Critical Thinking Contracts

Critical Thinking
UK

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

6 months to
2 Jun 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 360 391 462
Rank change year-on-year +31 +71 -10
Contract jobs citing Critical Thinking 228 315 438
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.53% 0.56% 0.50%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.62% 0.62% 0.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 148 216 284
10th Percentile £255 £363 £350
25th Percentile £400 £424 £418
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £519 £510
Median % change year-on-year +1.20% +1.72% +7.37%
75th Percentile £625 £641 £626
90th Percentile £733 £831 £701
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £486 £495
% change year-on-year +8.02% -1.82% +10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 22 0
10th Percentile £24.27 £16.21 -
25th Percentile £25.29 £20.22 -
Median hourly rate £26.00 £21.67 -
Median % change year-on-year +19.98% - -
75th Percentile £35.00 £39.30 -
90th Percentile £50.00 £50.42 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £20.71 -
% change year-on-year +69.04% - -

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Critical Thinking 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 36,816 50,571 79,556
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.44% 89.70% 90.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,638 35,025 55,934
10th Percentile £300 £325 £348
25th Percentile £413 £438 £433
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% +8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,533 1,671 1,865
10th Percentile £12.75 £10.63 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £15.57 £15.63
Median hourly rate £36.50 £36.00 £25.68
Median % change year-on-year +1.39% +40.19% +9.70%
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% -4.88%

Critical Thinking
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Job vacancy trend for Critical Thinking in the UK

Critical Thinking
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

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

Daily rate trend for Critical Thinking in the UK

Critical Thinking
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Critical Thinking over the 6 months to 2 June 2024.

Daily rate histogram for Critical Thinking in the UK

Critical Thinking
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

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

Hourly rate trend for Critical Thinking in the UK

Critical Thinking
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Critical Thinking over the 6 months to 2 June 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for Critical Thinking in the UK

Critical Thinking
Top 16 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Critical Thinking within the UK over the 6 months to 2 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 +25 189 £525 +2.44% 286
UK excluding London +41 122 £525 +8.02% 153
London +39 82 £563 -2.17% 127
Work from Home +58 70 £481 -0.98% 104
Midlands +34 30 £275 -30.38% 36
South East -1 21 £538 +26.47% 39
East Midlands +25 19 £269 -10.71% 22
North of England +12 19 £549 +12.96% 31
South West -6 18 £538 -2.27% 27
North West +4 16 £548 +12.76% 16
Scotland +43 13 £425 -7.36% 14
Wales - 12 £600 -
West Midlands +11 11 £607 +53.67% 14
East of England - 8 £600 - 11
Yorkshire +18 3 £650 +13.04% 10
Northern Ireland - 1 £325 -

