SLA Contract Job Trends

Service Level Agreement (SLA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring SLA skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 245 199 158
Rank change year-on-year -46 -41 +35
Contract jobs citing SLA 562 468 612
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.06% 1.43% 1.52%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 6.21% 8.46% 11.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 314 273 290
10th Percentile £200 £200 £156
25th Percentile £284 £225 £202
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £375 £340
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% +10.29% -2.86%
75th Percentile £520 £544 £500
90th Percentile £600 £613 £588
UK excluding London median daily rate £440 £325 £282
% change year-on-year +35.38% +15.25% +2.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 64 85
10th Percentile £13.45 £16.02 £11.32
25th Percentile £17.26 £17.48 £13.00
Median hourly rate £18.73 £22.14 £16.25
Median % change year-on-year -15.41% +36.25% -11.50%
75th Percentile £21.22 £25.15 £23.80
90th Percentile £26.82 £33.75 £29.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £22.14 £14.60
% change year-on-year -16.44% +51.64% -19.89%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

SLA falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 9,047 5,533 5,515
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.11% 16.90% 13.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,783 3,571 3,408
10th Percentile £340 £281 £297
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £505
Median % change year-on-year - -0.89% -3.90%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £475
% change year-on-year +6.38% -1.05% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 558 249 350
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.58 £11.07
25th Percentile £19.50 £17.45 £14.41
Median hourly rate £40.00 £27.53 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +45.30% +10.12% -29.58%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £53.56
90th Percentile £82.25 £83.78 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £25.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year +60.00% - -28.57%

SLA
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SLA relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

SLA job vacancy trend in the UK

SLA
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SLA.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SLA

SLA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 28 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SLA.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SLA

SLA
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 28 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
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 SLA within the UK over the 6 months to 28 July 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 -67 468 £450 +13.92% 240
UK excluding London -70 344 £440 +35.38% 193
London -22 189 £475 +14.46% 74
Work from Home -18 131 £475 +18.75% 69
South East -91 83 £474 +49.68% 81
North of England -57 74 £444 +54.21% 29
Scotland +29 59 £398 +16.91% 10
Midlands -63 55 £269 -29.74% 24
West Midlands -64 46 £269 -29.74% 14
North West -28 42 £450 +38.46% 18
East of England -1 39 £505 +124.44% 32
Yorkshire -45 30 £444 +77.15% 6
South West -45 27 £400 +35.59% 22
Wales -10 12 £525 +100.00% 6
East Midlands -10 8 £363 - 10
North East -40 2 £280 - 5
Northern Ireland 0 1 £175 -

