Shadow IT
UK
The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Shadow IT in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Shadow IT over the 6 months leading up to 20 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 20 Sep 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 556 | 547 | - |
| Rank change year-on-year | -9 | - | - |
| Contract jobs citing Shadow IT | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 0.018% | 0.026% | - |
| As % of the Miscellaneous category | 0.051% | 0.085% | - |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £525 | £559 | - |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £530 | £568 | - |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.61% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £535 | £576 | - |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £530 | - | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Median hourly rate | - | £55.00 | - |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | - | £55.00 | - |
All Generic Skills
UK
Shadow IT falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills | 11,723 | 11,709 | 16,151 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 35.63% | 30.39% | 32.32% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 7,179 | 7,145 | 11,046 |
| 10th Percentile | £300 | £294 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £414 | £425 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £515 | £540 | £550 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -4.63% | -1.82% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £675 | £675 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £807 | £775 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £475 | £500 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | -5.00% | - | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 587 | 471 | 458 |
| 10th Percentile | £15.08 | £14.50 | £16.79 |
| 25th Percentile | £18.87 | £21.25 | £21.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £30.00 | £50.00 | £44.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -40.00% | +12.36% | +71.15% |
| 75th Percentile | £55.00 | £70.00 | £66.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £73.75 | £75.00 | £78.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £30.00 | £57.35 | £48.37 |
| % change year-on-year | -47.69% | +18.58% | +122.06% |
Shadow IT
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings citing Shadow IT as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
Shadow IT
Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Shadow IT.
Shadow IT
Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Shadow IT.
Shadow IT
Top 6 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Shadow IT within the UK over the 6 months to 20 September 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 | +9 | 6 | £530 | -6.61% | 2 |
| London | +13 | 3 | - | - | 1 |
| UK excluding London | +2 | 3 | £530 | - | 1 |
| North of England | - | 3 | £530 | - | 1 |
| North West | - | 3 | £530 | - | 1 |
| Work from Home | +28 | 1 | £525 | -7.49% | 1 |
Shadow IT
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: