Microsoft Contract Job Trends in Central London

Microsoft
London > Central London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Central London requiring knowledge or experience of Microsoft products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Microsoft over the 6 months leading up to 5 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the Microsoft Corporation.

6 months to
5 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 7 6
Rank change year-on-year +2 -1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 416 301 370
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 17.36% 15.73% 15.80%
As % of the Vendors category 37.99% 32.47% 36.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 302 220 254
10th Percentile £230 £281 £250
25th Percentile £400 £363 £427
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £498 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.47% -5.19% -4.55%
75th Percentile £642 £628 £625
90th Percentile £750 £725 £706
London median daily rate £524 £500 £513
% change year-on-year +4.80% -2.44% -3.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 3 6
10th Percentile £20.85 £19.50 £21.50
25th Percentile £22.88 £20.44 £27.00
Median hourly rate £25.07 £22.00 £56.00
Median % change year-on-year +13.93% -60.71% -
75th Percentile £28.35 £26.13 £107.13
90th Percentile £32.34 £28.60 £112.00
London median hourly rate £22.64 £24.00 £26.50
% change year-on-year -5.69% -9.43% -23.19%

All Vendors
Central London

Microsoft falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services in Central London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 1,095 927 1,018
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 45.70% 48.46% 43.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 775 637 653
10th Percentile £313 £317 £333
25th Percentile £433 £413 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -2.27% -
75th Percentile £650 £675 £658
90th Percentile £750 £743 £750
London median daily rate £528 £525 £538
% change year-on-year +0.48% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 13 16
10th Percentile £18.75 £19.05 £17.25
25th Percentile £19.50 £20.18 £24.17
Median hourly rate £26.13 £28.15 £42.00
Median % change year-on-year -7.18% -32.98% +86.67%
75th Percentile £43.00 £52.16 £112.00
90th Percentile £64.25 £62.35 £137.50
London median hourly rate £36.50 £25.15 £34.25
% change year-on-year +45.13% -26.57% -14.38%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in Central London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in Central London

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in Central London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in Central London over the 6 months to 5 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in Central London

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in Central London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in Central London over the 6 months to 5 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in Central London

Microsoft
Contract Job Locations in Central London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Microsoft within the Central London region over the 6 months to 5 October 2026. 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
City of London +2 370 £525 +5.95% 297
City of Westminster -6 11 £335 -41.74% 57
Southwark +2 8 £600 +14.29% 5
West End of London -8 7 £475 +26.67% 13
Kensington and Chelsea - 7 £475 - 4
Lambeth - 1 - - 1
Microsoft
London

