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 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
17 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 266 221 227
Rank change year-on-year -45 +6 +32
Contract jobs citing IBM 477 383 448
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.91% 1.18% 1.06%
As % of the Vendors category 2.19% 2.48% 2.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 273 251 230
10th Percentile £316 £356 £358
25th Percentile £402 £408 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £497
Median % change year-on-year - +0.55% -5.29%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £625
90th Percentile £670 £704 £753
UK excluding London median daily rate £513 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +7.89% - -5.00%
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 21,743 15,464 18,209
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.29% 47.54% 43.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,516 9,461 11,390
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £403 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +1.00% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £715 £728
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £478 £500
% change year-on-year +4.60% -4.40% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,096 756 1,049
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.75 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.24 £15.10
Median hourly rate £34.91 £25.15 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +38.79% -3.27% -35.80%
75th Percentile £65.00 £50.67 £61.30
90th Percentile £84.38 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £22.50 £25.00
% change year-on-year +51.04% -10.00% -19.35%

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 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 17 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 17 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 -57 400 £488 -2.50% 83
UK excluding London -57 250 £513 +7.89% 66
London -50 160 £475 -19.49% 28
Work from Home -74 126 £525 -3.67% 35
North of England -54 93 £514 +14.22% 12
South East -49 53 £425 -20.93% 16
Yorkshire -23 46 £563 +15.67% 4
North West -45 46 £459 +10.60% 5
South West -21 36 £426 -29.00% 14
Midlands -68 26 £406 -8.66% 10
Scotland -17 25 £550 +10.94% 5
West Midlands -59 22 £400 -14.44% 7
East of England -19 13 £575 +4.55% 8
Wales -11 4 £600 -5.14% 3
East Midlands -26 3 - - 3
North East -39 1 £375 -10.45% 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 (7.76%) WebSphere
2 30 (6.29%) Confluence
3 29 (6.08%) CICS
4 19 (3.98%) Tomcat
5 17 (3.56%) nginx
6 14 (2.94%) SharePoint
7 9 (1.89%) WebLogic
8 8 (1.68%) JBoss
9 7 (1.47%) Apache
10 5 (1.05%) SAS
10 5 (1.05%) WebSphere Application Server
11 4 (0.84%) Apache Spark
11 4 (0.84%) Camunda
11 4 (0.84%) IIS
12 3 (0.63%) Apache Airflow
12 3 (0.63%) 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 (1.05%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.63%) 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 (4.19%) Maximo
2 10 (2.10%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 9 (1.89%) Temenos T24
4 6 (1.26%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (1.05%) Cognos Controller
6 3 (0.63%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
6 3 (0.63%) SAP R/3
7 2 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
7 2 (0.42%) Teamcenter
8 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.21%) HFM
8 1 (0.21%) MetaTrader
8 1 (0.21%) Misys Equation
8 1 (0.21%) Misys Midas
8 1 (0.21%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.21%) SAP AFS
8 1 (0.21%) SAP QM
8 1 (0.21%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 67 (14.05%) AWS
2 55 (11.53%) Azure
3 26 (5.45%) GitHub
4 15 (3.14%) GitHub Copilot
4 15 (3.14%) OpenShift
5 13 (2.73%) ChatGPT
6 12 (2.52%) GCP
7 11 (2.31%) Anthropic Claude
8 10 (2.10%) Azure DevOps
8 10 (2.10%) IBM Watson
9 9 (1.89%) Amazon S3
10 7 (1.47%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (1.47%) Vertex AI
