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

6 months to
30 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 258 234 214
Rank change year-on-year -24 -20 -11
Contract jobs citing XML 406 331 488
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.05% 1.05% 1.10%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.71% 4.69% 5.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 270 204 323
10th Percentile £350 £284 £375
25th Percentile £400 £400 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £638 £600 £614
90th Percentile £715 £661 £744
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £447 £525
% change year-on-year +0.78% -14.95% +5.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 2 26
10th Percentile £41.15 - £42.50
25th Percentile £42.13 £91.25 -
Median hourly rate £47.50 £92.50 £48.72
Median % change year-on-year -48.65% +89.86% -35.04%
75th Percentile £48.75 £93.75 £51.93
90th Percentile £95.00 - £75.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.25 - £48.72
% change year-on-year - - -25.05%

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 8,621 7,054 9,302
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 22.30% 22.43% 20.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,738 4,472 6,586
10th Percentile £356 £356 £350
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £535 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.21% -0.47% -6.52%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £725 £765 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 212 90 192
10th Percentile £35.00 £24.78 £25.78
25th Percentile £49.06 £38.31 £46.11
Median hourly rate £62.50 £62.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year - +13.64% -15.38%
75th Percentile £69.44 £65.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.95 £77.32 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year - +18.18% -15.38%

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 30 January 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 30 January 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 30 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 0 361 £480 -7.47% 93
London -13 194 £525 -1.87% 38
UK excluding London -16 151 £450 +0.78% 76
Work from Home +20 145 £475 +6.74% 44
North of England -35 55 £402 -23.43% 11
North West +4 44 £402 -9.66% 8
South East -28 35 £463 +32.14% 33
Midlands -40 24 £429 -24.34% 12
East of England +1 23 £581 - 9
West Midlands -27 21 £429 -24.34% 9
Yorkshire -53 11 £531 -6.31% 3
South West -13 10 £400 -9.86% 8
Scotland -4 8 £500 +11.11% 5
East Midlands -26 3 - - 3

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 (5.91%) WebLogic
2 19 (4.68%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 16 (3.94%) Confluence
4 12 (2.96%) Apache
5 10 (2.46%) JBoss
5 10 (2.46%) WebSphere
6 9 (2.22%) Appian
7 7 (1.72%) MQSeries
7 7 (1.72%) nginx
7 7 (1.72%) Oracle Workflow
8 6 (1.48%) Anypoint
8 6 (1.48%) Mule
9 4 (0.99%) Oracle Service Bus
10 3 (0.74%) Apache Spark
10 3 (0.74%) Documentum
10 3 (0.74%) Mule ESB
11 2 (0.49%) BizTalk Server
11 2 (0.49%) SharePoint
11 2 (0.49%) Tomcat
12 1 (0.25%) CMS
Applications
1 8 (1.97%) FrameMaker
2 6 (1.48%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.99%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.49%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.49%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.25%) EngageOne
5 1 (0.25%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.25%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.25%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 9 (2.22%) Oracle ERP
1 9 (2.22%) SAP Payroll
2 7 (1.72%) BusinessWorks
2 7 (1.72%) SAP HCM
2 7 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (1.48%) Oracle Payables
3 6 (1.48%) Oracle Receivables
3 6 (1.48%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 5 (1.23%) Dynamics CRM
4 5 (1.23%) Oracle General Ledger
4 5 (1.23%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 5 (1.23%) Payment Gateway
5 4 (0.99%) Maximo
