IEC 61508 Contract Job Trends

IEC 61508
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring IEC 61508 skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 4 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 670 529 567
Rank change year-on-year -141 +38 +71
Contract jobs citing IEC 61508 13 19 3
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.024% 0.059% 0.008%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.14% 0.35% 0.059%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 7 2
10th Percentile £529 £470 £106
25th Percentile £534 £475 £178
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £563 £500 £319
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% +56.91% -27.16%
75th Percentile £584 £575 £476
90th Percentile £586 £600 £558
UK excluding London median daily rate £563 £550 £319
% change year-on-year +2.27% +72.60% -27.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 10 1
10th Percentile - £61.25 -
25th Percentile £61.00 £63.13 £67.75
Median hourly rate £63.00 £65.00 £70.50
Median % change year-on-year -3.08% -7.80% +8.46%
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.44 £73.25
90th Percentile - £70.00 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £63.00 £65.00 £70.50
% change year-on-year -3.08% -7.80% +8.46%

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 9,408 5,500 5,125
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.54% 17.02% 13.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,979 3,522 3,123
10th Percentile £325 £290 £286
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year - -1.96% -2.86%
75th Percentile £600 £610 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £485
% change year-on-year +3.16% -2.06% -3.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 586 257 271
10th Percentile £13.86 £13.60 £12.00
25th Percentile £17.03 £16.92 £14.73
Median hourly rate £34.49 £30.00 £26.56
Median % change year-on-year +14.97% +12.95% -23.57%
75th Percentile £68.56 £62.25 £59.38
90th Percentile £77.75 £82.98 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.07 £27.59 £25.00
% change year-on-year +30.74% +10.36% -27.54%

IEC 61508
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing IEC 61508 relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

IEC 61508 job vacancy trend in the UK

IEC 61508
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Top 6 Contract Job 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 4 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
UK excluding London -98 13 £563 +2.27% 49
England -119 13 £563 +12.50% 59
South West -47 9 £550 - 9
Work from Home -56 5 - - 29
East of England - 3 - - 8
South East - 1 £575 - 9

IEC 61508
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:

Applications
1 3 (23.08%) Windchill
Development Applications
1 4 (30.77%) Rational DOORS
General
1 8 (61.54%) Aerospace
2 6 (46.15%) Social Skills
3 3 (23.08%) Automotive
3 3 (23.08%) Electronics
3 3 (23.08%) Military
Job Titles
1 9 (69.23%) Software Engineer
2 3 (23.08%) C++ Software Engineer
2 3 (23.08%) Electrical Engineer
2 3 (23.08%) Java Engineer
2 3 (23.08%) Java Software Engineer
2 3 (23.08%) Lead
3 1 (7.69%) Delivery Manager
3 1 (7.69%) Product Delivery Manager
3 1 (7.69%) Product Manager
3 1 (7.69%) Safety Engineer
3 1 (7.69%) Software Safety Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (38.46%) Middleware
2 3 (23.08%) Qt
Miscellaneous
1 6 (46.15%) Self-Motivation
2 3 (23.08%) Analogue Electronics
2 3 (23.08%) FPGA
Processes & Methodologies
1 9 (69.23%) Software Engineering
2 4 (30.77%) FMEA
2 4 (30.77%) Problem-Solving
2 4 (30.77%) Stakeholder Management
3 3 (23.08%) Collaborative Engineering
3 3 (23.08%) PLM
3 3 (23.08%) Schematic Capture
3 3 (23.08%) V-Model
4 2 (15.38%) Time Management
4 2 (15.38%) Validation
5 1 (7.69%) Agile
5 1 (7.69%) Computer Science
5 1 (7.69%) Configuration Management
5 1 (7.69%) Digital Engineering
5 1 (7.69%) FMECA
5 1 (7.69%) Multithreading
5 1 (7.69%) Requirements Management
5 1 (7.69%) Safety Engineering
5 1 (7.69%) SDLC
5 1 (7.69%) Verification and Validation
Programming Languages
1 9 (69.23%) Ada
2 3 (23.08%) C++
2 3 (23.08%) Java
Qualifications
1 7 (53.85%) Degree
2 6 (46.15%) SC Cleared
2 6 (46.15%) Security Cleared
3 4 (30.77%) BPSS Clearance
4 3 (23.08%) Chartered Engineer
4 3 (23.08%) HNC
4 3 (23.08%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (46.15%) Def Stans
2 3 (23.08%) MISRA
2 3 (23.08%) MISRA C
3 1 (7.69%) DO-254
3 1 (7.69%) ISO 26262
Systems Management
1 6 (46.15%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 3 (23.08%) EMC
2 1 (7.69%) IBM