Desktop Support Contracts in the South East

Desktop Support
England > South East

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the South East is £210, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 June 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jun 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 125 160 130
Rank change year-on-year +35 -30 +5
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 32 44 84
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the South East 1.05% 0.77% 1.46%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.15% 0.83% 1.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 20 35 69
10th Percentile £160 £177 £170
25th Percentile £193 £204 £175
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £205 £200
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% +2.50% +5.26%
75th Percentile £250 £218 £241
90th Percentile - £225 £261
England median daily rate £210 £200 £200
% change year-on-year +5.00% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 5 5
10th Percentile - £20.00 -
25th Percentile - £26.00 £15.21
Median hourly rate £15.12 £31.00 £17.50
Median % change year-on-year -51.23% +77.14% -2.78%
75th Percentile £20.14 £50.00 £19.50
90th Percentile £23.14 £51.80 £21.60
England median hourly rate £25.15 £22.93 £23.00
% change year-on-year +9.69% -0.32% +17.30%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 2,777 5,274 5,440
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.05% 92.38% 94.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,813 3,098 3,773
10th Percentile £220 £250 £223
25th Percentile £375 £400 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £507 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.28% +1.30% -
75th Percentile £600 £625 £606
90th Percentile £660 £688 £700
England median daily rate £513 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -2.38% -4.55% +2.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 204 556 243
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.88 £16.25
25th Percentile £15.50 £18.82 £21.25
Median hourly rate £31.00 £50.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -38.00% - +138.10%
75th Percentile £62.50 £68.19 £66.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.00 £75.00
England median hourly rate £28.75 £39.55 £43.63
% change year-on-year -27.31% -9.35% +78.37%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Job postings that featured Desktop Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Job vacancy trend for Desktop Support in the South East

Desktop Support
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the South East

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the South East.

Daily rate trend for Desktop Support in the South East

Desktop Support
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the South East.

Hourly rate trend for Desktop Support in the South East

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 Desktop Support within the South East region over the 6 months to 24 June 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
Thames Valley +17 12 £205 -4.65% 1
Surrey +32 10 £205 -5.20% 2
Hampshire +38 6 £275 +111.54% 2
Oxfordshire +8 6 £160 +20.75%
Buckinghamshire +14 3 - - 1
Berkshire +13 3 £250 +16.28%
Kent -12 3 £205 - 2
West Sussex - 1 - -
Desktop Support
England

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 24 June 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the South East region featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 25 (78.13%) Windows
2 17 (53.13%) Microsoft
2 17 (53.13%) Social Skills
3 12 (37.50%) Active Directory
4 10 (31.25%) Microsoft Office
4 10 (31.25%) Degree
4 10 (31.25%) Microsoft 365
5 8 (25.00%) SC Cleared
5 8 (25.00%) Security Cleared
5 8 (25.00%) Finance
5 8 (25.00%) Customer Service
6 7 (21.88%) Windows 10
6 7 (21.88%) Patch Management
6 7 (21.88%) ITIL
7 6 (18.75%) Telecoms
7 6 (18.75%) Service Management
7 6 (18.75%) Microsoft Exchange
7 6 (18.75%) Driving Licence
7 6 (18.75%) Problem-Solving
8 5 (15.63%) Public Sector
8 5 (15.63%) SAP
8 5 (15.63%) NHS
8 5 (15.63%) Electronics
8 5 (15.63%) Business Intelligence
8 5 (15.63%) Manufacturing
8 5 (15.63%) Programme Management
8 5 (15.63%) Digital Marketing
8 5 (15.63%) Marketing
9 4 (12.50%) Apple iOS
9 4 (12.50%) Workflow Management

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the South East by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 6 (18.75%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 10 (31.25%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (12.50%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 10 (31.25%) Microsoft 365
2 3 (9.38%) Entra ID
3 1 (3.13%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 1 (3.13%) DHCP
1 1 (3.13%) DNS
1 1 (3.13%) LAN
1 1 (3.13%) TCP/IP
1 1 (3.13%) VPN
1 1 (3.13%) WAN
1 1 (3.13%) WebEx
General
1 17 (53.13%) Social Skills
2 8 (25.00%) Finance
3 6 (18.75%) Telecoms
4 5 (15.63%) Electronics
4 5 (15.63%) Manufacturing
4 5 (15.63%) Marketing
4 5 (15.63%) Public Sector
5 2 (6.25%) Analytical Skills
Miscellaneous
1 6 (18.75%) Driving Licence
2 5 (15.63%) NHS
3 1 (3.13%) Client/Server
3 1 (3.13%) Data Protection Act
3 1 (3.13%) Enterprise Software
3 1 (3.13%) iPhone
3 1 (3.13%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 25 (78.13%) Windows
2 7 (21.88%) Windows 10
3 4 (12.50%) Apple iOS
4 1 (3.13%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (25.00%) Customer Service
2 7 (21.88%) ITIL
2 7 (21.88%) Patch Management
3 6 (18.75%) Problem-Solving
3 6 (18.75%) Service Management
4 5 (15.63%) Business Intelligence
4 5 (15.63%) Digital Marketing
4 5 (15.63%) Programme Management
5 4 (12.50%) Inventory Control
5 4 (12.50%) Inventory Management
5 4 (12.50%) Migration
5 4 (12.50%) Storage Management
5 4 (12.50%) Workflow
5 4 (12.50%) Workflow Management
6 2 (6.25%) Asset Management
6 2 (6.25%) Coaching
6 2 (6.25%) Customer Experience
6 2 (6.25%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 2 (6.25%) Logistics
6 2 (6.25%) Mobile Device Management
Qualifications
1 10 (31.25%) Degree
2 8 (25.00%) SC Cleared
2 8 (25.00%) Security Cleared
3 2 (6.25%) Dell Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (6.25%) QA
1 2 (6.25%) SLA
System Software
1 12 (37.50%) Active Directory
2 1 (3.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 2 (6.25%) SCCM
2 1 (3.13%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 17 (53.13%) Microsoft
2 5 (15.63%) SAP
3 2 (6.25%) Apple
3 2 (6.25%) Citrix
3 2 (6.25%) Dell
3 2 (6.25%) HP
4 1 (3.13%) Cisco
4 1 (3.13%) Sage
4 1 (3.13%) ServiceNow
4 1 (3.13%) Wyse