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 September 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 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 9 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -4 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 394 309 393
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 15.82% 15.74% 17.30%
As % of the Vendors category 36.25% 32.66% 39.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 294 204 293
10th Percentile £263 £275 £261
25th Percentile £413 £355 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £533 £500 £538
Median % change year-on-year +6.50% -6.98% -2.27%
75th Percentile £650 £638 £638
90th Percentile £750 £719 £710
London median daily rate £515 £500 £511
% change year-on-year +3.00% -2.20% -7.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 4 4
10th Percentile £20.85 £19.81 £19.30
25th Percentile £22.88 £21.22 £24.25
Median hourly rate £25.07 £24.23 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.47% -10.28% -
75th Percentile £28.35 £27.40 £43.38
90th Percentile £32.34 £29.11 £72.85
London median hourly rate £25.50 £24.00 £23.80
% change year-on-year +6.25% +0.84% -25.44%

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 1,087 946 984
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 43.64% 48.19% 43.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 772 626 662
10th Percentile £318 £313 £340
25th Percentile £427 £408 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £537 £550
Median % change year-on-year +0.14% -2.41% -
75th Percentile £650 £675 £650
90th Percentile £750 £755 £750
London median daily rate £525 £525 £535
% change year-on-year - -1.87% -4.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 17 13
10th Percentile £18.75 £19.42 £16.50
25th Percentile £19.25 £23.75 £20.50
Median hourly rate £24.00 £29.07 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -17.44% +7.67% -25.52%
75th Percentile £41.25 £56.75 £92.50
90th Percentile £64.25 £64.48 £137.50
London median hourly rate £36.00 £26.30 £30.30
% change year-on-year +36.88% -13.19% -15.85%

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 September 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 September 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 September 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 +4 358 £550 +10.00% 207
Southwark 0 8 £600 +14.29% 7
City of Westminster -12 7 £338 -41.30% 41
Kensington and Chelsea - 6 £313 - 4
West End of London -11 4 £475 +26.67% 35
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 48 (12.18%) SharePoint
2 33 (8.38%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (2.03%) Confluence
4 6 (1.52%) Apache
4 6 (1.52%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.27%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.51%) CMS
6 2 (0.51%) IIS
6 2 (0.51%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.25%) Exchange Server 2013
7 1 (0.25%) nginx
7 1 (0.25%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 34 (8.63%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (6.60%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (3.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.76%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.25%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.25%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.25%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.25%) Final Cut Pro
6 1 (0.25%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 20 (5.08%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.52%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.76%) iTrent
3 3 (0.76%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.51%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.51%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.51%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.51%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.25%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.25%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.25%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.25%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.25%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.25%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.25%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.25%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.25%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.25%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 182 (46.19%) Azure
2 86 (21.83%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (19.04%) Power Platform
