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 26 May 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
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 12 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -7 +5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 312 267 387
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 12.54% 14.22% 16.08%
As % of the Vendors category 30.74% 31.19% 37.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 169 304
10th Percentile £263 £263 £258
25th Percentile £425 £375 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -9.09% +2.33%
75th Percentile £650 £625 £670
90th Percentile £771 £721 £759
London median daily rate £515 £513 £500
% change year-on-year +0.49% +2.50% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 5 4
10th Percentile - £23.78 -
25th Percentile £20.82 £26.45 £12.75
Median hourly rate £22.27 £28.50 £15.25
Median % change year-on-year -21.88% +86.89% -70.95%
75th Percentile £23.71 £30.25 £20.25
90th Percentile - £124.60 £24.30
London median hourly rate £27.36 £23.80 £18.80
% change year-on-year +14.94% +26.63% -29.74%

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 1,015 856 1,033
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 40.80% 45.58% 42.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 660 534 761
10th Percentile £350 £308 £300
25th Percentile £448 £425 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £545 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.91% - -
75th Percentile £675 £675 £675
90th Percentile £775 £751 £775
London median daily rate £525 £550 £538
% change year-on-year -4.55% +2.23% -4.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 13 6
10th Percentile - £24.29 £12.75
25th Percentile £18.75 £26.75 £13.56
Median hourly rate £19.50 £29.07 £19.75
Median % change year-on-year -32.92% +47.19% -14.13%
75th Percentile £25.77 £43.75 £23.75
90th Percentile £38.40 £92.75 £25.38
London median hourly rate £35.50 £28.60 £23.50
% change year-on-year +24.13% +21.70% -11.32%

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 26 May 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
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 26 May 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 +5 295 £550 +10.00% 200
West End of London -1 7 £500 +33.33% 6
Kensington and Chelsea -1 4 £588 -
City of Westminster -4 4 £560 -11.11% 8
Southwark -2 1 £188 -21.33% 1
Lambeth - 1 £350 - 3
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 31 (9.94%) SharePoint
2 13 (4.17%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (2.24%) Confluence
4 5 (1.60%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.32%) Apache
5 1 (0.32%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.32%) SAS
Applications
1 26 (8.33%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (8.01%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (4.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (3.85%) MS Visio
5 5 (1.60%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.32%) Adobe After Effects
6 1 (0.32%) Adobe XD
6 1 (0.32%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.32%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.88%) Aladdin
2 7 (2.24%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.64%) Exchequer
3 2 (0.64%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.64%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.32%) BASE24
4 1 (0.32%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.32%) iTrent
4 1 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.32%) SAP FI-AR
4 1 (0.32%) SAP MM
4 1 (0.32%) SAP Oil and Gas
4 1 (0.32%) Veritas eDiscovery
4 1 (0.32%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 121 (38.78%) Azure
2 69 (22.12%) Microsoft 365
3 62 (19.87%) Power Platform
4 28 (8.97%) Entra ID
5 27 (8.65%) Dynamics 365
6 21 (6.73%) AWS
6 21 (6.73%) Azure DevOps
7 20 (6.41%) Power Automate
8 18 (5.77%) Microsoft Purview
8 18 (5.77%) PowerApps
9 16 (5.13%) Microsoft Copilot
10 14 (4.49%) SaaS
11 12 (3.85%) GCP
11 12 (3.85%) GitHub
