Microsoft 365 Contract Job Trends in the North of England

Microsoft 365 (M365, Office 365, O365)
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North of England requiring Microsoft 365 skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 26 29
Rank change year-on-year -2 +3 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 365 369 231 280
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 7.08% 7.03% 5.65%
As % of the Cloud Services category 18.95% 20.32% 17.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 254 158 190
10th Percentile £133 £150 £145
25th Percentile £163 £204 £185
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £300 £368 £268
Median % change year-on-year -18.37% +37.38% -13.36%
75th Percentile £475 £501 £399
90th Percentile £558 £625 £500
England median daily rate £400 £375 £300
% change year-on-year +6.67% +25.00% -20.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 10 36
10th Percentile £14.25 £16.93 £13.00
25th Percentile £14.88 £18.34 £15.00
Median hourly rate £16.00 £23.14 £16.72
Median % change year-on-year -30.84% +38.39% -15.35%
75th Percentile £23.88 £27.80 £17.73
90th Percentile £69.29 £31.71 £19.50
England median hourly rate £18.87 £21.46 £17.72
% change year-on-year -12.07% +21.11% +1.26%

All Cloud Computing Skills
North of England

Microsoft 365 falls under the Cloud Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring cloud computing skills in the North of England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for cloud computing skills 1,947 1,137 1,594
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 37.34% 34.58% 32.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,379 791 1,159
10th Percentile £220 £263 £263
25th Percentile £366 £375 £369
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £475 £487
Median % change year-on-year -3.16% -2.46% -7.24%
75th Percentile £540 £575 £575
90th Percentile £625 £650 £650
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 19 75
10th Percentile £15.50 £17.44 £13.20
25th Percentile £21.46 £22.61 £15.50
Median hourly rate £55.00 £27.50 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +100.00% +41.03% -53.57%
75th Percentile £70.00 £59.50 £44.97
90th Percentile £77.50 £97.71 £67.92
England median hourly rate £37.00 £27.50 £22.08
% change year-on-year +34.55% +24.58% -11.70%

Microsoft 365
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft 365 relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England.

Microsoft 365 job vacancy trend in the North of England

Microsoft 365
Daily Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Microsoft 365.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365
Daily Rate Histogram in the North of England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft 365 in the North of England over the 6 months to 17 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft 365 in the North of England

Microsoft 365
Hourly Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Microsoft 365.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North of England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft 365 in the North of England over the 6 months to 17 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft 365 in the North of England

Microsoft 365
Contract Job Locations in the North of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Microsoft 365 within the North of England region over the 6 months to 17 February 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
North West -8 173 £183 -51.33% 125
Yorkshire +12 164 £375 +25.00% 66
North East -3 35 £225 -55.00% 28
Microsoft 365
England