5 4 (0.99%) Oracle 11i
6 3 (0.74%) Salesforce CRM
6 3 (0.74%) Workday HCM
7 2 (0.49%) NEC Housing
7 2 (0.49%) Oracle FAH
7 2 (0.49%) SAP Travel Management
7 2 (0.49%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 90 (22.17%) Azure
2 74 (18.23%) AWS
3 27 (6.65%) OCI
4 25 (6.16%) GitHub
5 23 (5.67%) Azure DevOps
5 23 (5.67%) Power Platform
6 21 (5.17%) GCP
7 20 (4.93%) SaaS
8 18 (4.43%) Cloud Computing
8 18 (4.43%) Serverless
9 15 (3.69%) PaaS
10 14 (3.45%) Dynamics 365
10 14 (3.45%) Tricentis Tosca
11 13 (3.20%) Apigee
11 13 (3.20%) Boomi
11 13 (3.20%) IaaS
12 12 (2.96%) Azure Logic Apps
13 11 (2.71%) Power Automate
14 9 (2.22%) GitHub Actions
15 8 (1.97%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 35 (8.62%) HTTPS
2 27 (6.65%) HTTP
3 10 (2.46%) Firewall
3 10 (2.46%) SSL
4 3 (0.74%) FTP
4 3 (0.74%) NFC
4 3 (0.74%) PPP
5 2 (0.49%) 5G
5 2 (0.49%) BGP
5 2 (0.49%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
5 2 (0.49%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 2 (0.49%) FIX Connectivity
5 2 (0.49%) MPLS
5 2 (0.49%) VPN
6 1 (0.25%) DNS
6 1 (0.25%) Network Security
6 1 (0.25%) Radio Access Network
6 1 (0.25%) SMS
6 1 (0.25%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 49 (12.07%) Relational Database
2 40 (9.85%) SQL Server
3 22 (5.42%) Data Warehouse
3 22 (5.42%) MongoDB
4 21 (5.17%) PostgreSQL
5 15 (3.69%) RDBMS
6 14 (3.45%) NoSQL
6 14 (3.45%) Oracle Reports
7 13 (3.20%) Power BI
8 12 (2.96%) Metadata
9 11 (2.71%) Oracle Database
10 10 (2.46%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 9 (2.22%) DataStage
12 8 (1.97%) Apache Cassandra
13 7 (1.72%) Data Lake
13 7 (1.72%) DB2
13 7 (1.72%) Elasticsearch
13 7 (1.72%) MySQL
14 6 (1.48%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (1.48%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 57 (14.04%) JIRA
2 47 (11.58%) Git
2 47 (11.58%) Postman
3 33 (8.13%) Jenkins
4 28 (6.90%) Selenium
5 22 (5.42%) Cucumber
5 22 (5.42%) JUnit
6 12 (2.96%) Eclipse
7 11 (2.71%) SoapUI
8 9 (2.22%) GitLab
8 9 (2.22%) IntelliJ
8 9 (2.22%) SpecFlow
8 9 (2.22%) TestRail
8 9 (2.22%) Zephyr
9 8 (1.97%) SonarQube
10 7 (1.72%) Maven
10 7 (1.72%) Robot Framework
10 7 (1.72%) Toad
11 5 (1.23%) Bitbucket
12 4 (0.99%) Firebug
General
1 138 (33.99%) Social Skills
2 91 (22.41%) Finance
3 67 (16.50%) Analytical Skills
4 49 (12.07%) Public Sector
5 43 (10.59%) Banking
6 20 (4.93%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (2.96%) Investment Banking
8 11 (2.71%) Publishing
8 11 (2.71%) Telecoms
9 9 (2.22%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.97%) Financial Institution
10 8 (1.97%) Legal
10 8 (1.97%) Private Banking
11 7 (1.72%) Aerospace
11 7 (1.72%) Manufacturing
11 7 (1.72%) Retail
12 6 (1.48%) Digital Healthcare
13 5 (1.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.23%) Military
14 4 (0.99%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 136 (33.50%) Developer
2 61 (15.02%) Analyst
3 34 (8.37%) Consultant
4 30 (7.39%) Senior
5 27 (6.65%) Business Analyst
6 21 (5.17%) Lead
7 20 (4.93%) Architect
8 18 (4.43%) Integration Developer
8 18 (4.43%) Software Engineer
9 16 (3.94%) webMethods Developer
10 12 (2.96%) Data Engineer
10 12 (2.96%) Java Developer
10 12 (2.96%) Tester
11 11 (2.71%) DBA
11 11 (2.71%) SAP Consultant
11 11 (2.71%) Senior Developer
12 10 (2.46%) Administrator
12 10 (2.46%) Integration Specialist
12 10 (2.46%) Solutions Architect
13 9 (2.22%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 223 (54.93%) JSON
2 149 (36.70%) SOAP
3 147 (36.21%) REST
4 55 (13.55%) OAuth
5 49 (12.07%) XSLT
6 47 (11.58%) Web Services
7 40 (9.85%) HTML
8 33 (8.13%) JMS
9 31 (7.64%) RESTful
10 26 (6.40%) JWT
10 26 (6.40%) Middleware
10 26 (6.40%) Oracle Fusion
11 24 (5.91%) .NET
12 22 (5.42%) Spring
13 21 (5.17%) XSD
14 20 (4.93%) OAuth2
15 19 (4.68%) J2EE
15 19 (4.68%) Swagger
16 17 (4.19%) CSS
16 17 (4.19%) Hibernate
Miscellaneous
1 19 (4.68%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.45%) Cloud Native
2 14 (3.45%) Replication
3 12 (2.96%) Data Protection Act
