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 20 December 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
20 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 7 4 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +1 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 184 158 230
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 15.28% 14.81% 14.94%
As % of the Vendors category 33.45% 32.78% 36.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 130 110 179
10th Percentile £300 £213 £225
25th Percentile £326 £358 £266
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £450 £443
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +1.69% +4.12%
75th Percentile £488 £525 £544
90th Percentile £611 £701 £620
North West median daily rate £410 £450 £413
% change year-on-year -9.00% +9.09% -5.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 12 16
10th Percentile £19.07 £28.60 £15.75
25th Percentile £19.75 £29.88 £16.13
Median hourly rate £22.32 £32.50 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -31.34% +83.41% -10.28%
75th Percentile £31.40 £33.75 £20.75
90th Percentile - - £30.00
North West median hourly rate £22.32 £30.70 £30.00
% change year-on-year -27.31% +2.33% +62.16%

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 550 482 630
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester 45.68% 45.17% 40.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 371 286 448
10th Percentile £311 £334 £248
25th Percentile £391 £400 £387
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% -2.50% +2.30%
75th Percentile £600 £575 £589
90th Percentile £680 £688 £700
North West median daily rate £465 £500 £510
% change year-on-year -6.95% -1.96% +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 14 24
10th Percentile £19.01 £19.75 £15.75
25th Percentile £19.52 £29.63 £16.28
Median hourly rate £22.41 £32.50 £18.61
Median % change year-on-year -31.05% +74.64% -71.37%
75th Percentile £29.22 £33.75 £46.88
90th Percentile £31.40 - £58.50
North West median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -7.14% +64.51%

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 20 December 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 20 December 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 20 December 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 +2 14 £396 +93.29% 8
Oldham -2 2 £225 -43.75% 3
Stockport -2 1 - - 7
Rochdale - 1 - - 1
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 13 (7.07%) SharePoint
2 7 (3.80%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (3.26%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (2.72%) CMS
5 3 (1.63%) Apache
5 3 (1.63%) Confluence
5 3 (1.63%) IIS
6 2 (1.09%) iPlanet
6 2 (1.09%) JBoss
6 2 (1.09%) SAS
6 2 (1.09%) WebSphere
6 2 (1.09%) WebSphere Application Server
7 1 (0.54%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.54%) CICS
Applications
1 31 (16.85%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (15.76%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (2.17%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (2.17%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (2.17%) Trello
4 3 (1.63%) MS Visio
4 3 (1.63%) Sketch
5 1 (0.54%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.54%) SPSS
Business Applications
1 7 (3.80%) Advent Geneva
2 4 (2.17%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.54%) Maximo
3 1 (0.54%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.54%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.54%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.54%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 55 (29.89%) Azure
2 34 (18.48%) Power Platform
3 33 (17.93%) Microsoft 365
4 21 (11.41%) AWS
5 16 (8.70%) GCP
6 15 (8.15%) Entra ID
7 14 (7.61%) Power Automate
7 14 (7.61%) PowerApps
8 12 (6.52%) Dynamics 365
9 9 (4.89%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (4.89%) Google Tag Manager
10 8 (4.35%) Google Analytics
11 6 (3.26%) Figma
11 6 (3.26%) GitHub
11 6 (3.26%) SaaS
12 4 (2.17%) Microsoft Copilot
12 4 (2.17%) OneDrive
13 3 (1.63%) Copilot Studio
13 3 (1.63%) OCI
13 3 (1.63%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 6 (3.26%) Network Security
2 5 (2.72%) Firewall
3 4 (2.17%) VPN
3 4 (2.17%) Wi-Fi
4 2 (1.09%) DNS
4 2 (1.09%) Kerberos
4 2 (1.09%) SSL
4 2 (1.09%) TCP/IP
4 2 (1.09%) VoIP
4 2 (1.09%) WAN
4 2 (1.09%) WebEx
5 1 (0.54%) Cisco ISE
5 1 (0.54%) DHCP
5 1 (0.54%) HTTP
5 1 (0.54%) IP Telephony
5 1 (0.54%) LAN
5 1 (0.54%) Remote Desktop
5 1 (0.54%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.54%) SSH
5 1 (0.54%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (13.59%) Power BI
2 11 (5.98%) Relational Database
3 10 (5.43%) SQL Server
4 8 (4.35%) MySQL
5 7 (3.80%) BigQuery
5 7 (3.80%) DB2
5 7 (3.80%) Looker
5 7 (3.80%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 6 (3.26%) Data Lake
7 4 (2.17%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (1.63%) Oracle Database
9 2 (1.09%) BusinessObjects
9 2 (1.09%) Metadata
9 2 (1.09%) NoSQL
9 2 (1.09%) PostgreSQL
9 2 (1.09%) Power Query
9 2 (1.09%) Snowflake Schema
9 2 (1.09%) Tableau
10 1 (0.54%) Amazon RDS
10 1 (0.54%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 9 (4.89%) JIRA
2 6 (3.26%) Git
3 5 (2.72%) GitLab
4 3 (1.63%) Jenkins
5 2 (1.09%) Bitbucket Server
5 2 (1.09%) CA Release Automation
5 2 (1.09%) Gradle
5 2 (1.09%) Storybook
5 2 (1.09%) Xcode
6 1 (0.54%) Browser DevTools
6 1 (0.54%) MSI
6 1 (0.54%) Octopus Deploy
6 1 (0.54%) Selenium
6 1 (0.54%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 66 (35.87%) Social Skills
2 49 (26.63%) Finance
3 30 (16.30%) Analytical Skills
4 29 (15.76%) Public Sector
5 10 (5.43%) Banking
5 10 (5.43%) Documentation Skills
6 6 (3.26%) Manufacturing
7 5 (2.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 3 (1.63%) Aerospace
8 3 (1.63%) Aviation
8 3 (1.63%) Influencing Skills
8 3 (1.63%) Presentation Skills
8 3 (1.63%) Retail
9 2 (1.09%) Law
9 2 (1.09%) Legal
9 2 (1.09%) Military
9 2 (1.09%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.54%) Billing
10 1 (0.54%) Italian Language
10 1 (0.54%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 33 (17.93%) Analyst
2 26 (14.13%) Administrator
3 25 (13.59%) Developer
4 15 (8.15%) SAP Administrator
4 15 (8.15%) SAP Support
5 12 (6.52%) Lead
5 12 (6.52%) Senior
6 9 (4.89%) Architect
6 9 (4.89%) Support Analyst
7 8 (4.35%) Consultant
8 7 (3.80%) Business Analyst
8 7 (3.80%) Microsoft Developer
9 6 (3.26%) Deskside Analyst
9 6 (3.26%) Deskside Support
9 6 (3.26%) Deskside Support Analyst
9 6 (3.26%) Desktop Support
9 6 (3.26%) DevOps Engineer
9 6 (3.26%) Performance Analyst
9 6 (3.26%) Technology Support Analyst
10 5 (2.72%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (4.89%) .NET
2 6 (3.26%) HTML
3 5 (2.72%) HTML5 Canvas
3 5 (2.72%) JSON
3 5 (2.72%) OAuth
4 4 (2.17%) Kafka
5 3 (1.63%) LDAP
5 3 (1.63%) OpenID
5 3 (1.63%) SAML
6 2 (1.09%) D3.js
6 2 (1.09%) ISPF
6 2 (1.09%) LangChain
6 2 (1.09%) PySpark
6 2 (1.09%) React Native
6 2 (1.09%) REST
6 2 (1.09%) SVG
6 2 (1.09%) XML
7 1 (0.54%) Microsoft Graph
7 1 (0.54%) OAuth2
7 1 (0.54%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 17 (9.24%) Onboarding
2 7 (3.80%) Virtual Team
3 6 (3.26%) Data Centre
4 5 (2.72%) Cloud Native
4 5 (2.72%) Clustering
4 5 (2.72%) Data Protection Act
4 5 (2.72%) Mobile App
5 4 (2.17%) Analytical Mindset
5 4 (2.17%) Low-Code
6 3 (1.63%) Mainframe
6 3 (1.63%) Security Posture
6 3 (1.63%) Self-Motivation
7 2 (1.09%) CMDB
7 2 (1.09%) Distributed Computing
7 2 (1.09%) Driving Licence
