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 8 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
8 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 11 5
Rank change year-on-year +4 -6 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 346 286 355
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 14.37% 15.33% 17.21%
As % of the Vendors category 33.66% 32.28% 39.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 252 190 274
10th Percentile £283 £281 £313
25th Percentile £432 £375 £433
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £545
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -8.21% -0.95%
75th Percentile £656 £635 £650
90th Percentile £750 £720 £734
Central London median daily rate £550 £500 £538
% change year-on-year +10.00% -6.98% -0.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 3 4
10th Percentile - £22.95 £19.30
25th Percentile £19.50 £24.38 £24.25
Median hourly rate £21.00 £28.50 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.32% +5.56% -48.57%
75th Percentile £22.50 £108.88 £43.38
90th Percentile - £156.05 £72.85
Central London median hourly rate £28.00 £28.50 £27.00
% change year-on-year -1.75% +5.56% -48.57%

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 1,028 886 905
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 42.69% 47.48% 43.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 697 570 640
10th Percentile £361 £325 £350
25th Percentile £450 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year - - -1.79%
75th Percentile £656 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £750 £760
Central London median daily rate £538 £550 £540
% change year-on-year -2.27% +1.85% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 14 11
10th Percentile - £22.53 £16.00
25th Percentile £18.75 £26.91 £19.50
Median hourly rate £19.50 £38.58 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -49.45% +42.87% -25.52%
75th Percentile £25.12 £63.75 £115.00
90th Percentile £42.13 £89.67 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £22.50 £32.83 £34.25
% change year-on-year -31.45% -4.16% -5.52%

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 8 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 42 (12.14%) SharePoint
2 23 (6.65%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (1.73%) Apache Airflow
4 5 (1.45%) Apache
4 5 (1.45%) Apache Spark
4 5 (1.45%) Confluence
5 2 (0.58%) IIS
6 1 (0.29%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.29%) nginx
Applications
1 28 (8.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (4.34%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (2.89%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.87%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.87%) 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 (4.91%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (2.31%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.58%) Dynamics NAV
4 2 (0.58%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.58%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.58%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.29%) Exchequer
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
1 143 (41.33%) Azure
2 70 (20.23%) Microsoft 365
2 70 (20.23%) Power Platform
3 46 (13.29%) Entra ID
4 35 (10.12%) Azure DevOps
5 33 (9.54%) Dynamics 365
6 27 (7.80%) AWS
7 24 (6.94%) Microsoft Copilot
7 24 (6.94%) Power Automate
8 21 (6.07%) GCP
9 20 (5.78%) PowerApps
9 20 (5.78%) SaaS
10 18 (5.20%) GitHub
11 17 (4.91%) Azure Data Factory
12 15 (4.34%) Microsoft Purview
12 15 (4.34%) OneDrive
13 12 (3.47%) Serverless
14 11 (3.18%) Azure AI
14 11 (3.18%) Azure Logic Apps
14 11 (3.18%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 26 (7.51%) DNS
2 19 (5.49%) DHCP
3 17 (4.91%) Firewall
4 12 (3.47%) TCP/IP
4 12 (3.47%) VPN
5 5 (1.45%) LAN
5 5 (1.45%) Unified Communications
5 5 (1.45%) WAN
6 4 (1.16%) Network Security
7 3 (0.87%) Internet
7 3 (0.87%) SMTP
7 3 (0.87%) Structured Cabling
7 3 (0.87%) VLAN
8 2 (0.58%) Intranet
8 2 (0.58%) Multicast
8 2 (0.58%) Reverse Proxy
8 2 (0.58%) Wi-Fi
