Virtual Machines Contract Job Trends in England

Virtual Machine (VM)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Virtual Machines skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
13 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 372 370 318
Rank change year-on-year -2 -52 +4
Contract jobs citing Virtual Machines 281 143 221
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.60% 0.51% 0.69%
As % of the System Software category 6.04% 4.09% 5.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 164 97 152
10th Percentile £390 £355 £345
25th Percentile £425 £420 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £524
Median % change year-on-year - -4.53% -0.24%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £738 £645 £663
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £520
% change year-on-year - -3.85% -0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 5 3
10th Percentile £26.90 - £27.96
25th Percentile £58.44 £33.25 £48.81
Median hourly rate £77.50 £34.50 £83.55
Median % change year-on-year +124.64% -58.71% +6.13%
75th Percentile £92.11 £35.75 £84.67
90th Percentile - £50.45 £85.33
UK median hourly rate £77.50 £34.50 £83.55
% change year-on-year +124.64% -58.71% +6.13%

All System Software Skills
England

Virtual Machines falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring system software skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 4,649 3,493 3,716
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.99% 12.51% 11.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,034 2,254 2,421
10th Percentile £218 £208 £220
25th Percentile £394 £375 £380
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% +2.50%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £614
90th Percentile £700 £675 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £500
Number of hourly rates quoted 235 111 80
10th Percentile £17.75 £15.50 £14.16
25th Percentile £26.33 £21.63 £20.50
Median hourly rate £63.14 £34.50 £30.50
Median % change year-on-year +83.00% +13.11% -36.23%
75th Percentile £74.16 £75.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.00 £89.63 £81.48
UK median hourly rate £62.00 £30.00 £30.00
% change year-on-year +106.67% - -40.00%

Virtual Machines
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Virtual Machines relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Virtual Machines job vacancy trend in England

Virtual Machines
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Virtual Machines.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Virtual Machines

Virtual Machines
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Virtual Machines in England over the 6 months to 13 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Virtual Machines in England

Virtual Machines
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Virtual Machines.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Virtual Machines

Virtual Machines
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Virtual Machines in England over the 6 months to 13 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Virtual Machines in England

Virtual Machines
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 Virtual Machines within the England region over the 6 months to 13 October 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
London -54 96 £532 +5.35% 97
North of England +1 76 £498 +11.50% 35
South East -23 62 £475 -9.52% 36
Yorkshire -5 44 £515 +8.42% 15
North West -21 30 £485 +33.79% 19
East of England -12 16 £377 -20.74% 22
South West -35 15 £575 +4.55% 10
Midlands -39 13 £487 -4.04% 13
West Midlands -46 10 £487 -4.51% 9
East Midlands -10 3 £500 +5.26% 4
North East - 2 £413 - 1
Virtual Machines
UK

Virtual Machines
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 9 (3.20%) IIS
2 7 (2.49%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (2.14%) Confluence
3 6 (2.14%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.71%) CMS
4 2 (0.71%) Umbraco
5 1 (0.36%) Apache
5 1 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.36%) nginx
5 1 (0.36%) OpenStack
Applications
1 3 (1.07%) Adobe Illustrator
1 3 (1.07%) Photoshop
2 2 (0.71%) InDesign
2 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.36%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.71%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.36%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 135 (48.04%) Azure
2 67 (23.84%) Entra ID
3 36 (12.81%) IaaS
4 34 (12.10%) Azure Monitor
5 33 (11.74%) AWS
6 31 (11.03%) Azure DevOps
7 27 (9.61%) Microsoft 365
8 23 (8.19%) Azure AKS
9 21 (7.47%) GitHub
10 19 (6.76%) OpenShift
11 16 (5.69%) GitHub Actions
12 13 (4.63%) PaaS
13 12 (4.27%) GCP
14 11 (3.91%) Power Platform
15 10 (3.56%) Azure Key Vault
15 10 (3.56%) SaaS
16 9 (3.20%) Cohesity
16 9 (3.20%) Datadog
17 8 (2.85%) Amazon EC2
17 8 (2.85%) Azure Storage
Communications & Networking
1 42 (14.95%) DNS
2 36 (12.81%) Firewall
3 25 (8.90%) VPN
4 19 (6.76%) DHCP
5 18 (6.41%) WAN
6 16 (5.69%) Network Security
6 16 (5.69%) VLAN
7 15 (5.34%) SSL
8 10 (3.56%) LAN
8 10 (3.56%) SD-WAN
9 9 (3.20%) HTTP
10 7 (2.49%) TCP/IP
10 7 (2.49%) Wi-Fi
11 5 (1.78%) HTTPS
11 5 (1.78%) SAN
11 5 (1.78%) VSAN
12 4 (1.42%) FTP
12 4 (1.42%) SSH
13 3 (1.07%) NetScaler
14 2 (0.71%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (12.10%) SQL Server
2 11 (3.91%) MySQL
2 11 (3.91%) Power BI
3 10 (3.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 9 (3.20%) Azure SQL Database
5 8 (2.85%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (2.49%) Data Lake
7 3 (1.07%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.36%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.36%) Amazon QuickSight
9 1 (0.36%) Neo4j
9 1 (0.36%) Oracle Exadata
9 1 (0.36%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.36%) Relational Database
9 1 (0.36%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 17 (6.05%) Jenkins
2 13 (4.63%) Git
3 8 (2.85%) GitLab
3 8 (2.85%) JIRA
4 4 (1.42%) CppUnit
4 4 (1.42%) PVCS
4 4 (1.42%) Rational DOORS
4 4 (1.42%) SonarQube
5 3 (1.07%) Maven
5 3 (1.07%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.71%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.71%) Team Foundation Server
6 2 (0.71%) Terragrunt
7 1 (0.36%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.36%) Selenium
7 1 (0.36%) Vagrant
7 1 (0.36%) Visual Studio
General
1 47 (16.73%) Social Skills
2 25 (8.90%) Finance
3 13 (4.63%) Analytical Skills
4 8 (2.85%) Banking
4 8 (2.85%) Legal
5 7 (2.49%) Documentation Skills
6 6 (2.14%) Back Office
6 6 (2.14%) Front Office
6 6 (2.14%) Manufacturing
7 4 (1.42%) Law
7 4 (1.42%) Public Sector
7 4 (1.42%) Retail
8 3 (1.07%) Marketing
9 2 (0.71%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.71%) Automotive
9 2 (0.71%) Local Government
9 2 (0.71%) Pharmaceutical
9 2 (0.71%) Publishing
10 1 (0.36%) Investment Banking
10 1 (0.36%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 51 (18.15%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 47 (16.73%) Azure Engineer
3 44 (15.66%) Cloud Engineer
4 29 (10.32%) DevOps Engineer
5 27 (9.61%) Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
6 24 (8.54%) Azure Infrastructure Engineer
7 22 (7.83%) Lead
8 21 (7.47%) Senior
9 15 (5.34%) Architect
10 13 (4.63%) Analyst
10 13 (4.63%) DBA
11 12 (4.27%) Security Engineer
12 11 (3.91%) Administrator
12 11 (3.91%) Platform Engineer
12 11 (3.91%) SQL DBA
13 10 (3.56%) Wintel Engineer
14 9 (3.20%) Storage Engineer
15 8 (2.85%) Project Manager
15 8 (2.85%) Solutions Architect
16 7 (2.49%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 64 (22.78%) Terraform
2 14 (4.98%) ARM Templates
3 7 (2.49%) JSON
3 7 (2.49%) LDAP
3 7 (2.49%) Regular Expression
4 6 (2.14%) Middleware
5 3 (1.07%) Elastic Stack
5 3 (1.07%) Web Services
6 2 (0.71%) REST
6 2 (0.71%) YAML
7 1 (0.36%) ADO
7 1 (0.36%) Lambda Expressions
7 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Graph
7 1 (0.36%) Oracle GoldenGate
7 1 (0.36%) SAP Basis
7 1 (0.36%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 36 (12.81%) Replication
2 29 (10.32%) Clustering
3 17 (6.05%) Hybrid Cloud
4 14 (4.98%) Onboarding
5 13 (4.63%) Cloud Native
5 13 (4.63%) Data Centre
6 12 (4.27%) Enterprise Storage
6 12 (4.27%) Mainframe
7 9 (3.20%) Data Protection Act
7 9 (3.20%) Linux Command Line
7 9 (3.20%) Public Cloud
