Systems or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for SDLC skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited SDLC over the 6 months to 27 April 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
27 Apr 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 99 71 79
Rank change year-on-year -28 +8 +2
Contract jobs citing SDLC 974 1,909 2,769
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.25% 3.19% 3.12%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.61% 3.55% 3.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 684 1,256 1,914
10th Percentile £386 £413 £402
25th Percentile £463 £494 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £585 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% +4.35% +15.00%
75th Percentile £708 £725 £675
90th Percentile £825 £825 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £538 £525 £500
% change year-on-year +2.38% +5.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 55 62
10th Percentile £35.50 £45.00 £35.00
25th Percentile £47.13 £50.60 £41.06
Median hourly rate £48.00 £62.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -23.20% +13.64% +2.33%
75th Percentile £50.00 £65.00 £65.54
90th Percentile £57.50 £69.80 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.00 £62.50 £57.50
% change year-on-year -23.20% +8.70% +4.55%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

SDLC is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 37,374 53,774 80,482
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.31% 89.91% 90.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,095 37,304 56,474
10th Percentile £300 £325 £340
25th Percentile £413 £438 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% +8.25%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £475
% change year-on-year - +5.26% +9.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,422 1,763 1,928
10th Percentile £12.75 £11.00 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £16.25 £15.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £37.34 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.27% +49.36% -
75th Percentile £59.44 £65.00 £49.25
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £63.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.00 £36.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year - +80.00% -8.17%

SDLC
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing SDLC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing SDLC.

Daily rate trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 27 April 2024.

Daily rate histogram for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing SDLC.

Hourly rate trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 27 April 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SDLC within the UK over the 6 months to 27 April 2024. 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 -25 824 £600 - 563
London -13 540 £610 -6.15% 228
Work from Home -15 354 £590 +0.68% 316
UK excluding London -24 340 £538 +2.38% 405
North of England +20 88 £475 -9.52% 106
South East -17 76 £590 +18.00% 86
Scotland +3 67 £500 -4.76% 54
North West +4 58 £450 -14.29% 65
South West +8 39 £625 +4.17% 49
Midlands -52 27 £675 +35.00% 61
Yorkshire +12 26 £493 -10.45% 30
West Midlands -23 26 £675 +25.46% 34
East of England 0 22 £413 -21.43% 30
Wales +17 19 £515 +0.49% 17
North East +14 4 - - 12
Isle of Man - 2 - -
East Midlands -12 1 £625 +47.06% 27

