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 22 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 37 20 19
Rank change year-on-year -17 -1 +5
Contract jobs citing Project Management 1,981 2,780 3,555
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 5.39% 8.23% 8.15%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 6.11% 9.32% 9.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,248 1,547 2,319
10th Percentile £313 £275 £325
25th Percentile £413 £410 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% -1.90% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £638
90th Percentile £714 £725 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 127 147
10th Percentile £18.59 £21.25 £21.58
25th Percentile £23.50 £26.37 £32.02
Median hourly rate £37.54 £33.54 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.93% -31.55% +22.50%
75th Percentile £60.63 £56.63 £60.00
90th Percentile £65.00 £69.15 £72.33
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £35.03 £49.00
% change year-on-year +29.77% -28.51% -2.00%

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 32,441 29,813 38,595
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 88.26% 88.27% 88.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,403 18,181 25,776
10th Percentile £300 £307 £306
25th Percentile £406 £413 £422
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 £743 £744
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,089 968 1,481
10th Percentile £14.53 £15.62 £14.50
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.30 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £43.86
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -25.90% +25.31%
75th Percentile £50.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.02 £73.83 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.50 £30.88 £45.00
% change year-on-year -23.89% -31.39% +44.18%

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 22 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 22 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 22 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 -19 1,706 £520 -0.95% 1,388
UK excluding London -20 996 £500 - 1,031
London -17 799 £525 -4.55% 551
Work from Home -13 578 £500 - 505
South East -11 260 £525 - 314
North of England -27 258 £496 +4.42% 260
Midlands -21 193 £492 -6.29% 191
North West -19 151 £496 +10.22% 137
West Midlands -23 133 £500 -9.09% 118
Yorkshire -22 99 £500 +5.26% 105
South West -26 98 £475 +1.06% 109
Scotland -9 96 £438 -2.78% 42
East Midlands -9 62 £468 +17.00% 73
East of England -36 59 £450 - 111
Wales -5 32 £325 -38.10% 28
Northern Ireland -9 19 £388 -18.42% 10
North East -24 10 £410 -28.70% 25

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
1 158 (7.98%) Confluence
2 123 (6.21%) SharePoint
3 30 (1.51%) CMS
4 14 (0.71%) Microsoft Exchange
5 8 (0.40%) 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 (0.050%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.050%) Apache
9 1 (0.050%) Apache Airflow
9 1 (0.050%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.050%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.050%) IIS
9 1 (0.050%) Moodle
9 1 (0.050%) MS Project Server
9 1 (0.050%) Orchard CMS
9 1 (0.050%) SAS
9 1 (0.050%) Umbraco
Applications
1 216 (10.90%) Microsoft Excel
2 193 (9.74%) Microsoft Project
3 165 (8.33%) Microsoft Office
4 130 (6.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 59 (2.98%) MS Visio
6 29 (1.46%) 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 51 (2.57%) 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 (0.50%) Salesforce CRM
6 8 (0.40%) Loan IQ
6 8 (0.40%) SAP ERP
6 8 (0.40%) 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
1 161 (8.13%) Azure
2 109 (5.50%) Power Platform
3 98 (4.95%) AWS
4 75 (3.79%) Microsoft 365
5 45 (2.27%) SaaS
6 44 (2.22%) Azure DevOps
7 32 (1.62%) GCP
8 29 (1.46%) Asana
9 26 (1.31%) SuccessFactors
10 24 (1.21%) Smartsheet
