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

 6 months to
30 May 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 186 136 94
Rank change year-on-year -50 -42 -13
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 599 526 883
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.43% 2.19% 2.40%
As % of the Operating Systems category 14.56% 15.62% 17.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 414 374 661
10th Percentile £252 £350 £210
25th Percentile £400 £427 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £475
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% +15.79% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £595
90th Percentile £650 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £475 £525 £461
% change year-on-year -9.52% +13.82% -7.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 4 17
10th Percentile £19.25 £14.15 £14.60
25th Percentile £20.91 £14.91 £16.00
Median hourly rate £26.22 £17.04 £38.50
Median % change year-on-year +53.87% -55.74% +2.67%
75th Percentile £59.62 £32.97 £61.60
90th Percentile £74.00 £57.44 £65.46
UK median hourly rate £25.00 £17.63 £38.50
% change year-on-year +41.84% -54.22% +7.69%

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 4,115 3,367 5,071
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.80% 14.01% 13.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,683 2,300 3,451
10th Percentile £185 £200 £185
25th Percentile £313 £313 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £468 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.67% -1.58% -6.86%
75th Percentile £570 £588 £588
90th Percentile £650 £694 £700
UK median daily rate £459 £467 £475
% change year-on-year -1.71% -1.68% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 289 157 373
10th Percentile £15.90 £15.11 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.33 £15.50
Median hourly rate £37.50 £20.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +87.50% -11.11% -48.57%
75th Percentile £65.00 £55.00 £62.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £34.13 £22.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +55.14% -2.22% -48.99%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -57 180 £490 -6.67% 51
South East -33 142 £525 -2.42% 88
North of England -88 87 £445 -7.29% 60
Midlands -22 68 £438 -2.78% 40
East of England -14 63 £450 -18.18% 34
North West -47 63 £425 - 37
South West -41 57 £511 -12.98% 40
West Midlands -48 42 £434 +8.44% 21
East Midlands -7 24 £450 -10.00% 19
Yorkshire -74 22 £500 -6.98% 21
North East -28 2 £330 -34.00% 3
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 70 (11.69%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (5.34%) IIS
3 27 (4.51%) SharePoint
4 9 (1.50%) nginx
4 9 (1.50%) Tomcat
5 7 (1.17%) Apache
6 3 (0.50%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.33%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.33%) SAS
7 2 (0.33%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.17%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.17%) Confluence
8 1 (0.17%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.17%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.17%) WebSphere
Applications
1 11 (1.84%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.33%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 11 (1.84%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.50%) 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
1 223 (37.23%) Azure
2 105 (17.53%) Microsoft 365
3 97 (16.19%) Entra ID
4 67 (11.19%) AWS
5 26 (4.34%) IaaS
6 20 (3.34%) Azure Monitor
7 17 (2.84%) Power Platform
8 15 (2.50%) PaaS
9 13 (2.17%) GCP
10 11 (1.84%) GitHub
11 10 (1.67%) Nutanix
12 9 (1.50%) Azure DevOps
13 8 (1.34%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.34%) SaaS
14 7 (1.17%) Amazon EC2
15 6 (1.00%) Cohesity
15 6 (1.00%) GitHub Actions
16 5 (0.83%) Microsoft Copilot
17 4 (0.67%) Azure Logic Apps
17 4 (0.67%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 201 (33.56%) DNS
2 139 (23.21%) DHCP
3 100 (16.69%) Firewall
4 52 (8.68%) VPN
5 46 (7.68%) WAN
6 43 (7.18%) TCP/IP
7 39 (6.51%) LAN
8 26 (4.34%) Network Security
9 21 (3.51%) SAN
10 15 (2.50%) Kerberos
10 15 (2.50%) VLAN
11 14 (2.34%) SMTP
12 13 (2.17%) FTP
12 13 (2.17%) SSL
13 12 (2.00%) VoIP
14 11 (1.84%) Wi-Fi
15 9 (1.50%) NAS
15 9 (1.50%) SSH
16 8 (1.34%) Skype
16 8 (1.34%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 119 (19.87%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.84%) Power BI
3 12 (2.00%) Oracle Database
4 11 (1.84%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (1.50%) NoSQL
6 7 (1.17%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 6 (1.00%) DB2
8 5 (0.83%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.67%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (0.67%) Oracle BI EE
10 3 (0.50%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.50%) GIS
10 3 (0.50%) MySQL
11 2 (0.33%) Big Data
11 2 (0.33%) MongoDB
11 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 1 (0.17%) Oracle Database 11g
12 1 (0.17%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 12 (2.00%) JIRA
2 10 (1.67%) Visual Studio
3 7 (1.17%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.00%) Robot Framework
5 5 (0.83%) Git
5 5 (0.83%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.50%) GitLab
6 3 (0.50%) MSI
7 2 (0.33%) AdminStudio
7 2 (0.33%) InstallShield
8 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.17%) eggPlant
8 1 (0.17%) GoCD
8 1 (0.17%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.17%) Postman
8 1 (0.17%) TeamCity
General
1 120 (20.03%) Social Skills
2 64 (10.68%) Finance
3 58 (9.68%) Public Sector
4 47 (7.85%) Analytical Skills
5 24 (4.01%) Banking
6 22 (3.67%) Documentation Skills
7 17 (2.84%) Legal
8 15 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (2.00%) Military
10 10 (1.67%) Law
11 9 (1.50%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.17%) Local Government
13 5 (0.83%) Marketing
13 5 (0.83%) Retail
14 4 (0.67%) Manufacturing
14 4 (0.67%) Police
15 3 (0.50%) Front Office
15 3 (0.50%) Telecoms
16 2 (0.33%) Aerospace
16 2 (0.33%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 143 (23.87%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 43 (7.18%) Senior
3 41 (6.84%) Support Engineer
4 39 (6.51%) Analyst
5 33 (5.51%) Cloud Engineer
6 32 (5.34%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 31 (5.18%) Wintel Engineer
8 30 (5.01%) Architect
8 30 (5.01%) IT Support
9 28 (4.67%) Lead
10 22 (3.67%) Windows Engineer
11 21 (3.51%) Developer
11 21 (3.51%) IT Engineer
12 20 (3.34%) Administrator
13 19 (3.17%) Server Engineer
14 17 (2.84%) 3rd Line Support
14 17 (2.84%) C# Developer
15 16 (2.67%) Azure Engineer
15 16 (2.67%) Storage Engineer
15 16 (2.67%) Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (5.34%) .NET
2 27 (4.51%) .NET Framework
3 19 (3.17%) LDAP
3 19 (3.17%) OAuth
4 18 (3.01%) REST
4 18 (3.01%) SAML
5 6 (1.00%) Elastic Stack
6 5 (0.83%) JSON
6 5 (0.83%) OAuth2
6 5 (0.83%) OpenID
6 5 (0.83%) React
7 4 (0.67%) ADO
7 4 (0.67%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.67%) Azure Blueprints
7 4 (0.67%) EJB
7 4 (0.67%) Keycloak
7 4 (0.67%) Middleware
7 4 (0.67%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (0.67%) Software Packaging
7 4 (0.67%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 55 (9.18%) PKI
2 44 (7.35%) Clustering
3 40 (6.68%) Replication
4 33 (5.51%) Onboarding
5 30 (5.01%) Data Centre
6 29 (4.84%) Hybrid Cloud
7 19 (3.17%) Legacy Systems
8 17 (2.84%) Management Information System
9 14 (2.34%) Enterprise Storage
9 14 (2.34%) Self-Motivation
10 13 (2.17%) Enterprise Software
11 11 (1.84%) Linux Command Line
12 10 (1.67%) Virtual Team
13 9 (1.50%) Cloud Native
13 9 (1.50%) Product Ownership
14 8 (1.34%) Driving Licence
14 8 (1.34%) NHS
14 8 (1.34%) Private Cloud
14 8 (1.34%) Public Cloud
14 8 (1.34%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 599 (100.00%) Windows
2 160 (26.71%) Linux
3 58 (9.68%) Windows Server 2019
4 48 (8.01%) Windows Server 2016
5 39 (6.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 39 (6.51%) Windows 10
6 30 (5.01%) Windows Server 2012
7 27 (4.51%) Unix
8 22 (3.67%) Ubuntu
9 11 (1.84%) Windows Server 2003
10 9 (1.50%) AIX
10 9 (1.50%) VMS
10 9 (1.50%) Windows Server 2008
11 8 (1.34%) CentOS
12 7 (1.17%) Solaris
13 4 (0.67%) Alpine Linux
13 4 (0.67%) Mac OS
14 3 (0.50%) Android
14 3 (0.50%) Windows 7
15 2 (0.33%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 172 (28.71%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 107 (17.86%) Disaster Recovery
3 98 (16.36%) High Availability
4 92 (15.36%) Problem-Solving
5 88 (14.69%) ITIL
6 66 (11.02%) Migration
7 63 (10.52%) Change Management
8 53 (8.85%) Agile
8 53 (8.85%) ITSM
9 48 (8.01%) Project Delivery
10 47 (7.85%) DevOps
11 44 (7.35%) Infrastructure as Code
12 41 (6.84%) Root Cause Analysis
13 37 (6.18%) Service Management
13 37 (6.18%) Technical Leadership
14 36 (6.01%) Runbook
15 35 (5.84%) Identity Access Management
16 33 (5.51%) Cybersecurity
16 33 (5.51%) SIEM
17 32 (5.34%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 224 (37.40%) PowerShell
2 86 (14.36%) SQL
3 58 (9.68%) Python
4 31 (5.18%) Bash
5 30 (5.01%) C#
6 26 (4.34%) PL/SQL
7 21 (3.51%) T-SQL
8 19 (3.17%) JavaScript
9 13 (2.17%) Java
10 10 (1.67%) Bicep
11 3 (0.50%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.33%) JCL
12 2 (0.33%) REXX
13 1 (0.17%) Groovy
13 1 (0.17%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.17%) Perl
13 1 (0.17%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.17%) VB
Qualifications
1 237 (39.57%) Security Cleared
2 143 (23.87%) SC Cleared
3 96 (16.03%) DV Cleared
4 66 (11.02%) Degree
5 44 (7.35%) Microsoft Certification
6 25 (4.17%) MCSE
6 25 (4.17%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 18 (3.01%) VCAP
8 17 (2.84%) MCSA
9 14 (2.34%) Cisco Certification
10 11 (1.84%) BPSS Clearance
11 10 (1.67%) Azure Certification
11 10 (1.67%) CISSP
12 9 (1.50%) CCNA
13 8 (1.34%) CISM
14 7 (1.17%) CCNP
15 6 (1.00%) AWS Certification
16 4 (0.67%) CompTIA Security+
16 4 (0.67%) ITIL Certification
16 4 (0.67%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (5.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 29 (4.84%) QA
3 24 (4.01%) GDPR
4 22 (3.67%) NIST
5 15 (2.50%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 13 (2.17%) SLA
7 11 (1.84%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (0.67%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.50%) NCSC
9 3 (0.50%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.33%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.33%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.33%) 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 17
11 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.17%) JSP 440
System Software
1 344 (57.43%) Active Directory
2 212 (35.39%) VMware Infrastructure
3 98 (16.36%) Hyper-V
4 71 (11.85%) vSphere
5 66 (11.02%) VMware ESXi
6 49 (8.18%) Virtual Machines
7 35 (5.84%) Docker
8 32 (5.34%) VMware NSX
9 11 (1.84%) KVM
10 10 (1.67%) Microsoft App-V
10 10 (1.67%) Virtual Desktop
11 9 (1.50%) BitLocker
11 9 (1.50%) vCloud
12 6 (1.00%) Virtual Servers
12 6 (1.00%) VMware Workstation
12 6 (1.00%) XenApp
13 5 (0.83%) XenDesktop
14 3 (0.50%) Firmware
14 3 (0.50%) Oracle RAC
14 3 (0.50%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 78 (13.02%) Ansible
2 66 (11.02%) Microsoft Intune
3 65 (10.85%) vCenter Server
4 59 (9.85%) SCCM
5 50 (8.35%) Terraform
6 36 (6.01%) Kubernetes
7 34 (5.68%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 34 (5.68%) SCOM
8 28 (4.67%) Single Sign-On
9 25 (4.17%) WSUS
10 11 (1.84%) vMotion
11 10 (1.67%) Nessus
11 10 (1.67%) Puppet
12 8 (1.34%) Avamar
13 6 (1.00%) Grafana
13 6 (1.00%) IBM BigFix
13 6 (1.00%) Prometheus
14 5 (0.83%) Backup Exec
14 5 (0.83%) Oracle RMAN
14 5 (0.83%) VxRail
Vendors
1 260 (43.41%) Microsoft
2 258 (43.07%) VMware
3 66 (11.02%) Cisco
4 62 (10.35%) Citrix
5 50 (8.35%) Oracle
6 37 (6.18%) ServiceNow
7 26 (4.34%) Dell
8 24 (4.01%) Red Hat
9 20 (3.34%) Okta
10 17 (2.84%) Tenable
10 17 (2.84%) Veeam
11 15 (2.50%) BeyondTrust
11 15 (2.50%) IBM
12 14 (2.34%) NetApp
13 13 (2.17%) BMC
13 13 (2.17%) Qualys
14 12 (2.00%) CyberArk
14 12 (2.00%) Palo Alto
14 12 (2.00%) SolarWinds
14 12 (2.00%) Thales
285 Windows Server jobs in England