Finance Contract Job Trends

Financial
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Finance in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Finance over the 6 months leading up to 9 November 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Nov 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 2 2
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 0
Contract jobs citing Finance 10,303 7,410 7,467
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 18.71% 21.29% 20.46%
As % of the General category 32.09% 33.79% 34.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,160 4,848 4,676
10th Percentile £363 £331 £358
25th Percentile £450 £419 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £574
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -8.50% -0.22%
75th Percentile £675 £669 £700
90th Percentile £775 £775 £823
UK excluding London median daily rate £515 £498 £507
% change year-on-year +3.52% -1.92% -3.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 419 187 113
10th Percentile £13.95 £15.48 £15.35
25th Percentile £16.70 £18.38 £23.82
Median hourly rate £41.48 £25.00 £32.29
Median % change year-on-year +65.92% -22.58% +17.42%
75th Percentile £43.96 £44.98 £55.25
90th Percentile £69.00 £67.15 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £21.97 £28.50
% change year-on-year +100.11% -22.92% +9.62%

All General Skills
UK

Finance falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies citing general skills.

6 months to
9 Nov 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Contract vacancies citing general skills 32,103 21,928 21,510
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 58.30% 63.00% 58.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,576 13,705 12,689
10th Percentile £313 £275 £285
25th Percentile £420 £400 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £643
90th Percentile £738 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £480
% change year-on-year +5.26% -1.04% -4.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,175 1,398 812
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.80 £15.00
25th Percentile £15.39 £16.50 £17.00
Median hourly rate £26.50 £24.34 £29.00
Median % change year-on-year +8.87% -16.07% -3.33%
75th Percentile £53.95 £44.75 £55.00
90th Percentile £78.51 £67.60 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.75 £22.00 £27.13
% change year-on-year +17.05% -18.89% +0.46%

Finance Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Finance relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Finance job vacancy trend in the UK

Finance Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Finance.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Finance

Finance Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Finance over the 6 months to 9 November 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Finance in the UK

Finance Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Finance.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Finance

Finance Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing Finance over the 6 months to 9 November 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Finance in the UK

Finance Top 18 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Finance within the UK over the 6 months to 9 November 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
Job Ads
Past 6 Months
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -1 8,792 £550 +1.38% 2,976
London +1 5,340 £590 +2.61% 1,661
UK excluding London 0 3,969 £515 +3.52% 1,725
Work from Home -2 2,862 £550 - 1,413
North of England 0 1,359 £517 +10.03% 425
South East -4 773 £525 +2.44% 484
North West 0 635 £500 +11.11% 229
Yorkshire 0 633 £525 +6.06% 136
Midlands -2 618 £525 +10.53% 223
Scotland +1 539 £463 -7.04% 141
West Midlands -3 465 £525 +1.47% 132
South West -3 344 £550 - 256
East of England +2 211 £530 -3.64% 155
East Midlands -2 147 £525 +25.00% 92
North East +2 84 £600 +35.21% 67
Wales +4 83 £525 +23.53% 42
Northern Ireland 0 68 £463 -11.90% 41
Channel Islands -1 5 £600 -

Finance 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.

General

RankSkillShareJob Ads
1Social Skills32.1%3,310
2Banking22.9%2,361
3Analytical Skills15.0%1,550
4Public Sector5.7%587
5Legal5.5%563
6Organisational Skills5.1%530
7Investment Banking4.0%409
8Influencing Skills3.7%382
9Retail3.4%346
10Front Office3.3%344
11Financial Institution3.1%318
12Manufacturing2.5%254
13General Ledger2.1%221
14Documentation Skills2.1%216
15Marketing2.1%215
16Inclusion and Diversity1.9%195
17Billing1.9%191
18Presentation Skills1.6%168
19Telecoms1.6%160
20Local Government1.5%156