Windows Contracts in England

Microsoft Windows
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England requiring Windows skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Windows over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 22 17 14
Rank change year-on-year -5 -3 0
Contract jobs citing Windows 2,058 3,247 5,072
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 8.45% 8.73% 10.05%
As % of the Operating Systems category 60.28% 64.02% 61.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,461 2,250 3,650
10th Percentile £180 £160 £163
25th Percentile £238 £213 £230
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £420 £400 £450
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -11.11% +5.88%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £675 £676
UK median daily rate £425 £400 £450
% change year-on-year +6.25% -11.11% +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 105 267 279
10th Percentile £14.52 £11.80 £13.29
25th Percentile £16.95 £14.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £18.77 £17.72 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +5.90% -21.24% +12.50%
75th Percentile £25.15 £25.14 £51.28
90th Percentile £63.55 £63.00 £69.00
UK median hourly rate £18.82 £18.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +4.56% -20.00% +12.50%

All Operating Systems
England

Windows 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 3,414 5,072 8,228
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 14.02% 13.64% 16.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,320 3,461 5,863
10th Percentile £200 £181 £193
25th Percentile £313 £289 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £463 £513
Median % change year-on-year +2.70% -9.76% +2.50%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £638
90th Percentile £700 £700 £725
UK median daily rate £475 £469 £505
% change year-on-year +1.28% -7.13% +1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 151 369 384
10th Percentile £15.26 £12.75 £13.97
25th Percentile £17.44 £15.17 £17.74
Median hourly rate £24.18 £22.00 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.91% -42.11% +76.74%
75th Percentile £64.38 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £70.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £24.18 £22.00 £39.30
% change year-on-year +9.91% -44.02% +74.67%

Windows
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing Windows as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for Windows in England

Windows
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Windows in England.

Daily rate trend for Windows in England

Windows
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows in England over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Windows in England

Windows
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Windows in England.

Hourly rate trend for Windows in England

Windows
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows in England over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Windows in England

Windows
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 within the England region over the 6 months to 1 May 2025. 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 -3 788 £450 +12.50% 688
South East -2 370 £500 +17.65% 536
North of England 0 336 £325 -7.14% 368
South West +6 218 £538 +8.59% 224
North West 0 186 £338 -3.57% 202
Midlands -3 186 £271 -22.50% 266
West Midlands -1 144 £278 -30.63% 140
Yorkshire +4 123 £325 - 123
East of England +7 113 £225 -23.73% 215
East Midlands -15 42 £206 +3.13% 115
North East -2 27 £220 -48.96% 51
Windows
UK

