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 October 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 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 249 218
Rank change year-on-year -24 -31 +16
Contract jobs citing IBM 546 364 437
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.99% 1.10% 1.16%
As % of the Vendors category 2.37% 2.30% 2.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 343 242 205
10th Percentile £350 £340 £319
25th Percentile £425 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -9.95%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £601
90th Percentile £694 £699 £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 27
10th Percentile £19.75 £25.04 £46.18
25th Percentile £34.87 £25.12 £61.25
Median hourly rate £61.66 £41.33 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +49.20% -38.78% +3.85%
75th Percentile £68.75 £71.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.81 £63.75 £67.50
% change year-on-year -4.61% -5.56% +3.85%

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 23,078 15,851 16,790
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.74% 47.74% 44.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,920 9,777 9,878
10th Percentile £310 £275 £286
25th Percentile £413 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £620 £613 £625
90th Percentile £712 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £488 £500
% change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,446 804 580
10th Percentile £13.68 £14.84 £15.00
25th Percentile £16.03 £17.87 £16.85
Median hourly rate £24.19 £24.81 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% -24.82% -24.83%
75th Percentile £56.00 £38.06 £65.00
90th Percentile £76.88 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.18 £21.30 £31.00
% change year-on-year +8.83% -31.29% -29.14%

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 October 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 October 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 October 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 -26 468 £500 -6.98% 86
UK excluding London -64 257 £500 +5.26% 74
London +17 215 £525 -16.00% 15
Work from Home -74 125 £539 -10.21% 49
North of England -43 107 £513 +14.00% 30
Yorkshire +8 68 £514 +11.32% 15
North West -68 37 £537 +19.33% 14
South East -74 35 £460 -16.36% 21
Scotland -12 31 £575 +33.10% 3
Midlands -60 30 £500 +13.77% 2
South West -28 27 £550 -8.33% 13
West Midlands -43 27 £500 -13.04% 2
East of England -22 25 £625 +19.05% 4
Wales -11 3 £600 -5.14%
East Midlands -25 2 - -
North East - 1 £475 - 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 41 (7.51%) Confluence
2 37 (6.78%) WebSphere
3 24 (4.40%) CICS
4 16 (2.93%) SharePoint
4 16 (2.93%) Tomcat
5 15 (2.75%) nginx
6 11 (2.01%) WebLogic
7 10 (1.83%) Camunda
8 9 (1.65%) Apache
8 9 (1.65%) SAS
9 8 (1.47%) WebSphere Application Server
10 7 (1.28%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 6 (1.10%) JBoss
12 5 (0.92%) IBM HTTP Server
12 5 (0.92%) IBM Transformation Extender
12 5 (0.92%) Oracle HTTP Server
12 5 (0.92%) WebLogic Portal
12 5 (0.92%) WebSphere Portal
13 3 (0.55%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.55%) MQSeries
Applications
1 13 (2.38%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.28%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.28%) Windchill
3 2 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.18%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 34 (6.23%) Maximo
2 19 (3.48%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 8 (1.47%) Teamcenter
4 4 (0.73%) Cognos Controller
5 3 (0.55%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
5 3 (0.55%) Temenos T24
6 1 (0.18%) Actimize
6 1 (0.18%) HFM
6 1 (0.18%) Infor M3
6 1 (0.18%) Misys Equation
6 1 (0.18%) Misys Midas
6 1 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.18%) SAP S/4HANA
6 1 (0.18%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 91 (16.67%) Azure
2 85 (15.57%) AWS
3 42 (7.69%) GCP
4 34 (6.23%) GitHub
5 26 (4.76%) OpenShift
6 13 (2.38%) GitHub Actions
7 12 (2.20%) GitHub Copilot
8 11 (2.01%) Anthropic Claude
8 11 (2.01%) Azure DevOps
8 11 (2.01%) IBM Watson
