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 25 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 88 124 98
Rank change year-on-year +36 -26 +4
Contract jobs citing Retail 1,644 764 907
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.00% 2.32% 2.36%
As % of the General category 5.36% 3.65% 4.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 953 406 485
10th Percentile £325 £300 £275
25th Percentile £456 £425 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% - -
75th Percentile £675 £638 £625
90th Percentile £738 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £538 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +7.50% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 66 31
10th Percentile £12.76 £15.25 £12.15
25th Percentile £13.45 £15.31 £15.07
Median hourly rate £15.04 £16.34 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year -7.93% +0.21% -17.72%
75th Percentile £22.50 £19.50 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £25.15 £38.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £13.81 £16.34 £16.00
% change year-on-year -15.46% +2.09% -19.23%

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 30,662 20,930 22,344
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.88% 63.43% 58.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,938 13,003 13,276
10th Percentile £313 £275 £281
25th Percentile £420 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,585 1,216 1,061
10th Percentile £13.50 £13.50 £14.73
25th Percentile £16.25 £16.17 £17.25
Median hourly rate £29.50 £25.15 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +17.30% -28.14% +27.27%
75th Percentile £54.50 £47.22 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.96 £21.39 £35.00
% change year-on-year +40.07% -38.89% +29.63%

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 25 September 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 25 September 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 25 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 +36 1,508 £550 +4.76% 3,937
London +45 839 £570 +3.64% 1,935
UK excluding London +14 685 £538 +7.50% 2,210
Work from Home +22 368 £550 +4.76% 1,559
North of England -2 198 £550 +10.00% 606
South East -9 166 £575 +4.55% 550
Midlands +35 161 £550 +29.41% 451
North West +5 124 £550 +10.00% 345
East Midlands +21 92 £500 +17.86% 203
East of England +2 77 £550 -6.38% 202
West Midlands +9 68 £575 +35.29% 248
Yorkshire -38 56 £500 -4.76% 217
South West -16 52 £430 +36.51% 196
Scotland -18 25 £261 -48.99% 131
North East -30 18 £525 +288.89% 49
Wales -13 4 - - 67
Northern Ireland +5 3 £203 - 52

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 53 (3.22%) Confluence
2 22 (1.34%) CMS
3 19 (1.16%) SharePoint
4 18 (1.09%) Apache Airflow
5 9 (0.55%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 5 (0.30%) SAS
7 4 (0.24%) Apache
7 4 (0.24%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.24%) WebSphere
8 3 (0.18%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.12%) CICS
9 2 (0.12%) Mule
9 2 (0.12%) WordPress
10 1 (0.061%) Mendix
10 1 (0.061%) Microsoft Exchange
10 1 (0.061%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 75 (4.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 51 (3.10%) Microsoft Office
3 27 (1.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (0.91%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 12 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
6 11 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
7 10 (0.61%) MS Visio
8 9 (0.55%) Photoshop
9 8 (0.49%) Adobe Illustrator
10 6 (0.36%) CPLEX
10 6 (0.36%) InDesign
11 4 (0.24%) Chatbot
11 4 (0.24%) Notion
12 1 (0.061%) 3ds Max
12 1 (0.061%) PlantUML
12 1 (0.061%) Siemens NX
12 1 (0.061%) SOLIDWORKS
12 1 (0.061%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 57 (3.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 26 (1.58%) Shopify
3 15 (0.91%) SAP Retail
4 14 (0.85%) Dynamics CRM
5 10 (0.61%) Oracle Retail
5 10 (0.61%) SAP CRM
6 8 (0.49%) Magento
7 6 (0.36%) NetSuite
7 6 (0.36%) Salesforce CRM
8 5 (0.30%) Oracle EBS
8 5 (0.30%) Payment Gateway
8 5 (0.30%) SAP MDG
8 5 (0.30%) Workday HCM
9 4 (0.24%) Dynamics NAV
9 4 (0.24%) SAP SD
10 3 (0.18%) Dynamics AX
10 3 (0.18%) Oracle BPM
10 3 (0.18%) SAP ERP
10 3 (0.18%) SAP IBP