Windows
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 212 (10.30%) Microsoft Exchange
2 185 (8.99%) SharePoint
3 58 (2.82%) Confluence
4 46 (2.24%) IIS
5 22 (1.07%) Skype for Business
6 19 (0.92%) JBoss
7 17 (0.83%) CMS
7 17 (0.83%) Tomcat
8 16 (0.78%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 13 (0.63%) Apache
10 10 (0.49%) BizTalk Server
11 8 (0.39%) WebLogic
12 6 (0.29%) WebSphere
13 5 (0.24%) nginx
13 5 (0.24%) SharePoint Server
14 4 (0.19%) Exchange Server 2010
14 4 (0.19%) Exchange Server 2013
14 4 (0.19%) SharePoint 2010
15 3 (0.15%) Exchange Server 2003
15 3 (0.15%) Office Communications Server
Applications
1 267 (12.97%) Microsoft Office
2 67 (3.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 21 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 20 (0.97%) MS Visio
5 9 (0.44%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.19%) InfoPath
7 2 (0.097%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.097%) Adobe Illustrator
7 2 (0.097%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.097%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.049%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.049%) Final Cut Pro
8 1 (0.049%) Notion
8 1 (0.049%) QuarkXPress
8 1 (0.049%) Simulink
8 1 (0.049%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (0.49%) Remedy ITSM
2 6 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.097%) Actimize
3 2 (0.097%) Alphatax
3 2 (0.097%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.097%) Oracle 11i
3 2 (0.097%) Sage X3
4 1 (0.049%) Fidessa
4 1 (0.049%) IBM Planning Analytics
4 1 (0.049%) Maximo
4 1 (0.049%) NetSuite
4 1 (0.049%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.049%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.049%) Remedy AR System
4 1 (0.049%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 560 (27.21%) Microsoft 365
2 536 (26.04%) Azure
3 242 (11.76%) Entra ID
4 210 (10.20%) AWS
5 87 (4.23%) OneDrive
6 63 (3.06%) IaaS
7 60 (2.92%) GCP
8 47 (2.28%) SaaS
9 45 (2.19%) Google Workspace
10 40 (1.94%) Azure DevOps
11 39 (1.90%) OpenShift
12 34 (1.65%) GitHub
13 31 (1.51%) PaaS
14 23 (1.12%) Power Platform
15 22 (1.07%) Nutanix
16 19 (0.92%) Cloud Computing
17 16 (0.78%) AWS CloudFormation
18 15 (0.73%) Amazon S3
18 15 (0.73%) Slack
19 14 (0.68%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 285 (13.85%) DNS
2 209 (10.16%) Firewall
3 192 (9.33%) VPN
4 186 (9.04%) DHCP
5 96 (4.66%) TCP/IP
6 85 (4.13%) LAN
7 79 (3.84%) WAN
8 70 (3.40%) Wi-Fi
9 63 (3.06%) Network Security
10 60 (2.92%) SAN
11 48 (2.33%) VLAN
12 42 (2.04%) SMTP
13 40 (1.94%) Remote Desktop
14 33 (1.60%) HTTP
15 32 (1.55%) Skype
16 28 (1.36%) VoIP
16 28 (1.36%) Wireless
17 27 (1.31%) Internet
18 26 (1.26%) NAS
19 25 (1.21%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 144 (7.00%) SQL Server
2 70 (3.40%) Oracle Database
3 31 (1.51%) Elasticsearch
4 24 (1.17%) Relational Database
5 23 (1.12%) Amazon RDS
6 22 (1.07%) Big Data
6 22 (1.07%) MongoDB
6 22 (1.07%) PostgreSQL
7 19 (0.92%) MySQL
7 19 (0.92%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 14 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
9 13 (0.63%) RDBMS
10 12 (0.58%) Power BI
11 11 (0.53%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 9 (0.44%) DB2
13 7 (0.34%) Data Warehouse
13 7 (0.34%) MS Access
14 5 (0.24%) GIS
14 5 (0.24%) NoSQL
14 5 (0.24%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 120 (5.83%) JIRA
2 87 (4.23%) Git
3 64 (3.11%) Jenkins
4 32 (1.55%) GitLab
5 26 (1.26%) Visual Studio
6 25 (1.21%) Bitbucket
7 22 (1.07%) MSI
7 22 (1.07%) Selenium
