace
4 19 (8.88%) Analytical Skills
5 17 (7.94%) Finance
6 13 (6.07%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (5.14%) Law
8 10 (4.67%) Manufacturing
9 7 (3.27%) Banking
10 6 (2.80%) Public Sector
11 4 (1.87%) Automotive
11 4 (1.87%) Avionics
11 4 (1.87%) Games
12 3 (1.40%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.93%) Japanese Language
13 2 (0.93%) Military
13 2 (0.93%) Publishing
14 1 (0.47%) Health Technology
14 1 (0.47%) Korean Language
14 1 (0.47%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 84 (39.25%) Software Engineer
2 70 (32.71%) Embedded Engineer
3 47 (21.96%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 34 (15.89%) Developer
5 26 (12.15%) C Software Engineer
6 23 (10.75%) C++ Software Engineer
7 22 (10.28%) C/C++ Software Engineer
8 17 (7.94%) Embedded C Engineer
8 17 (7.94%) Embedded C Software Engineer
9 13 (6.07%) C/C++ Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (6.07%) Embedded C/C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.07%) Embedded C/C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (6.07%) Embedded C++ Engineer
9 13 (6.07%) Embedded C++ Software Engineer
10 12 (5.61%) Lead
10 12 (5.61%) Senior
11 10 (4.67%) Software Developer
11 10 (4.67%) Validation Engineer
12 9 (4.21%) FPGA Engineer
12 9 (4.21%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (5.14%) Yocto
2 7 (3.27%) .NET
2 7 (3.27%) Middleware
3 6 (2.80%) WinForms
4 4 (1.87%) HTML
5 3 (1.40%) ARM Templates
5 3 (1.40%) Itk
5 3 (1.40%) Kafka
5 3 (1.40%) REST
6 2 (0.93%) Flash
6 2 (0.93%) HTML5
6 2 (0.93%) JSON
6 2 (0.93%) Qt
7 1 (0.47%) GStreamer
7 1 (0.47%) J2EE
7 1 (0.47%) NumPy
7 1 (0.47%) RESTful
7 1 (0.47%) SciPy
7 1 (0.47%) WCF
7 1 (0.47%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 38 (17.76%) Embedded Systems
2 35 (16.36%) FPGA
3 16 (7.48%) PCIe
4 14 (6.54%) VHDL
5 9 (4.21%) Algorithms
6 8 (3.74%) Verilog
7 7 (3.27%) IoT
8 6 (2.80%) Device Driver
8 6 (2.80%) Tandem
9 5 (2.34%) Data Centre
9 5 (2.34%) EMV
10 4 (1.87%) Cloud Native
10 4 (1.87%) MicroBlaze
10 4 (1.87%) RISC-V
11 3 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
11 3 (1.40%) Java Card
11 3 (1.40%) Legacy Systems
12 2 (0.93%) Data Structures
12 2 (0.93%) Legacy Code
12 2 (0.93%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 50 (23.36%) Linux
2 17 (7.94%) Embedded Linux
3 11 (5.14%) Windows
4 9 (4.21%) FreeRTOS
5 3 (1.40%) Unix
6 1 (0.47%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.47%) Debian
6 1 (0.47%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 115 (53.74%) Software Engineering
2 42 (19.63%) Validation
3 38 (17.76%) Problem-Solving
4 32 (14.95%) Test Automation
5 29 (13.55%) CI/CD
5 29 (13.55%) Workflow
6 19 (8.88%) Signal Processing
7 18 (8.41%) DevOps
8 17 (7.94%) Embedded Software Development
8 17 (7.94%) Workflow Management
9 16 (7.48%) Requirements Analysis
9 16 (7.48%) Unit Testing
9 16 (7.48%) Verification and Validation
10 14 (6.54%) Agile
10 14 (6.54%) Digital Signal Processing
11 12 (5.61%) Technical Leadership
12 11 (5.14%) Data Acquisition
12 11 (5.14%) FPGA Design
12 11 (5.14%) TDD
12 11 (5.14%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 116 (54.21%) C++
2 51 (23.83%) Python
3 38 (17.76%) Embedded C
4 27 (12.62%) Ada
5 23 (10.75%) SQL
6 21 (9.81%) Embedded C++
7 19 (8.88%) MATLAB
8 18 (8.41%) Java
9 10 (4.67%) Bash
10 7 (3.27%) C#
10 7 (3.27%) PL/SQL
10 7 (3.27%) SystemVerilog
11 6 (2.80%) Rust
12 5 (2.34%) COBOL
12 5 (2.34%) Shell Script
13 4 (1.87%) JavaScript
13 4 (1.87%) ProC
14 2 (0.93%) Perl
14 2 (0.93%) PowerShell
14 2 (0.93%) VB
Qualifications
1 56 (26.17%) Security Cleared
2 42 (19.63%) SC Cleared
3 15 (7.01%) Degree
4 8 (3.74%) BPSS Clearance
4 8 (3.74%) DV Cleared
5 2 (0.93%) CCNA
5 2 (0.93%) Cisco Certification
5 2 (0.93%) Computer Science Degree
5 2 (0.93%) ISTQB
6 1 (0.47%) Azure Certification
6 1 (0.47%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
6 1 (0.47%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 1 (0.47%) Six Sigma Black Belt
6 1 (0.47%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (10.28%) Def Stans
2 11 (5.14%) QA
3 7 (3.27%) DO-178B
3 7 (3.27%) MISRA
4 6 (2.80%) IEC 61508
5 5 (2.34%) ISO 8583
6 4 (1.87%) PCI DSS
7 3 (1.40%) Data Quality
7 3 (1.40%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.47%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.47%) DICOM
8 1 (0.47%) DO-254
8 1 (0.47%) HL7
8 1 (0.47%) IFRS
8 1 (0.47%) IFRS 9
8 1 (0.47%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.47%) MiFID
8 1 (0.47%) MISRA C
8 1 (0.47%) NIST
System Software
1 20 (9.35%) Firmware
2 12 (5.61%) Docker
3 11 (5.14%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (4.67%) Virtual Machines
5 6 (2.80%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.93%) Oracle RAC
6 2 (0.93%) vCloud
6 2 (0.93%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.93%) vSphere
7 1 (0.47%) FreeRADIUS
Systems Management
1 9 (4.21%) Kubernetes
2 8 (3.74%) Terraform
3 3 (1.40%) Ansible
4 2 (0.93%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.47%) Grafana
5 1 (0.47%) HP ALM
5 1 (0.47%) Nagios
Vendors
1 16 (7.48%) IBM
2 11 (5.14%) VMware
3 9 (4.21%) Xilinx
4 8 (3.74%) ANSYS
4 8 (3.74%) Cisco
4 8 (3.74%) Intel
4 8 (3.74%) Oracle
5 7 (3.27%) HP
5 7 (3.27%) MathWorks
5 7 (3.27%) Microsoft
6 5 (2.34%) Microsemi
7 4 (1.87%) Lauterbach
7 4 (1.87%) SAP
8 3 (1.40%) Google
8 3 (1.40%) Thales
9 2 (0.93%) Dell
9 2 (0.93%) Perforce
10 1 (0.47%) Citrix
10 1 (0.47%) EMC
10 1 (0.47%) Veritas