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 12 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 13 12
Rank change year-on-year -12 -1 -3
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 265 236 245
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 6.66% 10.75% 10.09%
As % of the General category 13.03% 17.29% 17.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 155 172 128
10th Percentile £363 £215 £327
25th Percentile £423 £391 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £570 £450 £490
Median % change year-on-year +26.67% -8.21% -6.62%
75th Percentile £650 £550 £591
90th Percentile £750 £643 £684
England median daily rate £525 £500 £515
% change year-on-year +5.00% -2.91% -6.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 8 10
10th Percentile £13.25 £16.11 £15.95
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £16.70
Median hourly rate £25.49 £20.07 £18.62
Median % change year-on-year +27.01% +7.77% -1.99%
75th Percentile £72.66 £32.95 £29.88
90th Percentile £85.00 £67.25 £36.40
England median hourly rate £21.35 £22.03 £23.99
% change year-on-year -3.09% -8.17% +12.58%

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 2,033 1,365 1,406
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 51.11% 62.16% 57.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,126 891 772
10th Percentile £263 £255 £268
25th Percentile £400 £375 £382
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £479
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -6.05% -4.20%
75th Percentile £600 £553 £575
90th Percentile £688 £688 £668
England median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 273 112 86
10th Percentile £14.06 £12.84 £16.00
25th Percentile £21.00 £15.50 £18.32
Median hourly rate £35.50 £25.94 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +36.87% -25.89% +55.45%
75th Percentile £64.09 £47.84 £46.18
90th Percentile £80.00 £65.23 £63.75
England median hourly rate £29.00 £25.08 £35.00
% change year-on-year +15.65% -28.36% +16.67%

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 12 October 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 12 October 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 12 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 -13 179 £563 +28.57% 208
Cheshire -7 25 £510 +16.91% 6
Merseyside -8 23 £525 +2.94% 16
Lancashire -8 22 £575 +26.37% 29
Cumbria -29 10 £376 -30.69%
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 14 (5.28%) SharePoint
2 9 (3.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (1.89%) Confluence
3 5 (1.89%) SAS
4 4 (1.51%) SharePoint 2013
5 3 (1.13%) Apache
5 3 (1.13%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (1.13%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.75%) Oracle Workflow
6 2 (0.75%) WordPress
7 1 (0.38%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.38%) nginx
7 1 (0.38%) Skype for Business
7 1 (0.38%) Traefik
Applications
1 1 (0.38%) AutoCAD
1 1 (0.38%) Microsoft Office
1 1 (0.38%) Navisworks
1 1 (0.38%) ProjectWise
1 1 (0.38%) Revit
1 1 (0.38%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 3 (1.13%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.75%) Oracle Cash Management
2 2 (0.75%) Oracle Payables
2 2 (0.75%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 1 (0.38%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.38%) Integrated Workplace Management System
3 1 (0.38%) Primavera
3 1 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 60 (22.64%) AWS
2 43 (16.23%) Azure
3 24 (9.06%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (6.79%) SaaS
5 13 (4.91%) OCI
6 11 (4.15%) Google Workspace
7 9 (3.40%) GCP
7 9 (3.40%) GitHub
7 9 (3.40%) Power Platform
8 8 (3.02%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (3.02%) Serverless
9 7 (2.64%) Google Drive
10 6 (2.26%) Amazon S3
10 6 (2.26%) AWS KMS
