Project Management Contract Job Trends

Project Management
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Project Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 38 20 19
Rank change year-on-year -18 -1 +4
Contract jobs citing Project Management 1,974 2,806 3,582
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 5.40% 8.21% 8.11%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 6.10% 9.32% 9.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,245 1,563 2,341
10th Percentile £313 £275 £325
25th Percentile £413 £408 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £517 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.29% -1.52% -
75th Percentile £613 £614 £638
90th Percentile £713 £725 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +0.10% -0.10% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 120 133 145
10th Percentile £19.86 £21.25 £21.56
25th Percentile £23.50 £26.32 £31.04
Median hourly rate £37.54 £33.54 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.93% -31.55% +20.76%
75th Percentile £60.00 £55.79 £60.00
90th Percentile £65.00 £67.40 £72.33
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £35.03 £49.00
% change year-on-year +29.77% -28.51% -2.01%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Project Management 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 32,337 30,122 39,072
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 88.38% 88.11% 88.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,351 18,405 26,081
10th Percentile £300 £306 £308
25th Percentile £406 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
75th Percentile £615 £638 £650
90th Percentile £723 £738 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £477 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -4.55% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,080 985 1,517
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.62 £14.36
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.50 £18.93
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £43.33
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -24.99% +23.80%
75th Percentile £49.75 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.50 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -27.69% -26.97% +39.06%

Project Management
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Project Management job vacancy trend in the UK

Project Management
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Project Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Project Management

Project Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Project Management over the 6 months to 18 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Project Management in the UK

Project Management
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Project Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Project Management

Project Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Project Management over the 6 months to 18 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Project Management in the UK

Project Management
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Project Management within the UK over the 6 months to 18 December 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 -18 1,698 £520 -0.95% 2,146
UK excluding London -20 992 £500 +0.10% 2,000
London -20 794 £525 -4.55% 441
Work from Home -14 575 £500 - 715
South East -9 260 £525 - 524
North of England -26 257 £500 +5.26% 481
Midlands -21 192 £492 -6.29% 400
North West -16 149 £496 +10.22% 253
West Midlands -22 132 £500 -9.09% 231
Yorkshire -22 100 £500 +5.26% 185
South West -29 97 £475 +2.15% 215
Scotland -15 95 £444 -0.73% 85
East Midlands -8 62 £468 +17.00% 153
East of England -33 59 £450 - 255
Wales -2 32 £325 -38.10% 58
Northern Ireland -8 19 £388 -18.42% 28
North East -23 10 £410 -28.70% 50

Project Management
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
1 159 (8.05%) Confluence
2 124 (6.28%) SharePoint
3 30 (1.52%) CMS
4 14 (0.71%) Microsoft Exchange
5 8 (0.41%) Skype for Business
6 7 (0.35%) Exchange Server 2013
6 7 (0.35%) WordPress
7 5 (0.25%) nginx
8 2 (0.10%) Sitecore CMS
9 1 (0.051%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.051%) Apache
9 1 (0.051%) Apache Airflow
9 1 (0.051%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.051%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.051%) IIS
9 1 (0.051%) Moodle
9 1 (0.051%) MS Project Server
9 1 (0.051%) Orchard CMS
9 1 (0.051%) SAS
9 1 (0.051%) Umbraco
Applications
1 216 (10.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 191 (9.68%) Microsoft Project
3 168 (8.51%) Microsoft Office
4 131 (6.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 59 (2.99%) MS Visio
6 29 (1.47%) Trello
7 17 (0.86%) Spreadsheet
8 6 (0.30%) Chatbot
9 5 (0.25%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 4 (0.20%) Adobe After Effects
10 4 (0.20%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.20%) Revit
11 3 (0.15%) InDesign
11 3 (0.15%) InVision
11 3 (0.15%) Navisworks
11 3 (0.15%) Photoshop
11 3 (0.15%) Sketch
12 2 (0.10%) Adobe Illustrator
12 2 (0.10%) AutoCAD
12 2 (0.10%) ProjectWise
Business Applications
1 52 (2.63%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (0.76%) Oracle EBS
3 13 (0.66%) Dynamics CRM
3 13 (0.66%) Primavera
4 11 (0.56%) Oracle ERP
5 10 (0.51%) Salesforce CRM
6 8 (0.41%) Loan IQ
6 8 (0.41%) SAP ERP
6 8 (0.41%) SAP Payroll
7 7 (0.35%) SAP PM
7 7 (0.35%) Workfront
8 6 (0.30%) NetSuite
8 6 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
8 6 (0.30%) Oracle Payables
8 6 (0.30%) Shopify
9 5 (0.25%) ResourceLink
9 5 (0.25%) SAP CO
9 5 (0.25%) SAP FI
9 5 (0.25%) SAP MDG
9 5 (0.25%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 160 (8.11%) Azure
2 109 (5.52%) Power Platform
3 97 (4.91%) AWS
4 75 (3.80%) Microsoft 365
5 44 (2.23%) Azure DevOps
5 44 (2.23%) SaaS
6 31 (1.57%) GCP
7 29 (1.47%) Asana
8 26 (1.32%) SuccessFactors
9 24 (1.22%) Smartsheet
10 23 (1.17%) Google Workspace
11 19 (0.96%) Dynamics 365
12 18 (0.91%) GitHub
13 17 (0.86%) OpenShift
14 16 (0.81%) Microsoft Copilot
14 16 (0.81%) OneDrive
15 13 (0.66%) Cloud Computing
16 10 (0.51%) Entra ID
16 10 (0.51%) PowerApps
16 10 (0.51%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 47 (2.38%) Firewall
2 21 (1.06%) WAN
3 19 (0.96%) DNS
4 18 (0.91%) LAN
4 18 (0.91%) Network Security
5 16 (0.81%) SSH
6 15 (0.76%) Wi-Fi
7 13 (0.66%) Structured Cabling
8 11 (0.56%) SD-WAN
8 11 (0.56%) VPN
9 10 (0.51%) HTTP
10 9 (0.46%) Skype
10 9 (0.46%) Wireless
11 8 (0.41%) DHCP
11 8 (0.41%) Internet
12 7 (0.35%) TCP/IP
13 6 (0.30%) Broadband
13 6 (0.30%) Cisco IOS
14 5 (0.25%) Multicast
14 5 (0.25%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 98 (4.96%) Power BI
2 31 (1.57%) Tableau
3 28 (1.42%) SQL Server
4 17 (0.86%) Metadata
5 16 (0.81%) Data Warehouse
5 16 (0.81%) SAP HANA
6 10 (0.51%) Data Lake
6 10 (0.51%) Elasticsearch
7 8 (0.41%) Oracle Reports
8 7 (0.35%) Relational Database
9 6 (0.30%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (0.30%) Electronic Patient Records
10 5 (0.25%) Power Query
11 4 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
11 4 (0.20%) Oracle Database
11 4 (0.20%) PostgreSQL
12 3 (0.15%) DB2
12 3 (0.15%) MySQL
12 3 (0.15%) RDBMS
12 3 (0.15%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 318 (16.11%) JIRA
2 18 (0.91%) Git
