2nd Line Desktop Support Contract Job Trends in the South East

Second Line Desktop Support
England > South East

The median Second Line Desktop Support daily rate in the South East is £194, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 August 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 229 158 185
Rank change year-on-year -71 +27 +12
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Desktop Support 4 8 2
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.060% 0.23% 0.042%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.065% 0.25% 0.045%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 8 2
10th Percentile - £155 £310
25th Percentile £170 £155 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £194 £191 £350
Median % change year-on-year +1.31% -45.36% +69.70%
75th Percentile £216 £223 £375
90th Percentile £225 - £390
England median daily rate £220 £195 £190
% change year-on-year +12.82% +2.63% -5.00%

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the South East with a recognized job title 6,141 3,207 4,404
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.07% 90.31% 92.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,600 2,069 2,667
10th Percentile £303 £205 £251
25th Percentile £425 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.91% +3.00%
75th Percentile £625 £600 £634
90th Percentile £725 £675 £688
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 750 287 363
10th Percentile £15.72 £13.75 £16.00
25th Percentile £25.81 £15.50 £27.25
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -56.15% +14.70%
75th Percentile £71.00 £57.50 £74.31
90th Percentile £86.61 £75.00 £80.00
England median hourly rate £42.65 £25.32 £45.00
% change year-on-year +68.44% -43.73% +2.60%

2nd Line Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '2nd Line Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

2nd Line Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the South East

2nd Line Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Desktop Support job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Desktop Support job vacancies in the South East

2nd Line Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Desktop Support job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Desktop Support job vacancies in the South East

2nd Line Desktop Support
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Desktop Support within the South East region over the 6 months to 24 August 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
Hampshire -29 3 £180 +12.50%
Surrey -25 1 £208 -3.49%
2nd Line Desktop Support
England

2nd Line Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 18 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 24 August 2026, 2nd Line Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the South East region featuring 2nd Line Desktop Support in the job title.

1 4 (100.00%) ITIL
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
1 4 (100.00%) Windows
2 3 (75.00%) Android
2 3 (75.00%) Apple iOS
2 3 (75.00%) ITSM
2 3 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (75.00%) RBAC
2 3 (75.00%) Service Delivery
2 3 (75.00%) User Experience
3 1 (25.00%) Active Directory
3 1 (25.00%) Customer Service
3 1 (25.00%) Degree
3 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (25.00%) Patch Management
3 1 (25.00%) Service Management

2nd Line Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
General
1 3 (75.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 3 (75.00%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 4 (100.00%) Windows
2 3 (75.00%) Android
2 3 (75.00%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) ITIL
2 3 (75.00%) ITSM
2 3 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (75.00%) RBAC
2 3 (75.00%) Service Delivery
2 3 (75.00%) User Experience
3 1 (25.00%) Customer Service
3 1 (25.00%) Patch Management
3 1 (25.00%) Service Management
Qualifications
1 1 (25.00%) Degree
System Software
1 1 (25.00%) Active Directory
Vendors
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft