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 21 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
21 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 9 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -4 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 377 313 402
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 14.86% 15.50% 17.46%
As % of the Vendors category 34.46% 32.67% 40.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 280 202 306
10th Percentile £263 £275 £300
25th Percentile £416 £361 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £539 £496 £531
Median % change year-on-year +8.73% -6.73% -1.85%
75th Percentile £650 £624 £638
90th Percentile £750 £704 £711
London median daily rate £515 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +3.00% -0.05% -9.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 5 4
10th Percentile £20.83 £20.12 £19.30
25th Percentile £22.82 £22.00 £24.25
Median hourly rate £26.13 £26.45 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.21% -2.04% -
75th Percentile £30.57 £29.07 £43.38
90th Percentile £33.23 £29.78 £72.85
London median hourly rate £25.50 £24.00 £23.80
% change year-on-year +6.25% +0.84% -19.32%

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 1,094 958 1,002
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 43.12% 47.43% 43.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 766 622 694
10th Percentile £338 £313 £343
25th Percentile £450 £413 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £536 £538
Median % change year-on-year +0.75% -0.37% -2.18%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £650
90th Percentile £750 £750 £750
London median daily rate £525 £525 £530
% change year-on-year - -0.94% -3.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 18 13
10th Percentile - £19.51 £16.50
25th Percentile £18.75 £24.43 £20.50
Median hourly rate £22.83 £29.07 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.47% +7.67% +20.00%
75th Percentile £39.69 £55.60 £92.50
90th Percentile £64.13 £64.30 £137.50
London median hourly rate £35.50 £26.30 £27.50
% change year-on-year +34.98% -4.36% -21.43%

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 +3 345 £550 +10.50% 229
Southwark 0 8 £600 +14.29% 6
Kensington and Chelsea +1 5 £150 - 4
City of Westminster -16 5 £500 -13.04% 12
West End of London -11 4 £475 +26.67% 10
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 49 (13.00%) SharePoint
2 30 (7.96%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (1.86%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (1.59%) Apache
4 6 (1.59%) Apache Spark
4 6 (1.59%) Confluence
5 2 (0.53%) IIS
6 1 (0.27%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.27%) nginx
6 1 (0.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 32 (8.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 22 (5.84%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (3.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.06%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.53%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.27%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.27%) Final Cut Pro
6 1 (0.27%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (5.04%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.59%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.80%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.53%) Dynamics NAV
4 2 (0.53%) iTrent
4 2 (0.53%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.53%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.53%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.27%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.27%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.27%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.27%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.27%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.27%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.27%) SAP Oil and Gas
5 1 (0.27%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 165 (43.77%) Azure
2 81 (21.49%) Microsoft 365
3 74 (19.63%) Power Platform
4 50 (13.26%) Entra ID
5 42 (11.14%) Azure DevOps
6 37 (9.81%) Dynamics 365
7 31 (8.22%) AWS
8 27 (7.16%) Power Automate
9 25 (6.63%) Azure Data Factory
9 25 (6.63%) PowerApps
10 23 (6.10%) Microsoft Copilot
11 22 (5.84%) GCP
11 22 (5.84%) SaaS
12 20 (5.31%) GitHub
13 19 (5.04%) Microsoft Purview
14 18 (4.77%) OneDrive
15 16 (4.24%) Serverless
