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 17 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 68 64 70
Rank change year-on-year -4 +6 -2
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,316 1,046 1,264
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.53% 3.29% 2.92%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.02% 3.70% 3.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 889 638 858
10th Percentile £300 £313 £325
25th Percentile £375 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -7.41%
75th Percentile £568 £588 £588
90th Percentile £650 £709 £691
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £455 £475
% change year-on-year -1.10% -4.21% -4.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 26 30
10th Percentile £15.50 £25.26 £23.75
25th Percentile £17.69 £30.48 £31.37
Median hourly rate £35.55 £41.46 £60.25
Median % change year-on-year -14.24% -31.20% -3.60%
75th Percentile £58.06 £53.00 £73.54
90th Percentile £70.02 £74.22 £81.38
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £30.88 £71.93
% change year-on-year -2.83% -57.08% +10.66%

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 32,749 28,251 37,925
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.79% 88.81% 87.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,723 17,176 25,071
10th Percentile £304 £306 £304
25th Percentile £406 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £650
90th Percentile £723 £739 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,987 905 1,714
10th Percentile £14.52 £15.62 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.69 £20.75 £17.72
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -18.75% +16.65%
75th Percentile £56.38 £62.50 £64.50
90th Percentile £69.25 £74.82 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.00 £30.78 £41.00
% change year-on-year -22.03% -24.93% +41.38%

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 17 January 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 17 January 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 17 January 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 +4 1,138 £475 -5.00% 939
London -14 585 £475 -9.52% 244
UK excluding London +5 583 £450 -1.10% 845
Work from Home -17 340 £465 -7.00% 476
North of England +13 207 £410 -8.89% 183
North West +13 131 £400 -11.11% 86
Midlands +2 110 £488 +14.71% 112
South East +1 107 £425 -15.00% 273
West Midlands -12 70 £443 -11.50% 59
South West +6 65 £450 -20.70% 99
Yorkshire -11 60 £500 +11.11% 68
Scotland -16 57 £463 +2.78% 34
East Midlands -3 40 £523 +46.77% 52
East of England -7 33 £468 +3.89% 111
North East +3 15 £410 - 29
Wales +10 13 £316 -25.74% 39
Northern Ireland -11 1 £625 +66.67% 17

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 58 (4.41%) Confluence
2 57 (4.33%) SharePoint
3 48 (3.65%) CMS
4 23 (1.75%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 13 (0.99%) Microsoft Exchange
6 12 (0.91%) Headless CMS
7 11 (0.84%) SugarCRM
8 10 (0.76%) Apache
9 8 (0.61%) Sitecore CMS
9 8 (0.61%) Umbraco
10 3 (0.23%) Anypoint
10 3 (0.23%) Apache Spark
10 3 (0.23%) Jupyter
10 3 (0.23%) WordPress
11 2 (0.15%) Apache Airflow
11 2 (0.15%) Appian
11 2 (0.15%) Camunda
11 2 (0.15%) Drupal
12 1 (0.076%) IIS
12 1 (0.076%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 49 (3.72%) Sketch