3 13 (0.66%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.30%) SpecFlow
5 5 (0.25%) GitLab
6 4 (0.20%) Selenium
7 3 (0.15%) Axure RP
7 3 (0.15%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.15%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.10%) Artifactory
8 2 (0.10%) Cucumber
8 2 (0.10%) JUnit
8 2 (0.10%) Maven
9 1 (0.051%) ERwin
9 1 (0.051%) JMeter
9 1 (0.051%) LSMW
9 1 (0.051%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.051%) TestDirector
9 1 (0.051%) Toad
9 1 (0.051%) Visual Studio
General
1 971 (49.19%) Social Skills
2 688 (34.85%) Finance
3 329 (16.67%) Analytical Skills
4 191 (9.68%) Public Sector
5 177 (8.97%) Banking
6 156 (7.90%) Organisational Skills
7 101 (5.12%) Marketing
8 93 (4.71%) Legal
9 84 (4.26%) Manufacturing
9 84 (4.26%) Retail
10 76 (3.85%) Influencing Skills
11 53 (2.68%) Telecoms
12 49 (2.48%) Investment Banking
13 48 (2.43%) Presentation Skills
14 45 (2.28%) Local Government
15 38 (1.93%) Pharmaceutical
16 37 (1.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 35 (1.77%) Front Office
18 30 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
19 20 (1.01%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 722 (36.58%) Project Manager
2 233 (11.80%) Analyst
3 153 (7.75%) Lead
3 153 (7.75%) Senior
4 129 (6.53%) Business Analyst
5 103 (5.22%) IT Manager
6 95 (4.81%) Senior Manager
7 89 (4.51%) IT Project Manager
8 81 (4.10%) Consultant
9 73 (3.70%) Senior Project Manager
10 68 (3.44%) Technical Manager
11 56 (2.84%) Infrastructure Manager
12 54 (2.74%) Programme Manager
13 53 (2.68%) Delivery Manager
14 49 (2.48%) Infrastructure Project Manager
15 47 (2.38%) Technical Project Manager
16 45 (2.28%) SAP Manager
17 44 (2.23%) Coordinator
18 43 (2.18%) Developer
19 41 (2.08%) Security Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (0.91%) Oracle Fusion
2 17 (0.86%) .NET
2 17 (0.86%) Middleware
3 14 (0.71%) EDI
4 13 (0.66%) HTML
5 12 (0.61%) AngularJS
6 10 (0.51%) Elastic Stack
6 10 (0.51%) RESTful
7 9 (0.46%) CSS
7 9 (0.46%) React
7 9 (0.46%) REST
7 9 (0.46%) XML
8 8 (0.41%) SAP Fiori
8 8 (0.41%) Web Services
9 7 (0.35%) .NET Framework
9 7 (0.35%) Entity Framework
9 7 (0.35%) LDAP
9 7 (0.35%) SOAP
10 6 (0.30%) ADO
10 6 (0.30%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 112 (5.67%) Management Information System
2 107 (5.42%) Onboarding
3 59 (2.99%) Data Protection Act
4 58 (2.94%) PMI
5 54 (2.74%) Data Centre
6 51 (2.58%) Virtual Team
7 49 (2.48%) Product Ownership
8 44 (2.23%) Self-Motivation
9 42 (2.13%) Legacy Systems
10 27 (1.37%) Analytical Mindset
11 26 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
12 23 (1.17%) NHS
13 19 (0.96%) CMDB
13 19 (0.96%) Operational Technology
13 19 (0.96%) Social Media
14 18 (0.91%) Mobile App
15 17 (0.86%) Life Science
16 16 (0.81%) Cloud Native
17 13 (0.66%) Derivative
17 13 (0.66%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 76 (3.85%) Windows
2 20 (1.01%) Linux
3 16 (0.81%) Unix
4 13 (0.66%) Windows Server
5 12 (0.61%) Windows 10
6 4 (0.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.15%) VMS
7 3 (0.15%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.10%) AIX
8 2 (0.10%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.10%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.10%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.051%) Android
9 1 (0.051%) Solaris
9 1 (0.051%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.051%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.051%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 746 (37.79%) Agile
