Retail Contract Job Trends

Retailing
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Retail in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Retail over the 6 months leading up to 24 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 151 94 102
Rank change year-on-year -57 +8 -22
Contract jobs citing Retail 712 840 966
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.87% 2.66% 2.19%
As % of the General category 3.14% 4.30% 3.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 421 432 560
10th Percentile £206 £264 £263
25th Percentile £402 £413 £390
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £625
90th Percentile £738 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £495 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 10 38
10th Percentile £12.95 £15.82 £10.89
25th Percentile £16.17 £18.13 £12.06
Median hourly rate £16.67 £30.75 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -45.80% +57.69% -1.56%
75th Percentile £19.50 £34.88 £20.75
90th Percentile £24.61 £39.75 £25.03
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.34 £18.13 £15.65
% change year-on-year -9.90% +15.85% -21.00%

All General Skills
UK

Retail falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 22,664 19,541 25,907
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 59.64% 61.81% 58.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,263 11,660 16,840
10th Percentile £284 £285 £266
25th Percentile £401 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £537
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.23% -2.36%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,390 642 1,432
10th Percentile £13.80 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £16.36 £20.00 £15.32
Median hourly rate £22.92 £27.50 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -16.65% +5.77% +4.00%
75th Percentile £46.94 £53.44 £55.47
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.46 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.13 £26.23 £25.25
% change year-on-year -19.46% +3.88% +12.67%

Retail
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Retail job vacancy trend in the UK

Retail
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail

Retail
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Retail over the 6 months to 24 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Retail in the UK

Retail
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail

Retail
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Retail over the 6 months to 24 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Retail in the UK

Retail
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 Retail within the UK over the 6 months to 24 January 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 -54 656 £500 -4.76% 1,414
London -37 343 £550 - 257
UK excluding London -39 317 £495 -1.00% 1,334
Work from Home -72 172 £525 -4.55% 580
South East -27 88 £520 -5.45% 439
North of England -51 81 £475 +5.56% 267
Midlands -39 71 £479 -4.25% 219
East Midlands -3 47 £495 -1.00% 117
Yorkshire -48 41 £500 +25.00% 108
East of England -13 39 £550 +4.76% 197
North West -28 36 £495 +10.00% 128
West Midlands -61 23 £363 -30.95% 102
Scotland -6 19 £450 -12.20% 50
South West -15 15 £183 -56.55% 140
North East -12 5 £200 -66.67% 33
Wales -5 3 £625 +331.03% 53
Northern Ireland -5 1 - - 25