2 34 (2.58%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.82%) MS Visio
4 22 (1.67%) Microsoft Office
5 19 (1.44%) Chatbot
6 16 (1.22%) InVision
7 15 (1.14%) Microsoft Excel
8 13 (0.99%) Adobe Illustrator
8 13 (0.99%) Photoshop
9 8 (0.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
9 8 (0.61%) Trello
10 7 (0.53%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 7 (0.53%) Microsoft Project
11 5 (0.38%) Adobe After Effects
11 5 (0.38%) Camtasia
12 4 (0.30%) UXPin
13 3 (0.23%) Snagit
13 3 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
14 2 (0.15%) Blender
14 2 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 22 (1.67%) SAP S/4HANA
2 16 (1.22%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.30%) Shopify
4 3 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
4 3 (0.23%) SAP CO
4 3 (0.23%) SAP FI
4 3 (0.23%) SAP FI/CO
4 3 (0.23%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.15%) Adobe Campaign
5 2 (0.15%) iTrent
5 2 (0.15%) Magento
5 2 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.15%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.15%) SAP Travel Management
6 1 (0.076%) Elite 3E
6 1 (0.076%) Eloqua
6 1 (0.076%) NEC Housing
6 1 (0.076%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.076%) Sprinklr
6 1 (0.076%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 224 (17.02%) Azure
2 163 (12.39%) Figma
3 155 (11.78%) AWS
4 87 (6.61%) Power Platform
5 77 (5.85%) SaaS
6 76 (5.78%) Microsoft 365
7 60 (4.56%) GCP
8 51 (3.88%) Entra ID
9 49 (3.72%) Azure DevOps
10 44 (3.34%) GitHub
11 33 (2.51%) Miro
12 30 (2.28%) Serverless
13 24 (1.82%) GitHub Actions
13 24 (1.82%) Google Analytics
14 23 (1.75%) Power Automate
14 23 (1.75%) PowerApps
15 19 (1.44%) Dynamics 365
15 19 (1.44%) Google Workspace
16 18 (1.37%) Sauce Labs
17 16 (1.22%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 28 (2.13%) DNS
2 26 (1.98%) Wireless
3 16 (1.22%) Internet
4 13 (0.99%) HTTP
5 10 (0.76%) VPN
5 10 (0.76%) Wi-Fi
6 9 (0.68%) DHCP
6 9 (0.68%) Intranet
6 9 (0.68%) TCP/IP
7 8 (0.61%) BGP
7 8 (0.61%) Cisco ISE
8 7 (0.53%) Cisco Wireless
8 7 (0.53%) Firewall
8 7 (0.53%) NX-OS
8 7 (0.53%) VXLAN
9 6 (0.46%) Unified Communications
9 6 (0.46%) WAN
10 5 (0.38%) SSL
11 4 (0.30%) HTTPS
11 4 (0.30%) SMS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 54 (4.10%) Power BI
2 44 (3.34%) MySQL
3 39 (2.96%) Relational Database
4 32 (2.43%) PostgreSQL
5 27 (2.05%) SQL Server
6 24 (1.82%) NoSQL
7 19 (1.44%) Tableau
8 18 (1.37%) Data Warehouse
9 14 (1.06%) BigQuery
10 13 (0.99%) MongoDB
11 12 (0.91%) Looker
11 12 (0.91%) Metadata
12 9 (0.68%) SAP HANA
13 7 (0.53%) Mixpanel
13 7 (0.53%) Redis
14 5 (0.38%) DynamoDB
15 4 (0.30%) Big Data
15 4 (0.30%) Pinecone
16 3 (0.23%) Power Query
16 3 (0.23%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 127 (9.65%) JIRA
2 94 (7.14%) Git
3 47 (3.57%) GitLab
4 42 (3.19%) Jenkins
5 31 (2.36%) Cypress.io
6 29 (2.20%) Xcode
7 26 (1.98%) Android Studio
7 26 (1.98%) Eclipse
8 23 (1.75%) Axure RP
9 20 (1.52%) Browser DevTools
10 19 (1.44%) JUnit
11 18 (1.37%) Gradle
12 13 (0.99%) Postman
13 12 (0.91%) CircleCI
14 10 (0.76%) Artifactory
14 10 (0.76%) webpack
15 9 (0.68%) Selenium
15 9 (0.68%) Visual Website Optimizer
16 8 (0.61%) Cucumber
16 8 (0.61%) IntelliJ
