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

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 82 62 78
Rank change year-on-year -20 +16 -19
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,488 1,130 1,179
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.96% 3.81% 2.71%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.50% 4.19% 3.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 958 736 780
10th Percentile £325 £303 £306
25th Percentile £402 £383 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.58% -5.00% -2.68%
75th Percentile £585 £575 £600
90th Percentile £677 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 31 46
10th Percentile £16.00 £32.89 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.00 £35.25 £25.00
Median hourly rate £33.99 £53.50 £32.39
Median % change year-on-year -36.48% +65.17% +22.23%
75th Percentile £50.00 £67.58 £66.31
90th Percentile £67.88 £85.50 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.24 £70.08 £27.50
% change year-on-year -52.57% +154.84% +56.16%

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 42,574 26,968 37,058
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.80% 91.03% 85.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,549 17,103 23,600
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £506 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.28% -3.62% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £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 2,556 1,231 2,598
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.87 £16.01
Median hourly rate £43.96 £26.32 £37.18
Median % change year-on-year +67.02% -29.21% +6.23%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.25 £61.30
90th Percentile £81.25 £73.75 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +76.94% -34.02% +17.29%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 -13 1,277 £486 +1.30% 876
UK excluding London -3 685 £475 +11.76% 505
London -28 647 £520 +4.00% 490
Work from Home -21 394 £500 +4.17% 398
North of England -20 195 £450 +5.88% 143
Midlands +2 156 £475 +18.16% 60
South East -12 133 £490 +3.16% 157
North West -11 120 £425 -4.92% 102
West Midlands -7 109 £475 -7.32% 42
Scotland +10 81 £525 +15.38% 22
South West -6 73 £475 +26.67% 47
Yorkshire -34 52 £519 +31.50% 18
East Midlands +3 47 £550 +55.81% 18
East of England -15 31 £410 -13.68% 47
North East -24 23 £450 -6.25% 23
Wales -10 15 £530 +73.20% 16
Northern Ireland -1 3 - - 22

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 61 (4.10%) SharePoint
2 50 (3.36%) Confluence
3 44 (2.96%) CMS
4 23 (1.55%) Microsoft Exchange
5 10 (0.67%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 7 (0.47%) WordPress
7 5 (0.34%) Apache
7 5 (0.34%) Camunda
7 5 (0.34%) Drupal
7 5 (0.34%) Mendix
7 5 (0.34%) Skype for Business
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 38 (2.55%) Sketch
2 25 (1.68%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.55%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 22 (1.48%) Photoshop
5 20 (1.34%) Chatbot
6 19 (1.28%) Adobe After Effects
7 17 (1.14%) Adobe Illustrator
7 17 (1.14%) Adobe XD
8 14 (0.94%) MS Visio
9 13 (0.87%) Microsoft Office
10 8 (0.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
11 7 (0.47%) InVision
12 5 (0.34%) Final Cut Pro
13 4 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
14 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
14 3 (0.20%) Trello
14 3 (0.20%) UserZoom
14 3 (0.20%) UXPin
15 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
16 1 (0.067%) Blender
Business Applications
1 13 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.67%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.60%) Workday HCM
4 8 (0.54%) Shopify
5 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
6 4 (0.27%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.20%) Oracle iProcurement
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
8 2 (0.13%) Remedy ITSM
8 2 (0.13%) ResourceLink
9 1 (0.067%) Eloqua
9 1 (0.067%) Integrated Workplace Management System
9 1 (0.067%) Magento
9 1 (0.067%) NEC Housing
9 1 (0.067%) Oracle EBS R12
9 1 (0.067%) Salesforce CRM
