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

6 months to
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 21 17
Rank change year-on-year -6 -4 -3
Contract jobs citing Windows 2,679 2,250 2,963
As % of all contract jobs in England 5.98% 8.18% 8.70%
As % of the Operating Systems category 61.74% 60.66% 61.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,711 1,527 2,014
10th Percentile £170 £178 £175
25th Percentile £225 £225 £251
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £413 £440
Median % change year-on-year +3.03% -6.25% -1.12%
75th Percentile £556 £575 £575
90th Percentile £650 £675 £659
UK median daily rate £425 £415 £426
% change year-on-year +2.39% -2.45% -5.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 235 182 225
10th Percentile £16.04 £15.15 £11.07
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.33 £14.72
Median hourly rate £25.77 £18.87 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +36.57% -5.65% -19.39%
75th Percentile £55.25 £28.00 £51.91
90th Percentile £74.00 £65.00 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £25.26 £18.87 £21.00
% change year-on-year +33.86% -10.14% -13.62%

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 4,339 3,709 4,829
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.68% 13.49% 14.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,789 2,476 3,212
10th Percentile £190 £200 £200
25th Percentile £313 £313 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £467 £460 £478
Median % change year-on-year +1.41% -3.66% -4.50%
75th Percentile £575 £586 £588
90th Percentile £661 £676 £688
UK median daily rate £470 £463 £475
% change year-on-year +1.62% -2.63% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 296 226 327
10th Percentile £16.05 £15.50 £12.65
25th Percentile £19.25 £18.11 £16.65
Median hourly rate £32.50 £23.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +41.30% -16.36% -35.29%
75th Percentile £65.00 £58.73 £67.50
90th Percentile £74.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £23.50 £27.00
% change year-on-year +10.64% -12.96% -36.47%

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 29 July 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 29 July 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 29 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 -16 886 £424 -0.24% 277
South East -7 578 £475 -3.46% 282
North of England -12 462 £344 +1.18% 189
South West -11 271 £488 +8.33% 107
Midlands -19 262 £400 +23.08% 117
North West -9 252 £344 -3.91% 92
East of England -3 203 £335 +41.05% 107
Yorkshire -14 188 £365 +10.19% 65
West Midlands -28 169 £450 +12.50% 68
East Midlands +11 89 £270 +35.00% 49
North East -44 26 £270 -1.82% 38
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
1 222 (8.29%) Microsoft Exchange
2 211 (7.88%) SharePoint
3 56 (2.09%) Confluence
3 56 (2.09%) IIS
4 17 (0.63%) nginx
5 15 (0.56%) Apache
6 14 (0.52%) Tomcat
7 11 (0.41%) Skype for Business
8 9 (0.34%) Oracle Workflow
8 9 (0.34%) WebLogic
9 6 (0.22%) Appian
9 6 (0.22%) Documentum
10 5 (0.19%) Camunda
11 4 (0.15%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 4 (0.15%) FactoryTalk
12 3 (0.11%) Apache Solr
12 3 (0.11%) CloudStack
12 3 (0.11%) NetWeaver
12 3 (0.11%) Tuxedo
13 2 (0.075%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 161 (6.01%) Microsoft Office
