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 18 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 281 271 173
Rank change year-on-year -10 -98 +40
Contract jobs citing XML 390 286 604
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.85% 0.97% 1.38%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.13% 4.29% 6.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 238 201 351
10th Percentile £350 £350 £405
25th Percentile £400 £412 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £475 £550
Median % change year-on-year +0.63% -13.64% -
75th Percentile £586 £588 £636
90th Percentile £688 £650 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £518
% change year-on-year - -13.04% +3.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 5 54
10th Percentile £31.08 £23.31 -
25th Percentile £44.88 £27.00 £43.00
Median hourly rate £47.50 £27.76 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +71.11% -38.31% -35.71%
75th Percentile £51.44 £93.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £59.50 - £77.70
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £24.83 £45.00
% change year-on-year +91.30% -44.82% -37.93%

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 9,440 6,661 8,942
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 20.47% 22.63% 20.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,290 4,565 6,235
10th Percentile £358 £363 £338
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £650 £650
90th Percentile £726 £775 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +1.63% -1.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 265 101 195
10th Percentile £35.00 £27.00 £20.61
25th Percentile £52.50 £43.50 £36.80
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year - +40.75% -28.95%
75th Percentile £71.50 £68.75 £64.38
90th Percentile £81.00 £84.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year - +36.84% -24.00%

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 18 April 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 18 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
Top 14 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 18 April 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 -2 355 £488 +2.74% 92
UK excluding London -41 180 £450 - 69
London -4 166 £525 - 26
Work from Home -41 102 £455 -3.19% 44
North of England -39 68 £394 -12.50% 17
South East -19 61 £513 +28.13% 28
North West -21 57 £391 -12.67% 11
Midlands -45 31 £450 -18.18% 10
West Midlands -50 23 £450 -18.18% 2
East of England -23 12 £675 - 3
Yorkshire -52 11 £450 -18.18% 6
East Midlands -27 8 £525 +46.65% 8
South West -24 6 £548 +46.00% 9
Scotland -11 5 £500 +1.21% 2

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 19 (4.87%) WebLogic
2 18 (4.62%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 13 (3.33%) Confluence
4 11 (2.82%) WebSphere
5 8 (2.05%) Anypoint
6 7 (1.79%) Apache
6 7 (1.79%) Oracle Workflow
7 5 (1.28%) JBoss
7 5 (1.28%) Mule
8 4 (1.03%) CMS
8 4 (1.03%) Oracle Service Bus
9 3 (0.77%) Apache Spark
9 3 (0.77%) MQSeries
9 3 (0.77%) Mule ESB
9 3 (0.77%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 3 (0.77%) SharePoint
10 2 (0.51%) Appian
10 2 (0.51%) Documentum
10 2 (0.51%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.26%) SAS
Applications
1 33 (8.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.28%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.03%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (1.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.51%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.51%) EngageOne
4 2 (0.51%) FrameMaker
5 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.26%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 12 (3.08%) Oracle ERP
2 9 (2.31%) SAP Payroll
2 9 (2.31%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (2.05%) Oracle Payables
3 8 (2.05%) Oracle Receivables
4 7 (1.79%) BusinessWorks
4 7 (1.79%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 7 (1.79%) SAP HCM
5 6 (1.54%) Dynamics CRM
5 6 (1.54%) Maximo
5 6 (1.54%) Summit
6 5 (1.28%) Oracle General Ledger
6 5 (1.28%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 5 (1.28%) Payment Gateway
7 4 (1.03%) Oracle 11i
7 4 (1.03%) Oracle Assets
7 4 (1.03%) Oracle Cash Management
7 4 (1.03%) Workday HCM
8 3 (0.77%) Findur
8 3 (0.77%) SAP FI
Cloud Services
1 80 (20.51%) Azure
2 54 (13.85%) AWS
3 28 (7.18%) OCI
4 23 (5.90%) GCP
4 23 (5.90%) Power Platform
5 22 (5.64%) Azure DevOps
5 22 (5.64%) GitHub
6 21 (5.38%) SaaS
7 16 (4.10%) PaaS
7 16 (4.10%) Serverless
8 15 (3.85%) Boomi
9 14 (3.59%) IaaS
10 13 (3.33%) Apigee
10 13 (3.33%) Cloud Computing
10 13 (3.33%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (2.82%) Azure Data Factory
11 11 (2.82%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (2.56%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 10 (2.56%) SuccessFactors
13 9 (2.31%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 27 (6.92%) HTTP
2 10 (2.56%) HTTPS
3 9 (2.31%) FTP
4 7 (1.79%) Firewall
5 6 (1.54%) 3GPP
6 4 (1.03%) RTCP
6 4 (1.03%) RTP
6 4 (1.03%) XCAP
7 3 (0.77%) DNS
7 3 (0.77%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.51%) 5G
8 2 (0.51%) BGP
8 2 (0.51%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
8 2 (0.51%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 2 (0.51%) FIX Connectivity
8 2 (0.51%) MPLS
8 2 (0.51%) VPN
9 1 (0.26%) AMQP
9 1 (0.26%) Network Security
9 1 (0.26%) SMS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (11.28%) Relational Database
2 40 (10.26%) SQL Server
3 24 (6.15%) PostgreSQL
4 23 (5.90%) Data Warehouse
5 22 (5.64%) MongoDB
5 22 (5.64%) RDBMS
6 20 (5.13%) NoSQL
7 18 (4.62%) Power BI
8 16 (4.10%) Oracle Reports
9 15 (3.85%) Metadata
10 12 (3.08%) Oracle Database
11 11 (2.82%) Data Lake
12 9 (2.31%) DataStage
12 9 (2.31%) MySQL
12 9 (2.31%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 8 (2.05%) DB2
14 6 (1.54%) Azure SQL Database
15 5 (1.28%) Big Data
15 5 (1.28%) Pentaho
15 5 (1.28%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 46 (11.79%) Postman
2 42 (10.77%) Git
3 41 (10.51%) JIRA
4 18 (4.62%) Jenkins
5 14 (3.59%) SoapUI
6 13 (3.33%) JUnit
6 13 (3.33%) Selenium
7 11 (2.82%) Cucumber
8 10 (2.56%) Maven
9 9 (2.31%) Eclipse
9 9 (2.31%) SpecFlow
9 9 (2.31%) TestRail
9 9 (2.31%) Zephyr
10 7 (1.79%) Toad
11 6 (1.54%) GitLab
11 6 (1.54%) Subversion
12 5 (1.28%) MSTest
13 4 (1.03%) IntelliJ
14 3 (0.77%) Ant
14 3 (0.77%) JMeter
General
1 124 (31.79%) Social Skills
2 78 (20.00%) Finance
3 72 (18.46%) Analytical Skills
4 37 (9.49%) Public Sector
5 34 (8.72%) Banking
6 17 (4.36%) Documentation Skills
7 13 (3.33%) Investment Banking
8 11 (2.82%) Legal
8 11 (2.82%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (1.54%) Military
9 6 (1.54%) Publishing
10 5 (1.28%) General Ledger
10 5 (1.28%) Retail
11 4 (1.03%) Advertising
11 4 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.03%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.03%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.77%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.77%) Manufacturing
12 3 (0.77%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 92 (23.59%) Developer
2 69 (17.69%) Consultant
3 51 (13.08%) Analyst
4 33 (8.46%) Implementation Consultant
5 27 (6.92%) Business Analyst
6 23 (5.90%) Architect
6 23 (5.90%) Lead
7 21 (5.38%) Senior
8 18 (4.62%) Data Engineer
9 17 (4.36%) Software Engineer
10 15 (3.85%) DBA
11 13 (3.33%) Payroll Consultant
12 10 (2.56%) Integration Developer
12 10 (2.56%) Integration Specialist
12 10 (2.56%) SAP Consultant
12 10 (2.56%) Solutions Architect
12 10 (2.56%) Technical Analyst
12 10 (2.56%) Tester
13 9 (2.31%) Cloud Specialist
13 9 (2.31%) Oracle Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 190 (48.72%) JSON
2 114 (29.23%) REST
2 114 (29.23%) SOAP
3 57 (14.62%) Web Services
4 43 (11.03%) XSLT
5 39 (10.00%) OAuth
6 32 (8.21%) JWT
7 31 (7.95%) Middleware
8 30 (7.69%) Oracle Fusion
9 29 (7.44%) .NET
10 24 (6.15%) HTML
10 24 (6.15%) Kafka
10 24 (6.15%) Swagger
11 23 (5.90%) RESTful
12 21 (5.38%) XSD
13 18 (4.62%) EDI
14 17 (4.36%) JMS
15 16 (4.10%) J2EE
15 16 (4.10%) OAuth2
16 15 (3.85%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 17 (4.36%) Data Structures
2 13 (3.33%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.08%) Management Information System
3 12 (3.08%) Public Cloud
3 12 (3.08%) Replication
4 9 (2.31%) Data Protection Act
