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 June 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 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 4 2
Rank change year-on-year -3 -2 +3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 401 357 409
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 11.64% 18.01% 14.72%
As % of the Vendors category 29.27% 35.24% 37.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 268 232 214
10th Percentile £166 £205 £200
25th Percentile £325 £332 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £441 £425 £464
Median % change year-on-year +3.65% -8.36% -2.37%
75th Percentile £538 £525 £597
90th Percentile £618 £575 £660
England median daily rate £500 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 36 104
10th Percentile £17.73 £12.82 £10.95
25th Percentile - £13.00 £11.05
Median hourly rate £25.38 £27.13 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year -6.43% +87.07% -44.23%
75th Percentile £74.26 £31.41 £17.72
90th Percentile £178.75 £61.35 £26.50
England median hourly rate £21.00 £19.00 £15.00
% change year-on-year +10.53% +26.67% -31.82%

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 1,370 1,013 1,086
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 39.78% 51.11% 39.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 805 651 630
10th Percentile £276 £300 £270
25th Percentile £399 £388 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year - -5.00% +3.09%
75th Percentile £588 £570 £588
90th Percentile £675 £650 £646
England median daily rate £505 £515 £515
% change year-on-year -1.94% - -2.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 61 151
10th Percentile £19.46 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £24.19 £19.00 £12.00
Median hourly rate £30.49 £32.00 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year -4.72% +99.25% -45.19%
75th Percentile £62.00 £63.00 £26.58
90th Percentile £86.00 £85.25 £46.18
England median hourly rate £33.98 £27.39 £23.80
% change year-on-year +24.07% +15.07% -39.01%

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 June 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 June 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 June 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 -7 190 £447 +5.18% 201
Cheshire -5 86 £466 +13.60% 60
Merseyside 0 64 £140 -63.40% 38
Cumbria -5 35 £458 -1.51% 23
Lancashire -17 19 £375 -28.57% 77
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 41 (10.22%) Microsoft Exchange
2 39 (9.73%) SharePoint
3 15 (3.74%) Confluence
4 12 (2.99%) Skype for Business
5 5 (1.25%) CMS
6 3 (0.75%) IIS
7 2 (0.50%) Apache
7 2 (0.50%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.25%) CICS
8 1 (0.25%) Headless CMS
8 1 (0.25%) WebSphere
Applications
1 53 (13.22%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (6.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (2.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.00%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (1.75%) MS Visio
6 4 (1.00%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.25%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.25%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 15 (3.74%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (2.00%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.75%) Elite 3E
3 3 (0.75%) Oracle Payables
3 3 (0.75%) Primavera
3 3 (0.75%) SAP MM
3 3 (0.75%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.50%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.25%) Infor M3
5 1 (0.25%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.25%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.25%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 150 (37.41%) Azure
2 130 (32.42%) Microsoft 365
3 50 (12.47%) Entra ID
4 49 (12.22%) Power Platform
5 34 (8.48%) AWS
5 34 (8.48%) Dynamics 365
6 32 (7.98%) Microsoft Copilot
7 24 (5.99%) Azure DevOps
8 19 (4.74%) Power Automate
9 18 (4.49%) PowerApps
10 16 (3.99%) GCP
11 14 (3.49%) OneDrive
12 13 (3.24%) Microsoft Purview
13 11 (2.74%) Serverless
14 9 (2.24%) Azure AKS
14 9 (2.24%) GitHub
15 7 (1.75%) Azure Logic Apps
