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 18 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 18 18 12
Rank change year-on-year 0 -6 -5
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 296 173 281
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 8.48% 8.75% 9.90%
As % of the General category 15.79% 14.79% 18.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 177 118 173
10th Percentile £358 £313 £325
25th Percentile £400 £410 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £493
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £575
90th Percentile £672 £650 £669
England median daily rate £513 £513 £525
% change year-on-year - -2.38% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 2 31
10th Percentile - - £12.00
25th Percentile - £21.02 £14.50
Median hourly rate £25.38 £21.27 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +19.32% +32.94% -18.99%
75th Percentile £25.49 £21.52 £26.75
90th Percentile £85.00 - £34.21
England median hourly rate £23.41 £25.08 £24.18
% change year-on-year -6.63% +3.70% +17.78%

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 1,875 1,170 1,496
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 53.74% 59.18% 52.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,060 750 877
10th Percentile £274 £306 £300
25th Percentile £374 £378 £393
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £465 £490
Median % change year-on-year +0.05% -5.10% -2.00%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £575
90th Percentile £650 £675 £654
England median daily rate £520 £520 £533
% change year-on-year - -2.35% -3.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 191 103 201
10th Percentile £16.50 £12.86 £12.50
25th Percentile £25.38 £13.60 £15.00
Median hourly rate £36.00 £29.27 £22.11
Median % change year-on-year +22.99% +32.38% -4.49%
75th Percentile £67.42 £59.65 £37.25
90th Percentile £85.00 £77.25 £51.88
England median hourly rate £32.50 £28.00 £31.97
% change year-on-year +16.07% -12.42% +6.57%

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 18 June 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 18 June 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 18 June 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 +4 199 £500 +11.11% 67
Cheshire +4 37 £450 +8.11% 10
Merseyside -4 25 £510 -27.14% 9
Lancashire -5 13 £575 -4.17% 22
Cumbria -15 11 £424 -17.32%
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 24 (8.11%) SharePoint
2 16 (5.41%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (4.05%) Confluence
4 4 (1.35%) SharePoint 2013
5 2 (0.68%) Apache
5 2 (0.68%) CICS
5 2 (0.68%) CMS
5 2 (0.68%) Jupyter
5 2 (0.68%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.34%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.34%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.34%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.34%) SAS
6 1 (0.34%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 5 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.35%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (1.01%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.68%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.68%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 5 (1.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (1.01%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.68%) Oracle Cash Management
3 2 (0.68%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.68%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.68%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 2 (0.68%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 73 (24.66%) Azure
2 62 (20.95%) AWS
3 42 (14.19%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (6.76%) Microsoft Copilot
5 17 (5.74%) GitHub
5 17 (5.74%) SaaS
5 17 (5.74%) Serverless
6 14 (4.73%) OCI
6 14 (4.73%) Power Platform
7 13 (4.39%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (4.05%) Entra ID
8 12 (4.05%) GCP
9 10 (3.38%) Amazon S3
9 10 (3.38%) GitHub Actions
10 9 (3.04%) Amazon EC2
10 9 (3.04%) Azure DevOps
10 9 (3.04%) Google Workspace
10 9 (3.04%) Power Automate
