Public Cloud Contract Job Trends

Public Cloud
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Public Cloud in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Public Cloud over the 6 months leading up to 30 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 359 353 267
Rank change year-on-year -6 -86 +6
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 352 206 343
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.64% 0.63% 0.91%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.87% 1.75% 2.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 241 129 201
10th Percentile £425 £362 £418
25th Percentile £513 £438 £468
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £530 £563
Median % change year-on-year +13.21% -5.78% -6.25%
75th Percentile £688 £688 £669
90th Percentile £785 £775 £780
UK excluding London median daily rate £590 £515 £555
% change year-on-year +14.56% -7.21% -7.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 2
10th Percentile - - £52.60
25th Percentile - £42.50 £53.50
Median hourly rate - £45.00 £56.00
Median % change year-on-year - -19.64% -28.21%
75th Percentile - £47.50 £57.50
90th Percentile - - £57.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate - - £58.00
% change year-on-year - - -25.64%

All Generic Skills
UK

Public Cloud falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 18,836 11,776 11,465
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.32% 35.86% 30.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,271 7,212 6,891
10th Percentile £320 £293 £281
25th Percentile £425 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £520 £535
Median % change year-on-year +0.96% -2.80% -2.73%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £672
90th Percentile £750 £750 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,259 599 426
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.78 £15.28
25th Percentile £17.85 £18.87 £22.50
Median hourly rate £36.00 £29.27 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +22.99% -41.46% +11.73%
75th Percentile £67.50 £52.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.45 £72.50 £75.08
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £29.30 £57.35
% change year-on-year +27.99% -48.91% +14.70%

Public Cloud
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Public Cloud job vacancy trend in the UK

Public Cloud
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud

Public Cloud
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Public Cloud over the 6 months to 30 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Public Cloud in the UK

Public Cloud
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud

Public Cloud
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 Public Cloud within the UK over the 6 months to 30 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
England -7 286 £600 +2.13% 382
UK excluding London -29 192 £590 +14.56% 214
London -51 100 £620 -4.02% 236
Work from Home -29 94 £610 +14.88% 172
North of England -36 87 £569 +26.39% 49
Yorkshire -15 54 £550 +22.22% 15
South East -30 40 £568 -17.45% 33
North West -36 28 £625 +38.89% 26
Midlands -32 23 £600 +11.73% 16
Scotland -37 17 £530 +6.00% 46
South West -29 16 £675 +12.50% 33
West Midlands -41 11 £625 -0.04% 8
East Midlands -17 10 £588 +16.11% 8
North East - 9 £602 - 8
East of England -25 8 £593 -17.57% 8
Wales -14 1 - - 4
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 26

