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 17 February 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
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 287 242 219
Rank change year-on-year -45 -23 +91
Contract jobs citing IBM 352 324 496
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.88% 1.06% 1.11%
As % of the Vendors category 1.96% 2.29% 2.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 220 161 312
10th Percentile £313 £310 £403
25th Percentile £400 £400 £440
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £472 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.65% -9.09% +4.76%
75th Percentile £551 £600 £650
90th Percentile £688 £685 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £441 £450 £500
% change year-on-year -1.94% -10.00% +1.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 21 27
10th Percentile - - £64.00
25th Percentile £25.77 £24.18 £65.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £46.18 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +40.75% -34.03% +40.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.75 -
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £46.18 £70.00
% change year-on-year +51.58% -34.03% +68.16%

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 17,996 14,131 19,431
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 44.75% 46.39% 43.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,531 8,441 12,170
10th Percentile £300 £275 £258
25th Percentile £413 £406 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £523 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.31% -0.48% -0.94%
75th Percentile £606 £625 £630
90th Percentile £700 £710 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £495 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 891 400 925
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £12.91
25th Percentile £17.96 £21.25 £15.50
Median hourly rate £23.83 £30.00 £26.78
Median % change year-on-year -20.58% +12.02% -18.85%
75th Percentile £57.25 £63.75 £58.48
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.29 £27.13 £26.00
% change year-on-year -17.82% +4.33% -11.26%

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 17 February 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 17 February 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 17 February 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 -50 310 £475 -3.80% 91
UK excluding London -58 190 £441 -1.94% 73
London -31 121 £500 -2.44% 37
Work from Home -27 113 £488 -2.50% 51
North of England -56 58 £456 +14.00% 12
Midlands -28 46 £400 -13.04% 4
North West -13 45 £453 +18.90% 10
West Midlands -19 45 £397 -13.72% 2
East of England -5 28 £318 -31.14% 5
South East -49 24 £525 +25.00% 36
South West -29 21 £700 +16.67% 6
Scotland +8 16 £450 -12.20% 10
Yorkshire -59 12 £487 +11.31% 2
Wales -5 1 - - 1
North East -20 1 £375 -
East Midlands -25 1 £837 +74.27% 2

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 23 (6.53%) Confluence
1 23 (6.53%) WebSphere
2 14 (3.98%) CICS
3 11 (3.13%) Apache
4 10 (2.84%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 9 (2.56%) JBoss
5 9 (2.56%) MQSeries
5 9 (2.56%) WebLogic
6 8 (2.27%) IIS
6 8 (2.27%) SharePoint
