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 23 September 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
23 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 266 246 212
Rank change year-on-year -20 -34 +16
Contract jobs citing IBM 531 354 438
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.97% 1.08% 1.16%
As % of the Vendors category 2.32% 2.28% 2.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 334 233 209
10th Percentile £350 £351 £339
25th Percentile £425 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £545 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.26% +14.74% -9.52%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £601
90th Percentile £692 £688 £742
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 31
10th Percentile £34.87 £25.04 £27.00
25th Percentile £60.81 £25.12 £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £41.33 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +57.29% -40.96% +7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £71.75 -
90th Percentile - £73.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £63.75 £70.00
% change year-on-year +1.96% -8.93% +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 22,914 15,542 16,732
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.77% 47.53% 44.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,985 9,534 10,004
10th Percentile £311 £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 £616 £613 £625
90th Percentile £706 £700 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,302 796 645
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.72 £14.50
25th Percentile £16.53 £17.59 £15.62
Median hourly rate £26.00 £25.15 £31.50
Median % change year-on-year +3.38% -20.16% -28.21%
75th Percentile £60.25 £43.38 £64.25
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.75 £21.18 £30.00
% change year-on-year +21.61% -29.42% -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 23 September 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 23 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IBM in the UK

IBM
Top 15 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 23 September 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 -12 454 £500 -9.09% 385
UK excluding London -67 246 £500 +5.26% 230
London +7 212 £525 -12.50% 161
Work from Home -54 129 £547 -12.48% 198
North of England -52 94 £513 +13.25% 53
Yorkshire -4 62 £514 +8.77% 24
South East -59 36 £460 -17.30% 42
Scotland -15 31 £600 +38.89% 22
South West -21 31 £550 -8.33% 33
North West -66 31 £455 +0.66% 23
Midlands -62 28 £500 +13.77% 37
West Midlands -39 26 £500 -13.04% 12
East of England -21 24 £625 +13.64% 29
Wales -11 3 £600 -5.14% 5
East Midlands -34 1 - - 25

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 (6.97%) Confluence
2 35 (6.59%) WebSphere
3 26 (4.90%) CICS
4 19 (3.58%) SharePoint
5 16 (3.01%) Tomcat
6 14 (2.64%) nginx
7 11 (2.07%) Camunda
8 9 (1.69%) WebLogic
9 8 (1.51%) SAS
10 7 (1.32%) Apache
10 7 (1.32%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 6 (1.13%) JBoss
11 6 (1.13%) WebSphere Application Server
12 5 (0.94%) IBM Transformation Extender
13 3 (0.56%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.56%) IBM HTTP Server
13 3 (0.56%) IIS
13 3 (0.56%) MQSeries
13 3 (0.56%) Oracle HTTP Server
13 3 (0.56%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 9 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.32%) Windchill
3 6 (1.13%) Microsoft Office
4 2 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.19%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 27 (5.08%) Maximo
2 18 (3.39%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 7 (1.32%) Teamcenter
4 5 (0.94%) Cognos Controller
4 5 (0.94%) Temenos T24
5 3 (0.56%) IBM Operational Decision Manager
6 2 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
6 2 (0.38%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 1 (0.19%) Actimize
7 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.19%) HFM
7 1 (0.19%) Misys Equation
7 1 (0.19%) Misys Midas
7 1 (0.19%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.19%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 88 (16.57%) Azure
2 83 (15.63%) AWS
3 39 (7.34%) GCP
4 36 (6.78%) GitHub
5 25 (4.71%) OpenShift
6 14 (2.64%) GitHub Copilot
7 13 (2.45%) Anthropic Claude