4 9 (2.31%) Enterprise Software
5 8 (2.05%) Fixed Income
5 8 (2.05%) Legacy Systems
6 7 (1.79%) Derivative
7 6 (1.54%) Credit Risk
7 6 (1.54%) Market Risk
7 6 (1.54%) Onboarding
8 5 (1.28%) Algorithms
8 5 (1.28%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.28%) Digital Wallet
8 5 (1.28%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 4 (1.03%) Cloud Native
9 4 (1.03%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (1.03%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 32 (8.21%) Linux
2 27 (6.92%) Unix
3 18 (4.62%) Windows
4 5 (1.28%) AIX
5 3 (0.77%) Android
6 2 (0.51%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.51%) VMS
7 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.26%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (30.51%) Agile
2 95 (24.36%) Problem-Solving
3 91 (23.33%) DevOps
4 61 (15.64%) CI/CD
5 55 (14.10%) Validation
6 51 (13.08%) Data Modelling
7 49 (12.56%) ERP
8 45 (11.54%) Integration Patterns
8 45 (11.54%) Migration
9 39 (10.00%) Requirements Gathering
10 38 (9.74%) ETL
11 34 (8.72%) SDLC
11 34 (8.72%) Workflow
12 32 (8.21%) Stakeholder Management
13 31 (7.95%) Scrum
14 30 (7.69%) Computer Science
14 30 (7.69%) Microservices
14 30 (7.69%) Software Engineering
15 29 (7.44%) Mentoring
16 28 (7.18%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 154 (39.49%) SQL
2 83 (21.28%) Java
3 52 (13.33%) Python
4 50 (12.82%) C#
5 38 (9.74%) JavaScript
6 35 (8.97%) T-SQL
7 19 (4.87%) PL/SQL
8 16 (4.10%) XPath
9 12 (3.08%) PowerShell
10 9 (2.31%) ABAP
10 9 (2.31%) Shell Script
11 7 (1.79%) Korn
12 5 (1.28%) Groovy
12 5 (1.28%) Kotlin
12 5 (1.28%) Perl
13 4 (1.03%) Bicep
13 4 (1.03%) C++
13 4 (1.03%) DataWeave
13 4 (1.03%) Scala
14 3 (0.77%) Data Analysis Expressions
Qualifications
1 96 (24.62%) Security Cleared
2 68 (17.44%) SC Cleared
3 38 (9.74%) Degree
4 22 (5.64%) Computer Science Degree
5 13 (3.33%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (1.79%) AWS Certification
6 7 (1.79%) ISTQB
7 6 (1.54%) ISEB
7 6 (1.54%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 5 (1.28%) CCNP
8 5 (1.28%) Cisco Certification
8 5 (1.28%) DBS Check
9 4 (1.03%) Azure Certification
9 4 (1.03%) Master's Degree
10 3 (0.77%) DV Cleared
10 3 (0.77%) PMI Certification
10 3 (0.77%) PMP
11 2 (0.51%) CCNA
11 2 (0.51%) OCP
11 2 (0.51%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (5.13%) QA
2 15 (3.85%) Data Quality
3 10 (2.56%) GDPR
4 6 (1.54%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.28%) PSD2
6 4 (1.03%) GAAP
7 3 (0.77%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 3 (0.77%) FATCA
7 3 (0.77%) HL7
7 3 (0.77%) ISO 8583
7 3 (0.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.51%) Basel III
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS 17
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS 9
8 2 (0.51%) SEPA
9 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.26%) NIST
9 1 (0.26%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.26%) PMO
System Software
1 22 (5.64%) Docker
2 3 (0.77%) Oracle RAC
2 3 (0.77%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.26%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 15 (3.85%) Kubernetes
2 7 (1.79%) Ansible
2 7 (1.79%) TIBCO Hawk
3 5 (1.28%) Puppet
4 4 (1.03%) Control-M
5 3 (0.77%) Grafana
5 3 (0.77%) logstash
5 3 (0.77%) vRealize Orchestrator
6 2 (0.51%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.51%) Fluentd
6 2 (0.51%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.51%) QRadar
6 2 (0.51%) Terraform
7 1 (0.26%) Docker Swarm
7 1 (0.26%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.26%) Kibana
7 1 (0.26%) Podman
7 1 (0.26%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.26%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.26%) vRealize
Vendors
1 110 (28.21%) Oracle
2 45 (11.54%) Microsoft
3 42 (10.77%) SAP
4 27 (6.92%) IBM
5 20 (5.13%) MuleSoft
6 18 (4.62%) Workday
7 17 (4.36%) ServiceNow
8 16 (4.10%) webMethods
9 11 (2.82%) Informatica
10 10 (2.56%) Splunk
11 9 (2.31%) Google
11 9 (2.31%) Red Hat
12 8 (2.05%) Pega
12 8 (2.05%) TIBCO
13 7 (1.79%) BEA
13 7 (1.79%) Databricks
13 7 (1.79%) Dell
13 7 (1.79%) Talend
14 5 (1.28%) Bloomberg
14 5 (1.28%) Software AG