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 27 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
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 5 4
Rank change year-on-year -1 -1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 479 384 361
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 12.92% 17.49% 14.53%
As % of the Vendors category 31.76% 35.13% 37.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 318 245 208
10th Percentile £185 £205 £184
25th Percentile £327 £350 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% -2.78% -2.70%
75th Percentile £538 £525 £579
90th Percentile £612 £600 £643
England median daily rate £493 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +3.68% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 48 74
10th Percentile £19.03 £12.95 -
25th Percentile £25.38 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £29.00 £22.47 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +29.05% +39.93% -23.52%
75th Percentile £66.38 £30.82 £17.39
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £28.04
England median hourly rate £24.00 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year +6.05% +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 1,508 1,093 971
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 40.68% 49.77% 39.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 891 693 578
10th Percentile £275 £298 £266
25th Percentile £400 £388 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £489 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.84% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £588
90th Percentile £658 £665 £650
England median daily rate £510 £510 £525
% change year-on-year - -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 73 110
10th Percentile £17.25 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £23.67 £19.07 £11.40
Median hourly rate £29.96 £28.75 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +4.21% +79.02% -44.04%
75th Percentile £64.56 £50.00 £35.00
90th Percentile £86.00 £70.00 £55.79
England median hourly rate £35.91 £25.15 £27.50
% change year-on-year +42.78% -8.55% -30.47%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -4 234 £450 +0.33% 203
Cheshire +3 118 £510 +16.70% 52
Merseyside +1 57 £149 -62.81% 52
Lancashire -7 33 £413 -13.16% 91
Cumbria -5 28 £460 +0.55% 11
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 62 (12.94%) SharePoint
2 41 (8.56%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.92%) Confluence
4 8 (1.67%) Skype for Business
5 5 (1.04%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.63%) CMS
6 3 (0.63%) IIS
7 2 (0.42%) Apache
7 2 (0.42%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.21%) CICS
8 1 (0.21%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
Applications
1 54 (11.27%) Microsoft Office
2 34 (7.10%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (2.30%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.67%) MS Visio
6 5 (1.04%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.42%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.21%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.21%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.21%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.21%) Revit
Business Applications
1 12 (2.51%) Dynamics CRM
1 12 (2.51%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (1.04%) Oracle Payables
2 5 (1.04%) Primavera
2 5 (1.04%) SAP MM
3 4 (0.84%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.63%) Elite 3E
5 2 (0.42%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.21%) Adobe Campaign
6 1 (0.21%) Infor M3
6 1 (0.21%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 1 (0.21%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 195 (40.71%) Azure
2 156 (32.57%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (16.91%) Power Platform
4 66 (13.78%) Entra ID
5 47 (9.81%) Microsoft Copilot
6 42 (8.77%) AWS
7 38 (7.93%) Dynamics 365
8 33 (6.89%) Azure DevOps
9 29 (6.05%) Power Automate
9 29 (6.05%) PowerApps
10 21 (4.38%) OneDrive
11 18 (3.76%) GCP
12 14 (2.92%) Microsoft Purview
12 14 (2.92%) Serverless
13 13 (2.71%) Azure Monitor
13 13 (2.71%) GitHub
14 10 (2.09%) GitHub Actions
15 9 (1.88%) Azure AI
15 9 (1.88%) Azure AKS
15 9 (1.88%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.64%) DNS