10 6 (2.26%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (1.89%) Amazon EC2
11 5 (1.89%) Amazon ECS
11 5 (1.89%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (1.51%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 4 (1.51%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 11 (4.15%) Firewall
2 10 (3.77%) Wi-Fi
3 9 (3.40%) BGP
3 9 (3.40%) OSPF
4 8 (3.02%) SD-WAN
4 8 (3.02%) WAN
5 7 (2.64%) BIG-IP
5 7 (2.64%) Ethernet VPN
5 7 (2.64%) VXLAN
6 6 (2.26%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 6 (2.26%) WLAN
7 4 (1.51%) DNS
8 3 (1.13%) Cisco ASA
8 3 (1.13%) Cisco Firepower
8 3 (1.13%) DKIM
8 3 (1.13%) DMARC
8 3 (1.13%) EIGRP
8 3 (1.13%) HSRP
8 3 (1.13%) IPsec
9 2 (0.75%) LAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (3.40%) Relational Database
2 8 (3.02%) MongoDB
3 7 (2.64%) Oracle Database
3 7 (2.64%) Power BI
4 6 (2.26%) RDBMS
5 4 (1.51%) Data Warehouse
5 4 (1.51%) Metadata
5 4 (1.51%) Oracle Exadata
5 4 (1.51%) PowerCenter
6 2 (0.75%) Amazon QuickSight
6 2 (0.75%) DocumentDB
6 2 (0.75%) EDMS
6 2 (0.75%) Oracle BI Publisher
6 2 (0.75%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.38%) Amazon Athena
7 1 (0.38%) Amazon RDS
7 1 (0.38%) Amazon Redshift
7 1 (0.38%) Big Data
7 1 (0.38%) SAS Enterprise Guide
7 1 (0.38%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 19 (7.17%) GitLab
2 13 (4.91%) Cucumber
3 12 (4.53%) Selenium
4 11 (4.15%) JIRA
5 9 (3.40%) Jenkins
6 7 (2.64%) Git
6 7 (2.64%) REST Assured
7 5 (1.89%) JUnit
8 3 (1.13%) Cypress.io
8 3 (1.13%) Gatling
8 3 (1.13%) Maven
8 3 (1.13%) Mockito
8 3 (1.13%) TestNG
9 2 (0.75%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.75%) Sonatype Nexus
9 2 (0.75%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.38%) Gradle
10 1 (0.38%) JMeter
10 1 (0.38%) MSI
10 1 (0.38%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 68 (25.66%) Social Skills
2 43 (16.23%) Military
3 22 (8.30%) Finance
4 17 (6.42%) Analytical Skills
5 11 (4.15%) Local Government
6 8 (3.02%) Influencing Skills
7 6 (2.26%) Legal
7 6 (2.26%) Presentation Skills
8 5 (1.89%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (1.89%) Police
9 3 (1.13%) Marketing
10 2 (0.75%) Documentation Skills
10 2 (0.75%) General Ledger
11 1 (0.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.38%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 44 (16.60%) Lead
2 39 (14.72%) Senior
3 37 (13.96%) Architect
4 31 (11.70%) Developer
5 16 (6.04%) Analyst
6 15 (5.66%) Consultant
6 15 (5.66%) Security Architect
7 14 (5.28%) Administrator
7 14 (5.28%) Solutions Architect
7 14 (5.28%) Test Engineer
8 12 (4.53%) Java Developer
9 11 (4.15%) Designer
9 11 (4.15%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 10 (3.77%) Business Analyst
11 8 (3.02%) Content Designer
11 8 (3.02%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 7 (2.64%) Product Manager
12 7 (2.64%) Software Engineer
12 7 (2.64%) Technical Architect
13 6 (2.26%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (10.19%) Terraform
2 15 (5.66%) Node.js
3 12 (4.53%) REST
4 10 (3.77%) Spring Boot
5 9 (3.40%) Kafka
6 8 (3.02%) Spring
7 7 (2.64%) OAuth
8 6 (2.26%) RESTful
9 5 (1.89%) Playwright
10 4 (1.51%) AWS CDK
10 4 (1.51%) Django
10 4 (1.51%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (1.51%) Oracle GoldenGate
11 3 (1.13%) ADO
11 3 (1.13%) Middleware
11 3 (1.13%) PySpark
12 2 (0.75%) CSS
12 2 (0.75%) GraphQL
12 2 (0.75%) Web Services
12 2 (0.75%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (7.17%) Cloud Native
2 11 (4.15%) Management Information System
3 9 (3.40%) Legacy Systems
3 9 (3.40%) Product Ownership
4 8 (3.02%) Data Centre
5 7 (2.64%) Hybrid Cloud
6 6 (2.26%) NHS
6 6 (2.26%) Onboarding
7 5 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (1.89%) Taxonomies
8 4 (1.51%) Public Cloud
9 3 (1.13%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (1.13%) Freedom of Information
