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 12 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
12 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 6 6
Rank change year-on-year +1 0 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 522 379 310
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 13.80% 17.16% 12.98%
As % of the Vendors category 32.79% 34.58% 33.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 342 248 177
10th Percentile £185 £208 £197
25th Percentile £317 £358 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £475
Median % change year-on-year +2.80% -7.84% +5.56%
75th Percentile £525 £513 £600
90th Percentile £600 £604 £650
England median daily rate £490 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +3.16% -4.62% -0.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 48 61
10th Percentile £16.50 £12.95 -
25th Percentile £24.58 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £26.00 £22.32 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +16.51% +38.95% -28.72%
75th Percentile £62.88 £30.82 -
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £32.50
England median hourly rate £21.50 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year -4.99% +39.43% -26.23%

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 1,592 1,096 937
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 42.08% 49.62% 39.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 947 702 535
10th Percentile £260 £305 £276
25th Percentile £400 £388 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.74% -5.00% +1.01%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £594
90th Percentile £663 £670 £666
England median daily rate £510 £510 £525
% change year-on-year - -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 72 93
10th Percentile £17.20 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £22.68 £19.07 £11.07
Median hourly rate £29.00 £27.90 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +3.93% +73.74% -52.76%
75th Percentile £60.75 £51.37 £35.36
90th Percentile £85.00 £70.00 £55.79
England median hourly rate £33.99 £25.15 £30.30
% change year-on-year +35.15% -16.98% -19.21%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -3 248 £450 - 398
Cheshire +3 127 £484 +12.12% 90
Merseyside +1 63 £200 -50.00% 80
Cumbria +4 42 £478 +12.47% 20
Lancashire -7 35 £400 -15.79% 107
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 73 (13.98%) SharePoint
2 57 (10.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (3.07%) Skype for Business
4 13 (2.49%) Confluence
5 8 (1.53%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.57%) CMS
6 3 (0.57%) IIS
7 2 (0.38%) Apache
7 2 (0.38%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.19%) CICS
8 1 (0.19%) Mendix
8 1 (0.19%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.19%) WebSphere
Applications
1 66 (12.64%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (7.66%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.92%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.53%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.96%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.77%) AutoCAD
8 3 (0.57%) Navisworks
8 3 (0.57%) ProjectWise
8 3 (0.57%) Revit
9 1 (0.19%) MicroStation
9 1 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 13 (2.49%) Dynamics CRM
2 11 (2.11%) Remedy ITSM
3 6 (1.15%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (0.77%) Primavera
4 4 (0.77%) SAP MM
4 4 (0.77%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.57%) Elite 3E
5 3 (0.57%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 2 (0.38%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.19%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.19%) Unit4 Business World
7 1 (0.19%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 200 (38.31%) Azure
2 182 (34.87%) Microsoft 365
3 87 (16.67%) Power Platform
4 71 (13.60%) Entra ID
5 50 (9.58%) Microsoft Copilot
6 48 (9.20%) AWS
7 36 (6.90%) Dynamics 365
8 33 (6.32%) Azure DevOps
9 30 (5.75%) Power Automate
10 29 (5.56%) PowerApps
11 27 (5.17%) OneDrive
12 20 (3.83%) GCP
13 13 (2.49%) Azure Monitor
13 13 (2.49%) GitHub
13 13 (2.49%) Serverless