7 2 (1.09%) Hybrid Cloud
7 2 (1.09%) Life Science
7 2 (1.09%) Product Ownership
7 2 (1.09%) Security Operations Centre
8 1 (0.54%) Cyber Defence
Operating Systems
1 28 (15.22%) Windows
2 11 (5.98%) Linux
3 8 (4.35%) Windows 10
4 6 (3.26%) Unix
5 5 (2.72%) Android
5 5 (2.72%) Apple iOS
5 5 (2.72%) Mac OS
6 4 (2.17%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.54%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.54%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 32 (17.39%) Problem-Solving
2 30 (16.30%) Change Management
3 27 (14.67%) Business Intelligence
4 26 (14.13%) Analytics
4 26 (14.13%) Stakeholder Management
5 23 (12.50%) User Experience
6 20 (10.87%) Agile
6 20 (10.87%) DevOps
7 18 (9.78%) ITIL
8 17 (9.24%) Data Analysis
9 16 (8.70%) Continuous Improvement
9 16 (8.70%) Validation
10 15 (8.15%) Actionable Insight
11 14 (7.61%) CI/CD
11 14 (7.61%) Migration
12 13 (7.07%) Project Management
13 12 (6.52%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 11 (5.98%) Dashboard Development
14 11 (5.98%) Service Design
14 11 (5.98%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 29 (15.76%) SQL
2 13 (7.07%) Python
3 12 (6.52%) PowerShell
4 7 (3.80%) JavaScript
5 5 (2.72%) Java
6 4 (2.17%) TypeScript
7 3 (1.63%) Bash
7 3 (1.63%) C#
7 3 (1.63%) Kusto Query Language
8 2 (1.09%) CLIST
8 2 (1.09%) Groovy
8 2 (1.09%) JCL
8 2 (1.09%) PHP
8 2 (1.09%) PL/SQL
8 2 (1.09%) REXX
8 2 (1.09%) T-SQL
8 2 (1.09%) VBA
9 1 (0.54%) Bicep
9 1 (0.54%) Scala
9 1 (0.54%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 20 (10.87%) Security Cleared
2 15 (8.15%) Degree
2 15 (8.15%) SC Cleared
3 11 (5.98%) BPSS Clearance
3 11 (5.98%) Microsoft Certification
4 4 (2.17%) Computer Science Degree
5 3 (1.63%) CISSP
5 3 (1.63%) PMI Certification
5 3 (1.63%) PMP
6 2 (1.09%) Azure Certification
6 2 (1.09%) CISA
6 2 (1.09%) CISM
6 2 (1.09%) GCIA
6 2 (1.09%) GCIH
6 2 (1.09%) GSEC
6 2 (1.09%) MCSA
6 2 (1.09%) MCSE
6 2 (1.09%) MCT
7 1 (0.54%) SAFe Agilist
7 1 (0.54%) Tableau Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (10.33%) Accessibility
2 14 (7.61%) Data Quality
3 12 (6.52%) QA
4 10 (5.43%) GDPR
5 7 (3.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (2.17%) NIST
7 3 (1.63%) PCI DSS
8 2 (1.09%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.54%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 1 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.54%) PMBOK
9 1 (0.54%) PMO
9 1 (0.54%) PSD2
9 1 (0.54%) WCAG
System Software
1 21 (11.41%) Active Directory
2 7 (3.80%) Docker
3 4 (2.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (1.63%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (1.09%) Time Sharing Option
6 1 (0.54%) ACF2
6 1 (0.54%) RACF
6 1 (0.54%) Tivoli Directory Server
6 1 (0.54%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 20 (10.87%) Microsoft Intune
2 9 (4.89%) SCCM
3 8 (4.35%) Kubernetes
4 4 (2.17%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (1.63%) QRadar
6 2 (1.09%) Ansible
6 2 (1.09%) CA Endevor
6 2 (1.09%) CA Single Sign-On
6 2 (1.09%) CA Wily
6 2 (1.09%) Grafana
6 2 (1.09%) Microsoft Clustering
6 2 (1.09%) Progress Chef
6 2 (1.09%) Terraform
6 2 (1.09%) Tivoli
7 1 (0.54%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.54%) Jamf Pro
7 1 (0.54%) Nessus
7 1 (0.54%) OMEGAMON
7 1 (0.54%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 1 (0.54%) WSUS
Vendors
1 18 (9.78%) SAP
2 15 (8.15%) Google
3 9 (4.89%) Oracle
4 8 (4.35%) Splunk
5 7 (3.80%) Advent
6 6 (3.26%) Apple
6 6 (3.26%) Citrix
7 5 (2.72%) IBM
8 4 (2.17%) ServiceNow
8 4 (2.17%) VMware
9 3 (1.63%) Hopewiser
10 2 (1.09%) AppDynamics
10 2 (1.09%) ArcSight
10 2 (1.09%) BMC
10 2 (1.09%) Broadcom
10 2 (1.09%) Cisco
10 2 (1.09%) Confluent
11 1 (0.54%) Blue Prism
11 1 (0.54%) Cribl.io
11 1 (0.54%) Tenable