Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North West 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 9 August 2026, 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
9 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 5 6
Rank change year-on-year 0 +1 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 512 380 314
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 13.48% 17.22% 13.29%
As % of the Vendors category 32.59% 34.70% 33.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 336 249 179
10th Percentile £185 £207 £199
25th Percentile £316 £356 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £475
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% -7.89% +5.56%
75th Percentile £538 £513 £605
90th Percentile £611 £604 £650
England median daily rate £490 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +3.16% -4.57% -0.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 48 62
10th Percentile £16.50 £12.95 -
25th Percentile £24.58 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £26.00 £22.32 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +16.51% +38.95% -28.72%
75th Percentile £62.88 £30.82 -
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £34.75
England median hourly rate £22.50 £22.57 £16.23
% change year-on-year -0.29% +39.03% -26.23%

All Vendors
North West

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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 1,571 1,095 926
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 41.37% 49.61% 39.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 932 701 537
10th Percentile £255 £304 £276
25th Percentile £400 £388 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £493 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.74% -5.00% +0.50%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £595
90th Percentile £665 £671 £665
England median daily rate £510 £510 £525
% change year-on-year - -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 73 94
10th Percentile £17.20 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £22.68 £19.07 £11.07
Median hourly rate £29.00 £28.43 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% +77.02% -45.19%
75th Percentile £60.75 £50.00 £35.84
90th Percentile £85.00 £70.00 £58.74
England median hourly rate £35.00 £25.15 £30.00
% change year-on-year +39.17% -16.17% -18.92%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the North West

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

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

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

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the North West over the 6 months to 9 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the North West

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

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

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

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the North West over the 6 months to 9 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the North West

