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

6 months to
2 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 295 260 172
Rank change year-on-year -35 -88 +34
Contract jobs citing XML 370 297 640
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.78% 1.01% 1.47%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 3.91% 4.45% 7.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 226 203 348
10th Percentile £350 £360 £408
25th Percentile £400 £424 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £550
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -13.64% -
75th Percentile £613 £588 £625
90th Percentile £688 £650 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £524
% change year-on-year - -14.08% +4.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 6 74
10th Percentile £31.45 £23.93 -
25th Percentile £40.75 £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 £57.35 £93.75 £83.80
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 9,460 6,673 8,936
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 20.00% 22.75% 20.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,266 4,573 6,200
10th Percentile £358 £363 £338
25th Percentile £415 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -0.94% -3.64%
75th Percentile £620 £650 £650
90th Percentile £727 £780 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 267 114 234
10th Percentile £35.00 £27.22 £21.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £50.00 £40.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year - +40.75% -28.95%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.56 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.40 £82.70 £74.83
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year - +36.84% -24.00%

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 2 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 2 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for XML in the UK

XML
Top 14 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 2 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 -9 334 £500 +5.26% 87
UK excluding London -65 167 £450 - 64
London -40 159 £550 +4.76% 30
Work from Home -43 100 £475 +0.26% 49
North of England -39 63 £394 -12.50% 17
South East -38 58 £513 +19.88% 25
North West -19 56 £393 -12.39% 10
Midlands -57 22 £468 -15.00% 7
West Midlands -55 14 £461 -18.00% 4
East of England -26 10 £625 +28.21% 4
South West -26 8 £575 +53.33% 8
East Midlands -29 8 £525 +46.65% 3
Yorkshire -47 7 £431 -21.59% 7
Scotland -11 6 £500 +1.21% 3

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 (4.05%) Confluence
1 15 (4.05%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 10 (2.70%) Anypoint
3 9 (2.43%) WebLogic
3 9 (2.43%) WebSphere
4 7 (1.89%) Oracle Workflow
5 5 (1.35%) CMS
5 5 (1.35%) IIS
5 5 (1.35%) Mule
5 5 (1.35%) SharePoint
6 4 (1.08%) Oracle Service Bus
7 3 (0.81%) Apache
7 3 (0.81%) Mule ESB
7 3 (0.81%) Oracle Self-Service HR
8 2 (0.54%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.54%) Appian
8 2 (0.54%) MQSeries
8 2 (0.54%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.27%) CICS
9 1 (0.27%) SAS
Applications
1 33 (8.92%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.35%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.81%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.54%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.54%) EngageOne
5 2 (0.54%) FrameMaker
6 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.27%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 12 (3.24%) Oracle ERP
2 9 (2.43%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (2.16%) Maximo
3 8 (2.16%) Oracle Payables
3 8 (2.16%) Oracle Receivables
4 7 (1.89%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 7 (1.89%) SAP Payroll
5 6 (1.62%) Summit
6 5 (1.35%) Oracle General Ledger
6 5 (1.35%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 5 (1.35%) Payment Gateway
6 5 (1.35%) SAP HCM
7 4 (1.08%) BusinessWorks
7 4 (1.08%) Oracle 11i
7 4 (1.08%) Oracle Assets
7 4 (1.08%) Oracle Cash Management
7 4 (1.08%) Workday HCM
8 3 (0.81%) Dynamics CRM
8 3 (0.81%) Findur
