Microsoft Contract Job Trends in Manchester

Microsoft
North West > Manchester

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Manchester requiring knowledge or experience of Microsoft products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Microsoft over the 6 months leading up to 23 October 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the Microsoft Corporation.

6 months to
23 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 2 11 3
Rank change year-on-year +9 -8 +7
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 196 124 270
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 18.53% 10.76% 16.21%
As % of the Vendors category 38.21% 26.05% 40.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 140 82 215
10th Percentile £270 £339 £222
25th Percentile £360 £400 £260
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £447 £450 £425
Median % change year-on-year -0.61% +5.88% -
75th Percentile £530 £582 £544
90th Percentile £613 £674 £625
North West median daily rate £431 £450 £425
% change year-on-year -4.33% +5.88% -5.03%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 9 18
10th Percentile £16.50 £26.00 £15.74
25th Percentile £19.07 £29.50 £15.88
Median hourly rate £22.32 £32.50 £17.58
Median % change year-on-year -31.34% +84.87% -9.85%
75th Percentile £31.40 £33.75 £19.94
90th Percentile - £37.75 £30.00
North West median hourly rate £22.32 £30.50 £22.53
% change year-on-year -26.84% +35.38% +28.74%

All Vendors
Manchester

Microsoft falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services in Manchester.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 513 476 674
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester 48.49% 41.32% 40.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 344 267 484
10th Percentile £305 £363 £225
25th Percentile £399 £413 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £454 £500 £485
Median % change year-on-year -9.25% +3.04% -1.97%
75th Percentile £612 £575 £584
90th Percentile £709 £675 £688
North West median daily rate £464 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -7.25% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 18 27
10th Percentile £16.40 £15.89 £15.74
25th Percentile £19.07 £23.63 £16.00
Median hourly rate £22.32 £31.75 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -29.72% +79.18% -72.84%
75th Percentile £31.40 £41.56 £42.50
90th Percentile £32.78 £64.13 £50.13
North West median hourly rate £22.63 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -35.34% - +50.21%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in Manchester

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in Manchester

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in Manchester over the 6 months to 23 October 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in Manchester

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in Manchester

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in Manchester over the 6 months to 23 October 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in Manchester

Microsoft
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 Microsoft within the Manchester region over the 6 months to 23 October 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
Bolton - 15 £396 - 38
Stockport - 5 £400 - 13
Salford - 3 £400 - 8
Oldham -5 1 - - 3
Microsoft
North West

Microsoft
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:

Application Platforms
1 14 (7.14%) SharePoint
2 6 (3.06%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (3.06%) Confluence
3 5 (2.55%) CMS
4 4 (2.04%) JBoss
4 4 (2.04%) Microsoft Exchange
5 3 (1.53%) Apache
5 3 (1.53%) IIS
6 2 (1.02%) iPlanet
6 2 (1.02%) WebSphere
6 2 (1.02%) WebSphere Application Server
7 1 (0.51%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.51%) CICS
7 1 (0.51%) SAS
7 1 (0.51%) Tomcat
Applications
1 33 (16.84%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (13.27%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (3.06%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (2.04%) MS Visio
5 3 (1.53%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (1.53%) Sketch
6 2 (1.02%) Trello
7 1 (0.51%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 8 (4.08%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (1.53%) Advent Geneva
3 2 (1.02%) Kondor
4 1 (0.51%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.51%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 46 (23.47%) Azure
2 32 (16.33%) Power Platform
3 30 (15.31%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (9.69%) AWS
5 17 (8.67%) Power Automate
6 15 (7.65%) PowerApps
7 11 (5.61%) Dynamics 365
8 9 (4.59%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (4.59%) GCP
9 7 (3.57%) Entra ID
9 7 (3.57%) GitHub
10 6 (3.06%) Figma
10 6 (3.06%) SaaS
11 4 (2.04%) Azure Logic Apps
11 4 (2.04%) Google Tag Manager
11 4 (2.04%) Lucidchart
11 4 (2.04%) Microsoft Copilot
12 3 (1.53%) Google Analytics
12 3 (1.53%) Google Workspace
12 3 (1.53%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 9 (4.59%) Network Security
2 4 (2.04%) Firewall
2 4 (2.04%) TCP/IP
3 3 (1.53%) SSL
3 3 (1.53%) VPN
4 2 (1.02%) DNS
4 2 (1.02%) Kerberos
4 2 (1.02%) VoIP
4 2 (1.02%) Wi-Fi
5 1 (0.51%) DHCP
5 1 (0.51%) IP Telephony
5 1 (0.51%) LAN
5 1 (0.51%) Remote Desktop
5 1 (0.51%) SSH
5 1 (0.51%) VLAN
5 1 (0.51%) WAN
5 1 (0.51%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (10.71%) Power BI
2 10 (5.10%) SQL Server
3 9 (4.59%) Relational Database
4 6 (3.06%) Data Lake
4 6 (3.06%) MySQL
5 4 (2.04%) BigQuery
5 4 (2.04%) Looker
6 3 (1.53%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (1.53%) DB2
6 3 (1.53%) Oracle Database
6 3 (1.53%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (1.53%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 2 (1.02%) Power Query
7 2 (1.02%) Tableau
8 1 (0.51%) Amazon RDS
8 1 (0.51%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.51%) Big Data
8 1 (0.51%) Cognos Report Studio
8 1 (0.51%) Metadata
8 1 (0.51%) OLAP Cube
Development Applications
1 10 (5.10%) JIRA
2 6 (3.06%) Git
3 5 (2.55%) GitLab
4 4 (2.04%) Jenkins
5 3 (1.53%) Gradle
6 2 (1.02%) Bitbucket Server
6 2 (1.02%) CA Release Automation
6 2 (1.02%) Selenium
6 2 (1.02%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (1.02%) Storybook
6 2 (1.02%) Subversion
6 2 (1.02%) Visual Studio
6 2 (1.02%) Xcode
7 1 (0.51%) Browser DevTools
7 1 (0.51%) JUnit
7 1 (0.51%) Maven
7 1 (0.51%) MSI
General
1 64 (32.65%) Social Skills
2 55 (28.06%) Finance
3 41 (20.92%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (14.29%) Public Sector
5 8 (4.08%) Banking
6 6 (3.06%) Documentation Skills
6 6 (3.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 6 (3.06%) Influencing Skills
6 6 (3.06%) Organisational Skills
7 5 (2.55%) Manufacturing
8 4 (2.04%) Legal
9 3 (1.53%) Aerospace
9 3 (1.53%) Aviation
9 3 (1.53%) Presentation Skills
9 3 (1.53%) Retail
10 2 (1.02%) Back Office
10 2 (1.02%) Financial Institution
10 2 (1.02%) Military
11 1 (0.51%) Law
11 1 (0.51%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 41 (20.92%) Analyst
2 30 (15.31%) Developer
3 19 (9.69%) Administrator
4 15 (7.65%) SAP Administrator
4 15 (7.65%) SAP Support
4 15 (7.65%) Support Analyst
5 13 (6.63%) Desktop Support
6 12 (6.12%) Architect
7 11 (5.61%) Senior
8 10 (5.10%) Deskside Analyst
8 10 (5.10%) Deskside Support
8 10 (5.10%) Deskside Support Analyst
8 10 (5.10%) Lead
8 10 (5.10%) Technology Support Analyst
9 9 (4.59%) Business Analyst
9 9 (4.59%) IT Support
10 8 (4.08%) Designer
10 8 (4.08%) Microsoft Developer
11 6 (3.06%) DevOps Engineer
11 6 (3.06%) SOC Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (4.08%) .NET
2 6 (3.06%) HTML
2 6 (3.06%) HTML5 Canvas
2 6 (3.06%) REST
3 5 (2.55%) JSON
4 4 (2.04%) OAuth
4 4 (2.04%) SOAP
5 3 (1.53%) Kafka
5 3 (1.53%) LDAP
5 3 (1.53%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (1.02%) .NET Framework
6 2 (1.02%) D3.js
6 2 (1.02%) OpenID
6 2 (1.02%) React Native
6 2 (1.02%) SAML
