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 9 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 189 142 99
Rank change year-on-year -47 -43 -18
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 653 533 883
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.46% 1.98% 2.37%
As % of the Operating Systems category 15.02% 14.32% 16.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 440 378 645
10th Percentile £263 £337 £222
25th Percentile £400 £425 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £482 £540 £480
Median % change year-on-year -10.83% +12.50% -4.00%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £588
90th Percentile £675 £679 £675
UK median daily rate £484 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -7.76% +10.53% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 5 18
10th Percentile £17.15 £14.32 £14.89
25th Percentile £20.78 £15.33 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £46.75
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% -35.83% +59.56%
75th Percentile £62.21 £32.77 £61.60
90th Percentile £74.00 £59.61 £70.16
UK median hourly rate £23.75 £17.75 £46.75
% change year-on-year +33.80% -62.03% +59.56%

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 4,347 3,722 5,227
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.72% 13.79% 14.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,831 2,484 3,436
10th Percentile £190 £200 £193
25th Percentile £313 £313 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £463 £475
Median % change year-on-year - -2.63% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £663 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £465 £465 £475
% change year-on-year +0.05% -2.16% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 291 213 402
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.50 £12.76
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.44 £16.25
Median hourly rate £32.50 £22.00 £24.93
Median % change year-on-year +47.73% -11.74% -41.35%
75th Percentile £65.00 £54.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £72.00 £67.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £26.50 £23.00 £24.86
% change year-on-year +15.22% -7.46% -41.52%

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 9 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 9 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 9 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 -47 199 £488 -7.14% 70
South East -35 152 £515 -6.36% 127
North of England -71 99 £476 -4.80% 94
Midlands -15 76 £450 - 46
South West -37 63 £504 -12.39% 30
East of England -8 61 £450 -18.18% 28
North West -40 56 £448 -4.68% 47
West Midlands -43 44 £444 +10.94% 26
Yorkshire -45 39 £625 +19.05% 35
East Midlands +9 30 £450 -10.00% 20
North East -33 4 £350 -30.00% 16
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 (11.33%) Microsoft Exchange
2 36 (5.51%) SharePoint
3 26 (3.98%) IIS
4 10 (1.53%) nginx
4 10 (1.53%) Tomcat
5 5 (0.77%) Apache
6 3 (0.46%) CloudStack
6 3 (0.46%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.31%) FactoryTalk
7 2 (0.31%) SAS
7 2 (0.31%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.15%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.15%) Confluence
8 1 (0.15%) OpenStack
Applications
1 10 (1.53%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.31%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 15 (2.30%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.15%) OpenText MBPM
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle BPM
Cloud Services
1 262 (40.12%) Azure
2 113 (17.30%) Entra ID
3 111 (17.00%) Microsoft 365
4 82 (12.56%) AWS
5 26 (3.98%) Azure Monitor
6 23 (3.52%) IaaS
7 21 (3.22%) Power Platform
8 18 (2.76%) GCP
9 14 (2.14%) Azure DevOps
10 13 (1.99%) PaaS
11 12 (1.84%) GitHub
12 9 (1.38%) Amazon EC2
12 9 (1.38%) Nutanix
13 8 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.23%) SaaS
14 7 (1.07%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 7 (1.07%) GitHub Actions
15 6 (0.92%) Cohesity
15 6 (0.92%) Datadog
15 6 (0.92%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 217 (33.23%) DNS
2 139 (21.29%) DHCP
3 97 (14.85%) Firewall
4 51 (7.81%) VPN
5 46 (7.04%) WAN
6 43 (6.58%) TCP/IP
7 41 (6.28%) LAN
8 38 (5.82%) SAN
9 26 (3.98%) VLAN
10 22 (3.37%) SSL
11 20 (3.06%) Network Security
12 15 (2.30%) NAS
12 15 (2.30%) SMTP
13 14 (2.14%) VoIP
13 14 (2.14%) Wi-Fi
14 13 (1.99%) FTP
14 13 (1.99%) Kerberos
15 11 (1.68%) SSH
16 8 (1.23%) NetScaler
16 8 (1.23%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 134 (20.52%) SQL Server
2 21 (3.22%) Power BI
3 14 (2.14%) Oracle Database
4 13 (1.99%) Amazon RDS
4 13 (1.99%) Elasticsearch
5 12 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
6 11 (1.68%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 10 (1.53%) NoSQL
8 7 (1.07%) MySQL
9 6 (0.92%) Db2
10 5 (0.77%) Big Data
11 4 (0.61%) GIS
11 4 (0.61%) Oracle BI EE
12 3 (0.46%) Data Mining
12 3 (0.46%) MongoDB
12 3 (0.46%) Relational Database
12 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 2 (0.31%) SQL Server Analysis Services
14 1 (0.15%) Oracle Database 11g
14 1 (0.15%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 7 (1.07%) Git
1 7 (1.07%) Jenkins
1 7 (1.07%) JIRA
2 6 (0.92%) Visual Studio
3 5 (0.77%) GitLab
4 4 (0.61%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.46%) MSI
5 3 (0.46%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.31%) AdminStudio
6 2 (0.31%) InstallShield
7 1 (0.15%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.15%) eggPlant
7 1 (0.15%) GoCD
7 1 (0.15%) Octopus Deploy
7 1 (0.15%) Postman
General
1 142 (21.75%) Social Skills
2 63 (9.65%) Finance
2 63 (9.65%) Public Sector
3 55 (8.42%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (4.75%) Documentation Skills
5 30 (4.59%) Banking
6 16 (2.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 14 (2.14%) Legal
7 14 (2.14%) Military
8 12 (1.84%) Law
9 9 (1.38%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (0.77%) Local Government
10 5 (0.77%) Manufacturing
10 5 (0.77%) Retail
10 5 (0.77%) Telecoms
11 4 (0.61%) Marketing
11 4 (0.61%) Pharmaceutical
11 4 (0.61%) Police
12 2 (0.31%) Front Office
12 2 (0.31%) Games
Job Titles
1 166 (25.42%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 51 (7.81%) Senior
3 50 (7.66%) Support Engineer
4 47 (7.20%) Cloud Engineer
5 36 (5.51%) Architect
6 35 (5.36%) 3rd Line Engineer
6 35 (5.36%) Lead
7 32 (4.90%) Analyst
8 27 (4.13%) Administrator
8 27 (4.13%) IT Engineer
9 25 (3.83%) IT Support
10 24 (3.68%) Server Engineer
10 24 (3.68%) Wintel Engineer
11 23 (3.52%) Infrastructure Support
12 21 (3.22%) Azure Engineer
12 21 (3.22%) Windows Engineer
13 20 (3.06%) Developer
14 19 (2.91%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
14 19 (2.91%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 18 (2.76%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (4.59%) .NET
2 25 (3.83%) .NET Framework
3 19 (2.91%) OAuth
4 18 (2.76%) REST
5 16 (2.45%) LDAP
5 16 (2.45%) SAML
6 9 (1.38%) Elastic Stack
7 7 (1.07%) JSON
7 7 (1.07%) RabbitMQ
8 6 (0.92%) Software Packaging
9 5 (0.77%) Keycloak
9 5 (0.77%) OAuth2
9 5 (0.77%) OpenID
9 5 (0.77%) YAML
10 4 (0.61%) ADO
10 4 (0.61%) Azure Blueprints
10 4 (0.61%) EJB
10 4 (0.61%) Spring
11 3 (0.46%) ASP.NET
11 3 (0.46%) Java EE
Miscellaneous
1 66 (10.11%) PKI
2 47 (7.20%) Clustering
3 42 (6.43%) Replication
4 37 (5.67%) Data Centre
5 36 (5.51%) Onboarding
6 33 (5.05%) Hybrid Cloud
7 27 (4.13%) Management Information System
8 20 (3.06%) Legacy Systems
9 13 (1.99%) Enterprise Software
9 13 (1.99%) Linux Command Line
10 12 (1.84%) Self-Motivation
11 11 (1.68%) Security Posture
11 11 (1.68%) Virtual Team
12 10 (1.53%) Enterprise Storage
13 9 (1.38%) Cloud Native
13 9 (1.38%) Driving Licence
13 9 (1.38%) Smartcard
14 8 (1.23%) NHS
14 8 (1.23%) Product Ownership
15 7 (1.07%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 653 (100.00%) Windows
2 170 (26.03%) Linux
3 56 (8.58%) Windows Server 2019
4 50 (7.66%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 41 (6.28%) Windows 10
6 37 (5.67%) Windows Server 2016
7 35 (5.36%) Unix
8 29 (4.44%) Windows Server 2012
9 24 (3.68%) Ubuntu
10 13 (1.99%) CentOS
11 9 (1.38%) AIX
11 9 (1.38%) VMS
11 9 (1.38%) Windows Server 2003
11 9 (1.38%) Windows Server 2008
12 8 (1.23%) Solaris
13 7 (1.07%) Mac OS
14 5 (0.77%) Rocky
15 4 (0.61%) Alpine Linux
16 3 (0.46%) Android
16 3 (0.46%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 199 (30.47%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 118 (18.07%) Problem-Solving
3 105 (16.08%) High Availability
4 99 (15.16%) Disaster Recovery
5 87 (13.32%) ITIL
6 71 (10.87%) Migration
7 61 (9.34%) Change Management
8 58 (8.88%) ITSM
9 56 (8.58%) DevOps
10 55 (8.42%) Infrastructure as Code
11 49 (7.50%) Project Delivery
12 47 (7.20%) Continuous Improvement
12 47 (7.20%) Runbook
13 45 (6.89%) Root Cause Analysis
14 44 (6.74%) Agile
15 43 (6.58%) Technical Leadership
15 43 (6.58%) Vulnerability Remediation
16 41 (6.28%) CI/CD
17 40 (6.13%) Patch Management
18 39 (5.97%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 238 (36.45%) PowerShell
2 100 (15.31%) SQL
3 62 (9.49%) Python
4 33 (5.05%) Bash
5 27 (4.13%) C#
6 25 (3.83%) PL/SQL
7 24 (3.68%) T-SQL
8 17 (2.60%) JavaScript
9 12 (1.84%) Java
10 10 (1.53%) Bicep
11 3 (0.46%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.31%) JCL
12 2 (0.31%) Korn
12 2 (0.31%) REXX
13 1 (0.15%) Groovy
13 1 (0.15%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.15%) Perl
13 1 (0.15%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.15%) VB
Qualifications
1 265 (40.58%) Security Cleared
2 145 (22.21%) SC Cleared
3 120 (18.38%) DV Cleared
4 70 (10.72%) Degree
5 49 (7.50%) Microsoft Certification
6 25 (3.83%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 23 (3.52%) MCSE
8 16 (2.45%) MCSA
9 15 (2.30%) Azure Certification
10 14 (2.14%) Cisco Certification
10 14 (2.14%) VCAP
11 13 (1.99%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.53%) CISSP
13 8 (1.23%) CCNA
13 8 (1.23%) CCNP
14 7 (1.07%) AWS Certification
14 7 (1.07%) CISM
15 5 (0.77%) ITIL Certification
15 5 (0.77%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 4 (0.61%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (5.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 28 (4.29%) QA
3 26 (3.98%) NIST
4 20 (3.06%) GDPR
5 16 (2.45%) SLA
6 12 (1.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 11 (1.68%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (0.77%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.46%) NCSC
10 2 (0.31%) 21 CFR Part 11
10 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.31%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.31%) GxP
10 2 (0.31%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.31%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.15%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 370 (56.66%) Active Directory
2 230 (35.22%) VMware Infrastructure
3 106 (16.23%) Hyper-V
4 86 (13.17%) VMware ESXi
5 81 (12.40%) vSphere
6 55 (8.42%) Virtual Machines
7 40 (6.13%) VMware NSX
8 36 (5.51%) Docker
9 26 (3.98%) Virtual Desktop
10 14 (2.14%) vCloud
11 11 (1.68%) KVM
11 11 (1.68%) Microsoft App-V
12 10 (1.53%) BitLocker
13 7 (1.07%) Virtual Servers
14 6 (0.92%) VMware Workstation
14 6 (0.92%) XenApp
15 5 (0.77%) Terminal Services
15 5 (0.77%) XenDesktop
16 4 (0.61%) Oracle RAC
16 4 (0.61%) UAG
Systems Management
1 86 (13.17%) Ansible
2 79 (12.10%) vCenter Server
3 72 (11.03%) Microsoft Intune
4 59 (9.04%) SCCM
5 55 (8.42%) Terraform
6 46 (7.04%) SCOM
7 41 (6.28%) Kubernetes
8 28 (4.29%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 28 (4.29%) WSUS
9 26 (3.98%) Single Sign-On
10 14 (2.14%) vMotion
11 12 (1.84%) Nessus
12 11 (1.68%) Puppet
13 10 (1.53%) Avamar
13 10 (1.53%) Grafana
14 9 (1.38%) Prometheus
15 7 (1.07%) VxRail
16 6 (0.92%) Failover Clustering
16 6 (0.92%) IBM BigFix
16 6 (0.92%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 296 (45.33%) Microsoft
2 282 (43.19%) VMware
3 70 (10.72%) Citrix
4 63 (9.65%) Cisco
5 56 (8.58%) Oracle
6 42 (6.43%) ServiceNow
7 30 (4.59%) Dell
8 28 (4.29%) Red Hat
9 26 (3.98%) BeyondTrust
10 22 (3.37%) CyberArk
11 21 (3.22%) Okta
11 21 (3.22%) Tenable
12 19 (2.91%) Veeam
13 16 (2.45%) NetApp
14 15 (2.30%) HP
14 15 (2.30%) IBM
14 15 (2.30%) Remedy
14 15 (2.30%) Thales
15 14 (2.14%) BMC
15 14 (2.14%) Splunk