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

 6 months to
1 Jul 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 185 144 97
Rank change year-on-year -41 -47 -17
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 626 515 877
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.43% 2.01% 2.36%
As % of the Operating Systems category 14.80% 14.37% 17.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 422 366 644
10th Percentile £263 £345 £215
25th Percentile £400 £430 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £550 £488
Median % change year-on-year -13.18% +12.82% -2.50%
75th Percentile £584 £600 £588
90th Percentile £668 £688 £675
UK median daily rate £480 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -8.57% +10.53% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 4 19
10th Percentile £19.25 £14.15 £15.18
25th Percentile £20.79 £14.91 £16.13
Median hourly rate £25.00 £24.05 £38.50
Median % change year-on-year +3.95% -37.53% +28.33%
75th Percentile £65.96 £43.95 £61.60
90th Percentile £74.00 £64.08 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £23.75 £17.63 £38.50
% change year-on-year +34.75% -54.22% +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 4,229 3,583 5,157
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.65% 13.98% 13.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,744 2,408 3,416
10th Percentile £190 £200 £190
25th Percentile £313 £313 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £459 £465 £475
Median % change year-on-year -1.29% -2.11% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £656 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £463 £465 £475
% change year-on-year -0.43% -2.21% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 282 191 396
10th Percentile £16.00 £15.13 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.33 £16.00
Median hourly rate £30.24 £19.27 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.93% -22.92% -41.18%
75th Percentile £65.00 £49.63 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.41 £67.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £26.47 £22.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year +20.32% -12.00% -41.18%

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 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 1 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 1 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 -51 191 £488 -7.14% 78
South East -41 140 £514 -6.55% 108
North of England -65 96 £472 -6.53% 82
Midlands -17 72 £450 - 53
South West -31 64 £504 -12.39% 39
East of England -4 60 £450 -18.18% 34
North West -38 56 £448 -6.18% 43
West Midlands -33 42 £438 +9.38% 27
Yorkshire -45 36 £625 +19.05% 28
East Midlands +8 28 £450 -10.00% 26
North East -33 4 £350 -30.00% 14
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 72 (11.50%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (5.11%) SharePoint
3 26 (4.15%) IIS
4 10 (1.60%) nginx
4 10 (1.60%) Tomcat
5 6 (0.96%) Apache
6 3 (0.48%) CloudStack
6 3 (0.48%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.32%) SAS
7 2 (0.32%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.16%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.16%) Confluence
8 1 (0.16%) OpenStack
Applications
1 10 (1.60%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 14 (2.24%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.16%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 253 (40.42%) Azure
2 105 (16.77%) Entra ID
2 105 (16.77%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (12.94%) AWS
4 25 (3.99%) Azure Monitor
5 23 (3.67%) IaaS
6 20 (3.19%) Power Platform
7 18 (2.88%) GCP
8 14 (2.24%) Azure DevOps
9 13 (2.08%) PaaS
10 12 (1.92%) GitHub
11 9 (1.44%) Nutanix
12 8 (1.28%) Amazon EC2
12 8 (1.28%) Azure Sentinel
12 8 (1.28%) SaaS
13 7 (1.12%) GitHub Actions
14 6 (0.96%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 6 (0.96%) Cohesity
14 6 (0.96%) OpenShift
15 5 (0.80%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 204 (32.59%) DNS
2 139 (22.20%) DHCP
3 95 (15.18%) Firewall
4 50 (7.99%) VPN
5 48 (7.67%) WAN
6 41 (6.55%) LAN
