Validation Contracts

Validation
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for Validation skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited Validation 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 120 155 187
Rank change year-on-year +35 +32 -20
Contract jobs citing Validation 812 947 1,333
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.89% 1.69% 1.52%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.21% 1.88% 1.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 402 536 767
10th Percentile £325 £380 £345
25th Percentile £419 £460 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £553 £520
Median % change year-on-year -4.98% +6.25% +14.29%
75th Percentile £600 £700 £625
90th Percentile £686 £950 £714
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £475
% change year-on-year - +5.26% +13.10%
Number of hourly rates quoted 172 162 84
10th Percentile £26.88 £42.50 £25.88
25th Percentile £51.25 £51.46 £42.50
Median hourly rate £60.00 £63.12 £51.93
Median % change year-on-year -4.94% +21.55% +29.81%
75th Percentile £72.50 £68.75 £64.81
90th Percentile £76.86 £77.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.50 £62.50 £50.00
% change year-on-year - +25.00% +25.00%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Validation 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%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Job vacancy trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

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

Daily rate trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Daily Rate Histogram

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

Daily rate histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

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

Hourly rate trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Hourly Rate Histogram

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

Hourly rate histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Top 18 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Validation 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 +37 741 £500 -13.04% 960
UK excluding London +50 472 £500 - 759
London +1 264 £536 -17.50% 208
Work from Home +48 257 £525 -4.55% 298
South West +25 128 £525 -6.42% 105
South East +31 118 £525 +5.00% 216
East of England +6 89 £488 -2.50% 143
North of England +65 86 £463 -7.50% 130
Midlands +40 64 £570 +42.50% 143
West Midlands +40 55 £575 +27.78% 93
North West +36 45 £500 - 81
Yorkshire +43 34 £432 -21.45% 39
Northern Ireland +11 11 £600 - 4
East Midlands +7 11 £458 +14.38% 50
North East +14 7 £500 -9.09% 10
Scotland +6 6 £481 -2.78% 40
Isle of Man - 2 - -
Wales +14 1 - - 12

