Windows Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Windows
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Windows skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 17 22 14
Rank change year-on-year +5 -8 -2
Contract jobs citing Windows 304 166 209
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 7.74% 7.75% 8.82%
As % of the Operating Systems category 61.79% 59.71% 72.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 226 116 136
10th Percentile £155 £166 £186
25th Percentile £193 £200 £234
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £340 £342 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.66% -31.65% +26.58%
75th Percentile £485 £483 £800
90th Percentile £528 £613 £850
England median daily rate £416 £400 £425
% change year-on-year +4.00% -5.88% -1.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 18 22
10th Percentile £16.73 £13.00 £14.35
25th Percentile £17.25 £13.30 £15.72
Median hourly rate £18.67 £17.44 £17.75
Median % change year-on-year +7.05% -1.76% -11.24%
75th Percentile £178.75 £18.68 £22.97
90th Percentile - £18.87 £28.29
England median hourly rate £25.77 £21.65 £23.80
% change year-on-year +19.03% -9.03% -4.80%

All Operating Systems
North West

Windows falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 492 278 287
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 12.53% 12.98% 12.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 359 197 188
10th Percentile £173 £188 £198
25th Percentile £295 £270 £312
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £435 £375 £450
Median % change year-on-year +16.00% -16.67% +5.88%
75th Percentile £525 £492 £641
90th Percentile £610 £625 £850
England median daily rate £465 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +3.33% -5.26% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 19 24
10th Percentile £16.88 £13.00 £14.54
25th Percentile £17.25 £13.60 £15.91
Median hourly rate £46.25 £17.44 £18.10
Median % change year-on-year +165.19% -3.63% -19.57%
75th Percentile £178.75 £18.87 £24.18
90th Percentile - - £45.45
England median hourly rate £35.79 £25.15 £57.25
% change year-on-year +42.30% -56.07% +20.11%

Windows
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Windows relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Windows job vacancy trend in the North West

Windows
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Windows.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Windows

Windows
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows in the North West over the 6 months to 15 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Windows in the North West

Windows
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Windows.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Windows

Windows
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows in the North West over the 6 months to 15 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Windows in the North West

Windows
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 Windows within the North West region over the 6 months to 15 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 -11 103 £402 -15.01% 115
Cheshire +8 89 £344 +4.48% 33
Cumbria +13 48 £404 +101.75% 4
Merseyside -6 31 £190 -10.59% 19
Lancashire -5 29 £310 +77.14% 21
Windows
England