8 20 (0.97%) TeamCity
9 18 (0.87%) SonarQube
10 14 (0.68%) Sonatype Nexus
11 11 (0.53%) JMeter
11 11 (0.53%) LoadRunner
12 10 (0.49%) QARun
12 10 (0.49%) WinRunner
13 8 (0.39%) Bitbucket Server
13 8 (0.39%) CA Release Automation
13 8 (0.39%) Subversion
14 7 (0.34%) Maven
15 6 (0.29%) HP UFT
General
1 695 (33.77%) Social Skills
2 383 (18.61%) Finance
3 182 (8.84%) Public Sector
4 178 (8.65%) Analytical Skills
5 148 (7.19%) Banking
6 85 (4.13%) Manufacturing
7 77 (3.74%) Telecoms
8 64 (3.11%) Legal
9 56 (2.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 56 (2.72%) Marketing
10 53 (2.58%) Electronics
11 51 (2.48%) Organisational Skills
12 46 (2.24%) Documentation Skills
13 31 (1.51%) Investment Banking
14 28 (1.36%) Law
15 22 (1.07%) Military
16 21 (1.02%) Front Office
16 21 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
17 19 (0.92%) Retail
18 17 (0.83%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 281 (13.65%) Support Engineer
2 233 (11.32%) Analyst
3 216 (10.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 160 (7.77%) Architect
5 137 (6.66%) Desktop Engineer
6 136 (6.61%) IT Support
7 128 (6.22%) Windows Engineer
8 125 (6.07%) Senior
9 121 (5.88%) Desktop Support
10 118 (5.73%) IT Engineer
11 91 (4.42%) Developer
12 90 (4.37%) Desktop Support Engineer
13 87 (4.23%) 2nd Line Support
14 78 (3.79%) IT Support Engineer
15 75 (3.64%) Service Analyst
16 74 (3.60%) Service Desk Analyst
17 71 (3.45%) Deployment Engineer
18 68 (3.30%) Support Analyst
19 66 (3.21%) 2nd Line Engineer
20 56 (2.72%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 93 (4.52%) .NET
2 42 (2.04%) .NET Framework
3 34 (1.65%) WPF
4 31 (1.51%) REST
5 28 (1.36%) Web Services
6 27 (1.31%) Kafka
7 26 (1.26%) Middleware
8 22 (1.07%) LDAP
9 21 (1.02%) SOAP
10 17 (0.83%) ASP.NET
10 17 (0.83%) HTML
11 15 (0.73%) Node.js
11 15 (0.73%) XML
12 14 (0.68%) CSS
13 13 (0.63%) Software Packaging
13 13 (0.63%) WCF
14 12 (0.58%) Elastic Stack
14 12 (0.58%) WinForms
15 11 (0.53%) FIX Protocol
15 11 (0.53%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 92 (4.47%) Data Centre
2 75 (3.64%) Onboarding
3 71 (3.45%) PKI
4 57 (2.77%) Management Information System
5 56 (2.72%) Self-Motivation
6 44 (2.14%) Clustering
7 41 (1.99%) Hybrid Cloud
8 39 (1.90%) Video Conferencing
9 36 (1.75%) Driving Licence
10 34 (1.65%) Data Protection Act
11 32 (1.55%) iPhone
12 27 (1.31%) iPad
12 27 (1.31%) Linux Command Line
12 27 (1.31%) Replication
13 26 (1.26%) Enterprise Software
13 26 (1.26%) Public Cloud
13 26 (1.26%) Security Posture
14 24 (1.17%) NHS
15 21 (1.02%) SWIFT Messaging Network
16 20 (0.97%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 528 (25.66%) Windows Server
2 503 (24.44%) Linux
3 463 (22.50%) Windows 10
4 87 (4.23%) Mac OS
5 85 (4.13%) Apple iOS
6 82 (3.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 82 (3.98%) Unix
7 80 (3.89%) Windows Server 2016
8 69 (3.35%) Windows Server 2019
9 59 (2.87%) Android
10 51 (2.48%) Windows 7
10 51 (2.48%) Windows Server 2012
11 29 (1.41%) VMS
12 25 (1.21%) CentOS
12 25 (1.21%) Ubuntu
13 24 (1.17%) Windows Server 2003
14 13 (0.63%) Solaris
15 10 (0.49%) AIX
15 10 (0.49%) Mac OS X
15 10 (0.49%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 472 (22.93%) Problem-Solving
2 308 (14.97%) ITIL
3 280 (13.61%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 233 (11.32%) Customer Service
5 230 (11.18%) Agile
6 221 (10.74%) Migration
7 197 (9.57%) DevOps
8 139 (6.75%) ITSM
9 130 (6.32%) Service Management
10 114 (5.54%) Cybersecurity
11 107 (5.20%) CI/CD
12 93 (4.52%) Disaster Recovery