2 599 (30.34%) Stakeholder Management
3 466 (23.61%) Problem-Solving
4 452 (22.90%) Project Delivery
5 405 (20.52%) PRINCE2
6 362 (18.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 349 (17.68%) Change Management
8 265 (13.42%) Migration
9 247 (12.51%) Continuous Improvement
10 232 (11.75%) Waterfall
11 212 (10.74%) Risk Management
12 210 (10.64%) Decision-Making
13 187 (9.47%) Scrum
14 161 (8.16%) ITIL
15 151 (7.65%) Project Governance
16 149 (7.55%) DevOps
17 148 (7.50%) Budget Management
18 137 (6.94%) Cybersecurity
18 137 (6.94%) Roadmaps
19 129 (6.53%) Business Analysis
Programming Languages
1 85 (4.31%) SQL
2 51 (2.58%) Python
3 18 (0.91%) JavaScript
4 16 (0.81%) C#
4 16 (0.81%) Java
5 12 (0.61%) ABAP
5 12 (0.61%) PowerShell
6 5 (0.25%) VBA
7 4 (0.20%) C++
7 4 (0.20%) Go
7 4 (0.20%) Perl
7 4 (0.20%) PL/SQL
7 4 (0.20%) R
7 4 (0.20%) Ruby
7 4 (0.20%) T-SQL
7 4 (0.20%) VB
8 3 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 3 (0.15%) Korn
8 3 (0.15%) TypeScript
9 2 (0.10%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 385 (19.50%) Degree
2 264 (13.37%) PMP
3 260 (13.17%) PMI Certification
4 237 (12.01%) Security Cleared
5 165 (8.36%) SC Cleared
6 54 (2.74%) DV Cleared
7 42 (2.13%) Computer Science Degree
8 34 (1.72%) BPSS Clearance
8 34 (1.72%) Master's Degree
9 33 (1.67%) APMP
10 31 (1.57%) PRINCE2 Certification
11 27 (1.37%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 19 (0.96%) CISSP
13 16 (0.81%) CISM
14 11 (0.56%) MBA
15 10 (0.51%) A+ Certification
15 10 (0.51%) ITIL Certification
16 9 (0.46%) Cisco Certification
16 9 (0.46%) HND
16 9 (0.46%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 198 (10.03%) PMO
2 116 (5.88%) QA
3 55 (2.79%) Data Quality
4 54 (2.74%) GDPR
5 42 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 28 (1.42%) NIST
7 22 (1.11%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 19 (0.96%) PCI DSS
9 17 (0.86%) GRC
10 16 (0.81%) Accessibility
11 13 (0.66%) P3O
12 10 (0.51%) Disclosure Scotland
13 8 (0.41%) GxP
14 7 (0.35%) ISO 19650
15 6 (0.30%) Basel III
15 6 (0.30%) California Consumer Privacy Act
15 6 (0.30%) MiFID
15 6 (0.30%) SLA
15 6 (0.30%) WCAG
16 5 (0.25%) APQC
System Software
1 41 (2.08%) Active Directory
2 18 (0.91%) Docker
3 12 (0.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.10%) Firmware
7 1 (0.051%) Embedded Firmware
7 1 (0.051%) IAG
7 1 (0.051%) PowerHA
7 1 (0.051%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.051%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 20 (1.01%) Kubernetes
2 15 (0.76%) Terraform
3 13 (0.66%) Ansible
3 13 (0.66%) SCCM
4 10 (0.51%) Kibana
5 9 (0.46%) logstash
5 9 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
5 9 (0.46%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (0.30%) ITRS Geneos
7 4 (0.20%) Consul
7 4 (0.20%) FortiGate
7 4 (0.20%) Packer
8 3 (0.15%) Functional Safety
8 3 (0.15%) Puppet
8 3 (0.15%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.10%) Grafana
9 2 (0.10%) HP ALM
9 2 (0.10%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 2 (0.10%) ZABBIX
10 1 (0.051%) CASB
Vendors
1 341 (17.27%) Microsoft
2 179 (9.07%) SAP
3 87 (4.41%) ServiceNow
4 77 (3.90%) Oracle
5 68 (3.44%) Salesforce
6 53 (2.68%) Google
7 32 (1.62%) Cisco
8 27 (1.37%) Adobe
9 25 (1.27%) Workday
10 22 (1.11%) Planview
11 21 (1.06%) Ariba
12 19 (0.96%) Atlassian
12 19 (0.96%) VMware
13 18 (0.91%) IBM
14 16 (0.81%) Databricks
15 12 (0.61%) Remedy
16 11 (0.56%) Palo Alto
17 10 (0.51%) Juniper
18 8 (0.41%) CyberArk
18 8 (0.41%) NEC