11 8 (2.70%) AWS Lambda
11 8 (2.70%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.41%) Firewall
2 8 (2.70%) BIG-IP
2 8 (2.70%) Ethernet VPN
2 8 (2.70%) VXLAN
2 8 (2.70%) Wi-Fi
3 7 (2.36%) BGP
3 7 (2.36%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
3 7 (2.36%) OSPF
3 7 (2.36%) WAN
4 6 (2.03%) SD-WAN
4 6 (2.03%) WLAN
5 5 (1.69%) DNS
6 3 (1.01%) DKIM
6 3 (1.01%) DMARC
6 3 (1.01%) VPN
7 1 (0.34%) Kerberos
7 1 (0.34%) LAN
7 1 (0.34%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.34%) VSAN
7 1 (0.34%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (5.07%) MongoDB
2 7 (2.36%) Relational Database
3 6 (2.03%) DocumentDB
4 5 (1.69%) Metadata
4 5 (1.69%) Oracle Database
4 5 (1.69%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (1.35%) RDBMS
5 4 (1.35%) Tableau
6 3 (1.01%) MySQL
6 3 (1.01%) NoSQL
6 3 (1.01%) Power BI
6 3 (1.01%) SQL Server
7 2 (0.68%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.68%) Data Mining
7 2 (0.68%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.68%) DataStage
7 2 (0.68%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 2 (0.68%) Oracle Exadata
7 2 (0.68%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.34%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 34 (11.49%) GitLab
2 19 (6.42%) JIRA
3 12 (4.05%) Git
4 10 (3.38%) Selenium
5 9 (3.04%) Cucumber
5 9 (3.04%) Jenkins
6 8 (2.70%) Cypress.io
6 8 (2.70%) JUnit
7 7 (2.36%) Mocha
7 7 (2.36%) Mockito
8 5 (1.69%) CircleCI
8 5 (1.69%) REST Assured
9 4 (1.35%) Postman
10 3 (1.01%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.68%) Gatling
11 2 (0.68%) JDeveloper
11 2 (0.68%) JMeter
11 2 (0.68%) WebDriver
12 1 (0.34%) Serenity BDD
12 1 (0.34%) TestNG
General
1 61 (20.61%) Social Skills
2 29 (9.80%) Military
3 28 (9.46%) Finance
4 22 (7.43%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (5.07%) Local Government
6 8 (2.70%) Banking
6 8 (2.70%) Legal
7 6 (2.03%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.35%) Presentation Skills
10 3 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (0.68%) Corporate Banking
11 2 (0.68%) Digital Economy
11 2 (0.68%) General Ledger
11 2 (0.68%) Manufacturing
11 2 (0.68%) Marketing
12 1 (0.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.34%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 67 (22.64%) Developer
2 45 (15.20%) Lead
3 40 (13.51%) Senior
4 32 (10.81%) Architect
5 29 (9.80%) Java Developer
6 18 (6.08%) Analyst
7 16 (5.41%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 15 (5.07%) Lead Developer
8 15 (5.07%) Software Developer
8 15 (5.07%) Tester
9 14 (4.73%) Administrator
9 14 (4.73%) Senior Developer
10 13 (4.39%) Designer
10 13 (4.39%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 11 (3.72%) Full-Stack Developer
11 11 (3.72%) Technical Architect
11 11 (3.72%) Test Engineer
12 10 (3.38%) Business Analyst
12 10 (3.38%) Consultant
12 10 (3.38%) Senior Java Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (9.46%) Spring
2 26 (8.78%) Spring Boot
3 25 (8.45%) Node.js
4 17 (5.74%) REST
5 14 (4.73%) Kafka
6 12 (4.05%) React
7 9 (3.04%) OAuth
7 9 (3.04%) Playwright
8 8 (2.70%) Jest
9 7 (2.36%) RESTful
10 6 (2.03%) ActiveMQ
10 6 (2.03%) JAX-RS
11 5 (1.69%) AngularJS
11 5 (1.69%) OpenID
12 4 (1.35%) CSS
12 4 (1.35%) HTML
12 4 (1.35%) Nunjucks
13 3 (1.01%) ARM Templates
13 3 (1.01%) Vue
13 3 (1.01%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 23 (7.77%) Cloud Native
2 15 (5.07%) Product Ownership
3 11 (3.72%) Data Centre
4 10 (3.38%) Legacy Systems
5 9 (3.04%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.70%) Operational Technology
7 7 (2.36%) Management Information System
7 7 (2.36%) NHS
8 6 (2.03%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (2.03%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (2.03%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.69%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (1.01%) Distributed Systems
10 3 (1.01%) Freedom of Information
10 3 (1.01%) Housing Association
10 3 (1.01%) Mobile App
10 3 (1.01%) Replication
11 2 (0.68%) Mainframe
11 2 (0.68%) SCADA
11 2 (0.68%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 21 (7.09%) Linux