11 22 (1.11%) Google Workspace
12 19 (0.96%) Dynamics 365
13 18 (0.91%) GitHub
14 17 (0.86%) OpenShift
15 16 (0.81%) Microsoft Copilot
15 16 (0.81%) OneDrive
16 13 (0.66%) Cloud Computing
17 10 (0.50%) Entra ID
17 10 (0.50%) Power Automate
17 10 (0.50%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 46 (2.32%) Firewall
2 21 (1.06%) WAN
3 18 (0.91%) DNS
3 18 (0.91%) LAN
3 18 (0.91%) Network Security
4 16 (0.81%) SSH
5 15 (0.76%) Wi-Fi
6 13 (0.66%) Structured Cabling
7 11 (0.56%) SD-WAN
7 11 (0.56%) VPN
8 10 (0.50%) HTTP
9 9 (0.45%) Skype
9 9 (0.45%) Wireless
10 8 (0.40%) DHCP
10 8 (0.40%) Internet
11 7 (0.35%) TCP/IP
12 6 (0.30%) Broadband
12 6 (0.30%) Cisco IOS
13 5 (0.25%) Multicast
13 5 (0.25%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 98 (4.95%) Power BI
2 31 (1.56%) Tableau
3 28 (1.41%) SQL Server
4 17 (0.86%) Metadata
5 16 (0.81%) Data Warehouse
5 16 (0.81%) SAP HANA
6 10 (0.50%) Data Lake
6 10 (0.50%) Elasticsearch
7 8 (0.40%) Oracle Reports
8 6 (0.30%) Relational Database
9 5 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (0.25%) Electronic Patient Records
9 5 (0.25%) Power Query
10 4 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
10 4 (0.20%) Oracle Database
11 3 (0.15%) Big Data
11 3 (0.15%) GIS
11 3 (0.15%) MySQL
11 3 (0.15%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.15%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 318 (16.05%) JIRA
2 18 (0.91%) Git
3 13 (0.66%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.30%) GitLab
4 6 (0.30%) SpecFlow
5 4 (0.20%) Selenium
6 3 (0.15%) Axure RP
6 3 (0.15%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.15%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.10%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.050%) Appium
8 1 (0.050%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.050%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.050%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.050%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.050%) Gradle
8 1 (0.050%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.050%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.050%) Travis CI
8 1 (0.050%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 970 (48.97%) Social Skills
2 692 (34.93%) Finance
3 334 (16.86%) Analytical Skills
4 195 (9.84%) Public Sector
5 177 (8.93%) Banking
6 162 (8.18%) Organisational Skills
7 99 (5.00%) Marketing
8 94 (4.75%) Legal
9 87 (4.39%) Retail
10 83 (4.19%) Manufacturing
11 76 (3.84%) Influencing Skills
12 53 (2.68%) Telecoms
13 48 (2.42%) Investment Banking
13 48 (2.42%) Presentation Skills
14 45 (2.27%) Local Government
15 38 (1.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 38 (1.92%) Pharmaceutical
16 35 (1.77%) Front Office
17 30 (1.51%) Documentation Skills
18 21 (1.06%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 725 (36.60%) Project Manager
2 232 (11.71%) Analyst
3 155 (7.82%) Lead
4 151 (7.62%) Senior
5 127 (6.41%) Business Analyst
6 104 (5.25%) IT Manager
7 95 (4.80%) Senior Manager
8 90 (4.54%) IT Project Manager
9 81 (4.09%) Consultant
10 73 (3.69%) Senior Project Manager
11 65 (3.28%) Technical Manager
12 57 (2.88%) Infrastructure Manager
13 55 (2.78%) Programme Manager
14 54 (2.73%) Delivery Manager
15 49 (2.47%) Infrastructure Project Manager
16 48 (2.42%) Coordinator
17 45 (2.27%) Technical Project Manager
18 44 (2.22%) SAP Manager
19 42 (2.12%) Developer
20 41 (2.07%) Security Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (0.91%) Oracle Fusion
2 17 (0.86%) .NET
2 17 (0.86%) Middleware
3 13 (0.66%) EDI
3 13 (0.66%) HTML
4 12 (0.61%) AngularJS
5 10 (0.50%) Elastic Stack
5 10 (0.50%) RESTful
6 9 (0.45%) CSS
6 9 (0.45%) React
6 9 (0.45%) REST
6 9 (0.45%) XML
7 8 (0.40%) SAP Fiori
7 8 (0.40%) Web Services
8 7 (0.35%) .NET Framework
8 7 (0.35%) Entity Framework
8 7 (0.35%) LDAP
8 7 (0.35%) SOAP
9 6 (0.30%) ADO
