Desktop Support Contract Job Trends in England

Desktop Support
UK > England

The median Desktop Support daily rate in England is £190, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 7 December 2025.

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

6 months to
7 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 320 321 281
Rank change year-on-year +1 -40 +9
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 235 194 314
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.76% 0.64% 0.82%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.83% 0.69% 0.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 155 131 229
10th Percentile £154 £150 £131
25th Percentile £161 £182 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £190 £219 £203
Median % change year-on-year -13.24% +8.15% +1.25%
75th Percentile £241 £243 £233
90th Percentile £284 £269 £290
UK median daily rate £175 £216 £200
% change year-on-year -18.89% +7.88% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 10 17
10th Percentile £16.25 £25.40 £16.97
25th Percentile £19.54 £27.00 £18.00
Median hourly rate £20.82 £30.23 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -31.12% +55.00% +2.55%
75th Percentile £22.38 £32.04 £20.00
90th Percentile £31.40 £38.60 £22.75
UK median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £19.50
% change year-on-year -16.54% +24.00% +8.33%

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 28,233 28,165 35,983
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.17% 92.89% 93.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,092 17,437 24,751
10th Percentile £285 £300 £294
25th Percentile £405 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -3.38% -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 1,705 974 1,399
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.34 £15.32
25th Percentile £17.87 £21.05 £19.50
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.25 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.48% -17.22% +36.36%
75th Percentile £57.50 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.50 £74.42 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £34.75 £44.00
% change year-on-year -27.63% -21.02% +40.98%

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 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 7 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 7 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 +2 74 £193 -10.47% 12
North of England -26 44 £175 -21.35% 13
South West -2 36 £250 +11.11% 9
South East -23 31 £173 -19.53% 8
Midlands -15 30 £171 -11.05% 7
East of England -5 25 £220 +4.76% 11
North West -10 22 £190 -9.52% 13
East Midlands -5 17 £158 -42.73% 4
West Midlands -21 13 £175 +0.29% 3
North East +5 12 £175 -
Yorkshire -39 10 £165 -26.67%
Desktop Support
UK

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

For the 6 months to 7 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.

1 135 (57.45%) Windows
2 102 (43.40%) Microsoft 365
3 92 (39.15%) Microsoft
4 90 (38.30%) Security Cleared
5 89 (37.87%) SC Cleared
6 84 (35.74%) Customer Service
7 78 (33.19%) Active Directory
8 73 (31.06%) Windows 10
9 51 (21.70%) Microsoft Office
10 49 (20.85%) ITIL
11 35 (14.89%) Azure
12 34 (14.47%) Mac OS
12 34 (14.47%) Microsoft Intune
13 32 (13.62%) Problem-Solving
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%) Programme Management
14 31 (13.19%) SAP
15 30 (12.77%) Service Management
16 29 (12.34%) Microsoft Exchange
16 29 (12.34%) Wireless
17 28 (11.91%) Cisco
17 28 (11.91%) HP
18 27 (11.49%) Apple
18 27 (11.49%) Dell
19 26 (11.06%) Workflow
20 25 (10.64%) ITSM
20 25 (10.64%) Migration

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 29 (12.34%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (10.21%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.43%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 51 (21.70%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (8.51%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (5.11%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.43%) assyst
2 1 (0.43%) Eikon
2 1 (0.43%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.43%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 102 (43.40%) Microsoft 365
2 35 (14.89%) Azure
3 16 (6.81%) OneDrive
4 8 (3.40%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 29 (12.34%) Wireless
2 18 (7.66%) VPN
3 13 (5.53%) PABX
4 10 (4.26%) DHCP
4 10 (4.26%) DNS
5 6 (2.55%) TCP/IP
6 5 (2.13%) Structured Cabling
7 4 (1.70%) Remote Desktop
8 3 (1.28%) LAN
8 3 (1.28%) WAN
9 2 (0.85%) Softphone
9 2 (0.85%) VLAN
10 1 (0.43%) Firewall
10 1 (0.43%) NetScaler
10 1 (0.43%) Network Security
10 1 (0.43%) RFID
10 1 (0.43%) Skype
10 1 (0.43%) Telepresence
10 1 (0.43%) Unified Communications
10 1 (0.43%) Wi-Fi
Development Applications
1 1 (0.43%) JIRA
General
1 116 (49.36%) Social Skills
2 75 (31.91%) Finance
3 39 (16.60%) Public Sector
4 33 (14.04%) Telecoms
5 31 (13.19%) Electronics
5 31 (13.19%) Manufacturing
5 31 (13.19%) Marketing
6 29 (12.34%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (6.38%) 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%) Investment Banking
11 3 (1.28%) Law
11 3 (1.28%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.43%) Financial Institution
12 1 (0.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.43%) Legal
12 1 (0.43%) Retail Banking
Miscellaneous
1 29 (12.34%) Self-Motivation
2 25 (10.64%) Data Centre
3 20 (8.51%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.96%) iPad
4 14 (5.96%) iPhone
5 9 (3.83%) Onboarding
6 8 (3.40%) Management Information System
7 7 (2.98%) Driving Licence
8 6 (2.55%) Video Conferencing
9 5 (2.13%) Hedge funds
10 3 (1.28%) Virtual Team
11 2 (0.85%) CMDB
11 2 (0.85%) Hybrid Cloud
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
1 135 (57.45%) Windows
2 73 (31.06%) Windows 10
3 34 (14.47%) Mac OS
4 31 (13.19%) Android
5 15 (6.38%) 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 84 (35.74%) Customer Service
2 49 (20.85%) ITIL
3 32 (13.62%) Problem-Solving
4 31 (13.19%) Business Intelligence
4 31 (13.19%) Digital Marketing
4 31 (13.19%) Programme Management
5 30 (12.77%) Service Management
6 26 (11.06%) Workflow
7 25 (10.64%) ITSM
7 25 (10.64%) Migration
7 25 (10.64%) Time Management
8 21 (8.94%) Inventory Management
9 19 (8.09%) Patch Management
9 19 (8.09%) Service Delivery
10 17 (7.23%) Workflow Management
11 14 (5.96%) Mobile Device Management
12 13 (5.53%) Antivirus Management
13 10 (4.26%) Incident Management
14 9 (3.83%) Investment Management
14 9 (3.83%) Ticket Management
Programming Languages
1 18 (7.66%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 90 (38.30%) Security Cleared
2 89 (37.87%) SC Cleared
3 11 (4.68%) Degree
4 10 (4.26%) Microsoft Certification
5 9 (3.83%) ITIL Certification
6 4 (1.70%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (1.70%) DBS Check
7 3 (1.28%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 1 (0.43%) A+ Certification
8 1 (0.43%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (13.62%) SLA
2 8 (3.40%) QA
3 7 (2.98%) GDPR
System Software
1 78 (33.19%) 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 34 (14.47%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (10.64%) SCCM
Vendors
1 92 (39.15%) Microsoft
2 31 (13.19%) SAP
3 28 (11.91%) Cisco
3 28 (11.91%) HP
4 27 (11.49%) Apple
4 27 (11.49%) Dell
5 24 (10.21%) ServiceNow
6 10 (4.26%) McAfee
7 8 (3.40%) Bloomberg
8 7 (2.98%) Starlink
9 5 (2.13%) Remedy
10 3 (1.28%) Citrix
11 2 (0.85%) Reuters
11 2 (0.85%) VMware
12 1 (0.43%) Altiris
12 1 (0.43%) Eze Software Group
12 1 (0.43%) Tradeweb
12 1 (0.43%) Trayport
12 1 (0.43%) Wyse