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 31 July 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
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 234 229
Rank change year-on-year -39 -5 +14
Contract jobs citing IBM 494 377 429
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.93% 1.15% 1.08%
As % of the Vendors category 2.25% 2.44% 2.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 287 249 215
10th Percentile £325 £350 £353
25th Percentile £413 £408 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £633
90th Percentile £675 £707 £765
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +5.26% - -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 6 36
10th Percentile £24.59 £24.85 £42.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £25.04 £64.69
Median hourly rate £88.00 £47.54 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +85.12% -32.09% +3.70%
75th Percentile - £74.38 -
90th Percentile - £129.36 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £88.00 £47.54 £70.00
% change year-on-year +85.12% -32.09% +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 21,941 15,481 17,273
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.32% 47.20% 43.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,626 9,492 10,831
10th Percentile £313 £280 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +0.50% -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £709 £732
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £476 £500
% change year-on-year +4.99% -4.75% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,111 777 890
10th Percentile £15.81 £14.60 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £34.94 £25.15 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +38.93% -8.55% -33.97%
75th Percentile £65.00 £50.00 £61.40
90th Percentile £85.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £22.32 £25.30
% change year-on-year +52.32% -11.80% -26.67%

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 31 July 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 31 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IBM in the UK

IBM
Top 16 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 31 July 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 -47 423 £498 -2.93% 117
UK excluding London -50 255 £500 +5.26% 63
London -25 172 £488 -18.75% 60
Work from Home -67 123 £514 -6.55% 55
North of England -46 91 £514 +10.42% 17
South East -45 57 £450 -18.18% 15
Yorkshire -30 47 £550 +13.10% 6
North West -50 42 £459 -1.40% 10
South West -20 36 £426 -29.00% 15
Midlands -61 31 £413 -7.25% 9
West Midlands -58 27 £413 -13.16% 5
Scotland -17 23 £550 +14.82% 4
East of England -17 14 £625 +13.64% 3
Wales -15 3 £600 -5.14% 2
East Midlands -25 3 - - 4
North East -44 1 £375 -10.45% 1

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 39 (7.89%) WebSphere
2 34 (6.88%) Confluence
3 31 (6.28%) CICS
4 18 (3.64%) SharePoint
5 16 (3.24%) Tomcat
6 14 (2.83%) nginx
7 8 (1.62%) JBoss
7 8 (1.62%) WebLogic
8 5 (1.01%) Apache
8 5 (1.01%) SAS
8 5 (1.01%) WebSphere Application Server
9 4 (0.81%) Camunda
9 4 (0.81%) IIS
10 3 (0.61%) CMS
11 2 (0.40%) IBM HTTP Server
11 2 (0.40%) Oracle HTTP Server
11 2 (0.40%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 2 (0.40%) WebSphere Portal
12 1 (0.20%) Anypoint
12 1 (0.20%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 6 (1.21%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.61%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.40%) PlantUML
3 2 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.20%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.20%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.20%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 21 (4.25%) Maximo
2 12 (2.43%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 9 (1.82%) Temenos T24
4 5 (1.01%) Cognos Controller
4 5 (1.01%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.61%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
5 3 (0.61%) SAP R/3
6 2 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
6 2 (0.40%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 2 (0.40%) Teamcenter
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%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.20%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 70 (14.17%) AWS
2 60 (12.15%) Azure
