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 26 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 86 64 78
Rank change year-on-year -22 +14 -19
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,503 1,137 1,165
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.95% 3.76% 2.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.48% 4.13% 3.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 945 743 768
10th Percentile £319 £301 £300
25th Percentile £405 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £494 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.89% -5.00% -1.57%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 35 47
10th Percentile £16.00 £32.93 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.04 £35.25 £25.00
Median hourly rate £33.99 £52.50 £31.71
Median % change year-on-year -35.26% +65.56% +19.66%
75th Percentile £63.86 £67.58 £61.50
90th Percentile £85.22 £85.50 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £70.16 £27.50
% change year-on-year -51.55% +155.13% +55.19%

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 43,249 27,546 37,029
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.99% 91.07% 85.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,953 17,432 23,598
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £502 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.54% -4.33% -4.55%
75th Percentile £621 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,594 1,315 2,564
10th Percentile £14.81 £14.20 £12.74
25th Percentile £20.09 £17.44 £16.06
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -32.93% +7.14%
75th Percentile £68.00 £53.95 £61.30
90th Percentile £81.71 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £24.66 £38.12
% change year-on-year +82.48% -35.31% +17.65%

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 26 June 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 26 June 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 26 June 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 -12 1,290 £488 +2.63% 648
UK excluding London 0 696 £475 +11.76% 429
London -24 649 £524 +3.76% 325
Work from Home -29 389 £500 +5.26% 275
North of England -18 195 £450 +0.67% 124
Midlands -2 154 £475 +17.72% 56
South East -12 136 £495 +4.21% 142
North West -17 113 £435 -2.68% 70
West Midlands +1 111 £475 -9.52% 35
Scotland +11 86 £518 +12.50% 19
South West -6 74 £475 +26.67% 43
Yorkshire -30 52 £519 +29.61% 31
East Midlands +11 43 £550 +54.49% 21
East of England -9 36 £410 -13.68% 47
North East -15 30 £440 -8.33% 24
Wales -9 16 £536 +75.25% 6
Northern Ireland +2 3 - - 1

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 69 (4.59%) SharePoint
2 47 (3.13%) CMS
2 47 (3.13%) Confluence
3 27 (1.80%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (0.67%) WordPress
5 7 (0.47%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 6 (0.40%) Mendix
7 5 (0.33%) Apache
7 5 (0.33%) Drupal
7 5 (0.33%) Skype for Business
8 4 (0.27%) Camunda
8 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
8 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
8 4 (0.27%) Kentico
8 4 (0.27%) Umbraco
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) nginx
10 2 (0.13%) IIS
10 2 (0.13%) Moodle
10 2 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 36 (2.40%) Sketch
2 27 (1.80%) Adobe Creative Suite
2 27 (1.80%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.33%) Photoshop
4 19 (1.26%) Adobe After Effects
5 18 (1.20%) Chatbot
6 16 (1.06%) Adobe Illustrator
7 15 (1.00%) Adobe XD
8 14 (0.93%) Microsoft Office
8 14 (0.93%) MS Visio
9 10 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 6 (0.40%) Final Cut Pro
11 4 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
11 4 (0.27%) InVision
12 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
12 3 (0.20%) UserZoom
12 3 (0.20%) UXPin
13 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
13 2 (0.13%) Trello
14 1 (0.067%) Blender
Business Applications
1 13 (0.86%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.67%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.60%) Workday HCM
4 8 (0.53%) Shopify
5 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
6 4 (0.27%) NetSuite
6 4 (0.27%) Oracle iProcurement
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
7 2 (0.13%) Remedy ITSM
