IBM Contract Job Trends

IBM
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of IBM products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited IBM over the 6 months leading up to 12 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the International Business Machines Corporation.

6 months to
12 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 267 247 221
Rank change year-on-year -20 -26 +8
Contract jobs citing IBM 505 367 433
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.93% 1.11% 1.12%
As % of the Vendors category 2.21% 2.36% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 310 236 204
10th Percentile £344 £357 £340
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £545 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.26% +14.74% -9.52%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £600
90th Percentile £675 £694 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £450
% change year-on-year +5.26% +5.56% -14.29%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 7 31
10th Percentile £34.87 £25.04 £27.00
25th Percentile £60.81 £25.09 £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £25.15 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +158.45% -64.07% +7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £66.88 -
90th Percentile £70.75 £73.50 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £57.50 £70.00
% change year-on-year +13.04% -17.86% +7.69%

All Vendors
UK

IBM falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 22,867 15,556 17,055
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.91% 47.12% 44.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,033 9,517 10,292
10th Percentile £313 £276 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £626
90th Percentile £700 £700 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £478 £500
% change year-on-year +4.60% -4.40% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,255 792 694
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.70 £14.25
25th Percentile £16.72 £17.42 £15.62
Median hourly rate £27.50 £25.15 £30.80
Median % change year-on-year +9.34% -18.33% -27.54%
75th Percentile £62.25 £43.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £81.25 £67.95 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.19 £21.24 £30.00
% change year-on-year +23.31% -29.20% -25.00%

IBM
Job Vacancy Trend

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

IBM job vacancy trend in the UK

IBM
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

IBM
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing IBM over the 6 months to 12 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for IBM in the UK

IBM
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

IBM
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing IBM over the 6 months to 12 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IBM in the UK

IBM
Top 15 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IBM within the UK over the 6 months to 12 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 -44 428 £500 -8.68% 287
UK excluding London -71 239 £500 +5.26% 179
London 0 196 £488 -18.75% 134
Work from Home -63 121 £550 -12.00% 280
North of England -57 87 £514 +13.73% 43
Yorkshire -11 55 £514 +8.77% 15
South East -58 34 £460 -16.36% 39
South West -24 33 £550 -8.33% 22
North West -64 31 £455 +1.00% 23
Scotland -22 30 £600 +32.74% 22
Midlands -62 28 £475 +8.08% 22
West Midlands -47 26 £500 -13.04% 9
East of England -12 24 £625 +13.64% 24
Wales -16 3 £600 -5.14% 5
East Midlands -32 1 - - 13

