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 24 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -13 -1 -2
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 247 236 242
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 6.33% 10.90% 10.14%
As % of the General category 12.42% 17.87% 17.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 139 169 130
10th Percentile £363 £215 £328
25th Percentile £419 £385 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £450 £493
Median % change year-on-year +22.22% -8.72% -6.10%
75th Percentile £640 £563 £613
90th Percentile £734 £658 £688
England median daily rate £525 £500 £523
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.31% -3.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 8 10
10th Percentile £15.09 £16.11 £15.95
25th Percentile £24.72 £17.30 £16.70
Median hourly rate £25.49 £20.07 £18.62
Median % change year-on-year +27.01% +7.77% +10.52%
75th Percentile £71.16 £32.95 £29.88
90th Percentile £85.00 £67.25 £36.40
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.75 £23.99
% change year-on-year -1.84% -9.34% +14.24%

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 1,988 1,321 1,353
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 50.96% 60.99% 56.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,112 854 753
10th Percentile £231 £271 £276
25th Percentile £400 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £458 £493
Median % change year-on-year +9.29% -7.20% -1.40%
75th Percentile £594 £575 £576
90th Percentile £680 £685 £675
England median daily rate £525 £500 £538
% change year-on-year +5.00% -6.98% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 261 108 79
10th Percentile £14.35 £12.82 £15.98
25th Percentile £23.13 £15.25 £18.00
Median hourly rate £35.50 £22.63 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.87% -35.34% +57.30%
75th Percentile £63.75 £45.26 £46.84
90th Percentile £80.00 £65.68 £62.50
England median hourly rate £30.66 £25.15 £38.85
% change year-on-year +21.89% -35.26% +41.27%

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 24 September 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 24 September 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 24 September 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 -14 165 £550 +22.22% 295
Cheshire -9 25 £511 +16.69% 9
Merseyside -15 23 £525 +2.94% 33
Lancashire -9 19 £575 +26.37% 35
Cumbria -32 9 £334 -38.53%
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 (5.67%) SharePoint
2 9 (3.64%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (2.43%) Confluence
4 4 (1.62%) SharePoint 2013
5 3 (1.21%) Apache
5 3 (1.21%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (1.21%) Apache Spark
5 3 (1.21%) SAS
6 2 (0.81%) Oracle Workflow
6 2 (0.81%) WordPress
7 1 (0.40%) CMS
7 1 (0.40%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.40%) nginx
7 1 (0.40%) Skype for Business
7 1 (0.40%) Traefik
Applications
1 1 (0.40%) AutoCAD
1 1 (0.40%) Chatbot
1 1 (0.40%) Microsoft Office
1 1 (0.40%) Navisworks
1 1 (0.40%) ProjectWise
1 1 (0.40%) Revit
1 1 (0.40%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 3 (1.21%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.81%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.81%) Oracle Cash Management
2 2 (0.81%) Oracle Payables
2 2 (0.81%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
2 2 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.40%) Integrated Workplace Management System
3 1 (0.40%) Primavera
3 1 (0.40%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.40%) SAP ERP
Cloud Services
1 55 (22.27%) AWS
2 49 (19.84%) Azure
3 26 (10.53%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (7.29%) SaaS
5 13 (5.26%) OCI
6 11 (4.45%) Google Workspace
7 10 (4.05%) Serverless
8 9 (3.64%) GCP
9 8 (3.24%) Power Platform
10 7 (2.83%) GitHub
10 7 (2.83%) Google Drive
