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 7 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 9 9
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 -3
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 314 231 328
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 12.54% 11.02% 12.37%
As % of the General category 20.70% 18.97% 22.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 245 118 229
10th Percentile £308 £317 £350
25th Percentile £393 £419 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% -9.09% +10.00%
75th Percentile £538 £588 £670
90th Percentile £626 £700 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -0.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 10 18
10th Percentile £16.32 £15.10 £12.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £15.93 £14.13
Median hourly rate £41.86 £16.53 £16.44
Median % change year-on-year +153.24% +0.56% -17.83%
75th Percentile £50.52 £18.12 £20.69
90th Percentile £67.25 £29.55 £21.50
England median hourly rate £22.00 £22.27 £21.00
% change year-on-year -1.21% +6.05% +5.63%

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 1,517 1,218 1,441
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 60.61% 58.11% 54.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 985 659 937
10th Percentile £200 £250 £256
25th Percentile £350 £360 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +3.15%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £638 £675 £700
England median daily rate £500 £535 £550
% change year-on-year -6.54% -2.73% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 124 91 111
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.90 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £18.57 £16.25
Median hourly rate £29.60 £25.43 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +16.40% +15.59% +2.33%
75th Percentile £45.46 £37.00 £44.38
90th Percentile £67.84 £65.00 £52.78
England median hourly rate £23.58 £30.00 £33.00
% change year-on-year -21.42% -9.09% +28.11%

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 7 January 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 7 January 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 7 January 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 -2 197 £425 -15.00% 31
Cheshire +7 47 £435 -8.42% 9
Merseyside 0 30 £510 +10.27% 4
Cumbria +7 20 £539 +7.70%
Lancashire -15 10 £455 +40.00% 26
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 6 (1.91%) Confluence
2 4 (1.27%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.96%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.64%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.64%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.64%) CMS
4 2 (0.64%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.32%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.32%) SAS
Applications
1 25 (7.96%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.96%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.32%) Adobe Premiere
4 1 (0.32%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.32%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.32%) Quicktime
4 1 (0.32%) SPSS
4 1 (0.32%) Stata
4 1 (0.32%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (4.14%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (1.59%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.96%) iTrent
4 2 (0.64%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.32%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.32%) SAP EHS
5 1 (0.32%) SAP FI
5 1 (0.32%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.32%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.32%) SAP QM
5 1 (0.32%) SAP VC
5 1 (0.32%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 74 (23.57%) Azure
2 62 (19.75%) AWS
3 26 (8.28%) Power Platform
4 23 (7.32%) GCP
5 20 (6.37%) Microsoft 365
6 18 (5.73%) Serverless
7 16 (5.10%) Azure DevOps
8 15 (4.78%) GitHub
9 13 (4.14%) AWS Lambda
10 12 (3.82%) Amazon SQS
