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 19 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
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 246 211
Rank change year-on-year -26 -35 +14
Contract jobs citing IBM 524 360 443
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.96% 1.09% 1.15%
As % of the Vendors category 2.28% 2.30% 2.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 330 235 207
10th Percentile £350 £357 £338
25th Percentile £425 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £548 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.22% +15.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £600
90th Percentile £694 £700 £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 18 8 32
10th Percentile £34.87 £25.04 £28.92
25th Percentile £60.81 £25.12 £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £41.33 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +57.29% -40.96% +7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £71.75 -
90th Percentile - £73.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £63.75 £70.00
% change year-on-year +1.96% -8.93% +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 22,942 15,624 17,063
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.82% 47.42% 44.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,043 9,586 10,230
10th Percentile £310 £275 £285
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £479 £500
% change year-on-year +4.30% -4.13% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,291 791 679
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.75 £14.38
25th Percentile £16.64 £17.45 £15.62
Median hourly rate £26.66 £25.15 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.00% -16.17% -32.58%
75th Percentile £62.25 £43.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.75 £21.35 £29.89
% change year-on-year +20.64% -28.58% -29.68%

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 19 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 19 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 19 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 -18 444 £500 -9.09% 356
UK excluding London -72 242 £500 +5.26% 207
London +10 208 £525 -12.50% 155
Work from Home -58 128 £550 -12.60% 182
North of England -53 90 £514 +13.47% 50
Yorkshire -1 58 £514 +8.77% 24
South East -56 36 £460 -17.30% 37
Scotland -13 32 £600 +32.74% 18
South West -18 32 £550 -8.33% 29
North West -74 31 £455 +0.33% 20
Midlands -64 26 £500 +13.77% 31
East of England -17 24 £625 +13.64% 27
West Midlands -50 24 £500 -13.04% 12
Wales -10 3 £600 -5.14% 3
East Midlands -29 1 - - 19

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 36 (6.87%) Confluence
2 32 (6.11%) WebSphere
3 26 (4.96%) CICS
4 19 (3.63%) SharePoint
5 14 (2.67%) Tomcat
6 12 (2.29%) nginx
7 11 (2.10%) Camunda
8 8 (1.53%) SAS
9 7 (1.34%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 7 (1.34%) WebLogic
10 6 (1.15%) JBoss
11 5 (0.95%) Apache
12 4 (0.76%) IBM Transformation Extender
12 4 (0.76%) WebSphere Application Server
13 3 (0.57%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.57%) IIS
13 3 (0.57%) MQSeries
14 1 (0.19%) FileNet
14 1 (0.19%) IBM HTTP Server
14 1 (0.19%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 9 (1.72%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.15%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.95%) Windchill
4 2 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.19%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 27 (5.15%) Maximo
2 18 (3.44%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 5 (0.95%) Cognos Controller
3 5 (0.95%) Teamcenter
3 5 (0.95%) Temenos T24
4 3 (0.57%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
5 2 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
5 2 (0.38%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.19%) Actimize
6 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.19%) HFM
6 1 (0.19%) Misys Equation
6 1 (0.19%) Misys Midas
6 1 (0.19%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.19%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 84 (16.03%) Azure
2 79 (15.08%) AWS
3 37 (7.06%) GCP
4 36 (6.87%) GitHub
5 25 (4.77%) OpenShift
6 15 (2.86%) GitHub Copilot
7 14 (2.67%) Anthropic Claude
