SLA Contracts

Service Level Agreement (SLA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring SLA skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited SLA over the 6 months leading up to 15 June 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jun 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 190 143 184
Rank change year-on-year -47 +41 -11
Contract jobs citing SLA 440 727 785
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.48% 1.66% 1.41%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 9.21% 12.12% 10.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 254 345 436
10th Percentile £177 £150 £136
25th Percentile £213 £213 £190
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £325 £340 £298
Median % change year-on-year -4.41% +14.29% -15.00%
75th Percentile £530 £488 £490
90th Percentile £613 £582 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate £265 £285 £275
% change year-on-year -7.02% +3.64% +7.84%
Number of hourly rates quoted 46 88 67
10th Percentile £15.75 £11.07 £12.80
25th Percentile £18.75 £12.75 £14.00
Median hourly rate £22.14 £14.97 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year +47.90% -19.08% +12.12%
75th Percentile £25.11 £24.00 £36.25
90th Percentile £33.75 £32.58 £47.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.14 £13.85 £18.23
% change year-on-year +59.86% -24.01% +11.30%

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 4,778 5,999 7,538
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.10% 13.73% 13.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,038 3,741 5,155
10th Percentile £275 £280 £300
25th Percentile £400 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £509 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.77% -3.05% +1.94%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £645
90th Percentile £717 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £486
% change year-on-year - -2.26% +8.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 198 432 251
10th Percentile £15.12 £11.00 £13.29
25th Percentile £21.21 £13.18 £18.84
Median hourly rate £31.76 £23.80 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +33.45% -36.53% +33.38%
75th Percentile £67.50 £48.75 £62.87
90th Percentile £83.26 £70.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.25 £19.17 £36.25
% change year-on-year +68.23% -47.12% +61.11%

SLA
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Job vacancy trend for SLA in the UK

SLA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

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

Daily rate trend for SLA in the UK

SLA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 15 June 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

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

Hourly rate trend for SLA in the UK

SLA
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 15 June 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
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 SLA within the UK over the 6 months to 15 June 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 -37 403 £335 -3.60% 666
UK excluding London -20 303 £265 -7.02% 481
London -17 125 £375 -6.25% 263
South East +15 99 £275 -3.51% 159
Work from Home -52 88 £250 -32.43% 258
Midlands +15 63 £265 +6.00% 79
West Midlands +24 56 £276 +12.45% 48
North of England -51 54 £288 -42.96% 128
South West +13 48 £295 +7.27% 40
North West -44 30 £288 -46.51% 79
Yorkshire +6 23 £388 -13.89% 33
Scotland -5 17 £309 -9.19% 34
East of England +21 14 £225 -15.09% 39
Wales -18 8 £263 +94.44% 14
East Midlands +2 7 £250 -7.41% 29
North East -2 1 - - 16
Channel Islands - 1 £298 - 2