4 59 (14.97%) Entra ID
5 48 (12.18%) Azure DevOps
6 38 (9.64%) Dynamics 365
7 31 (7.87%) AWS
8 29 (7.36%) Azure Data Factory
9 25 (6.35%) Power Automate
10 23 (5.84%) PowerApps
10 23 (5.84%) SaaS
11 22 (5.58%) GCP
12 21 (5.33%) Microsoft Copilot
13 20 (5.08%) Microsoft Purview
13 20 (5.08%) OneDrive
14 19 (4.82%) Serverless
15 18 (4.57%) GitHub
16 17 (4.31%) Azure Synapse Analytics
17 15 (3.81%) Azure Functions
18 14 (3.55%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 33 (8.38%) DNS
2 26 (6.60%) DHCP
3 18 (4.57%) Firewall
4 16 (4.06%) TCP/IP
5 14 (3.55%) VPN
6 6 (1.52%) Unified Communications
7 5 (1.27%) LAN
7 5 (1.27%) Network Security
7 5 (1.27%) WAN
8 4 (1.02%) Internet
8 4 (1.02%) SMTP
8 4 (1.02%) VLAN
8 4 (1.02%) Wi-Fi
9 3 (0.76%) Multicast
9 3 (0.76%) Structured Cabling
10 2 (0.51%) BGP
10 2 (0.51%) DKIM
10 2 (0.51%) DMARC
10 2 (0.51%) Intranet
10 2 (0.51%) Value-Added Service
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (11.93%) Power BI
2 26 (6.60%) Data Warehouse
3 21 (5.33%) SQL Server
4 14 (3.55%) Azure SQL Database
5 11 (2.79%) Data Lake
5 11 (2.79%) Metadata
5 11 (2.79%) Star Schema
6 9 (2.28%) Power Query
7 6 (1.52%) Semantic Layer
7 6 (1.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 5 (1.27%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (1.02%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (1.02%) Big Data
9 4 (1.02%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 4 (1.02%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 4 (1.02%) Tableau
10 3 (0.76%) BigQuery
10 3 (0.76%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.76%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.76%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 22 (5.58%) JIRA
2 9 (2.28%) Git
3 6 (1.52%) Jenkins
3 6 (1.52%) Visual Studio
4 4 (1.02%) Bitbucket
4 4 (1.02%) Selenium
5 3 (0.76%) Artifactory
5 3 (0.76%) GitLab
5 3 (0.76%) JUnit
5 3 (0.76%) MSI
5 3 (0.76%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.51%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.51%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.51%) Fiddler
6 2 (0.51%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.25%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.25%) Rational Functional Tester
7 1 (0.25%) SilkTest
7 1 (0.25%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.25%) WebDriver
General
1 123 (31.22%) Social Skills
2 118 (29.95%) Finance
3 50 (12.69%) Analytical Skills
4 35 (8.88%) Banking
5 26 (6.60%) Public Sector
6 14 (3.55%) Retail
7 11 (2.79%) General Ledger
7 11 (2.79%) Telecoms
8 10 (2.54%) Law
8 10 (2.54%) Legal
8 10 (2.54%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (2.03%) Marketing
11 7 (1.78%) Front Office
11 7 (1.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.78%) Investment Banking
12 5 (1.27%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.27%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.27%) Military
13 4 (1.02%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 60 (15.23%) Architect
2 46 (11.68%) Developer
3 41 (10.41%) Analyst
4 37 (9.39%) Consultant
5 32 (8.12%) Support Engineer
6 30 (7.61%) Senior
7 21 (5.33%) Lead
8 19 (4.82%) Data Architect
8 19 (4.82%) Solutions Architect
9 17 (4.31%) IT Support
10 14 (3.55%) Dynamics 365 Developer
10 14 (3.55%) IT Engineer
11 13 (3.30%) Data Engineer
12 12 (3.05%) IT Support Engineer
13 11 (2.79%) Azure Engineer
13 11 (2.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 11 (2.79%) Project Manager
14 9 (2.28%) Cloud Engineer
14 9 (2.28%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
14 9 (2.28%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (5.84%) Terraform
2 22 (5.58%) .NET
3 18 (4.57%) PySpark
4 17 (4.31%) REST
5 9 (2.28%) .NET Framework
5 9 (2.28%) HTML
5 9 (2.28%) JSON
6 8 (2.03%) Middleware
6 8 (2.03%) SAML
6 8 (2.03%) SOAP
6 8 (2.03%) XML
7 7 (1.78%) OAuth
8 6 (1.52%) CSS
8 6 (1.52%) OpenID
9 5 (1.27%) ASP.NET Web API
9 5 (1.27%) Kafka
9 5 (1.27%) Web Services
10 4 (1.02%) HTML5 Canvas
10 4 (1.02%) XSLT
11 3 (0.76%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 34 (8.63%) Onboarding
2 22 (5.58%) Cloud Native
3 15 (3.81%) Video Conferencing
4 14 (3.55%) AI Agents
5 13 (3.30%) Management Information System
6 11 (2.79%) Legacy Systems
6 11 (2.79%) PKI
7 9 (2.28%) Distributed Systems
7 9 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
7 9 (2.28%) Product Ownership
8 7 (1.78%) Data Centre
8 7 (1.78%) Data Structures
8 7 (1.78%) Security Posture
9 6 (1.52%) Low-Code
10 5 (1.27%) Clustering
11 4 (1.02%) Equities
11 4 (1.02%) PMI
11 4 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