IBM
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 38 (7.52%) Confluence
2 32 (6.34%) WebSphere
3 24 (4.75%) CICS
4 21 (4.16%) SharePoint
5 13 (2.57%) Tomcat
6 11 (2.18%) nginx
7 10 (1.98%) Camunda
8 7 (1.39%) JBoss
8 7 (1.39%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 6 (1.19%) WebLogic
10 5 (0.99%) SAS
11 4 (0.79%) Apache
11 4 (0.79%) WebSphere Application Server
12 3 (0.59%) ArcGIS
12 3 (0.59%) IIS
12 3 (0.59%) MQSeries
13 1 (0.20%) Documentum
13 1 (0.20%) FileNet
13 1 (0.20%) IBM HTTP Server
13 1 (0.20%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 8 (1.58%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (0.99%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.20%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 26 (5.15%) Maximo
2 19 (3.76%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 7 (1.39%) Temenos T24
4 5 (0.99%) Cognos Controller
5 3 (0.59%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
6 2 (0.40%) SAP S/4HANA
6 2 (0.40%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 1 (0.20%) Actimize
7 1 (0.20%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.20%) HFM
7 1 (0.20%) MetaTrader
7 1 (0.20%) Misys Equation
7 1 (0.20%) Misys Midas
7 1 (0.20%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.20%) SAP QM
7 1 (0.20%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 78 (15.45%) Azure
2 77 (15.25%) AWS
3 32 (6.34%) GCP
3 32 (6.34%) GitHub
4 25 (4.95%) OpenShift
5 15 (2.97%) GitHub Copilot
6 14 (2.77%) Anthropic Claude
7 12 (2.38%) ChatGPT
8 9 (1.78%) GitHub Actions
9 8 (1.58%) Amazon S3
9 8 (1.58%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (1.58%) Azure Service Bus
9 8 (1.58%) Boomi
9 8 (1.58%) iPaaS
10 7 (1.39%) IBM Blueworks
10 7 (1.39%) Microsoft Copilot
10 7 (1.39%) Power Platform
11 6 (1.19%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (1.19%) IBM Watson
12 5 (0.99%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 22 (4.36%) SSL
2 20 (3.96%) HTTP
3 13 (2.57%) SNMP
4 11 (2.18%) SAN
5 9 (1.78%) Firewall
5 9 (1.78%) Network Security
5 9 (1.78%) TCP/IP
6 5 (0.99%) Cisco Nexus
6 5 (0.99%) DNS
6 5 (0.99%) Wireshark
7 4 (0.79%) Fibre Channel
7 4 (0.79%) SSH
7 4 (0.79%) VSAN
8 3 (0.59%) Internet
8 3 (0.59%) NAS
9 2 (0.40%) APPN
9 2 (0.40%) DMZ
9 2 (0.40%) LAN
9 2 (0.40%) SNA
9 2 (0.40%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (9.31%) Db2
2 34 (6.73%) Relational Database
3 31 (6.14%) DataStage
4 24 (4.75%) SQL Server
5 17 (3.37%) Data Warehouse
5 17 (3.37%) Oracle Database
6 16 (3.17%) Metadata
6 16 (3.17%) MongoDB
7 9 (1.78%) Elasticsearch
8 8 (1.58%) Tableau
9 7 (1.39%) GIS
9 7 (1.39%) NoSQL
10 6 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
10 6 (1.19%) Power BI
11 5 (0.99%) Big Data
11 5 (0.99%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.40%) Amazon Redshift
12 2 (0.40%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.40%) IBM InfoSphere
12 2 (0.40%) Redis
Development Applications
1 61 (12.08%) JIRA
2 37 (7.33%) Jenkins
3 24 (4.75%) GitLab
4 22 (4.36%) Git
5 16 (3.17%) Rational DOORS
6 15 (2.97%) JMeter
7 14 (2.77%) SonarQube
8 12 (2.38%) LoadRunner
9 11 (2.18%) Gradle
9 11 (2.18%) Sonatype Nexus
10 10 (1.98%) Postman
10 10 (1.98%) Rational Rhapsody
10 10 (1.98%) SoapUI
11 9 (1.78%) JUnit
11 9 (1.78%) Maven
11 9 (1.78%) REST Assured
12 8 (1.58%) Bitbucket Server
12 8 (1.58%) IBM UrbanCode
12 8 (1.58%) Mockito
12 8 (1.58%) Selenium
