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 26 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
26 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 8 6
Rank change year-on-year +3 -2 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 371 278 346
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 16.63% 15.94% 16.31%
As % of the Vendors category 36.99% 32.18% 36.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 273 198 242
10th Percentile £283 £281 £253
25th Percentile £413 £363 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £530 £495 £541
Median % change year-on-year +7.02% -8.50% -1.59%
75th Percentile £652 £638 £657
90th Percentile £750 £725 £711
Central London median daily rate £525 £495 £538
% change year-on-year +6.01% -7.86% -0.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 2 6
10th Percentile £20.40 £22.48 £21.50
25th Percentile £21.75 £23.19 £27.00
Median hourly rate £24.00 £25.25 £56.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.95% -54.91% -
75th Percentile £25.07 £28.19 £107.13
90th Percentile £25.70 £29.43 £112.00
Central London median hourly rate £25.07 £22.00 £56.00
% change year-on-year +13.93% -60.71% -

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 1,003 864 936
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 44.96% 49.54% 44.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 705 584 597
10th Percentile £338 £325 £340
25th Percentile £450 £413 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £551
Median % change year-on-year - -0.18% +0.18%
75th Percentile £656 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £738 £763
Central London median daily rate £538 £539 £550
% change year-on-year -0.23% -2.05% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 11 14
10th Percentile £17.41 £19.79 £16.75
25th Percentile £18.88 £22.88 £22.13
Median hourly rate £22.83 £28.50 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.89% -43.00% +140.96%
75th Percentile £29.78 £60.25 £112.00
90th Percentile £42.48 £65.57 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £24.00 £28.50 £42.00
% change year-on-year -15.79% -32.14% +102.41%

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 26 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 (11.05%) SharePoint
2 28 (7.55%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (2.96%) Confluence
4 7 (1.89%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.35%) Apache
6 2 (0.54%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.54%) CMS
6 2 (0.54%) IIS
6 2 (0.54%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.27%) Exchange Server 2013
7 1 (0.27%) nginx
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 34 (9.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 22 (5.93%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (4.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (1.08%) 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 (5.12%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.89%) 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%) Dynamics NAV
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
Cloud Services
1 160 (43.13%) Azure
2 77 (20.75%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (19.14%) Power Platform
4 49 (13.21%) Entra ID
5 44 (11.86%) Azure DevOps
6 34 (9.16%) Dynamics 365
7 30 (8.09%) AWS
8 23 (6.20%) Azure Data Factory
8 23 (6.20%) Microsoft Copilot
8 23 (6.20%) Power Automate
9 21 (5.66%) GCP
9 21 (5.66%) GitHub
9 21 (5.66%) PowerApps
9 21 (5.66%) SaaS
10 20 (5.39%) OneDrive
10 20 (5.39%) Serverless
11 17 (4.58%) Microsoft Purview
12 15 (4.04%) Azure Functions
13 14 (3.77%) Azure Logic Apps
14 13 (3.50%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 30 (8.09%) DNS
2 23 (6.20%) DHCP
3 18 (4.85%) Firewall
4 16 (4.31%) VPN
5 14 (3.77%) TCP/IP
6 7 (1.89%) Unified Communications
7 5 (1.35%) LAN
7 5 (1.35%) 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%) Value-Added Service
10 2 (0.54%) VoIP
10 2 (0.54%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (11.86%) Power BI
2 18 (4.85%) Data Warehouse
3 15 (4.04%) SQL Server
4 12 (3.23%) Metadata
5 10 (2.70%) Azure SQL Database
6 9 (2.43%) Data Lake
7 8 (2.16%) Semantic Layer
7 8 (2.16%) Star Schema
8 5 (1.35%) Amazon RDS
8 5 (1.35%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
8 5 (1.35%) Power Query
8 5 (1.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (1.08%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (1.08%) Big Data
9 4 (1.08%) Data Hub
10 3 (0.81%) BigQuery
10 3 (0.81%) Elasticsearch
10 3 (0.81%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.81%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.81%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 27 (7.28%) JIRA
2 10 (2.70%) Git
3 7 (1.89%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.62%) Visual Studio
5 5 (1.35%) 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%) ER Studio
9 1 (0.27%) MLflow
9 1 (0.27%) SOAtest
General
1 119 (32.08%) Finance
2 116 (31.27%) Social Skills
3 51 (13.75%) Analytical Skills
4 40 (10.78%) Banking
5 24 (6.47%) Public Sector
6 13 (3.50%) Retail
7 11 (2.96%) General Ledger
8 10 (2.70%) Legal
8 10 (2.70%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.43%) Telecoms
10 8 (2.16%) Front Office
10 8 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (2.16%) Marketing
11 7 (1.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.89%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.89%) Manufacturing
12 6 (1.62%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.62%) Law
13 5 (1.35%) Military
14 4 (1.08%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 60 (16.17%) Architect
