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 1 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
1 May 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 189 129 86
Rank change year-on-year -60 -43 +2
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 575 529 907
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.42% 2.17% 2.44%
As % of the Operating Systems category 14.22% 15.50% 17.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 415 367 654
10th Percentile £257 £317 £210
25th Percentile £407 £419 £314
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £540 £468
Median % change year-on-year -9.26% +15.51% -6.50%
75th Percentile £575 £607 £594
90th Percentile £677 £690 £697
UK median daily rate £488 £525 £465
% change year-on-year -7.14% +12.90% -7.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 3 21
10th Percentile £19.89 £15.89 £15.76
25th Percentile £21.25 £16.73 £16.25
Median hourly rate £27.88 £18.75 £38.50
Median % change year-on-year +48.69% -51.30% +28.33%
75th Percentile £67.84 £46.56 £61.60
90th Percentile £74.00 £62.88 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £27.16 £17.75 £38.50
% change year-on-year +53.01% -53.90% +31.40%

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 4,045 3,413 5,072
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.02% 14.02% 13.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,684 2,319 3,461
10th Percentile £185 £200 £181
25th Percentile £310 £313 £289
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £463
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +2.70% -9.76%
75th Percentile £571 £600 £588
90th Percentile £663 £700 £700
UK median daily rate £450 £475 £469
% change year-on-year -5.26% +1.28% -7.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 275 151 369
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.26 £12.75
25th Percentile £20.50 £17.44 £15.17
Median hourly rate £47.50 £24.18 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +96.44% +9.91% -42.11%
75th Percentile £67.84 £64.38 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.87 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £24.18 £22.00
% change year-on-year +75.77% +9.91% -44.02%

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 1 May 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 1 May 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 1 May 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 -58 179 £500 -4.76% 63
South East -33 121 £514 -6.55% 101
North of England -79 85 £391 -21.75% 58
Midlands -32 71 £450 +12.50% 32
North West -42 64 £358 -19.55% 25
East of England +9 62 £450 - 31
South West -43 55 £525 -8.70% 41
West Midlands -37 44 £444 +18.33% 12
East Midlands -13 25 £450 -10.00% 20
Yorkshire -66 19 £463 -15.91% 25
North East -21 2 £330 -45.00% 10
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 74 (12.87%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (5.39%) IIS
3 19 (3.30%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.04%) Apache
4 6 (1.04%) nginx
4 6 (1.04%) Tomcat
5 5 (0.87%) SAS
6 3 (0.52%) Confluence
6 3 (0.52%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.35%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.35%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.35%) WordPress
8 1 (0.17%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.17%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.17%) WebSphere
Applications
1 17 (2.96%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 8 (1.39%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.52%) Veritas eDiscovery
3 1 (0.17%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.17%) Oracle FAH
3 1 (0.17%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.17%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.17%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 212 (36.87%) Azure
2 107 (18.61%) Microsoft 365
3 92 (16.00%) Entra ID
4 53 (9.22%) AWS
5 21 (3.65%) IaaS
6 19 (3.30%) Azure Monitor
7 15 (2.61%) PaaS
8 12 (2.09%) Nutanix
8 12 (2.09%) Power Platform
9 10 (1.74%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.74%) GitHub
10 9 (1.57%) SaaS
11 7 (1.22%) Amazon EC2
11 7 (1.22%) GCP
12 5 (0.87%) Cohesity
12 5 (0.87%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (0.87%) Mimecast
12 5 (0.87%) OCI
13 4 (0.70%) Azure AKS
13 4 (0.70%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 194 (33.74%) DNS
2 137 (23.83%) DHCP
3 110 (19.13%) Firewall
4 57 (9.91%) VPN
5 47 (8.17%) WAN
6 45 (7.83%) TCP/IP
7 41 (7.13%) LAN
8 26 (4.52%) Network Security
9 19 (3.30%) VLAN
10 18 (3.13%) SAN
11 17 (2.96%) FTP
12 15 (2.61%) Kerberos
12 15 (2.61%) SMTP
12 15 (2.61%) Wi-Fi
13 13 (2.26%) SSL
14 12 (2.09%) VoIP
15 9 (1.57%) IPv4
15 9 (1.57%) NetScaler
15 9 (1.57%) VSAN
16 8 (1.39%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 100 (17.39%) SQL Server
2 14 (2.43%) Oracle Database
3 12 (2.09%) Power BI
4 11 (1.91%) Elasticsearch
5 7 (1.22%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.04%) DB2
6 6 (1.04%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 5 (0.87%) PostgreSQL
8 4 (0.70%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.52%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.52%) Oracle BI EE
10 2 (0.35%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.35%) Big Data
10 2 (0.35%) GIS
10 2 (0.35%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 1 (0.17%) Data Warehouse
11 1 (0.17%) Oracle Database 12c
11 1 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 12 (2.09%) JIRA
2 11 (1.91%) Visual Studio
3 8 (1.39%) Git
3 8 (1.39%) Jenkins
4 7 (1.22%) GitLab
5 6 (1.04%) Robot Framework
6 5 (0.87%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.52%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.35%) AdminStudio
8 2 (0.35%) InstallShield
8 2 (0.35%) MSI
8 2 (0.35%) Octopus Deploy
9 1 (0.17%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.17%) eggPlant
9 1 (0.17%) GoCD
9 1 (0.17%) Postman
9 1 (0.17%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.17%) TeamCity
General
1 135 (23.48%) Social Skills
2 65 (11.30%) Finance
3 60 (10.43%) Public Sector
4 44 (7.65%) Analytical Skills
5 31 (5.39%) Documentation Skills
6 24 (4.17%) Banking
7 18 (3.13%) Legal
8 13 (2.26%) Military
9 10 (1.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.22%) Law
10 7 (1.22%) Organisational Skills
11 6 (1.04%) Local Government
12 5 (0.87%) Retail
12 5 (0.87%) Telecoms
13 4 (0.70%) Front Office
13 4 (0.70%) Police
14 3 (0.52%) Aerospace
14 3 (0.52%) Financial Institution
14 3 (0.52%) Marketing
15 2 (0.35%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 126 (21.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 48 (8.35%) Analyst
3 38 (6.61%) Senior
4 34 (5.91%) IT Support
5 31 (5.39%) Architect
6 30 (5.22%) Support Engineer
7 29 (5.04%) Wintel Engineer
8 27 (4.70%) Windows Engineer
9 24 (4.17%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 24 (4.17%) Developer
10 22 (3.83%) Lead
11 21 (3.65%) Server Engineer
12 20 (3.48%) IT Engineer
13 19 (3.30%) C# Developer
13 19 (3.30%) Platform Engineer
13 19 (3.30%) Support Analyst
14 17 (2.96%) 3rd Line Support
15 15 (2.61%) Administrator
15 15 (2.61%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 15 (2.61%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (5.74%) .NET
2 28 (4.87%) .NET Framework
3 21 (3.65%) OAuth
4 20 (3.48%) REST
4 20 (3.48%) SAML
5 18 (3.13%) LDAP
6 7 (1.22%) OAuth2
6 7 (1.22%) OpenID
7 5 (0.87%) JSON
7 5 (0.87%) Middleware
7 5 (0.87%) React
8 4 (0.70%) ADO
8 4 (0.70%) AngularJS
8 4 (0.70%) ISPF
8 4 (0.70%) Keycloak
9 3 (0.52%) EJB
9 3 (0.52%) Software Packaging
9 3 (0.52%) Vue
9 3 (0.52%) WinForms
10 2 (0.35%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 44 (7.65%) Replication
2 43 (7.48%) PKI
3 40 (6.96%) Clustering
4 36 (6.26%) Data Centre
5 32 (5.57%) Onboarding
6 25 (4.35%) Hybrid Cloud
7 20 (3.48%) Legacy Systems
8 18 (3.13%) Self-Motivation
9 17 (2.96%) Enterprise Software
10 13 (2.26%) Enterprise Storage
11 11 (1.91%) Management Information System
12 9 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
12 9 (1.57%) Product Ownership
13 8 (1.39%) Driving Licence
13 8 (1.39%) Legacy Code
13 8 (1.39%) Private Cloud
14 7 (1.22%) NHS
14 7 (1.22%) Virtual Team
15 6 (1.04%) Linux Command Line
15 6 (1.04%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 575 (100.00%) Windows
2 147 (25.57%) Linux
3 50 (8.70%) Windows Server 2016
3 50 (8.70%) Windows Server 2019
4 36 (6.26%) Windows 10
5 32 (5.57%) Windows Server 2012
6 30 (5.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 23 (4.00%) Unix
8 16 (2.78%) Ubuntu
9 10 (1.74%) VMS
9 10 (1.74%) Windows Server 2003
10 8 (1.39%) AIX
11 7 (1.22%) CentOS
11 7 (1.22%) Solaris
11 7 (1.22%) Windows Server 2008
12 6 (1.04%) Android
13 4 (0.70%) zOS
14 3 (0.52%) Mac OS
15 2 (0.35%) Apple iOS
15 2 (0.35%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 161 (28.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 99 (17.22%) Disaster Recovery
3 97 (16.87%) ITIL
4 92 (16.00%) High Availability
5 79 (13.74%) Problem-Solving
6 64 (11.13%) Agile
6 64 (11.13%) Migration
7 52 (9.04%) Change Management
8 46 (8.00%) Project Delivery
9 40 (6.96%) ITSM
10 39 (6.78%) DevOps
11 38 (6.61%) Service Management
12 34 (5.91%) Infrastructure as Code
13 32 (5.57%) Identity Access Management
14 31 (5.39%) Business Intelligence
14 31 (5.39%) Cybersecurity
14 31 (5.39%) Runbook
15 30 (5.22%) CI/CD
16 29 (5.04%) Continuous Improvement
16 29 (5.04%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 213 (37.04%) PowerShell
2 78 (13.57%) SQL
3 46 (8.00%) Python
4 33 (5.74%) C#
5 27 (4.70%) PL/SQL
6 25 (4.35%) Bash
7 22 (3.83%) T-SQL
8 14 (2.43%) JavaScript
9 11 (1.91%) Java
10 4 (0.70%) Bicep
10 4 (0.70%) JCL
10 4 (0.70%) REXX
11 3 (0.52%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.35%) Delphi
12 2 (0.35%) Perl
12 2 (0.35%) PHP
13 1 (0.17%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.17%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.17%) VB
Qualifications
1 228 (39.65%) Security Cleared
2 153 (26.61%) SC Cleared
3 79 (13.74%) DV Cleared
4 68 (11.83%) Degree
5 51 (8.87%) Microsoft Certification
6 27 (4.70%) MCSE
7 25 (4.35%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 18 (3.13%) MCSA
9 16 (2.78%) VCAP
10 14 (2.43%) Azure Certification
11 13 (2.26%) Cisco Certification
12 10 (1.74%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.74%) CCNA
13 7 (1.22%) CISSP
14 6 (1.04%) CCNP
15 5 (0.87%) AWS Certification
15 5 (0.87%) CISM
15 5 (0.87%) CompTIA Security+
15 5 (0.87%) ITIL Certification
16 4 (0.70%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (5.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 29 (5.04%) QA
3 27 (4.70%) GDPR
4 20 (3.48%) NIST
5 15 (2.61%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 12 (2.09%) Cyber Essentials
7 10 (1.74%) SLA
8 4 (0.70%) NIST 800
9 3 (0.52%) NCSC
10 2 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.17%) Basel III
11 1 (0.17%) DICOM
11 1 (0.17%) GAAP
11 1 (0.17%) HL7
11 1 (0.17%) IFRS
11 1 (0.17%) IFRS 17
11 1 (0.17%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.17%) JSP 440
System Software
1 333 (57.91%) Active Directory
2 194 (33.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 88 (15.30%) Hyper-V
4 61 (10.61%) vSphere
5 51 (8.87%) VMware ESXi
6 41 (7.13%) Virtual Machines
7 33 (5.74%) Docker
8 23 (4.00%) VMware NSX
9 12 (2.09%) KVM
10 11 (1.91%) Virtual Desktop
11 10 (1.74%) Microsoft App-V
12 9 (1.57%) BitLocker
13 7 (1.22%) XenApp
14 5 (0.87%) Terminal Services
14 5 (0.87%) XenDesktop
15 4 (0.70%) Job Entry Subsystem
16 3 (0.52%) Firmware
16 3 (0.52%) NFS
16 3 (0.52%) Oracle RAC
16 3 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 75 (13.04%) Microsoft Intune
2 74 (12.87%) Ansible
3 73 (12.70%) SCCM
4 51 (8.87%) vCenter Server
5 45 (7.83%) Terraform
6 35 (6.09%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 34 (5.91%) Single Sign-On
8 29 (5.04%) Kubernetes
9 25 (4.35%) WSUS
10 22 (3.83%) SCOM
11 11 (1.91%) vMotion
12 10 (1.74%) Puppet
13 8 (1.39%) Nessus
14 6 (1.04%) IBM BigFix
15 5 (0.87%) Control-M
15 5 (0.87%) FortiGate
15 5 (0.87%) VxRail
16 4 (0.70%) Backup Exec
16 4 (0.70%) Oracle RMAN
16 4 (0.70%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 246 (42.78%) Microsoft
2 235 (40.87%) VMware
3 70 (12.17%) Citrix
4 60 (10.43%) Cisco
5 52 (9.04%) Oracle
6 35 (6.09%) ServiceNow
7 23 (4.00%) Veeam
8 21 (3.65%) Dell
9 19 (3.30%) Red Hat
10 16 (2.78%) Okta
10 16 (2.78%) SolarWinds
11 15 (2.61%) BeyondTrust
11 15 (2.61%) CyberArk
11 15 (2.61%) NetApp
12 14 (2.43%) Palo Alto
13 13 (2.26%) HP
13 13 (2.26%) IBM
14 12 (2.09%) BMC
15 11 (1.91%) Tenable
16 8 (1.39%) F5
294 Windows Server jobs in England