Microsoft Contracts in the North of England

Microsoft
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North of England 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 2 May 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
2 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 6 4 9
Rank change year-on-year -2 +5 -4
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 511 682 817
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North of England 15.48% 14.34% 14.06%
As % of the Vendors category 30.40% 33.51% 35.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 342 400 577
10th Percentile £188 £163 £187
25th Percentile £288 £249 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £422 £425 £475
Median % change year-on-year -0.74% -10.53% +18.75%
75th Percentile £518 £550 £563
90th Percentile £575 £650 £650
England median daily rate £475 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 130 29
10th Percentile £13.89 £10.95 £14.19
25th Percentile £18.13 £11.13 £17.50
Median hourly rate £28.75 £15.09 £26.50
Median % change year-on-year +90.59% -43.08% +51.43%
75th Percentile £33.75 £18.03 £38.75
90th Percentile £40.80 £26.40 £50.20
England median hourly rate £18.85 £15.00 £21.75
% change year-on-year +25.67% -31.03% +17.57%

All Vendors
North of England

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 the North of England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 1,681 2,035 2,315
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 50.92% 42.80% 39.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,078 1,188 1,576
10th Percentile £230 £250 £246
25th Percentile £363 £389 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £495 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.99% -1.05% +11.11%
75th Percentile £563 £584 £600
90th Percentile £650 £675 £688
England median daily rate £525 £520 £538
% change year-on-year +0.96% -3.26% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 213 65
10th Percentile £17.44 £10.95 £14.85
25th Percentile £21.24 £12.53 £18.82
Median hourly rate £32.50 £15.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +116.67% -53.85% +82.48%
75th Percentile £59.83 £22.00 £48.00
90th Percentile £86.00 £46.18 £53.20
England median hourly rate £27.13 £22.50 £39.55
% change year-on-year +20.56% -43.11% +88.33%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

Job postings citing Microsoft as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North of England.

Job vacancy trend for Microsoft in the North of England

Microsoft
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the North of England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Microsoft in the North of England.

Daily rate trend for Microsoft in the North of England

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the North of England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the North of England over the 6 months to 2 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the North of England

Microsoft
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the North of England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Microsoft in the North of England.

Hourly rate trend for Microsoft in the North of England

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North of England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the North of England over the 6 months to 2 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the North of England

