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

6 months to
10 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 321 242 174
Rank change year-on-year -79 -68 +13
Contract jobs citing XML 394 363 612
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.75% 1.12% 1.42%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.83% 4.97% 6.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 246 249 323
10th Percentile £330 £373 £375
25th Percentile £404 £429 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £485 £510
Median % change year-on-year +8.25% -4.90% -7.27%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £613
90th Percentile £713 £626 £720
UK excluding London median daily rate £433 £455 £500
% change year-on-year -4.78% -9.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 11 69
10th Percentile £29.07 £27.00 -
25th Percentile £29.92 £27.05 -
Median hourly rate £39.50 £37.50 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +5.33% -12.79% -38.57%
75th Percentile £44.90 £53.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £59.50 £88.75 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £34.75 £43.00
% change year-on-year +13.67% -19.19% -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 10,274 7,307 9,274
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.52% 22.58% 21.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,737 4,933 6,359
10th Percentile £363 £350 £350
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £538
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -4.65% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £651
90th Percentile £738 £762 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 279 155 281
10th Percentile £30.00 £29.14 £22.75
25th Percentile £50.00 £36.40 £43.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £55.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +18.18% - -15.38%
75th Percentile £74.63 £67.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £85.43 £79.48 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £58.30
% change year-on-year +4.00% +7.20% -6.72%

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 10 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 10 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 10 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 -61 330 £525 +7.69% 78
UK excluding London -111 168 £433 -4.78% 58
London -50 163 £550 +1.40% 32
Work from Home -46 122 £520 +9.47% 33
South East -52 54 £513 +7.89% 20
North of England -83 47 £391 -13.06% 8
North West -46 38 £390 -13.33% 7
Midlands -42 30 £425 -1.16% 10
West Midlands -58 22 £425 -15.00% 5
South West -28 14 £550 +46.67% 10
East of England -33 11 £450 -18.18% 4
Yorkshire -45 9 £463 -11.90%
East Midlands -9 8 £471 +50.08% 5
Scotland -18 8 £425 -23.90% 8
Northern Ireland -1 2 £650 +36.84%
Wales -23 2 £635 +61.27%

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 (6.35%) Confluence
2 16 (4.06%) SharePoint
3 14 (3.55%) Anypoint
3 14 (3.55%) IIS
4 13 (3.30%) Oracle Workflow
5 10 (2.54%) Mule
6 5 (1.27%) CMS
6 5 (1.27%) WebLogic
6 5 (1.27%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.51%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.51%) Appian
7 2 (0.51%) CICS
7 2 (0.51%) MQSeries
7 2 (0.51%) Mule ESB
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle Self-Service HR
8 1 (0.25%) Apache
8 1 (0.25%) BizTalk Server
8 1 (0.25%) JBoss
8 1 (0.25%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.25%) Tomcat
Applications
1 36 (9.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (2.28%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.78%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.76%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.51%) EngageOne
6 2 (0.51%) FrameMaker
Business Applications
1 15 (3.81%) Oracle EBS
2 12 (3.05%) Oracle Payables
3 10 (2.54%) Oracle Receivables
4 9 (2.28%) SAP S/4HANA
5 7 (1.78%) NetSuite
6 6 (1.52%) Dynamics CRM
6 6 (1.52%) Maximo
6 6 (1.52%) Oracle Assets
6 6 (1.52%) Oracle ERP
6 6 (1.52%) Oracle General Ledger
6 6 (1.52%) Summit
7 5 (1.27%) Elite 3E