8 2 (0.58%) Wireshark
9 1 (0.29%) IP Telephony
9 1 (0.29%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (12.72%) Power BI
2 22 (6.36%) Data Warehouse
3 18 (5.20%) SQL Server
4 10 (2.89%) Azure SQL Database
5 7 (2.02%) Data Lake
5 7 (2.02%) Metadata
5 7 (2.02%) Star Schema
6 6 (1.73%) Semantic Layer
6 6 (1.73%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 5 (1.45%) Power Query
7 5 (1.45%) Tableau
8 4 (1.16%) Amazon RDS
8 4 (1.16%) Amazon Redshift
8 4 (1.16%) Big Data
8 4 (1.16%) NoSQL
8 4 (1.16%) Snowflake Schema
9 3 (0.87%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.87%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.87%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.87%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 15 (4.34%) JIRA
2 11 (3.18%) Git
3 7 (2.02%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.45%) Visual Studio
5 4 (1.16%) GitLab
6 3 (0.87%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.87%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.87%) JUnit
6 3 (0.87%) Selenium
7 2 (0.58%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.58%) Fiddler
7 2 (0.58%) MSI
7 2 (0.58%) TeamCity
7 2 (0.58%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.29%) Appium
8 1 (0.29%) ER Studio
8 1 (0.29%) ERwin
8 1 (0.29%) Jasmine
8 1 (0.29%) Karma Test Runner
8 1 (0.29%) Postman
General
1 106 (30.64%) Finance
1 106 (30.64%) Social Skills
2 51 (14.74%) Analytical Skills
3 31 (8.96%) Banking
4 17 (4.91%) Public Sector
5 11 (3.18%) General Ledger
6 10 (2.89%) Telecoms
7 9 (2.60%) Retail
8 7 (2.02%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (1.73%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (1.73%) Front Office
9 6 (1.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 6 (1.73%) Influencing Skills
9 6 (1.73%) Legal
9 6 (1.73%) Marketing
10 5 (1.45%) Investment Banking
10 5 (1.45%) Law
11 4 (1.16%) Back Office
11 4 (1.16%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.87%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 54 (15.61%) Architect
2 41 (11.85%) Analyst
3 37 (10.69%) Developer
4 33 (9.54%) Consultant
5 28 (8.09%) Senior
6 26 (7.51%) Support Engineer
7 19 (5.49%) Data Architect
8 17 (4.91%) Solutions Architect
9 15 (4.34%) Data Engineer
9 15 (4.34%) Lead
10 12 (3.47%) IT Support
10 12 (3.47%) Project Manager
11 11 (3.18%) Business Analyst
11 11 (3.18%) Dynamics 365 Developer
11 11 (3.18%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 10 (2.89%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
13 9 (2.60%) IT Engineer
13 9 (2.60%) Platform Engineer
14 8 (2.31%) Cloud Engineer
14 8 (2.31%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (3.76%) .NET
1 13 (3.76%) PySpark
1 13 (3.76%) REST
2 10 (2.89%) Middleware
3 8 (2.31%) JSON
4 7 (2.02%) .NET Framework
4 7 (2.02%) HTML
4 7 (2.02%) SAML
4 7 (2.02%) XML
5 6 (1.73%) OAuth
6 5 (1.45%) CSS
6 5 (1.45%) OpenID
6 5 (1.45%) SOAP
6 5 (1.45%) Spring
7 4 (1.16%) Kafka
7 4 (1.16%) XSLT
8 3 (0.87%) ASP.NET Web API
8 3 (0.87%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.87%) HTML5 Canvas
8 3 (0.87%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 23 (6.65%) Onboarding
2 13 (3.76%) AI Agents
3 11 (3.18%) Cloud Native
3 11 (3.18%) Video Conferencing
4 10 (2.89%) Product Ownership
5 9 (2.60%) PKI
6 8 (2.31%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.31%) Distributed Systems
6 8 (2.31%) Enterprise Software
6 8 (2.31%) Management Information System
7 6 (1.73%) Clustering
7 6 (1.73%) Low-Code
7 6 (1.73%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.73%) Virtual Team
8 4 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (1.16%) Data Centre
8 4 (1.16%) Equities
8 4 (1.16%) PMI
9 3 (0.87%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 3 (0.87%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 55 (15.90%) Windows
2 14 (4.05%) Mac OS
2 14 (4.05%) Windows Server
3 10 (2.89%) Linux
4 8 (2.31%) Windows 10
5 3 (0.87%) Apple iOS
5 3 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
6 2 (0.58%) Android
6 2 (0.58%) Unix
