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 25 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 10 9 10
Rank change year-on-year -1 +1 -5
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 317 233 341
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 12.53% 10.81% 12.88%
As % of the General category 20.66% 18.61% 23.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 245 117 240
10th Percentile £301 £316 £360
25th Percentile £385 £419 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £575
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% -13.04% +15.00%
75th Percentile £548 £600 £704
90th Percentile £633 £700 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% +1.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 11 16
10th Percentile £16.43 £15.49 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.38 £15.95 £14.38
Median hourly rate £41.86 £16.50 £16.68
Median % change year-on-year +153.67% -1.05% -16.37%
75th Percentile £44.94 £18.11 £21.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £29.50 £21.50
England median hourly rate £21.72 £22.27 £21.31
% change year-on-year -2.48% +4.50% +7.25%

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 1,534 1,252 1,468
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 60.66% 58.10% 55.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 987 678 959
10th Percentile £200 £250 £263
25th Percentile £356 £360 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +3.12%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £644 £677 £709
England median daily rate £500 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -6.98% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 132 97 116
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.96 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £18.13 £16.77
Median hourly rate £29.60 £27.13 £23.83
Median % change year-on-year +9.12% +13.83% +19.15%
75th Percentile £45.46 £44.50 £45.88
90th Percentile £67.78 £66.00 £58.75
England median hourly rate £23.50 £30.00 £34.50
% change year-on-year -21.67% -13.04% +34.69%

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 25 December 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 25 December 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 25 December 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 0 203 £425 -15.00% 89
Cheshire +3 45 £425 -10.53% 49
Merseyside +2 28 £535 +15.68% 25
Cumbria +4 20 £539 +7.70%
Lancashire -11 10 £455 +40.00% 45
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 (1.89%) Confluence
2 4 (1.26%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.95%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.63%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.63%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.63%) CMS
4 2 (0.63%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.32%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.32%) SAS
Applications
1 25 (7.89%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.63%) 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 (4.10%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (1.58%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.95%) iTrent
4 1 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.32%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.32%) SAP EHS
4 1 (0.32%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.32%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.32%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.32%) SAP PSCD
4 1 (0.32%) SAP QM
4 1 (0.32%) SAP VC
4 1 (0.32%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 74 (23.34%) Azure
2 64 (20.19%) AWS
3 26 (8.20%) Power Platform
4 23 (7.26%) GCP
5 20 (6.31%) Microsoft 365
6 18 (5.68%) Serverless
7 16 (5.05%) Azure DevOps
8 15 (4.73%) GitHub
9 13 (4.10%) AWS Lambda
10 12 (3.79%) Amazon SQS
10 12 (3.79%) SaaS
11 11 (3.47%) Google Tag Manager
12 10 (3.15%) Google Analytics
12 10 (3.15%) PowerApps
13 9 (2.84%) Power Automate
