SDLC Contracts

Systems or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for SDLC skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited SDLC over the 6 months to 1 June 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 93 77 79
Rank change year-on-year -16 +2 0
Contract jobs citing SDLC 1,016 1,706 2,711
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.36% 3.04% 3.09%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.76% 3.39% 3.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 698 1,134 1,839
10th Percentile £379 £413 £406
25th Percentile £449 £495 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £563 £594 £575
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +3.26% +12.20%
75th Percentile £688 £713 £675
90th Percentile £818 £813 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £507
% change year-on-year -4.76% +3.55% +12.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 42 58
10th Percentile £35.35 £45.13 £25.35
25th Percentile £47.56 £50.00 £38.80
Median hourly rate £48.00 £56.25 £54.89
Median % change year-on-year -14.67% +2.48% -2.85%
75th Percentile £57.50 £64.75 £64.69
90th Percentile £67.16 £69.58 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.00 £57.38 £55.00
% change year-on-year -16.34% +4.32% -5.17%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

SDLC is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 36,802 50,277 79,372
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.47% 89.69% 90.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,632 34,811 55,790
10th Percentile £300 £325 £345
25th Percentile £413 £438 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +2.33% +7.50%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £644
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £488
% change year-on-year - +2.56% +9.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,530 1,673 1,868
10th Percentile £12.75 £10.63 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £15.72 £15.63
Median hourly rate £36.50 £36.25 £25.68
Median % change year-on-year +0.69% +41.16% +9.74%
75th Percentile £60.75 £65.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.12 £35.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +8.91% +75.00% -4.76%

SDLC
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing SDLC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing SDLC.

Daily rate trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 1 June 2024.

Daily rate histogram for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing SDLC.

Hourly rate trend for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 1 June 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SDLC within the UK over the 6 months to 1 June 2024. 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 -17 876 £575 -4.17% 560
London -9 556 £600 -5.96% 225
UK excluding London -4 374 £500 -4.76% 382
Work from Home -11 352 £575 - 318
North of England +24 103 £463 -11.90% 88
South East -2 93 £575 +13.58% 71
North West +28 76 £456 -10.98% 66
Scotland +7 70 £456 -17.05% 41
South West +12 49 £625 +4.17% 59
Midlands -14 34 £575 +15.00% 80
Yorkshire +4 23 £485 -8.92% 14
West Midlands -20 21 £675 +26.76% 51
East of England -9 17 £400 -23.81% 21
East Midlands +7 13 £468 +3.89% 28
Wales +16 11 £509 -15.21% 12
North East +11 4 - - 9
Isle of Man - 2 - -

SDLC
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities 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:

Application Platforms
1 39 (3.84%) Confluence
2 23 (2.26%) Apache Spark
3 12 (1.18%) Apache
3 12 (1.18%) CMS
4 10 (0.98%) IIS
4 10 (0.98%) SharePoint
5 9 (0.89%) nginx
6 8 (0.79%) Apache Solr
6 8 (0.79%) Drupal
7 7 (0.69%) Apache Airflow
7 7 (0.69%) BizTalk Server
8 5 (0.49%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 5 (0.49%) WordPress
9 4 (0.39%) SAS
9 4 (0.39%) SharePoint 2013
10 3 (0.30%) Gunicorn
10 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
10 3 (0.30%) OpenEdge
10 3 (0.30%) WebLogic
10 3 (0.30%) WebSphere
Applications
1 32 (3.15%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (1.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (0.69%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.39%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.098%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.098%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.098%) PlantUML
Business Applications
1 14 (1.38%) Endur
2 12 (1.18%) Dynamics CRM
2 12 (1.18%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.69%) SAP PM
4 6 (0.59%) SAP CO
4 6 (0.59%) SAP FI
4 6 (0.59%) SAP FI/CO
5 5 (0.49%) Magento
6 3 (0.30%) Remedy ITSM
6 3 (0.30%) SAP Hybris
6 3 (0.30%) Shopify
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle BPM
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle Cash Management
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle General Ledger
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.20%) SAP EWM
7 2 (0.20%) SAP R/3
7 2 (0.20%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 232 (22.83%) Azure
2 195 (19.19%) AWS
3 76 (7.48%) Serverless
4 61 (6.00%) GCP
5 54 (5.31%) GitHub
6 47 (4.63%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (3.44%) Azure Data Factory
8 32 (3.15%) Azure Functions
8 32 (3.15%) SaaS
9 29 (2.85%) Azure Monitor
10 28 (2.76%) Azure Cosmos DB
10 28 (2.76%) PaaS
10 28 (2.76%) Power Platform
11 24 (2.36%) AWS Lambda
11 24 (2.36%) Entra ID
12 20 (1.97%) Microsoft 365
13 19 (1.87%) Dynamics 365
14 17 (1.67%) AWS CloudFormation
14 17 (1.67%) Azure Logic Apps
15 16 (1.57%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.08%) Firewall
2 9 (0.89%) SSH
3 8 (0.79%) ATM
3 8 (0.79%) DNS
3 8 (0.79%) TCP/IP
4 7 (0.69%) Internet
5 6 (0.59%) WAN
6 5 (0.49%) Network Security
6 5 (0.49%) SD-WAN
7 4 (0.39%) HTTPS
7 4 (0.39%) IPsec
8 3 (0.30%) AMQP
8 3 (0.30%) BGP
8 3 (0.30%) Cisco IOS
8 3 (0.30%) Fibre Channel
8 3 (0.30%) IOS XR
8 3 (0.30%) iSCSI
8 3 (0.30%) SNA
8 3 (0.30%) SSL
8 3 (0.30%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 84 (8.27%) SQL Server
2 61 (6.00%) Relational Database
3 57 (5.61%) NoSQL
4 35 (3.44%) MySQL
5 33 (3.25%) PostgreSQL
6 30 (2.95%) Data Lake
7 28 (2.76%) Big Data
8 26 (2.56%) MongoDB
9 19 (1.87%) Azure SQL Database
9 19 (1.87%) Power BI
10 18 (1.77%) Oracle Database
11 17 (1.67%) Data Warehouse
12 15 (1.48%) KDB
13 8 (0.79%) Couchbase
13 8 (0.79%) DB2
13 8 (0.79%) Metadata
13 8 (0.79%) Oracle Reports
13 8 (0.79%) Tableau
14 7 (0.69%) Delta Lake
14 7 (0.69%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 110 (10.83%) JIRA
2 108 (10.63%) Git
3 73 (7.19%) Jenkins
4 39 (3.84%) Selenium
5 33 (3.25%) GitLab
6 30 (2.95%) Cucumber
6 30 (2.95%) JUnit
7 17 (1.67%) Cypress.io
8 16 (1.57%) git-flow
8 16 (1.57%) TeamCity
8 16 (1.57%) Visual Studio
