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 16 October 2026, 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 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 10 | 3 | 12 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -7 | +9 | -9 |
| Contract jobs citing Microsoft | 255 | 189 | 122 |
| As % of all contract jobs in Manchester | 12.35% | 18.39% | 10.43% |
| As % of the Vendors category | 33.95% | 37.50% | 25.10% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 166 | 132 | 82 |
| 10th Percentile | £193 | £268 | £339 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £355 | £400 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £488 | £450 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +8.33% | - | +5.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £525 | £550 | £582 |
| 90th Percentile | £611 | £618 | £674 |
| North West median daily rate | £465 | £437 | £450 |
| % change year-on-year | +6.41% | -2.89% | +5.88% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 17 | 32 | 9 |
| 10th Percentile | £19.00 | £13.35 | £26.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £24.16 | £19.07 | £29.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £29.00 | £22.32 | £32.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +29.96% | -31.34% | +84.87% |
| 75th Percentile | £66.66 | £31.40 | £33.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £118.75 | - | £37.75 |
| North West median hourly rate | £19.00 | £22.32 | £30.50 |
| % change year-on-year | -14.86% | -26.84% | +35.38% |
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.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services | 751 | 504 | 486 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester | 36.39% | 49.03% | 41.54% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 434 | 328 | 272 |
| 10th Percentile | £275 | £305 | £363 |
| 25th Percentile | £402 | £395 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £492 | £464 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +6.15% | -7.25% | +5.26% |
| 75th Percentile | £588 | £601 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £650 | £716 | £675 |
| North West median daily rate | £500 | £470 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +6.38% | -6.00% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 69 | 43 | 18 |
| 10th Percentile | £19.00 | £14.63 | £15.89 |
| 25th Percentile | £24.19 | £19.07 | £23.63 |
| Median hourly rate | £37.50 | £22.32 | £31.75 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +68.05% | -29.72% | +79.18% |
| 75th Percentile | £70.00 | £31.40 | £41.56 |
| 90th Percentile | £87.50 | £32.85 | £64.13 |
| North West median hourly rate | £29.00 | £22.63 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +28.15% | -35.34% | - |
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 Daily Rate Trend in Manchester
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 16 October 2026.
Microsoft Hourly Rate Trend in Manchester
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 16 October 2026.
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 16 October 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | -1 | 8 | £160 | -59.62% | 4 |
| Oldham | +3 | 4 | - | - | 4 |
| Rochdale | - | 2 | - | - | 7 |
| Microsoft North West |
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Microsoft Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Vendors
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ServiceNow | 11.0% | 28 |
| 2 | BeyondTrust | 9.4% | 24 |
| 3 | SAP | 5.1% | 13 |
| 4 | 4.3% | 11 | |
| 5 | VMware | 3.9% | 10 |
| 6 | Okta | 3.5% | 9 |
| 7 | Databricks | 3.1% | 8 |
| 7 | Oracle | 3.1% | 8 |
| 7 | Splunk | 3.1% | 8 |
| 10 | Apple | 2.4% | 6 |
| 10 | Cisco | 2.4% | 6 |
| 12 | CyberArk | 2.0% | 5 |
| 12 | Perforce | 2.0% | 5 |
| 12 | Red Hat | 2.0% | 5 |
| 15 | Adobe | 1.6% | 4 |
| 15 | Citrix | 1.6% | 4 |
| 15 | Clearswift | 1.6% | 4 |
| 15 | IBM | 1.6% | 4 |
| 15 | Proofpoint | 1.6% | 4 |
| 15 | UiPath | 1.6% | 4 |