8 8 (2.85%) Cyber Threat
9 7 (2.49%) Operational Technology
10 6 (2.14%) Fixed Income
10 6 (2.14%) Market Risk
10 6 (2.14%) Security Posture
10 6 (2.14%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (1.42%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (1.42%) Mobile App
11 4 (1.42%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 97 (34.52%) Windows
2 66 (23.49%) Linux
3 54 (19.22%) Windows Server
4 27 (9.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 20 (7.12%) VMS
6 10 (3.56%) Unix
7 6 (2.14%) Ubuntu
8 4 (1.42%) Windows Server 2016
8 4 (1.42%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (1.07%) Data ONTAP
9 3 (1.07%) Windows 10
9 3 (1.07%) Windows Server 2012
9 3 (1.07%) zOS
10 2 (0.71%) AIX
10 2 (0.71%) Android
10 2 (0.71%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.71%) CoreOS
11 1 (0.36%) Amazon Linux
11 1 (0.36%) Solaris
11 1 (0.36%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (25.62%) DevOps
2 69 (24.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 68 (24.20%) CI/CD
4 60 (21.35%) Infrastructure as Code
5 57 (20.28%) Migration
6 46 (16.37%) Disaster Recovery
7 34 (12.10%) Continuous Improvement
8 33 (11.74%) Runbook
9 32 (11.39%) RBAC
10 31 (11.03%) High Availability
10 31 (11.03%) Performance Tuning
11 27 (9.61%) Cybersecurity
11 27 (9.61%) ITIL
11 27 (9.61%) Validation
12 25 (8.90%) Problem-Solving
13 24 (8.54%) Platform Engineering
13 24 (8.54%) Stakeholder Management
14 23 (8.19%) AI
15 21 (7.47%) Root Cause Analysis
15 21 (7.47%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 105 (37.37%) PowerShell
2 60 (21.35%) Python
3 34 (12.10%) SQL
4 27 (9.61%) Bash
5 15 (5.34%) Bicep
6 11 (3.91%) T-SQL
7 8 (2.85%) C
7 8 (2.85%) C#
8 7 (2.49%) Shell Script
9 5 (1.78%) Groovy
9 5 (1.78%) Java
10 4 (1.42%) C++
11 3 (1.07%) Embedded C
12 2 (0.71%) Korn
13 1 (0.36%) Cypher
13 1 (0.36%) Go
13 1 (0.36%) Kusto Query Language
13 1 (0.36%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.36%) RPG
Qualifications
1 84 (29.89%) Security Cleared
2 69 (24.56%) SC Cleared
3 23 (8.19%) Microsoft Certification
4 21 (7.47%) Azure Certification
5 20 (7.12%) Degree
6 12 (4.27%) BPSS Clearance
6 12 (4.27%) DV Cleared
7 10 (3.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 10 (3.56%) MCSA
7 10 (3.56%) MCSE
7 10 (3.56%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 8 (2.85%) VCAP
9 6 (2.14%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (2.14%) ISTQB
10 5 (1.78%) CCNA
10 5 (1.78%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
11 4 (1.42%) CISSP
12 3 (1.07%) CISM
12 3 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
13 2 (0.71%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.91%) QA
2 3 (1.07%) PCI DSS
2 3 (1.07%) SLA
3 2 (0.71%) Accessibility
3 2 (0.71%) Actionable Recommendations
3 2 (0.71%) Cyber Essentials
3 2 (0.71%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 2 (0.71%) GMP
3 2 (0.71%) GxP
3 2 (0.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (0.36%) HIPAA
4 1 (0.36%) NIST
4 1 (0.36%) SOC 2
System Software
1 80 (28.47%) VMware Infrastructure
2 54 (19.22%) Active Directory
3 33 (11.74%) vSphere
4 25 (8.90%) Docker
5 24 (8.54%) VMware ESXi
6 23 (8.19%) Hyper-V
7 12 (4.27%) NFS
8 9 (3.20%) KVM
9 8 (2.85%) Virtual Desktop
10 5 (1.78%) VMware NSX
11 3 (1.07%) BitLocker
11 3 (1.07%) Ceph
11 3 (1.07%) Firmware
11 3 (1.07%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.36%) Corosync
12 1 (0.36%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 1 (0.36%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.36%) Postfix
12 1 (0.36%) Squid
12 1 (0.36%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 40 (14.23%) Ansible
1 40 (14.23%) Kubernetes
2 20 (7.12%) vCenter Server
3 16 (5.69%) SCOM
4 14 (4.98%) Grafana
5 12 (4.27%) Microsoft Intune
6 9 (3.20%) Prometheus
7 7 (2.49%) Failover Clustering
7 7 (2.49%) Packer
7 7 (2.49%) Podman
7 7 (2.49%) SCCM
8 5 (1.78%) Proxmox
9 4 (1.42%) OPNET
9 4 (1.42%) vMotion
10 3 (1.07%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (1.07%) PowerCLI
10 3 (1.07%) SnapMirror
11 2 (0.71%) Avamar
11 2 (0.71%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.71%) VxRail
Vendors
1 109 (38.79%) Microsoft
2 84 (29.89%) VMware
3 28 (9.96%) Cisco
4 22 (7.83%) ServiceNow
5 17 (6.05%) Oracle
6 14 (4.98%) CyberArk
6 14 (4.98%) NetApp
7 13 (4.63%) Dell
7 13 (4.63%) IBM
8 10 (3.56%) Google
9 9 (3.20%) SolarWinds
9 9 (3.20%) Veeam
10 8 (2.85%) Red Hat
11 7 (2.49%) Commvault
11 7 (2.49%) Qualys
11 7 (2.49%) Splunk
12 6 (2.14%) Meraki
13 5 (1.78%) BT
13 5 (1.78%) CheckPoint
13 5 (1.78%) Palo Alto
217 Virtual Machines jobs in England