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

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 309 233 179
Rank change year-on-year -76 -54 +13
Contract jobs citing XML 441 386 544
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.82% 1.17% 1.40%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.76% 4.61% 5.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 290 260 294
10th Percentile £325 £358 £362
25th Percentile £401 £413 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £613 £575 £603
90th Percentile £689 £673 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £452 £500
% change year-on-year -5.87% -9.70% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 26 44
10th Percentile £27.66 £28.50 -
25th Percentile £29.07 £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £34.75 £42.50 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.24% -1.16% -38.57%
75th Percentile £42.06 £43.75 -
90th Percentile £44.14 £76.25 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £34.75 £42.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year -18.24% -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 11,722 8,376 9,495
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 21.85% 25.39% 24.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,701 5,659 6,433
10th Percentile £375 £355 £356
25th Percentile £431 £413 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -6.36% -
75th Percentile £630 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -1.77%
Number of hourly rates quoted 292 185 208
10th Percentile £30.00 £30.45 £23.80
25th Percentile £49.75 £41.25 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £54.00 £61.60
Median % change year-on-year +20.37% -12.34% -1.83%
75th Percentile £75.00 £65.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £87.16 £79.48 £74.61
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.47 £55.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year +22.67% -12.00% +4.17%

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 24 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 24 August 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 24 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 -80 359 £500 +3.09% 97
London -37 186 £540 +2.86% 34
UK excluding London -97 186 £425 -5.87% 78
Work from Home -64 140 £523 +16.11% 44
South East -53 59 £460 -3.16% 22
North of England -73 41 £375 -16.67% 12
Midlands -29 36 £415 -3.38% 21
North West -54 33 £390 -13.33% 5
West Midlands -36 25 £408 -12.37% 14
Scotland -9 18 £450 -12.20% 1
South West -39 17 £550 +46.67% 11
East Midlands -6 10 £494 +57.32% 7
East of England -43 10 £480 -12.82% 7
Yorkshire -35 8 £355 -32.38% 5
Northern Ireland +1 3 £650 +36.84% 2
Wales -29 3 £600 +60.00% 1
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 26 (5.90%) SharePoint
2 20 (4.54%) Confluence
3 18 (4.08%) Anypoint
4 16 (3.63%) IIS
5 15 (3.40%) Oracle Workflow
6 13 (2.95%) Mule
7 9 (2.04%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 6 (1.36%) WebSphere
9 5 (1.13%) CMS
9 5 (1.13%) WebLogic
10 4 (0.91%) Apache
11 3 (0.68%) Apache Airflow
11 3 (0.68%) MQSeries
12 2 (0.45%) CICS
12 2 (0.45%) Oracle Service Bus
13 1 (0.23%) JBoss
13 1 (0.23%) Jupyter
13 1 (0.23%) Mule ESB
13 1 (0.23%) Oracle Self-Service HR
13 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
Applications
1 41 (9.30%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.72%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.36%) MS Visio
4 5 (1.13%) 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 (4.99%) Oracle EBS
2 16 (3.63%) NetSuite
3 15 (3.40%) Oracle Payables
4 12 (2.72%) Oracle Receivables
5 8 (1.81%) Oracle General Ledger
5 8 (1.81%) SAP S/4HANA
6 7 (1.59%) Dynamics CRM
7 6 (1.36%) Maximo
7 6 (1.36%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (1.36%) Oracle FAH
8 5 (1.13%) Elite 3E
8 5 (1.13%) Oracle Financials
8 5 (1.13%) SAP FI
9 4 (0.91%) Oracle E-Business Tax
