Derivative Contract Job Trends
Derivatives
UK
The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Derivative in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Derivative over the 6 months leading up to 16 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 440 | 304 | 222 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -136 | -82 | -2 |
| Contract jobs citing Derivative | 260 | 279 | 419 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.47% | 0.84% | 1.11% |
| As % of the Miscellaneous category | 1.35% | 2.33% | 3.63% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 155 | 224 | 341 |
| 10th Percentile | £406 | £520 | £613 |
| 25th Percentile | £572 | £612 | £669 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £700 | £750 | £800 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.67% | -6.25% | +14.29% |
| 75th Percentile | £785 | £825 | £888 |
| 90th Percentile | £883 | £988 | - |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £475 | £525 | £650 |
| % change year-on-year | -9.52% | -19.23% | +20.93% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 10th Percentile | £59.13 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £63.44 | £86.25 | £76.25 |
| Median hourly rate | £71.25 | £87.50 | £77.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -18.57% | +12.90% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £78.44 | £88.75 | £78.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £82.38 | - | - |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | - | - | - |
All Generic Skills
UK
Derivative falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills | 19,296 | 11,999 | 11,549 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 34.89% | 36.07% | 30.70% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 11,526 | 7,366 | 6,884 |
| 10th Percentile | £320 | £293 | £280 |
| 25th Percentile | £423 | £408 | £412 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £515 | £528 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +1.94% | -2.37% | -4.09% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £638 | £668 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £750 | £800 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £493 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.65% | -1.40% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,388 | 637 | 400 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.81 | £14.29 | £16.84 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.48 | £18.50 | £23.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £27.33 | £47.37 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +28.06% | -42.31% | +5.27% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £51.25 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.96 | £72.50 | £75.16 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £33.99 | £26.50 | £52.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +28.26% | -49.52% | +2.46% |
Derivative Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Derivative relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Derivative Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Derivative.
Derivative Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Derivative over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Derivative Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Derivative.
Derivative Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Derivative over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Derivative Top 11 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Derivative within the UK over the 6 months to 16 October 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 | -147 | 237 | £700 | -6.67% | 160 |
| London | -93 | 229 | £700 | -6.67% | 151 |
| Work from Home | -122 | 68 | £725 | -3.33% | 50 |
| UK excluding London | -92 | 23 | £475 | -9.52% | 22 |
| Scotland | -21 | 14 | £375 | -28.62% | 5 |
| North of England | -66 | 6 | £725 | +22.05% | 4 |
| Yorkshire | -32 | 5 | £725 | +38.10% | |
| Northern Ireland | +1 | 2 | £643 | +22.38% | 12 |
| West Midlands | -46 | 1 | - | - | |
| North West | -47 | 1 | £198 | -67.65% | 4 |
| Midlands | -50 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Derivative Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Miscellaneous
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foreign Exchange (FX) | 28.1% | 73 |
| 2 | Equities | 26.2% | 68 |
| 3 | Fixed Income | 23.5% | 61 |
| 4 | Equity Derivative | 11.9% | 31 |
| 5 | Distributed Systems | 8.1% | 21 |
| 6 | Exotic Derivative | 6.5% | 17 |
| 6 | Market Risk | 6.5% | 17 |
| 8 | OTC Derivatives | 6.2% | 16 |
| 9 | Algorithms | 5.8% | 15 |
| 10 | Onboarding | 5.4% | 14 |
| 11 | Credit Risk | 5.0% | 13 |
| 11 | Data Protection Act | 5.0% | 13 |
| 13 | Data Structures | 4.6% | 12 |
| 13 | Hedge funds | 4.6% | 12 |
| 15 | TWAP | 3.8% | 10 |
| 15 | VWAP | 3.8% | 10 |
| 17 | Management Information System | 3.5% | 9 |
| 17 | Reference Data | 3.5% | 9 |
| 19 | Cloud Native | 3.1% | 8 |
| 20 | Credit Derivative | 2.3% | 6 |