Azure Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Azure
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Azure skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 3 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 7 13
Rank change year-on-year +2 +6 -10
Contract jobs citing Azure 440 276 291
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 14.11% 14.19% 10.39%
As % of the Cloud Services category 43.35% 41.19% 32.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 352 206 227
10th Percentile £313 £250 £314
25th Percentile £400 £401 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.80% - -4.76%
75th Percentile £581 £580 £582
90th Percentile £639 £700 £650
England median daily rate £524 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -0.24% -2.78% -4.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 3 3
10th Percentile £24.77 £67.75 £16.55
25th Percentile £25.38 £68.13 £17.00
Median hourly rate £34.03 £72.50 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year -53.06% +291.89% -57.95%
75th Percentile £67.15 £76.88 £32.72
90th Percentile £90.00 £77.25 £40.79
England median hourly rate £57.50 £44.25 £36.75
% change year-on-year +29.94% +20.41% -31.12%

All Cloud Computing Skills
North West

Azure 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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for cloud computing skills 1,015 670 904
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 32.54% 34.45% 32.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 709 515 661
10th Percentile £219 £243 £294
25th Percentile £370 £393 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £490
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
75th Percentile £572 £575 £553
90th Percentile £644 £650 £638
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 14 69
10th Percentile £21.92 £24.99 £13.00
25th Percentile £25.38 £26.88 -
Median hourly rate £62.50 £28.88 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +116.45% +79.79% -48.61%
75th Percentile £77.50 £65.22 £23.00
90th Percentile £95.00 £77.13 £43.75
England median hourly rate £42.69 £26.50 £21.00
% change year-on-year +61.08% +26.19% -18.69%

Azure
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Azure relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Azure job vacancy trend in the North West

Azure
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure

Azure
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Azure in the North West over the 6 months to 3 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Azure in the North West

Azure
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure

Azure
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Azure in the North West over the 6 months to 3 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Azure in the North West

Azure
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 Azure within the North West region over the 6 months to 3 April 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
Manchester -2 235 £470 -10.57% 177
Cheshire +7 126 £534 +27.52% 55
Merseyside +6 55 £139 -44.50% 29
Lancashire -13 17 £500 +2.56% 81
Azure
England

