Desktop Support Engineer Contract Job Trends in Manchester

Desktop Support Engineer
North West > Manchester

The median Desktop Support Engineer daily rate in Manchester is £145, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 September 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 - -
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support Engineer 6 0 0
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 0.30% - -
As % of the Job Titles category 0.33% - -
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile £137 - -
25th Percentile £139 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £145 - -
75th Percentile £149 - -
90th Percentile £150 - -
North West median daily rate £235 £228 £149
% change year-on-year +3.30% +52.68% -29.88%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Manchester

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Manchester. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Manchester with a recognized job title 1,832 929 1,148
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.78% 92.25% 96.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,075 590 723
10th Percentile £313 £300 £315
25th Percentile £405 £393 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.53% -7.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £575 £600
90th Percentile £700 £651 £713
North West median daily rate £500 £450 £493
% change year-on-year +11.11% -8.72% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 195 78 46
10th Percentile £23.13 £13.00 £15.56
25th Percentile £30.00 £14.13 £21.25
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.68 £34.00
Median % change year-on-year +190.17% -39.18% +74.36%
75th Percentile £75.00 £35.44 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.88 £73.00
North West median hourly rate £45.56 £25.15 £34.00
% change year-on-year +81.13% -26.03% +11.33%

Desktop Support Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester.

Desktop Support Engineer job vacancy trend in Manchester

Desktop Support Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support Engineer job vacancies in Manchester.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support Engineer job vacancies in Manchester

Desktop Support Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support Engineer job vacancies in Manchester.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support Engineer job vacancies in Manchester

Desktop Support Engineer
Contract Job Locations in Manchester

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support Engineer within the Manchester region over the 6 months to 1 September 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
Stockport - 1 £140 -
Desktop Support Engineer
North West

Desktop Support Engineer Skill Set
Top 18 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester

For the 6 months to 1 September 2026, Desktop Support Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Manchester region featuring Desktop Support Engineer in the job title.

1 5 (83.33%) SCCM
1 5 (83.33%) Service Delivery
2 4 (66.67%) Active Directory
2 4 (66.67%) Android
2 4 (66.67%) Customer-Centric Approach
2 4 (66.67%) Customer-Centricity
2 4 (66.67%) ITIL
2 4 (66.67%) ITSM
2 4 (66.67%) Tanium
3 1 (16.67%) BitLocker
3 1 (16.67%) DHCP
3 1 (16.67%) Problem-Solving
3 1 (16.67%) SC Cleared
3 1 (16.67%) Security Cleared
3 1 (16.67%) SQL Server
3 1 (16.67%) Windows
3 1 (16.67%) Windows Server
3 1 (16.67%) WSUS

Desktop Support Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester 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:

Communications & Networking
1 1 (16.67%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (16.67%) SQL Server
General
1 5 (83.33%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (16.67%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 4 (66.67%) Android
2 1 (16.67%) Windows
2 1 (16.67%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (83.33%) Service Delivery
2 4 (66.67%) Customer-Centric Approach
2 4 (66.67%) Customer-Centricity
2 4 (66.67%) ITIL
2 4 (66.67%) ITSM
3 1 (16.67%) Problem-Solving
Qualifications
1 1 (16.67%) SC Cleared
1 1 (16.67%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 4 (66.67%) Active Directory
2 1 (16.67%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 5 (83.33%) SCCM
2 1 (16.67%) WSUS
Vendors
1 4 (66.67%) Tanium