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 28 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 38 42 33
Rank change year-on-year +4 -9 -5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 365 396 204 190
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 5.24% 5.11% 4.52%
As % of the Cloud Services category 15.58% 14.86% 14.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 253 128 131
10th Percentile £150 £131 £163
25th Percentile £185 £181 £192
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £250 £235 £300
Median % change year-on-year +6.38% -21.67% -6.98%
75th Percentile £460 £439 £500
90th Percentile £581 £529 £638
England median daily rate £400 £325 £397
% change year-on-year +23.08% -18.14% +5.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 15 10
10th Percentile £16.00 £12.50 £12.00
25th Percentile £17.25 £12.82 £14.30
Median hourly rate £25.38 £13.00 £20.50
Median % change year-on-year +95.23% -36.59% +17.14%
75th Percentile £26.50 £18.87 £21.88
90th Percentile £178.75 £30.63 £23.05
England median hourly rate £17.62 £19.27 £20.00
% change year-on-year -8.56% -3.65% +5.26%

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 2,541 1,373 1,291
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 33.63% 34.37% 30.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,638 983 878
10th Percentile £284 £298 £288
25th Percentile £400 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £485
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -7.22% -4.90%
75th Percentile £588 £538 £575
90th Percentile £675 £621 £650
England median daily rate £525 £505 £525
% change year-on-year +3.96% -3.81% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 138 35 23
10th Percentile £17.25 £12.82 £12.00
25th Percentile £25.38 £15.94 £16.75
Median hourly rate £65.00 £40.59 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +60.14% +84.50% -11.52%
75th Percentile £70.00 £67.25 £46.18
90th Percentile £77.00 £83.75 £67.40
England median hourly rate £34.38 £26.30 £28.25
% change year-on-year +30.70% -6.90% -14.39%

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 28 August 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 28 August 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 28 August 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 +20 237 £250 -23.08% 99
Yorkshire -10 141 £225 -4.26% 83
North East -36 21 £270 +38.46% 49
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
1 139 (35.10%) SharePoint
2 82 (20.71%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (2.02%) SharePoint Server
4 5 (1.26%) Confluence
5 3 (0.76%) CMS
6 1 (0.25%) IIS
6 1 (0.25%) Mendix
6 1 (0.25%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 22 (5.56%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.02%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.76%) Acrobat
3 3 (0.76%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.51%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 8 (2.02%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.76%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.25%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 150 (37.88%) Azure
2 114 (28.79%) Entra ID
3 63 (15.91%) Power Platform
4 54 (13.64%) OneDrive
5 51 (12.88%) Microsoft Copilot
6 29 (7.32%) Power Automate
6 29 (7.32%) PowerApps
7 20 (5.05%) Azure DevOps
8 17 (4.29%) AWS
9 14 (3.54%) Dynamics 365
9 14 (3.54%) GCP
10 12 (3.03%) SaaS
11 11 (2.78%) GitHub
12 10 (2.53%) Azure AI
12 10 (2.53%) GitHub Actions
12 10 (2.53%) Google Workspace
12 10 (2.53%) Microsoft Purview
13 8 (2.02%) Copilot Studio
14 7 (1.77%) Google Drive
14 7 (1.77%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 36 (9.09%) VPN
2 29 (7.32%) DNS
3 21 (5.30%) DHCP
4 19 (4.80%) Firewall
5 17 (4.29%) VLAN
6 16 (4.04%) LAN
7 14 (3.54%) Wi-Fi
8 12 (3.03%) TCP/IP
8 12 (3.03%) Wireless
9 11 (2.78%) WAN
10 9 (2.27%) SAN
10 9 (2.27%) VoIP
10 9 (2.27%) WLAN
11 7 (1.77%) BGP
11 7 (1.77%) Cisco ASA
11 7 (1.77%) Cisco Nexus
11 7 (1.77%) OSPF
12 6 (1.52%) Cisco Firepower
13 5 (1.26%) NAS
13 5 (1.26%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (6.31%) Power BI
2 6 (1.52%) Amazon RDS
2 6 (1.52%) SQL Server
3 4 (1.01%) Metadata
4 3 (0.76%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.51%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.51%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.51%) EDRMS
6 1 (0.25%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.25%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 17 (4.29%) JIRA
2 5 (1.26%) MSI
3 3 (0.76%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (0.76%) Fiddler
4 2 (0.51%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.51%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
4 2 (0.51%) Terragrunt
4 2 (0.51%) Zephyr
General
1 155 (39.14%) Social Skills
2 47 (11.87%) Public Sector
3 46 (11.62%) Analytical Skills
4 34 (8.59%) Legal
5 31 (7.83%) Finance
6 15 (3.79%) Organisational Skills
7 12 (3.03%) Manufacturing
8 11 (2.78%) Law
9 9 (2.27%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (2.27%) Local Government
10 7 (1.77%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.52%) Banking
11 6 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.26%) Games
13 4 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
13 4 (1.01%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (1.01%) Police
13 4 (1.01%) Retail
14 2 (0.51%) Advertising
14 2 (0.51%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 97 (24.49%) IT Support
