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 15 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
15 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 265 224 227
Rank change year-on-year -41 +3 +33
Contract jobs citing IBM 471 385 458
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.90% 1.19% 1.07%
As % of the Vendors category 2.17% 2.50% 2.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 271 252 239
10th Percentile £315 £356 £358
25th Percentile £400 £408 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £489
Median % change year-on-year - +2.25% -6.86%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £625
90th Percentile £670 £704 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £463
% change year-on-year +5.26% +2.70% -7.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 5 39
10th Percentile £25.77 £24.81 £51.40
25th Percentile £61.25 £25.04 £65.00
Median hourly rate £88.00 £25.08 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +250.95% -64.18% +3.70%
75th Percentile - £72.50 -
90th Percentile - £139.23 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £88.00 £25.08 £70.00
% change year-on-year +250.95% -64.18% +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 21,678 15,427 18,451
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.20% 47.54% 43.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,483 9,438 11,509
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £402 £407
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +0.10% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £715 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,100 748 1,120
10th Percentile £15.99 £14.75 £12.50
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.30 £15.00
Median hourly rate £35.00 £25.15 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +39.17% +0.60% -38.27%
75th Percentile £65.00 £51.41 £60.83
90th Percentile £83.88 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £22.56 £24.43
% change year-on-year +50.66% -7.65% -18.57%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 -56 397 £476 -4.80% 114
UK excluding London -75 251 £500 +5.26% 97
London -38 157 £475 -19.49% 37
Work from Home -87 124 £514 -5.69% 58
North of England -51 94 £514 +20.94% 19
South East -49 53 £425 -20.93% 22
North West -40 47 £459 +10.60% 8
Yorkshire -35 46 £563 +15.67% 6
South West -12 35 £426 -29.00% 13
Midlands -63 29 £402 -9.61% 16
Scotland -18 24 £550 +10.94% 9
West Midlands -62 24 £400 -14.44% 11
East of England -20 12 £525 -4.55% 12
Wales -10 4 £600 -5.14% 7
East Midlands -23 4 £837 +101.57% 5
North East -41 1 £375 -10.45% 5

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 (7.64%) WebSphere
2 29 (6.16%) Confluence
3 28 (5.94%) CICS
4 19 (4.03%) Tomcat
5 17 (3.61%) nginx
6 14 (2.97%) SharePoint
7 9 (1.91%) WebLogic
8 7 (1.49%) JBoss
9 6 (1.27%) Apache
10 5 (1.06%) SAS
10 5 (1.06%) WebSphere Application Server
11 4 (0.85%) IIS
12 3 (0.64%) Apache Airflow
12 3 (0.64%) Apache Spark
12 3 (0.64%) Camunda
12 3 (0.64%) CMS
13 2 (0.42%) IBM HTTP Server
13 2 (0.42%) Oracle HTTP Server
13 2 (0.42%) Oracle SOA Suite
13 2 (0.42%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 5 (1.06%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.64%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.42%) PlantUML
3 2 (0.42%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.21%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 20 (4.25%) Maximo
2 9 (1.91%) IBM Planning Analytics
2 9 (1.91%) Temenos T24
3 6 (1.27%) SAP S/4HANA
4 5 (1.06%) Cognos Controller
5 3 (0.64%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
5 3 (0.64%) SAP R/3
6 2 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
6 2 (0.42%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.21%) HFM
7 1 (0.21%) MetaTrader
7 1 (0.21%) Misys Equation
7 1 (0.21%) Misys Midas
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.21%) SAP AFS
7 1 (0.21%) SAP QM
7 1 (0.21%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 67 (14.23%) AWS
2 51 (10.83%) Azure
3 25 (5.31%) GitHub
4 14 (2.97%) GitHub Copilot
4 14 (2.97%) OpenShift
5 12 (2.55%) ChatGPT
6 10 (2.12%) Anthropic Claude
6 10 (2.12%) Azure DevOps
6 10 (2.12%) GCP
6 10 (2.12%) IBM Watson
7 9 (1.91%) Amazon S3
8 7 (1.49%) Amazon EKS
8 7 (1.49%) Vertex AI
9 6 (1.27%) Azure AI
10 5 (1.06%) Amazon EC2
11 4 (0.85%) IBM Blueworks
11 4 (0.85%) IBM Cloud
11 4 (0.85%) MinIO
12 3 (0.64%) AWS Lambda
12 3 (0.64%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 23 (4.88%) Firewall
2 20 (4.25%) SSL
3 17 (3.61%) HTTP
3 17 (3.61%) SNMP
4 9 (1.91%) SAN
5 8 (1.70%) DNS
5 8 (1.70%) TCP/IP
6 7 (1.49%) Network Security
7 6 (1.27%) VSAN
8 5 (1.06%) Fibre Channel
8 5 (1.06%) Wireshark
9 4 (0.85%) Cisco Nexus
9 4 (0.85%) LAN
9 4 (0.85%) NAS
9 4 (0.85%) WAN
10 3 (0.64%) APPN
10 3 (0.64%) MPLS
10 3 (0.64%) SNA
10 3 (0.64%) SSH
11 2 (0.42%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (9.98%) Db2
2 32 (6.79%) DataStage
3 28 (5.94%) Relational Database
4 20 (4.25%) SQL Server
5 14 (2.97%) Metadata
5 14 (2.97%) MongoDB
6 13 (2.76%) Data Warehouse
6 13 (2.76%) Oracle Database
7 12 (2.55%) Elasticsearch
8 11 (2.34%) PostgreSQL
9 9 (1.91%) NoSQL
10 8 (1.70%) Big Data
10 8 (1.70%) GIS
11 3 (0.64%) Amazon Redshift
11 3 (0.64%) Apache Hive
11 3 (0.64%) BusinessObjects
11 3 (0.64%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.42%) Amazon Aurora
12 2 (0.42%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.42%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 43 (9.13%) JIRA
2 40 (8.49%) Rational DOORS
3 22 (4.67%) Jenkins
4 16 (3.40%) GitLab
5 15 (3.18%) Git
6 8 (1.70%) Rational Rhapsody
7 6 (1.27%) IBM UrbanCode
8 5 (1.06%) Ant
8 5 (1.06%) Liquibase
8 5 (1.06%) PowerDesigner
9 4 (0.85%) Eclipse
9 4 (0.85%) JMeter
10 3 (0.64%) Cucumber
10 3 (0.64%) Gradle
10 3 (0.64%) JUnit
10 3 (0.64%) Maven
10 3 (0.64%) REST Assured
10 3 (0.64%) Sonatype Nexus
10 3 (0.64%) Visual Studio
11 2 (0.42%) SonarQube
General
1 139 (29.51%) Finance
2 106 (22.51%) Social Skills
3 93 (19.75%) Banking
4 51 (10.83%) Analytical Skills
5 36 (7.64%) Public Sector
6 31 (6.58%) Legal
7 30 (6.37%) Aerospace
8 15 (3.18%) Retail
9 12 (2.55%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (1.91%) Military
11 8 (1.70%) Front Office
11 8 (1.70%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.49%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.06%) Law
14 4 (0.85%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.85%) Telecoms
15 2 (0.42%) Back Office
15 2 (0.42%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 59 (12.53%) Developer
2 53 (11.25%) Architect
3 45 (9.55%) Analyst
4 31 (6.58%) Senior
5 29 (6.16%) Administrator
6 26 (5.52%) Delivery Manager
6 26 (5.52%) Product Delivery Manager
6 26 (5.52%) Product Manager
7 22 (4.67%) Consultant
8 21 (4.46%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 21 (4.46%) Systems Manager
9 18 (3.82%) Lead
9 18 (3.82%) Solutions Architect
10 17 (3.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 16 (3.40%) Designer
11 16 (3.40%) Middleware Engineer
12 14 (2.97%) Data Engineer
13 13 (2.76%) Management Consultant
14 12 (2.55%) Software Engineer
14 12 (2.55%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 67 (14.23%) Middleware
2 39 (8.28%) REST
3 24 (5.10%) ISPF
4 22 (4.67%) JSON
4 22 (4.67%) XML
5 18 (3.82%) Spring Boot
6 17 (3.61%) Spring
7 16 (3.40%) Flash
7 16 (3.40%) Kafka
8 13 (2.76%) RabbitMQ
9 10 (2.12%) SOAP
10 9 (1.91%) WebSphere MQ
11 8 (1.70%) EJB
11 8 (1.70%) JDBC
11 8 (1.70%) PyTorch
12 7 (1.49%) JMS
12 7 (1.49%) JSP
12 7 (1.49%) LangChain
12 7 (1.49%) scikit-learn
12 7 (1.49%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 101 (21.44%) Mainframe
2 34 (7.22%) Data Centre
3 33 (7.01%) Clustering
4 31 (6.58%) Data Structures
4 31 (6.58%) Product Ownership
5 21 (4.46%) Replication
6 20 (4.25%) Linux Command Line
7 16 (3.40%) Legacy Systems
8 15 (3.18%) Cloud Native
8 15 (3.18%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 15 (3.18%) VSAM
9 13 (2.76%) Legacy Applications
10 12 (2.55%) IBM Mainframe
11 11 (2.34%) Management Information System
12 10 (2.12%) BYOD
12 10 (2.12%) Hybrid Cloud
13 9 (1.91%) Algorithms
13 9 (1.91%) Equity Derivative
13 9 (1.91%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 8 (1.70%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 111 (23.57%) Linux
2 70 (14.86%) zOS
3 54 (11.46%) Unix
