Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the South East

Microsoft
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East 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 25 August 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
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 6 7
Rank change year-on-year +2 +1 -3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 948 542 624
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 14.19% 15.36% 13.08%
As % of the Vendors category 32.52% 29.67% 26.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 578 373 403
10th Percentile £203 £200 £200
25th Percentile £354 £256 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £463 £466
Median % change year-on-year +2.70% -0.75% +0.22%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £623 £665
England median daily rate £488 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +2.63% -4.57% -0.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 120 43 38
10th Percentile £13.41 £14.00 £11.71
25th Percentile £15.50 £14.20 £11.79
Median hourly rate £27.04 £17.00 £38.75
Median % change year-on-year +59.03% -56.13% +118.31%
75th Percentile £70.25 £32.05 £57.31
90th Percentile £101.83 £81.15 £61.22
England median hourly rate £21.00 £22.50 £16.23
% change year-on-year -6.67% +38.63% -26.23%

All Vendors
South East

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 the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 2,915 1,827 2,321
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.64% 51.79% 48.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,820 1,218 1,400
10th Percentile £281 £208 £254
25th Percentile £425 £366 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £634
90th Percentile £700 £650 £700
England median daily rate £513 £501 £525
% change year-on-year +2.27% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 245 117 133
10th Percentile £15.14 £14.20 £14.50
25th Percentile £19.22 £15.25 £26.03
Median hourly rate £51.50 £19.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +171.05% -66.87% +19.60%
75th Percentile £77.50 £40.65 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £76.65 £70.00
England median hourly rate £32.11 £25.15 £29.00
% change year-on-year +27.68% -13.28% -30.12%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the South East

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the South East over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the South East

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the South East over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the South East

