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

6 months to
6 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 269 246 209
Rank change year-on-year -23 -37 -7
Contract jobs citing XML 395 324 496
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.01% 1.04% 1.11%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.55% 4.65% 5.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 266 201 327
10th Percentile £350 £313 £375
25th Percentile £402 £400 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £638 £594 £613
90th Percentile £708 £650 £744
UK excluding London median daily rate £455 £449 £525
% change year-on-year +1.34% -14.48% +6.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 2 26
10th Percentile £40.95 - £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 £89.60 - £75.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 - £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 8,679 6,971 9,287
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 22.16% 22.37% 20.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,777 4,439 6,565
10th Percentile £358 £360 £350
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £538 £534
Median % change year-on-year -4.65% +0.66% -7.13%
75th Percentile £623 £650 £650
90th Percentile £725 £775 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 212 87 192
10th Percentile £35.00 £25.34 £25.78
25th Percentile £50.19 £38.88 £45.88
Median hourly rate £64.00 £62.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.40% +13.64% -15.38%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.95 £77.70 £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 6 February 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 6 February 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 6 February 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 +2 353 £495 -4.58% 107
London -22 190 £525 -1.87% 37
UK excluding London -38 145 £455 +1.34% 84
Work from Home -4 137 £484 +8.82% 54
North of England -30 52 £402 -23.43% 18
North West -4 41 £400 -10.06% 14
South East -28 38 £475 +35.71% 31
Midlands -41 26 £445 -21.52% 15
West Midlands -31 23 £440 -22.40% 12
East of England -8 20 £581 - 9
Yorkshire -54 11 £531 -6.31% 3
South West -12 8 £438 -1.41% 7
Scotland -5 5 £500 +11.11% 6
East Midlands -25 3 £525 +16.67% 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 23 (5.82%) WebLogic
2 19 (4.81%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 16 (4.05%) Confluence
4 12 (3.04%) Apache
5 10 (2.53%) WebSphere
6 9 (2.28%) Appian
6 9 (2.28%) JBoss
7 7 (1.77%) MQSeries
8 6 (1.52%) Oracle Workflow
9 5 (1.27%) Anypoint
10 4 (1.01%) Mule
10 4 (1.01%) Oracle Service Bus
11 3 (0.76%) Apache Spark
11 3 (0.76%) Documentum
12 2 (0.51%) BizTalk Server
12 2 (0.51%) SharePoint
13 1 (0.25%) Alfresco
13 1 (0.25%) CMS
13 1 (0.25%) SAS
13 1 (0.25%) Tomcat
Applications
1 6 (1.52%) FrameMaker
1 6 (1.52%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.01%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.76%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.51%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.51%) EngageOne
4 2 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.25%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.25%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 9 (2.28%) Oracle ERP
1 9 (2.28%) SAP Payroll
2 7 (1.77%) BusinessWorks
2 7 (1.77%) SAP HCM
2 7 (1.77%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (1.52%) Oracle Payables
3 6 (1.52%) Oracle Receivables
4 5 (1.27%) Dynamics CRM
4 5 (1.27%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 5 (1.27%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 5 (1.27%) Payment Gateway
5 4 (1.01%) Maximo
5 4 (1.01%) Oracle 11i
5 4 (1.01%) Oracle General Ledger
5 4 (1.01%) Workday HCM
6 3 (0.76%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.51%) NEC Housing
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle Cash Management
