XML Contract Job Trends

XML
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring XML skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 305 235 185
Rank change year-on-year -70 -50 0
Contract jobs citing XML 457 386 517
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.84% 1.16% 1.36%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.86% 4.48% 5.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 321 256 280
10th Percentile £325 £338 £323
25th Percentile £405 £413 £417
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £600 £586 £575
90th Percentile £688 £695 £646
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £475 £478
% change year-on-year -5.26% -0.52% -9.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 26 37
10th Percentile - £30.63 -
25th Percentile - £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £29.07 £42.75 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.00% -0.58% -15.04%
75th Percentile £41.75 £43.75 -
90th Percentile £46.04 £91.88 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.07 £42.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year -31.60% -1.16% -11.74%

All Software Libraries and Frameworks
UK

XML falls under the Software Libraries and Frameworks category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring technical specification, industry standards, software libraries and framework skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for technical specification, industry standards, software libraries and framework skills 11,839 8,614 9,414
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 21.72% 25.97% 24.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,780 5,717 6,085
10th Percentile £380 £356 £355
25th Percentile £440 £413 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £550
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -6.82% -
75th Percentile £638 £625 £650
90th Percentile £738 £725 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -4.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 290 186 183
10th Percentile £29.07 £30.50 £25.60
25th Percentile £50.19 £40.75 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £51.97 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.07% -20.05% +8.33%
75th Percentile £77.00 £65.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.00 £70.00 £74.97
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.47 £55.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +22.67% -15.38% +10.11%

XML
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing XML relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

XML job vacancy trend in the UK

XML
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing XML.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing XML

XML
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing XML over the 6 months to 9 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing XML.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing XML

XML
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing XML over the 6 months to 9 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
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 XML within the UK over the 6 months to 9 October 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 -83 357 £488 -2.50% 370
London -71 188 £529 +0.76% 213
UK excluding London -83 178 £450 -5.26% 158
Work from Home -53 155 £525 +9.38% 133
South East -53 49 £460 -3.16% 49
Midlands -17 44 £418 -2.68% 20
West Midlands -21 38 £415 -3.26% 16
North of England -72 27 £381 -27.43% 39
South West -25 21 £550 +46.67% 12
Scotland -14 20 £450 -5.26% 19
North West -61 17 £416 -12.46% 20
East of England -47 12 £525 +7.69% 12
Yorkshire -30 10 £380 -43.70% 15
East Midlands -17 5 £494 +82.96% 4
Wales -23 3 £600 +60.00% 6
Northern Ireland - 3 £650 - 1
Channel Islands - 1 £450 -

