Microsoft Contract Job Trends in Reading

Microsoft
Berkshire > Reading

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Reading requiring knowledge or experience of Microsoft products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Microsoft over the 6 months leading up to 10 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the Microsoft Corporation.

6 months to
10 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 12 8
Rank change year-on-year 0 -4 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 128 69 175
As % of all contract jobs in Reading 11.26% 11.86% 14.30%
As % of the Vendors category 22.07% 20.18% 28.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 81 45 112
10th Percentile £201 £177 £205
25th Percentile £375 £381 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £475 £533
Median % change year-on-year +9.47% -10.88% -3.09%
75th Percentile £644 £550 £608
90th Percentile £700 £640 -
Berkshire median daily rate £500 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 2 12
10th Percentile £28.76 £27.69 £56.28
25th Percentile £35.22 £29.10 £56.50
Median hourly rate £87.50 £32.89 £58.30
Median % change year-on-year +166.04% -43.58% +6.00%
75th Percentile £110.75 £36.38 £60.72
90th Percentile - £37.60 £61.55
Berkshire median hourly rate £55.50 £28.50 £58.30
% change year-on-year +94.74% -51.11% +133.20%

All Vendors
Reading

Microsoft falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services in Reading.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 580 342 613
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading 51.01% 58.76% 50.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 350 228 328
10th Percentile £303 £350 £213
25th Percentile £436 £450 £443
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year - -4.35% -
75th Percentile £634 £638 £650
90th Percentile £700 £700 £735
Berkshire median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -1.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 14 28
10th Percentile £31.25 - £14.50
25th Percentile £78.38 £14.75 £52.90
Median hourly rate £88.00 £24.13 £58.30
Median % change year-on-year +264.77% -58.62% -9.86%
75th Percentile - £38.42 £61.60
90th Percentile £110.75 £52.75 £63.75
Berkshire median hourly rate £86.00 £27.50 £58.30
% change year-on-year +212.73% -52.83% +6.00%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in Reading

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in Reading

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in Reading

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in Reading over the 6 months to 10 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in Reading

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in Reading

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in Reading over the 6 months to 10 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in Reading