Retail
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 35 (4.92%) Confluence
2 17 (2.39%) CMS
3 16 (2.25%) SharePoint
4 9 (1.26%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (0.84%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 5 (0.70%) Camunda
6 5 (0.70%) Jupyter
7 4 (0.56%) WordPress
8 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Exchange
9 2 (0.28%) Apache Spark
9 2 (0.28%) Magnolia
9 2 (0.28%) SAS
10 1 (0.14%) SharePoint Server
10 1 (0.14%) WebLogic
10 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.14%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 23 (3.23%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (1.69%) MS Visio
3 11 (1.54%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (1.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.12%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (0.56%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.28%) Trello
7 1 (0.14%) Adobe After Effects
7 1 (0.14%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.14%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.14%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 22 (3.09%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.83%) Shopify
3 11 (1.54%) Dynamics CRM
4 10 (1.40%) SAP Retail
5 6 (0.84%) Oracle Retail
5 6 (0.84%) Payment Gateway
6 5 (0.70%) SAP Payroll
7 4 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
7 4 (0.56%) Finacle
7 4 (0.56%) NetSuite
7 4 (0.56%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 4 (0.56%) ResourceLink
7 4 (0.56%) Temenos T24
8 3 (0.42%) Salesforce CRM
8 3 (0.42%) SAP MDG
8 3 (0.42%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
9 2 (0.28%) BambooHR
9 2 (0.28%) Magento
9 2 (0.28%) SAP GTS
9 2 (0.28%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 90 (12.64%) Azure
2 51 (7.16%) AWS
3 45 (6.32%) Power Platform
4 37 (5.20%) GCP
5 24 (3.37%) Dynamics 365
6 21 (2.95%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.25%) Snowflake
8 15 (2.11%) GitHub
8 15 (2.11%) Microsoft 365
8 15 (2.11%) SaaS
9 13 (1.83%) Figma
10 11 (1.54%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
11 10 (1.40%) GitHub Actions
11 10 (1.40%) OCI
12 9 (1.26%) Power Automate
13 8 (1.12%) Entra ID
13 8 (1.12%) SuccessFactors
13 8 (1.12%) Vertex AI
14 7 (0.98%) BigCommerce
14 7 (0.98%) dbt
Communications & Networking
1 20 (2.81%) RFID
2 18 (2.53%) NFC
2 18 (2.53%) Wireless
3 12 (1.69%) Firewall
4 10 (1.40%) VPN
5 7 (0.98%) WAN
6 6 (0.84%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (0.56%) BGP
7 4 (0.56%) Cisco Nexus
7 4 (0.56%) EIGRP
7 4 (0.56%) OSPF
7 4 (0.56%) VoIP
8 3 (0.42%) LAN
9 2 (0.28%) MPLS
9 2 (0.28%) SAN
9 2 (0.28%) WLAN
10 1 (0.14%) FTP
10 1 (0.14%) HTTPS
10 1 (0.14%) Multicast
10 1 (0.14%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (5.34%) Power BI
2 19 (2.67%) BigQuery
3 18 (2.53%) Data Warehouse
4 15 (2.11%) SQL Server
5 14 (1.97%) Metadata
5 14 (1.97%) Tableau
6 8 (1.12%) MySQL
7 7 (0.98%) Data Lake
8 6 (0.84%) Data Vault
8 6 (0.84%) PostgreSQL
9 5 (0.70%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.70%) Relational Database
9 5 (0.70%) Snowflake Schema
10 4 (0.56%) Delta Lake
10 4 (0.56%) Oracle Reports
10 4 (0.56%) Power Query
10 4 (0.56%) Redis
10 4 (0.56%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.42%) Oracle OLAP
11 3 (0.42%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 72 (10.11%) JIRA
2 12 (1.69%) Jenkins
3 10 (1.40%) Git
4 9 (1.26%) GitLab
5 5 (0.70%) ERwin
5 5 (0.70%) Selenium
6 4 (0.56%) Storybook
7 3 (0.42%) Terragrunt
8 2 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 2 (0.28%) Cucumber
8 2 (0.28%) JMeter
8 2 (0.28%) JUnit
8 2 (0.28%) MLflow
8 2 (0.28%) Mockito
8 2 (0.28%) Postman
8 2 (0.28%) PowerDesigner
8 2 (0.28%) SoapUI
8 2 (0.28%) Xcode
8 2 (0.28%) Zephyr
9 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
General
1 253 (35.53%) Social Skills
2 145 (20.37%) Finance
3 82 (11.52%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (8.85%) Banking
5 50 (7.02%) Marketing
6 42 (5.90%) Organisational Skills
7 39 (5.48%) Public Sector
8 35 (4.92%) Manufacturing
9 30 (4.21%) Retail Banking
10 25 (3.51%) Corporate Banking
10 25 (3.51%) Documentation Skills
11 24 (3.37%) Influencing Skills
12 23 (3.23%) Investment Banking
12 23 (3.23%) Legal
13 18 (2.53%) Presentation Skills
14 11 (1.54%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 6 (0.84%) Financial Institution
16 6 (0.84%) Publishing
17 4 (0.56%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 137 (19.24%) Analyst
2 83 (11.66%) Project Manager
3 77 (10.81%) Architect
4 66 (9.27%) Business Analyst
4 66 (9.27%) Senior
5 57 (8.01%) Lead
6 36 (5.06%) Solutions Architect
7 30 (4.21%) Consultant
8 27 (3.79%) Senior Manager
9 19 (2.67%) Developer
9 19 (2.67%) Product Manager
9 19 (2.67%) Technical Manager
10 18 (2.53%) Programme Manager
11 14 (1.97%) Service Manager
12 13 (1.83%) Data Analyst
12 13 (1.83%) Help Desk Analyst
12 13 (1.83%) SAP Consultant