14 8 (2.52%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (2.52%) Entra ID
15 7 (2.21%) Amazon ECS
15 7 (2.21%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (2.21%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 20 (6.31%) Firewall
2 11 (3.47%) WAN
3 10 (3.15%) DNS
4 8 (2.52%) Wi-Fi
5 7 (2.21%) LAN
5 7 (2.21%) VPN
5 7 (2.21%) Wireless
6 6 (1.89%) DHCP
6 6 (1.89%) TCP/IP
7 5 (1.58%) Cisco ISE
8 4 (1.26%) MPLS
8 4 (1.26%) NetScaler
8 4 (1.26%) VLAN
9 3 (0.95%) BGP
9 3 (0.95%) Network Security
9 3 (0.95%) SAN
9 3 (0.95%) SNMP
10 2 (0.63%) DMZ
10 2 (0.63%) Internet
10 2 (0.63%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (5.36%) Power BI
2 14 (4.42%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (3.47%) BigQuery
3 11 (3.47%) Looker
3 11 (3.47%) Redis
4 10 (3.15%) MongoDB
5 9 (2.84%) MySQL
6 8 (2.52%) Relational Database
7 6 (1.89%) Data Warehouse
8 5 (1.58%) DocumentDB
8 5 (1.58%) DynamoDB
8 5 (1.58%) Metadata
8 5 (1.58%) NoSQL
9 4 (1.26%) RDBMS
10 3 (0.95%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.95%) Big Data
10 3 (0.95%) SQL Server
11 2 (0.63%) Amazon Aurora
11 2 (0.63%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.63%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 25 (7.89%) GitLab
2 22 (6.94%) Git
3 12 (3.79%) JIRA
4 11 (3.47%) Postman
5 9 (2.84%) Jenkins
6 8 (2.52%) JUnit
6 8 (2.52%) SonarQube
7 7 (2.21%) Cypress.io
8 6 (1.89%) Cucumber
9 5 (1.58%) Selenium
10 4 (1.26%) CircleCI
10 4 (1.26%) Mockito
11 3 (0.95%) Mocha
12 2 (0.63%) Gradle
12 2 (0.63%) Jasmine
12 2 (0.63%) Maven
12 2 (0.63%) MSI
12 2 (0.63%) SonarLint
13 1 (0.32%) MLflow
13 1 (0.32%) REST Assured
General
1 71 (22.40%) Social Skills
2 35 (11.04%) Finance
3 18 (5.68%) Military
4 17 (5.36%) Analytical Skills
5 14 (4.42%) Telecoms
6 13 (4.10%) Manufacturing
7 12 (3.79%) Local Government
8 11 (3.47%) Marketing
9 10 (3.15%) Electronics
10 9 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (2.84%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (1.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (1.26%) Banking
12 4 (1.26%) Legal
12 4 (1.26%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.95%) Organisational Skills
14 2 (0.63%) Law
15 1 (0.32%) Digital Health
15 1 (0.32%) Digital Healthcare
Job Titles
1 58 (18.30%) Developer
2 46 (14.51%) Analyst
3 33 (10.41%) Architect
4 32 (10.09%) Senior
5 25 (7.89%) Java Developer
6 19 (5.99%) Lead
7 16 (5.05%) Consultant
8 15 (4.73%) Business Analyst
9 14 (4.42%) DevOps Engineer
10 13 (4.10%) AWS Engineer
11 12 (3.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 12 (3.79%) Technical Architect
12 11 (3.47%) Full-Stack Developer
12 11 (3.47%) Test Engineer
13 9 (2.84%) Senior Developer
14 8 (2.52%) Data Architect
14 8 (2.52%) Designer
14 8 (2.52%) Network Engineer
14 8 (2.52%) Senior Java Developer
15 7 (2.21%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (9.78%) Spring Boot
2 27 (8.52%) Spring
3 22 (6.94%) Node.js
4 16 (5.05%) JSON
4 16 (5.05%) RESTful
5 15 (4.73%) React
6 12 (3.79%) HTML
7 10 (3.15%) Playwright
7 10 (3.15%) REST
8 9 (2.84%) AngularJS
8 9 (2.84%) Kafka
9 8 (2.52%) Jest
10 6 (1.89%) Spring MVC
10 6 (1.89%) Spring Security
11 5 (1.58%) CSS
11 5 (1.58%) Hibernate
11 5 (1.58%) HTML5 Canvas
11 5 (1.58%) JAX-RS
11 5 (1.58%) XML
12 4 (1.26%) Thymeleaf
Miscellaneous
1 27 (8.52%) Onboarding
2 16 (5.05%) Data Centre
3 13 (4.10%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.84%) Cloud Native
5 7 (2.21%) Hybrid Cloud
5 7 (2.21%) NHS
6 6 (1.89%) Distributed Systems
7 5 (1.58%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.58%) Low-Code
7 5 (1.58%) Public Cloud
8 4 (1.26%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (1.26%) Operational Technology
9 3 (0.95%) Data Structures
9 3 (0.95%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.95%) N-Tier
10 2 (0.63%) Clustering
10 2 (0.63%) Driving Licence
10 2 (0.63%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.63%) Fibre Optics
10 2 (0.63%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 20 (6.31%) Windows
2 14 (4.42%) Linux