Public Cloud
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 8 (2.27%) Apache
2 7 (1.99%) IIS
3 6 (1.70%) OpenStack
4 3 (0.85%) CloudStack
4 3 (0.85%) Confluence
4 3 (0.85%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 2 (0.57%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.57%) nginx
5 2 (0.57%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.57%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.28%) WebLogic
Applications
1 13 (3.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (2.84%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.99%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.57%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.57%) Houdini
5 2 (0.57%) NUKE
5 2 (0.57%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.28%) Weka
Business Applications
1 61 (17.33%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.99%) SAP SD
3 6 (1.70%) SAP Business One
4 5 (1.42%) SAP ERP
5 4 (1.14%) iTrent
6 3 (0.85%) SAP FI
7 2 (0.57%) SAP CO
7 2 (0.57%) SAP FI-GL
8 1 (0.28%) Cloudability
8 1 (0.28%) Oracle SCM
8 1 (0.28%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.28%) SAP FI-AR
8 1 (0.28%) SAP MDG
8 1 (0.28%) SAP MM
8 1 (0.28%) SAP PS
Cloud Services
1 153 (43.47%) AWS
2 149 (42.33%) Azure
3 86 (24.43%) GCP
4 29 (8.24%) GitHub
5 23 (6.53%) SaaS
6 22 (6.25%) IaaS
7 19 (5.40%) OCI
8 16 (4.55%) OpenShift
9 15 (4.26%) GitHub Actions
10 14 (3.98%) PaaS
11 13 (3.69%) Entra ID
12 12 (3.41%) Azure DevOps
12 12 (3.41%) SuccessFactors
13 11 (3.13%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 10 (2.84%) Amazon EKS
14 10 (2.84%) AWS CloudFormation
15 9 (2.56%) Serverless
16 7 (1.99%) Azure Sentinel
16 7 (1.99%) Virtual Private Cloud
17 6 (1.70%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 40 (11.36%) Firewall
2 30 (8.52%) DNS
3 20 (5.68%) Network Security
4 17 (4.83%) TCP/IP
5 14 (3.98%) VSAN
6 11 (3.13%) DHCP
7 10 (2.84%) BIG-IP
7 10 (2.84%) VPN
8 9 (2.56%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 9 (2.56%) WAN
9 8 (2.27%) BGP
9 8 (2.27%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
9 8 (2.27%) LAN
10 7 (1.99%) SAN
11 6 (1.70%) NAS
12 5 (1.42%) Wi-Fi
13 4 (1.14%) HTTPS
13 4 (1.14%) MPLS
13 4 (1.14%) SNMP
13 4 (1.14%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (3.98%) Oracle Database
2 13 (3.69%) RDBMS
2 13 (3.69%) Relational Database
3 12 (3.41%) Oracle Exadata
4 8 (2.27%) MySQL
5 6 (1.70%) SQL Server
6 4 (1.14%) BusinessObjects
6 4 (1.14%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (1.14%) SAP HANA
7 3 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
7 3 (0.85%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.57%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.57%) Metadata
8 2 (0.57%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.57%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.57%) Power BI
8 2 (0.57%) Power Query
8 2 (0.57%) PowerPivot
9 1 (0.28%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 41 (11.65%) Git
2 27 (7.67%) Jenkins
3 16 (4.55%) GitLab
4 10 (2.84%) JIRA
5 9 (2.56%) JUnit
6 7 (1.99%) SonarQube
6 7 (1.99%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (1.14%) Hudson
7 4 (1.14%) Maven
8 3 (0.85%) Cucumber
8 3 (0.85%) Postman
8 3 (0.85%) Selenium
9 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.28%) Liquibase
9 1 (0.28%) PVCS
General
1 104 (29.55%) Finance
2 70 (19.89%) Social Skills
3 34 (9.66%) Public Sector
4 24 (6.82%) Banking
5 20 (5.68%) Analytical Skills
6 10 (2.84%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (2.56%) General Ledger
8 8 (2.27%) Billing
9 7 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
9 7 (1.99%) Military
9 7 (1.99%) Presentation Skills
10 5 (1.42%) Local Government
10 5 (1.42%) Manufacturing
10 5 (1.42%) Retail
10 5 (1.42%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.14%) Automotive
11 4 (1.14%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 3 (0.85%) Legal
12 3 (0.85%) Police
Job Titles
1 92 (26.14%) Architect
2 58 (16.48%) Senior
3 39 (11.08%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 36 (10.23%) Lead
5 34 (9.66%) Solutions Architect
6 26 (7.39%) DevOps Engineer
7 24 (6.82%) Technical Architect
8 22 (6.25%) Developer
9 21 (5.97%) Consultant
10 20 (5.68%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 18 (5.11%) Cloud Architect
12 15 (4.26%) Analyst
12 15 (4.26%) Cloud Engineer
12 15 (4.26%) Python Developer
13 13 (3.69%) Azure Engineer
13 13 (3.69%) Azure Specialist
13 13 (3.69%) Platform Engineer
14 12 (3.41%) Network Engineer
14 12 (3.41%) SAP Consultant
14 12 (3.41%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 90 (25.57%) Terraform
2 20 (5.68%) Kafka
3 17 (4.83%) Spring Boot
4 13 (3.69%) Spring
5 12 (3.41%) Oracle GoldenGate
6 10 (2.84%) REST
6 10 (2.84%) SAP Fiori
7 8 (2.27%) Web Services
8 6 (1.70%) Elastic Stack
8 6 (1.70%) React
9 5 (1.42%) .NET
9 5 (1.42%) Middleware
9 5 (1.42%) OAuth
9 5 (1.42%) OpenID
9 5 (1.42%) Pandas
10 4 (1.14%) JPA
10 4 (1.14%) JSON
10 4 (1.14%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (1.14%) SOAP
