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

6 months to
17 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 244 239 202
Rank change year-on-year -5 -37 +6
Contract jobs citing XML 408 329 521
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.09% 1.03% 1.20%
As % of the Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards category 4.90% 4.67% 5.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 264 207 331
10th Percentile £350 £261 £363
25th Percentile £400 £400 £470
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £638 £588 £613
90th Percentile £715 £653 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £448 £533
% change year-on-year +0.45% -15.95% +7.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 1 31
10th Percentile £36.00 - £40.00
25th Percentile £41.25 £91.25 £47.30
Median hourly rate £43.00 £92.50 £48.72
Median % change year-on-year -53.51% +89.86% -35.04%
75th Percentile £48.75 £93.75 £52.49
90th Percentile £88.25 - £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.00 - £48.72
% change year-on-year - - -11.42%

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 8,321 7,044 9,344
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 22.31% 22.14% 21.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,527 4,470 6,601
10th Percentile £356 £356 £355
25th Percentile £413 £425 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.12% -2.27% -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £725 £775 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 205 91 177
10th Percentile £33.00 £22.00 £28.21
25th Percentile £46.00 £35.88 £46.18
Median hourly rate £61.00 £62.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.40% +13.64% -15.38%
75th Percentile £68.00 £65.38 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.00 £75.00 £77.70
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.50 £63.75 £55.00
% change year-on-year -1.96% +15.91% -15.38%

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 17 January 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 17 January 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 17 January 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 +2 359 £475 -6.86% 131
London -11 188 £523 -2.34% 27
UK excluding London +1 160 £450 +0.45% 128
Work from Home +18 154 £470 +5.62% 75
North of England -35 52 £425 -19.05% 24
North West +1 42 £402 -9.66% 14
South East -25 36 £438 +25.00% 40
East of England +9 30 £581 - 21
Midlands -28 24 £429 -24.34% 14
West Midlands -27 21 £429 -24.34% 6
Scotland +2 10 £500 +11.11% 8
South West -9 10 £400 -9.86% 17
Yorkshire -50 10 £600 +5.82% 8
East Midlands -27 3 - - 8
Wales -5 2 - - 6

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 24 (5.88%) WebLogic
2 22 (5.39%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 14 (3.43%) Apache
4 13 (3.19%) Confluence
5 10 (2.45%) JBoss
5 10 (2.45%) WebSphere
6 8 (1.96%) Appian
7 7 (1.72%) Anypoint
7 7 (1.72%) MQSeries
7 7 (1.72%) Mule
7 7 (1.72%) nginx
7 7 (1.72%) Oracle Service Bus
7 7 (1.72%) Oracle Workflow
8 5 (1.23%) Tomcat
9 4 (0.98%) Mule ESB
10 3 (0.74%) Apache Spark
10 3 (0.74%) Documentum
11 1 (0.25%) BizTalk Server
11 1 (0.25%) CMS
11 1 (0.25%) SAS
Applications
1 11 (2.70%) FrameMaker
1 11 (2.70%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.49%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.25%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.25%) Siemens NX
4 1 (0.25%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 8 (1.96%) Oracle ERP
1 8 (1.96%) SAP Payroll
2 7 (1.72%) BusinessWorks
2 7 (1.72%) SAP HCM
3 6 (1.47%) Oracle Payables
3 6 (1.47%) Oracle Receivables
3 6 (1.47%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 5 (1.23%) Oracle General Ledger
4 5 (1.23%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 5 (1.23%) SAP S/4HANA
5 4 (0.98%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (0.98%) Maximo
5 4 (0.98%) Oracle 11i
5 4 (0.98%) Oracle BPM
