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

6 months to
24 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 140 87 91
Rank change year-on-year -53 +4 -3
Contract jobs citing Retail 810 817 1,037
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.85% 2.80% 2.34%
As % of the General category 3.26% 4.46% 4.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 513 433 600
10th Percentile £191 £293 £281
25th Percentile £358 £413 £398
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -5.66%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £638
90th Percentile £718 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -10.00% - -0.99%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 17 69
10th Percentile £12.87 £16.98 £11.11
25th Percentile £14.75 £21.25 £12.15
Median hourly rate £16.50 £32.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -49.23% +103.13% -19.23%
75th Percentile £29.19 £55.25 £21.37
90th Percentile £50.05 £81.50 £21.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.34 £22.50 £13.94
% change year-on-year -27.40% +61.41% -29.63%

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 24,864 18,322 25,812
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 56.74% 62.89% 58.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,517 11,749 16,454
10th Percentile £300 £296 £265
25th Percentile £405 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £649 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £495
% change year-on-year - -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,544 678 1,819
10th Percentile £13.72 £15.00 £12.78
25th Percentile £17.00 £20.00 £15.27
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +15.38% -25.71%
75th Percentile £57.50 £58.75 £50.00
90th Percentile £76.75 £75.55 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.58 £27.97 £25.00
% change year-on-year -15.71% +11.88% -19.70%

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 March 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 March 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 March 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 -56 732 £500 -4.76% 1,081
London -37 407 £538 -2.27% 354
UK excluding London -40 335 £450 -10.00% 851
Work from Home -86 197 £488 -7.14% 375
South East -35 100 £413 -23.26% 231
North of England -47 84 £500 +11.11% 217
Midlands -45 69 £495 -1.00% 180
North West -35 43 £500 +11.11% 108
East Midlands -12 41 £495 -1.00% 115
East of England -20 37 £475 -5.00% 87
Yorkshire -38 37 £513 +33.12% 90
West Midlands -59 27 £463 -11.90% 65
Scotland +7 22 £450 -15.49% 48
South West -22 19 £261 -40.63% 84
North East -15 4 £206 -72.50% 22
Northern Ireland -4 2 £190 -44.48% 9
Wales -11 2 £235 +60.19% 22

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 (4.32%) Confluence
2 15 (1.85%) SharePoint
3 12 (1.48%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 12 (1.48%) CMS
4 10 (1.23%) Apache Airflow
5 4 (0.49%) WordPress
6 3 (0.37%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Exchange
6 3 (0.37%) SAS
7 2 (0.25%) Magnolia
8 1 (0.12%) SharePoint Server
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 25 (3.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (2.22%) Microsoft Project
3 13 (1.60%) Microsoft Office
4 12 (1.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.36%) Chatbot
6 10 (1.23%) MS Visio
7 4 (0.49%) Photoshop
8 3 (0.37%) Adobe Illustrator
9 2 (0.25%) InDesign
9 2 (0.25%) Trello
10 1 (0.12%) 3ds Max
10 1 (0.12%) Adobe After Effects
10 1 (0.12%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 1 (0.12%) Adobe XD
10 1 (0.12%) Maya
10 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
10 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
10 1 (0.12%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 17 (2.10%) SAP S/4HANA
2 16 (1.98%) Shopify
3 12 (1.48%) Dynamics CRM
3 12 (1.48%) SAP Retail
4 9 (1.11%) Oracle Retail
5 6 (0.74%) Finacle
5 6 (0.74%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 5 (0.62%) SAP Payroll
7 4 (0.49%) ResourceLink
7 4 (0.49%) SAP MDG
7 4 (0.49%) Temenos T24
8 3 (0.37%) SAP MM
8 3 (0.37%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
9 2 (0.25%) BambooHR
9 2 (0.25%) NetSuite
9 2 (0.25%) Sage X3