2 63 (2.35%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
5 4 (0.15%) Acrobat
5 4 (0.15%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.11%) Houdini
6 3 (0.11%) NUKE
7 2 (0.075%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 1 (0.037%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.037%) CINEMA 4D
8 1 (0.037%) InDesign
8 1 (0.037%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 54 (2.02%) Remedy ITSM
2 10 (0.37%) Finacle
3 8 (0.30%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (0.26%) OpenText MBPM
4 7 (0.26%) Oracle BPM
5 6 (0.22%) Teamcenter
6 3 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.11%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.075%) assyst
8 1 (0.037%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.037%) Oracle BRM
8 1 (0.037%) Payment Gateway
8 1 (0.037%) SAP BRIM
8 1 (0.037%) SAP EWM
8 1 (0.037%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.037%) SAP FI-CA
8 1 (0.037%) SAP FS
8 1 (0.037%) SAP MDG
Cloud Services
1 837 (31.24%) Azure
2 824 (30.76%) Microsoft 365
3 400 (14.93%) Entra ID
4 296 (11.05%) AWS
5 117 (4.37%) OneDrive
6 91 (3.40%) GCP
7 88 (3.28%) Azure DevOps
8 71 (2.65%) SaaS
9 63 (2.35%) Azure Monitor
10 61 (2.28%) IaaS
11 60 (2.24%) GitHub
12 57 (2.13%) Power Platform
13 51 (1.90%) PaaS
14 40 (1.49%) Azure Sentinel
15 28 (1.05%) AWS CloudFormation
16 25 (0.93%) Azure AKS
17 24 (0.90%) Google Workspace
18 22 (0.82%) GitHub Actions
18 22 (0.82%) Virtual Private Cloud
19 21 (0.78%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 406 (15.15%) DNS
2 310 (11.57%) Firewall
3 279 (10.41%) DHCP
4 197 (7.35%) VPN
5 189 (7.05%) TCP/IP
6 143 (5.34%) LAN
7 135 (5.04%) WAN
8 121 (4.52%) Wi-Fi
9 84 (3.14%) SAN
10 65 (2.43%) Network Security
10 65 (2.43%) VLAN
11 46 (1.72%) BGP
12 45 (1.68%) SSL
13 38 (1.42%) Internet
13 38 (1.42%) NAS
14 37 (1.38%) Wireless
15 36 (1.34%) OSPF
16 31 (1.16%) VSAN
17 29 (1.08%) VoIP
18 28 (1.05%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 261 (9.74%) SQL Server
2 53 (1.98%) Oracle Database
3 45 (1.68%) Power BI
4 26 (0.97%) PostgreSQL
5 25 (0.93%) Relational Database
6 23 (0.86%) MySQL
7 21 (0.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 19 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
9 18 (0.67%) Db2
10 13 (0.49%) Elasticsearch
11 12 (0.45%) RDBMS
11 12 (0.45%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 12 (0.45%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 11 (0.41%) MongoDB
12 11 (0.41%) NoSQL
13 10 (0.37%) Geospatial Data
14 9 (0.34%) Data Warehouse
15 6 (0.22%) GIS
16 5 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
16 5 (0.19%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 163 (6.08%) JIRA
2 60 (2.24%) Git
3 46 (1.72%) MSI
4 43 (1.61%) Jenkins
5 37 (1.38%) GitLab
6 32 (1.19%) Visual Studio
7 17 (0.63%) Eclipse
8 14 (0.52%) Bitbucket
9 9 (0.34%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 8 (0.30%) Chocolatey
10 8 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
11 7 (0.26%) Artifactory
11 7 (0.26%) Browser DevTools
12 6 (0.22%) Android Studio
12 6 (0.22%) InstallShield
12 6 (0.22%) Xcode
13 5 (0.19%) AdminStudio
13 5 (0.19%) Selenium
14 4 (0.15%) Maven
14 4 (0.15%) Robot Framework
General
1 980 (36.58%) Social Skills
2 323 (12.06%) Finance
