Windows Contract Job Trends in England

Microsoft Windows
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Windows skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 20 16
Rank change year-on-year -7 -4 -2
Contract jobs citing Windows 2,497 2,060 3,135
As % of all contract jobs in England 5.98% 8.64% 8.56%
As % of the Operating Systems category 61.29% 61.53% 62.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,638 1,458 2,180
10th Percentile £163 £180 £163
25th Percentile £213 £240 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £415 £425 £400
Median % change year-on-year -2.35% +6.25% -11.11%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £575
90th Percentile £650 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £425 £425 £400
% change year-on-year - +6.25% -11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 214 121 265
10th Percentile £15.80 £14.20 £11.80
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.95 £14.00
Median hourly rate £25.76 £18.82 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +36.88% +4.56% -20.00%
75th Percentile £60.00 £25.00 £25.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £53.75 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £25.51 £18.82 £18.00
% change year-on-year +35.52% +4.56% -20.00%

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 4,074 3,348 5,052
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.76% 14.05% 13.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,650 2,287 3,451
10th Percentile £185 £200 £185
25th Percentile £313 £313 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £470 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.19% -1.05% -6.86%
75th Percentile £570 £592 £588
90th Percentile £650 £695 £700
UK median daily rate £459 £469 £474
% change year-on-year -2.08% -1.11% -5.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 290 154 371
10th Percentile £15.91 £15.10 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.27 £15.50
Median hourly rate £37.50 £20.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +87.50% -11.11% -44.57%
75th Percentile £65.00 £56.88 £61.80
90th Percentile £74.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £35.11 £22.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +59.59% -2.22% -47.06%

Windows
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Windows relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Windows job vacancy trend in England

Windows
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows

Windows
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows in England over the 6 months to 28 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Windows in England

Windows
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Windows

Windows
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows in England over the 6 months to 28 May 2026.

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 28 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 -25 765 £425 -5.56% 221
South East -5 525 £475 - 267
North of England -9 462 £360 +2.86% 167
Midlands -17 274 £319 +15.91% 107
North West +1 259 £330 -5.71% 102
South West -11 232 £466 -0.64% 118
East of England -1 219 £350 -7.59% 90
Yorkshire -22 187 £370 -7.50% 50
West Midlands -24 160 £450 +57.89% 60
East Midlands +11 109 £213 - 47
North East -32 20 £290 -3.33% 17
Windows
UK