Critical Thinking
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 26 (11.40%) Confluence
2 23 (10.09%) SharePoint
3 22 (9.65%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (3.51%) SAS
5 3 (1.32%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (1.32%) Jupyter
5 3 (1.32%) nginx
Applications
1 20 (8.77%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (7.46%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (3.51%) Acrobat
4 4 (1.75%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.88%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.44%) Adobe XD
6 1 (0.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.44%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.44%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 4 (1.75%) Oracle Cash Management
1 4 (1.75%) Oracle Receivables
2 3 (1.32%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (1.32%) SAP SD
3 2 (0.88%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.44%) Distributed Ledger
4 1 (0.44%) OpenText VIM for SAP
4 1 (0.44%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.44%) SAP CO
4 1 (0.44%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.44%) SAP FI/CO
4 1 (0.44%) SAP MM
4 1 (0.44%) SAP SCM
4 1 (0.44%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 34 (14.91%) Azure
2 14 (6.14%) AWS
3 13 (5.70%) Azure DevOps
4 10 (4.39%) Azure AKS
5 9 (3.95%) GCP
5 9 (3.95%) Power Platform
6 8 (3.51%) Microsoft 365
7 7 (3.07%) Azure App Service
8 6 (2.63%) PaaS
9 4 (1.75%) Cloud Computing
9 4 (1.75%) OCI
9 4 (1.75%) Power Automate
9 4 (1.75%) PowerApps
10 3 (1.32%) Azure Machine Learning
10 3 (1.32%) Azure Monitor
10 3 (1.32%) CloudBees
10 3 (1.32%) Entra ID
10 3 (1.32%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 3 (1.32%) IaaS
10 3 (1.32%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 23 (10.09%) DNS
2 19 (8.33%) DHCP
3 8 (3.51%) Firewall
4 6 (2.63%) VSAN
5 5 (2.19%) Intranet
6 4 (1.75%) VPN
7 3 (1.32%) HTTP
7 3 (1.32%) Internet
7 3 (1.32%) Kerberos
7 3 (1.32%) SSH
7 3 (1.32%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.88%) Skype
9 1 (0.44%) BGP
9 1 (0.44%) Cisco Nexus
9 1 (0.44%) OSPF
9 1 (0.44%) SAN
9 1 (0.44%) SD-WAN
9 1 (0.44%) SSL
9 1 (0.44%) WAN
9 1 (0.44%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (3.95%) MongoDB
2 8 (3.51%) Power BI
2 8 (3.51%) Relational Database
3 7 (3.07%) KDB
4 5 (2.19%) SQL Server
5 4 (1.75%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (1.75%) SAP HANA
6 3 (1.32%) Apache Cassandra
6 3 (1.32%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (1.32%) ClickHouse
6 3 (1.32%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.88%) Big Data
7 2 (0.88%) Hadoop
7 2 (0.88%) Snowflake Schema
8 1 (0.44%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.44%) MS Access
8 1 (0.44%) MySQL
8 1 (0.44%) SQL Navigator
8 1 (0.44%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (13.16%) JIRA
2 7 (3.07%) Git
3 4 (1.75%) Cypress.io
4 3 (1.32%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.88%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.88%) Gradle
5 2 (0.88%) IntelliJ
5 2 (0.88%) Selenium
5 2 (0.88%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.44%) Balsamiq
6 1 (0.44%) GoCD
6 1 (0.44%) JUnit
6 1 (0.44%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.44%) Toad
General
1 161 (70.61%) Social Skills
2 100 (43.86%) Analytical Skills
3 56 (24.56%) Finance
4 23 (10.09%) Public Sector
5 21 (9.21%) Organisational Skills
6 19 (8.33%) Military
7 16 (7.02%) Marketing
8 12 (5.26%) French Language
8 12 (5.26%) Presentation Skills
9 11 (4.82%) Telecoms
10 9 (3.95%) Banking
11 8 (3.51%) Local Government
12 7 (3.07%) Front Office
12 7 (3.07%) German Language
12 7 (3.07%) Influencing Skills
13 6 (2.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (1.32%) Spanish Language
15 2 (0.88%) Arabic Language
15 2 (0.88%) Dutch Language
15 2 (0.88%) Legal
Job Titles
1 47 (20.61%) Analyst
2 32 (14.04%) Senior
3 27 (11.84%) Developer
4 19 (8.33%) Project Manager
5 18 (7.89%) Test Engineer
6 16 (7.02%) Integration Engineer
6 16 (7.02%) Test and Integration Engineer
7 12 (5.26%) Senior Manager
8 10 (4.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 10 (4.39%) Java Developer
9 9 (3.95%) Business Analyst
9 9 (3.95%) Senior Analyst
10 8 (3.51%) Bid Manager
10 8 (3.51%) Incident Manager
10 8 (3.51%) Senior Bid Manager
10 8 (3.51%) Software Engineer
11 7 (3.07%) Electronic Trading Developer
11 7 (3.07%) Electronic Trading Java Developer
