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

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 300 245 175
Rank change year-on-year -55 -70 +23
Contract jobs citing XML 440 365 543
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.81% 1.12% 1.41%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.76% 4.36% 5.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 310 242 299
10th Percentile £325 £341 £337
25th Percentile £406 £413 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £494 £508
Median % change year-on-year +1.27% -2.71% -7.73%
75th Percentile £602 £575 £606
90th Percentile £700 £688 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £438 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -7.84% -5.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 26 44
10th Percentile £28.60 £30.63 -
25th Percentile £29.07 £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £29.54 £42.75 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.91% -0.58% -38.57%
75th Percentile £41.75 £43.75 -
90th Percentile £43.38 £91.88 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.54 £42.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year -30.51% -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 11,706 8,375 9,564
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 21.63% 25.62% 24.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,684 5,617 6,367
10th Percentile £375 £355 £356
25th Percentile £435 £413 £433
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £550
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -6.82% -
75th Percentile £638 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £506 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +6.53% -5.00% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 293 179 187
10th Percentile £29.07 £31.15 £25.60
25th Percentile £49.00 £41.00 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £52.50 £61.60
Median % change year-on-year +23.81% -14.77% -1.44%
75th Percentile £76.00 £65.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.00 £70.40 £74.65
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £55.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +22.73% -15.38% +8.33%

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 14 September 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 14 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
Top 17 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 14 September 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 -80 345 £488 -2.50% 396
London -39 190 £538 +2.38% 230
UK excluding London -93 170 £438 -7.84% 200
Work from Home -60 145 £525 +7.69% 415
South East -48 46 £460 -3.16% 52
Midlands -25 41 £415 -3.49% 32
West Midlands -28 33 £410 -11.83% 22
North of England -88 29 £375 -21.05% 38
North West -65 21 £375 -16.67% 23
Scotland -9 20 £450 -10.00% 26
South West -40 19 £550 +46.67% 21
East of England -50 10 £480 -1.64% 17
Yorkshire -33 8 £378 -31.36% 13
East Midlands -13 7 £494 +82.96% 10
Northern Ireland +6 3 £650 +59.51% 6
Wales -25 3 £600 +60.00% 8
Channel Islands - 1 £450 -

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 32 (7.27%) SharePoint
2 20 (4.55%) Confluence
3 17 (3.86%) Anypoint
4 16 (3.64%) IIS
4 16 (3.64%) Oracle Workflow
5 13 (2.95%) Mule
6 10 (2.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 7 (1.59%) WebSphere
8 6 (1.36%) Apache
9 5 (1.14%) WebLogic
10 3 (0.68%) Apache Airflow
10 3 (0.68%) CMS
10 3 (0.68%) MQSeries
10 3 (0.68%) Oracle Service Bus
11 2 (0.45%) CICS
12 1 (0.23%) JBoss
12 1 (0.23%) Jupyter
12 1 (0.23%) Mule ESB
12 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
Applications
1 13 (2.95%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.73%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.59%) MS Visio
4 6 (1.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.68%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.45%) Windchill
7 1 (0.23%) FrameMaker
7 1 (0.23%) LaTeX
Business Applications
1 22 (5.00%) Oracle EBS
2 16 (3.64%) Dynamics CRM
2 16 (3.64%) NetSuite
3 15 (3.41%) Oracle Payables
4 12 (2.73%) Oracle Receivables
5 10 (2.27%) SAP S/4HANA