SLA
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 15 (3.41%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (2.73%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.82%) Oracle Workflow
3 8 (1.82%) Skype for Business
4 6 (1.36%) Oracle Self-Service HR
5 5 (1.14%) Confluence
6 4 (0.91%) Exchange Server 2010
7 3 (0.68%) IIS
8 2 (0.45%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 2 (0.45%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.45%) Apache
8 2 (0.45%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.45%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.23%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.23%) JBoss
9 1 (0.23%) Mule
9 1 (0.23%) nginx
9 1 (0.23%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.23%) WebLogic Portal
9 1 (0.23%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 38 (8.64%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (8.18%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.68%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.23%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 1 (0.23%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.23%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (2.05%) Oracle Assets
1 9 (2.05%) Oracle EBS R12
1 9 (2.05%) Oracle ERP
2 7 (1.59%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (1.36%) Oracle HRMS
4 5 (1.14%) SAP SD
5 4 (0.91%) Remedy ITSM
6 3 (0.68%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.45%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.45%) Oracle General Ledger
7 2 (0.45%) Oracle iProcurement
7 2 (0.45%) Oracle Receivables
8 1 (0.23%) Exchequer
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Financials
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 1 (0.23%) SAP Oil and Gas
8 1 (0.23%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 59 (13.41%) Azure
2 55 (12.50%) Microsoft 365
3 26 (5.91%) AWS
4 17 (3.86%) SaaS
5 12 (2.73%) IaaS
6 11 (2.50%) Entra ID
7 9 (2.05%) Power Platform
8 8 (1.82%) Google Workspace
8 8 (1.82%) PaaS
9 7 (1.59%) OneDrive
10 4 (0.91%) Dynamics 365
11 3 (0.68%) Azure Sentinel
12 2 (0.45%) Amazon OpenSearch
12 2 (0.45%) Amazon S3
12 2 (0.45%) AWS Lambda
12 2 (0.45%) Azure Logic Apps
12 2 (0.45%) GCP
12 2 (0.45%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 2 (0.45%) Serverless
12 2 (0.45%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 31 (7.05%) LAN
2 30 (6.82%) DNS
3 29 (6.59%) Firewall
4 23 (5.23%) VPN
5 20 (4.55%) DHCP
6 19 (4.32%) WAN
7 17 (3.86%) Network Security
8 16 (3.64%) Wireless
9 14 (3.18%) TCP/IP
9 14 (3.18%) VoIP
10 13 (2.95%) SAN
11 11 (2.50%) Skype
12 10 (2.27%) Cisco Firepower
12 10 (2.27%) Wi-Fi
13 8 (1.82%) MPLS
14 7 (1.59%) BGP
14 7 (1.59%) Cisco IOS
14 7 (1.59%) Cisco ISE
14 7 (1.59%) Junos
14 7 (1.59%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.36%) Oracle Database
1 6 (1.36%) Power BI
1 6 (1.36%) SQL Server
2 5 (1.14%) SAP HANA
3 4 (0.91%) MySQL
4 3 (0.68%) Oracle Reports
4 3 (0.68%) Relational Database
4 3 (0.68%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 2 (0.45%) OLTP
5 2 (0.45%) RDBMS
6 1 (0.23%) BusinessObjects
6 1 (0.23%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.23%) Elasticsearch
6 1 (0.23%) Geospatial Data
6 1 (0.23%) GIS
6 1 (0.23%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.23%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.23%) Sybase ASE
6 1 (0.23%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 15 (3.41%) JIRA
2 5 (1.14%) LSMW
3 4 (0.91%) Git
3 4 (0.91%) GitLab
4 3 (0.68%) Maven
5 2 (0.45%) Oracle APEX
5 2 (0.45%) Visual Studio Code
6 1 (0.23%) Mockito
6 1 (0.23%) Toad
General
1 189 (42.95%) Social Skills
2 90 (20.45%) Finance
3 71 (16.14%) Analytical Skills
4 33 (7.50%) Public Sector
5 32 (7.27%) Telecoms
6 26 (5.91%) Organisational Skills
7 21 (4.77%) Banking
7 21 (4.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 11 (2.50%) Police
9 9 (2.05%) Legal
10 6 (1.36%) Military
10 6 (1.36%) Retail
11 5 (1.14%) Financial Institution
11 5 (1.14%) French Language
11 5 (1.14%) Marketing
11 5 (1.14%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.91%) Automotive
12 4 (0.91%) Back Office
12 4 (0.91%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (0.91%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 76 (17.27%) Analyst
2 57 (12.95%) Support Engineer
3 38 (8.64%) Desktop Support
4 32 (7.27%) Support Analyst
5 30 (6.82%) Desktop Engineer
6 28 (6.36%) Service Manager
7 27 (6.14%) Service Analyst
8 24 (5.45%) Desktop Support Engineer
8 24 (5.45%) Network Engineer
9 22 (5.00%) Service Desk Analyst
10 19 (4.32%) IT Engineer
11 18 (4.09%) IT Support
11 18 (4.09%) Lead
12 17 (3.86%) Communications Engineer
13 16 (3.64%) Delivery Manager
13 16 (3.64%) Support Assistant
14 15 (3.41%) Architect
15 14 (3.18%) Service Delivery Manager
16 13 (2.95%) Operations Manager
17 12 (2.73%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.14%) BAPI
1 5 (1.14%) CSS
1 5 (1.14%) EDI
1 5 (1.14%) IDoc
1 5 (1.14%) SAP ALE
1 5 (1.14%) SAP Fiori
2 4 (0.91%) Elastic Stack
2 4 (0.91%) JSON
2 4 (0.91%) REST
2 4 (0.91%) Spring
2 4 (0.91%) XML
3 3 (0.68%) HTML
3 3 (0.68%) J2EE
3 3 (0.68%) jQuery
4 2 (0.45%) AngularJS
4 2 (0.45%) Bootstrap
