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 28 January 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
28 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 9 2
Rank change year-on-year -2 -7 +8
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 26 24 28
As % of all contract jobs in County Antrim 12.04% 16.44% 19.05%
As % of the Vendors category 49.06% 44.44% 50.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 10 7 16
10th Percentile £173 £188 £240
25th Percentile £251 £231 £336
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £400 £325 £525
Median % change year-on-year +23.08% -38.10% +105.08%
75th Percentile £488 - £625
90th Percentile £489 - £688
Northern Ireland median daily rate £400 £325 £550
% change year-on-year +23.08% -40.91% +97.84%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 1 0
10th Percentile £12.31 - -
25th Percentile £12.94 £45.32 -
Median hourly rate £15.00 £48.82 -
Median % change year-on-year -69.27% - -
75th Percentile £22.05 £52.31 -
90th Percentile £28.22 - -
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £15.00 £48.82 -
% change year-on-year -69.27% - -

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 53 54 55
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in County Antrim 24.54% 36.99% 37.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 29 23 29
10th Percentile £219 £148 £246
25th Percentile £363 £155 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £325 £513
Median % change year-on-year +46.15% -36.59% +4.59%
75th Percentile £513 £481 £625
90th Percentile £600 £640 £688
Northern Ireland median daily rate £475 £325 £525
% change year-on-year +46.15% -38.10% +31.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 10 2
10th Percentile £12.31 £22.50 £16.13
25th Percentile £13.26 - £16.15
Median hourly rate £15.50 £24.18 £16.81
Median % change year-on-year -35.90% +43.84% +8.45%
75th Percentile £20.58 - £18.09
90th Percentile £27.90 £26.99 £18.49
Northern Ireland median hourly rate £15.50 £24.18 £16.81
% change year-on-year -35.90% +43.84% +8.45%

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 28 January 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 28 January 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 28 January 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 -3 23 £400 +23.08% 34
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 1 (3.85%) SharePoint
Applications
1 13 (50.00%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (38.46%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (19.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (11.54%) MS Visio
5 2 (7.69%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (3.85%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (7.69%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 3 (11.54%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (7.69%) WhatsApp
3 1 (3.85%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 3 (11.54%) Cisco Wireless
1 3 (11.54%) Firewall
1 3 (11.54%) LAN
1 3 (11.54%) MPLS
1 3 (11.54%) Wireless
1 3 (11.54%) WLAN
2 1 (3.85%) Internet
2 1 (3.85%) Intranet
2 1 (3.85%) Wi-Fi
General
1 22 (84.62%) Social Skills
2 8 (30.77%) Analytical Skills
2 8 (30.77%) Public Sector
3 7 (26.92%) Organisational Skills
4 5 (19.23%) Finance
5 2 (7.69%) Manufacturing
5 2 (7.69%) Telecoms
6 1 (3.85%) Back Office
6 1 (3.85%) Banking
6 1 (3.85%) Front Office
6 1 (3.85%) Retail
Job Titles
1 6 (23.08%) Analyst
2 3 (11.54%) Network Engineer
2 3 (11.54%) Senior
2 3 (11.54%) Senior Network Engineer
3 2 (7.69%) Project Assistant
3 2 (7.69%) Project Manager
3 2 (7.69%) Project Support Assistant
3 2 (7.69%) Remote Support Analyst
3 2 (7.69%) Support Analyst
3 2 (7.69%) Support Assistant
3 2 (7.69%) Support Engineer
3 2 (7.69%) Support Officer
4 1 (3.85%) Administrator
4 1 (3.85%) Architect
4 1 (3.85%) Desktop Engineer
4 1 (3.85%) Desktop Support
4 1 (3.85%) Desktop Support Engineer
4 1 (3.85%) Field Engineer
4 1 (3.85%) Infrastructure Analyst
4 1 (3.85%) Procurement Specialist
Miscellaneous
1 3 (11.54%) Driving Licence
1 3 (11.54%) Virtual Team
2 2 (7.69%) Onboarding
3 1 (3.85%) Data Protection Act
3 1 (3.85%) Fat Client
3 1 (3.85%) Management Information System
3 1 (3.85%) Self-Motivation
3 1 (3.85%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 6 (23.08%) Windows
2 1 (3.85%) Apple iOS
2 1 (3.85%) Windows Server
2 1 (3.85%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (42.31%) Problem-Solving
2 9 (34.62%) Continuous Improvement
3 6 (23.08%) Customer Service
4 5 (19.23%) Mathematics
4 5 (19.23%) Project Delivery
4 5 (19.23%) Stakeholder Management
4 5 (19.23%) Time Management
5 4 (15.38%) Collaborative Working
5 4 (15.38%) Master Data Management
5 4 (15.38%) Project Management
6 3 (11.54%) Change Control
6 3 (11.54%) Collaborative Culture
6 3 (11.54%) Cybersecurity
6 3 (11.54%) ITSM
6 3 (11.54%) Knowledge Transfer
6 3 (11.54%) Network Management
6 3 (11.54%) Service Delivery
6 3 (11.54%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 2 (7.69%) Data Analysis
7 2 (7.69%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 2 (7.69%) SQL
Qualifications
1 8 (30.77%) Degree
2 5 (19.23%) HND
3 3 (11.54%) CCNA
3 3 (11.54%) CCNP
3 3 (11.54%) Cisco Certification
4 2 (7.69%) HNC
5 1 (3.85%) A+ Certification
5 1 (3.85%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (15.38%) SLA
2 1 (3.85%) PMO
2 1 (3.85%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 1 (3.85%) Active Directory
1 1 (3.85%) VMware Infrastructure
Vendors
1 3 (11.54%) Aruba
1 3 (11.54%) Cisco
1 3 (11.54%) Fortinet
2 1 (3.85%) Oracle
2 1 (3.85%) Salesforce
2 1 (3.85%) SAP
2 1 (3.85%) VMware
2 1 (3.85%) Workday