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 21 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
21 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 3
Rank change year-on-year -3 0 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 469 386 384
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 12.72% 18.01% 14.94%
As % of the Vendors category 31.23% 35.67% 38.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 310 250 222
10th Percentile £185 £205 £186
25th Percentile £337 £350 £316
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £434 £450
Median % change year-on-year +3.69% -3.56% -4.00%
75th Percentile £538 £525 £575
90th Percentile £613 £604 £643
England median daily rate £494 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +3.95% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 45 80
10th Percentile £17.32 £12.89 -
25th Percentile £25.38 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £29.00 £22.63 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +28.15% +40.91% -19.70%
75th Percentile £66.38 £31.41 £17.72
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £26.50
England median hourly rate £22.64 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year +0.02% +39.43% -24.51%

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 1,502 1,082 990
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 40.74% 50.49% 38.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 883 694 598
10th Percentile £275 £296 £256
25th Percentile £400 £384 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £485 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.11% -5.00% +1.01%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £585
90th Percentile £663 £665 £650
England median daily rate £510 £510 £520
% change year-on-year - -1.92% -0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 114 72 120
10th Percentile £17.25 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £23.01 £19.07 £12.40
Median hourly rate £29.96 £28.75 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +4.21% +79.02% -39.40%
75th Percentile £66.19 £59.48 £33.13
90th Percentile £86.00 £70.14 £50.58
England median hourly rate £35.50 £25.15 £26.03
% change year-on-year +41.15% -3.38% -30.59%

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 -4 229 £450 +5.88% 182
Cheshire +1 116 £505 +15.56% 50
Merseyside -1 53 £148 -63.13% 40
Lancashire -8 31 £413 -10.81% 71
Cumbria -5 30 £456 -0.33% 10
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 55 (11.73%) SharePoint
2 35 (7.46%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.99%) Confluence
4 8 (1.71%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.64%) CMS
5 3 (0.64%) IIS
6 2 (0.43%) Apache
6 2 (0.43%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.21%) CICS
7 1 (0.21%) SharePoint 2013
7 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
Applications
1 56 (11.94%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (7.04%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (2.56%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (1.92%) MS Visio
6 5 (1.07%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.43%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.21%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.21%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.21%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.21%) Revit
Business Applications
1 13 (2.77%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (2.35%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (1.28%) Primavera
3 6 (1.28%) SAP MM
4 5 (1.07%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.85%) SAP S/4HANA
6 3 (0.64%) Elite 3E
7 2 (0.43%) Dynamics AX
8 1 (0.21%) Adobe Campaign
8 1 (0.21%) Infor M3
8 1 (0.21%) Integrated Workplace Management System
8 1 (0.21%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 189 (40.30%) Azure
2 144 (30.70%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (15.99%) Power Platform
4 65 (13.86%) Entra ID
5 43 (9.17%) Microsoft Copilot
6 41 (8.74%) AWS
7 37 (7.89%) Dynamics 365
8 31 (6.61%) Azure DevOps
9 26 (5.54%) Power Automate
9 26 (5.54%) PowerApps
10 18 (3.84%) GCP
11 15 (3.20%) OneDrive
12 14 (2.99%) Microsoft Purview
13 13 (2.77%) Serverless
