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 12 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
12 Jun 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 130 90
Rank change year-on-year -54 -40 -7
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 612 541 890
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.43% 2.21% 2.38%
As % of the Operating Systems category 14.96% 15.51% 17.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 420 386 660
10th Percentile £263 £345 £213
25th Percentile £408 £425 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £482 £540 £497
Median % change year-on-year -10.83% +8.60% -0.55%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £594
90th Percentile £668 £688 £679
UK median daily rate £478 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -9.05% +10.53% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 5 17
10th Percentile £19.25 £14.32 £14.60
25th Percentile £20.91 £15.33 £16.00
Median hourly rate £26.22 £18.75 £38.50
Median % change year-on-year +39.84% -51.30% +14.07%
75th Percentile £65.96 £73.75 £61.60
90th Percentile £74.00 £76.00 £65.46
UK median hourly rate £24.00 £17.75 £38.50
% change year-on-year +35.21% -53.90% +29.85%

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 4,091 3,487 5,165
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.59% 14.22% 13.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,661 2,359 3,473
10th Percentile £188 £200 £188
25th Percentile £313 £313 £306
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £465 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.15% -2.11% -5.00%
75th Percentile £570 £588 £588
90th Percentile £650 £689 £700
UK median daily rate £460 £465 £475
% change year-on-year -1.08% -2.11% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 283 172 373
10th Percentile £15.79 £15.12 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.18 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.50 £18.87 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +72.23% -16.13% -48.57%
75th Percentile £65.00 £49.56 £63.75
90th Percentile £71.32 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £29.48 £21.59 £22.79
% change year-on-year +36.54% -5.27% -48.33%

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 12 June 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 12 June 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 12 June 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 -47 187 £488 -7.14% 46
South East -39 146 £525 -2.14% 95
North of England -83 86 £460 -8.00% 65
Midlands -23 72 £450 - 37
East of England -10 60 £450 -18.18% 28
South West -39 60 £518 -10.00% 43
North West -37 56 £448 +1.53% 39
West Midlands -37 45 £438 +2.94% 22
Yorkshire -57 28 £625 +16.28% 18
East Midlands -5 25 £450 -10.00% 15
North East -38 2 £330 -34.00% 9
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 72 (11.76%) Microsoft Exchange
2 30 (4.90%) IIS
3 28 (4.58%) SharePoint
4 10 (1.63%) nginx
4 10 (1.63%) Tomcat
5 7 (1.14%) Apache
6 3 (0.49%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.33%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.33%) SAS
7 2 (0.33%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.16%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.16%) Confluence
8 1 (0.16%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.16%) WebSphere
Applications
1 10 (1.63%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.33%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 14 (2.29%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.49%) Veritas eDiscovery
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle FAH
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 237 (38.73%) Azure
2 104 (16.99%) Microsoft 365
3 101 (16.50%) Entra ID
4 71 (11.60%) AWS
5 26 (4.25%) IaaS
6 20 (3.27%) Azure Monitor
7 17 (2.78%) GCP
7 17 (2.78%) Power Platform
8 15 (2.45%) PaaS
9 12 (1.96%) GitHub
9 12 (1.96%) Nutanix
10 9 (1.47%) SaaS
11 8 (1.31%) Azure DevOps
11 8 (1.31%) Azure Sentinel
12 7 (1.14%) Amazon EC2
12 7 (1.14%) GitHub Actions
13 6 (0.98%) Cohesity
14 5 (0.82%) Azure Logic Apps
14 5 (0.82%) Azure Stack
14 5 (0.82%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 203 (33.17%) DNS
2 142 (23.20%) DHCP
3 97 (15.85%) Firewall
4 51 (8.33%) VPN
5 45 (7.35%) WAN
6 39 (6.37%) TCP/IP
7 37 (6.05%) LAN
8 24 (3.92%) Network Security
9 23 (3.76%) SAN
10 17 (2.78%) VLAN
11 15 (2.45%) SMTP
11 15 (2.45%) SSL
12 14 (2.29%) FTP
12 14 (2.29%) Kerberos
13 12 (1.96%) VoIP
14 11 (1.80%) SSH
14 11 (1.80%) Wi-Fi
15 10 (1.63%) NAS
16 9 (1.47%) NetScaler
17 8 (1.31%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (20.10%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.78%) Power BI
3 13 (2.12%) Elasticsearch
4 11 (1.80%) Oracle Database
4 11 (1.80%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (1.47%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (1.47%) NoSQL
6 7 (1.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 6 (0.98%) Db2
8 4 (0.65%) Big Data
8 4 (0.65%) GIS
8 4 (0.65%) Oracle BI EE
8 4 (0.65%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.49%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.49%) MySQL
9 3 (0.49%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 2 (0.33%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 1 (0.16%) Data Warehouse
11 1 (0.16%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 11 (1.80%) JIRA
2 9 (1.47%) Visual Studio
3 6 (0.98%) Git
3 6 (0.98%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.82%) Robot Framework
5 4 (0.65%) GitLab
5 4 (0.65%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.49%) MSI
7 2 (0.33%) AdminStudio
7 2 (0.33%) InstallShield
8 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.16%) eggPlant
8 1 (0.16%) GoCD
8 1 (0.16%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.16%) Postman
General
1 120 (19.61%) Social Skills
2 62 (10.13%) Finance
3 59 (9.64%) Public Sector
4 48 (7.84%) Analytical Skills
5 25 (4.08%) Banking
6 24 (3.92%) Documentation Skills
7 17 (2.78%) Legal
8 15 (2.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (1.96%) Military
10 11 (1.80%) Law
11 8 (1.31%) Organisational Skills
12 6 (0.98%) Local Government
13 5 (0.82%) Marketing
13 5 (0.82%) Retail
14 4 (0.65%) Manufacturing
14 4 (0.65%) Police
15 3 (0.49%) Front Office
15 3 (0.49%) Telecoms
16 2 (0.33%) Pharmaceutical
17 1 (0.16%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 149 (24.35%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 45 (7.35%) Support Engineer
3 41 (6.70%) Senior
4 37 (6.05%) Analyst
5 36 (5.88%) Cloud Engineer
6 32 (5.23%) 3rd Line Engineer
6 32 (5.23%) Architect
7 31 (5.07%) Lead
8 30 (4.90%) Wintel Engineer
9 29 (4.74%) IT Support
10 26 (4.25%) Administrator
11 22 (3.59%) IT Engineer
12 20 (3.27%) Developer
12 20 (3.27%) Infrastructure Support
13 19 (3.10%) Windows Engineer
14 18 (2.94%) 3rd Line Support
14 18 (2.94%) Server Engineer
15 17 (2.78%) Azure Engineer
15 17 (2.78%) Systems Administrator
16 16 (2.61%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (4.90%) .NET
2 26 (4.25%) .NET Framework
3 19 (3.10%) LDAP
4 18 (2.94%) OAuth
5 17 (2.78%) REST
5 17 (2.78%) SAML
6 6 (0.98%) Elastic Stack
6 6 (0.98%) RabbitMQ
7 5 (0.82%) JSON
7 5 (0.82%) Keycloak
7 5 (0.82%) OAuth2
7 5 (0.82%) OpenID
7 5 (0.82%) Software Packaging
8 4 (0.65%) ADO
8 4 (0.65%) Azure Blueprints
8 4 (0.65%) EJB
8 4 (0.65%) Middleware
8 4 (0.65%) React
8 4 (0.65%) YAML
9 3 (0.49%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 58 (9.48%) PKI
2 42 (6.86%) Clustering
3 38 (6.21%) Replication
4 35 (5.72%) Onboarding
5 33 (5.39%) Data Centre
6 32 (5.23%) Hybrid Cloud
7 20 (3.27%) Legacy Systems
7 20 (3.27%) Management Information System
8 14 (2.29%) Self-Motivation
9 13 (2.12%) Linux Command Line
10 12 (1.96%) Enterprise Software
10 12 (1.96%) Enterprise Storage
11 10 (1.63%) Virtual Team
12 9 (1.47%) Cloud Native
12 9 (1.47%) Product Ownership
13 8 (1.31%) Driving Licence
13 8 (1.31%) NHS
13 8 (1.31%) Security Posture
14 7 (1.14%) Private Cloud
14 7 (1.14%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 612 (100.00%) Windows
2 166 (27.12%) Linux
3 57 (9.31%) Windows Server 2019
4 44 (7.19%) Windows Server 2016
5 41 (6.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 41 (6.70%) Windows 10
6 32 (5.23%) Windows Server 2012
7 31 (5.07%) Unix
8 22 (3.59%) Ubuntu
9 10 (1.63%) Windows Server 2003
10 9 (1.47%) AIX
10 9 (1.47%) CentOS
10 9 (1.47%) VMS
10 9 (1.47%) Windows Server 2008