7 2 (0.13%) ResourceLink
7 2 (0.13%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.067%) Integrated Workplace Management System
8 1 (0.067%) iTrent
8 1 (0.067%) NEC Housing
8 1 (0.067%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.067%) SAP QM
8 1 (0.067%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 239 (15.90%) Azure
2 212 (14.11%) Figma
3 125 (8.32%) AWS
4 120 (7.98%) Microsoft 365
5 110 (7.32%) Power Platform
6 62 (4.13%) Entra ID
7 59 (3.93%) Azure DevOps
8 52 (3.46%) SaaS
9 49 (3.26%) GitHub
9 49 (3.26%) Microsoft Copilot
10 42 (2.79%) GCP
11 38 (2.53%) PowerApps
12 37 (2.46%) OneDrive
13 36 (2.40%) Power Automate
14 31 (2.06%) GitHub Actions
15 30 (2.00%) Serverless
16 26 (1.73%) Copilot Studio
17 17 (1.13%) Google Workspace
18 16 (1.06%) Azure AI
18 16 (1.06%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 32 (2.13%) DNS
2 28 (1.86%) DHCP
3 24 (1.60%) TCP/IP
4 23 (1.53%) Wi-Fi
5 20 (1.33%) Wireless
6 18 (1.20%) LAN
7 13 (0.86%) Internet
8 12 (0.80%) WAN
9 11 (0.73%) Firewall
9 11 (0.73%) Intranet
10 10 (0.67%) SD-WAN
10 10 (0.67%) VPN
11 9 (0.60%) HTTP
12 8 (0.53%) Cisco Wireless
13 7 (0.47%) 5G
13 7 (0.47%) Skype
13 7 (0.47%) WLAN
14 6 (0.40%) Network Security
14 6 (0.40%) SNMP
15 5 (0.33%) 802.11
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (4.59%) Power BI
2 27 (1.80%) PostgreSQL
3 26 (1.73%) NoSQL
4 25 (1.66%) Relational Database
5 23 (1.53%) SQL Server
6 22 (1.46%) Metadata
7 19 (1.26%) Power Query
8 16 (1.06%) MongoDB
9 13 (0.86%) Data Warehouse
10 11 (0.73%) Big Data
10 11 (0.73%) MySQL
11 9 (0.60%) Tableau
12 8 (0.53%) Redis
13 7 (0.47%) Oracle Database
14 6 (0.40%) DynamoDB
14 6 (0.40%) Elasticsearch
14 6 (0.40%) Snowflake Schema
14 6 (0.40%) ZAP BI
15 5 (0.33%) Data Mining
15 5 (0.33%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 96 (6.39%) JIRA
2 84 (5.59%) Git
3 26 (1.73%) Jenkins
4 22 (1.46%) Vite
5 21 (1.40%) Cypress.io
6 19 (1.26%) GitLab
7 13 (0.86%) JUnit
8 10 (0.67%) fastlane
8 10 (0.67%) Selenium
9 9 (0.60%) Android Studio
9 9 (0.60%) Browser DevTools
9 9 (0.60%) Claude Code
9 9 (0.60%) Postman
9 9 (0.60%) Visual Studio
9 9 (0.60%) Xcode
10 8 (0.53%) Gradle
11 7 (0.47%) webpack
12 6 (0.40%) JMeter
13 5 (0.33%) CircleCI
13 5 (0.33%) Fiddler
General
1 460 (30.61%) Social Skills
2 263 (17.50%) Finance
3 187 (12.44%) Public Sector
4 145 (9.65%) Analytical Skills
5 120 (7.98%) Banking
6 77 (5.12%) Retail
7 59 (3.93%) Marketing
8 41 (2.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 37 (2.46%) Legal
10 31 (2.06%) Influencing Skills
11 28 (1.86%) Automotive
11 28 (1.86%) Presentation Skills
12 25 (1.66%) Publishing
13 24 (1.60%) Manufacturing
14 19 (1.26%) Documentation Skills
15 18 (1.20%) Investment Banking
15 18 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
16 13 (0.86%) Games
17 12 (0.80%) Front Office
18 11 (0.73%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 320 (21.29%) Designer
2 222 (14.77%) Senior
3 199 (13.24%) Developer
4 140 (9.31%) UX Designer
5 113 (7.52%) Analyst
6 108 (7.19%) Lead
7 83 (5.52%) UI Designer
8 76 (5.06%) Consultant
9 70 (4.66%) Senior Designer
10 64 (4.26%) Product Designer
11 62 (4.13%) Architect
12 59 (3.93%) Business Analyst
13 52 (3.46%) User Researcher
14 51 (3.39%) Content Designer
15 48 (3.19%) UI/UX Designer
16 46 (3.06%) User Experience Researcher
17 44 (2.93%) IT Support
18 40 (2.66%) Product Manager
19 39 (2.59%) Full-Stack Engineer
20 33 (2.20%) Senior UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 147 (9.78%) React
2 112 (7.45%) CSS
3 100 (6.65%) HTML
4 95 (6.32%) REST
5 69 (4.59%) RESTful
6 57 (3.79%) AngularJS
7 56 (3.73%) .NET
8 47 (3.13%) Spring
9 46 (3.06%) Spring Boot
10 38 (2.53%) GraphQL
11 32 (2.13%) Redux
12 31 (2.06%) Node.js
13 30 (2.00%) JSON
13 30 (2.00%) Kafka
14 28 (1.86%) HTML5
15 26 (1.73%) CSS3
15 26 (1.73%) Jest
15 26 (1.73%) Next.js
16 25 (1.66%) ASP.NET
17 23 (1.53%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 162 (10.78%) Product Ownership
2 77 (5.12%) Mobile App
3 64 (4.26%) Onboarding
4 38 (2.53%) Cloud Native
5 37 (2.46%) AI Agents
6 30 (2.00%) Data Structures
6 30 (2.00%) Enterprise Software
7 28 (1.86%) Self-Motivation
8 26 (1.73%) Legacy Systems
9 25 (1.66%) Data Protection Act
10 23 (1.53%) Animation
11 20 (1.33%) Data Centre
12 19 (1.26%) Analytical Mindset
