FPGA Contract Job Trends

Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term FPGA in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited FPGA over the 6 months leading up to 10 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 623 468 471
Rank change year-on-year -155 +3 +83
Contract jobs citing FPGA 49 82 92
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.090% 0.25% 0.24%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 0.27% 0.70% 0.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 8 26 17
10th Percentile £310 £381 -
25th Percentile £469 £525 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £600 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +26.32% -19.42%
75th Percentile £625 - £575
90th Percentile £629 £613 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £600 £475
% change year-on-year -29.17% +26.32% -17.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 33 58
10th Percentile £67.30 £52.00 -
25th Percentile £70.00 £62.50 £53.40
Median hourly rate £75.00 £67.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +11.94% +16.83% -6.75%
75th Percentile £80.75 £80.00 £75.16
90th Percentile £85.30 £88.00 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £75.00 £67.00 £57.35
% change year-on-year +11.94% +16.83% +11.53%

All Generic Skills
UK

FPGA 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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 18,469 11,725 11,622
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.89% 35.54% 30.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,102 7,189 7,187
10th Percentile £320 £300 £300
25th Percentile £424 £406 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -6.36% -
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £745 £763 £820
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,141 579 500
10th Percentile £14.15 £15.13 £14.06
25th Percentile £18.00 £18.87 £21.25
Median hourly rate £37.50 £30.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -36.84% +8.35%
75th Percentile £67.84 £56.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £30.00 £57.35
% change year-on-year +33.33% -47.69% +25.00%

FPGA
Job Vacancy Trend

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

FPGA job vacancy trend in the UK

FPGA
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

FPGA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing FPGA over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for FPGA in the UK

FPGA
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

FPGA
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing FPGA over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for FPGA in the UK

FPGA
Top 13 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing FPGA within the UK over the 6 months to 10 September 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 -151 46 £550 -8.33% 200
UK excluding London -140 44 £425 -29.17% 183
East of England -35 29 £299 -46.46% 55
Work from Home -84 9 £550 -8.33% 62
South West -41 4 - - 22
Midlands -56 4 - - 13
London -80 4 £600 - 20
South East -83 4 - - 63
East Midlands -16 3 - - 7
Scotland -39 2 - - 16
West Midlands -46 1 - - 6
North of England -70 1 £425 - 13
North West - 1 £425 - 10

FPGA
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 1 (2.04%) Confluence
Applications
1 14 (28.57%) Simulink
2 3 (6.12%) OrCAD
2 3 (6.12%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 2 (4.08%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 20 (40.82%) Ethernet
2 11 (22.45%) Software-Defined Radio
3 9 (18.37%) Wireless
4 1 (2.04%) 5G
4 1 (2.04%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (2.04%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 12 (24.49%) Rational DOORS
2 2 (4.08%) Git
2 2 (4.08%) PetaLinux
3 1 (2.04%) Atlassian Bamboo
General
1 23 (46.94%) Aerospace
2 12 (24.49%) Electronics
3 5 (10.20%) Law
3 5 (10.20%) Social Skills
4 3 (6.12%) Military
5 2 (4.08%) Banking
5 2 (4.08%) Telecoms
6 1 (2.04%) Corporate Banking
6 1 (2.04%) Finance
6 1 (2.04%) Games
6 1 (2.04%) Investment Banking
6 1 (2.04%) Manufacturing
6 1 (2.04%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 19 (38.78%) FPGA Engineer
2 9 (18.37%) Software Engineer
3 8 (16.33%) Design Engineer
3 8 (16.33%) DSP Engineer
3 8 (16.33%) DSP Software Engineer
3 8 (16.33%) FPGA Design Engineer
4 7 (14.29%) Lead
4 7 (14.29%) Senior
4 7 (14.29%) Senior FPGA Engineer
5 5 (10.20%) Embedded Engineer
5 5 (10.20%) Embedded Software Engineer
6 4 (8.16%) Radio Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Architect
7 3 (6.12%) Electrical Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Electronics Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Firmware Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Hardware Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Senior Design Engineer
7 3 (6.12%) Senior FPGA Design Engineer
8 2 (4.08%) Software Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (4.08%) Terraform
1 2 (4.08%) Yocto
2 1 (2.04%) JSON
2 1 (2.04%) PostGIS
2 1 (2.04%) Swagger
2 1 (2.04%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 24 (48.98%) VHDL
2 19 (38.78%) PCIe
2 19 (38.78%) Verilog
3 14 (28.57%) Embedded Systems
4 4 (8.16%) Analogue Electronics
5 3 (6.12%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (4.08%) Management Information System
7 1 (2.04%) Algorithms
7 1 (2.04%) Device Driver
7 1 (2.04%) Grid Computing
7 1 (2.04%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 10 (20.41%) FreeRTOS
2 6 (12.24%) Linux
3 5 (10.20%) Embedded Linux
4 1 (2.04%) AIX
4 1 (2.04%) HPUX
4 1 (2.04%) Oracle Linux
4 1 (2.04%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (2.04%) Solaris
4 1 (2.04%) SUSE
4 1 (2.04%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 16 (32.65%) FPGA Design
1 16 (32.65%) Signal Processing
2 15 (30.61%) UVM
3 12 (24.49%) Software Engineering
4 11 (22.45%) Digital Signal Processing
5 9 (18.37%) Customer Requirements
5 9 (18.37%) Schematic Capture
5 9 (18.37%) SysML
5 9 (18.37%) UML
6 6 (12.24%) Performance Optimisation
6 6 (12.24%) Technical Leadership
7 5 (10.20%) Software Testing
7 5 (10.20%) Test Scripting
8 4 (8.16%) Electronic Design Automation
8 4 (8.16%) Problem-Solving
8 4 (8.16%) System Testing
9 3 (6.12%) Collaborative Engineering
9 3 (6.12%) Decision-Making
9 3 (6.12%) FMEA
9 3 (6.12%) Image Processing
Programming Languages
1 20 (40.82%) C
2 18 (36.73%) SystemVerilog
3 11 (22.45%) MATLAB
4 6 (12.24%) C++
4 6 (12.24%) Embedded C
5 4 (8.16%) Python
6 2 (4.08%) C#
6 2 (4.08%) Embedded C++
6 2 (4.08%) Go
6 2 (4.08%) Java
6 2 (4.08%) Rust
6 2 (4.08%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 27 (55.10%) Security Cleared
2 25 (51.02%) SC Cleared
3 11 (22.45%) Degree
4 6 (12.24%) DV Cleared
5 5 (10.20%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (8.16%) HNC
6 4 (8.16%) HND
7 1 (2.04%) Master's Degree
7 1 (2.04%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (26.53%) DO-254
2 3 (6.12%) Def Stans
2 3 (6.12%) IEC 61508
System Software
1 17 (34.69%) Firmware
2 3 (6.12%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (2.04%) Docker
Systems Management
1 3 (6.12%) Functional Safety
2 2 (4.08%) Ansible
2 2 (4.08%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 25 (51.02%) Xilinx
2 16 (32.65%) Microsemi
3 12 (24.49%) Intel
4 11 (22.45%) Altera
5 6 (12.24%) EMC
6 4 (8.16%) Actel
6 4 (8.16%) Siemens
7 3 (6.12%) Lattice Semiconductor
8 2 (4.08%) SAP
9 1 (2.04%) HP
9 1 (2.04%) Mellanox
9 1 (2.04%) Mentor Graphics
9 1 (2.04%) Microsoft
9 1 (2.04%) Oracle
9 1 (2.04%) Solarflare