User Experience Contract Job Trends

UX
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring User Experience skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 19 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 76 59 76
Rank change year-on-year -17 +17 -16
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,492 1,101 1,208
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.11% 3.77% 2.84%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.68% 4.14% 3.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 986 740 810
10th Percentile £313 £303 £306
25th Percentile £400 £400 £404
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.56% -4.00% -1.57%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £700 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 59 27 45
10th Percentile £16.58 £22.56 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.08 £45.88 £23.75
Median hourly rate £33.99 £53.50 £26.56
Median % change year-on-year -36.47% +101.43% -18.75%
75th Percentile £61.25 £68.75 £61.25
90th Percentile £72.40 £89.50 £73.82
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £61.75 £25.00
% change year-on-year -44.96% +147.00% +42.86%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

User Experience falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 40,493 26,571 36,681
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.28% 90.99% 86.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,428 17,064 23,633
10th Percentile £325 £305 £300
25th Percentile £413 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.65% -1.90% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £494 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +4.00% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,382 1,097 2,442
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.26 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.72 £18.13 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.40 £28.18 £36.02
Median % change year-on-year +50.46% -21.77% +0.06%
75th Percentile £67.25 £60.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.23 £37.50
% change year-on-year +78.39% -32.73% +7.14%

User Experience
Job Vacancy Trend

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

User Experience job vacancy trend in the UK

User Experience
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience

User Experience
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing User Experience over the 6 months to 19 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for User Experience in the UK

User Experience
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience

User Experience
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing User Experience over the 6 months to 19 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for User Experience in the UK

User Experience
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 User Experience within the UK over the 6 months to 19 May 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 -8 1,293 £488 -1.91% 747
UK excluding London -1 673 £475 +11.76% 482
London -18 659 £513 -0.49% 370
Work from Home -23 398 £489 +1.77% 382
North of England +2 203 £450 +0.33% 135
Midlands +5 160 £475 +18.75% 61
North West +5 125 £420 -6.67% 88
South East -22 123 £488 +14.71% 137
West Midlands -7 109 £475 - 43
Scotland +1 72 £500 +11.11% 31
South West -10 68 £475 +26.67% 48
Yorkshire -17 53 £513 +28.04% 26
East Midlands +5 51 £550 +54.06% 16
East of England -15 32 £410 -13.68% 57
North East -11 23 £450 -0.55% 21
Wales -10 13 £450 +47.06% 9
Northern Ireland -7 3 - - 9