11 8 (1.31%) Solaris
12 4 (0.65%) Alpine Linux
12 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
13 3 (0.49%) Android
13 3 (0.49%) Windows 7
14 2 (0.33%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 180 (29.41%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 103 (16.83%) Disaster Recovery
3 101 (16.50%) High Availability
4 100 (16.34%) Problem-Solving
5 84 (13.73%) ITIL
6 71 (11.60%) Migration
7 58 (9.48%) Change Management
7 58 (9.48%) ITSM
8 48 (7.84%) Agile
8 48 (7.84%) DevOps
8 48 (7.84%) Project Delivery
9 46 (7.52%) Infrastructure as Code
10 43 (7.03%) Root Cause Analysis
11 40 (6.54%) Runbook
11 40 (6.54%) Technical Leadership
12 38 (6.21%) Cybersecurity
12 38 (6.21%) Service Management
13 37 (6.05%) Vulnerability Remediation
14 35 (5.72%) Identity Access Management
15 34 (5.56%) Patch Management
Programming Languages
1 227 (37.09%) PowerShell
2 88 (14.38%) SQL
3 63 (10.29%) Python
4 31 (5.07%) Bash
5 29 (4.74%) C#
6 25 (4.08%) PL/SQL
7 19 (3.10%) T-SQL
8 18 (2.94%) JavaScript
9 13 (2.12%) Java
10 8 (1.31%) Bicep
11 3 (0.49%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.33%) JCL
12 2 (0.33%) REXX
13 1 (0.16%) Groovy
13 1 (0.16%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.16%) Perl
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.16%) VB
Qualifications
1 247 (40.36%) Security Cleared
2 146 (23.86%) SC Cleared
3 100 (16.34%) DV Cleared
4 69 (11.27%) Degree
5 49 (8.01%) Microsoft Certification
6 28 (4.58%) MCSE
6 28 (4.58%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 20 (3.27%) MCSA
8 18 (2.94%) VCAP
9 14 (2.29%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.96%) CISSP
11 11 (1.80%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.63%) Azure Certification
12 10 (1.63%) CISM
13 9 (1.47%) CCNA
14 7 (1.14%) CCNP
15 6 (0.98%) AWS Certification
16 5 (0.82%) ITIL Certification
17 4 (0.65%) MCITP
17 4 (0.65%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (6.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 28 (4.58%) QA
3 25 (4.08%) NIST
4 21 (3.43%) GDPR
5 14 (2.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 14 (2.29%) SLA
6 12 (1.96%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (0.82%) SOC 2
8 3 (0.49%) NCSC
9 2 (0.33%) Government Security Classifications
9 2 (0.33%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.33%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 2 (0.33%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.16%) Basel III
10 1 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.16%) GAAP
10 1 (0.16%) IFRS
10 1 (0.16%) IFRS 9
10 1 (0.16%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.16%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 355 (58.01%) Active Directory
2 218 (35.62%) VMware Infrastructure
3 100 (16.34%) Hyper-V
4 77 (12.58%) VMware ESXi
5 76 (12.42%) vSphere
6 54 (8.82%) Virtual Machines
7 36 (5.88%) Docker
8 34 (5.56%) VMware NSX
9 13 (2.12%) Virtual Desktop
10 11 (1.80%) KVM
10 11 (1.80%) Microsoft App-V
11 10 (1.63%) BitLocker
11 10 (1.63%) vCloud
12 6 (0.98%) Virtual Servers
12 6 (0.98%) VMware Workstation
12 6 (0.98%) XenApp
13 5 (0.82%) Terminal Services
13 5 (0.82%) XenDesktop
14 4 (0.65%) Oracle RAC
15 3 (0.49%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 82 (13.40%) Ansible
2 71 (11.60%) vCenter Server
3 66 (10.78%) Microsoft Intune
4 58 (9.48%) SCCM
5 50 (8.17%) Terraform
6 40 (6.54%) Kubernetes
7 36 (5.88%) SCOM
8 31 (5.07%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 27 (4.41%) Single Sign-On
10 24 (3.92%) WSUS
11 14 (2.29%) vMotion
12 11 (1.80%) Puppet
13 10 (1.63%) Nessus
14 8 (1.31%) Avamar
15 6 (0.98%) Grafana
15 6 (0.98%) IBM BigFix
15 6 (0.98%) Oracle RMAN
15 6 (0.98%) Prometheus
15 6 (0.98%) VxRail
16 4 (0.65%) Backup Exec
Vendors
1 270 (44.12%) Microsoft
2 262 (42.81%) VMware
3 65 (10.62%) Cisco
4 63 (10.29%) Citrix
5 55 (8.99%) Oracle
6 43 (7.03%) ServiceNow
7 27 (4.41%) Dell
8 24 (3.92%) Red Hat
9 20 (3.27%) Okta
10 18 (2.94%) BeyondTrust
10 18 (2.94%) Tenable
11 16 (2.61%) IBM
12 14 (2.29%) CyberArk
12 14 (2.29%) Remedy
12 14 (2.29%) Veeam
13 13 (2.12%) BMC
13 13 (2.12%) HP
13 13 (2.12%) NetApp
13 13 (2.12%) Qualys
13 13 (2.12%) Thales
286 Windows Server jobs in England