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 12 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 98 108 84
Rank change year-on-year +10 -24 +11
Contract jobs citing Retail 1,212 736 1,096
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.43% 2.50% 2.51%
As % of the General category 4.49% 3.94% 4.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 710 378 611
10th Percentile £254 £308 £300
25th Percentile £410 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £505
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% +1.49% -6.26%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £631
90th Percentile £738 £725 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 88 29 87
10th Percentile £13.18 £13.81 £11.50
25th Percentile £15.63 £15.25 £12.15
Median hourly rate £21.00 £22.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% +40.63% -19.23%
75th Percentile £22.50 £53.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £87.50 £21.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.21 £15.50 £15.95
% change year-on-year +11.03% -2.82% -19.49%

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 26,971 18,680 24,970
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 53.96% 63.47% 57.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,300 11,794 15,684
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £506 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.28% -3.62% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £768
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,795 864 2,007
10th Percentile £13.97 £13.46 £12.78
25th Percentile £18.00 £16.67 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.00 £28.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% -6.67% -6.02%
75th Percentile £61.18 £55.00 £52.50
90th Percentile £80.03 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.16 £24.42 £28.46
% change year-on-year +27.58% -14.20% +3.49%

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 12 June 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 12 June 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 12 June 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 +5 1,109 £525 - 1,083
London +15 634 £550 - 389
UK excluding London +11 488 £500 - 832
Work from Home -26 274 £500 - 367
South East -10 146 £525 -2.33% 261
North of England -37 136 £513 +2.50% 221
Midlands -23 95 £495 +10.00% 151
North West +5 86 £563 +12.50% 112
East Midlands -6 54 £495 +7.03% 89
East of England +5 52 £523 -0.33% 87
Yorkshire -50 47 £500 +5.26% 85
West Midlands -36 41 £500 +12.68% 62
South West -13 33 £333 -22.22% 77
Scotland -1 21 £500 -6.10% 33
Wales -17 3 £190 +29.52% 14
North East -34 3 £173 -76.98% 26
Northern Ireland +2 2 £190 -44.48% 15

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 (2.89%) Confluence
2 14 (1.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
2 14 (1.16%) CMS
3 11 (0.91%) Apache Airflow
4 8 (0.66%) SharePoint
5 5 (0.41%) SAS
6 3 (0.25%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.17%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.17%) CICS
8 1 (0.083%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 31 (2.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (2.06%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 16 (1.32%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (1.07%) Chatbot
5 11 (0.91%) MS Visio
6 10 (0.83%) Photoshop
7 8 (0.66%) Adobe Illustrator
8 7 (0.58%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 5 (0.41%) InDesign
10 3 (0.25%) Notion
10 3 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
11 2 (0.17%) UserZoom
12 1 (0.083%) 3ds Max
12 1 (0.083%) Adobe After Effects
12 1 (0.083%) Adobe XD
12 1 (0.083%) Maya
12 1 (0.083%) PlantUML
12 1 (0.083%) SOLIDWORKS
12 1 (0.083%) Trello
Business Applications
1 24 (1.98%) SAP S/4HANA
2 23 (1.90%) Shopify
3 14 (1.16%) Dynamics CRM
4 9 (0.74%) SAP Retail
5 7 (0.58%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 7 (0.58%) Oracle Retail
5 7 (0.58%) SAP CRM
6 6 (0.50%) Finacle
7 5 (0.41%) NetSuite
7 5 (0.41%) Oracle EBS
7 5 (0.41%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.33%) Magento
8 4 (0.33%) Salesforce CRM
9 3 (0.25%) Payment Gateway
9 3 (0.25%) SAP CAR
