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 8 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 14 7
Rank change year-on-year +1 -7 -1
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 318 191 324
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 9.95% 9.78% 12.05%
As % of the General category 17.70% 17.02% 22.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 214 126 216
10th Percentile £343 £341 £350
25th Percentile £400 £413 £423
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £455 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.05% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £560 £597 £656
90th Percentile £636 £659 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -2.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 3 32
10th Percentile - £12.48 £12.00
25th Percentile - £13.83 £14.50
Median hourly rate £25.38 £16.13 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +57.40% +0.78% -20.00%
75th Percentile £25.44 £16.22 £21.00
90th Percentile £25.49 £16.24 £33.49
England median hourly rate £23.83 £23.45 £21.50
% change year-on-year +1.60% +9.07% +5.29%

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 1,797 1,122 1,442
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 56.23% 57.48% 53.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,068 687 879
10th Percentile £213 £250 £298
25th Percentile £358 £378 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £639 £675 £688
England median daily rate £506 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -3.62% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 150 106 191
10th Percentile £17.33 £13.00 £12.50
25th Percentile £22.68 £17.44 £14.50
Median hourly rate £35.25 £28.99 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +21.59% +63.60% -35.21%
75th Percentile £63.31 £53.94 £37.18
90th Percentile £85.00 £75.63 £51.91
England median hourly rate £30.50 £27.50 £30.50
% change year-on-year +10.91% -9.84% -6.15%

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 8 May 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
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 8 May 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 +3 220 £475 -5.00% 73
Cheshire +8 42 £425 +6.12% 10
Merseyside -10 27 £510 -15.00% 5
Cumbria -7 12 £442 -19.66% 2
Lancashire -5 8 £550 -8.33% 24
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 20 (6.29%) SharePoint
2 16 (5.03%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (3.77%) Confluence
4 3 (0.94%) CMS
5 2 (0.63%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 2 (0.63%) CICS
5 2 (0.63%) SAS
6 1 (0.31%) Apache
6 1 (0.31%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.31%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.31%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.31%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 8 (2.52%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.63%) Chatbot
4 2 (0.63%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe Premiere
5 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.31%) Quicktime
Business Applications
1 5 (1.57%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.63%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.63%) SAP ERP
3 1 (0.31%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.31%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 1 (0.31%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.31%) SAP FI
Cloud Services
1 78 (24.53%) Azure
2 67 (21.07%) AWS
3 34 (10.69%) Microsoft 365
4 25 (7.86%) Serverless
5 23 (7.23%) GitHub
6 18 (5.66%) GCP
6 18 (5.66%) Power Platform
7 14 (4.40%) AWS Lambda
7 14 (4.40%) Dynamics 365
7 14 (4.40%) Entra ID
7 14 (4.40%) Microsoft Copilot
7 14 (4.40%) SaaS
8 12 (3.77%) Amazon S3
8 12 (3.77%) GitHub Actions
9 11 (3.46%) OCI
10 10 (3.14%) Amazon SQS
10 10 (3.14%) Azure DevOps
11 9 (2.83%) Amazon EC2
11 9 (2.83%) Google Workspace
11 9 (2.83%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 19 (5.97%) Firewall
