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 25 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
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 4 8
Rank change year-on-year 0 +4 -4
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 555 391 295
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 14.18% 17.62% 12.06%
As % of the Vendors category 33.06% 35.26% 31.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 362 255 167
10th Percentile £185 £207 £213
25th Percentile £313 £350 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £475
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% -7.89% +5.56%
75th Percentile £525 £500 £610
90th Percentile £600 £602 £657
England median daily rate £488 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +2.63% -4.57% -0.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 52 49
10th Percentile £16.50 £12.84 -
25th Percentile £21.73 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £25.38 £22.32 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +13.74% +99.33% -50.31%
75th Percentile £45.79 £31.40 £20.00
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £38.04
England median hourly rate £21.00 £22.50 £16.23
% change year-on-year -6.67% +38.63% -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 1,679 1,109 949
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 42.89% 49.98% 38.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,003 716 539
10th Percentile £263 £300 £300
25th Percentile £400 £384 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.63% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £600
90th Percentile £663 £675 £675
England median daily rate £513 £501 £525
% change year-on-year +2.27% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 77 80
10th Percentile £16.98 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £22.68 £18.87 £10.99
Median hourly rate £29.00 £25.15 £17.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.33% +47.91% -51.43%
75th Percentile £60.75 £52.50 £43.10
90th Percentile £85.00 £68.35 £56.21
England median hourly rate £32.11 £25.15 £29.00
% change year-on-year +27.68% -13.28% -30.12%

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 25 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 25 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 25 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 -5 249 £450 - 219
Cheshire +4 148 £450 +4.65% 77
Merseyside +2 72 £200 -50.00% 53
Cumbria 0 42 £478 +12.47% 16
Lancashire -6 37 £400 -11.11% 123
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 77 (13.87%) SharePoint
2 56 (10.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (2.88%) Skype for Business
4 11 (1.98%) Confluence
5 8 (1.44%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.54%) CMS
6 3 (0.54%) IIS
7 2 (0.36%) Apache
7 2 (0.36%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.18%) CICS
8 1 (0.18%) Mendix
8 1 (0.18%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.18%) WebSphere
Applications
1 67 (12.07%) Microsoft Office
2 39 (7.03%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (2.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (2.16%) Microsoft Project
5 11 (1.98%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.72%) AutoCAD
6 4 (0.72%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.54%) Navisworks
7 3 (0.54%) ProjectWise
7 3 (0.54%) Revit
8 1 (0.18%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.18%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 13 (2.34%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.80%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (1.26%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (0.72%) Primavera
4 4 (0.72%) SAP MM
4 4 (0.72%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.54%) Elite 3E
5 3 (0.54%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 2 (0.36%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.18%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.18%) Cloudability
7 1 (0.18%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.18%) Unit4 Business World
7 1 (0.18%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 206 (37.12%) Azure
2 191 (34.41%) Microsoft 365
3 92 (16.58%) Power Platform
4 83 (14.95%) Entra ID
5 55 (9.91%) AWS
6 45 (8.11%) Microsoft Copilot
7 35 (6.31%) Dynamics 365
8 33 (5.95%) Azure DevOps
9 28 (5.05%) OneDrive
10 26 (4.68%) Power Automate
11 24 (4.32%) PowerApps
12 23 (4.14%) GCP
13 13 (2.34%) Azure AI
13 13 (2.34%) Azure Monitor
13 13 (2.34%) Serverless
14 12 (2.16%) Azure Sentinel
14 12 (2.16%) GitHub
15 11 (1.98%) SaaS
16 9 (1.62%) AWS CloudFormation
16 9 (1.62%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 34 (6.13%) DNS
2 28 (5.05%) VPN
3 25 (4.50%) Firewall
4 20 (3.60%) DHCP
4 20 (3.60%) Network Security
4 20 (3.60%) Skype
5 16 (2.88%) LAN
6 15 (2.70%) WAN
7 13 (2.34%) Wi-Fi
8 12 (2.16%) TCP/IP
8 12 (2.16%) VLAN
9 8 (1.44%) SAN
10 7 (1.26%) SSL
11 4 (0.72%) NAS
12 3 (0.54%) NetScaler
12 3 (0.54%) PABX
12 3 (0.54%) SSH
12 3 (0.54%) VoIP
13 2 (0.36%) Remote Desktop
13 2 (0.36%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 62 (11.17%) Power BI
2 43 (7.75%) SQL Server
3 18 (3.24%) MySQL
4 17 (3.06%) PostgreSQL
5 16 (2.88%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 8 (1.44%) Relational Database
7 7 (1.26%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (1.26%) Power Query
8 6 (1.08%) Metadata
9 5 (0.90%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.90%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 4 (0.72%) Data Lake
10 4 (0.72%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 3 (0.54%) Azure SQL Database
11 3 (0.54%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.54%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.54%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.36%) EDMS
12 2 (0.36%) EDRMS
12 2 (0.36%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 19 (3.42%) JIRA
2 12 (2.16%) Git
3 11 (1.98%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.62%) GitLab
5 5 (0.90%) MSI
6 2 (0.36%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.36%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.36%) Toad
7 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 177 (31.89%) Social Skills
2 110 (19.82%) Finance
3 72 (12.97%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (8.29%) Banking
5 39 (7.03%) Public Sector
6 24 (4.32%) Legal
7 23 (4.14%) Manufacturing
8 20 (3.60%) Organisational Skills
9 19 (3.42%) Documentation Skills
10 15 (2.70%) Local Government
11 8 (1.44%) Retail
12 7 (1.26%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.26%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.26%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (1.26%) Telecoms
13 6 (1.08%) Marketing
13 6 (1.08%) Military
14 5 (0.90%) Games
15 4 (0.72%) Advertising
15 4 (0.72%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 56 (10.09%) IT Support
2 54 (9.73%) Support Engineer
3 53 (9.55%) Analyst
4 44 (7.93%) Architect
5 40 (7.21%) IT Engineer
5 40 (7.21%) IT Support Engineer
6 31 (5.59%) Lead
7 30 (5.41%) DBA
8 26 (4.68%) Developer
9 24 (4.32%) Administrator
10 21 (3.78%) Consultant
10 21 (3.78%) Service Analyst
11 18 (3.24%) Security Engineer
11 18 (3.24%) Senior
11 18 (3.24%) SQL DBA
12 17 (3.06%) Cloud Engineer
13 16 (2.88%) Desktop Engineer
13 16 (2.88%) Service Desk Analyst
14 14 (2.52%) IT Analyst
14 14 (2.52%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (5.59%) Terraform
2 12 (2.16%) SAML
3 11 (1.98%) Microsoft Graph
4 7 (1.26%) JSON
4 7 (1.26%) Software Packaging
5 6 (1.08%) ARM Templates
5 6 (1.08%) REST
5 6 (1.08%) SailPoint
6 5 (0.90%) Kafka
6 5 (0.90%) Spring
6 5 (0.90%) Spring Boot
6 5 (0.90%) XML
7 4 (0.72%) .NET
7 4 (0.72%) Azure Blueprints
7 4 (0.72%) Node.js
7 4 (0.72%) OAuth
8 3 (0.54%) HTML5 Canvas
8 3 (0.54%) PySpark
8 3 (0.54%) React
9 2 (0.36%) Next.js
Miscellaneous
1 38 (6.85%) Onboarding
2 25 (4.50%) Cloud Native
2 25 (4.50%) Management Information System
3 21 (3.78%) Replication
4 20 (3.60%) Clustering
5 13 (2.34%) Data Centre
6 11 (1.98%) CMDB
7 10 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
8 9 (1.62%) Driving Licence
8 9 (1.62%) PKI
8 9 (1.62%) Product Ownership
9 8 (1.44%) AI Agents
9 8 (1.44%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (1.26%) Enterprise Cloud
11 6 (1.08%) Security Posture
12 5 (0.90%) Animation
12 5 (0.90%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (0.90%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (0.90%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 180 (32.43%) Windows
2 75 (13.51%) Windows 10
3 45 (8.11%) Windows Server
4 28 (5.05%) Linux
5 17 (3.06%) Windows 7
6 12 (2.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (1.98%) Apple iOS