Windows
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 35 (11.51%) Microsoft Exchange
2 23 (7.57%) SharePoint
3 16 (5.26%) Skype for Business
4 8 (2.63%) Confluence
5 2 (0.66%) IIS
6 1 (0.33%) CMS
Applications
1 44 (14.47%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.32%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.32%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.99%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.33%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 17 (5.59%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.33%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.33%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 119 (39.14%) Microsoft 365
2 94 (30.92%) Azure
3 42 (13.82%) AWS
4 33 (10.86%) Entra ID
5 27 (8.88%) GCP
6 19 (6.25%) Azure DevOps
6 19 (6.25%) Power Platform
7 14 (4.61%) Azure Monitor
7 14 (4.61%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 7 (2.30%) Amazon ECS
8 7 (2.30%) Amazon EKS
8 7 (2.30%) AWS CloudFormation
9 6 (1.97%) AWS KMS
9 6 (1.97%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 5 (1.64%) Mimecast
11 4 (1.32%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 4 (1.32%) AWS CloudTrail
11 4 (1.32%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (1.32%) OneDrive
11 4 (1.32%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 44 (14.47%) VPN
2 26 (8.55%) DNS
3 20 (6.58%) DHCP
4 19 (6.25%) Firewall
5 17 (5.59%) Skype
6 15 (4.93%) TCP/IP
6 15 (4.93%) Wi-Fi
7 12 (3.95%) LAN
7 12 (3.95%) SAN
7 12 (3.95%) VLAN
8 11 (3.62%) NetScaler
8 11 (3.62%) SSL
8 11 (3.62%) WAN
9 7 (2.30%) Network Security
10 6 (1.97%) NAS
10 6 (1.97%) Wireless
11 4 (1.32%) SSH
11 4 (1.32%) VSAN
12 3 (0.99%) BGP
12 3 (0.99%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (7.24%) SQL Server
2 19 (6.25%) Power BI
3 13 (4.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 10 (3.29%) MySQL
5 3 (0.99%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (0.99%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 2 (0.66%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 1 (0.33%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.33%) DTS
7 1 (0.33%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 17 (5.59%) JIRA
2 8 (2.63%) MSI
3 4 (1.32%) Git
4 2 (0.66%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.33%) Claude Code
5 1 (0.33%) GitLab
5 1 (0.33%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.33%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 108 (35.53%) Social Skills
2 40 (13.16%) Analytical Skills
3 35 (11.51%) Legal
4 30 (9.87%) Finance
5 14 (4.61%) Banking
6 9 (2.96%) Manufacturing
7 8 (2.63%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (2.30%) Telecoms
9 6 (1.97%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (1.64%) Games
10 5 (1.64%) Public Sector
11 3 (0.99%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.99%) Law
12 2 (0.66%) Advertising
12 2 (0.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.66%) Military
12 2 (0.66%) Retail
13 1 (0.33%) Digital Health
13 1 (0.33%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.33%) Police
Job Titles
1 70 (23.03%) IT Support
2 50 (16.45%) Support Engineer
3 41 (13.49%) Analyst
3 41 (13.49%) IT Engineer
3 41 (13.49%) IT Support Engineer
4 29 (9.54%) Security Engineer
5 25 (8.22%) Desktop Engineer
6 20 (6.58%) Service Analyst
6 20 (6.58%) Service Desk Analyst
7 17 (5.59%) IT Analyst
8 15 (4.93%) Support Analyst
9 14 (4.61%) Consultant
10 13 (4.28%) Cloud Engineer
10 13 (4.28%) DBA
10 13 (4.28%) SQL DBA
11 12 (3.95%) IT Support Analyst
11 12 (3.95%) IT Technician
12 10 (3.29%) Senior
12 10 (3.29%) Wintel Engineer
13 9 (2.96%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (9.21%) Terraform
2 9 (2.96%) Software Packaging
3 6 (1.97%) ARM Templates
4 5 (1.64%) JSON
5 4 (1.32%) Azure Blueprints
5 4 (1.32%) REST
6 3 (0.99%) XML
7 2 (0.66%) OAuth
7 2 (0.66%) ODBC
7 2 (0.66%) SailPoint
8 1 (0.33%) .NET
8 1 (0.33%) Kafka
8 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Graph
8 1 (0.33%) Middleware
8 1 (0.33%) RabbitMQ
8 1 (0.33%) Regular Expression
8 1 (0.33%) WPF
8 1 (0.33%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 27 (8.88%) Management Information System
2 24 (7.89%) Clustering
2 24 (7.89%) Onboarding
2 24 (7.89%) Replication
3 20 (6.58%) Security Posture
4 15 (4.93%) Cloud Native
5 11 (3.62%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.96%) Driving Licence