6 3 (0.74%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.49%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.49%) Oracle Assets
7 2 (0.49%) Oracle Cash Management
7 2 (0.49%) Oracle FAH
7 2 (0.49%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 87 (21.32%) Azure
2 71 (17.40%) AWS
3 27 (6.62%) GitHub
4 26 (6.37%) OCI
5 23 (5.64%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (5.15%) GCP
7 20 (4.90%) Cloud Computing
7 20 (4.90%) Power Platform
7 20 (4.90%) SaaS
8 18 (4.41%) Serverless
9 14 (3.43%) PaaS
9 14 (3.43%) Tricentis Tosca
10 13 (3.19%) Apigee
11 12 (2.94%) Azure Logic Apps
11 12 (2.94%) Dynamics 365
11 12 (2.94%) IaaS
12 10 (2.45%) Boomi
12 10 (2.45%) Power Automate
13 9 (2.21%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (2.21%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 35 (8.58%) HTTPS
2 27 (6.62%) HTTP
3 10 (2.45%) Firewall
3 10 (2.45%) SSL
4 4 (0.98%) NFC
4 4 (0.98%) PPP
5 3 (0.74%) VPN
6 2 (0.49%) 5G
6 2 (0.49%) BGP
6 2 (0.49%) DNS
6 2 (0.49%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
6 2 (0.49%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 2 (0.49%) FIX Connectivity
6 2 (0.49%) FTP
6 2 (0.49%) MPLS
6 2 (0.49%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.25%) AMQP
7 1 (0.25%) DSL
7 1 (0.25%) Network Security
7 1 (0.25%) Radio Access Network
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (12.75%) Relational Database
2 40 (9.80%) SQL Server
3 22 (5.39%) MongoDB
4 20 (4.90%) Data Warehouse
4 20 (4.90%) PostgreSQL
5 14 (3.43%) Oracle Reports
5 14 (3.43%) RDBMS
6 13 (3.19%) Oracle Database
7 11 (2.70%) NoSQL
7 11 (2.70%) Power BI
8 10 (2.45%) Metadata
9 9 (2.21%) DataStage
9 9 (2.21%) MySQL
9 9 (2.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 8 (1.96%) Apache Cassandra
11 7 (1.72%) Big Data
11 7 (1.72%) DB2
11 7 (1.72%) Elasticsearch
12 6 (1.47%) Amazon Redshift
12 6 (1.47%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 55 (13.48%) JIRA
2 50 (12.25%) Git
3 42 (10.29%) Postman
4 33 (8.09%) Jenkins
5 28 (6.86%) Selenium
6 22 (5.39%) Cucumber
6 22 (5.39%) JUnit
7 13 (3.19%) Eclipse
8 11 (2.70%) GitLab
9 10 (2.45%) SoapUI
10 9 (2.21%) IntelliJ
10 9 (2.21%) SpecFlow
10 9 (2.21%) TestRail
10 9 (2.21%) Zephyr
11 8 (1.96%) Maven
11 8 (1.96%) SonarQube
12 7 (1.72%) Robot Framework
12 7 (1.72%) Toad
13 6 (1.47%) Browser DevTools
13 6 (1.47%) Firebug
General
1 138 (33.82%) Social Skills
2 91 (22.30%) Finance
3 63 (15.44%) Analytical Skills
4 49 (12.01%) Public Sector
5 45 (11.03%) Banking
6 15 (3.68%) Documentation Skills
6 15 (3.68%) Publishing
7 13 (3.19%) Influencing Skills
8 11 (2.70%) Telecoms
9 10 (2.45%) Aerospace
9 10 (2.45%) Investment Banking
10 9 (2.21%) Back Office
11 8 (1.96%) Financial Institution
11 8 (1.96%) Legal
11 8 (1.96%) Private Banking
12 7 (1.72%) Manufacturing
13 6 (1.47%) Digital Healthcare
13 6 (1.47%) Retail
14 5 (1.23%) Automotive
14 5 (1.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 133 (32.60%) Developer
2 57 (13.97%) Analyst
3 38 (9.31%) Consultant
4 30 (7.35%) Senior
5 26 (6.37%) Lead
6 25 (6.13%) Business Analyst
7 22 (5.39%) Software Engineer
8 18 (4.41%) Architect
9 16 (3.92%) Integration Developer
9 16 (3.92%) webMethods Developer
10 14 (3.43%) Author
10 14 (3.43%) Technical Author
11 12 (2.94%) Data Engineer
11 12 (2.94%) Java Developer
12 11 (2.70%) DBA
12 11 (2.70%) Senior Developer
12 11 (2.70%) Tester
13 10 (2.45%) Administrator
13 10 (2.45%) Solutions Architect
13 10 (2.45%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 222 (54.41%) JSON
2 142 (34.80%) REST
2 142 (34.80%) SOAP
3 57 (13.97%) OAuth
4 49 (12.01%) Web Services
5 47 (11.52%) XSLT
6 42 (10.29%) HTML
7 33 (8.09%) JMS
8 30 (7.35%) RESTful
9 26 (6.37%) JWT
9 26 (6.37%) Oracle Fusion
10 25 (6.13%) Spring
11 24 (5.88%) Middleware
11 24 (5.88%) OAuth2
12 22 (5.39%) .NET
12 22 (5.39%) J2EE
12 22 (5.39%) XSD
13 19 (4.66%) CSS
13 19 (4.66%) Swagger
14 17 (4.17%) Hibernate
Miscellaneous
1 18 (4.41%) Data Structures
2 15 (3.68%) Cloud Native
3 14 (3.43%) Replication
4 11 (2.70%) Data Protection Act
