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 6 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 76 66 71
Rank change year-on-year -10 +5 -5
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,396 1,071 1,269
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.27% 3.51% 2.86%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.79% 3.90% 3.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 966 701 854
10th Percentile £313 £313 £313
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% - -1.57%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £650 £688 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% +1.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 49 24 45
10th Percentile £15.50 £25.26 £19.25
25th Percentile £17.69 £34.88 £25.00
Median hourly rate £38.94 £45.00 £41.68
Median % change year-on-year -13.47% +7.98% -7.39%
75th Percentile £61.25 £53.56 £72.90
90th Percentile £70.85 £73.86 £80.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £41.00 £32.50
% change year-on-year -20.73% +26.15% -27.78%

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 36,846 27,490 38,514
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.38% 90.18% 86.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,348 17,263 25,101
10th Percentile £313 £306 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £492 £500
% change year-on-year -2.18% -1.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,189 895 2,262
10th Percentile £14.79 £15.62 £13.25
25th Percentile £18.32 £21.05 £16.13
Median hourly rate £28.00 £32.50 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.85% -1.52% -5.71%
75th Percentile £63.75 £63.75 £58.75
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £71.89
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.38 £31.76 £33.28
% change year-on-year -20.09% -4.57% -4.91%

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 6 March 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 6 March 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 6 March 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 -5 1,200 £488 -2.50% 915
London -19 625 £500 -4.76% 376
UK excluding London -8 602 £475 +5.56% 683
Work from Home -28 360 £496 +0.20% 570
North of England +5 205 £465 +3.33% 185
North West +23 133 £420 -6.67% 106
South East -12 123 £485 -3.96% 200
Midlands -9 110 £510 +27.50% 113
South West -11 67 £450 +14.29% 78
West Midlands -33 61 £475 +1.33% 68
Scotland -4 60 £475 +5.56% 17
Yorkshire -25 51 £513 +28.13% 46
East Midlands +11 49 £550 +54.49% 44
East of England -21 29 £425 -10.99% 81
North East 0 20 £388 -8.82% 34
Wales +10 15 £300 -29.41% 20
Northern Ireland -8 4 £625 +92.31% 4

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 60 (4.30%) SharePoint
2 53 (3.80%) Confluence
3 39 (2.79%) CMS
4 24 (1.72%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 18 (1.29%) Microsoft Exchange
6 12 (0.86%) Headless CMS
7 10 (0.72%) Apache
8 9 (0.64%) SugarCRM
9 8 (0.57%) Sitecore CMS
9 8 (0.57%) Umbraco
10 4 (0.29%) Camunda
10 4 (0.29%) Ethereum
10 4 (0.29%) Hyperledger
10 4 (0.29%) Mendix
11 3 (0.21%) Anypoint
11 3 (0.21%) Apache Spark
11 3 (0.21%) Drupal
11 3 (0.21%) Jupyter
12 2 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
12 2 (0.14%) WordPress
Applications
1 48 (3.44%) Sketch
2 38 (2.72%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.72%) MS Visio
4 23 (1.65%) Microsoft Excel
5 17 (1.22%) Chatbot
5 17 (1.22%) Microsoft Office
6 14 (1.00%) InVision
7 12 (0.86%) Photoshop
8 10 (0.72%) Adobe Illustrator
9 6 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
9 6 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
9 6 (0.43%) Trello
10 5 (0.36%) Adobe After Effects
10 5 (0.36%) Adobe Creative Suite
11 4 (0.29%) Microsoft Project
11 4 (0.29%) UXPin
12 3 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
12 3 (0.21%) UserZoom
13 2 (0.14%) Camtasia
13 2 (0.14%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 21 (1.50%) SAP S/4HANA
2 14 (1.00%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (0.43%) Sage X3
3 6 (0.43%) Workday HCM
4 5 (0.36%) Shopify
5 3 (0.21%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
6 2 (0.14%) iTrent
6 2 (0.14%) Magento
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.14%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.14%) SAP SD
6 2 (0.14%) SAP Travel Management
7 1 (0.072%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.072%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.072%) Eloqua
