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 1 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
1 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 4 3
Rank change year-on-year -3 -1 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 397 346 399
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 11.86% 17.61% 14.63%
As % of the Vendors category 29.41% 34.33% 38.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 267 221 208
10th Percentile £163 £205 £190
25th Percentile £313 £320 £311
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £433 £425 £450
Median % change year-on-year +1.88% -5.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £538 £525 £588
90th Percentile £613 £575 £650
England median daily rate £498 £477 £488
% change year-on-year +4.30% -2.15% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 35 105
10th Percentile £17.92 £12.82 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.38 £13.00 £11.07
Median hourly rate £27.19 £27.13 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +0.24% +87.07% -44.76%
75th Percentile £71.63 £31.02 £17.72
90th Percentile £178.75 £52.93 £26.50
England median hourly rate £20.69 £18.87 £15.00
% change year-on-year +9.64% +25.80% -30.23%

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 1,350 1,008 1,047
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 40.33% 51.30% 38.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 796 645 613
10th Percentile £275 £277 £268
25th Percentile £398 £393 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.46% -1.60% +4.82%
75th Percentile £588 £570 £588
90th Percentile £675 £650 £650
England median daily rate £505 £520 £515
% change year-on-year -2.88% +0.97% -2.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 61 148
10th Percentile £19.96 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £22.92 £17.44 £11.95
Median hourly rate £30.25 £31.76 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year -4.77% +97.76% -57.17%
75th Percentile £60.96 £60.00 £26.50
90th Percentile £85.70 £86.00 £46.18
England median hourly rate £32.50 £26.75 £23.80
% change year-on-year +21.50% +12.39% -39.82%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 -7 186 £436 +2.59% 228
Cheshire -7 83 £466 +9.59% 69
Merseyside +1 66 £140 -61.64% 41
Cumbria -4 35 £458 -1.51% 22
Lancashire -16 19 £375 -28.57% 90
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 43 (10.83%) SharePoint
2 42 (10.58%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (3.27%) Confluence
4 12 (3.02%) Skype for Business
5 5 (1.26%) CMS
6 3 (0.76%) 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 56 (14.11%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (6.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (2.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.02%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (1.76%) MS Visio
6 4 (1.01%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.25%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.25%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 17 (4.28%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (1.76%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.76%) Elite 3E
3 3 (0.76%) Oracle Payables
3 3 (0.76%) Primavera
3 3 (0.76%) SAP MM
3 3 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.50%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.50%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.25%) Infor M3
5 1 (0.25%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.25%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 150 (37.78%) Azure
2 134 (33.75%) Microsoft 365
3 50 (12.59%) Entra ID
4 48 (12.09%) Power Platform
5 35 (8.82%) Dynamics 365
6 33 (8.31%) AWS
7 31 (7.81%) Microsoft Copilot
8 23 (5.79%) Azure DevOps
9 19 (4.79%) Power Automate
9 19 (4.79%) PowerApps
10 16 (4.03%) GCP
11 15 (3.78%) OneDrive
12 13 (3.27%) Microsoft Purview
13 11 (2.77%) Serverless
14 9 (2.27%) Azure AKS
14 9 (2.27%) GitHub
