Desktop Support Contract Job Trends in England

Desktop Support
UK > England

The median Desktop Support daily rate in England is £204, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 7 November 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 300 331 277
Rank change year-on-year +31 -54 +11
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 246 183 333
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.83% 0.59% 0.84%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.91% 0.63% 0.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 162 115 238
10th Percentile £154 £150 £131
25th Percentile £163 £175 £146
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £204 £215 £200
Median % change year-on-year -5.23% +7.50% -
75th Percentile £250 £238 £228
90th Percentile £278 £269 £270
UK median daily rate £195 £210 £200
% change year-on-year -7.14% +5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 7 21
10th Percentile £16.24 £24.34 £16.54
25th Percentile £19.91 £26.38 £17.46
Median hourly rate £23.31 £27.00 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.69% +42.11% -1.45%
75th Percentile £31.40 £34.75 £20.00
90th Percentile £33.75 £43.40 £21.75
UK median hourly rate £21.46 £24.18 £19.00
% change year-on-year -11.25% +27.26% +5.56%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in England with a recognized job title 27,117 29,070 37,227
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.17% 92.99% 93.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,434 17,754 25,839
10th Percentile £280 £300 £300
25th Percentile £404 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,602 1,095 1,412
10th Percentile £14.09 £15.10 £15.25
25th Percentile £17.87 £21.00 £19.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £40.33 £45.21
Median % change year-on-year -37.63% -10.81% +50.70%
75th Percentile £51.50 £66.61 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £37.00 £44.75
% change year-on-year -32.03% -17.32% +54.84%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in England

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in England.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in England

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support in England over the 6 months to 7 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in England

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in England.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in England

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support in England over the 6 months to 7 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in England

Desktop Support
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the England region over the 6 months to 7 November 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
London +3 76 £200 -6.98% 87
North of England -5 51 £183 -12.05% 20
South West +23 47 £243 +8.99% 5
South East +9 39 £200 -6.98% 85
North West -9 30 £200 -1.23% 12
Midlands -3 28 £171 -2.01% 17
West Midlands -20 15 £175 +0.29% 6
East of England -14 14 £220 +10.00% 7
East Midlands -10 13 £158 -42.73% 10
North East 0 12 £175 - 5
Yorkshire -25 9 £198 -11.24% 3
Desktop Support
UK

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 7 November 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the England region featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 141 (57.32%) Windows
2 112 (45.53%) Microsoft 365
3 111 (45.12%) Microsoft
4 95 (38.62%) Security Cleared
5 94 (38.21%) Customer Service
6 91 (36.99%) SC Cleared
7 82 (33.33%) Active Directory
8 72 (29.27%) ITIL
9 68 (27.64%) Windows 10
10 62 (25.20%) Microsoft Office
11 45 (18.29%) Service Management
12 40 (16.26%) ITSM
13 39 (15.85%) Problem-Solving
14 38 (15.45%) Microsoft Exchange
15 34 (13.82%) Microsoft Intune
16 33 (13.41%) Business Intelligence
16 33 (13.41%) Mac OS
17 32 (13.01%) Azure
17 32 (13.01%) Digital Marketing
17 32 (13.01%) Programme Management
17 32 (13.01%) SAP
17 32 (13.01%) ServiceNow
17 32 (13.01%) Workflow
18 30 (12.20%) Android
19 29 (11.79%) Apple
19 29 (11.79%) SLA
20 28 (11.38%) Cisco
21 27 (10.98%) Wireless
22 26 (10.57%) HP
22 26 (10.57%) Microsoft Excel