16 15 (3.98%) Azure Synapse Analytics
17 12 (3.18%) Azure Logic Apps
18 11 (2.92%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 28 (7.43%) DNS
2 22 (5.84%) DHCP
3 18 (4.77%) Firewall
4 14 (3.71%) TCP/IP
5 13 (3.45%) VPN
6 5 (1.33%) LAN
6 5 (1.33%) Network Security
6 5 (1.33%) Unified Communications
6 5 (1.33%) WAN
7 4 (1.06%) Internet
7 4 (1.06%) SMTP
7 4 (1.06%) VLAN
8 3 (0.80%) Multicast
8 3 (0.80%) Structured Cabling
8 3 (0.80%) Wi-Fi
9 2 (0.53%) BGP
9 2 (0.53%) DKIM
9 2 (0.53%) DMARC
9 2 (0.53%) Intranet
9 2 (0.53%) Value-Added Service
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (12.47%) Power BI
2 24 (6.37%) Data Warehouse
3 19 (5.04%) SQL Server
4 12 (3.18%) Azure SQL Database
5 9 (2.39%) Data Lake
5 9 (2.39%) Metadata
5 9 (2.39%) Star Schema
6 8 (2.12%) Power Query
7 5 (1.33%) Amazon RDS
7 5 (1.33%) Amazon Redshift
7 5 (1.33%) Semantic Layer
7 5 (1.33%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 5 (1.33%) Tableau
8 4 (1.06%) Big Data
9 3 (0.80%) BigQuery
9 3 (0.80%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.80%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 3 (0.80%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.80%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.80%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 18 (4.77%) JIRA
2 9 (2.39%) Git
3 7 (1.86%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.59%) Visual Studio
5 4 (1.06%) Bitbucket
5 4 (1.06%) GitLab
5 4 (1.06%) Selenium
6 3 (0.80%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.80%) JUnit
6 3 (0.80%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.53%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.53%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.53%) Fiddler
7 2 (0.53%) MSI
7 2 (0.53%) TeamCity
8 1 (0.27%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.27%) Rational Functional Tester
8 1 (0.27%) SilkTest
8 1 (0.27%) Team Foundation Server
8 1 (0.27%) WebDriver
General
1 112 (29.71%) Social Skills
2 110 (29.18%) Finance
3 50 (13.26%) Analytical Skills
4 35 (9.28%) Banking
5 23 (6.10%) Public Sector
6 13 (3.45%) Retail
7 11 (2.92%) General Ledger
7 11 (2.92%) Telecoms
8 9 (2.39%) Law
8 9 (2.39%) Legal
8 9 (2.39%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.12%) Marketing
10 7 (1.86%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (1.86%) Investment Banking
11 6 (1.59%) Front Office
12 5 (1.33%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 4 (1.06%) Back Office
13 4 (1.06%) Financial Institution
14 3 (0.80%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 56 (14.85%) Architect
2 45 (11.94%) Developer
3 40 (10.61%) Analyst
4 36 (9.55%) Consultant
5 29 (7.69%) Support Engineer
6 28 (7.43%) Senior
7 20 (5.31%) Data Architect
8 18 (4.77%) Lead
9 17 (4.51%) Solutions Architect
10 14 (3.71%) IT Support
11 13 (3.45%) Data Engineer
11 13 (3.45%) Dynamics 365 Developer
12 12 (3.18%) IT Engineer
13 11 (2.92%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 11 (2.92%) Platform Engineer
13 11 (2.92%) Project Manager
14 10 (2.65%) IT Support Engineer
14 10 (2.65%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 9 (2.39%) Cloud Engineer
15 9 (2.39%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.37%) Terraform
2 18 (4.77%) .NET
2 18 (4.77%) PySpark
3 16 (4.24%) REST
4 9 (2.39%) Middleware
5 8 (2.12%) .NET Framework
5 8 (2.12%) HTML
5 8 (2.12%) JSON
5 8 (2.12%) SOAP
6 7 (1.86%) SAML
6 7 (1.86%) XML
7 6 (1.59%) Kafka
7 6 (1.59%) OAuth
8 5 (1.33%) CSS
8 5 (1.33%) OpenID
8 5 (1.33%) Web Services
9 4 (1.06%) ASP.NET Web API
9 4 (1.06%) HTML5 Canvas
9 4 (1.06%) Spring
9 4 (1.06%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 26 (6.90%) Onboarding
2 20 (5.31%) Cloud Native
3 15 (3.98%) AI Agents
4 14 (3.71%) Video Conferencing
5 12 (3.18%) Legacy Systems
5 12 (3.18%) Management Information System
6 9 (2.39%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.39%) PKI
6 9 (2.39%) Product Ownership
7 7 (1.86%) Data Structures
7 7 (1.86%) Distributed Systems
7 7 (1.86%) Low-Code
8 6 (1.59%) Security Posture
9 5 (1.33%) Clustering
9 5 (1.33%) Data Centre
10 4 (1.06%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.06%) Equities
10 4 (1.06%) PMI
11 3 (0.80%) Self-Motivation
11 3 (0.80%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 67 (17.77%) Windows
2 19 (5.04%) Mac OS
2 19 (5.04%) Windows Server
3 14 (3.71%) Windows 10
4 12 (3.18%) Linux
5 5 (1.33%) Android