SDLC
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 37 (3.80%) Confluence
2 24 (2.46%) Apache Spark
3 12 (1.23%) Apache
3 12 (1.23%) IIS
4 10 (1.03%) CMS
4 10 (1.03%) SharePoint
5 9 (0.92%) BizTalk Server
5 9 (0.92%) SAS
6 8 (0.82%) Apache Airflow
7 7 (0.72%) Drupal
8 6 (0.62%) Apache Solr
9 5 (0.51%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 4 (0.41%) nginx
10 4 (0.41%) WordPress
11 3 (0.31%) OpenEdge
11 3 (0.31%) SharePoint 2013
11 3 (0.31%) WebLogic
11 3 (0.31%) WebSphere
12 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Exchange
12 2 (0.21%) MQSeries
Applications
1 39 (4.00%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (2.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (0.72%) MS Visio
4 7 (0.72%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.10%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.10%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.10%) PlantUML
Business Applications
1 14 (1.44%) Endur
2 11 (1.13%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (1.03%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (0.72%) Loan IQ
4 7 (0.72%) SAP PM
5 4 (0.41%) Magento
6 3 (0.31%) Remedy ITSM
6 3 (0.31%) SAP Hybris
7 2 (0.21%) FLEXCUBE
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle BPM
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle Cash Management
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle General Ledger
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.21%) SAP CO
7 2 (0.21%) SAP EWM
7 2 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
7 2 (0.21%) SAP R/3
7 2 (0.21%) Shopify
7 2 (0.21%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 225 (23.10%) Azure
2 198 (20.33%) AWS
3 71 (7.29%) Serverless
4 57 (5.85%) GCP
4 57 (5.85%) GitHub
5 48 (4.93%) Azure DevOps
6 32 (3.29%) Power Platform
7 31 (3.18%) SaaS
8 30 (3.08%) Azure Data Factory
9 29 (2.98%) Azure Cosmos DB
9 29 (2.98%) Azure Functions
10 26 (2.67%) PaaS
11 24 (2.46%) AWS Lambda
11 24 (2.46%) Azure Monitor
12 23 (2.36%) Entra ID
13 22 (2.26%) Microsoft 365
14 18 (1.85%) Azure Logic Apps
15 17 (1.75%) AWS CloudFormation
15 17 (1.75%) IaaS
16 15 (1.54%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 12 (1.23%) DNS
2 11 (1.13%) Firewall
3 9 (0.92%) Internet
4 8 (0.82%) ATM
4 8 (0.82%) SNA
4 8 (0.82%) TCP/IP
4 8 (0.82%) VSAN
5 7 (0.72%) Fibre Channel
5 7 (0.72%) iSCSI
6 6 (0.62%) WAN
7 5 (0.51%) Network Security
7 5 (0.51%) SD-WAN
7 5 (0.51%) SSH
7 5 (0.51%) SSL
8 4 (0.41%) HTTPS
8 4 (0.41%) IPsec
8 4 (0.41%) SAN
9 3 (0.31%) BGP
9 3 (0.31%) Cisco IOS
9 3 (0.31%) IOS XR
Database & Business Intelligence
1 85 (8.73%) SQL Server
2 55 (5.65%) NoSQL
3 49 (5.03%) Relational Database
4 35 (3.59%) MySQL
5 31 (3.18%) Big Data
6 30 (3.08%) Data Lake
7 27 (2.77%) PostgreSQL
8 25 (2.57%) MongoDB
9 22 (2.26%) Power BI
10 19 (1.95%) Azure SQL Database
10 19 (1.95%) Oracle Database
11 17 (1.75%) Data Warehouse
12 13 (1.33%) KDB
13 8 (0.82%) Couchbase
13 8 (0.82%) DB2
13 8 (0.82%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 7 (0.72%) Apache Cassandra
14 7 (0.72%) Metadata
14 7 (0.72%) Sybase ASE
14 7 (0.72%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 108 (11.09%) JIRA
2 99 (10.16%) Git
3 82 (8.42%) Jenkins
4 38 (3.90%) GitLab
5 31 (3.18%) Selenium
6 26 (2.67%) Cucumber
7 25 (2.57%) JUnit
8 17 (1.75%) TeamCity
9 16 (1.64%) Mockito
10 15 (1.54%) Maven
11 13 (1.33%) git-flow
11 13 (1.33%) SonarQube