11 11 (3.50%) Google Tag Manager
12 10 (3.18%) Google Analytics
12 10 (3.18%) PowerApps
12 10 (3.18%) SaaS
13 9 (2.87%) Power Automate
14 8 (2.55%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (2.55%) Entra ID
15 7 (2.23%) Amazon ECS
15 7 (2.23%) GitHub Actions
16 5 (1.59%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 19 (6.05%) Firewall
2 11 (3.50%) WAN
3 9 (2.87%) DNS
4 8 (2.55%) Wi-Fi
5 7 (2.23%) LAN
5 7 (2.23%) VPN
5 7 (2.23%) Wireless
6 5 (1.59%) Cisco ISE
6 5 (1.59%) DHCP
6 5 (1.59%) TCP/IP
7 4 (1.27%) MPLS
7 4 (1.27%) NetScaler
7 4 (1.27%) VLAN
8 3 (0.96%) BGP
8 3 (0.96%) Network Security
8 3 (0.96%) SAN
8 3 (0.96%) SNMP
9 2 (0.64%) Internet
9 2 (0.64%) OSPF
9 2 (0.64%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (5.41%) Power BI
2 14 (4.46%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (3.50%) BigQuery
3 11 (3.50%) Looker
3 11 (3.50%) Redis
4 10 (3.18%) MongoDB
5 9 (2.87%) MySQL
6 8 (2.55%) Relational Database
7 6 (1.91%) Data Warehouse
8 5 (1.59%) DocumentDB
8 5 (1.59%) DynamoDB
8 5 (1.59%) Metadata
8 5 (1.59%) NoSQL
9 4 (1.27%) RDBMS
10 3 (0.96%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.96%) Big Data
10 3 (0.96%) SQL Server
11 2 (0.64%) Amazon Aurora
11 2 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.64%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 24 (7.64%) GitLab
2 21 (6.69%) Git
3 12 (3.82%) JIRA
4 11 (3.50%) Postman
5 9 (2.87%) Jenkins
6 8 (2.55%) JUnit
6 8 (2.55%) SonarQube
7 7 (2.23%) Cypress.io
8 6 (1.91%) Cucumber
9 5 (1.59%) Selenium
10 4 (1.27%) CircleCI
10 4 (1.27%) Mockito
11 3 (0.96%) Mocha
12 2 (0.64%) Gradle
12 2 (0.64%) Jasmine
12 2 (0.64%) Maven
12 2 (0.64%) MSI
12 2 (0.64%) SonarLint
13 1 (0.32%) MLflow
13 1 (0.32%) REST Assured
General
1 75 (23.89%) Social Skills
2 37 (11.78%) Finance
3 17 (5.41%) Analytical Skills
3 17 (5.41%) Military
4 14 (4.46%) Manufacturing
5 13 (4.14%) Telecoms
6 11 (3.50%) Local Government
6 11 (3.50%) Marketing
7 10 (3.18%) Electronics
8 9 (2.87%) Influencing Skills
9 8 (2.55%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 5 (1.59%) Banking
12 4 (1.27%) Legal
12 4 (1.27%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
14 2 (0.64%) Law
15 1 (0.32%) Digital Health
15 1 (0.32%) Digital Healthcare
Job Titles
1 57 (18.15%) Developer
2 44 (14.01%) Analyst
3 34 (10.83%) Architect
4 33 (10.51%) Senior
5 25 (7.96%) Java Developer
6 18 (5.73%) Lead
7 15 (4.78%) Business Analyst
7 15 (4.78%) Consultant
8 14 (4.46%) DevOps Engineer
9 12 (3.82%) Technical Architect
10 11 (3.50%) AWS Engineer
10 11 (3.50%) Full-Stack Developer
10 11 (3.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 11 (3.50%) Test Engineer
11 9 (2.87%) Designer
11 9 (2.87%) Senior Developer
12 8 (2.55%) Data Architect
12 8 (2.55%) Project Manager
12 8 (2.55%) Senior Java Developer
13 7 (2.23%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (9.87%) Spring Boot
2 27 (8.60%) Spring
3 21 (6.69%) Node.js
4 16 (5.10%) JSON
4 16 (5.10%) RESTful
5 15 (4.78%) React
6 13 (4.14%) HTML
7 10 (3.18%) Playwright
7 10 (3.18%) REST
8 9 (2.87%) AngularJS
8 9 (2.87%) Kafka
9 8 (2.55%) Jest
10 6 (1.91%) CSS
10 6 (1.91%) Spring MVC
10 6 (1.91%) Spring Security
11 5 (1.59%) Hibernate
11 5 (1.59%) HTML5 Canvas
11 5 (1.59%) JAX-RS
11 5 (1.59%) XML
12 4 (1.27%) Thymeleaf
Miscellaneous
1 27 (8.60%) Onboarding
2 16 (5.10%) Data Centre
3 14 (4.46%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.87%) Cloud Native
5 7 (2.23%) NHS
6 6 (1.91%) Distributed Systems
6 6 (1.91%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.59%) Low-Code
7 5 (1.59%) Operational Technology
8 4 (1.27%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (1.27%) Hybrid Cloud
8 4 (1.27%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.27%) Public Cloud
9 3 (0.96%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (0.96%) N-Tier
10 2 (0.64%) Clustering
10 2 (0.64%) Data Structures
10 2 (0.64%) Fibre Optics
10 2 (0.64%) Taxonomies
11 1 (0.32%) Digital Wallet
Operating Systems
