Performance Optimisation Contracts

Performance Optimisation
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Performance Optimisation skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Performance Optimisation over the 6 months leading up to 19 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 237 373 496
Rank change year-on-year +136 +123 +164
Contract jobs citing Performance Optimisation 314 199 193
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.07% 0.47% 0.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.18% 0.54% 0.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 206 131 125
10th Percentile £380 £413 £330
25th Percentile £431 £506 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £588 £500
Median % change year-on-year -14.89% +17.50% -16.67%
75th Percentile £613 £700 £650
90th Percentile £717 £788 £734
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £550 £500
% change year-on-year -13.64% +10.00% -18.37%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 2 4
10th Percentile - £55.49 £42.24
25th Percentile - £56.22 £48.60
Median hourly rate £22.48 £57.57 £52.13
Median % change year-on-year -60.95% +10.44% +7.48%
75th Percentile - £59.04 -
90th Percentile - £59.85 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.48 £57.57 £52.13
% change year-on-year -60.95% +10.44% +6.93%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Performance Optimisation falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 26,620 36,673 51,121
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.98% 86.13% 89.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,067 23,631 35,432
10th Percentile £305 £300 £325
25th Percentile £410 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -4.55% +3.77%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - +4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,100 2,440 1,683
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.75 £10.63
25th Percentile £18.13 £15.99 £16.01
Median hourly rate £28.00 £36.05 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.32% +0.13% +40.19%
75th Percentile £60.00 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £37.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -32.93% +7.14% +75.00%

Performance Optimisation
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Performance Optimisation as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Performance Optimisation in the UK

Performance Optimisation
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Performance Optimisation.

Daily rate trend for Performance Optimisation in the UK

Performance Optimisation
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Performance Optimisation over the 6 months to 19 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Performance Optimisation in the UK

Performance Optimisation
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Performance Optimisation.

Hourly rate trend for Performance Optimisation in the UK

Performance Optimisation
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Performance Optimisation within the UK over the 6 months to 19 May 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 +121 262 £502 -14.55% 559
London +122 172 £525 -12.06% 313
Work from Home +95 110 £475 -20.83% 342
UK excluding London +78 95 £475 -13.64% 331
North of England +40 35 £475 +11.76% 108
South East +32 22 £465 -22.50% 113
North West +27 21 £475 +11.76% 66
Yorkshire +22 13 £513 -6.82% 30
Scotland - 12 £463 - 9
East of England +29 8 £475 - 21
Midlands +18 7 £540 -8.09% 44
South West +25 5 £500 -6.98% 18
Northern Ireland - 5 £475 - 7
East Midlands +12 4 £443 -25.47% 10
West Midlands +5 3 £550 +52.78% 33
Wales - 1 £650 - 15
North East - 1 £430 - 14

Performance Optimisation
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:

