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 28 December 2025.

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

6 months to
28 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 311 316 288
Rank change year-on-year +5 -28 -4
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 239 194 290
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.76% 0.68% 0.79%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.83% 0.73% 0.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 159 135 210
10th Percentile £153 £150 £131
25th Percentile £159 £185 £144
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £190 £219 £205
Median % change year-on-year -13.24% +6.83% +2.50%
75th Percentile £238 £245 £230
90th Percentile £275 £271 £289
UK median daily rate £175 £215 £200
% change year-on-year -18.60% +7.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 6 15
10th Percentile £16.34 £23.99 £17.68
25th Percentile £19.54 £26.81 £18.50
Median hourly rate £20.18 £30.23 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -33.23% +55.00% +0.66%
75th Percentile £23.72 £30.68 £20.88
90th Percentile £31.40 £33.84 £23.25
UK median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £19.50
% change year-on-year -16.54% +24.00% +4.00%

All Contract IT Job Roles
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 28,855 26,419 34,294
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.37% 92.90% 93.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,399 16,416 23,451
10th Percentile £295 £300 £285
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -3.81% -0.94% -3.64%
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 1,769 832 1,438
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.92 £14.75
25th Percentile £18.26 £21.25 £19.62
Median hourly rate £27.00 £35.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.86% -22.22% +38.46%
75th Percentile £61.18 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.60 £74.40 £77.00
UK median hourly rate £25.47 £32.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -21.63% -27.78% +44.81%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 64 £180 -16.57% 30
North of England -23 46 £175 -21.35% 8
Midlands -18 37 £175 -14.63% 9
South West +4 33 £238 +5.56% 4
East of England -4 33 £195 -4.88% 9
South East -30 28 £173 -17.62% 17
North West -15 24 £183 -13.10% 5
East Midlands -4 23 £175 -44.66% 1
West Midlands -21 14 £175 -6.54% 8
North East +3 12 £175 -
Yorkshire -45 10 £165 -26.67% 3
Desktop Support
UK

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

For the 6 months to 28 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.

