Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the City of London

Microsoft
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the City of 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 September 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 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 10 5
Rank change year-on-year +4 -5 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 358 283 359
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 15.72% 15.93% 17.49%
As % of the Vendors category 36.16% 32.49% 39.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 265 189 266
10th Percentile £281 £275 £288
25th Percentile £418 £356 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -9.09% -
75th Percentile £656 £638 £650
90th Percentile £750 £725 £711
Central London median daily rate £533 £500 £538
% change year-on-year +6.50% -6.98% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 2 4
10th Percentile £20.40 £22.48 £19.30
25th Percentile £21.75 £23.19 £24.25
Median hourly rate £24.00 £25.25 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.95% -6.48% -
75th Percentile £25.07 £28.19 £43.38
90th Percentile £25.70 £29.43 £72.85
Central London median hourly rate £25.07 £24.23 £27.00
% change year-on-year +3.47% -10.28% -

All Vendors
City of 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 the City of London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 990 871 904
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 43.46% 49.04% 44.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 696 573 599
10th Percentile £338 £316 £350
25th Percentile £445 £413 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £550
75th Percentile £656 £675 £666
90th Percentile £750 £750 £753
Central London median daily rate £538 £537 £550
% change year-on-year +0.14% -2.41% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 13 11
10th Percentile £18.75 £20.23 £16.00
25th Percentile £18.88 £23.75 £19.50
Median hourly rate £22.83 £34.65 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -34.11% +28.33% -25.52%
75th Percentile £29.78 £63.75 £115.00
90th Percentile £42.48 £65.21 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £24.00 £29.07 £27.00
% change year-on-year -17.44% +7.67% -25.52%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the City of London

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the City of London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the City of London over the 6 months to 5 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the City of London

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of 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 41 (11.45%) SharePoint
2 26 (7.26%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (2.23%) Confluence
4 6 (1.68%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.40%) Apache
6 4 (1.12%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.56%) CMS
7 2 (0.56%) IIS
7 2 (0.56%) Umbraco
8 1 (0.28%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.28%) nginx
8 1 (0.28%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 32 (8.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (5.03%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (3.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.12%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.84%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.28%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.28%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.28%) Final Cut Pro
6 1 (0.28%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (5.31%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.68%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.84%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.56%) iTrent
4 2 (0.56%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.56%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.56%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.56%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.28%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.28%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.28%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.28%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.28%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.28%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.28%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.28%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.28%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.28%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 160 (44.69%) Azure
2 75 (20.95%) Microsoft 365