Windows
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
1 214 (8.57%) Microsoft Exchange
2 165 (6.61%) SharePoint
3 57 (2.28%) IIS
4 51 (2.04%) Confluence
5 19 (0.76%) Apache
6 17 (0.68%) WebLogic
7 14 (0.56%) Skype for Business
8 12 (0.48%) nginx
8 12 (0.48%) Tomcat
9 11 (0.44%) Tuxedo
10 8 (0.32%) Oracle Workflow
11 5 (0.20%) Appian
11 5 (0.20%) TPMS
12 4 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
12 4 (0.16%) WebSphere
13 3 (0.12%) Camunda
13 3 (0.12%) NetWeaver
14 2 (0.080%) Apache Pulsar
14 2 (0.080%) ArcGIS
14 2 (0.080%) CloudStack
Applications
1 165 (6.61%) Microsoft Office
2 63 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.36%) MS Visio
5 7 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.20%) PTC Creo
7 4 (0.16%) Acrobat
7 4 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.040%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 43 (1.72%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (0.48%) SAP S/4HANA
3 11 (0.44%) Teamcenter
4 4 (0.16%) Finacle
5 3 (0.12%) assyst
5 3 (0.12%) OpenText MBPM
5 3 (0.12%) Oracle BPM
5 3 (0.12%) Veritas eDiscovery
6 2 (0.080%) Oracle General Ledger
6 2 (0.080%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 2 (0.080%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.040%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.040%) Oracle 11i
7 1 (0.040%) Oracle FAH
7 1 (0.040%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.040%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.040%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 735 (29.44%) Azure
2 726 (29.07%) Microsoft 365
3 316 (12.66%) Entra ID
4 229 (9.17%) AWS
5 80 (3.20%) OneDrive
6 73 (2.92%) GCP
7 68 (2.72%) Azure DevOps
7 68 (2.72%) SaaS
8 63 (2.52%) IaaS
9 54 (2.16%) GitHub
10 51 (2.04%) PaaS
11 46 (1.84%) Power Platform
12 37 (1.48%) Azure Monitor
13 31 (1.24%) Azure Sentinel
13 31 (1.24%) Google Workspace
14 26 (1.04%) GitHub Actions
15 23 (0.92%) OpenShift
16 17 (0.68%) AWS CloudFormation
16 17 (0.68%) Azure AKS
17 16 (0.64%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 337 (13.50%) DNS
2 263 (10.53%) Firewall
3 236 (9.45%) DHCP
4 167 (6.69%) VPN
5 152 (6.09%) LAN
6 146 (5.85%) WAN
7 139 (5.57%) TCP/IP
8 112 (4.49%) Wi-Fi
9 64 (2.56%) Network Security
10 63 (2.52%) SAN
11 53 (2.12%) VLAN
12 39 (1.56%) Wireless
13 38 (1.52%) BGP
14 36 (1.44%) Skype
15 34 (1.36%) OSPF
16 31 (1.24%) BIG-IP
16 31 (1.24%) Internet
16 31 (1.24%) SNMP
16 31 (1.24%) VoIP
17 30 (1.20%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 197 (7.89%) SQL Server
2 42 (1.68%) Oracle Database
3 33 (1.32%) Relational Database
4 30 (1.20%) MySQL
5 29 (1.16%) Power BI
6 23 (0.92%) PostgreSQL
7 15 (0.60%) DB2
8 14 (0.56%) MongoDB
9 13 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
10 12 (0.48%) NoSQL
11 10 (0.40%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 7 (0.28%) Amazon RDS
12 7 (0.28%) RDBMS
13 6 (0.24%) BigQuery
13 6 (0.24%) GIS
13 6 (0.24%) Oracle Reports
14 5 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
14 5 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
15 4 (0.16%) SQL Server Analysis Services
15 4 (0.16%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 168 (6.73%) JIRA
2 41 (1.64%) Jenkins
2 41 (1.64%) MSI
3 40 (1.60%) GitLab
4 36 (1.44%) Visual Studio
5 31 (1.24%) Git
6 20 (0.80%) Eclipse
7 14 (0.56%) Burp Suite
8 13 (0.52%) Metasploit
9 9 (0.36%) Android Studio
9 9 (0.36%) Browser DevTools
9 9 (0.36%) Chocolatey