13 17 (1.13%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 16 (1.06%) Graphic Design
14 16 (1.06%) Taxonomies
15 15 (1.00%) Algorithms
15 15 (1.00%) Greenfield Project
16 14 (0.93%) Social Media
17 13 (0.86%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 113 (7.52%) Windows
2 51 (3.39%) Apple iOS
3 46 (3.06%) Android
4 33 (2.20%) Windows 10
5 23 (1.53%) Mac OS
6 14 (0.93%) Linux
6 14 (0.93%) Windows Server
7 6 (0.40%) Unix
7 6 (0.40%) Windows 7
8 5 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.067%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 497 (33.07%) UX Design
2 455 (30.27%) Agile
3 267 (17.76%) AI
4 227 (15.10%) Problem-Solving
5 206 (13.71%) Stakeholder Management
6 193 (12.84%) User Research
7 191 (12.71%) Continuous Improvement
8 189 (12.57%) Analytics
9 169 (11.24%) CI/CD
10 163 (10.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 159 (10.58%) Roadmaps
12 143 (9.51%) DevOps
13 142 (9.45%) Prototyping
14 131 (8.72%) Decision-Making
15 129 (8.58%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
16 124 (8.25%) Wireframes
17 122 (8.12%) UX Research
18 120 (7.98%) Service Design
19 110 (7.32%) Scrum
20 105 (6.99%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 140 (9.31%) JavaScript
2 119 (7.92%) Python
3 118 (7.85%) SQL
3 118 (7.85%) TypeScript
4 106 (7.05%) Java
5 60 (3.99%) C#
6 50 (3.33%) PowerShell
7 27 (1.80%) Kotlin
8 23 (1.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 14 (0.93%) Swift
10 13 (0.86%) Bash
11 12 (0.80%) C++
12 9 (0.60%) Lua
13 8 (0.53%) Korn
14 6 (0.40%) Apex Code
14 6 (0.40%) R
14 6 (0.40%) VBA
14 6 (0.40%) VBScript
15 5 (0.33%) Go
15 5 (0.33%) Scala
Qualifications
1 204 (13.57%) Security Cleared
2 156 (10.38%) SC Cleared
3 150 (9.98%) Degree
4 34 (2.26%) Computer Science Degree
5 25 (1.66%) BPSS Clearance
6 23 (1.53%) DV Cleared
7 22 (1.46%) Microsoft Certification
8 20 (1.33%) Azure Certification
9 11 (0.73%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (0.67%) Master's Degree
11 9 (0.60%) ITIL Certification
12 8 (0.53%) CCNP
13 7 (0.47%) AWS Certification
13 7 (0.47%) CCA
13 7 (0.47%) CCIE
13 7 (0.47%) Citrix Certification
13 7 (0.47%) PMP
13 7 (0.47%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
15 5 (0.33%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 253 (16.83%) Accessibility
2 97 (6.45%) QA
3 84 (5.59%) WCAG
4 44 (2.93%) Data Quality
5 26 (1.73%) GDPR
6 19 (1.26%) Actionable Recommendations
7 11 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.53%) PMO
8 8 (0.53%) SLA
9 7 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 6 (0.40%) Cyber Essentials
11 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 3 (0.20%) GMP
12 3 (0.20%) GRC
12 3 (0.20%) GxP
13 2 (0.13%) HIPAA
13 2 (0.13%) NIST
13 2 (0.13%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.13%) PSD2
14 1 (0.067%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 74 (4.92%) Active Directory
2 48 (3.19%) Docker
3 24 (1.60%) Virtual Desktop
4 13 (0.86%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 5 (0.33%) BitLocker
7 4 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
8 3 (0.20%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
9 2 (0.13%) vSphere
9 2 (0.13%) XenApp
9 2 (0.13%) XenDesktop
10 1 (0.067%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 48 (3.19%) Kubernetes
2 45 (2.99%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (2.99%) Terraform
3 34 (2.26%) SCCM
4 30 (2.00%) Grafana
5 17 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (0.93%) Jamf Pro
7 12 (0.80%) Ansible
8 9 (0.60%) Prometheus
9 4 (0.27%) Clonezilla
10 3 (0.20%) Podman
10 3 (0.20%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 3 (0.20%) WSUS
11 2 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.13%) HP ALM
11 2 (0.13%) Packer
11 2 (0.13%) SCOM
11 2 (0.13%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.13%) vMotion
12 1 (0.067%) Argo
Vendors
1 248 (16.50%) Microsoft
2 87 (5.79%) Adobe
3 72 (4.79%) ServiceNow
4 51 (3.39%) Google
5 45 (2.99%) SAP
6 39 (2.59%) Oracle
7 38 (2.53%) Salesforce
8 21 (1.40%) Databricks
9 20 (1.33%) Dynatrace
10 19 (1.26%) Citrix
10 19 (1.26%) Workday
11 18 (1.20%) Splunk
12 17 (1.13%) Apple
12 17 (1.13%) Cisco
13 13 (0.86%) Foundry
13 13 (0.86%) VMware
14 12 (0.80%) Aruba
15 11 (0.73%) OpenAI
16 10 (0.67%) Zscaler
17 8 (0.53%) Okta