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 38 (15.45%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (8.54%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.81%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.41%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 62 (25.20%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (10.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (2.85%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.81%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.41%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.41%) Eikon
2 1 (0.41%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.41%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 112 (45.53%) Microsoft 365
2 32 (13.01%) Azure
3 18 (7.32%) OneDrive
4 6 (2.44%) Entra ID
5 1 (0.41%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 27 (10.98%) Wireless
2 21 (8.54%) VPN
3 13 (5.28%) PABX
4 10 (4.07%) DHCP
4 10 (4.07%) DNS
5 7 (2.85%) LAN
5 7 (2.85%) TCP/IP
5 7 (2.85%) WAN
6 5 (2.03%) Structured Cabling
7 4 (1.63%) Remote Desktop
8 3 (1.22%) Skype
9 2 (0.81%) Internet
9 2 (0.81%) VLAN
9 2 (0.81%) Wi-Fi
10 1 (0.41%) Firewall
10 1 (0.41%) Intranet
10 1 (0.41%) IP Telephony
10 1 (0.41%) RFID
10 1 (0.41%) VoIP
10 1 (0.41%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.41%) Power BI
General
1 128 (52.03%) Social Skills
2 80 (32.52%) Finance
3 39 (15.85%) Public Sector
4 35 (14.23%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (13.01%) Electronics
5 32 (13.01%) Manufacturing
5 32 (13.01%) Marketing
5 32 (13.01%) Telecoms
6 15 (6.10%) Banking
7 10 (4.07%) Front Office
8 7 (2.85%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (2.44%) Aerospace
10 5 (2.03%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.63%) Investment Banking
11 4 (1.63%) Retail
12 1 (0.41%) Financial Institution
12 1 (0.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.41%) Pharmaceutical
12 1 (0.41%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.41%) FIX Protocol
Miscellaneous
1 24 (9.76%) Self-Motivation
2 23 (9.35%) Data Centre
3 15 (6.10%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.69%) iPad
4 14 (5.69%) iPhone
5 13 (5.28%) Driving Licence
6 9 (3.66%) Onboarding
7 8 (3.25%) Video Conferencing
8 4 (1.63%) Hedge funds
9 3 (1.22%) CMDB
9 3 (1.22%) Management Information System
9 3 (1.22%) Mobile App
9 3 (1.22%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.81%) Tandem
11 1 (0.41%) BYOD
11 1 (0.41%) Data Protection Act
11 1 (0.41%) Fat Client
11 1 (0.41%) Fixed Income
11 1 (0.41%) Legacy Systems
11 1 (0.41%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 141 (57.32%) Windows
2 68 (27.64%) Windows 10
3 33 (13.41%) Mac OS
4 30 (12.20%) Android
5 15 (6.10%) Apple iOS
6 10 (4.07%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.81%) Linux
7 2 (0.81%) Windows 7
7 2 (0.81%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.41%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 94 (38.21%) Customer Service
2 72 (29.27%) ITIL
3 45 (18.29%) Service Management
4 40 (16.26%) ITSM
5 39 (15.85%) Problem-Solving
6 33 (13.41%) Business Intelligence
7 32 (13.01%) Digital Marketing
7 32 (13.01%) Programme Management
7 32 (13.01%) Workflow
8 24 (9.76%) Patch Management
8 24 (9.76%) Time Management
9 23 (9.35%) Inventory Management
10 21 (8.54%) Migration
11 18 (7.32%) Mobile Device Management
12 17 (6.91%) Workflow Management
13 14 (5.69%) Data Analysis
13 14 (5.69%) Service Delivery
14 12 (4.88%) Antivirus Management
14 12 (4.88%) Asset Management
15 11 (4.47%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 18 (7.32%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.41%) Python
2 1 (0.41%) SQL
Qualifications
1 95 (38.62%) Security Cleared
2 91 (36.99%) SC Cleared
3 20 (8.13%) Degree
4 14 (5.69%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (4.88%) ITIL Certification
6 6 (2.44%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 5 (2.03%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (1.63%) DBS Check
9 2 (0.81%) DV Cleared
10 1 (0.41%) A+ Certification
10 1 (0.41%) CCNA
10 1 (0.41%) Cisco Certification
10 1 (0.41%) Computer Science Degree
10 1 (0.41%) MCSA
10 1 (0.41%) MCSE
10 1 (0.41%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (11.79%) SLA
2 10 (4.07%) QA
3 7 (2.85%) GDPR
4 2 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 82 (33.33%) Active Directory
2 17 (6.91%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (1.22%) Firmware
4 1 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.41%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.41%) vSphere
4 1 (0.41%) Xen
Systems Management
1 34 (13.82%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (10.16%) SCCM
Vendors
1 111 (45.12%) Microsoft
2 32 (13.01%) SAP
2 32 (13.01%) ServiceNow
3 29 (11.79%) Apple
4 28 (11.38%) Cisco
5 26 (10.57%) HP
6 25 (10.16%) Dell
7 9 (3.66%) Citrix
7 9 (3.66%) McAfee
8 8 (3.25%) Bloomberg
9 7 (2.85%) Starlink
10 5 (2.03%) Remedy
11 4 (1.63%) Wyse
12 2 (0.81%) Reuters
12 2 (0.81%) Tradeweb
12 2 (0.81%) VMware
13 1 (0.41%) Eze Software Group
13 1 (0.41%) FactSet
13 1 (0.41%) Polycom
13 1 (0.41%) Trayport