6 2 (1.02%) Spring
6 2 (1.02%) Spring Boot
6 2 (1.02%) SVG
7 1 (0.51%) Hibernate
7 1 (0.51%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 14 (7.14%) Onboarding
2 6 (3.06%) Cloud Native
3 5 (2.55%) Analytical Mindset
3 5 (2.55%) Data Centre
3 5 (2.55%) Low-Code
3 5 (2.55%) Mobile App
3 5 (2.55%) Product Ownership
4 4 (2.04%) Clustering
5 3 (1.53%) CMDB
5 3 (1.53%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 3 (1.53%) Security Operations Centre
5 3 (1.53%) Security Posture
5 3 (1.53%) Virtual Team
6 2 (1.02%) Data Protection Act
6 2 (1.02%) Derivative
6 2 (1.02%) Distributed Computing
6 2 (1.02%) Life Science
6 2 (1.02%) Market Risk
6 2 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (1.02%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 34 (17.35%) Windows
2 16 (8.16%) Linux
3 7 (3.57%) Unix
4 5 (2.55%) Android
4 5 (2.55%) Windows 10
4 5 (2.55%) Windows Server
5 4 (2.04%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.51%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.51%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.51%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 40 (20.41%) Problem-Solving
2 31 (15.82%) Change Management
3 27 (13.78%) Agile
4 26 (13.27%) ITIL
5 25 (12.76%) Stakeholder Management
6 24 (12.24%) Business Intelligence
7 22 (11.22%) DevOps
8 20 (10.20%) Service Management
9 19 (9.69%) ITSM
10 18 (9.18%) Analytics
10 18 (9.18%) Customer Service
11 16 (8.16%) Data Analysis
11 16 (8.16%) Project Management
12 15 (7.65%) Decision-Making
12 15 (7.65%) User Experience
12 15 (7.65%) Workflow
13 14 (7.14%) Cybersecurity
14 13 (6.63%) CI/CD
14 13 (6.63%) Continuous Improvement
15 12 (6.12%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 24 (12.24%) SQL
2 11 (5.61%) Python
3 7 (3.57%) JavaScript
4 6 (3.06%) Java
5 5 (2.55%) Kusto Query Language
6 4 (2.04%) C#
6 4 (2.04%) PowerShell
6 4 (2.04%) TypeScript
7 2 (1.02%) C++
7 2 (1.02%) Groovy
7 2 (1.02%) Shell Script
7 2 (1.02%) VBA
8 1 (0.51%) CLIST
8 1 (0.51%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 1 (0.51%) JCL
8 1 (0.51%) PHP
8 1 (0.51%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.51%) REXX
8 1 (0.51%) Scala
8 1 (0.51%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 28 (14.29%) Security Cleared
2 21 (10.71%) SC Cleared
3 18 (9.18%) Degree
4 12 (6.12%) BPSS Clearance
5 9 (4.59%) Microsoft Certification
6 4 (2.04%) CISSP
6 4 (2.04%) Computer Science Degree
7 3 (1.53%) Azure Certification
7 3 (1.53%) CISM
8 2 (1.02%) AWS Certification
8 2 (1.02%) CISA
8 2 (1.02%) GCIA
8 2 (1.02%) GCIH
8 2 (1.02%) GSEC
8 2 (1.02%) MCT
8 2 (1.02%) PMI Certification
8 2 (1.02%) PMP
9 1 (0.51%) CTC Cleared
9 1 (0.51%) DV Cleared
9 1 (0.51%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (8.16%) Accessibility
2 9 (4.59%) Data Quality
3 8 (4.08%) QA
4 5 (2.55%) GDPR
4 5 (2.55%) NIST
5 3 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (1.53%) PCI DSS
5 3 (1.53%) PMO
5 3 (1.53%) SLA
6 2 (1.02%) Basel III
6 2 (1.02%) HIPAA
6 2 (1.02%) MiFID
7 1 (0.51%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 1 (0.51%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.51%) GRC
7 1 (0.51%) NCSC
7 1 (0.51%) PMBOK
7 1 (0.51%) PSD2
7 1 (0.51%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 15 (7.65%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.55%) Docker
3 2 (1.02%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.51%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.51%) Time Sharing Option
4 1 (0.51%) Tivoli Directory Server
4 1 (0.51%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.51%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (8.16%) Microsoft Intune
2 8 (4.08%) SCCM
3 5 (2.55%) Kubernetes
4 3 (1.53%) Ansible
4 3 (1.53%) QRadar
5 2 (1.02%) CA Single Sign-On
5 2 (1.02%) CA Wily
5 2 (1.02%) Jamf Pro
5 2 (1.02%) Microsoft Clustering
5 2 (1.02%) Progress Chef
5 2 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (1.02%) Terraform
6 1 (0.51%) AirWatch
6 1 (0.51%) CA Endevor
6 1 (0.51%) CASB
6 1 (0.51%) Nessus
6 1 (0.51%) OMEGAMON
6 1 (0.51%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.51%) Tivoli
6 1 (0.51%) WSUS
Vendors
1 18 (9.18%) SAP
2 11 (5.61%) Google
2 11 (5.61%) Oracle
3 7 (3.57%) ServiceNow
3 7 (3.57%) Splunk
4 6 (3.06%) IBM
5 5 (2.55%) Apple
6 4 (2.04%) VMware
7 3 (1.53%) Advent
7 3 (1.53%) Citrix
7 3 (1.53%) Hopewiser
7 3 (1.53%) Twitter
7 3 (1.53%) Veeam
8 2 (1.02%) AppDynamics
8 2 (1.02%) ArcSight
8 2 (1.02%) BMC
8 2 (1.02%) Broadcom
8 2 (1.02%) Cisco
8 2 (1.02%) Sybase
8 2 (1.02%) Zscaler