15 7 (1.76%) Azure Logic Apps
15 7 (1.76%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (1.76%) SaaS
16 5 (1.26%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 21 (5.29%) Skype
2 19 (4.79%) DNS
2 19 (4.79%) VPN
3 18 (4.53%) Firewall
3 18 (4.53%) Wi-Fi
4 12 (3.02%) WAN
5 11 (2.77%) LAN
6 10 (2.52%) DHCP
6 10 (2.52%) Network Security
6 10 (2.52%) VLAN
7 4 (1.01%) TCP/IP
7 4 (1.01%) WebEx
8 2 (0.50%) Internet
8 2 (0.50%) Kerberos
8 2 (0.50%) SD-WAN
8 2 (0.50%) VSAN
9 1 (0.25%) BGP
9 1 (0.25%) FTP
9 1 (0.25%) SAN
9 1 (0.25%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (6.55%) Power BI
2 18 (4.53%) SQL Server
3 9 (2.27%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (2.02%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (1.51%) Relational Database
6 5 (1.26%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (1.01%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (1.01%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 3 (0.76%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.76%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.76%) Looker
8 3 (0.76%) Metadata
8 3 (0.76%) MongoDB
8 3 (0.76%) MySQL
8 3 (0.76%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.76%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.76%) Power Query
8 3 (0.76%) RDBMS
9 2 (0.50%) BigQuery
9 2 (0.50%) Data Lake
Development Applications
1 18 (4.53%) JIRA
2 11 (2.77%) Git
3 3 (0.76%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.76%) 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
1 119 (29.97%) Social Skills
2 85 (21.41%) Finance
3 52 (13.10%) Public Sector
4 50 (12.59%) Analytical Skills
5 48 (12.09%) Banking
6 42 (10.58%) Legal
7 18 (4.53%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (2.77%) Local Government
9 10 (2.52%) Retail
10 9 (2.27%) Telecoms
11 8 (2.02%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.26%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.26%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.26%) Military
13 4 (1.01%) Billing
13 4 (1.01%) Investment Banking
13 4 (1.01%) Marketing
14 3 (0.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (0.76%) Law
14 3 (0.76%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 59 (14.86%) Analyst
2 37 (9.32%) Architect
3 35 (8.82%) IT Support
4 31 (7.81%) 1st Line Support
5 27 (6.80%) Developer
6 24 (6.05%) IT Analyst
6 24 (6.05%) Support Analyst
7 20 (5.04%) IT Support Analyst
8 18 (4.53%) Lead
8 18 (4.53%) Security Engineer
9 16 (4.03%) Wintel Engineer
10 14 (3.53%) Support Engineer
11 13 (3.27%) Administrator
11 13 (3.27%) Project Manager
12 12 (3.02%) Business Analyst
12 12 (3.02%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
12 12 (3.02%) Microsoft Engineer
12 12 (3.02%) Senior
12 12 (3.02%) Tester
13 11 (2.77%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (2.27%) .NET
1 9 (2.27%) REST
1 9 (2.27%) Spring
1 9 (2.27%) Spring Boot
2 7 (1.76%) XML
3 6 (1.51%) Software Packaging
4 5 (1.26%) OAuth
5 4 (1.01%) HTML
5 4 (1.01%) JSON
5 4 (1.01%) Microsoft Graph
5 4 (1.01%) Node.js
5 4 (1.01%) SAML
6 3 (0.76%) ARM Templates
6 3 (0.76%) HTML5 Canvas
6 3 (0.76%) Kafka
6 3 (0.76%) LDAP
6 3 (0.76%) OpenID
6 3 (0.76%) Oracle Fusion
6 3 (0.76%) React
6 3 (0.76%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 26 (6.55%) Onboarding
2 20 (5.04%) Clustering
2 20 (5.04%) Replication
3 17 (4.28%) Cloud Native
4 14 (3.53%) Product Ownership
5 12 (3.02%) Management Information System
6 8 (2.02%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.51%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
8 5 (1.26%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (1.01%) Cloud Security Posture
9 4 (1.01%) Cyber Threat
9 4 (1.01%) Driving Licence
9 4 (1.01%) Linux Command Line
9 4 (1.01%) Operational Technology
10 3 (0.76%) AI Agents
10 3 (0.76%) Analytical Mindset
10 3 (0.76%) Housing Association
10 3 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