3 26 (5.26%) GitHub
4 15 (3.04%) GitHub Copilot
4 15 (3.04%) OpenShift
5 14 (2.83%) GCP
6 13 (2.63%) ChatGPT
7 12 (2.43%) Anthropic Claude
8 10 (2.02%) Amazon S3
8 10 (2.02%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (1.62%) IBM Watson
10 7 (1.42%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (1.42%) Vertex AI
11 6 (1.21%) Azure AI
11 6 (1.21%) IBM Blueworks
11 6 (1.21%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (1.01%) Amazon EC2
12 5 (1.01%) Microsoft 365
13 4 (0.81%) IBM Cloud
13 4 (0.81%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 22 (4.45%) Firewall
1 22 (4.45%) SSL
2 17 (3.44%) SNMP
3 16 (3.24%) HTTP
4 13 (2.63%) SAN
5 8 (1.62%) DNS
5 8 (1.62%) Network Security
6 7 (1.42%) TCP/IP
7 6 (1.21%) VSAN
8 5 (1.01%) Fibre Channel
9 4 (0.81%) Cisco Nexus
9 4 (0.81%) NAS
9 4 (0.81%) Wireshark
10 3 (0.61%) SSH
11 2 (0.40%) APPN
11 2 (0.40%) Internet
11 2 (0.40%) LAN
11 2 (0.40%) SD-WAN
11 2 (0.40%) SNA
11 2 (0.40%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (9.72%) Db2
2 32 (6.48%) DataStage
3 30 (6.07%) Relational Database
4 18 (3.64%) SQL Server
5 16 (3.24%) Metadata
6 14 (2.83%) MongoDB
7 13 (2.63%) Oracle Database
8 11 (2.23%) Data Warehouse
8 11 (2.23%) PostgreSQL
9 9 (1.82%) Elasticsearch
10 8 (1.62%) NoSQL
11 6 (1.21%) Big Data
11 6 (1.21%) GIS
12 5 (1.01%) Data Lake
13 3 (0.61%) Amazon Redshift
13 3 (0.61%) BusinessObjects
13 3 (0.61%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
13 3 (0.61%) IBM InfoSphere
13 3 (0.61%) Power BI
14 2 (0.40%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 50 (10.12%) JIRA
2 42 (8.50%) Rational DOORS
3 23 (4.66%) Jenkins
4 19 (3.85%) GitLab
5 15 (3.04%) Git
6 8 (1.62%) IBM UrbanCode
6 8 (1.62%) Rational Rhapsody
7 6 (1.21%) PowerDesigner
8 5 (1.01%) Ant
8 5 (1.01%) Liquibase
9 4 (0.81%) Eclipse
9 4 (0.81%) Gradle
9 4 (0.81%) JMeter
9 4 (0.81%) JUnit
9 4 (0.81%) Maven
9 4 (0.81%) REST Assured
9 4 (0.81%) Sonatype Nexus
9 4 (0.81%) Zephyr
10 3 (0.61%) SonarQube
10 3 (0.61%) Visual Studio
General
1 159 (32.19%) Finance
2 120 (24.29%) Social Skills
3 103 (20.85%) Banking
4 58 (11.74%) Analytical Skills
5 34 (6.88%) Public Sector
6 32 (6.48%) Legal
7 31 (6.28%) Aerospace
8 13 (2.63%) Retail
9 11 (2.23%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (1.82%) Military
11 8 (1.62%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.62%) Front Office
11 8 (1.62%) Investment Banking
12 5 (1.01%) Law
12 5 (1.01%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (0.81%) Financial Institution
13 4 (0.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (0.61%) Retail Banking
14 3 (0.61%) Telecoms
15 2 (0.40%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 63 (12.75%) Architect
1 63 (12.75%) Developer
2 51 (10.32%) Analyst
3 35 (7.09%) Senior
4 30 (6.07%) Administrator
5 27 (5.47%) Delivery Manager
5 27 (5.47%) Product Delivery Manager
5 27 (5.47%) Product Manager
6 24 (4.86%) Consultant
7 22 (4.45%) Solutions Architect
8 21 (4.25%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 21 (4.25%) Systems Manager
9 20 (4.05%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 20 (4.05%) Lead
10 18 (3.64%) Middleware Engineer
11 17 (3.44%) Designer
12 14 (2.83%) CICS Engineer
13 13 (2.63%) Management Consultant
14 12 (2.43%) Software Engineer
14 12 (2.43%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 71 (14.37%) Middleware
2 44 (8.91%) REST
3 26 (5.26%) JSON
4 24 (4.86%) ISPF
4 24 (4.86%) XML
5 22 (4.45%) Kafka
6 18 (3.64%) Spring Boot
7 15 (3.04%) RabbitMQ
7 15 (3.04%) Spring
8 14 (2.83%) Flash
8 14 (2.83%) SOAP
9 9 (1.82%) Jakarta EE
9 9 (1.82%) OAuth
9 9 (1.82%) Web Services
9 9 (1.82%) WebSphere MQ
10 8 (1.62%) PyTorch
10 8 (1.62%) SAML
11 7 (1.42%) JDBC
11 7 (1.42%) LangChain
11 7 (1.42%) ZeroMQ
Miscellaneous
1 106 (21.46%) Mainframe
2 42 (8.50%) Data Centre
3 37 (7.49%) Clustering
4 33 (6.68%) Data Structures
5 31 (6.28%) Product Ownership
6 21 (4.25%) Replication
7 20 (4.05%) Cloud Native
8 15 (3.04%) Linux Command Line
8 15 (3.04%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 14 (2.83%) IBM Mainframe
9 14 (2.83%) VSAM
10 13 (2.63%) AS400
10 13 (2.63%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (2.43%) Management Information System
12 11 (2.23%) Hybrid Cloud
13 10 (2.02%) Equity Derivative
13 10 (2.02%) Legacy Applications
14 9 (1.82%) BYOD
14 9 (1.82%) Distributed Systems