8 12 (2.29%) ChatGPT
9 11 (2.10%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (2.10%) GitHub Actions
10 10 (1.91%) IBM Watson
11 9 (1.72%) Azure Service Bus
11 9 (1.72%) Boomi
11 9 (1.72%) iPaaS
11 9 (1.72%) Power Platform
12 8 (1.53%) Entra ID
12 8 (1.53%) IBM Blueworks
12 8 (1.53%) Microsoft Copilot
13 7 (1.34%) Amazon S3
14 6 (1.15%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 23 (4.39%) HTTP
2 22 (4.20%) SSL
3 11 (2.10%) Firewall
3 11 (2.10%) SNMP
4 10 (1.91%) SAN
5 9 (1.72%) Network Security
5 9 (1.72%) TCP/IP
6 6 (1.15%) DNS
6 6 (1.15%) SSH
6 6 (1.15%) Wireshark
7 5 (0.95%) Cisco Nexus
8 4 (0.76%) Fibre Channel
8 4 (0.76%) Internet
8 4 (0.76%) VSAN
9 3 (0.57%) NAS
9 3 (0.57%) WAN
10 2 (0.38%) iSCSI
10 2 (0.38%) MPLS
10 2 (0.38%) Multicast
10 2 (0.38%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (8.97%) Db2
2 35 (6.68%) Relational Database
3 31 (5.92%) DataStage
4 24 (4.58%) SQL Server
5 18 (3.44%) Data Warehouse
6 17 (3.24%) Oracle Database
7 16 (3.05%) Metadata
7 16 (3.05%) MongoDB
8 9 (1.72%) Elasticsearch
8 9 (1.72%) Tableau
9 7 (1.34%) GIS
9 7 (1.34%) NoSQL
9 7 (1.34%) Power BI
10 6 (1.15%) PostgreSQL
11 5 (0.95%) Big Data
11 5 (0.95%) Data Lake
12 4 (0.76%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
13 3 (0.57%) IBM InfoSphere
14 2 (0.38%) RDBMS
14 2 (0.38%) Redis
Development Applications
1 61 (11.64%) JIRA
2 42 (8.02%) Jenkins
3 29 (5.53%) Git
4 23 (4.39%) GitLab
5 19 (3.63%) Rational DOORS
6 16 (3.05%) JMeter
7 14 (2.67%) SonarQube
8 13 (2.48%) LoadRunner
9 11 (2.10%) Gradle
9 11 (2.10%) IBM UrbanCode
9 11 (2.10%) Postman
9 11 (2.10%) SoapUI
9 11 (2.10%) Sonatype Nexus
10 10 (1.91%) Rational Rhapsody
11 9 (1.72%) JUnit
11 9 (1.72%) Maven
11 9 (1.72%) REST Assured
11 9 (1.72%) Selenium
12 8 (1.53%) Bitbucket Server
12 8 (1.53%) Mockito
General
1 195 (37.21%) Finance
2 137 (26.15%) Social Skills
3 135 (25.76%) Banking
4 69 (13.17%) Analytical Skills
5 29 (5.53%) Legal
6 20 (3.82%) Public Sector
7 18 (3.44%) Retail
8 13 (2.48%) Manufacturing
9 11 (2.10%) Military
10 10 (1.91%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.53%) Front Office
11 8 (1.53%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (1.34%) Spanish Language
13 6 (1.15%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.95%) Aerospace
14 5 (0.95%) Law
15 4 (0.76%) Organisational Skills
16 3 (0.57%) Financial Institution
16 3 (0.57%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 82 (15.65%) Developer
2 62 (11.83%) Architect
3 49 (9.35%) Analyst
4 44 (8.40%) Senior
5 33 (6.30%) Lead
6 27 (5.15%) Administrator
6 27 (5.15%) Consultant
6 27 (5.15%) Solutions Architect
7 20 (3.82%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 17 (3.24%) Java Developer
8 17 (3.24%) Middleware Engineer
9 15 (2.86%) Business Analyst
10 14 (2.67%) Automation Engineer
10 14 (2.67%) CICS Engineer
10 14 (2.67%) DataStage Developer
11 12 (2.29%) Applications Support
11 12 (2.29%) Oracle Developer
11 12 (2.29%) Programmer
11 12 (2.29%) Test Engineer
12 11 (2.10%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 86 (16.41%) Middleware
2 57 (10.88%) Kafka
3 50 (9.54%) REST
4 44 (8.40%) XML
5 37 (7.06%) JSON
6 30 (5.73%) Spring Boot
7 28 (5.34%) ISPF
8 27 (5.15%) SOAP
9 23 (4.39%) Spring
10 18 (3.44%) HTML
10 18 (3.44%) RabbitMQ
11 17 (3.24%) .NET
12 14 (2.67%) OAuth
13 13 (2.48%) SAML
13 13 (2.48%) Terraform
13 13 (2.48%) Web Services
14 12 (2.29%) GraphQL
14 12 (2.29%) Swagger
15 11 (2.10%) ActiveMQ
15 11 (2.10%) JWT
Miscellaneous
1 111 (21.18%) Mainframe
2 29 (5.53%) Clustering
3 24 (4.58%) Cloud Native
3 24 (4.58%) Data Centre
4 22 (4.20%) Replication
5 18 (3.44%) Enterprise Software
5 18 (3.44%) Hybrid Cloud
6 17 (3.24%) AS400
6 17 (3.24%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (2.86%) Data Structures
8 14 (2.67%) Legacy Applications
8 14 (2.67%) Legacy Systems
8 14 (2.67%) Onboarding
9 12 (2.29%) Data Protection Act
9 12 (2.29%) iSeries
9 12 (2.29%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 11 (2.10%) IBM Mainframe
10 11 (2.10%) Product Ownership
11 10 (1.91%) Equity Derivative
11 10 (1.91%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 94 (17.94%) Linux
2 84 (16.03%) zOS
3 54 (10.31%) Unix
4 39 (7.44%) Windows
5 22 (4.20%) AIX
