Windows Server Contract Job Trends in England

Microsoft Windows Server
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Windows Server skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
26 Jul 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 194 157 99
Rank change year-on-year -37 -58 -19
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 662 497 809
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.46% 1.80% 2.34%
As % of the Operating Systems category 15.10% 13.25% 16.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 435 354 596
10th Percentile £263 £325 £240
25th Percentile £384 £425 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £529 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.74% +5.85% -
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £668 £660 £675
UK median daily rate £488 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -7.14% +10.53% -3.31%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 5 14
10th Percentile £16.25 £14.32 £13.73
25th Percentile £20.54 £15.33 £20.90
Median hourly rate £27.88 £30.00 £56.50
Median % change year-on-year -7.07% -46.90% +92.83%
75th Percentile £67.84 £32.77 £67.67
90th Percentile £74.00 £59.61 £75.98
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £17.75 £56.50
% change year-on-year +46.48% -68.58% +92.83%

All Operating Systems
England

Windows Server falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 4,383 3,752 4,907
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.69% 13.60% 14.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,823 2,506 3,257
10th Percentile £190 £200 £200
25th Percentile £313 £313 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £460 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.09% -3.16% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £656 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £469 £463 £475
% change year-on-year +1.41% -2.63% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 296 225 342
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.50 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.24 £18.10 £16.25
Median hourly rate £32.50 £23.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +41.30% -8.00% -41.18%
75th Percentile £65.00 £57.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £73.50 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £23.00 £24.18
% change year-on-year +13.04% -4.88% -43.11%

Windows Server
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Windows Server job vacancy trend in England

Windows Server
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows Server.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows Server

Windows Server
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows Server in England over the 6 months to 26 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Windows Server in England

Windows Server
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows Server.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows Server

Windows Server
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows Server in England over the 6 months to 26 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Windows Server in England

Windows Server
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 Windows Server within the England region over the 6 months to 26 July 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 -40 196 £475 -8.21% 69
South East -24 175 £531 -3.41% 116
North of England -64 98 £489 +1.77% 77
Midlands -16 71 £450 -5.26% 46
East of England -8 62 £450 -18.18% 36
South West -35 56 £485 -13.78% 28
North West -44 53 £450 -4.26% 44
West Midlands -40 42 £430 -11.79% 25
Yorkshire -37 40 £568 +10.73% 22
East Midlands +6 27 £450 -5.26% 21
North East -41 5 £225 -55.00% 13
Windows Server
UK