Microsoft
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 within the North of England region over the 6 months to 2 May 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
North West 0 349 £438 -2.78% 616
Yorkshire -3 114 £400 +5.96% 368
North East -1 50 £350 +52.17% 146
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North of England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 103 (20.16%) Microsoft Exchange
2 99 (19.37%) SharePoint
3 13 (2.54%) Skype for Business
4 7 (1.37%) Confluence
5 5 (0.98%) Mattermost
6 4 (0.78%) Exchange Server 2010
6 4 (0.78%) SAS
7 3 (0.59%) IIS
7 3 (0.59%) OpenEdge
7 3 (0.59%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.39%) JBoss
8 2 (0.39%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.39%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.20%) BizTalk Server
9 1 (0.20%) CICS
9 1 (0.20%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 93 (18.20%) Microsoft Office
2 43 (8.41%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (4.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 16 (3.13%) MS Visio
5 12 (2.35%) Microsoft Project
6 10 (1.96%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.20%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.20%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 13 (2.54%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.37%) Kondor
3 4 (0.78%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.59%) Finacle
4 3 (0.59%) SAP ERP
5 2 (0.39%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.39%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.39%) SAP S/4HANA
5 2 (0.39%) Unit4 Business World
6 1 (0.20%) assyst
6 1 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.20%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.20%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.20%) SAP FI/CO
6 1 (0.20%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 193 (37.77%) Microsoft 365
2 171 (33.46%) Azure
3 101 (19.77%) Entra ID
4 60 (11.74%) Power Platform
5 35 (6.85%) PowerApps
6 33 (6.46%) Power Automate
7 23 (4.50%) OneDrive
8 22 (4.31%) Dynamics 365
9 20 (3.91%) IaaS
10 19 (3.72%) SaaS
11 18 (3.52%) AWS
12 16 (3.13%) Microsoft Purview
13 13 (2.54%) GCP
14 10 (1.96%) Azure Data Factory
14 10 (1.96%) PaaS
15 9 (1.76%) Azure DevOps
16 6 (1.17%) Azure Sentinel
17 4 (0.78%) Google Workspace
18 3 (0.59%) Azure Synapse Analytics
18 3 (0.59%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 47 (9.20%) DNS
2 42 (8.22%) VPN
3 40 (7.83%) DHCP
4 39 (7.63%) Firewall
5 30 (5.87%) LAN
6 23 (4.50%) Network Security
7 22 (4.31%) Wi-Fi
8 20 (3.91%) WAN
9 19 (3.72%) Skype
10 15 (2.94%) TCP/IP
11 12 (2.35%) VLAN
12 11 (2.15%) Intrusion Detection
13 9 (1.76%) Unified Communications
14 8 (1.57%) VoIP
15 7 (1.37%) Remote Desktop
15 7 (1.37%) SAN
15 7 (1.37%) WebEx
16 5 (0.98%) Internet
16 5 (0.98%) SMTP
16 5 (0.98%) Softphone
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (6.26%) Power BI
2 31 (6.07%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.57%) Metadata
4 7 (1.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (1.17%) Data Warehouse
6 5 (0.98%) Azure SQL Database
6 5 (0.98%) MongoDB
6 5 (0.98%) Tableau
7 4 (0.78%) Delta Lake
7 4 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.78%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.78%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.59%) Big Data
8 3 (0.59%) DB2
8 3 (0.59%) Dremio
8 3 (0.59%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.39%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.39%) Metadata Repository
9 2 (0.39%) Qlik Sense
9 2 (0.39%) Redis
Development Applications
1 18 (3.52%) Git
2 17 (3.33%) JIRA
3 8 (1.57%) Visual Studio
4 7 (1.37%) Selenium
5 5 (0.98%) Babel
5 5 (0.98%) Hudson
5 5 (0.98%) IntelliJ
5 5 (0.98%) Maven
5 5 (0.98%) Postman
5 5 (0.98%) webpack
6 4 (0.78%) GitLab
6 4 (0.78%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 3 (0.59%) ERwin
7 3 (0.59%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.39%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.39%) eggPlant
8 2 (0.39%) Jenkins
8 2 (0.39%) PowerDesigner
8 2 (0.39%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.39%) Subversion
General
1 192 (37.57%) Social Skills
2 68 (13.31%) Finance
3 62 (12.13%) Public Sector
4 54 (10.57%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (6.26%) Banking
6 24 (4.70%) Legal
7 21 (4.11%) Telecoms
8 20 (3.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 18 (3.52%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (3.13%) Retail
11 14 (2.74%) Documentation Skills
12 12 (2.35%) Pharmaceutical
13 11 (2.15%) Manufacturing
13 11 (2.15%) Military
14 10 (1.96%) Marketing
15 9 (1.76%) Local Government
16 7 (1.37%) French Language
16 7 (1.37%) Presentation Skills
17 5 (0.98%) Law
18 3 (0.59%) Billing
Job Titles
1 70 (13.70%) Analyst
2 67 (13.11%) Support Engineer
3 41 (8.02%) Developer
4 39 (7.63%) IT Support
5 38 (7.44%) Architect
6 26 (5.09%) Desktop Support
6 26 (5.09%) IT Engineer
6 26 (5.09%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
6 26 (5.09%) Senior
7 25 (4.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 22 (4.31%) Desktop Engineer
9 21 (4.11%) Desktop Support Engineer
10 20 (3.91%) 1st Line Support
10 20 (3.91%) Support Manager
11 19 (3.72%) Consultant
11 19 (3.72%) Project Manager
11 19 (3.72%) Support Analyst
12 16 (3.13%) Service Analyst
13 15 (2.94%) 2nd Line Support
13 15 (2.94%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (4.11%) CSS
1 21 (4.11%) HTML
2 17 (3.33%) .NET
3 16 (3.13%) React
4 10 (1.96%) RESTful
5 9 (1.76%) REST
5 9 (1.76%) SPFx
