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 6 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 144 90 109
Rank change year-on-year -54 +19 -37
Contract jobs citing Retail 744 923 1,021
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.04% 2.56% 2.26%
As % of the General category 3.29% 4.26% 3.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 432 492 580
10th Percentile £206 £263 £285
25th Percentile £400 £406 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £638
90th Percentile £734 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £498 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -0.50% - -1.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 56 10 31
10th Percentile £14.50 £16.05 £15.33
25th Percentile £15.42 £18.13 £18.78
Median hourly rate £16.34 £32.50 £19.81
Median % change year-on-year -49.74% +64.06% -
75th Percentile £19.50 £37.88 £20.94
90th Percentile £25.15 £49.38 £29.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.34 £18.13 £19.81
% change year-on-year -9.90% -8.48% -

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 common skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for common skills 22,634 21,644 26,929
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 62.09% 60.15% 59.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,215 12,856 17,859
10th Percentile £275 £292 £281
25th Percentile £400 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £756 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,450 783 1,127
10th Percentile £13.80 £15.21 £14.25
25th Percentile £16.73 £18.00 £16.80
Median hourly rate £24.00 £27.50 £31.71
Median % change year-on-year -12.73% -13.28% +26.84%
75th Percentile £45.46 £53.75 £58.75
90th Percentile £70.00 £70.25 £70.56
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £26.13 £28.92
% change year-on-year -15.79% -9.66% +31.45%

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 6 December 2025.

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 6 December 2025.

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 6 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 -44 683 £500 -5.88% 1,599
London -34 363 £525 -5.66% 267
UK excluding London -37 322 £498 -0.50% 1,545
Work from Home -66 188 £539 +2.71% 797
South East -11 98 £525 -4.55% 456
North of England -57 72 £500 +8.11% 335
Midlands -49 55 £438 -12.50% 283
East of England -5 44 £595 +8.18% 206
East Midlands -4 36 £438 -12.50% 123
Yorkshire -34 35 £525 +16.67% 138
North West -34 32 £500 +9.59% 169
South West +9 29 £183 -55.38% 152
Scotland 0 19 £500 -2.44% 91
West Midlands -48 18 £450 -16.28% 145
North East -1 6 £206 -65.63% 29
Wales 0 4 £625 +331.03% 39
Northern Ireland -4 1 - - 12