12 12 (1.23%) Cypress.io
12 12 (1.23%) JMeter
13 10 (1.03%) Subversion
13 10 (1.03%) TestRail
14 9 (0.92%) Team Foundation Server
14 9 (0.92%) Visual Studio
15 8 (0.82%) Bitbucket
16 6 (0.62%) Artifactory
General
1 283 (29.06%) Social Skills
2 259 (26.59%) Finance
3 150 (15.40%) Analytical Skills
4 127 (13.04%) Banking
5 59 (6.06%) Public Sector
6 42 (4.31%) Investment Banking
7 39 (4.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 37 (3.80%) Front Office
8 37 (3.80%) Marketing
9 28 (2.87%) Presentation Skills
10 26 (2.67%) Influencing Skills
11 22 (2.26%) Aerospace
12 18 (1.85%) Retail
13 15 (1.54%) Manufacturing
14 13 (1.33%) Telecoms
15 8 (0.82%) Electronics
15 8 (0.82%) Retail Banking
16 7 (0.72%) Games
16 7 (0.72%) Organisational Skills
16 7 (0.72%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 283 (29.06%) Developer
2 144 (14.78%) Senior
3 110 (11.29%) Analyst
4 80 (8.21%) Java Developer
5 75 (7.70%) Architect
6 74 (7.60%) Lead
7 69 (7.08%) Software Engineer
8 64 (6.57%) Business Analyst
9 58 (5.95%) Project Manager
10 56 (5.75%) Senior Developer
11 55 (5.65%) Full Stack Developer
12 36 (3.70%) Consultant
12 36 (3.70%) Solutions Architect
13 29 (2.98%) Data Engineer
13 29 (2.98%) Python Developer
14 28 (2.87%) DevOps Engineer
15 25 (2.57%) Senior Java Developer
16 23 (2.36%) Azure Developer
17 22 (2.26%) C# Developer
17 22 (2.26%) Cloud Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 94 (9.65%) React
2 87 (8.93%) .NET
3 66 (6.78%) Spring
4 62 (6.37%) REST
5 59 (6.06%) HTML
6 58 (5.95%) Spring Boot
7 53 (5.44%) CSS
8 52 (5.34%) AngularJS
9 42 (4.31%) JSON
10 40 (4.11%) .NET Framework
11 39 (4.00%) Kafka
12 38 (3.90%) Web Services
13 37 (3.80%) RESTful
14 36 (3.70%) XML
15 31 (3.18%) JPA
16 24 (2.46%) Middleware
16 24 (2.46%) YAML
17 23 (2.36%) Node.js
18 22 (2.26%) Hibernate
19 21 (2.16%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 62 (6.37%) Product Ownership
2 40 (4.11%) Management Information System
3 39 (4.00%) Distributed Systems
4 38 (3.90%) Mobile App
5 34 (3.49%) Cloud Native
6 27 (2.77%) Enterprise Software
7 24 (2.46%) Algorithms
8 22 (2.26%) Public Cloud
9 21 (2.16%) Data Structures
9 21 (2.16%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 20 (2.05%) Derivative
10 20 (2.05%) IoT
11 19 (1.95%) Legacy Systems
12 16 (1.64%) Fixed Income
12 16 (1.64%) Linux Command Line
13 15 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
13 15 (1.54%) SWIFT Messaging Network
14 12 (1.23%) Credit Derivative
14 12 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
14 12 (1.23%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 83 (8.52%) Linux
2 63 (6.47%) Windows
3 34 (3.49%) Unix
4 16 (1.64%) Android
5 12 (1.23%) Windows Server
6 6 (0.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (0.51%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.51%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.41%) CentOS
8 4 (0.41%) Data ONTAP
8 4 (0.41%) SafeRTOS
9 2 (0.21%) VMS
9 2 (0.21%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.21%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 476 (48.87%) Agile
2 250 (25.67%) DevOps
3 234 (24.02%) CI/CD
4 191 (19.61%) Software Engineering
5 180 (18.48%) Scrum
6 171 (17.56%) Problem-Solving
7 122 (12.53%) Microservices
8 95 (9.75%) Test Automation
9 91 (9.34%) Project Management
10 90 (9.24%) Full Stack Development
11 77 (7.91%) Stakeholder Management