12 11 (3.53%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (2.88%) Azure AI
14 8 (2.56%) Snowflake
15 7 (2.24%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 7 (2.24%) Copilot Studio
15 7 (2.24%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 12 (3.85%) DNS
2 11 (3.53%) Firewall
3 7 (2.24%) Network Security
3 7 (2.24%) VPN
4 5 (1.60%) DHCP
5 3 (0.96%) LAN
5 3 (0.96%) TCP/IP
5 3 (0.96%) WAN
6 2 (0.64%) Intranet
6 2 (0.64%) Multicast
6 2 (0.64%) Unified Communications
6 2 (0.64%) Wi-Fi
7 1 (0.32%) IPsec
7 1 (0.32%) iSCSI
7 1 (0.32%) Reverse Proxy
7 1 (0.32%) SAN
7 1 (0.32%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.32%) Structured Cabling
7 1 (0.32%) Wireless
7 1 (0.32%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (11.54%) Power BI
2 15 (4.81%) SQL Server
3 14 (4.49%) Metadata
4 13 (4.17%) Data Warehouse
5 8 (2.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (2.56%) Tableau
6 6 (1.92%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (1.60%) Azure SQL Database
7 5 (1.60%) Snowflake Schema
8 4 (1.28%) Data Lake
8 4 (1.28%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.96%) MySQL
9 3 (0.96%) Semantic Layer
10 2 (0.64%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.64%) Data Vault
10 2 (0.64%) Metadata Repository
10 2 (0.64%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.64%) Oracle Reports
10 2 (0.64%) Power Query
10 2 (0.64%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 13 (4.17%) JIRA
2 6 (1.92%) Git
3 3 (0.96%) ERwin
3 3 (0.96%) GitLab
3 3 (0.96%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.64%) Postman
4 2 (0.64%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.32%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.32%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.32%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.32%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.32%) Fiddler
5 1 (0.32%) MSI
5 1 (0.32%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.32%) PowerBuilder
5 1 (0.32%) Selenium
5 1 (0.32%) SonarQube
5 1 (0.32%) SpecFlow
5 1 (0.32%) Terragrunt
5 1 (0.32%) Zephyr
General
1 93 (29.81%) Social Skills
2 88 (28.21%) Finance
3 47 (15.06%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (8.01%) Banking
5 22 (7.05%) Public Sector
6 11 (3.53%) Investment Banking
7 9 (2.88%) Legal
8 7 (2.24%) Front Office
8 7 (2.24%) Organisational Skills
8 7 (2.24%) Retail
9 6 (1.92%) General Ledger
9 6 (1.92%) Telecoms
10 5 (1.60%) Documentation Skills
10 5 (1.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.28%) Marketing
11 4 (1.28%) Military
12 3 (0.96%) Back Office
12 3 (0.96%) Law
12 3 (0.96%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 47 (15.06%) Architect
2 45 (14.42%) Analyst
3 36 (11.54%) Senior
4 27 (8.65%) Developer
5 23 (7.37%) Consultant
6 20 (6.41%) Business Analyst
7 14 (4.49%) Data Architect
7 14 (4.49%) Data Engineer
8 13 (4.17%) Project Manager
8 13 (4.17%) Support Engineer
9 11 (3.53%) Cloud Engineer
9 11 (3.53%) Lead
9 11 (3.53%) Solutions Architect
10 10 (3.21%) Azure Engineer
11 9 (2.88%) IT Support
11 9 (2.88%) Microsoft Engineer
12 8 (2.56%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
12 8 (2.56%) Technical Architect
13 7 (2.24%) IT Engineer
13 7 (2.24%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.24%) JSON
1 7 (2.24%) Middleware
2 6 (1.92%) PySpark
3 5 (1.60%) .NET
3 5 (1.60%) Kafka
3 5 (1.60%) REST
4 4 (1.28%) CSS
4 4 (1.28%) HTML
4 4 (1.28%) RESTful
4 4 (1.28%) XML
5 3 (0.96%) Microsoft Graph
5 3 (0.96%) Playwright
5 3 (0.96%) SAML
6 2 (0.64%) GraphQL
6 2 (0.64%) J2EE
6 2 (0.64%) OAuth
6 2 (0.64%) OpenID
6 2 (0.64%) React
6 2 (0.64%) Spring
6 2 (0.64%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 13 (4.17%) Onboarding
2 10 (3.21%) Cloud Native
2 10 (3.21%) Security Posture
3 9 (2.88%) AI Agents
4 7 (2.24%) Equities
5 6 (1.92%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 6 (1.92%) Management Information System
5 6 (1.92%) Product Ownership
6 5 (1.60%) Data Structures
6 5 (1.60%) Distributed Systems
6 5 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
6 5 (1.60%) Fixed Income