15 7 (1.75%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (1.75%) SaaS
16 5 (1.25%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 19 (4.74%) Skype
2 18 (4.49%) DNS
2 18 (4.49%) Firewall
2 18 (4.49%) Wi-Fi
3 17 (4.24%) VPN
4 12 (2.99%) WAN
5 11 (2.74%) LAN
6 10 (2.49%) Network Security
6 10 (2.49%) VLAN
7 9 (2.24%) DHCP
8 4 (1.00%) TCP/IP
8 4 (1.00%) WebEx
9 2 (0.50%) Internet
9 2 (0.50%) Kerberos
9 2 (0.50%) SD-WAN
9 2 (0.50%) SSH
9 2 (0.50%) VSAN
10 1 (0.25%) BGP
10 1 (0.25%) SAN
10 1 (0.25%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (6.98%) Power BI
2 20 (4.99%) SQL Server
3 9 (2.24%) PostgreSQL
3 9 (2.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 7 (1.75%) Relational Database
5 5 (1.25%) Power Query
5 5 (1.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (1.00%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (1.00%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 3 (0.75%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.75%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.75%) Metadata
7 3 (0.75%) MongoDB
7 3 (0.75%) MySQL
7 3 (0.75%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.75%) Oracle Reports
7 3 (0.75%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.50%) Data Lake
8 2 (0.50%) Looker
9 1 (0.25%) Data Vault
Development Applications
1 21 (5.24%) JIRA
2 11 (2.74%) Git
3 3 (0.75%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.75%) MSI
4 2 (0.50%) GitLab
5 1 (0.25%) Axure RP
5 1 (0.25%) Claude Code
5 1 (0.25%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.25%) Postman
5 1 (0.25%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 118 (29.43%) Social Skills
2 88 (21.95%) Finance
3 51 (12.72%) Public Sector
4 50 (12.47%) Analytical Skills
5 48 (11.97%) Banking
6 41 (10.22%) Legal
7 16 (3.99%) Organisational Skills
8 12 (2.99%) Local Government
9 11 (2.74%) Manufacturing
9 11 (2.74%) Retail
10 9 (2.24%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.50%) Investment Banking
12 5 (1.25%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.25%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.25%) Military
12 5 (1.25%) Retail Banking
13 4 (1.00%) Billing
13 4 (1.00%) Marketing
14 3 (0.75%) Corporate Banking
14 3 (0.75%) Law
Job Titles
1 60 (14.96%) Analyst
2 38 (9.48%) Architect
3 34 (8.48%) IT Support
4 30 (7.48%) Developer
5 28 (6.98%) 1st Line Support
6 24 (5.99%) Support Analyst
7 23 (5.74%) IT Analyst
8 20 (4.99%) IT Support Analyst
9 19 (4.74%) Lead
10 18 (4.49%) Security Engineer
11 16 (3.99%) Wintel Engineer
12 15 (3.74%) Administrator
12 15 (3.74%) Support Engineer
13 13 (3.24%) Project Manager
14 12 (2.99%) Business Analyst
14 12 (2.99%) IT Engineer
14 12 (2.99%) IT Support Engineer
14 12 (2.99%) Microsoft Engineer
14 12 (2.99%) Senior
14 12 (2.99%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.49%) Spring
1 10 (2.49%) Spring Boot
2 9 (2.24%) .NET
2 9 (2.24%) REST
3 6 (1.50%) Software Packaging
3 6 (1.50%) XML
4 5 (1.25%) OAuth
5 4 (1.00%) JSON
5 4 (1.00%) Microsoft Graph
5 4 (1.00%) Node.js
5 4 (1.00%) SAML
6 3 (0.75%) ARM Templates
6 3 (0.75%) HTML
6 3 (0.75%) HTML5 Canvas
6 3 (0.75%) Kafka
6 3 (0.75%) LDAP
6 3 (0.75%) OpenID
6 3 (0.75%) React
6 3 (0.75%) XMPP
7 2 (0.50%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.73%) Onboarding
2 20 (4.99%) Clustering
2 20 (4.99%) Replication
3 17 (4.24%) Cloud Native
4 13 (3.24%) Product Ownership
5 11 (2.74%) Management Information System
6 8 (2.00%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.50%) Data Centre
7 6 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
7 6 (1.50%) Legacy Systems
8 4 (1.00%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (1.00%) Cloud Security Posture
8 4 (1.00%) Cyber Threat
8 4 (1.00%) Linux Command Line
8 4 (1.00%) Operational Technology
9 3 (0.75%) AI Agents
9 3 (0.75%) Driving Licence
9 3 (0.75%) Housing Association
9 3 (0.75%) Hybrid Cloud
9 3 (0.75%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 129 (32.17%) Windows
2 66 (16.46%) Windows 10
3 24 (5.99%) Windows Server
4 19 (4.74%) Linux
5 13 (3.24%) Windows 7
6 10 (2.49%) Mac OS
7 7 (1.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 7 (1.75%) Unix
8 6 (1.50%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.00%) AIX
9 4 (1.00%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.75%) Solaris
10 3 (0.75%) VMS
11 2 (0.50%) HPUX
11 2 (0.50%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.50%) SUSE
11 2 (0.50%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.50%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.25%) Android
12 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (13.72%) Agile
1 55 (13.72%) Problem-Solving
2 51 (12.72%) DevOps
3 49 (12.22%) Customer Service
4 45 (11.22%) ITIL
5 41 (10.22%) CI/CD
5 41 (10.22%) Migration
6 37 (9.23%) ITSM
7 34 (8.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 34 (8.48%) Stakeholder Management
8 32 (7.98%) Roadmaps
9 31 (7.73%) Service Management
10 30 (7.48%) AI
10 30 (7.48%) Analytics
10 30 (7.48%) Project Delivery
11 29 (7.23%) Business Intelligence
11 29 (7.23%) Change Management
12 27 (6.73%) Identity Access Management
13 26 (6.48%) Continuous Improvement
14 24 (5.99%) Capacity Planning
Programming Languages
1 74 (18.45%) PowerShell
2 42 (10.47%) SQL
3 30 (7.48%) Python
4 16 (3.99%) Java
5 13 (3.24%) VBScript
6 11 (2.74%) VB
7 9 (2.24%) Bash
7 9 (2.24%) C#
8 8 (2.00%) JavaScript
8 8 (2.00%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.50%) Bicep
10 5 (1.25%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (1.00%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.75%) VBA
13 2 (0.50%) C++
14 1 (0.25%) COBOL
14 1 (0.25%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 64 (15.96%) Security Cleared
2 56 (13.97%) Degree
2 56 (13.97%) SC Cleared
3 41 (10.22%) Microsoft Certification
4 17 (4.24%) MCSA
4 17 (4.24%) MCSE
5 16 (3.99%) VCAP
5 16 (3.99%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
6 13 (3.24%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.99%) Computer Science Degree
8 11 (2.74%) A+ Certification
8 11 (2.74%) BPSS Clearance
8 11 (2.74%) CISSP
9 9 (2.24%) AWS Certification
9 9 (2.24%) Network+ Certification
10 7 (1.75%) DBS Check
11 5 (1.25%) PMI Certification
12 4 (1.00%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.75%) PMP
13 3 (0.75%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (4.49%) GDPR
2 10 (2.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 9 (2.24%) Accessibility
4 8 (2.00%) NIST
4 8 (2.00%) SLA
5 7 (1.75%) Data Quality
5 7 (1.75%) PMO
6 6 (1.50%) WCAG
7 4 (1.00%) QA
7 4 (1.00%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 3 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.75%) NCSC
9 2 (0.50%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 2 (0.50%) GRC
9 2 (0.50%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 1 (0.25%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.25%) SOC 2
System Software
1 97 (24.19%) Active Directory
2 23 (5.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (5.49%) Virtual Machines
4 20 (4.99%) Docker
5 19 (4.74%) VMware ESXi
6 18 (4.49%) vSphere
7 12 (2.99%) BitLocker
8 4 (1.00%) Virtual Desktop
9 3 (0.75%) NFS
10 2 (0.50%) GPFS
10 2 (0.50%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.50%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.25%) Veritas Volume Manager
Systems Management
1 24 (5.99%) SCCM
2 21 (5.24%) Microsoft Intune
3 20 (4.99%) Ansible
3 20 (4.99%) Kubernetes
4 18 (4.49%) vCenter Server
5 16 (3.99%) Terraform
6 8 (2.00%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 4 (1.00%) Grafana
7 4 (1.00%) Progress Chef
7 4 (1.00%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.75%) Prometheus
9 2 (0.50%) AirWatch
9 2 (0.50%) Argo
9 2 (0.50%) CA Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.50%) CASB
9 2 (0.50%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (0.50%) Istio
9 2 (0.50%) linkerd
9 2 (0.50%) vRealize
9 2 (0.50%) VxRail
Vendors
1 50 (12.47%) ServiceNow
2 37 (9.23%) Cisco
3 25 (6.23%) VMware
4 18 (4.49%) Remedy
5 15 (3.74%) Bomgar
5 15 (3.74%) iManage
6 14 (3.49%) Oracle
6 14 (3.49%) SAP
7 13 (3.24%) Citrix
8 11 (2.74%) Google
8 11 (2.74%) Splunk
9 9 (2.24%) Red Hat
10 8 (2.00%) BeyondTrust
11 6 (1.50%) CrowdStrike
12 5 (1.25%) Databricks
12 5 (1.25%) IBM
12 5 (1.25%) Salesforce
13 4 (1.00%) HP
14 3 (0.75%) CyberArk
14 3 (0.75%) Infoblox