12 76 (7.80%) Continuous Improvement
13 73 (7.49%) Computer Science
14 68 (6.98%) Analytics
14 68 (6.98%) User Acceptance Testing
15 63 (6.47%) Migration
16 61 (6.26%) Continuous Integration
16 61 (6.26%) TDD
17 59 (6.06%) Change Management
17 59 (6.06%) Waterfall
Programming Languages
1 234 (24.02%) Java
2 207 (21.25%) SQL
3 191 (19.61%) Python
4 123 (12.63%) C#
5 113 (11.60%) JavaScript
6 67 (6.88%) PowerShell
7 61 (6.26%) TypeScript
8 27 (2.77%) C++
8 27 (2.77%) Scala
9 25 (2.57%) Go
9 25 (2.57%) Kotlin
10 24 (2.46%) T-SQL
11 23 (2.36%) C
12 22 (2.26%) PL/SQL
13 21 (2.16%) PHP
13 21 (2.16%) Shell Script
14 20 (2.05%) Perl
15 10 (1.03%) Bash
16 9 (0.92%) VB
17 7 (0.72%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 160 (16.43%) Degree
2 115 (11.81%) Security Cleared
3 89 (9.14%) SC Cleared
4 44 (4.52%) Computer Science Degree
5 40 (4.11%) DV Cleared
6 26 (2.67%) Master's Degree
7 19 (1.95%) AWS Certification
8 17 (1.75%) PMP
9 16 (1.64%) CISSP
9 16 (1.64%) PMI Certification
10 14 (1.44%) CISM
11 10 (1.03%) ISTQB
12 7 (0.72%) Azure Certification
13 5 (0.51%) ITIL Certification
14 4 (0.41%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 4 (0.41%) CBAP
14 4 (0.41%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 3 (0.31%) AWS Certified Developer
15 3 (0.31%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
15 3 (0.31%) CSSLP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 87 (8.93%) QA
2 29 (2.98%) NIST
3 21 (2.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (1.33%) Data Quality
4 13 (1.33%) PCI DSS
5 12 (1.23%) Accessibility
5 12 (1.23%) PMO
6 8 (0.82%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
7 7 (0.72%) EMIR
8 6 (0.62%) MiFID
8 6 (0.62%) SEPA
9 4 (0.41%) Disclosure Scotland
9 4 (0.41%) GDPR
9 4 (0.41%) HIPAA
9 4 (0.41%) IFRS
10 3 (0.31%) Basel III
10 3 (0.31%) COBIT
10 3 (0.31%) SLA
11 2 (0.21%) GAAP
11 2 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 12207
System Software
1 57 (5.85%) Docker
2 32 (3.29%) Active Directory
3 11 (1.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (1.13%) VMware NSX
4 8 (0.82%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (0.72%) NFS
5 7 (0.72%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (0.41%) GPFS
7 3 (0.31%) vCloud
7 3 (0.31%) vSphere
8 2 (0.21%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.10%) Apache ZooKeeper
9 1 (0.10%) GridGain
9 1 (0.10%) HDFS
9 1 (0.10%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 90 (9.24%) Kubernetes
2 80 (8.21%) Terraform
3 58 (5.95%) Ansible
4 28 (2.87%) Puppet
5 13 (1.33%) Argo
6 11 (1.13%) Grafana
7 9 (0.92%) vRealize
8 8 (0.82%) vCenter Server
9 7 (0.72%) Progress Chef
10 6 (0.62%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.51%) Kibana
11 5 (0.51%) Zipkin
12 4 (0.41%) Veritas Storage Foundation
12 4 (0.41%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.31%) Autotask
13 3 (0.31%) Netcool
14 2 (0.21%) HP Fortify
14 2 (0.21%) SCOM
14 2 (0.21%) Single Sign-On
15 1 (0.10%) Istio
Vendors
1 120 (12.32%) Microsoft
2 82 (8.42%) Oracle
3 42 (4.31%) SAP
4 31 (3.18%) ServiceNow
5 26 (2.67%) Salesforce
6 25 (2.57%) VMware
7 24 (2.46%) Databricks
8 22 (2.26%) Google
9 20 (2.05%) Atlassian
10 19 (1.95%) IBM
11 14 (1.44%) Sybase
12 13 (1.33%) MuleSoft
13 11 (1.13%) Bloomberg
14 9 (0.92%) OpenLink
14 9 (0.92%) Refinitiv
15 8 (0.82%) Adobe
15 8 (0.82%) Red Hat
15 8 (0.82%) Solace
16 7 (0.72%) Teradata
16 7 (0.72%) TOWER Software