User Experience
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 54 (3.62%) SharePoint
2 52 (3.49%) Confluence
3 40 (2.68%) CMS
4 20 (1.34%) Microsoft Exchange
5 14 (0.94%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 7 (0.47%) Apache
6 7 (0.47%) WordPress
7 5 (0.34%) Camunda
7 5 (0.34%) Drupal
7 5 (0.34%) Mendix
8 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
8 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
8 4 (0.27%) Kentico
8 4 (0.27%) Umbraco
9 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) nginx
9 3 (0.20%) Skype for Business
10 2 (0.13%) Apache Spark
10 2 (0.13%) Appian
Applications
1 41 (2.75%) Sketch
2 26 (1.74%) Adobe XD
3 25 (1.68%) Microsoft Excel
4 21 (1.41%) Photoshop
5 20 (1.34%) Chatbot
6 17 (1.14%) MS Visio
7 16 (1.07%) Adobe Illustrator
8 14 (0.94%) Adobe After Effects
8 14 (0.94%) Microsoft Office
9 13 (0.87%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 10 (0.67%) InVision
11 7 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
12 4 (0.27%) Trello
13 3 (0.20%) Adobe Captivate
13 3 (0.20%) Microsoft Project
13 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
13 3 (0.20%) UXPin
14 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
14 2 (0.13%) UserZoom
15 1 (0.067%) Blender
Business Applications
1 13 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.67%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.60%) Shopify
4 8 (0.54%) Workday HCM
5 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
6 4 (0.27%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.13%) NEC Housing
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle iProcurement
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
8 2 (0.13%) ResourceLink
8 2 (0.13%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.067%) Adobe Campaign
9 1 (0.067%) Eloqua
9 1 (0.067%) Integrated Workplace Management System
9 1 (0.067%) iTrent
9 1 (0.067%) Salesforce CRM
9 1 (0.067%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 234 (15.68%) Azure
2 210 (14.08%) Figma
3 123 (8.24%) AWS
4 116 (7.77%) Power Platform
5 104 (6.97%) Microsoft 365
6 60 (4.02%) Azure DevOps
7 58 (3.89%) Entra ID
8 49 (3.28%) GCP
9 47 (3.15%) GitHub
10 46 (3.08%) SaaS
11 38 (2.55%) Microsoft Copilot
11 38 (2.55%) Power Automate
12 37 (2.48%) PowerApps
13 32 (2.14%) Serverless
14 29 (1.94%) GitHub Actions
15 25 (1.68%) OneDrive
16 24 (1.61%) Copilot Studio
16 24 (1.61%) Google Workspace
17 21 (1.41%) Google Sheets
18 19 (1.27%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 18 (1.21%) DNS
1 18 (1.21%) Wi-Fi
2 14 (0.94%) DHCP
3 13 (0.87%) Wireless
4 12 (0.80%) Internet
4 12 (0.80%) LAN
5 11 (0.74%) Intranet
5 11 (0.74%) SD-WAN
5 11 (0.74%) TCP/IP
6 10 (0.67%) HTTP
6 10 (0.67%) VPN
7 8 (0.54%) WAN
8 7 (0.47%) Cisco Wireless
9 6 (0.40%) 5G
9 6 (0.40%) Firewall
9 6 (0.40%) Network Security
9 6 (0.40%) SNMP
9 6 (0.40%) WLAN
10 5 (0.34%) SMS
10 5 (0.34%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 81 (5.43%) Power BI
2 27 (1.81%) Relational Database
3 26 (1.74%) NoSQL
4 25 (1.68%) PostgreSQL
5 22 (1.47%) SQL Server
6 19 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
6 19 (1.27%) Metadata
7 15 (1.01%) MongoDB
7 15 (1.01%) MySQL
7 15 (1.01%) Power Query
8 12 (0.80%) Big Data
8 12 (0.80%) Tableau
9 9 (0.60%) BigQuery
10 7 (0.47%) DynamoDB
11 6 (0.40%) Oracle BI Publisher
11 6 (0.40%) Oracle Database
11 6 (0.40%) Pinecone
11 6 (0.40%) Redis
11 6 (0.40%) ZAP BI
12 5 (0.34%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 105 (7.04%) JIRA
2 89 (5.97%) Git
3 34 (2.28%) GitLab
4 28 (1.88%) Cypress.io
5 23 (1.54%) Jenkins
6 18 (1.21%) JUnit
7 15 (1.01%) Axure RP
7 15 (1.01%) Gradle
8 13 (0.87%) Vite
9 12 (0.80%) Android Studio
9 12 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
10 11 (0.74%) Xcode
11 10 (0.67%) CircleCI
11 10 (0.67%) Selenium
12 8 (0.54%) fastlane
12 8 (0.54%) Visual Studio
13 7 (0.47%) Postman
14 6 (0.40%) Eclipse
14 6 (0.40%) Mocha
14 6 (0.40%) Mockito
General
1 441 (29.56%) Social Skills
2 261 (17.49%) Finance
3 202 (13.54%) Public Sector
4 149 (9.99%) Analytical Skills
5 115 (7.71%) Banking
6 62 (4.16%) Marketing
7 57 (3.82%) Retail
8 35 (2.35%) Legal
9 33 (2.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 33 (2.21%) Influencing Skills
10 30 (2.01%) Presentation Skills
11 24 (1.61%) Manufacturing
12 22 (1.47%) Automotive
13 19 (1.27%) Publishing
14 18 (1.21%) Organisational Skills
15 17 (1.14%) Games
15 17 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
16 16 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
16 16 (1.07%) Investment Banking
17 12 (0.80%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 315 (21.11%) Designer
2 225 (15.08%) Senior
3 199 (13.34%) Developer
4 146 (9.79%) UX Designer
5 128 (8.58%) Analyst
6 84 (5.63%) Lead
7 79 (5.29%) Consultant
8 65 (4.36%) Business Analyst
8 65 (4.36%) Product Designer
8 65 (4.36%) UI Designer
9 63 (4.22%) Senior Designer
10 62 (4.16%) Architect
11 47 (3.15%) User Researcher
12 46 (3.08%) Content Designer
13 45 (3.02%) User Experience Researcher
14 43 (2.88%) Service Designer
14 43 (2.88%) UI/UX Designer
15 40 (2.68%) IT Support
16 36 (2.41%) Product Manager
17 35 (2.35%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 158 (10.59%) React
2 130 (8.71%) CSS
3 118 (7.91%) HTML
