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 13 September 2025, 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
13 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 9 3
Rank change year-on-year +6 -6 +3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 403 266 468
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 18.60% 11.16% 16.58%
As % of the Vendors category 37.11% 28.60% 36.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 264 159 307
10th Percentile £205 £213 £196
25th Percentile £350 £363 £248
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £435 £450 £440
Median % change year-on-year -3.39% +2.27% +3.53%
75th Percentile £492 £582 £538
90th Percentile £600 £665 £621
England median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 56 17 48
10th Percentile £12.91 £17.27 £15.75
25th Percentile £17.42 £20.00 £16.54
Median hourly rate £22.32 £30.00 £22.27
Median % change year-on-year -25.62% +34.74% +34.41%
75th Percentile £31.40 £46.18 £46.18
90th Percentile £63.40 £47.21 £60.81
England median hourly rate £22.63 £16.23 £22.00
% change year-on-year +39.43% -26.23% +25.71%

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 1,086 930 1,268
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 50.12% 39.03% 44.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 706 521 803
10th Percentile £303 £276 £225
25th Percentile £376 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.05% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £588
90th Percentile £675 £675 £675
England median daily rate £501 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.67% - -1.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 44 92
10th Percentile £13.00 £16.00 £15.75
25th Percentile £17.44 £24.48 £17.41
Median hourly rate £22.63 £35.68 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.58% +1.94% +60.70%
75th Percentile £47.12 £46.18 £46.18
90th Percentile £67.25 £58.74 £54.45
England median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £42.16
% change year-on-year -28.14% -16.97% +76.31%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings citing Microsoft as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Microsoft 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 13 September 2025.

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 13 September 2025.

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 13 September 2025. 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 +10 185 £449 -10.30% 323
Cheshire +5 127 £420 -16.00% 108
Lancashire 0 38 £463 -2.63% 235
Merseyside -2 27 £413 +65.00% 77
Cumbria +17 16 £425 -15.67% 20
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 32 (7.94%) SharePoint
2 30 (7.44%) Microsoft Exchange
3 20 (4.96%) Skype for Business
4 17 (4.22%) Confluence
4 17 (4.22%) JBoss
5 14 (3.47%) Apache
5 14 (3.47%) IIS
6 13 (3.23%) WebSphere
7 9 (2.23%) Exchange Server 2010
7 9 (2.23%) iPlanet
7 9 (2.23%) WebSphere Application Server
8 8 (1.99%) Mattermost
9 7 (1.74%) Exchange Server 2013
10 6 (1.49%) Tomcat
11 4 (0.99%) Apache Airflow
11 4 (0.99%) CMS
12 2 (0.50%) NetWeaver
12 2 (0.50%) WebLogic
13 1 (0.25%) CICS
13 1 (0.25%) SAS
Applications
1 52 (12.90%) Microsoft Excel
2 50 (12.41%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (5.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 17 (4.22%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.74%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.74%) Siemens NX
5 3 (0.74%) Sketch
6 2 (0.50%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.50%) Simulink
7 1 (0.25%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 12 (2.98%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (1.24%) assyst
3 3 (0.74%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.50%) Kondor
4 2 (0.50%) Maximo
4 2 (0.50%) Unit4 Business World
5 1 (0.25%) Advent Geneva
5 1 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.25%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 87 (21.59%) Azure
2 82 (20.35%) Microsoft 365
3 43 (10.67%) Power Platform
4 42 (10.42%) AWS
5 20 (4.96%) Entra ID
6 17 (4.22%) OneDrive
7 16 (3.97%) Power Automate
8 15 (3.72%) Dynamics 365
9 14 (3.47%) SaaS
10 13 (3.23%) OpenShift
11 12 (2.98%) GCP
12 11 (2.73%) PowerApps
13 10 (2.48%) Azure DevOps
13 10 (2.48%) Microsoft Purview
14 8 (1.99%) Azure Sentinel
15 7 (1.74%) Azure Data Factory
15 7 (1.74%) GitHub
16 6 (1.49%) Azure Logic Apps
16 6 (1.49%) Figma
17 5 (1.24%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 20 (4.96%) Firewall
1 20 (4.96%) Skype
2 16 (3.97%) Network Security
3 14 (3.47%) VPN
4 13 (3.23%) DNS
4 13 (3.23%) Unified Communications
5 12 (2.98%) LAN
6 11 (2.73%) WebEx
7 9 (2.23%) Kerberos
7 9 (2.23%) TCP/IP
8 8 (1.99%) DHCP
8 8 (1.99%) Softphone
9 4 (0.99%) PSTN
9 4 (0.99%) SMTP
9 4 (0.99%) SSL
9 4 (0.99%) Wi-Fi
10 3 (0.74%) Internet
10 3 (0.74%) SAN
10 3 (0.74%) VoIP
10 3 (0.74%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (7.20%) Power BI
2 18 (4.47%) SQL Server
3 11 (2.73%) Oracle Database
4 10 (2.48%) Relational Database
5 7 (1.74%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (1.49%) Data Lake
6 6 (1.49%) DB2
7 4 (0.99%) MySQL
7 4 (0.99%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.99%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (0.74%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.74%) Big Data
8 3 (0.74%) Dremio
9 2 (0.50%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.50%) BigQuery
9 2 (0.50%) Looker
9 2 (0.50%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.50%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 2 (0.50%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 27 (6.70%) JIRA
2 25 (6.20%) Git
3 19 (4.71%) Jenkins
4 11 (2.73%) Sonatype Nexus
5 10 (2.48%) Bitbucket Server
5 10 (2.48%) CA Release Automation
6 5 (1.24%) GitLab
6 5 (1.24%) Gradle
6 5 (1.24%) JUnit
6 5 (1.24%) Visual Studio
7 4 (0.99%) Selenium
8 3 (0.74%) Maven
8 3 (0.74%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.74%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 3 (0.74%) Subversion
9 2 (0.50%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.50%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.50%) Hudson
9 2 (0.50%) Storybook
9 2 (0.50%) Xcode
General
1 163 (40.45%) Social Skills
2 118 (29.28%) Finance
3 78 (19.35%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (9.68%) Public Sector
5 30 (7.44%) Banking
6 20 (4.96%) Organisational Skills
7 16 (3.97%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (3.97%) Manufacturing
8 14 (3.47%) Legal
9 13 (3.23%) Presentation Skills
10 9 (2.23%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (1.49%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 6 (1.49%) Retail
11 6 (1.49%) Telecoms
12 5 (1.24%) Military
12 5 (1.24%) Publishing
13 3 (0.74%) Financial Institution
13 3 (0.74%) Japanese Language
13 3 (0.74%) Law
Job Titles
1 92 (22.83%) Analyst
2 39 (9.68%) Developer
2 39 (9.68%) Support Analyst
3 28 (6.95%) IT Support
4 27 (6.70%) Architect
5 22 (5.46%) Administrator
5 22 (5.46%) Support Engineer
6 19 (4.71%) Desktop Support
7 16 (3.97%) Business Analyst
7 16 (3.97%) Senior
8 15 (3.72%) 2nd Line Support
8 15 (3.72%) Operations Analyst
8 15 (3.72%) SAP Administrator
8 15 (3.72%) SAP Support
9 14 (3.47%) Operational Support Analyst
9 14 (3.47%) Operations Support Analyst
10 13 (3.23%) Consultant
10 13 (3.23%) Security Engineer
11 12 (2.98%) Lead
12 10 (2.48%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (3.97%) REST
2 13 (3.23%) OAuth
3 11 (2.73%) LDAP
3 11 (2.73%) SOAP
3 11 (2.73%) Web Services
4 10 (2.48%) .NET
4 10 (2.48%) SAML
5 9 (2.23%) HTML
5 9 (2.23%) OpenID
5 9 (2.23%) Spring Boot
5 9 (2.23%) XMPP
6 8 (1.99%) Spring
7 7 (1.74%) Kafka
7 7 (1.74%) RESTful
8 6 (1.49%) CSS
8 6 (1.49%) JSON
8 6 (1.49%) React
8 6 (1.49%) SailPoint
9 4 (0.99%) .NET Framework
10 3 (0.74%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.70%) Management Information System
2 21 (5.21%) Onboarding
3 15 (3.72%) Enterprise Software
3 15 (3.72%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.23%) Cloud Native
5 8 (1.99%) Mobile App
6 7 (1.74%) Data Centre
6 7 (1.74%) Low-Code
7 6 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (1.49%) Self-Motivation
8 5 (1.24%) CMDB
9 4 (0.99%) Blackberry
9 4 (0.99%) Clustering
9 4 (0.99%) Handset
9 4 (0.99%) Security Operations Centre
9 4 (0.99%) Security Posture
9 4 (0.99%) Video Conferencing
10 3 (0.74%) Cyber Threat
10 3 (0.74%) Distributed Computing
10 3 (0.74%) Shadow IT
Operating Systems
1 103 (25.56%) Windows
2 37 (9.18%) Linux
3 31 (7.69%) Windows Server
4 21 (5.21%) Windows 10
5 14 (3.47%) Unix
6 11 (2.73%) Android
7 10 (2.48%) Apple iOS
7 10 (2.48%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (1.99%) Windows Server 2003
9 7 (1.74%) Windows Server 2012
9 7 (1.74%) Windows Server 2016
10 6 (1.49%) Windows 8
11 5 (1.24%) Windows Server 2008
11 5 (1.24%) Windows XP
12 4 (0.99%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 1 (0.25%) Windows 7
13 1 (0.25%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (25.81%) Problem-Solving
2 73 (18.11%) ITIL
3 53 (13.15%) Agile
3 53 (13.15%) Stakeholder Management
4 44 (10.92%) DevOps
5 43 (10.67%) ITSM
6 41 (10.17%) Cybersecurity
7 40 (9.93%) Customer Service
8 39 (9.68%) Change Management
8 39 (9.68%) Service Management
9 35 (8.68%) Migration
10 34 (8.44%) Project Management
11 30 (7.44%) Business Intelligence
12 29 (7.20%) Analytics
13 28 (6.95%) CI/CD
13 28 (6.95%) Problem Management
14 24 (5.96%) Continuous Improvement
15 22 (5.46%) Project Delivery
16 21 (5.21%) Validation
17 20 (4.96%) Artificial Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 42 (10.42%) SQL
2 27 (6.70%) PowerShell
3 23 (5.71%) Python
4 17 (4.22%) Java
5 13 (3.23%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.48%) Shell Script
7 9 (2.23%) Groovy
8 7 (1.74%) C#
8 7 (1.74%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.99%) T-SQL
9 4 (0.99%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.74%) VBA
11 2 (0.50%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.50%) Bash
11 2 (0.50%) C++
11 2 (0.50%) PHP
12 1 (0.25%) CLIST
12 1 (0.25%) Korn
12 1 (0.25%) Ruby
12 1 (0.25%) Scala
Qualifications
1 62 (15.38%) Security Cleared
2 52 (12.90%) Degree
3 46 (11.41%) SC Cleared
4 39 (9.68%) Microsoft Certification
5 16 (3.97%) BPSS Clearance
6 13 (3.23%) Azure Certification
6 13 (3.23%) ITIL Certification
7 11 (2.73%) A+ Certification
8 6 (1.49%) AWS Certification
8 6 (1.49%) CISSP
8 6 (1.49%) Computer Science Degree
9 5 (1.24%) CISM
9 5 (1.24%) MCP
10 4 (0.99%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 3 (0.74%) CBAP
11 3 (0.74%) CISA
11 3 (0.74%) MCSA
11 3 (0.74%) MCSE
11 3 (0.74%) MCT
11 3 (0.74%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (3.72%) Accessibility
2 13 (3.23%) QA
3 11 (2.73%) GDPR
3 11 (2.73%) NIST
4 9 (2.23%) SLA
5 7 (1.74%) Data Quality
6 6 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (1.49%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.99%) HIPAA
7 4 (0.99%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 3 (0.74%) PMO
9 2 (0.50%) Basel III
9 2 (0.50%) GRC
9 2 (0.50%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.50%) MiFID
10 1 (0.25%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.25%) ISO 20022
10 1 (0.25%) PMBOK
10 1 (0.25%) PSD2
10 1 (0.25%) SEPA
System Software
1 80 (19.85%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.47%) Docker
3 7 (1.74%) Tivoli Directory Server
4 5 (1.24%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (0.99%) Hyper-V
5 4 (0.99%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.74%) vSphere
7 2 (0.50%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.50%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.25%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.25%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 32 (7.94%) SCCM
2 28 (6.95%) Microsoft Intune
3 10 (2.48%) Progress Chef
4 9 (2.23%) CA Single Sign-On
4 9 (2.23%) CA Wily
5 8 (1.99%) Kubernetes
5 8 (1.99%) SCOM
6 7 (1.74%) Single Sign-On
6 7 (1.74%) Tivoli
7 6 (1.49%) QRadar
7 6 (1.49%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
8 5 (1.24%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.99%) Ansible
9 4 (0.99%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.74%) Backup Exec
10 3 (0.74%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.74%) WSUS
11 2 (0.50%) Nessus
11 2 (0.50%) Norton AntiVirus
11 2 (0.50%) vMotion
Vendors
1 35 (8.68%) ServiceNow
2 25 (6.20%) Oracle
2 25 (6.20%) Splunk
3 23 (5.71%) SAP
4 17 (4.22%) IBM
5 14 (3.47%) Cisco
5 14 (3.47%) Google
6 13 (3.23%) VMware
7 11 (2.73%) AppDynamics
8 9 (2.23%) Broadcom
8 9 (2.23%) Red Hat
9 8 (1.99%) Apple
9 8 (1.99%) Zscaler
10 7 (1.74%) Veeam
11 6 (1.49%) Databricks
12 5 (1.24%) Canon
12 5 (1.24%) Citrix
12 5 (1.24%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.24%) Darktrace
12 5 (1.24%) Symantec