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 18 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
18 Aug 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 168 102
Rank change year-on-year -5 -66 -24
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 732 451 763
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.60% 1.63% 2.30%
As % of the Operating Systems category 16.42% 12.22% 16.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 490 311 566
10th Percentile £261 £305 £250
25th Percentile £375 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.57% +5.00% +2.56%
75th Percentile £570 £600 £591
90th Percentile £668 £660 £675
UK median daily rate £488 £525 £499
% change year-on-year -7.14% +5.21% +2.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 7 10
10th Percentile £16.25 £12.97 £33.60
25th Percentile £19.25 £13.31 £40.06
Median hourly rate £52.50 £15.33 £58.30
Median % change year-on-year +242.47% -73.70% +98.98%
75th Percentile £70.50 £31.39 £70.86
90th Percentile £74.00 £50.66 £80.20
UK median hourly rate £38.72 £17.50 £58.30
% change year-on-year +121.26% -69.98% +98.98%

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 4,457 3,690 4,706
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.74% 13.36% 14.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,872 2,436 3,131
10th Percentile £190 £190 £200
25th Percentile £313 £306 £338
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £472 £450 £490
Median % change year-on-year +4.94% -8.16% -2.00%
75th Percentile £575 £586 £588
90th Percentile £675 £682 £688
UK median daily rate £475 £461 £475
% change year-on-year +2.98% -2.89% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 304 235 288
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.50 £12.41
25th Percentile £19.25 £18.13 £16.77
Median hourly rate £34.68 £23.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +50.76% -29.23% -5.80%
75th Percentile £67.25 £58.88 £67.63
90th Percentile £74.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £24.50 £27.50
% change year-on-year +6.12% -10.91% -30.56%

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 18 August 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 18 August 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 18 August 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 -5 222 £475 -8.21% 53
South East -10 198 £515 -6.36% 111
North of England -38 115 £472 +5.59% 75
Midlands -17 69 £434 -17.38% 45
East of England -9 63 £450 -18.18% 37
North West -25 62 £450 +25.00% 40
South West -27 61 £490 -10.91% 36
Yorkshire -28 44 £510 +14.09% 21
West Midlands -32 41 £428 -18.57% 31
East Midlands +1 26 £450 - 14
North East -33 9 £200 -60.00% 17
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 87 (11.89%) Microsoft Exchange
2 47 (6.42%) SharePoint
3 29 (3.96%) IIS
4 9 (1.23%) nginx
4 9 (1.23%) Tomcat
5 5 (0.68%) Apache
5 5 (0.68%) Confluence
6 4 (0.55%) FactoryTalk
7 3 (0.41%) CloudStack
7 3 (0.41%) Exchange Server 2013
7 3 (0.41%) WebLogic
8 2 (0.27%) SAS
8 2 (0.27%) Skype for Business
9 1 (0.14%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.14%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.14%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 18 (2.46%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (0.55%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 17 (2.32%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.27%) OpenText MBPM
2 2 (0.27%) Oracle BPM
Cloud Services
1 313 (42.76%) Azure
2 153 (20.90%) Microsoft 365
3 148 (20.22%) Entra ID
4 91 (12.43%) AWS
5 46 (6.28%) Azure Monitor
6 28 (3.83%) Azure DevOps
6 28 (3.83%) IaaS
7 26 (3.55%) GCP
8 25 (3.42%) Power Platform
9 19 (2.60%) GitHub
10 18 (2.46%) Azure Sentinel
11 15 (2.05%) OpenShift
12 12 (1.64%) OneDrive
12 12 (1.64%) PaaS
13 9 (1.23%) Amazon EC2
14 8 (1.09%) Datadog
14 8 (1.09%) Nutanix
15 7 (0.96%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 7 (0.96%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.96%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 244 (33.33%) DNS
2 156 (21.31%) DHCP
3 130 (17.76%) Firewall
4 70 (9.56%) VPN
5 61 (8.33%) TCP/IP
6 47 (6.42%) SAN
7 42 (5.74%) WAN
8 41 (5.60%) VLAN
9 39 (5.33%) LAN
10 23 (3.14%) Network Security
10 23 (3.14%) SSL
11 19 (2.60%) NAS
12 18 (2.46%) Wi-Fi
13 14 (1.91%) VoIP
14 12 (1.64%) NetScaler
15 11 (1.50%) SMTP
15 11 (1.50%) SSH
16 10 (1.37%) VSAN
16 10 (1.37%) Wireless
17 8 (1.09%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 147 (20.08%) SQL Server
2 25 (3.42%) Power BI
3 14 (1.91%) Oracle Database
4 13 (1.78%) Amazon RDS
4 13 (1.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 11 (1.50%) Elasticsearch
5 11 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.23%) MySQL
7 7 (0.96%) NoSQL
8 5 (0.68%) Big Data
9 4 (0.55%) GIS
9 4 (0.55%) Oracle BI EE
10 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.41%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.41%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.41%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Analysis Services
12 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database 11g
12 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database 12c
12 1 (0.14%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 14 (1.91%) Git
2 13 (1.78%) Jenkins
2 13 (1.78%) JIRA
3 7 (0.96%) GitLab
4 4 (0.55%) Visual Studio
5 3 (0.41%) Artifactory
5 3 (0.41%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.41%) MSI
5 3 (0.41%) Octopus Deploy
5 3 (0.41%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.27%) AdminStudio
6 2 (0.27%) InstallShield
6 2 (0.27%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.14%) eggPlant
7 1 (0.14%) MSBuild
7 1 (0.14%) Postman
7 1 (0.14%) Subversion
7 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.14%) VSS/SourceSafe
General
1 184 (25.14%) Social Skills
2 90 (12.30%) Analytical Skills
3 79 (10.79%) Finance
4 49 (6.69%) Public Sector
5 40 (5.46%) Banking
6 39 (5.33%) Documentation Skills
7 15 (2.05%) Law
8 14 (1.91%) Military
9 13 (1.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 11 (1.50%) Legal
10 11 (1.50%) Telecoms
11 10 (1.37%) Pharmaceutical
12 9 (1.23%) Manufacturing
12 9 (1.23%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.82%) Aerospace
13 6 (0.82%) Games
13 6 (0.82%) Local Government
14 5 (0.68%) Retail
15 4 (0.55%) Financial Institution
15 4 (0.55%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 189 (25.82%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 83 (11.34%) Senior
3 69 (9.43%) Support Engineer
4 53 (7.24%) Cloud Engineer
5 50 (6.83%) 3rd Line Engineer
6 47 (6.42%) Lead
7 39 (5.33%) IT Engineer
8 36 (4.92%) Architect
9 33 (4.51%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 31 (4.23%) Azure Engineer
10 31 (4.23%) IT Support
11 29 (3.96%) Server Engineer
12 28 (3.83%) Windows Engineer
13 27 (3.69%) Administrator
14 26 (3.55%) Infrastructure Support
15 24 (3.28%) Storage Engineer
16 23 (3.14%) Systems Engineer
17 22 (3.01%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
17 22 (3.01%) Wintel Engineer
18 21 (2.87%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.37%) .NET
2 24 (3.28%) .NET Framework
3 23 (3.14%) REST
4 16 (2.19%) ARM Templates
5 11 (1.50%) JSON
6 9 (1.23%) Elastic Stack
7 8 (1.09%) LDAP
8 7 (0.96%) OAuth
8 7 (0.96%) RabbitMQ
8 7 (0.96%) YAML
9 6 (0.82%) Software Packaging
10 5 (0.68%) Middleware
10 5 (0.68%) SailPoint
11 4 (0.55%) ADO
11 4 (0.55%) ASP.NET
11 4 (0.55%) Azure Blueprints
11 4 (0.55%) EJB
11 4 (0.55%) SAML
12 3 (0.41%) Jakarta EE
12 3 (0.41%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 75 (10.25%) PKI
2 59 (8.06%) Hybrid Cloud
3 53 (7.24%) Clustering
4 52 (7.10%) Onboarding
5 42 (5.74%) Data Centre
6 35 (4.78%) Management Information System
7 34 (4.64%) Replication
8 16 (2.19%) Driving Licence
8 16 (2.19%) Enterprise Storage
9 15 (2.05%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.91%) Virtual Team
11 13 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
12 11 (1.50%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.50%) Security Posture
13 10 (1.37%) Cloud Native
14 9 (1.23%) Smartcard
15 8 (1.09%) ARM Cortex
16 7 (0.96%) Fat Client
16 7 (0.96%) Operational Technology
16 7 (0.96%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 732 (100.00%) Windows
2 208 (28.42%) Linux
3 58 (7.92%) Windows Server 2019
4 57 (7.79%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 55 (7.51%) Windows 10
6 38 (5.19%) Windows Server 2016
7 32 (4.37%) Ubuntu
8 28 (3.83%) Windows Server 2012
9 26 (3.55%) Unix
10 25 (3.42%) CentOS
11 13 (1.78%) Mac OS
11 13 (1.78%) VMS
12 12 (1.64%) Windows Server 2008
13 10 (1.37%) Rocky
14 7 (0.96%) Solaris
14 7 (0.96%) Windows 7
15 5 (0.68%) Windows Server 2003
16 4 (0.55%) Alpine Linux
16 4 (0.55%) Android
17 3 (0.41%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 238 (32.51%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 176 (24.04%) Problem-Solving
3 140 (19.13%) ITIL
4 106 (14.48%) Disaster Recovery
5 88 (12.02%) Migration
6 87 (11.89%) High Availability
7 83 (11.34%) Change Management
7 83 (11.34%) ITSM
8 80 (10.93%) Infrastructure as Code
8 80 (10.93%) Root Cause Analysis
9 76 (10.38%) DevOps
10 75 (10.25%) Service Management
11 65 (8.88%) Continuous Improvement
12 62 (8.47%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 61 (8.33%) Project Delivery
14 60 (8.20%) Technical Leadership
15 58 (7.92%) Agile
16 54 (7.38%) CI/CD
17 53 (7.24%) Runbook
18 50 (6.83%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 289 (39.48%) PowerShell
2 102 (13.93%) SQL
3 75 (10.25%) Python
4 58 (7.92%) Bash
5 26 (3.55%) Bicep
5 26 (3.55%) T-SQL
6 25 (3.42%) C#
7 24 (3.28%) PL/SQL
8 15 (2.05%) JavaScript
9 12 (1.64%) Java
10 4 (0.55%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.41%) Korn
12 2 (0.27%) JCL
12 2 (0.27%) REXX
13 1 (0.14%) CodeQL
13 1 (0.14%) Groovy
13 1 (0.14%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.14%) VB
Qualifications
1 315 (43.03%) Security Cleared
2 171 (23.36%) SC Cleared
3 154 (21.04%) DV Cleared
4 66 (9.02%) Degree
5 52 (7.10%) Microsoft Certification
6 31 (4.23%) Azure Certification
7 26 (3.55%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 19 (2.60%) MCSE
9 17 (2.32%) Cisco Certification
10 14 (1.91%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 14 (1.91%) MCSA
11 11 (1.50%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.37%) CCNA
12 10 (1.37%) CISSP
12 10 (1.37%) VCAP
13 8 (1.09%) AWS Certification
13 8 (1.09%) ITIL Certification
14 7 (0.96%) CCNP
14 7 (0.96%) CISM
15 6 (0.82%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 32 (4.37%) SLA
3 27 (3.69%) QA
4 23 (3.14%) NIST
5 10 (1.37%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (1.09%) GDPR
6 8 (1.09%) NCSC
7 5 (0.68%) GxP
7 5 (0.68%) SOC 2
8 4 (0.55%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 3 (0.41%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.27%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.27%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.27%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.14%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.14%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 422 (57.65%) Active Directory
2 264 (36.07%) VMware Infrastructure
3 136 (18.58%) Hyper-V
4 101 (13.80%) VMware ESXi
5 83 (11.34%) vSphere
6 51 (6.97%) Virtual Machines
7 42 (5.74%) VMware NSX
8 40 (5.46%) Docker
9 33 (4.51%) Virtual Desktop
10 20 (2.73%) vCloud
11 14 (1.91%) Virtual Servers
12 10 (1.37%) Microsoft App-V
13 9 (1.23%) XenApp
14 8 (1.09%) BitLocker
14 8 (1.09%) XenDesktop
15 7 (0.96%) Citrix Hypervisor
15 7 (0.96%) Firmware
16 6 (0.82%) VMware Workstation
17 5 (0.68%) KVM
17 5 (0.68%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 102 (13.93%) Ansible
2 87 (11.89%) vCenter Server
3 85 (11.61%) Microsoft Intune
4 83 (11.34%) Terraform
5 73 (9.97%) SCCM
6 63 (8.61%) SCOM
7 47 (6.42%) Kubernetes
8 34 (4.64%) WSUS
9 15 (2.05%) Grafana
10 14 (1.91%) NetBackup
10 14 (1.91%) vMotion
11 13 (1.78%) Avamar
12 12 (1.64%) Prometheus
13 11 (1.50%) Failover Clustering
13 11 (1.50%) Puppet
14 10 (1.37%) Nessus
15 7 (0.96%) Jamf Pro
15 7 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
15 7 (0.96%) WMI
16 6 (0.82%) Active Directory Federation Services
Vendors
1 375 (51.23%) Microsoft
2 337 (46.04%) VMware
3 74 (10.11%) Cisco
3 74 (10.11%) Citrix
4 61 (8.33%) Oracle
5 51 (6.97%) ServiceNow
6 30 (4.10%) CyberArk
7 29 (3.96%) Red Hat
8 26 (3.55%) BeyondTrust
8 26 (3.55%) Dell
8 26 (3.55%) Veeam
9 23 (3.14%) NetApp
9 23 (3.14%) Splunk
10 19 (2.60%) HP
10 19 (2.60%) Remedy
10 19 (2.60%) Tenable
11 17 (2.32%) Google
11 17 (2.32%) Zscaler
12 16 (2.19%) CrowdStrike
12 16 (2.19%) Juniper
326 Windows Server jobs in England