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 March 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 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 +4
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 320 315 363
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 14.46% 15.31% 14.21%
As % of the Vendors category 31.50% 35.08% 33.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 250 205 278
10th Percentile £315 £243 £263
25th Percentile £413 £400 £432
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £675
90th Percentile £726 £710 £775
London median daily rate £513 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +2.50% - -5.66%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 2
10th Percentile £19.66 £53.95 -
25th Percentile £21.98 £91.27 £12.75
Median hourly rate £25.47 £112.00 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year -77.26% +729.63% -49.06%
75th Percentile - £130.88 £14.25
90th Percentile £33.61 £164.85 -
London median hourly rate £22.34 £26.50 £19.50
% change year-on-year -15.71% +35.90% -16.13%

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 1,016 898 1,078
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 45.91% 43.63% 42.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 682 587 776
10th Percentile £353 £313 £289
25th Percentile £425 £450 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £543
Median % change year-on-year - +1.38% -1.36%
75th Percentile £663 £669 £675
90th Percentile £774 £742 £775
London median daily rate £525 £547 £550
% change year-on-year -3.93% -0.64% -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 6 10
10th Percentile - £30.04 £12.70
25th Percentile £18.75 £33.56 £13.81
Median hourly rate £25.47 £77.25 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -67.03% +306.58% -9.52%
75th Percentile £30.69 £112.00 £23.06
90th Percentile £44.72 £149.75 £26.25
London median hourly rate £25.77 £34.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year -24.21% +36.00% -1.40%

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 March 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 March 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 March 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 0 294 £525 - 181
West End of London +9 7 £500 +11.11% 165
City of Westminster +2 5 £560 +6.16% 168
Camden +5 4 £400 -11.11% 4
Kensington and Chelsea +2 4 £588 - 1
Southwark -3 1 £188 -54.78% 2
Lambeth - 1 £350 - 2
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 38 (11.88%) SharePoint
2 15 (4.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (3.75%) Confluence
4 3 (0.94%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.63%) Apache
6 1 (0.31%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.31%) CMS
6 1 (0.31%) Ethereum
6 1 (0.31%) Hyperledger
6 1 (0.31%) SAS
Applications
1 39 (12.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (8.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 26 (8.13%) MS Visio
3 23 (7.19%) Microsoft Office
4 7 (2.19%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.63%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.31%) Adobe After Effects
6 1 (0.31%) Adobe XD
6 1 (0.31%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.31%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.81%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.88%) Aladdin
3 2 (0.63%) Exchequer
3 2 (0.63%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.63%) Payment Gateway
3 2 (0.63%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.31%) BASE24
4 1 (0.31%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.31%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.31%) Veritas eDiscovery
4 1 (0.31%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 129 (40.31%) Azure
2 87 (27.19%) Microsoft 365
3 58 (18.13%) Power Platform
4 38 (11.88%) Entra ID
5 28 (8.75%) AWS
6 27 (8.44%) Power Automate
7 23 (7.19%) Dynamics 365
7 23 (7.19%) PowerApps
8 22 (6.88%) Microsoft Purview
9 16 (5.00%) Azure DevOps
10 14 (4.38%) GitHub
10 14 (4.38%) Microsoft Copilot
11 11 (3.44%) SaaS
12 10 (3.13%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (3.13%) Serverless