9 10 (1.83%) Boomi
9 10 (1.83%) iPaaS
9 10 (1.83%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.65%) Azure Service Bus
10 9 (1.65%) ChatGPT
10 9 (1.65%) Entra ID
11 8 (1.47%) Microsoft Copilot
12 7 (1.28%) Amazon S3
12 7 (1.28%) IBM Blueworks
13 6 (1.10%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.76%) HTTP
2 21 (3.85%) SSL
3 14 (2.56%) SAN
4 9 (1.65%) Network Security
4 9 (1.65%) TCP/IP
5 7 (1.28%) Firewall
5 7 (1.28%) Internet
5 7 (1.28%) Wireshark
6 6 (1.10%) Fibre Channel
6 6 (1.10%) SSH
7 5 (0.92%) DNS
7 5 (0.92%) iSCSI
7 5 (0.92%) SNMP
8 4 (0.73%) NAS
8 4 (0.73%) VSAN
9 3 (0.55%) BGP
9 3 (0.55%) Cisco Nexus
9 3 (0.55%) IPv4
9 3 (0.55%) Multicast
9 3 (0.55%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (9.16%) Db2
2 32 (5.86%) Relational Database
3 30 (5.49%) SQL Server
4 29 (5.31%) DataStage
5 20 (3.66%) Data Warehouse
6 18 (3.30%) Oracle Database
7 15 (2.75%) MongoDB
8 11 (2.01%) Metadata
9 10 (1.83%) Tableau
10 9 (1.65%) Elasticsearch
10 9 (1.65%) PostgreSQL
11 8 (1.47%) NoSQL
11 8 (1.47%) Power BI
12 7 (1.28%) GIS
13 5 (0.92%) Big Data
13 5 (0.92%) Data Lake
13 5 (0.92%) IBM InfoSphere
14 3 (0.55%) Apache Cassandra
14 3 (0.55%) BigQuery
14 3 (0.55%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 67 (12.27%) JIRA
2 45 (8.24%) Jenkins
3 35 (6.41%) Git
4 24 (4.40%) GitLab
5 22 (4.03%) Rational DOORS
6 19 (3.48%) JMeter
7 16 (2.93%) LoadRunner
7 16 (2.93%) SonarQube
8 15 (2.75%) Postman
8 15 (2.75%) SoapUI
9 12 (2.20%) Gradle
10 11 (2.01%) IBM UrbanCode
11 10 (1.83%) eggPlant
11 10 (1.83%) JUnit
11 10 (1.83%) Maven
11 10 (1.83%) REST Assured
11 10 (1.83%) Selenium
11 10 (1.83%) Sonatype Nexus
12 9 (1.65%) Mockito
12 9 (1.65%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 208 (38.10%) Finance
2 145 (26.56%) Social Skills
3 138 (25.27%) Banking
4 77 (14.10%) Analytical Skills
5 26 (4.76%) Legal
6 20 (3.66%) Manufacturing
6 20 (3.66%) Public Sector
6 20 (3.66%) Retail
7 11 (2.01%) Military
8 10 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (1.65%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (1.47%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.28%) Aerospace
11 7 (1.28%) Spanish Language
12 5 (0.92%) Law
12 5 (0.92%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.73%) Financial Institution
13 4 (0.73%) Front Office
13 4 (0.73%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.37%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 86 (15.75%) Developer
2 59 (10.81%) Architect
3 50 (9.16%) Analyst
4 44 (8.06%) Senior
5 37 (6.78%) Lead
6 27 (4.95%) Administrator
6 27 (4.95%) Solutions Architect
7 23 (4.21%) Consultant
8 21 (3.85%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 18 (3.30%) Applications Support
9 18 (3.30%) Automation Engineer
10 17 (3.11%) Business Analyst
10 17 (3.11%) Project Manager
11 16 (2.93%) DataStage Developer
11 16 (2.93%) Java Developer
11 16 (2.93%) Middleware Engineer
12 15 (2.75%) Applications Manager
12 15 (2.75%) Applications Support Manager
12 15 (2.75%) Support Manager
13 14 (2.56%) CICS Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 98 (17.95%) Middleware
2 62 (11.36%) Kafka
3 46 (8.42%) REST
3 46 (8.42%) XML
4 39 (7.14%) JSON
5 30 (5.49%) SOAP
6 29 (5.31%) Spring Boot
7 28 (5.13%) ISPF
8 21 (3.85%) HTML
8 21 (3.85%) Spring
9 17 (3.11%) .NET
9 17 (3.11%) RabbitMQ
10 14 (2.56%) Terraform
11 13 (2.38%) OAuth
11 13 (2.38%) Web Services
12 12 (2.20%) EDI
12 12 (2.20%) GraphQL
12 12 (2.20%) SAML
12 12 (2.20%) Swagger
13 11 (2.01%) JWT
Miscellaneous
1 110 (20.15%) Mainframe
2 27 (4.95%) Clustering
3 26 (4.76%) Replication
4 24 (4.40%) Enterprise Software
5 23 (4.21%) AS400
6 22 (4.03%) Data Centre
7 21 (3.85%) Cloud Native
8 18 (3.30%) Hybrid Cloud
8 18 (3.30%) Onboarding
9 16 (2.93%) Distributed Systems
10 15 (2.75%) Data Protection Act
11 14 (2.56%) Data Structures
11 14 (2.56%) iSeries
11 14 (2.56%) Legacy Systems
11 14 (2.56%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 12 (2.20%) Legacy Applications
12 12 (2.20%) Product Ownership
13 10 (1.83%) Enterprise Storage
13 10 (1.83%) IBM Mainframe
13 10 (1.83%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 95 (17.40%) Linux
2 82 (15.02%) zOS
3 58 (10.62%) Unix