1 20 (6.37%) Windows
2 14 (4.46%) Linux
3 9 (2.87%) Mac OS
4 8 (2.55%) Android
5 7 (2.23%) Windows 10
6 6 (1.91%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.64%) Unix
8 2 (0.64%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.32%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (20.70%) Agile
2 49 (15.61%) DevOps
3 46 (14.65%) CI/CD
4 37 (11.78%) Microservices
5 34 (10.83%) Problem-Solving
6 33 (10.51%) Stakeholder Management
6 33 (10.51%) User Experience
7 32 (10.19%) Continuous Improvement
8 30 (9.55%) Test Automation
9 29 (9.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 26 (8.28%) Containerisation
11 25 (7.96%) Business Intelligence
11 25 (7.96%) Change Management
12 24 (7.64%) Validation
13 23 (7.32%) Analytics
13 23 (7.32%) User Research
14 18 (5.73%) Full-Stack Development
14 18 (5.73%) Migration
15 17 (5.41%) Infrastructure as Code
15 17 (5.41%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 52 (16.56%) Java
2 30 (9.55%) Python
3 21 (6.69%) JavaScript
4 18 (5.73%) SQL
5 13 (4.14%) TypeScript
6 11 (3.50%) PowerShell
7 7 (2.23%) Bash
8 4 (1.27%) C#
8 4 (1.27%) Go
8 4 (1.27%) Perl
9 3 (0.96%) ABAP
9 3 (0.96%) C++
9 3 (0.96%) Kusto Query Language
9 3 (0.96%) Ruby
9 3 (0.96%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.64%) C
10 2 (0.64%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.64%) VB
10 2 (0.64%) VBScript
11 1 (0.32%) ProC
Qualifications
1 170 (54.14%) Security Cleared
2 97 (30.89%) SC Cleared
3 18 (5.73%) BPSS Clearance
4 12 (3.82%) Degree
5 6 (1.91%) Computer Science Degree
6 4 (1.27%) Azure Certification
6 4 (1.27%) DV Cleared
6 4 (1.27%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (0.96%) ISTQB
8 2 (0.64%) AWS Certification
8 2 (0.64%) CCNP
8 2 (0.64%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (0.64%) CISM
8 2 (0.64%) CISSP
9 1 (0.32%) APMG
9 1 (0.32%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
9 1 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 1 (0.32%) CCDP
9 1 (0.32%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 1 (0.32%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (12.42%) Accessibility
2 16 (5.10%) Data Quality
3 14 (4.46%) QA
4 11 (3.50%) WCAG
5 9 (2.87%) NIST
6 4 (1.27%) PMO
6 4 (1.27%) SLA
7 3 (0.96%) IFRS
7 3 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.64%) GDPR
8 2 (0.64%) IEC 61508
8 2 (0.64%) IFRS 17
8 2 (0.64%) ISO 26262
8 2 (0.64%) PSD2
9 1 (0.32%) COBIT
9 1 (0.32%) IEC 62304
9 1 (0.32%) ISO 20022
9 1 (0.32%) NCSC
9 1 (0.32%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 34 (10.83%) Docker
2 9 (2.87%) Active Directory
3 5 (1.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.96%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.64%) BitLocker
5 2 (0.64%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.64%) ISA Server
6 1 (0.32%) UAG
6 1 (0.32%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 31 (9.87%) Kubernetes
2 30 (9.55%) Terraform
3 7 (2.23%) Microsoft Intune
3 7 (2.23%) SCCM
4 4 (1.27%) Ansible
5 3 (0.96%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (0.96%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.64%) Cisco CUCM
6 2 (0.64%) Microsoft Clustering
6 2 (0.64%) Packer
6 2 (0.64%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 1 (0.32%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.32%) Cisco Prime
7 1 (0.32%) Failover Clustering
7 1 (0.32%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.32%) Grafana
7 1 (0.32%) Nagios
7 1 (0.32%) Nessus
7 1 (0.32%) SELinux
7 1 (0.32%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 48 (15.29%) Microsoft
2 29 (9.24%) SAP
3 19 (6.05%) Oracle
4 18 (5.73%) Cisco
5 17 (5.41%) Google
6 16 (5.10%) Virgin Media
7 10 (3.18%) ServiceNow
8 9 (2.87%) Palo Alto
9 8 (2.55%) Apple
10 7 (2.23%) Meraki
10 7 (2.23%) VMware
11 6 (1.91%) Adobe
11 6 (1.91%) Dell
12 5 (1.59%) HP
12 5 (1.59%) Splunk
13 4 (1.27%) Dynatrace
13 4 (1.27%) Red Hat
14 3 (0.96%) F5
14 3 (0.96%) LogRhythm
14 3 (0.96%) Workday