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 16 October 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 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -2 | +5 | -4 |
| Contract jobs citing Microsoft | 592 | 409 | 276 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the North West | 14.63% | 18.26% | 11.44% |
| As % of the Vendors category | 35.30% | 35.81% | 27.11% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 383 | 275 | 153 |
| 10th Percentile | £190 | £202 | £247 |
| 25th Percentile | £325 | £349 | £371 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £465 | £437 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +6.41% | -2.89% | +5.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £530 | £500 | £565 |
| 90th Percentile | £600 | £604 | £638 |
| England median daily rate | £494 | £475 | £488 |
| % change year-on-year | +4.00% | -2.56% | -2.50% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 47 | 61 | 24 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.10 | £13.00 | £16.95 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.06 | £16.50 | £23.40 |
| Median hourly rate | £19.00 | £22.32 | £30.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -14.86% | -26.84% | +35.38% |
| 75th Percentile | £29.75 | £31.40 | £38.55 |
| 90th Percentile | £68.00 | £63.40 | £46.18 |
| England median hourly rate | £18.25 | £22.50 | £20.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -18.89% | +12.50% | -13.04% |
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.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services | 1,677 | 1,142 | 1,018 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West | 41.44% | 50.98% | 42.19% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 991 | 741 | 523 |
| 10th Percentile | £250 | £298 | £320 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £380 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £470 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +6.38% | -6.00% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £588 | £604 | £588 |
| 90th Percentile | £650 | £708 | £674 |
| England median daily rate | £519 | £508 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.27% | -3.33% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 137 | 87 | 53 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.06 | £13.00 | £16.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.69 | £18.87 | £24.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £29.00 | £22.63 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +28.15% | -35.34% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £52.50 | £45.61 | £46.18 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.55 | £68.35 | £55.79 |
| England median hourly rate | £25.28 | £25.04 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +0.98% | -28.46% | -21.35% |
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 Daily Rate Trend in the North West
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 16 October 2026.
Microsoft Hourly Rate Trend in the North West
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 16 October 2026.
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 16 October 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 | 255 | £488 | +8.33% | 316 |
| Cheshire | +1 | 147 | £450 | +5.88% | 75 |
| Merseyside | +4 | 70 | £219 | -45.31% | 51 |
| Cumbria | +6 | 61 | £483 | +20.75% | 8 |
| Lancashire | -4 | 53 | £333 | -26.11% | 64 |
| Microsoft England |
|||||
Microsoft Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Vendors
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ServiceNow | 17.6% | 104 |
| 2 | VMware | 6.3% | 37 |
| 3 | Oracle | 5.1% | 30 |
| 4 | BeyondTrust | 4.9% | 29 |
| 5 | Cisco | 4.7% | 28 |
| 6 | Splunk | 4.2% | 25 |
| 7 | 3.9% | 23 | |
| 8 | SAP | 3.5% | 21 |
| 9 | iManage | 2.7% | 16 |
| 10 | Red Hat | 2.2% | 13 |
| 11 | Databricks | 2.0% | 12 |
| 12 | CyberArk | 1.9% | 11 |
| 13 | Okta | 1.7% | 10 |
| 13 | Remedy | 1.7% | 10 |
| 15 | Citrix | 1.5% | 9 |
| 16 | Apple | 1.2% | 7 |
| 16 | Ribbon | 1.2% | 7 |
| 18 | Bomgar | 0.8% | 5 |
| 18 | Cribl.io | 0.8% | 5 |
| 18 | CrowdStrike | 0.8% | 5 |