User Stories Contracts

User Story
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for User Stories skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited User Stories over the 6 months to 4 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
4 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 140 119 89
Rank change year-on-year -21 -30 +17
Contract jobs citing User Stories 727 1,298 2,547
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.68% 2.19% 2.87%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.95% 2.44% 3.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 508 904 1,791
10th Percentile £356 £400 £394
25th Percentile £425 £440 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £503
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% +1.89% +5.89%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £588
90th Percentile £638 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £495 £475
% change year-on-year -1.01% +4.21% +7.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 8 12
10th Percentile £31.71 £46.23 £35.70
25th Percentile £32.03 £60.25 £42.00
Median hourly rate £42.75 £64.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -33.72% +51.76% -15.00%
75th Percentile £62.94 £67.00 £59.44
90th Percentile £69.25 £73.00 £84.15
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £26.50 £42.00
% change year-on-year +164.15% -36.90% +9.80%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

User Stories is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 37,262 53,150 80,380
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.35% 89.86% 90.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,013 36,862 56,431
10th Percentile £300 £325 £341
25th Percentile £413 £438 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +3.77% +8.72%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £475
% change year-on-year - +5.26% +8.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,440 1,756 1,916
10th Percentile £12.75 £11.00 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £16.25 £15.50
Median hourly rate £35.95 £36.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.14% +44.00% +2.04%
75th Percentile £60.00 £65.00 £49.25
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £64.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £35.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +7.14% +75.00% -6.98%

User Stories
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing User Stories as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for User Stories in the UK

User Stories
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing User Stories.

Daily rate trend for User Stories in the UK

User Stories
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing User Stories over the 6 months to 4 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for User Stories in the UK

User Stories
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing User Stories.

Hourly rate trend for User Stories in the UK

User Stories
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing User Stories over the 6 months to 4 May 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for User Stories in the UK

User Stories
Top 16 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing User Stories within the UK over the 6 months to 4 May 2024. 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 -30 594 £538 +2.38% 270
London -2 360 £550 +4.76% 123
Work from Home +8 336 £511 +2.10% 131
UK excluding London -39 283 £490 -1.01% 157
North of England -10 80 £485 -7.62% 33
South East -30 71 £475 - 36
Scotland +6 62 £500 +15.47% 6
Yorkshire +17 43 £488 -10.34% 11
Midlands -11 36 £500 +2.56% 32
North West -14 34 £485 -7.18% 17
South West -32 25 £590 +7.27% 34
West Midlands -10 24 £500 +2.56% 27
East Midlands +11 9 £425 -12.82% 5
East of England -13 8 £425 -5.56% 10
North East +5 3 £454 -9.20% 5
Wales +9 2 £650 +39.04% 8

