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 February 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 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 5 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 +1 +6
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 320 318 366
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 14.80% 15.23% 14.34%
As % of the Vendors category 32.06% 34.79% 34.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 253 205 277
10th Percentile £311 £232 £263
25th Percentile £408 £400 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £521 £526 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -4.45% +3.04%
75th Percentile £613 £644 £675
90th Percentile £735 £711 £775
London median daily rate £510 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +2.00% - -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 £23.13 £28.41 £19.50
% change year-on-year -18.58% +45.69% -13.33%

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 998 914 1,073
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 46.16% 43.77% 42.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 674 589 770
10th Percentile £350 £313 £287
25th Percentile £425 £450 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £536 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% - -
75th Percentile £674 £670 £675
90th Percentile £775 £750 £775
London median daily rate £525 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -4.55% - -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 6 10
10th Percentile £18.75 £30.04 £12.70
25th Percentile £19.46 £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 £34.38 £112.00 £23.06
90th Percentile £45.28 £149.75 £26.25
London median hourly rate £26.50 £35.00 £25.50
% change year-on-year -24.29% +37.25% +2.00%

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 26 February 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 26 February 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 26 February 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 -1 293 £518 -1.43% 113
West End of London +8 7 £500 +11.11% 2
City of Westminster 0 5 £560 +6.16% 3
Camden +5 4 £400 -11.11% 5
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 16 (5.00%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (4.06%) Confluence
4 2 (0.63%) Apache
4 2 (0.63%) CMS
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.31%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.31%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.31%) Ethereum
5 1 (0.31%) Hyperledger
5 1 (0.31%) Jupyter
5 1 (0.31%) NServiceBus
5 1 (0.31%) SAS
Applications
1 43 (13.44%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (8.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 26 (8.13%) MS Visio
4 23 (7.19%) Microsoft Office
5 7 (2.19%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.94%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.31%) Adobe After Effects
7 1 (0.31%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.31%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.31%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.81%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.88%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.94%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.63%) Exchequer
4 2 (0.63%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.63%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.31%) BASE24
5 1 (0.31%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.31%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.31%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 127 (39.69%) Azure
2 84 (26.25%) Microsoft 365
3 56 (17.50%) Power Platform
4 38 (11.88%) Entra ID
5 27 (8.44%) AWS
6 25 (7.81%) Power Automate
7 24 (7.50%) Dynamics 365
8 21 (6.56%) Microsoft Purview
8 21 (6.56%) PowerApps
9 16 (5.00%) Azure DevOps
10 13 (4.06%) GitHub
11 11 (3.44%) GCP
11 11 (3.44%) Microsoft Copilot
12 10 (3.13%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (3.13%) SaaS
13 9 (2.81%) Azure Data Factory
14 8 (2.50%) Copilot Studio
14 8 (2.50%) GitHub Actions
14 8 (2.50%) Serverless
14 8 (2.50%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 14 (4.38%) VPN
2 13 (4.06%) DNS
2 13 (4.06%) Firewall
3 8 (2.50%) Network Security
3 8 (2.50%) WAN
4 7 (2.19%) LAN
5 6 (1.88%) DHCP
6 5 (1.56%) 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%) Extranet
9 1 (0.31%) IPv4
9 1 (0.31%) IPv6
9 1 (0.31%) iSCSI
9 1 (0.31%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (9.69%) Power BI
2 15 (4.69%) Metadata
2 15 (4.69%) SQL Server
3 11 (3.44%) Data Warehouse
4 9 (2.81%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (2.50%) 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%) MySQL
10 2 (0.63%) Amazon Redshift
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%) Snowflake Schema
10 2 (0.63%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 2 (0.63%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 2 (0.63%) SQLPlus
Development Applications
1 18 (5.63%) JIRA
2 8 (2.50%) Git
3 4 (1.25%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.94%) 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%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.31%) PowerBuilder