3 69 (19.27%) Power Platform
4 50 (13.97%) Entra ID
5 45 (12.57%) Azure DevOps
6 37 (10.34%) Dynamics 365
7 29 (8.10%) AWS
8 23 (6.42%) Azure Data Factory
8 23 (6.42%) Power Automate
9 22 (6.15%) GCP
9 22 (6.15%) SaaS
10 21 (5.87%) Microsoft Copilot
11 20 (5.59%) PowerApps
12 19 (5.31%) OneDrive
13 17 (4.75%) GitHub
13 17 (4.75%) Microsoft Purview
13 17 (4.75%) Serverless
14 14 (3.91%) Azure Logic Apps
15 13 (3.63%) Azure Functions
16 12 (3.35%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 29 (8.10%) DNS
2 22 (6.15%) DHCP
3 17 (4.75%) Firewall
4 13 (3.63%) TCP/IP
4 13 (3.63%) VPN
5 6 (1.68%) Unified Communications
6 5 (1.40%) LAN
6 5 (1.40%) Network Security
6 5 (1.40%) WAN
7 4 (1.12%) Internet
7 4 (1.12%) SMTP
8 3 (0.84%) Multicast
8 3 (0.84%) Structured Cabling
8 3 (0.84%) VLAN
8 3 (0.84%) Wi-Fi
9 2 (0.56%) BGP
9 2 (0.56%) Intranet
9 2 (0.56%) Reverse Proxy
9 2 (0.56%) Value-Added Service
9 2 (0.56%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (12.01%) Power BI
2 22 (6.15%) Data Warehouse
3 17 (4.75%) SQL Server
4 11 (3.07%) Metadata
5 10 (2.79%) Azure SQL Database
6 9 (2.51%) Data Lake
7 8 (2.23%) Star Schema
8 6 (1.68%) Semantic Layer
9 5 (1.40%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (1.40%) Power Query
9 5 (1.40%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (1.12%) Amazon Redshift
10 4 (1.12%) Big Data
10 4 (1.12%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 4 (1.12%) Tableau
11 3 (0.84%) BigQuery
11 3 (0.84%) Elasticsearch
11 3 (0.84%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.84%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.84%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 21 (5.87%) JIRA
2 9 (2.51%) Git
3 6 (1.68%) Jenkins
3 6 (1.68%) Visual Studio
4 4 (1.12%) Bitbucket
4 4 (1.12%) Selenium
5 3 (0.84%) Artifactory
5 3 (0.84%) GitLab
5 3 (0.84%) JUnit
5 3 (0.84%) MSI
5 3 (0.84%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.56%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.56%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.56%) Fiddler
6 2 (0.56%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.28%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.28%) Rational Functional Tester
7 1 (0.28%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.28%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.28%) WebDriver
General
1 113 (31.56%) Finance
2 107 (29.89%) Social Skills
3 47 (13.13%) Analytical Skills
4 35 (9.78%) Banking
5 23 (6.42%) Public Sector
6 11 (3.07%) General Ledger
6 11 (3.07%) Retail
6 11 (3.07%) Telecoms
7 10 (2.79%) Legal
8 9 (2.51%) Influencing Skills
8 9 (2.51%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.23%) Marketing
10 7 (1.96%) Front Office
10 7 (1.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.96%) Investment Banking
11 6 (1.68%) Law
12 5 (1.40%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.40%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.40%) Military
13 4 (1.12%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 57 (15.92%) Architect
2 42 (11.73%) Developer
3 40 (11.17%) Analyst
4 34 (9.50%) Consultant
5 28 (7.82%) Support Engineer
6 27 (7.54%) Senior
7 19 (5.31%) Data Architect
7 19 (5.31%) Lead
8 17 (4.75%) Solutions Architect
9 14 (3.91%) Dynamics 365 Developer
9 14 (3.91%) IT Support
10 12 (3.35%) Data Engineer
11 11 (3.07%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 11 (3.07%) Project Manager
12 10 (2.79%) IT Engineer
13 9 (2.51%) Business Analyst
13 9 (2.51%) IT Support Engineer
13 9 (2.51%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
14 8 (2.23%) Cloud Engineer
14 8 (2.23%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (5.87%) .NET
1 21 (5.87%) Terraform
2 17 (4.75%) PySpark
2 17 (4.75%) REST
3 9 (2.51%) .NET Framework
3 9 (2.51%) HTML
4 8 (2.23%) JSON
4 8 (2.23%) Middleware
4 8 (2.23%) SAML
4 8 (2.23%) SOAP
4 8 (2.23%) XML
5 7 (1.96%) OAuth
6 6 (1.68%) CSS
6 6 (1.68%) OpenID
7 5 (1.40%) ASP.NET Web API
7 5 (1.40%) Web Services
8 4 (1.12%) HTML5 Canvas
8 4 (1.12%) XSLT
9 3 (0.84%) ADO
9 3 (0.84%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 29 (8.10%) Onboarding
2 14 (3.91%) AI Agents
2 14 (3.91%) Cloud Native
3 13 (3.63%) Video Conferencing
4 11 (3.07%) PKI
5 9 (2.51%) Distributed Systems
5 9 (2.51%) Enterprise Software
5 9 (2.51%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.23%) Management Information System
7 7 (1.96%) Data Centre
7 7 (1.96%) Data Structures
7 7 (1.96%) Security Posture
8 6 (1.68%) Low-Code
9 5 (1.40%) Clustering
10 4 (1.12%) Equities
10 4 (1.12%) PMI
11 3 (0.84%) Analytical Mindset
11 3 (0.84%) Fixed Income