12 6 (2.63%) Integration Analyst
12 6 (2.63%) Test Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (5.70%) .NET
2 10 (4.39%) Spring
3 8 (3.51%) HTML
3 8 (3.51%) React
4 7 (3.07%) CSS
4 7 (3.07%) Node.js
5 6 (2.63%) JSON
5 6 (2.63%) LDAP
5 6 (2.63%) RESTful
6 5 (2.19%) AngularJS
6 5 (2.19%) Flash
6 5 (2.19%) YAML
7 4 (1.75%) XML
8 3 (1.32%) Django
8 3 (1.32%) Flask
8 3 (1.32%) Hibernate
8 3 (1.32%) Kafka
8 3 (1.32%) OAuth
8 3 (1.32%) SAML
8 3 (1.32%) scikit-learn
Miscellaneous
1 23 (10.09%) Self-Motivation
2 21 (9.21%) PKI
3 15 (6.58%) Product Ownership
4 13 (5.70%) Management Information System
5 12 (5.26%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (4.39%) Virtual Team
7 9 (3.95%) Algorithms
8 7 (3.07%) Data Structures
8 7 (3.07%) Derivative
8 7 (3.07%) Fixed Income
9 5 (2.19%) Clustering
10 4 (1.75%) Renewable Energy
11 3 (1.32%) Cyber Kill Chain
11 3 (1.32%) Low-Code
11 3 (1.32%) Operational Technology
11 3 (1.32%) Security Operations Centre
12 2 (0.88%) Blockchain
12 2 (0.88%) Distributed Applications
12 2 (0.88%) FMCG
12 2 (0.88%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 26 (11.40%) Windows
2 21 (9.21%) Windows Server
3 20 (8.77%) Windows Server 2012
4 16 (7.02%) Linux
5 4 (1.75%) Windows 10
6 3 (1.32%) Android
7 2 (0.88%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.88%) CentOS
8 1 (0.44%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 128 (56.14%) Problem-Solving
2 81 (35.53%) Agile
3 52 (22.81%) Project Management
4 37 (16.23%) Decision-Making
5 30 (13.16%) Computer Science
6 29 (12.72%) Continuous Improvement
6 29 (12.72%) Time Management
7 28 (12.28%) DevOps
7 28 (12.28%) Stakeholder Management
8 26 (11.40%) Analytical Thinking
9 22 (9.65%) Risk Management
10 19 (8.33%) Test Scripting
11 18 (7.89%) Business Analysis
11 18 (7.89%) CI/CD
11 18 (7.89%) Incident Management
11 18 (7.89%) PRINCE2
11 18 (7.89%) Regression Testing
12 17 (7.46%) Cybersecurity
12 17 (7.46%) People Management
12 17 (7.46%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 45 (19.74%) SQL
2 23 (10.09%) Java
3 17 (7.46%) C#
3 17 (7.46%) Python
4 14 (6.14%) JavaScript
5 12 (5.26%) TypeScript
6 10 (4.39%) Bicep
7 8 (3.51%) PowerShell
8 3 (1.32%) Go
8 3 (1.32%) Groovy
8 3 (1.32%) Perl
8 3 (1.32%) Ruby
8 3 (1.32%) Scala
9 2 (0.88%) PHP
9 2 (0.88%) R
10 1 (0.44%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.44%) VB
Qualifications
1 61 (26.75%) Degree
2 43 (18.86%) Security Cleared
3 42 (18.42%) SC Cleared
4 24 (10.53%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
5 20 (8.77%) MCSE
5 20 (8.77%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (7.89%) MCSA
7 15 (6.58%) HNC
7 15 (6.58%) HND
8 12 (5.26%) Master's Degree
8 12 (5.26%) PMI Certification
8 12 (5.26%) PMP
9 9 (3.95%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (2.63%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (2.63%) ITIL Certification
11 5 (2.19%) CCNA
11 5 (2.19%) Postgraduate
12 4 (1.75%) Chartered Engineer
12 4 (1.75%) CISSP
13 3 (1.32%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (7.02%) QA
2 8 (3.51%) PMO
3 5 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (2.19%) SLA
4 3 (1.32%) NIST
4 3 (1.32%) PCI DSS
5 2 (0.88%) Accessibility
5 2 (0.88%) Data Quality
5 2 (0.88%) GDPR
5 2 (0.88%) HAZOP
5 2 (0.88%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
6 1 (0.44%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.44%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.44%) WCAG
System Software
1 26 (11.40%) VMware Infrastructure
2 25 (10.96%) Active Directory
3 6 (2.63%) VMware ESXi
3 6 (2.63%) VMware NSX
4 5 (2.19%) Docker
5 4 (1.75%) Hyper-V
6 3 (1.32%) Apache ZooKeeper
6 3 (1.32%) NFS
7 1 (0.44%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 6 (2.63%) Terraform
1 6 (2.63%) vCenter Server
2 4 (1.75%) Ansible
3 3 (1.32%) Grafana
3 3 (1.32%) PingFederate
3 3 (1.32%) Single Sign-On
4 2 (0.88%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.88%) WSUS
5 1 (0.44%) FortiGate
5 1 (0.44%) Nessus
5 1 (0.44%) Nmap
5 1 (0.44%) SCOM
Vendors
1 56 (24.56%) Microsoft
2 26 (11.40%) VMware
3 17 (7.46%) SAP
4 10 (4.39%) Adobe
4 10 (4.39%) Oracle
5 7 (3.07%) ION Trading
6 6 (2.63%) Cisco
7 5 (2.19%) Atlassian
7 5 (2.19%) ServiceNow
8 4 (1.75%) Databricks
9 3 (1.32%) Citrix
9 3 (1.32%) Ping Identity
9 3 (1.32%) Salesforce
10 2 (0.88%) Avaya
10 2 (0.88%) Cadence
10 2 (0.88%) Conga
10 2 (0.88%) Google
10 2 (0.88%) Red Hat
10 2 (0.88%) Sun
10 2 (0.88%) Teradata