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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 309 225 161
Rank change year-on-year -84 -64 +28
Contract jobs citing XML 420 384 605
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.79% 1.17% 1.51%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.12% 5.19% 6.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 273 263 316
10th Percentile £340 £360 £372
25th Percentile £409 £415 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -11.31%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £600
90th Percentile £700 £623 £699
UK excluding London median daily rate £433 £453 £500
% change year-on-year -4.42% -9.40% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 18 68
10th Percentile £29.07 £27.00 -
25th Percentile £30.00 £30.31 -
Median hourly rate £39.50 £37.50 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +5.33% -12.79% -38.57%
75th Percentile £46.80 £43.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £59.50 £49.75 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £37.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year +5.33% -12.79% -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 10,187 7,395 8,699
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.27% 22.58% 21.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,644 4,993 5,942
10th Percentile £363 £350 £350
25th Percentile £425 £413 £429
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £505 £550
Median % change year-on-year +3.96% -8.18% -
75th Percentile £632 £638 £666
90th Percentile £738 £750 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £500
% change year-on-year +6.38% -6.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 265 161 250
10th Percentile £29.07 £30.25 £22.73
25th Percentile £45.00 £39.25 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £54.88 £51.75
Median % change year-on-year +18.45% +6.04% -13.75%
75th Percentile £74.00 £67.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.92 £80.00 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £57.50 £58.15
% change year-on-year +13.04% -1.12% -0.75%

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 28 July 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 28 July 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 28 July 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 -83 344 £500 +5.32% 93
UK excluding London -83 185 £433 -4.42% 56
London -57 170 £550 +4.76% 47
Work from Home -57 133 £518 +10.39% 47
South East -59 57 £475 - 17
North of England -78 43 £383 -15.00% 10
Midlands -27 42 £418 -10.22% 12
North West -53 35 £383 -15.00% 4
West Midlands -34 33 £415 -17.00% 8
Scotland -10 16 £438 -16.67% 4
South West -32 14 £550 +46.67% 9
East Midlands -6 9 £438 +39.49% 4
East of England -31 9 £450 -18.18% 4
Yorkshire -39 8 £399 -24.05% 6
Northern Ireland -4 3 £650 +36.84%
Wales -28 3 £600 +60.00%

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 (5.71%) Confluence
2 18 (4.29%) Anypoint
2 18 (4.29%) SharePoint
3 16 (3.81%) IIS
4 15 (3.57%) Oracle Workflow
5 14 (3.33%) Mule
6 5 (1.19%) CMS
6 5 (1.19%) WebLogic
6 5 (1.19%) WebSphere
7 3 (0.71%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.48%) Apache
8 2 (0.48%) CICS
8 2 (0.48%) MQSeries
8 2 (0.48%) Mule ESB
8 2 (0.48%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 1 (0.24%) Appian
9 1 (0.24%) JBoss
9 1 (0.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.24%) Tomcat
Applications
1 37 (8.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (2.62%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.43%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.71%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.24%) EngageOne
5 1 (0.24%) FrameMaker
Business Applications
1 21 (5.00%) Oracle EBS
2 15 (3.57%) Oracle Payables
3 14 (3.33%) NetSuite
4 13 (3.10%) Oracle Receivables
5 8 (1.90%) Oracle General Ledger
6 7 (1.67%) Oracle Assets
6 7 (1.67%) SAP S/4HANA
7 6 (1.43%) Dynamics CRM
7 6 (1.43%) Maximo
7 6 (1.43%) Oracle FAH
8 5 (1.19%) Elite 3E
8 5 (1.19%) Oracle Financials