9 4 (0.91%) Oracle Internet Expenses
9 4 (0.91%) Oracle iProcurement
9 4 (0.91%) Summit
10 3 (0.68%) Findur
10 3 (0.68%) Oracle ERP
10 3 (0.68%) SAP CO
Cloud Services
1 103 (23.36%) Azure
2 53 (12.02%) AWS
3 48 (10.88%) Azure DevOps
4 40 (9.07%) Boomi
5 26 (5.90%) GCP
6 20 (4.54%) AtomSphere
6 20 (4.54%) GitHub
7 19 (4.31%) Azure Service Bus
8 17 (3.85%) SaaS
9 16 (3.63%) Entra ID
10 15 (3.40%) Azure Logic Apps
11 14 (3.17%) Power Platform
11 14 (3.17%) Serverless
12 10 (2.27%) Azure Functions
12 10 (2.27%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (2.04%) iPaaS
14 8 (1.81%) Azure Data Factory
14 8 (1.81%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (1.81%) Power Automate
14 8 (1.81%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 27 (6.12%) HTTP
2 8 (1.81%) FTP
3 7 (1.59%) SSL
4 6 (1.36%) TCP/IP
5 5 (1.13%) 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%) 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 51 (11.56%) SQL Server
2 39 (8.84%) Relational Database
3 22 (4.99%) PostgreSQL
4 21 (4.76%) Oracle Database
5 19 (4.31%) RDBMS
6 18 (4.08%) Oracle Reports
7 13 (2.95%) MongoDB
7 13 (2.95%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 12 (2.72%) Metadata
8 12 (2.72%) NoSQL
8 12 (2.72%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 10 (2.27%) MS Access
10 9 (2.04%) MySQL
11 8 (1.81%) Data Warehouse
11 8 (1.81%) Power BI
11 8 (1.81%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 7 (1.59%) Tableau
13 6 (1.36%) DataStage
14 5 (1.13%) Azure SQL Database
15 4 (0.91%) Db2
Development Applications
1 53 (12.02%) Git
2 44 (9.98%) JIRA
3 25 (5.67%) Postman
4 22 (4.99%) Jenkins
5 21 (4.76%) Team Foundation Server
5 21 (4.76%) Visual Studio
6 18 (4.08%) Selenium
7 16 (3.63%) Oracle Forms
8 12 (2.72%) JMeter
9 9 (2.04%) GitLab
9 9 (2.04%) Gradle
9 9 (2.04%) Maven
9 9 (2.04%) SoapUI
10 8 (1.81%) eggPlant
11 7 (1.59%) SonarQube
11 7 (1.59%) WebDriver
12 6 (1.36%) JDeveloper
12 6 (1.36%) LoadRunner
13 5 (1.13%) Cypress.io
13 5 (1.13%) REST Assured
General
1 142 (32.20%) Social Skills
2 104 (23.58%) Finance
3 98 (22.22%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (10.43%) Public Sector
5 42 (9.52%) Banking
6 12 (2.72%) Legal
6 12 (2.72%) Manufacturing
6 12 (2.72%) Telecoms
7 11 (2.49%) Organisational Skills
8 8 (1.81%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (1.81%) Investment Banking
8 8 (1.81%) Publishing
8 8 (1.81%) Retail
9 7 (1.59%) General Ledger
10 6 (1.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 5 (1.13%) Financial Institution
11 5 (1.13%) Law
11 5 (1.13%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (0.91%) Billing
12 4 (0.91%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 133 (30.16%) Developer
2 63 (14.29%) Consultant
3 54 (12.24%) Senior
4 42 (9.52%) Analyst
5 40 (9.07%) Architect
6 32 (7.26%) Implementation Consultant
7 27 (6.12%) Lead
8 24 (5.44%) Senior Developer
9 19 (4.31%) Business Analyst
9 19 (4.31%) Data Engineer
9 19 (4.31%) Software Developer
10 13 (2.95%) C# Developer
10 13 (2.95%) Integration Developer
10 13 (2.95%) Payroll Consultant
10 13 (2.95%) Software Engineer
10 13 (2.95%) Technical Consultant
11 12 (2.72%) Oracle Developer
11 12 (2.72%) Solutions Architect
12 11 (2.49%) Integration Architect
12 11 (2.49%) Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 214 (48.53%) JSON
2 160 (36.28%) REST
3 141 (31.97%) SOAP
4 76 (17.23%) .NET
5 71 (16.10%) Middleware
6 69 (15.65%) Web Services
7 48 (10.88%) XSLT
8 41 (9.30%) Kafka
9 40 (9.07%) OAuth
10 38 (8.62%) HTML
11 27 (6.12%) OAuth2
12 24 (5.44%) EDI
12 24 (5.44%) RESTful
13 23 (5.22%) JWT
14 22 (4.99%) .NET Framework
15 21 (4.76%) CSS
16 18 (4.08%) Swagger
17 16 (3.63%) XSD
18 15 (3.40%) OpenAPI
19 14 (3.17%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 22 (4.99%) Product Ownership
2 20 (4.54%) Enterprise Software
3 19 (4.31%) Legacy Systems
4 17 (3.85%) Data Structures
5 14 (3.17%) Cloud Native
