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 29 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
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 229 231
Rank change year-on-year -43 +2 +13
Contract jobs citing IBM 488 377 430
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.93% 1.15% 1.08%
As % of the Vendors category 2.25% 2.43% 2.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 283 249 216
10th Percentile £325 £350 £354
25th Percentile £413 £408 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £626
90th Percentile £675 £703 £763
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 21,715 15,498 17,304
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.32% 47.23% 43.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,497 9,498 10,855
10th Percentile £313 £280 £280
25th Percentile £413 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +1.00% -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £601 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £706 £732
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £476 £500
% change year-on-year +4.99% -4.75% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,093 774 891
10th Percentile £15.85 £14.66 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.02 £15.62
Median hourly rate £35.00 £25.15 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +39.17% -8.55% -34.21%
75th Percentile £65.25 £50.00 £61.30
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% -27.19%

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 29 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 29 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 29 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 -35 418 £491 -4.15% 107
UK excluding London -54 253 £500 +5.26% 72
London -19 169 £488 -18.07% 45
Work from Home -84 122 £514 -6.55% 44
North of England -48 91 £514 +10.42% 14
South East -48 55 £425 -20.93% 15
Yorkshire -23 46 £563 +15.67% 5
North West -43 44 £459 -1.40% 8
South West -17 36 £426 -29.00% 18
Midlands -68 31 £413 -7.25% 11
West Midlands -56 27 £413 -13.16% 7
Scotland -25 23 £550 +14.82% 6
East of England -16 14 £625 +13.64% 8
Wales -14 3 £600 -5.14% 3
East Midlands -25 3 - - 4
North East -47 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 38 (7.79%) WebSphere
2 34 (6.97%) Confluence
3 30 (6.15%) CICS
4 18 (3.69%) SharePoint
5 16 (3.28%) Tomcat
6 14 (2.87%) nginx
7 8 (1.64%) JBoss
7 8 (1.64%) WebLogic
8 5 (1.02%) Apache
8 5 (1.02%) SAS
8 5 (1.02%) WebSphere Application Server
9 4 (0.82%) Camunda
9 4 (0.82%) IIS
10 3 (0.61%) CMS
11 2 (0.41%) IBM HTTP Server
11 2 (0.41%) Oracle HTTP Server
11 2 (0.41%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 2 (0.41%) WebSphere Portal
12 1 (0.20%) Alfresco
12 1 (0.20%) Oracle Coherence
Applications
1 5 (1.02%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.61%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.41%) PlantUML
3 2 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.20%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.20%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.20%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 20 (4.10%) Maximo
2 12 (2.46%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 9 (1.84%) Temenos T24
4 6 (1.23%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (1.02%) Cognos Controller
6 3 (0.61%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
6 3 (0.61%) SAP R/3
7 2 (0.41%) Remedy ITSM
7 2 (0.41%) Teamcenter
8 1 (0.20%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.20%) HFM
8 1 (0.20%) MetaTrader
8 1 (0.20%) Misys Equation
8 1 (0.20%) Misys Midas
8 1 (0.20%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.20%) SAP AFS
8 1 (0.20%) SAP QM
8 1 (0.20%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 68 (13.93%) AWS
2 58 (11.89%) Azure
3 26 (5.33%) GitHub
4 15 (3.07%) GitHub Copilot
4 15 (3.07%) OpenShift
5 14 (2.87%) GCP
6 13 (2.66%) ChatGPT
7 11 (2.25%) Anthropic Claude
8 10 (2.05%) Amazon S3
8 10 (2.05%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (1.64%) IBM Watson
10 7 (1.43%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (1.43%) Vertex AI
11 6 (1.23%) Azure AI
11 6 (1.23%) IBM Blueworks