12 3 (0.76%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (0.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 78 (19.80%) Windows
2 20 (5.08%) Mac OS
2 20 (5.08%) Windows Server
3 18 (4.57%) Windows 10
4 14 (3.55%) Linux
5 6 (1.52%) Android
6 4 (1.02%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.02%) Windows 7
7 3 (0.76%) Unix
7 3 (0.76%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.25%) OpenVMS
9 1 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.25%) SUSE
9 1 (0.25%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.25%) VMS
9 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (22.08%) DevOps
2 80 (20.30%) Stakeholder Management
3 73 (18.53%) Problem-Solving
4 67 (17.01%) Agile
5 64 (16.24%) Migration
6 63 (15.99%) Analytics
6 63 (15.99%) CI/CD
7 51 (12.94%) Business Intelligence
7 51 (12.94%) Data Modelling
7 51 (12.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 47 (11.93%) AI
9 40 (10.15%) Data Governance
10 33 (8.38%) Continuous Improvement
11 32 (8.12%) ITIL
11 32 (8.12%) Project Delivery
12 30 (7.61%) Customer Service
12 30 (7.61%) Roadmaps
13 29 (7.36%) Integration Patterns
14 28 (7.11%) Infrastructure as Code
14 28 (7.11%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 68 (17.26%) SQL
2 49 (12.44%) Python
3 31 (7.87%) PowerShell
4 21 (5.33%) C#
5 16 (4.06%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 15 (3.81%) Java
7 12 (3.05%) JavaScript
8 9 (2.28%) TypeScript
9 7 (1.78%) Bash
9 7 (1.78%) Bicep
9 7 (1.78%) T-SQL
10 4 (1.02%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.51%) C++
11 2 (0.51%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.51%) R
12 1 (0.25%) COBOL
12 1 (0.25%) RPG
12 1 (0.25%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.25%) X++
12 1 (0.25%) XMLA
Qualifications
1 77 (19.54%) Security Cleared
2 54 (13.71%) SC Cleared
3 24 (6.09%) Degree
4 19 (4.82%) DV Cleared
4 19 (4.82%) Microsoft Certification
5 10 (2.54%) Azure Certification
6 7 (1.78%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (1.78%) PMI Certification
7 6 (1.52%) CISSP
7 6 (1.52%) DBS Check
8 5 (1.27%) A+ Certification
9 4 (1.02%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (1.02%) CISM
10 3 (0.76%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.76%) PMP
11 2 (0.51%) CCNA
11 2 (0.51%) CCNP
11 2 (0.51%) CompTIA Security+
11 2 (0.51%) PRINCE2 Certification
11 2 (0.51%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (9.14%) Data Quality
2 22 (5.58%) QA
3 14 (3.55%) SLA
4 13 (3.30%) GDPR
5 12 (3.05%) NIST
5 12 (3.05%) PMO
6 11 (2.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 10 (2.54%) Accessibility
8 7 (1.78%) NCSC
9 6 (1.52%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (1.27%) GRC
11 3 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.51%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.51%) P3O
13 1 (0.25%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.25%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.25%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 1 (0.25%) UCITS
System Software
1 74 (18.78%) Active Directory
2 12 (3.05%) Docker
3 7 (1.78%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.27%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.27%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.02%) BitLocker
5 4 (1.02%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.76%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.76%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.51%) IAG
8 1 (0.25%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.25%) zsh
Systems Management
1 43 (10.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 19 (4.82%) SCCM
3 14 (3.55%) Kubernetes
4 11 (2.79%) Single Sign-On
5 10 (2.54%) Ansible
6 6 (1.52%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.02%) Puppet
8 3 (0.76%) Grafana
8 3 (0.76%) Nagios
8 3 (0.76%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.76%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.76%) vMotion
8 3 (0.76%) WSUS
9 1 (0.25%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.25%) ITRS Geneos
9 1 (0.25%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.25%) PowerCLI
9 1 (0.25%) Salt
9 1 (0.25%) SCOrch
9 1 (0.25%) SELinux
Vendors
1 36 (9.14%) ServiceNow
2 23 (5.84%) Databricks
3 22 (5.58%) Google
4 19 (4.82%) Oracle
4 19 (4.82%) SAP
5 11 (2.79%) Apple
5 11 (2.79%) Cisco
5 11 (2.79%) VMware
6 9 (2.28%) Citrix
7 8 (2.03%) Bloomberg
8 6 (1.52%) Salesforce
8 6 (1.52%) Workday
9 5 (1.27%) Foundry
9 5 (1.27%) HP
9 5 (1.27%) Informatica
9 5 (1.27%) OpenAI
9 5 (1.27%) Symantec
10 4 (1.02%) IBM
10 4 (1.02%) iManage
10 4 (1.02%) Okta