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

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 299 213 165
Rank change year-on-year -86 -48 +20
Contract jobs citing XML 424 402 586
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.80% 1.22% 1.50%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.18% 5.40% 6.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 278 277 303
10th Percentile £325 £358 £363
25th Percentile £404 £413 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -13.04%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £600
90th Percentile £700 £625 £697
UK excluding London median daily rate £429 £450 £488
% change year-on-year -4.67% -7.69% -8.02%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 21 67
10th Percentile £28.60 £27.00 -
25th Percentile £29.30 £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £39.50 £41.50 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.82% -3.49% -38.57%
75th Percentile £45.85 £43.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £59.50 - £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £41.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year -4.82% -3.49% -38.57%

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 10,155 7,440 8,609
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.09% 22.61% 21.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,639 5,024 5,854
10th Percentile £363 £350 £350
25th Percentile £425 £413 £428
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £638 £634 £666
90th Percentile £738 £750 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £469 £500
% change year-on-year +6.61% -6.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 268 165 248
10th Percentile £28.26 £30.10 £22.50
25th Percentile £41.33 £40.75 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £54.88 £53.75
Median % change year-on-year +18.45% +2.09% -10.42%
75th Percentile £73.00 £67.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.25 £79.48 £74.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £55.00 £58.60
% change year-on-year +18.18% -6.15% +0.02%

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 5 August 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 5 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
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 XML within the UK over the 6 months to 5 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 -99 350 £500 +5.26% 138
UK excluding London -104 187 £429 -4.67% 81
London -48 172 £550 +4.76% 74
Work from Home -64 138 £518 +13.85% 72
South East -58 59 £460 -3.16% 21
Midlands -34 42 £418 -2.79% 18
North of England -70 42 £390 -13.33% 10
North West -62 34 £390 -13.33% 3
West Midlands -44 30 £411 -11.56% 10
Scotland -9 16 £438 -12.50% 8
South West -43 15 £550 +46.67% 12
East Midlands -1 11 £525 +67.20% 8
East of England -29 9 £450 -18.18% 6
Yorkshire -44 8 £399 -24.05% 7
Northern Ireland +1 3 £650 +36.84% 3
Wales -25 3 £600 +60.00% 1

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 24 (5.66%) Confluence
2 18 (4.25%) Anypoint
2 18 (4.25%) SharePoint
3 16 (3.77%) IIS
4 15 (3.54%) Oracle Workflow
5 14 (3.30%) Mule
6 6 (1.42%) WebSphere
7 5 (1.18%) CMS
7 5 (1.18%) WebLogic
8 3 (0.71%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.47%) Apache
9 2 (0.47%) CICS
9 2 (0.47%) MQSeries
9 2 (0.47%) Mule ESB
9 2 (0.47%) Oracle Self-Service HR
10 1 (0.24%) JBoss
10 1 (0.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
10 1 (0.24%) Tomcat
Applications
1 40 (9.43%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (2.59%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.42%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.71%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.24%) FrameMaker
5 1 (0.24%) LaTeX
Business Applications
1 22 (5.19%) Oracle EBS
2 15 (3.54%) NetSuite
2 15 (3.54%) Oracle Payables
3 13 (3.07%) Oracle Receivables
4 9 (2.12%) SAP S/4HANA
5 8 (1.89%) Oracle General Ledger
6 7 (1.65%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (1.42%) Dynamics CRM
7 6 (1.42%) Maximo
7 6 (1.42%) Oracle FAH