User Stories
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 67 (9.22%) Confluence
2 31 (4.26%) SharePoint
3 16 (2.20%) CMS
4 7 (0.96%) Drupal
5 5 (0.69%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 5 (0.69%) Oracle Workflow
6 4 (0.55%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.41%) ArcGIS
8 2 (0.28%) Microsoft Exchange
8 2 (0.28%) SAS
9 1 (0.14%) Apache
9 1 (0.14%) Appian
9 1 (0.14%) BizTalk Server
9 1 (0.14%) Camunda
9 1 (0.14%) Joomla!
9 1 (0.14%) Moodle
9 1 (0.14%) Sitecore CMS
9 1 (0.14%) WordPress
Applications
1 33 (4.54%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (3.44%) MS Visio
3 21 (2.89%) Microsoft Excel
4 15 (2.06%) Sketch
5 14 (1.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 6 (0.83%) Adobe XD
7 5 (0.69%) InVision
7 5 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
8 4 (0.55%) Trello
9 3 (0.41%) Zeplin
10 2 (0.28%) Chatbot
11 1 (0.14%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 22 (3.03%) Dynamics CRM
2 14 (1.93%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.96%) Primavera
3 7 (0.96%) SAP PM
4 6 (0.83%) Shopify
5 5 (0.69%) SAP Hybris
6 4 (0.55%) SAP QM
6 4 (0.55%) SimCorp Dimension
7 3 (0.41%) Salesforce CRM
8 2 (0.28%) Magento
8 2 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.28%) VisionPLUS
9 1 (0.14%) Dynamics AX
9 1 (0.14%) Endur
9 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.14%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.14%) SAP FI
9 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.14%) SAP LE
9 1 (0.14%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 132 (18.16%) Azure
2 62 (8.53%) Power Platform
3 59 (8.12%) Azure DevOps
4 45 (6.19%) Dynamics 365
5 37 (5.09%) AWS
6 19 (2.61%) Figma
6 19 (2.61%) Power Automate
7 16 (2.20%) SaaS
8 15 (2.06%) Microsoft 365
9 8 (1.10%) Azure Service Bus
9 8 (1.10%) PowerApps
10 7 (0.96%) Miro
10 7 (0.96%) SAP Commerce Cloud
10 7 (0.96%) Serverless
11 6 (0.83%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (0.83%) GCP
11 6 (0.83%) PaaS
11 6 (0.83%) Snowflake
12 5 (0.69%) BigCommerce
12 5 (0.69%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 7 (0.96%) PPP
1 7 (0.96%) Radio Access Network
2 6 (0.83%) DNS
3 5 (0.69%) SNA
3 5 (0.69%) Wi-Fi
4 4 (0.55%) DHCP
4 4 (0.55%) Firewall
5 3 (0.41%) Internet
6 2 (0.28%) Unified Communications
7 1 (0.14%) 3GPP
7 1 (0.14%) 4G
7 1 (0.14%) 5G
7 1 (0.14%) Bluetooth
7 1 (0.14%) Broadband
7 1 (0.14%) GSM
7 1 (0.14%) HTTP
7 1 (0.14%) LAN
7 1 (0.14%) SMS
7 1 (0.14%) VPN
7 1 (0.14%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (6.33%) Power BI
2 19 (2.61%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (1.93%) Data Lake
4 11 (1.51%) MongoDB
4 11 (1.51%) NoSQL
5 7 (0.96%) SQL Server
5 7 (0.96%) Tableau
6 6 (0.83%) BusinessObjects
6 6 (0.83%) Oracle Database
6 6 (0.83%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (0.69%) Siebel EIM
8 4 (0.55%) Amazon RDS
8 4 (0.55%) Azure SQL Database
8 4 (0.55%) GIS
8 4 (0.55%) SAP HANA
9 3 (0.41%) Big Data
9 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.41%) Geospatial Data
9 3 (0.41%) Oracle Reports
9 3 (0.41%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 122 (16.78%) JIRA
2 18 (2.48%) Git
3 17 (2.34%) Selenium
4 16 (2.20%) Postman
4 16 (2.20%) SoapUI
5 15 (2.06%) Cucumber
6 13 (1.79%) JMeter
7 12 (1.65%) JUnit
8 10 (1.38%) REST Assured
9 9 (1.24%) Appium
9 9 (1.24%) eggPlant
9 9 (1.24%) SOAtest
9 9 (1.24%) TestNG
9 9 (1.24%) WebDriver
10 7 (0.96%) Eclipse
11 5 (0.69%) GitLab
12 3 (0.41%) Axure RP
13 2 (0.28%) LoadRunner
13 2 (0.28%) SpecFlow
13 2 (0.28%) TestRail
General
1 234 (32.19%) Social Skills
2 155 (21.32%) Finance
3 100 (13.76%) Analytical Skills
4 94 (12.93%) Public Sector
5 36 (4.95%) Banking
6 33 (4.54%) Telecoms
7 32 (4.40%) Marketing
8 28 (3.85%) Retail
9 23 (3.16%) Influencing Skills
10 21 (2.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 20 (2.75%) Back Office
12 18 (2.48%) Presentation Skills
13 14 (1.93%) Manufacturing
14 11 (1.51%) Organisational Skills
15 9 (1.24%) Publishing
16 8 (1.10%) Investment Banking
17 7 (0.96%) Corporate Banking
18 6 (0.83%) Billing
18 6 (0.83%) Games
18 6 (0.83%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 335 (46.08%) Analyst
2 288 (39.61%) Business Analyst
3 86 (11.83%) Senior
4 61 (8.39%) Product Owner
5 50 (6.88%) Technical Analyst
6 48 (6.60%) Developer
7 40 (5.50%) Consultant
7 40 (5.50%) Senior Analyst
8 37 (5.09%) Product Manager
9 35 (4.81%) Senior Business Analyst
9 35 (4.81%) Technical Business Analyst
10 34 (4.68%) Designer
11 29 (3.99%) Lead
12 24 (3.30%) Data Analyst
