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 15 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
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 10 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -5 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 348 291 361
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 14.75% 15.64% 17.41%
As % of the Vendors category 34.29% 32.55% 39.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 256 191 278
10th Percentile £284 £281 £313
25th Percentile £425 £372 £439
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £545
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -8.21% -0.95%
75th Percentile £651 £626 £650
90th Percentile £750 £704 £716
Central London median daily rate £536 £500 £538
% change year-on-year +7.25% -6.98% -0.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 3 4
10th Percentile £20.16 £22.95 £19.30
25th Percentile £21.16 £24.38 £24.25
Median hourly rate £23.57 £28.50 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -17.32% +5.56% -
75th Percentile £25.22 £108.88 £43.38
90th Percentile £25.77 £156.05 £72.85
Central London median hourly rate £26.13 £27.48 £27.00
% change year-on-year -4.90% +1.76% -

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 1,015 894 916
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 43.03% 48.04% 44.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 694 579 639
10th Percentile £363 £325 £350
25th Percentile £450 £424 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £550
75th Percentile £655 £675 £669
90th Percentile £750 £750 £753
Central London median daily rate £538 £550 £538
% change year-on-year -2.27% +2.23% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 15 11
10th Percentile - £20.67 £16.00
25th Percentile £18.75 £25.25 £19.50
Median hourly rate £20.25 £34.65 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -41.56% +28.33% +20.00%
75th Percentile £27.35 £63.75 £115.00
90th Percentile £42.13 £86.23 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £22.83 £30.04 £27.00
% change year-on-year -23.99% +11.24% +20.00%

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 15 August 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 43 (12.36%) SharePoint
2 23 (6.61%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (1.72%) Apache
3 6 (1.72%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (1.72%) Apache Spark
4 5 (1.44%) Confluence
5 2 (0.57%) IIS
6 1 (0.29%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.29%) nginx
6 1 (0.29%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 31 (8.91%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (4.60%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (3.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.86%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.29%) Adobe Illustrator
5 1 (0.29%) Adobe Premiere
5 1 (0.29%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.29%) Final Cut Pro
5 1 (0.29%) Photoshop
5 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 17 (4.89%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.72%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.86%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.57%) Dynamics NAV
4 2 (0.57%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.57%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.57%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.29%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.29%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.29%) iTrent
5 1 (0.29%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.29%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.29%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.29%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.29%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.29%) SAP Oil and Gas
5 1 (0.29%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 145 (41.67%) Azure
2 71 (20.40%) Microsoft 365
3 69 (19.83%) Power Platform
4 44 (12.64%) Entra ID
5 37 (10.63%) Azure DevOps
6 33 (9.48%) Dynamics 365
7 28 (8.05%) AWS
8 24 (6.90%) Microsoft Copilot
9 23 (6.61%) Power Automate
10 21 (6.03%) GCP
11 20 (5.75%) PowerApps
11 20 (5.75%) SaaS
12 19 (5.46%) Azure Data Factory
13 18 (5.17%) GitHub
14 17 (4.89%) OneDrive
15 16 (4.60%) Microsoft Purview
16 13 (3.74%) Serverless
17 12 (3.45%) Azure Logic Apps
18 11 (3.16%) Azure Synapse Analytics