SLA
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 36 (6.41%) SharePoint
2 17 (3.02%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (1.25%) Confluence
3 7 (1.25%) OpenStack
4 5 (0.89%) IIS
4 5 (0.89%) SAS
5 4 (0.71%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 3 (0.53%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.36%) Anypoint
7 2 (0.36%) Apache
7 2 (0.36%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.36%) Mule
8 1 (0.18%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.18%) JBoss
8 1 (0.18%) LiveCycle
8 1 (0.18%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.18%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.18%) Smallworld
Applications
1 52 (9.25%) Microsoft Office
2 38 (6.76%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.42%) Spreadsheet
4 6 (1.07%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (0.36%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.18%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.18%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.18%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.18%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 16 (2.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.42%) ContrOCC
3 5 (0.89%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.89%) Oracle Applications
3 5 (0.89%) Oracle Assets
3 5 (0.89%) Oracle Payables
3 5 (0.89%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 4 (0.71%) Oracle General Ledger
4 4 (0.71%) Oracle Receivables
4 4 (0.71%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.53%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.36%) Dynamics GP
6 2 (0.36%) IntelliMatch
6 2 (0.36%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.36%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.36%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.18%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 1 (0.18%) Oracle Financials
7 1 (0.18%) SAP S/4HANA
7 1 (0.18%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 105 (18.68%) Azure
2 96 (17.08%) Microsoft 365
3 49 (8.72%) AWS
4 46 (8.19%) Entra ID
5 28 (4.98%) Power Platform
6 22 (3.91%) OneDrive
7 17 (3.02%) Datadog
8 16 (2.85%) SaaS
9 14 (2.49%) Amazon S3
9 14 (2.49%) Azure DevOps
10 13 (2.31%) IaaS
11 12 (2.14%) OCI
11 12 (2.14%) PaaS
11 12 (2.14%) Snowflake
12 11 (1.96%) Amazon EC2
12 11 (1.96%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 9 (1.60%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (1.42%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 8 (1.42%) AWS CloudFormation
15 6 (1.07%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 36 (6.41%) DNS
2 31 (5.52%) DHCP
3 30 (5.34%) VPN
4 27 (4.80%) LAN
5 26 (4.63%) WAN
6 25 (4.45%) Wi-Fi
7 24 (4.27%) Firewall
8 19 (3.38%) Network Security
9 18 (3.20%) TCP/IP
10 16 (2.85%) SAN
11 11 (1.96%) SDH
12 10 (1.78%) Cisco IOS
12 10 (1.78%) MPLS
12 10 (1.78%) VLAN
13 8 (1.42%) Cisco ASA
13 8 (1.42%) Radio Access Network
14 7 (1.25%) 5G
14 7 (1.25%) LTE
14 7 (1.25%) Skype
15 6 (1.07%) VoWiFi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (4.45%) SQL Server
2 23 (4.09%) Power BI
3 10 (1.78%) Tableau
4 8 (1.42%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (1.07%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.89%) MySQL
6 5 (0.89%) Pentaho
7 4 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.71%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.71%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.53%) Amazon Athena
8 3 (0.53%) Big Data
8 3 (0.53%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.53%) Db2
8 3 (0.53%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 2 (0.36%) GIS
9 2 (0.36%) Oracle Database 10g
9 2 (0.36%) Oracle Database 11g
10 1 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.18%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 44 (7.83%) JIRA
2 10 (1.78%) GitLab
3 9 (1.60%) Chocolatey
4 8 (1.42%) Jenkins
5 6 (1.07%) Git
6 4 (0.71%) Maven
7 3 (0.53%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.36%) Artifactory
8 2 (0.36%) Toad
9 1 (0.18%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.18%) JMeter
9 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 1 (0.18%) WiX
General
1 244 (43.42%) Social Skills
2 105 (18.68%) Finance
3 101 (17.97%) Analytical Skills
4 41 (7.30%) Public Sector
5 32 (5.69%) Banking
6 27 (4.80%) Organisational Skills
6 27 (4.80%) Telecoms
7 21 (3.74%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (3.38%) Legal
9 17 (3.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 14 (2.49%) Local Government
10 14 (2.49%) Retail
11 11 (1.96%) Billing
12 9 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
12 9 (1.60%) Manufacturing
13 8 (1.42%) Financial Institution
14 6 (1.07%) Aerospace
14 6 (1.07%) Marketing
15 4 (0.71%) Aviation
16 3 (0.53%) French Language
Job Titles
1 74 (13.17%) Analyst
2 46 (8.19%) Support Engineer
3 43 (7.65%) Senior
4 42 (7.47%) IT Support
5 34 (6.05%) Service Manager
6 33 (5.87%) Lead
7 27 (4.80%) IT Engineer
8 24 (4.27%) Service Analyst
9 21 (3.74%) Consultant
9 21 (3.74%) Delivery Manager
9 21 (3.74%) Network Engineer
10 19 (3.38%) Administrator
10 19 (3.38%) Desktop Support
11 18 (3.20%) Field Engineer
11 18 (3.20%) Service Delivery Manager
12 17 (3.02%) Applications Support
12 17 (3.02%) Azure Engineer
12 17 (3.02%) Desktop Engineer
12 17 (3.02%) IT Support Engineer
13 16 (2.85%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (2.14%) .NET
2 11 (1.96%) REST
3 9 (1.60%) Oracle Fusion
4 8 (1.42%) LDAP
5 7 (1.25%) Web Services
5 7 (1.25%) XML