3 54 (11.46%) Windows
4 42 (8.92%) AIX
5 25 (5.31%) Solaris
6 24 (5.10%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 20 (4.25%) Windows Server
8 13 (2.76%) Windows Server 2008
9 11 (2.34%) Windows Server 2019
10 8 (1.70%) SUSE
11 7 (1.49%) Windows Server 2016
12 6 (1.27%) MVS
13 2 (0.42%) Oracle Linux
13 2 (0.42%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.21%) Android
14 1 (0.21%) Apple iOS
14 1 (0.21%) Mac OS
14 1 (0.21%) VMS
14 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (19.75%) Agile
2 68 (14.44%) CI/CD
3 59 (12.53%) DevOps
4 56 (11.89%) Migration
5 55 (11.68%) Continuous Improvement
6 51 (10.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 50 (10.62%) Problem-Solving
8 48 (10.19%) Roadmaps
9 47 (9.98%) ITIL
10 44 (9.34%) ETL
11 42 (8.92%) Stakeholder Management
12 39 (8.28%) Test Automation
13 38 (8.07%) Computer Science
14 36 (7.64%) AI
14 36 (7.64%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
14 36 (7.64%) Systems Engineering
15 35 (7.43%) Configuration Management
16 34 (7.22%) Change Management
17 33 (7.01%) UML
18 32 (6.79%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 96 (20.38%) SQL
2 82 (17.41%) Python
3 70 (14.86%) Java
4 38 (8.07%) PowerShell
5 25 (5.31%) Bash
6 21 (4.46%) PL/SQL
7 20 (4.25%) COBOL
7 20 (4.25%) JCL
8 16 (3.40%) REXX
9 14 (2.97%) Search Processing Language
10 13 (2.76%) C++
11 11 (2.34%) Shell Script
12 9 (1.91%) C
12 9 (1.91%) JavaScript
13 7 (1.49%) Ada
13 7 (1.49%) Assembly Language
13 7 (1.49%) C#
13 7 (1.49%) Perl
14 6 (1.27%) CLIST
15 5 (1.06%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 124 (26.33%) Security Cleared
2 81 (17.20%) SC Cleared
3 47 (9.98%) Degree
4 12 (2.55%) BPSS Clearance
5 10 (2.12%) Computer Science Degree
6 7 (1.49%) AWS Certification
7 6 (1.27%) CISSP
7 6 (1.27%) DV Cleared
7 6 (1.27%) Master's Degree
8 4 (0.85%) Azure Certification
8 4 (0.85%) IBM Certification
9 3 (0.64%) CEH
9 3 (0.64%) CISM
9 3 (0.64%) PMI Certification
9 3 (0.64%) PMP
10 2 (0.42%) CCSP
10 2 (0.42%) Cisco Certification
10 2 (0.42%) CISMP
10 2 (0.42%) ISTQB
10 2 (0.42%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (6.79%) Data Quality
2 11 (2.34%) QA
3 8 (1.70%) SLA
4 6 (1.27%) GDPR
4 6 (1.27%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.06%) SEPA
6 4 (0.85%) ISO 15022
7 3 (0.64%) NIST
8 2 (0.42%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.42%) GAAP
8 2 (0.42%) GRC
8 2 (0.42%) IFRS
8 2 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.42%) NCSC
9 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 1 (0.21%) MIL-STD-1553
9 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.21%) PMO
9 1 (0.21%) TARGET2
9 1 (0.21%) WCAG
System Software
1 32 (6.79%) Docker
2 27 (5.73%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (5.10%) RACF
4 21 (4.46%) VMware ESXi
5 20 (4.25%) NFS
6 16 (3.40%) Virtual Machines
7 15 (3.18%) GPFS
8 12 (2.55%) Time Sharing Option
8 12 (2.55%) vSphere
9 9 (1.91%) Oracle RAC
10 8 (1.70%) Firmware
11 7 (1.49%) Hyper-V
12 6 (1.27%) KVM
13 4 (0.85%) ACF2
14 3 (0.64%) EMC RecoverPoint
14 3 (0.64%) PowerHA
15 2 (0.42%) Job Entry Subsystem
15 2 (0.42%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
15 2 (0.42%) VMware NSX
16 1 (0.21%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 29 (6.16%) Ansible
2 23 (4.88%) OMEGAMON
3 21 (4.46%) Tivoli
4 18 (3.82%) Terraform
5 17 (3.61%) Nagios
5 17 (3.61%) ZABBIX
6 16 (3.40%) Netcool
7 15 (3.18%) Kubernetes
8 14 (2.97%) OpenView
8 14 (2.97%) Tivoli Monitoring
9 11 (2.34%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 11 (2.34%) vRealize
10 8 (1.70%) Oracle RMAN
11 7 (1.49%) IBM BigFix
12 6 (1.27%) Tivoli NetView
12 6 (1.27%) vCenter Server
12 6 (1.27%) VxRail
13 5 (1.06%) Grafana
14 4 (0.85%) CA Endevor
15 3 (0.64%) EMC VPLEX
Vendors
1 90 (19.11%) Oracle
2 46 (9.77%) VMware
3 32 (6.79%) Microsoft
4 30 (6.37%) Splunk
5 27 (5.73%) Cisco
5 27 (5.73%) SAP
6 25 (5.31%) Red Hat
7 24 (5.10%) ServiceNow
8 22 (4.67%) HP
9 20 (4.25%) BMC
10 16 (3.40%) SolarWinds
11 15 (3.18%) Dell
12 14 (2.97%) Broadcom
13 13 (2.76%) Brocade
13 13 (2.76%) Google
13 13 (2.76%) MathWorks
14 11 (2.34%) Sybase
15 10 (2.12%) Cognos
16 9 (1.91%) Temenos
17 8 (1.70%) Siemens