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 28 August 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
28 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 9 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -4 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 388 310 397
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 15.31% 15.55% 17.23%
As % of the Vendors category 35.24% 32.43% 39.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 286 200 301
10th Percentile £246 £275 £260
25th Percentile £413 £361 £432
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £533 £500 £538
Median % change year-on-year +6.50% -6.98% -2.27%
75th Percentile £650 £630 £645
90th Percentile £750 £725 £711
London median daily rate £513 £500 £504
% change year-on-year +2.50% -0.86% -8.30%
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 £24.75 £24.00 £23.80
% change year-on-year +3.13% +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 1,101 956 1,004
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 43.45% 47.94% 43.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 772 626 688
10th Percentile £321 £313 £328
25th Percentile £447 £408 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -2.27% -
75th Percentile £650 £675 £651
90th Percentile £750 £750 £750
London median daily rate £525 £525 £532
% change year-on-year - -1.32% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 17 13
10th Percentile £18.75 £19.42 £16.50
25th Percentile £18.88 £23.75 £20.50
Median hourly rate £23.58 £29.07 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.89% +7.67% -25.52%
75th Percentile £39.69 £56.75 £92.50
90th Percentile £64.13 £64.48 £137.50
London median hourly rate £35.50 £26.30 £29.25
% change year-on-year +34.98% -10.09% -22.00%

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 28 August 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 28 August 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 28 August 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 +3 355 £550 +10.00% 198
Southwark 0 8 £600 +14.29% 3
City of Westminster -13 6 £338 -41.30% 43
Kensington and Chelsea - 5 £150 - 4
West End of London -11 3 £475 +26.67% 31
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 46 (11.86%) SharePoint
2 33 (8.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (1.80%) Apache Airflow
3 7 (1.80%) Confluence
4 6 (1.55%) Apache
4 6 (1.55%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.52%) IIS
6 1 (0.26%) CMS
6 1 (0.26%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.26%) nginx
6 1 (0.26%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.26%) Umbraco
Applications
1 33 (8.51%) Microsoft Excel
2 24 (6.19%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (3.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (1.29%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.77%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.26%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.26%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.26%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.26%) Final Cut Pro
6 1 (0.26%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 20 (5.15%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.55%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.77%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.77%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.52%) iTrent
4 2 (0.52%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.52%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.52%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.26%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.26%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.26%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.26%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.26%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.26%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.26%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.26%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.26%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.26%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.26%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 178 (45.88%) Azure
2 84 (21.65%) Microsoft 365
3 73 (18.81%) Power Platform
4 57 (14.69%) Entra ID
5 47 (12.11%) Azure DevOps
6 38 (9.79%) Dynamics 365
7 32 (8.25%) AWS
8 27 (6.96%) Azure Data Factory
9 26 (6.70%) Power Automate
10 24 (6.19%) PowerApps
10 24 (6.19%) SaaS
11 22 (5.67%) GCP
11 22 (5.67%) Microsoft Copilot