9 2 (0.25%) Sprinklr
10 1 (0.12%) Payment Gateway
10 1 (0.12%) SAP CAR
10 1 (0.12%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 85 (10.49%) Azure
2 54 (6.67%) AWS
3 53 (6.54%) Power Platform
4 44 (5.43%) GCP
5 24 (2.96%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (2.84%) Dynamics 365
7 20 (2.47%) GitHub
8 18 (2.22%) Snowflake
9 17 (2.10%) Microsoft 365
10 14 (1.73%) GitHub Actions
11 13 (1.60%) SaaS
12 12 (1.48%) Google Workspace
13 11 (1.36%) Cloud Run
13 11 (1.36%) Figma
14 10 (1.23%) Azure Data Factory
14 10 (1.23%) Entra ID
14 10 (1.23%) Miro
15 9 (1.11%) BigCommerce
15 9 (1.11%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
15 9 (1.11%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 15 (1.85%) RFID
2 13 (1.60%) VPN
3 11 (1.36%) WAN
4 10 (1.23%) Firewall
4 10 (1.23%) Wireless
5 8 (0.99%) NFC
6 7 (0.86%) LAN
7 6 (0.74%) Cisco Nexus
7 6 (0.74%) Wi-Fi
8 4 (0.49%) BGP
8 4 (0.49%) EIGRP
8 4 (0.49%) OSPF
8 4 (0.49%) VoIP
9 3 (0.37%) MPLS
10 2 (0.25%) Cisco ASA
10 2 (0.25%) Cisco Firepower
10 2 (0.25%) SAN
10 2 (0.25%) SD-WAN
10 2 (0.25%) VSAN
10 2 (0.25%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 45 (5.56%) Power BI
2 20 (2.47%) BigQuery
3 17 (2.10%) Data Warehouse
4 13 (1.60%) SQL Server
4 13 (1.60%) Tableau
5 12 (1.48%) MySQL
6 11 (1.36%) Metadata
7 7 (0.86%) Data Lake
7 7 (0.86%) Data Vault
8 6 (0.74%) Delta Lake
8 6 (0.74%) PostgreSQL
9 5 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
10 4 (0.49%) NoSQL
10 4 (0.49%) Redis
10 4 (0.49%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.49%) Snowflake Schema
10 4 (0.49%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.37%) Looker
11 3 (0.37%) SAP BW
11 3 (0.37%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 71 (8.77%) JIRA
2 14 (1.73%) Git
3 10 (1.23%) GitLab
4 9 (1.11%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.62%) ERwin
6 4 (0.49%) Maven
6 4 (0.49%) MLflow
7 3 (0.37%) Selenium
7 3 (0.37%) Terragrunt
8 2 (0.25%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 2 (0.25%) PowerDesigner
8 2 (0.25%) WebDriver
9 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.12%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.12%) Gatling
9 1 (0.12%) JMeter
9 1 (0.12%) Mockito
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle APEX
9 1 (0.12%) Xcode
9 1 (0.12%) Zephyr
General
1 277 (34.20%) Social Skills
2 192 (23.70%) Finance
3 88 (10.86%) Analytical Skills
4 76 (9.38%) Banking
5 55 (6.79%) Marketing
6 38 (4.69%) Manufacturing
7 37 (4.57%) Public Sector
8 35 (4.32%) Organisational Skills
9 32 (3.95%) Retail Banking
10 30 (3.70%) Investment Banking
11 28 (3.46%) Corporate Banking
12 24 (2.96%) Documentation Skills
13 22 (2.72%) Influencing Skills
14 19 (2.35%) Presentation Skills
15 15 (1.85%) Legal
16 13 (1.60%) Telecoms
17 9 (1.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 8 (0.99%) Private Banking
19 7 (0.86%) Pharmaceutical
19 7 (0.86%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 145 (17.90%) Analyst
2 107 (13.21%) Project Manager
3 96 (11.85%) Senior
4 87 (10.74%) Architect
5 75 (9.26%) Business Analyst
6 66 (8.15%) Lead
7 40 (4.94%) Senior Manager
8 35 (4.32%) Consultant
9 34 (4.20%) Solutions Architect
10 29 (3.58%) Technical Manager
11 22 (2.72%) Senior Project Manager
12 21 (2.59%) Developer
13 20 (2.47%) Programme Manager
14 18 (2.22%) Product Manager
14 18 (2.22%) Service Manager
15 17 (2.10%) Data Analyst
16 14 (1.73%) Data Architect
16 14 (1.73%) Designer
16 14 (1.73%) Senior Analyst
17 13 (1.60%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (2.96%) Middleware
2 23 (2.84%) REST
3 21 (2.59%) VML
4 17 (2.10%) Spring
5 13 (1.60%) React
6 12 (1.48%) Spring Boot
7 11 (1.36%) AngularJS
7 11 (1.36%) PySpark
8 10 (1.23%) scikit-learn
9 8 (0.99%) .NET
9 8 (0.99%) CSS
9 8 (0.99%) HTML
9 8 (0.99%) Node.js
10 7 (0.86%) PyTorch
11 6 (0.74%) JSON
11 6 (0.74%) Kafka
11 6 (0.74%) LangChain
11 6 (0.74%) OpenTelemetry
12 5 (0.62%) jQuery
12 5 (0.62%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 52 (6.42%) Product Ownership
2 38 (4.69%) Driving Licence
3 27 (3.33%) EPoS
4 24 (2.96%) Cloud Native
4 24 (2.96%) Self-Motivation
5 22 (2.72%) Onboarding
6 20 (2.47%) FMCG
6 20 (2.47%) Legacy Systems