Windows Server
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 79 (11.93%) Microsoft Exchange
2 40 (6.04%) SharePoint
3 27 (4.08%) IIS
4 10 (1.51%) nginx
4 10 (1.51%) Tomcat
5 5 (0.76%) Apache
6 4 (0.60%) FactoryTalk
7 3 (0.45%) CloudStack
7 3 (0.45%) WebLogic
8 2 (0.30%) SAS
8 2 (0.30%) Skype for Business
9 1 (0.15%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.15%) Confluence
9 1 (0.15%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.15%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 13 (1.96%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 17 (2.57%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.15%) OpenText MBPM
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle BPM
Cloud Services
1 268 (40.48%) Azure
2 124 (18.73%) Entra ID
3 120 (18.13%) Microsoft 365
4 83 (12.54%) AWS
5 36 (5.44%) Azure Monitor
6 24 (3.63%) Power Platform
7 23 (3.47%) IaaS
8 20 (3.02%) Azure DevOps
8 20 (3.02%) GCP
9 17 (2.57%) GitHub
10 15 (2.27%) Azure Sentinel
11 12 (1.81%) PaaS
12 9 (1.36%) Amazon EC2
12 9 (1.36%) OneDrive
13 8 (1.21%) GitHub Actions
14 7 (1.06%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 7 (1.06%) Datadog
14 7 (1.06%) Nutanix
14 7 (1.06%) SaaS
15 6 (0.91%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 213 (32.18%) DNS
2 130 (19.64%) DHCP
3 109 (16.47%) Firewall
4 59 (8.91%) VPN
5 56 (8.46%) TCP/IP
6 44 (6.65%) WAN
7 43 (6.50%) SAN
8 41 (6.19%) LAN
9 34 (5.14%) VLAN
10 24 (3.63%) SSL
11 22 (3.32%) Network Security
12 17 (2.57%) Wi-Fi
13 16 (2.42%) NAS
13 16 (2.42%) SSH
14 14 (2.11%) VoIP
15 13 (1.96%) SMTP
16 10 (1.51%) FTP
17 8 (1.21%) Skype
17 8 (1.21%) VSAN
17 8 (1.21%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 149 (22.51%) SQL Server
2 24 (3.63%) Power BI
3 14 (2.11%) Oracle Database
4 13 (1.96%) Amazon RDS
5 12 (1.81%) Elasticsearch
5 12 (1.81%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (1.81%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 8 (1.21%) MySQL
6 8 (1.21%) NoSQL
7 6 (0.91%) Db2
8 5 (0.76%) Big Data
9 4 (0.60%) GIS
9 4 (0.60%) Oracle BI EE
10 3 (0.45%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.45%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.45%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.45%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 2 (0.30%) SQL Server Analysis Services
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle Database 11g
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 12 (1.81%) Git
2 10 (1.51%) Jenkins
3 8 (1.21%) JIRA
4 5 (0.76%) GitLab
4 5 (0.76%) Visual Studio
5 3 (0.45%) MSI
5 3 (0.45%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.30%) AdminStudio
6 2 (0.30%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.30%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.30%) InstallShield
6 2 (0.30%) Octopus Deploy
6 2 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.15%) eggPlant
7 1 (0.15%) MSBuild
7 1 (0.15%) Postman
7 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.15%) Subversion
7 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.15%) VSS/SourceSafe
General
1 156 (23.56%) Social Skills
2 71 (10.73%) Analytical Skills
3 70 (10.57%) Finance
4 60 (9.06%) Public Sector
5 33 (4.98%) Banking
5 33 (4.98%) Documentation Skills
6 18 (2.72%) Military
7 15 (2.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 12 (1.81%) Law
9 10 (1.51%) Legal
9 10 (1.51%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (1.36%) Telecoms
11 7 (1.06%) Manufacturing
12 6 (0.91%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.76%) Games
13 5 (0.76%) Local Government
13 5 (0.76%) Retail
14 4 (0.60%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.60%) Marketing
14 4 (0.60%) Police
Job Titles
1 174 (26.28%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 66 (9.97%) Senior
3 52 (7.85%) Support Engineer
4 49 (7.40%) Cloud Engineer
5 40 (6.04%) 3rd Line Engineer
6 39 (5.89%) Lead
7 32 (4.83%) Architect
8 30 (4.53%) Administrator
9 29 (4.38%) IT Engineer
10 26 (3.93%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 25 (3.78%) IT Support
12 24 (3.63%) Azure Engineer
12 24 (3.63%) Server Engineer
13 23 (3.47%) Analyst
13 23 (3.47%) Infrastructure Support
13 23 (3.47%) Windows Engineer
14 21 (3.17%) Storage Engineer
15 20 (3.02%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
15 20 (3.02%) Systems Administrator
16 18 (2.72%) Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (4.68%) .NET
2 25 (3.78%) .NET Framework
3 23 (3.47%) REST
4 11 (1.66%) ARM Templates
5 9 (1.36%) Elastic Stack
5 9 (1.36%) JSON
6 7 (1.06%) RabbitMQ
7 6 (0.91%) Software Packaging
7 6 (0.91%) YAML
8 5 (0.76%) LDAP
8 5 (0.76%) OAuth
8 5 (0.76%) SailPoint
9 4 (0.60%) ADO
9 4 (0.60%) Azure Blueprints
9 4 (0.60%) EJB
9 4 (0.60%) Spring
10 3 (0.45%) ASP.NET
10 3 (0.45%) Jakarta EE
10 3 (0.45%) Middleware
10 3 (0.45%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 70 (10.57%) PKI
2 49 (7.40%) Onboarding
3 45 (6.80%) Clustering
