IEC 61508 Contracts

IEC 61508
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring IEC 61508 skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited IEC 61508 over the 6 months leading up to 30 June 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Jun 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 518 581 669
Rank change year-on-year +63 +88 +176
Contract jobs citing IEC 61508 16 4 15
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.052% 0.009% 0.027%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.32% 0.068% 0.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 2 5
10th Percentile - £106 -
25th Percentile - £178 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £75 £319 £438
Median % change year-on-year -76.46% -27.16% -
75th Percentile - £476 £450
90th Percentile - £558 £503
UK excluding London median daily rate £75 £319 £438
% change year-on-year -76.46% -27.16% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 2 9
10th Percentile £61.50 £68.23 £60.92
25th Percentile - £68.94 -
Median hourly rate £65.00 £72.75 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.65% +11.92% +20.37%
75th Percentile £68.75 £76.44 -
90th Percentile £69.75 £77.08 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £72.75 £65.00
% change year-on-year -10.65% +11.92% +16.12%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

IEC 61508 falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 4,999 5,910 7,577
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.31% 13.69% 13.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,207 3,665 5,168
10th Percentile £280 £281 £300
25th Percentile £400 £401 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £510 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% -
75th Percentile £613 £625 £645
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £470 £475 £499
% change year-on-year -1.05% -4.71% +7.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 208 431 253
10th Percentile £14.78 £11.07 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £13.50 £19.50
Median hourly rate £31.57 £23.80 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +32.63% -36.53% +37.61%
75th Percentile £64.06 £49.38 £63.23
90th Percentile £83.96 £70.00 £79.95
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.00 £20.46 £37.50
% change year-on-year +41.74% -45.44% +67.45%

IEC 61508
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing IEC 61508 as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing IEC 61508.

Daily rate trend for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing IEC 61508.

Hourly rate trend for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Top 8 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IEC 61508 within the UK over the 6 months to 30 June 2025. 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 +69 16 £75 -76.46% 98
UK excluding London +50 16 £75 -76.46% 93
South West - 14 - - 17
North West +13 1 - - 9
North of England +8 1 - - 19
Work from Home - 1 - - 29
East Midlands - 1 £75 - 8
Midlands - 1 £75 - 14

IEC 61508
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Cloud Services
1 1 (6.25%) Azure
1 1 (6.25%) Cloud Computing
Development Applications
1 1 (6.25%) Eclipse
1 1 (6.25%) NetBeans
General
1 2 (12.50%) Aerospace
1 2 (12.50%) Law
2 1 (6.25%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (6.25%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 6 (37.50%) Software Engineer
2 4 (25.00%) Architect
2 4 (25.00%) Software Architect
3 3 (18.75%) C++ Developer
3 3 (18.75%) Developer
3 3 (18.75%) Java Engineer
3 3 (18.75%) Java Software Engineer
4 2 (12.50%) C++ Software Engineer
5 1 (6.25%) Principal Engineer
5 1 (6.25%) Principal Systems Engineer
5 1 (6.25%) Safety Engineer
5 1 (6.25%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (68.75%) Qt
2 10 (62.50%) Middleware
3 1 (6.25%) POSIX
Miscellaneous
1 1 (6.25%) Algorithms
1 1 (6.25%) IoT
1 1 (6.25%) Life Science
1 1 (6.25%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 2 (12.50%) Linux
2 1 (6.25%) Unix
2 1 (6.25%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 15 (93.75%) Software Engineering
2 4 (25.00%) Multithreading
2 4 (25.00%) Software Architecture
3 1 (6.25%) Agile
3 1 (6.25%) Code Quality
3 1 (6.25%) Creative Problem-Solving
3 1 (6.25%) Data Analysis
3 1 (6.25%) DevOps
3 1 (6.25%) Machine Learning
3 1 (6.25%) Mathematics
3 1 (6.25%) Physics
3 1 (6.25%) Problem-Solving
3 1 (6.25%) Regulatory Change
3 1 (6.25%) Roadmaps
3 1 (6.25%) Software Testing
3 1 (6.25%) Systems Engineering
3 1 (6.25%) Test Automation
3 1 (6.25%) Unit Testing
3 1 (6.25%) Validation
3 1 (6.25%) Waterfall
Programming Languages
1 14 (87.50%) Ada
2 12 (75.00%) C++
3 3 (18.75%) Java
4 1 (6.25%) C
Qualifications
1 8 (50.00%) Security Cleared
2 6 (37.50%) SC Cleared
3 1 (6.25%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (87.50%) Def Stans
2 12 (75.00%) MISRA
2 12 (75.00%) MISRA C
3 1 (6.25%) GDPR
3 1 (6.25%) HAZOP
3 1 (6.25%) QA
3 1 (6.25%) Software Quality Assurance
Systems Management
1 1 (6.25%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 1 (6.25%) Microsoft
1 1 (6.25%) QNX
1 1 (6.25%) Siemens