XML
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 34 (7.44%) SharePoint
2 21 (4.60%) Confluence
3 16 (3.50%) Anypoint
3 16 (3.50%) IIS
3 16 (3.50%) Oracle Workflow
4 13 (2.84%) Mule
5 10 (2.19%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 6 (1.31%) Apache
6 6 (1.31%) WebSphere
7 5 (1.09%) WebLogic
8 3 (0.66%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.66%) MQSeries
8 3 (0.66%) Oracle Service Bus
9 2 (0.44%) CICS
10 1 (0.22%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.22%) CMS
10 1 (0.22%) JBoss
10 1 (0.22%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.22%) Mule ESB
10 1 (0.22%) ThingWorx
Applications
1 13 (2.84%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.63%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (2.19%) MS Visio
4 8 (1.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.75%) Windchill
5 3 (0.66%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.22%) LaTeX
Business Applications
1 24 (5.25%) Oracle EBS
2 19 (4.16%) Dynamics CRM
2 19 (4.16%) NetSuite
3 15 (3.28%) Oracle Payables
4 12 (2.63%) Oracle Receivables
5 11 (2.41%) SAP S/4HANA
6 8 (1.75%) Oracle General Ledger
6 8 (1.75%) Workday HCM
7 7 (1.53%) Oracle FAH
7 7 (1.53%) SAP FI
8 6 (1.31%) Oracle Assets
8 6 (1.31%) Oracle Financials
9 5 (1.09%) Elite 3E
9 5 (1.09%) FLEXCUBE
10 4 (0.88%) Maximo
10 4 (0.88%) Oracle E-Business Tax
10 4 (0.88%) Oracle Internet Expenses
10 4 (0.88%) Oracle iProcurement
10 4 (0.88%) SAP CO
10 4 (0.88%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 129 (28.23%) Azure
2 72 (15.75%) AWS
3 54 (11.82%) Azure DevOps
4 48 (10.50%) Boomi
5 35 (7.66%) GCP
6 25 (5.47%) Power Platform
7 24 (5.25%) AtomSphere
8 21 (4.60%) Azure Service Bus
8 21 (4.60%) Dynamics 365
9 19 (4.16%) Azure Functions
9 19 (4.16%) GitHub
9 19 (4.16%) Power Automate
9 19 (4.16%) Serverless
10 18 (3.94%) Azure Logic Apps
10 18 (3.94%) Entra ID
10 18 (3.94%) SaaS
11 14 (3.06%) iPaaS
12 11 (2.41%) PowerApps
13 9 (1.97%) Azure Data Factory
14 8 (1.75%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 35 (7.66%) HTTP
2 11 (2.41%) FTP
3 7 (1.53%) SSL
4 5 (1.09%) Network Security
4 5 (1.09%) TCP/IP
5 3 (0.66%) Wireless
6 2 (0.44%) HTTPS
6 2 (0.44%) Internet
6 2 (0.44%) Intranet
6 2 (0.44%) SD-WAN
6 2 (0.44%) WAN
6 2 (0.44%) X.509
7 1 (0.22%) Bluetooth
7 1 (0.22%) DNS
7 1 (0.22%) Firewall
7 1 (0.22%) MQTT
7 1 (0.22%) NAS
7 1 (0.22%) NFC
7 1 (0.22%) SAN
7 1 (0.22%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (14.22%) SQL Server
2 39 (8.53%) Relational Database
3 27 (5.91%) Oracle Database
3 27 (5.91%) PostgreSQL
4 17 (3.72%) Oracle Reports
4 17 (3.72%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 15 (3.28%) MS Access
5 15 (3.28%) MySQL
6 12 (2.63%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 11 (2.41%) MongoDB
7 11 (2.41%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 10 (2.19%) Metadata
8 10 (2.19%) RDBMS
9 7 (1.53%) Data Lake
9 7 (1.53%) NoSQL
9 7 (1.53%) Tableau
10 6 (1.31%) Data Warehouse
10 6 (1.31%) Power BI
11 5 (1.09%) DataStage
11 5 (1.09%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 72 (15.75%) Git
2 52 (11.38%) JIRA
3 29 (6.35%) Jenkins
4 27 (5.91%) Team Foundation Server
5 25 (5.47%) Postman
6 24 (5.25%) Visual Studio
7 18 (3.94%) Oracle Forms
7 18 (3.94%) Selenium
8 13 (2.84%) Gradle
9 12 (2.63%) Maven
10 11 (2.41%) SonarQube
11 10 (2.19%) JMeter
12 9 (1.97%) eggPlant
13 8 (1.75%) Cucumber
13 8 (1.75%) GitLab
13 8 (1.75%) SoapUI
13 8 (1.75%) WebDriver
14 7 (1.53%) JUnit
15 6 (1.31%) JDeveloper
15 6 (1.31%) Toad
General
1 149 (32.60%) Social Skills
2 112 (24.51%) Finance
3 104 (22.76%) Analytical Skills
4 58 (12.69%) Public Sector
5 43 (9.41%) Banking
6 16 (3.50%) Manufacturing
7 15 (3.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 13 (2.84%) Telecoms
9 11 (2.41%) Law
10 10 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
10 10 (2.19%) Legal
11 9 (1.97%) Aerospace
11 9 (1.97%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.97%) Publishing
12 8 (1.75%) General Ledger
12 8 (1.75%) Retail
13 7 (1.53%) Aviation
14 6 (1.31%) Financial Institution
14 6 (1.31%) Police
15 5 (1.09%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 169 (36.98%) Developer
2 59 (12.91%) Senior
3 44 (9.63%) Architect
4 40 (8.75%) Analyst
5 36 (7.88%) Consultant
6 35 (7.66%) Lead
7 27 (5.91%) Senior Developer
8 23 (5.03%) Data Engineer
8 23 (5.03%) Software Developer
9 20 (4.38%) Integration Developer
10 16 (3.50%) Lead Developer
10 16 (3.50%) Solutions Architect
11 15 (3.28%) Business Analyst
12 14 (3.06%) C# Developer
12 14 (3.06%) Test Analyst
13 13 (2.84%) Dynamics 365 Developer
13 13 (2.84%) Software Engineer
13 13 (2.84%) Support Engineer
14 12 (2.63%) .NET Developer