7 2 (0.51%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.51%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 88 (22.28%) Azure
2 68 (17.22%) AWS
3 27 (6.84%) OCI
4 24 (6.08%) Power Platform
5 23 (5.82%) Azure DevOps
6 20 (5.06%) GCP
6 20 (5.06%) SaaS
7 18 (4.56%) Cloud Computing
7 18 (4.56%) GitHub
8 15 (3.80%) PaaS
9 14 (3.54%) Serverless
9 14 (3.54%) Tricentis Tosca
10 13 (3.29%) Apigee
10 13 (3.29%) Dynamics 365
10 13 (3.29%) IaaS
11 12 (3.04%) Boomi
12 11 (2.78%) Azure Logic Apps
13 10 (2.53%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (2.28%) GitHub Actions
15 8 (2.03%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 35 (8.86%) HTTPS
2 23 (5.82%) HTTP
3 10 (2.53%) Firewall
3 10 (2.53%) SSL
4 4 (1.01%) FTP
5 3 (0.76%) NFC
5 3 (0.76%) PPP
6 2 (0.51%) 5G
6 2 (0.51%) BGP
6 2 (0.51%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
6 2 (0.51%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 2 (0.51%) FIX Connectivity
6 2 (0.51%) MPLS
6 2 (0.51%) VPN
7 1 (0.25%) DNS
7 1 (0.25%) Network Security
7 1 (0.25%) Radio Access Network
7 1 (0.25%) SMS
7 1 (0.25%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (10.63%) SQL Server
2 41 (10.38%) Relational Database
3 24 (6.08%) Data Warehouse
4 23 (5.82%) MongoDB
5 21 (5.32%) PostgreSQL
6 15 (3.80%) Oracle Database
6 15 (3.80%) Power BI
6 15 (3.80%) RDBMS
7 14 (3.54%) NoSQL
7 14 (3.54%) Oracle Reports
8 13 (3.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 12 (3.04%) Metadata
10 10 (2.53%) Data Lake
10 10 (2.53%) MySQL
11 9 (2.28%) DataStage
12 8 (2.03%) Apache Cassandra
13 7 (1.77%) DB2
14 6 (1.52%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (1.52%) Elasticsearch
14 6 (1.52%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 49 (12.41%) JIRA
2 48 (12.15%) Postman
3 45 (11.39%) Git
4 33 (8.35%) Jenkins
5 28 (7.09%) Selenium
6 21 (5.32%) Cucumber
7 20 (5.06%) JUnit
8 12 (3.04%) Eclipse
9 11 (2.78%) SoapUI
10 9 (2.28%) GitLab
10 9 (2.28%) IntelliJ
10 9 (2.28%) SpecFlow
10 9 (2.28%) TestRail
10 9 (2.28%) Zephyr
11 8 (2.03%) SonarQube
12 7 (1.77%) Maven
12 7 (1.77%) Robot Framework
12 7 (1.77%) Toad
13 6 (1.52%) MSTest
14 5 (1.27%) Bitbucket
General
1 131 (33.16%) Social Skills
2 88 (22.28%) Finance
3 71 (17.97%) Analytical Skills
4 42 (10.63%) Public Sector
5 39 (9.87%) Banking
6 21 (5.32%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (2.78%) Investment Banking
8 9 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
8 9 (2.28%) Legal
8 9 (2.28%) Publishing
8 9 (2.28%) Telecoms
9 8 (2.03%) Financial Institution
9 8 (2.03%) Private Banking
10 7 (1.77%) Retail
11 6 (1.52%) Aerospace
12 5 (1.27%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.27%) Military
13 4 (1.01%) Back Office
14 3 (0.76%) Front Office
14 3 (0.76%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 128 (32.41%) Developer
2 60 (15.19%) Analyst
3 35 (8.86%) Consultant
4 30 (7.59%) Senior
5 26 (6.58%) Business Analyst
6 21 (5.32%) Architect
7 19 (4.81%) Lead
8 18 (4.56%) Software Engineer
9 17 (4.30%) Integration Developer
10 16 (4.05%) Data Engineer
10 16 (4.05%) webMethods Developer
11 12 (3.04%) Java Developer
11 12 (3.04%) Tester
12 11 (2.78%) DBA
12 11 (2.78%) SAP Consultant
13 10 (2.53%) Administrator
13 10 (2.53%) Integration Specialist
13 10 (2.53%) Senior Developer
13 10 (2.53%) Solutions Architect
14 9 (2.28%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 221 (55.95%) JSON
2 139 (35.19%) REST
2 139 (35.19%) SOAP
3 50 (12.66%) XSLT
4 48 (12.15%) OAuth
5 46 (11.65%) Web Services
6 33 (8.35%) HTML
7 30 (7.59%) JMS
8 27 (6.84%) .NET
9 26 (6.58%) JWT
9 26 (6.58%) Oracle Fusion
10 25 (6.33%) RESTful
11 24 (6.08%) Middleware
12 21 (5.32%) Spring
13 20 (5.06%) Swagger
14 18 (4.56%) J2EE
14 18 (4.56%) XSD
15 17 (4.30%) CSS
15 17 (4.30%) Hibernate
16 16 (4.05%) EDI
Miscellaneous
1 18 (4.56%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.54%) Replication
3 12 (3.04%) Management Information System
4 11 (2.78%) Public Cloud
5 9 (2.28%) Algorithms