9 3 (0.25%) SAP SD
10 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
10 2 (0.17%) Sage X3
10 2 (0.17%) SAP ERP
10 2 (0.17%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 130 (10.73%) Azure
2 103 (8.50%) AWS
3 69 (5.69%) GCP
4 59 (4.87%) Power Platform
5 43 (3.55%) Snowflake
6 27 (2.23%) GitHub
7 23 (1.90%) Dynamics 365
8 20 (1.65%) Azure DevOps
9 19 (1.57%) Entra ID
9 19 (1.57%) GitHub Actions
10 18 (1.49%) Figma
11 16 (1.32%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
12 13 (1.07%) Azure Data Factory
13 12 (0.99%) BigCommerce
13 12 (0.99%) dbt
13 12 (0.99%) Microsoft 365
13 12 (0.99%) SaaS
14 11 (0.91%) Cloud Run
14 11 (0.91%) Google Workspace
15 10 (0.83%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 13 (1.07%) ATM
1 13 (1.07%) WAN
2 12 (0.99%) Firewall
3 11 (0.91%) Network Security
4 9 (0.74%) RFID
4 9 (0.74%) VPN
4 9 (0.74%) Wireless
5 7 (0.58%) LAN
6 6 (0.50%) Cisco Firepower
6 6 (0.50%) SD-WAN
6 6 (0.50%) Wi-Fi
7 5 (0.41%) Cisco ASA
7 5 (0.41%) Cisco Nexus
7 5 (0.41%) VSAN
8 3 (0.25%) BGP
8 3 (0.25%) Broadband
8 3 (0.25%) IPsec
8 3 (0.25%) MPLS
8 3 (0.25%) OSPF
9 2 (0.17%) DNS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 56 (4.62%) Power BI
2 29 (2.39%) BigQuery
3 21 (1.73%) Data Warehouse
4 18 (1.49%) MySQL
4 18 (1.49%) Tableau
5 17 (1.40%) SQL Server
6 13 (1.07%) Metadata
7 12 (0.99%) Data Lake
8 10 (0.83%) NoSQL
9 9 (0.74%) Relational Database
10 7 (0.58%) MongoDB
10 7 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
11 6 (0.50%) Data Vault
11 6 (0.50%) Snowflake Schema
12 4 (0.33%) Big Data
12 4 (0.33%) Looker
12 4 (0.33%) Semantic Layer
13 3 (0.25%) DynamoDB
13 3 (0.25%) Oracle OLAP
13 3 (0.25%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 74 (6.11%) JIRA
2 24 (1.98%) Git
3 17 (1.40%) Jenkins
4 11 (0.91%) GitLab
5 4 (0.33%) JMeter
5 4 (0.33%) Maven
5 4 (0.33%) Subversion
6 3 (0.25%) Cypress.io
6 3 (0.25%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.25%) ERwin
6 3 (0.25%) Hudson
6 3 (0.25%) Selenium
6 3 (0.25%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.17%) Gatling
7 2 (0.17%) git-flow
7 2 (0.17%) MLflow
7 2 (0.17%) Postman
7 2 (0.17%) WebDriver
7 2 (0.17%) webpack
8 1 (0.083%) Mockito
General
1 344 (28.38%) Social Skills
2 288 (23.76%) Finance
3 116 (9.57%) Analytical Skills
4 110 (9.08%) Banking
5 70 (5.78%) Marketing
6 58 (4.79%) Manufacturing
6 58 (4.79%) Organisational Skills
7 56 (4.62%) Retail Banking
8 45 (3.71%) Investment Banking
9 41 (3.38%) Corporate Banking
10 28 (2.31%) Public Sector
11 27 (2.23%) Telecoms
12 25 (2.06%) Documentation Skills
13 21 (1.73%) Legal
13 21 (1.73%) Presentation Skills
14 20 (1.65%) French Language
14 20 (1.65%) Influencing Skills
15 16 (1.32%) Advertising
16 14 (1.16%) Private Banking
16 14 (1.16%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 183 (15.10%) Architect
2 176 (14.52%) Analyst
3 150 (12.38%) Senior
4 116 (9.57%) Project Manager
5 101 (8.33%) Business Analyst
6 95 (7.84%) Lead
7 84 (6.93%) Solutions Architect
8 59 (4.87%) Senior Manager
9 49 (4.04%) Developer
10 42 (3.47%) Designer
10 42 (3.47%) Technical Manager
11 37 (3.05%) Enterprise Architect
12 36 (2.97%) Consultant
13 34 (2.81%) Product Manager
13 34 (2.81%) Senior Project Manager
14 28 (2.31%) Data Engineer
15 26 (2.15%) 2nd Line Support
15 26 (2.15%) Data Architect
16 25 (2.06%) Programme Manager
17 23 (1.90%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (3.30%) REST
2 33 (2.72%) Middleware
3 31 (2.56%) React
4 28 (2.31%) Spring
5 25 (2.06%) VML
6 22 (1.82%) Spring Boot
7 20 (1.65%) Kafka
8 19 (1.57%) Node.js
9 15 (1.24%) CSS
10 14 (1.16%) AngularJS
10 14 (1.16%) HTML
10 14 (1.16%) RESTful
11 10 (0.83%) .NET
11 10 (0.83%) J2EE
11 10 (0.83%) MACH
12 9 (0.74%) OAuth
13 8 (0.66%) Django
13 8 (0.66%) OpenTelemetry
13 8 (0.66%) SOAP
14 7 (0.58%) LangChain
Miscellaneous
1 72 (5.94%) Product Ownership
2 45 (3.71%) EPoS
3 43 (3.55%) FMCG
4 41 (3.38%) Driving Licence
5 36 (2.97%) Cloud Native
6 33 (2.72%) Onboarding
7 21 (1.73%) Data Structures
8 20 (1.65%) Mainframe
9 19 (1.57%) Data Centre
10 18 (1.49%) Legacy Systems
10 18 (1.49%) Mobile App
10 18 (1.49%) Self-Motivation
11 15 (1.24%) AI Agents
11 15 (1.24%) Management Information System