14 11 (2.11%) Azure AI
14 11 (2.11%) Microsoft Purview
14 11 (2.11%) SaaS
15 10 (1.92%) GitHub Actions
16 8 (1.53%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 35 (6.70%) DNS
2 27 (5.17%) VPN
3 26 (4.98%) Firewall
4 21 (4.02%) Skype
5 19 (3.64%) DHCP
6 17 (3.26%) Network Security
7 16 (3.07%) LAN
8 15 (2.87%) WAN
9 13 (2.49%) Wi-Fi
10 12 (2.30%) VLAN
11 11 (2.11%) TCP/IP
12 8 (1.53%) SSL
13 7 (1.34%) SAN
14 4 (0.77%) NAS
15 3 (0.57%) PABX
15 3 (0.57%) SSH
15 3 (0.57%) VoIP
15 3 (0.57%) WebEx
16 2 (0.38%) SD-WAN
16 2 (0.38%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 56 (10.73%) Power BI
2 43 (8.24%) SQL Server
3 18 (3.45%) MySQL
4 17 (3.26%) PostgreSQL
5 16 (3.07%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 8 (1.53%) Power Query
6 8 (1.53%) Relational Database
7 6 (1.15%) Data Warehouse
7 6 (1.15%) Metadata
8 5 (0.96%) MongoDB
8 5 (0.96%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 4 (0.77%) Data Lake
9 4 (0.77%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 3 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (0.57%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.57%) Oracle Reports
10 3 (0.57%) RDBMS
11 2 (0.38%) BusinessObjects
11 2 (0.38%) EDMS
11 2 (0.38%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 22 (4.21%) JIRA
2 12 (2.30%) Git
3 10 (1.92%) Jenkins
4 8 (1.53%) GitLab
5 3 (0.57%) MSI
6 2 (0.38%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.38%) Toad
7 1 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.19%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 154 (29.50%) Social Skills
2 101 (19.35%) Finance
3 66 (12.64%) Analytical Skills
4 45 (8.62%) Banking
5 43 (8.24%) Public Sector
6 34 (6.51%) Legal
7 20 (3.83%) Manufacturing
8 17 (3.26%) Organisational Skills
9 15 (2.87%) Local Government
10 13 (2.49%) Documentation Skills
11 9 (1.72%) Retail
12 7 (1.34%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.34%) Investment Banking
13 6 (1.15%) Marketing
13 6 (1.15%) Presentation Skills
13 6 (1.15%) Telecoms
14 5 (0.96%) Games
14 5 (0.96%) Military
15 4 (0.77%) Advertising
15 4 (0.77%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 53 (10.15%) Analyst
2 46 (8.81%) IT Support
3 43 (8.24%) Support Engineer
4 35 (6.70%) Architect
5 33 (6.32%) IT Engineer
5 33 (6.32%) IT Support Engineer
6 30 (5.75%) DBA
7 29 (5.56%) Lead
8 26 (4.98%) Administrator
8 26 (4.98%) Developer
9 20 (3.83%) Senior
10 19 (3.64%) Service Analyst
11 18 (3.45%) Security Engineer
11 18 (3.45%) SQL DBA
12 14 (2.68%) 1st Line Support
12 14 (2.68%) Desktop Engineer
12 14 (2.68%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
12 14 (2.68%) Service Desk Analyst
13 13 (2.49%) Cloud Engineer
13 13 (2.49%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.53%) Microsoft Graph
1 8 (1.53%) SAML
2 7 (1.34%) JSON
3 6 (1.15%) ARM Templates
3 6 (1.15%) REST
3 6 (1.15%) Software Packaging
4 5 (0.96%) .NET
4 5 (0.96%) Kafka
4 5 (0.96%) Spring
4 5 (0.96%) Spring Boot
4 5 (0.96%) XML
5 4 (0.77%) Node.js
5 4 (0.77%) OAuth
5 4 (0.77%) SailPoint
6 3 (0.57%) Azure Blueprints
6 3 (0.57%) HTML5 Canvas
6 3 (0.57%) LangChain
6 3 (0.57%) PySpark
6 3 (0.57%) React
6 3 (0.57%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.32%) Onboarding
2 23 (4.41%) Cloud Native
2 23 (4.41%) Management Information System
3 20 (3.83%) Replication
4 19 (3.64%) Clustering
5 11 (2.11%) Data Centre
5 11 (2.11%) Security Posture
6 10 (1.92%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.72%) AI Agents
7 9 (1.72%) Product Ownership
8 8 (1.53%) Legacy Systems
8 8 (1.53%) PKI
9 7 (1.34%) Enterprise Cloud
10 6 (1.15%) Data Protection Act
11 5 (0.96%) Animation
11 5 (0.96%) CMDB
11 5 (0.96%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (0.96%) Handset
11 5 (0.96%) Hybrid Cloud
11 5 (0.96%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 160 (30.65%) Windows
2 70 (13.41%) Windows 10
3 40 (7.66%) Windows Server
4 27 (5.17%) Linux
5 17 (3.26%) Windows 7
6 11 (2.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (2.11%) Unix
7 10 (1.92%) Solaris
8 7 (1.34%) Android
8 7 (1.34%) Apple iOS
8 7 (1.34%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.96%) AIX
9 5 (0.96%) VMS