7 5 (1.27%) Oracle FAH
7 5 (1.27%) Payment Gateway
8 4 (1.02%) Oracle Cash Management
8 4 (1.02%) Oracle E-Business Tax
8 4 (1.02%) Oracle Financials
8 4 (1.02%) Oracle Internet Expenses
8 4 (1.02%) Oracle iProcurement
8 4 (1.02%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 86 (21.83%) Azure
2 48 (12.18%) AWS
3 34 (8.63%) Azure DevOps
4 29 (7.36%) Boomi
5 18 (4.57%) GitHub
6 16 (4.06%) GCP
6 16 (4.06%) Power Platform
7 15 (3.81%) SaaS
8 14 (3.55%) Serverless
9 12 (3.05%) AtomSphere
9 12 (3.05%) Azure Data Factory
10 9 (2.28%) Azure Functions
10 9 (2.28%) Azure Logic Apps
10 9 (2.28%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 9 (2.28%) Dynamics 365
10 9 (2.28%) GitHub Actions
10 9 (2.28%) OCI
11 8 (2.03%) Amazon S3
11 8 (2.03%) Azure Service Bus
12 7 (1.78%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 20 (5.08%) HTTP
2 8 (2.03%) FTP
3 6 (1.52%) 3GPP
3 6 (1.52%) TCP/IP
4 4 (1.02%) Network Security
4 4 (1.02%) RTCP
4 4 (1.02%) RTP
4 4 (1.02%) SSL
4 4 (1.02%) XCAP
5 2 (0.51%) DNS
5 2 (0.51%) HTTPS
5 2 (0.51%) Internet
5 2 (0.51%) Intranet
5 2 (0.51%) SD-WAN
5 2 (0.51%) WAN
5 2 (0.51%) Wireless
6 1 (0.25%) Bluetooth
6 1 (0.25%) NFC
6 1 (0.25%) SAN
6 1 (0.25%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (11.17%) SQL Server
2 39 (9.90%) Relational Database
3 20 (5.08%) RDBMS
4 19 (4.82%) PostgreSQL
5 18 (4.57%) Oracle Database
6 16 (4.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 15 (3.81%) MongoDB
7 15 (3.81%) NoSQL
7 15 (3.81%) Oracle Reports
8 14 (3.55%) Data Warehouse
9 13 (3.30%) Metadata
10 12 (3.05%) Power BI
10 12 (3.05%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 11 (2.79%) Data Lake
12 10 (2.54%) MySQL
12 10 (2.54%) Oracle BI Publisher
13 8 (2.03%) MS Access
14 6 (1.52%) DataStage
15 5 (1.27%) Azure SQL Database
16 4 (1.02%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 42 (10.66%) Git
2 36 (9.14%) JIRA
3 30 (7.61%) Postman
4 15 (3.81%) Jenkins
5 13 (3.30%) Oracle Forms
6 12 (3.05%) Team Foundation Server
7 11 (2.79%) Visual Studio
8 10 (2.54%) GitLab
9 9 (2.28%) Maven
9 9 (2.28%) SoapUI
10 6 (1.52%) JDeveloper
10 6 (1.52%) JMeter
10 6 (1.52%) Selenium
11 5 (1.27%) Eclipse
11 5 (1.27%) Gradle
11 5 (1.27%) JUnit
11 5 (1.27%) Subversion
12 4 (1.02%) Bitbucket
12 4 (1.02%) Cypress.io
12 4 (1.02%) TeamCity
General
1 131 (33.25%) Social Skills
2 85 (21.57%) Analytical Skills
3 80 (20.30%) Finance
4 34 (8.63%) Banking
5 33 (8.38%) Public Sector
6 13 (3.30%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (3.05%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (2.54%) Investment Banking
8 10 (2.54%) Publishing
9 9 (2.28%) Legal
9 9 (2.28%) Manufacturing
9 9 (2.28%) Retail
9 9 (2.28%) Telecoms
10 7 (1.78%) General Ledger
11 6 (1.52%) Military
12 5 (1.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.27%) Marketing
13 4 (1.02%) Advertising
13 4 (1.02%) Billing
13 4 (1.02%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 118 (29.95%) Developer
2 60 (15.23%) Consultant
3 44 (11.17%) Analyst
4 34 (8.63%) Senior
5 30 (7.61%) Implementation Consultant
6 27 (6.85%) Architect
7 26 (6.60%) Business Analyst
8 22 (5.58%) Data Engineer
9 15 (3.81%) Lead
9 15 (3.81%) Senior Developer
10 14 (3.55%) C# Developer
11 13 (3.30%) Payroll Consultant
11 13 (3.30%) Software Developer
11 13 (3.30%) Software Engineer
12 12 (3.05%) Technical Consultant
13 11 (2.79%) Oracle Developer
14 10 (2.54%) .NET Developer
14 10 (2.54%) Applications Developer
14 10 (2.54%) DBA
14 10 (2.54%) Integration Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 194 (49.24%) JSON
2 130 (32.99%) REST
3 114 (28.93%) SOAP
4 56 (14.21%) Web Services
5 55 (13.96%) .NET
6 52 (13.20%) Middleware
7 44 (11.17%) XSLT
8 28 (7.11%) HTML
9 26 (6.60%) OAuth
10 23 (5.84%) Kafka
11 20 (5.08%) RESTful
12 19 (4.82%) Swagger
13 18 (4.57%) .NET Framework
13 18 (4.57%) ASP.NET
13 18 (4.57%) CSS
13 18 (4.57%) EDI
14 17 (4.31%) JWT
15 16 (4.06%) OAuth2
16 14 (3.55%) XSD
17 13 (3.30%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 16 (4.06%) Product Ownership
2 15 (3.81%) Data Structures
