Public Sector Contract Job Trends in the North West

Public Sector
England > North West

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Public Sector in contract job vacancies in the North West. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Public Sector over the 6 months leading up to 9 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 12 8
Rank change year-on-year -1 -4 -2
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 323 208 318
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.15% 10.74% 11.45%
As % of the General category 17.82% 18.51% 21.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 233 130 212
10th Percentile £333 £335 £350
25th Percentile £400 £413 £447
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £550 £600 £669
90th Percentile £625 £676 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 4 33
10th Percentile - £12.88 £12.00
25th Percentile - £14.82 £14.50
Median hourly rate £25.38 £16.01 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +58.50% +0.08% -20.00%
75th Percentile £25.44 £16.20 £21.00
90th Percentile £44.94 £16.23 £32.77
England median hourly rate £22.50 £22.39 £24.00
% change year-on-year +0.51% -6.73% +20.00%

All General Skills
North West

Public Sector falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 1,813 1,124 1,478
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 56.96% 58.03% 53.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,105 690 912
10th Percentile £200 £296 £300
25th Percentile £358 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £490 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.07% -2.10% -
75th Percentile £563 £587 £588
90th Percentile £638 £681 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 109 197
10th Percentile £17.68 £14.98 £12.40
25th Percentile £21.98 £19.67 £14.50
Median hourly rate £35.25 £28.75 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +22.61% +59.72% -32.71%
75th Percentile £57.24 £50.00 £37.25
90th Percentile £76.00 £76.50 £49.40
England median hourly rate £27.50 £29.04 £27.50
% change year-on-year -5.29% +5.58% -21.43%

Public Sector
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Public Sector relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Public Sector job vacancy trend in the North West

Public Sector
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Public Sector.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Public Sector in the North West over the 6 months to 9 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Public Sector in the North West

Public Sector
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Public Sector.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Public Sector in the North West over the 6 months to 9 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Public Sector in the North West

Public Sector
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 Public Sector within the North West region over the 6 months to 9 April 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 +2 211 £460 -8.00% 66
Cheshire +8 46 £434 +2.12% 7
Merseyside -4 34 £510 -7.27% 7
Cumbria -4 13 £500 -4.76%
Lancashire -18 7 £525 -12.50% 20
Public Sector
England