10 3 (0.18%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 216 (13.14%) Azure
2 153 (9.31%) AWS
3 81 (4.93%) Power Platform
4 77 (4.68%) GCP
5 57 (3.47%) Snowflake
6 49 (2.98%) GitHub
7 37 (2.25%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (2.19%) Entra ID
9 30 (1.82%) GitHub Actions
10 28 (1.70%) Dynamics 365
11 26 (1.58%) SaaS
12 25 (1.52%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
13 24 (1.46%) dbt
14 20 (1.22%) Azure Data Factory
14 20 (1.22%) Figma
15 17 (1.03%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 15 (0.91%) Microsoft 365
16 15 (0.91%) OCI
17 12 (0.73%) Salesforce Service Cloud
18 11 (0.67%) Algolia
Communications & Networking
1 22 (1.34%) Firewall
1 22 (1.34%) WAN
2 17 (1.03%) VPN
3 16 (0.97%) ATM
4 14 (0.85%) Network Security
4 14 (0.85%) Wireless
5 13 (0.79%) LAN
6 12 (0.73%) Wi-Fi
7 8 (0.49%) BGP
7 8 (0.49%) IPsec
7 8 (0.49%) OSPF
7 8 (0.49%) Structured Cabling
8 7 (0.43%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 7 (0.43%) Internet
8 7 (0.43%) SD-WAN
8 7 (0.43%) VLAN
9 5 (0.30%) DNS
10 4 (0.24%) Broadband
10 4 (0.24%) Cisco Firepower
10 4 (0.24%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 81 (4.93%) Power BI
2 57 (3.47%) Data Warehouse
3 31 (1.89%) Data Lake
4 30 (1.82%) BigQuery
5 25 (1.52%) Metadata
6 22 (1.34%) Tableau
7 21 (1.28%) SQL Server
8 19 (1.16%) MongoDB
9 18 (1.09%) NoSQL
10 14 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
10 14 (0.85%) PostgreSQL
11 13 (0.79%) Relational Database
11 13 (0.79%) SAP HANA
12 12 (0.73%) MySQL
12 12 (0.73%) Power Query
12 12 (0.73%) SAP BW
13 11 (0.67%) Redis
13 11 (0.67%) Star Schema
14 10 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
15 9 (0.55%) Couchbase
Development Applications
1 79 (4.81%) JIRA
2 24 (1.46%) Git
3 22 (1.34%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.49%) Subversion
5 7 (0.43%) Claude Code
6 5 (0.30%) Cypress.io
6 5 (0.30%) Hudson
6 5 (0.30%) JMeter
7 4 (0.24%) Eclipse
7 4 (0.24%) GitLab
8 3 (0.18%) Postman
9 2 (0.12%) git-flow
9 2 (0.12%) MLflow
9 2 (0.12%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.12%) Selenium
9 2 (0.12%) Terragrunt
9 2 (0.12%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.12%) webpack
10 1 (0.061%) MSI
10 1 (0.061%) Toad
General
1 471 (28.65%) Social Skills
2 376 (22.87%) Finance
3 165 (10.04%) Analytical Skills
4 134 (8.15%) Marketing
5 123 (7.48%) Banking
6 113 (6.87%) Manufacturing
7 67 (4.08%) Organisational Skills
8 64 (3.89%) Retail Banking
9 43 (2.62%) Corporate Banking
10 42 (2.55%) Investment Banking
11 39 (2.37%) Influencing Skills
12 35 (2.13%) Public Sector
13 28 (1.70%) Advertising
13 28 (1.70%) Telecoms
14 27 (1.64%) Legal
15 22 (1.34%) French Language
16 20 (1.22%) Presentation Skills
17 19 (1.16%) Back Office
18 18 (1.09%) Spanish Language
19 17 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 274 (16.67%) Architect
2 234 (14.23%) Analyst
3 177 (10.77%) Senior
4 152 (9.25%) Solutions Architect
5 137 (8.33%) Business Analyst
6 122 (7.42%) Project Manager
7 118 (7.18%) Lead
8 85 (5.17%) Developer
9 56 (3.41%) Consultant
10 54 (3.28%) Product Manager
11 49 (2.98%) Designer
12 48 (2.92%) Data Analyst
13 44 (2.68%) Senior Manager
14 42 (2.55%) Supply Chain Architect
15 35 (2.13%) Service Manager
16 34 (2.07%) Senior Developer
16 34 (2.07%) Service Transition Manager
16 34 (2.07%) Transition Manager
17 33 (2.01%) Data Architect
17 33 (2.01%) Enterprise Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 70 (4.26%) REST
2 50 (3.04%) Terraform
3 42 (2.55%) Kafka
3 42 (2.55%) React
4 30 (1.82%) Node.js
5 29 (1.76%) Spring
6 26 (1.58%) Spring Boot
7 23 (1.40%) Middleware
7 23 (1.40%) SOAP
8 22 (1.34%) RESTful
9 21 (1.28%) Django
9 21 (1.28%) MACH
10 19 (1.16%) VML
11 16 (0.97%) HTML
11 16 (0.97%) Next.js
11 16 (0.97%) SAP Fiori
12 12 (0.73%) CSS
12 12 (0.73%) OAuth
12 12 (0.73%) SAPUI5
13 10 (0.61%) SAP Basis
Miscellaneous
1 82 (4.99%) Product Ownership
2 72 (4.38%) FMCG
3 64 (3.89%) EPoS
4 57 (3.47%) Onboarding
5 53 (3.22%) Cloud Native
6 42 (2.55%) Driving Licence
7 34 (2.07%) Legacy Systems
8 32 (1.95%) Management Information System
9 30 (1.82%) Mobile App
10 29 (1.76%) Marketing Technology
11 28 (1.70%) Greenfield Project
12 26 (1.58%) Data Centre
13 24 (1.46%) Data Structures
14 22 (1.34%) Operational Technology
15 21 (1.28%) Distributed Systems
15 21 (1.28%) Mainframe
