COBOL
UK
The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring COBOL skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited COBOL over the 6 months leading up to 6 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 6 Jul 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 497 | 538 | 591 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +41 | +53 | +195 |
| Contract jobs citing COBOL | 51 | 47 | 92 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 0.16% | 0.11% | 0.16% |
| As % of the Programming Languages category | 0.48% | 0.35% | 0.48% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 30 | 32 | 42 |
| 10th Percentile | £313 | £325 | £413 |
| 25th Percentile | £352 | £356 | £466 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £415 | £400 | £540 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +3.75% | -25.93% | +4.85% |
| 75th Percentile | £528 | £476 | £553 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £561 | £649 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £425 | £358 | £540 |
| % change year-on-year | +18.72% | -33.70% | +4.85% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £51.25 | - | - |
| Median hourly rate | £52.50 | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £53.75 | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £52.50 | - | - |
All Programming Languages
UK
COBOL 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 | 10,685 | 13,291 | 19,060 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 33.55% | 30.69% | 33.56% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 7,205 | 9,335 | 13,640 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £350 | £375 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £425 | £455 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £513 | £525 | £550 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -2.38% | -4.55% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £650 | £675 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £775 | £788 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £475 | £490 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | -3.06% | -2.00% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 254 | 537 | 458 |
| 10th Percentile | £27.00 | £31.25 | £30.53 |
| 25th Percentile | £35.00 | £46.25 | £50.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £55.00 | £62.50 | £62.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -12.00% | - | +19.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £68.00 | £70.00 | £70.30 |
| 90th Percentile | £78.34 | £75.00 | £79.65 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £62.25 | £65.00 | £62.50 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.23% | +4.00% | +16.82% |
COBOL
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings citing COBOL as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
COBOL
Contractor Daily Rate Trend
3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing COBOL.
COBOL
Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing COBOL over the 6 months to 6 July 2025.
COBOL
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend
3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing COBOL.
COBOL
Top 14 Contract Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing COBOL within the UK over the 6 months to 6 July 2025. 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 | 45 | £415 | +3.75% | 17 |
| UK excluding London | +57 | 31 | £425 | +18.72% | 11 |
| Work from Home | +30 | 21 | £396 | +10.00% | 16 |
| North of England | +23 | 21 | £415 | +22.06% | 4 |
| London | +37 | 13 | £445 | -6.32% | 8 |
| Yorkshire | +14 | 10 | £450 | +32.35% | 2 |
| North West | - | 10 | £390 | - | 1 |
| Midlands | +9 | 6 | £350 | -2.23% | 3 |
| South West | +42 | 4 | £500 | -40.30% | 1 |
| East Midlands | - | 4 | £345 | - | 2 |
| West Midlands | -1 | 2 | £700 | +95.53% | 1 |
| South East | +35 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| Scotland | +4 | 1 | £550 | +37.50% | 1 |
| North East | - | 1 | £525 | - | 1 |
COBOL
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category
The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:
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