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 17 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
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 +6
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 309 309 382
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 14.71% 15.09% 14.68%
As % of the Vendors category 32.02% 34.41% 35.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 194 287
10th Percentile £309 £227 £263
25th Percentile £404 £384 £445
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -8.64% - +3.53%
75th Percentile £606 £650 £675
90th Percentile £738 £711 £768
London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -6.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 2 2
10th Percentile £19.66 - -
25th Percentile £21.98 - £12.75
Median hourly rate £25.47 £112.00 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year -77.26% +729.63% -49.06%
75th Percentile - - £14.25
90th Percentile £33.61 - -
London median hourly rate £24.00 £25.34 £19.50
% change year-on-year -5.29% +29.95% -29.09%

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 965 898 1,084
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 45.95% 43.85% 41.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 662 565 775
10th Percentile £341 £313 £289
25th Percentile £425 £450 £428
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - -
75th Percentile £666 £663 £675
90th Percentile £775 £750 £775
London median daily rate £525 £548 £550
% change year-on-year -4.20% -0.36% -3.08%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 3 11
10th Percentile £18.75 £55.40 £12.75
25th Percentile £20.18 £76.63 £14.88
Median hourly rate £25.47 £112.00 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -77.26% +489.47% -9.52%
75th Percentile £41.75 - £23.75
90th Percentile £46.39 - £48.75
London median hourly rate £27.71 £35.00 £26.50
% change year-on-year -20.83% +32.08% +6.00%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -1 283 £501 -8.75% 177
West End of London +5 5 £550 +22.22% 5
Camden +5 4 £400 -11.11% 7
City of Westminster -3 4 £560 +6.16% 6
Kensington and Chelsea - 4 £588 - 1
Southwark -2 2 £356 -14.09% 2
Lambeth 0 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 36 (11.65%) SharePoint
2 17 (5.50%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (3.88%) Confluence
4 2 (0.65%) CMS
5 1 (0.32%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.32%) Apache
5 1 (0.32%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.32%) Ethereum
5 1 (0.32%) Hyperledger
5 1 (0.32%) Jupyter
5 1 (0.32%) NServiceBus
5 1 (0.32%) SAS
Applications
1 44 (14.24%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (8.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 24 (7.77%) MS Visio
4 22 (7.12%) Microsoft Office
5 7 (2.27%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.97%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.32%) Adobe After Effects
7 1 (0.32%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.32%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.32%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (3.24%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.94%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.97%) NetSuite
3 3 (0.97%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.65%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.32%) BASE24
5 1 (0.32%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.32%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.32%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.32%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 130 (42.07%) Azure
2 81 (26.21%) Microsoft 365
3 52 (16.83%) Power Platform
4 40 (12.94%) Entra ID
5 30 (9.71%) AWS
6 25 (8.09%) Power Automate
7 23 (7.44%) Dynamics 365
8 22 (7.12%) Microsoft Purview
9 21 (6.80%) PowerApps
10 17 (5.50%) Azure DevOps
11 15 (4.85%) GitHub
12 12 (3.88%) GCP
12 12 (3.88%) Microsoft Copilot
13 10 (3.24%) Azure Sentinel
13 10 (3.24%) Copilot Studio
13 10 (3.24%) GitHub Actions
13 10 (3.24%) SaaS
14 9 (2.91%) Serverless
15 8 (2.59%) Azure Data Factory
15 8 (2.59%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 14 (4.53%) Firewall