4 2 (0.45%) OAuth
4 2 (0.45%) RAML
4 2 (0.45%) Sass
4 2 (0.45%) Spring Batch
Miscellaneous
1 37 (8.41%) Driving Licence
2 21 (4.77%) Management Information System
3 16 (3.64%) Data Centre
4 15 (3.41%) Security Posture
5 13 (2.95%) Enterprise Software
6 12 (2.73%) Smartphone
7 10 (2.27%) Onboarding
8 6 (1.36%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (1.36%) Replication
9 5 (1.14%) Data Protection Act
9 5 (1.14%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (0.91%) Blackberry
10 4 (0.91%) Handset
11 3 (0.68%) Hybrid Cloud
11 3 (0.68%) Product Ownership
11 3 (0.68%) Video Conferencing
12 2 (0.45%) Anti-Spyware
12 2 (0.45%) Cloud Native
12 2 (0.45%) Public Cloud
12 2 (0.45%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 106 (24.09%) Windows
2 51 (11.59%) Windows 10
3 25 (5.68%) Linux
4 15 (3.41%) Windows Server
5 14 (3.18%) Mac OS
6 12 (2.73%) Android
7 8 (1.82%) Unix
8 7 (1.59%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.36%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.91%) AIX
10 4 (0.91%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.68%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.45%) Apple iOS
12 2 (0.45%) CentOS
12 2 (0.45%) VMS
13 1 (0.23%) MVS
13 1 (0.23%) Rocky
13 1 (0.23%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.23%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 138 (31.36%) ITIL
2 100 (22.73%) Problem-Solving
3 83 (18.86%) Customer Service
4 62 (14.09%) Service Management
5 55 (12.50%) Service Delivery
6 52 (11.82%) ITSM
7 35 (7.95%) Customer Experience
8 31 (7.05%) Continuous Improvement
9 30 (6.82%) Agile
9 30 (6.82%) Change Management
10 27 (6.14%) Cybersecurity
10 27 (6.14%) Problem Management
11 25 (5.68%) Incident Management
12 24 (5.45%) Mathematics
12 24 (5.45%) Root Cause Analysis
13 23 (5.23%) Project Management
14 22 (5.00%) Information Security
14 22 (5.00%) Migration
15 21 (4.77%) Process Improvement
16 20 (4.55%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 54 (12.27%) SQL
2 17 (3.86%) Python
3 12 (2.73%) Java
3 12 (2.73%) PowerShell
4 7 (1.59%) VB
5 6 (1.36%) JavaScript
6 5 (1.14%) ABAP
7 3 (0.68%) Bash
7 3 (0.68%) Kusto Query Language
7 3 (0.68%) PL/SQL
8 2 (0.45%) Apex Code
8 2 (0.45%) Bicep
8 2 (0.45%) Go
8 2 (0.45%) VBScript
9 1 (0.23%) Assembly Language
9 1 (0.23%) JCL
9 1 (0.23%) REXX
9 1 (0.23%) SOQL
9 1 (0.23%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 136 (30.91%) Security Cleared
2 112 (25.45%) SC Cleared
3 24 (5.45%) Dell Certification
4 23 (5.23%) Degree
5 22 (5.00%) ITIL Certification
6 17 (3.86%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (2.73%) DV Cleared
8 11 (2.50%) Microsoft Certification
9 9 (2.05%) CISSP
9 9 (2.05%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 8 (1.82%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 8 (1.82%) DBS Check
11 7 (1.59%) GCIH
12 6 (1.36%) CCIE
12 6 (1.36%) CCSP
13 5 (1.14%) A+ Certification
13 5 (1.14%) BPSS Clearance
14 3 (0.68%) Azure Certification
14 3 (0.68%) Computer Science Degree
14 3 (0.68%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.27%) GDPR
2 9 (2.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 9 (2.05%) NIST
3 8 (1.82%) QA
4 7 (1.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 5 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 4 (0.91%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.68%) Data Quality
7 3 (0.68%) PMO
8 2 (0.45%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.23%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.23%) HL7
9 1 (0.23%) NCSC
System Software
1 61 (13.86%) Active Directory
2 18 (4.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (2.05%) DFS Replication
3 9 (2.05%) vSphere
4 6 (1.36%) Virtual Desktop
4 6 (1.36%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.91%) Docker
7 3 (0.68%) FreeRADIUS
7 3 (0.68%) iptables
7 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 3 (0.68%) Virtual Servers
8 2 (0.45%) Firmware
8 2 (0.45%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.45%) KVM
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.23%) LXC
9 1 (0.23%) RACF
9 1 (0.23%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.23%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 30 (6.82%) SCCM
2 18 (4.09%) Microsoft Intune
3 14 (3.18%) Terraform
4 13 (2.95%) Ansible
5 9 (2.05%) FortiGate
6 6 (1.36%) SmoothWall
7 5 (1.14%) Kubernetes
7 5 (1.14%) ZABBIX
8 4 (0.91%) Nagios
8 4 (0.91%) Tivoli
8 4 (0.91%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 3 (0.68%) Cacti
9 3 (0.68%) Grafana
9 3 (0.68%) Netcool
9 3 (0.68%) Proxmox
9 3 (0.68%) Puppet
9 3 (0.68%) WSUS
10 2 (0.45%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.45%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.45%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 143 (32.50%) Microsoft
2 60 (13.64%) ServiceNow
3 38 (8.64%) Dell
3 38 (8.64%) HP
4 34 (7.73%) Oracle
5 30 (6.82%) Cisco
5 30 (6.82%) Google
6 24 (5.45%) VMware
7 17 (3.86%) IBM
8 12 (2.73%) Remedy
8 12 (2.73%) SAP
9 10 (2.27%) Apple
9 10 (2.27%) Juniper
10 9 (2.05%) Citrix
10 9 (2.05%) F5
10 9 (2.05%) Nokia
10 9 (2.05%) Splunk
11 5 (1.14%) Bloomberg
11 5 (1.14%) Reuters
12 4 (0.91%) Adobe
752 SLA jobs Nationwide