11 6 (1.26%) Azure AI
12 5 (1.05%) Amazon EC2
12 5 (1.05%) IBM Cloud
13 4 (0.84%) Azure Sentinel
13 4 (0.84%) Entra ID
13 4 (0.84%) IBM Blueworks
13 4 (0.84%) MinIO
Communications & Networking
1 23 (4.82%) Firewall
2 20 (4.19%) SSL
3 17 (3.56%) HTTP
3 17 (3.56%) SNMP
4 9 (1.89%) SAN
5 8 (1.68%) DNS
6 7 (1.47%) Network Security
6 7 (1.47%) TCP/IP
7 6 (1.26%) VSAN
8 5 (1.05%) Fibre Channel
8 5 (1.05%) Wireshark
9 4 (0.84%) Cisco Nexus
9 4 (0.84%) LAN
9 4 (0.84%) NAS
9 4 (0.84%) WAN
10 3 (0.63%) MPLS
10 3 (0.63%) SSH
11 2 (0.42%) APPN
11 2 (0.42%) DWDM
11 2 (0.42%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (10.48%) Db2
2 32 (6.71%) DataStage
3 30 (6.29%) Relational Database
4 22 (4.61%) SQL Server
5 15 (3.14%) Metadata
6 14 (2.94%) MongoDB
7 13 (2.73%) Data Warehouse
7 13 (2.73%) Oracle Database
8 12 (2.52%) Elasticsearch
9 11 (2.31%) PostgreSQL
10 9 (1.89%) NoSQL
11 8 (1.68%) Big Data
11 8 (1.68%) GIS
12 5 (1.05%) Data Lake
13 3 (0.63%) Amazon Redshift
13 3 (0.63%) Apache Hive
13 3 (0.63%) BusinessObjects
13 3 (0.63%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
14 2 (0.42%) OLTP
14 2 (0.42%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 43 (9.01%) JIRA
2 40 (8.39%) Rational DOORS
3 23 (4.82%) Jenkins
4 18 (3.77%) GitLab
5 15 (3.14%) Git
6 8 (1.68%) Rational Rhapsody
7 7 (1.47%) IBM UrbanCode
8 5 (1.05%) Ant
8 5 (1.05%) Liquibase
8 5 (1.05%) PowerDesigner
9 4 (0.84%) Eclipse
9 4 (0.84%) Gradle
9 4 (0.84%) JMeter
9 4 (0.84%) JUnit
9 4 (0.84%) Maven
9 4 (0.84%) REST Assured
9 4 (0.84%) Sonatype Nexus
10 3 (0.63%) Cucumber
10 3 (0.63%) SonarQube
10 3 (0.63%) Visual Studio
General
1 146 (30.61%) Finance
2 109 (22.85%) Social Skills
3 97 (20.34%) Banking
4 52 (10.90%) Analytical Skills
5 37 (7.76%) Public Sector
6 31 (6.50%) Legal
7 30 (6.29%) Aerospace
8 14 (2.94%) Retail
9 12 (2.52%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (1.89%) Military
11 8 (1.68%) Front Office
11 8 (1.68%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.05%) Law
14 4 (0.84%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.84%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.84%) Telecoms
15 2 (0.42%) Back Office
15 2 (0.42%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 63 (13.21%) Developer
2 57 (11.95%) Architect
3 43 (9.01%) Analyst
4 32 (6.71%) Senior
5 29 (6.08%) Administrator
6 26 (5.45%) Delivery Manager
6 26 (5.45%) Product Delivery Manager
6 26 (5.45%) Product Manager
7 22 (4.61%) Consultant
8 21 (4.40%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 21 (4.40%) Systems Manager
9 19 (3.98%) Solutions Architect
10 18 (3.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 18 (3.77%) Lead
11 17 (3.56%) Middleware Engineer
12 16 (3.35%) Designer
13 14 (2.94%) Data Engineer
14 13 (2.73%) Management Consultant
15 12 (2.52%) Software Engineer
15 12 (2.52%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 68 (14.26%) Middleware
2 41 (8.60%) REST
3 24 (5.03%) ISPF
4 23 (4.82%) JSON
5 22 (4.61%) XML
6 19 (3.98%) Spring Boot
7 18 (3.77%) Kafka
8 17 (3.56%) Spring
9 14 (2.94%) Flash
10 13 (2.73%) RabbitMQ
11 11 (2.31%) SOAP
12 9 (1.89%) WebSphere MQ
13 8 (1.68%) EJB
13 8 (1.68%) JDBC
13 8 (1.68%) PyTorch
13 8 (1.68%) Web Services
14 7 (1.47%) JMS
14 7 (1.47%) JSP
14 7 (1.47%) LangChain
14 7 (1.47%) scikit-learn
Miscellaneous
1 104 (21.80%) Mainframe
2 36 (7.55%) Data Centre
3 33 (6.92%) Clustering
4 32 (6.71%) Data Structures
5 30 (6.29%) Product Ownership
6 20 (4.19%) Replication
7 18 (3.77%) Linux Command Line
8 17 (3.56%) Cloud Native
9 16 (3.35%) Legacy Systems
10 15 (3.14%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 15 (3.14%) VSAM
11 13 (2.73%) IBM Mainframe
11 13 (2.73%) Legacy Applications
12 12 (2.52%) Management Information System
13 10 (2.10%) BYOD
13 10 (2.10%) Equity Derivative
13 10 (2.10%) Hybrid Cloud
14 9 (1.89%) Algorithms
14 9 (1.89%) Enterprise Software
14 9 (1.89%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
Operating Systems
1 109 (22.85%) Linux
