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

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 302 222 164
Rank change year-on-year -80 -58 +24
Contract jobs citing XML 437 390 578
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.81% 1.18% 1.49%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.29% 5.29% 6.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 288 261 298
10th Percentile £325 £356 £363
25th Percentile £400 £413 £428
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -9.13%
75th Percentile £613 £550 £600
90th Percentile £691 £625 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £450 £488
% change year-on-year -5.56% -7.69% -7.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 25 67
10th Percentile £28.13 £27.04 -
25th Percentile £29.07 £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £39.50 £42.50 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -7.06% -1.16% -38.57%
75th Percentile £43.00 £43.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £49.34 £78.75 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £42.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year -7.06% -1.16% -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 10,177 7,379 8,582
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 18.97% 22.39% 22.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,619 4,943 5,786
10th Percentile £363 £350 £350
25th Percentile £425 £412 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £638 £625 £663
90th Percentile £738 £741 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £500
% change year-on-year +6.38% -6.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 265 176 242
10th Percentile £28.15 £29.63 £22.86
25th Percentile £41.35 £41.13 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £54.44 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +19.40% +3.69% -12.50%
75th Percentile £73.00 £67.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.92 £81.18 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £55.00 £58.91
% change year-on-year +18.18% -6.63% +0.54%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 -73 358 £500 +5.26% 246
UK excluding London -94 185 £425 -5.56% 125
London -36 184 £549 +4.52% 158
Work from Home -56 138 £520 +15.56% 83
South East -55 59 £460 -3.16% 36
North of England -76 41 £390 -13.33% 25
Midlands -29 36 £415 -3.38% 17
North West -61 33 £390 -13.33% 13
West Midlands -34 26 £408 -12.37% 9
Scotland -11 17 £444 -10.53% 12
South West -46 17 £550 +46.67% 13
East of England -34 11 £450 -18.18% 8
East Midlands -10 9 £494 +57.32% 8
Yorkshire -41 8 £399 -24.05% 11
Northern Ireland +1 3 £650 +36.84% 10
Wales -27 3 £600 +60.00% 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 25 (5.72%) SharePoint
2 22 (5.03%) Confluence
3 18 (4.12%) Anypoint
4 16 (3.66%) IIS
5 14 (3.20%) Oracle Workflow
6 13 (2.97%) Mule
7 9 (2.06%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 6 (1.37%) WebSphere
9 5 (1.14%) CMS
9 5 (1.14%) WebLogic
10 4 (0.92%) Apache
11 3 (0.69%) Apache Airflow
11 3 (0.69%) MQSeries
12 2 (0.46%) CICS
12 2 (0.46%) Oracle Service Bus
13 1 (0.23%) JBoss
13 1 (0.23%) Mule ESB
13 1 (0.23%) Oracle Self-Service HR
13 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
Applications
1 41 (9.38%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.75%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.14%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.46%) Windchill
7 1 (0.23%) FrameMaker
7 1 (0.23%) LaTeX
Business Applications
1 22 (5.03%) Oracle EBS
2 16 (3.66%) NetSuite
3 15 (3.43%) Oracle Payables
4 12 (2.75%) Oracle Receivables
5 9 (2.06%) SAP S/4HANA
6 8 (1.83%) Oracle General Ledger
7 7 (1.60%) Dynamics CRM
8 6 (1.37%) Maximo
8 6 (1.37%) Oracle Assets
8 6 (1.37%) Oracle FAH
9 5 (1.14%) Elite 3E
9 5 (1.14%) Oracle ERP
9 5 (1.14%) Oracle Financials
10 4 (0.92%) Oracle E-Business Tax
10 4 (0.92%) Oracle Internet Expenses
10 4 (0.92%) Oracle iProcurement
10 4 (0.92%) SAP FI
