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 5 December 2025, 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
5 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 259 225 214
Rank change year-on-year -34 -11 +86
Contract jobs citing IBM 372 409 508
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.02% 1.13% 1.13%
As % of the Vendors category 2.15% 2.49% 2.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 237 193 302
10th Percentile £313 £300 £401
25th Percentile £400 £413 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £488 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.56% -11.36% -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £650
90th Percentile £720 £683 £770
UK excluding London median daily rate £472 £450 £525
% change year-on-year +4.84% -14.29% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 25 17
10th Percentile £25.05 - £63.50
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £65.00
Median hourly rate £70.00 £62.50 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +12.00% -10.71% +34.58%
75th Percentile £71.75 £68.75 -
90th Percentile £74.75 £69.50 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £62.50 £70.00
% change year-on-year +12.00% -10.71% +37.23%

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 17,296 16,403 20,364
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 47.39% 45.40% 45.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,002 9,717 12,982
10th Percentile £290 £299 £256
25th Percentile £406 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -1.91%
75th Percentile £609 £625 £638
90th Percentile £700 £720 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.60% - +1.01%
Number of hourly rates quoted 857 511 676
10th Percentile £15.29 £15.50 £15.25
25th Percentile £18.22 £19.19 £19.94
Median hourly rate £25.00 £29.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -13.79% -34.83% +73.08%
75th Percentile £43.75 £62.50 £64.55
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £76.64
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.13 £44.50
% change year-on-year -18.89% -39.04% +96.97%

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 5 December 2025.

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 5 December 2025.

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 5 December 2025. 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 -35 324 £475 -2.56% 161
UK excluding London -35 216 £472 +4.84% 152
Work from Home +3 120 £550 +10.00% 83
London -39 108 £505 +1.00% 38
North of England -25 72 £450 -25.00% 16
North West +7 53 £450 +25.00% 9
Midlands 0 52 £415 -5.68% 19
West Midlands +4 45 £429 -0.29% 14
South East -38 35 £550 +23.60% 68
East of England -4 25 £463 +8.82% 28
Yorkshire -43 19 £473 -21.24% 7
Scotland +7 18 £440 -2.28% 10
South West -37 13 £666 +11.04% 24
East Midlands -15 7 £415 -13.54% 5
Northern Ireland - 4 £350 -
Wales -6 1 £633 +201.19% 4

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 30 (8.06%) WebSphere
2 27 (7.26%) Confluence
3 21 (5.65%) Apache
4 19 (5.11%) CICS
5 15 (4.03%) IIS
5 15 (4.03%) JBoss
6 13 (3.49%) SharePoint
6 13 (3.49%) WebSphere Application Server