2 72 (15.09%) zOS
3 55 (11.53%) Unix
4 54 (11.32%) Windows
5 42 (8.81%) AIX
6 25 (5.24%) Solaris
7 24 (5.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 20 (4.19%) Windows Server
9 13 (2.73%) Windows Server 2008
10 11 (2.31%) Windows Server 2019
11 8 (1.68%) SUSE
12 7 (1.47%) MVS
12 7 (1.47%) Windows Server 2016
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 92 (19.29%) Agile
2 74 (15.51%) CI/CD
3 62 (13.00%) DevOps
4 60 (12.58%) Migration
5 56 (11.74%) Continuous Improvement
6 54 (11.32%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 50 (10.48%) Problem-Solving
8 49 (10.27%) ITIL
8 49 (10.27%) Roadmaps
9 47 (9.85%) ETL
10 45 (9.43%) Stakeholder Management
11 41 (8.60%) Computer Science
11 41 (8.60%) Test Automation
12 36 (7.55%) AI
12 36 (7.55%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
12 36 (7.55%) Systems Engineering
13 35 (7.34%) Configuration Management
14 34 (7.13%) Change Management
15 33 (6.92%) UML
16 32 (6.71%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 99 (20.75%) SQL
2 83 (17.40%) Python
3 71 (14.88%) Java
4 38 (7.97%) PowerShell
5 25 (5.24%) Bash
6 21 (4.40%) JCL
6 21 (4.40%) PL/SQL
7 20 (4.19%) COBOL
8 17 (3.56%) REXX
9 14 (2.94%) Search Processing Language
10 13 (2.73%) C++
11 12 (2.52%) Shell Script
12 11 (2.31%) JavaScript
13 9 (1.89%) C
14 8 (1.68%) C#
15 7 (1.47%) Ada
15 7 (1.47%) Assembly Language
15 7 (1.47%) CLIST
15 7 (1.47%) Perl
16 5 (1.05%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 127 (26.62%) Security Cleared
2 83 (17.40%) SC Cleared
3 50 (10.48%) Degree
4 13 (2.73%) Computer Science Degree
5 11 (2.31%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.68%) CISSP
7 7 (1.47%) AWS Certification
7 7 (1.47%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.26%) Azure Certification
8 6 (1.26%) IBM Certification
8 6 (1.26%) Master's Degree
9 5 (1.05%) CISM
10 4 (0.84%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 4 (0.84%) CCSP
10 4 (0.84%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (0.63%) CEH
11 3 (0.63%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.63%) PMP
12 2 (0.42%) CISMP
12 2 (0.42%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (7.13%) Data Quality
2 12 (2.52%) QA
3 9 (1.89%) SLA
4 8 (1.68%) GDPR
5 6 (1.26%) ISO 20022
6 5 (1.05%) NIST
6 5 (1.05%) SEPA
7 4 (0.84%) GRC
7 4 (0.84%) ISO 15022
7 4 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.42%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.42%) GAAP
8 2 (0.42%) IFRS
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 33 (6.92%) Docker
2 26 (5.45%) RACF
3 25 (5.24%) VMware Infrastructure
4 19 (3.98%) VMware ESXi
5 18 (3.77%) NFS
6 16 (3.35%) Virtual Machines
7 13 (2.73%) GPFS
8 12 (2.52%) Time Sharing Option
9 10 (2.10%) vSphere
10 9 (1.89%) Oracle RAC
11 8 (1.68%) Firmware
12 7 (1.47%) Hyper-V
13 6 (1.26%) ACF2
13 6 (1.26%) KVM
14 3 (0.63%) Active Directory
14 3 (0.63%) EMC RecoverPoint
14 3 (0.63%) PowerHA
15 2 (0.42%) Job Entry Subsystem
15 2 (0.42%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
15 2 (0.42%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 29 (6.08%) Ansible
2 23 (4.82%) OMEGAMON
3 21 (4.40%) Tivoli
4 20 (4.19%) Terraform
5 17 (3.56%) Nagios
5 17 (3.56%) ZABBIX
6 16 (3.35%) Kubernetes
6 16 (3.35%) Netcool
7 14 (2.94%) OpenView
7 14 (2.94%) Tivoli Monitoring
8 11 (2.31%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 9 (1.89%) vRealize
10 8 (1.68%) Oracle RMAN
11 6 (1.26%) IBM BigFix
11 6 (1.26%) vCenter Server
11 6 (1.26%) VxRail
12 5 (1.05%) Grafana
12 5 (1.05%) Tivoli NetView
13 4 (0.84%) CA Endevor
14 3 (0.63%) QRadar
Vendors
1 89 (18.66%) Oracle
2 44 (9.22%) VMware
3 36 (7.55%) Microsoft
4 30 (6.29%) Splunk
5 27 (5.66%) SAP
6 26 (5.45%) Red Hat
7 24 (5.03%) Cisco
8 22 (4.61%) HP
8 22 (4.61%) ServiceNow
9 20 (4.19%) BMC
10 16 (3.35%) SolarWinds
11 15 (3.14%) Broadcom
12 14 (2.94%) Dell
12 14 (2.94%) Google
13 13 (2.73%) Brocade
13 13 (2.73%) MathWorks
14 12 (2.52%) Sybase
15 10 (2.10%) Cognos
16 9 (1.89%) Temenos
17 8 (1.68%) Siemens