10 4 (0.92%) Summit
11 3 (0.69%) Findur
11 3 (0.69%) Oracle Cash Management
Cloud Services
1 103 (23.57%) Azure
2 54 (12.36%) AWS
3 46 (10.53%) Azure DevOps
4 41 (9.38%) Boomi
5 28 (6.41%) GCP
6 20 (4.58%) AtomSphere
7 19 (4.35%) GitHub
8 18 (4.12%) Azure Service Bus
9 17 (3.89%) SaaS
10 15 (3.43%) Entra ID
11 14 (3.20%) Azure Logic Apps
11 14 (3.20%) Serverless
12 12 (2.75%) Power Platform
13 10 (2.29%) IaaS
13 10 (2.29%) iPaaS
13 10 (2.29%) OCI
13 10 (2.29%) PaaS
14 9 (2.06%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (2.06%) Azure Functions
14 9 (2.06%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 26 (5.95%) HTTP
2 9 (2.06%) FTP
3 7 (1.60%) SSL
4 6 (1.37%) TCP/IP
5 5 (1.14%) Network Security
6 3 (0.69%) Wireless
7 2 (0.46%) DNS
7 2 (0.46%) HTTPS
7 2 (0.46%) Internet
7 2 (0.46%) Intranet
7 2 (0.46%) SD-WAN
7 2 (0.46%) WAN
8 1 (0.23%) 3GPP
8 1 (0.23%) AMQP
8 1 (0.23%) Bluetooth
8 1 (0.23%) Firewall
8 1 (0.23%) NAS
8 1 (0.23%) NFC
8 1 (0.23%) SAN
8 1 (0.23%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (11.90%) SQL Server
2 38 (8.70%) Relational Database
3 21 (4.81%) Oracle Database
4 20 (4.58%) PostgreSQL
5 19 (4.35%) RDBMS
6 17 (3.89%) Oracle Reports
7 13 (2.97%) MongoDB
7 13 (2.97%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 12 (2.75%) Metadata
8 12 (2.75%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 11 (2.52%) NoSQL
10 10 (2.29%) MS Access
11 9 (2.06%) MySQL
12 8 (1.83%) Data Warehouse
12 8 (1.83%) Power BI
12 8 (1.83%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 7 (1.60%) Tableau
14 6 (1.37%) DataStage
15 5 (1.14%) Azure SQL Database
16 4 (0.92%) Db2
Development Applications
1 50 (11.44%) Git
2 42 (9.61%) JIRA
3 27 (6.18%) Postman
4 21 (4.81%) Jenkins
4 21 (4.81%) Team Foundation Server
4 21 (4.81%) Visual Studio
5 17 (3.89%) Selenium
6 15 (3.43%) Oracle Forms
7 12 (2.75%) JMeter
8 11 (2.52%) SoapUI
9 10 (2.29%) Maven
10 9 (2.06%) GitLab
10 9 (2.06%) Gradle
11 7 (1.60%) eggPlant
12 6 (1.37%) JDeveloper
12 6 (1.37%) LoadRunner
12 6 (1.37%) SonarQube
12 6 (1.37%) WebDriver
13 5 (1.14%) Cypress.io
13 5 (1.14%) REST Assured
General
1 142 (32.49%) Social Skills
2 97 (22.20%) Finance
3 94 (21.51%) Analytical Skills
4 44 (10.07%) Public Sector
5 40 (9.15%) Banking
6 13 (2.97%) Telecoms
7 12 (2.75%) Manufacturing
8 11 (2.52%) Legal
8 11 (2.52%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (1.83%) Investment Banking
9 8 (1.83%) Publishing
9 8 (1.83%) Retail
10 7 (1.60%) General Ledger
11 6 (1.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.14%) Financial Institution
12 5 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.92%) Advertising
13 4 (0.92%) Aerospace
13 4 (0.92%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 130 (29.75%) Developer
2 62 (14.19%) Consultant
3 51 (11.67%) Senior
4 42 (9.61%) Analyst
5 37 (8.47%) Architect
6 31 (7.09%) Implementation Consultant
7 28 (6.41%) Lead
8 22 (5.03%) Senior Developer
9 19 (4.35%) Business Analyst
10 18 (4.12%) Data Engineer
10 18 (4.12%) Software Developer
11 13 (2.97%) C# Developer
11 13 (2.97%) Payroll Consultant
11 13 (2.97%) Software Engineer
11 13 (2.97%) Technical Consultant
12 12 (2.75%) Integration Developer
12 12 (2.75%) Integration Specialist
12 12 (2.75%) Oracle Developer
12 12 (2.75%) Solutions Architect
13 11 (2.52%) MuleSoft Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 213 (48.74%) JSON
2 160 (36.61%) REST
3 139 (31.81%) SOAP
4 73 (16.70%) .NET
5 70 (16.02%) Middleware
6 64 (14.65%) Web Services
7 47 (10.76%) XSLT
8 40 (9.15%) Kafka
8 40 (9.15%) OAuth
9 37 (8.47%) HTML
10 27 (6.18%) OAuth2
11 25 (5.72%) JWT
12 23 (5.26%) .NET Framework
12 23 (5.26%) EDI
13 22 (5.03%) RESTful
14 21 (4.81%) CSS
15 18 (4.12%) Swagger
16 15 (3.43%) OpenAPI
16 15 (3.43%) XSD
17 14 (3.20%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 21 (4.81%) Product Ownership
2 18 (4.12%) Enterprise Software
2 18 (4.12%) Legacy Systems
3 16 (3.66%) Data Structures
4 15 (3.43%) Cloud Native
5 13 (2.97%) SWIFT Messaging Network