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Central London by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 50 (12.02%) SharePoint
2 36 (8.65%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (2.64%) Confluence
4 6 (1.44%) Apache
4 6 (1.44%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.96%) IIS
6 3 (0.72%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.48%) CMS
7 2 (0.48%) Umbraco
8 1 (0.24%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.24%) nginx
8 1 (0.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 35 (8.41%) Microsoft Excel
2 30 (7.21%) Microsoft Office
3 17 (4.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (1.68%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (0.96%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.24%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
7 1 (0.24%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.24%) Final Cut Pro
7 1 (0.24%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 20 (4.81%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.68%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.72%) iTrent
3 3 (0.72%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.72%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.48%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.48%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.48%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.48%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.24%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.24%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.24%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.24%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.24%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.24%) Monis
5 1 (0.24%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.24%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.24%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.24%) SAP FI-AR
Cloud Services
1 184 (44.23%) Azure
2 93 (22.36%) Microsoft 365
3 79 (18.99%) Power Platform
4 64 (15.38%) Entra ID
5 50 (12.02%) Azure DevOps
6 36 (8.65%) AWS
7 35 (8.41%) Dynamics 365
8 30 (7.21%) Azure Data Factory
9 25 (6.01%) Microsoft Copilot
10 24 (5.77%) OneDrive
11 23 (5.53%) Power Automate
11 23 (5.53%) SaaS
12 22 (5.29%) Microsoft Purview
12 22 (5.29%) PowerApps
12 22 (5.29%) Serverless
13 21 (5.05%) GCP
13 21 (5.05%) GitHub
14 19 (4.57%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 17 (4.09%) Azure Functions
16 13 (3.13%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 36 (8.65%) DNS
2 28 (6.73%) DHCP
3 18 (4.33%) Firewall
3 18 (4.33%) TCP/IP
4 17 (4.09%) VPN
5 8 (1.92%) Wi-Fi
6 7 (1.68%) Unified Communications
7 5 (1.20%) LAN
7 5 (1.20%) WAN
8 4 (0.96%) Internet
8 4 (0.96%) Network Security
8 4 (0.96%) Reverse Proxy
8 4 (0.96%) SMTP
8 4 (0.96%) VLAN
9 3 (0.72%) Multicast
9 3 (0.72%) Structured Cabling
10 2 (0.48%) DKIM
10 2 (0.48%) DMARC
10 2 (0.48%) Value-Added Service
10 2 (0.48%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 49 (11.78%) Power BI
2 22 (5.29%) Data Warehouse
2 22 (5.29%) SQL Server
3 15 (3.61%) Azure SQL Database
4 12 (2.88%) Data Lake
4 12 (2.88%) Metadata
5 11 (2.64%) Star Schema
6 8 (1.92%) Semantic Layer
7 7 (1.68%) Power Query
8 6 (1.44%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.44%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (1.20%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 5 (1.20%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.96%) Amazon Redshift
10 4 (0.96%) Data Hub
10 4 (0.96%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.72%) BigQuery
11 3 (0.72%) BusinessObjects
11 3 (0.72%) MongoDB
11 3 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 29 (6.97%) JIRA
2 11 (2.64%) Git
3 7 (1.68%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.44%) Visual Studio
5 5 (1.20%) Selenium
6 4 (0.96%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.72%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.72%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.72%) GitLab
7 3 (0.72%) JUnit
7 3 (0.72%) MSI
7 3 (0.72%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 2 (0.48%) Fiddler
8 2 (0.48%) Postman
8 2 (0.48%) SoapUI
8 2 (0.48%) TeamCity
9 1 (0.24%) ER Studio
9 1 (0.24%) MLflow
9 1 (0.24%) SOAtest
General
1 134 (32.21%) Social Skills
2 124 (29.81%) Finance
3 52 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
4 41 (9.86%) Banking
5 28 (6.73%) Public Sector
6 16 (3.85%) Retail
7 12 (2.88%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (2.64%) General Ledger
9 10 (2.40%) Law
10 9 (2.16%) Front Office
10 9 (2.16%) Legal
10 9 (2.16%) Marketing
11 8 (1.92%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.68%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 7 (1.68%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.68%) Manufacturing
13 6 (1.44%) Telecoms
14 5 (1.20%) Military
15 4 (0.96%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 64 (15.38%) Architect
2 47 (11.30%) Analyst
3 46 (11.06%) Developer
4 33 (7.93%) Consultant
5 32 (7.69%) Senior
5 32 (7.69%) Support Engineer
6 24 (5.77%) Solutions Architect
7 22 (5.29%) IT Support
7 22 (5.29%) Lead
8 19 (4.57%) Data Architect
9 16 (3.85%) IT Engineer
10 15 (3.61%) Data Engineer
11 14 (3.37%) Dynamics 365 Developer
11 14 (3.37%) Project Manager
12 13 (3.13%) Business Analyst
12 13 (3.13%) IT Support Engineer
13 11 (2.64%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 9 (2.16%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
14 9 (2.16%) Security Engineer
14 9 (2.16%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (6.01%) Terraform