12 20 (5.15%) Microsoft Purview
13 19 (4.90%) GitHub
13 19 (4.90%) Serverless
14 18 (4.64%) OneDrive
15 16 (4.12%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 14 (3.61%) Azure Logic Apps
17 13 (3.35%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 32 (8.25%) DNS
2 25 (6.44%) DHCP
3 18 (4.64%) Firewall
4 16 (4.12%) TCP/IP
5 13 (3.35%) VPN
6 6 (1.55%) Unified Communications
7 5 (1.29%) LAN
7 5 (1.29%) Network Security
7 5 (1.29%) WAN
8 4 (1.03%) Internet
8 4 (1.03%) SMTP
8 4 (1.03%) VLAN
9 3 (0.77%) Multicast
9 3 (0.77%) Structured Cabling
9 3 (0.77%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.52%) BGP
10 2 (0.52%) DKIM
10 2 (0.52%) DMARC
10 2 (0.52%) Intranet
10 2 (0.52%) Value-Added Service
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (12.11%) Power BI
2 25 (6.44%) Data Warehouse
3 21 (5.41%) SQL Server
4 13 (3.35%) Azure SQL Database
5 10 (2.58%) Data Lake
5 10 (2.58%) Metadata
5 10 (2.58%) Star Schema
6 8 (2.06%) Power Query
7 6 (1.55%) Semantic Layer
7 6 (1.55%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 5 (1.29%) Amazon RDS
8 5 (1.29%) Amazon Redshift
8 5 (1.29%) Tableau
9 4 (1.03%) Big Data
9 4 (1.03%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 4 (1.03%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 3 (0.77%) BigQuery
10 3 (0.77%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.77%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.77%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 21 (5.41%) JIRA
2 9 (2.32%) Git
3 7 (1.80%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.55%) Visual Studio
5 4 (1.03%) Bitbucket
5 4 (1.03%) GitLab
5 4 (1.03%) Selenium
6 3 (0.77%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.77%) JUnit
6 3 (0.77%) MSI
6 3 (0.77%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.52%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.52%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.52%) Fiddler
7 2 (0.52%) TeamCity
8 1 (0.26%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.26%) Rational Functional Tester
8 1 (0.26%) SilkTest
8 1 (0.26%) Team Foundation Server
8 1 (0.26%) WebDriver
General
1 120 (30.93%) Social Skills
2 115 (29.64%) Finance
3 48 (12.37%) Analytical Skills
4 35 (9.02%) Banking
5 24 (6.19%) Public Sector
6 13 (3.35%) Retail
7 11 (2.84%) General Ledger
7 11 (2.84%) Telecoms
8 10 (2.58%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.32%) Law
9 9 (2.32%) Legal
10 8 (2.06%) Investment Banking
10 8 (2.06%) Marketing
11 7 (1.80%) Front Office
11 7 (1.80%) Influencing Skills
12 6 (1.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.29%) Documentation Skills
14 4 (1.03%) Back Office
14 4 (1.03%) Financial Institution
14 4 (1.03%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 58 (14.95%) Architect
2 45 (11.60%) Developer
3 41 (10.57%) Analyst
4 38 (9.79%) Consultant
5 33 (8.51%) Support Engineer
6 30 (7.73%) Senior
7 19 (4.90%) Data Architect
8 18 (4.64%) Lead
8 18 (4.64%) Solutions Architect
9 17 (4.38%) IT Support
10 15 (3.87%) IT Engineer
11 14 (3.61%) Dynamics 365 Developer
12 13 (3.35%) Data Engineer
12 13 (3.35%) IT Support Engineer
13 11 (2.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 11 (2.84%) Project Manager
14 10 (2.58%) Azure Engineer
15 9 (2.32%) Cloud Engineer
15 9 (2.32%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 9 (2.32%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.19%) Terraform
2 22 (5.67%) .NET
3 19 (4.90%) PySpark
4 17 (4.38%) REST
5 9 (2.32%) .NET Framework
5 9 (2.32%) HTML
5 9 (2.32%) JSON
5 9 (2.32%) Middleware
6 8 (2.06%) SOAP
6 8 (2.06%) XML
7 7 (1.80%) OAuth
7 7 (1.80%) SAML
8 6 (1.55%) CSS
8 6 (1.55%) Kafka
9 5 (1.29%) ASP.NET Web API
9 5 (1.29%) OpenID
9 5 (1.29%) Web Services
10 4 (1.03%) HTML5 Canvas
10 4 (1.03%) Spring
10 4 (1.03%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 29 (7.47%) Onboarding
2 22 (5.67%) Cloud Native
3 15 (3.87%) AI Agents
3 15 (3.87%) Video Conferencing
4 12 (3.09%) Management Information System
5 11 (2.84%) Legacy Systems
6 10 (2.58%) PKI
7 9 (2.32%) Distributed Systems
7 9 (2.32%) Enterprise Software
8 8 (2.06%) Product Ownership
9 7 (1.80%) Data Centre
9 7 (1.80%) Data Structures
9 7 (1.80%) Low-Code
9 7 (1.80%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.29%) Clustering
11 4 (1.03%) Equities
11 4 (1.03%) PMI
11 4 (1.03%) Self-Motivation
12 3 (0.77%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (0.77%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 77 (19.85%) Windows
2 20 (5.15%) Windows Server
3 19 (4.90%) Mac OS
4 18 (4.64%) Windows 10
5 13 (3.35%) Linux
6 6 (1.55%) Android
7 4 (1.03%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.03%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.77%) Unix
8 3 (0.77%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.26%) OpenVMS
10 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.26%) SUSE
10 1 (0.26%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.26%) VMS
10 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2003
10 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 88 (22.68%) DevOps
2 76 (19.59%) Stakeholder Management
3 68 (17.53%) Problem-Solving
4 66 (17.01%) Agile
4 66 (17.01%) Migration
5 64 (16.49%) Analytics
6 63 (16.24%) CI/CD
7 52 (13.40%) Business Intelligence
8 50 (12.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 49 (12.63%) Data Modelling
10 47 (12.11%) AI
11 41 (10.57%) Data Governance
12 32 (8.25%) ITIL
13 31 (7.99%) Continuous Improvement
14 30 (7.73%) Project Delivery
15 29 (7.47%) Customer Service
15 29 (7.47%) Integration Patterns
16 28 (7.22%) Roadmaps
16 28 (7.22%) Validation
17 27 (6.96%) CRM
Programming Languages
1 68 (17.53%) SQL
2 50 (12.89%) Python
3 30 (7.73%) PowerShell
4 20 (5.15%) C#
5 16 (4.12%) Java
6 15 (3.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 12 (3.09%) JavaScript
8 9 (2.32%) TypeScript
9 7 (1.80%) Bash
9 7 (1.80%) Bicep
10 6 (1.55%) T-SQL
11 4 (1.03%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.52%) C++
12 2 (0.52%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.52%) R
13 1 (0.26%) COBOL
13 1 (0.26%) Korn
13 1 (0.26%) RPG
13 1 (0.26%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.26%) XMLA
Qualifications
1 75 (19.33%) Security Cleared
2 52 (13.40%) SC Cleared
3 25 (6.44%) Degree
4 19 (4.90%) DV Cleared
4 19 (4.90%) Microsoft Certification
5 10 (2.58%) Azure Certification
6 7 (1.80%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (1.80%) PMI Certification
7 6 (1.55%) CISSP
7 6 (1.55%) DBS Check
8 5 (1.29%) A+ Certification
9 4 (1.03%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (1.03%) CISM
9 4 (1.03%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.77%) PMP
11 2 (0.52%) CCNA
11 2 (0.52%) CCNP
11 2 (0.52%) CompTIA Security+
11 2 (0.52%) Network+ Certification
11 2 (0.52%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (8.51%) Data Quality
2 23 (5.93%) QA
3 16 (4.12%) SLA
4 14 (3.61%) GDPR
5 12 (3.09%) NIST
6 11 (2.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (2.84%) PMO
7 9 (2.32%) Accessibility
8 7 (1.80%) NCSC
9 6 (1.55%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (1.29%) GRC
11 3 (0.77%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.52%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.52%) P3O
13 1 (0.26%) Def Stans
13 1 (0.26%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.26%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 1 (0.26%) UCITS
System Software
1 73 (18.81%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.61%) Docker
3 7 (1.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.29%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.29%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.03%) BitLocker
5 4 (1.03%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.77%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.77%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.77%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.52%) IAG
8 1 (0.26%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.26%) zsh
Systems Management
1 41 (10.57%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (4.64%) SCCM
3 15 (3.87%) Kubernetes
4 10 (2.58%) Ansible
4 10 (2.58%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (1.29%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (1.03%) Grafana
6 4 (1.03%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.03%) Puppet
7 3 (0.77%) Nagios
7 3 (0.77%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.77%) vMotion
7 3 (0.77%) WSUS
8 1 (0.26%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.26%) Cisco CUCM
8 1 (0.26%) ITRS Geneos
8 1 (0.26%) PowerCLI
8 1 (0.26%) Salt
8 1 (0.26%) SCOrch
8 1 (0.26%) SELinux
Vendors
1 35 (9.02%) ServiceNow
2 24 (6.19%) Databricks
3 20 (5.15%) Google
4 19 (4.90%) Oracle
4 19 (4.90%) SAP
5 11 (2.84%) Cisco
5 11 (2.84%) VMware
6 10 (2.58%) Apple
7 9 (2.32%) Citrix
8 8 (2.06%) Bloomberg
9 7 (1.80%) Salesforce
10 6 (1.55%) Foundry
10 6 (1.55%) Workday
11 5 (1.29%) HP
11 5 (1.29%) OpenAI
11 5 (1.29%) Symantec
12 4 (1.03%) IBM
12 4 (1.03%) iManage
12 4 (1.03%) Informatica
12 4 (1.03%) Okta