9 6 (0.30%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 111 (5.60%) Management Information System
2 108 (5.45%) Onboarding
3 59 (2.98%) Data Protection Act
4 58 (2.93%) PMI
5 53 (2.68%) Data Centre
5 53 (2.68%) Virtual Team
6 49 (2.47%) Product Ownership
7 44 (2.22%) Self-Motivation
8 43 (2.17%) Legacy Systems
9 27 (1.36%) Analytical Mindset
9 27 (1.36%) Enterprise Software
10 23 (1.16%) NHS
11 20 (1.01%) CMDB
12 19 (0.96%) Operational Technology
13 18 (0.91%) Mobile App
13 18 (0.91%) Social Media
14 16 (0.81%) Cloud Native
14 16 (0.81%) Life Science
15 13 (0.66%) Derivative
15 13 (0.66%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 76 (3.84%) 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 (0.050%) Android
9 1 (0.050%) Solaris
9 1 (0.050%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.050%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.050%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 751 (37.91%) Agile
2 606 (30.59%) Stakeholder Management
3 465 (23.47%) Problem-Solving
4 457 (23.07%) Project Delivery
5 406 (20.49%) PRINCE2
6 364 (18.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 347 (17.52%) Change Management
8 265 (13.38%) Migration
9 250 (12.62%) Continuous Improvement
10 234 (11.81%) Waterfall
11 213 (10.75%) Risk Management
12 210 (10.60%) Decision-Making
13 189 (9.54%) Scrum
14 163 (8.23%) ITIL
15 154 (7.77%) Project Governance
16 149 (7.52%) DevOps
17 148 (7.47%) Budget Management
18 139 (7.02%) Roadmaps
19 137 (6.92%) Cybersecurity
20 128 (6.46%) Business Analysis
Programming Languages
1 84 (4.24%) SQL
2 51 (2.57%) Python
3 18 (0.91%) JavaScript
4 16 (0.81%) C#
5 15 (0.76%) Java
6 12 (0.61%) ABAP
6 12 (0.61%) PowerShell
7 5 (0.25%) Perl
7 5 (0.25%) VBA
8 4 (0.20%) C++
8 4 (0.20%) Go
8 4 (0.20%) PL/SQL
8 4 (0.20%) R
8 4 (0.20%) Ruby
8 4 (0.20%) T-SQL
8 4 (0.20%) VB
9 3 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 3 (0.15%) Korn
10 2 (0.10%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.10%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 383 (19.33%) Degree
2 264 (13.33%) PMP
3 260 (13.12%) PMI Certification
4 241 (12.17%) Security Cleared
5 168 (8.48%) SC Cleared
6 54 (2.73%) DV Cleared
7 42 (2.12%) Computer Science Degree
8 35 (1.77%) APMP
9 34 (1.72%) BPSS Clearance
10 33 (1.67%) Master's Degree
11 31 (1.56%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 27 (1.36%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 19 (0.96%) CISSP
14 16 (0.81%) CISM
15 11 (0.56%) MBA
16 10 (0.50%) A+ Certification
16 10 (0.50%) ITIL Certification
17 9 (0.45%) Cisco Certification
17 9 (0.45%) HND
17 9 (0.45%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 199 (10.05%) PMO
2 120 (6.06%) QA
3 55 (2.78%) Data Quality
4 54 (2.73%) GDPR
5 43 (2.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 28 (1.41%) 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 (0.50%) Disclosure Scotland
13 7 (0.35%) GxP
13 7 (0.35%) ISO 19650
14 6 (0.30%) Basel III
14 6 (0.30%) California Consumer Privacy Act
14 6 (0.30%) MiFID
14 6 (0.30%) SLA
14 6 (0.30%) WCAG
15 5 (0.25%) APQC
System Software
1 41 (2.07%) Active Directory
2 17 (0.86%) 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 (0.050%) Embedded Firmware
7 1 (0.050%) IAG
7 1 (0.050%) PowerHA
7 1 (0.050%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.050%) 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 (0.50%) Kibana
5 9 (0.45%) logstash
5 9 (0.45%) Microsoft Intune
5 9 (0.45%) 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 (0.050%) Cisco UCCE
Vendors
1 338 (17.06%) Microsoft
2 177 (8.93%) SAP
3 87 (4.39%) ServiceNow
4 77 (3.89%) Oracle
5 69 (3.48%) Salesforce
6 52 (2.62%) Google
7 32 (1.62%) Cisco
8 27 (1.36%) Adobe
9 25 (1.26%) Workday
10 22 (1.11%) Planview
11 20 (1.01%) Atlassian
12 19 (0.96%) VMware
13 18 (0.91%) Ariba
13 18 (0.91%) IBM
14 16 (0.81%) Databricks
15 12 (0.61%) Remedy
16 11 (0.56%) Palo Alto
17 10 (0.50%) Juniper
18 8 (0.40%) CyberArk
18 8 (0.40%) NEC