2 22 (5.29%) .NET
3 21 (5.05%) PySpark
4 18 (4.33%) REST
5 12 (2.88%) JSON
6 10 (2.40%) Middleware
6 10 (2.40%) OAuth
6 10 (2.40%) SAML
7 9 (2.16%) .NET Framework
7 9 (2.16%) XML
8 8 (1.92%) HTML
8 8 (1.92%) OpenID
8 8 (1.92%) SOAP
8 8 (1.92%) Web Services
9 6 (1.44%) Microsoft Graph
10 5 (1.20%) ASP.NET Web API
10 5 (1.20%) Kafka
11 4 (0.96%) HTML5 Canvas
11 4 (0.96%) OAuth2
11 4 (0.96%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 43 (10.34%) Onboarding
2 23 (5.53%) Cloud Native
3 19 (4.57%) AI Agents
4 16 (3.85%) Video Conferencing
5 15 (3.61%) Management Information System
6 13 (3.13%) Distributed Systems
6 13 (3.13%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (3.13%) Legacy Systems
7 12 (2.88%) PKI
8 9 (2.16%) Product Ownership
9 8 (1.92%) Data Structures
10 7 (1.68%) Data Centre
10 7 (1.68%) Low-Code
11 6 (1.44%) Security Posture
12 5 (1.20%) Self-Motivation
13 4 (0.96%) CMDB
13 4 (0.96%) PMI
14 3 (0.72%) iPad
14 3 (0.72%) iPhone
14 3 (0.72%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 87 (20.91%) Windows
2 21 (5.05%) Mac OS
2 21 (5.05%) Windows Server
3 20 (4.81%) Windows 10
4 18 (4.33%) Linux
5 7 (1.68%) Android
6 5 (1.20%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.96%) Unix
7 4 (0.96%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.72%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.24%) OpenVMS
10 1 (0.24%) SUSE
10 1 (0.24%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.24%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.24%) VMS
10 1 (0.24%) Windows Server 2003
10 1 (0.24%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (22.36%) Stakeholder Management
2 86 (20.67%) DevOps
3 77 (18.51%) Problem-Solving
4 74 (17.79%) Agile
5 70 (16.83%) Migration
6 66 (15.87%) CI/CD
7 61 (14.66%) Analytics
8 59 (14.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 54 (12.98%) AI
10 53 (12.74%) Business Intelligence
11 50 (12.02%) Data Modelling
12 43 (10.34%) Data Governance
13 38 (9.13%) Roadmaps
14 36 (8.65%) Continuous Improvement
15 35 (8.41%) ITIL
16 33 (7.93%) Customer Service
16 33 (7.93%) Project Delivery
17 31 (7.45%) Validation
18 30 (7.21%) Infrastructure as Code
18 30 (7.21%) Integration Patterns
Programming Languages
1 69 (16.59%) SQL
2 55 (13.22%) Python
3 32 (7.69%) PowerShell
4 20 (4.81%) C#
5 18 (4.33%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 16 (3.85%) Java
7 11 (2.64%) JavaScript
8 8 (1.92%) Bicep
8 8 (1.92%) TypeScript
9 7 (1.68%) T-SQL
10 4 (0.96%) Bash
10 4 (0.96%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.72%) R
12 2 (0.48%) C++
12 2 (0.48%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.24%) C
13 1 (0.24%) COBOL
13 1 (0.24%) Korn
13 1 (0.24%) RPG
13 1 (0.24%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 78 (18.75%) Security Cleared
2 57 (13.70%) SC Cleared
3 27 (6.49%) Degree
4 17 (4.09%) DV Cleared
5 16 (3.85%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (2.64%) PMI Certification
7 7 (1.68%) A+ Certification
7 7 (1.68%) Azure Certification
7 7 (1.68%) BPSS Clearance
7 7 (1.68%) PMP
8 6 (1.44%) DBS Check
9 5 (1.20%) CISSP
10 4 (0.96%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (0.72%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (0.72%) ITIL Certification
12 2 (0.48%) AWS Certification
12 2 (0.48%) CompTIA CySA+
12 2 (0.48%) CompTIA Security+
12 2 (0.48%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 2 (0.48%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (9.86%) Data Quality
2 23 (5.53%) QA
3 18 (4.33%) PMO
4 17 (4.09%) SLA
5 13 (3.13%) NIST
6 12 (2.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 11 (2.64%) GDPR
8 10 (2.40%) Accessibility
9 7 (1.68%) NCSC
10 5 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (1.20%) GRC
11 3 (0.72%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.48%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.48%) P3O
13 1 (0.24%) COBIT
13 1 (0.24%) HIPAA
13 1 (0.24%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 1 (0.24%) WCAG
System Software
1 75 (18.03%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.37%) Docker
3 8 (1.92%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.20%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.20%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (0.96%) BitLocker
5 4 (0.96%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.72%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.72%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.48%) IAG
8 1 (0.24%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.24%) zsh
Systems Management
1 44 (10.58%) Microsoft Intune
2 19 (4.57%) SCCM
3 15 (3.61%) Kubernetes
4 13 (3.13%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (2.64%) Ansible
6 6 (1.44%) Grafana
7 5 (1.20%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (0.96%) Puppet
9 3 (0.72%) Nagios
9 3 (0.72%) Prometheus
9 3 (0.72%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.72%) vMotion
9 3 (0.72%) WSUS
10 1 (0.24%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.24%) EMC NetWorker
10 1 (0.24%) EnCase
10 1 (0.24%) FTK
10 1 (0.24%) NetBackup
10 1 (0.24%) PingFederate
10 1 (0.24%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 43 (10.34%) ServiceNow
2 26 (6.25%) Databricks
3 22 (5.29%) Google
4 20 (4.81%) Oracle
5 19 (4.57%) SAP
6 12 (2.88%) Cisco
6 12 (2.88%) VMware
7 11 (2.64%) Apple
8 10 (2.40%) Bloomberg
9 9 (2.16%) Citrix
10 7 (1.68%) Salesforce
11 6 (1.44%) Dynatrace
11 6 (1.44%) Foundry
11 6 (1.44%) IBM
11 6 (1.44%) OpenAI
11 6 (1.44%) Splunk
11 6 (1.44%) Workday
12 5 (1.20%) HP
12 5 (1.20%) Symantec
13 4 (0.96%) Red Hat