3 12 (2.96%) Management Information System
4 11 (2.71%) Public Cloud
5 10 (2.46%) Onboarding
6 9 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.22%) Legacy Systems
7 8 (1.97%) Algorithms
7 8 (1.97%) AS400
7 8 (1.97%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.97%) Virtual Team
8 7 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.72%) Fixed Income
8 7 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.48%) Low-Code
9 6 (1.48%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 5 (1.23%) Derivative
10 5 (1.23%) Digital Wallet
Operating Systems
1 46 (11.33%) Linux
2 25 (6.16%) Unix
3 17 (4.19%) Windows
4 5 (1.23%) AIX
5 4 (0.99%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.74%) Android
7 1 (0.25%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.25%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 141 (34.73%) Agile
2 138 (33.99%) DevOps
3 97 (23.89%) Problem-Solving
4 85 (20.94%) CI/CD
5 59 (14.53%) Validation
6 58 (14.29%) Test Automation
7 55 (13.55%) ERP
8 48 (11.82%) Deployment Automation
8 48 (11.82%) Microservices
8 48 (11.82%) Migration
8 48 (11.82%) Scrum
9 47 (11.58%) Data Modelling
10 46 (11.33%) ETL
11 38 (9.36%) Computer Science
12 35 (8.62%) Integration Patterns
13 34 (8.37%) Requirements Gathering
13 34 (8.37%) SDLC
14 33 (8.13%) API Management
14 33 (8.13%) Data Migration
15 32 (7.88%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 146 (35.96%) SQL
2 115 (28.33%) Java
3 66 (16.26%) Python
4 59 (14.53%) C#
5 53 (13.05%) JavaScript
6 19 (4.68%) PL/SQL
6 19 (4.68%) PowerShell
7 16 (3.94%) XPath
8 10 (2.46%) C++
9 9 (2.22%) Scala
10 8 (1.97%) ABAP
10 8 (1.97%) RPG
10 8 (1.97%) Shell Script
11 7 (1.72%) Groovy
11 7 (1.72%) Korn
11 7 (1.72%) T-SQL
12 5 (1.23%) Perl
13 4 (0.99%) BeanShell
13 4 (0.99%) Kotlin
14 3 (0.74%) VBA
Qualifications
1 112 (27.59%) Security Cleared
2 88 (21.67%) SC Cleared
3 53 (13.05%) Degree
4 30 (7.39%) Computer Science Degree
5 15 (3.69%) BPSS Clearance
6 11 (2.71%) ISTQB
7 9 (2.22%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 8 (1.97%) HNC
8 8 (1.97%) HND
9 7 (1.72%) AWS Certification
10 6 (1.48%) Master's Degree
10 6 (1.48%) PMI Certification
11 5 (1.23%) CCNP
11 5 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.23%) DV Cleared
11 5 (1.23%) ISEB
11 5 (1.23%) PMP
12 3 (0.74%) CEH
12 3 (0.74%) GIAC
12 3 (0.74%) GWAPT
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (6.16%) QA
2 17 (4.19%) Data Quality
3 7 (1.72%) GDPR
4 6 (1.48%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.23%) GAAP
5 5 (1.23%) PSD2
6 3 (0.74%) California Consumer Privacy Act
6 3 (0.74%) IFRS
6 3 (0.74%) ISO 8583
6 3 (0.74%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 2 (0.49%) Basel III
7 2 (0.49%) EMIR
7 2 (0.49%) GxP
7 2 (0.49%) HL7
7 2 (0.49%) IFRS 17
7 2 (0.49%) IFRS 9
7 2 (0.49%) SEPA
7 2 (0.49%) SLA
8 1 (0.25%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 1 (0.25%) GMP
System Software
1 43 (10.59%) Docker
2 3 (0.74%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.74%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 14 (3.45%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.20%) Ansible
3 10 (2.46%) Control-M
3 10 (2.46%) Puppet
4 8 (1.97%) logstash
5 7 (1.72%) Kibana
5 7 (1.72%) TIBCO Hawk
6 5 (1.23%) ITRS Geneos
7 3 (0.74%) CloudHub
8 2 (0.49%) Fluentd
8 2 (0.49%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.49%) QRadar
8 2 (0.49%) Terraform
9 1 (0.25%) CEMLI
9 1 (0.25%) Docker Swarm
9 1 (0.25%) HP ALM
9 1 (0.25%) Podman
9 1 (0.25%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.25%) Prometheus
9 1 (0.25%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 103 (25.37%) Oracle
2 53 (13.05%) SAP
3 40 (9.85%) IBM
3 40 (9.85%) Microsoft
4 31 (7.64%) webMethods
5 18 (4.43%) MuleSoft
6 16 (3.94%) Workday
7 12 (2.96%) Pega
7 12 (2.96%) ServiceNow
7 12 (2.96%) Software AG
7 12 (2.96%) Splunk
7 12 (2.96%) TIBCO
8 11 (2.71%) Informatica
9 10 (2.46%) Axway
10 9 (2.22%) Cisco
11 8 (1.97%) Google
11 8 (1.97%) Red Hat
12 7 (1.72%) BEA
12 7 (1.72%) Salesforce
12 7 (1.72%) Veracode