7 11 (2.96%) ArcGIS
8 10 (2.69%) iPlanet
8 10 (2.69%) MQSeries
9 7 (1.88%) WebLogic
10 6 (1.61%) SAS
11 5 (1.34%) Oracle SOA Suite
12 4 (1.08%) FileNet
13 3 (0.81%) Tomcat
14 2 (0.54%) nginx
15 1 (0.27%) IBM Transformation Extender
Applications
1 12 (3.23%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.42%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.15%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.27%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 43 (11.56%) Maximo
2 5 (1.34%) BusinessWorks
2 5 (1.34%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 4 (1.08%) Oracle 11i
4 3 (0.81%) SAP EWM
4 3 (0.81%) SAP PM
4 3 (0.81%) SAP PP
4 3 (0.81%) SAP QM
4 3 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.81%) SAP WM
5 2 (0.54%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.27%) Algo Collateral
6 1 (0.27%) Cloudability
6 1 (0.27%) Cognos Controller
6 1 (0.27%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.27%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.27%) Temenos T24
6 1 (0.27%) TIBCO BusinessEvents
6 1 (0.27%) TRIRIGA
Cloud Services
1 91 (24.46%) AWS
2 56 (15.05%) Azure
3 23 (6.18%) OpenShift
4 21 (5.65%) GCP
5 13 (3.49%) Datadog
6 12 (3.23%) AWS CloudFormation
6 12 (3.23%) AWS Lambda
6 12 (3.23%) Serverless
7 9 (2.42%) Azure API Management
8 8 (2.15%) OCI
8 8 (2.15%) Power Platform
9 7 (1.88%) Amazon S3
10 6 (1.61%) Amazon ECS
10 6 (1.61%) GitHub
10 6 (1.61%) PaaS
10 6 (1.61%) SaaS
11 5 (1.34%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 5 (1.34%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (1.34%) IBM Cloud
12 4 (1.08%) IBM Watson
Communications & Networking
1 13 (3.49%) SSH
2 12 (3.23%) HTTPS
2 12 (3.23%) SAN
2 12 (3.23%) VSAN
3 10 (2.69%) Kerberos
4 7 (1.88%) Firewall
4 7 (1.88%) VPN
5 5 (1.34%) Fibre Channel
5 5 (1.34%) HTTP
5 5 (1.34%) iSCSI
5 5 (1.34%) NAS
5 5 (1.34%) SSL
6 4 (1.08%) Network Security
6 4 (1.08%) TCP/IP
7 3 (0.81%) LAN
7 3 (0.81%) SNA
7 3 (0.81%) WAN
8 2 (0.54%) APPN
8 2 (0.54%) DNS
8 2 (0.54%) DWDM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (8.60%) DB2
2 23 (6.18%) Oracle Database
3 22 (5.91%) SQL Server
4 16 (4.30%) Amazon RDS
4 16 (4.30%) Relational Database
5 13 (3.49%) PostgreSQL
6 11 (2.96%) DataStage
7 9 (2.42%) GIS
8 8 (2.15%) Data Warehouse
8 8 (2.15%) NoSQL
9 6 (1.61%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (1.61%) Couchbase
9 6 (1.61%) IBM InfoSphere
9 6 (1.61%) Metadata
9 6 (1.61%) Oracle Reports
10 5 (1.34%) Amazon Athena
10 5 (1.34%) DynamoDB
10 5 (1.34%) Power BI
11 4 (1.08%) Oracle Database 10g
12 3 (0.81%) Cognos Report Studio
Development Applications
1 42 (11.29%) JIRA
2 24 (6.45%) Git
3 20 (5.38%) Jenkins
4 17 (4.57%) Rational DOORS
5 15 (4.03%) GitLab
6 10 (2.69%) Bitbucket Server
6 10 (2.69%) CA Release Automation
7 9 (2.42%) Sonatype Nexus
8 6 (1.61%) SoapUI
9 5 (1.34%) Bitbucket
9 5 (1.34%) ERwin
10 4 (1.08%) Ant
10 4 (1.08%) JUnit
10 4 (1.08%) PVCS
10 4 (1.08%) Rational Rhapsody
10 4 (1.08%) Selenium
11 3 (0.81%) IBM UrbanCode
12 2 (0.54%) GCC
12 2 (0.54%) PowerDesigner
12 2 (0.54%) Toad
General
1 103 (27.69%) Social Skills
2 84 (22.58%) Finance
3 57 (15.32%) Banking