Microsoft 365
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North of 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
1 124 (33.60%) SharePoint
2 89 (24.12%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (2.71%) Exchange Server 2013
4 7 (1.90%) Skype for Business
5 6 (1.63%) Confluence
6 2 (0.54%) IIS
7 1 (0.27%) Apache
7 1 (0.27%) CMS
7 1 (0.27%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 61 (16.53%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (6.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (4.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.17%) MS Visio
5 5 (1.36%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.27%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 12 (3.25%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.27%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.27%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 141 (38.21%) Azure
2 75 (20.33%) Entra ID
3 74 (20.05%) OneDrive
4 39 (10.57%) Microsoft Purview
5 33 (8.94%) Power Platform
6 23 (6.23%) Microsoft Copilot
7 19 (5.15%) SaaS
8 14 (3.79%) PowerApps
9 13 (3.52%) AWS
10 10 (2.71%) Rubrik
11 9 (2.44%) Power Automate
12 7 (1.90%) Azure Sentinel
13 6 (1.63%) Azure Logic Apps
13 6 (1.63%) GCP
14 5 (1.36%) Azure Monitor
14 5 (1.36%) Copilot Studio
15 4 (1.08%) Dynamics 365
15 4 (1.08%) IaaS
15 4 (1.08%) Nutanix
16 3 (0.81%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 37 (10.03%) Wi-Fi
2 26 (7.05%) DNS
3 23 (6.23%) LAN
4 22 (5.96%) WAN
5 21 (5.69%) VPN
6 18 (4.88%) TCP/IP
7 17 (4.61%) Skype
8 16 (4.34%) Wireless
9 15 (4.07%) DHCP
10 12 (3.25%) Firewall
11 10 (2.71%) Unified Communications
12 9 (2.44%) VLAN
13 7 (1.90%) Internet
14 6 (1.63%) VoIP
15 4 (1.08%) NetScaler
16 2 (0.54%) DKIM
16 2 (0.54%) DMARC
16 2 (0.54%) Kerberos
16 2 (0.54%) SMTP
17 1 (0.27%) PSTN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (3.52%) Power BI
2 3 (0.81%) SQL Server
3 2 (0.54%) Azure SQL Database
4 1 (0.27%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 9 (2.44%) JIRA
2 1 (0.27%) Appium
2 1 (0.27%) Jenkins
2 1 (0.27%) MSI
2 1 (0.27%) Postman
2 1 (0.27%) Selenium
General
1 164 (44.44%) Social Skills
2 72 (19.51%) Finance
3 42 (11.38%) Legal
4 35 (9.49%) Public Sector
5 32 (8.67%) Analytical Skills
6 21 (5.69%) Banking
7 19 (5.15%) Documentation Skills
8 16 (4.34%) Manufacturing
9 14 (3.79%) Telecoms
10 12 (3.25%) Organisational Skills
11 11 (2.98%) Electronics
11 11 (2.98%) Marketing
12 7 (1.90%) Retail
13 5 (1.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (1.08%) General Ledger
15 3 (0.81%) Military
16 2 (0.54%) Local Government
16 2 (0.54%) Pharmaceutical
17 1 (0.27%) Law
17 1 (0.27%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 90 (24.39%) IT Support
2 73 (19.78%) Analyst
3 41 (11.11%) Architect
4 39 (10.57%) 2nd Line Support
4 39 (10.57%) Support Analyst
4 39 (10.57%) Support Engineer
5 36 (9.76%) 1st Line Support
6 32 (8.67%) Microsoft 365 Architect
7 30 (8.13%) IT Engineer
8 26 (7.05%) IT Support Engineer
9 25 (6.78%) Desktop Support
10 23 (6.23%) IT Analyst
11 21 (5.69%) IT Support Analyst
12 20 (5.42%) Senior
13 19 (5.15%) Service Analyst
14 18 (4.88%) Service Desk Analyst
15 16 (4.34%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 15 (4.07%) Administrator
16 15 (4.07%) Business Analyst
17 14 (3.79%) IT Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (7.86%) Microsoft Graph
2 5 (1.36%) OAuth
3 4 (1.08%) JSON
4 3 (0.81%) .NET
4 3 (0.81%) LDAP
4 3 (0.81%) OpenID
4 3 (0.81%) SAML
5 2 (0.54%) OAuth2
6 1 (0.27%) Middleware
6 1 (0.27%) Software Packaging
6 1 (0.27%) XML
6 1 (0.27%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 36 (9.76%) Onboarding
2 18 (4.88%) Enterprise Software
3 12 (3.25%) Data Centre
4 11 (2.98%) Driving Licence