Microsoft
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 within the North West region over the 6 months to 9 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
Manchester -3 250 £450 - 275
Cheshire +3 126 £505 +17.10% 83
Merseyside 0 62 £175 -56.25% 72
Lancashire -6 34 £400 -15.79% 111
Cumbria -1 32 £460 +8.24% 24
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
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 71 (13.87%) SharePoint
2 48 (9.38%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (2.54%) Confluence
4 8 (1.56%) Skype for Business
5 7 (1.37%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.59%) CMS
6 3 (0.59%) IIS
7 2 (0.39%) Apache
7 2 (0.39%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.20%) CICS
8 1 (0.20%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.20%) WebSphere
Applications
1 57 (11.13%) Microsoft Office
2 38 (7.42%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.95%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.56%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.98%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.78%) AutoCAD
8 3 (0.59%) Navisworks
8 3 (0.59%) ProjectWise
8 3 (0.59%) Revit
9 1 (0.20%) MicroStation
9 1 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 13 (2.54%) Dynamics CRM
2 11 (2.15%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (0.98%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (0.78%) Primavera
4 4 (0.78%) SAP MM
4 4 (0.78%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.59%) Elite 3E
5 3 (0.59%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 2 (0.39%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.20%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.20%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 205 (40.04%) Azure
2 179 (34.96%) Microsoft 365
3 88 (17.19%) Power Platform
4 74 (14.45%) Entra ID
5 50 (9.77%) Microsoft Copilot
6 47 (9.18%) AWS
7 38 (7.42%) Dynamics 365
8 34 (6.64%) Azure DevOps
9 31 (6.05%) Power Automate
9 31 (6.05%) PowerApps
10 25 (4.88%) OneDrive
11 20 (3.91%) GCP
12 14 (2.73%) Serverless
13 13 (2.54%) Azure Monitor
13 13 (2.54%) GitHub
14 11 (2.15%) Azure AI
14 11 (2.15%) Microsoft Purview
14 11 (2.15%) SaaS
15 10 (1.95%) GitHub Actions
16 8 (1.56%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 28 (5.47%) DNS
2 26 (5.08%) Firewall
3 20 (3.91%) VPN
4 17 (3.32%) Network Security
5 13 (2.54%) DHCP
5 13 (2.54%) Skype
6 11 (2.15%) TCP/IP
7 9 (1.76%) LAN
8 8 (1.56%) SSL
8 8 (1.56%) WAN
9 7 (1.37%) Wi-Fi
10 6 (1.17%) SAN
10 6 (1.17%) VLAN
11 4 (0.78%) NAS
12 3 (0.59%) PABX
12 3 (0.59%) SSH
12 3 (0.59%) WebEx
13 2 (0.39%) Internet
13 2 (0.39%) SD-WAN
13 2 (0.39%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 56 (10.94%) Power BI
2 41 (8.01%) SQL Server
3 16 (3.13%) MySQL
3 16 (3.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 15 (2.93%) PostgreSQL
5 8 (1.56%) Power Query
5 8 (1.56%) Relational Database
6 6 (1.17%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (1.17%) Metadata
7 5 (0.98%) MongoDB
7 5 (0.98%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.78%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.78%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.59%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
9 3 (0.59%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.39%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.39%) EDMS
10 2 (0.39%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 22 (4.30%) JIRA
2 12 (2.34%) Git
3 10 (1.95%) Jenkins
4 8 (1.56%) GitLab
5 3 (0.59%) MSI
6 2 (0.39%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.39%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.39%) Toad
7 1 (0.20%) Postman
7 1 (0.20%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.20%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 148 (28.91%) Social Skills
2 105 (20.51%) Finance
3 63 (12.30%) Analytical Skills
4 43 (8.40%) Banking
4 43 (8.40%) Public Sector
5 35 (6.84%) Legal
6 19 (3.71%) Manufacturing
7 17 (3.32%) Organisational Skills
8 15 (2.93%) Local Government
9 11 (2.15%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.56%) Retail
11 7 (1.37%) Influencing Skills
11 7 (1.37%) Investment Banking
12 6 (1.17%) Presentation Skills
12 6 (1.17%) Telecoms
13 5 (0.98%) Games
13 5 (0.98%) Marketing
13 5 (0.98%) Military
14 4 (0.78%) Corporate Banking
14 4 (0.78%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 52 (10.16%) Analyst
2 45 (8.79%) IT Support
3 41 (8.01%) Support Engineer
4 40 (7.81%) Architect
5 33 (6.45%) IT Engineer
5 33 (6.45%) IT Support Engineer
6 29 (5.66%) Lead
7 28 (5.47%) DBA
7 28 (5.47%) Developer
8 25 (4.88%) Administrator
9 20 (3.91%) Service Analyst
10 19 (3.71%) Senior
11 18 (3.52%) Security Engineer
12 17 (3.32%) SQL DBA
13 15 (2.93%) 1st Line Support
13 15 (2.93%) Service Desk Analyst
14 14 (2.73%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 13 (2.54%) Cloud Engineer
15 13 (2.54%) Consultant
15 13 (2.54%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.56%) SAML
2 7 (1.37%) JSON
2 7 (1.37%) Microsoft Graph
3 6 (1.17%) REST
3 6 (1.17%) Software Packaging
4 5 (0.98%) .NET
4 5 (0.98%) ARM Templates
4 5 (0.98%) Kafka
4 5 (0.98%) Spring
4 5 (0.98%) Spring Boot
4 5 (0.98%) XML
5 4 (0.78%) HTML5 Canvas
5 4 (0.78%) Node.js
5 4 (0.78%) OAuth
5 4 (0.78%) SailPoint
6 3 (0.59%) Azure Blueprints
