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

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 305 256 159
Rank change year-on-year -49 -97 +50
Contract jobs citing XML 352 299 645
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.03% 1.50%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.73% 4.52% 7.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 210 204 351
10th Percentile £350 £359 £408
25th Percentile £401 £415 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £540
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -12.04% -1.82%
75th Percentile £613 £588 £625
90th Percentile £681 £654 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £518
% change year-on-year - -13.04% +3.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 6 72
10th Percentile £32.18 £23.93 -
25th Percentile £38.13 £27.00 -
Median hourly rate £47.50 £27.38 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +73.48% -36.33% -40.69%
75th Percentile £48.75 £77.42 £51.25
90th Percentile £56.28 £93.75 £84.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £24.83 £43.00
% change year-on-year +91.30% -42.26% -40.69%

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 9,448 6,617 8,932
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.80% 22.69% 20.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,236 4,537 6,200
10th Percentile £360 £363 £340
25th Percentile £415 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -0.10% -1.69% -2.91%
75th Percentile £620 £650 £650
90th Percentile £727 £780 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £488 £500
% change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 269 113 244
10th Percentile £35.00 £29.45 £21.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £51.06 £42.81
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year - +36.84% -26.92%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.20 £82.79 £74.85
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year - +36.84% -25.78%

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 May 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 May 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 9 May 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 -26 316 £500 +5.26% 82
UK excluding London -66 162 £450 - 55
London -45 151 £550 +4.76% 31
Work from Home -43 90 £488 +2.63% 41
North of England -42 61 £397 -11.81% 15
South East -48 58 £513 +19.88% 25
North West -15 54 £393 -12.64% 9
Midlands -47 22 £468 -15.00% 7
West Midlands -50 14 £461 -18.00% 5
South West -28 9 £600 +60.00% 3
East Midlands -26 8 £525 +46.65% 2
Yorkshire -51 7 £431 -21.59% 6
Scotland -11 6 £500 +1.21% 2
East of England -36 6 £438 -10.26% 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 15 (4.26%) Confluence
1 15 (4.26%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 9 (2.56%) Anypoint
2 9 (2.56%) WebLogic
2 9 (2.56%) WebSphere
3 8 (2.27%) Oracle Workflow
4 6 (1.70%) SharePoint
5 5 (1.42%) CMS
5 5 (1.42%) IIS
6 4 (1.14%) Mule
6 4 (1.14%) Oracle Service Bus
7 3 (0.85%) Mule ESB
7 3 (0.85%) Oracle Self-Service HR
8 2 (0.57%) Apache
8 2 (0.57%) Appian
8 2 (0.57%) MQSeries
8 2 (0.57%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.28%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.28%) BizTalk Server
9 1 (0.28%) CICS
Applications
1 31 (8.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.42%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.57%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.57%) EngageOne
5 2 (0.57%) FrameMaker
6 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 12 (3.41%) Oracle ERP
2 9 (2.56%) Oracle Payables
3 8 (2.27%) Oracle Receivables
3 8 (2.27%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (1.99%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 6 (1.70%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 6 (1.70%) Summit
6 5 (1.42%) Oracle Cash Management
6 5 (1.42%) Oracle General Ledger
6 5 (1.42%) Payment Gateway
7 4 (1.14%) BusinessWorks
7 4 (1.14%) Maximo
7 4 (1.14%) Oracle 11i
7 4 (1.14%) Oracle Assets
7 4 (1.14%) Workday HCM
8 3 (0.85%) Findur
8 3 (0.85%) SAP Payroll
