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 13 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 94 65 79
Rank change year-on-year -29 +14 -19
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,508 1,242 1,008
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.83% 3.77% 2.59%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.33% 4.17% 3.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 910 789 634
10th Percentile £313 £303 £302
25th Percentile £400 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year - -5.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £580 £600
90th Percentile £688 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £475
% change year-on-year - -5.26% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 46 33
10th Percentile £16.88 £22.63 £16.25
25th Percentile £26.06 £33.37 £30.00
Median hourly rate £33.99 £45.50 £41.68
Median % change year-on-year -25.30% +9.18% +54.35%
75th Percentile £67.84 £63.75 £70.39
90th Percentile £73.38 £72.25 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £42.30 £66.00
% change year-on-year -19.65% -35.91% +272.46%

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 45,250 29,801 33,299
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.81% 90.48% 85.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,843 18,616 21,279
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £423 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,819 1,703 1,838
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £14.05
25th Percentile £18.75 £17.31 £18.50
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -39.40% -1.55%
75th Percentile £68.00 £47.81 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.38 £68.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £22.74 £42.50
% change year-on-year +93.36% -46.51% +13.33%

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 13 August 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 13 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for User Experience in the UK

User Experience
Top 16 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 13 August 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 -25 1,309 £475 - 1,915
UK excluding London -19 702 £450 - 848
London -28 665 £525 +5.00% 1,271
Work from Home -38 378 £500 +2.56% 838
North of England -18 220 £438 -2.01% 236
Midlands -16 143 £475 +8.02% 107
South East -39 116 £432 -4.11% 199
West Midlands -14 112 £475 -8.65% 79
North West -32 102 £410 -8.89% 136
Scotland +13 93 £538 +16.22% 72
South West -20 73 £475 +26.67% 101
Yorkshire -22 68 £500 +25.00% 63
North East -6 49 £363 -24.48% 38
East of England +7 48 £410 -14.14% 78
East Midlands -10 31 £468 +30.59% 28
Wales -10 14 £640 +108.99% 27

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 63 (4.18%) SharePoint
2 58 (3.85%) CMS
3 39 (2.59%) Confluence
4 29 (1.92%) Microsoft Exchange
5 16 (1.06%) WordPress
6 8 (0.53%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 8 (0.53%) Apache
7 7 (0.46%) Skype for Business
8 6 (0.40%) Drupal
8 6 (0.40%) Mendix
9 5 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
9 5 (0.33%) Headless CMS
10 4 (0.27%) Kentico
10 4 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
11 3 (0.20%) Moodle
11 3 (0.20%) Umbraco
12 2 (0.13%) Camunda
12 2 (0.13%) HCL Notes
12 2 (0.13%) IIS
12 2 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 35 (2.32%) Adobe Creative Suite
2 34 (2.25%) Sketch
3 27 (1.79%) Microsoft Excel
4 23 (1.53%) Chatbot
5 19 (1.26%) Photoshop
6 18 (1.19%) Adobe After Effects
6 18 (1.19%) Microsoft Office
7 15 (0.99%) Adobe Illustrator
7 15 (0.99%) Adobe XD
8 8 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
9 6 (0.40%) Final Cut Pro
10 5 (0.33%) MS Visio
11 2 (0.13%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.13%) InVision
11 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
11 2 (0.13%) UserZoom
12 1 (0.066%) Blender
12 1 (0.066%) Camtasia
12 1 (0.066%) Microsoft Project
12 1 (0.066%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (0.53%) Workday HCM
3 7 (0.46%) Dynamics CRM
4 6 (0.40%) Shopify
5 5 (0.33%) Sage X3
6 4 (0.27%) NetSuite
6 4 (0.27%) Oracle iProcurement
6 4 (0.27%) Remedy ITSM
7 3 (0.20%) iTrent
7 3 (0.20%) Payment Gateway
7 3 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.13%) ResourceLink
9 1 (0.066%) Bloomberg TOMS