3 314 (11.72%) Analytical Skills
4 163 (6.08%) Public Sector
5 157 (5.86%) Banking
6 96 (3.58%) Documentation Skills
7 79 (2.95%) Organisational Skills
8 78 (2.91%) Legal
9 56 (2.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 52 (1.94%) Retail
11 47 (1.75%) Military
12 43 (1.61%) Manufacturing
13 38 (1.42%) Front Office
14 37 (1.38%) Telecoms
15 34 (1.27%) Investment Banking
15 34 (1.27%) Law
16 27 (1.01%) Spanish Language
17 25 (0.93%) Financial Institution
18 22 (0.82%) French Language
19 20 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 398 (14.86%) Support Engineer
2 365 (13.62%) IT Support
3 273 (10.19%) IT Engineer
4 261 (9.74%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 247 (9.22%) Analyst
6 228 (8.51%) IT Support Engineer
7 213 (7.95%) Senior
8 122 (4.55%) 2nd Line Support
9 108 (4.03%) Desktop Support
10 106 (3.96%) Architect
11 100 (3.73%) Cloud Engineer
12 98 (3.66%) Developer
13 97 (3.62%) Desktop Engineer
14 95 (3.55%) Lead
15 94 (3.51%) Support Analyst
16 81 (3.02%) IT Analyst
17 72 (2.69%) 1st Line Support
17 72 (2.69%) Consultant
18 71 (2.65%) Windows Engineer
19 68 (2.54%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 105 (3.92%) .NET
2 94 (3.51%) REST
3 61 (2.28%) .NET Framework
4 31 (1.16%) 802.1X
5 28 (1.05%) WPF
6 27 (1.01%) LDAP
6 27 (1.01%) Middleware
6 27 (1.01%) WinForms
7 24 (0.90%) CSS
7 24 (0.90%) Microsoft Graph
7 24 (0.90%) Web Services
8 21 (0.78%) JSON
9 20 (0.75%) HTML
9 20 (0.75%) Kafka
9 20 (0.75%) Software Packaging
10 19 (0.71%) Elastic Stack
11 16 (0.60%) ARM Templates
11 16 (0.60%) RESTful
12 15 (0.56%) .NET Core
12 15 (0.56%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 300 (11.20%) Onboarding
2 146 (5.45%) Data Centre
2 146 (5.45%) PKI
3 85 (3.17%) Clustering
4 74 (2.76%) Management Information System
5 70 (2.61%) Cloud Native
5 70 (2.61%) Enterprise Software
6 62 (2.31%) Self-Motivation
7 57 (2.13%) Hybrid Cloud
8 55 (2.05%) Video Conferencing
9 53 (1.98%) Driving Licence
10 51 (1.90%) Replication
11 50 (1.87%) Security Posture
12 48 (1.79%) Legacy Systems
13 42 (1.57%) Virtual Team
14 35 (1.31%) Analytical Mindset
15 33 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
16 30 (1.12%) Linux Command Line
17 28 (1.05%) Enterprise Storage
18 27 (1.01%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 674 (25.16%) Windows Server
2 647 (24.15%) Linux
3 463 (17.28%) Windows 10
4 176 (6.57%) Mac OS
5 122 (4.55%) Apple iOS
5 122 (4.55%) Unix
6 119 (4.44%) Android
7 108 (4.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 68 (2.54%) Windows Server 2019
9 40 (1.49%) Ubuntu
9 40 (1.49%) Windows Server 2016
10 35 (1.31%) Windows Server 2012
11 33 (1.23%) Windows 7
12 30 (1.12%) AIX
13 23 (0.86%) CentOS
14 19 (0.71%) Solaris
14 19 (0.71%) VMS
15 18 (0.67%) Windows Server 2008
16 10 (0.37%) Rocky
16 10 (0.37%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 632 (23.59%) Problem-Solving
2 469 (17.51%) ITIL
3 406 (15.15%) Customer Service
4 339 (12.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 316 (11.80%) Migration
6 306 (11.42%) ITSM
7 261 (9.74%) Continuous Improvement
8 258 (9.63%) DevOps
9 245 (9.15%) Agile
10 239 (8.92%) CI/CD
11 217 (8.10%) Service Management
12 201 (7.50%) Infrastructure as Code
13 189 (7.05%) Change Management
14 176 (6.57%) High Availability