11 6 (1.23%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (1.02%) Amazon EC2
12 5 (1.02%) Microsoft 365
13 4 (0.82%) Entra ID
13 4 (0.82%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 23 (4.71%) Firewall
2 22 (4.51%) SSL
3 17 (3.48%) SNMP
4 16 (3.28%) HTTP
5 13 (2.66%) SAN
6 8 (1.64%) DNS
6 8 (1.64%) Network Security
7 7 (1.43%) TCP/IP
8 6 (1.23%) VSAN
9 5 (1.02%) Fibre Channel
10 4 (0.82%) Cisco Nexus
10 4 (0.82%) NAS
10 4 (0.82%) Wireshark
11 3 (0.61%) SSH
12 2 (0.41%) APPN
12 2 (0.41%) Internet
12 2 (0.41%) LAN
12 2 (0.41%) SD-WAN
12 2 (0.41%) SNA
12 2 (0.41%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (9.84%) Db2
2 33 (6.76%) DataStage
3 30 (6.15%) Relational Database
4 19 (3.89%) SQL Server
5 15 (3.07%) Metadata
6 14 (2.87%) MongoDB
7 13 (2.66%) Oracle Database
8 11 (2.25%) Data Warehouse
8 11 (2.25%) PostgreSQL
9 9 (1.84%) Elasticsearch
10 6 (1.23%) NoSQL
11 5 (1.02%) Big Data
11 5 (1.02%) Data Lake
11 5 (1.02%) GIS
12 3 (0.61%) Amazon Redshift
12 3 (0.61%) BusinessObjects
12 3 (0.61%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
12 3 (0.61%) IBM InfoSphere
13 2 (0.41%) OLTP
13 2 (0.41%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 49 (10.04%) JIRA
2 41 (8.40%) Rational DOORS
3 23 (4.71%) Jenkins
4 19 (3.89%) GitLab
5 15 (3.07%) Git
6 8 (1.64%) IBM UrbanCode
6 8 (1.64%) Rational Rhapsody
7 5 (1.02%) Ant
7 5 (1.02%) Liquibase
7 5 (1.02%) PowerDesigner
8 4 (0.82%) Eclipse
8 4 (0.82%) Gradle
8 4 (0.82%) JMeter
8 4 (0.82%) JUnit
8 4 (0.82%) Maven
8 4 (0.82%) REST Assured
8 4 (0.82%) Sonatype Nexus
8 4 (0.82%) Zephyr
9 3 (0.61%) SonarQube
9 3 (0.61%) Visual Studio
General
1 154 (31.56%) Finance
2 118 (24.18%) Social Skills
3 100 (20.49%) Banking
4 55 (11.27%) Analytical Skills
5 34 (6.97%) Public Sector
6 31 (6.35%) Legal
7 30 (6.15%) Aerospace
8 13 (2.66%) Retail
9 12 (2.46%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (1.84%) Military
11 8 (1.64%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.64%) Front Office
12 7 (1.43%) Investment Banking
13 5 (1.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.02%) Law
13 5 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.82%) Financial Institution
15 3 (0.61%) Telecoms
16 2 (0.41%) Advertising
16 2 (0.41%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 63 (12.91%) Architect
1 63 (12.91%) Developer
2 49 (10.04%) Analyst
3 35 (7.17%) Senior
4 30 (6.15%) Administrator
5 26 (5.33%) Delivery Manager
5 26 (5.33%) Product Delivery Manager
5 26 (5.33%) Product Manager
6 24 (4.92%) Consultant
7 22 (4.51%) Solutions Architect
8 21 (4.30%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 21 (4.30%) Systems Manager
9 20 (4.10%) Lead
10 19 (3.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 18 (3.69%) Designer
12 17 (3.48%) Middleware Engineer
13 13 (2.66%) CICS Engineer
13 13 (2.66%) Management Consultant
14 12 (2.46%) Software Engineer
14 12 (2.46%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 69 (14.14%) Middleware
2 43 (8.81%) REST
3 26 (5.33%) JSON
4 24 (4.92%) ISPF
4 24 (4.92%) XML
5 21 (4.30%) Kafka
6 18 (3.69%) Spring Boot
7 15 (3.07%) RabbitMQ
7 15 (3.07%) Spring
8 14 (2.87%) Flash
8 14 (2.87%) SOAP
9 9 (1.84%) Jakarta EE
9 9 (1.84%) OAuth
9 9 (1.84%) Web Services
9 9 (1.84%) WebSphere MQ
10 8 (1.64%) PyTorch
10 8 (1.64%) SAML
11 7 (1.43%) JDBC
11 7 (1.43%) LangChain
11 7 (1.43%) ZeroMQ
Miscellaneous
1 105 (21.52%) Mainframe
2 43 (8.81%) Data Centre
3 37 (7.58%) Clustering
4 32 (6.56%) Data Structures
5 30 (6.15%) Product Ownership
6 20 (4.10%) Cloud Native
6 20 (4.10%) Replication
7 16 (3.28%) Linux Command Line
8 15 (3.07%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 15 (3.07%) VSAM
9 14 (2.87%) IBM Mainframe
10 13 (2.66%) AS400
10 13 (2.66%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (2.46%) Management Information System
12 11 (2.25%) Hybrid Cloud
13 10 (2.05%) BYOD
13 10 (2.05%) Equity Derivative
13 10 (2.05%) Legacy Applications
14 9 (1.84%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 9 (1.84%) iSeries
Operating Systems
1 104 (21.31%) Linux
2 74 (15.16%) zOS
3 59 (12.09%) Unix
4 48 (9.84%) Windows
5 45 (9.22%) AIX
6 22 (4.51%) Solaris