Azure
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 35 (7.95%) SharePoint
2 28 (6.36%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (4.09%) Confluence
4 5 (1.14%) OpenStack
4 5 (1.14%) SAS
5 4 (0.91%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.45%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
6 2 (0.45%) IIS
7 1 (0.23%) Apache
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.23%) ArcGIS
7 1 (0.23%) CMS
7 1 (0.23%) Headless CMS
7 1 (0.23%) Jupyter
Applications
1 8 (1.82%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.14%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.45%) Chatbot
3 2 (0.45%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.45%) Trello
4 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (0.91%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.68%) Payment Gateway
3 2 (0.45%) Elite 3E
3 2 (0.45%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 181 (41.14%) AWS
2 101 (22.95%) GCP
3 89 (20.23%) Microsoft 365
4 73 (16.59%) Entra ID
5 63 (14.32%) Azure DevOps
6 60 (13.64%) Power Platform
7 28 (6.36%) GitHub
8 25 (5.68%) Power Automate
9 23 (5.23%) Dynamics 365
10 22 (5.00%) PowerApps
11 20 (4.55%) Azure Data Factory
11 20 (4.55%) GitHub Actions
11 20 (4.55%) Serverless
12 16 (3.64%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 16 (3.64%) OneDrive
13 14 (3.18%) Azure Logic Apps
14 13 (2.95%) Azure Monitor
15 12 (2.73%) AWS CloudFormation
15 12 (2.73%) Azure AKS
15 12 (2.73%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 48 (10.91%) Firewall
2 27 (6.14%) DNS
3 14 (3.18%) Network Security
4 13 (2.95%) VPN
5 10 (2.27%) Kerberos
6 9 (2.05%) TCP/IP
7 8 (1.82%) DHCP
7 8 (1.82%) Wi-Fi
8 7 (1.59%) VLAN
9 4 (0.91%) HTTP
9 4 (0.91%) NetScaler
9 4 (0.91%) WAN
9 4 (0.91%) Wireshark
10 3 (0.68%) BGP
10 3 (0.68%) Internet
10 3 (0.68%) OSPF
10 3 (0.68%) SD-WAN
11 2 (0.45%) NAS
11 2 (0.45%) tcpdump
11 2 (0.45%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (5.91%) Power BI
2 23 (5.23%) Data Warehouse
3 17 (3.86%) SQL Server
4 12 (2.73%) PostgreSQL
5 11 (2.50%) Metadata
6 9 (2.05%) Data Lake
7 7 (1.59%) MySQL
7 7 (1.59%) NoSQL
8 6 (1.36%) Azure SQL Database
8 6 (1.36%) Looker
8 6 (1.36%) MongoDB
9 5 (1.14%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
9 5 (1.14%) BigQuery
9 5 (1.14%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.68%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.68%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 2 (0.45%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.45%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.45%) Spark SQL
11 2 (0.45%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 38 (8.64%) JIRA
2 23 (5.23%) Git
3 17 (3.86%) GitLab
4 12 (2.73%) Jenkins
5 10 (2.27%) Postman
6 7 (1.59%) Cucumber
7 6 (1.36%) Selenium
8 3 (0.68%) JMeter
8 3 (0.68%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.45%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.45%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.45%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.45%) Snyk
10 1 (0.23%) CircleCI
10 1 (0.23%) JUnit
10 1 (0.23%) Mockito
10 1 (0.23%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.23%) Spinnaker
10 1 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.23%) Visual Studio
General
1 110 (25.00%) Social Skills
2 84 (19.09%) Finance
3 81 (18.41%) Public Sector
4 48 (10.91%) Banking
5 42 (9.55%) Analytical Skills
6 25 (5.68%) Legal
7 12 (2.73%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 11 (2.50%) Law
9 9 (2.05%) Retail
10 5 (1.14%) Military
10 5 (1.14%) Presentation Skills
11 4 (0.91%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.91%) Local Government
12 3 (0.68%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.68%) Games
13 2 (0.45%) Organisational Skills
13 2 (0.45%) Telecoms
14 1 (0.23%) Corporate Banking
14 1 (0.23%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 74 (16.82%) Architect
2 67 (15.23%) Developer
3 42 (9.55%) Senior
4 41 (9.32%) Analyst
5 35 (7.95%) Lead
6 30 (6.82%) Security Engineer
7 28 (6.36%) Azure Engineer
8 23 (5.23%) Data Engineer
9 22 (5.00%) Java Developer
10 20 (4.55%) Platform Engineer
11 19 (4.32%) Solutions Architect
12 17 (3.86%) 1st Line Support
13 16 (3.64%) DevOps Engineer
14 15 (3.41%) Azure Developer
15 13 (2.95%) IT Support
16 11 (2.50%) Security Architect
16 11 (2.50%) Support Engineer
16 11 (2.50%) Systems Analyst
17 10 (2.27%) .NET Developer
17 10 (2.27%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (7.95%) Spring
2 33 (7.50%) Spring Boot
3 31 (7.05%) REST
4 21 (4.77%) .NET
5 20 (4.55%) React
5 20 (4.55%) RESTful
6 19 (4.32%) OAuth
7 12 (2.73%) Kafka
8 11 (2.50%) HTML
8 11 (2.50%) Node.js
8 11 (2.50%) OpenID
9 10 (2.27%) JSON
9 10 (2.27%) SAML
10 9 (2.05%) AngularJS
10 9 (2.05%) ARM Templates
10 9 (2.05%) LDAP
11 8 (1.82%) PySpark
11 8 (1.82%) RabbitMQ
12 7 (1.59%) .NET Core
12 7 (1.59%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 43 (9.77%) Cloud Native
2 32 (7.27%) Onboarding