9 3 (1.13%) Replication
10 2 (0.75%) CSOC
10 2 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
10 2 (0.75%) Distributed Systems
10 2 (0.75%) Educational Technology
10 2 (0.75%) Operational Technology
10 2 (0.75%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 14 (5.28%) Linux
2 7 (2.64%) Unix
3 5 (1.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 5 (1.89%) Windows
4 4 (1.51%) AIX
5 2 (0.75%) CentOS
6 1 (0.38%) Android
6 1 (0.38%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.38%) macOS
6 1 (0.38%) Solaris
6 1 (0.38%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.38%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.38%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 60 (22.64%) Agile
2 57 (21.51%) Stakeholder Management
3 42 (15.85%) CI/CD
4 41 (15.47%) Continuous Improvement
5 39 (14.72%) DevOps
6 31 (11.70%) Migration
7 30 (11.32%) Test Automation
8 27 (10.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 26 (9.81%) Microservices
10 23 (8.68%) Cybersecurity
10 23 (8.68%) Infrastructure as Code
10 23 (8.68%) Risk Management
11 22 (8.30%) Mentoring
12 21 (7.92%) User Experience
13 20 (7.55%) Roadmaps
14 19 (7.17%) Decision-Making
14 19 (7.17%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 19 (7.17%) Technical Leadership
15 18 (6.79%) Architectural Patterns
15 18 (6.79%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 29 (10.94%) Java
2 23 (8.68%) Python
3 18 (6.79%) SQL
4 17 (6.42%) JavaScript
5 8 (3.02%) TypeScript
6 5 (1.89%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.51%) Bash
7 4 (1.51%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.75%) PHP
8 2 (0.75%) PL/SQL
9 1 (0.38%) Bicep
9 1 (0.38%) C#
9 1 (0.38%) Go
9 1 (0.38%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 129 (48.68%) Security Cleared
2 102 (38.49%) SC Cleared
3 17 (6.42%) BPSS Clearance
4 6 (2.26%) AWS Certification
5 3 (1.13%) Degree
6 2 (0.75%) Azure Certification
6 2 (0.75%) CISM
6 2 (0.75%) CISSP
6 2 (0.75%) DBS Check
6 2 (0.75%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (0.38%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
7 1 (0.38%) DV Cleared
7 1 (0.38%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.38%) Oracle Certification
7 1 (0.38%) PMI Certification
7 1 (0.38%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (12.83%) Accessibility
2 18 (6.79%) QA
3 9 (3.40%) Data Quality
3 9 (3.40%) PMO
3 9 (3.40%) WCAG
4 6 (2.26%) NCSC
5 4 (1.51%) GDPR
6 3 (1.13%) NIST
7 2 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.38%) ISO 19650
8 1 (0.38%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.38%) SLA
8 1 (0.38%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 17 (6.42%) Docker
2 10 (3.77%) Active Directory
3 5 (1.89%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.38%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.38%) Microsoft App-V
Systems Management
1 13 (4.91%) Ansible
2 12 (4.53%) Kubernetes
3 5 (1.89%) Data Guard
4 4 (1.51%) Oracle RMAN
5 3 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.75%) Grafana
6 2 (0.75%) Packer
6 2 (0.75%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.75%) SCCM
7 1 (0.38%) Argo
7 1 (0.38%) CASB
7 1 (0.38%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.38%) Consul
7 1 (0.38%) HAProxy
7 1 (0.38%) Istio
7 1 (0.38%) linkerd
7 1 (0.38%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.38%) Oracle ZFS
7 1 (0.38%) Rancher
7 1 (0.38%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 28 (10.57%) Microsoft
2 18 (6.79%) Oracle
3 12 (4.53%) Google
4 10 (3.77%) Palo Alto
5 7 (2.64%) Aruba
5 7 (2.64%) F5
6 6 (2.26%) Arista
6 6 (2.26%) Informatica
6 6 (2.26%) ServiceNow
7 5 (1.89%) Cisco
8 3 (1.13%) CheckPoint
9 2 (0.75%) Databricks
9 2 (0.75%) Salesforce
9 2 (0.75%) Splunk
9 2 (0.75%) Trend Micro
10 1 (0.38%) ESET
10 1 (0.38%) Okta
10 1 (0.38%) OpenAI
10 1 (0.38%) Tanium
10 1 (0.38%) Tenable