7 1 (0.072%) Integrated Workplace Management System
7 1 (0.072%) NEC Housing
7 1 (0.072%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 229 (16.40%) Azure
2 188 (13.47%) Figma
3 153 (10.96%) AWS
4 100 (7.16%) Power Platform
5 83 (5.95%) Microsoft 365
6 69 (4.94%) SaaS
7 67 (4.80%) GCP
8 57 (4.08%) Entra ID
9 55 (3.94%) Azure DevOps
10 52 (3.72%) GitHub
11 35 (2.51%) Power Automate
12 34 (2.44%) PowerApps
13 32 (2.29%) GitHub Actions
13 32 (2.29%) Serverless
14 29 (2.08%) Miro
15 23 (1.65%) Google Workspace
16 22 (1.58%) Cloud Computing
17 21 (1.50%) Dynamics 365
17 21 (1.50%) Microsoft Copilot
18 20 (1.43%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 23 (1.65%) DNS
2 20 (1.43%) Wireless
3 17 (1.22%) Internet
4 15 (1.07%) HTTP
5 13 (0.93%) Wi-Fi
6 11 (0.79%) VPN
7 10 (0.72%) DHCP
7 10 (0.72%) Intranet
8 9 (0.64%) TCP/IP
9 8 (0.57%) BGP
9 8 (0.57%) Cisco ISE
9 8 (0.57%) Cisco Wireless
9 8 (0.57%) Firewall
10 7 (0.50%) NX-OS
10 7 (0.50%) VXLAN
10 7 (0.50%) WAN
11 6 (0.43%) SD-WAN
11 6 (0.43%) Unified Communications
12 5 (0.36%) Network Security
12 5 (0.36%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (4.66%) Power BI
2 38 (2.72%) Relational Database
3 35 (2.51%) MySQL
4 32 (2.29%) NoSQL
5 28 (2.01%) PostgreSQL
6 23 (1.65%) Data Warehouse
7 20 (1.43%) SQL Server
8 17 (1.22%) Tableau
9 15 (1.07%) Metadata
9 15 (1.07%) MongoDB
10 14 (1.00%) BigQuery
11 11 (0.79%) Looker
12 8 (0.57%) Power Query
13 7 (0.50%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.50%) Mixpanel
13 7 (0.50%) Pinecone
14 6 (0.43%) Redis
14 6 (0.43%) ZAP BI
15 5 (0.36%) Hadoop
16 4 (0.29%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 118 (8.45%) JIRA
2 93 (6.66%) Git
3 47 (3.37%) GitLab
4 31 (2.22%) Cypress.io
4 31 (2.22%) Jenkins
5 26 (1.86%) JUnit
6 24 (1.72%) Axure RP
7 20 (1.43%) Android Studio
8 19 (1.36%) Xcode
9 16 (1.15%) Eclipse
9 16 (1.15%) Gradle
10 14 (1.00%) Browser DevTools
11 12 (0.86%) CircleCI
12 10 (0.72%) Postman
13 9 (0.64%) Artifactory
14 8 (0.57%) Mocha
14 8 (0.57%) Mockito
14 8 (0.57%) Selenium
15 7 (0.50%) Jasmine
16 6 (0.43%) Cucumber
General
1 465 (33.31%) Social Skills
2 260 (18.62%) Finance
3 206 (14.76%) Public Sector
4 155 (11.10%) Analytical Skills
5 104 (7.45%) Banking
6 76 (5.44%) Marketing
7 40 (2.87%) Retail
8 30 (2.15%) Influencing Skills
9 29 (2.08%) Presentation Skills
10 27 (1.93%) Legal
11 23 (1.65%) Manufacturing
12 20 (1.43%) Pharmaceutical
13 17 (1.22%) Financial Institution
13 17 (1.22%) Investment Banking
14 16 (1.15%) Documentation Skills
15 14 (1.00%) Games
15 14 (1.00%) Telecoms
16 13 (0.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 11 (0.79%) Front Office
17 11 (0.79%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 246 (17.62%) Designer
2 233 (16.69%) Developer
3 207 (14.83%) Senior
4 136 (9.74%) UX Designer
5 129 (9.24%) Analyst
6 75 (5.37%) Lead
7 63 (4.51%) Business Analyst
8 60 (4.30%) Consultant
9 57 (4.08%) Product Designer
9 57 (4.08%) Senior Designer
10 51 (3.65%) Architect
11 49 (3.51%) User Researcher
12 41 (2.94%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
13 40 (2.87%) Senior Developer
13 40 (2.87%) Service Designer
13 40 (2.87%) Software Engineer
14 38 (2.72%) Full-Stack Developer
14 38 (2.72%) UI Designer
15 37 (2.65%) Support Engineer
16 35 (2.51%) Senior UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 176 (12.61%) React
2 172 (12.32%) CSS
3 157 (11.25%) HTML
4 120 (8.60%) REST
5 94 (6.73%) RESTful
6 93 (6.66%) AngularJS
7 60 (4.30%) Spring
7 60 (4.30%) Spring Boot
8 55 (3.94%) .NET
9 52 (3.72%) Node.js
10 43 (3.08%) HTML5
11 39 (2.79%) GraphQL
12 37 (2.65%) Jest
13 35 (2.51%) CSS3
14 34 (2.44%) JSON
15 31 (2.22%) Redux
16 26 (1.86%) Next.js
17 24 (1.72%) SOAP
18 22 (1.58%) OAuth
18 22 (1.58%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 142 (10.17%) Product Ownership
2 95 (6.81%) Mobile App
3 58 (4.15%) Onboarding
4 28 (2.01%) Analytical Mindset
5 27 (1.93%) Enterprise Software
6 26 (1.86%) AI Agents
6 26 (1.86%) Data Structures
7 18 (1.29%) Data Protection Act
8 16 (1.15%) Distributed Systems
8 16 (1.15%) Legacy Systems
8 16 (1.15%) Low-Code
9 15 (1.07%) Data Centre
9 15 (1.07%) Virtual Team
10 14 (1.00%) Cloud Native
10 14 (1.00%) NHS
11 13 (0.93%) CMDB
12 12 (0.86%) Algorithms
13 11 (0.79%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 10 (0.72%) e-Learning
14 10 (0.72%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 133 (9.53%) Windows