10 7 (2.83%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (2.02%) Dynamics 365
11 5 (2.02%) Entra ID
11 5 (2.02%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (1.62%) Amazon EC2
12 4 (1.62%) Amazon S3
12 4 (1.62%) Azure Data Factory
12 4 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
13 3 (1.21%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 12 (4.86%) Firewall
2 10 (4.05%) BGP
2 10 (4.05%) OSPF
2 10 (4.05%) Wi-Fi
3 8 (3.24%) BIG-IP
3 8 (3.24%) Ethernet VPN
3 8 (3.24%) SD-WAN
3 8 (3.24%) VXLAN
3 8 (3.24%) WAN
4 7 (2.83%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 6 (2.43%) WLAN
6 4 (1.62%) DNS
7 3 (1.21%) Cisco ASA
7 3 (1.21%) Cisco Firepower
7 3 (1.21%) DKIM
7 3 (1.21%) DMARC
7 3 (1.21%) EIGRP
7 3 (1.21%) HSRP
7 3 (1.21%) IPsec
8 2 (0.81%) LAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (3.64%) Relational Database
2 8 (3.24%) MongoDB
3 7 (2.83%) Oracle Database
4 6 (2.43%) RDBMS
5 5 (2.02%) Power BI
6 4 (1.62%) Metadata
6 4 (1.62%) Oracle Exadata
7 2 (0.81%) Amazon QuickSight
7 2 (0.81%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.81%) DocumentDB
7 2 (0.81%) EDMS
7 2 (0.81%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 2 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
7 2 (0.81%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.40%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.40%) Big Data
8 1 (0.40%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.40%) PowerCenter
8 1 (0.40%) SAS Enterprise Guide
8 1 (0.40%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 18 (7.29%) GitLab
2 12 (4.86%) Cucumber
3 11 (4.45%) JIRA
3 11 (4.45%) Selenium
4 7 (2.83%) Git
4 7 (2.83%) Jenkins
4 7 (2.83%) REST Assured
5 4 (1.62%) JUnit
5 4 (1.62%) Mockito
6 3 (1.21%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.81%) Gatling
7 2 (0.81%) JDeveloper
7 2 (0.81%) Maven
7 2 (0.81%) Postman
7 2 (0.81%) TestNG
7 2 (0.81%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.40%) JMeter
8 1 (0.40%) MSI
8 1 (0.40%) Serenity BDD
8 1 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 59 (23.89%) Social Skills
2 43 (17.41%) Military
3 24 (9.72%) Finance
4 16 (6.48%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (4.86%) Local Government
6 5 (2.02%) Police
6 5 (2.02%) Presentation Skills
7 4 (1.62%) Legal
7 4 (1.62%) Organisational Skills
8 3 (1.21%) Marketing
9 2 (0.81%) General Ledger
9 2 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.40%) Documentation Skills
10 1 (0.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 49 (19.84%) Lead
2 39 (15.79%) Architect
3 36 (14.57%) Senior
4 32 (12.96%) Developer
5 14 (5.67%) Administrator
5 14 (5.67%) Analyst
5 14 (5.67%) Consultant
5 14 (5.67%) Security Architect
6 13 (5.26%) Solutions Architect
7 12 (4.86%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 11 (4.45%) Designer
8 11 (4.45%) Test Engineer
9 10 (4.05%) Business Analyst
9 10 (4.05%) Lead Developer
9 10 (4.05%) Technical Architect
10 9 (3.64%) Java Developer
10 9 (3.64%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 8 (3.24%) Content Designer
11 8 (3.24%) Lead Architect
12 7 (2.83%) Product Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (10.93%) Terraform
2 18 (7.29%) Node.js
3 13 (5.26%) REST
4 10 (4.05%) Spring
4 10 (4.05%) Spring Boot
5 9 (3.64%) Kafka
5 9 (3.64%) OAuth
6 5 (2.02%) Playwright
7 4 (1.62%) AWS CDK
7 4 (1.62%) Django
7 4 (1.62%) OpenID
7 4 (1.62%) Oracle Fusion
7 4 (1.62%) Oracle GoldenGate
8 3 (1.21%) ActiveMQ
8 3 (1.21%) JAX-RS
8 3 (1.21%) Middleware
8 3 (1.21%) Nunjucks
8 3 (1.21%) PySpark
8 3 (1.21%) React
8 3 (1.21%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 16 (6.48%) Cloud Native
2 11 (4.45%) Legacy Systems
3 10 (4.05%) Management Information System
4 8 (3.24%) Data Centre
4 8 (3.24%) Product Ownership
5 7 (2.83%) Hybrid Cloud
5 7 (2.83%) NHS
6 6 (2.43%) Onboarding
6 6 (2.43%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (2.02%) Operational Technology