13 84 (4.08%) Time Management
14 83 (4.03%) Test Automation
15 82 (3.98%) Change Management
16 79 (3.84%) Configuration Management
16 79 (3.84%) Stakeholder Management
17 75 (3.64%) Root Cause Analysis
18 74 (3.60%) High Availability
18 74 (3.60%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 458 (22.25%) PowerShell
2 243 (11.81%) SQL
3 227 (11.03%) Python
4 125 (6.07%) Bash
5 120 (5.83%) C#
6 97 (4.71%) PL/SQL
7 87 (4.23%) Java
8 52 (2.53%) VB
9 48 (2.33%) Perl
10 37 (1.80%) JavaScript
11 35 (1.70%) VBA
12 34 (1.65%) C++
13 28 (1.36%) Shell Script
14 27 (1.31%) T-SQL
15 20 (0.97%) VBScript
16 17 (0.83%) VB.NET
17 16 (0.78%) Delphi
18 13 (0.63%) C
19 11 (0.53%) TypeScript
20 10 (0.49%) ActionScript
Qualifications
1 557 (27.07%) Security Cleared
2 389 (18.90%) SC Cleared
3 167 (8.11%) DV Cleared
4 165 (8.02%) Degree
5 123 (5.98%) Microsoft Certification
6 53 (2.58%) Cisco Certification
7 38 (1.85%) A+ Certification
8 35 (1.70%) MCSE
9 33 (1.60%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 31 (1.51%) DBS Check
11 30 (1.46%) CISSP
12 28 (1.36%) Azure Certification
13 26 (1.26%) ITIL Certification
14 22 (1.07%) CCNA
15 18 (0.87%) AWS Certification
15 18 (0.87%) MCP
16 17 (0.83%) CCNP
16 17 (0.83%) Computer Science Degree
17 14 (0.68%) CISM
17 14 (0.68%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 87 (4.23%) SLA
2 77 (3.74%) QA
3 28 (1.36%) GDPR
4 23 (1.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 20 (0.97%) NIST
6 11 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
7 10 (0.49%) NCSC
8 6 (0.29%) Accessibility
8 6 (0.29%) Government Security Classifications
8 6 (0.29%) SOC 2
9 5 (0.24%) Data Quality
9 5 (0.24%) PCI DSS
9 5 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 4 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 4 (0.19%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.19%) PMO
11 3 (0.15%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 3 (0.15%) SEPA
12 2 (0.097%) GRC
12 2 (0.097%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 825 (40.09%) Active Directory
2 261 (12.68%) VMware Infrastructure
3 105 (5.10%) Hyper-V
4 79 (3.84%) Docker
5 67 (3.26%) vSphere
6 62 (3.01%) VMware ESXi
7 47 (2.28%) Virtual Machines
8 43 (2.09%) Virtual Desktop
9 34 (1.65%) BitLocker
10 27 (1.31%) Microsoft App-V
11 19 (0.92%) Virtual Servers
11 19 (0.92%) VMware NSX
12 11 (0.53%) NFS
12 11 (0.53%) Terminal Services
12 11 (0.53%) XenDesktop
13 10 (0.49%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 10 (0.49%) XenApp
14 6 (0.29%) DFS Replication
14 6 (0.29%) Firmware
14 6 (0.29%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 260 (12.63%) Microsoft Intune
2 258 (12.54%) SCCM
3 142 (6.90%) Ansible
4 110 (5.34%) Terraform
5 100 (4.86%) Kubernetes
6 62 (3.01%) Puppet
7 57 (2.77%) vCenter Server
8 55 (2.67%) WSUS
9 37 (1.80%) Progress Chef
10 29 (1.41%) Jamf Pro
11 24 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
12 19 (0.92%) SCOM
13 17 (0.83%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 17 (0.83%) Microsoft Clustering
14 16 (0.78%) Kibana
15 15 (0.73%) Grafana
15 15 (0.73%) Nessus
16 14 (0.68%) FortiGate
16 14 (0.68%) Prometheus
16 14 (0.68%) vMotion
Vendors
1 888 (43.15%) Microsoft
2 374 (18.17%) VMware
3 162 (7.87%) Oracle
4 153 (7.43%) Cisco
5 150 (7.29%) ServiceNow
6 124 (6.03%) Citrix
7 83 (4.03%) Red Hat
8 80 (3.89%) Google
9 76 (3.69%) Apple
10 72 (3.50%) Dell
11 68 (3.30%) Splunk
12 66 (3.21%) HP
13 62 (3.01%) SAP
14 38 (1.85%) IBM
14 38 (1.85%) SolarWinds
15 33 (1.60%) CyberArk
16 31 (1.51%) Symantec
17 27 (1.31%) Palo Alto
18 26 (1.26%) F5
19 25 (1.21%) Zscaler