6 11 (2.52%) Distributed Systems
6 11 (2.52%) Onboarding
6 11 (2.52%) Replication
7 8 (1.83%) CMDB
7 8 (1.83%) Legacy Applications
7 8 (1.83%) PKI
8 7 (1.60%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 6 (1.37%) Hybrid Cloud
9 6 (1.37%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.37%) Public Cloud
9 6 (1.37%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.37%) Taxonomies
10 5 (1.14%) Analytical Mindset
10 5 (1.14%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 35 (8.01%) Linux
2 29 (6.64%) Windows
3 27 (6.18%) Unix
4 7 (1.60%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.92%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.46%) VMS
6 2 (0.46%) zOS
7 1 (0.23%) Android
7 1 (0.23%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (27.69%) Problem-Solving
2 98 (22.43%) Agile
2 98 (22.43%) DevOps
3 92 (21.05%) CI/CD
4 76 (17.39%) Validation
5 64 (14.65%) Workflow
6 59 (13.50%) Integration Patterns
7 51 (11.67%) Data Modelling
7 51 (11.67%) Migration
7 51 (11.67%) Test Automation
8 48 (10.98%) Stakeholder Management
9 44 (10.07%) ERP
9 44 (10.07%) Event-Driven
10 41 (9.38%) User Acceptance Testing
11 40 (9.15%) Data Mapping
11 40 (9.15%) Scrum
11 40 (9.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 37 (8.47%) Continuous Improvement
13 35 (8.01%) API Management
14 34 (7.78%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 190 (43.48%) SQL
2 88 (20.14%) Java
3 77 (17.62%) JavaScript
4 74 (16.93%) Python
5 62 (14.19%) C#
6 45 (10.30%) T-SQL
7 34 (7.78%) PL/SQL
8 23 (5.26%) VB.NET
9 22 (5.03%) VBA
10 21 (4.81%) PowerShell
11 20 (4.58%) Groovy
12 18 (4.12%) C++
13 17 (3.89%) VB
14 16 (3.66%) VB6
15 14 (3.20%) XPath
16 7 (1.60%) DataWeave
17 6 (1.37%) ABAP
17 6 (1.37%) Bicep
17 6 (1.37%) R
17 6 (1.37%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 118 (27.00%) Security Cleared
2 94 (21.51%) SC Cleared
3 31 (7.09%) Degree
4 17 (3.89%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (3.66%) ISTQB
6 12 (2.75%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 11 (2.52%) DV Cleared
8 10 (2.29%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.83%) ISEB
10 6 (1.37%) DBS Check
11 3 (0.69%) TOGAF Certification
12 2 (0.46%) AWS Certification
12 2 (0.46%) CISSP
12 2 (0.46%) GIAC
12 2 (0.46%) Master's Degree
12 2 (0.46%) Microsoft Certification
12 2 (0.46%) SSCP
13 1 (0.23%) CEH
13 1 (0.23%) CISM
13 1 (0.23%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (7.32%) QA
2 22 (5.03%) Data Quality
3 15 (3.43%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.83%) Accessibility
4 8 (1.83%) GDPR
5 6 (1.37%) GMP
5 6 (1.37%) SLA
6 5 (1.14%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 5 (1.14%) GxP
6 5 (1.14%) HL7
6 5 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 5 (1.14%) WCAG
7 4 (0.92%) GRC
8 3 (0.69%) ISO 15022
9 1 (0.23%) COREP
9 1 (0.23%) DICOM
9 1 (0.23%) FINREP
9 1 (0.23%) NIST
9 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.23%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 13 (2.97%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.52%) Docker
3 5 (1.14%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.46%) RACF
4 2 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 15 (3.43%) Ansible
2 13 (2.97%) Kubernetes
3 12 (2.75%) Single Sign-On
4 8 (1.83%) Terraform
5 5 (1.14%) HP Fortify
6 4 (0.92%) Control-M
7 3 (0.69%) QRadar
7 3 (0.69%) vRealize Orchestrator
7 3 (0.69%) WMI
8 2 (0.46%) CloudHub
8 2 (0.46%) Grafana
9 1 (0.23%) Apache Ranger
9 1 (0.23%) HP Quality Center
9 1 (0.23%) vRealize
Vendors
1 131 (29.98%) Oracle
2 99 (22.65%) Microsoft
3 45 (10.30%) SAP
4 37 (8.47%) MuleSoft
5 36 (8.24%) IBM
6 35 (8.01%) ServiceNow
7 30 (6.86%) Salesforce
8 20 (4.58%) Google
9 18 (4.12%) Workday
10 11 (2.52%) Databricks
11 10 (2.29%) Okta
11 10 (2.29%) webMethods
12 9 (2.06%) Informatica
13 7 (1.60%) TIBCO
14 6 (1.37%) WSO2
15 5 (1.14%) BeyondTrust
15 5 (1.14%) Intapp
15 5 (1.14%) Kronos
15 5 (1.14%) Splunk
15 5 (1.14%) VMware