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 19 December 2025, 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 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 4 10 4
Rank change year-on-year +6 -6 +6
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 44 24 27
As % of all contract jobs in County Antrim 19.82% 15.48% 20.77%
As % of the Vendors category 57.89% 42.86% 56.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 16 4 15
10th Percentile £163 £195 £125
25th Percentile £245 £206 £179
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £361 £238 £230
Median % change year-on-year +52.11% +3.26% -38.67%
75th Percentile £488 £309 £369
90th Percentile £538 £416 £500
Northern Ireland median daily rate £361 £238 £240
% change year-on-year +52.11% -1.04% -40.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 1 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £12.31 £45.32 -
Median hourly rate £13.60 £48.82 -
Median % change year-on-year -72.14% - -
75th Percentile £19.10 £52.31 -
90th Percentile £26.29 - -
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £13.60 £48.82 -
% change year-on-year -72.14% - -

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 76 56 48
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in County Antrim 34.23% 36.13% 36.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 36 21 28
10th Percentile £203 £148 £149
25th Percentile £325 £155 £212
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £413 £438 £425
Median % change year-on-year -5.71% +2.94% -14.96%
75th Percentile £503 £488 £536
90th Percentile £584 £650 £633
Northern Ireland median daily rate £400 £438 £500
% change year-on-year -8.57% -12.50% +25.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 12 2
10th Percentile £12.31 £22.67 £16.13
25th Percentile £12.94 - £16.15
Median hourly rate £13.60 £24.18 £16.81
Median % change year-on-year -43.76% +43.84% +10.23%
75th Percentile £18.05 £28.20 £18.09
90th Percentile £25.64 £40.25 £18.49
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £13.69 £24.18 £16.81
% change year-on-year -43.40% +43.84% +10.23%

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 19 December 2025.

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 19 December 2025.

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 19 December 2025. 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 +6 41 £361 +52.11% 40
Ballymena - 2 - -
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 3 (6.82%) SharePoint
Applications
1 18 (40.91%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (38.64%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (20.45%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (6.82%) MS Visio
5 2 (4.55%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (2.27%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (4.55%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 4 (9.09%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (4.55%) WhatsApp
3 1 (2.27%) AWS
3 1 (2.27%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 7 (15.91%) VoIP
2 4 (9.09%) Firewall
3 3 (6.82%) Cisco Wireless
3 3 (6.82%) LAN
3 3 (6.82%) MPLS
3 3 (6.82%) Wireless
3 3 (6.82%) WLAN
4 2 (4.55%) Internet
4 2 (4.55%) Intranet
5 1 (2.27%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (2.27%) GIS
General
1 30 (68.18%) Social Skills
2 15 (34.09%) Public Sector
3 10 (22.73%) Analytical Skills
3 10 (22.73%) Organisational Skills
4 8 (18.18%) Finance
5 2 (4.55%) Front Office
5 2 (4.55%) Manufacturing
5 2 (4.55%) Telecoms
6 1 (2.27%) Back Office
6 1 (2.27%) Banking
6 1 (2.27%) Financial Institution
6 1 (2.27%) Legal
6 1 (2.27%) Retail
Job Titles
1 8 (18.18%) Analyst
2 7 (15.91%) ICT Technician
3 6 (13.64%) ICT Support
3 6 (13.64%) ICT Support Technician
3 6 (13.64%) Information Governance Officer
3 6 (13.64%) Information Officer
3 6 (13.64%) Support Technician
4 4 (9.09%) Support Officer
5 3 (6.82%) Compliance Officer
5 3 (6.82%) Network Engineer
5 3 (6.82%) Senior
5 3 (6.82%) Senior Network Engineer
5 3 (6.82%) Support Analyst
5 3 (6.82%) Support Engineer
6 2 (4.55%) Desktop Engineer
6 2 (4.55%) Desktop Support Engineer
6 2 (4.55%) PMO Analyst
6 2 (4.55%) Project Assistant
6 2 (4.55%) Project Support Assistant
6 2 (4.55%) Support Assistant
Miscellaneous
1 7 (15.91%) Smartphone
2 4 (9.09%) Driving Licence
3 3 (6.82%) Freedom of Information
3 3 (6.82%) Onboarding
3 3 (6.82%) Self-Motivation
3 3 (6.82%) Virtual Team
4 2 (4.55%) Management Information System
5 1 (2.27%) Data Protection Act
5 1 (2.27%) Fat Client
5 1 (2.27%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 14 (31.82%) Windows
2 1 (2.27%) Apple iOS
2 1 (2.27%) Windows 10
2 1 (2.27%) Windows Server
2 1 (2.27%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 14 (31.82%) Problem-Solving
2 10 (22.73%) Cybersecurity
2 10 (22.73%) Mathematics
3 9 (20.45%) Continuous Improvement
4 7 (15.91%) Customer Service
4 7 (15.91%) Data Protection
4 7 (15.91%) Fault Analysis
4 7 (15.91%) IT Strategy
5 6 (13.64%) Data Security
5 6 (13.64%) Informatics
5 6 (13.64%) Information Governance
5 6 (13.64%) Project Delivery
6 5 (11.36%) Project Management
6 5 (11.36%) Stakeholder Management
6 5 (11.36%) Time Management
7 4 (9.09%) Collaborative Working
7 4 (9.09%) Risk Management
8 3 (6.82%) Collaborative Culture
8 3 (6.82%) Knowledge Transfer
8 3 (6.82%) Records Management
Programming Languages
1 2 (4.55%) SQL
Qualifications
1 16 (36.36%) Degree
2 9 (20.45%) HND
3 5 (11.36%) HNC
4 3 (6.82%) CCNA
4 3 (6.82%) CCNP
4 3 (6.82%) Cisco Certification
5 1 (2.27%) A+ Certification
5 1 (2.27%) AWS Certification
5 1 (2.27%) Microsoft Certification
5 1 (2.27%) SC Cleared
5 1 (2.27%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (13.64%) GDPR
2 4 (9.09%) SLA
3 3 (6.82%) PMO
4 1 (2.27%) Data Quality
4 1 (2.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 8 (18.18%) Active Directory
2 7 (15.91%) XenApp
3 1 (2.27%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 7 (15.91%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 7 (15.91%) Avaya
1 7 (15.91%) Citrix
2 3 (6.82%) Aruba
2 3 (6.82%) Cisco
2 3 (6.82%) Fortinet
3 1 (2.27%) Oracle
3 1 (2.27%) Salesforce
3 1 (2.27%) SAP
3 1 (2.27%) VMware
3 1 (2.27%) Workday