4 11 (2.70%) Virtual Team
5 10 (2.45%) Public Cloud
6 9 (2.21%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.21%) Legacy Systems
7 8 (1.96%) Algorithms
7 8 (1.96%) AS400
7 8 (1.96%) Distributed Systems
7 8 (1.96%) Management Information System
7 8 (1.96%) Onboarding
7 8 (1.96%) Product Ownership
8 7 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.47%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 5 (1.23%) CMDB
10 5 (1.23%) Low-Code
11 4 (0.98%) Fixed Income
11 4 (0.98%) iSeries
Operating Systems
1 47 (11.52%) Linux
2 24 (5.88%) Unix
3 19 (4.66%) Windows
4 5 (1.23%) AIX
4 5 (1.23%) Ubuntu
5 3 (0.74%) Android
6 2 (0.49%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.25%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.25%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (35.78%) Agile
2 139 (34.07%) DevOps
3 93 (22.79%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (20.59%) CI/CD
5 59 (14.46%) Validation
6 58 (14.22%) Test Automation
7 51 (12.50%) ERP
8 50 (12.25%) Migration
9 49 (12.01%) Microservices
10 48 (11.76%) Deployment Automation
10 48 (11.76%) Scrum
11 45 (11.03%) ETL
12 44 (10.78%) Data Modelling
13 39 (9.56%) Computer Science
14 37 (9.07%) Data Migration
15 36 (8.82%) API Management
16 35 (8.58%) Software Engineering
17 34 (8.33%) SDLC
18 31 (7.60%) Continuous Improvement
18 31 (7.60%) Integration Patterns
Programming Languages
1 145 (35.54%) SQL
2 121 (29.66%) Java
3 67 (16.42%) Python
4 58 (14.22%) C#
4 58 (14.22%) JavaScript
5 24 (5.88%) PL/SQL
6 19 (4.66%) PowerShell
7 18 (4.41%) XPath
8 10 (2.45%) C++
9 9 (2.21%) Scala
9 9 (2.21%) T-SQL
10 8 (1.96%) RPG
10 8 (1.96%) Shell Script
11 7 (1.72%) ABAP
11 7 (1.72%) Korn
12 6 (1.47%) Groovy
13 5 (1.23%) Perl
14 4 (0.98%) BeanShell
14 4 (0.98%) Kotlin
14 4 (0.98%) VBA
Qualifications
1 107 (26.23%) Security Cleared
2 84 (20.59%) SC Cleared
3 57 (13.97%) Degree
4 32 (7.84%) Computer Science Degree
5 15 (3.68%) BPSS Clearance
6 12 (2.94%) HNC
6 12 (2.94%) HND
7 11 (2.70%) ISTQB
8 9 (2.21%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 6 (1.47%) PMI Certification
10 5 (1.23%) CCNP
10 5 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
10 5 (1.23%) DV Cleared
10 5 (1.23%) ISEB
10 5 (1.23%) Master's Degree
10 5 (1.23%) PMP
11 4 (0.98%) AWS Certification
12 3 (0.74%) CEH
12 3 (0.74%) GIAC
12 3 (0.74%) GWAPT
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (6.13%) QA
2 22 (5.39%) Data Quality
3 5 (1.23%) GAAP
4 4 (0.98%) GDPR
5 3 (0.74%) IFRS
5 3 (0.74%) PCI DSS
5 3 (0.74%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.49%) Basel III
6 2 (0.49%) EMIR
6 2 (0.49%) GxP
6 2 (0.49%) IFRS 17
6 2 (0.49%) IFRS 9
6 2 (0.49%) PSD2
6 2 (0.49%) SEPA
7 1 (0.25%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 1 (0.25%) AIFMD
7 1 (0.25%) GMP
7 1 (0.25%) ISO 20022
7 1 (0.25%) ISO 8583
7 1 (0.25%) SLA
System Software
1 44 (10.78%) Docker
2 3 (0.74%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 16 (3.92%) Kubernetes
2 14 (3.43%) Ansible
3 11 (2.70%) Control-M
4 10 (2.45%) Puppet
5 8 (1.96%) logstash
6 7 (1.72%) Kibana
6 7 (1.72%) TIBCO Hawk
7 5 (1.23%) ITRS Geneos
8 3 (0.74%) CloudHub
8 3 (0.74%) Terraform
9 2 (0.49%) Fluentd
9 2 (0.49%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.49%) QRadar
10 1 (0.25%) CEMLI
10 1 (0.25%) Docker Swarm
10 1 (0.25%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.25%) Podman
10 1 (0.25%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.25%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.25%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 101 (24.75%) Oracle
2 53 (12.99%) SAP
3 41 (10.05%) Microsoft
4 40 (9.80%) IBM
5 31 (7.60%) webMethods
6 19 (4.66%) Workday
7 16 (3.92%) MuleSoft
8 13 (3.19%) Splunk
9 12 (2.94%) Pega
9 12 (2.94%) ServiceNow
9 12 (2.94%) Software AG
9 12 (2.94%) TIBCO
10 11 (2.70%) Informatica
11 10 (2.45%) Axway
12 9 (2.21%) Cisco
13 8 (1.96%) Google
13 8 (1.96%) Red Hat
14 7 (1.72%) BEA
14 7 (1.72%) Salesforce
14 7 (1.72%) Veracode