Microsoft
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 Microsoft within the South East region over the 6 months to 25 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
Thames Valley +1 480 £500 +11.11% 254
Berkshire +3 258 £500 +3.36% 95
Hampshire -1 219 £500 -5.21% 141
Surrey +5 131 £450 +80.00% 119
Buckinghamshire -4 124 £515 +37.33% 101
Oxfordshire 0 98 £450 +80.00% 63
West Sussex -6 55 £380 +79.25% 35
Kent -1 37 £488 +85.71% 68
East Sussex 0 10 £298 -48.26% 27
Middlesex - 4 - - 7
Home Counties +1 2 - -
Sussex - 2 - - 13
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
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 97 (10.23%) SharePoint
2 55 (5.80%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.48%) Confluence
4 3 (0.32%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.21%) Apache
5 2 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.21%) IIS
5 2 (0.21%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.11%) Apache Superset
6 1 (0.11%) nginx
6 1 (0.11%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.11%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.11%) Smallworld
6 1 (0.11%) Tomcat
Applications
1 123 (12.97%) Microsoft Excel
1 123 (12.97%) Microsoft Office
2 60 (6.33%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 47 (4.96%) Microsoft Project
4 14 (1.48%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.32%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.11%) Adobe Captivate
6 1 (0.11%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.11%) MicroStation
6 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.11%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.37%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.53%) SAP PSCD
4 4 (0.42%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.42%) Primavera
4 4 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
4 4 (0.42%) SAP Business One
5 2 (0.21%) Maximo
5 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.11%) iTrent
6 1 (0.11%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Assets
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Cash Management
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.11%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 380 (40.08%) Azure
2 229 (24.16%) Microsoft 365
3 165 (17.41%) Entra ID
4 104 (10.97%) Power Platform
5 89 (9.39%) AWS
6 56 (5.91%) Azure DevOps
7 55 (5.80%) Dynamics 365
8 37 (3.90%) SaaS
9 36 (3.80%) Azure Monitor
10 33 (3.48%) GCP
11 31 (3.27%) Power Automate
12 29 (3.06%) IaaS
13 28 (2.95%) Azure Logic Apps
14 23 (2.43%) OneDrive
15 22 (2.32%) Microsoft Purview
16 20 (2.11%) Azure Sentinel
16 20 (2.11%) PowerApps
17 17 (1.79%) Microsoft Copilot
18 14 (1.48%) Azure Functions
18 14 (1.48%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 79 (8.33%) DNS
2 58 (6.12%) Firewall
3 53 (5.59%) DHCP
4 45 (4.75%) TCP/IP
5 43 (4.54%) VPN
6 32 (3.38%) LAN
6 32 (3.38%) Wi-Fi
7 29 (3.06%) WAN
8 17 (1.79%) Network Security
8 17 (1.79%) VLAN
9 15 (1.58%) MPLS
10 12 (1.27%) SD-WAN
11 10 (1.05%) BGP
12 9 (0.95%) DNSSEC
13 8 (0.84%) Internet
13 8 (0.84%) Unified Communications
14 7 (0.74%) Intranet
15 6 (0.63%) BIG-IP
15 6 (0.63%) OSPF
15 6 (0.63%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (7.91%) Power BI
2 35 (3.69%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.27%) Azure SQL Database
3 12 (1.27%) MySQL
4 10 (1.05%) Data Warehouse
4 10 (1.05%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (0.95%) Oracle Database
6 8 (0.84%) Metadata
6 8 (0.84%) Relational Database
7 6 (0.63%) NoSQL
8 4 (0.42%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.32%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.32%) GIS
9 3 (0.32%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 2 (0.21%) Geospatial Data
10 2 (0.21%) MS Access
10 2 (0.21%) Oracle Reports
10 2 (0.21%) Parquet
10 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 1 (0.11%) Ataccama
Development Applications
1 29 (3.06%) JIRA
2 12 (1.27%) Git
3 9 (0.95%) MSI
4 8 (0.84%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.74%) GitLab
6 3 (0.32%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.32%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.32%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.32%) Xcode
7 2 (0.21%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.21%) Robot Framework
7 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.11%) ERwin
8 1 (0.11%) JUnit
8 1 (0.11%) NUnit
8 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
General
1 333 (35.13%) Social Skills
2 146 (15.40%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (10.44%) Finance
4 82 (8.65%) Public Sector
5 79 (8.33%) Organisational Skills
6 43 (4.54%) Aerospace
7 35 (3.69%) Documentation Skills
8 31 (3.27%) Legal
9 24 (2.53%) Telecoms
10 21 (2.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 17 (1.79%) Manufacturing
11 17 (1.79%) Marketing
12 16 (1.69%) Influencing Skills
13 13 (1.37%) Military
14 11 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (0.95%) French Language
16 8 (0.84%) Aviation
16 8 (0.84%) Retail
17 7 (0.74%) Billing
17 7 (0.74%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 115 (12.13%) Architect
2 94 (9.92%) Analyst
3 87 (9.18%) IT Support
4 77 (8.12%) Senior
5 68 (7.17%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 54 (5.70%) Lead
7 53 (5.59%) Consultant
8 50 (5.27%) Support Engineer
9 49 (5.17%) IT Engineer
10 46 (4.85%) Cloud Engineer
10 46 (4.85%) Developer
11 41 (4.32%) Azure Engineer
12 36 (3.80%) Administrator
13 34 (3.59%) IT Analyst
13 34 (3.59%) IT Support Engineer
14 29 (3.06%) Solutions Architect