6 4 (1.06%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.06%) Windows 7
7 3 (0.80%) Unix
7 3 (0.80%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.27%) OpenVMS
9 1 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.27%) SUSE
9 1 (0.27%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.27%) VMS
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (22.28%) DevOps
2 70 (18.57%) Stakeholder Management
3 66 (17.51%) Analytics
3 66 (17.51%) Problem-Solving
4 62 (16.45%) Agile
4 62 (16.45%) CI/CD
5 61 (16.18%) Migration
6 52 (13.79%) Business Intelligence
7 49 (13.00%) Data Modelling
8 48 (12.73%) AI
9 47 (12.47%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 40 (10.61%) Data Governance
11 31 (8.22%) Continuous Improvement
11 31 (8.22%) ITIL
12 28 (7.43%) Project Delivery
13 27 (7.16%) Integration Patterns
13 27 (7.16%) Validation
14 26 (6.90%) CRM
14 26 (6.90%) Infrastructure as Code
14 26 (6.90%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 65 (17.24%) SQL
2 48 (12.73%) Python
3 29 (7.69%) PowerShell
4 16 (4.24%) C#
4 16 (4.24%) Java
5 13 (3.45%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 11 (2.92%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.12%) TypeScript
8 7 (1.86%) Bash
8 7 (1.86%) Bicep
9 6 (1.59%) T-SQL
10 4 (1.06%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.53%) C++
11 2 (0.53%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.53%) R
12 1 (0.27%) COBOL
12 1 (0.27%) Korn
12 1 (0.27%) RPG
12 1 (0.27%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.27%) XMLA
Qualifications
1 75 (19.89%) Security Cleared
2 53 (14.06%) SC Cleared
3 24 (6.37%) Degree
4 20 (5.31%) DV Cleared
5 18 (4.77%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (2.65%) Azure Certification
7 6 (1.59%) CISSP
7 6 (1.59%) DBS Check
7 6 (1.59%) PMI Certification
8 5 (1.33%) A+ Certification
8 5 (1.33%) BPSS Clearance
8 5 (1.33%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (1.06%) CISM
9 4 (1.06%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.80%) CCNP
11 2 (0.53%) CCNA
11 2 (0.53%) CompTIA Security+
11 2 (0.53%) Network+ Certification
11 2 (0.53%) PMP
11 2 (0.53%) SnowPro
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (9.02%) Data Quality
2 24 (6.37%) QA
3 15 (3.98%) SLA
4 14 (3.71%) GDPR
5 12 (3.18%) NIST
6 11 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 10 (2.65%) PMO
8 8 (2.12%) Accessibility
9 7 (1.86%) NCSC
10 6 (1.59%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (1.33%) GRC
12 3 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.53%) Government Security Classifications
13 2 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.53%) P3O
14 1 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
14 1 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
14 1 (0.27%) ISO 22301
14 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 19770
14 1 (0.27%) UCITS
System Software
1 65 (17.24%) Active Directory
2 15 (3.98%) Docker
3 6 (1.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (1.06%) BitLocker
4 4 (1.06%) Hyper-V
4 4 (1.06%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.80%) Microsoft App-V
5 3 (0.80%) Terminal Services
5 3 (0.80%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.80%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.53%) IAG
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.27%) zsh
Systems Management
1 36 (9.55%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (4.24%) Kubernetes
3 15 (3.98%) SCCM
4 10 (2.65%) Ansible
5 9 (2.39%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (1.59%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.06%) Grafana
7 4 (1.06%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.06%) Puppet
8 3 (0.80%) Nagios
8 3 (0.80%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.80%) vMotion
8 3 (0.80%) WSUS
9 1 (0.27%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.27%) Data Guard
9 1 (0.27%) ITRS Geneos
9 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
9 1 (0.27%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.27%) Salt
9 1 (0.27%) SELinux
Vendors
1 33 (8.75%) ServiceNow
2 23 (6.10%) Databricks
3 20 (5.31%) Google
4 19 (5.04%) Oracle
5 18 (4.77%) SAP
6 12 (3.18%) Cisco
7 11 (2.92%) Apple
8 10 (2.65%) VMware
9 8 (2.12%) Citrix
10 7 (1.86%) Bloomberg
10 7 (1.86%) Foundry
10 7 (1.86%) Salesforce
10 7 (1.86%) Workday
11 6 (1.59%) HP
11 6 (1.59%) OpenAI
12 5 (1.33%) Symantec
13 4 (1.06%) IBM
13 4 (1.06%) iManage
13 4 (1.06%) Informatica
13 4 (1.06%) Okta