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 19 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
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 8 5
Rank change year-on-year +3 -3 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 372 276 355
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 16.45% 15.74% 16.86%
As % of the Vendors category 36.83% 31.83% 38.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 277 191 253
10th Percentile £282 £281 £254
25th Percentile £418 £359 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £545 £496 £543
Median % change year-on-year +9.99% -8.66% -1.36%
75th Percentile £656 £638 £656
90th Percentile £750 £725 £712
Central London median daily rate £525 £496 £538
% change year-on-year +5.95% -7.81% -1.15%
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 1,010 867 930
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 44.67% 49.46% 44.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 713 580 603
10th Percentile £338 £321 £350
25th Percentile £450 £413 £459
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £545 £550
Median % change year-on-year +0.92% -0.91% -1.35%
75th Percentile £656 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £739 £766
Central London median daily rate £538 £536 £550
% change year-on-year +0.28% -2.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 12 11
10th Percentile £17.41 £20.01 £16.00
25th Percentile £18.88 £23.31 £19.50
Median hourly rate £22.83 £35.50 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.69% +31.48% +30.12%
75th Percentile £29.78 £63.75 £115.00
90th Percentile £42.48 £65.39 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £24.00 £28.50 £27.00
% change year-on-year -15.79% +5.56% +30.12%

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 19 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 40 (10.75%) SharePoint
2 28 (7.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (2.42%) Confluence
4 6 (1.61%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.34%) Apache
6 3 (0.81%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.54%) CMS
7 2 (0.54%) IIS
7 2 (0.54%) Umbraco
8 1 (0.27%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.27%) nginx
8 1 (0.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 34 (9.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 20 (5.38%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (4.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.81%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.54%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
7 1 (0.27%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.27%) Final Cut Pro
7 1 (0.27%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 19 (5.11%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.88%) Aladdin
3 3 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.54%) iTrent
4 2 (0.54%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.54%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.54%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.54%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.27%) Advent Moxy
5 1 (0.27%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
5 1 (0.27%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.27%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.27%) Monis
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.27%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.27%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.27%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.27%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.27%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 163 (43.82%) Azure
2 77 (20.70%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (19.09%) Power Platform
4 49 (13.17%) Entra ID
5 43 (11.56%) Azure DevOps
6 37 (9.95%) Dynamics 365
7 29 (7.80%) AWS
8 24 (6.45%) Azure Data Factory
9 23 (6.18%) Microsoft Copilot
9 23 (6.18%) Power Automate
10 22 (5.91%) GCP
11 21 (5.65%) SaaS
12 20 (5.38%) GitHub
12 20 (5.38%) OneDrive
12 20 (5.38%) PowerApps
13 19 (5.11%) Serverless
14 17 (4.57%) Microsoft Purview
15 15 (4.03%) Azure Logic Apps
16 14 (3.76%) Azure Functions
17 13 (3.49%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 30 (8.06%) DNS
2 23 (6.18%) DHCP
3 18 (4.84%) Firewall