19 10 (2.87%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 25 (7.18%) DNS
2 19 (5.46%) DHCP
3 17 (4.89%) Firewall
4 12 (3.45%) TCP/IP
4 12 (3.45%) VPN
5 5 (1.44%) LAN
5 5 (1.44%) Unified Communications
5 5 (1.44%) WAN
6 4 (1.15%) Network Security
7 3 (0.86%) Internet
7 3 (0.86%) SMTP
7 3 (0.86%) Structured Cabling
7 3 (0.86%) VLAN
8 2 (0.57%) Intranet
8 2 (0.57%) Multicast
8 2 (0.57%) Reverse Proxy
8 2 (0.57%) Value-Added Service
8 2 (0.57%) Wi-Fi
8 2 (0.57%) Wireshark
9 1 (0.29%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (12.36%) Power BI
2 21 (6.03%) Data Warehouse
3 16 (4.60%) SQL Server
4 10 (2.87%) Azure SQL Database
5 8 (2.30%) Metadata
6 7 (2.01%) Data Lake
6 7 (2.01%) Star Schema
7 6 (1.72%) Tableau
8 5 (1.44%) Power Query
8 5 (1.44%) Semantic Layer
9 4 (1.15%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (1.15%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (1.15%) Big Data
9 4 (1.15%) Snowflake Schema
9 4 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.86%) Elasticsearch
10 3 (0.86%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.86%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.86%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.86%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 15 (4.31%) JIRA
2 9 (2.59%) Git
3 7 (2.01%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.44%) Visual Studio
5 4 (1.15%) GitLab
5 4 (1.15%) Selenium
6 3 (0.86%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.86%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.86%) JUnit
7 2 (0.57%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.57%) Fiddler
7 2 (0.57%) MSI
7 2 (0.57%) TeamCity
7 2 (0.57%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.29%) Appium
8 1 (0.29%) eggPlant
8 1 (0.29%) ER Studio
8 1 (0.29%) Jasmine
8 1 (0.29%) Karma Test Runner
8 1 (0.29%) SOAtest
General
1 105 (30.17%) Finance
1 105 (30.17%) Social Skills
2 48 (13.79%) Analytical Skills
3 34 (9.77%) Banking
4 19 (5.46%) Public Sector
5 11 (3.16%) General Ledger
5 11 (3.16%) Telecoms
6 9 (2.59%) Retail
7 8 (2.30%) Organisational Skills
8 7 (2.01%) Influencing Skills
8 7 (2.01%) Legal
9 6 (1.72%) Front Office
9 6 (1.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 6 (1.72%) Investment Banking
9 6 (1.72%) Marketing
10 5 (1.44%) Documentation Skills
10 5 (1.44%) Law
11 4 (1.15%) Back Office
11 4 (1.15%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.86%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 54 (15.52%) Architect
2 42 (12.07%) Analyst
3 38 (10.92%) Developer
4 34 (9.77%) Consultant
5 28 (8.05%) Senior
6 27 (7.76%) Support Engineer
7 18 (5.17%) Data Architect
8 16 (4.60%) Solutions Architect
9 15 (4.31%) Lead
10 14 (4.02%) Data Engineer
11 12 (3.45%) IT Support
11 12 (3.45%) Project Manager
12 11 (3.16%) Dynamics 365 Developer
12 11 (3.16%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 10 (2.87%) Business Analyst
13 10 (2.87%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
13 10 (2.87%) Platform Engineer
14 9 (2.59%) IT Engineer
15 8 (2.30%) Cloud Engineer
15 8 (2.30%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (4.60%) PySpark
2 14 (4.02%) .NET
3 13 (3.74%) REST
4 10 (2.87%) Middleware
5 8 (2.30%) HTML
6 7 (2.01%) .NET Framework
6 7 (2.01%) JSON
6 7 (2.01%) SAML
6 7 (2.01%) XML
7 6 (1.72%) OAuth
7 6 (1.72%) SOAP
8 5 (1.44%) CSS
8 5 (1.44%) OpenID
9 4 (1.15%) Kafka
9 4 (1.15%) Spring
9 4 (1.15%) XSLT
10 3 (0.86%) ASP.NET Web API
10 3 (0.86%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.86%) HTML5 Canvas
10 3 (0.86%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 24 (6.90%) Onboarding
2 13 (3.74%) AI Agents
3 12 (3.45%) Video Conferencing
4 11 (3.16%) Cloud Native
5 9 (2.59%) Enterprise Software
5 9 (2.59%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.59%) PKI
5 9 (2.59%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.30%) Data Structures
7 7 (2.01%) Distributed Systems
7 7 (2.01%) Low-Code
8 6 (1.72%) Clustering
8 6 (1.72%) Security Posture
8 6 (1.72%) Virtual Team
9 4 (1.15%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (1.15%) Data Centre
9 4 (1.15%) Equities
9 4 (1.15%) PMI
10 3 (0.86%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 3 (0.86%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 55 (15.80%) Windows
2 15 (4.31%) Mac OS
3 14 (4.02%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.16%) Linux