Public Sector
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 12 (3.72%) Confluence
1 12 (3.72%) SharePoint
2 10 (3.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.93%) CMS
4 2 (0.62%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.62%) CICS
4 2 (0.62%) OpenStack
4 2 (0.62%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.31%) Apache
5 1 (0.31%) Jupyter
5 1 (0.31%) SAS
Applications
1 15 (4.64%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.62%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.62%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe Premiere
5 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.31%) Quicktime
Business Applications
1 6 (1.86%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (1.55%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.93%) iTrent
4 2 (0.62%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.31%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.31%) SAP FI
5 1 (0.31%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.31%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 84 (26.01%) Azure
2 63 (19.50%) AWS
3 30 (9.29%) Microsoft 365
4 24 (7.43%) Power Platform
5 23 (7.12%) GitHub
6 22 (6.81%) Serverless
7 18 (5.57%) Dynamics 365
8 17 (5.26%) GCP
9 14 (4.33%) Azure DevOps
9 14 (4.33%) Entra ID
9 14 (4.33%) Microsoft Copilot
10 13 (4.02%) GitHub Actions
11 12 (3.72%) AWS Lambda
11 12 (3.72%) Power Automate
11 12 (3.72%) PowerApps
12 9 (2.79%) Amazon S3
12 9 (2.79%) OneDrive
13 8 (2.48%) Amazon EKS
13 8 (2.48%) Amazon SQS
14 7 (2.17%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 19 (5.88%) Firewall
2 9 (2.79%) WAN
3 8 (2.48%) VPN
3 8 (2.48%) Wi-Fi
4 7 (2.17%) DNS
5 6 (1.86%) LAN
6 4 (1.24%) DHCP
6 4 (1.24%) MPLS
6 4 (1.24%) VLAN
6 4 (1.24%) Wireless
7 3 (0.93%) BGP
7 3 (0.93%) Cisco ISE
7 3 (0.93%) Network Security
7 3 (0.93%) OSPF
7 3 (0.93%) SNMP
7 3 (0.93%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.62%) Cisco ASA
8 2 (0.62%) NetScaler
8 2 (0.62%) Skype
8 2 (0.62%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.33%) MongoDB
2 11 (3.41%) PostgreSQL
3 9 (2.79%) Power BI
4 8 (2.48%) DocumentDB
5 7 (2.17%) MySQL
6 6 (1.86%) Looker
6 6 (1.86%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.86%) Relational Database
7 5 (1.55%) BigQuery
7 5 (1.55%) Metadata
7 5 (1.55%) SQL Server
8 4 (1.24%) Redis
8 4 (1.24%) Tableau
9 3 (0.93%) Data Warehouse
9 3 (0.93%) RDBMS
9 3 (0.93%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 2 (0.62%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.62%) Data Mining
10 2 (0.62%) DataStage
10 2 (0.62%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 30 (9.29%) GitLab
2 22 (6.81%) Git
3 17 (5.26%) JIRA
4 9 (2.79%) Jenkins
5 8 (2.48%) Cypress.io
5 8 (2.48%) JUnit
5 8 (2.48%) Mocha
5 8 (2.48%) Mockito
5 8 (2.48%) Postman
6 7 (2.17%) CircleCI
6 7 (2.17%) SonarQube
7 6 (1.86%) Cucumber
8 4 (1.24%) Selenium
9 2 (0.62%) Jasmine
10 1 (0.31%) Axure RP
10 1 (0.31%) InstallShield
10 1 (0.31%) JMeter
10 1 (0.31%) MSI
10 1 (0.31%) REST Assured
General
1 72 (22.29%) Social Skills
2 35 (10.84%) Finance
3 26 (8.05%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (5.57%) Local Government
5 16 (4.95%) Military
6 11 (3.41%) Banking
7 7 (2.17%) Documentation Skills
8 6 (1.86%) Influencing Skills
8 6 (1.86%) Legal
9 5 (1.55%) Manufacturing
10 4 (1.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 4 (1.24%) Marketing
10 4 (1.24%) Organisational Skills
10 4 (1.24%) Telecoms
11 3 (0.93%) Electronics
11 3 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
12 2 (0.62%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.62%) Digital Economy
13 1 (0.31%) Digital Health
13 1 (0.31%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 86 (26.63%) Developer
2 39 (12.07%) Senior
3 38 (11.76%) Java Developer
4 34 (10.53%) Lead
5 32 (9.91%) Architect
6 31 (9.60%) Analyst
7 17 (5.26%) Tester
8 15 (4.64%) Full-Stack Developer
9 14 (4.33%) Senior Developer
10 13 (4.02%) DevOps Engineer
11 12 (3.72%) Business Analyst
11 12 (3.72%) Designer
11 12 (3.72%) Lead Developer
11 12 (3.72%) Software Developer
12 11 (3.41%) Technical Architect
13 10 (3.10%) Senior Java Developer
14 9 (2.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 9 (2.79%) Test Engineer
15 8 (2.48%) Lead Architect
15 8 (2.48%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (11.15%) Spring
2 35 (10.84%) Spring Boot
3 30 (9.29%) Node.js
4 18 (5.57%) React
5 16 (4.95%) REST
6 13 (4.02%) RESTful
7 12 (3.72%) Kafka
8 11 (3.41%) Jest
8 11 (3.41%) Playwright
9 10 (3.10%) HTML
10 9 (2.79%) AngularJS
11 8 (2.48%) CSS
11 8 (2.48%) JAX-RS
11 8 (2.48%) Spring MVC
12 7 (2.17%) ActiveMQ
12 7 (2.17%) Hibernate
12 7 (2.17%) JSON
13 6 (1.86%) OAuth
14 4 (1.24%) OAuth2
14 4 (1.24%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.81%) Onboarding