7 5 (2.02%) Taxonomies
8 4 (1.62%) Public Cloud
8 4 (1.62%) Replication
9 3 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (1.21%) Freedom of Information
10 2 (0.81%) CSOC
10 2 (0.81%) Cyber Threat
10 2 (0.81%) Data Protection Act
10 2 (0.81%) SCADA
10 2 (0.81%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 15 (6.07%) Linux
2 8 (3.24%) Unix
3 5 (2.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 4 (1.62%) AIX
4 4 (1.62%) Windows
5 2 (0.81%) CentOS
6 1 (0.40%) Android
6 1 (0.40%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.40%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.40%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.40%) Solaris
6 1 (0.40%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.40%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 51 (20.65%) Agile
2 49 (19.84%) Stakeholder Management
3 41 (16.60%) CI/CD
4 35 (14.17%) Continuous Improvement
4 35 (14.17%) DevOps
5 30 (12.15%) Test Automation
6 29 (11.74%) Migration
7 28 (11.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 25 (10.12%) Microservices
9 24 (9.72%) Cybersecurity
9 24 (9.72%) Technical Leadership
10 23 (9.31%) Infrastructure as Code
11 21 (8.50%) Mentoring
11 21 (8.50%) Risk Management
11 21 (8.50%) Roadmaps
12 18 (7.29%) Software Engineering
13 17 (6.88%) Architectural Patterns
13 17 (6.88%) Decision-Making
13 17 (6.88%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 16 (6.48%) Digital Transformation Programme
Programming Languages
1 28 (11.34%) Java
2 25 (10.12%) Python
3 24 (9.72%) JavaScript
4 12 (4.86%) SQL
5 8 (3.24%) TypeScript
6 5 (2.02%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.62%) Bash
7 4 (1.62%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.81%) PHP
8 2 (0.81%) PL/SQL
9 1 (0.40%) Bicep
9 1 (0.40%) C#
9 1 (0.40%) Go
9 1 (0.40%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 121 (48.99%) Security Cleared
2 95 (38.46%) SC Cleared
3 14 (5.67%) BPSS Clearance
4 3 (1.21%) AWS Certification
4 3 (1.21%) Azure Certification
4 3 (1.21%) Degree
5 2 (0.81%) DBS Check
5 2 (0.81%) ITIL Certification
5 2 (0.81%) Microsoft Certification
6 1 (0.40%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
6 1 (0.40%) DV Cleared
6 1 (0.40%) Oracle Certification
6 1 (0.40%) PMI Certification
6 1 (0.40%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (8.50%) Accessibility
2 14 (5.67%) QA
3 9 (3.64%) PMO
4 8 (3.24%) WCAG
5 7 (2.83%) Data Quality
6 5 (2.02%) GDPR
7 4 (1.62%) NCSC
7 4 (1.62%) NIST
8 2 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.81%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.40%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.40%) ISO 19650
9 1 (0.40%) SLA
9 1 (0.40%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 18 (7.29%) Docker
2 12 (4.86%) Active Directory
3 5 (2.02%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.40%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.40%) Microsoft App-V
Systems Management
1 13 (5.26%) Ansible
1 13 (5.26%) Kubernetes
2 5 (2.02%) Data Guard
3 4 (1.62%) Oracle RMAN
4 3 (1.21%) Grafana
4 3 (1.21%) Prometheus
4 3 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.81%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 2 (0.81%) Packer
5 2 (0.81%) SCCM
6 1 (0.40%) Argo
6 1 (0.40%) CASB
6 1 (0.40%) Cisco CUCM
6 1 (0.40%) HAProxy
6 1 (0.40%) Istio
6 1 (0.40%) Jamf Pro
6 1 (0.40%) linkerd
6 1 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.40%) Oracle ZFS
6 1 (0.40%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 32 (12.96%) Microsoft
2 14 (5.67%) Oracle
3 11 (4.45%) Google
3 11 (4.45%) Palo Alto
4 8 (3.24%) F5
4 8 (3.24%) ServiceNow
5 7 (2.83%) Arista
5 7 (2.83%) Aruba
6 5 (2.02%) Cisco
7 4 (1.62%) SAP
8 3 (1.21%) CheckPoint
9 2 (0.81%) BeyondTrust
9 2 (0.81%) CyberArk
9 2 (0.81%) Databricks
9 2 (0.81%) OpenAI
9 2 (0.81%) Splunk
9 2 (0.81%) Thycotic
9 2 (0.81%) Trend Micro
10 1 (0.40%) Okta
10 1 (0.40%) Tanium