6 5 (0.98%) HTML5
6 5 (0.98%) XMPP
7 4 (0.78%) ADO
7 4 (0.78%) OAuth
8 3 (0.59%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.59%) JSON
8 3 (0.59%) LDAP
8 3 (0.59%) SailPoint
8 3 (0.59%) SOAP
8 3 (0.59%) Software Packaging
8 3 (0.59%) Web Services
9 2 (0.39%) OAuth2
9 2 (0.39%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 23 (4.50%) Management Information System
2 14 (2.74%) Smartphone
3 13 (2.54%) iPhone
4 12 (2.35%) Hybrid Cloud
5 11 (2.15%) Data Protection Act
6 10 (1.96%) Data Centre
6 10 (1.96%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (1.96%) NHS
7 7 (1.37%) Product Ownership
7 7 (1.37%) Security Posture
8 6 (1.17%) Onboarding
9 5 (0.98%) Driving Licence
10 4 (0.78%) Blackberry
10 4 (0.78%) Handset
10 4 (0.78%) Mobile App
10 4 (0.78%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (0.78%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 4 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
11 3 (0.59%) Fat Client
11 3 (0.59%) IVR
Operating Systems
1 171 (33.46%) Windows
2 60 (11.74%) Windows Server
3 50 (9.78%) Windows 10
4 28 (5.48%) Linux
5 23 (4.50%) Mac OS
6 17 (3.33%) Windows Server 2016
6 17 (3.33%) Windows Server 2019
7 13 (2.54%) Android
7 13 (2.54%) VMS
8 12 (2.35%) Windows Server 2012
9 11 (2.15%) Unix
10 9 (1.76%) Windows 7
10 9 (1.76%) Windows Server 2003
11 7 (1.37%) Windows XP
12 5 (0.98%) Apple iOS
12 5 (0.98%) Windows 8
12 5 (0.98%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 2 (0.39%) zOS
14 1 (0.20%) AIX
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (25.44%) Problem-Solving
2 91 (17.81%) ITIL
3 65 (12.72%) Customer Service
4 62 (12.13%) Agile
5 57 (11.15%) ITSM
6 44 (8.61%) Migration
7 40 (7.83%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 35 (6.85%) Cybersecurity
9 33 (6.46%) Service Management
9 33 (6.46%) Stakeholder Management
10 32 (6.26%) DevOps
11 31 (6.07%) Collaborative Working
12 29 (5.68%) Business Intelligence
13 28 (5.48%) Incident Management
13 28 (5.48%) Project Delivery
14 27 (5.28%) Project Management
15 26 (5.09%) Information Security
16 25 (4.89%) Analytics
16 25 (4.89%) Change Management
17 24 (4.70%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 69 (13.50%) PowerShell
2 39 (7.63%) SQL
3 22 (4.31%) JavaScript
4 16 (3.13%) Python
5 12 (2.35%) TypeScript
6 10 (1.96%) C#
7 9 (1.76%) Java
8 8 (1.57%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.17%) VBScript
10 5 (0.98%) VB
11 3 (0.59%) Bash
11 3 (0.59%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.59%) VBA
12 2 (0.39%) C++
12 2 (0.39%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.39%) JCL
12 2 (0.39%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.39%) R
13 1 (0.20%) COBOL
13 1 (0.20%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 70 (13.70%) Security Cleared
2 62 (12.13%) Microsoft Certification
3 59 (11.55%) Degree
3 59 (11.55%) SC Cleared
4 23 (4.50%) Azure Certification
5 12 (2.35%) Cisco Certification
6 11 (2.15%) Computer Science Degree
7 10 (1.96%) A+ Certification
7 10 (1.96%) CCNA
8 9 (1.76%) AWS Certification
9 7 (1.37%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 7 (1.37%) DBS Check
9 7 (1.37%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (1.37%) MCP
10 6 (1.17%) ITIL Certification
10 6 (1.17%) MCSE
11 5 (0.98%) ACSP
11 5 (0.98%) ACTC
11 5 (0.98%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (0.98%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (3.72%) QA
2 15 (2.94%) SLA
3 14 (2.74%) Data Quality
4 10 (1.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (1.76%) PMO
6 8 (1.57%) Accessibility
6 8 (1.57%) GDPR
7 5 (0.98%) PCI DSS
8 4 (0.78%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (0.59%) SOC 2
10 2 (0.39%) ISO 20022
10 2 (0.39%) ISO 8583
10 2 (0.39%) PSD2
10 2 (0.39%) SEPA
11 1 (0.20%) Basel III
11 1 (0.20%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 1 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials
11 1 (0.20%) MiFID
11 1 (0.20%) NCSC
11 1 (0.20%) NIST
System Software
1 187 (36.59%) Active Directory
2 35 (6.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (2.94%) vSphere
4 12 (2.35%) Virtual Machines
5 11 (2.15%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (1.76%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.98%) Hyper-V
8 4 (0.78%) Virtual Desktop
9 3 (0.59%) Docker
9 3 (0.59%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 3 (0.59%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.39%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.20%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.20%) Terminal Services
11 1 (0.20%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 65 (12.72%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (6.85%) SCCM
3 22 (4.31%) Single Sign-On
3 22 (4.31%) WSUS
4 18 (3.52%) Jamf Pro
5 13 (2.54%) vCenter Server
6 6 (1.17%) SCOM
7 5 (0.98%) AppManager
7 5 (0.98%) Terraform
8 4 (0.78%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 4 (0.78%) Ansible
8 4 (0.78%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.59%) Backup Exec
9 3 (0.59%) Kubernetes
9 3 (0.59%) Microsoft Clustering
9 3 (0.59%) NetApp OnCommand
9 3 (0.59%) vMotion
10 2 (0.39%) Docker Swarm
10 2 (0.39%) Grafana
10 2 (0.39%) Sysdig
Vendors
1 58 (11.35%) VMware
2 53 (10.37%) ServiceNow
3 28 (5.48%) Cisco
4 25 (4.89%) Apple
5 23 (4.50%) Citrix
6 19 (3.72%) Google
7 14 (2.74%) Oracle
8 13 (2.54%) Veeam
9 10 (1.96%) Splunk
10 9 (1.76%) Dell
10 9 (1.76%) HP
11 8 (1.57%) CyberArk
12 7 (1.37%) Databricks
12 7 (1.37%) Meraki
12 7 (1.37%) Red Hat
12 7 (1.37%) SAP
13 5 (0.98%) Canon
13 5 (0.98%) CheckPoint
13 5 (0.98%) Fortinet
13 5 (0.98%) Ivanti