13 23 (3.16%) Agile Business Analyst
13 23 (3.16%) Data Business Analyst
13 23 (3.16%) Project Manager
14 21 (2.89%) Architect
14 21 (2.89%) Financial Analyst
15 18 (2.48%) Finance Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (3.30%) .NET
2 21 (2.89%) React
3 20 (2.75%) HTML
4 17 (2.34%) .NET Framework
4 17 (2.34%) CSS
5 16 (2.20%) REST
6 12 (1.65%) Web Services
6 12 (1.65%) XML
7 10 (1.38%) SOAP
8 9 (1.24%) ASP.NET
9 8 (1.10%) Gherkin
10 7 (0.96%) ASP.NET Core
10 7 (0.96%) Flask
10 7 (0.96%) JSON
10 7 (0.96%) LDAP
10 7 (0.96%) Node.js
11 6 (0.83%) ADO
11 6 (0.83%) AngularJS
11 6 (0.83%) Swagger
12 5 (0.69%) VML
Miscellaneous
1 185 (25.45%) Product Ownership
2 21 (2.89%) Mobile App
3 13 (1.79%) Management Information System
4 10 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
5 9 (1.24%) CMDB
6 8 (1.10%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 7 (0.96%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (0.83%) Algorithms
8 6 (0.83%) Data Centre
8 6 (0.83%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (0.83%) Reinsurance
8 6 (0.83%) Smart Meter
9 5 (0.69%) Cloud Native
9 5 (0.69%) Data Structures
9 5 (0.69%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (0.69%) Hybrid Cloud
9 5 (0.69%) Onboarding
10 4 (0.55%) Client/Server
10 4 (0.55%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (0.55%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 10 (1.38%) Apple iOS
1 10 (1.38%) Linux
2 9 (1.24%) Android
2 9 (1.24%) Windows
3 4 (0.55%) Unix
4 2 (0.28%) Windows Server
5 1 (0.14%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 438 (60.25%) Agile
2 210 (28.89%) Acceptance Criteria
3 188 (25.86%) Scrum
4 149 (20.50%) Business Analysis
5 133 (18.29%) Requirements Gathering
6 129 (17.74%) Problem-Solving
7 117 (16.09%) DevOps
8 116 (15.96%) Epics
9 96 (13.20%) Roadmaps
10 92 (12.65%) User Acceptance Testing
11 88 (12.10%) Stakeholder Management
12 80 (11.00%) Product Backlog
13 78 (10.73%) Workshop Facilitation
14 75 (10.32%) Project Management
15 73 (10.04%) Backlog Management
16 67 (9.22%) Test Automation
16 67 (9.22%) Use Case
16 67 (9.22%) User Research
17 66 (9.08%) User Experience
18 61 (8.39%) Analytics
Programming Languages
1 67 (9.22%) SQL
2 37 (5.09%) Python
3 30 (4.13%) Java
4 25 (3.44%) JavaScript
5 23 (3.16%) C#
6 10 (1.38%) PowerShell
7 8 (1.10%) TypeScript
8 4 (0.55%) C
8 4 (0.55%) Go
9 3 (0.41%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.41%) VBA
10 2 (0.28%) Bicep
10 2 (0.28%) Ruby
11 1 (0.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.14%) Objective-C
11 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.14%) R
11 1 (0.14%) Swift
Qualifications
1 110 (15.13%) Security Cleared
2 98 (13.48%) SC Cleared
3 73 (10.04%) Degree
4 12 (1.65%) DV Cleared
5 11 (1.51%) Master's Degree
6 10 (1.38%) BPSS Clearance
7 9 (1.24%) CBAP
7 9 (1.24%) PMI Certification
8 8 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.10%) CSPO
8 8 (1.10%) PMP
9 5 (0.69%) ITIL Certification
9 5 (0.69%) MBA
10 3 (0.41%) DBS Check
10 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.28%) APMP
11 2 (0.28%) IIBA
11 2 (0.28%) ISTQB
11 2 (0.28%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 2 (0.28%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 96 (13.20%) QA
2 35 (4.81%) Data Quality
3 31 (4.26%) Accessibility
4 15 (2.06%) WCAG
5 13 (1.79%) PCI DSS
6 10 (1.38%) GDPR
7 7 (0.96%) PMO
8 5 (0.69%) Disclosure Scotland
8 5 (0.69%) GxP
9 4 (0.55%) SLA
10 3 (0.41%) IFRS
10 3 (0.41%) IFRS 17
10 3 (0.41%) ISO 20022
10 3 (0.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.41%) Solvency II
11 2 (0.28%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 2 (0.28%) PSD2
11 2 (0.28%) Software Quality Assurance
12 1 (0.14%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 5 (0.69%) Docker
2 2 (0.28%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.14%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 9 (1.24%) Kubernetes
2 4 (0.55%) Terraform
3 3 (0.41%) Single Sign-On
4 2 (0.28%) HP Quality Center
5 1 (0.14%) Matomo
5 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Intune
5 1 (0.14%) SCCM
Vendors
1 82 (11.28%) Microsoft
2 43 (5.91%) SAP
3 25 (3.44%) Salesforce
4 19 (2.61%) Oracle
4 19 (2.61%) ServiceNow
5 15 (2.06%) Adobe
6 11 (1.51%) Atlassian
7 8 (1.10%) Pega
8 7 (0.96%) Google
9 6 (0.83%) Cadence
9 6 (0.83%) Sitecore
10 5 (0.69%) CA Agile Central
10 5 (0.69%) Databricks
10 5 (0.69%) Siebel
11 4 (0.55%) Dell
11 4 (0.55%) Guidewire
11 4 (0.55%) Hotjar
11 4 (0.55%) Intel
11 4 (0.55%) Optimizely
11 4 (0.55%) Screaming Frog