14 12 (2.56%) Azure Monitor
15 11 (2.35%) GitHub
16 10 (2.13%) Azure AKS
17 8 (1.71%) AWS CloudFormation
17 8 (1.71%) Azure Logic Apps
17 8 (1.71%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 26 (5.54%) DNS
2 23 (4.90%) Firewall
3 17 (3.62%) VPN
4 13 (2.77%) Network Security
4 13 (2.77%) Skype
5 11 (2.35%) DHCP
6 10 (2.13%) TCP/IP
7 7 (1.49%) Wi-Fi
8 6 (1.28%) LAN
8 6 (1.28%) SSL
8 6 (1.28%) WAN
9 4 (0.85%) SAN
10 3 (0.64%) NAS
10 3 (0.64%) SSH
10 3 (0.64%) VLAN
10 3 (0.64%) WebEx
11 2 (0.43%) Internet
11 2 (0.43%) Kerberos
11 2 (0.43%) VSAN
12 1 (0.21%) FTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (10.66%) Power BI
2 37 (7.89%) SQL Server
3 16 (3.41%) PostgreSQL
4 14 (2.99%) MySQL
4 14 (2.99%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (1.71%) Power Query
5 8 (1.71%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.49%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.07%) MongoDB
7 5 (1.07%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.85%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.85%) Metadata
8 4 (0.85%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.64%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.64%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.64%) Oracle Reports
9 3 (0.64%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.43%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.43%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.43%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 23 (4.90%) JIRA
2 12 (2.56%) Git
3 5 (1.07%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.64%) GitLab
4 3 (0.64%) MSI
5 2 (0.43%) Claude Code
5 2 (0.43%) Toad
6 1 (0.21%) Postman
6 1 (0.21%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 142 (30.28%) Social Skills
2 99 (21.11%) Finance
3 59 (12.58%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (9.81%) Public Sector
5 45 (9.59%) Banking
6 37 (7.89%) Legal
7 18 (3.84%) Manufacturing
8 16 (3.41%) Organisational Skills
9 15 (3.20%) Local Government
10 9 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (1.92%) Retail
11 7 (1.49%) Influencing Skills
11 7 (1.49%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.49%) Telecoms
12 6 (1.28%) Military
13 5 (1.07%) Marketing
13 5 (1.07%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.85%) Corporate Banking
14 4 (0.85%) Games
14 4 (0.85%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 49 (10.45%) Analyst
2 39 (8.32%) Architect
3 34 (7.25%) IT Support
4 30 (6.40%) Developer
5 29 (6.18%) Support Engineer
6 27 (5.76%) Lead
7 26 (5.54%) DBA
8 25 (5.33%) IT Engineer
8 25 (5.33%) IT Support Engineer
9 24 (5.12%) Administrator
10 22 (4.69%) Security Engineer
11 18 (3.84%) 1st Line Support
12 16 (3.41%) Senior
13 15 (3.20%) Project Manager
13 15 (3.20%) SQL DBA
14 13 (2.77%) Designer
14 13 (2.77%) IT Analyst
14 13 (2.77%) Service Analyst
15 12 (2.56%) Cloud Engineer
15 12 (2.56%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.71%) Spring
1 8 (1.71%) Spring Boot
2 7 (1.49%) Microsoft Graph
2 7 (1.49%) REST
3 6 (1.28%) .NET
3 6 (1.28%) ARM Templates
3 6 (1.28%) JSON
3 6 (1.28%) SAML
3 6 (1.28%) Software Packaging
4 5 (1.07%) Kafka
4 5 (1.07%) XML
5 4 (0.85%) HTML5 Canvas
5 4 (0.85%) Node.js
5 4 (0.85%) OAuth
5 4 (0.85%) SailPoint
6 3 (0.64%) Azure Blueprints
6 3 (0.64%) LangChain
6 3 (0.64%) LDAP
6 3 (0.64%) PySpark
6 3 (0.64%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 33 (7.04%) Onboarding
2 24 (5.12%) Cloud Native
3 19 (4.05%) Replication
4 18 (3.84%) Management Information System
5 17 (3.62%) Clustering
6 11 (2.35%) Product Ownership
6 11 (2.35%) Security Posture
7 9 (1.92%) AI Agents
7 9 (1.92%) Data Centre
8 8 (1.71%) Legacy Systems
9 7 (1.49%) Driving Licence
9 7 (1.49%) Enterprise Cloud
10 6 (1.28%) Data Protection Act
11 5 (1.07%) Linux Command Line
11 5 (1.07%) Operational Technology
12 4 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (0.85%) Cloud Security Posture
12 4 (0.85%) Enterprise Software
12 4 (0.85%) Greenfield Project
12 4 (0.85%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 129 (27.51%) Windows
2 64 (13.65%) Windows 10
3 27 (5.76%) Windows Server
4 25 (5.33%) Linux
5 11 (2.35%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 9 (1.92%) Unix