6 1 (0.31%) Selenium
6 1 (0.31%) SpecFlow
6 1 (0.31%) Terragrunt
6 1 (0.31%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.31%) webpack
6 1 (0.31%) Zephyr
General
1 111 (34.69%) Social Skills
2 87 (27.19%) Finance
3 53 (16.56%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (8.75%) Banking
5 26 (8.13%) Public Sector
6 12 (3.75%) Investment Banking
7 11 (3.44%) Legal
7 11 (3.44%) Organisational Skills
8 9 (2.81%) Front Office
8 9 (2.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (2.50%) Presentation Skills
10 7 (2.19%) Influencing Skills
11 5 (1.56%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (1.25%) Marketing
12 4 (1.25%) Military
12 4 (1.25%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.94%) Financial Institution
13 3 (0.94%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.94%) Retail
14 2 (0.63%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 48 (15.00%) Analyst
2 41 (12.81%) Senior
3 38 (11.88%) Architect
4 35 (10.94%) Developer
5 26 (8.13%) Business Analyst
6 18 (5.63%) Consultant
7 16 (5.00%) Data Engineer
8 15 (4.69%) Lead
9 14 (4.38%) Project Manager
10 13 (4.06%) Support Engineer
11 12 (3.75%) IT Engineer
12 11 (3.44%) Solutions Architect
13 10 (3.13%) IT Support
13 10 (3.13%) Microsoft Engineer
14 9 (2.81%) IT Support Engineer
15 8 (2.50%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
15 8 (2.50%) Azure Engineer
15 8 (2.50%) Cloud Engineer
15 8 (2.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 7 (2.19%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.19%) .NET
1 7 (2.19%) React
1 7 (2.19%) REST
2 6 (1.88%) Microsoft Graph
2 6 (1.88%) Middleware
3 5 (1.56%) HTML
3 5 (1.56%) JSON
3 5 (1.56%) Node.js
3 5 (1.56%) OAuth
4 4 (1.25%) CSS
4 4 (1.25%) RESTful
4 4 (1.25%) SAML
4 4 (1.25%) XML
5 3 (0.94%) AngularJS
5 3 (0.94%) NumPy
5 3 (0.94%) OpenID
5 3 (0.94%) Pandas
5 3 (0.94%) PySpark
5 3 (0.94%) scikit-learn
5 3 (0.94%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (5.94%) Cloud Native
2 17 (5.31%) Onboarding
3 13 (4.06%) Management Information System
4 11 (3.44%) Security Posture
5 8 (2.50%) Hybrid Cloud
5 8 (2.50%) Product Ownership
6 7 (2.19%) Data Structures
7 6 (1.88%) AI Agents
8 5 (1.56%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 4 (1.25%) BYOD
9 4 (1.25%) Derivative
9 4 (1.25%) Equities
9 4 (1.25%) Fixed Income
9 4 (1.25%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (1.25%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 4 (1.25%) Virtual Team
10 3 (0.94%) Cloud Security Posture
10 3 (0.94%) Data Centre
10 3 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
10 3 (0.94%) Low-Code
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 60 (18.75%) Problem-Solving
2 49 (15.31%) Stakeholder Management
3 41 (12.81%) Migration
3 41 (12.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 40 (12.50%) Agile
4 40 (12.50%) Business Intelligence
5 37 (11.56%) Analytics
6 33 (10.31%) AI
6 33 (10.31%) CI/CD
7 32 (10.00%) Data Governance
8 31 (9.69%) DevOps
9 29 (9.06%) Data Modelling
10 28 (8.75%) Roadmaps
11 23 (7.19%) Change Management
12 21 (6.56%) Project Delivery
13 20 (6.25%) Cloud Security
13 20 (6.25%) Continuous Improvement
13 20 (6.25%) Machine Learning
14 19 (5.94%) Cybersecurity
14 19 (5.94%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 53 (16.56%) SQL
2 35 (10.94%) Python
3 28 (8.75%) PowerShell
4 12 (3.75%) C#
4 12 (3.75%) Java
5 9 (2.81%) JavaScript
6 7 (2.19%) Kusto Query Language
7 4 (1.25%) T-SQL
8 3 (0.94%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 3 (0.94%) PL/SQL
8 3 (0.94%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.63%) Apex Code
9 2 (0.63%) C
9 2 (0.63%) C++
9 2 (0.63%) Perl
9 2 (0.63%) PHP
10 1 (0.31%) COBOL
10 1 (0.31%) Korn
10 1 (0.31%) R
10 1 (0.31%) XPath
Qualifications
1 47 (14.69%) Security Cleared
2 37 (11.56%) SC Cleared
3 29 (9.06%) 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%) GIAC
10 2 (0.63%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (6.25%) Data Quality
1 20 (6.25%) 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
8 2 (0.63%) Basel III
8 2 (0.63%) GRC
8 2 (0.63%) ISO 8583
8 2 (0.63%) MiFID
8 2 (0.63%) SLA
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.31%) WCAG
System Software
1 44 (13.75%) Active Directory
2 10 (3.13%) 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 34 (10.63%) Microsoft Intune
2 11 (3.44%) Terraform
3 7 (2.19%) Kubernetes
4 6 (1.88%) 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%) ITRS Geneos
8 1 (0.31%) logstash
8 1 (0.31%) Opsgenie
8 1 (0.31%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.31%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 19 (5.94%) Databricks
2 15 (4.69%) Salesforce
3 14 (4.38%) ServiceNow
4 11 (3.44%) Google
5 9 (2.81%) Oracle
6 8 (2.50%) Palo Alto
6 8 (2.50%) SAP
7 7 (2.19%) CyberArk
8 6 (1.88%) Citrix
8 6 (1.88%) OpenAI
9 5 (1.56%) Cisco
9 5 (1.56%) LogRhythm
9 5 (1.56%) VMware
9 5 (1.56%) Zscaler
10 4 (1.25%) Apple
10 4 (1.25%) Commvault
10 4 (1.25%) Foundry
10 4 (1.25%) Informatica
10 4 (1.25%) Remedy
11 3 (0.94%) Trend Micro