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

6 months to
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 307 239 161
Rank change year-on-year -68 -78 +52
Contract jobs citing XML 354 311 649
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.07% 1.52%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.78% 4.71% 7.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 209 210 351
10th Percentile £358 £358 £406
25th Percentile £402 £415 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £538
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -11.63% -2.27%
75th Percentile £613 £588 £624
90th Percentile £682 £663 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £513
% change year-on-year - -12.20% +2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 6 72
10th Percentile £29.90 £23.93 -
25th Percentile £37.25 £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 £55.20 £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 9,374 6,599 8,902
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.66% 22.70% 20.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,179 4,521 6,171
10th Percentile £360 £363 £350
25th Percentile £416 £423 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year - -1.87% -2.73%
75th Percentile £624 £650 £650
90th Percentile £730 £775 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 267 110 243
10th Percentile £32.50 £30.15 £21.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £50.27 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year - +36.84% -26.92%
75th Percentile £71.75 £68.56 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.00 £82.19 £74.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year - +36.84% -26.36%

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 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 15 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
Top 15 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 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 -50 313 £500 +5.26% 93
UK excluding London -62 165 £450 - 69
London -54 147 £550 +4.76% 29
Work from Home -45 91 £453 -4.23% 42
North of England -43 62 £400 -11.11% 13
South East -39 59 £513 +12.64% 26
North West -15 54 £397 -11.56% 7
Midlands -54 22 £461 -16.14% 11
West Midlands -54 14 £455 -17.27% 8
South West -24 9 £600 +60.00% 13
East Midlands -23 8 £525 +67.20% 3
Yorkshire -54 8 £463 -13.95% 5
Scotland -9 7 £500 +1.21% 2
East of England -31 5 £438 -10.26% 4
Northern Ireland -13 1 - -

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 (4.24%) Confluence
2 12 (3.39%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 8 (2.26%) Anypoint
3 8 (2.26%) WebSphere
4 7 (1.98%) Oracle Workflow
4 7 (1.98%) WebLogic
5 6 (1.69%) IIS
5 6 (1.69%) SharePoint
6 5 (1.41%) CMS
7 4 (1.13%) Mule
7 4 (1.13%) Oracle Service Bus
8 3 (0.85%) Mule ESB
8 3 (0.85%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 2 (0.56%) Apache
9 2 (0.56%) Appian
9 2 (0.56%) CICS
9 2 (0.56%) MQSeries
9 2 (0.56%) Tomcat
10 1 (0.28%) BizTalk Server
10 1 (0.28%) JBoss
Applications
1 32 (9.04%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 4 (1.13%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.56%) Chatbot
3 2 (0.56%) EngageOne
3 2 (0.56%) FrameMaker
3 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 12 (3.39%) Oracle ERP
2 8 (2.26%) Oracle Payables
2 8 (2.26%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (1.98%) Oracle Receivables
4 6 (1.69%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 6 (1.69%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 6 (1.69%) Summit
5 5 (1.41%) Oracle General Ledger
5 5 (1.41%) Payment Gateway
6 4 (1.13%) Maximo
6 4 (1.13%) Oracle Cash Management
6 4 (1.13%) Workday HCM
7 3 (0.85%) Findur
7 3 (0.85%) Oracle Assets
7 3 (0.85%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.56%) BusinessWorks
8 2 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
8 2 (0.56%) Fidessa
8 2 (0.56%) NEC Housing
