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 8 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
8 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 275 249 214
Rank change year-on-year -26 -35 +21
Contract jobs citing IBM 530 360 438
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.97% 1.09% 1.16%
As % of the Vendors category 2.33% 2.28% 2.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 333 240 209
10th Percentile £350 £349 £325
25th Percentile £425 £415 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -9.52%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £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 17 8 27
10th Percentile £19.75 £25.04 £46.18
25th Percentile £34.87 £25.12 £61.25
Median hourly rate £62.50 £41.33 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +51.24% -38.78% +3.85%
75th Percentile £70.00 £71.75 £70.00
90th Percentile - £73.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £61.66 £63.75 £67.50
% change year-on-year -3.29% -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 22,701 15,776 16,848
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.62% 47.73% 44.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,715 9,693 9,927
10th Percentile £310 £275 £288
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 £710 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,385 805 604
10th Percentile £13.84 £14.75 £14.84
25th Percentile £16.25 £17.79 £16.00
Median hourly rate £24.19 £25.00 £32.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.24% -21.88% -26.01%
75th Percentile £57.00 £39.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.18 £21.28 £30.00
% change year-on-year +8.93% -29.07% -29.41%

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 8 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 8 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 8 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 -17 455 £500 -8.26% 347
UK excluding London -56 249 £500 +5.26% 198
London +5 209 £515 -16.60% 150
Work from Home -69 122 £539 -10.21% 167
North of England -31 102 £514 +14.22% 52
Yorkshire +12 65 £514 +11.43% 21
North West -62 35 £537 +19.33% 28
South East -65 35 £460 -16.36% 30
Scotland -8 30 £600 +38.89% 20
Midlands -62 29 £500 +13.77% 37
South West -29 26 £550 -8.33% 24
West Midlands -44 26 £500 -13.04% 15
East of England -26 25 £625 +13.64% 23
Wales -6 3 £600 -5.14% 5
East Midlands -26 2 - - 22
North East - 1 £475 - 3

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 37 (6.98%) Confluence
2 36 (6.79%) WebSphere
3 24 (4.53%) CICS
4 16 (3.02%) SharePoint
5 15 (2.83%) Tomcat
6 14 (2.64%) nginx
7 10 (1.89%) Camunda
7 10 (1.89%) WebLogic
8 8 (1.51%) Apache
8 8 (1.51%) SAS
9 7 (1.32%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 7 (1.32%) WebSphere Application Server
10 6 (1.13%) JBoss
11 5 (0.94%) IBM Transformation Extender
12 4 (0.75%) IBM HTTP Server
12 4 (0.75%) Oracle HTTP Server
12 4 (0.75%) WebLogic Portal
12 4 (0.75%) WebSphere Portal
13 3 (0.57%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.57%) MQSeries
Applications
1 12 (2.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.32%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.32%) Windchill
3 2 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.19%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 33 (6.23%) Maximo
2 18 (3.40%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 8 (1.51%) Teamcenter
4 4 (0.75%) Cognos Controller
5 3 (0.57%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
5 3 (0.57%) Temenos T24
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 S/4HANA
6 1 (0.19%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 90 (16.98%) Azure
2 82 (15.47%) AWS
3 40 (7.55%) GCP
4 36 (6.79%) GitHub
5 24 (4.53%) OpenShift
6 13 (2.45%) GitHub Actions
6 13 (2.45%) GitHub Copilot
7 12 (2.26%) Anthropic Claude
8 11 (2.08%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.89%) ChatGPT
9 10 (1.89%) IBM Watson
9 10 (1.89%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.70%) Azure Service Bus
10 9 (1.70%) Boomi
10 9 (1.70%) Entra ID
10 9 (1.70%) iPaaS
11 8 (1.51%) IBM Blueworks
11 8 (1.51%) Microsoft Copilot
