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 26 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 10 10 10
Rank change year-on-year 0 0 -4
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 281 243 342
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 11.50% 10.46% 12.69%
As % of the General category 18.60% 18.07% 22.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 209 115 247
10th Percentile £268 £315 £302
25th Percentile £400 £412 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £488 £550
Median % change year-on-year -7.69% -11.36% +10.00%
75th Percentile £550 £619 £650
90th Percentile £639 £700 £720
England median daily rate £500 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -4.76% -3.67% +0.93%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 13 12
10th Percentile £17.08 £15.57 £14.07
25th Percentile £18.12 £16.00 £15.82
Median hourly rate £21.27 £16.81 £17.93
Median % change year-on-year +26.57% -6.25% -9.83%
75th Percentile £44.94 £29.50 £20.19
90th Percentile £67.25 £34.80 £21.50
England median hourly rate £21.27 £23.60 £21.31
% change year-on-year -9.87% +10.75% +12.16%

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 common skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for common skills 1,511 1,345 1,494
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 61.85% 57.90% 55.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 995 704 980
10th Percentile £214 £265 £255
25th Percentile £358 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +3.09%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £654 £671 £700
England median daily rate £500 £535 £550
% change year-on-year -6.54% -2.73% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 140 107 110
10th Percentile £15.18 £16.00 £15.75
25th Percentile £18.26 £18.08 £17.17
Median hourly rate £29.60 £32.50 £23.07
Median % change year-on-year -8.92% +40.88% +14.98%
75th Percentile £45.46 £44.75 £45.88
90th Percentile £70.39 £62.00 £62.09
England median hourly rate £24.48 £31.97 £33.00
% change year-on-year -23.44% -3.12% +28.35%

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 26 November 2025.

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 26 November 2025.

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 26 November 2025. 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 -2 174 £441 -8.07% 46
Cheshire -9 37 £435 -16.55% 6
Merseyside +4 31 £535 +22.29% 3
Cumbria +8 19 £537 +7.40% 1
Lancashire -12 9 £475 +46.15% 32
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 5 (1.78%) Confluence
2 3 (1.07%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.71%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (0.71%) CMS
3 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.71%) OpenStack
3 2 (0.71%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.36%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.36%) nginx
4 1 (0.36%) SAS
Applications
1 22 (7.83%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (2.14%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.36%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.36%) SPSS
4 1 (0.36%) Stata
4 1 (0.36%) Trello
Business Applications
1 16 (5.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (1.78%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (1.07%) iTrent
4 1 (0.36%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.36%) SAP EHS
4 1 (0.36%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.36%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.36%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.36%) SAP PSCD
4 1 (0.36%) SAP QM
4 1 (0.36%) SAP VC
4 1 (0.36%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 65 (23.13%) Azure
2 53 (18.86%) AWS
3 25 (8.90%) Power Platform
4 19 (6.76%) GCP
5 18 (6.41%) Microsoft 365
6 16 (5.69%) Azure DevOps
7 13 (4.63%) SaaS
7 13 (4.63%) Serverless
8 10 (3.56%) Amazon SQS
8 10 (3.56%) GitHub
8 10 (3.56%) PowerApps
9 9 (3.20%) AWS Lambda
9 9 (3.20%) Google Tag Manager