2 51 (3.65%) Android
3 42 (3.01%) Windows 10
4 38 (2.72%) Apple iOS
5 30 (2.15%) Linux
6 24 (1.72%) Mac OS
7 17 (1.22%) Unix
8 6 (0.43%) Windows Server
9 3 (0.21%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.14%) VMS
11 1 (0.072%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.072%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.072%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.072%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 475 (34.03%) Agile
2 463 (33.17%) UX Design
3 222 (15.90%) Problem-Solving
4 220 (15.76%) User Research
5 218 (15.62%) Analytics
6 185 (13.25%) CI/CD
7 167 (11.96%) Stakeholder Management
8 166 (11.89%) DevOps
9 164 (11.75%) AI
10 162 (11.60%) Continuous Improvement
11 157 (11.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 144 (10.32%) Roadmaps
13 143 (10.24%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 133 (9.53%) Prototyping
15 129 (9.24%) Wireframes
16 124 (8.88%) Service Design
17 121 (8.67%) Decision-Making
18 118 (8.45%) Usability Testing
19 117 (8.38%) UX Research
20 103 (7.38%) Front End Development
Programming Languages
1 201 (14.40%) JavaScript
2 141 (10.10%) SQL
3 121 (8.67%) Python
4 117 (8.38%) Java
5 113 (8.09%) TypeScript
6 67 (4.80%) PowerShell
7 58 (4.15%) C#
8 33 (2.36%) Kotlin
9 22 (1.58%) Bash
10 17 (1.22%) Perl
10 17 (1.22%) PHP
11 15 (1.07%) Swift
12 13 (0.93%) C++
12 13 (0.93%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 8 (0.57%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.50%) Go
14 7 (0.50%) Lisp
14 7 (0.50%) Lua
15 6 (0.43%) Scala
15 6 (0.43%) VBA
Qualifications
1 190 (13.61%) Security Cleared
2 137 (9.81%) SC Cleared
3 133 (9.53%) Degree
4 40 (2.87%) BPSS Clearance
5 23 (1.65%) Computer Science Degree
6 18 (1.29%) DV Cleared
7 17 (1.22%) Master's Degree
8 15 (1.07%) Microsoft Certification
9 11 (0.79%) CCNP
9 11 (0.79%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (0.79%) MOS
10 8 (0.57%) PMI Certification
11 7 (0.50%) OCA
11 7 (0.50%) Oracle Certification
12 5 (0.36%) CCA
12 5 (0.36%) Citrix Certification
13 4 (0.29%) Azure Certification
14 3 (0.21%) CESG Certified Professional
14 3 (0.21%) ITIL Certification
15 2 (0.14%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 249 (17.84%) Accessibility
2 139 (9.96%) QA
3 75 (5.37%) WCAG
4 47 (3.37%) Data Quality
5 44 (3.15%) GDPR
6 25 (1.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.65%) Actionable Recommendations
8 20 (1.43%) SLA
9 8 (0.57%) PMO
10 6 (0.43%) NCSC
11 4 (0.29%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 4 (0.29%) GxP
12 3 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.21%) GMP
12 3 (0.21%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (0.21%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.21%) NIST
12 3 (0.21%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.14%) GRC
System Software
1 80 (5.73%) Active Directory
2 66 (4.73%) Docker
3 23 (1.65%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (0.93%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (0.29%) Firmware
6 3 (0.21%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.14%) ProxySG
8 1 (0.072%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.072%) ISA Server
8 1 (0.072%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.072%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.072%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.072%) XenApp
8 1 (0.072%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 59 (4.23%) Kubernetes
2 52 (3.72%) Microsoft Intune
3 40 (2.87%) SCCM
4 39 (2.79%) Terraform
5 24 (1.72%) Grafana
6 16 (1.15%) Ansible
7 12 (0.86%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (0.50%) FortiGate
9 6 (0.43%) Jamf Pro
9 6 (0.43%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.29%) Argo
10 4 (0.29%) HP ALM
11 3 (0.21%) Nagios
11 3 (0.21%) Rancher
12 2 (0.14%) PingFederate
12 2 (0.14%) SysTrack
13 1 (0.072%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 1 (0.072%) Consul
13 1 (0.072%) Istio
13 1 (0.072%) Podman
Vendors
1 231 (16.55%) Microsoft
2 93 (6.66%) Adobe
3 83 (5.95%) Google
4 80 (5.73%) ServiceNow
5 50 (3.58%) SAP
6 40 (2.87%) Oracle
7 36 (2.58%) Salesforce
8 26 (1.86%) Splunk
9 24 (1.72%) VMware
10 23 (1.65%) Citrix
11 16 (1.15%) Cisco
12 14 (1.00%) Apple
13 12 (0.86%) Red Hat
13 12 (0.86%) Zscaler
14 10 (0.72%) Amplitude
14 10 (0.72%) Hotjar
14 10 (0.72%) Workday
15 9 (0.64%) Ekahau
15 9 (0.64%) MuleSoft
15 9 (0.64%) OpenAI