6 20 (2.47%) Management Information System
7 18 (2.22%) Data Centre
8 16 (1.98%) Data Structures
9 14 (1.73%) Mobile App
10 11 (1.36%) Mainframe
11 9 (1.11%) Algorithms
11 9 (1.11%) IoT
11 9 (1.11%) Virtual Team
12 8 (0.99%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (0.99%) Reference Data
13 7 (0.86%) Enterprise Software
14 6 (0.74%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 36 (4.44%) Windows
2 19 (2.35%) Linux
3 9 (1.11%) Mac OS
4 5 (0.62%) zOS
5 4 (0.49%) Android
5 4 (0.49%) Apple iOS
5 4 (0.49%) Unix
6 3 (0.37%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.12%) VMS
7 1 (0.12%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (23.46%) Stakeholder Management
2 188 (23.21%) Agile
3 156 (19.26%) Problem-Solving
4 109 (13.46%) E-Commerce
5 100 (12.35%) Project Management
6 89 (10.99%) Migration
7 81 (10.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 80 (9.88%) Analytics
9 79 (9.75%) Roadmaps
10 73 (9.01%) Customer Experience
11 66 (8.15%) Continuous Improvement
11 66 (8.15%) ERP
11 66 (8.15%) Workshop Facilitation
12 64 (7.90%) Project Delivery
13 63 (7.78%) Change Management
14 62 (7.65%) Scrum
15 61 (7.53%) AI
15 61 (7.53%) DevOps
16 60 (7.41%) Decision-Making
17 59 (7.28%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 73 (9.01%) SQL
2 64 (7.90%) Python
3 27 (3.33%) Java
4 18 (2.22%) JavaScript
5 14 (1.73%) PowerShell
6 11 (1.36%) Bash
7 9 (1.11%) Shell Script
8 8 (0.99%) Kusto Query Language
9 7 (0.86%) C#
10 5 (0.62%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.62%) PL/SQL
10 5 (0.62%) TypeScript
11 4 (0.49%) VBA
12 3 (0.37%) Apex Code
12 3 (0.37%) SOQL
12 3 (0.37%) SOSL
13 2 (0.25%) Google Apps Script
13 2 (0.25%) Korn
13 2 (0.25%) R
13 2 (0.25%) Scala
Qualifications
1 47 (5.80%) Degree
2 21 (2.59%) PMP
3 20 (2.47%) Security Cleared
4 16 (1.98%) PMI Certification
5 8 (0.99%) BPSS Clearance
5 8 (0.99%) Master's Degree
5 8 (0.99%) SC Cleared
6 7 (0.86%) APMP
6 7 (0.86%) CISSP
6 7 (0.86%) MBA
7 6 (0.74%) CCNP
7 6 (0.74%) Cisco Certification
7 6 (0.74%) Computer Science Degree
8 5 (0.62%) CSPO
9 4 (0.49%) CCIE
9 4 (0.49%) CISM
9 4 (0.49%) CRISC
9 4 (0.49%) ITIL Certification
10 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Certification
10 3 (0.37%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (5.56%) QA
2 44 (5.43%) Data Quality
3 28 (3.46%) PMO
4 21 (2.59%) GDPR
5 19 (2.35%) SLA
6 13 (1.60%) Accessibility
7 6 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 6 (0.74%) PCI DSS
8 5 (0.62%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (0.49%) IFRS
10 3 (0.37%) NIST
11 2 (0.25%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.25%) COBIT
11 2 (0.25%) NCSC
11 2 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.12%) GAAP
12 1 (0.12%) GRC
12 1 (0.12%) MiFID
12 1 (0.12%) Solvency II
12 1 (0.12%) WCAG
System Software
1 17 (2.10%) Docker
2 14 (1.73%) Active Directory
3 4 (0.49%) RACF
3 4 (0.49%) VMware NSX
4 3 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (0.37%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.25%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.25%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.12%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 22 (2.72%) Terraform
2 15 (1.85%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.11%) Grafana
4 7 (0.86%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 6 (0.74%) Argo
5 6 (0.74%) Istio
5 6 (0.74%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (0.37%) SCCM
6 3 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.25%) Jamf Pro
7 2 (0.25%) MOM
8 1 (0.12%) Ansible
8 1 (0.12%) Cacti
8 1 (0.12%) Control-M
8 1 (0.12%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.12%) Nmap
8 1 (0.12%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.12%) ZABBIX
8 1 (0.12%) zSecure
Vendors
1 75 (9.26%) Microsoft
2 63 (7.78%) SAP
3 52 (6.42%) Google
4 50 (6.17%) Oracle
5 33 (4.07%) Salesforce
6 25 (3.09%) Databricks
7 23 (2.84%) Adobe
8 14 (1.73%) ServiceNow
9 11 (1.36%) Sitecore
10 10 (1.23%) Cisco
11 9 (1.11%) IBM
12 8 (0.99%) CheckPoint
12 8 (0.99%) Temenos
13 7 (0.86%) IFS
13 7 (0.86%) Splunk
13 7 (0.86%) VMware
14 6 (0.74%) Avaloq
14 6 (0.74%) GoldenSource
14 6 (0.74%) Workday
15 5 (0.62%) F5