8 2 (0.56%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 70 (19.77%) Azure
2 43 (12.15%) AWS
3 28 (7.91%) OCI
4 20 (5.65%) Azure DevOps
5 17 (4.80%) PaaS
5 17 (4.80%) Power Platform
5 17 (4.80%) SaaS
5 17 (4.80%) Serverless
6 16 (4.52%) GCP
7 15 (4.24%) IaaS
8 14 (3.95%) Boomi
8 14 (3.95%) GitHub
9 10 (2.82%) Azure Data Factory
10 9 (2.54%) Apigee
10 9 (2.54%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 9 (2.54%) Cloud Computing
11 8 (2.26%) Dynamics 365
11 8 (2.26%) Kong
12 7 (1.98%) Azure Functions
12 7 (1.98%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 20 (5.65%) HTTP
2 7 (1.98%) FTP
3 6 (1.69%) 3GPP
4 5 (1.41%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.13%) Firewall
5 4 (1.13%) RTCP
5 4 (1.13%) RTP
5 4 (1.13%) XCAP
6 3 (0.85%) DNS
6 3 (0.85%) HTTPS
7 2 (0.56%) FIX Connectivity
7 2 (0.56%) Network Security
7 2 (0.56%) SSL
7 2 (0.56%) 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
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (11.30%) Relational Database
2 31 (8.76%) SQL Server
3 26 (7.34%) PostgreSQL
4 25 (7.06%) RDBMS
5 22 (6.21%) NoSQL
6 21 (5.93%) Data Warehouse
7 20 (5.65%) MongoDB
8 16 (4.52%) Oracle Reports
9 15 (4.24%) Oracle Database
10 14 (3.95%) Power BI
11 11 (3.11%) Data Lake
11 11 (3.11%) MySQL
11 11 (3.11%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 9 (2.54%) Metadata
13 6 (1.69%) SQL Server Reporting Services
14 5 (1.41%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (1.41%) Oracle BI Publisher
15 4 (1.13%) DataStage
15 4 (1.13%) SQL Server Analysis Services
16 3 (0.85%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 34 (9.60%) Postman
2 32 (9.04%) Git
3 27 (7.63%) JIRA
4 12 (3.39%) SoapUI
5 10 (2.82%) GitLab
6 9 (2.54%) Jenkins
6 9 (2.54%) Maven
7 6 (1.69%) JUnit
8 5 (1.41%) Eclipse
9 4 (1.13%) Cucumber
9 4 (1.13%) Selenium
9 4 (1.13%) Subversion
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
11 2 (0.56%) TestRail
General
1 111 (31.36%) Social Skills
2 76 (21.47%) Finance
3 66 (18.64%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (11.02%) Banking
5 25 (7.06%) Public Sector
6 14 (3.95%) Investment Banking
7 12 (3.39%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (3.39%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (2.82%) Legal
9 8 (2.26%) Telecoms
10 7 (1.98%) Military
10 7 (1.98%) Publishing
11 6 (1.69%) General Ledger
12 4 (1.13%) Advertising
12 4 (1.13%) Billing
12 4 (1.13%) 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%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 78 (22.03%) Developer
2 62 (17.51%) Consultant
3 43 (12.15%) Analyst
4 32 (9.04%) Implementation Consultant
5 26 (7.34%) Business Analyst
6 23 (6.50%) Senior
7 22 (6.21%) Architect
8 18 (5.08%) Lead
9 17 (4.80%) DBA
10 16 (4.52%) Software Engineer
11 13 (3.67%) Payroll Consultant
12 12 (3.39%) Data Engineer
13 11 (3.11%) Integration Engineer
13 11 (3.11%) Integration Specialist
13 11 (3.11%) PostgreSQL DBA
14 10 (2.82%) C# Developer
15 9 (2.54%) Cloud Specialist
15 9 (2.54%) Oracle Specialist
15 9 (2.54%) Senior Developer
16 8 (2.26%) Technical Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 166 (46.89%) JSON
2 104 (29.38%) REST
3 95 (26.84%) SOAP
4 44 (12.43%) Web Services
5 38 (10.73%) Middleware
6 35 (9.89%) OAuth
6 35 (9.89%) XSLT
7 32 (9.04%) .NET
7 32 (9.04%) Oracle Fusion
8 28 (7.91%) JWT
9 27 (7.63%) HTML
10 23 (6.50%) Kafka
10 23 (6.50%) Swagger
11 19 (5.37%) CSS
11 19 (5.37%) RESTful
12 17 (4.80%) XSD
13 16 (4.52%) OpenAPI
14 14 (3.95%) EDI
14 14 (3.95%) YAML
15 13 (3.67%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 15 (4.24%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.95%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.39%) Public Cloud
4 9 (2.54%) Management Information System
5 8 (2.26%) Data Protection Act
5 8 (2.26%) Fixed Income
5 8 (2.26%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
6 7 (1.98%) Derivative
7 6 (1.69%) Credit Risk
7 6 (1.69%) Market Risk
7 6 (1.69%) Onboarding