2 25 (5.22%) Firewall
3 18 (3.76%) VPN
4 14 (2.92%) Network Security
5 13 (2.71%) Skype
6 12 (2.51%) DHCP
7 11 (2.30%) TCP/IP
8 7 (1.46%) LAN
8 7 (1.46%) SSL
8 7 (1.46%) WAN
8 7 (1.46%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (0.84%) SAN
9 4 (0.84%) VLAN
10 3 (0.63%) NAS
10 3 (0.63%) SSH
10 3 (0.63%) WebEx
11 2 (0.42%) BGP
11 2 (0.42%) Internet
11 2 (0.42%) Kerberos
11 2 (0.42%) PABX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 51 (10.65%) Power BI
2 39 (8.14%) SQL Server
3 15 (3.13%) MySQL
3 15 (3.13%) PostgreSQL
3 15 (3.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 8 (1.67%) Power Query
4 8 (1.67%) Relational Database
5 7 (1.46%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (1.25%) Metadata
7 5 (1.04%) Data Lake
7 5 (1.04%) MongoDB
7 5 (1.04%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.84%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.63%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.63%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.63%) Oracle Reports
9 3 (0.63%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.42%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.42%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.42%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 23 (4.80%) JIRA
2 12 (2.51%) Git
3 6 (1.25%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.84%) GitLab
5 3 (0.63%) MSI
6 2 (0.42%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.42%) Toad
7 1 (0.21%) Postman
7 1 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.21%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 140 (29.23%) Social Skills
2 100 (20.88%) Finance
3 59 (12.32%) Analytical Skills
4 45 (9.39%) Banking
5 42 (8.77%) Public Sector
6 33 (6.89%) Legal
7 17 (3.55%) Manufacturing
8 15 (3.13%) Local Government
9 14 (2.92%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (1.88%) Retail
11 8 (1.67%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.46%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.46%) Investment Banking
13 6 (1.25%) Military
13 6 (1.25%) Telecoms
14 5 (1.04%) Marketing
14 5 (1.04%) Presentation Skills
15 4 (0.84%) Corporate Banking
15 4 (0.84%) Games
15 4 (0.84%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 49 (10.23%) Analyst
2 39 (8.14%) Architect
3 37 (7.72%) IT Support
4 33 (6.89%) Support Engineer
5 29 (6.05%) Lead
6 28 (5.85%) Developer
6 28 (5.85%) IT Engineer
6 28 (5.85%) IT Support Engineer
7 27 (5.64%) DBA
8 22 (4.59%) Security Engineer
9 21 (4.38%) Administrator
10 18 (3.76%) Senior
11 16 (3.34%) 1st Line Support
11 16 (3.34%) SQL DBA
12 15 (3.13%) Service Analyst
13 13 (2.71%) Cloud Engineer
13 13 (2.71%) Designer
13 13 (2.71%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
14 12 (2.51%) IT Analyst
14 12 (2.51%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (1.46%) JSON
1 7 (1.46%) Microsoft Graph
1 7 (1.46%) REST
1 7 (1.46%) Spring
1 7 (1.46%) Spring Boot
2 6 (1.25%) SAML
2 6 (1.25%) Software Packaging
3 5 (1.04%) .NET
3 5 (1.04%) ARM Templates
3 5 (1.04%) Kafka
3 5 (1.04%) XML
4 4 (0.84%) HTML5 Canvas
4 4 (0.84%) Node.js
4 4 (0.84%) OAuth
4 4 (0.84%) SailPoint
5 3 (0.63%) Azure Blueprints
5 3 (0.63%) LangChain
5 3 (0.63%) LDAP
5 3 (0.63%) PySpark
5 3 (0.63%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.89%) Onboarding
2 24 (5.01%) Cloud Native
3 19 (3.97%) Replication
4 18 (3.76%) Management Information System
5 17 (3.55%) Clustering
6 12 (2.51%) Product Ownership
7 11 (2.30%) Security Posture
8 9 (1.88%) AI Agents
8 9 (1.88%) Data Centre
9 8 (1.67%) Driving Licence
9 8 (1.67%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (1.46%) Enterprise Cloud
11 6 (1.25%) Data Protection Act
12 5 (1.04%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (1.04%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (1.04%) Linux Command Line
12 5 (1.04%) Operational Technology
13 4 (0.84%) Analytical Mindset
13 4 (0.84%) Cloud Security Posture
13 4 (0.84%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 134 (27.97%) Windows
2 63 (13.15%) Windows 10
3 30 (6.26%) Windows Server
4 25 (5.22%) Linux
5 11 (2.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (2.09%) Unix
7 9 (1.88%) Windows 7
8 8 (1.67%) Solaris
9 7 (1.46%) Mac OS
10 6 (1.25%) Apple iOS
11 5 (1.04%) AIX
11 5 (1.04%) VMS