9 9 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
9 9 (0.36%) Xcode
10 8 (0.32%) Artifactory
11 7 (0.28%) Bitbucket
11 7 (0.28%) Selenium
12 6 (0.24%) InstallShield
12 6 (0.24%) Robot Framework
13 5 (0.20%) AdminStudio
General
1 837 (33.52%) Social Skills
2 253 (10.13%) Finance
3 226 (9.05%) Analytical Skills
4 164 (6.57%) Public Sector
5 143 (5.73%) Banking
6 92 (3.68%) Documentation Skills
7 89 (3.56%) Legal
8 77 (3.08%) Organisational Skills
9 54 (2.16%) Military
10 46 (1.84%) Retail
11 38 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 37 (1.48%) Law
12 37 (1.48%) Manufacturing
13 31 (1.24%) Investment Banking
14 30 (1.20%) Presentation Skills
15 26 (1.04%) Front Office
15 26 (1.04%) Telecoms
16 21 (0.84%) Local Government
17 18 (0.72%) Police
18 17 (0.68%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 326 (13.06%) IT Support
2 316 (12.66%) Support Engineer
3 280 (11.21%) Analyst
4 214 (8.57%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 201 (8.05%) IT Engineer
6 166 (6.65%) Senior
7 165 (6.61%) IT Support Engineer
8 131 (5.25%) Architect
9 113 (4.53%) Desktop Support
9 113 (4.53%) Support Analyst
10 101 (4.04%) Desktop Engineer
11 96 (3.84%) 2nd Line Support
12 90 (3.60%) IT Analyst
13 89 (3.56%) Lead
14 88 (3.52%) Technical Support
15 82 (3.28%) Developer
16 67 (2.68%) 1st Line Support
17 66 (2.64%) Desktop Support Engineer
17 66 (2.64%) IT Support Analyst
17 66 (2.64%) Windows Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 82 (3.28%) .NET
2 69 (2.76%) REST
3 49 (1.96%) .NET Framework
4 37 (1.48%) LDAP
5 32 (1.28%) Microsoft Graph
6 31 (1.24%) SAML
7 28 (1.12%) 802.1X
7 28 (1.12%) Middleware
8 27 (1.08%) WinForms
9 24 (0.96%) OAuth
10 23 (0.92%) Web Services
11 22 (0.88%) WPF
12 21 (0.84%) Kafka
13 19 (0.76%) CSS
13 19 (0.76%) React
14 18 (0.72%) Node.js
15 17 (0.68%) AngularJS
15 17 (0.68%) Software Packaging
16 16 (0.64%) Elastic Stack
17 14 (0.56%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 227 (9.09%) Onboarding
2 115 (4.61%) Data Centre
3 107 (4.29%) PKI
4 80 (3.20%) Clustering
5 73 (2.92%) Enterprise Software
6 56 (2.24%) Self-Motivation
7 55 (2.20%) Replication
8 51 (2.04%) Management Information System
9 49 (1.96%) Driving Licence
10 48 (1.92%) Hybrid Cloud
11 43 (1.72%) Virtual Team
12 42 (1.68%) Security Posture
13 41 (1.64%) Smartphone
14 37 (1.48%) Cloud Native
14 37 (1.48%) Legacy Systems
15 30 (1.20%) Analytical Mindset
16 29 (1.16%) CMDB
16 29 (1.16%) Data Protection Act
16 29 (1.16%) Enterprise Storage
16 29 (1.16%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 612 (24.51%) Linux
2 583 (23.35%) Windows Server
3 468 (18.74%) Windows 10
4 162 (6.49%) Mac OS
5 127 (5.09%) Apple iOS
6 126 (5.05%) Unix
7 123 (4.93%) Android
8 78 (3.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 65 (2.60%) Windows Server 2019
10 61 (2.44%) Windows Server 2016
11 48 (1.92%) Windows 7
12 35 (1.40%) Windows Server 2012
13 30 (1.20%) AIX
14 26 (1.04%) Ubuntu
15 18 (0.72%) Windows Server 2003
16 17 (0.68%) VMS
17 14 (0.56%) Solaris
18 12 (0.48%) CentOS
18 12 (0.48%) Windows Server 2008
19 8 (0.32%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 518 (20.74%) Problem-Solving
2 391 (15.66%) Customer Service
3 374 (14.98%) ITIL
4 282 (11.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 265 (10.61%) Migration
6 246 (9.85%) Agile
7 230 (9.21%) ITSM
8 228 (9.13%) DevOps
9 216 (8.65%) CI/CD
10 179 (7.17%) Continuous Improvement
11 172 (6.89%) Change Management
