Real-Time IT Job Market Trends & Actionable Insights

Permanent Job Market Index

Description	Rank 6 Months to 10 Oct 2026	Rank YoY Change	Median Salary	Median Salary YoY Change	Historical Absolute & Relative Jobs Vacancies	Live Jobs
AI	8	Up 1 place+1	£72,500	+3.57%	10,136 8.58%	27,178
Social Skills	1	No change0	£47,500	-	19,043 16.13%	25,201
Finance	3	Down -1 place-1	£65,000	+2.36%	15,406 13.05%	25,198
Senior	2	Up 8 places+8	£70,000	+7.69%	15,902 13.47%	22,020
Lead	13	Up 13 places+13	£78,319	+4.42%	9,002 7.62%	17,173
Degree	20	Down -17 places-17	£52,500	-	6,987 5.92%	16,962
Problem-Solving	6	Down -2 places-2	£46,000	+2.22%	11,114 9.41%	16,293
Python	23	Down -12 places-12	£70,000	-3.44%	6,514 5.52%	13,237
Analytics	31	Down -8 places-8	£67,500	+12.50%	5,535 4.69%	13,122
Continuous Improvement	9	Up 4 places+4	£55,000	-4.34%	9,885 8.37%	12,688
Analytical Skills	24	Down -16 places-16	£51,356	+2.71%	6,507 5.51%	12,633
Agile	16	Down -11 places-11	£62,881	-6.84%	8,266 7.00%	11,981
Decision-Making	27	Up 10 places+10	£57,500	-4.16%	6,071 5.14%	11,270
Software Engineering	10	Up 14 places+14	£75,000	-	9,216 7.81%	11,244
Microsoft	4	Up 2 places+2	£50,000	+11.11%	13,427 11.37%	11,213
Roadmaps	38	Up 1 place+1	£80,000	+6.66%	4,633 3.92%	11,170
Marketing	34	Down -17 places-17	£45,000	-	5,074 4.30%	9,973
AWS	19	Down -5 places-5	£72,500	-3.33%	6,994 5.92%	9,698
Mentoring	29	Down -14 places-14	£65,000	+5.69%	5,789 4.90%	9,619
Stakeholder Management	26	Up 14 places+14	£67,000	+3.07%	6,223 5.27%	9,456
Azure	7	No change0	£65,000	+8.33%	10,951 9.28%	9,402
SQL	25	Down -13 places-13	£57,500	+4.54%	6,235 5.28%	8,369
CI/CD	32	Down -3 places-3	£70,000	-3.44%	5,358 4.54%	8,166
SaaS	39	Up 20 places+20	£65,000	+4.00%	4,581 3.88%	7,702
Machine Learning	77	Down -30 places-30	£75,000	-6.25%	2,447 2.07%	7,621
Inclusion and Diversity	43	Down -25 places-25	£55,000	+4.76%	3,743 3.17%	7,522
Law	51	Down -18 places-18	£60,000	+13.20%	3,275 2.77%	7,461
Security Cleared	18	Up 7 places+7	£70,000	+16.66%	7,553 6.40%	7,455
Legal	52	Up 11 places+11	£57,500	-2.95%	3,264 2.76%	6,863
Cybersecurity	22	Up 12 places+12	£60,000	+9.09%	6,577 5.57%	6,552
Onboarding	49	Up 40 places+40	£45,000	+12.50%	3,311 2.80%	6,271
Analyst	17	Up 2 places+2	£45,000	+5.88%	7,716 6.54%	6,215
Coaching	55	Down -23 places-23	£60,000	+20.00%	3,162 2.68%	6,213
DevOps	30	Down -8 places-8	£70,000	-	5,625 4.76%	6,125
Manufacturing	30	Up 1 place+1	£50,000	+5.26%	5,625 4.76%	6,013
Computer Science	94	Down -45 places-45	£57,500	+1.61%	2,151 1.82%	5,962
Validation	68	Up 30 places+30	£59,000	+7.27%	2,648 2.24%	5,930
Architect	21	Up 51 places+51	£90,000	+9.09%	6,589 5.58%	5,795
Project Management	59	Down -24 places-24	£55,000	-4.34%	2,882 2.44%	5,710
Retail	41	Down -13 places-13	£50,000	+20.48%	4,428 3.75%	5,288
CRM	42	Down -1 place-1	£45,000	-	4,027 3.41%	5,254
Business Intelligence	54	Down -9 places-9	£55,000	-1.78%	3,204 2.71%	5,058
Data Science	129	Up 24 places+24	£75,000	+7.14%	1,649 1.40%	5,046
Public Sector	37	Up 32 places+32	£63,750	+10.86%	4,696 3.98%	5,029
Business Development	5	Up 25 places+25	£50,000	+11.11%	12,776 10.82%	4,908
Consultant	35	Up 40 places+40	£65,000	+18.18%	4,859 4.12%	4,893
Risk Management	79	Down -11 places-11	£73,000	-2.66%	2,410 2.04%	4,874
Software Engineer	28	Up 27 places+27	£70,000	-12.50%	6,048 5.12%	4,666
SC Cleared	36	Up 29 places+29	£70,000	+16.66%	4,857 4.11%	4,641
Java	56	Down -20 places-20	£70,000	-9.67%	3,117 2.64%	4,608