6 8 (2.27%) WebSphere Application Server
7 7 (1.99%) iPlanet
8 6 (1.70%) nginx
9 5 (1.42%) ArcGIS
9 5 (1.42%) Tomcat
10 4 (1.14%) Anypoint
11 3 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
11 3 (0.85%) Apache Spark
11 3 (0.85%) SAS
12 2 (0.57%) FileNet
Applications
1 10 (2.84%) MS Visio
2 7 (1.99%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.70%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 29 (8.24%) Maximo
2 9 (2.56%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 7 (1.99%) BusinessWorks
4 4 (1.14%) Oracle 11i
4 4 (1.14%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.85%) SAP EWM
5 3 (0.85%) SAP PM
5 3 (0.85%) SAP PP
5 3 (0.85%) SAP QM
5 3 (0.85%) SAP WM
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.28%) Cognos Controller
7 1 (0.28%) Oracle FAH
7 1 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.28%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.28%) SAP AFS
7 1 (0.28%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 1 (0.28%) Temenos T24
Cloud Services
1 95 (26.99%) AWS
2 61 (17.33%) Azure
3 24 (6.82%) OpenShift
4 15 (4.26%) GCP
5 14 (3.98%) Datadog
6 13 (3.69%) AWS CloudFormation
6 13 (3.69%) AWS Lambda
6 13 (3.69%) Serverless
7 11 (3.13%) Azure Sentinel
8 9 (2.56%) Azure AKS
8 9 (2.56%) Azure API Management
8 9 (2.56%) Azure Monitor
8 9 (2.56%) SaaS
9 8 (2.27%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 8 (2.27%) OCI
10 7 (1.99%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 7 (1.99%) IBM Watson
10 7 (1.99%) Power Platform
11 6 (1.70%) Amazon S3
11 6 (1.70%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 15 (4.26%) HTTPS
1 15 (4.26%) VSAN
2 13 (3.69%) VPN
3 11 (3.13%) SAN
4 9 (2.56%) HTTP
5 8 (2.27%) Firewall
5 8 (2.27%) SSH
6 7 (1.99%) Kerberos
7 6 (1.70%) Fibre Channel
7 6 (1.70%) TCP/IP
8 5 (1.42%) iSCSI
8 5 (1.42%) NAS
8 5 (1.42%) SNA
9 4 (1.14%) APPN
9 4 (1.14%) DWDM
9 4 (1.14%) LAN
9 4 (1.14%) Network Security
9 4 (1.14%) WAN
10 3 (0.85%) DNS
11 2 (0.57%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (7.39%) DB2
2 24 (6.82%) SQL Server
3 22 (6.25%) Oracle Database
4 16 (4.55%) DataStage
5 13 (3.69%) Oracle Reports
6 12 (3.41%) Data Warehouse
7 11 (3.13%) NoSQL
7 11 (3.13%) PostgreSQL
7 11 (3.13%) Relational Database
8 9 (2.56%) GIS
9 8 (2.27%) Amazon Redshift
10 7 (1.99%) Amazon RDS
11 6 (1.70%) Couchbase
11 6 (1.70%) IBM InfoSphere
11 6 (1.70%) Power BI
12 5 (1.42%) Big Data
12 5 (1.42%) DynamoDB
13 4 (1.14%) Amazon Aurora
13 4 (1.14%) Elasticsearch
13 4 (1.14%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 44 (12.50%) JIRA
2 24 (6.82%) Git
3 20 (5.68%) Rational DOORS
4 19 (5.40%) Jenkins
5 11 (3.13%) GitLab
6 8 (2.27%) Ant
6 8 (2.27%) PVCS
7 7 (1.99%) Bitbucket Server
7 7 (1.99%) CA Release Automation
7 7 (1.99%) SoapUI
8 6 (1.70%) Sonatype Nexus
9 5 (1.42%) JUnit
10 4 (1.14%) ERwin
10 4 (1.14%) IBM UrbanCode
11 3 (0.85%) Bitbucket
11 3 (0.85%) Liquibase
12 2 (0.57%) Selenium
13 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
13 1 (0.28%) Cucumber
13 1 (0.28%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 94 (26.70%) Finance
2 89 (25.28%) Social Skills
3 48 (13.64%) Banking
4 34 (9.66%) Analytical Skills
5 31 (8.81%) Public Sector
6 18 (5.11%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (2.56%) Electronics
7 9 (2.56%) Financial Institution
7 9 (2.56%) Presentation Skills
8 8 (2.27%) Influencing Skills
8 8 (2.27%) Private Banking
9 7 (1.99%) Retail
10 6 (1.70%) Aviation
11 5 (1.42%) Law
11 5 (1.42%) Legal
11 5 (1.42%) Telecoms
12 4 (1.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (1.14%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.85%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.85%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 64 (18.18%) Analyst
2 56 (15.91%) Developer
3 37 (10.51%) Architect
4 24 (6.82%) Infrastructure Analyst
5 22 (6.25%) Senior
6 20 (5.68%) Storage Analyst
7 19 (5.40%) Data Engineer
7 19 (5.40%) Solutions Architect
8 16 (4.55%) Software Engineer
9 14 (3.98%) DevOps Engineer
10 12 (3.41%) Lead
10 12 (3.41%) Platform Engineer
11 11 (3.13%) webMethods Developer
12 10 (2.84%) Consultant
13 9 (2.56%) Azure Engineer
14 8 (2.27%) Storage Engineer
15 7 (1.99%) C++ Software Engineer
15 7 (1.99%) Embedded Software Engineer
15 7 (1.99%) Technical Analyst
15 7 (1.99%) Technical Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (11.08%) XML
2 29 (8.24%) Kafka
3 28 (7.95%) Middleware
4 24 (6.82%) SOAP
5 20 (5.68%) Flash
5 20 (5.68%) JMS
6 18 (5.11%) JSON
7 14 (3.98%) XSLT
8 12 (3.41%) OAuth
9 11 (3.13%) REST
9 11 (3.13%) Web Services
10 9 (2.56%) ARM Templates
11 8 (2.27%) J2EE
11 8 (2.27%) OpenID
11 8 (2.27%) WSDL
11 8 (2.27%) XSD
12 7 (1.99%) LDAP
12 7 (1.99%) OC4J
12 7 (1.99%) SAML
12 7 (1.99%) TIBCO EMS
Miscellaneous
1 44 (12.50%) Mainframe
2 37 (10.51%) Linux Command Line
3 31 (8.81%) Replication
4 20 (5.68%) Legacy Systems
5 18 (5.11%) Data Centre
6 13 (3.69%) VSAM
7 11 (3.13%) AS400
8 10 (2.84%) Enterprise Software
8 10 (2.84%) Hybrid Cloud
9 9 (2.56%) Algorithms
9 9 (2.56%) DataPower
10 8 (2.27%) Tandem
11 7 (1.99%) Enterprise Storage
12 6 (1.70%) BYOD
12 6 (1.70%) iSeries
12 6 (1.70%) Management Information System
12 6 (1.70%) Onboarding
12 6 (1.70%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 5 (1.42%) CMDB
13 5 (1.42%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 85 (24.15%) Linux
2 50 (14.20%) Windows
3 44 (12.50%) Unix
4 32 (9.09%) zOS
5 22 (6.25%) AIX
6 17 (4.83%) Windows Server
7 11 (3.13%) Solaris
7 11 (3.13%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (2.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 7 (1.99%) Windows 10
9 7 (1.99%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.99%) Windows Server 2003
10 5 (1.42%) Windows Server 2008
10 5 (1.42%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.28%) Android
11 1 (0.28%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.28%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 1 (0.28%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (21.59%) Agile
2 56 (15.91%) Problem-Solving
3 50 (14.20%) DevOps
4 49 (13.92%) CI/CD
5 45 (12.78%) Migration
5 45 (12.78%) Stakeholder Management
6 32 (9.09%) ITIL
7 29 (8.24%) Analytics
7 29 (8.24%) Asset Management
8 27 (7.67%) ETL
9 26 (7.39%) Performance Tuning
10 24 (6.82%) Data Modelling
10 24 (6.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 23 (6.53%) Roadmaps
12 22 (6.25%) Workflow
13 21 (5.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 21 (5.97%) Test Automation
14 20 (5.68%) Continuous Improvement
14 20 (5.68%) Validation
15 19 (5.40%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 63 (17.90%) SQL
2 43 (12.22%) Python
3 36 (10.23%) Java
4 19 (5.40%) Shell Script
5 15 (4.26%) JCL
5 15 (4.26%) PL/SQL
6 14 (3.98%) COBOL
6 14 (3.98%) REXX
7 12 (3.41%) C
8 9 (2.56%) Bicep
8 9 (2.56%) C++
8 9 (2.56%) CLIST
8 9 (2.56%) JavaScript
9 8 (2.27%) Groovy
9 8 (2.27%) PowerShell
9 8 (2.27%) RPG
9 8 (2.27%) XPath
10 7 (1.99%) Embedded C
10 7 (1.99%) Embedded C++
10 7 (1.99%) Korn
Qualifications
1 78 (22.16%) Security Cleared
2 50 (14.20%) SC Cleared
3 27 (7.67%) Degree
4 15 (4.26%) Azure Certification
4 15 (4.26%) BPSS Clearance
4 15 (4.26%) Computer Science Degree
5 13 (3.69%) DV Cleared
6 11 (3.13%) CISM
7 10 (2.84%) AWS Certification
7 10 (2.84%) CISSP
8 9 (2.56%) Microsoft Certification
9 8 (2.27%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 7 (1.99%) IBM Certification
10 7 (1.99%) Master's Degree
11 5 (1.42%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 4 (1.14%) ITIL Certification
12 4 (1.14%) PMI Certification
12 4 (1.14%) PMP
13 3 (0.85%) ISTQB
13 3 (0.85%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (4.83%) QA
2 15 (4.26%) Data Quality
3 10 (2.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (2.84%) SLA
4 9 (2.56%) NIST
5 8 (2.27%) NIST 800
6 5 (1.42%) ISO 20022
6 5 (1.42%) SEPA
7 4 (1.14%) GDPR
7 4 (1.14%) PCI DSS
7 4 (1.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.57%) Basel III
8 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 19770
9 1 (0.28%) Def Stans
9 1 (0.28%) GRC
9 1 (0.28%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.28%) IEC 61508
9 1 (0.28%) IFRS
9 1 (0.28%) IFRS 9
9 1 (0.28%) ISO 15022
System Software
1 44 (12.50%) VMware Infrastructure
2 30 (8.52%) vSphere
3 24 (6.82%) NFS
4 21 (5.97%) GPFS
4 21 (5.97%) VMware ESXi
5 18 (5.11%) Docker
6 14 (3.98%) Virtual Machines
7 10 (2.84%) RACF
8 8 (2.27%) Active Directory
9 6 (1.70%) Job Entry Subsystem
9 6 (1.70%) Tivoli Directory Server
10 4 (1.14%) Hyper-V
10 4 (1.14%) KVM
11 3 (0.85%) Oracle RAC
11 3 (0.85%) Time Sharing Option
11 3 (0.85%) VMware NSX
12 1 (0.28%) Ceph
12 1 (0.28%) Firmware
12 1 (0.28%) Lustre
12 1 (0.28%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 33 (9.38%) Terraform
2 29 (8.24%) vRealize
3 24 (6.82%) Kubernetes
4 21 (5.97%) Ansible
5 14 (3.98%) VxRail
6 8 (2.27%) Control-M
7 7 (1.99%) CA Single Sign-On
7 7 (1.99%) CA Wily
7 7 (1.99%) Progress Chef
7 7 (1.99%) TIBCO Hawk
7 7 (1.99%) Tivoli
8 6 (1.70%) IBM BigFix
8 6 (1.70%) OMEGAMON
9 5 (1.42%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.42%) Tivoli NetView
10 4 (1.14%) Tivoli Storage Manager
10 4 (1.14%) vCenter Server
11 3 (0.85%) Grafana
11 3 (0.85%) Oracle RMAN
11 3 (0.85%) QRadar
Vendors
1 78 (22.16%) Oracle
2 52 (14.77%) VMware
3 44 (12.50%) Cisco
4 41 (11.65%) Microsoft
5 37 (10.51%) ServiceNow
6 24 (6.82%) SAP
7 22 (6.25%) Dell
8 21 (5.97%) AppDynamics
9 19 (5.40%) HP
10 15 (4.26%) Red Hat
11 14 (3.98%) Commvault
11 14 (3.98%) SolarWinds
12 13 (3.69%) Broadcom
12 13 (3.69%) Google
13 12 (3.41%) Software AG
13 12 (3.41%) webMethods
14 11 (3.13%) Splunk
15 10 (2.84%) EMC
16 9 (2.56%) Citrix
17 8 (2.27%) Cognos