Nav & Methodology

Methodology: The day rate information included in this guide has been compiled using information gathered from Hays offices across the UK. It is based on job listings, contract placements and candidate registrations. The market trends data is based on survey findings of over 700 technology contractors and those engaging them. The survey was conducted between May-June 2025 and was completed by organisations of all sizes across the private and public sectors. The survey on which the comparisons are based was carried out in April-May 2024 and secured over 920 responses.

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UK Technology Contractor Day Rate Guide 2025

AI continues to influence tech skills in demand and emerging skillsets. But difficulties securing contractors mean organisations must go beyond offering competitive day rates to find the specialist skills they need in 2025.

Block 1

Survey highlights

0

of clients are facing skills shortages

0

of clients are engaging with tech contractors due to business change and digital transformation

0

of clients increased day rates over the last year

0

of clients plan to work with contractors to source the AI skills they need

0

of contractors feel positive about their career prospects this year

0

of contractors would prefer to work mostly remotely with some time in the workplace

0

of contractors rate their work-life balance positively

0

of contractors plan to upskill in AI in the future

Block 2

Introduction

Welcome to this year’s Hays UK Technology Contractor Day Rate Guide. The world of tech contracting continues to evolve at a rapid pace, shaped by innovation, ongoing skills shortages, as well as a growing need for specialist skills.

It’s therefore more important than ever for organisations to understand how they can secure the specialist tech skills they need to achieve positive business outcomes, whether that’s delivering transformation projects, adopting emerging technologies such as AI, or to simply remain competitive.

Our 2025 UK Technology Contractor Day Rate Guide brings together our research of over 700 tech professionals, market insights from industry experts and our own expertise to provide you with the information you need to know to find the tech contractors you need in the months ahead.

We hope you find the guide useful and we’re here to support you, whatever your hiring needs or career ambitions.

Amanda Whicher
UK&I Director Technology
Hays

Block 3

Employment outlook

Almost half of clients who engage with tech contractors (47%) are optimistic about the wider economic climate and the long-term employment opportunities it may create, almost no change from last year (49%). Uncertainty is more prevalent amongst contractors, almost three quarters (74%) of whom say they are concerned about their long-term employment opportunities, an increase from 63% who said the same last year.

Looking at short-term career prospects, 47% of contractors say they are feeling positive about theirs in the next year, a slight decrease from 52% last year. However, 40% are uncertain and 13% feel negatively about their career opportunities in the next 12 months. Those working in the public sector are more optimistic about their career prospects (51%) compared to 44% of those working in the private sector.

National Insurance rates increased for employers in April 2025, but these rises have not impacted hiring plans as much as expected. While 13% of employers say the rate rises will result in their usage of contract resources to increase in the year ahead, almost half (49%) say there will be no change.

Reforms to IR35 legislation are also still having notable effects on the contracting market. The reforms extended the legislation to medium and large-sized organisations in the private sector in 2021, following their introduction in the public sector in 2017. This had an impact on demand for contractors, and while 21% of employers believe this demand has since returned to pre-legislative reform levels, 29% feel it has not.

How are clients accessing skills?

Business change and digital transformation is the top reason clients are planning to engage with tech contractors in the year ahead (58%), as well as needing to access specific skills for one-off projects (57%), to ensure flexibility of staffing costs (30%) and because of difficulties finding suitable permanent workers (28%).

Recruitment agencies are set to be the top method of accessing tech skills in the next year (63%) followed by direct sourcing (47%) and using Statements of Work to engage with individual contractors (23%). Most contractors (74%) plan to engage with organisations through a recruitment agency in the next year.

Optimism about the wider economic climate and the employment opportunities it may create within the next 2-5 years

Clients

47
29
24

Contractors

22
4
74

Block 4

Skills shortages

Almost half of tech employers (45%) do not think their organisation has the talent needed to achieve its current objectives. With 89% of employers facing skills shortages over the last year, almost no change from last year (87%), this is continuing to have a broad negative impact. For example, skills shortages are negatively affecting employers’ ability to deliver projects (67%) an increase from 60% last year, as well as productivity (44%) and employee morale (33%).

Competition from other organisations is the main driver of skill shortages according to 49% of employers, as well as fewer people entering the job market (25%) which has risen from 17% last year. There is demand for a broad range of specialist tech skills in the year ahead, with employers searching for those with expertise in AI (39%), transformation, projects and change (37%), architecture (36%), cloud (31%) and data and advanced analytics (30%).

As organisations start to look at emerging skills, evidence suggests there may be challenges around upskilling staff. The cost of qualifications or training (17%) and a lack of training and professional development available (17%) are cited as contributing to skills shortages.

Soft skills remain ever important alongside technical expertise with employers on the lookout for professionals with the ability to adopt change (52%), strong communication and interpersonal skills (50%), problem-solving skills (49%), the ability to learn and upskill (39%) and critical thinking (also 39%).

Two-thirds (66%) of employers have struggled to recruit tech contractors over the last 12 months, and challenges are expected when hiring in the year ahead. Over half (54%) expect to face applicants with unrealistic remuneration requirements, 45% expect there to be a shortage of suitable applicants, and 42% foresee strong competition from other employers for talent, highlighting the ongoing struggles that employers could face in the next year.

Top five specialist skills in demand for clients

0

AI

0

Transformation, projects and change

0

Architecture

0

Cloud

0

Data and advanced analytics

Top five soft skills in demand for clients

0

Ability to adopt change

0

Communication and interpersonal skills

0

Problem-solving

0

Ability to learn and upskill

0

Critical thinking

Block 5

AI skills

The usage of AI continues to increase across organisations whilst they seek to improve productivity (31%), to improve customer service (27%) and to develop new revenue streams (17%). Over half (56%) of clients say their organisation is currently investing in AI, rising from 35% who said the same last year, and a further 24% plan to do so.

Views about the impacts of AI on organisations and contractors have shifted over recent months. Although most tech employers think that AI will positively impact on their organisation (73%), this optimism has cooled compared to the 82% who said the same last year. On the other hand, contractors have a slightly more optimistic outlook about the effects of AI on their role. Just over half (53%) believe it will have a positive impact in the next 12 months compared to 49% last year. A further 15% expect a negative impact on their role.

As previously identified, AI is the top specialist skill most in demand amongst employers. Around half of employers (47%) expect to work with contractors to source the AI skills they need, an increase from 43% who planned to do so last year. It is therefore no surprise that most contractors (81%) plan to upskill in AI in the future, rising from 75% who said the same last year.

To find the AI skills they require, employers plan to use an AI/data consultancy (31%) or source talent externally within the industry (25%). The most popular step to gain the AI skillsets they need is to upskill internal talent in using AI (41%). However, to overcome the previously identified upskilling challenges such as costs or a lack of available development opportunities, employers must carefully consider how they will go about implementing effective training programmes in emerging technologies.

What AI technologies are being invested in?

Chatbots and Large Language Models (LLMs) are the primary AI technologies being invested in by 63% of organisations, rising from 48% last year. This is followed by Machine Learning and Robotic Process Automation.

Chatbots and LLMs

63

Machine Learning

47

Robotic Process Automation (software)

44

Intelligent Document Processing

37

Workflow Management (iBPMS)

34
 
       

Top five reasons organisations are investing in AI

Increase productivity

31

Improve customer service

27

Develop new revenue streams

17

Reduce costs

11

Increase compliance/reduce errors

10
 

Block 6

Two people sitting at a small table in a modern, minimalist room with wooden walls and a large potted plant; one person holding a tablet or laptop, the other engaged in conversation.

Skills shortages remain rife within the tech industry, and are being further exacerbated by rapidly evolving skills requirements demanded by emerging technologies. To help combat this, organisations should consider how they can implement effective upskilling programmes to bring their tech teams up to speed with emerging technologies, balanced with their usage of tech contractors to bring much-needed expertise.

James WalshUK&I Cyber, Data & Cloud Lead

Block 7

Day rates

As demand for talent continues, day rates have continued to rise, driven by the cost of living (67%), as well as a rising need for skills (42%), and a focus on new and niche technology areas (19%). We anticipate this to continue over the next 12 months. 

Over the last year, over half of employers (51%) say that day rates have increased, rising by an average of 0.9%. A further 40% of clients say rates have remained the same, and 9% say day rates have decreased over the last year.

Certain specialist areas are seeing above-average day rate increases. For example, rates for cyber professionals have risen by an average of 3% over the last 12 months, driven by the ongoing threat of more sophisticated and complex cyber threats.

Rates for software developers increased by an average of 1.8% over the last year, while those across architecture as well as roles within startups and scaleups grew by an average of 1.6%.

While day rates have remained largely stable within fintech roles, there have been above-average increases of 1.4% within cyber roles, and 1.3% within software development roles, driven by strong demand for specialists in these areas. 

Over the next 12 months, the same proportion of employers expect day rates to increase (51%), while a further 45% expect rates to stay the same, and 4% expect rates to decrease.

0
average day rate increase over the last year
Discover tech contractor day rates

How have day rates changed during the last 12 months?

2025

27
14
10
40
9

2024

27
15
13
39
6

How are day rates expected to change over the next 12 months?

2025

16
18
17
45
4

2024

15
21
17
44
3

Block 8

Expert views

No one-size-fits-all for flexible working

There’s a great opportunity for businesses to experiment with what working environments truly work best for them and their employees.

Tech allows employees to work together remotely. Advanced connectivity allows employees to access key files from anywhere; communications and shared drives allow instant collaboration between colleagues and cyber-security products ensure this can be done safely and securely wherever people are.

There are huge potential upsides for workers with caring responsibilities to have the flexibility remote work offers. However, it creates a danger of an ‘always on’ culture, and colleagues could become isolated from one another to the detriment of personal development.

At the same time, every business will have different needs of their employees, some requiring in-office presence and others necessitating remote work. There is no shortcut, or one-size-fits-all policy, and businesses need to be allowed to experiment and do what works for them, from back to office mandates to fully remote working and everything in between.

The downsides of remote working and other working patterns can be mitigated though with careful and understanding management practices. Businesses need to be allowed, and encouraged, to negotiate with their employees to find solutions that work for all of them. This trust, between employer and employee, is essential to creating positive and productive workplaces however businesses choose to work.

There is a real opportunity to create real partnership between businesses and employees, and tech is leading the way.

Archie Breare
Policy Manager – Skills & Digital Economy, techUK

ERP in transition

The ERP market should remain buoyant. The pressures from ERP vendors to move their customers to the cloud continues, particularly with SAP ending support for their ECC6 platform with demand for skills in S/4 HANA likely to increase at the expense of ECC6 skills.

Oracle have been pushing customers of their HCM product to switch to the Redwood UX, and while the deadline for this is nearly upon us, we can probably look forward to a similar journey for their ERP modules in the years to come. Skills in Oracle’s Visual Builder Studio will continue to be in demand.

All the ERP vendors are building AI capabilities into their products as fast as they can; it’s the latest technology race. Customers will need help to adopt these new features and will no doubt look externally for expert support. This will include the classic AI technologies such as intelligent automation, the newer GenAI features that help with the creation of documents and content, and the latest Agentic AI features. Customers will be needing both strategic advice on which features to deploy as well as practical support in switching on and configuring them for their organisations.

Patrick Hatson

Patrick Haston
Head of Cloud Transformation, Cabinet Office

Matching contractor expertise to address evolving cyber threats

The UK cybersecurity contractor market is still a big focus in 2025, but there is more going on than just changes in day rates. Operational roles like SOC analysts, GRC specialists, and project leads have seen some rate increases, but senior contractor rates have levelled off and are still below where they were 18 to 24 months ago. Across most regions, median day rates for cyber contractors have actually dropped.

A lot of organisations do not have much cyber experience and are not always clear about what outcomes, skills, or expertise they really need. Sometimes they ask for a CISO when what they actually need is crisis management, compliance help, or someone to set up a SOC. This can lead to confusion and mismatched expectations on both sides.

Contractors who try to cover every area of cybersecurity can end up looking less credible to knowledgeable hiring managers. It is usually better to focus on what you do best, whether that is GRC, incident response, or cyber strategy. Right now, there is strong demand for people with skills in identity and access management, incident response, and cloud security, especially if they have current certifications.

AI is changing the landscape quickly. As more organisations bring in AI tools and face new risks, there is a growing need for people who can work across both AI and cyber security. We are expecting to see a similar pattern with quantum computing, as companies start to understand the risks and opportunities it brings.

Flexibility is important, especially for senior contractors. Fitting in with how an organisation works, whether that is on site, hybrid, or remote, can make a real difference. Many clients cannot justify full time support but are open to part time or advisory arrangements. With fewer contract roles and lower rates, more contractors are splitting their time across multiple clients with flexible, outcome-based work, or are making the move to permanent jobs.

If organisations want to attract the right contractor talent and avoid disappointment, they need to be clear about what outcomes they want and focus on results, not just lists of tasks or qualifications. Being specific about whether the priority is risk reduction, compliance, or operational resilience (each needs different skills and experience) helps match the right people to the right roles and delivers the best possible value.

Jon Staniforth

Jon Staniforth
CISO Advisory

AI shaping data demand and skillsets

As organisations continue in their uptake and implementation of AI tools and technologies, many face a critical challenge: legacy data systems that are not ready to support AI’s full potential.

To strengthen their data foundations and reap the full benefits of AI, there is a need to invest in data governance, metadata management and semantic data modelling – a discipline that is distinct from traditional data architecture which focuses on the meaning and context of data, therefore enabling AI to interpret and utilise it more effectively. To meet evolving demands, data architects should consider upskilling in semantic modelling to support their career progression.

While there is a strong market of contractors with data quality and management skills, the shortage of experienced data governance professionals is proving challenging for organisations. There is particularly high demand for data contractors from the banking sector, given the mature governance practices of the industry.

Looking to the future, information engineering is a skillset set to emerge in the data and analytics space, encompassing data engineering, data processing, machine learning and even data modelling to help connect existing technology and new AI systems to achieve business outcomes.

To maximise their usage of data contractors, as well as data functions as a whole, leaders must recognise data professionals as business enablers rather than another technology function. Business leaders who upskill and educate themselves about the importance of data will be best placed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Deni Boncheva

Deni Boncheva
Global Head of Data
Hays

Block 9

Attracting talent

With demand for tech contactors remaining high, organisations must look beyond the rates they offer to stand out to the contractors they want to work with. There are many factors outside of the day rate on offer which can appeal to tech contractors.

For example, the top factor rated most important to contractors when considering a new role is a positive work-life balance (35%), with around half (48%) preferring to work remotely most of the time. However, this does not align with the sentiments of clients, with only 19% believing that offering a positive work-life balance is the best way to attract tech contractors. A positive work-life balance is more important for contractors aged under 40 (44%) compared to those aged above 40 (34%).

Challenging roles or projects are also important to contractors (31%) as well as the location of the role (16%) and the work environment (10%).

Although around one in ten clients (11%) believe their employer brand is the most important factor to help them attract contractors, this is only top of the list for 1% of contractors. Organisations cannot therefore rely on their brand to secure the tech skills they need but instead must look at what else they can provide to appeal to contractors. 

Compare the availability, costs and desires of the world’s tech talent with the Hays Tech Talent Explorer.

Aside from day rates, what are the most important factors to help organisations attract staff, compared to what contractors look for?

Challenging role/projects

35

Work-life balance (including flexible working)

19

Location

16

Employer brand

11

Work environment

10

Clear organisational purpose

7

Inclusive workplace practices

2

Work-life balance (including flexible working)

35

Challenging role/projects

31

Location of the role

16

Work environment

10

Clear organisational purpose

5

Inclusive workplace practices

2

Employer brand

1

Block 10

Two individuals engaged in discussion; one facing the camera with a blurred face and wearing a light grey sweater, the other with back to the camera in a dark grey shirt, with indistinct drawings on the wall behind them.

With day rates remaining largely stable over the last year, organisations need to consider what else matters to contractors in order to stand out from the crowd. One size does not fit all; instead a balance of factors including flexible working options, offering challenging and interesting projects, an engaging work environment and inclusive working practices will all help to appeal to in-demand contractors who may have multiple job opportunities on the table.

Amanda WhicherUK&I Director Technology
Hays

Block 11

Ways of working

Flexible working is not only highly valued by contractors – it can also help broaden your talent pool to those who may not be able to travel into a workplace or who may have caring responsibilities.

When it comes to ways of working, flexible working options are highly sought after by contractors, and currently, 69% rate their work-life balance positively.

The most popular way of working that employers currently offer to tech contractors is for them to work most of the time remotely, with some time spent in the office. This is the preferred way of working for 48% of contractors.

More disparity arises when it comes to fully remote working. Nearly three in ten contractors (29%) want to work in this way, rising to 41% for those aged under 40, but only 16% of employers are currently offering this way of working.

How do tech contractors currently work compared to how they would prefer to work?

Currently offered by employers

Fully remote

16

Majority remote, with some time spent in the office

50

Half in the office, half remote

23

Majority in the office, with some time spent remote

9

Fully in the office

2

Preferred way of working

Fully remote

29

Majority remote, with some time spent in the office

48

Half in the office, half remote

17

Majority in the office, with some time spent remote

5

Fully in the office

1

Block 12

Recommendations

Rethink how you appeal to contractors

While day rates remain important to contractors, there are many more factors that matter to tech specialists when considering their next role. Your brand reputation alone won’t be enough to encourage contractors to apply to your roles – what matters more is whether your ways of working are aligned to contractor preferences, if you’re offering an interesting project to work on or the opportunity to work with a new or emerging technology, and if the work environment is engaging. Getting the right balance between these factors could be the difference between you securing an in-demand contractor or losing them to a competitor.

Think beyond your current skills requirements

The most common reason to engage with tech contractors in the year ahead is due to business change and digital transformation. Combined with the adoption and implementation of AI tools and technologies continuing to forge ahead at pace, organisations need to consider not just the skills and expertise they need today, but also those they will need in the future. Getting your staff AI-ready requires investment in your training and development programmes. You could also consider building new talent pipelines through Hays Skills and Learning, which nurtures undiscovered talent through an academy model to meet your organisation’s specific needs, both in the short term and to future-proof your workforce for the long term.

Clients Graphic

Diversify your skillset

The top specialist skills in demand range from architecture, cloud and data through to projects and change and AI. While some technical skills are much more established in the industry, emerging and rapidly evolving skills such as AI provide a challenge to contractors wishing to stay relevant. To help future-proof your career, diversifying your skillset will set you up for success in a competitive market. Check out the training courses we have available on the Hays My Learning portal for a broad range of upskilling resources as well as our Contractor Toolkit for further tips to support your long-term career success.

Broaden the scope of opportunities you consider

Although tech contractors remain in demand, you may notice fewer opportunities than expected due to tightening budgets for many organisations. Having a more open mind towards the roles you consider can help widen the contracts available to you, for example, could you be more open to working in an office rather than fully remotely? Can you challenge yourself to take on a project that’s utilising new and emerging technologies? Could your skills be transferred to a different sector or industry? The Hays app makes it easier than ever to find your next contractor job and manage your portfolio on the go, download the app and find your next contract.

Contractors Grpahic

Block 13

Two professionals discussing the UK Technology Contractor Day Rate Guide 2025, with an index of topics on the right. The guide, provided by Hays, includes sections on Leadership, Architecture, Cloud, CRM, Data & Advanced Analytics, ERP, Infrastructure, Intelligent Automation, Projects & Change Management, ServiceNow, Software Development, Testing, and IT/Data Science roles.
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