General
1 183 (36.24%) Finance
2 131 (25.94%) Banking
3 125 (24.75%) Social Skills
4 66 (13.07%) Analytical Skills
5 29 (5.74%) Legal
6 22 (4.36%) Public Sector
7 16 (3.17%) Retail
8 10 (1.98%) Military
9 8 (1.58%) Front Office
9 8 (1.58%) Investment Banking
10 7 (1.39%) Documentation Skills
10 7 (1.39%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (1.19%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.19%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (1.19%) Law
12 4 (0.79%) Spanish Language
13 3 (0.59%) Financial Institution
13 3 (0.59%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.59%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.59%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 83 (16.44%) Developer
2 61 (12.08%) Architect
3 48 (9.50%) Analyst
4 43 (8.51%) Senior
5 31 (6.14%) Lead
6 28 (5.54%) Administrator
7 26 (5.15%) Solutions Architect
8 25 (4.95%) Consultant
9 20 (3.96%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 17 (3.37%) Java Developer
10 17 (3.37%) Middleware Engineer
11 14 (2.77%) Business Analyst
11 14 (2.77%) CICS Engineer
11 14 (2.77%) DataStage Developer
12 12 (2.38%) Oracle Developer
12 12 (2.38%) Test Engineer
13 11 (2.18%) Applications Support
13 11 (2.18%) Programmer
13 11 (2.18%) Senior Developer
14 10 (1.98%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 75 (14.85%) Middleware
2 54 (10.69%) Kafka
3 45 (8.91%) REST
4 42 (8.32%) XML
5 35 (6.93%) JSON
6 30 (5.94%) Spring Boot
7 24 (4.75%) ISPF
7 24 (4.75%) SOAP
8 23 (4.55%) Spring
9 17 (3.37%) HTML
9 17 (3.37%) RabbitMQ
10 15 (2.97%) .NET
11 14 (2.77%) Terraform
12 13 (2.57%) OAuth
12 13 (2.57%) Web Services
13 12 (2.38%) SAML
14 11 (2.18%) Swagger
15 10 (1.98%) ActiveMQ
15 10 (1.98%) JWT
15 10 (1.98%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 105 (20.79%) Mainframe
2 30 (5.94%) Clustering
3 25 (4.95%) Data Centre
4 21 (4.16%) Cloud Native
4 21 (4.16%) Replication
5 17 (3.37%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (3.17%) Data Structures
6 16 (3.17%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (2.97%) AS400
7 15 (2.97%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 14 (2.77%) Data Protection Act
8 14 (2.77%) Hybrid Cloud
8 14 (2.77%) Legacy Applications
9 13 (2.57%) Legacy Systems
9 13 (2.57%) Product Ownership
10 11 (2.18%) IBM Mainframe
10 11 (2.18%) iSeries
11 10 (1.98%) Equity Derivative
11 10 (1.98%) Management Information System
11 10 (1.98%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 94 (18.61%) Linux
2 84 (16.63%) zOS
3 54 (10.69%) Unix
4 37 (7.33%) Windows
5 25 (4.95%) AIX
6 20 (3.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (2.18%) Solaris
8 8 (1.58%) SUSE
8 8 (1.58%) Windows Server
9 7 (1.39%) MVS
9 7 (1.39%) Windows Server 2008
10 5 (0.99%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.20%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.20%) OpenVMS
12 1 (0.20%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.20%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.20%) VMS
12 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (17.82%) CI/CD
2 89 (17.62%) Agile
3 80 (15.84%) Migration
4 66 (13.07%) DevOps
5 65 (12.87%) Stakeholder Management
6 63 (12.48%) Test Automation
7 57 (11.29%) ITIL
8 56 (11.09%) Problem-Solving
9 49 (9.70%) ETL
10 48 (9.50%) Continuous Improvement
11 44 (8.71%) Validation
12 42 (8.32%) Scrum
