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 6 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
6 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 5 6
Rank change year-on-year 0 +1 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 502 380 329
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 13.27% 17.32% 13.78%
As % of the Vendors category 32.14% 35.19% 35.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 328 249 192
10th Percentile £184 £207 £186
25th Percentile £316 £350 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% -2.78% -
75th Percentile £538 £514 £579
90th Percentile £610 £604 £649
England median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.16% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 48 63
10th Percentile £17.80 £12.95 -
25th Percentile £25.38 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £27.50 £22.32 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +23.24% +38.95% -28.72%
75th Percentile £63.75 £30.82 £17.09
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £34.50
England median hourly rate £22.50 £22.57 £16.23
% change year-on-year -0.29% +39.03% -27.87%

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 1,562 1,080 936
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 41.29% 49.23% 39.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 921 688 546
10th Percentile £250 £300 £271
25th Percentile £400 £388 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.58% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £588
90th Percentile £665 £665 £663
England median daily rate £510 £510 £525
% change year-on-year - -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 73 97
10th Percentile £17.25 £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 £61.57 £50.00 £35.36
90th Percentile £85.00 £70.00 £57.47
England median hourly rate £35.50 £25.15 £29.00
% change year-on-year +41.15% -13.28% -26.77%

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 6 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 6 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 6 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 -3 245 £450 - 276
Cheshire +2 122 £511 +19.59% 85
Merseyside 0 62 £175 -56.25% 65
Lancashire -6 33 £400 -13.51% 117
Cumbria -3 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 (14.14%) SharePoint
2 46 (9.16%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (2.59%) Confluence
4 8 (1.59%) Skype for Business
5 7 (1.39%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.60%) CMS
6 3 (0.60%) IIS
7 2 (0.40%) Apache
7 2 (0.40%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.20%) CICS
8 1 (0.20%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.20%) WebSphere
Applications
1 57 (11.35%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (7.37%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.99%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.59%) MS Visio
6 5 (1.00%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.80%) AutoCAD
8 3 (0.60%) Navisworks
8 3 (0.60%) ProjectWise
8 3 (0.60%) Revit
9 1 (0.20%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 13 (2.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 12 (2.39%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (1.00%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (0.80%) Primavera
4 4 (0.80%) SAP MM
4 4 (0.80%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.60%) Elite 3E
5 3 (0.60%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 2 (0.40%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.20%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.20%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 203 (40.44%) Azure
2 174 (34.66%) Microsoft 365
3 87 (17.33%) Power Platform
4 70 (13.94%) Entra ID
5 50 (9.96%) Microsoft Copilot
6 46 (9.16%) AWS
7 37 (7.37%) Dynamics 365
8 34 (6.77%) Azure DevOps
9 31 (6.18%) Power Automate
9 31 (6.18%) PowerApps
10 24 (4.78%) OneDrive
11 20 (3.98%) GCP
12 14 (2.79%) Serverless
13 13 (2.59%) Azure Monitor
13 13 (2.59%) GitHub
14 12 (2.39%) Microsoft Purview
15 11 (2.19%) Azure AI
16 10 (1.99%) GitHub Actions
16 10 (1.99%) SaaS
17 8 (1.59%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.38%) DNS
2 26 (5.18%) Firewall
3 20 (3.98%) VPN
4 16 (3.19%) Network Security
5 14 (2.79%) Skype
6 13 (2.59%) DHCP
7 11 (2.19%) TCP/IP
8 9 (1.79%) LAN
9 8 (1.59%) SSL
9 8 (1.59%) WAN
10 7 (1.39%) Wi-Fi
11 6 (1.20%) VLAN
12 5 (1.00%) SAN
13 4 (0.80%) NAS
14 3 (0.60%) PABX
14 3 (0.60%) SSH
14 3 (0.60%) WebEx
15 2 (0.40%) Internet
15 2 (0.40%) SD-WAN
15 2 (0.40%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 55 (10.96%) Power BI
2 41 (8.17%) SQL Server
3 16 (3.19%) MySQL
3 16 (3.19%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 15 (2.99%) PostgreSQL
5 8 (1.59%) Power Query
5 8 (1.59%) Relational Database
6 6 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (1.20%) Metadata
7 5 (1.00%) MongoDB
7 5 (1.00%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.80%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.80%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.60%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.60%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
9 3 (0.60%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.40%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.40%) EDMS
10 2 (0.40%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 22 (4.38%) JIRA
2 12 (2.39%) Git
3 9 (1.79%) Jenkins
4 7 (1.39%) GitLab
5 3 (0.60%) MSI
6 2 (0.40%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.40%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.40%) Toad
7 1 (0.20%) Postman
7 1 (0.20%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.20%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 147 (29.28%) Social Skills
2 103 (20.52%) Finance
3 62 (12.35%) Analytical Skills
4 44 (8.76%) Banking
5 43 (8.57%) Public Sector
6 34 (6.77%) Legal
7 16 (3.19%) Manufacturing
7 16 (3.19%) Organisational Skills
8 15 (2.99%) Local Government
9 11 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.59%) Retail
11 7 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
11 7 (1.39%) Investment Banking
12 6 (1.20%) Telecoms
13 5 (1.00%) Games
13 5 (1.00%) Marketing
13 5 (1.00%) Military
13 5 (1.00%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.80%) Corporate Banking
14 4 (0.80%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 53 (10.56%) Analyst
2 42 (8.37%) IT Support
3 40 (7.97%) Architect
3 40 (7.97%) Support Engineer
4 32 (6.37%) IT Engineer
4 32 (6.37%) IT Support Engineer
5 29 (5.78%) Lead
6 28 (5.58%) DBA
6 28 (5.58%) Developer
7 24 (4.78%) Administrator
8 20 (3.98%) Service Analyst
9 19 (3.78%) Security Engineer
10 18 (3.59%) Senior
11 17 (3.39%) SQL DBA
12 16 (3.19%) 1st Line Support
13 15 (2.99%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
13 15 (2.99%) Service Desk Analyst
14 13 (2.59%) Cloud Engineer
14 13 (2.59%) Designer
14 13 (2.59%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (1.39%) Microsoft Graph
1 7 (1.39%) SAML
2 6 (1.20%) JSON
2 6 (1.20%) REST
2 6 (1.20%) Software Packaging
3 5 (1.00%) .NET
3 5 (1.00%) ARM Templates
3 5 (1.00%) Kafka
3 5 (1.00%) Spring
3 5 (1.00%) Spring Boot
3 5 (1.00%) XML
4 4 (0.80%) HTML5 Canvas
4 4 (0.80%) Node.js
4 4 (0.80%) OAuth
4 4 (0.80%) SailPoint
5 3 (0.60%) Azure Blueprints
5 3 (0.60%) LangChain
5 3 (0.60%) PySpark
5 3 (0.60%) React
5 3 (0.60%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 34 (6.77%) Onboarding
2 23 (4.58%) Cloud Native
2 23 (4.58%) Management Information System
3 20 (3.98%) Replication
4 18 (3.59%) Clustering
5 11 (2.19%) Security Posture
6 9 (1.79%) AI Agents
6 9 (1.79%) Data Centre
6 9 (1.79%) Driving Licence
6 9 (1.79%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (1.39%) Enterprise Cloud
9 6 (1.20%) Data Protection Act
9 6 (1.20%) PKI
10 5 (1.00%) Animation
10 5 (1.00%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.00%) Greenfield Project
10 5 (1.00%) Handset
10 5 (1.00%) Hybrid Cloud
10 5 (1.00%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 143 (28.49%) Windows
2 64 (12.75%) Windows 10
3 33 (6.57%) Windows Server
4 25 (4.98%) Linux
5 11 (2.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (1.99%) Unix
7 9 (1.79%) Windows 7
8 8 (1.59%) Solaris
9 7 (1.39%) Android
9 7 (1.39%) Apple iOS
9 7 (1.39%) Mac OS
10 5 (1.00%) AIX
10 5 (1.00%) VMS
11 4 (0.80%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.60%) HPUX
12 3 (0.60%) Oracle Linux
12 3 (0.60%) SUSE
13 2 (0.40%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (16.53%) ITIL
2 73 (14.54%) Problem-Solving
3 65 (12.95%) Customer Service
4 64 (12.75%) DevOps
5 58 (11.55%) Agile
6 53 (10.56%) Business Intelligence
7 52 (10.36%) Stakeholder Management
8 50 (9.96%) Migration
9 49 (9.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 48 (9.56%) CI/CD
10 48 (9.56%) Continuous Improvement
11 43 (8.57%) AI
12 42 (8.37%) Analytics
13 41 (8.17%) Service Management
14 39 (7.77%) ITSM
15 37 (7.37%) Change Management
16 34 (6.77%) Infrastructure as Code
17 32 (6.37%) Roadmaps
18 31 (6.18%) Project Delivery
19 30 (5.98%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 80 (15.94%) PowerShell
2 68 (13.55%) SQL
3 48 (9.56%) Python
4 18 (3.59%) Bicep
5 17 (3.39%) T-SQL
6 12 (2.39%) Bash
6 12 (2.39%) Java
7 11 (2.19%) VBScript
8 10 (1.99%) C#
9 8 (1.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (1.59%) JavaScript
10 7 (1.39%) VB
11 3 (0.60%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.60%) Search Processing Language
11 3 (0.60%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.20%) C++
12 1 (0.20%) COBOL
12 1 (0.20%) Google Apps Script
12 1 (0.20%) VBA
Qualifications
1 94 (18.73%) Security Cleared
2 78 (15.54%) SC Cleared
3 68 (13.55%) Degree
4 46 (9.16%) Microsoft Certification
5 36 (7.17%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (4.38%) Azure Certification
7 15 (2.99%) CISSP
8 11 (2.19%) AWS Certification
8 11 (2.19%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.99%) DBS Check
9 10 (1.99%) MCSE
10 9 (1.79%) MCSA
11 8 (1.59%) A+ Certification
11 8 (1.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 8 (1.59%) VCAP
11 8 (1.59%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 7 (1.39%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (1.20%) Network+ Certification
14 4 (0.80%) Cisco Certification
14 4 (0.80%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (3.78%) GDPR
2 15 (2.99%) SLA
3 14 (2.79%) Data Quality
4 12 (2.39%) PMO
5 10 (1.99%) NIST
6 7 (1.39%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 5 (1.00%) Accessibility
7 5 (1.00%) GRC
7 5 (1.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.00%) QA
7 5 (1.00%) WCAG
8 4 (0.80%) NCSC
8 4 (0.80%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.60%) ISO 19650
10 2 (0.40%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.40%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.40%) P3O
11 1 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.20%) SOC 2
System Software
1 132 (26.29%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.58%) Docker
3 20 (3.98%) Virtual Machines
4 18 (3.59%) VMware Infrastructure
5 11 (2.19%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (1.99%) vSphere
7 9 (1.79%) BitLocker
8 6 (1.20%) Hyper-V
9 5 (1.00%) Virtual Desktop
10 4 (0.80%) Oracle RAC
11 3 (0.60%) NFS
12 2 (0.40%) GPFS
12 2 (0.40%) Microsoft App-V
13 1 (0.20%) Veritas Volume Manager
13 1 (0.20%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 38 (7.57%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (6.18%) Terraform
3 27 (5.38%) Kubernetes
4 22 (4.38%) SCCM
5 18 (3.59%) Ansible
6 10 (1.99%) Progress Chef
6 10 (1.99%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.79%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (1.39%) SCOM
9 6 (1.20%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 6 (1.20%) Grafana
10 5 (1.00%) CASB
11 4 (0.80%) Data Guard
12 3 (0.60%) Prometheus
13 2 (0.40%) Argo
13 2 (0.40%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
13 2 (0.40%) Failover Clustering
13 2 (0.40%) Istio
13 2 (0.40%) linkerd
13 2 (0.40%) VxRail
Vendors
1 86 (17.13%) ServiceNow
2 24 (4.78%) Cisco
3 23 (4.58%) Oracle
4 20 (3.98%) VMware
5 19 (3.78%) iManage
5 19 (3.78%) Splunk
6 17 (3.39%) Google
6 17 (3.39%) Remedy
6 17 (3.39%) SAP
7 16 (3.19%) BeyondTrust
8 14 (2.79%) Red Hat
9 12 (2.39%) Bomgar
10 11 (2.19%) Databricks
11 6 (1.20%) CrowdStrike
12 5 (1.00%) Citrix
12 5 (1.00%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.00%) HP
12 5 (1.00%) IBM
12 5 (1.00%) Sophos
12 5 (1.00%) UiPath