15 28 (2.95%) Project Manager
16 27 (2.85%) Support Analyst
17 26 (2.74%) Technical Architect
18 25 (2.64%) Microsoft Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 73 (7.70%) Terraform
2 39 (4.11%) OAuth
3 37 (3.90%) .NET
4 36 (3.80%) SAML
5 35 (3.69%) OpenID
6 25 (2.64%) OAuth2
7 24 (2.53%) LDAP
7 24 (2.53%) REST
8 22 (2.32%) Web Services
9 21 (2.22%) SailPoint
10 19 (2.00%) Microsoft Graph
11 17 (1.79%) ARM Templates
12 12 (1.27%) JSON
12 12 (1.27%) Middleware
13 10 (1.05%) .NET Framework
13 10 (1.05%) React
14 9 (0.95%) XML
15 8 (0.84%) Entity Framework
15 8 (0.84%) PySpark
15 8 (0.84%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 97 (10.23%) Onboarding
2 51 (5.38%) Hybrid Cloud
3 33 (3.48%) Cloud Native
4 31 (3.27%) Data Centre
4 31 (3.27%) PKI
5 23 (2.43%) Security Posture
6 22 (2.32%) Enterprise Software
7 21 (2.22%) Management Information System
8 20 (2.11%) Product Ownership
9 19 (2.00%) Public Cloud
10 16 (1.69%) Operational Technology
11 15 (1.58%) Legacy Systems
12 14 (1.48%) Driving Licence
13 13 (1.37%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 12 (1.27%) Data Structures
14 12 (1.27%) Enterprise Cloud
15 11 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
15 11 (1.16%) Private Cloud
16 10 (1.05%) Cyber Defence
17 9 (0.95%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 253 (26.69%) Windows
2 93 (9.81%) Windows Server
3 75 (7.91%) Linux
4 43 (4.54%) Windows 10
5 24 (2.53%) Apple iOS
6 23 (2.43%) Mac OS
7 15 (1.58%) Unix
8 13 (1.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 12 (1.27%) Android
10 9 (0.95%) CentOS
11 8 (0.84%) Ubuntu
12 7 (0.74%) Windows 7
12 7 (0.74%) Windows Server 2019
13 4 (0.42%) Windows Server 2016
14 3 (0.32%) Windows Server 2012
15 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 209 (22.05%) Problem-Solving
2 146 (15.40%) Stakeholder Management
3 134 (14.14%) Agile
4 123 (12.97%) ITIL
5 116 (12.24%) Continuous Improvement
6 115 (12.13%) DevOps
7 103 (10.86%) Customer Service
8 102 (10.76%) Cybersecurity
9 100 (10.55%) CI/CD
10 98 (10.34%) ITSM
11 97 (10.23%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 88 (9.28%) Analytics
12 88 (9.28%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 82 (8.65%) Business Intelligence
14 78 (8.23%) Migration
15 74 (7.81%) Decision-Making
16 69 (7.28%) Project Delivery
17 66 (6.96%) Technical Leadership
18 64 (6.75%) Infrastructure as Code
19 61 (6.43%) RBAC
Programming Languages
1 147 (15.51%) PowerShell
2 92 (9.70%) Python
3 88 (9.28%) SQL
4 36 (3.80%) Bash
5 26 (2.74%) Bicep
6 23 (2.43%) T-SQL
7 22 (2.32%) JavaScript
8 20 (2.11%) C#
9 15 (1.58%) Java
9 15 (1.58%) Kusto Query Language
10 8 (0.84%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 8 (0.84%) X++
11 7 (0.74%) TypeScript
12 4 (0.42%) ABAP
13 3 (0.32%) Perl
13 3 (0.32%) VBA
14 1 (0.11%) Google Apps Script
14 1 (0.11%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 350 (36.92%) Security Cleared
2 229 (24.16%) SC Cleared
3 131 (13.82%) Degree
3 131 (13.82%) DV Cleared
4 51 (5.38%) Microsoft Certification
5 44 (4.64%) Azure Certification
6 20 (2.11%) AWS Certification
7 19 (2.00%) Cisco Certification
8 16 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
8 16 (1.69%) DBS Check
9 15 (1.58%) BPSS Clearance
9 15 (1.58%) PMI Certification
9 15 (1.58%) PMP
10 12 (1.27%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 10 (1.05%) MCSA
12 9 (0.95%) CISSP
12 9 (0.95%) MCSE
12 9 (0.95%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 8 (0.84%) CCNP
14 7 (0.74%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 42 (4.43%) NIST
3 38 (4.01%) Data Quality
4 37 (3.90%) PMO
5 31 (3.27%) GDPR
6 30 (3.16%) NCSC
7 26 (2.74%) SLA
8 21 (2.22%) QA
9 20 (2.11%) Cyber Essentials
10 9 (0.95%) GRC
11 6 (0.63%) ISO 31000
11 6 (0.63%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.42%) ISO 19650
12 4 (0.42%) PCI DSS
12 4 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.32%) Accessibility
13 3 (0.32%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.21%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 220 (23.21%) Active Directory
2 71 (7.49%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (3.06%) Hyper-V
4 23 (2.43%) Virtual Machines
5 17 (1.79%) Docker
5 17 (1.79%) vSphere
6 16 (1.69%) Virtual Desktop
7 13 (1.37%) VMware ESXi
8 10 (1.05%) VMware NSX
9 6 (0.63%) Firmware
10 3 (0.32%) OpenAM
11 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 2 (0.21%) UAG
11 2 (0.21%) Virtual Servers
12 1 (0.11%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.11%) Postfix
12 1 (0.11%) vCloud
12 1 (0.11%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 64 (6.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 39 (4.11%) Kubernetes
3 35 (3.69%) Ansible
4 32 (3.38%) SCCM
5 26 (2.74%) SCOM
6 22 (2.32%) vCenter Server
7 14 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 13 (1.37%) Avamar
8 13 (1.37%) Single Sign-On
9 10 (1.05%) Jamf Pro
9 10 (1.05%) WMI
10 6 (0.63%) FortiGate
10 6 (0.63%) Grafana
10 6 (0.63%) QRadar
11 5 (0.53%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.53%) Puppet
12 4 (0.42%) Clonezilla
13 3 (0.32%) Dell DRAC
13 3 (0.32%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.32%) SCSM
Vendors
1 89 (9.39%) VMware
2 57 (6.01%) ServiceNow
3 52 (5.49%) SAP
4 38 (4.01%) Cisco
5 36 (3.80%) Google
6 25 (2.64%) Oracle
7 19 (2.00%) Databricks
7 19 (2.00%) Dell
8 18 (1.90%) Meraki
9 14 (1.48%) SolarWinds
10 13 (1.37%) Thales
11 12 (1.27%) F5
11 12 (1.27%) Splunk
12 11 (1.16%) Avaya
13 10 (1.05%) CrowdStrike
13 10 (1.05%) Mitel
14 9 (0.95%) Fortinet
14 9 (0.95%) Infoblox
14 9 (0.95%) Juniper
14 9 (0.95%) Veeam