9 4 (0.95%) Oracle Cash Management
9 4 (0.95%) Oracle E-Business Tax
9 4 (0.95%) Oracle Internet Expenses
9 4 (0.95%) Oracle iProcurement
9 4 (0.95%) Summit
10 3 (0.71%) Findur
10 3 (0.71%) SAP FI
10 3 (0.71%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 93 (22.14%) Azure
2 50 (11.90%) AWS
3 37 (8.81%) Azure DevOps
3 37 (8.81%) Boomi
4 21 (5.00%) GCP
5 19 (4.52%) AtomSphere
5 19 (4.52%) GitHub
6 17 (4.05%) SaaS
7 16 (3.81%) Power Platform
8 13 (3.10%) Azure Data Factory
8 13 (3.10%) Serverless
9 11 (2.62%) Entra ID
10 10 (2.38%) Azure Service Bus
10 10 (2.38%) GitHub Actions
11 9 (2.14%) Azure Logic Apps
11 9 (2.14%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 8 (1.90%) Azure Functions
12 8 (1.90%) Dynamics 365
12 8 (1.90%) iPaaS
12 8 (1.90%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 27 (6.43%) HTTP
2 7 (1.67%) FTP
2 7 (1.67%) SSL
3 6 (1.43%) 3GPP
3 6 (1.43%) TCP/IP
4 4 (0.95%) Network Security
4 4 (0.95%) RTCP
4 4 (0.95%) RTP
4 4 (0.95%) XCAP
5 2 (0.48%) DNS
5 2 (0.48%) HTTPS
5 2 (0.48%) Internet
5 2 (0.48%) Intranet
5 2 (0.48%) SD-WAN
5 2 (0.48%) WAN
5 2 (0.48%) 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 56 (13.33%) SQL Server
2 38 (9.05%) Relational Database
3 20 (4.76%) PostgreSQL
4 19 (4.52%) Oracle Database
4 19 (4.52%) RDBMS
4 19 (4.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 18 (4.29%) Oracle Reports
6 14 (3.33%) Data Warehouse
6 14 (3.33%) MongoDB
7 13 (3.10%) NoSQL
7 13 (3.10%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 13 (3.10%) Power BI
8 12 (2.86%) Metadata
9 11 (2.62%) MySQL
9 11 (2.62%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 10 (2.38%) Data Lake
10 10 (2.38%) MS Access
11 6 (1.43%) DataStage
12 5 (1.19%) Azure SQL Database
13 4 (0.95%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 45 (10.71%) Git
2 40 (9.52%) JIRA
3 27 (6.43%) Postman
4 21 (5.00%) Team Foundation Server
5 20 (4.76%) Visual Studio
6 16 (3.81%) Jenkins
7 15 (3.57%) Oracle Forms
8 9 (2.14%) GitLab
9 7 (1.67%) JMeter
9 7 (1.67%) Maven
9 7 (1.67%) Selenium
9 7 (1.67%) SoapUI
10 6 (1.43%) JDeveloper
11 5 (1.19%) Cypress.io
11 5 (1.19%) Eclipse
11 5 (1.19%) Gradle
11 5 (1.19%) JUnit
11 5 (1.19%) Subversion
12 4 (0.95%) Newman
12 4 (0.95%) TeamCity
General
1 134 (31.90%) Social Skills
2 87 (20.71%) Analytical Skills
2 87 (20.71%) Finance
3 40 (9.52%) Public Sector
4 31 (7.38%) Banking
5 12 (2.86%) Organisational Skills
5 12 (2.86%) Telecoms
6 11 (2.62%) Documentation Skills
7 10 (2.38%) Manufacturing
8 9 (2.14%) Legal
9 8 (1.90%) General Ledger
9 8 (1.90%) Investment Banking
9 8 (1.90%) Publishing
9 8 (1.90%) Retail
10 6 (1.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 5 (1.19%) Financial Institution
11 5 (1.19%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (0.95%) Advertising
12 4 (0.95%) Front Office
12 4 (0.95%) Military
Job Titles
1 136 (32.38%) Developer
2 60 (14.29%) Consultant
3 44 (10.48%) Analyst
4 40 (9.52%) Senior
5 32 (7.62%) Architect
6 30 (7.14%) Implementation Consultant
7 22 (5.24%) Business Analyst
7 22 (5.24%) Lead
8 21 (5.00%) Data Engineer
9 20 (4.76%) Senior Developer
10 18 (4.29%) Software Developer
11 15 (3.57%) C# Developer
12 13 (3.10%) Payroll Consultant
12 13 (3.10%) Technical Consultant
13 12 (2.86%) Integration Developer
13 12 (2.86%) Oracle Developer
13 12 (2.86%) Software Engineer
14 11 (2.62%) MuleSoft Developer
15 10 (2.38%) .NET Developer
15 10 (2.38%) DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 206 (49.05%) JSON
2 145 (34.52%) REST
3 131 (31.19%) SOAP
4 67 (15.95%) .NET
5 60 (14.29%) Middleware
6 59 (14.05%) Web Services
7 44 (10.48%) XSLT
8 36 (8.57%) OAuth
9 29 (6.90%) .NET Framework
9 29 (6.90%) HTML
10 25 (5.95%) Kafka
10 25 (5.95%) OAuth2
11 22 (5.24%) JWT
11 22 (5.24%) RESTful
12 21 (5.00%) ASP.NET
12 21 (5.00%) Swagger
13 20 (4.76%) EDI
14 18 (4.29%) CSS
15 16 (3.81%) OpenAPI
16 14 (3.33%) ASP.NET Web API
Miscellaneous
1 18 (4.29%) Legacy Systems
2 17 (4.05%) Data Structures
2 17 (4.05%) Product Ownership
3 11 (2.62%) Enterprise Software
3 11 (2.62%) Replication
