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 20 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 74 60 76
Rank change year-on-year -14 +16 -16
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,492 1,093 1,208
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.10% 3.75% 2.84%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.68% 4.12% 3.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 983 733 810
10th Percentile £313 £305 £306
25th Percentile £400 £400 £404
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.08% -4.00% -1.57%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £699 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 28 45
10th Percentile £16.00 £23.11 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.04 £44.25 £23.75
Median hourly rate £34.00 £53.50 £26.56
Median % change year-on-year -36.46% +101.43% -18.75%
75th Percentile £61.25 £66.88 £61.25
90th Percentile £73.60 £88.50 £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 40,582 26,548 36,652
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.29% 91.02% 86.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,477 17,040 23,631
10th Percentile £325 £305 £300
25th Percentile £413 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £514 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.88% -2.10% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £495 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +4.21% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,387 1,106 2,443
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.35 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.80 £18.13 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.50 £28.17 £36.05
Median % change year-on-year +50.90% -21.86% +0.13%
75th Percentile £67.50 £60.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £79.70 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +78.93% -32.93% +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 20 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 20 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 20 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 -7 1,292 £488 -2.30% 755
UK excluding London +7 677 £475 +11.76% 470
London -17 657 £513 -0.49% 380
Work from Home -22 396 £494 +2.81% 394
North of England +5 203 £450 +0.67% 137
Midlands +10 160 £475 +18.16% 63
South East -21 125 £488 +14.71% 140
North West +6 123 £420 -6.67% 90
West Midlands 0 109 £475 -7.32% 45
Scotland +2 73 £500 +11.11% 25
South West -20 68 £475 +26.67% 44
Yorkshire -21 54 £506 +26.48% 28
East Midlands +6 51 £550 +54.06% 16
East of England -16 32 £410 -13.68% 51
North East -12 24 £450 -0.55% 19
Wales -9 14 £450 +47.06% 7
Northern Ireland -8 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 39 (2.61%) 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
9 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) nginx
9 3 (0.20%) Skype for Business
9 3 (0.20%) Umbraco
10 2 (0.13%) HCL Notes
10 2 (0.13%) IIS
Applications
1 41 (2.75%) Sketch
2 25 (1.68%) Adobe XD
2 25 (1.68%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.34%) Chatbot
3 20 (1.34%) Photoshop
4 17 (1.14%) MS Visio
5 15 (1.01%) Adobe After Effects
5 15 (1.01%) Adobe Illustrator
6 14 (0.94%) Microsoft Office
7 13 (0.87%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 10 (0.67%) InVision
9 7 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 4 (0.27%) Trello
11 3 (0.20%) Adobe Captivate
11 3 (0.20%) Microsoft Project
11 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
11 3 (0.20%) UXPin
12 2 (0.13%) Final Cut Pro
12 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
12 2 (0.13%) UserZoom
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
1 235 (15.75%) Azure
2 210 (14.08%) Figma
3 124 (8.31%) AWS
4 116 (7.77%) Power Platform
5 105 (7.04%) Microsoft 365
6 60 (4.02%) Azure DevOps
7 57 (3.82%) 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%) Gradle
8 14 (0.94%) Axure RP
9 13 (0.87%) Vite
10 12 (0.80%) Android Studio
10 12 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
11 11 (0.74%) Xcode
12 10 (0.67%) CircleCI
12 10 (0.67%) Selenium
13 8 (0.54%) fastlane
13 8 (0.54%) Visual Studio
14 7 (0.47%) Postman
15 6 (0.40%) Eclipse
15 6 (0.40%) Mocha
15 6 (0.40%) Mockito
General
1 442 (29.62%) Social Skills
2 261 (17.49%) Finance
3 196 (13.14%) 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 25 (1.68%) Manufacturing
12 22 (1.47%) Automotive
13 19 (1.27%) Publishing
14 17 (1.14%) Organisational Skills
14 17 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
15 16 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
15 16 (1.07%) Games
15 16 (1.07%) Investment Banking
16 12 (0.80%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 314 (21.05%) Designer
2 225 (15.08%) Senior
3 200 (13.40%) Developer
4 146 (9.79%) UX Designer
5 128 (8.58%) Analyst
6 86 (5.76%) Lead
7 78 (5.23%) Consultant
8 67 (4.49%) UI Designer
9 66 (4.42%) Product Designer
10 65 (4.36%) Business Analyst
11 64 (4.29%) Senior Designer
12 61 (4.09%) Architect
13 47 (3.15%) User Researcher
14 46 (3.08%) Content Designer
15 44 (2.95%) UI/UX Designer
15 44 (2.95%) User Experience Researcher
16 41 (2.75%) IT Support
16 41 (2.75%) Service Designer
17 37 (2.48%) Product Manager
18 35 (2.35%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 157 (10.52%) React
2 130 (8.71%) CSS
3 118 (7.91%) HTML
4 105 (7.04%) 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 39 (2.61%) GraphQL
10 35 (2.35%) Node.js
11 34 (2.28%) JSON
12 32 (2.14%) HTML5
13 30 (2.01%) CSS3
13 30 (2.01%) Redux
14 28 (1.88%) Jest
15 27 (1.81%) Kafka
15 27 (1.81%) Next.js
16 23 (1.54%) OAuth
17 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 28 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
6 26 (1.74%) Cloud Native
7 20 (1.34%) Data Protection Act
8 19 (1.27%) Legacy Systems
9 18 (1.21%) Analytical Mindset
10 17 (1.14%) Animation
10 17 (1.14%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
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
1 106 (7.10%) 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
1 494 (33.11%) UX Design
2 462 (30.97%) Agile
3 240 (16.09%) AI
4 214 (14.34%) Problem-Solving
5 206 (13.81%) Analytics
6 204 (13.67%) User Research
7 183 (12.27%) Continuous Improvement
8 179 (12.00%) Stakeholder Management
9 173 (11.60%) CI/CD
10 162 (10.86%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 160 (10.72%) Roadmaps
12 154 (10.32%) DevOps
13 143 (9.58%) Prototyping
14 137 (9.18%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 129 (8.65%) UX Research
16 127 (8.51%) Decision-Making
17 124 (8.31%) Wireframes
18 122 (8.18%) Service Design
19 112 (7.51%) Workshop Facilitation
20 102 (6.84%) 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 8 (0.54%) 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
1 197 (13.20%) Security Cleared
2 146 (9.79%) SC Cleared
3 133 (8.91%) Degree
4 30 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
5 29 (1.94%) Computer Science Degree
6 26 (1.74%) 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
1 258 (17.29%) Accessibility
2 116 (7.77%) QA
3 86 (5.76%) WCAG
4 49 (3.28%) Data Quality
5 33 (2.21%) GDPR
6 20 (1.34%) Actionable Recommendations
7 18 (1.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.54%) PMO
9 7 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
9 7 (0.47%) SLA
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 70 (4.69%) 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%) Clonezilla
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
Vendors
1 222 (14.88%) Microsoft
2 90 (6.03%) Adobe
3 66 (4.42%) 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