6 5 (1.60%) Hybrid Cloud
6 5 (1.60%) Virtual Team
7 4 (1.28%) Cloud Security Posture
7 4 (1.28%) PMI
7 4 (1.28%) Reference Data
8 3 (0.96%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (0.96%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (0.96%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 34 (10.90%) Windows
2 8 (2.56%) Mac OS
3 6 (1.92%) Windows 10
4 5 (1.60%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.96%) Linux
6 2 (0.64%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.32%) Android
7 1 (0.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.32%) SUSE
7 1 (0.32%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
7 1 (0.32%) VMS
7 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 52 (16.67%) Analytics
2 46 (14.74%) Migration
3 45 (14.42%) Problem-Solving
4 43 (13.78%) AI
5 42 (13.46%) Business Intelligence
5 42 (13.46%) Stakeholder Management
6 40 (12.82%) CI/CD
7 39 (12.50%) Agile
8 38 (12.18%) DevOps
9 36 (11.54%) Data Modelling
10 31 (9.94%) Data Governance
10 31 (9.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 26 (8.33%) Roadmaps
12 23 (7.37%) Data Engineering
13 22 (7.05%) Project Delivery
14 21 (6.73%) Continuous Improvement
14 21 (6.73%) Validation
15 20 (6.41%) Decision-Making
16 19 (6.09%) Cloud Security
16 19 (6.09%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 50 (16.03%) SQL
2 33 (10.58%) Python
3 25 (8.01%) PowerShell
4 11 (3.53%) Java
5 9 (2.88%) C#
6 8 (2.56%) Kusto Query Language
7 4 (1.28%) Bash
7 4 (1.28%) Bicep
7 4 (1.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 4 (1.28%) T-SQL
8 3 (0.96%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.64%) C
9 2 (0.64%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.32%) C++
10 1 (0.32%) COBOL
10 1 (0.32%) Google Apps Script
10 1 (0.32%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.32%) ProC
10 1 (0.32%) VB
10 1 (0.32%) XPath
Qualifications
1 44 (14.10%) Security Cleared
2 32 (10.26%) SC Cleared
3 22 (7.05%) Degree
4 11 (3.53%) Microsoft Certification
5 8 (2.56%) Azure Certification
5 8 (2.56%) DV Cleared
6 6 (1.92%) CISSP
6 6 (1.92%) PMI Certification
7 5 (1.60%) BPSS Clearance
7 5 (1.60%) CISM
8 4 (1.28%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (1.28%) DBS Check
9 3 (0.96%) CompTIA Security+
9 3 (0.96%) PMP
10 2 (0.64%) CCNP
10 2 (0.64%) Cisco Certification
10 2 (0.64%) CompTIA CySA+
10 2 (0.64%) GIAC
10 2 (0.64%) Network+ Certification
10 2 (0.64%) SnowPro
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (7.69%) Data Quality
2 18 (5.77%) GDPR
3 12 (3.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (3.21%) PMO
4 10 (3.21%) QA
5 8 (2.56%) Cyber Essentials
5 8 (2.56%) NIST
6 4 (1.28%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.28%) SLA
7 3 (0.96%) GRC
7 3 (0.96%) IFRS
7 3 (0.96%) MiFID
7 3 (0.96%) NCSC
7 3 (0.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.64%) ISO 20022
8 2 (0.64%) P3O
9 1 (0.32%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 1 (0.32%) UCITS
System Software
1 32 (10.26%) Active Directory
2 12 (3.85%) Docker
3 9 (2.88%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.32%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 24 (7.69%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (3.85%) Terraform
3 11 (3.53%) Kubernetes
4 7 (2.24%) SCCM
5 3 (0.96%) Ansible
5 3 (0.96%) Jamf Pro
6 2 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 2 (0.64%) Grafana
6 2 (0.64%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.32%) Autotask
7 1 (0.32%) Kibana
7 1 (0.32%) Opsgenie
7 1 (0.32%) Puppet
7 1 (0.32%) Salt
7 1 (0.32%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.32%) WSUS
Vendors
1 25 (8.01%) Databricks
2 13 (4.17%) Salesforce
3 12 (3.85%) Oracle
3 12 (3.85%) ServiceNow
4 11 (3.53%) SAP
5 10 (3.21%) Google
6 7 (2.24%) Citrix
6 7 (2.24%) Foundry
6 7 (2.24%) Workday
7 6 (1.92%) Informatica
8 5 (1.60%) Charles River
8 5 (1.60%) Palo Alto
9 4 (1.28%) Cisco
9 4 (1.28%) iManage
9 4 (1.28%) OpenAI
10 3 (0.96%) Bloomberg
10 3 (0.96%) MuleSoft
10 3 (0.96%) OneTrust
10 3 (0.96%) Splunk
10 3 (0.96%) Trend Micro