4 42 (6.34%) Hybrid Cloud
5 37 (5.59%) Data Centre
6 35 (5.29%) Management Information System
7 30 (4.53%) Replication
8 19 (2.87%) Legacy Systems
9 13 (1.96%) Enterprise Software
9 13 (1.96%) Linux Command Line
9 13 (1.96%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.81%) Security Posture
10 12 (1.81%) Virtual Team
11 11 (1.66%) Driving Licence
11 11 (1.66%) Enterprise Storage
12 9 (1.36%) Cloud Native
12 9 (1.36%) Smartcard
13 8 (1.21%) Operational Technology
14 7 (1.06%) Product Ownership
14 7 (1.06%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 662 (100.00%) Windows
2 188 (28.40%) Linux
3 53 (8.01%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 53 (8.01%) Windows Server 2019
4 41 (6.19%) Windows 10
5 36 (5.44%) Unix
6 35 (5.29%) Windows Server 2016
7 28 (4.23%) Ubuntu
8 25 (3.78%) Windows Server 2012
9 18 (2.72%) CentOS
10 9 (1.36%) Mac OS
10 9 (1.36%) Rocky
10 9 (1.36%) VMS
10 9 (1.36%) Windows Server 2008
11 8 (1.21%) AIX
11 8 (1.21%) Solaris
12 7 (1.06%) Windows Server 2003
13 4 (0.60%) Alpine Linux
14 2 (0.30%) Android
14 2 (0.30%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 214 (32.33%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 129 (19.49%) Problem-Solving
3 102 (15.41%) ITIL
4 87 (13.14%) Disaster Recovery
5 81 (12.24%) High Availability
6 76 (11.48%) Migration
7 67 (10.12%) Change Management
7 67 (10.12%) ITSM
8 64 (9.67%) DevOps
9 62 (9.37%) Infrastructure as Code
10 58 (8.76%) Continuous Improvement
11 52 (7.85%) Agile
12 51 (7.70%) Project Delivery
12 51 (7.70%) Service Management
13 50 (7.55%) Root Cause Analysis
13 50 (7.55%) Runbook
14 49 (7.40%) CI/CD
14 49 (7.40%) Vulnerability Remediation
15 47 (7.10%) Cybersecurity
16 44 (6.65%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 249 (37.61%) PowerShell
2 105 (15.86%) SQL
3 64 (9.67%) Python
4 50 (7.55%) Bash
5 26 (3.93%) C#
6 25 (3.78%) PL/SQL
6 25 (3.78%) T-SQL
7 20 (3.02%) Bicep
8 17 (2.57%) JavaScript
9 12 (1.81%) Java
10 3 (0.45%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.30%) JCL
11 2 (0.30%) Korn
11 2 (0.30%) REXX
12 1 (0.15%) CodeQL
12 1 (0.15%) Groovy
12 1 (0.15%) Ladder Logic
12 1 (0.15%) Perl
12 1 (0.15%) VB
Qualifications
1 271 (40.94%) Security Cleared
2 138 (20.85%) SC Cleared
3 135 (20.39%) DV Cleared
4 72 (10.88%) Degree
5 43 (6.50%) Microsoft Certification
6 22 (3.32%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 19 (2.87%) MCSE
8 17 (2.57%) Azure Certification
9 16 (2.42%) Cisco Certification
10 13 (1.96%) MCSA
11 12 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.51%) CCNA
12 10 (1.51%) VCAP
13 9 (1.36%) CISSP
14 8 (1.21%) CCNP
15 7 (1.06%) AWS Certification
15 7 (1.06%) CISM
16 6 (0.91%) ITIL Certification
16 6 (0.91%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 4 (0.60%) RHCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (5.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 27 (4.08%) NIST
2 27 (4.08%) QA
3 21 (3.17%) SLA
4 12 (1.81%) Cyber Essentials
5 8 (1.21%) GDPR
6 5 (0.76%) GxP
6 5 (0.76%) SOC 2
7 4 (0.60%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 3 (0.45%) NCSC
9 2 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.30%) Government Security Classifications
9 2 (0.30%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.30%) NIST 800
9 2 (0.30%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.15%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.15%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 373 (56.34%) Active Directory
2 224 (33.84%) VMware Infrastructure
3 106 (16.01%) Hyper-V
4 89 (13.44%) VMware ESXi
5 72 (10.88%) vSphere
6 51 (7.70%) Virtual Machines
7 39 (5.89%) VMware NSX
8 37 (5.59%) Docker
9 28 (4.23%) Virtual Desktop
10 16 (2.42%) vCloud
11 11 (1.66%) KVM
12 10 (1.51%) Microsoft App-V
13 9 (1.36%) BitLocker
14 6 (0.91%) Virtual Servers
14 6 (0.91%) VMware Workstation
14 6 (0.91%) XenApp
15 5 (0.76%) Terminal Services
15 5 (0.76%) XenDesktop
16 4 (0.60%) Firmware
16 4 (0.60%) UAG
Systems Management
1 91 (13.75%) Ansible
2 83 (12.54%) vCenter Server
3 77 (11.63%) Microsoft Intune
4 68 (10.27%) Terraform
5 62 (9.37%) SCCM
6 50 (7.55%) SCOM
7 41 (6.19%) Kubernetes
8 28 (4.23%) WSUS
9 13 (1.96%) vMotion
10 12 (1.81%) Avamar
10 12 (1.81%) Nessus
11 11 (1.66%) Grafana
11 11 (1.66%) Puppet
12 9 (1.36%) NetBackup
12 9 (1.36%) Prometheus
13 8 (1.21%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 7 (1.06%) Failover Clustering
14 7 (1.06%) Jamf Pro
14 7 (1.06%) Single Sign-On
14 7 (1.06%) WMI
Vendors
1 303 (45.77%) Microsoft
2 284 (42.90%) VMware
3 64 (9.67%) Cisco
3 64 (9.67%) Citrix
4 58 (8.76%) Oracle
5 47 (7.10%) ServiceNow
6 30 (4.53%) Red Hat
7 29 (4.38%) BeyondTrust
7 29 (4.38%) CyberArk
8 27 (4.08%) Dell
9 22 (3.32%) NetApp
10 21 (3.17%) Tenable
10 21 (3.17%) Veeam
11 18 (2.72%) Remedy
12 17 (2.57%) HP
12 17 (2.57%) Splunk
13 16 (2.42%) BMC
13 16 (2.42%) CrowdStrike
14 15 (2.27%) IBM
15 14 (2.11%) Juniper
344 Windows Server jobs in England