4 32 (5.86%) Windows
5 24 (4.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 16 (2.93%) AIX
7 10 (1.83%) Windows Server
8 9 (1.65%) SUSE
9 7 (1.28%) Solaris
10 6 (1.10%) MVS
11 5 (0.92%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.73%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.37%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.37%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.18%) macOS
14 1 (0.18%) OpenVMS
14 1 (0.18%) VMS
14 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (17.95%) CI/CD
2 97 (17.77%) Stakeholder Management
3 93 (17.03%) Migration
4 90 (16.48%) Agile
5 71 (13.00%) DevOps
6 69 (12.64%) Test Automation
7 68 (12.45%) Problem-Solving
8 67 (12.27%) ITIL
9 66 (12.09%) Continuous Improvement
10 57 (10.44%) Validation
11 49 (8.97%) Performance Tuning
11 49 (8.97%) Root Cause Analysis
12 47 (8.61%) Change Management
13 46 (8.42%) Roadmaps
14 45 (8.24%) ETL
14 45 (8.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 41 (7.51%) Performance Optimisation
15 41 (7.51%) Scrum
16 39 (7.14%) AI
17 37 (6.78%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 119 (21.79%) SQL
2 94 (17.22%) Python
3 88 (16.12%) Java
4 47 (8.61%) JavaScript
5 25 (4.58%) JCL
6 21 (3.85%) PL/SQL
7 20 (3.66%) Shell Script
8 18 (3.30%) Bash
8 18 (3.30%) PowerShell
9 17 (3.11%) COBOL
10 16 (2.93%) REXX
11 15 (2.75%) C++
12 14 (2.56%) C#
13 11 (2.01%) C
13 11 (2.01%) Perl
14 8 (1.47%) Assembly Language
14 8 (1.47%) RPG
14 8 (1.47%) TypeScript
15 6 (1.10%) CLIST
16 4 (0.73%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 101 (18.50%) Security Cleared
2 80 (14.65%) SC Cleared
3 45 (8.24%) Degree
4 25 (4.58%) Computer Science Degree
5 13 (2.38%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.47%) CISSP
7 7 (1.28%) AWS Certification
8 6 (1.10%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.10%) ISTQB
8 6 (1.10%) PMI Certification
8 6 (1.10%) PMP
9 4 (0.73%) Azure Certification
9 4 (0.73%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 3 (0.55%) ACCA
10 3 (0.55%) CIMA
10 3 (0.55%) ISEB
10 3 (0.55%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 2 (0.37%) CCSP
11 2 (0.37%) Cisco Certification
11 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (5.86%) Data Quality
2 18 (3.30%) QA
3 10 (1.83%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.47%) ISO 15022
4 8 (1.47%) NIST
5 5 (0.92%) Actionable Recommendations
5 5 (0.92%) GDPR
5 5 (0.92%) SLA
6 3 (0.55%) ISO/IEC 19770
6 3 (0.55%) PMO
6 3 (0.55%) SEPA
7 2 (0.37%) GAAP
7 2 (0.37%) GRC
7 2 (0.37%) IFRS
7 2 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.18%) IEC 61508
8 1 (0.18%) ISO 26262
8 1 (0.18%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.18%) TARGET2
System Software
1 45 (8.24%) Docker
2 29 (5.31%) RACF
3 19 (3.48%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (2.75%) NFS
5 14 (2.56%) Virtual Machines
6 13 (2.38%) Time Sharing Option
7 12 (2.20%) GPFS
8 10 (1.83%) VMware ESXi
9 8 (1.47%) Firmware
9 8 (1.47%) vSphere
10 6 (1.10%) ACF2
10 6 (1.10%) Active Directory
11 4 (0.73%) KVM
11 4 (0.73%) Oracle RAC
11 4 (0.73%) PowerHA
12 1 (0.18%) DFS Replication
12 1 (0.18%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
12 1 (0.18%) oVirt
12 1 (0.18%) SRDF
Systems Management
1 41 (7.51%) Kubernetes
2 29 (5.31%) Ansible
3 26 (4.76%) OMEGAMON
4 17 (3.11%) Tivoli
5 11 (2.01%) Grafana
6 9 (1.65%) Tivoli Monitoring
6 9 (1.65%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 8 (1.47%) Control-M
8 7 (1.28%) Netcool
9 6 (1.10%) HP Fortify
10 5 (0.92%) Nagios
10 5 (0.92%) QRadar
10 5 (0.92%) vRealize
10 5 (0.92%) ZABBIX
11 4 (0.73%) CA Endevor
11 4 (0.73%) Tivoli NetView
12 3 (0.55%) HP ALM
12 3 (0.55%) Netcool/OMNIbus
12 3 (0.55%) Oracle RMAN
12 3 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 116 (21.25%) Oracle
2 65 (11.90%) Microsoft
3 39 (7.14%) SAP
4 34 (6.23%) Google
5 28 (5.13%) ServiceNow
5 28 (5.13%) VMware
6 27 (4.95%) Splunk
7 22 (4.03%) Red Hat
8 19 (3.48%) Dynatrace
9 18 (3.30%) Cisco
10 17 (3.11%) Broadcom
11 15 (2.75%) Siemens
12 14 (2.56%) EMC
13 13 (2.38%) Cognos
13 13 (2.38%) Dell
14 12 (2.20%) Databricks
14 12 (2.20%) Informatica
14 12 (2.20%) NetApp
14 12 (2.20%) TIBCO
15 11 (2.01%) Sybase