2 9 (2.83%) WAN
3 8 (2.52%) Wi-Fi
4 6 (1.89%) BGP
4 6 (1.89%) BIG-IP
4 6 (1.89%) DNS
4 6 (1.89%) Ethernet VPN
4 6 (1.89%) OSPF
4 6 (1.89%) VPN
4 6 (1.89%) VXLAN
5 5 (1.57%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 5 (1.57%) SD-WAN
6 4 (1.26%) LAN
6 4 (1.26%) MPLS
7 3 (0.94%) Network Security
7 3 (0.94%) WLAN
8 2 (0.63%) Cisco ASA
8 2 (0.63%) Cisco ISE
8 2 (0.63%) Cisco Nexus
8 2 (0.63%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.72%) MongoDB
2 10 (3.14%) DocumentDB
2 10 (3.14%) PostgreSQL
3 8 (2.52%) Relational Database
4 7 (2.20%) Power BI
5 6 (1.89%) MySQL
5 6 (1.89%) NoSQL
6 5 (1.57%) Looker
6 5 (1.57%) Metadata
7 4 (1.26%) BigQuery
7 4 (1.26%) RDBMS
7 4 (1.26%) Redis
7 4 (1.26%) SQL Server
7 4 (1.26%) Tableau
8 3 (0.94%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.94%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 2 (0.63%) Data Mining
9 2 (0.63%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.63%) DynamoDB
9 2 (0.63%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 36 (11.32%) GitLab
2 22 (6.92%) Git
3 19 (5.97%) JIRA
4 9 (2.83%) Jenkins
4 9 (2.83%) JUnit
5 8 (2.52%) Cypress.io
5 8 (2.52%) Mocha
5 8 (2.52%) Mockito
6 7 (2.20%) CircleCI
6 7 (2.20%) Postman
6 7 (2.20%) SonarQube
7 6 (1.89%) Cucumber
8 4 (1.26%) Selenium
9 2 (0.63%) Jasmine
9 2 (0.63%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.31%) Axure RP
10 1 (0.31%) Gatling
10 1 (0.31%) JDeveloper
10 1 (0.31%) MSI
10 1 (0.31%) Serenity BDD
General
1 67 (21.07%) Social Skills
2 34 (10.69%) Finance
3 24 (7.55%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (6.29%) Military
5 13 (4.09%) Local Government
6 11 (3.46%) Banking
7 7 (2.20%) Legal
7 7 (2.20%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (1.57%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.26%) Influencing Skills
10 3 (0.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 3 (0.94%) Manufacturing
10 3 (0.94%) Presentation Skills
11 2 (0.63%) Corporate Banking
11 2 (0.63%) Digital Economy
11 2 (0.63%) Telecoms
12 1 (0.31%) Electronics
12 1 (0.31%) General Ledger
12 1 (0.31%) Marketing
12 1 (0.31%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 88 (27.67%) Developer
2 40 (12.58%) Java Developer
2 40 (12.58%) Senior
3 32 (10.06%) Lead
4 31 (9.75%) Architect
5 27 (8.49%) Analyst
6 16 (5.03%) Full-Stack Developer
7 15 (4.72%) Senior Developer
7 15 (4.72%) Software Developer
7 15 (4.72%) Tester
8 14 (4.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 14 (4.40%) Lead Developer
9 13 (4.09%) Designer
10 11 (3.46%) Administrator
10 11 (3.46%) DevOps Engineer
10 11 (3.46%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 11 (3.46%) Senior Java Developer
10 11 (3.46%) Technical Architect
11 10 (3.14%) Business Analyst
11 10 (3.14%) Lead Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (11.95%) Spring
2 37 (11.64%) Spring Boot
3 35 (11.01%) Node.js
4 19 (5.97%) React
5 16 (5.03%) REST
6 13 (4.09%) Kafka
6 13 (4.09%) RESTful
7 12 (3.77%) Jest
7 12 (3.77%) Playwright
8 10 (3.14%) AngularJS
8 10 (3.14%) OAuth
9 9 (2.83%) HTML
10 8 (2.52%) CSS
10 8 (2.52%) JAX-RS
10 8 (2.52%) Spring MVC
11 7 (2.20%) ActiveMQ
11 7 (2.20%) Hibernate
12 5 (1.57%) JSON
12 5 (1.57%) OpenID
12 5 (1.57%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 21 (6.60%) Cloud Native
1 21 (6.60%) Product Ownership
2 18 (5.66%) Onboarding
3 9 (2.83%) Data Centre
3 9 (2.83%) Legacy Systems
4 7 (2.20%) Operational Technology
5 6 (1.89%) Enterprise Software
5 6 (1.89%) Management Information System
6 5 (1.57%) NHS
6 5 (1.57%) Public Cloud
7 4 (1.26%) Distributed Systems
7 4 (1.26%) Mobile App
7 4 (1.26%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (0.94%) Housing Association
8 3 (0.94%) Hybrid Cloud
8 3 (0.94%) Replication
9 2 (0.63%) BYOD
9 2 (0.63%) Cyber Threat
9 2 (0.63%) Private Cloud
9 2 (0.63%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 22 (6.92%) Linux
2 14 (4.40%) Windows
3 13 (4.09%) Unix