7 21 (4.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 14 (2.87%) Windows Server
9 10 (2.05%) Windows Server 2008
10 8 (1.64%) SUSE
10 8 (1.64%) Windows Server 2019
11 7 (1.43%) MVS
12 4 (0.82%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.41%) Oracle Linux
13 2 (0.41%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.20%) Android
14 1 (0.20%) Apple iOS
14 1 (0.20%) Mac OS
14 1 (0.20%) VMS
14 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (19.88%) Agile
2 72 (14.75%) Migration
3 69 (14.14%) CI/CD
4 64 (13.11%) DevOps
5 61 (12.50%) Continuous Improvement
6 55 (11.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 52 (10.66%) ITIL
7 52 (10.66%) Stakeholder Management
8 50 (10.25%) Roadmaps
9 47 (9.63%) Problem-Solving
10 46 (9.43%) ETL
11 42 (8.61%) Test Automation
12 40 (8.20%) Computer Science
13 37 (7.58%) AI
13 37 (7.58%) Systems Engineering
14 36 (7.38%) Change Management
14 36 (7.38%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
15 35 (7.17%) Configuration Management
15 35 (7.17%) Root Cause Analysis
15 35 (7.17%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 89 (18.24%) SQL
2 80 (16.39%) Python
3 65 (13.32%) Java
4 36 (7.38%) PowerShell
5 23 (4.71%) Bash
6 19 (3.89%) COBOL
6 19 (3.89%) JCL
7 18 (3.69%) PL/SQL
8 15 (3.07%) REXX
9 14 (2.87%) Search Processing Language
10 13 (2.66%) C++
11 12 (2.46%) JavaScript
11 12 (2.46%) Shell Script
12 11 (2.25%) Perl
13 10 (2.05%) C
14 9 (1.84%) C#
15 7 (1.43%) Ada
16 6 (1.23%) Assembly Language
16 6 (1.23%) CLIST
17 5 (1.02%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 119 (24.39%) Security Cleared
2 76 (15.57%) SC Cleared
3 47 (9.63%) Degree
4 11 (2.25%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (2.05%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.64%) CISSP
7 7 (1.43%) AWS Certification
7 7 (1.43%) DV Cleared
8 5 (1.02%) Azure Certification
8 5 (1.02%) CISM
9 4 (0.82%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 4 (0.82%) CCSP
9 4 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (0.61%) CEH
10 3 (0.61%) PMI Certification
10 3 (0.61%) PMP
11 2 (0.41%) CISA
11 2 (0.41%) CISMP
11 2 (0.41%) IBM Certification
11 2 (0.41%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (6.35%) Data Quality
2 15 (3.07%) QA
3 8 (1.64%) GDPR
4 7 (1.43%) ISO 20022
4 7 (1.43%) SLA
5 5 (1.02%) ISO 15022
5 5 (1.02%) NIST
5 5 (1.02%) SEPA
6 4 (0.82%) GRC
6 4 (0.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (0.41%) Accessibility
7 2 (0.41%) GAAP
7 2 (0.41%) IFRS
7 2 (0.41%) NCSC
8 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 15288
8 1 (0.20%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.20%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.20%) PMO
8 1 (0.20%) TARGET2
8 1 (0.20%) WCAG
System Software
1 32 (6.56%) Docker
2 25 (5.12%) RACF
3 24 (4.92%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (3.69%) NFS
5 16 (3.28%) VMware ESXi
6 14 (2.87%) Virtual Machines
7 13 (2.66%) GPFS
8 12 (2.46%) Firmware
8 12 (2.46%) Time Sharing Option
9 10 (2.05%) vSphere
10 7 (1.43%) Oracle RAC
10 7 (1.43%) PowerHA
11 6 (1.23%) ACF2
12 5 (1.02%) Hyper-V
13 4 (0.82%) KVM
14 3 (0.61%) Active Directory
14 3 (0.61%) EMC RecoverPoint
15 2 (0.41%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
16 1 (0.20%) SRDF
Systems Management
1 25 (5.12%) Ansible
2 23 (4.71%) OMEGAMON
3 21 (4.30%) Tivoli
4 19 (3.89%) Terraform
5 18 (3.69%) Kubernetes
6 17 (3.48%) Nagios
6 17 (3.48%) ZABBIX
7 16 (3.28%) Netcool
8 15 (3.07%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 14 (2.87%) OpenView
9 14 (2.87%) Tivoli Monitoring
10 9 (1.84%) vRealize
11 6 (1.23%) Oracle RMAN
11 6 (1.23%) VxRail
12 5 (1.02%) Grafana
12 5 (1.02%) Tivoli NetView
13 4 (0.82%) CA Endevor
13 4 (0.82%) IBM BigFix
13 4 (0.82%) vCenter Server
14 3 (0.61%) EMC VPLEX
Vendors
1 88 (18.03%) Oracle
2 40 (8.20%) VMware
3 36 (7.38%) Microsoft
4 28 (5.74%) SAP
4 28 (5.74%) Splunk
5 24 (4.92%) Red Hat
6 23 (4.71%) ServiceNow
7 22 (4.51%) HP
8 20 (4.10%) Cisco
9 18 (3.69%) BMC
10 16 (3.28%) Google
10 16 (3.28%) SolarWinds
11 13 (2.66%) Broadcom
11 13 (2.66%) Brocade
11 13 (2.66%) Dell
11 13 (2.66%) MathWorks
12 12 (2.46%) Sybase
13 11 (2.25%) Cognos
14 9 (1.84%) Informatica
14 9 (1.84%) Temenos