9 15 (1.48%) Maven
9 15 (1.48%) Mockito
10 12 (1.18%) SonarQube
10 12 (1.18%) Team Foundation Server
11 10 (0.98%) JMeter
12 8 (0.79%) Artifactory
12 8 (0.79%) Subversion
13 7 (0.69%) Bitbucket
13 7 (0.69%) WebDriver
General
1 291 (28.64%) Social Skills
2 281 (27.66%) Finance
3 162 (15.94%) Analytical Skills
4 128 (12.60%) Banking
5 65 (6.40%) Public Sector
6 40 (3.94%) Investment Banking
7 37 (3.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 34 (3.35%) Marketing
9 33 (3.25%) Front Office
10 28 (2.76%) Aerospace
11 27 (2.66%) Influencing Skills
12 23 (2.26%) Presentation Skills
12 23 (2.26%) Telecoms
13 16 (1.57%) Retail
14 15 (1.48%) Manufacturing
15 9 (0.89%) Automotive
15 9 (0.89%) Documentation Skills
16 8 (0.79%) Pharmaceutical
17 7 (0.69%) Electronics
17 7 (0.69%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 303 (29.82%) Developer
2 155 (15.26%) Senior
3 118 (11.61%) Analyst
4 101 (9.94%) Architect
5 84 (8.27%) Java Developer
6 74 (7.28%) Software Engineer
7 69 (6.79%) Business Analyst
8 61 (6.00%) Solutions Architect
9 53 (5.22%) Full Stack Developer
9 53 (5.22%) Senior Developer
10 52 (5.12%) Lead
11 44 (4.33%) Project Manager
12 39 (3.84%) Consultant
13 36 (3.54%) DevOps Engineer
14 33 (3.25%) Python Developer
15 27 (2.66%) Data Engineer
16 25 (2.46%) Azure Developer
17 24 (2.36%) Senior Java Developer
18 22 (2.17%) Senior Analyst
18 22 (2.17%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 104 (10.24%) React
2 101 (9.94%) .NET
3 69 (6.79%) Spring
4 65 (6.40%) REST
5 59 (5.81%) Spring Boot
6 57 (5.61%) AngularJS
7 56 (5.51%) HTML
8 50 (4.92%) CSS
9 47 (4.63%) Web Services
10 43 (4.23%) JSON
10 43 (4.23%) XML
11 42 (4.13%) Kafka
11 42 (4.13%) RESTful
12 41 (4.04%) .NET Framework
13 34 (3.35%) JPA
14 29 (2.85%) SOAP
15 24 (2.36%) Hibernate
16 23 (2.26%) Middleware
16 23 (2.26%) Node.js
17 21 (2.07%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 72 (7.09%) Product Ownership
2 41 (4.04%) Management Information System
3 39 (3.84%) Enterprise Software
4 38 (3.74%) Distributed Systems
5 37 (3.64%) Mobile App
6 33 (3.25%) Cloud Native
7 26 (2.56%) Public Cloud
8 23 (2.26%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 23 (2.26%) IoT
9 20 (1.97%) Data Structures
9 20 (1.97%) Linux Command Line
10 19 (1.87%) Algorithms
10 19 (1.87%) Legacy Systems
11 18 (1.77%) Derivative
12 15 (1.48%) Fixed Income
12 15 (1.48%) Self-Motivation
12 15 (1.48%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 14 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
14 12 (1.18%) Credit Derivative
14 12 (1.18%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 90 (8.86%) Linux
2 60 (5.91%) Windows
3 44 (4.33%) Unix
4 25 (2.46%) Android
5 14 (1.38%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.79%) Windows Server
7 5 (0.49%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.39%) CentOS
8 4 (0.39%) SafeRTOS
9 2 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
9 2 (0.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.20%) VMS
9 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 515 (50.69%) Agile
2 259 (25.49%) DevOps
3 243 (23.92%) CI/CD
4 216 (21.26%) Software Engineering
5 181 (17.81%) Problem-Solving
6 168 (16.54%) Scrum
7 128 (12.60%) Microservices
8 108 (10.63%) Test Automation
9 86 (8.46%) Full Stack Development