General
1 455 (34.57%) Social Skills
2 247 (18.77%) Finance
3 185 (14.06%) Public Sector
4 161 (12.23%) Analytical Skills
5 99 (7.52%) Banking
6 87 (6.61%) Marketing
7 37 (2.81%) Influencing Skills
8 30 (2.28%) Legal
9 27 (2.05%) Retail
10 25 (1.90%) Presentation Skills
11 23 (1.75%) Manufacturing
12 22 (1.67%) Pharmaceutical
13 19 (1.44%) Documentation Skills
14 18 (1.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 16 (1.22%) Telecoms
16 15 (1.14%) Financial Institution
17 13 (0.99%) Investment Banking
18 12 (0.91%) Automotive
19 9 (0.68%) Front Office
19 9 (0.68%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 234 (17.78%) Developer
2 228 (17.33%) Designer
3 176 (13.37%) Senior
4 129 (9.80%) UX Designer
5 110 (8.36%) Analyst
6 96 (7.29%) Lead
7 61 (4.64%) Business Analyst
8 55 (4.18%) Consultant
9 48 (3.65%) Senior Designer
10 45 (3.42%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
11 43 (3.27%) Architect
12 41 (3.12%) Product Designer
13 40 (3.04%) Service Designer
14 37 (2.81%) Support Engineer
14 37 (2.81%) User Researcher
15 35 (2.66%) Full-Stack Developer
16 33 (2.51%) Senior Developer
16 33 (2.51%) UI Designer
17 32 (2.43%) Front-End Engineer (Client-Side Engineer)
18 31 (2.36%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 184 (13.98%) CSS
2 174 (13.22%) React
3 168 (12.77%) HTML
4 108 (8.21%) REST
5 94 (7.14%) AngularJS
5 94 (7.14%) RESTful
6 54 (4.10%) Node.js
7 49 (3.72%) .NET
8 48 (3.65%) GraphQL
8 48 (3.65%) HTML5
9 41 (3.12%) Spring
10 38 (2.89%) Spring Boot
11 37 (2.81%) Jest
12 36 (2.74%) CSS3
13 27 (2.05%) SOAP
14 26 (1.98%) JSON
14 26 (1.98%) Redux
15 25 (1.90%) Playwright
16 24 (1.82%) Next.js
16 24 (1.82%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 125 (9.50%) Product Ownership
2 103 (7.83%) Mobile App
3 65 (4.94%) Onboarding
4 27 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
5 26 (1.98%) Enterprise Software
6 21 (1.60%) Data Structures
7 20 (1.52%) Management Information System
8 19 (1.44%) e-Learning
9 18 (1.37%) Low-Code
9 18 (1.37%) NHS
10 16 (1.22%) AI Agents
11 15 (1.14%) Data Centre
12 14 (1.06%) Distributed Systems
12 14 (1.06%) Learning Management System
12 14 (1.06%) Legacy Systems
13 13 (0.99%) CMDB
13 13 (0.99%) Data Protection Act
13 13 (0.99%) Graphic Design
14 12 (0.91%) Greenfield Project
14 12 (0.91%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 126 (9.57%) Windows
2 72 (5.47%) Android
3 59 (4.48%) Apple iOS
4 37 (2.81%) Linux
5 36 (2.74%) Windows 10
6 23 (1.75%) Unix
7 22 (1.67%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.53%) Windows Server
9 4 (0.30%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.15%) VMS
11 1 (0.076%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.076%) tvOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 489 (37.16%) Agile
2 451 (34.27%) UX Design
3 216 (16.41%) Analytics
4 215 (16.34%) Problem-Solving
5 181 (13.75%) User Research
6 178 (13.53%) CI/CD
7 161 (12.23%) Stakeholder Management
8 155 (11.78%) DevOps
9 140 (10.64%) Roadmaps
10 138 (10.49%) AI
10 138 (10.49%) Continuous Improvement
11 135 (10.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 135 (10.26%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
12 120 (9.12%) Service Design
13 116 (8.81%) Front End Development
14 113 (8.59%) Wireframes