5 9 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
5 9 (2.28%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.03%) AS400
6 8 (2.03%) Cloud Native
6 8 (2.03%) Legacy Systems
6 8 (2.03%) Virtual Team
7 7 (1.77%) Fixed Income
7 7 (1.77%) Product Ownership
8 6 (1.52%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.52%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.52%) Low-Code
8 6 (1.52%) Self-Motivation
8 6 (1.52%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 5 (1.27%) Derivative
9 5 (1.27%) Digital Wallet
Operating Systems
1 47 (11.90%) Linux
2 28 (7.09%) Unix
3 17 (4.30%) Windows
4 5 (1.27%) AIX
5 4 (1.01%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.76%) Android
7 1 (0.25%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.25%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 131 (33.16%) Agile
1 131 (33.16%) DevOps
2 99 (25.06%) Problem-Solving
3 78 (19.75%) CI/CD
4 57 (14.43%) Validation
5 53 (13.42%) ERP
5 53 (13.42%) Test Automation
6 50 (12.66%) ETL
7 46 (11.65%) Migration
7 46 (11.65%) Scrum
8 44 (11.14%) Data Modelling
9 42 (10.63%) Deployment Automation
10 41 (10.38%) Microservices
11 37 (9.37%) Requirements Gathering
12 36 (9.11%) Integration Patterns
13 34 (8.61%) Continuous Improvement
13 34 (8.61%) SDLC
13 34 (8.61%) Software Engineering
14 33 (8.35%) Computer Science
14 33 (8.35%) Data Migration
Programming Languages
1 144 (36.46%) SQL
2 108 (27.34%) Java
3 61 (15.44%) C#
4 58 (14.68%) Python
5 52 (13.16%) JavaScript
6 22 (5.57%) PowerShell
7 19 (4.81%) PL/SQL
8 16 (4.05%) XPath
9 10 (2.53%) Shell Script
10 9 (2.28%) C++
10 9 (2.28%) Scala
10 9 (2.28%) T-SQL
11 8 (2.03%) ABAP
11 8 (2.03%) RPG
12 7 (1.77%) Groovy
12 7 (1.77%) Korn
13 5 (1.27%) Perl
14 4 (1.01%) Kotlin
15 3 (0.76%) BeanShell
15 3 (0.76%) VBA
Qualifications
1 110 (27.85%) Security Cleared
2 87 (22.03%) SC Cleared
3 45 (11.39%) Degree
4 25 (6.33%) Computer Science Degree
5 16 (4.05%) BPSS Clearance
6 11 (2.78%) ISTQB
7 9 (2.28%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 7 (1.77%) AWS Certification
9 6 (1.52%) HNC
9 6 (1.52%) HND
9 6 (1.52%) Master's Degree
9 6 (1.52%) PMI Certification
10 5 (1.27%) CCNP
10 5 (1.27%) Cisco Certification
10 5 (1.27%) DV Cleared
10 5 (1.27%) ISEB
10 5 (1.27%) PMP
11 3 (0.76%) Azure Certification
11 3 (0.76%) CEH
11 3 (0.76%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (5.82%) QA
2 16 (4.05%) Data Quality
3 7 (1.77%) GDPR
4 6 (1.52%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.27%) PSD2
6 4 (1.01%) GAAP
7 3 (0.76%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 3 (0.76%) FATCA
7 3 (0.76%) HL7
7 3 (0.76%) ISO 8583
7 3 (0.76%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.51%) Basel III
8 2 (0.51%) EMIR
8 2 (0.51%) GxP
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS 17
8 2 (0.51%) IFRS 9
8 2 (0.51%) SEPA
9 1 (0.25%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 1 (0.25%) SLA
System Software
1 38 (9.62%) Docker
2 3 (0.76%) Oracle RAC
3 1 (0.25%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 13 (3.29%) Ansible
1 13 (3.29%) Kubernetes
2 10 (2.53%) Control-M
2 10 (2.53%) Puppet
3 8 (2.03%) logstash
4 7 (1.77%) Kibana
4 7 (1.77%) TIBCO Hawk
5 5 (1.27%) ITRS Geneos
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 (0.25%) CEMLI
7 1 (0.25%) Docker Swarm
7 1 (0.25%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.25%) Podman
7 1 (0.25%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.25%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.25%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 106 (26.84%) Oracle
2 51 (12.91%) SAP
3 40 (10.13%) IBM
4 38 (9.62%) Microsoft
5 31 (7.85%) webMethods
6 16 (4.05%) MuleSoft
6 16 (4.05%) Workday
7 12 (3.04%) Software AG
7 12 (3.04%) TIBCO
8 11 (2.78%) Informatica
8 11 (2.78%) Splunk
9 10 (2.53%) Axway
10 9 (2.28%) Cisco
10 9 (2.28%) ServiceNow
11 8 (2.03%) Google
11 8 (2.03%) Red Hat
11 8 (2.03%) Talend
12 7 (1.77%) BEA
12 7 (1.77%) Veracode
13 6 (1.52%) Salesforce