11 3 (0.84%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 3 (0.84%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 62 (17.32%) Windows
2 16 (4.47%) Mac OS
3 15 (4.19%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.07%) Linux
5 9 (2.51%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.84%) Android
6 3 (0.84%) Unix
6 3 (0.84%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (0.56%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.28%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.28%) SUSE
8 1 (0.28%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
8 1 (0.28%) VMS
8 1 (0.28%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2003
8 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (22.07%) DevOps
2 73 (20.39%) Stakeholder Management
3 70 (19.55%) Problem-Solving
4 65 (18.16%) Agile
5 61 (17.04%) Analytics
6 59 (16.48%) CI/CD
7 57 (15.92%) Migration
8 47 (13.13%) AI
9 46 (12.85%) Business Intelligence
9 46 (12.85%) Data Modelling
9 46 (12.85%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 36 (10.06%) Data Governance
11 32 (8.94%) Continuous Improvement
12 29 (8.10%) Roadmaps
13 28 (7.82%) Project Delivery
14 27 (7.54%) Infrastructure as Code
14 27 (7.54%) Integration Patterns
15 26 (7.26%) Validation
16 25 (6.98%) Decision-Making
17 24 (6.70%) Data Engineering
Programming Languages
1 62 (17.32%) SQL
2 47 (13.13%) Python
3 28 (7.82%) PowerShell
4 20 (5.59%) C#
5 14 (3.91%) Java
6 12 (3.35%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 12 (3.35%) JavaScript
7 9 (2.51%) TypeScript
8 6 (1.68%) Bash
8 6 (1.68%) Bicep
9 4 (1.12%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (1.12%) T-SQL
10 2 (0.56%) C++
10 2 (0.56%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.56%) R
11 1 (0.28%) COBOL
11 1 (0.28%) Korn
11 1 (0.28%) RPG
11 1 (0.28%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.28%) X++
Qualifications
1 67 (18.72%) Security Cleared
2 45 (12.57%) SC Cleared
3 22 (6.15%) Degree
4 16 (4.47%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (3.07%) DV Cleared
6 7 (1.96%) Azure Certification
6 7 (1.96%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (1.96%) PMI Certification
7 5 (1.40%) CISSP
7 5 (1.40%) DBS Check
8 3 (0.84%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.84%) CISM
8 3 (0.84%) Computer Science Degree
8 3 (0.84%) PMP
9 2 (0.56%) CCNA
9 2 (0.56%) CCNP
9 2 (0.56%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Certification
9 2 (0.56%) SnowPro
9 2 (0.56%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (8.94%) Data Quality
2 19 (5.31%) QA
3 13 (3.63%) GDPR
4 11 (3.07%) PMO
5 9 (2.51%) Accessibility
5 9 (2.51%) NIST
6 8 (2.23%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.40%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.40%) GRC
7 5 (1.40%) SLA
8 4 (1.12%) NCSC
9 2 (0.56%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.28%) Def Stans
10 1 (0.28%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.28%) IFRS
10 1 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 1 (0.28%) P3O
10 1 (0.28%) UCITS
System Software
1 61 (17.04%) Active Directory
2 12 (3.35%) Docker
3 7 (1.96%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.40%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.40%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.12%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.84%) BitLocker
6 3 (0.84%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.84%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.56%) IAG
7 2 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.28%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 34 (9.50%) Microsoft Intune
2 14 (3.91%) SCCM
3 13 (3.63%) Kubernetes
4 11 (3.07%) Single Sign-On
5 10 (2.79%) Ansible
6 5 (1.40%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.12%) Puppet
8 3 (0.84%) Grafana
8 3 (0.84%) Nagios
8 3 (0.84%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.84%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.84%) vMotion
8 3 (0.84%) WSUS
9 1 (0.28%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.28%) ITRS Geneos
9 1 (0.28%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.28%) PowerCLI
9 1 (0.28%) Salt
9 1 (0.28%) SCOrch
9 1 (0.28%) SELinux
Vendors
1 29 (8.10%) ServiceNow
2 21 (5.87%) Google
3 20 (5.59%) Databricks
4 18 (5.03%) Oracle
4 18 (5.03%) SAP
5 11 (3.07%) Cisco
6 10 (2.79%) Apple
6 10 (2.79%) VMware
7 9 (2.51%) Citrix
8 8 (2.23%) Bloomberg
9 6 (1.68%) Salesforce
9 6 (1.68%) Workday
10 5 (1.40%) Foundry
10 5 (1.40%) HP
10 5 (1.40%) Informatica
10 5 (1.40%) OpenAI
10 5 (1.40%) Symantec
11 4 (1.12%) IBM
11 4 (1.12%) iManage
11 4 (1.12%) Okta