2 13 (4.21%) DNS
2 13 (4.21%) VPN
3 8 (2.59%) Network Security
3 8 (2.59%) WAN
4 7 (2.27%) LAN
5 6 (1.94%) DHCP
6 5 (1.62%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (1.29%) Softphone
8 3 (0.97%) Structured Cabling
9 2 (0.65%) HTTP
9 2 (0.65%) Intranet
9 2 (0.65%) Intrusion Detection
9 2 (0.65%) SD-WAN
9 2 (0.65%) Unified Communications
10 1 (0.32%) Extranet
10 1 (0.32%) IPv4
10 1 (0.32%) IPv6
10 1 (0.32%) MPLS
10 1 (0.32%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (10.03%) Power BI
2 15 (4.85%) Metadata
2 15 (4.85%) SQL Server
3 9 (2.91%) Data Warehouse
4 8 (2.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (2.27%) Data Lake
5 7 (2.27%) PostgreSQL
6 6 (1.94%) Relational Database
6 6 (1.94%) Tableau
7 3 (0.97%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.97%) MySQL
8 2 (0.65%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.65%) Metadata Repository
8 2 (0.65%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.65%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.65%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.65%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 2 (0.65%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 2 (0.65%) SQLPlus
9 1 (0.32%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 18 (5.83%) JIRA
2 7 (2.27%) Git
3 4 (1.29%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.97%) GitLab
5 2 (0.65%) ERwin
5 2 (0.65%) Postman
5 2 (0.65%) Toad
6 1 (0.32%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.32%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.32%) Cypress.io
6 1 (0.32%) Hardhat
6 1 (0.32%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.32%) PowerBuilder
6 1 (0.32%) Selenium
6 1 (0.32%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.32%) SpecFlow
6 1 (0.32%) Terragrunt
6 1 (0.32%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.32%) webpack
6 1 (0.32%) Zephyr
General
1 105 (33.98%) Social Skills
2 87 (28.16%) Finance
3 50 (16.18%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (9.71%) Banking
5 24 (7.77%) Public Sector
6 13 (4.21%) Investment Banking
6 13 (4.21%) Legal
7 11 (3.56%) Front Office
7 11 (3.56%) Organisational Skills
8 8 (2.59%) Presentation Skills
9 7 (2.27%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (1.94%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 5 (1.62%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.97%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.97%) Marketing
12 3 (0.97%) Military
13 2 (0.65%) French Language
13 2 (0.65%) International Banking
13 2 (0.65%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 44 (14.24%) Analyst
2 39 (12.62%) Senior
3 35 (11.33%) Architect
3 35 (11.33%) Developer
4 23 (7.44%) Business Analyst
5 18 (5.83%) Lead
6 16 (5.18%) Consultant
7 13 (4.21%) Data Engineer
7 13 (4.21%) Support Engineer
8 12 (3.88%) IT Engineer
9 11 (3.56%) Microsoft Engineer
9 11 (3.56%) Project Manager
9 11 (3.56%) Solutions Architect
10 10 (3.24%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
10 10 (3.24%) IT Support
11 9 (2.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 9 (2.91%) IT Support Engineer
12 8 (2.59%) Cloud Engineer
12 8 (2.59%) Security Engineer
13 7 (2.27%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (2.91%) .NET
2 8 (2.59%) React
3 7 (2.27%) Microsoft Graph
3 7 (2.27%) REST
4 6 (1.94%) Node.js
5 5 (1.62%) HTML
5 5 (1.62%) JSON
5 5 (1.62%) OAuth
5 5 (1.62%) XML
6 4 (1.29%) AngularJS
6 4 (1.29%) CSS
6 4 (1.29%) LangChain
6 4 (1.29%) Middleware
6 4 (1.29%) RESTful
6 4 (1.29%) SAML
7 3 (0.97%) NumPy
7 3 (0.97%) OpenID
7 3 (0.97%) Pandas
7 3 (0.97%) PySpark
7 3 (0.97%) scikit-learn
Miscellaneous
1 20 (6.47%) Cloud Native
2 18 (5.83%) Onboarding
3 13 (4.21%) Management Information System
4 11 (3.56%) Security Posture
5 8 (2.59%) AI Agents
5 8 (2.59%) Hybrid Cloud
5 8 (2.59%) Product Ownership
6 6 (1.94%) Data Structures
7 5 (1.62%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 4 (1.29%) BYOD
8 4 (1.29%) Derivative
8 4 (1.29%) Equities
8 4 (1.29%) Fixed Income
8 4 (1.29%) Legacy Systems
8 4 (1.29%) Low-Code
8 4 (1.29%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 3 (0.97%) Algorithms