6 9 (1.92%) Windows 7
7 8 (1.71%) Solaris
8 7 (1.49%) Mac OS
9 6 (1.28%) Apple iOS
10 5 (1.07%) AIX
10 5 (1.07%) VMS
11 4 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.64%) Android
12 3 (0.64%) HPUX
12 3 (0.64%) Oracle Linux
12 3 (0.64%) SUSE
13 2 (0.43%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.43%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (16.20%) ITIL
2 70 (14.93%) Problem-Solving
3 63 (13.43%) DevOps
4 55 (11.73%) Agile
5 53 (11.30%) Customer Service
6 50 (10.66%) Stakeholder Management
7 48 (10.23%) Business Intelligence
7 48 (10.23%) Migration
8 47 (10.02%) CI/CD
9 44 (9.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 43 (9.17%) AI
11 41 (8.74%) Continuous Improvement
12 39 (8.32%) Analytics
12 39 (8.32%) Change Management
12 39 (8.32%) ITSM
13 37 (7.89%) Service Management
14 32 (6.82%) Roadmaps
15 29 (6.18%) Infrastructure as Code
15 29 (6.18%) Project Delivery
16 28 (5.97%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 77 (16.42%) PowerShell
2 62 (13.22%) SQL
3 45 (9.59%) Python
4 17 (3.62%) Bicep
5 16 (3.41%) Java
6 13 (2.77%) T-SQL
7 11 (2.35%) C#
7 11 (2.35%) VBScript
8 10 (2.13%) Bash
9 8 (1.71%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (1.71%) JavaScript
10 7 (1.49%) VB
11 3 (0.64%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.43%) VBA
13 1 (0.21%) C++
13 1 (0.21%) COBOL
13 1 (0.21%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 84 (17.91%) Security Cleared
2 70 (14.93%) SC Cleared
3 63 (13.43%) Degree
4 48 (10.23%) Microsoft Certification
5 29 (6.18%) BPSS Clearance
6 21 (4.48%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.56%) CISSP
7 12 (2.56%) Computer Science Degree
8 11 (2.35%) AWS Certification
8 11 (2.35%) MCSE
9 10 (2.13%) MCSA
10 9 (1.92%) A+ Certification
10 9 (1.92%) VCAP
10 9 (1.92%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 8 (1.71%) DBS Check
12 7 (1.49%) ITIL Certification
12 7 (1.49%) Network+ Certification
13 5 (1.07%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 4 (0.85%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 4 (0.85%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (3.41%) GDPR
2 13 (2.77%) Data Quality
3 12 (2.56%) PMO
4 11 (2.35%) NIST
5 10 (2.13%) SLA
6 7 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 6 (1.28%) Accessibility
8 5 (1.07%) QA
8 5 (1.07%) WCAG
9 4 (0.85%) NCSC
9 4 (0.85%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.64%) GRC
11 2 (0.43%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.43%) HIPAA
12 1 (0.21%) ISO 19650
12 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 1 (0.21%) P3O
12 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.21%) SOC 2
System Software
1 116 (24.73%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.90%) Docker
3 19 (4.05%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (3.62%) VMware Infrastructure
5 12 (2.56%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (2.35%) vSphere
7 9 (1.92%) BitLocker
8 5 (1.07%) Hyper-V
8 5 (1.07%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.85%) Oracle RAC
10 3 (0.64%) NFS
11 2 (0.43%) GPFS
11 2 (0.43%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.21%) Veritas Volume Manager
Systems Management
1 30 (6.40%) Microsoft Intune
1 30 (6.40%) Terraform
2 28 (5.97%) Kubernetes
3 21 (4.48%) SCCM
4 16 (3.41%) Ansible
5 11 (2.35%) vCenter Server
6 8 (1.71%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (1.49%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.28%) Grafana
8 6 (1.28%) Progress Chef
9 5 (1.07%) SCOM
10 4 (0.85%) Data Guard
11 3 (0.64%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.43%) Argo
12 2 (0.43%) CASB
12 2 (0.43%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.43%) Istio
12 2 (0.43%) linkerd
12 2 (0.43%) vRealize
12 2 (0.43%) VxRail
Vendors
1 72 (15.35%) ServiceNow
2 28 (5.97%) Cisco
3 22 (4.69%) Oracle
4 19 (4.05%) VMware
5 18 (3.84%) Remedy
5 18 (3.84%) SAP
6 15 (3.20%) Google
6 15 (3.20%) Splunk
7 14 (2.99%) Red Hat
8 13 (2.77%) BeyondTrust
8 13 (2.77%) iManage
9 12 (2.56%) Bomgar
10 9 (1.92%) Databricks
11 7 (1.49%) Citrix
12 6 (1.28%) CrowdStrike
13 5 (1.07%) CyberArk
13 5 (1.07%) HP
13 5 (1.07%) IBM
13 5 (1.07%) UiPath
14 4 (0.85%) Salesforce