6 2 (0.58%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.29%) OpenVMS
7 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.29%) SUSE
7 1 (0.29%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
7 1 (0.29%) VMS
7 1 (0.29%) Windows 7
7 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2003
7 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2008
7 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 68 (19.65%) DevOps
2 62 (17.92%) Problem-Solving
3 60 (17.34%) Analytics
3 60 (17.34%) Stakeholder Management
4 57 (16.47%) CI/CD
5 53 (15.32%) Agile
5 53 (15.32%) Migration
6 50 (14.45%) AI
6 50 (14.45%) Business Intelligence
7 45 (13.01%) Data Modelling
8 41 (11.85%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 34 (9.83%) Data Governance
10 30 (8.67%) Continuous Improvement
11 28 (8.09%) Roadmaps
12 26 (7.51%) CRM
12 26 (7.51%) Decision-Making
13 25 (7.23%) Data Engineering
14 24 (6.94%) Asset Management
14 24 (6.94%) Project Delivery
14 24 (6.94%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 59 (17.05%) SQL
2 40 (11.56%) Python
3 28 (8.09%) PowerShell
4 15 (4.34%) Java
5 14 (4.05%) C#
6 9 (2.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 9 (2.60%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.02%) TypeScript
8 6 (1.73%) Bash
8 6 (1.73%) Bicep
8 6 (1.73%) T-SQL
9 4 (1.16%) Kusto Query Language
10 2 (0.58%) C++
10 2 (0.58%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.29%) COBOL
11 1 (0.29%) Google Apps Script
11 1 (0.29%) R
11 1 (0.29%) RPG
11 1 (0.29%) X++
Qualifications
1 59 (17.05%) Security Cleared
2 40 (11.56%) SC Cleared
3 25 (7.23%) Degree
4 12 (3.47%) DV Cleared
4 12 (3.47%) Microsoft Certification
5 7 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (2.02%) CISSP
6 6 (1.73%) Azure Certification
6 6 (1.73%) Computer Science Degree
6 6 (1.73%) PMI Certification
7 5 (1.45%) CISM
8 4 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (1.16%) DBS Check
9 3 (0.87%) CCNP
9 3 (0.87%) CompTIA Security+
10 2 (0.58%) CCNA
10 2 (0.58%) CompTIA CySA+
10 2 (0.58%) GIAC
10 2 (0.58%) PMP
10 2 (0.58%) SnowPro
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (7.51%) Data Quality
2 19 (5.49%) QA
3 16 (4.62%) GDPR
4 10 (2.89%) NIST
5 9 (2.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (2.31%) PMO
7 7 (2.02%) SLA
8 6 (1.73%) Cyber Essentials
9 5 (1.45%) Accessibility
9 5 (1.45%) GRC
10 4 (1.16%) NCSC
11 3 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.58%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.29%) COBIT
13 1 (0.29%) Def Stans
13 1 (0.29%) GAAP
13 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
13 1 (0.29%) MiFID
13 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 56 (16.18%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.34%) Docker
3 6 (1.73%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (1.45%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (1.16%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.87%) BitLocker
6 3 (0.87%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.87%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.87%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.58%) IAG
7 2 (0.58%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 32 (9.25%) Microsoft Intune
2 19 (5.49%) Terraform
3 16 (4.62%) Kubernetes
4 11 (3.18%) SCCM
5 9 (2.60%) Ansible
5 9 (2.60%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (1.16%) Grafana
6 4 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (1.16%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.16%) Puppet
7 3 (0.87%) Nagios
7 3 (0.87%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.87%) vMotion
7 3 (0.87%) 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 27 (7.80%) ServiceNow
2 20 (5.78%) Google
3 19 (5.49%) Databricks
4 16 (4.62%) Oracle
4 16 (4.62%) SAP
5 10 (2.89%) Cisco
5 10 (2.89%) Citrix
6 9 (2.60%) Apple
6 9 (2.60%) Salesforce
7 8 (2.31%) VMware
8 7 (2.02%) Foundry
8 7 (2.02%) OpenAI
8 7 (2.02%) Workday
9 6 (1.73%) Bloomberg
9 6 (1.73%) HP
10 5 (1.45%) Informatica
11 4 (1.16%) iManage
11 4 (1.16%) Okta
11 4 (1.16%) Splunk
11 4 (1.16%) Symantec