Validation
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 32 (3.94%) Confluence
2 24 (2.96%) SAS
3 19 (2.34%) SharePoint
4 11 (1.35%) Apache Spark
5 9 (1.11%) CMS
6 7 (0.86%) Apache
7 6 (0.74%) IIS
7 6 (0.74%) Sitecore CMS
8 3 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.37%) Oracle Workflow
8 3 (0.37%) WebSphere
9 2 (0.25%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 1 (0.12%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Exchange
10 1 (0.12%) Smallworld
10 1 (0.12%) WordPress
Applications
1 47 (5.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 35 (4.31%) Simulink
3 34 (4.19%) Microsoft Office
4 29 (3.57%) Stateflow
5 18 (2.22%) AutoCAD
6 16 (1.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
7 7 (0.86%) MS Visio
8 5 (0.62%) TargetLink
9 4 (0.49%) Sketch
10 1 (0.12%) Autodesk Inventor
10 1 (0.12%) InfoPath
10 1 (0.12%) InVision
10 1 (0.12%) MicroStation
10 1 (0.12%) Siemens NX
10 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 31 (3.82%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.74%) Magento
3 5 (0.62%) Dynamics CRM
4 4 (0.49%) SAP SD
5 3 (0.37%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.37%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.37%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.37%) SAP FI/CO
5 3 (0.37%) SAP Hybris
5 3 (0.37%) SAP MDG
5 3 (0.37%) Teamcenter
6 2 (0.25%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.25%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Business One
6 2 (0.25%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Retail
7 1 (0.12%) SAP LE
7 1 (0.12%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.12%) SAP PP
7 1 (0.12%) SAP SCM
Cloud Services
1 79 (9.73%) Azure
2 51 (6.28%) Power Platform
3 41 (5.05%) AWS
4 31 (3.82%) GCP
5 17 (2.09%) SAP Commerce Cloud
6 15 (1.85%) dbt
7 13 (1.60%) Azure DevOps
8 11 (1.35%) Serverless
9 10 (1.23%) Dynamics 365
9 10 (1.23%) SaaS
10 9 (1.11%) Amazon S3
10 9 (1.11%) AWS Lambda
10 9 (1.11%) Azure Data Factory
10 9 (1.11%) BrowserStack
10 9 (1.11%) Microsoft 365
10 9 (1.11%) OCI
11 8 (0.99%) Azure Functions
11 8 (0.99%) BlazeMeter
11 8 (0.99%) Firebase
12 7 (0.86%) Veeva
Communications & Networking
1 23 (2.83%) TCP/IP
2 17 (2.09%) SNMP
3 15 (1.85%) Internet
4 14 (1.72%) Software-Defined Radio
5 13 (1.60%) Ethernet
6 12 (1.48%) Firewall
7 11 (1.35%) WAN
8 10 (1.23%) LAN
9 9 (1.11%) Network Security
9 9 (1.11%) SSL
10 8 (0.99%) BGP
10 8 (0.99%) VLAN
11 7 (0.86%) MPLS
12 6 (0.74%) DNS
12 6 (0.74%) Remote Desktop
12 6 (0.74%) VSAN
12 6 (0.74%) Wireless
13 5 (0.62%) Kerberos
13 5 (0.62%) WLAN
14 4 (0.49%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 53 (6.53%) Data Warehouse
2 38 (4.68%) Power BI
3 18 (2.22%) SQL Server
4 13 (1.60%) Data Lake
5 12 (1.48%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.35%) Oracle Database
7 10 (1.23%) Electronic Patient Records
8 9 (1.11%) Big Data
9 8 (0.99%) Amazon Redshift
9 8 (0.99%) Couchbase
9 8 (0.99%) SAP HANA
10 7 (0.86%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 6 (0.74%) Hadoop
11 6 (0.74%) Tableau
12 5 (0.62%) NoSQL
12 5 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
12 5 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
13 4 (0.49%) Azure SQL Database
13 4 (0.49%) GIS
13 4 (0.49%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 66 (8.13%) JIRA
2 62 (7.64%) Git
3 28 (3.45%) Rational DOORS
4 27 (3.33%) Eclipse
5 18 (2.22%) Bitbucket
6 15 (1.85%) JMeter
7 13 (1.60%) GoogleTest
7 13 (1.60%) Robot Framework
8 12 (1.48%) Selenium
8 12 (1.48%) Subversion
8 12 (1.48%) Visual Studio
9 11 (1.35%) Jenkins
10 10 (1.23%) Postman
10 10 (1.23%) Rational Rhapsody
11 8 (0.99%) Appium
11 8 (0.99%) Cypress.io
11 8 (0.99%) GitLab
12 4 (0.49%) LSMW
13 3 (0.37%) IntelliJ
13 3 (0.37%) PVCS
General
1 190 (23.40%) Social Skills
2 168 (20.69%) Finance
3 113 (13.92%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (5.67%) Public Sector
5 40 (4.93%) Manufacturing
6 38 (4.68%) Automotive
7 37 (4.56%) Presentation Skills
8 36 (4.43%) Aerospace
9 35 (4.31%) Legal
10 33 (4.06%) Banking
11 30 (3.69%) Marketing
12 27 (3.33%) Telecoms
13 25 (3.08%) Military
14 22 (2.71%) Electronics
15 20 (2.46%) Retail
16 19 (2.34%) Pharmaceutical
17 17 (2.09%) Influencing Skills
17 17 (2.09%) Organisational Skills
18 12 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
19 11 (1.35%) Law
Job Titles
1 126 (15.52%) Analyst
2 83 (10.22%) Software Engineer
3 68 (8.37%) Architect
4 57 (7.02%) Developer
4 57 (7.02%) Lead
5 50 (6.16%) Senior
6 48 (5.91%) Business Analyst
7 42 (5.17%) Systems Engineer
8 39 (4.80%) Consultant
9 32 (3.94%) Embedded Engineer
10 29 (3.57%) Embedded Software Engineer
11 28 (3.45%) Data Analyst
11 28 (3.45%) Data Engineer
12 27 (3.33%) Project Manager
13 23 (2.83%) C++ Software Engineer
13 23 (2.83%) Principal Engineer
14 21 (2.59%) Principal Systems Engineer