13 41 (8.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 40 (7.92%) Change Management
15 39 (7.72%) Performance Tuning
16 38 (7.52%) Roadmaps
17 37 (7.33%) AI
17 37 (7.33%) Root Cause Analysis
18 34 (6.73%) Performance Optimisation
19 33 (6.53%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 105 (20.79%) SQL
2 92 (18.22%) Python
3 87 (17.23%) Java
4 33 (6.53%) JavaScript
5 24 (4.75%) JCL
5 24 (4.75%) PowerShell
6 21 (4.16%) PL/SQL
7 17 (3.37%) C++
7 17 (3.37%) Shell Script
8 16 (3.17%) Bash
8 16 (3.17%) REXX
9 14 (2.77%) COBOL
10 13 (2.57%) C
11 12 (2.38%) C#
12 10 (1.98%) Perl
12 10 (1.98%) Search Processing Language
13 7 (1.39%) Ada
14 6 (1.19%) Assembly Language
14 6 (1.19%) CLIST
15 5 (0.99%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 106 (20.99%) Security Cleared
2 82 (16.24%) SC Cleared
3 42 (8.32%) Degree
4 22 (4.36%) Computer Science Degree
5 8 (1.58%) BPSS Clearance
5 8 (1.58%) DV Cleared
6 7 (1.39%) AWS Certification
7 6 (1.19%) ISTQB
8 5 (0.99%) CISSP
9 4 (0.79%) Azure Certification
9 4 (0.79%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 4 (0.79%) PMI Certification
9 4 (0.79%) PMP
10 3 (0.59%) ACCA
10 3 (0.59%) CIMA
10 3 (0.59%) CISM
10 3 (0.59%) ISEB
10 3 (0.59%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 2 (0.40%) CISA
11 2 (0.40%) IBM Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (7.33%) Data Quality
2 17 (3.37%) QA
3 10 (1.98%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.58%) ISO 15022
5 7 (1.39%) GDPR
6 4 (0.79%) Actionable Recommendations
6 4 (0.79%) NIST
6 4 (0.79%) SEPA
6 4 (0.79%) SLA
7 3 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 19770
8 2 (0.40%) GAAP
8 2 (0.40%) GRC
8 2 (0.40%) IFRS
8 2 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.40%) PMO
9 1 (0.20%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.20%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 1 (0.20%) MIL-STD-1553
9 1 (0.20%) TARGET2
System Software
1 42 (8.32%) Docker
2 27 (5.35%) RACF
3 22 (4.36%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (3.17%) NFS
5 12 (2.38%) Time Sharing Option
5 12 (2.38%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (2.38%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (2.18%) GPFS
7 8 (1.58%) vSphere
8 7 (1.39%) ACF2
8 7 (1.39%) Firmware
9 6 (1.19%) Oracle RAC
10 5 (0.99%) PowerHA
11 4 (0.79%) Active Directory
12 3 (0.59%) EMC RecoverPoint
13 1 (0.20%) Hyper-V
13 1 (0.20%) oVirt
13 1 (0.20%) RHEV
13 1 (0.20%) SRDF
13 1 (0.20%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 34 (6.73%) Kubernetes
2 25 (4.95%) Ansible
3 24 (4.75%) OMEGAMON
4 17 (3.37%) Tivoli
5 13 (2.57%) Nagios
5 13 (2.57%) Tivoli Storage Manager
5 13 (2.57%) ZABBIX
6 12 (2.38%) Netcool
7 11 (2.18%) Tivoli Monitoring
8 10 (1.98%) OpenView
9 9 (1.78%) Grafana
10 7 (1.39%) Control-M
11 6 (1.19%) vRealize
12 5 (0.99%) HP Fortify
12 5 (0.99%) Oracle RMAN
12 5 (0.99%) QRadar
12 5 (0.99%) Tivoli NetView
13 4 (0.79%) CA Endevor
13 4 (0.79%) VxRail
14 3 (0.59%) Avamar
Vendors
1 111 (21.98%) Oracle
2 52 (10.30%) Microsoft
3 32 (6.34%) SAP
3 32 (6.34%) Splunk
3 32 (6.34%) VMware
4 26 (5.15%) Google
5 22 (4.36%) Red Hat
6 21 (4.16%) ServiceNow
7 19 (3.76%) Broadcom
7 19 (3.76%) Cisco
8 16 (3.17%) HP
9 14 (2.77%) BMC
9 14 (2.77%) Cognos
9 14 (2.77%) Dynatrace
10 13 (2.57%) Brocade
10 13 (2.57%) Dell
10 13 (2.57%) MathWorks
10 13 (2.57%) Sybase
11 12 (2.38%) SolarWinds
12 11 (2.18%) Informatica