12 7 (1.32%) Amazon S3
13 6 (1.13%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 25 (4.72%) HTTP
2 21 (3.96%) SSL
3 12 (2.26%) SAN
4 9 (1.70%) Network Security
4 9 (1.70%) TCP/IP
5 7 (1.32%) Firewall
5 7 (1.32%) Internet
6 6 (1.13%) SSH
6 6 (1.13%) Wireshark
7 5 (0.94%) DNS
7 5 (0.94%) SNMP
8 4 (0.75%) Fibre Channel
8 4 (0.75%) NAS
8 4 (0.75%) VSAN
9 3 (0.57%) Cisco Nexus
9 3 (0.57%) iSCSI
10 2 (0.38%) Ethernet
10 2 (0.38%) Multicast
10 2 (0.38%) VPN
10 2 (0.38%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (9.43%) Db2
2 34 (6.42%) Relational Database
3 30 (5.66%) SQL Server
4 29 (5.47%) DataStage
5 20 (3.77%) Data Warehouse
6 18 (3.40%) Oracle Database
7 16 (3.02%) MongoDB
8 12 (2.26%) Metadata
9 10 (1.89%) Tableau
10 9 (1.70%) Elasticsearch
10 9 (1.70%) PostgreSQL
11 8 (1.51%) NoSQL
11 8 (1.51%) Power BI
12 7 (1.32%) GIS
13 5 (0.94%) Big Data
14 4 (0.75%) Data Lake
14 4 (0.75%) IBM InfoSphere
15 3 (0.57%) BigQuery
15 3 (0.57%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
15 3 (0.57%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 63 (11.89%) JIRA
2 45 (8.49%) Jenkins
3 34 (6.42%) Git
4 24 (4.53%) GitLab
5 22 (4.15%) Rational DOORS
6 19 (3.58%) JMeter
7 16 (3.02%) LoadRunner
7 16 (3.02%) SonarQube
8 15 (2.83%) Postman
8 15 (2.83%) SoapUI
9 12 (2.26%) Gradle
10 11 (2.08%) IBM UrbanCode
11 10 (1.89%) eggPlant
11 10 (1.89%) JUnit
11 10 (1.89%) Maven
11 10 (1.89%) REST Assured
11 10 (1.89%) Selenium
11 10 (1.89%) Sonatype Nexus
12 9 (1.70%) Mockito
12 9 (1.70%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 202 (38.11%) Finance
2 140 (26.42%) Social Skills
3 137 (25.85%) Banking
4 76 (14.34%) Analytical Skills
5 26 (4.91%) Legal
6 21 (3.96%) Retail
7 19 (3.58%) Public Sector
8 18 (3.40%) Manufacturing
9 11 (2.08%) Military
10 10 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
11 9 (1.70%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (1.32%) Aerospace
12 7 (1.32%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.32%) Spanish Language
13 6 (1.13%) Front Office
14 5 (0.94%) Law
15 4 (0.75%) Financial Institution
15 4 (0.75%) Influencing Skills
15 4 (0.75%) Organisational Skills
16 2 (0.38%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 85 (16.04%) Developer
2 58 (10.94%) Architect
3 50 (9.43%) Analyst
4 43 (8.11%) Senior
5 37 (6.98%) Lead
6 27 (5.09%) Solutions Architect
7 26 (4.91%) Administrator
8 22 (4.15%) Consultant
9 21 (3.96%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 18 (3.40%) Automation Engineer
11 17 (3.21%) Applications Support
11 17 (3.21%) Java Developer
12 16 (3.02%) Business Analyst
12 16 (3.02%) DataStage Developer
12 16 (3.02%) Middleware Engineer
13 14 (2.64%) Applications Manager
13 14 (2.64%) Applications Support Manager
13 14 (2.64%) CICS Engineer
13 14 (2.64%) Project Manager
13 14 (2.64%) Support Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 95 (17.92%) Middleware
2 61 (11.51%) Kafka
3 46 (8.68%) XML
4 45 (8.49%) REST
5 39 (7.36%) JSON
6 30 (5.66%) SOAP
7 29 (5.47%) Spring Boot
8 28 (5.28%) ISPF
9 21 (3.96%) HTML
9 21 (3.96%) Spring
10 17 (3.21%) .NET
11 16 (3.02%) RabbitMQ
12 14 (2.64%) Terraform
13 13 (2.45%) OAuth
13 13 (2.45%) Web Services
14 12 (2.26%) GraphQL
14 12 (2.26%) SAML
14 12 (2.26%) Swagger
15 11 (2.08%) JWT
15 11 (2.08%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 107 (20.19%) Mainframe
2 28 (5.28%) Clustering
3 25 (4.72%) Replication
4 24 (4.53%) Enterprise Software
5 22 (4.15%) Data Centre
6 21 (3.96%) AS400
6 21 (3.96%) Cloud Native
7 18 (3.40%) Hybrid Cloud
8 16 (3.02%) Distributed Systems
8 16 (3.02%) Onboarding
9 14 (2.64%) Data Protection Act
9 14 (2.64%) Data Structures
9 14 (2.64%) iSeries
10 13 (2.45%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (2.26%) Legacy Applications
11 12 (2.26%) Product Ownership
12 11 (2.08%) IBM Mainframe
12 11 (2.08%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 10 (1.89%) Management Information System
14 8 (1.51%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 90 (16.98%) Linux
2 82 (15.47%) zOS
3 57 (10.75%) Unix
4 31 (5.85%) Windows
5 20 (3.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 16 (3.02%) AIX
7 9 (1.70%) SUSE