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 30 (4.03%) Confluence
2 19 (2.55%) CMS
3 14 (1.88%) SharePoint
4 7 (0.94%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (0.81%) Camunda
6 5 (0.67%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 5 (0.67%) Jupyter
6 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Exchange
7 4 (0.54%) WordPress
8 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.27%) Magnolia
9 1 (0.13%) Appian
9 1 (0.13%) SAS
9 1 (0.13%) SharePoint Server
9 1 (0.13%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.13%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 28 (3.76%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (2.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 13 (1.75%) Microsoft Office
4 6 (0.81%) Chatbot
5 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.40%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.13%) Trello
6 1 (0.13%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 29 (3.90%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.75%) Shopify
3 10 (1.34%) Oracle Retail
4 8 (1.08%) Dynamics CRM
4 8 (1.08%) SAP Retail
5 6 (0.81%) Dynamics AX
5 6 (0.81%) Payment Gateway
6 5 (0.67%) SAP Payroll
7 4 (0.54%) ResourceLink
7 4 (0.54%) SAP GTS
7 4 (0.54%) Temenos T24
8 3 (0.40%) Magento
8 3 (0.40%) NetSuite
8 3 (0.40%) Oracle Payables
8 3 (0.40%) Salesforce CRM
8 3 (0.40%) SAP MM
9 2 (0.27%) BambooHR
9 2 (0.27%) SAP Oil and Gas
9 2 (0.27%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
9 2 (0.27%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 88 (11.83%) Azure
2 49 (6.59%) Power Platform
3 48 (6.45%) AWS
4 29 (3.90%) GCP
5 24 (3.23%) Dynamics 365
6 23 (3.09%) Azure DevOps
7 17 (2.28%) SaaS
8 15 (2.02%) Microsoft 365
9 12 (1.61%) Power Automate
10 11 (1.48%) OCI
10 11 (1.48%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
11 10 (1.34%) Entra ID
11 10 (1.34%) Snowflake
11 10 (1.34%) SuccessFactors
12 9 (1.21%) Figma
12 9 (1.21%) Vertex AI
13 8 (1.08%) Serverless
14 7 (0.94%) GitHub
15 6 (0.81%) Microsoft Copilot
15 6 (0.81%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 19 (2.55%) RFID
1 19 (2.55%) Wireless
2 18 (2.42%) NFC
3 13 (1.75%) Firewall
4 11 (1.48%) VPN
5 8 (1.08%) Wi-Fi
6 7 (0.94%) WAN
7 6 (0.81%) LAN
8 4 (0.54%) Cisco Nexus
9 3 (0.40%) BGP
9 3 (0.40%) Broadband
9 3 (0.40%) DNS
9 3 (0.40%) EIGRP
9 3 (0.40%) OSPF
9 3 (0.40%) VoIP
10 2 (0.27%) MPLS
10 2 (0.27%) Network Security
10 2 (0.27%) SAN
10 2 (0.27%) TCP/IP
10 2 (0.27%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (5.51%) Power BI
2 14 (1.88%) Data Warehouse
2 14 (1.88%) Metadata
3 12 (1.61%) BigQuery
3 12 (1.61%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.61%) Tableau
4 6 (0.81%) Data Lake
5 5 (0.67%) Power Query
5 5 (0.67%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.54%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.54%) Redis
6 4 (0.54%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.40%) Big Data
7 3 (0.40%) Data Vault
7 3 (0.40%) Oracle Reports
7 3 (0.40%) SAP BW
7 3 (0.40%) Snowflake Schema
7 3 (0.40%) Star Schema
8 2 (0.27%) Delta Lake
8 2 (0.27%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 53 (7.12%) JIRA
2 16 (2.15%) Git
3 10 (1.34%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.54%) Selenium
4 4 (0.54%) Storybook
5 3 (0.40%) Postman
6 2 (0.27%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.27%) ERwin
6 2 (0.27%) JUnit
6 2 (0.27%) MLflow
6 2 (0.27%) PowerDesigner
6 2 (0.27%) SoapUI
6 2 (0.27%) Xcode
7 1 (0.13%) Gradle
7 1 (0.13%) JMeter
7 1 (0.13%) LoadRunner
7 1 (0.13%) Maven
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.13%) Subversion
7 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 269 (36.16%) Social Skills
2 162 (21.77%) Finance
3 81 (10.89%) Analytical Skills
4 70 (9.41%) Banking
5 55 (7.39%) Marketing
6 44 (5.91%) Manufacturing
6 44 (5.91%) Public Sector
7 38 (5.11%) Retail Banking
8 35 (4.70%) Organisational Skills
9 32 (4.30%) Investment Banking
10 31 (4.17%) Corporate Banking
11 29 (3.90%) Legal
12 20 (2.69%) Documentation Skills
12 20 (2.69%) Influencing Skills
13 17 (2.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 17 (2.28%) Presentation Skills
14 11 (1.48%) Telecoms
15 9 (1.21%) Automotive
16 8 (1.08%) Financial Institution
16 8 (1.08%) French Language
Job Titles
1 144 (19.35%) Analyst
2 82 (11.02%) Architect
3 80 (10.75%) Project Manager
4 62 (8.33%) Business Analyst
5 59 (7.93%) Senior
6 51 (6.85%) Lead
7 38 (5.11%) Solutions Architect
8 33 (4.44%) Consultant
9 25 (3.36%) Senior Manager
10 24 (3.23%) Developer
11 20 (2.69%) Programme Manager
12 19 (2.55%) Administrator
12 19 (2.55%) Product Manager
13 15 (2.02%) Data Analyst
14 14 (1.88%) SAP Consultant
15 13 (1.75%) Senior Analyst
15 13 (1.75%) Support Analyst
16 12 (1.61%) Enterprise Architect
16 12 (1.61%) Field Engineer