4 106 (7.10%) REST
5 74 (4.96%) RESTful
6 71 (4.76%) AngularJS
7 54 (3.62%) .NET
7 54 (3.62%) Spring
8 53 (3.55%) Spring Boot
9 40 (2.68%) GraphQL
10 35 (2.35%) Node.js
11 34 (2.28%) JSON
12 32 (2.14%) HTML5
13 31 (2.08%) Redux
14 30 (2.01%) CSS3
15 28 (1.88%) Jest
15 28 (1.88%) Next.js
16 27 (1.81%) Kafka
17 23 (1.54%) OAuth
18 22 (1.47%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 150 (10.05%) Product Ownership
2 72 (4.83%) Mobile App
3 55 (3.69%) Onboarding
4 34 (2.28%) AI Agents
4 34 (2.28%) Data Structures
5 29 (1.94%) Enterprise Software
6 26 (1.74%) Cloud Native
7 20 (1.34%) Data Protection Act
8 18 (1.21%) Analytical Mindset
8 18 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
9 17 (1.14%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 16 (1.07%) Animation
11 15 (1.01%) Virtual Reality
12 14 (0.94%) Self-Motivation
13 13 (0.87%) Algorithms
13 13 (0.87%) Augmented Reality
13 13 (0.87%) Distributed Systems
13 13 (0.87%) Management Information System
13 13 (0.87%) NHS
13 13 (0.87%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 105 (7.04%) Windows
2 49 (3.28%) Android
3 44 (2.95%) Apple iOS
4 35 (2.35%) Windows 10
5 25 (1.68%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.07%) Linux
7 9 (0.60%) Windows Server
8 6 (0.40%) Unix
9 5 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.27%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.067%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 490 (32.84%) UX Design
2 458 (30.70%) Agile
3 238 (15.95%) AI
4 214 (14.34%) Problem-Solving
5 207 (13.87%) Analytics
6 205 (13.74%) User Research
7 182 (12.20%) Continuous Improvement
8 178 (11.93%) Stakeholder Management
9 173 (11.60%) CI/CD
10 163 (10.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 161 (10.79%) Roadmaps
12 154 (10.32%) DevOps
13 145 (9.72%) Prototyping
14 135 (9.05%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 129 (8.65%) UX Research
16 127 (8.51%) Decision-Making
17 124 (8.31%) Service Design
18 123 (8.24%) Wireframes
19 113 (7.57%) Workshop Facilitation
20 103 (6.90%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 161 (10.79%) JavaScript
2 129 (8.65%) Python
3 126 (8.45%) SQL
4 115 (7.71%) Java
5 112 (7.51%) TypeScript
6 54 (3.62%) C#
7 48 (3.22%) PowerShell
8 34 (2.28%) Kotlin
9 21 (1.41%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 20 (1.34%) Bash
11 14 (0.94%) Swift
12 11 (0.74%) C++
13 9 (0.60%) Lua
14 7 (0.47%) Korn
15 6 (0.40%) Perl
15 6 (0.40%) VBA
16 5 (0.34%) Apex Code
16 5 (0.34%) R
16 5 (0.34%) Scala
17 4 (0.27%) Go
Qualifications
1 200 (13.40%) Security Cleared
2 148 (9.92%) SC Cleared
3 134 (8.98%) Degree
4 30 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
5 29 (1.94%) Computer Science Degree
6 27 (1.81%) DV Cleared
7 22 (1.47%) Microsoft Certification
8 13 (0.87%) Azure Certification
8 13 (0.87%) Master's Degree
9 11 (0.74%) Cisco Certification
10 8 (0.54%) CCNP
11 7 (0.47%) CCA
11 7 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
12 6 (0.40%) CCIE
12 6 (0.40%) Citrix Certification
12 6 (0.40%) PMI Certification
13 5 (0.34%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 4 (0.27%) DBS Check
14 4 (0.27%) ISTQB
14 4 (0.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 260 (17.43%) Accessibility
2 116 (7.77%) QA
3 86 (5.76%) WCAG
4 49 (3.28%) Data Quality
5 34 (2.28%) GDPR
6 20 (1.34%) Actionable Recommendations
7 18 (1.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.54%) SLA
9 7 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
9 7 (0.47%) PMO
10 6 (0.40%) GMP
10 6 (0.40%) GxP
11 4 (0.27%) GRC
11 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 4 (0.27%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.20%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 3 (0.20%) NCSC
12 3 (0.20%) NIST
System Software
1 69 (4.62%) Active Directory
2 53 (3.55%) Docker
3 20 (1.34%) Virtual Desktop
4 18 (1.21%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 4 (0.27%) Hyper-V
6 4 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
7 3 (0.20%) BitLocker
7 3 (0.20%) XenApp
7 3 (0.20%) XenDesktop
8 2 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.067%) ISA Server
9 1 (0.067%) Varnish
9 1 (0.067%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 57 (3.82%) Kubernetes
2 48 (3.22%) Terraform
3 39 (2.61%) Microsoft Intune
4 36 (2.41%) Grafana
5 33 (2.21%) SCCM
6 18 (1.21%) Ansible
6 18 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
7 11 (0.74%) Prometheus
8 8 (0.54%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.27%) Podman
10 3 (0.20%) HP ALM
10 3 (0.20%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 2 (0.13%) Argo
11 2 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.13%) Nagios
11 2 (0.13%) Packer
11 2 (0.13%) Rancher
11 2 (0.13%) SysTrack
11 2 (0.13%) WSUS
12 1 (0.067%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 220 (14.75%) Microsoft
2 91 (6.10%) Adobe
3 67 (4.49%) Google
4 62 (4.16%) ServiceNow
5 44 (2.95%) Oracle
6 42 (2.82%) Salesforce
7 39 (2.61%) SAP
8 23 (1.54%) Citrix
9 20 (1.34%) Splunk
10 19 (1.27%) Databricks
11 18 (1.21%) VMware
12 17 (1.14%) Cisco
12 17 (1.14%) Workday
13 16 (1.07%) Apple
13 16 (1.07%) Dynatrace
14 12 (0.80%) Aruba
15 9 (0.60%) Foundry
15 9 (0.60%) MuleSoft
15 9 (0.60%) OpenAI
16 8 (0.54%) Zscaler