Microsoft Specialist Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Specialist
England > North West

The median Microsoft Specialist daily rate in the North West is £490, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 15 April 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 163 116 134
Rank change year-on-year -47 +18 +33
Contract jobs requiring a Microsoft Specialist 2 7 1
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 0.063% 0.36% 0.037%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.069% 0.39% 0.039%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 4 1
10th Percentile - £450 -
25th Percentile £485 £477 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £594 £388
Median % change year-on-year -17.47% +53.23% -26.19%
75th Percentile £495 £732 £394
90th Percentile - £766 -
England median daily rate £575 £500 £550
% change year-on-year +15.00% -9.09% +4.76%

All Contract IT Job Roles
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the North West. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the North West with a recognized job title 2,916 1,788 2,577
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.07% 92.69% 94.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,728 1,200 1,702
10th Percentile £247 £261 £281
25th Percentile £375 £377 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £464 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.24% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £585
90th Percentile £669 £656 £680
England median daily rate £508 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.33% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 305 105 264
10th Percentile £19.00 £13.50 £11.02
25th Percentile £25.38 £18.13 £13.45
Median hourly rate £45.46 £30.40 £26.39
Median % change year-on-year +49.54% +15.20% -19.73%
75th Percentile £70.00 £58.58 £46.18
90th Percentile £80.10 £82.28 £61.79
England median hourly rate £45.00 £32.50 £34.21
% change year-on-year +38.46% -5.00% -21.90%

Microsoft Specialist
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Microsoft Specialist' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Microsoft Specialist job vacancy trend in the North West

Microsoft Specialist
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Microsoft Specialist job vacancies in the North West.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Microsoft Specialist job vacancies in the North West

Microsoft Specialist
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 Microsoft Specialist within the North West region over the 6 months to 15 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 -29 2 £490 -17.47% 2
Microsoft Specialist
England

Microsoft Specialist Skill Set
Top 14 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 15 April 2026, Microsoft Specialist contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the North West region featuring Microsoft Specialist in the job title.

1 2 (100.00%) Data Governance
1 2 (100.00%) Data Loss Prevention
1 2 (100.00%) E-Discovery
1 2 (100.00%) GDPR
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft Copilot
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft Purview
1 2 (100.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 1 (50.00%) Data Protection
2 1 (50.00%) Information Governance
2 1 (50.00%) Records Management
2 1 (50.00%) Risk Management
2 1 (50.00%) Technical Leadership

Microsoft Specialist Skill Set
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:

Cloud Services
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft Copilot
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft Purview
General
1 2 (100.00%) Legal
2 1 (50.00%) Public Sector
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (100.00%) Data Governance
1 2 (100.00%) Data Loss Prevention
1 2 (100.00%) E-Discovery
1 2 (100.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 1 (50.00%) Data Protection
2 1 (50.00%) Information Governance
2 1 (50.00%) Records Management
2 1 (50.00%) Risk Management
2 1 (50.00%) Technical Leadership
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (100.00%) GDPR
Vendors
1 2 (100.00%) Microsoft