9 9 (3.20%) Power Automate
10 8 (2.85%) Entra ID
10 8 (2.85%) Google Analytics
10 8 (2.85%) Google Workspace
10 8 (2.85%) SuccessFactors
11 6 (2.14%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (1.78%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.69%) Firewall
2 10 (3.56%) DNS
3 8 (2.85%) WAN
4 6 (2.14%) DHCP
4 6 (2.14%) LAN
4 6 (2.14%) Wireless
5 5 (1.78%) TCP/IP
5 5 (1.78%) Wi-Fi
6 4 (1.42%) DMZ
6 4 (1.42%) VLAN
6 4 (1.42%) VPN
7 3 (1.07%) Cisco ISE
7 3 (1.07%) MPLS
7 3 (1.07%) NetScaler
7 3 (1.07%) SAN
8 2 (0.71%) BGP
8 2 (0.71%) Cisco ASA
8 2 (0.71%) Cisco Nexus
8 2 (0.71%) Internet
8 2 (0.71%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (5.69%) Power BI
2 13 (4.63%) PostgreSQL
3 12 (4.27%) MongoDB
4 10 (3.56%) MySQL
5 9 (3.20%) BigQuery
5 9 (3.20%) Looker
5 9 (3.20%) Redis
6 7 (2.49%) Relational Database
7 6 (2.14%) Data Warehouse
8 5 (1.78%) Metadata
8 5 (1.78%) SQL Server
9 4 (1.42%) DynamoDB
10 3 (1.07%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (1.07%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (1.07%) Big Data
10 3 (1.07%) DocumentDB
10 3 (1.07%) NoSQL
10 3 (1.07%) RDBMS
11 2 (0.71%) Amazon Aurora
11 2 (0.71%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 18 (6.41%) GitLab
2 15 (5.34%) Git
3 9 (3.20%) JIRA
4 8 (2.85%) Jenkins
4 8 (2.85%) Postman
5 6 (2.14%) SonarQube
6 5 (1.78%) Selenium
7 4 (1.42%) Cucumber
7 4 (1.42%) JUnit
7 4 (1.42%) Mockito
8 3 (1.07%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.71%) Gradle
9 2 (0.71%) Maven
9 2 (0.71%) MSI
9 2 (0.71%) SonarLint
10 1 (0.36%) Browser DevTools
10 1 (0.36%) Gatling
10 1 (0.36%) JMeter
10 1 (0.36%) MLflow
10 1 (0.36%) REST Assured
General
1 62 (22.06%) Social Skills
2 36 (12.81%) Finance
3 22 (7.83%) Military
4 14 (4.98%) Analytical Skills
4 14 (4.98%) Local Government
5 13 (4.63%) Telecoms
6 12 (4.27%) Manufacturing
7 11 (3.91%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (3.91%) Marketing
8 10 (3.56%) Electronics
9 8 (2.85%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (1.78%) Banking
11 4 (1.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.42%) Legal
12 2 (0.71%) Law
12 2 (0.71%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.71%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.36%) Digital Health
13 1 (0.36%) Digital Healthcare
Job Titles
1 46 (16.37%) Developer
2 45 (16.01%) Analyst
3 30 (10.68%) Architect
4 28 (9.96%) Senior
5 22 (7.83%) Lead
6 17 (6.05%) Java Developer
7 16 (5.69%) Consultant
8 14 (4.98%) Business Analyst
9 12 (4.27%) AWS Engineer
9 12 (4.27%) Technical Architect
10 11 (3.91%) DevOps Engineer
10 11 (3.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 8 (2.85%) Data Architect
11 8 (2.85%) Senior Developer
11 8 (2.85%) Software Engineer
12 7 (2.49%) Network Engineer
12 7 (2.49%) Project Manager
12 7 (2.49%) Systems Analyst
12 7 (2.49%) Systems Manager
12 7 (2.49%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (7.47%) Spring Boot
2 18 (6.41%) Spring
3 15 (5.34%) RESTful
4 14 (4.98%) JSON
5 12 (4.27%) Node.js
6 11 (3.91%) Kafka
7 9 (3.20%) HTML
8 8 (2.85%) React
9 6 (2.14%) AngularJS
9 6 (2.14%) HTML5 Canvas
9 6 (2.14%) Spring Security
10 5 (1.78%) JAX-RS
10 5 (1.78%) Playwright
10 5 (1.78%) REST
10 5 (1.78%) Spring MVC
10 5 (1.78%) Web Services
11 4 (1.42%) ActiveMQ
11 4 (1.42%) Hibernate
11 4 (1.42%) SAP Fiori
11 4 (1.42%) Thymeleaf
Miscellaneous
1 18 (6.41%) Onboarding
2 15 (5.34%) Data Centre
3 9 (3.20%) Cloud Native
4 8 (2.85%) Hybrid Cloud
4 8 (2.85%) Product Ownership
5 7 (2.49%) NHS
5 7 (2.49%) Public Cloud
6 5 (1.78%) Distributed Systems
6 5 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.78%) Low-Code
7 4 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (1.07%) Data Structures
8 3 (1.07%) N-Tier
8 3 (1.07%) Operational Technology
9 2 (0.71%) Driving Licence
9 2 (0.71%) Fibre Optics
9 2 (0.71%) Taxonomies
10 1 (0.36%) Digital Signage
10 1 (0.36%) Greenfield Project
10 1 (0.36%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 18 (6.41%) Windows