12 13 (1.83%) Support Analyst
13 12 (1.69%) Field Engineer
13 12 (1.69%) Senior Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.95%) React
2 19 (2.67%) VML
3 15 (2.11%) REST
4 14 (1.97%) Node.js
4 14 (1.97%) PySpark
5 10 (1.40%) HTML
6 8 (1.12%) .NET
6 8 (1.12%) AngularJS
7 7 (0.98%) FastAPI
7 7 (0.98%) Kafka
7 7 (0.98%) Middleware
7 7 (0.98%) scikit-learn
7 7 (0.98%) Spring
7 7 (0.98%) Spring Boot
7 7 (0.98%) XML
8 6 (0.84%) OpenTelemetry
9 5 (0.70%) JSON
9 5 (0.70%) LangChain
9 5 (0.70%) RESTful
9 5 (0.70%) XGBoost
Miscellaneous
1 37 (5.20%) Product Ownership
2 29 (4.07%) Legacy Systems
3 24 (3.37%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.23%) EPoS
4 23 (3.23%) Onboarding
5 20 (2.81%) IoT
6 18 (2.53%) Management Information System
7 17 (2.39%) FMCG
8 15 (2.11%) Driving Licence
9 14 (1.97%) Cloud Native
9 14 (1.97%) Data Structures
10 13 (1.83%) Data Centre
11 10 (1.40%) Mobile App
12 9 (1.26%) Analytical Mindset
13 8 (1.12%) Algorithms
14 7 (0.98%) Mainframe
14 7 (0.98%) Social Media
15 6 (0.84%) CMDB
15 6 (0.84%) Enterprise Software
15 6 (0.84%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 37 (5.20%) Windows
2 10 (1.40%) Linux
3 7 (0.98%) Mac OS
4 6 (0.84%) Android
5 5 (0.70%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.42%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.28%) Windows 10
8 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.14%) VMS
8 1 (0.14%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 169 (23.74%) Stakeholder Management
2 168 (23.60%) Agile
3 117 (16.43%) Problem-Solving
4 91 (12.78%) Project Management
5 81 (11.38%) Analytics
6 79 (11.10%) E-Commerce
7 76 (10.67%) Migration
8 70 (9.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 63 (8.85%) Continuous Improvement
10 60 (8.43%) Roadmaps
11 58 (8.15%) Workshop Facilitation
12 55 (7.72%) Scrum
13 54 (7.58%) AI
14 53 (7.44%) Decision-Making
15 49 (6.88%) Business Intelligence
15 49 (6.88%) Data Modelling
16 47 (6.60%) CRM
16 47 (6.60%) Project Delivery
17 46 (6.46%) DevOps
18 45 (6.32%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 72 (10.11%) SQL
2 63 (8.85%) Python
3 18 (2.53%) Java
4 14 (1.97%) JavaScript
5 11 (1.54%) PowerShell
6 10 (1.40%) Bash
7 7 (0.98%) Kusto Query Language
7 7 (0.98%) Shell Script
7 7 (0.98%) TypeScript
8 6 (0.84%) C#
9 4 (0.56%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.28%) ABAP
10 2 (0.28%) PHP
10 2 (0.28%) Swift
10 2 (0.28%) VBA
11 1 (0.14%) CLIST
11 1 (0.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.14%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.14%) R
11 1 (0.14%) Scala
Qualifications
1 35 (4.92%) Degree
2 21 (2.95%) PMP
3 19 (2.67%) Security Cleared
4 17 (2.39%) PMI Certification
5 10 (1.40%) Master's Degree
6 7 (0.98%) Computer Science Degree
6 7 (0.98%) MBA
6 7 (0.98%) SC Cleared
7 6 (0.84%) BPSS Clearance
7 6 (0.84%) ITIL Certification
8 5 (0.70%) APMP
8 5 (0.70%) CISSP
9 4 (0.56%) CCIE
9 4 (0.56%) CCNP
9 4 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (0.56%) CISM
9 4 (0.56%) CRISC
9 4 (0.56%) CSPO
10 3 (0.42%) GIAC
10 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (4.21%) Data Quality
2 28 (3.93%) QA
3 18 (2.53%) GDPR
4 17 (2.39%) PMO
5 16 (2.25%) Accessibility
6 13 (1.83%) SLA
7 6 (0.84%) COBIT
8 5 (0.70%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (0.56%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.42%) IFRS
10 3 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 3 (0.42%) NCSC
10 3 (0.42%) NIST
11 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials
11 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.14%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.14%) MiFID
11 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.14%) Solvency II
11 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 11 (1.54%) Docker
2 10 (1.40%) Active Directory
3 4 (0.56%) RACF
4 3 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
4 3 (0.42%) VMware NSX
5 1 (0.14%) Varnish
5 1 (0.14%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 22 (3.09%) Terraform
2 11 (1.54%) Kubernetes
3 6 (0.84%) Ansible
4 5 (0.70%) Argo
4 5 (0.70%) Istio
5 4 (0.56%) Grafana
5 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
6 3 (0.42%) SCCM
6 3 (0.42%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.14%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.14%) Cacti
7 1 (0.14%) Control-M
7 1 (0.14%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.14%) Nmap
7 1 (0.14%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.14%) ZABBIX
7 1 (0.14%) zSecure
Vendors
1 77 (10.81%) Microsoft
2 61 (8.57%) SAP
3 45 (6.32%) Oracle
4 43 (6.04%) Salesforce
5 31 (4.35%) Google
6 20 (2.81%) Databricks
7 18 (2.53%) Adobe
8 13 (1.83%) Dell
9 12 (1.69%) HP
10 10 (1.40%) CheckPoint
10 10 (1.40%) F5
11 9 (1.26%) Dynatrace
11 9 (1.26%) ServiceNow
12 8 (1.12%) Cisco
12 8 (1.12%) Sitecore
13 6 (0.84%) Apple
13 6 (0.84%) BMC
13 6 (0.84%) Temenos
14 5 (0.70%) Meraki
14 5 (0.70%) MicroStrategy