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 24 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
24 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 93 77 78
Rank change year-on-year -16 +1 +4
Contract jobs citing SDLC 1,006 1,734 2,719
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.36% 3.07% 3.10%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.75% 3.42% 3.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 705 1,144 1,852
10th Percentile £379 £413 £401
25th Percentile £450 £495 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £570 £600 £564
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +6.43% +11.08%
75th Percentile £688 £713 £675
90th Percentile £821 £825 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £503 £525 £500
% change year-on-year -4.29% +5.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 41 58
10th Percentile £35.50 £45.00 £25.35
25th Percentile - £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 £65.00 £64.69
90th Percentile £65.21 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.00 £58.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year -17.95% +6.36% -2.65%

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 36,577 50,687 79,377
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.85% 89.72% 90.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,572 35,094 55,727
10th Percentile £300 £325 £345
25th Percentile £413 £438 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +2.80% +8.08%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £485
% change year-on-year - +3.09% +9.98%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,481 1,678 1,891
10th Percentile £12.75 £10.63 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £15.73 £15.63
Median hourly rate £36.05 £36.13 £25.68
Median % change year-on-year -0.22% +40.67% +8.70%
75th Percentile £60.00 £65.00 £49.75
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.00 £35.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +8.57% +75.00% -4.99%

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 24 May 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 24 May 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 24 May 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 -19 861 £585 -2.50% 676
London -10 550 £600 -7.69% 290
UK excluding London -7 366 £503 -4.29% 535
Work from Home -9 361 £575 - 374
North of England +33 101 £475 -9.52% 113
South East -2 92 £575 +12.20% 165
North West +35 72 £463 -9.76% 73
Scotland +7 71 £463 -15.91% 42
South West +18 43 £625 +3.09% 68
Midlands -11 33 £575 +15.00% 91
Yorkshire +5 25 £493 -8.80% 29
West Midlands -15 22 £675 +30.12% 58
East of England -8 18 £400 -23.81% 32
Wales +12 11 £509 +7.11% 13
East Midlands +11 11 £468 +3.89% 32
North East +10 4 - - 12
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 37 (3.68%) Confluence
2 23 (2.29%) Apache Spark
3 12 (1.19%) Apache
4 11 (1.09%) CMS
5 10 (0.99%) IIS
5 10 (0.99%) SharePoint
6 8 (0.80%) Apache Solr
6 8 (0.80%) Drupal
6 8 (0.80%) nginx
7 7 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
7 7 (0.70%) BizTalk Server
8 6 (0.60%) SAS
9 5 (0.50%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 5 (0.50%) WordPress
10 4 (0.40%) SharePoint 2013
11 3 (0.30%) Gunicorn
11 3 (0.30%) OpenEdge
11 3 (0.30%) WebLogic
11 3 (0.30%) WebSphere
12 2 (0.20%) MQSeries
Applications
1 32 (3.18%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (1.99%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (0.70%) MS Visio
5 6 (0.60%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.099%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.099%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.099%) PlantUML
Business Applications
1 13 (1.29%) Dynamics CRM
2 12 (1.19%) Endur
2 12 (1.19%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.70%) SAP PM
4 5 (0.50%) Magento
4 5 (0.50%) SAP CO
4 5 (0.50%) SAP FI
4 5 (0.50%) SAP FI/CO
5 3 (0.30%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.30%) SAP Hybris
5 3 (0.30%) Shopify
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle BPM
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle General Ledger
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.20%) SAP EWM
6 2 (0.20%) SAP R/3
6 2 (0.20%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 235 (23.36%) Azure
2 199 (19.78%) AWS
3 74 (7.36%) Serverless
4 60 (5.96%) GCP
5 53 (5.27%) GitHub
6 51 (5.07%) Azure DevOps
7 36 (3.58%) Azure Data Factory
8 35 (3.48%) SaaS
9 32 (3.18%) Azure Functions
10 30 (2.98%) Azure Cosmos DB
11 29 (2.88%) Azure Monitor
12 28 (2.78%) PaaS
12 28 (2.78%) Power Platform
13 26 (2.58%) Entra ID
14 23 (2.29%) AWS Lambda
15 21 (2.09%) Microsoft 365
16 19 (1.89%) Dynamics 365
17 17 (1.69%) AWS CloudFormation
17 17 (1.69%) Azure Logic Apps
18 16 (1.59%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 10 (0.99%) Firewall
2 9 (0.89%) SSH
3 8 (0.80%) ATM
3 8 (0.80%) DNS
4 7 (0.70%) Internet
4 7 (0.70%) TCP/IP
5 6 (0.60%) WAN
6 5 (0.50%) Fibre Channel
6 5 (0.50%) iSCSI
6 5 (0.50%) SD-WAN
7 4 (0.40%) HTTPS
7 4 (0.40%) IPsec
7 4 (0.40%) Network Security
7 4 (0.40%) SAN
8 3 (0.30%) BGP
8 3 (0.30%) Cisco IOS
8 3 (0.30%) IOS XR
8 3 (0.30%) SNA
8 3 (0.30%) SSL
8 3 (0.30%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 85 (8.45%) SQL Server
2 60 (5.96%) Relational Database
3 58 (5.77%) NoSQL
4 35 (3.48%) MySQL
5 34 (3.38%) PostgreSQL
6 29 (2.88%) Data Lake
7 28 (2.78%) Big Data
8 25 (2.49%) MongoDB
9 19 (1.89%) Azure SQL Database
9 19 (1.89%) Data Warehouse
9 19 (1.89%) Power BI
10 17 (1.69%) Oracle Database
11 15 (1.49%) KDB
12 10 (0.99%) DB2
13 8 (0.80%) Couchbase
13 8 (0.80%) Metadata
14 7 (0.70%) Delta Lake
14 7 (0.70%) Oracle Reports
14 7 (0.70%) Sybase ASE
14 7 (0.70%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 111 (11.03%) Git
2 106 (10.54%) JIRA
3 75 (7.46%) Jenkins
4 36 (3.58%) Selenium
5 35 (3.48%) GitLab
6 29 (2.88%) Cucumber
6 29 (2.88%) JUnit
7 16 (1.59%) Cypress.io
7 16 (1.59%) git-flow
7 16 (1.59%) TeamCity
7 16 (1.59%) Visual Studio
8 15 (1.49%) Mockito
9 14 (1.39%) Maven
10 12 (1.19%) SonarQube
10 12 (1.19%) Team Foundation Server
11 10 (0.99%) JMeter
12 9 (0.89%) Subversion
13 8 (0.80%) Artifactory
14 7 (0.70%) WebDriver
15 6 (0.60%) Bitbucket
General
1 292 (29.03%) Social Skills
2 283 (28.13%) Finance
3 160 (15.90%) Analytical Skills
4 133 (13.22%) Banking
5 64 (6.36%) Public Sector
6 41 (4.08%) Investment Banking
7 37 (3.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 36 (3.58%) Marketing
9 33 (3.28%) Front Office
10 26 (2.58%) Aerospace
10 26 (2.58%) Influencing Skills
11 25 (2.49%) Presentation Skills
12 20 (1.99%) Retail
13 19 (1.89%) Telecoms
14 15 (1.49%) Manufacturing
15 9 (0.89%) Documentation Skills
16 8 (0.80%) Automotive
17 7 (0.70%) Electronics
17 7 (0.70%) Pharmaceutical
17 7 (0.70%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 300 (29.82%) Developer
2 154 (15.31%) Senior
3 116 (11.53%) Analyst
4 91 (9.05%) Architect
5 84 (8.35%) Java Developer
6 73 (7.26%) Software Engineer
7 68 (6.76%) Business Analyst
8 56 (5.57%) Full Stack Developer
9 53 (5.27%) Lead
9 53 (5.27%) Senior Developer
10 52 (5.17%) Solutions Architect
11 50 (4.97%) Project Manager
12 39 (3.88%) Consultant
13 37 (3.68%) DevOps Engineer
14 34 (3.38%) Python Developer
15 28 (2.78%) Data Engineer
16 26 (2.58%) Azure Developer
17 24 (2.39%) Senior Java Developer
18 21 (2.09%) Senior Analyst
18 21 (2.09%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 105 (10.44%) React
2 99 (9.84%) .NET
3 69 (6.86%) Spring
4 66 (6.56%) REST
5 58 (5.77%) Spring Boot
6 57 (5.67%) HTML
7 56 (5.57%) AngularJS
8 51 (5.07%) CSS
9 47 (4.67%) Web Services
10 45 (4.47%) JSON
11 44 (4.37%) XML
12 42 (4.17%) RESTful
13 41 (4.08%) Kafka
14 40 (3.98%) .NET Framework
15 35 (3.48%) JPA
16 30 (2.98%) SOAP
17 25 (2.49%) Hibernate
18 24 (2.39%) Node.js
19 23 (2.29%) Middleware
20 21 (2.09%) .NET Core
Miscellaneous
1 68 (6.76%) Product Ownership
2 41 (4.08%) Distributed Systems
2 41 (4.08%) Management Information System
3 39 (3.88%) Mobile App
4 38 (3.78%) Enterprise Software
5 33 (3.28%) Cloud Native
6 27 (2.68%) Public Cloud
7 23 (2.29%) Algorithms
7 23 (2.29%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 22 (2.19%) Data Structures
9 21 (2.09%) IoT
9 21 (2.09%) Legacy Systems
10 20 (1.99%) Linux Command Line
11 18 (1.79%) Derivative
12 15 (1.49%) Fixed Income
12 15 (1.49%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 14 (1.39%) Data Protection Act
13 14 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
14 12 (1.19%) Credit Derivative
14 12 (1.19%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 91 (9.05%) Linux
2 65 (6.46%) Windows
3 46 (4.57%) Unix
4 26 (2.58%) Android
5 14 (1.39%) Apple iOS
6 11 (1.09%) Windows Server
7 5 (0.50%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.40%) CentOS
8 4 (0.40%) Data ONTAP
8 4 (0.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.40%) SafeRTOS
9 2 (0.20%) VMS
9 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 506 (50.30%) Agile
2 265 (26.34%) DevOps
3 247 (24.55%) CI/CD
4 210 (20.87%) Software Engineering
5 178 (17.69%) Problem-Solving
6 174 (17.30%) Scrum
7 133 (13.22%) Microservices
8 105 (10.44%) Test Automation
9 92 (9.15%) Full Stack Development
10 83 (8.25%) Computer Science
11 80 (7.95%) Continuous Improvement
12 76 (7.55%) Project Management
13 74 (7.36%) Stakeholder Management
14 69 (6.86%) Continuous Integration
14 69 (6.86%) Waterfall
15 68 (6.76%) Analytics
15 68 (6.76%) Migration
16 67 (6.66%) User Acceptance Testing
17 62 (6.16%) Change Management
18 61 (6.06%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 259 (25.75%) Java
2 214 (21.27%) SQL
3 193 (19.18%) Python
4 123 (12.23%) C#
5 115 (11.43%) JavaScript
6 64 (6.36%) PowerShell
7 62 (6.16%) TypeScript
8 33 (3.28%) C
9 31 (3.08%) Kotlin
10 27 (2.68%) Go
10 27 (2.68%) Shell Script
11 26 (2.58%) C++
11 26 (2.58%) Scala
12 25 (2.49%) PL/SQL
13 22 (2.19%) T-SQL
14 19 (1.89%) Perl
15 15 (1.49%) VB
16 14 (1.39%) Bash
16 14 (1.39%) PHP
17 10 (0.99%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 160 (15.90%) Degree
2 109 (10.83%) Security Cleared
3 82 (8.15%) SC Cleared
4 50 (4.97%) Computer Science Degree
5 38 (3.78%) DV Cleared
6 24 (2.39%) Master's Degree
7 18 (1.79%) PMP
8 16 (1.59%) AWS Certification
8 16 (1.59%) PMI Certification
9 14 (1.39%) ISTQB
10 12 (1.19%) CISSP
11 10 (0.99%) CISM
12 7 (0.70%) Azure Certification
13 5 (0.50%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 5 (0.50%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 5 (0.50%) ITIL Certification
14 4 (0.40%) CBAP
14 4 (0.40%) CRISC
15 3 (0.30%) HNC
15 3 (0.30%) ISEB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 102 (10.14%) QA
2 26 (2.58%) NIST
3 24 (2.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 20 (1.99%) Data Quality
5 12 (1.19%) Accessibility
5 12 (1.19%) PCI DSS
6 11 (1.09%) PMO
7 7 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 6 (0.60%) GDPR
8 6 (0.60%) SEPA
9 5 (0.50%) EMIR
9 5 (0.50%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.40%) HL7
10 4 (0.40%) IFRS
10 4 (0.40%) MiFID
11 3 (0.30%) Basel III
11 3 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
11 3 (0.30%) SLA
12 2 (0.20%) ISO 9001
12 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 12207
System Software
1 71 (7.06%) Docker
2 36 (3.58%) Active Directory
3 7 (0.70%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.60%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.50%) NFS
5 5 (0.50%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (0.40%) GPFS
7 3 (0.30%) vCloud
7 3 (0.30%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.30%) vSphere
8 2 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.099%) GridGain
9 1 (0.099%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 99 (9.84%) Kubernetes
2 79 (7.85%) Terraform
3 53 (5.27%) Ansible
4 25 (2.49%) Puppet
5 17 (1.69%) Grafana
6 13 (1.29%) Prometheus
7 9 (0.89%) Argo
8 7 (0.70%) Zipkin
9 6 (0.60%) Kibana
9 6 (0.60%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.40%) Veritas Storage Foundation
10 4 (0.40%) vRealize
10 4 (0.40%) 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
Vendors
1 119 (11.83%) Microsoft
2 84 (8.35%) Oracle
3 53 (5.27%) SAP
4 29 (2.88%) Databricks
4 29 (2.88%) Salesforce
5 27 (2.68%) ServiceNow
6 26 (2.58%) Google
7 19 (1.89%) IBM
8 15 (1.49%) VMware
9 13 (1.29%) MuleSoft
10 11 (1.09%) Bloomberg
10 11 (1.09%) Sybase
11 10 (0.99%) Atlassian
12 9 (0.89%) Adobe
12 9 (0.89%) Refinitiv
13 8 (0.80%) Solace
14 7 (0.70%) OpenLink
14 7 (0.70%) TIBCO
14 7 (0.70%) TOWER Software
15 6 (0.60%) Red Hat