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 July 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 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 4 3
Rank change year-on-year -2 -1 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 458 375 422
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 12.52% 17.54% 15.30%
As % of the Vendors category 30.82% 34.79% 38.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 303 246 233
10th Percentile £182 £205 £200
25th Percentile £344 £350 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £425 £450
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -5.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £538 £525 £588
90th Percentile £613 £588 £650
England median daily rate £493 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.68% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 41 101
10th Percentile £18.68 £12.82 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.38 £17.44 £11.00
Median hourly rate £29.00 £22.63 £16.05
Median % change year-on-year +28.15% +41.04% -19.78%
75th Percentile £71.63 £31.41 £17.78
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £26.50
England median hourly rate £22.63 £22.50 £16.06
% change year-on-year +0.59% +40.10% -27.00%

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 1,486 1,078 1,092
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 40.63% 50.42% 39.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 874 699 645
10th Percentile £275 £297 £268
25th Percentile £400 £381 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.29% -5.00% +0.50%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £585
90th Percentile £662 £666 £650
England median daily rate £510 £513 £515
% change year-on-year -0.49% -0.49% -1.90%
Number of hourly rates quoted 108 69 150
10th Percentile £17.32 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £23.67 £19.45 £12.40
Median hourly rate £29.98 £29.27 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +2.43% +82.25% -40.52%
75th Percentile £62.44 £60.00 £33.87
90th Percentile £85.00 £81.85 £46.44
England median hourly rate £35.50 £25.15 £25.00
% change year-on-year +41.15% +0.60% -30.56%

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 July 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 July 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 July 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 -4 219 £450 +5.88% 188
Cheshire -3 105 £467 +6.69% 48
Merseyside 0 57 £140 -65.00% 54
Cumbria -6 37 £472 +1.51% 14
Lancashire -9 27 £413 -17.50% 104
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 50 (10.92%) SharePoint
2 40 (8.73%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (3.06%) Confluence
4 12 (2.62%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.87%) CMS
6 3 (0.66%) IIS
7 2 (0.44%) Apache
7 2 (0.44%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.22%) CICS
8 1 (0.22%) Headless CMS
8 1 (0.22%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.22%) WebSphere
Applications
1 56 (12.23%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (6.99%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (2.62%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.75%) MS Visio
6 5 (1.09%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.22%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.22%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 13 (2.84%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.75%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (1.31%) Primavera
3 6 (1.31%) SAP MM
4 5 (1.09%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
6 3 (0.66%) Elite 3E
7 2 (0.44%) Dynamics AX
8 1 (0.22%) Adobe Campaign
8 1 (0.22%) Infor M3
8 1 (0.22%) NEC Housing
8 1 (0.22%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 187 (40.83%) Azure
2 142 (31.00%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (15.50%) Power Platform
4 58 (12.66%) Entra ID
5 41 (8.95%) Microsoft Copilot
6 38 (8.30%) AWS
7 36 (7.86%) Dynamics 365
8 31 (6.77%) Azure DevOps
9 27 (5.90%) Power Automate
10 26 (5.68%) PowerApps
11 14 (3.06%) GCP
11 14 (3.06%) Microsoft Purview
11 14 (3.06%) OneDrive
12 13 (2.84%) Serverless
13 11 (2.40%) Azure AKS
13 11 (2.40%) GitHub
14 10 (2.18%) Azure Monitor
15 9 (1.97%) Azure Logic Apps
15 9 (1.97%) SaaS
16 8 (1.75%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 29 (6.33%) DNS
2 21 (4.59%) Firewall
2 21 (4.59%) VPN
3 17 (3.71%) Skype
4 14 (3.06%) DHCP
5 12 (2.62%) Wi-Fi
6 11 (2.40%) Network Security
7 9 (1.97%) LAN
7 9 (1.97%) TCP/IP
7 9 (1.97%) WAN
8 7 (1.53%) VLAN
9 6 (1.31%) SSL
10 3 (0.66%) SAN
10 3 (0.66%) SSH
10 3 (0.66%) WebEx
11 2 (0.44%) Internet
11 2 (0.44%) Kerberos
11 2 (0.44%) NAS
11 2 (0.44%) VSAN
12 1 (0.22%) FTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (10.26%) Power BI
2 33 (7.21%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.06%) MySQL
3 14 (3.06%) PostgreSQL
3 14 (3.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 8 (1.75%) Power Query
4 8 (1.75%) Relational Database
5 5 (1.09%) Data Warehouse
5 5 (1.09%) MongoDB
5 5 (1.09%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.87%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.87%) Metadata
6 4 (0.87%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 3 (0.66%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.66%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.66%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.66%) Oracle Reports
7 3 (0.66%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.22%) DataStage
8 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 22 (4.80%) JIRA
2 13 (2.84%) Git
3 5 (1.09%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.66%) GitLab
4 3 (0.66%) MSI
5 2 (0.44%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.22%) Cypress.io
6 1 (0.22%) Postman
6 1 (0.22%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 135 (29.48%) Social Skills
2 90 (19.65%) Finance
3 60 (13.10%) Analytical Skills
4 50 (10.92%) Public Sector
5 43 (9.39%) Banking
6 38 (8.30%) Legal
7 18 (3.93%) Manufacturing
8 16 (3.49%) Organisational Skills
9 14 (3.06%) Local Government
10 9 (1.97%) Retail
11 8 (1.75%) Telecoms
12 7 (1.53%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.53%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.53%) Military
13 6 (1.31%) Documentation Skills
14 5 (1.09%) Marketing
15 4 (0.87%) Billing
15 4 (0.87%) Corporate Banking
15 4 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
15 4 (0.87%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 51 (11.14%) Analyst
2 44 (9.61%) Architect
3 36 (7.86%) Developer
4 34 (7.42%) IT Support
5 26 (5.68%) Support Engineer
6 25 (5.46%) Lead
7 24 (5.24%) Administrator
8 23 (5.02%) DBA
9 22 (4.80%) IT Engineer
9 22 (4.80%) IT Support Engineer
10 20 (4.37%) 1st Line Support
11 19 (4.15%) Security Engineer
12 16 (3.49%) IT Analyst
13 14 (3.06%) Project Manager
13 14 (3.06%) Senior
13 14 (3.06%) SQL DBA
13 14 (3.06%) Support Analyst
14 13 (2.84%) Solutions Architect
15 12 (2.62%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 12 (2.62%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.18%) Spring
1 10 (2.18%) Spring Boot
2 8 (1.75%) REST
3 7 (1.53%) .NET
4 6 (1.31%) JSON
4 6 (1.31%) Microsoft Graph
4 6 (1.31%) Software Packaging
4 6 (1.31%) XML
5 5 (1.09%) HTML5 Canvas
5 5 (1.09%) Kafka
5 5 (1.09%) OAuth
6 4 (0.87%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.87%) Node.js
6 4 (0.87%) SailPoint
6 4 (0.87%) SAML
7 3 (0.66%) LangChain
7 3 (0.66%) LDAP
7 3 (0.66%) OpenID
7 3 (0.66%) React
7 3 (0.66%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 32 (6.99%) Onboarding
2 24 (5.24%) Cloud Native
3 20 (4.37%) Clustering
3 20 (4.37%) Replication
4 17 (3.71%) Management Information System
5 11 (2.40%) Product Ownership
6 9 (1.97%) Security Posture
7 8 (1.75%) AI Agents
7 8 (1.75%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (1.53%) Data Centre
9 6 (1.31%) Data Protection Act
9 6 (1.31%) Driving Licence
9 6 (1.31%) Enterprise Cloud
10 5 (1.09%) Analytical Mindset
10 5 (1.09%) Linux Command Line
11 4 (0.87%) Cloud Security Posture
11 4 (0.87%) Cyber Threat
11 4 (0.87%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (0.87%) Life Science
11 4 (0.87%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 133 (29.04%) Windows
2 68 (14.85%) Windows 10
3 28 (6.11%) Windows Server
4 21 (4.59%) Linux
5 13 (2.84%) Windows 7
6 9 (1.97%) Unix
7 8 (1.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 8 (1.75%) Solaris
8 7 (1.53%) Mac OS