12 10 (3.13%) Snowflake
13 9 (2.81%) Amazon S3
13 9 (2.81%) AWS Lambda
13 9 (2.81%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (2.81%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 14 (4.38%) Firewall
2 13 (4.06%) DNS
2 13 (4.06%) VPN
3 9 (2.81%) Network Security
4 7 (2.19%) WAN
5 6 (1.88%) DHCP
5 6 (1.88%) LAN
6 4 (1.25%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (0.94%) Softphone
7 3 (0.94%) Structured Cabling
8 2 (0.63%) HTTP
8 2 (0.63%) Intranet
8 2 (0.63%) Intrusion Detection
8 2 (0.63%) SD-WAN
8 2 (0.63%) Unified Communications
9 1 (0.31%) IPv4
9 1 (0.31%) IPv6
9 1 (0.31%) Kerberos
9 1 (0.31%) SSL
9 1 (0.31%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (10.31%) Power BI
2 15 (4.69%) Metadata
3 14 (4.38%) SQL Server
4 10 (3.13%) Data Warehouse
5 8 (2.50%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (2.19%) Data Lake
6 7 (2.19%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (2.19%) Tableau
7 6 (1.88%) Relational Database
8 4 (1.25%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.94%) Amazon Redshift
9 3 (0.94%) MySQL
9 3 (0.94%) Snowflake Schema
10 2 (0.63%) Metadata Repository
10 2 (0.63%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.63%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.63%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.63%) SQLPlus
11 1 (0.31%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
11 1 (0.31%) Kdb+
Development Applications
1 15 (4.69%) JIRA
2 7 (2.19%) Git
3 5 (1.56%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.25%) GitLab
5 2 (0.63%) ERwin
5 2 (0.63%) Postman
5 2 (0.63%) Toad
6 1 (0.31%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.31%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.31%) Cypress.io
6 1 (0.31%) gulp
6 1 (0.31%) Hardhat
6 1 (0.31%) PowerBuilder
6 1 (0.31%) Selenium
6 1 (0.31%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.31%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.31%) SpecFlow
6 1 (0.31%) Visual Studio Code
6 1 (0.31%) webpack
6 1 (0.31%) Zephyr
General
1 109 (34.06%) Social Skills
2 85 (26.56%) Finance
3 54 (16.88%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (9.69%) Banking
5 26 (8.13%) Public Sector
6 13 (4.06%) Investment Banking
7 11 (3.44%) Legal
8 10 (3.13%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.81%) Front Office
9 9 (2.81%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (2.19%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.56%) Documentation Skills
13 4 (1.25%) Marketing
13 4 (1.25%) Military
13 4 (1.25%) Telecoms
14 3 (0.94%) Financial Institution
14 3 (0.94%) Manufacturing
14 3 (0.94%) Retail
15 2 (0.63%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 47 (14.69%) Analyst
2 41 (12.81%) Senior
3 36 (11.25%) Architect
4 35 (10.94%) Developer
5 25 (7.81%) Business Analyst
6 18 (5.63%) Consultant
7 17 (5.31%) Data Engineer
8 16 (5.00%) Lead
9 14 (4.38%) Project Manager
10 13 (4.06%) IT Engineer
10 13 (4.06%) Support Engineer
11 11 (3.44%) IT Support
12 10 (3.13%) IT Support Engineer
12 10 (3.13%) Microsoft Engineer
12 10 (3.13%) Solutions Architect
13 9 (2.81%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
14 8 (2.50%) Azure Engineer
14 8 (2.50%) Cloud Engineer
15 7 (2.19%) Azure Architect
15 7 (2.19%) Programme Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (2.50%) .NET
1 8 (2.50%) REST
2 7 (2.19%) React
3 6 (1.88%) Microsoft Graph
3 6 (1.88%) Middleware
4 5 (1.56%) HTML
4 5 (1.56%) JSON
4 5 (1.56%) Node.js
4 5 (1.56%) OAuth
5 4 (1.25%) CSS
5 4 (1.25%) PySpark
5 4 (1.25%) RESTful
5 4 (1.25%) SAML
5 4 (1.25%) XML
6 3 (0.94%) AngularJS
6 3 (0.94%) Kafka
6 3 (0.94%) OpenID
6 3 (0.94%) Pandas
6 3 (0.94%) scikit-learn
6 3 (0.94%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (5.94%) Cloud Native
2 17 (5.31%) Onboarding
3 12 (3.75%) Management Information System
4 11 (3.44%) Security Posture
5 9 (2.81%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.50%) Hybrid Cloud
7 7 (2.19%) AI Agents
8 6 (1.88%) Data Structures
9 5 (1.56%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 5 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (1.25%) BYOD
10 4 (1.25%) Equities