7 9 (1.70%) Windows Server
8 7 (1.32%) MVS
8 7 (1.32%) Solaris
9 5 (0.94%) Windows Server 2008
10 4 (0.75%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.38%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.19%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.19%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.19%) OpenVMS
12 1 (0.19%) VMS
12 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (18.68%) CI/CD
2 89 (16.79%) Agile
2 89 (16.79%) Stakeholder Management
3 87 (16.42%) Migration
4 70 (13.21%) DevOps
5 69 (13.02%) Test Automation
6 67 (12.64%) ITIL
7 66 (12.45%) Problem-Solving
8 64 (12.08%) Continuous Improvement
9 52 (9.81%) Validation
10 50 (9.43%) Performance Tuning
11 47 (8.87%) Root Cause Analysis
12 46 (8.68%) ETL
12 46 (8.68%) Roadmaps
13 45 (8.49%) Change Management
14 43 (8.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 41 (7.74%) Scrum
16 40 (7.55%) AI
16 40 (7.55%) Performance Optimisation
17 35 (6.60%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 115 (21.70%) SQL
2 93 (17.55%) Python
3 87 (16.42%) Java
4 48 (9.06%) JavaScript
5 25 (4.72%) JCL
6 21 (3.96%) PL/SQL
7 20 (3.77%) Shell Script
8 18 (3.40%) Bash
8 18 (3.40%) PowerShell
9 17 (3.21%) REXX
10 16 (3.02%) C++
10 16 (3.02%) COBOL
11 14 (2.64%) C#
12 11 (2.08%) C
13 9 (1.70%) Perl
14 8 (1.51%) TypeScript
15 7 (1.32%) Assembly Language
15 7 (1.32%) CLIST
15 7 (1.32%) RPG
16 4 (0.75%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 99 (18.68%) Security Cleared
2 79 (14.91%) SC Cleared
3 46 (8.68%) Degree
4 26 (4.91%) Computer Science Degree
5 13 (2.45%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.51%) CISSP
7 7 (1.32%) AWS Certification
8 6 (1.13%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.13%) ISTQB
8 6 (1.13%) PMI Certification
8 6 (1.13%) PMP
9 4 (0.75%) Azure Certification
9 4 (0.75%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 3 (0.57%) ACCA
10 3 (0.57%) CIMA
10 3 (0.57%) ISEB
10 3 (0.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 2 (0.38%) CISA
11 2 (0.38%) CISM
11 2 (0.38%) IBM Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (6.23%) Data Quality
2 16 (3.02%) QA
3 10 (1.89%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.51%) ISO 15022
5 7 (1.32%) NIST
6 5 (0.94%) Actionable Recommendations
6 5 (0.94%) GDPR
6 5 (0.94%) SLA
7 3 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 19770
7 3 (0.57%) PMO
7 3 (0.57%) SEPA
8 2 (0.38%) GAAP
8 2 (0.38%) GRC
8 2 (0.38%) IFRS
8 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 1 (0.19%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.19%) DO-254
9 1 (0.19%) IEC 61508
9 1 (0.19%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.19%) TARGET2
System Software
1 43 (8.11%) Docker
2 30 (5.66%) RACF
3 19 (3.58%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (2.45%) NFS
4 13 (2.45%) Time Sharing Option
5 12 (2.26%) Virtual Machines
6 11 (2.08%) GPFS
7 10 (1.89%) VMware ESXi
8 8 (1.51%) Firmware
8 8 (1.51%) vSphere
9 7 (1.32%) ACF2
10 6 (1.13%) Active Directory
11 4 (0.75%) Oracle RAC
11 4 (0.75%) PowerHA
12 2 (0.38%) KVM
13 1 (0.19%) Hyper-V
13 1 (0.19%) oVirt
13 1 (0.19%) RHEV
13 1 (0.19%) SRDF
13 1 (0.19%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 39 (7.36%) Kubernetes
2 29 (5.47%) Ansible
3 25 (4.72%) OMEGAMON
4 16 (3.02%) Tivoli
5 11 (2.08%) Grafana
6 10 (1.89%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 9 (1.70%) Tivoli Monitoring
8 8 (1.51%) Control-M
9 7 (1.32%) Netcool
10 6 (1.13%) HP Fortify
11 5 (0.94%) Nagios
11 5 (0.94%) QRadar
11 5 (0.94%) vRealize
11 5 (0.94%) ZABBIX
12 4 (0.75%) CA Endevor
12 4 (0.75%) Tivoli NetView
13 3 (0.57%) HP ALM
13 3 (0.57%) Netcool/OMNIbus
13 3 (0.57%) Oracle RMAN
13 3 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 115 (21.70%) Oracle
2 63 (11.89%) Microsoft
3 39 (7.36%) SAP
4 32 (6.04%) Google
5 28 (5.28%) ServiceNow
5 28 (5.28%) VMware
6 26 (4.91%) Splunk
7 21 (3.96%) Red Hat
8 19 (3.58%) Dynatrace
9 18 (3.40%) Broadcom
10 17 (3.21%) Cisco
11 15 (2.83%) Siemens
12 13 (2.45%) Cognos
12 13 (2.45%) Databricks
13 12 (2.26%) Dell
13 12 (2.26%) EMC
14 11 (2.08%) Informatica
14 11 (2.08%) New Relic
14 11 (2.08%) Sybase
14 11 (2.08%) TIBCO