10 80 (7.87%) Continuous Improvement
11 79 (7.78%) Computer Science
12 73 (7.19%) Stakeholder Management
13 71 (6.99%) Project Management
14 70 (6.89%) Analytics
15 69 (6.79%) Waterfall
16 68 (6.69%) Continuous Integration
16 68 (6.69%) Migration
17 66 (6.50%) User Acceptance Testing
18 61 (6.00%) Change Management
19 59 (5.81%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 256 (25.20%) Java
2 208 (20.47%) SQL
3 188 (18.50%) Python
4 122 (12.01%) C#
5 114 (11.22%) JavaScript
6 63 (6.20%) PowerShell
7 60 (5.91%) TypeScript
8 35 (3.44%) C
9 30 (2.95%) Kotlin
10 29 (2.85%) Shell Script
11 27 (2.66%) C++
12 26 (2.56%) Go
12 26 (2.56%) Scala
13 25 (2.46%) PL/SQL
14 22 (2.17%) T-SQL
15 18 (1.77%) VB
16 17 (1.67%) Perl
17 16 (1.57%) Bash
18 14 (1.38%) PHP
19 12 (1.18%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 161 (15.85%) Degree
2 110 (10.83%) Security Cleared
3 83 (8.17%) SC Cleared
4 52 (5.12%) Computer Science Degree
5 37 (3.64%) DV Cleared
6 23 (2.26%) Master's Degree
7 17 (1.67%) AWS Certification
8 14 (1.38%) ISTQB
9 13 (1.28%) PMP
10 12 (1.18%) CISSP
10 12 (1.18%) PMI Certification
11 10 (0.98%) CISM
12 9 (0.89%) Azure Certification
13 6 (0.59%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 6 (0.59%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
14 5 (0.49%) CBAP
14 5 (0.49%) ITIL Certification
15 4 (0.39%) CRISC
15 4 (0.39%) HNC
16 3 (0.30%) IIBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 101 (9.94%) QA
2 26 (2.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 26 (2.56%) NIST
3 22 (2.17%) Data Quality
4 12 (1.18%) Accessibility
4 12 (1.18%) PCI DSS
5 9 (0.89%) PMO
6 7 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
7 6 (0.59%) GDPR
7 6 (0.59%) SEPA
8 5 (0.49%) EMIR
8 5 (0.49%) HIPAA
9 4 (0.39%) HL7
9 4 (0.39%) IFRS
10 3 (0.30%) Basel III
10 3 (0.30%) COBIT
10 3 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
10 3 (0.30%) MiFID
10 3 (0.30%) SLA
System Software
1 67 (6.59%) Docker
2 35 (3.44%) Active Directory
3 7 (0.69%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.59%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.49%) Virtual Servers
6 3 (0.30%) NFS
6 3 (0.30%) vCloud
6 3 (0.30%) VMware ESXi
6 3 (0.30%) vSphere
7 2 (0.20%) GPFS
7 2 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.098%) GridGain
8 1 (0.098%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 96 (9.45%) Kubernetes
2 77 (7.58%) Terraform
3 52 (5.12%) Ansible
4 24 (2.36%) Puppet
5 17 (1.67%) Grafana
6 14 (1.38%) Prometheus
7 9 (0.89%) Argo
8 7 (0.69%) Zipkin
9 5 (0.49%) Kibana
9 5 (0.49%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.39%) vRealize
10 4 (0.39%) vRealize Orchestrator
11 3 (0.30%) Autotask
11 3 (0.30%) HP Fortify
11 3 (0.30%) Netcool
11 3 (0.30%) Podman
11 3 (0.30%) vCenter Server
12 2 (0.20%) logstash
12 2 (0.20%) SCOM
12 2 (0.20%) Veritas Storage Foundation
Vendors
1 116 (11.42%) Microsoft
2 89 (8.76%) Oracle
3 57 (5.61%) SAP
4 32 (3.15%) Salesforce
5 29 (2.85%) Databricks
6 27 (2.66%) ServiceNow
7 25 (2.46%) Google
8 17 (1.67%) IBM
9 15 (1.48%) VMware
10 13 (1.28%) MuleSoft
11 10 (0.98%) Atlassian
11 10 (0.98%) Bloomberg
11 10 (0.98%) Sybase
12 9 (0.89%) Adobe
12 9 (0.89%) OpenLink
13 8 (0.79%) Refinitiv
13 8 (0.79%) Solace
13 8 (0.79%) TIBCO
14 7 (0.69%) Micro Focus
14 7 (0.69%) TOWER Software