Application Platforms
1 7 (2.23%) Anypoint
1 7 (2.23%) Apache Spark
1 7 (2.23%) Confluence
1 7 (2.23%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.91%) Apache Airflow
3 5 (1.59%) Apache
3 5 (1.59%) Moodle
3 5 (1.59%) Mule
4 4 (1.27%) SAS
5 3 (0.96%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.64%) CMS
6 2 (0.64%) MQSeries
6 2 (0.64%) PowerExchange
7 1 (0.32%) Gunicorn
7 1 (0.32%) Oracle Service Bus
7 1 (0.32%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.32%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 3 (0.96%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.64%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.32%) Adobe XD
3 1 (0.32%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 6 (1.91%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.96%) Oracle Assets
2 3 (0.96%) Oracle Cash Management
2 3 (0.96%) Oracle General Ledger
2 3 (0.96%) Oracle Payables
2 3 (0.96%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.64%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.64%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.64%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.32%) Aladdin
4 1 (0.32%) BambooHR
4 1 (0.32%) BASE24
4 1 (0.32%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.32%) iTrent
4 1 (0.32%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.32%) Shopify
4 1 (0.32%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 89 (28.34%) AWS
2 79 (25.16%) Azure
3 33 (10.51%) GCP
4 21 (6.69%) Serverless
5 18 (5.73%) Power Platform
6 17 (5.41%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (5.10%) Amazon S3
7 16 (5.10%) GitHub
8 13 (4.14%) AWS Lambda
9 12 (3.82%) Snowflake
10 11 (3.50%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (2.23%) Azure Data Factory
11 7 (2.23%) Azure Functions
11 7 (2.23%) dbt
12 6 (1.91%) Amazon Cognito
12 6 (1.91%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (1.91%) Azure Logic Apps
12 6 (1.91%) Google Compute Engine
12 6 (1.91%) Microsoft 365
12 6 (1.91%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.10%) Firewall
2 11 (3.50%) 5G
2 11 (3.50%) LTE
2 11 (3.50%) Network Security
2 11 (3.50%) Radio Access Network
2 11 (3.50%) VPN
3 9 (2.87%) 4G
3 9 (2.87%) 5G NR
3 9 (2.87%) HTTPS
4 8 (2.55%) BGP
4 8 (2.55%) OSPF
4 8 (2.55%) TCP/IP
5 7 (2.23%) MPLS
5 7 (2.23%) WAN
6 5 (1.59%) DNS
7 4 (1.27%) IPsec
7 4 (1.27%) SD-WAN
8 3 (0.96%) VLAN
9 2 (0.64%) EIGRP
9 2 (0.64%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (7.01%) Data Warehouse
2 18 (5.73%) PostgreSQL
3 16 (5.10%) Oracle Database
3 16 (5.10%) Power BI
3 16 (5.10%) Relational Database
3 16 (5.10%) SQL Server
4 13 (4.14%) Data Lake
4 13 (4.14%) NoSQL
4 13 (4.14%) Oracle Reports
5 12 (3.82%) Big Data
6 10 (3.18%) MySQL
7 9 (2.87%) Hadoop
8 7 (2.23%) Amazon Redshift
8 7 (2.23%) Azure SQL Database
8 7 (2.23%) BigQuery
9 6 (1.91%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.91%) Redis
10 5 (1.59%) Amazon Aurora
10 5 (1.59%) Metadata
10 5 (1.59%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 30 (9.55%) Git
2 15 (4.78%) Jenkins
3 10 (3.18%) GitLab
4 9 (2.87%) Cypress.io
5 6 (1.91%) JIRA
5 6 (1.91%) Storybook
6 5 (1.59%) PHPUnit
6 5 (1.59%) Postman
6 5 (1.59%) webpack
7 3 (0.96%) JUnit
8 2 (0.64%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.64%) Grunt
8 2 (0.64%) Vite
9 1 (0.32%) Android Studio
9 1 (0.32%) Flyway
9 1 (0.32%) Gerrit
9 1 (0.32%) Jaeger
9 1 (0.32%) Liquibase
9 1 (0.32%) Poetry
9 1 (0.32%) SonarQube
General
1 93 (29.62%) Social Skills
2 58 (18.47%) Finance
3 46 (14.65%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (6.69%) Banking
5 19 (6.05%) Public Sector
6 17 (5.41%) Telecoms
7 11 (3.50%) Investment Banking
8 10 (3.18%) Front Office
8 10 (3.18%) Marketing
9 7 (2.23%) Retail
10 5 (1.59%) Presentation Skills
10 5 (1.59%) Retail Banking
11 4 (1.27%) Games
12 3 (0.96%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.96%) Legal
12 3 (0.96%) Manufacturing
13 2 (0.64%) Documentation Skills
13 2 (0.64%) French Language
13 2 (0.64%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 102 (32.48%) Developer
2 45 (14.33%) Architect
2 45 (14.33%) Senior
3 23 (7.32%) Data Engineer
4 22 (7.01%) Senior Developer
5 18 (5.73%) Consultant
6 16 (5.10%) Software Engineer
7 13 (4.14%) React Developer
8 12 (3.82%) Java Developer
9 11 (3.50%) Lead
9 11 (3.50%) Python Developer
10 10 (3.18%) Android Developer
10 10 (3.18%) Data Architect
11 9 (2.87%) DevOps Engineer
12 8 (2.55%) Full-Stack Developer
12 8 (2.55%) Solutions Architect
13 7 (2.23%) Administrator
13 7 (2.23%) MuleSoft Developer
14 6 (1.91%) Database Engineer
14 6 (1.91%) DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (12.42%) RESTful
2 29 (9.24%) React
3 22 (7.01%) CSS
3 22 (7.01%) XML
4 19 (6.05%) GraphQL
5 18 (5.73%) JSON
6 17 (5.41%) .NET
6 17 (5.41%) SOAP
7 16 (5.10%) AngularJS
7 16 (5.10%) REST
8 15 (4.78%) OAuth
9 14 (4.46%) HTML