2 18 (5.57%) Product Ownership
3 14 (4.33%) Cloud Native
4 9 (2.79%) Data Centre
5 8 (2.48%) Legacy Systems
6 7 (2.17%) Operational Technology
7 6 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.86%) NHS
7 6 (1.86%) Public Cloud
8 4 (1.24%) Distributed Systems
8 4 (1.24%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.93%) Housing Association
9 3 (0.93%) Replication
10 2 (0.62%) BYOD
10 2 (0.62%) Clustering
10 2 (0.62%) Cyber Threat
10 2 (0.62%) e-Learning
10 2 (0.62%) Graphic Design
10 2 (0.62%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.62%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 23 (7.12%) Linux
2 17 (5.26%) Windows
3 13 (4.02%) Unix
4 7 (2.17%) Mac OS X
4 7 (2.17%) Windows 10
5 6 (1.86%) Mac OS
6 4 (1.24%) Android
7 3 (0.93%) AIX
7 3 (0.93%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.93%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.62%) Solaris
8 2 (0.62%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (31.27%) Agile
2 62 (19.20%) DevOps
3 60 (18.58%) CI/CD
4 52 (16.10%) Microservices
5 47 (14.55%) Test Automation
6 43 (13.31%) Continuous Improvement
7 40 (12.38%) Problem-Solving
8 34 (10.53%) User Experience
9 33 (10.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 29 (8.98%) Stakeholder Management
11 26 (8.05%) Migration
12 25 (7.74%) Containerisation
12 25 (7.74%) TDD
12 25 (7.74%) Validation
13 24 (7.43%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 23 (7.12%) Change Management
15 20 (6.19%) Analytics
15 20 (6.19%) User Research
16 19 (5.88%) Roadmaps
17 18 (5.57%) Full-Stack Development
Programming Languages
1 65 (20.12%) Java
2 34 (10.53%) JavaScript
3 21 (6.50%) Python
4 19 (5.88%) TypeScript
5 15 (4.64%) SQL
6 14 (4.33%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.24%) C#
8 3 (0.93%) Go
8 3 (0.93%) Ruby
9 2 (0.62%) Bash
9 2 (0.62%) COBOL
9 2 (0.62%) Kotlin
9 2 (0.62%) Kusto Query Language
9 2 (0.62%) VB
9 2 (0.62%) VBScript
10 1 (0.31%) ABAP
10 1 (0.31%) Bicep
10 1 (0.31%) ProC
10 1 (0.31%) Scala
10 1 (0.31%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 152 (47.06%) Security Cleared
2 68 (21.05%) SC Cleared
3 22 (6.81%) Degree
4 14 (4.33%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (2.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (1.86%) Computer Science Degree
7 5 (1.55%) Azure Certification
7 5 (1.55%) DV Cleared
8 3 (0.93%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.93%) ISTQB
8 3 (0.93%) ITIL Certification
8 3 (0.93%) Master's Degree
9 2 (0.62%) AWS Certification
9 2 (0.62%) CCNA
9 2 (0.62%) CCNP
9 2 (0.62%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 2 (0.62%) MBA
9 2 (0.62%) PMI Certification
9 2 (0.62%) PMP
10 1 (0.31%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (11.15%) Accessibility
2 16 (4.95%) Data Quality
3 13 (4.02%) QA
3 13 (4.02%) WCAG
4 9 (2.79%) NIST
5 7 (2.17%) GDPR
6 5 (1.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 4 (1.24%) PMO
7 4 (1.24%) SLA
8 3 (0.93%) IFRS
9 2 (0.62%) GRC
9 2 (0.62%) IFRS 17
9 2 (0.62%) PSD2
10 1 (0.31%) Basel III
10 1 (0.31%) CRD IV
10 1 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.31%) FINREP
10 1 (0.31%) ISO 20022
10 1 (0.31%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.31%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 32 (9.91%) Docker
2 15 (4.64%) Active Directory
3 4 (1.24%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.62%) BitLocker
4 2 (0.62%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.62%) ISA Server
4 2 (0.62%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (0.62%) vSphere
5 1 (0.31%) GPFS
5 1 (0.31%) NFS
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
5 1 (0.31%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 33 (10.22%) Kubernetes
1 33 (10.22%) Terraform
2 6 (1.86%) Grafana
3 5 (1.55%) Ansible
4 4 (1.24%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 4 (1.24%) Microsoft Intune
4 4 (1.24%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.93%) SCCM
6 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
6 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
6 1 (0.31%) Data Guard
6 1 (0.31%) Failover Clustering
6 1 (0.31%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Clustering
6 1 (0.31%) Nagios
6 1 (0.31%) Norton AntiVirus
6 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
6 1 (0.31%) vRealize
6 1 (0.31%) VxRail
Vendors
1 61 (18.89%) Microsoft
2 22 (6.81%) Oracle
3 16 (4.95%) SAP
4 13 (4.02%) Virgin Media
5 11 (3.41%) Cisco
6 10 (3.10%) ServiceNow
7 8 (2.48%) Google
7 8 (2.48%) Palo Alto
8 6 (1.86%) VMware
9 5 (1.55%) PeopleSoft
10 4 (1.24%) Adobe
10 4 (1.24%) IBM
10 4 (1.24%) Meraki
10 4 (1.24%) Splunk
11 3 (0.93%) Apple
11 3 (0.93%) Aruba
11 3 (0.93%) F5
11 3 (0.93%) Workday
12 2 (0.62%) Fortinet
12 2 (0.62%) SolarWinds