4 33 (8.87%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (6.18%) Public Sector
6 17 (4.57%) Documentation Skills
7 14 (3.76%) Presentation Skills
8 8 (2.15%) Aerospace
8 8 (2.15%) Financial Institution
8 8 (2.15%) Private Banking
9 6 (1.61%) Electronics
10 4 (1.08%) International Banking
10 4 (1.08%) Law
11 3 (0.81%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.81%) Legal
11 3 (0.81%) Manufacturing
11 3 (0.81%) Pharmaceutical
11 3 (0.81%) Police
11 3 (0.81%) Telecoms
12 2 (0.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 67 (18.01%) Developer
2 61 (16.40%) Analyst
3 42 (11.29%) Architect
4 30 (8.06%) Consultant
5 28 (7.53%) Solutions Architect
6 22 (5.91%) Senior
7 19 (5.11%) Infrastructure Analyst
8 15 (4.03%) Management Consultant
8 15 (4.03%) Platform Engineer
9 13 (3.49%) Data Engineer
10 12 (3.23%) Lead
10 12 (3.23%) webMethods Developer
11 11 (2.96%) Programmer
11 11 (2.96%) Software Engineer
12 10 (2.69%) Storage Analyst
13 9 (2.42%) DevOps Engineer
13 9 (2.42%) Maximo Architect
13 9 (2.42%) Maximo Consultant
14 8 (2.15%) Administrator
15 7 (1.88%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (10.75%) XML
2 28 (7.53%) Kafka
3 26 (6.99%) SOAP
4 22 (5.91%) OAuth
5 20 (5.38%) JSON
6 19 (5.11%) Middleware
7 17 (4.57%) JMS
7 17 (4.57%) OpenID
8 16 (4.30%) LDAP
9 15 (4.03%) SAML
10 14 (3.76%) Web Services
11 13 (3.49%) ISPF
12 12 (3.23%) XSLT
13 11 (2.96%) Flash
13 11 (2.96%) Spring
14 9 (2.42%) REST
15 8 (2.15%) EDI
16 6 (1.61%) Hibernate
16 6 (1.61%) WSDL
16 6 (1.61%) XSD
Miscellaneous
1 52 (13.98%) Mainframe
2 31 (8.33%) Replication
3 26 (6.99%) Legacy Systems
4 24 (6.45%) Linux Command Line
5 16 (4.30%) Data Centre
5 16 (4.30%) IBM Mainframe
6 15 (4.03%) AS400
7 13 (3.49%) Tandem
8 11 (2.96%) VSAM
9 9 (2.42%) Cloud Native
9 9 (2.42%) DataPower
10 8 (2.15%) Data Protection Act
11 7 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.88%) Management Information System
12 6 (1.61%) CMDB
12 6 (1.61%) Enterprise Storage
12 6 (1.61%) iSeries
12 6 (1.61%) Onboarding
12 6 (1.61%) PKI
12 6 (1.61%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 72 (19.35%) Linux
2 65 (17.47%) Windows
3 42 (11.29%) Unix
4 33 (8.87%) zOS
5 17 (4.57%) Windows Server
6 12 (3.23%) AIX
7 6 (1.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 6 (1.61%) Windows 10
7 6 (1.61%) Windows 7
7 6 (1.61%) Windows Server 2003
7 6 (1.61%) Windows Server 2016
8 3 (0.81%) MVS
9 2 (0.54%) OS/2
9 2 (0.54%) Solaris
9 2 (0.54%) VMS
10 1 (0.27%) CentOS
10 1 (0.27%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.27%) VME
10 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (18.82%) Agile
2 63 (16.94%) Problem-Solving
3 61 (16.40%) Migration
4 54 (14.52%) DevOps
5 49 (13.17%) Stakeholder Management
6 45 (12.10%) CI/CD
7 36 (9.68%) Asset Management
8 35 (9.41%) Incident Response
9 29 (7.80%) Computer Science
9 29 (7.80%) High Availability
9 29 (7.80%) ITIL
9 29 (7.80%) Performance Tuning
10 28 (7.53%) Data Protection
11 26 (6.99%) Containerisation
11 26 (6.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 23 (6.18%) Roadmaps
13 21 (5.65%) Change Management
13 21 (5.65%) Project Delivery
14 20 (5.38%) Continuous Improvement