8 5 (1.18%) Elite 3E
8 5 (1.18%) Oracle Financials
9 4 (0.94%) Oracle Cash Management
9 4 (0.94%) Oracle E-Business Tax
9 4 (0.94%) Oracle Internet Expenses
9 4 (0.94%) Oracle iProcurement
9 4 (0.94%) Summit
10 3 (0.71%) Findur
10 3 (0.71%) Oracle ERP
10 3 (0.71%) SAP FI
Cloud Services
1 100 (23.58%) Azure
2 50 (11.79%) AWS
3 42 (9.91%) Azure DevOps
4 38 (8.96%) Boomi
5 24 (5.66%) GCP
6 20 (4.72%) AtomSphere
6 20 (4.72%) GitHub
7 18 (4.25%) SaaS
8 16 (3.77%) Serverless
9 15 (3.54%) Azure Service Bus
9 15 (3.54%) Power Platform
10 14 (3.30%) Entra ID
11 12 (2.83%) Azure Data Factory
11 12 (2.83%) Azure Logic Apps
12 11 (2.59%) Azure Functions
13 10 (2.36%) GitHub Actions
14 9 (2.12%) Azure Synapse Analytics
14 9 (2.12%) IaaS
14 9 (2.12%) iPaaS
14 9 (2.12%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 29 (6.84%) HTTP
2 7 (1.65%) FTP
2 7 (1.65%) SSL
3 6 (1.42%) 3GPP
3 6 (1.42%) TCP/IP
4 4 (0.94%) Network Security
4 4 (0.94%) RTCP
4 4 (0.94%) RTP
4 4 (0.94%) XCAP
5 2 (0.47%) DNS
5 2 (0.47%) HTTPS
5 2 (0.47%) Internet
5 2 (0.47%) Intranet
5 2 (0.47%) SD-WAN
5 2 (0.47%) WAN
5 2 (0.47%) Wireless
6 1 (0.24%) Bluetooth
6 1 (0.24%) NFC
6 1 (0.24%) SAN
6 1 (0.24%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 54 (12.74%) SQL Server
2 36 (8.49%) Relational Database
3 19 (4.48%) PostgreSQL
3 19 (4.48%) RDBMS
4 18 (4.25%) Oracle Reports
4 18 (4.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 17 (4.01%) Oracle Database
6 14 (3.30%) MongoDB
7 13 (3.07%) Data Warehouse
7 13 (3.07%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 12 (2.83%) Metadata
8 12 (2.83%) Power BI
9 11 (2.59%) NoSQL
9 11 (2.59%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 10 (2.36%) MS Access
11 9 (2.12%) Data Lake
12 8 (1.89%) MySQL
13 7 (1.65%) Azure SQL Database
14 6 (1.42%) DataStage
15 4 (0.94%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 48 (11.32%) Git
2 41 (9.67%) JIRA
3 26 (6.13%) Postman
4 21 (4.95%) Team Foundation Server
5 20 (4.72%) Visual Studio
6 17 (4.01%) Jenkins
7 15 (3.54%) Oracle Forms
8 9 (2.12%) GitLab
8 9 (2.12%) Maven
8 9 (2.12%) Selenium
9 7 (1.65%) Gradle
9 7 (1.65%) JMeter
9 7 (1.65%) SoapUI
10 6 (1.42%) JDeveloper
10 6 (1.42%) REST Assured
11 5 (1.18%) Cypress.io
11 5 (1.18%) Eclipse
11 5 (1.18%) JUnit
11 5 (1.18%) Subversion
12 4 (0.94%) WebDriver
General
1 140 (33.02%) Social Skills
2 91 (21.46%) Finance
3 86 (20.28%) Analytical Skills
4 42 (9.91%) Public Sector
5 33 (7.78%) Banking
6 13 (3.07%) Telecoms
7 12 (2.83%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (2.59%) Manufacturing
9 9 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (2.12%) Legal
10 8 (1.89%) General Ledger
10 8 (1.89%) Investment Banking
10 8 (1.89%) Publishing
10 8 (1.89%) Retail
11 6 (1.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.18%) Financial Institution
12 5 (1.18%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.94%) Aerospace
13 4 (0.94%) Front Office
13 4 (0.94%) Military
Job Titles
1 133 (31.37%) Developer
2 59 (13.92%) Consultant
3 43 (10.14%) Analyst
3 43 (10.14%) Senior
4 33 (7.78%) Architect
5 30 (7.08%) Implementation Consultant
6 22 (5.19%) Lead
7 20 (4.72%) Business Analyst
7 20 (4.72%) Senior Developer
8 18 (4.25%) Data Engineer
8 18 (4.25%) Software Developer
9 15 (3.54%) C# Developer
10 14 (3.30%) Software Engineer
11 13 (3.07%) Payroll Consultant
12 12 (2.83%) Oracle Developer
12 12 (2.83%) Technical Consultant
13 11 (2.59%) Integration Developer
13 11 (2.59%) Integration Specialist
13 11 (2.59%) MuleSoft Developer
14 10 (2.36%) .NET Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 210 (49.53%) JSON
2 153 (36.08%) REST
3 129 (30.42%) SOAP
4 70 (16.51%) .NET
5 62 (14.62%) Middleware
6 58 (13.68%) Web Services
7 43 (10.14%) XSLT
8 37 (8.73%) OAuth
9 30 (7.08%) HTML
10 29 (6.84%) .NET Framework
11 27 (6.37%) Kafka
12 26 (6.13%) OAuth2
13 24 (5.66%) JWT
14 23 (5.42%) RESTful
15 21 (4.95%) ASP.NET
15 21 (4.95%) EDI
15 21 (4.95%) Swagger
16 20 (4.72%) CSS
17 17 (4.01%) OpenAPI
18 14 (3.30%) ASP.NET Web API
Miscellaneous
1 19 (4.48%) Legacy Systems
1 19 (4.48%) Product Ownership