4 16 (4.30%) VPN
5 14 (3.76%) TCP/IP
6 6 (1.61%) Unified Communications
7 5 (1.34%) LAN
7 5 (1.34%) WAN
8 4 (1.08%) Internet
8 4 (1.08%) Network Security
8 4 (1.08%) SMTP
9 3 (0.81%) Multicast
9 3 (0.81%) Structured Cabling
9 3 (0.81%) VLAN
9 3 (0.81%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.54%) BGP
10 2 (0.54%) Intranet
10 2 (0.54%) Reverse Proxy
10 2 (0.54%) Value-Added Service
10 2 (0.54%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (11.83%) Power BI
2 20 (5.38%) Data Warehouse
3 15 (4.03%) SQL Server
4 12 (3.23%) Metadata
5 11 (2.96%) Azure SQL Database
6 10 (2.69%) Data Lake
7 9 (2.42%) Star Schema
8 8 (2.15%) Semantic Layer
9 5 (1.34%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (1.34%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 5 (1.34%) Power Query
9 5 (1.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (1.08%) Amazon Redshift
10 4 (1.08%) Big Data
10 4 (1.08%) Data Hub
11 3 (0.81%) BigQuery
11 3 (0.81%) Elasticsearch
11 3 (0.81%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.81%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.81%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 25 (6.72%) JIRA
2 9 (2.42%) Git
3 7 (1.88%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.61%) Visual Studio
5 5 (1.34%) Selenium
6 4 (1.08%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.81%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.81%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.81%) GitLab
7 3 (0.81%) JUnit
7 3 (0.81%) MSI
7 3 (0.81%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.54%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 2 (0.54%) Fiddler
8 2 (0.54%) Postman
8 2 (0.54%) SoapUI
8 2 (0.54%) TeamCity
9 1 (0.27%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.27%) Jasmine
9 1 (0.27%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 116 (31.18%) Finance
2 113 (30.38%) Social Skills
3 51 (13.71%) Analytical Skills
4 40 (10.75%) Banking
5 23 (6.18%) Public Sector
6 12 (3.23%) Retail
7 11 (2.96%) General Ledger
7 11 (2.96%) Telecoms
8 10 (2.69%) Legal
8 10 (2.69%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.42%) Influencing Skills
9 9 (2.42%) Marketing
10 8 (2.15%) Front Office
11 7 (1.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.88%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.88%) Manufacturing
12 6 (1.61%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.61%) Law
13 5 (1.34%) Military
14 4 (1.08%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 61 (16.40%) Architect
2 45 (12.10%) Analyst
3 40 (10.75%) Developer
4 35 (9.41%) Consultant
5 29 (7.80%) Senior
6 28 (7.53%) Support Engineer
7 22 (5.91%) Lead
8 20 (5.38%) Data Architect
9 19 (5.11%) Solutions Architect
10 16 (4.30%) IT Support
11 14 (3.76%) Dynamics 365 Developer
12 13 (3.49%) Data Engineer
12 13 (3.49%) Project Manager
13 12 (3.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 11 (2.96%) Business Analyst
14 11 (2.96%) IT Engineer
15 9 (2.42%) IT Support Engineer
15 9 (2.42%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 9 (2.42%) Support Analyst
16 8 (2.15%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.45%) Terraform
2 21 (5.65%) .NET
3 18 (4.84%) PySpark
4 17 (4.57%) REST
5 10 (2.69%) Middleware
6 9 (2.42%) .NET Framework
6 9 (2.42%) HTML
7 8 (2.15%) JSON
7 8 (2.15%) SAML
7 8 (2.15%) SOAP
7 8 (2.15%) XML
8 7 (1.88%) OAuth
9 6 (1.61%) OpenID
10 5 (1.34%) ASP.NET Web API
10 5 (1.34%) CSS
10 5 (1.34%) Web Services
11 4 (1.08%) GraphQL
11 4 (1.08%) HTML5 Canvas
11 4 (1.08%) XSLT
12 3 (0.81%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 32 (8.60%) Onboarding
2 17 (4.57%) AI Agents
3 15 (4.03%) Cloud Native
4 13 (3.49%) Video Conferencing
5 11 (2.96%) Enterprise Software
5 11 (2.96%) PKI
6 10 (2.69%) Management Information System
6 10 (2.69%) Product Ownership
7 9 (2.42%) Distributed Systems
8 8 (2.15%) Data Structures
9 7 (1.88%) Data Centre
9 7 (1.88%) Low-Code
10 6 (1.61%) Security Posture
11 4 (1.08%) Clustering
11 4 (1.08%) CMDB
11 4 (1.08%) Equities
11 4 (1.08%) PMI
11 4 (1.08%) Self-Motivation
12 3 (0.81%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
12 3 (0.81%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 64 (17.20%) Windows
2 16 (4.30%) Windows Server
3 15 (4.03%) Mac OS