14 12 (2.63%) Technical Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 239 (52.30%) JSON
2 184 (40.26%) REST
3 162 (35.45%) SOAP
4 92 (20.13%) Web Services
5 90 (19.69%) .NET
6 83 (18.16%) Middleware
7 64 (14.00%) XSLT
8 49 (10.72%) HTML
9 45 (9.85%) Kafka
10 43 (9.41%) OAuth
11 33 (7.22%) RESTful
12 28 (6.13%) .NET Framework
13 27 (5.91%) CSS
13 27 (5.91%) OAuth2
14 25 (5.47%) Swagger
15 24 (5.25%) EDI
16 22 (4.81%) JWT
17 19 (4.16%) OpenAPI
18 18 (3.94%) XSD
19 17 (3.72%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 28 (6.13%) Enterprise Software
2 20 (4.38%) Legacy Systems
3 18 (3.94%) SWIFT Messaging Network
4 17 (3.72%) Cloud Native
4 17 (3.72%) Data Structures
4 17 (3.72%) Onboarding
4 17 (3.72%) Product Ownership
5 16 (3.50%) Distributed Systems
5 16 (3.50%) Management Information System
6 13 (2.84%) Taxonomies
7 11 (2.41%) Replication
8 10 (2.19%) CMDB
8 10 (2.19%) Legacy Applications
9 9 (1.97%) LIMS
10 8 (1.75%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (1.75%) PKI
11 7 (1.53%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 7 (1.53%) Self-Motivation
11 7 (1.53%) Virtual Team
12 6 (1.31%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 41 (8.97%) Linux
2 34 (7.44%) Windows
3 26 (5.69%) Unix
4 10 (2.19%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.88%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.66%) Mac OS X
6 3 (0.66%) zOS
7 1 (0.22%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 141 (30.85%) Problem-Solving
2 113 (24.73%) Agile
3 109 (23.85%) DevOps
4 105 (22.98%) CI/CD
5 86 (18.82%) Validation
6 65 (14.22%) Test Automation
7 63 (13.79%) Integration Patterns
8 59 (12.91%) Stakeholder Management
9 58 (12.69%) Data Modelling
10 57 (12.47%) Continuous Improvement
11 56 (12.25%) Workflow
12 53 (11.60%) Event-Driven
13 52 (11.38%) Migration
14 51 (11.16%) ERP
15 44 (9.63%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 41 (8.97%) Scrum
17 40 (8.75%) Data Mapping
17 40 (8.75%) Software Engineering
17 40 (8.75%) User Acceptance Testing
18 39 (8.53%) Data Transformation
Programming Languages
1 182 (39.82%) SQL
2 110 (24.07%) Java
3 101 (22.10%) JavaScript
4 87 (19.04%) C#
5 85 (18.60%) Python
6 38 (8.32%) PL/SQL
7 29 (6.35%) PowerShell
8 24 (5.25%) VB.NET
8 24 (5.25%) VBA
9 23 (5.03%) Groovy
10 20 (4.38%) C++
10 20 (4.38%) T-SQL
10 20 (4.38%) VB
11 19 (4.16%) VB6
12 16 (3.50%) XPath
13 14 (3.06%) TypeScript
14 13 (2.84%) Shell Script
15 7 (1.53%) ABAP
15 7 (1.53%) Bicep
15 7 (1.53%) C
Qualifications
1 138 (30.20%) Security Cleared
2 114 (24.95%) SC Cleared
3 49 (10.72%) Degree
4 26 (5.69%) BPSS Clearance
5 20 (4.38%) DV Cleared
6 17 (3.72%) ISTQB
7 15 (3.28%) Computer Science Degree
8 12 (2.63%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 11 (2.41%) Microsoft Certification
10 9 (1.97%) ISEB
11 6 (1.31%) Azure Certification
12 5 (1.09%) TOGAF Certification
13 4 (0.88%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.66%) AWS Certification
15 2 (0.44%) CISSP
15 2 (0.44%) DBS Check
15 2 (0.44%) GIAC
15 2 (0.44%) SSCP
16 1 (0.22%) CEH
16 1 (0.22%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (8.53%) QA
2 27 (5.91%) Data Quality
3 20 (4.38%) ISO 20022
4 17 (3.72%) Accessibility
5 14 (3.06%) GDPR
5 14 (3.06%) WCAG
6 9 (1.97%) GMP
7 8 (1.75%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 8 (1.75%) GxP
7 8 (1.75%) ISO/IEC 17025
8 6 (1.31%) SLA
9 5 (1.09%) GRC
9 5 (1.09%) HL7
10 4 (0.88%) ISO 15022
11 3 (0.66%) SEPA
12 2 (0.44%) NCSC
13 1 (0.22%) COREP
13 1 (0.22%) IFRS
13 1 (0.22%) PMO
13 1 (0.22%) PSD2
System Software
1 17 (3.72%) Active Directory
1 17 (3.72%) Docker
2 4 (0.88%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (0.44%) RACF
4 1 (0.22%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 20 (4.38%) Kubernetes
2 18 (3.94%) Single Sign-On
3 17 (3.72%) Ansible
4 5 (1.09%) Control-M
4 5 (1.09%) HP Fortify
5 3 (0.66%) QRadar
5 3 (0.66%) WMI
6 2 (0.44%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.44%) Netcool
6 2 (0.44%) Netcool/OMNIbus
6 2 (0.44%) Tivoli
6 2 (0.44%) Tivoli Monitoring
6 2 (0.44%) vRealize Orchestrator
7 1 (0.22%) Apache Ranger
7 1 (0.22%) Grafana
7 1 (0.22%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.22%) Kibana
7 1 (0.22%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.22%) vRealize
Vendors
1 137 (29.98%) Oracle
2 118 (25.82%) Microsoft
3 48 (10.50%) SAP
4 46 (10.07%) IBM
5 39 (8.53%) MuleSoft
6 34 (7.44%) Salesforce
7 33 (7.22%) ServiceNow
8 32 (7.00%) Google
9 25 (5.47%) Workday
10 13 (2.84%) Informatica
10 13 (2.84%) Okta
11 10 (2.19%) Databricks
12 9 (1.97%) BeyondTrust
12 9 (1.97%) TIBCO
12 9 (1.97%) webMethods
12 9 (1.97%) WSO2
13 8 (1.75%) PTC
14 5 (1.09%) Ariba
14 5 (1.09%) CyberArk
14 5 (1.09%) Kronos