12 14 (1.16%) Greenfield Project
12 14 (1.16%) Marketing Technology
13 11 (0.91%) Operational Technology
13 11 (0.91%) Smartphone
14 10 (0.83%) Virtual Team
15 9 (0.74%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 52 (4.29%) Windows
2 24 (1.98%) Linux
3 11 (0.91%) Android
4 7 (0.58%) Unix
4 7 (0.58%) zOS
5 6 (0.50%) Mac OS
6 5 (0.41%) Windows Server
7 4 (0.33%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.25%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.25%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.083%) Debian
9 1 (0.083%) SUSE
9 1 (0.083%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.083%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 271 (22.36%) Agile
2 261 (21.53%) Stakeholder Management
3 186 (15.35%) Problem-Solving
4 173 (14.27%) E-Commerce
5 149 (12.29%) Migration
6 141 (11.63%) Roadmaps
7 121 (9.98%) Analytics
8 118 (9.74%) Customer Experience
9 116 (9.57%) Project Management
10 105 (8.66%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 101 (8.33%) AI
12 95 (7.84%) ERP
13 87 (7.18%) Change Management
14 86 (7.10%) Project Delivery
15 85 (7.01%) Decision-Making
16 84 (6.93%) User Acceptance Testing
17 83 (6.85%) Continuous Improvement
18 82 (6.77%) CI/CD
18 82 (6.77%) Scrum
19 78 (6.44%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 93 (7.67%) SQL
2 70 (5.78%) Python
3 45 (3.71%) Java
4 26 (2.15%) JavaScript
5 18 (1.49%) TypeScript
6 10 (0.83%) Shell Script
7 9 (0.74%) C#
7 9 (0.74%) PowerShell
8 7 (0.58%) SOQL
9 6 (0.50%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.41%) Apex Code
10 5 (0.41%) Bash
10 5 (0.41%) PL/SQL
10 5 (0.41%) SOSL
11 4 (0.33%) Bicep
11 4 (0.33%) Scala
12 3 (0.25%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.25%) Kusto Query Language
12 3 (0.25%) R
12 3 (0.25%) VBA
Qualifications
1 52 (4.29%) Degree
2 41 (3.38%) Security Cleared
3 29 (2.39%) SC Cleared
4 19 (1.57%) PMP
5 11 (0.91%) PMI Certification
6 10 (0.83%) DBS Check
7 9 (0.74%) BPSS Clearance
7 9 (0.74%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (0.66%) CISSP
9 7 (0.58%) APMP
9 7 (0.58%) Master's Degree
10 5 (0.41%) CCNP
10 5 (0.41%) CCSE
10 5 (0.41%) CCSM
10 5 (0.41%) Cisco Certification
10 5 (0.41%) CISM
10 5 (0.41%) CSPO
10 5 (0.41%) MBA
11 4 (0.33%) City & Guilds
11 4 (0.33%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (4.95%) QA
2 54 (4.46%) Data Quality
3 38 (3.14%) GDPR
4 32 (2.64%) PMO
5 17 (1.40%) Accessibility
6 14 (1.16%) PCI DSS
7 12 (0.99%) SLA
8 8 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 5 (0.41%) NIST
10 3 (0.25%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.17%) GAAP
11 2 (0.17%) GRC
11 2 (0.17%) IFRS
11 2 (0.17%) PSD2
11 2 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.17%) WCAG
12 1 (0.083%) COBIT
12 1 (0.083%) GxP
12 1 (0.083%) ISO 8583
System Software
1 26 (2.15%) Docker
2 24 (1.98%) Active Directory
3 6 (0.50%) Virtual Desktop
3 6 (0.50%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (0.50%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.17%) RACF
5 2 (0.17%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.083%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 29 (2.39%) Terraform
2 23 (1.90%) Kubernetes
3 12 (0.99%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 7 (0.58%) Microsoft Intune
5 6 (0.50%) Argo
5 6 (0.50%) Grafana
5 6 (0.50%) Istio
5 6 (0.50%) SCCM
6 5 (0.41%) Ansible
6 5 (0.41%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.17%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.17%) CA Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.17%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.17%) MOM
7 2 (0.17%) PingFederate
8 1 (0.083%) Nagios
8 1 (0.083%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.083%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 101 (8.33%) Microsoft
2 82 (6.77%) SAP
3 73 (6.02%) Oracle
4 55 (4.54%) Google
5 54 (4.46%) Salesforce
6 43 (3.55%) Databricks
7 32 (2.64%) Adobe
8 21 (1.73%) ServiceNow
9 15 (1.24%) IFS
10 14 (1.16%) Cisco
10 14 (1.16%) Sitecore
11 13 (1.07%) IBM
12 12 (0.99%) Splunk
13 11 (0.91%) Zscaler
14 10 (0.83%) MuleSoft
14 10 (0.83%) VMware
15 9 (0.74%) Fortinet
15 9 (0.74%) Palo Alto
16 8 (0.66%) Dynatrace
17 7 (0.58%) Workday