9 1 (0.067%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.067%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 232 (15.59%) Azure
2 212 (14.25%) Figma
3 124 (8.33%) AWS
4 113 (7.59%) Microsoft 365
5 111 (7.46%) Power Platform
6 59 (3.97%) Entra ID
7 56 (3.76%) Azure DevOps
8 49 (3.29%) GitHub
9 47 (3.16%) Microsoft Copilot
10 46 (3.09%) SaaS
11 37 (2.49%) GCP
11 37 (2.49%) PowerApps
12 35 (2.35%) Power Automate
13 33 (2.22%) OneDrive
14 32 (2.15%) GitHub Actions
15 31 (2.08%) Serverless
16 25 (1.68%) Copilot Studio
17 21 (1.41%) Google Workspace
18 19 (1.28%) Google Sheets
19 17 (1.14%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 28 (1.88%) DNS
2 24 (1.61%) DHCP
3 23 (1.55%) Wi-Fi
4 20 (1.34%) Wireless
5 18 (1.21%) TCP/IP
6 14 (0.94%) LAN
7 13 (0.87%) Internet
8 12 (0.81%) Intranet
9 10 (0.67%) SD-WAN
10 9 (0.60%) HTTP
11 8 (0.54%) Cisco Wireless
11 8 (0.54%) VPN
11 8 (0.54%) WAN
12 7 (0.47%) 5G
12 7 (0.47%) Firewall
12 7 (0.47%) Skype
12 7 (0.47%) WLAN
13 6 (0.40%) Network Security
13 6 (0.40%) SNMP
14 5 (0.34%) 802.11
Database & Business Intelligence
1 72 (4.84%) Power BI
2 25 (1.68%) PostgreSQL
2 25 (1.68%) Relational Database
3 23 (1.55%) NoSQL
4 21 (1.41%) Metadata
4 21 (1.41%) SQL Server
5 18 (1.21%) Power Query
6 15 (1.01%) Data Warehouse
7 14 (0.94%) MongoDB
8 13 (0.87%) MySQL
9 10 (0.67%) Big Data
10 9 (0.60%) Tableau
11 7 (0.47%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.47%) Redis
12 6 (0.40%) Elasticsearch
12 6 (0.40%) Oracle Database
12 6 (0.40%) Pinecone
12 6 (0.40%) ZAP BI
13 5 (0.34%) Snowflake Schema
14 4 (0.27%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 97 (6.52%) JIRA
2 85 (5.71%) Git
3 25 (1.68%) Jenkins
4 24 (1.61%) Cypress.io
5 21 (1.41%) GitLab
6 16 (1.08%) JUnit
7 15 (1.01%) Vite
8 11 (0.74%) Android Studio
8 11 (0.74%) Gradle
9 10 (0.67%) Axure RP
9 10 (0.67%) Browser DevTools
9 10 (0.67%) fastlane
9 10 (0.67%) Xcode
10 9 (0.60%) Selenium
11 8 (0.54%) Visual Studio
12 7 (0.47%) CircleCI
12 7 (0.47%) Claude Code
12 7 (0.47%) Postman
13 6 (0.40%) webpack
14 5 (0.34%) Crashlytics
General
1 449 (30.17%) Social Skills
2 256 (17.20%) Finance
3 191 (12.84%) Public Sector
4 137 (9.21%) Analytical Skills
5 114 (7.66%) Banking
6 74 (4.97%) Retail
7 61 (4.10%) Marketing
8 39 (2.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 33 (2.22%) Legal
10 30 (2.02%) Presentation Skills
11 29 (1.95%) Influencing Skills
12 28 (1.88%) Automotive
13 23 (1.55%) Manufacturing
13 23 (1.55%) Publishing
14 18 (1.21%) Documentation Skills
15 17 (1.14%) Investment Banking
16 16 (1.08%) Organisational Skills
17 13 (0.87%) Games
18 11 (0.74%) Front Office
18 11 (0.74%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 317 (21.30%) Designer
2 222 (14.92%) Senior
3 200 (13.44%) Developer
4 145 (9.74%) UX Designer
5 115 (7.73%) Analyst
6 100 (6.72%) Lead
7 78 (5.24%) UI Designer
8 74 (4.97%) Consultant
9 65 (4.37%) Senior Designer
10 63 (4.23%) Architect
11 59 (3.97%) Product Designer
12 58 (3.90%) Business Analyst
13 51 (3.43%) Content Designer
14 50 (3.36%) User Researcher
15 49 (3.29%) User Experience Researcher
16 46 (3.09%) IT Support
17 45 (3.02%) UI/UX Designer
18 39 (2.62%) Product Manager
19 37 (2.49%) Senior Developer
20 33 (2.22%) Full-Stack Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 149 (10.01%) React
2 123 (8.27%) CSS
3 110 (7.39%) HTML
4 94 (6.32%) REST
5 68 (4.57%) RESTful
6 65 (4.37%) AngularJS
7 54 (3.63%) .NET
8 50 (3.36%) Spring
9 49 (3.29%) Spring Boot
10 33 (2.22%) GraphQL
11 32 (2.15%) Node.js
12 30 (2.02%) JSON
12 30 (2.02%) Redux
13 29 (1.95%) Kafka
14 28 (1.88%) HTML5
15 27 (1.81%) Jest
16 26 (1.75%) CSS3
17 25 (1.68%) ASP.NET
18 24 (1.61%) Next.js
18 24 (1.61%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 152 (10.22%) Product Ownership
2 75 (5.04%) Mobile App
3 60 (4.03%) Onboarding
4 37 (2.49%) AI Agents
5 34 (2.28%) Cloud Native
6 31 (2.08%) Enterprise Software
7 28 (1.88%) Data Structures
8 26 (1.75%) Legacy Systems
9 23 (1.55%) Self-Motivation
10 22 (1.48%) Animation
11 21 (1.41%) Data Protection Act
12 18 (1.21%) Data Centre
13 16 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
13 16 (1.08%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 15 (1.01%) Graphic Design