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Reading 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 19 (14.84%) SharePoint
2 4 (3.13%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.56%) OpenStack
Applications
1 23 (17.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (13.28%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (8.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (3.13%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.78%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.78%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (7.03%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (2.34%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.78%) iTrent
Cloud Services
1 52 (40.63%) Azure
2 17 (13.28%) Microsoft 365
3 15 (11.72%) Power Platform
4 13 (10.16%) Entra ID
5 12 (9.38%) AWS
6 11 (8.59%) Azure DevOps
6 11 (8.59%) OneDrive
7 6 (4.69%) Microsoft Purview
8 5 (3.91%) PowerApps
8 5 (3.91%) SaaS
9 4 (3.13%) Azure Logic Apps
10 3 (2.34%) Azure Sentinel
10 3 (2.34%) Power Automate
11 2 (1.56%) Azure Data Factory
11 2 (1.56%) GCP
11 2 (1.56%) GitHub
11 2 (1.56%) GitHub Actions
11 2 (1.56%) OpenShift
12 1 (0.78%) Route 53
12 1 (0.78%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 11 (8.59%) TCP/IP
2 7 (5.47%) DHCP
2 7 (5.47%) DNS
3 6 (4.69%) LAN
4 5 (3.91%) MPLS
4 5 (3.91%) WAN
5 4 (3.13%) BGP
5 4 (3.13%) SD-WAN
5 4 (3.13%) SNMP
5 4 (3.13%) TACACS
6 3 (2.34%) Internet
6 3 (2.34%) IPsec
6 3 (2.34%) MQTT
6 3 (2.34%) Unified Communications
6 3 (2.34%) Wireless
7 2 (1.56%) Firewall
7 2 (1.56%) Wi-Fi
8 1 (0.78%) PBX
8 1 (0.78%) TETRA
8 1 (0.78%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (8.59%) Power BI
2 6 (4.69%) SQL Server
3 2 (1.56%) Oracle Reports
4 1 (0.78%) Metadata
4 1 (0.78%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 1 (0.78%) JIRA
General
1 40 (31.25%) Social Skills
2 19 (14.84%) Aerospace
3 15 (11.72%) Analytical Skills
4 11 (8.59%) Finance
4 11 (8.59%) Public Sector
5 8 (6.25%) Telecoms
6 7 (5.47%) Legal
7 3 (2.34%) Advertising
7 3 (2.34%) Influencing Skills
7 3 (2.34%) Organisational Skills
8 2 (1.56%) Police
9 1 (0.78%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.78%) Local Government
9 1 (0.78%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 22 (17.19%) Architect
2 20 (15.63%) Lead
3 14 (10.94%) Analyst
3 14 (10.94%) Solutions Architect
4 11 (8.59%) Consultant
5 8 (6.25%) Senior
6 7 (5.47%) Business Analyst
7 6 (4.69%) IT Support
7 6 (4.69%) SIEM Engineer
8 5 (3.91%) Change Manager
8 5 (3.91%) Lead Architect
8 5 (3.91%) Lead Solutions Architect
9 4 (3.13%) Cloud Engineer
9 4 (3.13%) IT Engineer
9 4 (3.13%) Support Assistant
9 4 (3.13%) Systems Engineer
9 4 (3.13%) Systems Support
10 3 (2.34%) Cybersecurity Architect
10 3 (2.34%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
10 3 (2.34%) SOC Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (3.13%) NETCONF
1 4 (3.13%) OpenConfig
1 4 (3.13%) RESTCONF
1 4 (3.13%) Software Packaging
1 4 (3.13%) YANG
2 3 (2.34%) 802.1X
2 3 (2.34%) ADO
2 3 (2.34%) Microsoft Graph
2 3 (2.34%) PySpark
2 3 (2.34%) Streamlit
3 2 (1.56%) Elastic Stack
3 2 (1.56%) XML
4 1 (0.78%) .NET
4 1 (0.78%) OAuth
4 1 (0.78%) OpenID
4 1 (0.78%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 18 (14.06%) Onboarding
2 11 (8.59%) Data Centre
3 10 (7.81%) Operational Technology
4 6 (4.69%) Hybrid Cloud
5 4 (3.13%) Analytical Mindset
5 4 (3.13%) Cloud Native
5 4 (3.13%) Data Protection Act
5 4 (3.13%) Self-Motivation
6 3 (2.34%) Product Ownership
6 3 (2.34%) Video Conferencing
7 2 (1.56%) CMDB
7 2 (1.56%) Cyber Security Posture
7 2 (1.56%) Private Cloud
7 2 (1.56%) Public Cloud
7 2 (1.56%) Security Posture
8 1 (0.78%) Digital Media
8 1 (0.78%) Enterprise Software
8 1 (0.78%) iPad
8 1 (0.78%) iPhone
8 1 (0.78%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 23 (17.97%) Windows
2 14 (10.94%) Mac OS
3 7 (5.47%) Apple iOS
3 7 (5.47%) Linux
4 1 (0.78%) Windows 10
4 1 (0.78%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 25 (19.53%) Cybersecurity
1 25 (19.53%) Stakeholder Management
2 22 (17.19%) Roadmaps
3 20 (15.63%) Digital Transformation Programme
3 20 (15.63%) Problem-Solving
4 19 (14.84%) DevOps
4 19 (14.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 17 (13.28%) Enterprise Architecture
5 17 (13.28%) ITIL
6 16 (12.50%) Technical Leadership
7 15 (11.72%) Decision-Making
7 15 (11.72%) Risk Management
8 14 (10.94%) Architecture Roadmap
8 14 (10.94%) User Experience
9 13 (10.16%) Agile
9 13 (10.16%) ITSM
10 12 (9.38%) Data Protection
11 11 (8.59%) Analytics
11 11 (8.59%) Business Intelligence
12 10 (7.81%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 17 (13.28%) Python
2 14 (10.94%) PowerShell
3 12 (9.38%) SQL
4 6 (4.69%) Kusto Query Language
5 3 (2.34%) Bash
6 2 (1.56%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.78%) C#
Qualifications
1 52 (40.63%) Security Cleared
2 48 (37.50%) SC Cleared
3 13 (10.16%) Azure Certification
3 13 (10.16%) Degree
4 6 (4.69%) PMI Certification
4 6 (4.69%) PMP
5 4 (3.13%) CCIE
5 4 (3.13%) Cisco Certification
5 4 (3.13%) JNCIE
6 3 (2.34%) AWS Certification
6 3 (2.34%) DV Cleared
7 2 (1.56%) DBS Check
7 2 (1.56%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.78%) BPSS Clearance
8 1 (0.78%) CEH
8 1 (0.78%) CISA
8 1 (0.78%) CISSP
8 1 (0.78%) CREST Certified
8 1 (0.78%) GIAC
8 1 (0.78%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (3.13%) NCSC
1 4 (3.13%) SLA
2 3 (2.34%) GDPR
2 3 (2.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (2.34%) NIST
2 3 (2.34%) NIST 800
2 3 (2.34%) PMO
3 2 (1.56%) Data Quality
3 2 (1.56%) GRC
4 1 (0.78%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.78%) QA
4 1 (0.78%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 13 (10.16%) Active Directory
2 4 (3.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (2.34%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (1.56%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.78%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 19 (14.84%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (5.47%) SCCM
3 6 (4.69%) Ansible
3 6 (4.69%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (3.91%) Terraform
5 3 (2.34%) FortiGate
6 2 (1.56%) Progress Chef
6 2 (1.56%) Puppet
7 1 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 13 (10.16%) SAP
2 12 (9.38%) ServiceNow
3 8 (6.25%) Cisco
4 6 (4.69%) VMware
5 5 (3.91%) Citrix
5 5 (3.91%) Fortinet
6 4 (3.13%) F5
6 4 (3.13%) Juniper
6 4 (3.13%) Salesforce
7 3 (2.34%) BiZZdesign
7 3 (2.34%) Databricks
7 3 (2.34%) Google
7 3 (2.34%) Oracle
8 2 (1.56%) Avaya
8 2 (1.56%) Tanium
9 1 (0.78%) Apple
9 1 (0.78%) IBM
9 1 (0.78%) Infoblox
9 1 (0.78%) McAfee
9 1 (0.78%) Mitel