2 14 (4.98%) Linux
3 8 (2.85%) Android
3 8 (2.85%) Mac OS
4 6 (2.14%) Windows 10
5 5 (1.78%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.71%) Unix
7 2 (0.71%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.36%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.36%) Windows Server
8 1 (0.36%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.36%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (19.57%) Agile
2 40 (14.23%) DevOps
3 36 (12.81%) CI/CD
4 33 (11.74%) Problem-Solving
5 29 (10.32%) Microservices
6 25 (8.90%) Business Intelligence
6 25 (8.90%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 24 (8.54%) Stakeholder Management
8 23 (8.19%) Continuous Improvement
8 23 (8.19%) User Experience
9 22 (7.83%) Containerisation
10 19 (6.76%) Analytics
10 19 (6.76%) Test Automation
11 18 (6.41%) Change Management
12 16 (5.69%) Mentoring
13 15 (5.34%) Infrastructure as Code
13 15 (5.34%) Migration
13 15 (5.34%) Technical Leadership
14 14 (4.98%) AI
14 14 (4.98%) Digital Transformation Programme
Programming Languages
1 44 (15.66%) Java
2 26 (9.25%) Python
3 18 (6.41%) SQL
4 9 (3.20%) PowerShell
5 8 (2.85%) JavaScript
6 7 (2.49%) Bash
6 7 (2.49%) TypeScript
7 5 (1.78%) Perl
8 4 (1.42%) C#
8 4 (1.42%) Go
9 3 (1.07%) ABAP
9 3 (1.07%) C++
9 3 (1.07%) Kusto Query Language
9 3 (1.07%) PL/SQL
9 3 (1.07%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.71%) C
10 2 (0.71%) VB
10 2 (0.71%) VBScript
11 1 (0.36%) Rust
Qualifications
1 156 (55.52%) Security Cleared
2 105 (37.37%) SC Cleared
3 17 (6.05%) BPSS Clearance
4 13 (4.63%) Degree
5 7 (2.49%) ISTQB
6 6 (2.14%) Computer Science Degree
7 4 (1.42%) Azure Certification
7 4 (1.42%) DV Cleared
7 4 (1.42%) Microsoft Certification
8 2 (0.71%) AWS Certification
8 2 (0.71%) CCNP
8 2 (0.71%) Cisco Certification
9 1 (0.36%) APMG
9 1 (0.36%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
9 1 (0.36%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 1 (0.36%) CCDP
9 1 (0.36%) CISSP
9 1 (0.36%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 1 (0.36%) ITIL Certification
9 1 (0.36%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (8.54%) Accessibility
2 13 (4.63%) Data Quality
3 11 (3.91%) QA
4 7 (2.49%) NIST
5 4 (1.42%) WCAG
6 3 (1.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (1.07%) PMO
7 2 (0.71%) IEC 61508
7 2 (0.71%) ISO 26262
7 2 (0.71%) NCSC
7 2 (0.71%) SLA
8 1 (0.36%) COBIT
8 1 (0.36%) CRD IV
8 1 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.36%) FINREP
8 1 (0.36%) GDPR
8 1 (0.36%) IEC 62304
8 1 (0.36%) IFRS
8 1 (0.36%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.36%) SEPA
System Software
1 32 (11.39%) Docker
2 8 (2.85%) Active Directory
2 8 (2.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (1.42%) UAG
4 2 (0.71%) BitLocker
4 2 (0.71%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.36%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.36%) ISA Server
5 1 (0.36%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 27 (9.61%) Kubernetes
2 26 (9.25%) Terraform
3 7 (2.49%) Microsoft Intune
3 7 (2.49%) SCCM
4 4 (1.42%) Ansible
5 3 (1.07%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (1.07%) Packer
6 2 (0.71%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.71%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 1 (0.36%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.36%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.36%) Grafana
7 1 (0.36%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Clustering
7 1 (0.36%) Nessus
7 1 (0.36%) SELinux
7 1 (0.36%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 48 (17.08%) Microsoft
2 32 (11.39%) SAP
3 21 (7.47%) Google
4 17 (6.05%) Oracle
5 14 (4.98%) Cisco
6 10 (3.56%) Virgin Media
7 9 (3.20%) ServiceNow
7 9 (3.20%) VMware
8 7 (2.49%) Apple
8 7 (2.49%) Dell
8 7 (2.49%) Palo Alto
9 6 (2.14%) HP
9 6 (2.14%) Meraki
10 4 (1.42%) Adobe
10 4 (1.42%) Red Hat
10 4 (1.42%) Splunk
11 3 (1.07%) Dynatrace
11 3 (1.07%) LogRhythm
11 3 (1.07%) Pega
11 3 (1.07%) Workday