10 4 (1.14%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 58 (16.48%) Cloud Native
2 48 (13.64%) Data Centre
3 39 (11.08%) Hybrid Cloud
4 29 (8.24%) Private Cloud
5 15 (4.26%) PKI
6 13 (3.69%) Management Information System
7 12 (3.41%) Onboarding
8 10 (2.84%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (2.27%) AI Agents
9 8 (2.27%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (2.27%) Security Posture
10 7 (1.99%) Data Structures
10 7 (1.99%) Distributed Systems
10 7 (1.99%) Enterprise Cloud
10 7 (1.99%) Legacy Applications
10 7 (1.99%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (1.70%) Linux Command Line
12 5 (1.42%) Embedded Systems
12 5 (1.42%) Mobile Payment
12 5 (1.42%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 68 (19.32%) Linux
2 35 (9.94%) Windows
3 13 (3.69%) Windows Server
4 12 (3.41%) AIX
4 12 (3.41%) Unix
5 9 (2.56%) Ubuntu
6 5 (1.42%) VMS
7 4 (1.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.85%) Debian
9 2 (0.57%) CentOS
10 1 (0.28%) Android
10 1 (0.28%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.28%) Rocky
10 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 102 (28.98%) CI/CD
2 100 (28.41%) Infrastructure as Code
3 99 (28.13%) Migration
4 80 (22.73%) DevOps
5 71 (20.17%) Agile
6 66 (18.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 54 (15.34%) Stakeholder Management
8 41 (11.65%) Microservices
9 40 (11.36%) Data Migration
10 39 (11.08%) Cloud Security
11 36 (10.23%) Problem-Solving
12 33 (9.38%) Roadmaps
13 32 (9.09%) Containerisation
14 31 (8.81%) Architectural Patterns
14 31 (8.81%) ERP
14 31 (8.81%) Event-Driven
15 30 (8.52%) Identity Access Management
15 30 (8.52%) Observability
15 30 (8.52%) Security Architecture
15 30 (8.52%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 86 (24.43%) Python
2 35 (9.94%) Java
3 28 (7.95%) Bash
3 28 (7.95%) PowerShell
4 13 (3.69%) SQL
5 10 (2.84%) Bicep
6 9 (2.56%) JavaScript
6 9 (2.56%) Shell Script
7 8 (2.27%) ActionScript
7 8 (2.27%) Go
8 6 (1.70%) Groovy
9 5 (1.42%) Ruby
10 4 (1.14%) ABAP
11 3 (0.85%) Perl
12 2 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.28%) C++
13 1 (0.28%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.28%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.28%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 94 (26.70%) Security Cleared
2 77 (21.88%) SC Cleared
3 29 (8.24%) Cisco Certification
4 25 (7.10%) DV Cleared
5 21 (5.97%) AWS Certification
6 18 (5.11%) Degree
7 16 (4.55%) CISSP
8 12 (3.41%) Azure Certification
8 12 (3.41%) VCAP
8 12 (3.41%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 11 (3.13%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 11 (3.13%) CCNP
10 10 (2.84%) BPSS Clearance
10 10 (2.84%) CISM
11 9 (2.56%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 8 (2.27%) CCSP
13 7 (1.99%) ACCA
13 7 (1.99%) CIMA
13 7 (1.99%) CREST Certified
14 6 (1.70%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (4.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 15 (4.26%) NIST
2 9 (2.56%) GDPR
3 8 (2.27%) NCSC
4 6 (1.70%) Data Quality
4 6 (1.70%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.42%) GRC
5 5 (1.42%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.42%) ISO 31000
5 5 (1.42%) ISO 9001
5 5 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27005
6 4 (1.14%) ISO 15022
7 3 (0.85%) Government Security Classifications
7 3 (0.85%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.57%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
8 2 (0.57%) PMO
9 1 (0.28%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.28%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.28%) NIST 800
System Software
1 28 (7.95%) VMware Infrastructure
2 22 (6.25%) Docker
3 18 (5.11%) VMware NSX
4 15 (4.26%) Active Directory
5 13 (3.69%) Oracle RAC
6 12 (3.41%) vSphere
7 11 (3.13%) VMware ESXi
8 10 (2.84%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (1.42%) ISA Server
9 5 (1.42%) Postfix
10 3 (0.85%) NFS
10 3 (0.85%) Sendmail
10 3 (0.85%) Varnish
11 2 (0.57%) Dovecot
11 2 (0.57%) Hyper-V
11 2 (0.57%) Virtual Desktop
12 1 (0.28%) GPFS
12 1 (0.28%) Lustre
12 1 (0.28%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 66 (18.75%) Kubernetes
2 52 (14.77%) Ansible
3 16 (4.55%) Grafana
4 14 (3.98%) Prometheus
5 13 (3.69%) Data Guard
5 13 (3.69%) Oracle RMAN
6 11 (3.13%) vCenter Server
7 7 (1.99%) Istio
7 7 (1.99%) Packer
8 6 (1.70%) CASB
9 5 (1.42%) HAProxy
9 5 (1.42%) VxRail
10 4 (1.14%) Puppet
10 4 (1.14%) systemd
11 3 (0.85%) Check_MK
12 2 (0.57%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 2 (0.57%) Argo
12 2 (0.57%) Progress Chef
13 1 (0.28%) Kubeflow
13 1 (0.28%) vMotion
Vendors
1 75 (21.31%) SAP
2 73 (20.74%) Microsoft
3 46 (13.07%) Google
4 43 (12.22%) Oracle
5 36 (10.23%) VMware
6 22 (6.25%) Cisco
7 20 (5.68%) F5
8 14 (3.98%) Splunk
9 11 (3.13%) Juniper
10 10 (2.84%) Ariba
11 8 (2.27%) CyberArk
11 8 (2.27%) Fortinet
12 7 (1.99%) Dynatrace
12 7 (1.99%) Red Hat
12 7 (1.99%) ServiceNow
13 6 (1.70%) Commvault
14 5 (1.42%) Concur
14 5 (1.42%) IBM
14 5 (1.42%) Qualys
14 5 (1.42%) Tripwire