15 172 (6.42%) Stakeholder Management
16 149 (5.56%) Cybersecurity
17 147 (5.49%) SIEM
18 145 (5.41%) Disaster Recovery
18 145 (5.41%) Service Delivery
19 143 (5.34%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 620 (23.14%) PowerShell
2 287 (10.71%) Python
3 278 (10.38%) SQL
4 151 (5.64%) Bash
5 138 (5.15%) C#
6 70 (2.61%) JavaScript
7 69 (2.58%) Java
8 51 (1.90%) T-SQL
9 50 (1.87%) PL/SQL
10 47 (1.75%) C++
11 40 (1.49%) Bicep
12 24 (0.90%) Search Processing Language
13 22 (0.82%) VB
14 17 (0.63%) Perl
14 17 (0.63%) VBScript
15 16 (0.60%) TypeScript
16 15 (0.56%) C
16 15 (0.56%) Shell Script
17 14 (0.52%) Kusto Query Language
17 14 (0.52%) VBA
Qualifications
1 822 (30.68%) Security Cleared
2 495 (18.48%) SC Cleared
3 300 (11.20%) DV Cleared
4 287 (10.71%) Degree
5 105 (3.92%) Microsoft Certification
6 81 (3.02%) Cisco Certification
7 70 (2.61%) Computer Science Degree
8 68 (2.54%) Azure Certification
9 62 (2.31%) CISSP
10 49 (1.83%) AWS Certification
11 48 (1.79%) BPSS Clearance
12 41 (1.53%) A+ Certification
13 33 (1.23%) MCSE
14 30 (1.12%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 29 (1.08%) CCNA
16 28 (1.05%) CCNP
17 25 (0.93%) ITIL Certification
17 25 (0.93%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
18 23 (0.86%) CISM
19 22 (0.82%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 130 (4.85%) SLA
2 115 (4.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 84 (3.14%) NIST
4 74 (2.76%) QA
5 30 (1.12%) GDPR
6 27 (1.01%) Cyber Essentials
7 25 (0.93%) PCI DSS
8 22 (0.82%) NCSC
9 16 (0.60%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 13 (0.49%) Data Quality
11 11 (0.41%) Accessibility
11 11 (0.41%) HIPAA
12 10 (0.37%) GRC
12 10 (0.37%) PMO
13 9 (0.34%) WCAG
14 8 (0.30%) GxP
14 8 (0.30%) NIST 800
14 8 (0.30%) SOC 2
15 6 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 6 (0.22%) ISO 31000
System Software
1 1,071 (39.98%) Active Directory
2 361 (13.48%) VMware Infrastructure
3 143 (5.34%) Hyper-V
4 124 (4.63%) VMware ESXi
5 102 (3.81%) vSphere
6 98 (3.66%) Docker
7 90 (3.36%) Virtual Machines
8 72 (2.69%) Virtual Desktop
9 71 (2.65%) VMware NSX
10 32 (1.19%) BitLocker
10 32 (1.19%) Firmware
11 24 (0.90%) Microsoft App-V
12 16 (0.60%) vCloud
13 13 (0.49%) KVM
14 8 (0.30%) Virtual Servers
14 8 (0.30%) VMware Workstation
15 7 (0.26%) NFS
15 7 (0.26%) XenApp
15 7 (0.26%) XenDesktop
16 6 (0.22%) UAG
Systems Management
1 395 (14.74%) Microsoft Intune
2 246 (9.18%) SCCM
3 231 (8.62%) Terraform
4 198 (7.39%) Ansible
5 150 (5.60%) Kubernetes
6 109 (4.07%) vCenter Server
7 66 (2.46%) SCOM
8 45 (1.68%) Jamf Pro
9 38 (1.42%) FortiGate
9 38 (1.42%) WSUS
10 35 (1.31%) Progress Chef
11 30 (1.12%) Puppet
12 29 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
13 25 (0.93%) Grafana
14 24 (0.90%) Prometheus
15 23 (0.86%) Nagios
15 23 (0.86%) Packer
16 20 (0.75%) ZABBIX
17 19 (0.71%) Nessus
17 19 (0.71%) WMI
Vendors
1 1,181 (44.08%) Microsoft
2 487 (18.18%) VMware
3 287 (10.71%) ServiceNow
4 179 (6.68%) Cisco
5 177 (6.61%) Citrix
6 157 (5.86%) Oracle
7 117 (4.37%) Splunk
8 80 (2.99%) SolarWinds
9 79 (2.95%) Apple
9 79 (2.95%) CyberArk
10 65 (2.43%) Google
10 65 (2.43%) Red Hat
11 64 (2.39%) Remedy
12 63 (2.35%) HP
13 58 (2.16%) BeyondTrust
14 53 (1.98%) Juniper
15 50 (1.87%) Dell
16 45 (1.68%) IBM
17 44 (1.64%) F5
18 43 (1.61%) BMC