9 2 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
9 2 (0.57%) NEC Housing
9 2 (0.57%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 70 (19.89%) Azure
2 43 (12.22%) AWS
3 28 (7.95%) OCI
4 19 (5.40%) Azure DevOps
5 18 (5.11%) GCP
5 18 (5.11%) SaaS
6 17 (4.83%) PaaS
6 17 (4.83%) Power Platform
7 16 (4.55%) Serverless
8 15 (4.26%) IaaS
9 12 (3.41%) Boomi
9 12 (3.41%) GitHub
10 10 (2.84%) Apigee
10 10 (2.84%) Azure Data Factory
10 10 (2.84%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 9 (2.56%) Cloud Computing
12 8 (2.27%) Kong
13 7 (1.99%) Azure Cosmos DB
13 7 (1.99%) Dynamics 365
13 7 (1.99%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 24 (6.82%) HTTP
2 8 (2.27%) FTP
3 6 (1.70%) 3GPP
3 6 (1.70%) Firewall
4 5 (1.42%) HTTPS
5 4 (1.14%) RTCP
5 4 (1.14%) RTP
5 4 (1.14%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.14%) XCAP
6 3 (0.85%) DNS
7 2 (0.57%) FIX Connectivity
7 2 (0.57%) Network Security
7 2 (0.57%) VPN
8 1 (0.28%) 5G
8 1 (0.28%) AMQP
8 1 (0.28%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
8 1 (0.28%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 1 (0.28%) NAS
8 1 (0.28%) SAN
8 1 (0.28%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (11.65%) Relational Database
2 32 (9.09%) SQL Server
3 24 (6.82%) PostgreSQL
4 23 (6.53%) RDBMS
5 20 (5.68%) NoSQL
6 19 (5.40%) Data Warehouse
7 18 (5.11%) MongoDB
8 17 (4.83%) Oracle Reports
9 16 (4.55%) Oracle Database
10 15 (4.26%) Power BI
11 11 (3.13%) Data Lake
12 10 (2.84%) Metadata
13 9 (2.56%) MySQL
13 9 (2.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 6 (1.70%) Oracle BI Publisher
15 5 (1.42%) Azure SQL Database
15 5 (1.42%) DB2
15 5 (1.42%) SQL Server Reporting Services
16 4 (1.14%) DataStage
16 4 (1.14%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 35 (9.94%) Postman
2 31 (8.81%) Git
3 27 (7.67%) JIRA
4 14 (3.98%) SoapUI
5 11 (3.13%) Jenkins
6 10 (2.84%) Maven
7 8 (2.27%) GitLab
7 8 (2.27%) JUnit
8 5 (1.42%) Eclipse
9 4 (1.14%) Cucumber
9 4 (1.14%) Selenium
9 4 (1.14%) Subversion
10 3 (0.85%) Bitbucket
10 3 (0.85%) Browser DevTools
10 3 (0.85%) ClearCase
10 3 (0.85%) Firebug
10 3 (0.85%) Hudson
10 3 (0.85%) JMeter
10 3 (0.85%) MSTest
10 3 (0.85%) REST Assured
General
1 113 (32.10%) Social Skills
2 77 (21.88%) Finance
3 67 (19.03%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (10.80%) Banking
5 27 (7.67%) Public Sector
6 14 (3.98%) Investment Banking
7 13 (3.69%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (3.13%) Organisational Skills
9 10 (2.84%) Legal
10 7 (1.99%) Military
10 7 (1.99%) Publishing
10 7 (1.99%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.70%) General Ledger
12 4 (1.14%) Advertising
12 4 (1.14%) Billing
12 4 (1.14%) Front Office
13 3 (0.85%) Back Office
13 3 (0.85%) Financial Institution
13 3 (0.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.85%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 81 (23.01%) Developer
2 64 (18.18%) Consultant
3 42 (11.93%) Analyst
4 33 (9.38%) Implementation Consultant
5 26 (7.39%) Business Analyst
6 21 (5.97%) Senior
7 19 (5.40%) Architect
8 18 (5.11%) Lead
9 16 (4.55%) Software Engineer
10 15 (4.26%) DBA
11 13 (3.69%) Payroll Consultant
12 12 (3.41%) Data Engineer
13 10 (2.84%) C# Developer
13 10 (2.84%) Integration Specialist
13 10 (2.84%) Senior Developer
14 9 (2.56%) Cloud Specialist
14 9 (2.56%) Integration Engineer
14 9 (2.56%) Oracle Specialist
14 9 (2.56%) PostgreSQL DBA
15 8 (2.27%) Integration Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 165 (46.88%) JSON
2 100 (28.41%) REST
3 96 (27.27%) SOAP
4 47 (13.35%) Web Services
5 36 (10.23%) OAuth
5 36 (10.23%) XSLT
6 34 (9.66%) Middleware
7 30 (8.52%) Oracle Fusion
8 29 (8.24%) .NET
8 29 (8.24%) JWT
9 25 (7.10%) HTML
9 25 (7.10%) Kafka
10 23 (6.53%) Swagger
11 20 (5.68%) RESTful
12 19 (5.40%) CSS
13 18 (5.11%) XSD
14 16 (4.55%) OpenAPI
15 15 (4.26%) EDI
16 14 (3.98%) OAuth2
16 14 (3.98%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 15 (4.26%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.98%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.41%) Public Cloud
4 10 (2.84%) Management Information System