6 20 (3.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (2.10%) Solaris
8 8 (1.53%) SUSE
8 8 (1.53%) Windows Server
9 7 (1.34%) MVS
9 7 (1.34%) Windows Server 2008
10 5 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.19%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.19%) OpenVMS
12 1 (0.19%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.19%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.19%) VMS
12 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (18.32%) CI/CD
2 88 (16.79%) Agile
3 82 (15.65%) Migration
4 79 (15.08%) Stakeholder Management
5 70 (13.36%) DevOps
6 66 (12.60%) Test Automation
7 62 (11.83%) Problem-Solving
8 60 (11.45%) ITIL
9 53 (10.11%) Continuous Improvement
10 48 (9.16%) ETL
11 47 (8.97%) Validation
12 46 (8.78%) Roadmaps
13 45 (8.59%) Change Management
13 45 (8.59%) Performance Tuning
14 41 (7.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 40 (7.63%) AI
16 39 (7.44%) Root Cause Analysis
16 39 (7.44%) Scrum
17 35 (6.68%) Performance Optimisation
18 33 (6.30%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 109 (20.80%) SQL
2 95 (18.13%) Python
3 90 (17.18%) Java
4 35 (6.68%) JavaScript
5 25 (4.77%) JCL
6 23 (4.39%) PowerShell
7 21 (4.01%) PL/SQL
8 17 (3.24%) C++
8 17 (3.24%) REXX
8 17 (3.24%) Shell Script
9 16 (3.05%) COBOL
10 15 (2.86%) Bash
11 14 (2.67%) C#
12 13 (2.48%) C
13 10 (1.91%) Perl
14 8 (1.53%) Search Processing Language
15 7 (1.34%) Assembly Language
15 7 (1.34%) CLIST
15 7 (1.34%) TypeScript
16 6 (1.15%) Ada
Qualifications
1 106 (20.23%) Security Cleared
2 84 (16.03%) SC Cleared
3 43 (8.21%) Degree
4 24 (4.58%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (1.91%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.53%) DV Cleared
7 6 (1.15%) AWS Certification
7 6 (1.15%) CISSP
7 6 (1.15%) ISTQB
8 4 (0.76%) Azure Certification
8 4 (0.76%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (0.76%) PMI Certification
8 4 (0.76%) PMP
9 3 (0.57%) ACCA
9 3 (0.57%) CIMA
9 3 (0.57%) CISM
9 3 (0.57%) ISEB
9 3 (0.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 2 (0.38%) CCSP
10 2 (0.38%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (6.87%) Data Quality
2 16 (3.05%) QA
3 10 (1.91%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.53%) ISO 15022
5 7 (1.34%) GDPR
6 6 (1.15%) NIST
7 4 (0.76%) Actionable Recommendations
7 4 (0.76%) SLA
8 3 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 19770
8 3 (0.57%) SEPA
9 2 (0.38%) GAAP
9 2 (0.38%) GRC
9 2 (0.38%) IFRS
9 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.38%) PMO
10 1 (0.19%) DO-254
10 1 (0.19%) IEC 61508
10 1 (0.19%) ISO 26262
10 1 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 15288
10 1 (0.19%) TARGET2
System Software
1 45 (8.59%) Docker
2 30 (5.73%) RACF
3 23 (4.39%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (2.67%) NFS
4 14 (2.67%) Time Sharing Option
5 12 (2.29%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (2.29%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (2.10%) GPFS
7 8 (1.53%) vSphere
8 7 (1.34%) ACF2
8 7 (1.34%) Firmware
9 6 (1.15%) Oracle RAC
10 4 (0.76%) Active Directory
10 4 (0.76%) PowerHA
11 3 (0.57%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 2 (0.38%) Hyper-V
13 1 (0.19%) oVirt
13 1 (0.19%) RHEV
13 1 (0.19%) SRDF
13 1 (0.19%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 39 (7.44%) Kubernetes
2 28 (5.34%) Ansible
3 25 (4.77%) OMEGAMON
4 20 (3.82%) Tivoli
5 12 (2.29%) Tivoli Monitoring
6 11 (2.10%) Nagios
6 11 (2.10%) Netcool
6 11 (2.10%) Tivoli Storage Manager
6 11 (2.10%) ZABBIX
7 10 (1.91%) Grafana
8 8 (1.53%) OpenView
9 7 (1.34%) Control-M
10 6 (1.15%) vRealize
11 5 (0.95%) HP Fortify
11 5 (0.95%) Oracle RMAN
11 5 (0.95%) QRadar
12 4 (0.76%) Tivoli NetView
12 4 (0.76%) VxRail
13 3 (0.57%) Avamar
13 3 (0.57%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 113 (21.56%) Oracle
2 58 (11.07%) Microsoft
3 35 (6.68%) SAP
4 33 (6.30%) VMware
5 32 (6.11%) Splunk
6 30 (5.73%) Google
7 24 (4.58%) ServiceNow
8 22 (4.20%) Cisco
8 22 (4.20%) Red Hat
9 19 (3.63%) Broadcom
10 15 (2.86%) Dynatrace
11 14 (2.67%) Cognos
11 14 (2.67%) HP
12 13 (2.48%) EMC
12 13 (2.48%) Siemens
12 13 (2.48%) Sybase
13 12 (2.29%) BMC
13 12 (2.29%) Dell
13 12 (2.29%) Informatica
13 12 (2.29%) MathWorks