7 8 (2.63%) PKI
8 7 (2.30%) CMDB
9 6 (1.97%) Data Protection Act
9 6 (1.97%) Hybrid Cloud
10 5 (1.64%) Animation
10 5 (1.64%) Cloud Security Posture
11 4 (1.32%) Data Centre
11 4 (1.32%) Distributed Systems
11 4 (1.32%) Enterprise Storage
11 4 (1.32%) Smartphone
11 4 (1.32%) Video Conferencing
12 3 (0.99%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 102 (33.55%) Windows 10
2 72 (23.68%) Windows Server
3 49 (16.12%) Linux
4 23 (7.57%) Windows 7
5 21 (6.91%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 16 (5.26%) Mac OS
7 13 (4.28%) Apple iOS
8 10 (3.29%) Unix
9 7 (2.30%) Windows Server 2003
10 6 (1.97%) Android
11 4 (1.32%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.99%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.99%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.99%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.66%) VMS
14 1 (0.33%) CentOS
14 1 (0.33%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 108 (35.53%) ITIL
2 91 (29.93%) Problem-Solving
3 87 (28.62%) Customer Service
4 56 (18.42%) Service Management
5 41 (13.49%) ITSM
6 35 (11.51%) DevOps
6 35 (11.51%) Root Cause Analysis
7 31 (10.20%) Continuous Improvement
7 31 (10.20%) User Experience
8 30 (9.87%) Migration
9 29 (9.54%) Change Management
10 28 (9.21%) Application Packaging
10 28 (9.21%) CI/CD
11 26 (8.55%) Disaster Recovery
11 26 (8.55%) Infrastructure as Code
12 25 (8.22%) Incident Management
13 21 (6.91%) Cloud Security
13 21 (6.91%) Computer Science
14 20 (6.58%) Performance Tuning
14 20 (6.58%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 108 (35.53%) PowerShell
2 45 (14.80%) Python
3 24 (7.89%) Bash
4 17 (5.59%) Java
4 17 (5.59%) SQL
4 17 (5.59%) VBScript
5 15 (4.93%) T-SQL
5 15 (4.93%) VB
6 12 (3.95%) Bicep
7 1 (0.33%) C#
7 1 (0.33%) Go
7 1 (0.33%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.33%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.33%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.33%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 83 (27.30%) Security Cleared
2 74 (24.34%) SC Cleared
3 43 (14.14%) Degree
4 30 (9.87%) Microsoft Certification
5 29 (9.54%) Azure Certification
6 26 (8.55%) CISSP
7 21 (6.91%) AWS Certification
8 16 (5.26%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (4.93%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (4.61%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 10 (3.29%) VCAP
11 10 (3.29%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 9 (2.96%) A+ Certification
12 9 (2.96%) MCSE
13 8 (2.63%) MCSA
14 7 (2.30%) Network+ Certification
15 5 (1.64%) CISM
15 5 (1.64%) DBS Check
16 4 (1.32%) Cisco Certification
17 3 (0.99%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (7.24%) SLA
2 3 (0.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (0.99%) NIST
3 2 (0.66%) GDPR
3 2 (0.66%) PCI DSS
4 1 (0.33%) CDISC
4 1 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.33%) QA
System Software
1 139 (45.72%) Active Directory
2 43 (14.14%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (9.21%) Virtual Machines
4 20 (6.58%) Hyper-V
5 19 (6.25%) Docker
6 18 (5.92%) BitLocker
7 16 (5.26%) VMware ESXi
7 16 (5.26%) vSphere
8 11 (3.62%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 11 (3.62%) Virtual Desktop
9 6 (1.97%) XenApp
9 6 (1.97%) XenDesktop
10 5 (1.64%) VMware NSX
11 2 (0.66%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 63 (20.72%) SCCM
2 47 (15.46%) Microsoft Intune
3 24 (7.89%) Ansible
4 19 (6.25%) Kubernetes
5 16 (5.26%) Progress Chef
6 15 (4.93%) vCenter Server
7 10 (3.29%) SCOM
8 7 (2.30%) SysTrack
9 6 (1.97%) WSUS
10 4 (1.32%) McAfee ePO
10 4 (1.32%) PowerCLI
10 4 (1.32%) vMotion
11 3 (0.99%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.99%) vRealize
12 2 (0.66%) AirWatch
12 2 (0.66%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.66%) WMI
13 1 (0.33%) Backup Exec
13 1 (0.33%) Nagios
13 1 (0.33%) Nessus
Vendors
1 186 (61.18%) Microsoft
2 87 (28.62%) ServiceNow
3 52 (17.11%) VMware
4 21 (6.91%) iManage
5 18 (5.92%) Red Hat
6 17 (5.59%) Citrix
6 17 (5.59%) Google
6 17 (5.59%) Remedy
7 16 (5.26%) Cisco
8 14 (4.61%) BeyondTrust
9 13 (4.28%) Bomgar
10 12 (3.95%) CyberArk
11 11 (3.62%) Splunk
12 7 (2.30%) Ivanti
12 7 (2.30%) Nexthink
13 6 (1.97%) CrowdStrike
13 6 (1.97%) Perforce
14 5 (1.64%) McAfee
14 5 (1.64%) Sophos
14 5 (1.64%) Thales