1 139 (58.16%) Windows
2 109 (45.61%) Microsoft 365
3 95 (39.75%) Microsoft
4 85 (35.56%) Customer Service
5 84 (35.15%) Security Cleared
6 83 (34.73%) Active Directory
6 83 (34.73%) SC Cleared
6 83 (34.73%) Windows 10
7 52 (21.76%) Microsoft Office
8 39 (16.32%) Azure
8 39 (16.32%) ITIL
9 38 (15.90%) Microsoft Intune
10 35 (14.64%) Mac OS
11 34 (14.23%) SLA
12 32 (13.39%) SCCM
12 32 (13.39%) Wireless
13 31 (12.97%) Android
13 31 (12.97%) Dell
13 31 (12.97%) HP
14 30 (12.55%) Business Intelligence
14 30 (12.55%) Digital Marketing
14 30 (12.55%) Migration
14 30 (12.55%) Programme Management
14 30 (12.55%) SAP
14 30 (12.55%) Service Management
15 29 (12.13%) Cisco
16 27 (11.30%) Apple
17 26 (10.88%) Microsoft Exchange
17 26 (10.88%) Problem-Solving
17 26 (10.88%) 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 (10.88%) Microsoft Exchange
1 26 (10.88%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.42%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 52 (21.76%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (7.11%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (6.28%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.84%) assyst
2 1 (0.42%) Eikon
2 1 (0.42%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.42%) Fidessa
2 1 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 109 (45.61%) Microsoft 365
2 39 (16.32%) Azure
3 16 (6.69%) OneDrive
4 10 (4.18%) Entra ID
5 1 (0.42%) Google Workspace
5 1 (0.42%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 32 (13.39%) Wireless
2 17 (7.11%) VPN
3 13 (5.44%) DNS
3 13 (5.44%) PABX
4 11 (4.60%) DHCP
5 9 (3.77%) TCP/IP
6 5 (2.09%) Structured Cabling
7 3 (1.26%) LAN
7 3 (1.26%) Softphone
7 3 (1.26%) WAN
8 2 (0.84%) Firewall
8 2 (0.84%) Telepresence
8 2 (0.84%) Unified Communications
8 2 (0.84%) VLAN
9 1 (0.42%) Network Security
9 1 (0.42%) Skype
9 1 (0.42%) Wi-Fi
Development Applications
1 2 (0.84%) JIRA
General
1 107 (44.77%) Social Skills
2 69 (28.87%) Finance
3 36 (15.06%) Public Sector
4 33 (13.81%) Telecoms
5 30 (12.55%) Electronics
5 30 (12.55%) Manufacturing
5 30 (12.55%) Marketing
6 26 (10.88%) Analytical Skills
7 12 (5.02%) Banking
8 9 (3.77%) Retail
9 8 (3.35%) Front Office
10 7 (2.93%) Aerospace
11 6 (2.51%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (2.51%) Law
12 3 (1.26%) Investment Banking
12 3 (1.26%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (1.26%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.84%) Legal
14 1 (0.42%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.42%) Retail Banking
Miscellaneous
1 29 (12.13%) Self-Motivation
2 27 (11.30%) Smartphone
3 25 (10.46%) Data Centre
4 11 (4.60%) Onboarding
5 10 (4.18%) iPad
5 10 (4.18%) iPhone
6 8 (3.35%) Management Information System
7 6 (2.51%) Video Conferencing
8 4 (1.67%) Hedge funds
8 4 (1.67%) Hybrid Cloud
8 4 (1.67%) Virtual Team
9 3 (1.26%) Driving Licence
9 3 (1.26%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.84%) Mobile App
10 2 (0.84%) Tandem
11 1 (0.42%) BYOD
11 1 (0.42%) Data Protection Act
11 1 (0.42%) Fat Client
11 1 (0.42%) Legacy Systems
11 1 (0.42%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 139 (58.16%) Windows
2 83 (34.73%) Windows 10
3 35 (14.64%) Mac OS
4 31 (12.97%) Android
5 18 (7.53%) Apple iOS
6 13 (5.44%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.84%) Windows 7
7 2 (0.84%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.42%) Linux
8 1 (0.42%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (35.56%) Customer Service
2 39 (16.32%) ITIL
3 30 (12.55%) Business Intelligence
3 30 (12.55%) Digital Marketing
3 30 (12.55%) Migration
3 30 (12.55%) Programme Management
3 30 (12.55%) Service Management
4 26 (10.88%) Problem-Solving
5 23 (9.62%) Time Management
5 23 (9.62%) Workflow
6 22 (9.21%) ITSM
7 19 (7.95%) Service Delivery
8 18 (7.53%) Inventory Management
9 16 (6.69%) Patch Management
10 15 (6.28%) Mobile Device Management
10 15 (6.28%) Workflow Management
11 11 (4.60%) Incident Management
12 10 (4.18%) Antivirus Management
13 8 (3.35%) Asset Management
13 8 (3.35%) Impact Analysis
Programming Languages
1 16 (6.69%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 84 (35.15%) Security Cleared
2 83 (34.73%) SC Cleared
3 10 (4.18%) Degree
4 6 (2.51%) ITIL Certification
4 6 (2.51%) Microsoft Certification
5 4 (1.67%) A+ Certification
5 4 (1.67%) BPSS Clearance
5 4 (1.67%) DBS Check
6 3 (1.26%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (0.84%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (14.23%) SLA
2 7 (2.93%) GDPR
3 4 (1.67%) QA
System Software
1 83 (34.73%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.86%) Virtual Desktop
3 4 (1.67%) Firmware
4 1 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.42%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.42%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 38 (15.90%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (13.39%) SCCM
Vendors
1 95 (39.75%) Microsoft
2 31 (12.97%) Dell
2 31 (12.97%) HP
3 30 (12.55%) SAP
4 29 (12.13%) Cisco
5 27 (11.30%) Apple
6 23 (9.62%) ServiceNow
7 9 (3.77%) McAfee
8 8 (3.35%) Bloomberg
9 6 (2.51%) Starlink
10 4 (1.67%) Remedy
11 3 (1.26%) Citrix
12 2 (0.84%) Reuters
12 2 (0.84%) VMware
13 1 (0.42%) Altiris
13 1 (0.42%) Barracuda Networks
13 1 (0.42%) Google
13 1 (0.42%) Salesforce
13 1 (0.42%) Trayport
13 1 (0.42%) Wyse