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

6 months to
18 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 178 115 80
Rank change year-on-year -63 -35 +14
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 541 584 980
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.56% 2.26% 2.60%
As % of the Operating Systems category 12.69% 15.80% 18.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 419 398 658
10th Percentile £217 £254 £190
25th Percentile £400 £400 £285
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £445
Median % change year-on-year - +12.36% -8.72%
75th Percentile £578 £600 £575
90th Percentile £702 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £450
% change year-on-year - +11.11% -7.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 6 35
10th Percentile £15.50 £31.56 £16.00
25th Percentile £20.37 £47.00 £24.39
Median hourly rate £22.50 £62.75 £54.56
Median % change year-on-year -64.14% +15.01% +52.62%
75th Percentile £29.65 £102.44 £70.26
90th Percentile £49.39 £112.00 £77.41
UK median hourly rate £22.50 £49.00 £54.56
% change year-on-year -54.08% -10.19% +60.47%

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 4,263 3,696 5,395
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 12.33% 14.32% 14.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,842 2,359 3,655
10th Percentile £180 £200 £180
25th Percentile £263 £313 £264
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £470 £453
Median % change year-on-year -4.26% +3.75% -12.88%
75th Percentile £567 £600 £594
90th Percentile £675 £700 £700
UK median daily rate £440 £470 £465
% change year-on-year -6.38% +1.08% -9.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 311 119 365
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.44 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.69 £19.25 £17.25
Median hourly rate £22.50 £41.00 £25.25
Median % change year-on-year -45.12% +62.38% -4.72%
75th Percentile £48.75 £67.38 £62.50
90th Percentile £68.00 £73.89 £71.90
UK median hourly rate £23.00 £29.00 £25.52
% change year-on-year -20.69% +13.64% -1.85%

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 February 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 February 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 February 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 -64 173 £500 - 71
South East -28 100 £500 - 129
North of England -55 86 £381 -18.01% 81
South West -31 73 £560 -2.61% 39
North West -23 65 £388 -12.92% 48
Midlands -44 56 £438 +26.81% 34
East of England -4 49 £475 +5.56% 38
West Midlands -39 41 £438 +68.27% 20
Yorkshire -53 17 £375 -28.57% 29
East Midlands -21 15 £415 +0.58% 14
North East -14 7 £550 -8.33% 5
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 73 (13.49%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (6.10%) SharePoint
3 25 (4.62%) IIS
4 11 (2.03%) Apache
5 8 (1.48%) Confluence
6 6 (1.11%) WebSphere
7 5 (0.92%) iPlanet
7 5 (0.92%) JBoss
7 5 (0.92%) Skype for Business
7 5 (0.92%) WebSphere Application Server
8 4 (0.74%) SAS
9 3 (0.55%) nginx
10 2 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2010
10 2 (0.37%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.37%) WordPress
11 1 (0.18%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 1 (0.18%) SharePoint 2010
11 1 (0.18%) SharePoint Server
11 1 (0.18%) WebLogic
Applications
1 26 (4.81%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.92%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.37%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.37%) Windchill
4 1 (0.18%) InfoPath
4 1 (0.18%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 3 (0.55%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 2 (0.37%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.18%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.18%) Oracle FAH
3 1 (0.18%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.18%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.18%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 1 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.18%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.18%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 186 (34.38%) Azure
2 111 (20.52%) Microsoft 365
3 95 (17.56%) Entra ID
4 45 (8.32%) AWS
5 18 (3.33%) IaaS
6 13 (2.40%) SaaS
7 11 (2.03%) PaaS
8 10 (1.85%) Nutanix
9 7 (1.29%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.11%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (0.92%) GitHub
12 4 (0.74%) Amazon S3
12 4 (0.74%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (0.74%) GCP
12 4 (0.74%) OCI
12 4 (0.74%) OpenShift
12 4 (0.74%) Power Platform
12 4 (0.74%) Serverless
13 3 (0.55%) Amazon EKS
13 3 (0.55%) Mimecast
Communications & Networking
1 173 (31.98%) DNS
2 123 (22.74%) DHCP
3 111 (20.52%) Firewall
4 50 (9.24%) TCP/IP
5 47 (8.69%) WAN
6 46 (8.50%) VPN
7 43 (7.95%) LAN
8 31 (5.73%) Network Security
9 22 (4.07%) Kerberos
10 20 (3.70%) VLAN
11 18 (3.33%) Cisco IOS
12 17 (3.14%) Wireless
13 14 (2.59%) Cisco Firepower
13 14 (2.59%) Cisco ISE
13 14 (2.59%) Junos
14 13 (2.40%) FTP
15 12 (2.22%) VoIP
15 12 (2.22%) Wi-Fi
16 10 (1.85%) SMTP
17 9 (1.66%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (12.01%) SQL Server
2 15 (2.77%) Oracle Database
3 6 (1.11%) DB2
4 5 (0.92%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.74%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.74%) Relational Database
6 3 (0.55%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.55%) Power BI
7 2 (0.37%) MySQL
8 1 (0.18%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.18%) BusinessObjects
8 1 (0.18%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.18%) Electronic Patient Records
8 1 (0.18%) GIS
8 1 (0.18%) Oracle Discoverer
8 1 (0.18%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 14 (2.59%) Git
1 14 (2.59%) Jenkins
2 13 (2.40%) GitLab
3 12 (2.22%) JIRA
4 11 (2.03%) Visual Studio
5 10 (1.85%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.92%) Bitbucket Server
6 5 (0.92%) CA Release Automation
7 4 (0.74%) Bitbucket
7 4 (0.74%) Robot Framework
8 3 (0.55%) Octopus Deploy
9 2 (0.37%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.37%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.37%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.18%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.18%) GoCD
10 1 (0.18%) Maven
10 1 (0.18%) Selenium
10 1 (0.18%) SonarQube
10 1 (0.18%) TeamCity
General
1 134 (24.77%) Social Skills
2 59 (10.91%) Analytical Skills
3 55 (10.17%) Public Sector
4 53 (9.80%) Finance
5 35 (6.47%) Documentation Skills
6 23 (4.25%) Legal
7 19 (3.51%) Banking
8 16 (2.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (1.66%) Military
10 7 (1.29%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.11%) Spanish Language
12 4 (0.74%) Aerospace
12 4 (0.74%) Financial Institution
12 4 (0.74%) Front Office
12 4 (0.74%) Local Government
12 4 (0.74%) Marketing
12 4 (0.74%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.55%) Retail
14 2 (0.37%) International Banking
14 2 (0.37%) Law
Job Titles
1 90 (16.64%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 61 (11.28%) Analyst
3 44 (8.13%) Support Engineer
4 37 (6.84%) Architect
5 36 (6.65%) Platform Engineer
5 36 (6.65%) Senior
6 31 (5.73%) Wintel Engineer
7 28 (5.18%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 28 (5.18%) 3rd Line Support
7 28 (5.18%) IT Support
7 28 (5.18%) Network Engineer
8 27 (4.99%) Support Analyst
9 26 (4.81%) Technical Analyst
10 25 (4.62%) Developer
11 22 (4.07%) 2nd Line Support
11 22 (4.07%) Windows Engineer
12 19 (3.51%) Technical Support
13 17 (3.14%) Lead
13 17 (3.14%) Technical Support Analyst
14 16 (2.96%) Server Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (7.02%) OAuth
2 36 (6.65%) SAML
3 27 (4.99%) LDAP
4 24 (4.44%) .NET
5 22 (4.07%) OpenID
6 17 (3.14%) OAuth2
7 16 (2.96%) REST
8 15 (2.77%) .NET Framework
9 9 (1.66%) React
10 8 (1.48%) Middleware
10 8 (1.48%) XMPP
11 6 (1.11%) AngularJS
12 4 (0.74%) ASP.NET Web API
12 4 (0.74%) Keycloak
12 4 (0.74%) SOAP
12 4 (0.74%) WCF
13 3 (0.55%) Vue
13 3 (0.55%) Web Services
13 3 (0.55%) WinForms
13 3 (0.55%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 43 (7.95%) PKI
2 40 (7.39%) Replication
3 38 (7.02%) Data Centre
4 22 (4.07%) Onboarding
5 20 (3.70%) NHS
6 19 (3.51%) Product Ownership
7 18 (3.33%) Clustering
7 18 (3.33%) Hybrid Cloud
8 15 (2.77%) Enterprise Software
8 15 (2.77%) Private Cloud
9 13 (2.40%) Management Information System
10 11 (2.03%) Driving Licence
10 11 (2.03%) Legacy Systems
11 10 (1.85%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.48%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (1.48%) Enterprise Storage
12 8 (1.48%) iPhone
12 8 (1.48%) Linux Command Line
13 7 (1.29%) CMDB
14 5 (0.92%) Client/Server
Operating Systems
1 539 (99.63%) Windows
2 137 (25.32%) Linux
3 38 (7.02%) Windows Server 2019
4 36 (6.65%) Windows 10
5 35 (6.47%) Windows Server 2012
6 34 (6.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 28 (5.18%) Windows Server 2016
8 22 (4.07%) Unix
9 11 (2.03%) Windows Server 2003
10 10 (1.85%) AIX
11 8 (1.48%) Android
11 8 (1.48%) Windows Server 2008
12 7 (1.29%) Ubuntu
13 6 (1.11%) CentOS
14 5 (0.92%) VMS
15 4 (0.74%) Solaris
16 3 (0.55%) Apple iOS
17 2 (0.37%) Mac OS
17 2 (0.37%) Windows 7
17 2 (0.37%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 128 (23.66%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 89 (16.45%) Problem-Solving
3 78 (14.42%) ITIL
4 70 (12.94%) High Availability
5 69 (12.75%) Disaster Recovery
6 68 (12.57%) Agile
7 61 (11.28%) Service Management
8 60 (11.09%) Migration
9 50 (9.24%) Identity Access Management
10 49 (9.06%) ITSM
11 45 (8.32%) Continuous Improvement
12 44 (8.13%) Change Management
13 40 (7.39%) DevOps
13 40 (7.39%) Project Delivery
14 39 (7.21%) Cybersecurity
14 39 (7.21%) RBAC
15 36 (6.65%) Change Control
15 36 (6.65%) Platform Engineering
16 35 (6.47%) CI/CD
17 30 (5.55%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 205 (37.89%) PowerShell
2 66 (12.20%) SQL
3 50 (9.24%) Python
4 33 (6.10%) Bash
5 27 (4.99%) C#
6 19 (3.51%) T-SQL
7 17 (3.14%) PL/SQL
8 11 (2.03%) Perl
9 10 (1.85%) Java
10 8 (1.48%) JavaScript
11 5 (0.92%) Bicep
11 5 (0.92%) Groovy
12 4 (0.74%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.37%) Delphi
13 2 (0.37%) JCL
13 2 (0.37%) PHP
13 2 (0.37%) REXX
13 2 (0.37%) TypeScript
13 2 (0.37%) VBA
Qualifications
1 210 (38.82%) Security Cleared
2 133 (24.58%) SC Cleared
3 76 (14.05%) DV Cleared
4 70 (12.94%) Degree
5 66 (12.20%) Microsoft Certification
6 28 (5.18%) MCSE
7 21 (3.88%) Cisco Certification
8 19 (3.51%) Azure Certification
8 19 (3.51%) CCNP
9 18 (3.33%) CCNA
10 15 (2.77%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 14 (2.59%) MCSA
12 11 (2.03%) AWS Certification
13 10 (1.85%) CCDP
14 9 (1.66%) ITIL Certification
14 9 (1.66%) VCAP
15 8 (1.48%) BPSS Clearance
15 8 (1.48%) CISSP
16 7 (1.29%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
16 7 (1.29%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.88%) QA
2 20 (3.70%) GDPR
3 15 (2.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 15 (2.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 13 (2.40%) NIST
5 10 (1.85%) Cyber Essentials
6 7 (1.29%) SLA
7 3 (0.55%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 1 (0.18%) Basel III
9 1 (0.18%) DICOM
9 1 (0.18%) GAAP
9 1 (0.18%) HL7
9 1 (0.18%) IFRS
9 1 (0.18%) IFRS 17
9 1 (0.18%) IFRS 9
9 1 (0.18%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.18%) NCSC
System Software
1 342 (63.22%) Active Directory
2 152 (28.10%) VMware Infrastructure
3 61 (11.28%) Hyper-V
4 46 (8.50%) vSphere
5 33 (6.10%) Docker
6 32 (5.91%) Virtual Machines
6 32 (5.91%) VMware ESXi
7 24 (4.44%) VMware NSX
8 11 (2.03%) Virtual Desktop
8 11 (2.03%) Virtual Servers
9 7 (1.29%) KVM
10 6 (1.11%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 6 (1.11%) Terminal Services
11 4 (0.74%) BitLocker
11 4 (0.74%) Microsoft App-V
11 4 (0.74%) NFS
11 4 (0.74%) Tivoli Directory Server
12 3 (0.55%) Firmware
13 2 (0.37%) Job Entry Subsystem
13 2 (0.37%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 77 (14.23%) Microsoft Intune
2 71 (13.12%) SCCM
3 53 (9.80%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 52 (9.61%) Single Sign-On
5 51 (9.43%) Ansible
6 49 (9.06%) vCenter Server
7 44 (8.13%) Terraform
8 26 (4.81%) Kubernetes
9 24 (4.44%) SCOM
10 15 (2.77%) WSUS
11 7 (1.29%) Puppet
11 7 (1.29%) SCOrch
12 6 (1.11%) CASB
12 6 (1.11%) IBM BigFix
12 6 (1.11%) vMotion
13 5 (0.92%) CA Wily
13 5 (0.92%) FortiGate
13 5 (0.92%) Microsoft Clustering
13 5 (0.92%) Progress Chef
13 5 (0.92%) VxRail
Vendors
1 261 (48.24%) Microsoft
2 202 (37.34%) VMware
3 68 (12.57%) Cisco
4 57 (10.54%) Citrix
5 42 (7.76%) Oracle
6 33 (6.10%) SolarWinds
7 30 (5.55%) Dell
8 28 (5.18%) Red Hat
9 27 (4.99%) Veeam
10 23 (4.25%) ServiceNow
11 16 (2.96%) Juniper
11 16 (2.96%) Splunk
12 15 (2.77%) Okta
13 14 (2.59%) IBM
14 13 (2.40%) CyberArk
14 13 (2.40%) Palo Alto
15 10 (1.85%) BeyondTrust
15 10 (1.85%) NetApp
16 9 (1.66%) Qualys
17 8 (1.48%) F5