12 4 (0.84%) Android
12 4 (0.84%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.63%) HPUX
13 3 (0.63%) Oracle Linux
13 3 (0.63%) SUSE
14 2 (0.42%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.42%) Windows Server 2019
15 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (16.28%) ITIL
2 71 (14.82%) Problem-Solving
3 63 (13.15%) DevOps
4 57 (11.90%) Agile
5 55 (11.48%) Customer Service
6 52 (10.86%) Stakeholder Management
7 49 (10.23%) Business Intelligence
7 49 (10.23%) Migration
8 47 (9.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 45 (9.39%) CI/CD
10 44 (9.19%) AI
11 43 (8.98%) Continuous Improvement
12 40 (8.35%) Analytics
13 39 (8.14%) Change Management
13 39 (8.14%) Service Management
14 38 (7.93%) ITSM
15 32 (6.68%) Roadmaps
16 30 (6.26%) Infrastructure as Code
16 30 (6.26%) Project Delivery
17 28 (5.85%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 78 (16.28%) PowerShell
2 64 (13.36%) SQL
3 45 (9.39%) Python
4 18 (3.76%) Bicep
5 15 (3.13%) T-SQL
6 14 (2.92%) Java
7 12 (2.51%) Bash
8 11 (2.30%) VBScript
9 10 (2.09%) C#
10 8 (1.67%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 7 (1.46%) JavaScript
11 7 (1.46%) VB
12 3 (0.63%) TypeScript
13 2 (0.42%) VBA
14 1 (0.21%) C++
14 1 (0.21%) COBOL
14 1 (0.21%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 87 (18.16%) Security Cleared
2 73 (15.24%) SC Cleared
3 64 (13.36%) Degree
4 45 (9.39%) Microsoft Certification
5 35 (7.31%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (4.59%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.51%) CISSP
8 11 (2.30%) AWS Certification
8 11 (2.30%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (2.09%) MCSE
10 9 (1.88%) DBS Check
10 9 (1.88%) MCSA
11 8 (1.67%) A+ Certification
11 8 (1.67%) VCAP
11 8 (1.67%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 7 (1.46%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (1.25%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 6 (1.25%) Network+ Certification
14 4 (0.84%) Cisco Certification
14 4 (0.84%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (3.34%) GDPR
2 13 (2.71%) Data Quality
2 13 (2.71%) PMO
3 11 (2.30%) NIST
3 11 (2.30%) SLA
4 7 (1.46%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.04%) Accessibility
5 5 (1.04%) QA
5 5 (1.04%) WCAG
6 4 (0.84%) NCSC
6 4 (0.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 3 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.63%) GRC
8 2 (0.42%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 2 (0.42%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.42%) P3O
9 1 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.21%) ISO 19650
9 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 120 (25.05%) Active Directory
2 24 (5.01%) Docker
3 19 (3.97%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (3.55%) VMware Infrastructure
5 11 (2.30%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (2.09%) vSphere
7 9 (1.88%) BitLocker
8 5 (1.04%) Hyper-V
8 5 (1.04%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.84%) Oracle RAC
10 3 (0.63%) NFS
11 2 (0.42%) GPFS
11 2 (0.42%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.21%) Veritas Volume Manager
12 1 (0.21%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 33 (6.89%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (6.47%) Terraform
3 28 (5.85%) Kubernetes
4 21 (4.38%) SCCM
5 15 (3.13%) Ansible
6 10 (2.09%) vCenter Server
7 7 (1.46%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (1.46%) Progress Chef
8 6 (1.25%) Grafana
8 6 (1.25%) SCOM
8 6 (1.25%) Single Sign-On
9 4 (0.84%) Data Guard
10 3 (0.63%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.42%) Argo
11 2 (0.42%) CASB
11 2 (0.42%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
11 2 (0.42%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.42%) Istio
11 2 (0.42%) linkerd
11 2 (0.42%) vRealize
Vendors
1 78 (16.28%) ServiceNow
2 27 (5.64%) Cisco
3 23 (4.80%) Oracle
4 19 (3.97%) VMware
5 17 (3.55%) Remedy
5 17 (3.55%) SAP
6 16 (3.34%) Google
6 16 (3.34%) iManage
6 16 (3.34%) Splunk
7 14 (2.92%) Red Hat
8 13 (2.71%) BeyondTrust
9 12 (2.51%) Bomgar
10 10 (2.09%) Databricks
11 6 (1.25%) Citrix
11 6 (1.25%) CrowdStrike
12 5 (1.04%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.04%) HP
12 5 (1.04%) IBM
12 5 (1.04%) UiPath
13 4 (0.84%) Perforce