2 16 (3.77%) Data Structures
3 12 (2.83%) Cloud Native
3 12 (2.83%) Enterprise Software
4 11 (2.59%) Onboarding
4 11 (2.59%) Replication
4 11 (2.59%) SWIFT Messaging Network
5 8 (1.89%) CMDB
5 8 (1.89%) Distributed Systems
5 8 (1.89%) Legacy Applications
6 7 (1.65%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
6 7 (1.65%) PKI
7 6 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
7 6 (1.42%) Management Information System
7 6 (1.42%) Public Cloud
7 6 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (1.42%) Taxonomies
8 5 (1.18%) Algorithms
8 5 (1.18%) Data Centre
Operating Systems
1 28 (6.60%) Windows
2 26 (6.13%) Linux
3 20 (4.72%) Unix
4 7 (1.65%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.47%) Android
6 2 (0.47%) VMS
6 2 (0.47%) zOS
7 1 (0.24%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 113 (26.65%) Problem-Solving
2 96 (22.64%) Agile
3 90 (21.23%) DevOps
4 87 (20.52%) CI/CD
5 68 (16.04%) Validation
6 65 (15.33%) Workflow
7 54 (12.74%) Integration Patterns
8 53 (12.50%) Migration
9 50 (11.79%) Data Modelling
10 43 (10.14%) Stakeholder Management
11 40 (9.43%) Data Mapping
11 40 (9.43%) ERP
11 40 (9.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 39 (9.20%) Event-Driven
13 37 (8.73%) User Acceptance Testing
14 36 (8.49%) Scrum
14 36 (8.49%) Test Automation
15 35 (8.25%) Software Engineering
16 34 (8.02%) API Management
16 34 (8.02%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 186 (43.87%) SQL
2 71 (16.75%) C#
2 71 (16.75%) Java
3 64 (15.09%) JavaScript
4 62 (14.62%) Python
5 49 (11.56%) T-SQL
6 37 (8.73%) PL/SQL
7 26 (6.13%) PowerShell
8 22 (5.19%) VBA
9 21 (4.95%) Groovy
10 18 (4.25%) C++
10 18 (4.25%) VB.NET
11 17 (4.01%) VB
12 16 (3.77%) VB6
13 14 (3.30%) XPath
14 9 (2.12%) Bicep
15 7 (1.65%) DataWeave
16 6 (1.42%) ABAP
16 6 (1.42%) R
16 6 (1.42%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 106 (25.00%) Security Cleared
2 83 (19.58%) SC Cleared
3 27 (6.37%) Degree
4 16 (3.77%) BPSS Clearance
5 11 (2.59%) DV Cleared
5 11 (2.59%) ISTQB
6 10 (2.36%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 8 (1.89%) Computer Science Degree
8 6 (1.42%) DBS Check
9 5 (1.18%) ISEB
10 4 (0.94%) Azure Certification
10 4 (0.94%) TOGAF Certification
11 2 (0.47%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.47%) CISSP
11 2 (0.47%) GIAC
11 2 (0.47%) Master's Degree
11 2 (0.47%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.47%) SSCP
12 1 (0.24%) CEH
12 1 (0.24%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (7.78%) QA
2 21 (4.95%) Data Quality
3 11 (2.59%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.89%) Accessibility
4 8 (1.89%) GDPR
5 6 (1.42%) GMP
5 6 (1.42%) SLA
6 5 (1.18%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 5 (1.18%) GxP
6 5 (1.18%) HL7
6 5 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 5 (1.18%) WCAG
7 4 (0.94%) GRC
8 3 (0.71%) ISO 15022
9 1 (0.24%) COREP
9 1 (0.24%) DICOM
9 1 (0.24%) FINREP
9 1 (0.24%) NIST
9 1 (0.24%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.24%) SEPA
System Software
1 12 (2.83%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.59%) Docker
3 4 (0.94%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.47%) RACF
4 2 (0.47%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.24%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 14 (3.30%) Ansible
2 12 (2.83%) Single Sign-On
3 11 (2.59%) Kubernetes
4 8 (1.89%) Terraform
5 3 (0.71%) QRadar
5 3 (0.71%) vRealize Orchestrator
5 3 (0.71%) WMI
6 2 (0.47%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.47%) Grafana
7 1 (0.24%) Apache Ranger
7 1 (0.24%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.24%) vRealize
Vendors
1 121 (28.54%) Oracle
2 96 (22.64%) Microsoft
3 33 (7.78%) MuleSoft
3 33 (7.78%) SAP
3 33 (7.78%) ServiceNow
4 28 (6.60%) Salesforce
5 26 (6.13%) IBM
6 17 (4.01%) Google
6 17 (4.01%) Workday
7 10 (2.36%) Okta
8 9 (2.12%) Databricks
8 9 (2.12%) webMethods
9 7 (1.65%) Informatica
10 5 (1.18%) BeyondTrust
10 5 (1.18%) Dell
10 5 (1.18%) Intapp
10 5 (1.18%) Kronos
10 5 (1.18%) TIBCO
11 4 (0.94%) Atlassian
11 4 (0.94%) Pega