9 1 (0.066%) NEC Housing
9 1 (0.066%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.066%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.066%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 229 (15.19%) Azure
2 193 (12.80%) Figma
3 139 (9.22%) Microsoft 365
4 133 (8.82%) AWS
5 112 (7.43%) Power Platform
6 67 (4.44%) Entra ID
7 58 (3.85%) GitHub
8 53 (3.51%) SaaS
9 52 (3.45%) Azure DevOps
10 51 (3.38%) Microsoft Copilot
11 43 (2.85%) GCP
12 32 (2.12%) OneDrive
12 32 (2.12%) PowerApps
13 26 (1.72%) Power Automate
13 26 (1.72%) Serverless
14 24 (1.59%) Azure AI
15 23 (1.53%) Copilot Studio
16 22 (1.46%) GitHub Actions
17 16 (1.06%) GitHub Copilot
17 16 (1.06%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 43 (2.85%) DNS
2 35 (2.32%) DHCP
3 31 (2.06%) Wi-Fi
4 29 (1.92%) TCP/IP
5 22 (1.46%) Wireless
6 21 (1.39%) LAN
7 16 (1.06%) Firewall
8 15 (0.99%) VPN
8 15 (0.99%) WAN
9 12 (0.80%) Internet
10 11 (0.73%) SD-WAN
11 10 (0.66%) Intranet
12 9 (0.60%) Cisco Wireless
12 9 (0.60%) Skype
13 8 (0.53%) Network Security
14 7 (0.46%) 5G
14 7 (0.46%) SNMP
14 7 (0.46%) WLAN
15 6 (0.40%) SSL
16 5 (0.33%) 802.11
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (4.64%) Power BI
2 27 (1.79%) Metadata
3 18 (1.19%) NoSQL
4 17 (1.13%) Power Query
5 16 (1.06%) PostgreSQL
6 13 (0.86%) Relational Database
6 13 (0.86%) Tableau
7 11 (0.73%) Big Data
7 11 (0.73%) Data Warehouse
7 11 (0.73%) SQL Server
8 10 (0.66%) MongoDB
9 9 (0.60%) Looker
10 7 (0.46%) Elasticsearch
10 7 (0.46%) MySQL
10 7 (0.46%) Snowflake Schema
11 6 (0.40%) BigQuery
11 6 (0.40%) Flink
11 6 (0.40%) Qlik Sense
11 6 (0.40%) Redis
11 6 (0.40%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 86 (5.70%) JIRA
2 74 (4.91%) Git
3 28 (1.86%) Cypress.io
4 27 (1.79%) Jenkins
5 24 (1.59%) Vite
6 19 (1.26%) GitLab
7 14 (0.93%) Claude Code
8 11 (0.73%) Storybook
9 10 (0.66%) Android Studio
9 10 (0.66%) Browser DevTools
9 10 (0.66%) fastlane
9 10 (0.66%) Selenium
10 9 (0.60%) Xcode
11 7 (0.46%) Gradle
11 7 (0.46%) JMeter
11 7 (0.46%) webpack
12 6 (0.40%) JUnit
12 6 (0.40%) Postman
13 5 (0.33%) MSI
13 5 (0.33%) Visual Studio
General
1 475 (31.50%) Social Skills
2 262 (17.37%) Finance
3 198 (13.13%) Public Sector
4 153 (10.15%) Analytical Skills
5 113 (7.49%) Banking
6 77 (5.11%) Retail
7 74 (4.91%) Marketing
8 51 (3.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 37 (2.45%) Legal
10 36 (2.39%) Influencing Skills
11 28 (1.86%) Organisational Skills
11 28 (1.86%) Publishing
12 27 (1.79%) Automotive
12 27 (1.79%) Presentation Skills
13 26 (1.72%) Manufacturing
14 22 (1.46%) Documentation Skills
15 18 (1.19%) Investment Banking
16 16 (1.06%) Military
17 10 (0.66%) Front Office
17 10 (0.66%) Games
Job Titles
1 329 (21.82%) Designer
2 219 (14.52%) Senior
3 192 (12.73%) Developer
4 137 (9.08%) UX Designer
5 119 (7.89%) Lead
6 99 (6.56%) Analyst
7 84 (5.57%) UI Designer
8 77 (5.11%) Consultant
9 67 (4.44%) User Researcher
10 63 (4.18%) Senior Designer
11 59 (3.91%) Architect
12 53 (3.51%) Content Designer
13 51 (3.38%) Business Analyst
14 50 (3.32%) Support Engineer
15 49 (3.25%) IT Support
16 48 (3.18%) Product Manager
16 48 (3.18%) UI/UX Designer
17 43 (2.85%) Product Designer
17 43 (2.85%) User Experience Researcher
18 35 (2.32%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 137 (9.08%) React
2 112 (7.43%) CSS
3 99 (6.56%) HTML
4 93 (6.17%) REST
5 62 (4.11%) RESTful
6 47 (3.12%) AngularJS
7 43 (2.85%) HTML5
8 42 (2.79%) GraphQL
9 40 (2.65%) CSS3
10 37 (2.45%) .NET
11 33 (2.19%) Node.js
12 32 (2.12%) Jest
13 29 (1.92%) Kafka
14 28 (1.86%) Playwright
15 27 (1.79%) Redux
16 25 (1.66%) Next.js
16 25 (1.66%) OAuth
17 24 (1.59%) Spring
18 23 (1.53%) Spring Boot
19 20 (1.33%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 140 (9.28%) Product Ownership
2 93 (6.17%) Mobile App
3 85 (5.64%) Onboarding
4 49 (3.25%) Cloud Native
5 43 (2.85%) AI Agents
6 33 (2.19%) Enterprise Software
6 33 (2.19%) Self-Motivation
7 28 (1.86%) Data Protection Act
8 27 (1.79%) Data Structures
9 25 (1.66%) Legacy Systems
10 22 (1.46%) Data Centre
10 22 (1.46%) Social Media
11 21 (1.39%) Animation
12 19 (1.26%) Educational Technology
12 19 (1.26%) Management Information System
13 18 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
13 18 (1.19%) NHS
14 17 (1.13%) Graphic Design
15 15 (0.99%) Virtual Reality