10 4 (1.25%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 4 (1.25%) Virtual Team
11 3 (0.94%) Data Centre
11 3 (0.94%) Derivative
11 3 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
11 3 (0.94%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (0.94%) Fixed Income
11 3 (0.94%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 32 (10.00%) Windows
2 12 (3.75%) Windows 10
3 5 (1.56%) Linux
3 5 (1.56%) Mac OS
3 5 (1.56%) Unix
3 5 (1.56%) Windows Server
4 3 (0.94%) Android
4 3 (0.94%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.31%) Mac OS X
5 1 (0.31%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (18.44%) Problem-Solving
2 48 (15.00%) Stakeholder Management
3 42 (13.13%) Business Intelligence
3 42 (13.13%) Migration
4 40 (12.50%) Agile
4 40 (12.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 36 (11.25%) Analytics
5 36 (11.25%) CI/CD
6 34 (10.63%) AI
7 32 (10.00%) Data Governance
7 32 (10.00%) DevOps
8 29 (9.06%) Data Modelling
9 28 (8.75%) Roadmaps
10 23 (7.19%) Change Management
11 20 (6.25%) Cloud Security
11 20 (6.25%) Continuous Improvement
11 20 (6.25%) Data Pipeline
11 20 (6.25%) Machine Learning
11 20 (6.25%) Project Delivery
12 19 (5.94%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 52 (16.25%) SQL
2 37 (11.56%) Python
3 27 (8.44%) PowerShell
4 12 (3.75%) Java
5 11 (3.44%) C#
6 8 (2.50%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.19%) Kusto Query Language
8 3 (0.94%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 3 (0.94%) PL/SQL
8 3 (0.94%) Shell Script
8 3 (0.94%) T-SQL
9 2 (0.63%) C
9 2 (0.63%) C++
9 2 (0.63%) Perl
9 2 (0.63%) PHP
10 1 (0.31%) Apex Code
10 1 (0.31%) COBOL
10 1 (0.31%) Google Apps Script
10 1 (0.31%) R
10 1 (0.31%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 46 (14.38%) Security Cleared
2 36 (11.25%) SC Cleared
3 30 (9.38%) Degree
4 15 (4.69%) Microsoft Certification
5 7 (2.19%) Azure Certification
5 7 (2.19%) CISSP
6 6 (1.88%) Computer Science Degree
7 5 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
7 5 (1.56%) CISM
7 5 (1.56%) PMI Certification
8 4 (1.25%) CompTIA CySA+
8 4 (1.25%) CompTIA Security+
8 4 (1.25%) DV Cleared
8 4 (1.25%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.25%) MCSE
8 4 (1.25%) PMP
9 3 (0.94%) Microsoft Certified Professional
9 3 (0.94%) TOGAF Certification
10 2 (0.63%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.63%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (6.56%) Data Quality
1 21 (6.56%) GDPR
2 18 (5.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.44%) Cyber Essentials
3 11 (3.44%) PMO
4 9 (2.81%) QA
5 8 (2.50%) NIST
6 4 (1.25%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 3 (0.94%) IFRS
7 3 (0.94%) ISO 20022
7 3 (0.94%) NCSC
7 3 (0.94%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.94%) SLA
8 2 (0.63%) Basel III
8 2 (0.63%) GRC
8 2 (0.63%) ISO 8583
8 2 (0.63%) MiFID
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.31%) WCAG
System Software
1 45 (14.06%) Active Directory
2 13 (4.06%) Docker
3 7 (2.19%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (1.56%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.63%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.31%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 32 (10.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (3.75%) Terraform
3 8 (2.50%) Kubernetes
4 5 (1.56%) SCCM
5 4 (1.25%) Ansible
6 3 (0.94%) Jamf Pro
7 2 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.63%) AirWatch
7 2 (0.63%) Kibana
8 1 (0.31%) Autotask
8 1 (0.31%) Grafana
8 1 (0.31%) ITRS Geneos
8 1 (0.31%) logstash
8 1 (0.31%) Opsgenie
8 1 (0.31%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.31%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.31%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 19 (5.94%) Databricks
2 14 (4.38%) Salesforce
2 14 (4.38%) ServiceNow
3 8 (2.50%) Google
3 8 (2.50%) Oracle
3 8 (2.50%) SAP
4 7 (2.19%) CyberArk
4 7 (2.19%) Palo Alto
5 6 (1.88%) Foundry
5 6 (1.88%) OpenAI
5 6 (1.88%) Zscaler
6 5 (1.56%) Cisco
6 5 (1.56%) Citrix
6 5 (1.56%) LogRhythm
6 5 (1.56%) VMware
7 4 (1.25%) Apple
7 4 (1.25%) Commvault
7 4 (1.25%) Fortinet
7 4 (1.25%) Informatica
7 4 (1.25%) Splunk