6 3 (0.59%) LangChain
6 3 (0.59%) PySpark
6 3 (0.59%) React
6 3 (0.59%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.45%) Onboarding
2 23 (4.49%) Cloud Native
2 23 (4.49%) Management Information System
3 20 (3.91%) Replication
4 18 (3.52%) Clustering
5 11 (2.15%) Security Posture
6 10 (1.95%) Data Centre
7 9 (1.76%) AI Agents
7 9 (1.76%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.76%) Product Ownership
8 8 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
9 7 (1.37%) Enterprise Cloud
10 6 (1.17%) Data Protection Act
10 6 (1.17%) PKI
11 5 (0.98%) Animation
11 5 (0.98%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (0.98%) Handset
11 5 (0.98%) Hybrid Cloud
11 5 (0.98%) Linux Command Line
11 5 (0.98%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 147 (28.71%) Windows
2 63 (12.30%) Windows 10
3 36 (7.03%) Windows Server
4 26 (5.08%) Linux
5 11 (2.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (2.15%) Unix
6 9 (1.76%) Windows 7
7 8 (1.56%) Solaris
8 7 (1.37%) Android
8 7 (1.37%) Apple iOS
8 7 (1.37%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.98%) AIX
9 5 (0.98%) VMS
9 5 (0.98%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.59%) HPUX
10 3 (0.59%) Oracle Linux
10 3 (0.59%) SUSE
10 3 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (16.60%) ITIL
2 77 (15.04%) Problem-Solving
3 65 (12.70%) Customer Service
4 64 (12.50%) DevOps
5 60 (11.72%) Agile
6 54 (10.55%) Business Intelligence
7 53 (10.35%) Stakeholder Management
8 51 (9.96%) Migration
9 50 (9.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 49 (9.57%) CI/CD
11 48 (9.38%) Continuous Improvement
12 44 (8.59%) Analytics
13 42 (8.20%) AI
13 42 (8.20%) Service Management
14 38 (7.42%) ITSM
15 36 (7.03%) Change Management
16 35 (6.84%) Infrastructure as Code
17 32 (6.25%) Project Delivery
17 32 (6.25%) Roadmaps
18 30 (5.86%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 81 (15.82%) PowerShell
2 69 (13.48%) SQL
3 49 (9.57%) Python
4 18 (3.52%) Bicep
5 17 (3.32%) T-SQL
6 12 (2.34%) Bash
6 12 (2.34%) Java
7 11 (2.15%) VBScript
8 10 (1.95%) C#
9 8 (1.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (1.56%) JavaScript
10 7 (1.37%) VB
11 4 (0.78%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.78%) Search Processing Language
12 3 (0.59%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.20%) C++
13 1 (0.20%) COBOL
13 1 (0.20%) Google Apps Script
13 1 (0.20%) VBA
Qualifications
1 95 (18.55%) Security Cleared
2 78 (15.23%) SC Cleared
3 67 (13.09%) Degree
4 46 (8.98%) Microsoft Certification
5 39 (7.62%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (4.30%) Azure Certification
7 16 (3.13%) CISSP
8 11 (2.15%) AWS Certification
8 11 (2.15%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.95%) DBS Check
9 10 (1.95%) MCSE
10 9 (1.76%) MCSA
11 8 (1.56%) A+ Certification
11 8 (1.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 8 (1.56%) VCAP
11 8 (1.56%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 7 (1.37%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (1.17%) Network+ Certification
14 4 (0.78%) Cisco Certification
14 4 (0.78%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.91%) GDPR
2 16 (3.13%) SLA
3 15 (2.93%) Data Quality
4 12 (2.34%) PMO
5 10 (1.95%) NIST
6 8 (1.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 6 (1.17%) GRC
8 5 (0.98%) Accessibility
8 5 (0.98%) PCI DSS
8 5 (0.98%) QA
8 5 (0.98%) WCAG
9 4 (0.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 4 (0.78%) NCSC
10 3 (0.59%) ISO 19650
11 2 (0.39%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.39%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.39%) P3O
12 1 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 1 (0.20%) SOC 2
System Software
1 137 (26.76%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.49%) Docker
3 20 (3.91%) Virtual Machines
4 19 (3.71%) VMware Infrastructure
5 11 (2.15%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (1.95%) vSphere
7 9 (1.76%) BitLocker
8 6 (1.17%) Hyper-V
8 6 (1.17%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.78%) Oracle RAC
10 3 (0.59%) NFS
11 2 (0.39%) GPFS
11 2 (0.39%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.20%) Veritas Volume Manager
12 1 (0.20%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 38 (7.42%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (6.05%) Terraform
3 27 (5.27%) Kubernetes
4 25 (4.88%) SCCM
5 19 (3.71%) Ansible
6 11 (2.15%) Progress Chef
7 10 (1.95%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (1.95%) vCenter Server
8 7 (1.37%) SCOM
9 6 (1.17%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 6 (1.17%) CASB
9 6 (1.17%) Grafana
10 4 (0.78%) Data Guard
11 3 (0.59%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.39%) Argo
12 2 (0.39%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
12 2 (0.39%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.39%) Istio
12 2 (0.39%) linkerd
12 2 (0.39%) VxRail
Vendors
1 88 (17.19%) ServiceNow
2 23 (4.49%) Oracle
3 22 (4.30%) Cisco
4 21 (4.10%) VMware
5 20 (3.91%) Splunk
6 19 (3.71%) iManage
7 17 (3.32%) BeyondTrust
7 17 (3.32%) Google
7 17 (3.32%) SAP
8 16 (3.13%) Remedy
9 14 (2.73%) Red Hat
10 12 (2.34%) Bomgar
11 11 (2.15%) Databricks
12 6 (1.17%) CrowdStrike
13 5 (0.98%) Citrix
13 5 (0.98%) CyberArk
13 5 (0.98%) HP
13 5 (0.98%) IBM
13 5 (0.98%) Sophos
13 5 (0.98%) UiPath