3 9 (2.84%) Mac OS
4 8 (2.52%) Android
5 7 (2.21%) Windows 10
6 6 (1.89%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.63%) Unix
8 2 (0.63%) 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 64 (20.19%) Agile
2 49 (15.46%) DevOps
3 47 (14.83%) CI/CD
4 37 (11.67%) Microservices
5 34 (10.73%) Problem-Solving
5 34 (10.73%) User Experience
6 33 (10.41%) Continuous Improvement
7 30 (9.46%) Stakeholder Management
8 29 (9.15%) Test Automation
9 27 (8.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 26 (8.20%) Containerisation
11 25 (7.89%) Business Intelligence
12 23 (7.26%) Analytics
12 23 (7.26%) User Research
13 22 (6.94%) Change Management
14 21 (6.62%) Validation
15 19 (5.99%) Infrastructure as Code
16 18 (5.68%) Full-Stack Development
17 17 (5.36%) Migration
17 17 (5.36%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 52 (16.40%) Java
2 31 (9.78%) Python
3 20 (6.31%) JavaScript
4 18 (5.68%) SQL
5 14 (4.42%) TypeScript
6 11 (3.47%) PowerShell
7 7 (2.21%) Bash
8 5 (1.58%) Go
8 5 (1.58%) Perl
9 4 (1.26%) C#
9 4 (1.26%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.95%) ABAP
10 3 (0.95%) C++
10 3 (0.95%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.95%) Ruby
11 2 (0.63%) C
11 2 (0.63%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.63%) VB
11 2 (0.63%) VBScript
12 1 (0.32%) ProC
Qualifications
1 171 (53.94%) Security Cleared
2 100 (31.55%) SC Cleared
3 19 (5.99%) BPSS Clearance
4 12 (3.79%) Degree
5 6 (1.89%) Computer Science Degree
6 4 (1.26%) Azure Certification
6 4 (1.26%) DV Cleared
6 4 (1.26%) ISTQB
6 4 (1.26%) Microsoft Certification
7 2 (0.63%) AWS Certification
7 2 (0.63%) CCNP
7 2 (0.63%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (0.63%) CISM
7 2 (0.63%) CISSP
8 1 (0.32%) APMG
8 1 (0.32%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
8 1 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 1 (0.32%) CCDP
8 1 (0.32%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
8 1 (0.32%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (11.99%) Accessibility
2 15 (4.73%) Data Quality
3 13 (4.10%) QA
4 10 (3.15%) WCAG
5 8 (2.52%) NIST
6 3 (0.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (0.95%) PMO
6 3 (0.95%) SLA
7 2 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.63%) GDPR
7 2 (0.63%) IEC 61508
7 2 (0.63%) ISO 26262
7 2 (0.63%) PSD2
8 1 (0.32%) CRD IV
8 1 (0.32%) FINREP
8 1 (0.32%) IEC 62304
8 1 (0.32%) IFRS
8 1 (0.32%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.32%) NCSC
8 1 (0.32%) SEPA
System Software
1 34 (10.73%) Docker
2 9 (2.84%) Active Directory
3 6 (1.89%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.95%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.63%) BitLocker
5 2 (0.63%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.63%) ISA Server
5 2 (0.63%) UAG
6 1 (0.32%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 32 (10.09%) Terraform
2 31 (9.78%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.52%) Microsoft Intune
4 7 (2.21%) SCCM
5 5 (1.58%) Ansible
6 3 (0.95%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 3 (0.95%) Packer
6 3 (0.95%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.63%) Cisco CUCM
7 2 (0.63%) Microsoft Clustering
7 2 (0.63%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
8 1 (0.32%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.32%) Cisco Prime
8 1 (0.32%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.32%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.32%) Grafana
8 1 (0.32%) Nagios
8 1 (0.32%) Nessus
8 1 (0.32%) SELinux
8 1 (0.32%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 50 (15.77%) Microsoft
2 29 (9.15%) SAP
3 19 (5.99%) Google
3 19 (5.99%) Oracle
4 18 (5.68%) Cisco
5 16 (5.05%) Virgin Media
6 10 (3.15%) ServiceNow
7 9 (2.84%) Palo Alto
8 8 (2.52%) Apple
8 8 (2.52%) VMware
9 7 (2.21%) Meraki
10 6 (1.89%) Adobe
10 6 (1.89%) Dell
11 5 (1.58%) HP
11 5 (1.58%) Splunk
12 4 (1.26%) Dynatrace
12 4 (1.26%) Red Hat
13 3 (0.95%) F5
13 3 (0.95%) LogRhythm
13 3 (0.95%) Workday