7 6 (1.69%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 5 (1.41%) Algorithms
8 5 (1.41%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.41%) Digital Wallet
8 5 (1.41%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (1.41%) Replication
9 4 (1.13%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (1.13%) Cloud Native
9 4 (1.13%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 28 (7.91%) Linux
2 17 (4.80%) Unix
3 10 (2.82%) Windows
4 2 (0.56%) AIX
4 2 (0.56%) Android
4 2 (0.56%) Ubuntu
4 2 (0.56%) VMS
4 2 (0.56%) zOS
5 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.28%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (29.38%) Agile
2 88 (24.86%) Problem-Solving
3 79 (22.32%) DevOps
4 52 (14.69%) CI/CD
5 49 (13.84%) Integration Patterns
6 46 (12.99%) ERP
7 41 (11.58%) Validation
8 39 (11.02%) Migration
9 37 (10.45%) Workflow
10 35 (9.89%) Data Modelling
11 32 (9.04%) Stakeholder Management
12 30 (8.47%) ETL
12 30 (8.47%) Unit Testing
13 28 (7.91%) Requirements Gathering
14 26 (7.34%) Scrum
14 26 (7.34%) SDLC
14 26 (7.34%) User Acceptance Testing
15 25 (7.06%) Mentoring
15 25 (7.06%) Software Engineering
16 24 (6.78%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 136 (38.42%) SQL
2 54 (15.25%) Java
3 48 (13.56%) C#
3 48 (13.56%) Python
4 38 (10.73%) JavaScript
5 33 (9.32%) T-SQL
6 15 (4.24%) PL/SQL
7 11 (3.11%) PowerShell
8 8 (2.26%) C++
9 5 (1.41%) DataWeave
9 5 (1.41%) Groovy
9 5 (1.41%) Shell Script
9 5 (1.41%) XPath
10 4 (1.13%) Bicep
10 4 (1.13%) Korn
10 4 (1.13%) Kotlin
10 4 (1.13%) VB
11 3 (0.85%) ABAP
11 3 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.85%) VB6
Qualifications
1 85 (24.01%) Security Cleared
2 61 (17.23%) SC Cleared
3 35 (9.89%) Degree
4 18 (5.08%) Computer Science Degree
5 11 (3.11%) BPSS Clearance
6 6 (1.69%) DV Cleared
7 5 (1.41%) AWS Certification
7 5 (1.41%) Master's Degree
8 4 (1.13%) Azure Certification
8 4 (1.13%) CCNP
8 4 (1.13%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (1.13%) DBS Check
9 3 (0.85%) TOGAF Certification
10 2 (0.56%) HNC
10 2 (0.56%) HND
10 2 (0.56%) ISTQB
10 2 (0.56%) PMI Certification
10 2 (0.56%) PMP
11 1 (0.28%) CISM
11 1 (0.28%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (4.80%) QA
2 9 (2.54%) Data Quality
3 8 (2.26%) GDPR
4 6 (1.69%) HL7
5 5 (1.41%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.41%) PSD2
6 4 (1.13%) GAAP
7 3 (0.85%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 3 (0.85%) FATCA
7 3 (0.85%) ISO 20022
7 3 (0.85%) ISO 8583
8 2 (0.56%) Basel III
8 2 (0.56%) IFRS
8 2 (0.56%) IFRS 17
8 2 (0.56%) IFRS 9
8 2 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.56%) SLA
9 1 (0.28%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 1 (0.28%) GxP
9 1 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 15 (4.24%) Docker
2 4 (1.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.85%) Oracle RAC
4 2 (0.56%) RACF
4 2 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.28%) Active Directory
5 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 13 (3.67%) Kubernetes
2 7 (1.98%) Ansible
3 6 (1.69%) Terraform
4 4 (1.13%) Control-M
5 3 (0.85%) Grafana
5 3 (0.85%) vRealize Orchestrator
6 2 (0.56%) logstash
6 2 (0.56%) QRadar
6 2 (0.56%) TIBCO Hawk
7 1 (0.28%) CloudHub
7 1 (0.28%) Docker Swarm
7 1 (0.28%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.28%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.28%) Kibana
7 1 (0.28%) Podman
7 1 (0.28%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.28%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.28%) Puppet
7 1 (0.28%) vRealize
Vendors
1 101 (28.53%) Oracle
2 45 (12.71%) Microsoft
3 25 (7.06%) SAP
4 22 (6.21%) Workday
5 21 (5.93%) MuleSoft
5 21 (5.93%) ServiceNow
6 14 (3.95%) IBM
7 9 (2.54%) Google
7 9 (2.54%) Informatica
7 9 (2.54%) Red Hat
8 8 (2.26%) Pega
9 7 (1.98%) Databricks
9 7 (1.98%) Dell
10 6 (1.69%) Splunk
10 6 (1.69%) webMethods
11 5 (1.41%) Bloomberg
11 5 (1.41%) InterSystems
11 5 (1.41%) Salesforce
11 5 (1.41%) Talend
12 4 (1.13%) Charles River