2 68 (17.17%) Support Engineer
3 60 (15.15%) IT Engineer
4 58 (14.65%) IT Support Engineer
5 49 (12.37%) Analyst
6 29 (7.32%) 2nd Line Support
7 25 (6.31%) Service Analyst
7 25 (6.31%) Service Desk Analyst
8 24 (6.06%) Architect
9 22 (5.56%) Senior
10 21 (5.30%) 1st Line Support
10 21 (5.30%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 19 (4.80%) IT Analyst
12 16 (4.04%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 16 (4.04%) Lead
12 16 (4.04%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
12 16 (4.04%) Support Analyst
13 15 (3.79%) Administrator
13 15 (3.79%) Designer
13 15 (3.79%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (4.04%) Microsoft Graph
2 9 (2.27%) Terraform
3 8 (2.02%) OAuth
4 5 (1.26%) OpenID
4 5 (1.26%) REST
4 5 (1.26%) SAML
4 5 (1.26%) YAML
5 3 (0.76%) .NET
5 3 (0.76%) .NET Framework
5 3 (0.76%) FIDO
5 3 (0.76%) JSON
5 3 (0.76%) OAuth2
5 3 (0.76%) SOAP
5 3 (0.76%) Web Services
6 2 (0.51%) LDAP
6 2 (0.51%) ODBC
6 2 (0.51%) React
6 2 (0.51%) SPFx
6 2 (0.51%) XSLT
7 1 (0.25%) EDI
Miscellaneous
1 35 (8.84%) Onboarding
2 16 (4.04%) Enterprise Software
3 13 (3.28%) Driving Licence
3 13 (3.28%) Management Information System
4 12 (3.03%) CMDB
5 11 (2.78%) Analytical Mindset
5 11 (2.78%) Data Centre
6 7 (1.77%) Blackberry
6 7 (1.77%) Mobile App
6 7 (1.77%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (1.52%) Product Ownership
7 6 (1.52%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (1.26%) Animation
8 5 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
8 5 (1.26%) Handset
8 5 (1.26%) PKI
9 3 (0.76%) Enterprise Storage
9 3 (0.76%) Freedom of Information
9 3 (0.76%) NHS
9 3 (0.76%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 228 (57.58%) Windows
2 84 (21.21%) Windows 10
3 48 (12.12%) Windows Server
4 24 (6.06%) Android
5 20 (5.05%) Apple iOS
6 7 (1.77%) Linux
6 7 (1.77%) Mac OS
7 5 (1.26%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.51%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.25%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.25%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (23.99%) Problem-Solving
2 93 (23.48%) ITIL
3 91 (22.98%) Customer Service
4 47 (11.87%) Service Management
5 39 (9.85%) Continuous Improvement
6 38 (9.60%) ITSM
7 34 (8.59%) Migration
8 32 (8.08%) Agile
8 32 (8.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 30 (7.58%) DevOps
9 30 (7.58%) User Experience
10 28 (7.07%) Incident Management
11 26 (6.57%) Analytics
11 26 (6.57%) Computer Science
12 24 (6.06%) AI
13 23 (5.81%) Stakeholder Management
14 22 (5.56%) Data Protection
15 21 (5.30%) Digital Transformation Programme
16 20 (5.05%) Cybersecurity
16 20 (5.05%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 43 (10.86%) PowerShell
2 9 (2.27%) Python
3 8 (2.02%) SQL
4 5 (1.26%) T-SQL
5 4 (1.01%) C#
6 3 (0.76%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.76%) Kusto Query Language
7 2 (0.51%) Bicep
7 2 (0.51%) Shell Script
7 2 (0.51%) TypeScript
8 1 (0.25%) Bash
8 1 (0.25%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 60 (15.15%) Degree
2 55 (13.89%) Security Cleared
3 39 (9.85%) SC Cleared
4 27 (6.82%) Microsoft Certification
5 25 (6.31%) Computer Science Degree
6 14 (3.54%) BPSS Clearance
7 10 (2.53%) A+ Certification
7 10 (2.53%) Network+ Certification
8 9 (2.27%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 8 (2.02%) Cisco Certification
9 8 (2.02%) DBS Check
10 7 (1.77%) CCNP
11 6 (1.52%) DV Cleared
12 5 (1.26%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 3 (0.76%) Azure Certification
13 3 (0.76%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.76%) PMP
14 2 (0.51%) ITIL Certification
14 2 (0.51%) MCSE
14 2 (0.51%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (5.56%) SLA
2 6 (1.52%) Cyber Essentials
2 6 (1.52%) Data Quality
2 6 (1.52%) GDPR
3 5 (1.26%) Accessibility
3 5 (1.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 5 (1.26%) NIST
3 5 (1.26%) QA
3 5 (1.26%) WCAG
4 4 (1.01%) GRC
4 4 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.51%) Actionable Recommendations
5 2 (0.51%) IASME
5 2 (0.51%) PMO
6 1 (0.25%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 193 (48.74%) Active Directory
2 20 (5.05%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (4.80%) Hyper-V
4 16 (4.04%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.51%) Docker
7 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 1 (0.25%) Terminal Services
7 1 (0.25%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.25%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 82 (20.71%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (6.31%) SCCM
3 15 (3.79%) Jamf Pro
4 10 (2.53%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (1.01%) WSUS
6 3 (0.76%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 2 (0.51%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.51%) Kubernetes
8 1 (0.25%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 1 (0.25%) Cisco CUCM
8 1 (0.25%) Tivoli
8 1 (0.25%) Tivoli Storage Manager
Vendors
1 296 (74.75%) Microsoft
2 69 (17.42%) ServiceNow
3 30 (7.58%) Cisco
4 25 (6.31%) VMware
5 21 (5.30%) iManage
6 16 (4.04%) Google
7 15 (3.79%) Apple
7 15 (3.79%) Citrix
8 14 (3.54%) Bomgar
9 12 (3.03%) Remedy
10 9 (2.27%) CyberArk
10 9 (2.27%) Sophos
11 8 (2.02%) Splunk
12 7 (1.77%) BeyondTrust
12 7 (1.77%) CheckPoint
12 7 (1.77%) Meraki
12 7 (1.77%) Ribbon
13 5 (1.26%) Adobe
13 5 (1.26%) Okta
13 5 (1.26%) Perforce