Desktop Support Contract Job Trends in England

Desktop Support
UK > England

The median Desktop Support daily rate in England is £178, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 14 December 2025.

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

 6 months to
14 Dec 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 324 324 282
Rank change year-on-year 0 -42 -7
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 235 194 301
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.76% 0.66% 0.80%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.83% 0.71% 0.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 153 133 222
10th Percentile £150 £150 £131
25th Percentile £158 £182 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £178 £219 £201
Median % change year-on-year -18.67% +8.82% +0.63%
75th Percentile £241 £240 £229
90th Percentile £288 £269 £288
UK median daily rate £175 £215 £200
% change year-on-year -18.60% +7.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 9 16
10th Percentile £16.27 £25.04 £17.36
25th Percentile £19.54 £27.00 £18.38
Median hourly rate £20.82 £30.00 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -30.60% +53.85% +0.66%
75th Percentile £23.16 £30.68 £20.44
90th Percentile £31.40 £33.40 £23.00
UK median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £19.50
% change year-on-year -16.54% +24.00% +4.00%

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 28,356 27,251 35,230
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.21% 92.91% 93.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,121 16,963 24,204
10th Percentile £290 £300 £292
25th Percentile £405 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% -1.69% -2.91%
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 1,744 892 1,356
10th Percentile £14.35 £15.64 £15.29
25th Percentile £18.00 £21.25 £19.87
Median hourly rate £26.50 £37.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -28.38% -17.78% +38.46%
75th Percentile £60.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £72.35 £73.75 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.47 £35.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -27.23% -21.35% +48.33%

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 14 December 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 14 December 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 14 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
London +7 71 £180 -17.53% 9
North of England -23 44 £175 -21.35% 9
South West -2 32 £250 +11.11% 6
Midlands -19 31 £175 +0.29% 9
South East -9 30 £173 -17.62% 7
East of England -14 29 £213 +3.66% 9
North West -15 22 £190 -9.52% 9
East Midlands -5 18 £164 - 5
West Midlands -31 13 £175 +0.29% 4
North East -2 12 £175 -
Yorkshire -43 10 £165 -26.67%
Desktop Support
UK

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

For the 6 months to 14 December 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.

1 138 (58.72%) Windows
2 103 (43.83%) Microsoft 365
3 92 (39.15%) Microsoft
4 85 (36.17%) Customer Service
4 85 (36.17%) Security Cleared
5 84 (35.74%) SC Cleared
6 79 (33.62%) Active Directory
7 77 (32.77%) Windows 10
8 52 (22.13%) Microsoft Office
9 45 (19.15%) ITIL
10 37 (15.74%) Mac OS
11 36 (15.32%) Azure
12 35 (14.89%) Microsoft Intune
13 32 (13.62%) SLA
14 31 (13.19%) Android
14 31 (13.19%) Business Intelligence
14 31 (13.19%) Digital Marketing
14 31 (13.19%) Problem-Solving
14 31 (13.19%) Programme Management
14 31 (13.19%) SAP
15 30 (12.77%) Dell
15 30 (12.77%) HP
15 30 (12.77%) Wireless
16 29 (12.34%) Cisco
16 29 (12.34%) Service Management
17 28 (11.91%) SCCM
18 27 (11.49%) Apple
19 26 (11.06%) Microsoft Exchange
19 26 (11.06%) Migration
20 25 (10.64%) SharePoint