6 41 (6.55%) TCP/IP
7 36 (5.75%) SAN
8 23 (3.67%) VLAN
9 21 (3.35%) Network Security
9 21 (3.35%) SSL
10 15 (2.40%) NAS
10 15 (2.40%) SMTP
10 15 (2.40%) VoIP
11 14 (2.24%) Kerberos
11 14 (2.24%) Wi-Fi
12 13 (2.08%) FTP
13 11 (1.76%) SSH
14 8 (1.28%) NetScaler
14 8 (1.28%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 129 (20.61%) SQL Server
2 20 (3.19%) Power BI
3 13 (2.08%) Elasticsearch
4 12 (1.92%) Amazon RDS
4 12 (1.92%) Oracle Database
4 12 (1.92%) PostgreSQL
5 11 (1.76%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 10 (1.60%) NoSQL
7 7 (1.12%) MySQL
8 6 (0.96%) Db2
9 5 (0.80%) Big Data
10 4 (0.64%) GIS
10 4 (0.64%) Oracle BI EE
11 3 (0.48%) Data Mining
11 3 (0.48%) MongoDB
11 3 (0.48%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 1 (0.16%) Oracle Database 11g
13 1 (0.16%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 9 (1.44%) JIRA
2 7 (1.12%) Git
2 7 (1.12%) Jenkins
2 7 (1.12%) Visual Studio
3 5 (0.80%) GitLab
4 4 (0.64%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.48%) MSI
5 3 (0.48%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.32%) AdminStudio
6 2 (0.32%) InstallShield
7 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.16%) eggPlant
7 1 (0.16%) GoCD
7 1 (0.16%) Octopus Deploy
7 1 (0.16%) Postman
General
1 129 (20.61%) Social Skills
2 62 (9.90%) Public Sector
3 61 (9.74%) Finance
4 48 (7.67%) Analytical Skills
5 29 (4.63%) Documentation Skills
6 27 (4.31%) Banking
7 16 (2.56%) Legal
8 14 (2.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 14 (2.24%) Military
9 11 (1.76%) Law
10 9 (1.44%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (0.80%) Local Government
11 5 (0.80%) Retail
12 4 (0.64%) Marketing
12 4 (0.64%) Police
12 4 (0.64%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.48%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.32%) Front Office
14 2 (0.32%) Games
14 2 (0.32%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 158 (25.24%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 48 (7.67%) Support Engineer
3 47 (7.51%) Senior
4 42 (6.71%) Cloud Engineer
5 35 (5.59%) Architect
6 34 (5.43%) Analyst
7 33 (5.27%) Lead
8 31 (4.95%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 26 (4.15%) Administrator
9 26 (4.15%) IT Engineer
9 26 (4.15%) IT Support
10 24 (3.83%) Server Engineer
10 24 (3.83%) Wintel Engineer
11 21 (3.35%) Infrastructure Support
12 20 (3.19%) Developer
12 20 (3.19%) Windows Engineer
13 18 (2.88%) Azure Engineer
13 18 (2.88%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
14 17 (2.72%) DBA
14 17 (2.72%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (4.63%) .NET
2 25 (3.99%) .NET Framework
3 20 (3.19%) OAuth
4 18 (2.88%) LDAP
5 17 (2.72%) REST
5 17 (2.72%) SAML
6 8 (1.28%) Elastic Stack
7 7 (1.12%) JSON
7 7 (1.12%) RabbitMQ
8 5 (0.80%) Keycloak
8 5 (0.80%) OAuth2
8 5 (0.80%) OpenID
8 5 (0.80%) Software Packaging
8 5 (0.80%) YAML
9 4 (0.64%) ADO
9 4 (0.64%) Azure Blueprints
9 4 (0.64%) EJB
9 4 (0.64%) Spring
10 3 (0.48%) ARM Templates
10 3 (0.48%) Java EE
Miscellaneous
1 62 (9.90%) PKI
2 45 (7.19%) Clustering
3 40 (6.39%) Replication
4 36 (5.75%) Data Centre
5 33 (5.27%) Hybrid Cloud
5 33 (5.27%) Onboarding
6 24 (3.83%) Management Information System
7 20 (3.19%) Legacy Systems
8 13 (2.08%) Enterprise Software
8 13 (2.08%) Linux Command Line
9 12 (1.92%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.76%) Virtual Team
11 10 (1.60%) Enterprise Storage
11 10 (1.60%) Security Posture
12 9 (1.44%) Cloud Native
12 9 (1.44%) Driving Licence
12 9 (1.44%) Smartcard
13 8 (1.28%) NHS
13 8 (1.28%) Product Ownership
14 7 (1.12%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 626 (100.00%) Windows
2 165 (26.36%) Linux
3 53 (8.47%) Windows Server 2019
4 47 (7.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 40 (6.39%) Windows 10
6 38 (6.07%) Windows Server 2016
7 35 (5.59%) Unix
8 30 (4.79%) Windows Server 2012
9 22 (3.51%) Ubuntu
10 11 (1.76%) CentOS
11 9 (1.44%) AIX
11 9 (1.44%) VMS
11 9 (1.44%) Windows Server 2003
11 9 (1.44%) Windows Server 2008
12 8 (1.28%) Solaris
13 6 (0.96%) Mac OS
14 4 (0.64%) Alpine Linux
15 3 (0.48%) Android
15 3 (0.48%) Rocky
15 3 (0.48%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (30.35%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 108 (17.25%) Problem-Solving
3 103 (16.45%) High Availability
4 99 (15.81%) Disaster Recovery
5 87 (13.90%) ITIL
6 70 (11.18%) Migration
7 58 (9.27%) Change Management
8 55 (8.79%) DevOps
8 55 (8.79%) ITSM
9 52 (8.31%) Infrastructure as Code
10 47 (7.51%) Project Delivery
11 44 (7.03%) Runbook
12 43 (6.87%) Agile
12 43 (6.87%) Root Cause Analysis
12 43 (6.87%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 41 (6.55%) Continuous Improvement
13 41 (6.55%) Technical Leadership
14 40 (6.39%) Patch Management
15 39 (6.23%) CI/CD
16 37 (5.91%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 228 (36.42%) PowerShell
2 94 (15.02%) SQL
3 62 (9.90%) Python
4 30 (4.79%) Bash
5 26 (4.15%) C#
6 23 (3.67%) PL/SQL
7 22 (3.51%) T-SQL
8 16 (2.56%) JavaScript
9 12 (1.92%) Java
10 8 (1.28%) Bicep
11 3 (0.48%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.32%) JCL
12 2 (0.32%) REXX
13 1 (0.16%) Groovy
13 1 (0.16%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) Ladder Logic
13 1 (0.16%) Perl
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.16%) VB
Qualifications
1 251 (40.10%) Security Cleared
2 140 (22.36%) SC Cleared
3 110 (17.57%) DV Cleared
4 69 (11.02%) Degree
5 48 (7.67%) Microsoft Certification
6 25 (3.99%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 23 (3.67%) MCSE
8 16 (2.56%) MCSA
9 14 (2.24%) Azure Certification
9 14 (2.24%) Cisco Certification
9 14 (2.24%) VCAP
10 13 (2.08%) BPSS Clearance
11 11 (1.76%) CISSP
12 8 (1.28%) CCNA
12 8 (1.28%) CCNP
12 8 (1.28%) CISM
13 7 (1.12%) AWS Certification
14 5 (0.80%) ITIL Certification
14 5 (0.80%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 4 (0.64%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (5.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 29 (4.63%) QA
3 26 (4.15%) NIST
4 21 (3.35%) GDPR
5 16 (2.56%) SLA
6 13 (2.08%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 12 (1.92%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (0.80%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.48%) NCSC
10 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.32%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.32%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.32%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.16%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.16%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.16%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.16%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 355 (56.71%) Active Directory
2 222 (35.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 102 (16.29%) Hyper-V
4 80 (12.78%) VMware ESXi
5 77 (12.30%) vSphere
6 54 (8.63%) Virtual Machines
7 36 (5.75%) Docker
8 35 (5.59%) VMware NSX
9 21 (3.35%) Virtual Desktop
10 12 (1.92%) vCloud
11 11 (1.76%) KVM
11 11 (1.76%) Microsoft App-V
12 10 (1.60%) BitLocker
13 6 (0.96%) Virtual Servers
13 6 (0.96%) VMware Workstation
13 6 (0.96%) XenApp
14 5 (0.80%) Terminal Services
14 5 (0.80%) XenDesktop
15 4 (0.64%) Firmware
15 4 (0.64%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 85 (13.58%) Ansible
2 73 (11.66%) vCenter Server
3 68 (10.86%) Microsoft Intune
4 57 (9.11%) SCCM
5 53 (8.47%) Terraform
6 42 (6.71%) SCOM
7 41 (6.55%) Kubernetes
8 29 (4.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 28 (4.47%) WSUS
10 27 (4.31%) Single Sign-On
11 14 (2.24%) vMotion
12 12 (1.92%) Nessus
13 11 (1.76%) Puppet
14 9 (1.44%) Avamar
14 9 (1.44%) Grafana
14 9 (1.44%) Prometheus
15 7 (1.12%) VxRail
16 6 (0.96%) FortiGate
16 6 (0.96%) IBM BigFix
16 6 (0.96%) WMI
Vendors
1 282 (45.05%) Microsoft
2 265 (42.33%) VMware
3 68 (10.86%) Citrix
4 67 (10.70%) Cisco
5 53 (8.47%) Oracle
6 44 (7.03%) ServiceNow
7 29 (4.63%) Dell
8 27 (4.31%) Red Hat
9 23 (3.67%) BeyondTrust
10 22 (3.51%) Okta
11 21 (3.35%) Tenable
12 19 (3.04%) CyberArk
13 17 (2.72%) Veeam
14 15 (2.40%) HP
14 15 (2.40%) IBM
15 14 (2.24%) Remedy
15 14 (2.24%) Splunk
15 14 (2.24%) Thales
16 13 (2.08%) BMC
16 13 (2.08%) NetApp
362 Windows Server jobs in England