8 12 (2.26%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (2.26%) GitHub Actions
9 11 (2.07%) ChatGPT
10 10 (1.88%) IBM Watson
11 9 (1.69%) Azure Service Bus
11 9 (1.69%) Boomi
11 9 (1.69%) iPaaS
11 9 (1.69%) Power Platform
12 8 (1.51%) Entra ID
12 8 (1.51%) IBM Blueworks
12 8 (1.51%) Microsoft Copilot
13 7 (1.32%) Amazon S3
14 6 (1.13%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.90%) HTTP
2 22 (4.14%) SSL
3 11 (2.07%) Firewall
4 10 (1.88%) SAN
4 10 (1.88%) SNMP
5 9 (1.69%) Network Security
5 9 (1.69%) TCP/IP
6 6 (1.13%) DNS
6 6 (1.13%) Internet
6 6 (1.13%) SSH
6 6 (1.13%) Wireshark
7 5 (0.94%) Cisco Nexus
8 4 (0.75%) Fibre Channel
8 4 (0.75%) VSAN
9 3 (0.56%) NAS
9 3 (0.56%) WAN
10 2 (0.38%) DMZ
10 2 (0.38%) Ethernet
10 2 (0.38%) IPv4
10 2 (0.38%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (8.85%) Db2
2 34 (6.40%) Relational Database
3 32 (6.03%) DataStage
4 25 (4.71%) SQL Server
5 20 (3.77%) Data Warehouse
6 17 (3.20%) Oracle Database
7 15 (2.82%) Metadata
7 15 (2.82%) MongoDB
8 10 (1.88%) Tableau
9 9 (1.69%) Elasticsearch
10 7 (1.32%) GIS
10 7 (1.32%) NoSQL
10 7 (1.32%) PostgreSQL
10 7 (1.32%) Power BI
11 5 (0.94%) Big Data
11 5 (0.94%) Data Lake
12 4 (0.75%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
12 4 (0.75%) IBM InfoSphere
13 2 (0.38%) Redis
13 2 (0.38%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 62 (11.68%) JIRA
2 44 (8.29%) Jenkins
3 32 (6.03%) Git
4 24 (4.52%) GitLab
5 21 (3.95%) Rational DOORS
6 19 (3.58%) JMeter
7 16 (3.01%) LoadRunner
8 15 (2.82%) SonarQube
9 14 (2.64%) Postman
9 14 (2.64%) SoapUI
10 11 (2.07%) Gradle
10 11 (2.07%) IBM UrbanCode
10 11 (2.07%) Sonatype Nexus
11 10 (1.88%) eggPlant
11 10 (1.88%) Rational Rhapsody
12 9 (1.69%) JUnit
12 9 (1.69%) Maven
12 9 (1.69%) REST Assured
12 9 (1.69%) Selenium
13 8 (1.51%) Mockito
General
1 199 (37.48%) Finance
2 140 (26.37%) Social Skills
3 138 (25.99%) Banking
4 71 (13.37%) Analytical Skills
5 29 (5.46%) Legal
6 21 (3.95%) Public Sector
7 18 (3.39%) Retail
8 15 (2.82%) Manufacturing
9 11 (2.07%) Military
10 10 (1.88%) Documentation Skills
11 7 (1.32%) Front Office
11 7 (1.32%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.32%) Spanish Language
12 6 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (0.94%) Aerospace
13 5 (0.94%) Law
14 4 (0.75%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.75%) Organisational Skills
15 3 (0.56%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 84 (15.82%) Developer
2 59 (11.11%) Architect
3 49 (9.23%) Analyst
4 44 (8.29%) Senior
5 37 (6.97%) Lead
6 27 (5.08%) Administrator
6 27 (5.08%) Solutions Architect
7 26 (4.90%) Consultant
8 20 (3.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 17 (3.20%) Automation Engineer
9 17 (3.20%) Middleware Engineer
10 16 (3.01%) Java Developer
11 15 (2.82%) Business Analyst
11 15 (2.82%) DataStage Developer
12 14 (2.64%) CICS Engineer
13 12 (2.26%) Applications Support
13 12 (2.26%) Oracle Developer
13 12 (2.26%) Programmer
13 12 (2.26%) Test Engineer
14 11 (2.07%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 95 (17.89%) Middleware
2 61 (11.49%) Kafka
3 51 (9.60%) REST
4 46 (8.66%) XML
5 39 (7.34%) JSON
6 31 (5.84%) SOAP
7 30 (5.65%) Spring Boot
8 28 (5.27%) ISPF
9 23 (4.33%) Spring
10 19 (3.58%) HTML
11 18 (3.39%) RabbitMQ
12 17 (3.20%) .NET
13 14 (2.64%) OAuth
13 14 (2.64%) Terraform
14 13 (2.45%) SAML
14 13 (2.45%) Web Services
15 12 (2.26%) GraphQL
15 12 (2.26%) Swagger
16 11 (2.07%) JWT
16 11 (2.07%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 111 (20.90%) Mainframe
2 29 (5.46%) Clustering
3 24 (4.52%) Cloud Native
4 23 (4.33%) Data Centre
5 22 (4.14%) Replication
6 21 (3.95%) Enterprise Software
7 19 (3.58%) Hybrid Cloud
8 17 (3.20%) AS400
8 17 (3.20%) Distributed Systems
9 15 (2.82%) Data Structures
9 15 (2.82%) Onboarding
10 14 (2.64%) Legacy Applications
10 14 (2.64%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (2.26%) Data Protection Act
11 12 (2.26%) iSeries
11 12 (2.26%) Product Ownership
11 12 (2.26%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 11 (2.07%) IBM Mainframe
13 10 (1.88%) Management Information System
14 9 (1.69%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 97 (18.27%) Linux
2 83 (15.63%) zOS
3 57 (10.73%) Unix
4 39 (7.34%) Windows
5 22 (4.14%) AIX
6 20 (3.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (2.07%) Solaris
8 8 (1.51%) SUSE
8 8 (1.51%) Windows Server
9 7 (1.32%) MVS
9 7 (1.32%) Windows Server 2008
10 5 (0.94%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.56%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.19%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.19%) OpenVMS
12 1 (0.19%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.19%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.19%) VMS
12 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (18.64%) CI/CD
2 92 (17.33%) Agile
3 84 (15.82%) Migration
3 84 (15.82%) Stakeholder Management
4 72 (13.56%) DevOps
5 69 (12.99%) Test Automation
6 66 (12.43%) Problem-Solving
7 62 (11.68%) ITIL
8 55 (10.36%) Continuous Improvement
9 50 (9.42%) ETL
10 49 (9.23%) Performance Tuning
10 49 (9.23%) Roadmaps
11 47 (8.85%) Validation
12 45 (8.47%) Change Management
13 41 (7.72%) Root Cause Analysis
13 41 (7.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 40 (7.53%) Scrum
15 39 (7.34%) AI
16 35 (6.59%) Performance Optimisation
17 33 (6.21%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 112 (21.09%) SQL
2 97 (18.27%) Python
3 89 (16.76%) Java
4 42 (7.91%) JavaScript
5 25 (4.71%) JCL
6 23 (4.33%) PowerShell
7 22 (4.14%) PL/SQL
8 20 (3.77%) Shell Script
9 17 (3.20%) Bash
9 17 (3.20%) REXX
10 16 (3.01%) C++
10 16 (3.01%) COBOL
11 14 (2.64%) C#
12 12 (2.26%) C
13 10 (1.88%) Perl
14 8 (1.51%) Search Processing Language
15 7 (1.32%) Assembly Language
15 7 (1.32%) CLIST
15 7 (1.32%) TypeScript
16 5 (0.94%) RPG
Qualifications
1 108 (20.34%) Security Cleared
2 87 (16.38%) SC Cleared
3 43 (8.10%) Degree
4 24 (4.52%) Computer Science Degree
5 12 (2.26%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (1.51%) CISSP
6 8 (1.51%) DV Cleared
7 6 (1.13%) AWS Certification
7 6 (1.13%) ISTQB
8 4 (0.75%) Azure Certification
8 4 (0.75%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (0.75%) PMI Certification
8 4 (0.75%) PMP
9 3 (0.56%) ACCA
9 3 (0.56%) CIMA
9 3 (0.56%) CISM
9 3 (0.56%) ISEB
9 3 (0.56%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 2 (0.38%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 2 (0.38%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (6.40%) Data Quality
2 16 (3.01%) QA
3 10 (1.88%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.51%) ISO 15022
5 7 (1.32%) GDPR
6 6 (1.13%) NIST
7 5 (0.94%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.75%) SLA
9 3 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 19770
9 3 (0.56%) SEPA
10 2 (0.38%) GAAP
10 2 (0.38%) GRC
10 2 (0.38%) IFRS
10 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 2 (0.38%) PMO
11 1 (0.19%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.19%) ISO 26262
11 1 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.19%) MIL-STD-1553
11 1 (0.19%) TARGET2
System Software
1 47 (8.85%) Docker
2 30 (5.65%) RACF
3 23 (4.33%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (2.64%) NFS
4 14 (2.64%) Time Sharing Option
5 12 (2.26%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (2.26%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (2.07%) GPFS
7 8 (1.51%) vSphere
8 7 (1.32%) ACF2
8 7 (1.32%) Firmware
9 6 (1.13%) Oracle RAC
10 4 (0.75%) Active Directory
10 4 (0.75%) PowerHA
11 3 (0.56%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 2 (0.38%) Hyper-V
13 1 (0.19%) oVirt
13 1 (0.19%) RHEV
13 1 (0.19%) SRDF
13 1 (0.19%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 41 (7.72%) Kubernetes
2 29 (5.46%) Ansible
3 25 (4.71%) OMEGAMON
4 22 (4.14%) Tivoli
5 13 (2.45%) Tivoli Monitoring
6 11 (2.07%) Grafana
6 11 (2.07%) Netcool
6 11 (2.07%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 10 (1.88%) Nagios
7 10 (1.88%) ZABBIX
8 8 (1.51%) Control-M
9 7 (1.32%) OpenView
10 6 (1.13%) HP Fortify
10 6 (1.13%) vRealize
11 5 (0.94%) Oracle RMAN
11 5 (0.94%) QRadar
12 4 (0.75%) Tivoli NetView
12 4 (0.75%) VxRail
13 3 (0.56%) HP ALM
13 3 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 116 (21.85%) Oracle
2 57 (10.73%) Microsoft
3 36 (6.78%) SAP
4 33 (6.21%) VMware
5 32 (6.03%) Splunk
6 30 (5.65%) Google
7 24 (4.52%) ServiceNow
8 22 (4.14%) Red Hat
9 21 (3.95%) Cisco
10 19 (3.58%) Broadcom
11 17 (3.20%) Dynatrace
12 15 (2.82%) Siemens
13 14 (2.64%) Cognos
14 13 (2.45%) Databricks
14 13 (2.45%) EMC
14 13 (2.45%) HP
15 12 (2.26%) Dell
15 12 (2.26%) Informatica
15 12 (2.26%) Sybase
16 11 (2.07%) NetApp