15 19 (2.34%) Test Engineer
16 18 (2.22%) Integration Engineer
16 18 (2.22%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (2.83%) CSS
1 23 (2.83%) HTML
2 19 (2.34%) Node.js
2 19 (2.34%) YAML
3 16 (1.97%) Web Services
4 14 (1.72%) PySpark
5 12 (1.48%) Kafka
5 12 (1.48%) REST
6 10 (1.23%) ADO
7 9 (1.11%) Middleware
8 8 (0.99%) JSON
8 8 (0.99%) React
8 8 (0.99%) Swagger
8 8 (0.99%) WebdriverIO
9 7 (0.86%) OpenAPI
9 7 (0.86%) RESTful
10 6 (0.74%) AngularJS
11 5 (0.62%) GraphQL
11 5 (0.62%) OAuth
11 5 (0.62%) Pandas
Miscellaneous
1 43 (5.30%) Algorithms
2 33 (4.06%) Management Information System
3 30 (3.69%) Product Ownership
4 23 (2.83%) Self-Motivation
5 13 (1.60%) Legacy Systems
5 13 (1.60%) NHS
6 11 (1.35%) Life Science
7 10 (1.23%) Data Structures
8 9 (1.11%) LIMS
8 9 (1.11%) Linux Command Line
8 9 (1.11%) Operational Technology
9 8 (0.99%) Mobile App
9 8 (0.99%) PKI
10 7 (0.86%) CMDB
10 7 (0.86%) Credit Risk
10 7 (0.86%) Embedded Systems
10 7 (0.86%) Replication
11 6 (0.74%) Data Centre
11 6 (0.74%) Data Protection Act
11 6 (0.74%) DataPower
Operating Systems
1 62 (7.64%) Windows
2 59 (7.27%) Linux
3 16 (1.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 14 (1.72%) Unix
5 6 (0.74%) Oracle Linux
5 6 (0.74%) Solaris
5 6 (0.74%) VMS
5 6 (0.74%) Windows Server 2019
6 5 (0.62%) Android
7 4 (0.49%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.49%) SafeRTOS
8 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (17.24%) Agile
2 133 (16.38%) Verification and Validation
3 128 (15.76%) Problem-Solving
4 116 (14.29%) Software Engineering
5 112 (13.79%) Migration
6 75 (9.24%) Data Migration
6 75 (9.24%) Data Validation
7 74 (9.11%) Computer Science
8 68 (8.37%) User Acceptance Testing
9 67 (8.25%) Data Modelling
10 66 (8.13%) Project Management
11 62 (7.64%) ETL
12 60 (7.39%) Scrum
13 58 (7.14%) Test Automation
14 56 (6.90%) Analytics
14 56 (6.90%) Data Management
15 53 (6.53%) Use Case
16 52 (6.40%) CI/CD
17 47 (5.79%) Business Intelligence
17 47 (5.79%) Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 105 (12.93%) SQL
2 77 (9.48%) Python
3 67 (8.25%) C++
4 52 (6.40%) C
4 52 (6.40%) JavaScript
5 46 (5.67%) Java
6 39 (4.80%) MATLAB
6 39 (4.80%) PowerShell
7 33 (4.06%) C#
8 15 (1.85%) Bash
9 13 (1.60%) Embedded C
10 11 (1.35%) R
11 10 (1.23%) Ada
12 9 (1.11%) Embedded C++
12 9 (1.11%) Shell Script
13 8 (0.99%) Assembly Language
14 7 (0.86%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.86%) VB
15 6 (0.74%) T-SQL
16 5 (0.62%) Perl
Qualifications
1 137 (16.87%) Degree
2 126 (15.52%) Security Cleared
3 93 (11.45%) SC Cleared
4 43 (5.30%) Master's Degree
5 28 (3.45%) DV Cleared
6 26 (3.20%) Computer Science Degree
7 15 (1.85%) BPSS Clearance
8 13 (1.60%) PhD
9 12 (1.48%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (1.23%) ISTQB
11 9 (1.11%) CCNA
11 9 (1.11%) ITIL Certification
12 7 (0.86%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 6 (0.74%) PMI Certification
13 6 (0.74%) PMP
14 5 (0.62%) CCNP
14 5 (0.62%) OSCP
15 4 (0.49%) Chartered Engineer
15 4 (0.49%) SAP Certification
16 3 (0.37%) CCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 83 (10.22%) QA
2 70 (8.62%) Data Quality
3 27 (3.33%) NIST
4 17 (2.09%) GxP
5 15 (1.85%) GDPR
6 14 (1.72%) PMO
7 11 (1.35%) PCI DSS
8 8 (0.99%) CDISC
8 8 (0.99%) HL7
9 7 (0.86%) AUTOSAR
9 7 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 6 (0.74%) GAMP
10 6 (0.74%) ISO 26262
11 5 (0.62%) HIPAA
11 5 (0.62%) IFRS
11 5 (0.62%) IFRS 9
11 5 (0.62%) JTAG
11 5 (0.62%) MISRA
11 5 (0.62%) MISRA C
12 4 (0.49%) Accessibility
System Software
1 46 (5.67%) VMware Infrastructure
2 32 (3.94%) Virtual Machines
3 27 (3.33%) Firmware
4 13 (1.60%) VMware ESXi
5 8 (0.99%) Active Directory
6 7 (0.86%) Docker
6 7 (0.86%) Embedded Firmware
7 6 (0.74%) KVM
7 6 (0.74%) VMFS
7 6 (0.74%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.25%) vSphere
9 1 (0.12%) HDFS
9 1 (0.12%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 25 (3.08%) Ansible
2 19 (2.34%) Terraform
3 15 (1.85%) Progress Chef
3 15 (1.85%) Puppet
4 14 (1.72%) Salt
5 7 (0.86%) Kubernetes
6 6 (0.74%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.37%) HP Quality Center
8 2 (0.25%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.25%) Nmap
8 2 (0.25%) OpenNMS
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Kibana
9 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Intune
9 1 (0.12%) QRadar
9 1 (0.12%) SCCM
Vendors
1 102 (12.56%) Microsoft
2 82 (10.10%) SAP
3 52 (6.40%) VMware
4 44 (5.42%) Oracle
5 34 (4.19%) Google
6 20 (2.46%) Atlassian
6 20 (2.46%) Cisco
7 19 (2.34%) Salesforce
8 17 (2.09%) Databricks
9 16 (1.97%) EMC
9 16 (1.97%) IBM
9 16 (1.97%) Red Hat
10 13 (1.60%) SaltStack
11 8 (0.99%) CA
12 7 (0.86%) Sitecore
13 6 (0.74%) ServiceNow
14 5 (0.62%) Adobe
14 5 (0.62%) Cadence
14 5 (0.62%) MathWorks
14 5 (0.62%) Workday