12 167 (6.69%) Disaster Recovery
13 159 (6.37%) High Availability
14 158 (6.33%) Service Management
15 129 (5.17%) Stakeholder Management
16 128 (5.13%) Cybersecurity
17 126 (5.05%) SIEM
18 123 (4.93%) Infrastructure as Code
19 114 (4.57%) Computer Science
20 107 (4.29%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 542 (21.71%) PowerShell
2 249 (9.97%) SQL
3 240 (9.61%) Python
4 119 (4.77%) C#
5 93 (3.72%) Bash
6 69 (2.76%) JavaScript
7 67 (2.68%) Java
8 50 (2.00%) PL/SQL
9 46 (1.84%) C++
10 44 (1.76%) T-SQL
11 26 (1.04%) Kusto Query Language
12 25 (1.00%) VB
13 22 (0.88%) Search Processing Language
14 20 (0.80%) Perl
14 20 (0.80%) Shell Script
15 18 (0.72%) VBScript
16 14 (0.56%) Bicep
16 14 (0.56%) VBA
17 13 (0.52%) C
18 11 (0.44%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 755 (30.24%) Security Cleared
2 478 (19.14%) SC Cleared
3 279 (11.17%) Degree
4 250 (10.01%) DV Cleared
5 98 (3.92%) Microsoft Certification
6 77 (3.08%) Computer Science Degree
7 76 (3.04%) Cisco Certification
8 53 (2.12%) CISSP
9 47 (1.88%) Azure Certification
10 41 (1.64%) MCSE
11 34 (1.36%) BPSS Clearance
12 32 (1.28%) AWS Certification
13 29 (1.16%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 27 (1.08%) CCNA
14 27 (1.08%) MCSA
15 25 (1.00%) CCNP
15 25 (1.00%) ITIL Certification
16 23 (0.92%) CISM
17 22 (0.88%) CompTIA Security+
18 19 (0.76%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 109 (4.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 94 (3.76%) SLA
3 76 (3.04%) NIST
4 75 (3.00%) GDPR
5 74 (2.96%) QA
6 37 (1.48%) PCI DSS
7 30 (1.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 25 (1.00%) Cyber Essentials
9 12 (0.48%) NCSC
9 12 (0.48%) NIST 800
10 11 (0.44%) Data Quality
10 11 (0.44%) MiFID
10 11 (0.44%) PMO
11 10 (0.40%) FINRA
12 9 (0.36%) HIPAA
13 7 (0.28%) SOC 2
14 6 (0.24%) DICOM
14 6 (0.24%) GRC
14 6 (0.24%) HL7
14 6 (0.24%) ISO 31000
System Software
1 950 (38.05%) Active Directory
2 313 (12.54%) VMware Infrastructure
3 138 (5.53%) Hyper-V
4 90 (3.60%) VMware ESXi
4 90 (3.60%) vSphere
5 84 (3.36%) Virtual Machines
6 78 (3.12%) Docker
7 50 (2.00%) Virtual Desktop
8 46 (1.84%) VMware NSX
9 35 (1.40%) Firmware
10 33 (1.32%) BitLocker
11 26 (1.04%) Microsoft App-V
12 20 (0.80%) KVM
13 11 (0.44%) XenDesktop
14 10 (0.40%) XenApp
15 8 (0.32%) vCloud
15 8 (0.32%) VMware Workstation
16 6 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
17 5 (0.20%) etcd
17 5 (0.20%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 343 (13.74%) Microsoft Intune
2 232 (9.29%) SCCM
3 165 (6.61%) Ansible
4 152 (6.09%) Terraform
5 115 (4.61%) Kubernetes
6 78 (3.12%) vCenter Server
7 44 (1.76%) Single Sign-On
8 40 (1.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 36 (1.44%) FortiGate
10 35 (1.40%) Jamf Pro
10 35 (1.40%) SCOM
11 34 (1.36%) WSUS
12 27 (1.08%) Grafana
13 25 (1.00%) Nagios
14 24 (0.96%) Prometheus
15 21 (0.84%) Progress Chef
16 20 (0.80%) Nessus
17 18 (0.72%) Puppet
17 18 (0.72%) Tivoli
17 18 (0.72%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 1,068 (42.77%) Microsoft
2 411 (16.46%) VMware
3 223 (8.93%) ServiceNow
4 180 (7.21%) Citrix
5 175 (7.01%) Cisco
6 144 (5.77%) Oracle
7 124 (4.97%) Splunk
8 71 (2.84%) HP
9 67 (2.68%) SolarWinds
10 59 (2.36%) Dell
11 56 (2.24%) Red Hat
11 56 (2.24%) Remedy
12 50 (2.00%) Apple
13 49 (1.96%) Google
14 46 (1.84%) CyberArk
15 45 (1.80%) F5
16 44 (1.76%) IBM
16 44 (1.76%) Juniper
17 37 (1.48%) BeyondTrust
18 33 (1.32%) Palo Alto