16 14 (0.93%) Algorithms
Operating Systems
1 139 (9.22%) Windows
2 60 (3.98%) Android
3 56 (3.71%) Apple iOS
4 49 (3.25%) Windows 10
5 28 (1.86%) Mac OS
6 21 (1.39%) Windows Server
7 18 (1.19%) Linux
8 10 (0.66%) Unix
8 10 (0.66%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.20%) Windows Server 2008
11 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 489 (32.43%) UX Design
2 432 (28.65%) Agile
3 305 (20.23%) AI
4 246 (16.31%) Problem-Solving
5 241 (15.98%) Stakeholder Management
6 218 (14.46%) Continuous Improvement
7 209 (13.86%) User Research
8 200 (13.26%) Analytics
9 175 (11.60%) CI/CD
10 171 (11.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 149 (9.88%) Roadmaps
12 140 (9.28%) Decision-Making
13 138 (9.15%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 134 (8.89%) Prototyping
15 129 (8.55%) DevOps
16 119 (7.89%) Service Design
16 119 (7.89%) Wireframes
17 115 (7.63%) Scrum
18 111 (7.36%) Workshop Facilitation
19 105 (6.96%) UX Research
Programming Languages
1 135 (8.95%) JavaScript
2 125 (8.29%) Python
3 111 (7.36%) TypeScript
4 99 (6.56%) SQL
5 92 (6.10%) Java
6 54 (3.58%) PowerShell
7 38 (2.52%) C#
8 28 (1.86%) Kotlin
9 22 (1.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 19 (1.26%) Bash
11 16 (1.06%) Swift
12 10 (0.66%) C++
13 8 (0.53%) Go
13 8 (0.53%) PHP
13 8 (0.53%) VBScript
14 7 (0.46%) Apex Code
14 7 (0.46%) Lua
14 7 (0.46%) VB
15 6 (0.40%) Scala
15 6 (0.40%) VBA
Qualifications
1 235 (15.58%) Security Cleared
2 178 (11.80%) SC Cleared
3 132 (8.75%) Degree
4 37 (2.45%) Computer Science Degree
5 32 (2.12%) BPSS Clearance
6 27 (1.79%) DV Cleared
7 23 (1.53%) Azure Certification
8 21 (1.39%) Microsoft Certification
9 13 (0.86%) PMP
10 10 (0.66%) Cisco Certification
11 8 (0.53%) AWS Certification
11 8 (0.53%) CCA
11 8 (0.53%) Citrix Certification
11 8 (0.53%) ITIL Certification
11 8 (0.53%) Master's Degree
11 8 (0.53%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 6 (0.40%) CCIE
12 6 (0.40%) CCNP
12 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.40%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 260 (17.24%) Accessibility
2 95 (6.30%) WCAG
3 87 (5.77%) QA
4 47 (3.12%) Data Quality
5 19 (1.26%) GDPR
6 14 (0.93%) Actionable Recommendations
7 11 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.53%) PMO
8 8 (0.53%) SLA
9 7 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
9 7 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 4 (0.27%) GRC
10 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 3 (0.20%) GMP
11 3 (0.20%) GxP
12 2 (0.13%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.13%) PSD2
13 1 (0.066%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.066%) NIST
13 1 (0.066%) WAI-ARIA
System Software
1 95 (6.30%) Active Directory
2 47 (3.12%) Docker
3 29 (1.92%) Virtual Desktop
4 16 (1.06%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (0.46%) BitLocker
5 7 (0.46%) vSphere
6 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 6 (0.40%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.33%) VMware ESXi
8 4 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
9 3 (0.20%) UAG
10 2 (0.13%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.13%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
10 2 (0.13%) XenApp
10 2 (0.13%) XenDesktop
11 1 (0.066%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 53 (3.51%) Terraform
2 49 (3.25%) Kubernetes
3 48 (3.18%) Microsoft Intune
4 34 (2.25%) Grafana
5 33 (2.19%) SCCM
6 19 (1.26%) Single Sign-On
7 18 (1.19%) Ansible
8 15 (0.99%) Jamf Pro
8 15 (0.99%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.33%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.27%) Clonezilla
10 4 (0.27%) Podman
11 3 (0.20%) Kibana
11 3 (0.20%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.20%) WSUS
12 2 (0.13%) Argo
12 2 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.13%) Packer
12 2 (0.13%) SCOM
12 2 (0.13%) vMotion
Vendors
1 259 (17.18%) Microsoft
2 91 (6.03%) Adobe
3 80 (5.31%) ServiceNow
4 53 (3.51%) Google
5 41 (2.72%) Oracle
6 35 (2.32%) SAP
7 34 (2.25%) Salesforce
8 25 (1.66%) Dynatrace
9 24 (1.59%) Citrix
10 22 (1.46%) Databricks
11 21 (1.39%) Splunk
12 19 (1.26%) Apple
12 19 (1.26%) Cisco
12 19 (1.26%) VMware
13 18 (1.19%) Workday
14 16 (1.06%) OpenAI
15 15 (0.99%) Foundry
16 14 (0.93%) Zscaler
17 12 (0.80%) Aruba
18 10 (0.66%) Okta