16 12 (1.61%) Help Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.82%) React
2 18 (2.42%) REST
3 14 (1.88%) HTML
3 14 (1.88%) Node.js
4 11 (1.48%) PySpark
4 11 (1.48%) VML
5 10 (1.34%) .NET
6 9 (1.21%) CSS
7 8 (1.08%) Oracle Fusion
8 7 (0.94%) React Native
8 7 (0.94%) RESTful
8 7 (0.94%) scikit-learn
9 6 (0.81%) FastAPI
9 6 (0.81%) Kafka
9 6 (0.81%) XML
10 5 (0.67%) EDI
10 5 (0.67%) HTML5
10 5 (0.67%) Matplotlib
10 5 (0.67%) NumPy
10 5 (0.67%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 38 (5.11%) Product Ownership
2 31 (4.17%) Legacy Systems
3 23 (3.09%) IoT
3 23 (3.09%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (2.96%) EPoS
4 22 (2.96%) Onboarding
5 19 (2.55%) Mobile App
6 18 (2.42%) FMCG
7 12 (1.61%) Analytical Mindset
7 12 (1.61%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.48%) Cloud Native
8 11 (1.48%) Data Centre
9 10 (1.34%) Algorithms
9 10 (1.34%) Driving Licence
9 10 (1.34%) Greenfield Project
10 9 (1.21%) Data Structures
11 7 (0.94%) Hybrid Cloud
12 6 (0.81%) Enterprise Software
12 6 (0.81%) Replication
12 6 (0.81%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 44 (5.91%) Windows
2 7 (0.94%) Linux
2 7 (0.94%) Mac OS
3 6 (0.81%) Apple iOS
4 3 (0.40%) Android
4 3 (0.40%) Windows Server
5 2 (0.27%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
6 1 (0.13%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.13%) VMS
6 1 (0.13%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 173 (23.25%) Stakeholder Management
2 171 (22.98%) Agile
3 107 (14.38%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (11.29%) E-Commerce
5 79 (10.62%) Project Management
6 75 (10.08%) Analytics
7 70 (9.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 63 (8.47%) Migration
9 62 (8.33%) Continuous Improvement
10 61 (8.20%) Roadmaps
11 56 (7.53%) CRM
11 56 (7.53%) Customer Experience
12 53 (7.12%) AI
13 51 (6.85%) DevOps
13 51 (6.85%) Workshop Facilitation
14 50 (6.72%) Business Intelligence
15 48 (6.45%) Logistics
16 47 (6.32%) Decision-Making
17 46 (6.18%) ERP
18 44 (5.91%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 70 (9.41%) Python
2 60 (8.06%) SQL
3 20 (2.69%) JavaScript
4 15 (2.02%) Java
5 12 (1.61%) PowerShell
6 11 (1.48%) Bash
6 11 (1.48%) TypeScript
7 8 (1.08%) C#
8 7 (0.94%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.54%) PL/SQL
10 3 (0.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.40%) X++
11 2 (0.27%) ABAP
11 2 (0.27%) Go
11 2 (0.27%) PHP
11 2 (0.27%) R
11 2 (0.27%) Swift
11 2 (0.27%) VBA
12 1 (0.13%) REXX
12 1 (0.13%) Scala
Qualifications
1 38 (5.11%) Degree
2 20 (2.69%) PMP
3 17 (2.28%) PMI Certification
4 13 (1.75%) Security Cleared
5 11 (1.48%) Computer Science Degree
6 7 (0.94%) Master's Degree
7 5 (0.67%) CISSP
7 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Certification
8 4 (0.54%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (0.54%) ITIL Certification
9 3 (0.40%) ACCA
9 3 (0.40%) CCIE
9 3 (0.40%) CCNP
9 3 (0.40%) CISM
9 3 (0.40%) CRISC
9 3 (0.40%) CSPO
9 3 (0.40%) GIAC
10 2 (0.27%) BPSS Clearance
10 2 (0.27%) MBA
10 2 (0.27%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.49%) QA
2 20 (2.69%) GDPR
3 19 (2.55%) Data Quality
4 15 (2.02%) SLA
5 10 (1.34%) Accessibility
6 6 (0.81%) COBIT
6 6 (0.81%) PMO
7 5 (0.67%) Actionable Recommendations
8 3 (0.40%) IFRS
8 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 3 (0.40%) NCSC
8 3 (0.40%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.27%) MiFID
9 2 (0.27%) NIST
10 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.13%) GRC
10 1 (0.13%) IFRS 9
10 1 (0.13%) Solvency II
System Software
1 12 (1.61%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.48%) Docker
3 3 (0.40%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (0.40%) VMware NSX
4 2 (0.27%) RACF
5 1 (0.13%) Varnish
5 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.13%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.13%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 22 (2.96%) Terraform
2 12 (1.61%) Kubernetes
3 10 (1.34%) Ansible
4 5 (0.67%) Grafana
4 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Intune
5 4 (0.54%) Jamf Pro
5 4 (0.54%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (0.40%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.40%) SCCM
7 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.13%) Cacti
7 1 (0.13%) Control-M
7 1 (0.13%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.13%) Nmap
7 1 (0.13%) vCenter Server
7 1 (0.13%) ZABBIX
7 1 (0.13%) zSecure
Vendors
1 86 (11.56%) Microsoft
2 70 (9.41%) SAP
3 45 (6.05%) Oracle
4 44 (5.91%) Salesforce
5 23 (3.09%) Google
6 17 (2.28%) HP
7 16 (2.15%) Adobe
7 16 (2.15%) Databricks
8 10 (1.34%) Dell
9 9 (1.21%) CheckPoint
9 9 (1.21%) F5
10 8 (1.08%) ServiceNow
11 7 (0.94%) Cisco
11 7 (0.94%) Dynatrace
11 7 (0.94%) Workday
12 6 (0.81%) Apple
12 6 (0.81%) Sitecore
12 6 (0.81%) Splunk
13 5 (0.67%) VMware
13 5 (0.67%) Zscaler