6 8 (1.82%) Oracle General Ledger
7 7 (1.59%) Oracle FAH
8 6 (1.36%) Maximo
8 6 (1.36%) Oracle Assets
8 6 (1.36%) Oracle Financials
9 5 (1.14%) Elite 3E
9 5 (1.14%) FLEXCUBE
9 5 (1.14%) SAP FI
9 5 (1.14%) Workday HCM
10 4 (0.91%) Oracle E-Business Tax
10 4 (0.91%) Oracle Internet Expenses
10 4 (0.91%) Oracle iProcurement
11 3 (0.68%) SAP CO
11 3 (0.68%) Summit
Cloud Services
1 116 (26.36%) Azure
2 60 (13.64%) AWS
3 53 (12.05%) Azure DevOps
4 44 (10.00%) Boomi
5 30 (6.82%) GCP
6 21 (4.77%) AtomSphere
6 21 (4.77%) Power Platform
7 20 (4.55%) Azure Service Bus
8 18 (4.09%) Azure Logic Apps
8 18 (4.09%) Entra ID
8 18 (4.09%) GitHub
9 17 (3.86%) Dynamics 365
10 16 (3.64%) Azure Functions
10 16 (3.64%) SaaS
10 16 (3.64%) Serverless
11 15 (3.41%) Power Automate
12 12 (2.73%) iPaaS
13 9 (2.05%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (2.05%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (2.05%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 31 (7.05%) HTTP
2 9 (2.05%) FTP
3 7 (1.59%) SSL
4 6 (1.36%) TCP/IP
5 5 (1.14%) Network Security
6 3 (0.68%) Wireless
7 2 (0.45%) DNS
7 2 (0.45%) HTTPS
7 2 (0.45%) Internet
7 2 (0.45%) Intranet
7 2 (0.45%) SD-WAN
7 2 (0.45%) WAN
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
8 1 (0.23%) X.509
Database & Business Intelligence
1 57 (12.95%) SQL Server
2 39 (8.86%) Relational Database
3 25 (5.68%) Oracle Database
4 22 (5.00%) PostgreSQL
5 17 (3.86%) Oracle Reports
6 14 (3.18%) RDBMS
6 14 (3.18%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 13 (2.95%) Metadata
8 12 (2.73%) MS Access
8 12 (2.73%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 11 (2.50%) MySQL
9 11 (2.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 10 (2.27%) MongoDB
11 8 (1.82%) NoSQL
12 7 (1.59%) Data Warehouse
12 7 (1.59%) Power BI
12 7 (1.59%) Tableau
13 6 (1.36%) Data Lake
13 6 (1.36%) DataStage
14 5 (1.14%) GIS
Development Applications
1 61 (13.86%) Git
2 45 (10.23%) JIRA
3 26 (5.91%) Jenkins
4 25 (5.68%) Postman
5 22 (5.00%) Team Foundation Server
5 22 (5.00%) Visual Studio
6 19 (4.32%) Oracle Forms
6 19 (4.32%) Selenium
7 11 (2.50%) Gradle
7 11 (2.50%) JMeter
8 10 (2.27%) Maven
9 9 (2.05%) GitLab
9 9 (2.05%) SonarQube
10 8 (1.82%) eggPlant
10 8 (1.82%) SoapUI
10 8 (1.82%) WebDriver
11 6 (1.36%) Cucumber
11 6 (1.36%) JDeveloper
11 6 (1.36%) LoadRunner
12 5 (1.14%) Cypress.io
General
1 148 (33.64%) Social Skills
2 102 (23.18%) Finance
3 99 (22.50%) Analytical Skills
4 52 (11.82%) Public Sector
5 42 (9.55%) Banking
6 13 (2.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 12 (2.73%) Manufacturing
7 12 (2.73%) Telecoms
8 9 (2.05%) Law
8 9 (2.05%) Publishing
9 8 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (1.82%) General Ledger
9 8 (1.82%) Legal
9 8 (1.82%) Retail
10 7 (1.59%) Investment Banking
10 7 (1.59%) Organisational Skills
11 6 (1.36%) Police
12 5 (1.14%) Aerospace
13 4 (0.91%) Financial Institution
13 4 (0.91%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 148 (33.64%) Developer
2 56 (12.73%) Senior
3 46 (10.45%) Architect
4 41 (9.32%) Analyst
5 35 (7.95%) Consultant
6 31 (7.05%) Lead
7 26 (5.91%) Senior Developer
8 22 (5.00%) Data Engineer
8 22 (5.00%) Software Developer
9 17 (3.86%) Business Analyst
10 16 (3.64%) Solutions Architect
11 14 (3.18%) Integration Developer
12 13 (2.95%) C# Developer
12 13 (2.95%) Lead Developer
12 13 (2.95%) Software Engineer
13 12 (2.73%) Technical Consultant
13 12 (2.73%) Test Analyst
14 10 (2.27%) Integration Architect
14 10 (2.27%) Oracle Developer
14 10 (2.27%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 228 (51.82%) JSON
2 173 (39.32%) REST
3 152 (34.55%) SOAP
4 87 (19.77%) .NET
5 78 (17.73%) Web Services
6 77 (17.50%) Middleware
7 56 (12.73%) XSLT
8 44 (10.00%) HTML
9 42 (9.55%) OAuth
10 41 (9.32%) Kafka
11 28 (6.36%) OAuth2
12 27 (6.14%) .NET Framework
12 27 (6.14%) RESTful
13 26 (5.91%) CSS
14 25 (5.68%) EDI
15 24 (5.45%) JWT
16 22 (5.00%) Swagger
17 18 (4.09%) OpenAPI
18 17 (3.86%) XSD
19 16 (3.64%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 21 (4.77%) Enterprise Software
2 20 (4.55%) Legacy Systems
3 19 (4.32%) Product Ownership
4 18 (4.09%) SWIFT Messaging Network