4 12 (3.23%) Linux
5 10 (2.69%) Windows 10
6 4 (1.08%) Unix
7 3 (0.81%) Android
7 3 (0.81%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.54%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.27%) OpenVMS
9 1 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.27%) SUSE
9 1 (0.27%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.27%) VMS
9 1 (0.27%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 81 (21.77%) Stakeholder Management
2 76 (20.43%) DevOps
3 74 (19.89%) Problem-Solving
4 69 (18.55%) Agile
5 64 (17.20%) Analytics
6 63 (16.94%) CI/CD
7 59 (15.86%) Migration
8 50 (13.44%) AI
8 50 (13.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 47 (12.63%) Business Intelligence
9 47 (12.63%) Data Modelling
10 41 (11.02%) Data Governance
11 33 (8.87%) Continuous Improvement
12 32 (8.60%) Roadmaps
13 29 (7.80%) Infrastructure as Code
13 29 (7.80%) Integration Patterns
14 28 (7.53%) Data Engineering
14 28 (7.53%) Validation
15 27 (7.26%) Decision-Making
15 27 (7.26%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 62 (16.67%) SQL
2 52 (13.98%) Python
3 27 (7.26%) PowerShell
4 18 (4.84%) C#
5 15 (4.03%) Java
6 14 (3.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 11 (2.96%) JavaScript
8 7 (1.88%) TypeScript
9 6 (1.61%) Bicep
10 4 (1.08%) Bash
10 4 (1.08%) Kusto Query Language
10 4 (1.08%) T-SQL
11 3 (0.81%) R
12 2 (0.54%) C++
12 2 (0.54%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.27%) COBOL
13 1 (0.27%) Korn
13 1 (0.27%) RPG
13 1 (0.27%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.27%) X++
Qualifications
1 68 (18.28%) Security Cleared
2 46 (12.37%) SC Cleared
3 25 (6.72%) Degree
4 14 (3.76%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (2.96%) DV Cleared
6 9 (2.42%) PMI Certification
7 7 (1.88%) BPSS Clearance
8 6 (1.61%) Azure Certification
9 5 (1.34%) DBS Check
9 5 (1.34%) PMP
10 4 (1.08%) CISSP
11 3 (0.81%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (0.81%) Computer Science Degree
12 2 (0.54%) CAPM
12 2 (0.54%) CCNA
12 2 (0.54%) CCNP
12 2 (0.54%) CISM
12 2 (0.54%) CompTIA CySA+
12 2 (0.54%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 2 (0.54%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (9.41%) Data Quality
2 21 (5.65%) QA
3 17 (4.57%) PMO
4 12 (3.23%) GDPR
5 9 (2.42%) Accessibility
5 9 (2.42%) NIST
6 8 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.34%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.34%) GRC
7 5 (1.34%) SLA
8 4 (1.08%) NCSC
9 2 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.27%) Def Stans
10 1 (0.27%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.27%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 1 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 59 (15.86%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.76%) Docker
3 7 (1.88%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.34%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.34%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.08%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.81%) BitLocker
6 3 (0.81%) Terminal Services
6 3 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.54%) IAG
7 2 (0.54%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 35 (9.41%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (4.30%) SCCM
3 15 (4.03%) Kubernetes
4 11 (2.96%) Ansible
4 11 (2.96%) Single Sign-On
5 6 (1.61%) Grafana
6 4 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (1.08%) Puppet
7 3 (0.81%) Nagios
7 3 (0.81%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.81%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.81%) vMotion
7 3 (0.81%) WSUS
8 1 (0.27%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.27%) Cisco CUCM
8 1 (0.27%) Data Guard
8 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
8 1 (0.27%) PowerCLI
8 1 (0.27%) SCOM
8 1 (0.27%) SELinux
Vendors
1 33 (8.87%) ServiceNow
2 24 (6.45%) Databricks
3 21 (5.65%) Google
3 21 (5.65%) Oracle
4 20 (5.38%) SAP
5 12 (3.23%) Cisco
6 10 (2.69%) Apple
6 10 (2.69%) Bloomberg
6 10 (2.69%) VMware
7 9 (2.42%) Citrix
8 7 (1.88%) Salesforce
9 6 (1.61%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.61%) Foundry
9 6 (1.61%) IBM
9 6 (1.61%) OpenAI
9 6 (1.61%) Workday
10 5 (1.34%) HP
10 5 (1.34%) Informatica
10 5 (1.34%) Symantec
11 4 (1.08%) iManage