16 20 (1.22%) Self-Motivation
17 19 (1.16%) Smartphone
18 18 (1.09%) AI Agents
19 17 (1.03%) Credit Risk
Operating Systems
1 53 (3.22%) Windows
2 17 (1.03%) Linux
3 12 (0.73%) Android
4 8 (0.49%) Unix
5 7 (0.43%) Apple iOS
5 7 (0.43%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.36%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.36%) Ubuntu
7 4 (0.24%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.18%) zOS
9 2 (0.12%) Debian
9 2 (0.12%) Windows Server
10 1 (0.061%) OS/2
10 1 (0.061%) SUSE
10 1 (0.061%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.061%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 432 (26.28%) Stakeholder Management
2 373 (22.69%) Agile
3 249 (15.15%) E-Commerce
4 193 (11.74%) Migration
5 190 (11.56%) Analytics
5 190 (11.56%) Logistics
6 181 (11.01%) Problem-Solving
7 176 (10.71%) AI
8 169 (10.28%) Roadmaps
9 148 (9.00%) Decision-Making
10 137 (8.33%) Continuous Improvement
10 137 (8.33%) Customer Experience
11 135 (8.21%) CRM
12 131 (7.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 124 (7.54%) CI/CD
14 116 (7.06%) Customer Service
15 115 (7.00%) Business Intelligence
15 115 (7.00%) Project Management
16 109 (6.63%) DevOps
17 106 (6.45%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 153 (9.31%) SQL
2 112 (6.81%) Python
3 51 (3.10%) Java
4 35 (2.13%) TypeScript
5 26 (1.58%) JavaScript
6 13 (0.79%) ABAP
7 12 (0.73%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 10 (0.61%) C#
8 10 (0.61%) R
9 9 (0.55%) Apex Code
9 9 (0.55%) Bash
10 7 (0.43%) PowerShell
10 7 (0.43%) SOQL
11 6 (0.36%) PL/SQL
12 5 (0.30%) Groovy
12 5 (0.30%) SOSL
13 4 (0.24%) Bicep
13 4 (0.24%) Scala
13 4 (0.24%) Shell Script
13 4 (0.24%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 61 (3.71%) Degree
2 43 (2.62%) Security Cleared
3 23 (1.40%) PMP
4 21 (1.28%) SC Cleared
5 12 (0.73%) DBS Check
5 12 (0.73%) PMI Certification
6 11 (0.67%) ITIL Certification
7 8 (0.49%) BPSS Clearance
8 6 (0.36%) CISSP
9 5 (0.30%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (0.30%) CISM
9 5 (0.30%) City & Guilds
9 5 (0.30%) Computer Science Degree
9 5 (0.30%) Six Sigma Green Belt
10 4 (0.24%) CSPO
11 3 (0.18%) APMG
11 3 (0.18%) AWS Certification
11 3 (0.18%) CCSM
11 3 (0.18%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
11 3 (0.18%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (4.93%) Data Quality
2 71 (4.32%) QA
3 35 (2.13%) GDPR
4 25 (1.52%) PMO
5 24 (1.46%) Accessibility
6 14 (0.85%) PCI DSS
7 10 (0.61%) SLA
8 7 (0.43%) NIST
9 6 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
9 6 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 5 (0.30%) WCAG
11 3 (0.18%) GRC
11 3 (0.18%) PSD2
12 2 (0.12%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.12%) GAAP
12 2 (0.12%) IFRS
12 2 (0.12%) ISO 8583
12 2 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.061%) APQC
13 1 (0.061%) GxP
System Software
1 35 (2.13%) Docker
2 29 (1.76%) Active Directory
3 13 (0.79%) Virtual Desktop
4 6 (0.36%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.30%) Firmware
5 5 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.18%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.12%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.061%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 41 (2.49%) Kubernetes
2 12 (0.73%) Single Sign-On
3 11 (0.67%) Ansible
4 7 (0.43%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 6 (0.36%) FortiGate
5 6 (0.36%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (0.24%) Bosun
6 4 (0.24%) SCCM
7 2 (0.12%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.12%) AirWatch
7 2 (0.12%) CA Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.12%) CloudHub
7 2 (0.12%) Jamf Pro
7 2 (0.12%) logstash
7 2 (0.12%) PingFederate
7 2 (0.12%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.061%) Argo
8 1 (0.061%) Grafana
8 1 (0.061%) Kubeflow
8 1 (0.061%) vMotion
Vendors
1 159 (9.67%) Microsoft
2 138 (8.39%) SAP
3 92 (5.60%) Salesforce
4 82 (4.99%) Databricks
5 71 (4.32%) Oracle
6 49 (2.98%) Google
7 38 (2.31%) Adobe
8 30 (1.82%) MuleSoft
9 25 (1.52%) Zscaler
10 20 (1.22%) Cisco
11 19 (1.16%) Workday
12 18 (1.09%) IBM
13 17 (1.03%) ServiceNow
14 13 (0.79%) Apple
14 13 (0.79%) New Relic
15 12 (0.73%) Fortinet
15 12 (0.73%) Splunk
16 11 (0.67%) Braze
16 11 (0.67%) Palo Alto
17 10 (0.61%) IFS