5 10 (2.71%) CMDB
6 6 (1.63%) Data Protection Act
6 6 (1.63%) Low-Code
6 6 (1.63%) Private Cloud
6 6 (1.63%) Video Conferencing
7 5 (1.36%) iPhone
8 4 (1.08%) Management Information System
8 4 (1.08%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.08%) NHS
8 4 (1.08%) Public Cloud
9 3 (0.81%) Product Ownership
10 2 (0.54%) PKI
10 2 (0.54%) Smartphone
10 2 (0.54%) Team-Oriented Environment
11 1 (0.27%) CCTV
11 1 (0.27%) Fat Client
Operating Systems
1 199 (53.93%) Windows
2 95 (25.75%) Windows 10
3 24 (6.50%) Mac OS
3 24 (6.50%) Windows Server
4 20 (5.42%) Android
5 14 (3.79%) Apple iOS
6 6 (1.63%) Windows Server 2012
7 4 (1.08%) Linux
7 4 (1.08%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.27%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (23.58%) Customer Service
2 75 (20.33%) Problem-Solving
3 56 (15.18%) ITIL
4 51 (13.82%) Migration
5 40 (10.84%) ITSM
6 35 (9.49%) Business Intelligence
6 35 (9.49%) Service Management
7 28 (7.59%) Cybersecurity
8 27 (7.32%) Stakeholder Management
9 26 (7.05%) Data Loss Prevention
9 26 (7.05%) Problem Management
10 24 (6.50%) Agile
10 24 (6.50%) E-Discovery
11 22 (5.96%) Incident Response
11 22 (5.96%) Records Management
11 22 (5.96%) User Experience
12 20 (5.42%) Continuous Improvement
12 20 (5.42%) Information Governance
13 19 (5.15%) Root Cause Analysis
14 18 (4.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 66 (17.89%) PowerShell
2 14 (3.79%) Kusto Query Language
3 6 (1.63%) Python
4 4 (1.08%) Bash
5 2 (0.54%) JavaScript
5 2 (0.54%) SQL
6 1 (0.27%) Java
6 1 (0.27%) Perl
Qualifications
1 50 (13.55%) Degree
2 42 (11.38%) Security Cleared
3 35 (9.49%) SC Cleared
4 17 (4.61%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (2.98%) Computer Science Degree
6 6 (1.63%) A+ Certification
7 4 (1.08%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.81%) BPSS Clearance
8 3 (0.81%) DBS Check
8 3 (0.81%) Network+ Certification
8 3 (0.81%) PMI Certification
8 3 (0.81%) PMP
9 2 (0.54%) ACSP
9 2 (0.54%) ACTC
9 2 (0.54%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 1 (0.27%) CCNA
10 1 (0.27%) Cisco Certification
10 1 (0.27%) CISM
10 1 (0.27%) CISSP
10 1 (0.27%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (9.21%) GDPR
2 11 (2.98%) FINRA
2 11 (2.98%) MiFID
3 10 (2.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 7 (1.90%) SLA
5 4 (1.08%) Data Quality
5 4 (1.08%) NIST
6 3 (0.81%) Cyber Essentials
6 3 (0.81%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.27%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 1 (0.27%) COBIT
7 1 (0.27%) HIPAA
7 1 (0.27%) QA
7 1 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 1 (0.27%) SOC 2
System Software
1 172 (46.61%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.07%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (3.25%) Virtual Desktop
4 6 (1.63%) vSphere
5 5 (1.36%) Hyper-V
6 4 (1.08%) Docker
7 2 (0.54%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 71 (19.24%) Microsoft Intune
2 46 (12.47%) SCCM
3 13 (3.52%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 10 (2.71%) Single Sign-On
5 9 (2.44%) Jamf Pro
6 6 (1.63%) Norton AntiVirus
7 5 (1.36%) Kubernetes
8 3 (0.81%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 1 (0.27%) Ansible
9 1 (0.27%) CA Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.27%) SCOM
9 1 (0.27%) Terraform
Vendors
1 272 (73.71%) Microsoft
2 47 (12.74%) ServiceNow
3 32 (8.67%) Cisco
4 24 (6.50%) Apple
5 19 (5.15%) Citrix
6 17 (4.61%) VMware
7 16 (4.34%) HP
8 12 (3.25%) Bomgar
8 12 (3.25%) iManage
8 12 (3.25%) Remedy
9 11 (2.98%) Dell
9 11 (2.98%) SAP
10 10 (2.71%) Veeam
11 9 (2.44%) Meraki
12 7 (1.90%) Google
13 6 (1.63%) McAfee
13 6 (1.63%) Symantec
14 5 (1.36%) Adobe
14 5 (1.36%) MobileIron
15 4 (1.08%) F5