8 10 (1.80%) Solaris
8 10 (1.80%) Unix
9 9 (1.62%) Android
9 9 (1.62%) Mac OS
10 5 (0.90%) AIX
10 5 (0.90%) VMS
10 5 (0.90%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.54%) HPUX
11 3 (0.54%) Oracle Linux
11 3 (0.54%) SUSE
11 3 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (18.74%) ITIL
2 93 (16.76%) Problem-Solving
3 76 (13.69%) Customer Service
4 70 (12.61%) Stakeholder Management
5 61 (10.99%) Service Management
6 57 (10.27%) DevOps
7 56 (10.09%) Business Intelligence
8 55 (9.91%) Agile
9 53 (9.55%) Analytics
9 53 (9.55%) Migration
10 52 (9.37%) Continuous Improvement
11 49 (8.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 48 (8.65%) CI/CD
12 48 (8.65%) ITSM
13 46 (8.29%) AI
14 41 (7.39%) Infrastructure as Code
15 39 (7.03%) Change Management
16 36 (6.49%) Disaster Recovery
16 36 (6.49%) User Experience
17 32 (5.77%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 102 (18.38%) PowerShell
2 71 (12.79%) SQL
3 50 (9.01%) Python
4 19 (3.42%) Bicep
4 19 (3.42%) VBScript
5 18 (3.24%) T-SQL
6 15 (2.70%) VB
7 14 (2.52%) Bash
8 13 (2.34%) Java
9 9 (1.62%) C#
10 8 (1.44%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 7 (1.26%) JavaScript
12 5 (0.90%) Kusto Query Language
12 5 (0.90%) Search Processing Language
13 2 (0.36%) TypeScript
14 1 (0.18%) COBOL
14 1 (0.18%) Google Apps Script
14 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 116 (20.90%) Security Cleared
2 93 (16.76%) SC Cleared
3 66 (11.89%) Degree
4 47 (8.47%) Microsoft Certification
5 42 (7.57%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (3.96%) Azure Certification
7 20 (3.60%) CISSP
8 14 (2.52%) AWS Certification
9 12 (2.16%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.80%) DBS Check
10 10 (1.80%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 9 (1.62%) A+ Certification
11 9 (1.62%) MCSE
12 8 (1.44%) Cisco Certification
12 8 (1.44%) MCSA
12 8 (1.44%) VCAP
12 8 (1.44%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 7 (1.26%) Network+ Certification
14 5 (0.90%) GCIH
14 5 (0.90%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (4.14%) SLA
2 21 (3.78%) Data Quality
3 19 (3.42%) GDPR
4 12 (2.16%) NIST
5 11 (1.98%) PMO
6 9 (1.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 8 (1.44%) GRC
8 7 (1.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 6 (1.08%) PCI DSS
9 6 (1.08%) QA
10 5 (0.90%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.90%) WCAG
11 4 (0.72%) NCSC
12 3 (0.54%) ISO 19650
13 2 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.36%) P3O
14 1 (0.18%) Disclosure Scotland
14 1 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
System Software
1 148 (26.67%) Active Directory
2 29 (5.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (3.78%) Docker
3 21 (3.78%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (3.06%) BitLocker
5 14 (2.52%) Hyper-V
6 13 (2.34%) Virtual Desktop
7 11 (1.98%) VMware ESXi
7 11 (1.98%) vSphere
8 4 (0.72%) Microsoft App-V
8 4 (0.72%) Oracle RAC
9 3 (0.54%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 3 (0.54%) NFS
10 2 (0.36%) GPFS
10 2 (0.36%) XenApp
10 2 (0.36%) XenDesktop
11 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.18%) Veritas Volume Manager
11 1 (0.18%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.18%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 48 (8.65%) Microsoft Intune
2 43 (7.75%) SCCM
3 25 (4.50%) Kubernetes
4 22 (3.96%) Ansible
5 13 (2.34%) Progress Chef
6 11 (1.98%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (1.80%) vCenter Server
8 7 (1.26%) SCOM
9 6 (1.08%) CASB
9 6 (1.08%) Grafana
10 4 (0.72%) Data Guard
10 4 (0.72%) Failover Clustering
11 3 (0.54%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.54%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.54%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.54%) SysTrack
11 3 (0.54%) WSUS
12 2 (0.36%) Argo
12 2 (0.36%) Istio
12 2 (0.36%) VxRail
Vendors
1 100 (18.02%) ServiceNow
2 36 (6.49%) VMware
3 28 (5.05%) Cisco
3 28 (5.05%) Splunk
4 26 (4.68%) Oracle
5 24 (4.32%) BeyondTrust
6 20 (3.60%) Google
6 20 (3.60%) SAP
7 19 (3.42%) iManage
8 14 (2.52%) Red Hat
8 14 (2.52%) Remedy
9 11 (1.98%) CyberArk
10 10 (1.80%) Databricks
11 9 (1.62%) Bomgar
12 7 (1.26%) Citrix
12 7 (1.26%) Ribbon
13 6 (1.08%) CrowdStrike
14 5 (0.90%) HP
14 5 (0.90%) Salesforce
14 5 (0.90%) UiPath