6 5 (0.89%) AWS CDK
6 5 (0.89%) Jakarta EE
6 5 (0.89%) Middleware
6 5 (0.89%) SOAP
6 5 (0.89%) Software Packaging
7 4 (0.71%) .NET Framework
7 4 (0.71%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.71%) Bootstrap
7 4 (0.71%) jQuery
7 4 (0.71%) JSON
7 4 (0.71%) RESTful
7 4 (0.71%) Sass
7 4 (0.71%) Spring
7 4 (0.71%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 54 (9.61%) Onboarding
2 32 (5.69%) Data Centre
3 22 (3.91%) CMDB
4 15 (2.67%) Enterprise Software
5 13 (2.31%) Smartphone
6 11 (1.96%) Cyber Threat
6 11 (1.96%) PKI
6 11 (1.96%) Product Ownership
7 10 (1.78%) Driving Licence
7 10 (1.78%) Virtual Team
8 9 (1.60%) Cloud Native
9 8 (1.42%) BYOD
9 8 (1.42%) Data Protection Act
9 8 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
10 7 (1.25%) iPhone
10 7 (1.25%) Video Conferencing
11 6 (1.07%) Fat Client
11 6 (1.07%) Fibre Optics
11 6 (1.07%) Management Information System
11 6 (1.07%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 143 (25.44%) Windows
2 52 (9.25%) Windows 10
3 31 (5.52%) Linux
4 30 (5.34%) Windows Server
5 25 (4.45%) Android
6 15 (2.67%) Unix
7 9 (1.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 7 (1.25%) Mac OS
8 7 (1.25%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.71%) Apple iOS
9 4 (0.71%) CentOS
9 4 (0.71%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.53%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.36%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.18%) Solaris
12 1 (0.18%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 202 (35.94%) ITIL
2 124 (22.06%) ITSM
3 120 (21.35%) Continuous Improvement
4 118 (21.00%) Problem-Solving
5 110 (19.57%) Customer Service
6 104 (18.51%) Service Management
6 104 (18.51%) Stakeholder Management
7 95 (16.90%) Change Management
8 90 (16.01%) Service Delivery
9 69 (12.28%) Agile
10 67 (11.92%) Root Cause Analysis
11 58 (10.32%) Incident Management
12 50 (8.90%) Migration
13 49 (8.72%) Problem Management
14 47 (8.36%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 42 (7.47%) Validation
16 40 (7.12%) Asset Management
17 38 (6.76%) Roadmaps
18 37 (6.58%) Project Management
19 36 (6.41%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 46 (8.19%) SQL
2 37 (6.58%) PowerShell
3 34 (6.05%) Python
4 17 (3.02%) Bash
5 8 (1.42%) JavaScript
6 7 (1.25%) PL/SQL
7 6 (1.07%) Java
8 5 (0.89%) C#
8 5 (0.89%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.71%) Bicep
9 4 (0.71%) MATLAB
10 2 (0.36%) DataWeave
10 2 (0.36%) Korn
10 2 (0.36%) Scala
10 2 (0.36%) X++
11 1 (0.18%) ActionScript 2.0
11 1 (0.18%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.18%) Go
11 1 (0.18%) Groovy
11 1 (0.18%) RPG
Qualifications
1 135 (24.02%) Security Cleared
2 105 (18.68%) SC Cleared
3 51 (9.07%) Degree
4 23 (4.09%) DV Cleared
5 19 (3.38%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (3.20%) ITIL Certification
7 16 (2.85%) BPSS Clearance
7 16 (2.85%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (2.31%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 10 (1.78%) CCNP
10 9 (1.60%) PMI Certification
11 8 (1.42%) MCSE
12 7 (1.25%) Azure Certification
12 7 (1.25%) CCNA
13 6 (1.07%) A+ Certification
13 6 (1.07%) CCSE
13 6 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
14 5 (0.89%) CCSM
14 5 (0.89%) CISSP
14 5 (0.89%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.02%) Data Quality
2 14 (2.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (2.14%) PMO
4 11 (1.96%) NIST
4 11 (1.96%) QA
5 9 (1.60%) GRC
6 7 (1.25%) COBIT
6 7 (1.25%) GDPR
6 7 (1.25%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 6 (1.07%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (0.89%) ISO 9001
8 5 (0.89%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 3 (0.53%) ISO 20022
9 3 (0.53%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.36%) ISO 31000
10 2 (0.36%) ISO 8583
10 2 (0.36%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.18%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.18%) NCSC
System Software
1 96 (17.08%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (2.67%) VMware ESXi
4 14 (2.49%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (1.25%) Hyper-V
6 6 (1.07%) Docker
6 6 (1.07%) vSphere
7 4 (0.71%) Firmware
7 4 (0.71%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.36%) ACF2
8 2 (0.36%) BitLocker
8 2 (0.36%) Oracle RAC
8 2 (0.36%) RACF
9 1 (0.18%) Ceph
9 1 (0.18%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.18%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.18%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 52 (9.25%) Microsoft Intune
2 34 (6.05%) SCCM
3 17 (3.02%) Terraform
4 15 (2.67%) Kubernetes
5 12 (2.14%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (1.96%) Ansible
7 10 (1.78%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.60%) Grafana
9 6 (1.07%) ServiceCenter
10 5 (0.89%) Jamf Pro
10 5 (0.89%) Prometheus
11 4 (0.71%) Check_MK
11 4 (0.71%) Podman
11 4 (0.71%) Red Hat Satellite
12 3 (0.53%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.53%) Oracle Identity Management
12 3 (0.53%) Oracle Identity Manager
12 3 (0.53%) vMotion
13 2 (0.36%) Data Guard
13 2 (0.36%) SCOM
Vendors
1 185 (32.92%) Microsoft
2 102 (18.15%) ServiceNow
3 45 (8.01%) Cisco
4 44 (7.83%) VMware
5 42 (7.47%) Oracle
6 25 (4.45%) HP
7 23 (4.09%) Apple
8 21 (3.74%) Remedy
9 13 (2.31%) Dell
9 13 (2.31%) SAP
9 13 (2.31%) Tenable
9 13 (2.31%) Zscaler
10 11 (1.96%) Nokia
11 9 (1.60%) AppDynamics
11 9 (1.60%) Databricks
11 9 (1.60%) Dynatrace
11 9 (1.60%) Fortinet
11 9 (1.60%) Salesforce
11 9 (1.60%) Splunk
12 8 (1.42%) Okta