10 3 (0.76%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 135 (34.01%) Windows
2 70 (17.63%) Windows 10
3 26 (6.55%) Windows Server
4 19 (4.79%) Linux
5 13 (3.27%) Windows 7
6 11 (2.77%) Mac OS
7 8 (2.02%) Apple iOS
8 7 (1.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 7 (1.76%) Unix
9 4 (1.01%) AIX
9 4 (1.01%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.76%) Solaris
11 2 (0.50%) Android
11 2 (0.50%) HPUX
11 2 (0.50%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.50%) SUSE
11 2 (0.50%) VMS
11 2 (0.50%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.50%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 57 (14.36%) Agile
2 56 (14.11%) Problem-Solving
3 51 (12.85%) Customer Service
4 50 (12.59%) DevOps
5 46 (11.59%) ITIL
6 40 (10.08%) Migration
7 39 (9.82%) CI/CD
7 39 (9.82%) ITSM
8 33 (8.31%) AI
8 33 (8.31%) Stakeholder Management
9 31 (7.81%) Roadmaps
9 31 (7.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 30 (7.56%) Analytics
10 30 (7.56%) Service Management
11 28 (7.05%) Project Delivery
12 27 (6.80%) Change Management
12 27 (6.80%) Identity Access Management
13 26 (6.55%) Business Intelligence
14 25 (6.30%) Continuous Improvement
14 25 (6.30%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 75 (18.89%) PowerShell
2 39 (9.82%) SQL
3 31 (7.81%) Python
4 16 (4.03%) Java
5 13 (3.27%) VBScript
6 11 (2.77%) VB
7 9 (2.27%) Bash
7 9 (2.27%) C#
8 8 (2.02%) JavaScript
9 7 (1.76%) T-SQL
10 6 (1.51%) Bicep
11 4 (1.01%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.76%) C++
12 3 (0.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.76%) VBA
13 1 (0.25%) COBOL
13 1 (0.25%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 63 (15.87%) Security Cleared
2 58 (14.61%) Degree
3 55 (13.85%) SC Cleared
4 41 (10.33%) Microsoft Certification
5 17 (4.28%) MCSA
5 17 (4.28%) MCSE
6 16 (4.03%) VCAP
6 16 (4.03%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 13 (3.27%) Azure Certification
8 12 (3.02%) Computer Science Degree
9 11 (2.77%) A+ Certification
9 11 (2.77%) CISSP
10 10 (2.52%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (2.27%) AWS Certification
11 9 (2.27%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (2.02%) DBS Check
13 5 (1.26%) PMI Certification
14 4 (1.01%) ITIL Certification
15 3 (0.76%) PMP
15 3 (0.76%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (4.53%) GDPR
2 10 (2.52%) Accessibility
2 10 (2.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 8 (2.02%) Data Quality
3 8 (2.02%) NIST
3 8 (2.02%) SLA
4 6 (1.51%) PMO
4 6 (1.51%) WCAG
5 5 (1.26%) QA
6 4 (1.01%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 3 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.76%) NCSC
8 2 (0.50%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 2 (0.50%) GRC
8 2 (0.50%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 1 (0.25%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.25%) SOC 2
System Software
1 100 (25.19%) Active Directory
2 23 (5.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (5.54%) Virtual Machines
4 20 (5.04%) Docker
5 19 (4.79%) VMware ESXi
6 18 (4.53%) vSphere
7 12 (3.02%) BitLocker
8 5 (1.26%) Virtual Desktop
9 3 (0.76%) 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 25 (6.30%) SCCM
2 22 (5.54%) Microsoft Intune
3 20 (5.04%) Ansible
3 20 (5.04%) Kubernetes
4 18 (4.53%) vCenter Server
5 16 (4.03%) Terraform
6 8 (2.02%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 4 (1.01%) Grafana
7 4 (1.01%) Progress Chef
7 4 (1.01%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.76%) 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 49 (12.34%) ServiceNow
2 39 (9.82%) Cisco
3 25 (6.30%) VMware
4 20 (5.04%) Remedy
5 16 (4.03%) Bomgar
5 16 (4.03%) iManage
6 15 (3.78%) Citrix
6 15 (3.78%) Oracle
7 13 (3.27%) SAP
8 11 (2.77%) Google
8 11 (2.77%) Splunk
9 9 (2.27%) Red Hat
10 8 (2.02%) BeyondTrust
11 6 (1.51%) CrowdStrike
12 5 (1.26%) Databricks
12 5 (1.26%) IBM
13 4 (1.01%) HP
13 4 (1.01%) Salesforce
14 3 (0.76%) CyberArk
14 3 (0.76%) Infoblox