9 2 (0.54%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 75 (20.27%) Azure
2 46 (12.43%) AWS
3 28 (7.57%) OCI
4 20 (5.41%) GCP
4 20 (5.41%) Power Platform
5 19 (5.14%) Azure DevOps
6 18 (4.86%) SaaS
7 17 (4.59%) PaaS
8 16 (4.32%) Serverless
9 15 (4.05%) IaaS
10 14 (3.78%) Boomi
10 14 (3.78%) GitHub
11 12 (3.24%) Apigee
12 10 (2.70%) Azure Data Factory
12 10 (2.70%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.43%) Cloud Computing
13 9 (2.43%) Kong
14 8 (2.16%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (2.16%) GitHub Actions
14 8 (2.16%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 26 (7.03%) HTTP
2 9 (2.43%) FTP
3 8 (2.16%) HTTPS
4 6 (1.62%) 3GPP
4 6 (1.62%) Firewall
5 4 (1.08%) RTCP
5 4 (1.08%) RTP
5 4 (1.08%) TCP/IP
5 4 (1.08%) XCAP
6 3 (0.81%) DNS
7 2 (0.54%) FIX Connectivity
7 2 (0.54%) Network Security
7 2 (0.54%) VPN
8 1 (0.27%) 5G
8 1 (0.27%) AMQP
8 1 (0.27%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
8 1 (0.27%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 1 (0.27%) NAS
8 1 (0.27%) SMS
8 1 (0.27%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (11.08%) Relational Database
2 35 (9.46%) SQL Server
3 25 (6.76%) PostgreSQL
4 22 (5.95%) RDBMS
5 20 (5.41%) Data Warehouse
5 20 (5.41%) NoSQL
6 18 (4.86%) MongoDB
7 17 (4.59%) Power BI
8 16 (4.32%) Oracle Reports
9 14 (3.78%) Metadata
9 14 (3.78%) Oracle Database
10 11 (2.97%) Data Lake
11 10 (2.70%) MySQL
11 10 (2.70%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 7 (1.89%) DataStage
13 6 (1.62%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (1.35%) DB2
14 5 (1.35%) Oracle BI Publisher
14 5 (1.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
15 4 (1.08%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 38 (10.27%) Postman
2 33 (8.92%) Git
3 31 (8.38%) JIRA
4 14 (3.78%) SoapUI
5 13 (3.51%) Jenkins
6 10 (2.70%) Maven
7 8 (2.16%) GitLab
7 8 (2.16%) JUnit
8 6 (1.62%) Cucumber
9 5 (1.35%) Eclipse
9 5 (1.35%) Selenium
9 5 (1.35%) Subversion
10 4 (1.08%) SpecFlow
10 4 (1.08%) TestRail
10 4 (1.08%) Zephyr
11 3 (0.81%) Bitbucket
11 3 (0.81%) Browser DevTools
11 3 (0.81%) Firebug
11 3 (0.81%) Hudson
11 3 (0.81%) JMeter
General
1 120 (32.43%) Social Skills
2 77 (20.81%) Finance
3 75 (20.27%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (10.27%) Banking
5 28 (7.57%) Public Sector
6 14 (3.78%) Documentation Skills
6 14 (3.78%) Investment Banking
7 11 (2.97%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (2.70%) Legal
9 8 (2.16%) Publishing
10 7 (1.89%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.62%) Military
12 5 (1.35%) General Ledger
13 4 (1.08%) Advertising
13 4 (1.08%) Billing
13 4 (1.08%) Front Office
14 3 (0.81%) Back Office
14 3 (0.81%) Financial Institution
14 3 (0.81%) Manufacturing
14 3 (0.81%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 86 (23.24%) Developer
2 68 (18.38%) Consultant
3 44 (11.89%) Analyst
4 33 (8.92%) Implementation Consultant
5 27 (7.30%) Business Analyst
6 21 (5.68%) Architect
6 21 (5.68%) Senior
7 20 (5.41%) Lead
8 16 (4.32%) Software Engineer
9 15 (4.05%) Data Engineer
9 15 (4.05%) DBA
10 13 (3.51%) Payroll Consultant
11 10 (2.70%) C# Developer
11 10 (2.70%) Integration Specialist
12 9 (2.43%) Applications Developer
12 9 (2.43%) Cloud Specialist
12 9 (2.43%) Oracle Specialist
12 9 (2.43%) PostgreSQL DBA
12 9 (2.43%) Senior Developer
12 9 (2.43%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 179 (48.38%) JSON
2 104 (28.11%) REST
3 103 (27.84%) SOAP
4 51 (13.78%) Web Services
5 39 (10.54%) XSLT
6 38 (10.27%) OAuth
7 34 (9.19%) Middleware
8 31 (8.38%) JWT
9 30 (8.11%) Oracle Fusion
10 29 (7.84%) .NET
11 25 (6.76%) HTML
11 25 (6.76%) Kafka
12 24 (6.49%) Swagger
13 21 (5.68%) RESTful
14 19 (5.14%) CSS
15 18 (4.86%) EDI
15 18 (4.86%) XSD
16 17 (4.59%) OpenAPI
17 15 (4.05%) OAuth2
18 14 (3.78%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 17 (4.59%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.78%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.24%) Public Cloud
4 11 (2.97%) Management Information System
5 10 (2.70%) Replication
6 8 (2.16%) Data Protection Act