3 15 (3.41%) Product Ownership
3 15 (3.41%) Security Posture
4 12 (2.73%) Distributed Systems
5 10 (2.27%) Data Centre
5 10 (2.27%) Hybrid Cloud
5 10 (2.27%) Private Cloud
6 9 (2.05%) Enterprise Cloud
7 8 (1.82%) Data Protection Act
7 8 (1.82%) Management Information System
8 7 (1.59%) Public Cloud
8 7 (1.59%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 6 (1.36%) Cloud Security Posture
9 6 (1.36%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (1.14%) Credit Risk
10 5 (1.14%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 5 (1.14%) Linux Command Line
10 5 (1.14%) Operational Technology
10 5 (1.14%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 59 (13.41%) Windows
2 32 (7.27%) Windows 10
3 22 (5.00%) Linux
4 9 (2.05%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.59%) VMS
6 6 (1.36%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (1.14%) Mac OS
7 5 (1.14%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (0.91%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.45%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.45%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.23%) Unix
10 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (31.82%) DevOps
2 117 (26.59%) CI/CD
3 113 (25.68%) Agile
4 81 (18.41%) Problem-Solving
5 64 (14.55%) Analytics
6 57 (12.95%) Containerisation
7 51 (11.59%) Microservices
8 49 (11.14%) Continuous Improvement
9 47 (10.68%) Migration
10 46 (10.45%) Infrastructure as Code
11 42 (9.55%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 40 (9.09%) Data Modelling
13 38 (8.64%) Observability
14 36 (8.18%) Roadmaps
15 35 (7.95%) Cloud Security
16 34 (7.73%) ETL
16 34 (7.73%) Mentoring
16 34 (7.73%) Stakeholder Management
17 33 (7.50%) Test Automation
18 30 (6.82%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 96 (21.82%) Python
2 65 (14.77%) SQL
3 62 (14.09%) Java
4 51 (11.59%) PowerShell
5 27 (6.14%) C#
6 26 (5.91%) JavaScript
7 24 (5.45%) Bash
8 18 (4.09%) Bicep
9 13 (2.95%) TypeScript
10 8 (1.82%) Go
11 5 (1.14%) R
11 5 (1.14%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.91%) C++
13 3 (0.68%) Shell Script
14 2 (0.45%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 2 (0.45%) Kusto Query Language
14 2 (0.45%) Scala
15 1 (0.23%) PHP
15 1 (0.23%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.23%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 45 (10.23%) Security Cleared
2 26 (5.91%) Azure Certification
3 24 (5.45%) Degree
4 23 (5.23%) SC Cleared
5 20 (4.55%) BPSS Clearance
5 20 (4.55%) Cisco Certification
5 20 (4.55%) CISSP
6 17 (3.86%) AWS Certification
7 11 (2.50%) Microsoft Certification
8 10 (2.27%) CCNA
8 10 (2.27%) CISM
9 9 (2.05%) CCNP
10 5 (1.14%) ITIL Certification
10 5 (1.14%) PMI Certification
10 5 (1.14%) PMP
11 4 (0.91%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 4 (0.91%) CCIE
11 4 (0.91%) Computer Science Degree
11 4 (0.91%) GIAC
11 4 (0.91%) IBM Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (6.36%) NIST
2 26 (5.91%) Data Quality
3 23 (5.23%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 20 (4.55%) QA
5 16 (3.64%) GDPR
6 14 (3.18%) Accessibility
7 13 (2.95%) ISO 20022
8 8 (1.82%) PSD2
9 7 (1.59%) SEPA
10 5 (1.14%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 5 (1.14%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.68%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.68%) GRC
11 3 (0.68%) NCSC
11 3 (0.68%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.45%) SLA
12 2 (0.45%) Solvency II
12 2 (0.45%) WCAG
13 1 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 94 (21.36%) Active Directory
2 70 (15.91%) Docker
3 15 (3.41%) VMware Infrastructure
4 12 (2.73%) vSphere
5 9 (2.05%) Virtual Desktop
6 8 (1.82%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.68%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.68%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.45%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.23%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 73 (16.59%) Kubernetes
2 59 (13.41%) Terraform
3 27 (6.14%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (3.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 14 (3.18%) Ansible
5 14 (3.18%) Grafana
6 13 (2.95%) Prometheus
6 13 (2.95%) Single Sign-On
7 11 (2.50%) SCCM
8 6 (1.36%) Argo
9 5 (1.14%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.91%) Progress Chef
11 3 (0.68%) Fluentd
11 3 (0.68%) Istio
11 3 (0.68%) vCenter Server
12 2 (0.45%) CA Single Sign-On
12 2 (0.45%) linkerd
12 2 (0.45%) PowerCLI
12 2 (0.45%) vMotion
12 2 (0.45%) vRealize
Vendors
1 153 (34.77%) Microsoft
2 36 (8.18%) Google
3 29 (6.59%) ServiceNow
4 19 (4.32%) Databricks
5 18 (4.09%) VMware
6 17 (3.86%) Bomgar
6 17 (3.86%) iManage
7 14 (3.18%) Oracle
8 13 (2.95%) Splunk
9 12 (2.73%) Virgin Media
10 11 (2.50%) Infoblox
11 9 (2.05%) Cisco
12 8 (1.82%) F5
12 8 (1.82%) IBM
13 6 (1.36%) CyberArk
13 6 (1.36%) Foundry
13 6 (1.36%) Meraki
13 6 (1.36%) OpenAI
13 6 (1.36%) Red Hat
13 6 (1.36%) SAP