Active Directory Contract Job Trends in the North West
Microsoft Active Directory
England > North West
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West citing Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 25 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 25 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 42 | 45 | 38 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +3 | -7 | -16 |
| Contract jobs citing Active Directory | 196 | 113 | 101 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the North West | 4.91% | 4.86% | 4.31% |
| As % of the System Software category | 42.42% | 39.37% | 41.91% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 165 | 71 | 51 |
| 10th Percentile | £155 | £146 | £175 |
| 25th Percentile | £193 | £200 | £213 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £325 | £360 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -9.72% | -20.00% | +56.52% |
| 75th Percentile | £488 | £500 | £500 |
| 90th Percentile | £538 | £550 | £638 |
| England median daily rate | £450 | £425 | £425 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.88% | - | +6.25% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1 | 12 | 10 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | £16.73 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.01 | £15.50 | £17.44 |
| Median hourly rate | £17.12 | £18.31 | £22.09 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.53% | -17.11% | +21.04% |
| 75th Percentile | £18.22 | £19.25 | £24.18 |
| 90th Percentile | - | £39.75 | £29.13 |
| England median hourly rate | £52.54 | £22.00 | £23.80 |
| % change year-on-year | +138.80% | -7.56% | +22.05% |
All System Software Skills
North West
Active Directory falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies citing system software skills in the North West.
| 6 months to 25 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing system software skills | 462 | 287 | 241 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West | 11.57% | 12.35% | 10.29% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 323 | 182 | 136 |
| 10th Percentile | £190 | £201 | £213 |
| 25th Percentile | £310 | £330 | £396 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £450 | £435 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +3.45% | -13.00% | +14.29% |
| 75th Percentile | £525 | £540 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £630 | £650 | £650 |
| England median daily rate | £500 | £500 | £513 |
| % change year-on-year | - | -2.44% | +2.50% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 16 | 14 | 12 |
| 10th Percentile | £38.06 | - | £17.04 |
| 25th Percentile | £61.25 | £15.50 | £17.44 |
| Median hourly rate | £73.50 | £18.87 | £23.14 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +289.51% | -18.44% | +25.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £77.00 | £36.46 | £29.69 |
| 90th Percentile | £89.88 | £72.16 | £73.00 |
| England median hourly rate | £63.14 | £30.00 | £52.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +110.45% | -42.86% | +14.13% |
Active Directory Job Vacancy Trend in the North West
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Active Directory relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.
Active Directory Daily Rate Trend in the North West
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory.
Active Directory Daily Rate Histogram in the North West
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the North West over the 6 months to 25 October 2026.
Active Directory Hourly Rate Trend in the North West
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory.
Active Directory Contract Job Locations in the North West
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Active Directory within the North West region over the 6 months to 25 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | +2 | 78 | £459 | +13.27% | 42 |
| Cheshire | -5 | 44 | £325 | +3.17% | 10 |
| Lancashire | -11 | 30 | £305 | -44.55% | 11 |
| Merseyside | +4 | 27 | £200 | +45.45% | 8 |
| Cumbria | -8 | 16 | £420 | -18.05% | 3 |
| Active Directory England |
|||||
Active Directory Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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.
System Software
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VMware Infrastructure | 12.2% | 24 |
| 2 | Hyper-V | 8.7% | 17 |
| 3 | Citrix Hypervisor | 6.6% | 13 |
| 4 | Virtual Desktop | 5.6% | 11 |
| 5 | XenApp | 3.6% | 7 |
| 5 | XenDesktop | 3.6% | 7 |
| 7 | Docker | 3.1% | 6 |
| 8 | Microsoft App-V | 1.5% | 3 |
| 9 | Virtual Machines | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | VMware ESXi | 0.5% | 1 |