14 9 (1.82%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
Operating Systems
1 103 (20.85%) Linux
2 76 (15.38%) zOS
3 57 (11.54%) Unix
4 47 (9.51%) Windows
5 43 (8.70%) AIX
6 21 (4.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 21 (4.25%) Solaris
7 13 (2.63%) Windows Server
8 10 (2.02%) Windows Server 2008
9 8 (1.62%) SUSE
9 8 (1.62%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (1.42%) MVS
11 4 (0.81%) Windows Server 2016
12 2 (0.40%) Oracle Linux
12 2 (0.40%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
13 1 (0.20%) Android
13 1 (0.20%) Apple iOS
13 1 (0.20%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.20%) VMS
13 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (20.04%) Agile
2 72 (14.57%) Migration
3 69 (13.97%) CI/CD
4 64 (12.96%) DevOps
5 62 (12.55%) Continuous Improvement
6 56 (11.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 56 (11.34%) Stakeholder Management
7 52 (10.53%) ITIL
8 49 (9.92%) Problem-Solving
8 49 (9.92%) Roadmaps
9 46 (9.31%) ETL
10 42 (8.50%) Computer Science
10 42 (8.50%) Test Automation
11 40 (8.10%) AI
12 38 (7.69%) Systems Engineering
13 36 (7.29%) Change Management
13 36 (7.29%) Configuration Management
13 36 (7.29%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
14 35 (7.09%) Root Cause Analysis
14 35 (7.09%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 90 (18.22%) SQL
2 81 (16.40%) Python
3 65 (13.16%) Java
4 35 (7.09%) PowerShell
5 23 (4.66%) Bash
6 19 (3.85%) COBOL
6 19 (3.85%) JCL
6 19 (3.85%) PL/SQL
7 15 (3.04%) REXX
8 14 (2.83%) Search Processing Language
9 13 (2.63%) C++
10 12 (2.43%) JavaScript
10 12 (2.43%) Shell Script
11 11 (2.23%) Perl
12 10 (2.02%) C
13 9 (1.82%) C#
14 7 (1.42%) Ada
15 6 (1.21%) Assembly Language
15 6 (1.21%) CLIST
16 5 (1.01%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 120 (24.29%) Security Cleared
2 77 (15.59%) SC Cleared
3 49 (9.92%) Degree
4 11 (2.23%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.62%) AWS Certification
6 8 (1.62%) CISSP
7 7 (1.42%) DV Cleared
8 5 (1.01%) Azure Certification
8 5 (1.01%) CISM
9 4 (0.81%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 4 (0.81%) CCSP
9 4 (0.81%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (0.61%) CEH
10 3 (0.61%) PMI Certification
10 3 (0.61%) PMP
11 2 (0.40%) CISA
11 2 (0.40%) CISMP
11 2 (0.40%) GCIH
11 2 (0.40%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (6.48%) Data Quality
2 15 (3.04%) QA
3 8 (1.62%) GDPR
4 7 (1.42%) ISO 20022
4 7 (1.42%) SLA
5 5 (1.01%) ISO 15022
5 5 (1.01%) NIST
5 5 (1.01%) SEPA
6 4 (0.81%) GRC
6 4 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (0.40%) Accessibility
7 2 (0.40%) GAAP
7 2 (0.40%) IFRS
7 2 (0.40%) NCSC
8 1 (0.20%) ISO 26262
8 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 15288
8 1 (0.20%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.20%) PMO
8 1 (0.20%) TARGET2
8 1 (0.20%) WCAG
System Software
1 32 (6.48%) Docker
2 25 (5.06%) RACF
3 24 (4.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (3.64%) NFS
5 16 (3.24%) VMware ESXi
6 13 (2.63%) GPFS
6 13 (2.63%) Virtual Machines
7 12 (2.43%) Firmware
7 12 (2.43%) Time Sharing Option
8 10 (2.02%) vSphere
9 7 (1.42%) Oracle RAC
9 7 (1.42%) PowerHA
10 6 (1.21%) ACF2
11 4 (0.81%) Hyper-V
12 3 (0.61%) Active Directory
12 3 (0.61%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 3 (0.61%) KVM
13 2 (0.40%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
14 1 (0.20%) SRDF
Systems Management
1 25 (5.06%) Ansible
2 24 (4.86%) OMEGAMON
3 21 (4.25%) Tivoli
4 19 (3.85%) Terraform
5 18 (3.64%) Kubernetes
6 17 (3.44%) Nagios
6 17 (3.44%) ZABBIX
7 16 (3.24%) Netcool
8 15 (3.04%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 14 (2.83%) OpenView
9 14 (2.83%) Tivoli Monitoring
10 9 (1.82%) vRealize
11 6 (1.21%) Grafana
11 6 (1.21%) Oracle RMAN
11 6 (1.21%) VxRail
12 5 (1.01%) CA Endevor
12 5 (1.01%) Tivoli NetView
13 4 (0.81%) QRadar
14 3 (0.61%) Avamar
14 3 (0.61%) IBM BigFix
Vendors
1 90 (18.22%) Oracle
2 39 (7.89%) Microsoft
2 39 (7.89%) VMware
3 29 (5.87%) Splunk
4 28 (5.67%) SAP
5 24 (4.86%) Red Hat
5 24 (4.86%) ServiceNow
6 22 (4.45%) HP
7 20 (4.05%) Cisco
8 18 (3.64%) BMC
9 17 (3.44%) Google
10 16 (3.24%) SolarWinds
11 13 (2.63%) Broadcom
11 13 (2.63%) Brocade
11 13 (2.63%) Dell
11 13 (2.63%) MathWorks
12 12 (2.43%) Sybase
13 11 (2.23%) Cognos
14 9 (1.82%) Informatica
14 9 (1.82%) Temenos