5 14 (3.17%) SWIFT Messaging Network
6 11 (2.49%) Distributed Systems
6 11 (2.49%) Replication
7 10 (2.27%) Onboarding
8 9 (2.04%) CMDB
8 9 (2.04%) Legacy Applications
9 8 (1.81%) PKI
10 7 (1.59%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 6 (1.36%) Algorithms
11 6 (1.36%) Hybrid Cloud
11 6 (1.36%) LIMS
11 6 (1.36%) Management Information System
11 6 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (1.36%) Taxonomies
12 5 (1.13%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 34 (7.71%) Linux
2 29 (6.58%) Windows
3 26 (5.90%) Unix
4 8 (1.81%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.45%) zOS
7 1 (0.23%) Android
7 1 (0.23%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 127 (28.80%) Problem-Solving
2 101 (22.90%) Agile
3 99 (22.45%) DevOps
4 94 (21.32%) CI/CD
5 78 (17.69%) Validation
6 65 (14.74%) Workflow
7 59 (13.38%) Integration Patterns
8 55 (12.47%) Test Automation
9 50 (11.34%) Data Modelling
10 49 (11.11%) Migration
10 49 (11.11%) Stakeholder Management
11 45 (10.20%) Event-Driven
12 43 (9.75%) ERP
13 42 (9.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 41 (9.30%) User Acceptance Testing
15 40 (9.07%) Continuous Improvement
15 40 (9.07%) Scrum
16 39 (8.84%) Data Mapping
17 36 (8.16%) API Management
18 34 (7.71%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 193 (43.76%) SQL
2 92 (20.86%) Java
3 80 (18.14%) JavaScript
4 76 (17.23%) Python
5 64 (14.51%) C#
6 45 (10.20%) T-SQL
7 34 (7.71%) PL/SQL
8 23 (5.22%) VB.NET
9 22 (4.99%) PowerShell
9 22 (4.99%) VBA
10 20 (4.54%) Groovy
11 18 (4.08%) C++
12 17 (3.85%) VB
13 16 (3.63%) VB6
14 14 (3.17%) XPath
15 7 (1.59%) Bicep
15 7 (1.59%) DataWeave
16 6 (1.36%) R
16 6 (1.36%) Shell Script
16 6 (1.36%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 118 (26.76%) Security Cleared
2 96 (21.77%) SC Cleared
3 32 (7.26%) Degree
4 18 (4.08%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (3.63%) ISTQB
6 11 (2.49%) DV Cleared
6 11 (2.49%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 10 (2.27%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.81%) ISEB
9 6 (1.36%) DBS Check
10 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Certification
10 3 (0.68%) TOGAF Certification
11 2 (0.45%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.45%) Azure Certification
11 2 (0.45%) CISSP
11 2 (0.45%) GIAC
11 2 (0.45%) Master's Degree
11 2 (0.45%) SSCP
12 1 (0.23%) CEH
12 1 (0.23%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (7.71%) QA
2 21 (4.76%) Data Quality
3 16 (3.63%) ISO 20022
4 8 (1.81%) Accessibility
5 7 (1.59%) GDPR
5 7 (1.59%) GMP
6 6 (1.36%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 6 (1.36%) GxP
6 6 (1.36%) HL7
6 6 (1.36%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 6 (1.36%) SLA
7 5 (1.13%) WCAG
8 4 (0.91%) GRC
9 3 (0.68%) ISO 15022
10 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.23%) IFRS
10 1 (0.23%) NIST
10 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.23%) PMO
10 1 (0.23%) SEPA
System Software
1 14 (3.17%) Active Directory
2 10 (2.27%) Docker
3 5 (1.13%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.45%) RACF
5 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 15 (3.40%) Ansible
2 13 (2.95%) Single Sign-On
3 10 (2.27%) Kubernetes
4 5 (1.13%) HP Fortify
5 4 (0.91%) Control-M
6 3 (0.68%) QRadar
6 3 (0.68%) vRealize Orchestrator
6 3 (0.68%) WMI
7 2 (0.45%) CloudHub
8 1 (0.23%) Apache Ranger
8 1 (0.23%) Grafana
8 1 (0.23%) HP Quality Center
8 1 (0.23%) vRealize
Vendors
1 132 (29.93%) Oracle
2 101 (22.90%) Microsoft
3 45 (10.20%) SAP
4 37 (8.39%) IBM
5 36 (8.16%) MuleSoft
5 36 (8.16%) ServiceNow
6 30 (6.80%) Salesforce
7 21 (4.76%) Workday
8 20 (4.54%) Google
9 11 (2.49%) Databricks
9 11 (2.49%) Okta
10 10 (2.27%) webMethods
11 9 (2.04%) Informatica
12 7 (1.59%) TIBCO
13 6 (1.36%) BeyondTrust
13 6 (1.36%) WSO2
14 5 (1.13%) Intapp
14 5 (1.13%) Kronos
14 5 (1.13%) VMware
15 4 (0.91%) InterSystems