9 3 (0.97%) Data Centre
9 3 (0.97%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (0.97%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 33 (10.68%) Windows
2 12 (3.88%) Windows 10
3 7 (2.27%) Windows Server
4 5 (1.62%) Linux
4 5 (1.62%) Unix
5 4 (1.29%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.97%) Android
7 2 (0.65%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.32%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.32%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 63 (20.39%) Problem-Solving
2 47 (15.21%) Stakeholder Management
3 42 (13.59%) Migration
4 41 (13.27%) Agile
5 38 (12.30%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 37 (11.97%) Business Intelligence
7 35 (11.33%) Analytics
8 33 (10.68%) AI
8 33 (10.68%) Data Governance
9 32 (10.36%) CI/CD
10 30 (9.71%) DevOps
11 25 (8.09%) Data Modelling
11 25 (8.09%) Roadmaps
12 22 (7.12%) Change Management
13 21 (6.80%) Machine Learning
13 21 (6.80%) Project Delivery
14 20 (6.47%) Cloud Security
15 19 (6.15%) Cybersecurity
15 19 (6.15%) Data Pipeline
15 19 (6.15%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 51 (16.50%) SQL
2 35 (11.33%) Python
3 27 (8.74%) PowerShell
4 14 (4.53%) C#
5 12 (3.88%) Java
6 10 (3.24%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.27%) Kusto Query Language
8 4 (1.29%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.97%) C++
9 3 (0.97%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 3 (0.97%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.97%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.65%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.65%) Bicep
10 2 (0.65%) C
10 2 (0.65%) Perl
10 2 (0.65%) PHP
10 2 (0.65%) VBA
11 1 (0.32%) F#
11 1 (0.32%) R
Qualifications
1 40 (12.94%) Security Cleared
2 32 (10.36%) Degree
2 32 (10.36%) SC Cleared
3 16 (5.18%) Microsoft Certification
4 9 (2.91%) Computer Science Degree
5 7 (2.27%) Azure Certification
6 6 (1.94%) CISSP
7 5 (1.62%) MCSE
7 5 (1.62%) PMI Certification
8 4 (1.29%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (1.29%) CISM
8 4 (1.29%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.29%) Master's Degree
8 4 (1.29%) Microsoft Certified Professional
8 4 (1.29%) PMP
9 3 (0.97%) CompTIA CySA+
9 3 (0.97%) CompTIA Security+
9 3 (0.97%) DV Cleared
9 3 (0.97%) TOGAF Certification
10 2 (0.65%) CISMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (6.47%) GDPR
2 17 (5.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (5.18%) Data Quality
4 11 (3.56%) Cyber Essentials
4 11 (3.56%) PMO
5 9 (2.91%) NIST
6 7 (2.27%) QA
7 4 (1.29%) Accessibility
8 3 (0.97%) EU AI Act
8 3 (0.97%) IFRS
8 3 (0.97%) ISO 20022
8 3 (0.97%) NCSC
8 3 (0.97%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.97%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.65%) Basel III
9 2 (0.65%) EMIR
9 2 (0.65%) GRC
9 2 (0.65%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 2 (0.65%) MiFID
System Software
1 47 (15.21%) Active Directory
2 10 (3.24%) Docker
3 6 (1.94%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (1.62%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.65%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.32%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.32%) vSphere
6 1 (0.32%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 34 (11.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (3.88%) Terraform
3 8 (2.59%) Kubernetes
4 6 (1.94%) SCCM
5 4 (1.29%) Ansible
6 2 (0.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 2 (0.65%) AirWatch
6 2 (0.65%) Jamf Pro
6 2 (0.65%) Kibana
7 1 (0.32%) ITRS Geneos
7 1 (0.32%) logstash
7 1 (0.32%) Opsgenie
7 1 (0.32%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.32%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 17 (5.50%) Databricks
1 17 (5.50%) Salesforce
2 12 (3.88%) ServiceNow
3 11 (3.56%) Google
4 9 (2.91%) Oracle
5 8 (2.59%) OpenAI
5 8 (2.59%) Palo Alto
6 7 (2.27%) CyberArk
6 7 (2.27%) SAP
7 6 (1.94%) Citrix
8 5 (1.62%) Cisco
8 5 (1.62%) LogRhythm
8 5 (1.62%) VMware
8 5 (1.62%) Zscaler
9 4 (1.29%) Adobe
9 4 (1.29%) Commvault
9 4 (1.29%) Foundry
10 3 (0.97%) Apple
10 3 (0.97%) Fortinet
10 3 (0.97%) Informatica