2 46 (12.40%) Analyst
3 41 (11.05%) Developer
4 32 (8.63%) Consultant
5 28 (7.55%) Senior
5 28 (7.55%) Support Engineer
6 21 (5.66%) Lead
6 21 (5.66%) Solutions Architect
7 20 (5.39%) Data Architect
8 16 (4.31%) IT Support
9 14 (3.77%) Dynamics 365 Developer
10 13 (3.50%) Business Analyst
10 13 (3.50%) Data Engineer
11 12 (3.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 12 (3.23%) Project Manager
12 11 (2.96%) IT Engineer
13 9 (2.43%) IT Support Engineer
13 9 (2.43%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
13 9 (2.43%) Support Analyst
14 8 (2.16%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.47%) Terraform
2 20 (5.39%) .NET
3 19 (5.12%) PySpark
4 18 (4.85%) REST
5 10 (2.70%) Middleware
6 9 (2.43%) .NET Framework
6 9 (2.43%) JSON
6 9 (2.43%) XML
7 8 (2.16%) HTML
7 8 (2.16%) SAML
7 8 (2.16%) SOAP
8 7 (1.89%) OAuth
8 7 (1.89%) Web Services
9 6 (1.62%) OpenID
10 5 (1.35%) ASP.NET Web API
11 4 (1.08%) CSS
11 4 (1.08%) GraphQL
11 4 (1.08%) HTML5 Canvas
11 4 (1.08%) RESTful
11 4 (1.08%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 34 (9.16%) Onboarding
2 17 (4.58%) AI Agents
3 16 (4.31%) Cloud Native
4 13 (3.50%) Video Conferencing
5 11 (2.96%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (2.96%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (2.70%) Management Information System
6 10 (2.70%) PKI
7 8 (2.16%) Data Structures
7 8 (2.16%) Product Ownership
8 7 (1.89%) Data Centre
8 7 (1.89%) Low-Code
9 6 (1.62%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.35%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (1.35%) PMI
11 4 (1.08%) CMDB
11 4 (1.08%) Equities
11 4 (1.08%) Self-Motivation
12 3 (0.81%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (0.81%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 66 (17.79%) Windows
2 16 (4.31%) Windows Server
3 15 (4.04%) Linux
3 15 (4.04%) Mac OS
4 10 (2.70%) Windows 10
5 4 (1.08%) Unix
6 3 (0.81%) Android
6 3 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.54%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.27%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.27%) SUSE
8 1 (0.27%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
8 1 (0.27%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.27%) VMS
8 1 (0.27%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2003
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 81 (21.83%) Stakeholder Management
2 76 (20.49%) DevOps
3 75 (20.22%) Problem-Solving
4 72 (19.41%) Agile
5 62 (16.71%) CI/CD
6 61 (16.44%) Analytics
6 61 (16.44%) Migration
7 52 (14.02%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 49 (13.21%) AI
9 46 (12.40%) Business Intelligence
10 44 (11.86%) Data Modelling
11 39 (10.51%) Data Governance
12 33 (8.89%) Continuous Improvement
12 33 (8.89%) Roadmaps
13 30 (8.09%) Infrastructure as Code
14 28 (7.55%) Integration Patterns
15 27 (7.28%) Project Delivery
15 27 (7.28%) Validation
16 26 (7.01%) Data Engineering
16 26 (7.01%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 60 (16.17%) SQL
2 52 (14.02%) Python
3 27 (7.28%) PowerShell
4 18 (4.85%) C#
5 15 (4.04%) Java
6 14 (3.77%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 11 (2.96%) JavaScript
8 7 (1.89%) TypeScript
9 6 (1.62%) 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%) C
13 1 (0.27%) COBOL
13 1 (0.27%) RPG
13 1 (0.27%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.27%) X++
Qualifications
1 68 (18.33%) Security Cleared
2 48 (12.94%) SC Cleared
3 25 (6.74%) Degree
4 13 (3.50%) Microsoft Certification
5 10 (2.70%) DV Cleared
5 10 (2.70%) PMI Certification
6 7 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
7 6 (1.62%) Azure Certification
8 5 (1.35%) DBS Check
8 5 (1.35%) PMP
9 4 (1.08%) CISSP
10 3 (0.81%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (0.81%) Computer Science Degree
11 2 (0.54%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.54%) CCNA
11 2 (0.54%) CCNP
11 2 (0.54%) CompTIA Security+
11 2 (0.54%) GIAC
11 2 (0.54%) PRINCE2 Certification
11 2 (0.54%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (9.16%) Data Quality
2 21 (5.66%) QA
3 17 (4.58%) PMO
4 12 (3.23%) GDPR
5 9 (2.43%) Accessibility
5 9 (2.43%) NIST
6 8 (2.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 6 (1.62%) SLA
8 5 (1.35%) GRC
9 4 (1.08%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (1.08%) NCSC
10 2 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
11 1 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.27%) IFRS
11 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 1 (0.27%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.27%) P3O
11 1 (0.27%) UCITS
System Software
1 60 (16.17%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.04%) Docker
3 8 (2.16%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.35%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.35%) 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 (9.43%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (4.31%) Kubernetes
3 15 (4.04%) SCCM
4 11 (2.96%) Ansible
4 11 (2.96%) Single Sign-On
5 6 (1.62%) 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%) Data Guard
8 1 (0.27%) EMC NetWorker
8 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
8 1 (0.27%) PingFederate
8 1 (0.27%) PowerCLI
8 1 (0.27%) SCOM
Vendors
1 33 (8.89%) ServiceNow
2 23 (6.20%) Databricks
3 20 (5.39%) Google
4 19 (5.12%) Oracle
5 18 (4.85%) SAP
6 13 (3.50%) Cisco
7 11 (2.96%) VMware
8 10 (2.70%) Apple
8 10 (2.70%) Bloomberg
9 9 (2.43%) Citrix
10 6 (1.62%) Dynatrace
10 6 (1.62%) Foundry
10 6 (1.62%) IBM
10 6 (1.62%) OpenAI
10 6 (1.62%) Salesforce
10 6 (1.62%) Workday
11 5 (1.35%) HP
11 5 (1.35%) Splunk
11 5 (1.35%) Symantec
12 4 (1.08%) Informatica