2 12 (4.05%) Unix
3 11 (3.72%) Windows
4 6 (2.03%) Mac OS X
5 4 (1.35%) AIX
5 4 (1.35%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (1.01%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.68%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.68%) Solaris
8 1 (0.34%) Android
8 1 (0.34%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.34%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (30.41%) Agile
2 63 (21.28%) CI/CD
3 58 (19.59%) DevOps
4 43 (14.53%) Microservices
4 43 (14.53%) Test Automation
5 42 (14.19%) Continuous Improvement
6 32 (10.81%) Migration
6 32 (10.81%) Stakeholder Management
7 30 (10.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 25 (8.45%) Problem-Solving
9 24 (8.11%) Infrastructure as Code
10 23 (7.77%) User Experience
11 22 (7.43%) Digital Transformation Programme
12 21 (7.09%) Cybersecurity
12 21 (7.09%) Mentoring
12 21 (7.09%) Technical Leadership
13 20 (6.76%) Roadmaps
14 19 (6.42%) Containerisation
14 19 (6.42%) TDD
15 17 (5.74%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 57 (19.26%) Java
2 30 (10.14%) JavaScript
3 21 (7.09%) Python
4 17 (5.74%) SQL
4 17 (5.74%) TypeScript
5 9 (3.04%) PowerShell
6 2 (0.68%) C#
6 2 (0.68%) COBOL
6 2 (0.68%) Go
6 2 (0.68%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.34%) Bash
7 1 (0.34%) Kotlin
7 1 (0.34%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.34%) Ruby
7 1 (0.34%) Scala
7 1 (0.34%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.34%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 130 (43.92%) Security Cleared
2 79 (26.69%) SC Cleared
3 16 (5.41%) BPSS Clearance
3 16 (5.41%) Degree
4 7 (2.36%) Microsoft Certification
5 4 (1.35%) Azure Certification
6 3 (1.01%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.68%) CCNA
7 2 (0.68%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (0.68%) Computer Science Degree
7 2 (0.68%) DBS Check
7 2 (0.68%) DV Cleared
7 2 (0.68%) ISTQB
7 2 (0.68%) ITIL Certification
7 2 (0.68%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (0.68%) MBA
7 2 (0.68%) PMI Certification
7 2 (0.68%) PMP
8 1 (0.34%) AWS Certification
8 1 (0.34%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (11.15%) Accessibility
2 15 (5.07%) WCAG
3 12 (4.05%) QA
4 10 (3.38%) Data Quality
5 9 (3.04%) PMO
6 8 (2.70%) NIST
7 7 (2.36%) GDPR
8 4 (1.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 4 (1.35%) SLA
9 2 (0.68%) GRC
9 2 (0.68%) IFRS
9 2 (0.68%) IFRS 17
9 2 (0.68%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.34%) Basel III
10 1 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.34%) NCSC
10 1 (0.34%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.34%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 29 (9.80%) Docker
2 21 (7.09%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.68%) Oracle RAC
3 2 (0.68%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.34%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.34%) GPFS
4 1 (0.34%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.34%) NFS
4 1 (0.34%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.34%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.34%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 38 (12.84%) Terraform
2 27 (9.12%) Kubernetes
3 13 (4.39%) Ansible
4 6 (2.03%) Grafana
5 3 (1.01%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (1.01%) Prometheus
5 3 (1.01%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.68%) Data Guard
6 2 (0.68%) Microsoft Intune
6 2 (0.68%) Oracle RMAN
6 2 (0.68%) SCCM
7 1 (0.34%) Argo
7 1 (0.34%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.34%) Norton AntiVirus
7 1 (0.34%) Packer
7 1 (0.34%) vRealize
7 1 (0.34%) VxRail
Vendors
1 50 (16.89%) Microsoft
2 12 (4.05%) Oracle
3 10 (3.38%) Google
4 9 (3.04%) Palo Alto
4 9 (3.04%) ServiceNow
5 8 (2.70%) Aruba
5 8 (2.70%) F5
6 7 (2.36%) Arista
6 7 (2.36%) SAP
7 4 (1.35%) IBM
7 4 (1.35%) PeopleSoft
7 4 (1.35%) VMware
8 3 (1.01%) Virgin Media
9 2 (0.68%) Automation Anywhere
9 2 (0.68%) BeyondTrust
9 2 (0.68%) Cisco
9 2 (0.68%) OpenAI
9 2 (0.68%) Salesforce
9 2 (0.68%) Tanium
9 2 (0.68%) Thycotic