9 6 (1.31%) Apple iOS
10 5 (1.09%) AIX
11 4 (0.87%) VMS
11 4 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.66%) Android
12 3 (0.66%) HPUX
12 3 (0.66%) Oracle Linux
12 3 (0.66%) SUSE
13 2 (0.44%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.44%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (15.28%) ITIL
2 69 (15.07%) Problem-Solving
3 66 (14.41%) DevOps
4 54 (11.79%) Agile
5 51 (11.14%) Customer Service
6 49 (10.70%) CI/CD
6 49 (10.70%) Migration
7 45 (9.83%) Business Intelligence
8 43 (9.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 42 (9.17%) ITSM
10 40 (8.73%) AI
11 39 (8.52%) Continuous Improvement
11 39 (8.52%) Service Management
11 39 (8.52%) Stakeholder Management
12 35 (7.64%) Analytics
13 34 (7.42%) Change Management
14 31 (6.77%) Roadmaps
15 30 (6.55%) Project Delivery
16 25 (5.46%) Cybersecurity
16 25 (5.46%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 80 (17.47%) PowerShell
2 60 (13.10%) SQL
3 42 (9.17%) Python
4 17 (3.71%) Java
5 15 (3.28%) VBScript
6 13 (2.84%) Bicep
6 13 (2.84%) T-SQL
7 12 (2.62%) C#
8 11 (2.40%) VB
9 9 (1.97%) JavaScript
10 7 (1.53%) Bash
10 7 (1.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (0.87%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.66%) VBA
13 2 (0.44%) C++
14 1 (0.22%) COBOL
14 1 (0.22%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 88 (19.21%) Security Cleared
2 78 (17.03%) SC Cleared
3 65 (14.19%) Degree
4 51 (11.14%) Microsoft Certification
5 22 (4.80%) BPSS Clearance
6 19 (4.15%) Azure Certification
7 14 (3.06%) MCSE
8 13 (2.84%) Computer Science Degree
8 13 (2.84%) MCSA
9 12 (2.62%) VCAP
9 12 (2.62%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 11 (2.40%) CISSP
11 10 (2.18%) A+ Certification
12 9 (1.97%) AWS Certification
13 8 (1.75%) DBS Check
13 8 (1.75%) Network+ Certification
14 7 (1.53%) ITIL Certification
15 6 (1.31%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 4 (0.87%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 4 (0.87%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.71%) GDPR
2 13 (2.84%) Data Quality
3 11 (2.40%) NIST
3 11 (2.40%) SLA
4 10 (2.18%) PMO
5 8 (1.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (1.31%) Accessibility
7 5 (1.09%) QA
7 5 (1.09%) WCAG
8 4 (0.87%) NCSC
8 4 (0.87%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (0.66%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.44%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.44%) GRC
10 2 (0.44%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.22%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.22%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.22%) SOC 2
System Software
1 110 (24.02%) Active Directory
2 22 (4.80%) Docker
2 22 (4.80%) Virtual Machines
3 19 (4.15%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (3.28%) VMware ESXi
5 14 (3.06%) vSphere
6 13 (2.84%) BitLocker
7 5 (1.09%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.87%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.66%) NFS
10 2 (0.44%) GPFS
10 2 (0.44%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.22%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.22%) Veritas Volume Manager
Systems Management
1 28 (6.11%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (5.68%) SCCM
2 26 (5.68%) Terraform
3 25 (5.46%) Kubernetes
4 18 (3.93%) Ansible
5 14 (3.06%) vCenter Server
6 8 (1.75%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 6 (1.31%) Grafana
8 5 (1.09%) SCOM
9 4 (0.87%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.87%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.66%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.44%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.44%) Argo
11 2 (0.44%) CASB
11 2 (0.44%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.44%) Istio
11 2 (0.44%) linkerd
11 2 (0.44%) vRealize
11 2 (0.44%) VxRail
Vendors
1 75 (16.38%) ServiceNow
2 31 (6.77%) Cisco
3 21 (4.59%) VMware
4 20 (4.37%) Oracle
5 18 (3.93%) Remedy
5 18 (3.93%) SAP
6 15 (3.28%) Splunk
7 13 (2.84%) Bomgar
7 13 (2.84%) iManage
8 10 (2.18%) BeyondTrust
8 10 (2.18%) Google
9 9 (1.97%) Red Hat
10 8 (1.75%) Databricks
11 7 (1.53%) Citrix
12 6 (1.31%) CrowdStrike
13 5 (1.09%) CyberArk
13 5 (1.09%) HP
13 5 (1.09%) IBM
13 5 (1.09%) UiPath
14 4 (0.87%) Sophos