2 15 (3.81%) Legacy Systems
3 9 (2.28%) Onboarding
3 9 (2.28%) Replication
4 8 (2.03%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
4 8 (2.03%) Management Information System
4 8 (2.03%) SWIFT Messaging Network
5 7 (1.78%) Credit Risk
5 7 (1.78%) Derivative
5 7 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
5 7 (1.78%) Fixed Income
5 7 (1.78%) Market Risk
6 6 (1.52%) Algorithms
6 6 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
6 6 (1.52%) Cloud Native
6 6 (1.52%) CMDB
6 6 (1.52%) Data Protection Act
6 6 (1.52%) Hybrid Cloud
6 6 (1.52%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 26 (6.60%) Unix
2 24 (6.09%) Linux
3 17 (4.31%) Windows
4 5 (1.27%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.51%) Android
6 2 (0.51%) VMS
6 2 (0.51%) zOS
7 1 (0.25%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (26.90%) Problem-Solving
2 96 (24.37%) Agile
3 78 (19.80%) DevOps
4 74 (18.78%) CI/CD
5 64 (16.24%) Workflow
6 57 (14.47%) Validation
7 52 (13.20%) Migration
8 49 (12.44%) Integration Patterns
9 46 (11.68%) Data Modelling
10 42 (10.66%) ERP
11 38 (9.64%) Stakeholder Management
12 36 (9.14%) Data Mapping
12 36 (9.14%) User Acceptance Testing
13 35 (8.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 33 (8.38%) Software Engineering
15 32 (8.12%) Scrum
16 31 (7.87%) ETL
17 29 (7.36%) Event-Driven
18 27 (6.85%) Performance Tuning
18 27 (6.85%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 180 (45.69%) SQL
2 62 (15.74%) Java
3 58 (14.72%) C#
4 57 (14.47%) Python
5 54 (13.71%) JavaScript
6 47 (11.93%) T-SQL
7 34 (8.63%) PL/SQL
8 17 (4.31%) PowerShell
9 16 (4.06%) VB.NET
10 15 (3.81%) C++
11 14 (3.55%) Groovy
12 13 (3.30%) VBA
13 12 (3.05%) XPath
14 10 (2.54%) VB
15 9 (2.28%) VB6
16 8 (2.03%) Shell Script
17 7 (1.78%) DataWeave
18 6 (1.52%) Bicep
19 5 (1.27%) VBScript
20 4 (1.02%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 92 (23.35%) Security Cleared
2 70 (17.77%) SC Cleared
3 30 (7.61%) Degree
4 13 (3.30%) BPSS Clearance
5 9 (2.28%) Computer Science Degree
5 9 (2.28%) DV Cleared
6 5 (1.27%) AWS Certification
6 5 (1.27%) DBS Check
7 4 (1.02%) Azure Certification
7 4 (1.02%) ISTQB
7 4 (1.02%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 4 (1.02%) TOGAF Certification
8 3 (0.76%) Master's Degree
9 2 (0.51%) CISSP
9 2 (0.51%) GIAC
9 2 (0.51%) HNC
9 2 (0.51%) HND
9 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Certification
9 2 (0.51%) SSCP
10 1 (0.25%) ISEB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (6.85%) QA
2 20 (5.08%) Data Quality
3 11 (2.79%) GDPR
4 8 (2.03%) ISO 20022
5 7 (1.78%) Accessibility
6 6 (1.52%) HL7
7 4 (1.02%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 4 (1.02%) GMP
7 4 (1.02%) GxP
7 4 (1.02%) SLA
7 4 (1.02%) WCAG
8 3 (0.76%) FATCA
8 3 (0.76%) GRC
8 3 (0.76%) ISO/IEC 17025
8 3 (0.76%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.76%) PSD2
9 2 (0.51%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 2 (0.51%) ISO 15022
9 2 (0.51%) ISO 8583
10 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 12 (3.05%) Docker
2 4 (1.02%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.76%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.76%) Oracle RAC
4 2 (0.51%) RACF
4 2 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.25%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 13 (3.30%) Ansible
2 12 (3.05%) Kubernetes
3 7 (1.78%) Terraform
4 5 (1.27%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (0.76%) QRadar
5 3 (0.76%) vRealize Orchestrator
6 2 (0.51%) CloudHub
6 2 (0.51%) Grafana
6 2 (0.51%) WMI
7 1 (0.25%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.25%) vRealize
Vendors
1 109 (27.66%) Oracle
2 72 (18.27%) Microsoft
3 28 (7.11%) ServiceNow
4 27 (6.85%) MuleSoft
4 27 (6.85%) SAP
5 21 (5.33%) IBM
6 18 (4.57%) Workday
7 17 (4.31%) Salesforce
8 13 (3.30%) Google
9 8 (2.03%) Databricks
10 7 (1.78%) Dell
11 6 (1.52%) webMethods
12 5 (1.27%) Guidewire
12 5 (1.27%) Intapp
12 5 (1.27%) InterSystems
12 5 (1.27%) Kronos
12 5 (1.27%) Talend
13 4 (1.02%) Pega
13 4 (1.02%) Splunk
13 4 (1.02%) VMware