5 8 (2.30%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.86%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.86%) Unix
6 3 (0.86%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (0.57%) Android
7 2 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.29%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.29%) SUSE
8 1 (0.29%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
8 1 (0.29%) VMS
8 1 (0.29%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2003
8 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (20.69%) DevOps
2 63 (18.10%) Analytics
2 63 (18.10%) Stakeholder Management
3 60 (17.24%) Problem-Solving
4 56 (16.09%) CI/CD
5 55 (15.80%) Agile
6 53 (15.23%) Migration
7 49 (14.08%) AI
7 49 (14.08%) Business Intelligence
8 44 (12.64%) Data Modelling
9 43 (12.36%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 34 (9.77%) Data Governance
11 31 (8.91%) Continuous Improvement
12 28 (8.05%) Roadmaps
13 26 (7.47%) CRM
14 25 (7.18%) Decision-Making
14 25 (7.18%) Validation
15 24 (6.90%) Asset Management
16 23 (6.61%) ITIL
16 23 (6.61%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 60 (17.24%) SQL
2 44 (12.64%) Python
3 27 (7.76%) PowerShell
4 16 (4.60%) Java
5 13 (3.74%) C#
6 10 (2.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 10 (2.87%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.01%) TypeScript
8 6 (1.72%) Bash
8 6 (1.72%) Bicep
9 4 (1.15%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (1.15%) T-SQL
10 2 (0.57%) C++
10 2 (0.57%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.57%) R
11 1 (0.29%) COBOL
11 1 (0.29%) RPG
11 1 (0.29%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.29%) X++
11 1 (0.29%) XMLA
Qualifications
1 62 (17.82%) Security Cleared
2 43 (12.36%) SC Cleared
3 24 (6.90%) Degree
4 13 (3.74%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (3.45%) DV Cleared
6 7 (2.01%) Azure Certification
6 7 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
7 6 (1.72%) CISSP
7 6 (1.72%) PMI Certification
8 4 (1.15%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (1.15%) CISM
8 4 (1.15%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (1.15%) DBS Check
9 3 (0.86%) CCNP
9 3 (0.86%) CompTIA Security+
10 2 (0.57%) CCNA
10 2 (0.57%) CompTIA CySA+
10 2 (0.57%) GIAC
10 2 (0.57%) PMP
10 2 (0.57%) SnowPro
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.62%) Data Quality
2 21 (6.03%) QA
3 15 (4.31%) GDPR
4 10 (2.87%) NIST
5 9 (2.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (2.59%) PMO
6 7 (2.01%) Accessibility
6 7 (2.01%) SLA
7 5 (1.44%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.44%) GRC
8 4 (1.15%) NCSC
9 2 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 2 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.29%) COBIT
10 1 (0.29%) Def Stans
10 1 (0.29%) GAAP
10 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 1 (0.29%) MiFID
System Software
1 55 (15.80%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.31%) Docker
3 6 (1.72%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.44%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.15%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.86%) BitLocker
6 3 (0.86%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.86%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.86%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.57%) IAG
7 2 (0.57%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 31 (8.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (5.75%) Terraform
3 15 (4.31%) Kubernetes
4 11 (3.16%) SCCM
5 9 (2.59%) Ansible
5 9 (2.59%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (1.15%) Grafana
6 4 (1.15%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (1.15%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.15%) Puppet
7 3 (0.86%) Nagios
7 3 (0.86%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.86%) vMotion
7 3 (0.86%) WSUS
8 1 (0.29%) Autotask
8 1 (0.29%) ITRS Geneos
8 1 (0.29%) NetBackup
8 1 (0.29%) PingFederate
8 1 (0.29%) Salt
8 1 (0.29%) SELinux
Vendors
1 30 (8.62%) ServiceNow
2 22 (6.32%) Databricks
3 20 (5.75%) Google
4 18 (5.17%) Oracle
4 18 (5.17%) SAP
5 11 (3.16%) Cisco
6 9 (2.59%) Apple
6 9 (2.59%) Citrix
6 9 (2.59%) Salesforce
6 9 (2.59%) VMware
7 7 (2.01%) Foundry
7 7 (2.01%) Workday
8 6 (1.72%) Bloomberg
8 6 (1.72%) HP
8 6 (1.72%) OpenAI
9 5 (1.44%) Informatica
9 5 (1.44%) Symantec
10 4 (1.15%) iManage
10 4 (1.15%) Okta
10 4 (1.15%) Splunk