14 15 (1.01%) Social Media
14 15 (1.01%) Taxonomies
15 14 (0.94%) Algorithms
15 14 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
15 14 (0.94%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 106 (7.12%) Windows
2 49 (3.29%) Apple iOS
3 46 (3.09%) Android
4 30 (2.02%) Windows 10
5 23 (1.55%) Mac OS
6 15 (1.01%) Linux
7 12 (0.81%) Windows Server
8 6 (0.40%) Windows 7
9 5 (0.34%) Unix
9 5 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.067%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 506 (34.01%) UX Design
2 449 (30.17%) Agile
3 260 (17.47%) AI
4 221 (14.85%) Problem-Solving
5 197 (13.24%) User Research
6 195 (13.10%) Analytics
7 189 (12.70%) Stakeholder Management
8 184 (12.37%) Continuous Improvement
9 164 (11.02%) CI/CD
10 161 (10.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 159 (10.69%) Roadmaps
12 145 (9.74%) Prototyping
13 144 (9.68%) DevOps
14 139 (9.34%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 128 (8.60%) Wireframes
16 126 (8.47%) UX Research
17 119 (8.00%) Decision-Making
17 119 (8.00%) Service Design
18 106 (7.12%) Usability Testing
19 103 (6.92%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 150 (10.08%) JavaScript
2 120 (8.06%) Python
3 115 (7.73%) TypeScript
4 114 (7.66%) SQL
5 107 (7.19%) Java
6 59 (3.97%) C#
7 47 (3.16%) PowerShell
8 27 (1.81%) Kotlin
9 22 (1.48%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 14 (0.94%) Swift
11 13 (0.87%) Bash
12 11 (0.74%) C++
13 9 (0.60%) Lua
14 8 (0.54%) Korn
15 6 (0.40%) Apex Code
15 6 (0.40%) R
15 6 (0.40%) VBA
15 6 (0.40%) VBScript
16 5 (0.34%) Scala
16 5 (0.34%) VB
Qualifications
1 197 (13.24%) Security Cleared
2 145 (9.74%) Degree
2 145 (9.74%) SC Cleared
3 29 (1.95%) Computer Science Degree
4 27 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
5 22 (1.48%) DV Cleared
5 22 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
6 17 (1.14%) Azure Certification
7 11 (0.74%) Cisco Certification
8 10 (0.67%) Master's Degree
9 9 (0.60%) ITIL Certification
10 8 (0.54%) CCA
10 8 (0.54%) CCNP
11 7 (0.47%) CCIE
11 7 (0.47%) Citrix Certification
11 7 (0.47%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.40%) PMP
13 5 (0.34%) MCSE
14 4 (0.27%) CWNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 256 (17.20%) Accessibility
2 97 (6.52%) QA
3 89 (5.98%) WCAG
4 42 (2.82%) Data Quality
5 23 (1.55%) GDPR
6 19 (1.28%) Actionable Recommendations
7 11 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 7 (0.47%) PMO
9 6 (0.40%) Cyber Essentials
9 6 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 6 (0.40%) SLA
10 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 3 (0.20%) GMP
11 3 (0.20%) GRC
11 3 (0.20%) GxP
11 3 (0.20%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.13%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.13%) NCSC
12 2 (0.13%) NIST
13 1 (0.067%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
System Software
1 69 (4.64%) Active Directory
2 48 (3.23%) Docker
3 25 (1.68%) Virtual Desktop
4 13 (0.87%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 5 (0.34%) 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 (3.23%) Kubernetes
2 46 (3.09%) Terraform
3 43 (2.89%) Microsoft Intune
4 32 (2.15%) SCCM
5 30 (2.02%) Grafana
6 18 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
7 14 (0.94%) Jamf Pro
8 13 (0.87%) Ansible
9 9 (0.60%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.27%) Clonezilla
11 3 (0.20%) Podman
11 3 (0.20%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.20%) WSUS
12 2 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.13%) HP ALM
12 2 (0.13%) Packer
12 2 (0.13%) SCOM
12 2 (0.13%) vCenter Server
12 2 (0.13%) vMotion
13 1 (0.067%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 240 (16.13%) Microsoft
2 88 (5.91%) Adobe
3 71 (4.77%) ServiceNow
4 56 (3.76%) Google
5 41 (2.76%) Salesforce
6 40 (2.69%) SAP
7 36 (2.42%) Oracle
8 21 (1.41%) Databricks
9 20 (1.34%) Dynatrace
10 19 (1.28%) Citrix
11 17 (1.14%) Apple
11 17 (1.14%) Cisco
11 17 (1.14%) Splunk
11 17 (1.14%) Workday
12 13 (0.87%) VMware
13 12 (0.81%) Aruba
13 12 (0.81%) Foundry
14 11 (0.74%) OpenAI
15 8 (0.54%) Zscaler
16 6 (0.40%) Okta