15 110 (8.36%) Usability Testing
16 107 (8.13%) Decision-Making
17 101 (7.67%) Prototyping
18 98 (7.45%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 211 (16.03%) JavaScript
2 122 (9.27%) Java
3 119 (9.04%) Python
4 118 (8.97%) SQL
5 100 (7.60%) TypeScript
6 60 (4.56%) PowerShell
7 48 (3.65%) C#
8 34 (2.58%) Kotlin
9 26 (1.98%) Swift
10 24 (1.82%) Bash
11 23 (1.75%) Perl
12 20 (1.52%) PHP
13 12 (0.91%) C++
14 11 (0.84%) Objective-C
14 11 (0.84%) PL/SQL
15 10 (0.76%) Go
16 9 (0.68%) Scala
17 7 (0.53%) Lisp
18 6 (0.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
19 5 (0.38%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 168 (12.77%) Security Cleared
2 120 (9.12%) Degree
3 119 (9.04%) SC Cleared
4 38 (2.89%) BPSS Clearance
5 28 (2.13%) Computer Science Degree
6 16 (1.22%) DV Cleared
6 16 (1.22%) Master's Degree
7 12 (0.91%) PMI Certification
8 11 (0.84%) MOS
9 9 (0.68%) CCNP
9 9 (0.68%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (0.68%) Microsoft Certification
9 9 (0.68%) OCA
9 9 (0.68%) Oracle Certification
10 6 (0.46%) MCP
10 6 (0.46%) PMP
11 3 (0.23%) ITIL Certification
12 2 (0.15%) AWS Certification
12 2 (0.15%) CISM
12 2 (0.15%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 246 (18.69%) Accessibility
2 138 (10.49%) QA
3 67 (5.09%) WCAG
4 65 (4.94%) GDPR
5 34 (2.58%) Data Quality
6 25 (1.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 18 (1.37%) Actionable Recommendations
8 17 (1.29%) SLA
9 8 (0.61%) GxP
10 6 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 6 (0.46%) NCSC
10 6 (0.46%) PMO
11 5 (0.38%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.30%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.23%) GMP
13 3 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
13 3 (0.23%) NIST
13 3 (0.23%) SOC 2
14 2 (0.15%) GRC
System Software
1 70 (5.32%) Active Directory
2 64 (4.86%) Docker
3 21 (1.60%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.23%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.15%) ProxySG
6 2 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.076%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.076%) Firmware
7 1 (0.076%) ISA Server
7 1 (0.076%) Microsoft App-V
7 1 (0.076%) XenApp
7 1 (0.076%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 51 (3.88%) Kubernetes
2 43 (3.27%) Microsoft Intune
3 35 (2.66%) Terraform
4 33 (2.51%) SCCM
5 19 (1.44%) Ansible
6 17 (1.29%) Grafana
7 16 (1.22%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (0.53%) FortiGate
9 6 (0.46%) Jamf Pro
9 6 (0.46%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.30%) Argo
11 3 (0.23%) HP ALM
11 3 (0.23%) Nagios
11 3 (0.23%) Rancher
12 2 (0.15%) PingFederate
12 2 (0.15%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 2 (0.15%) SysTrack
13 1 (0.076%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 1 (0.076%) Istio
13 1 (0.076%) Podman
Vendors
1 210 (15.96%) Microsoft
2 95 (7.22%) Adobe
3 81 (6.16%) Google
4 75 (5.70%) ServiceNow
5 50 (3.80%) Oracle
6 46 (3.50%) Salesforce
6 46 (3.50%) SAP
7 28 (2.13%) Splunk
8 22 (1.67%) VMware
9 18 (1.37%) Apple
10 16 (1.22%) Citrix
11 14 (1.06%) Cisco
12 13 (0.99%) Red Hat
12 13 (0.99%) Zscaler
13 12 (0.91%) Optimizely
14 11 (0.84%) Hotjar
15 10 (0.76%) Amplitude
15 10 (0.76%) MuleSoft
16 8 (0.61%) Ekahau
16 8 (0.61%) OpenAI