4 10 (2.38%) Cloud Native
5 9 (2.14%) Onboarding
6 8 (1.90%) Distributed Systems
6 8 (1.90%) SWIFT Messaging Network
7 7 (1.67%) CMDB
7 7 (1.67%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 7 (1.67%) Legacy Applications
7 7 (1.67%) Management Information System
7 7 (1.67%) PKI
8 6 (1.43%) Algorithms
8 6 (1.43%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (1.43%) Taxonomies
9 5 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
9 5 (1.19%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.19%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 26 (6.19%) Windows
2 23 (5.48%) Linux
2 23 (5.48%) Unix
3 7 (1.67%) Windows Server
4 3 (0.71%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (0.48%) Android
5 2 (0.48%) VMS
5 2 (0.48%) zOS
6 1 (0.24%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (26.43%) Problem-Solving
2 95 (22.62%) Agile
3 82 (19.52%) CI/CD
3 82 (19.52%) DevOps
4 64 (15.24%) Workflow
5 61 (14.52%) Validation
6 52 (12.38%) Data Modelling
6 52 (12.38%) Integration Patterns
7 50 (11.90%) Migration
8 40 (9.52%) ERP
8 40 (9.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 39 (9.29%) Stakeholder Management
10 38 (9.05%) Data Mapping
11 36 (8.57%) User Acceptance Testing
12 35 (8.33%) Event-Driven
13 33 (7.86%) Scrum
13 33 (7.86%) Software Engineering
14 32 (7.62%) API Management
15 31 (7.38%) Continuous Improvement
15 31 (7.38%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 188 (44.76%) SQL
2 70 (16.67%) C#
3 69 (16.43%) Java
4 60 (14.29%) JavaScript
5 58 (13.81%) Python
6 49 (11.67%) T-SQL
7 37 (8.81%) PL/SQL
8 26 (6.19%) PowerShell
9 22 (5.24%) VBA
10 21 (5.00%) Groovy
11 18 (4.29%) VB.NET
12 17 (4.05%) VB
13 16 (3.81%) C++
13 16 (3.81%) VB6
14 14 (3.33%) XPath
15 8 (1.90%) Shell Script
16 7 (1.67%) DataWeave
17 6 (1.43%) Bicep
17 6 (1.43%) R
17 6 (1.43%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 103 (24.52%) Security Cleared
2 80 (19.05%) SC Cleared
3 28 (6.67%) Degree
4 17 (4.05%) BPSS Clearance
5 10 (2.38%) DV Cleared
6 9 (2.14%) ISTQB
6 9 (2.14%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 8 (1.90%) Computer Science Degree
8 5 (1.19%) Azure Certification
8 5 (1.19%) DBS Check
8 5 (1.19%) ISEB
9 4 (0.95%) TOGAF Certification
10 3 (0.71%) AWS Certification
10 3 (0.71%) Master's Degree
11 2 (0.48%) CISSP
11 2 (0.48%) GIAC
11 2 (0.48%) Microsoft Certification
11 2 (0.48%) SSCP
12 1 (0.24%) CEH
12 1 (0.24%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (7.14%) QA
2 19 (4.52%) Data Quality
3 9 (2.14%) GDPR
4 8 (1.90%) Accessibility
4 8 (1.90%) ISO 20022
5 7 (1.67%) SLA
6 6 (1.43%) GMP
7 5 (1.19%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 5 (1.19%) GxP
7 5 (1.19%) HL7
7 5 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 17025
7 5 (1.19%) WCAG
8 4 (0.95%) GRC
9 3 (0.71%) FATCA
10 2 (0.48%) ISO 15022
11 1 (0.24%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 1 (0.24%) COREP
11 1 (0.24%) NIST
11 1 (0.24%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.24%) PSD2
System Software
1 12 (2.86%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.62%) Docker
3 4 (0.95%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.48%) RACF
4 2 (0.48%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.24%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 14 (3.33%) Ansible
2 12 (2.86%) Single Sign-On
3 11 (2.62%) Kubernetes
4 8 (1.90%) Terraform
5 3 (0.71%) QRadar
5 3 (0.71%) vRealize Orchestrator
5 3 (0.71%) WMI
6 2 (0.48%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.48%) Grafana
7 1 (0.24%) Apache Ranger
7 1 (0.24%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.24%) vRealize
Vendors
1 121 (28.81%) Oracle
2 90 (21.43%) Microsoft
3 33 (7.86%) MuleSoft
4 31 (7.38%) SAP
5 30 (7.14%) ServiceNow
6 26 (6.19%) Salesforce
7 24 (5.71%) IBM
8 18 (4.29%) Workday
9 16 (3.81%) Google
10 10 (2.38%) Okta
11 9 (2.14%) Databricks
11 9 (2.14%) webMethods
12 6 (1.43%) Dell
12 6 (1.43%) Informatica
13 5 (1.19%) BeyondTrust
13 5 (1.19%) Guidewire
13 5 (1.19%) Intapp
13 5 (1.19%) Kronos
13 5 (1.19%) Talend
14 4 (0.95%) Splunk