14 20 (5.38%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 54 (14.52%) SQL
2 46 (12.37%) Python
3 39 (10.48%) Java
4 24 (6.45%) JCL
5 23 (6.18%) Shell Script
6 22 (5.91%) REXX
7 17 (4.57%) CLIST
8 16 (4.30%) JavaScript
9 12 (3.23%) COBOL
10 11 (2.96%) Groovy
11 9 (2.42%) Assembly Language
11 9 (2.42%) Perl
11 9 (2.42%) PL/SQL
11 9 (2.42%) PowerShell
11 9 (2.42%) RPG
12 8 (2.15%) C++
12 8 (2.15%) Korn
13 6 (1.61%) Bash
13 6 (1.61%) C
13 6 (1.61%) XPath
Qualifications
1 78 (20.97%) Security Cleared
2 57 (15.32%) SC Cleared
3 37 (9.95%) Degree
4 27 (7.26%) Computer Science Degree
5 15 (4.03%) AWS Certification
6 9 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (2.15%) CISSP
7 8 (2.15%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.61%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 6 (1.61%) Azure Certification
8 6 (1.61%) CISM
9 5 (1.34%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Certification
11 3 (0.81%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (0.81%) GCIH
11 3 (0.81%) ISTQB
11 3 (0.81%) Master's Degree
11 3 (0.81%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.81%) PMP
11 3 (0.81%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (4.57%) QA
2 9 (2.42%) GDPR
3 7 (1.88%) Data Quality
4 6 (1.61%) HIPAA
5 5 (1.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.34%) SLA
6 4 (1.08%) ISO 20022
6 4 (1.08%) NIST
6 4 (1.08%) PCI DSS
6 4 (1.08%) SEPA
7 3 (0.81%) Basel III
7 3 (0.81%) NIST 800
7 3 (0.81%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 19770
8 2 (0.54%) MISRA
8 2 (0.54%) MISRA C
9 1 (0.27%) GRC
9 1 (0.27%) IFRS
9 1 (0.27%) IFRS 9
9 1 (0.27%) MiFID
System Software
1 30 (8.06%) VMware Infrastructure
2 24 (6.45%) vSphere
3 18 (4.84%) Docker
4 16 (4.30%) NFS
5 15 (4.03%) Active Directory
6 13 (3.49%) GPFS
6 13 (3.49%) Time Sharing Option
7 12 (3.23%) VMware ESXi
8 11 (2.96%) RACF
9 8 (2.15%) Tivoli Directory Server
10 6 (1.61%) Job Entry Subsystem
10 6 (1.61%) Virtual Machines
11 1 (0.27%) Hyper-V
11 1 (0.27%) KVM
11 1 (0.27%) SRDF
11 1 (0.27%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
11 1 (0.27%) Veritas Cluster Server
11 1 (0.27%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.27%) Xen
Systems Management
1 26 (6.99%) Kubernetes
2 23 (6.18%) Terraform
2 23 (6.18%) vRealize
3 15 (4.03%) OMEGAMON
4 14 (3.76%) Ansible
5 11 (2.96%) Progress Chef
5 11 (2.96%) VxRail
6 10 (2.69%) CA Single Sign-On
6 10 (2.69%) CA Wily
7 9 (2.42%) CA Endevor
7 9 (2.42%) Tivoli
8 8 (2.15%) Tivoli NetView
9 6 (1.61%) Control-M
9 6 (1.61%) QRadar
9 6 (1.61%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (1.61%) Tivoli Storage Manager
10 5 (1.34%) TIBCO Hawk
10 5 (1.34%) Tivoli Identity Manager
11 3 (0.81%) NetBackup
11 3 (0.81%) zSecure
Vendors
1 68 (18.28%) Oracle
2 58 (15.59%) Microsoft
3 36 (9.68%) VMware
4 32 (8.60%) Cisco
5 26 (6.99%) ServiceNow
6 23 (6.18%) AppDynamics
7 21 (5.65%) HP
8 18 (4.84%) Dell
8 18 (4.84%) SAP
9 14 (3.76%) Splunk
10 13 (3.49%) Broadcom
10 13 (3.49%) Commvault
10 13 (3.49%) SolarWinds
11 12 (3.23%) Citrix
11 12 (3.23%) Software AG
11 12 (3.23%) webMethods
12 11 (2.96%) Google
13 10 (2.69%) Cognos
14 9 (2.42%) Red Hat
15 7 (1.88%) ESRI