The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Shadow IT in remote or hybrid contract work. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Shadow IT over the 6 months leading up to 21 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
Shadow IT falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with remote or hybrid options requiring generic IT skills.
Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills
3,428
3,851
6,301
As % of all contract jobs with a WFH option
35.33%
30.41%
31.02%
Number of daily rates quoted
2,203
2,511
4,508
10th Percentile
£329
£325
£350
25th Percentile
£413
£438
£450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile)
£525
£550
£550
Median % change year-on-year
-4.55%
-
-
75th Percentile
£650
£688
£675
90th Percentile
£804
£850
£775
UK median daily rate
£515
£540
£550
% change year-on-year
-4.63%
-1.82%
-
Number of hourly rates quoted
107
90
141
10th Percentile
£14.07
£20.18
£19.99
25th Percentile
£24.77
£31.26
£25.71
Median hourly rate
£34.00
£64.25
£52.50
Median % change year-on-year
-47.08%
+22.38%
-2.78%
75th Percentile
£65.00
£72.50
£70.00
90th Percentile
£70.68
£85.00
£75.00
UK median hourly rate
£29.50
£50.00
£44.50
% change year-on-year
-41.00%
+12.36%
+67.92%
Shadow IT Trend for Jobs with a WFH Option
Job vacancies with remote working options citing Shadow IT as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
Shadow IT Daily Rate Trend for Jobs with Hybrid Work Options
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs with remote work options citing Shadow IT.
Shadow IT Top 9 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in Job Vacancies with WFH Options
For the 6 months to 21 September 2025, contractor job vacancies citing Shadow IT also mentioned the following skills in order of popularity.
The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract jobs with hybrid or remote work options and a requirement for Shadow IT.
Shadow IT Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities with WFH Options by Category
The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category.
The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:
