Microsoft Contract Job Trends in County Antrim

Microsoft
Northern Ireland > County Antrim

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in County Antrim 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 25 February 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
25 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 8 3
Rank change year-on-year -1 -5 +5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 24 22 28
As % of all contract jobs in County Antrim 12.18% 16.54% 19.31%
As % of the Vendors category 51.06% 48.89% 46.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 6 7 18
10th Percentile £163 £180 £244
25th Percentile £213 £263 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £400 £325 £550
Median % change year-on-year +23.08% -40.91% +141.23%
75th Percentile £484 - £625
90th Percentile £494 £370 £688
Northern Ireland median daily rate £400 £325 £550
% change year-on-year +23.08% -40.91% +114.84%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 1 1
10th Percentile £12.31 - -
25th Percentile £13.57 £45.32 -
Median hourly rate £17.05 £48.82 £12.99
Median % change year-on-year -65.07% +275.79% -16.19%
75th Percentile £23.53 £52.31 -
90th Percentile £29.34 - -
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £17.05 £48.82 £12.99
% change year-on-year -65.07% +275.79% -16.19%

All Vendors
County Antrim

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 County Antrim.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 47 45 60
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in County Antrim 23.86% 33.83% 41.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 23 19 32
10th Percentile £333 £148 £232
25th Percentile £413 £154 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £325 £538
Median % change year-on-year +46.15% -39.53% +43.33%
75th Percentile £538 £431 £625
90th Percentile £600 £550 £684
Northern Ireland median daily rate £475 £325 £525
% change year-on-year +46.15% -38.10% +31.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 8 4
10th Percentile £12.31 £22.50 £13.93
25th Percentile £13.57 £23.76 £15.34
Median hourly rate £17.05 £24.18 £16.81
Median % change year-on-year -29.49% +43.84% +8.45%
75th Percentile £23.53 - £22.03
90th Percentile £29.34 £32.62 £27.94
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £17.05 £24.18 £17.50
% change year-on-year -29.49% +38.17% +12.90%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in County Antrim

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in County Antrim

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in County Antrim

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in County Antrim citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in County Antrim citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in County Antrim

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in County Antrim over the 6 months to 25 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in County Antrim

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in County Antrim

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in County Antrim citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in County Antrim citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in County Antrim

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in County Antrim over the 6 months to 25 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in County Antrim

Microsoft
Contract Job Locations in County Antrim

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Microsoft within the County Antrim region over the 6 months to 25 February 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Belfast +1 21 £400 +23.08% 17
Ballymena - 2 - - 1
Larne - 1 - -
Microsoft
Northern Ireland

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in County Antrim 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 1 (4.17%) SharePoint
Applications
1 11 (45.83%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (33.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (12.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (8.33%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (4.17%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (4.17%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (8.33%) Dynamics GP
2 1 (4.17%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 4 (16.67%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (8.33%) WhatsApp
3 1 (4.17%) Azure
3 1 (4.17%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 1 (4.17%) Cisco Wireless
1 1 (4.17%) Firewall
1 1 (4.17%) Internet
1 1 (4.17%) Intranet
1 1 (4.17%) LAN
1 1 (4.17%) MPLS
1 1 (4.17%) Wi-Fi
1 1 (4.17%) Wireless
1 1 (4.17%) WLAN
General
1 19 (79.17%) Social Skills
2 8 (33.33%) Public Sector
3 7 (29.17%) Analytical Skills
3 7 (29.17%) Organisational Skills
4 5 (20.83%) Finance
5 2 (8.33%) Manufacturing
5 2 (8.33%) Telecoms
6 1 (4.17%) Back Office
6 1 (4.17%) Banking
6 1 (4.17%) Retail
Job Titles
1 6 (25.00%) Analyst
2 3 (12.50%) Project Manager
2 3 (12.50%) Support Analyst
3 2 (8.33%) Project Assistant
3 2 (8.33%) Project Support Assistant
3 2 (8.33%) Remote Support Analyst
3 2 (8.33%) Support Assistant
3 2 (8.33%) Support Engineer
4 1 (4.17%) Administrator
4 1 (4.17%) Desktop Support
4 1 (4.17%) ERP Specialist
4 1 (4.17%) Infrastructure Analyst
4 1 (4.17%) IT Analyst
4 1 (4.17%) IT Infrastructure Architect
4 1 (4.17%) Lead
4 1 (4.17%) Network Engineer
4 1 (4.17%) QA Leader
4 1 (4.17%) Senior
4 1 (4.17%) Support Officer
4 1 (4.17%) Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (4.17%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 3 (12.50%) Driving Licence
2 2 (8.33%) Onboarding
3 1 (4.17%) Data Protection Act
3 1 (4.17%) e-Learning
3 1 (4.17%) Fat Client
3 1 (4.17%) Management Information System
3 1 (4.17%) Self-Motivation
3 1 (4.17%) Thin Client
3 1 (4.17%) Virtual Team
3 1 (4.17%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 6 (25.00%) Windows
2 1 (4.17%) Apple iOS
2 1 (4.17%) Windows Server
2 1 (4.17%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 9 (37.50%) Continuous Improvement
1 9 (37.50%) Problem-Solving
2 4 (16.67%) Collaborative Working
2 4 (16.67%) Customer Service
2 4 (16.67%) Mathematics
2 4 (16.67%) Project Management
2 4 (16.67%) Stakeholder Management
3 3 (12.50%) Collaborative Culture
3 3 (12.50%) ITSM
3 3 (12.50%) Master Data Management
3 3 (12.50%) Project Delivery
3 3 (12.50%) Risk Management
3 3 (12.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 3 (12.50%) Time Management
4 2 (8.33%) Budgeting and Resource Allocation
4 2 (8.33%) Change Control
4 2 (8.33%) Data Collection
4 2 (8.33%) Inventory Management
4 2 (8.33%) People Management
4 2 (8.33%) Resource Allocation
Programming Languages
1 2 (8.33%) SQL
Qualifications
1 8 (33.33%) Degree
2 5 (20.83%) HND
3 3 (12.50%) HNC
4 1 (4.17%) A+ Certification
4 1 (4.17%) CCNA
4 1 (4.17%) CCNP
4 1 (4.17%) Cisco Certification
4 1 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (12.50%) SLA
2 2 (8.33%) PMO
3 1 (4.17%) QA
3 1 (4.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 1 (4.17%) Active Directory
1 1 (4.17%) VMware Infrastructure
Vendors
1 1 (4.17%) Aruba
1 1 (4.17%) CheckPoint
1 1 (4.17%) Cisco
1 1 (4.17%) Fortinet
1 1 (4.17%) Oracle
1 1 (4.17%) Salesforce
1 1 (4.17%) SAP
1 1 (4.17%) VMware
1 1 (4.17%) Workday