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 26 (11.06%) Microsoft Exchange
2 25 (10.64%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.43%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 52 (22.13%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (7.66%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (5.53%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.85%) assyst
1 2 (0.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.43%) Eikon
2 1 (0.43%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.43%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 103 (43.83%) Microsoft 365
2 36 (15.32%) Azure
3 16 (6.81%) OneDrive
4 7 (2.98%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 30 (12.77%) Wireless
2 18 (7.66%) VPN
3 13 (5.53%) DNS
3 13 (5.53%) PABX
4 11 (4.68%) DHCP
5 9 (3.83%) TCP/IP
6 5 (2.13%) Structured Cabling
7 3 (1.28%) LAN
7 3 (1.28%) Remote Desktop
7 3 (1.28%) Softphone
7 3 (1.28%) WAN
8 2 (0.85%) Firewall
8 2 (0.85%) Telepresence
8 2 (0.85%) Unified Communications
8 2 (0.85%) VLAN
9 1 (0.43%) NetScaler
9 1 (0.43%) Network Security
9 1 (0.43%) Skype
9 1 (0.43%) Wi-Fi
Development Applications
1 1 (0.43%) JIRA
General
1 113 (48.09%) Social Skills
2 75 (31.91%) Finance
3 38 (16.17%) Public Sector
4 34 (14.47%) Telecoms
5 31 (13.19%) Electronics
5 31 (13.19%) Manufacturing
5 31 (13.19%) Marketing
6 27 (11.49%) Analytical Skills
7 14 (5.96%) Banking
8 9 (3.83%) Front Office
8 9 (3.83%) Retail
9 6 (2.55%) Aerospace
9 6 (2.55%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (1.70%) Law
11 3 (1.28%) Investment Banking
11 3 (1.28%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (1.28%) Pharmaceutical
12 2 (0.85%) Legal
13 1 (0.43%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.43%) Retail Banking
Miscellaneous
1 29 (12.34%) Self-Motivation
2 25 (10.64%) Data Centre
3 22 (9.36%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.96%) iPad
4 14 (5.96%) iPhone
5 11 (4.68%) Onboarding
6 8 (3.40%) Management Information System
7 6 (2.55%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (2.13%) Hedge funds
9 4 (1.70%) Driving Licence
10 3 (1.28%) Hybrid Cloud
10 3 (1.28%) Virtual Team
11 2 (0.85%) Enterprise Software
11 2 (0.85%) Mobile App
11 2 (0.85%) Tandem
12 1 (0.43%) BYOD
12 1 (0.43%) Data Protection Act
12 1 (0.43%) Fat Client
12 1 (0.43%) Legacy Systems
12 1 (0.43%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 138 (58.72%) Windows
2 77 (32.77%) Windows 10
3 37 (15.74%) Mac OS
4 31 (13.19%) Android
5 16 (6.81%) Apple iOS
6 12 (5.11%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.43%) Linux
8 1 (0.43%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (36.17%) Customer Service
2 45 (19.15%) ITIL
3 31 (13.19%) Business Intelligence
3 31 (13.19%) Digital Marketing
3 31 (13.19%) Problem-Solving
3 31 (13.19%) Programme Management
4 29 (12.34%) Service Management
5 26 (11.06%) Migration
6 25 (10.64%) Time Management
7 24 (10.21%) Workflow
8 23 (9.79%) ITSM
9 20 (8.51%) Inventory Management
10 19 (8.09%) Service Delivery
11 18 (7.66%) Patch Management
12 16 (6.81%) Workflow Management
13 14 (5.96%) Mobile Device Management
14 11 (4.68%) Antivirus Management
14 11 (4.68%) Incident Management
15 9 (3.83%) Investment Management
15 9 (3.83%) Ticket Management
Programming Languages
1 16 (6.81%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 85 (36.17%) Security Cleared
2 84 (35.74%) SC Cleared
3 12 (5.11%) Degree
4 9 (3.83%) Microsoft Certification
5 7 (2.98%) ITIL Certification
6 4 (1.70%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (1.70%) DBS Check
7 3 (1.28%) A+ Certification
7 3 (1.28%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 2 (0.85%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (13.62%) SLA
2 7 (2.98%) GDPR
2 7 (2.98%) QA
System Software
1 79 (33.62%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.96%) Virtual Desktop
3 4 (1.70%) Firmware
4 1 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.43%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.43%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 35 (14.89%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (11.91%) SCCM
Vendors
1 92 (39.15%) Microsoft
2 31 (13.19%) SAP
3 30 (12.77%) Dell
3 30 (12.77%) HP
4 29 (12.34%) Cisco
5 27 (11.49%) Apple
6 21 (8.94%) ServiceNow
7 10 (4.26%) McAfee
8 9 (3.83%) Bloomberg
9 7 (2.98%) Starlink
10 5 (2.13%) Remedy
11 3 (1.28%) Citrix
12 2 (0.85%) Reuters
12 2 (0.85%) VMware
13 1 (0.43%) Altiris
13 1 (0.43%) Eze Software Group
13 1 (0.43%) Tradeweb
13 1 (0.43%) Trayport
13 1 (0.43%) Wyse
45 Desktop Support jobs in England