6 8 (2.16%) Fixed Income
7 7 (1.89%) Derivative
7 7 (1.89%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 7 (1.89%) Onboarding
8 6 (1.62%) Credit Risk
8 6 (1.62%) Market Risk
8 6 (1.62%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 5 (1.35%) Algorithms
9 5 (1.35%) Cloud Native
9 5 (1.35%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.35%) Digital Wallet
9 5 (1.35%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.08%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 32 (8.65%) Linux
2 22 (5.95%) Unix
3 13 (3.51%) Windows
4 5 (1.35%) AIX
5 2 (0.54%) Android
5 2 (0.54%) Ubuntu
5 2 (0.54%) VMS
6 1 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.27%) Windows Server
6 1 (0.27%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (28.38%) Agile
2 92 (24.86%) Problem-Solving
3 79 (21.35%) DevOps
4 51 (13.78%) CI/CD
5 46 (12.43%) Data Modelling
5 46 (12.43%) Integration Patterns
6 45 (12.16%) ERP
7 44 (11.89%) Validation
8 43 (11.62%) Migration
9 36 (9.73%) Workflow
10 34 (9.19%) ETL
10 34 (9.19%) Requirements Gathering
11 32 (8.65%) Stakeholder Management
12 29 (7.84%) Computer Science
12 29 (7.84%) SDLC
12 29 (7.84%) Unit Testing
13 27 (7.30%) Microservices
14 26 (7.03%) API Management
14 26 (7.03%) Data Mapping
14 26 (7.03%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 141 (38.11%) SQL
2 60 (16.22%) Java
3 49 (13.24%) Python
4 45 (12.16%) C#
5 37 (10.00%) JavaScript
6 32 (8.65%) T-SQL
7 18 (4.86%) PL/SQL
8 11 (2.97%) PowerShell
9 9 (2.43%) XPath
10 8 (2.16%) C++
10 8 (2.16%) Shell Script
11 7 (1.89%) ABAP
11 7 (1.89%) Korn
12 6 (1.62%) DataWeave
13 5 (1.35%) Perl
14 4 (1.08%) Bicep
14 4 (1.08%) Groovy
14 4 (1.08%) Kotlin
15 3 (0.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 2 (0.54%) R
Qualifications
1 92 (24.86%) Security Cleared
2 64 (17.30%) SC Cleared
3 39 (10.54%) Degree
4 21 (5.68%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (2.70%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (1.35%) AWS Certification
6 5 (1.35%) DBS Check
6 5 (1.35%) Master's Degree
7 4 (1.08%) Azure Certification
7 4 (1.08%) CCNP
7 4 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
7 4 (1.08%) DV Cleared
8 3 (0.81%) ISTQB
9 2 (0.54%) HNC
9 2 (0.54%) HND
9 2 (0.54%) ISEB
9 2 (0.54%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 2 (0.54%) PMI Certification
9 2 (0.54%) PMP
10 1 (0.27%) CTC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (4.86%) QA
2 12 (3.24%) Data Quality
3 9 (2.43%) GDPR
4 5 (1.35%) HL7
4 5 (1.35%) PCI DSS
4 5 (1.35%) PSD2
5 4 (1.08%) GAAP
6 3 (0.81%) California Consumer Privacy Act
6 3 (0.81%) FATCA
6 3 (0.81%) ISO 8583
6 3 (0.81%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 2 (0.54%) Basel III
7 2 (0.54%) IFRS
7 2 (0.54%) IFRS 17
7 2 (0.54%) IFRS 9
7 2 (0.54%) ISO 20022
7 2 (0.54%) SEPA
7 2 (0.54%) SLA
8 1 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.27%) PMO
System Software
1 17 (4.59%) Docker
2 4 (1.08%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.81%) Oracle RAC
4 2 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.27%) Active Directory
5 1 (0.27%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.27%) RACF
Systems Management
1 16 (4.32%) Kubernetes
2 7 (1.89%) Ansible
3 4 (1.08%) Control-M
3 4 (1.08%) TIBCO Hawk
4 3 (0.81%) Grafana
4 3 (0.81%) logstash
4 3 (0.81%) QRadar
4 3 (0.81%) vRealize Orchestrator
5 2 (0.54%) CloudHub
5 2 (0.54%) Fluentd
5 2 (0.54%) Terraform
6 1 (0.27%) CEMLI
6 1 (0.27%) Docker Swarm
6 1 (0.27%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
6 1 (0.27%) Kibana
6 1 (0.27%) Podman
6 1 (0.27%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.27%) Puppet
6 1 (0.27%) vRealize
Vendors
1 103 (27.84%) Oracle
2 43 (11.62%) Microsoft
3 33 (8.92%) SAP
4 24 (6.49%) IBM
5 23 (6.22%) MuleSoft
6 19 (5.14%) ServiceNow
6 19 (5.14%) Workday
7 11 (2.97%) Informatica
8 9 (2.43%) Red Hat
8 9 (2.43%) Splunk
8 9 (2.43%) webMethods
9 8 (2.16%) Google
9 8 (2.16%) Pega
10 7 (1.89%) Databricks
10 7 (1.89%) Dell
11 6 (1.62%) Salesforce
11 6 (1.62%) Talend
12 5 (1.35%) Bloomberg
12 5 (1.35%) TIBCO
13 4 (1.08%) Charles River