Desktop Engineer Contract Job Trends in Chester

Desktop Engineer
Cheshire > Chester

The median Desktop Engineer daily rate in Chester is £300, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 31 August 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 20 13
Rank change year-on-year -5 -7 -
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Engineer 6 1 2
As % of all contract jobs in Chester 3.23% 1.28% 3.13%
As % of the Job Titles category 4.11% 1.41% 3.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 2
10th Percentile - - £205
25th Percentile £275 - £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £300 - £225
75th Percentile £325 - £238
90th Percentile - - £245
Cheshire median daily rate £325 £228 £225
% change year-on-year +42.86% +1.11% -

All Contract IT Job Roles
Chester

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Chester. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Chester with a recognized job title 146 71 64
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 78.49% 91.03% 100.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 46 28 21
10th Percentile £163 £285 £200
25th Percentile £325 £325 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £588 £577
Median % change year-on-year -8.51% +1.82% +9.90%
75th Percentile £600 £650 £738
90th Percentile £656 £778 -
Cheshire median daily rate £475 £430 £465
% change year-on-year +10.47% -7.53% -7.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 10 11
10th Percentile - £23.91 £16.00
25th Percentile £29.99 £30.44 £25.50
Median hourly rate £36.00 £30.99 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +16.17% -11.46% +2.94%
75th Percentile £43.00 £35.64 £41.25
90th Percentile £70.80 £38.47 £47.50
Cheshire median hourly rate £32.23 £30.99 £35.00
% change year-on-year +3.99% -11.46% +14.60%

Desktop Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Chester

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Chester.

Desktop Engineer job vacancy trend in Chester

Desktop Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Chester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Engineer job vacancies in Chester.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Engineer job vacancies in Chester

Desktop Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Chester

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Engineer job vacancies in Chester.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Engineer job vacancies in Chester

Desktop Engineer Skill Set
Top 23 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Chester

For the 6 months to 31 August 2026, Desktop Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Chester region featuring Desktop Engineer in the job title.

1 4 (66.67%) Problem-Solving
1 4 (66.67%) Service Management
2 3 (50.00%) Application Discovery
2 3 (50.00%) Citrix
2 3 (50.00%) Inventory Management
2 3 (50.00%) ITIL
2 3 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 3 (50.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 3 (50.00%) Migration
2 3 (50.00%) PowerShell
2 3 (50.00%) Process Improvement
2 3 (50.00%) SCCM
2 3 (50.00%) Virtual Desktop
2 3 (50.00%) Windows
3 2 (33.33%) Data Protection
3 2 (33.33%) VMware
3 2 (33.33%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (16.67%) AI
4 1 (16.67%) Azure
4 1 (16.67%) Customer Experience
4 1 (16.67%) Customer Service
4 1 (16.67%) Generative AI
4 1 (16.67%) User Experience

Desktop Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Chester 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:

Cloud Services
1 1 (16.67%) Azure
General
1 3 (50.00%) Social Skills
2 1 (16.67%) Banking
2 1 (16.67%) Finance
Miscellaneous
1 2 (33.33%) Data Protection Act
2 1 (16.67%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 3 (50.00%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (66.67%) Problem-Solving
1 4 (66.67%) Service Management
2 3 (50.00%) Application Discovery
2 3 (50.00%) Inventory Management
2 3 (50.00%) ITIL
2 3 (50.00%) Migration
2 3 (50.00%) Process Improvement
3 2 (33.33%) Data Protection
4 1 (16.67%) AI
4 1 (16.67%) Customer Experience
4 1 (16.67%) Customer Service
4 1 (16.67%) Generative AI
4 1 (16.67%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 3 (50.00%) PowerShell
System Software
1 3 (50.00%) Virtual Desktop
2 2 (33.33%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 3 (50.00%) Microsoft Intune
1 3 (50.00%) SCCM
Vendors
1 3 (50.00%) Citrix
1 3 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 2 (33.33%) VMware