5 17 (3.86%) Data Structures
6 16 (3.64%) Cloud Native
7 15 (3.41%) Distributed Systems
8 13 (2.95%) Management Information System
9 11 (2.50%) Onboarding
9 11 (2.50%) Replication
9 11 (2.50%) Taxonomies
10 9 (2.05%) CMDB
10 9 (2.05%) Legacy Applications
10 9 (2.05%) LIMS
11 8 (1.82%) PKI
12 7 (1.59%) Hybrid Cloud
13 6 (1.36%) Algorithms
13 6 (1.36%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 6 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
13 6 (1.36%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 36 (8.18%) Linux
2 32 (7.27%) Windows
3 26 (5.91%) Unix
4 10 (2.27%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.91%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.68%) zOS
7 1 (0.23%) Android
7 1 (0.23%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.23%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 135 (30.68%) Problem-Solving
2 107 (24.32%) Agile
3 100 (22.73%) DevOps
4 99 (22.50%) CI/CD
5 83 (18.86%) Validation
6 64 (14.55%) Integration Patterns
7 60 (13.64%) Test Automation
7 60 (13.64%) Workflow
8 59 (13.41%) Stakeholder Management
9 56 (12.73%) Data Modelling
10 50 (11.36%) Continuous Improvement
10 50 (11.36%) Event-Driven
11 49 (11.14%) Migration
12 46 (10.45%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 44 (10.00%) ERP
14 42 (9.55%) Scrum
15 39 (8.86%) API Management
15 39 (8.86%) Software Engineering
15 39 (8.86%) User Acceptance Testing
16 38 (8.64%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 177 (40.23%) SQL
2 101 (22.95%) Java
3 90 (20.45%) JavaScript
4 81 (18.41%) C#
5 79 (17.95%) Python
6 37 (8.41%) PL/SQL
7 24 (5.45%) VB.NET
8 23 (5.23%) PowerShell
8 23 (5.23%) VBA
9 21 (4.77%) Groovy
10 20 (4.55%) C++
11 18 (4.09%) VB
12 17 (3.86%) T-SQL
12 17 (3.86%) VB6
13 15 (3.41%) XPath
14 9 (2.05%) TypeScript
15 7 (1.59%) ABAP
15 7 (1.59%) Bicep
15 7 (1.59%) Shell Script
16 6 (1.36%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 130 (29.55%) Security Cleared
2 106 (24.09%) SC Cleared
3 44 (10.00%) Degree
4 23 (5.23%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (3.64%) DV Cleared
5 16 (3.64%) ISTQB
6 12 (2.73%) Computer Science Degree
7 11 (2.50%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 9 (2.05%) Microsoft Certification
9 8 (1.82%) ISEB
10 5 (1.14%) Azure Certification
10 5 (1.14%) TOGAF Certification
11 4 (0.91%) AWS Certification
11 4 (0.91%) Master's Degree
12 2 (0.45%) CISSP
12 2 (0.45%) DBS Check
12 2 (0.45%) GIAC
12 2 (0.45%) SSCP
13 1 (0.23%) CEH
13 1 (0.23%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (8.41%) QA
2 25 (5.68%) Data Quality
3 20 (4.55%) ISO 20022
4 15 (3.41%) Accessibility
5 13 (2.95%) GDPR
6 12 (2.73%) WCAG
7 9 (2.05%) GMP
8 8 (1.82%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 8 (1.82%) GxP
8 8 (1.82%) ISO/IEC 17025
9 6 (1.36%) HL7
9 6 (1.36%) SLA
10 5 (1.14%) GRC
11 4 (0.91%) ISO 15022
12 3 (0.68%) SEPA
13 2 (0.45%) NCSC
14 1 (0.23%) COREP
14 1 (0.23%) NIST
14 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
14 1 (0.23%) PSD2
System Software
1 16 (3.64%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.95%) Docker
3 5 (1.14%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.45%) RACF
5 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 16 (3.64%) Ansible
2 15 (3.41%) Single Sign-On
3 14 (3.18%) Kubernetes
4 5 (1.14%) Control-M
4 5 (1.14%) HP Fortify
5 3 (0.68%) QRadar
5 3 (0.68%) vRealize Orchestrator
5 3 (0.68%) WMI
6 2 (0.45%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.45%) Grafana
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Ranger
7 1 (0.23%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.23%) Kibana
7 1 (0.23%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.23%) vRealize
Vendors
1 136 (30.91%) Oracle
2 108 (24.55%) Microsoft
3 47 (10.68%) SAP
4 41 (9.32%) IBM
5 38 (8.64%) MuleSoft
6 33 (7.50%) ServiceNow
7 30 (6.82%) Salesforce
8 26 (5.91%) Google
9 23 (5.23%) Workday
10 13 (2.95%) Okta
11 11 (2.50%) Informatica
12 10 (2.27%) Databricks
12 10 (2.27%) webMethods
13 9 (2.05%) TIBCO
14 8 (1.82%) BeyondTrust
14 8 (1.82%) WSO2
15 5 (1.14%) Intapp
15 5 (1.14%) Kronos
15 5 (1.14%) VMware
16 4 (0.91%) InterSystems