5 8 (2.27%) Data Protection Act
5 8 (2.27%) Fixed Income
6 7 (1.99%) Derivative
6 7 (1.99%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
6 7 (1.99%) Onboarding
7 6 (1.70%) Credit Risk
7 6 (1.70%) Market Risk
7 6 (1.70%) Replication
7 6 (1.70%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 5 (1.42%) Algorithms
8 5 (1.42%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.42%) Digital Wallet
9 4 (1.14%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (1.14%) Cloud Native
9 4 (1.14%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (1.14%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 31 (8.81%) Linux
2 21 (5.97%) Unix
3 13 (3.69%) Windows
4 5 (1.42%) AIX
5 2 (0.57%) Android
5 2 (0.57%) Ubuntu
5 2 (0.57%) VMS
6 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.28%) Windows Server
6 1 (0.28%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 102 (28.98%) Agile
2 89 (25.28%) Problem-Solving
3 75 (21.31%) DevOps
4 49 (13.92%) CI/CD
5 45 (12.78%) Integration Patterns
6 43 (12.22%) ERP
7 40 (11.36%) Validation
8 37 (10.51%) Workflow
9 36 (10.23%) Data Modelling
9 36 (10.23%) Migration
10 31 (8.81%) Stakeholder Management
11 29 (8.24%) ETL
11 29 (8.24%) Requirements Gathering
11 29 (8.24%) Unit Testing
12 27 (7.67%) SDLC
13 26 (7.39%) Mentoring
13 26 (7.39%) Software Engineering
14 25 (7.10%) Computer Science
14 25 (7.10%) Scrum
14 25 (7.10%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 139 (39.49%) SQL
2 57 (16.19%) Java
3 47 (13.35%) Python
4 44 (12.50%) C#
5 36 (10.23%) JavaScript
6 32 (9.09%) T-SQL
7 19 (5.40%) PL/SQL
8 11 (3.13%) PowerShell
9 8 (2.27%) C++
10 7 (1.99%) Korn
10 7 (1.99%) Shell Script
10 7 (1.99%) XPath
11 5 (1.42%) DataWeave
11 5 (1.42%) Groovy
11 5 (1.42%) Perl
12 4 (1.14%) ABAP
12 4 (1.14%) Bicep
12 4 (1.14%) Kotlin
13 3 (0.85%) VB
13 3 (0.85%) VB6
Qualifications
1 86 (24.43%) Security Cleared
2 60 (17.05%) SC Cleared
3 37 (10.51%) Degree
4 18 (5.11%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (2.84%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (1.42%) AWS Certification
6 5 (1.42%) DV Cleared
6 5 (1.42%) Master's Degree
7 4 (1.14%) Azure Certification
7 4 (1.14%) CCNP
7 4 (1.14%) Cisco Certification
7 4 (1.14%) DBS Check
8 2 (0.57%) HNC
8 2 (0.57%) HND
8 2 (0.57%) ISTQB
8 2 (0.57%) PMI Certification
8 2 (0.57%) PMP
8 2 (0.57%) TOGAF Certification
9 1 (0.28%) CTC Cleared
9 1 (0.28%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (5.11%) QA
2 10 (2.84%) Data Quality
3 9 (2.56%) GDPR
4 5 (1.42%) HL7
4 5 (1.42%) PCI DSS
4 5 (1.42%) PSD2
5 4 (1.14%) GAAP
6 3 (0.85%) California Consumer Privacy Act
6 3 (0.85%) FATCA
6 3 (0.85%) ISO 8583
6 3 (0.85%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 2 (0.57%) Basel III
7 2 (0.57%) IFRS
7 2 (0.57%) IFRS 17
7 2 (0.57%) IFRS 9
7 2 (0.57%) ISO 20022
7 2 (0.57%) SEPA
7 2 (0.57%) SLA
8 1 (0.28%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 1 (0.28%) GxP
System Software
1 16 (4.55%) Docker
2 4 (1.14%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.85%) Oracle RAC
4 2 (0.57%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.28%) Active Directory
5 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.28%) RACF
Systems Management
1 14 (3.98%) Kubernetes
2 7 (1.99%) Ansible
3 4 (1.14%) Control-M
3 4 (1.14%) TIBCO Hawk
4 3 (0.85%) Grafana
4 3 (0.85%) logstash
4 3 (0.85%) QRadar
4 3 (0.85%) Terraform
4 3 (0.85%) vRealize Orchestrator
5 2 (0.57%) CloudHub
5 2 (0.57%) Fluentd
6 1 (0.28%) CEMLI
6 1 (0.28%) Docker Swarm
6 1 (0.28%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.28%) Kibana
6 1 (0.28%) Podman
6 1 (0.28%) Progress Chef
6 1 (0.28%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.28%) Puppet
6 1 (0.28%) vRealize
Vendors
1 103 (29.26%) Oracle
2 41 (11.65%) Microsoft
3 26 (7.39%) SAP
4 20 (5.68%) MuleSoft
4 20 (5.68%) Workday
5 19 (5.40%) IBM
5 19 (5.40%) ServiceNow
6 9 (2.56%) Informatica
6 9 (2.56%) Red Hat
7 8 (2.27%) Google
7 8 (2.27%) Pega
7 8 (2.27%) Splunk
8 7 (1.99%) Databricks
8 7 (1.99%) Dell
8 7 (1.99%) webMethods
9 6 (1.70%) Salesforce
10 5 (1.42%) Bloomberg
10 5 (1.42%) Talend
10 5 (1.42%) TIBCO
11 4 (1.14%) Atlassian