4 7 (2.20%) Mac OS X
5 5 (1.57%) Windows 10
6 4 (1.26%) Mac OS
7 3 (0.94%) AIX
7 3 (0.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.63%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.63%) Solaris
9 1 (0.31%) Android
9 1 (0.31%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (31.45%) Agile
2 64 (20.13%) CI/CD
3 62 (19.50%) DevOps
4 55 (17.30%) Microservices
5 49 (15.41%) Test Automation
6 42 (13.21%) Continuous Improvement
7 35 (11.01%) Problem-Solving
8 33 (10.38%) Migration
9 30 (9.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 30 (9.43%) Stakeholder Management
9 30 (9.43%) User Experience
10 25 (7.86%) Containerisation
11 24 (7.55%) TDD
12 23 (7.23%) Mentoring
12 23 (7.23%) Validation
13 22 (6.92%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 21 (6.60%) Change Management
14 21 (6.60%) Technical Leadership
15 20 (6.29%) Infrastructure as Code
15 20 (6.29%) User Research
Programming Languages
1 68 (21.38%) Java
2 35 (11.01%) JavaScript
3 23 (7.23%) TypeScript
4 19 (5.97%) Python
5 18 (5.66%) SQL
6 12 (3.77%) PowerShell
7 3 (0.94%) Ruby
8 2 (0.63%) C#
8 2 (0.63%) COBOL
8 2 (0.63%) Go
8 2 (0.63%) Kotlin
8 2 (0.63%) PL/SQL
8 2 (0.63%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.31%) Bash
9 1 (0.31%) Bicep
9 1 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.31%) ProC
9 1 (0.31%) Scala
9 1 (0.31%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 151 (47.48%) Security Cleared
2 74 (23.27%) SC Cleared
3 20 (6.29%) Degree
4 14 (4.40%) BPSS Clearance
5 6 (1.89%) Computer Science Degree
5 6 (1.89%) Microsoft Certification
6 5 (1.57%) Azure Certification
7 3 (0.94%) Cisco Certification
7 3 (0.94%) ITIL Certification
7 3 (0.94%) Master's Degree
8 2 (0.63%) AWS Certification
8 2 (0.63%) CCNA
8 2 (0.63%) CCNP
8 2 (0.63%) DV Cleared
8 2 (0.63%) ISTQB
8 2 (0.63%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 2 (0.63%) MBA
8 2 (0.63%) PMI Certification
8 2 (0.63%) PMP
9 1 (0.31%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (11.95%) Accessibility
2 14 (4.40%) Data Quality
2 14 (4.40%) WCAG
3 13 (4.09%) QA
4 7 (2.20%) GDPR
4 7 (2.20%) NIST
4 7 (2.20%) PMO
5 4 (1.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 4 (1.26%) SLA
6 3 (0.94%) IFRS
7 2 (0.63%) GRC
7 2 (0.63%) IFRS 17
7 2 (0.63%) PSD2
8 1 (0.31%) CRD IV
8 1 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.31%) FINREP
8 1 (0.31%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.31%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.31%) SEPA
8 1 (0.31%) SOC 2
System Software
1 35 (11.01%) Docker
2 22 (6.92%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.63%) Hyper-V
3 2 (0.63%) ISA Server
3 2 (0.63%) Virtual Desktop
3 2 (0.63%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.31%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.31%) GPFS
4 1 (0.31%) NFS
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.31%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 37 (11.64%) Terraform
2 35 (11.01%) Kubernetes
3 10 (3.14%) Ansible
4 6 (1.89%) Grafana
5 4 (1.26%) Microsoft Intune
5 4 (1.26%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.63%) SCCM
7 2 (0.63%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
8 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
8 1 (0.31%) Data Guard
8 1 (0.31%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.31%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Clustering
8 1 (0.31%) Nagios
8 1 (0.31%) Norton AntiVirus
8 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
8 1 (0.31%) Packer
8 1 (0.31%) vRealize
Vendors
1 52 (16.35%) Microsoft
2 19 (5.97%) Oracle
3 15 (4.72%) Google
4 10 (3.14%) Palo Alto
4 10 (3.14%) Virgin Media
5 8 (2.52%) SAP
5 8 (2.52%) ServiceNow
6 7 (2.20%) Cisco
7 6 (1.89%) Aruba
7 6 (1.89%) F5
8 5 (1.57%) Arista
8 5 (1.57%) PeopleSoft
9 4 (1.26%) IBM
9 4 (1.26%) Splunk
9 4 (1.26%) VMware
10 3 (0.94%) Adobe
10 3 (0.94%) Meraki
11 2 (0.63%) BeyondTrust
11 2 (0.63%) Blue Prism
11 2 (0.63%) CyberArk