9 5 (0.96%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.57%) HPUX
10 3 (0.57%) Oracle Linux
10 3 (0.57%) SUSE
10 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (17.05%) ITIL
2 82 (15.71%) Problem-Solving
3 64 (12.26%) Customer Service
4 63 (12.07%) DevOps
5 58 (11.11%) Agile
6 56 (10.73%) Stakeholder Management
7 54 (10.34%) Business Intelligence
7 54 (10.34%) Migration
8 52 (9.96%) Service Management
9 49 (9.39%) Continuous Improvement
9 49 (9.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 48 (9.20%) CI/CD
11 46 (8.81%) ITSM
12 44 (8.43%) Analytics
13 42 (8.05%) AI
14 40 (7.66%) Change Management
15 36 (6.90%) Infrastructure as Code
16 32 (6.13%) Disaster Recovery
16 32 (6.13%) Project Delivery
16 32 (6.13%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 93 (17.82%) PowerShell
2 71 (13.60%) SQL
3 50 (9.58%) Python
4 19 (3.64%) Bicep
4 19 (3.64%) VBScript
5 17 (3.26%) T-SQL
6 15 (2.87%) VB
7 12 (2.30%) Bash
7 12 (2.30%) Java
8 10 (1.92%) C#
9 8 (1.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (1.34%) JavaScript
11 4 (0.77%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.77%) Search Processing Language
12 2 (0.38%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.19%) C++
13 1 (0.19%) COBOL
13 1 (0.19%) Google Apps Script
13 1 (0.19%) VBA
Qualifications
1 107 (20.50%) Security Cleared
2 89 (17.05%) SC Cleared
3 64 (12.26%) Degree
4 48 (9.20%) Microsoft Certification
5 38 (7.28%) BPSS Clearance
6 23 (4.41%) Azure Certification
7 16 (3.07%) CISSP
8 11 (2.11%) AWS Certification
8 11 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.92%) DBS Check
9 10 (1.92%) MCSE
10 9 (1.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 9 (1.72%) MCSA
11 8 (1.53%) A+ Certification
11 8 (1.53%) VCAP
11 8 (1.53%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 7 (1.34%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (1.15%) Network+ Certification
14 4 (0.77%) Cisco Certification
14 4 (0.77%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.83%) GDPR
2 18 (3.45%) SLA
3 15 (2.87%) Data Quality
4 12 (2.30%) PMO
5 10 (1.92%) NIST
6 8 (1.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 7 (1.34%) GRC
8 5 (0.96%) Accessibility
8 5 (0.96%) PCI DSS
8 5 (0.96%) QA
8 5 (0.96%) WCAG
9 4 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 4 (0.77%) NCSC
10 3 (0.57%) ISO 19650
11 2 (0.38%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.38%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.38%) P3O
12 1 (0.19%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 135 (25.86%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.41%) Docker
2 23 (4.41%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (4.02%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (3.26%) BitLocker
5 11 (2.11%) VMware ESXi
5 11 (2.11%) vSphere
6 9 (1.72%) Virtual Desktop
7 8 (1.53%) Hyper-V
8 4 (0.77%) Oracle RAC
9 3 (0.57%) Microsoft App-V
9 3 (0.57%) NFS
10 2 (0.38%) GPFS
11 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.19%) Veritas Volume Manager
11 1 (0.19%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.19%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 40 (7.66%) Microsoft Intune
2 36 (6.90%) SCCM
3 32 (6.13%) Terraform
4 27 (5.17%) Kubernetes
5 19 (3.64%) Ansible
6 11 (2.11%) Progress Chef
7 10 (1.92%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (1.92%) vCenter Server
8 7 (1.34%) SCOM
9 6 (1.15%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 6 (1.15%) CASB
9 6 (1.15%) Grafana
10 4 (0.77%) Data Guard
11 3 (0.57%) Failover Clustering
11 3 (0.57%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.57%) WSUS
12 2 (0.38%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
12 2 (0.38%) linkerd
12 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Clustering
12 2 (0.38%) vRealize
Vendors
1 96 (18.39%) ServiceNow
2 29 (5.56%) VMware
3 25 (4.79%) Oracle
4 24 (4.60%) Cisco
5 22 (4.21%) Splunk
6 18 (3.45%) BeyondTrust
6 18 (3.45%) iManage
6 18 (3.45%) SAP
7 17 (3.26%) Google
7 17 (3.26%) Remedy
8 14 (2.68%) Red Hat
9 11 (2.11%) Bomgar
9 11 (2.11%) CyberArk
9 11 (2.11%) Databricks
10 6 (1.15%) Citrix
10 6 (1.15%) CrowdStrike
10 6 (1.15%) Okta
11 5 (0.96%) HP
11 5 (0.96%) IBM
11 5 (0.96%) Salesforce