10 13 (4.14%) Node.js
11 12 (3.82%) Kafka
12 11 (3.50%) Jest
13 10 (3.18%) Redux
14 9 (2.87%) Android SDK
14 9 (2.87%) Next.js
15 8 (2.55%) Vue
15 8 (2.55%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 21 (6.69%) Mobile App
2 18 (5.73%) Cloud Native
3 13 (4.14%) Algorithms
3 13 (4.14%) Distributed Systems
3 13 (4.14%) Team-Oriented Environment
4 12 (3.82%) Data Structures
5 10 (3.18%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.87%) Hybrid Cloud
7 7 (2.23%) Hedge funds
7 7 (2.23%) Self-Motivation
8 6 (1.91%) PKI
8 6 (1.91%) Taxonomies
9 5 (1.59%) Data Protection Act
9 5 (1.59%) Distributed Architecture
9 5 (1.59%) e-Learning
9 5 (1.59%) Fixed Income
9 5 (1.59%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 5 (1.59%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.59%) Mainframe
9 5 (1.59%) VLE
Operating Systems
1 28 (8.92%) Linux
2 15 (4.78%) Android
3 8 (2.55%) Unix
4 4 (1.27%) Apple iOS
4 4 (1.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 4 (1.27%) Windows
5 3 (0.96%) Embedded Linux
5 3 (0.96%) zOS
6 2 (0.64%) Rocky
6 2 (0.64%) Solaris
7 1 (0.32%) AIX
7 1 (0.32%) OpenWrt
7 1 (0.32%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.32%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (31.21%) CI/CD
2 96 (30.57%) Problem-Solving
3 84 (26.75%) Agile
4 67 (21.34%) DevOps
5 52 (16.56%) Analytics
6 40 (12.74%) Infrastructure as Code
7 39 (12.42%) Performance Tuning
8 38 (12.10%) Mentoring
9 37 (11.78%) Data Pipeline
10 35 (11.15%) High Availability
11 34 (10.83%) ETL
11 34 (10.83%) User Experience
12 33 (10.51%) Software Engineering
13 32 (10.19%) Technical Leadership
14 29 (9.24%) Data Modelling
14 29 (9.24%) Microservices
15 28 (8.92%) Migration
16 26 (8.28%) Business Intelligence
17 24 (7.64%) Containerisation
17 24 (7.64%) Front End Development
Programming Languages
1 76 (24.20%) Python
2 65 (20.70%) SQL
3 43 (13.69%) JavaScript
4 38 (12.10%) Java
5 20 (6.37%) TypeScript
6 18 (5.73%) C++
7 17 (5.41%) PowerShell
8 15 (4.78%) Kotlin
9 14 (4.46%) Bash
9 14 (4.46%) C#
10 8 (2.55%) PL/SQL
11 7 (2.23%) Scala
12 6 (1.91%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 6 (1.91%) PHP
12 6 (1.91%) Shell Script
13 5 (1.59%) C
13 5 (1.59%) DataWeave
13 5 (1.59%) JCL
14 4 (1.27%) Go
14 4 (1.27%) Swift
Qualifications
1 50 (15.92%) Security Cleared
2 39 (12.42%) SC Cleared
3 28 (8.92%) Degree
4 15 (4.78%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (3.18%) Master's Degree
6 6 (1.91%) BPSS Clearance
6 6 (1.91%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (1.59%) Azure Certification
8 4 (1.27%) AWS Certification
8 4 (1.27%) CCNP
8 4 (1.27%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (0.96%) CCIE
9 3 (0.96%) DV Cleared
10 2 (0.64%) EMC Certification
10 2 (0.64%) JNCIE
10 2 (0.64%) OCP
10 2 (0.64%) Oracle Certification
10 2 (0.64%) RHCE
10 2 (0.64%) SAP Certification
10 2 (0.64%) Sun Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (7.32%) Accessibility
2 13 (4.14%) Data Quality
3 11 (3.50%) GDPR
4 7 (2.23%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.59%) QA
6 4 (1.27%) HIPAA
6 4 (1.27%) WCAG
7 2 (0.64%) Actionable Recommendations
7 2 (0.64%) Disclosure Scotland
7 2 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (0.64%) NCSC
7 2 (0.64%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.32%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 1 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.32%) Government Security Classifications
8 1 (0.32%) ITGC
System Software
1 41 (13.06%) Docker
2 6 (1.91%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.32%) Embedded Firmware
4 1 (0.32%) Firmware
4 1 (0.32%) Job Entry Subsystem
4 1 (0.32%) KVM
4 1 (0.32%) Microcode
4 1 (0.32%) NFS
4 1 (0.32%) QEMU
4 1 (0.32%) Samba
4 1 (0.32%) Time Sharing Option
4 1 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.32%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.32%) Xen
Systems Management
1 48 (15.29%) Terraform
2 38 (12.10%) Kubernetes
3 26 (8.28%) Ansible
4 9 (2.87%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
5 7 (2.23%) Prometheus
5 7 (2.23%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (1.91%) Data Guard
7 4 (1.27%) FortiGate
7 4 (1.27%) Grafana
7 4 (1.27%) NSN NetAct
8 3 (0.96%) Puppet
9 2 (0.64%) BMC PATROL
9 2 (0.64%) CloudHub
9 2 (0.64%) Galera Cluster
9 2 (0.64%) Kibana
9 2 (0.64%) Microsoft Intune
9 2 (0.64%) Nagios
9 2 (0.64%) Oracle RMAN
9 2 (0.64%) Packer
9 2 (0.64%) Tivoli NetView
Vendors
1 35 (11.15%) Microsoft
1 35 (11.15%) Oracle
2 18 (5.73%) SAP
3 15 (4.78%) Databricks
4 12 (3.82%) Google
5 11 (3.50%) IBM
5 11 (3.50%) MuleSoft
5 11 (3.50%) Salesforce
5 11 (3.50%) ServiceNow
6 10 (3.18%) Ericsson
7 7 (2.23%) ForgeRock
7 7 (2.23%) Fortinet
7 7 (2.23%) Red Hat
8 6 (1.91%) Ping Identity
9 5 (1.59%) Cisco
9 5 (1.59%) Informatica
10 4 (1.27%) Nokia
10 4 (1.27%) Sybase
11 3 (0.96%) EMC
11 3 (0.96%) Splunk