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 31 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
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 6 6
Rank change year-on-year +2 0 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 957 563 625
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 14.43% 15.87% 13.21%
As % of the Vendors category 33.08% 30.66% 27.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 577 389 400
10th Percentile £203 £198 £200
25th Percentile £355 £255 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £463 £463
Median % change year-on-year +2.70% - +0.13%
75th Percentile £590 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £625 £659
England median daily rate £488 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +2.79% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 126 42 35
10th Percentile £13.46 £14.02 £11.71
25th Percentile £15.50 £14.20 £11.80
Median hourly rate £29.07 £17.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +71.00% -60.00% +139.44%
75th Percentile £70.25 £32.05 £58.49
90th Percentile £101.30 £82.08 £61.38
England median hourly rate £20.88 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year -7.74% +39.43% -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 2,893 1,836 2,315
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.63% 51.76% 48.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,797 1,228 1,384
10th Percentile £282 £208 £255
25th Percentile £430 £363 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £650 £700
England median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 243 109 129
10th Percentile £15.14 £14.20 £14.50
25th Percentile £18.50 £14.75 £26.25
Median hourly rate £50.49 £18.87 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +167.54% -67.10% +15.86%
75th Percentile £76.45 £38.42 £61.60
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.20 £70.00
England median hourly rate £32.00 £25.15 £30.00
% change year-on-year +27.24% -16.17% -27.31%

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 31 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 31 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 31 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 +1 484 £500 +11.11% 306
Berkshire +2 258 £500 +4.17% 138
Hampshire -1 221 £500 -6.28% 174
Surrey +4 133 £450 +80.00% 130
Buckinghamshire -3 127 £560 +42.68% 97
Oxfordshire +1 99 £450 +80.00% 75
West Sussex -5 57 £380 +80.95% 47
Kent -1 37 £488 +85.71% 85
East Sussex -4 8 £220 -60.00% 45
Middlesex - 4 - - 23
Sussex - 3 - - 17
Home Counties +1 2 - -
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 (10.14%) SharePoint
2 50 (5.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.46%) Confluence
4 3 (0.31%) Apache
4 3 (0.31%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.21%) Apache Superset
5 2 (0.21%) IIS
5 2 (0.21%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.10%) nginx
6 1 (0.10%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.10%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.10%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.10%) Smallworld
6 1 (0.10%) Tomcat
Applications
1 126 (13.17%) Microsoft Excel
2 124 (12.96%) Microsoft Office
3 61 (6.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 49 (5.12%) Microsoft Project
5 13 (1.36%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.21%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.10%) Adobe Captivate
8 1 (0.10%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.10%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.10%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.10%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.09%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.36%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.52%) 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 3 (0.31%) Maximo
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.10%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.10%) iTrent
7 1 (0.10%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Assets
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Cash Management
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.10%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 1 (0.10%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 383 (40.02%) Azure
2 225 (23.51%) Microsoft 365
3 160 (16.72%) Entra ID
4 110 (11.49%) Power Platform
5 94 (9.82%) AWS
6 57 (5.96%) Azure DevOps
7 53 (5.54%) Dynamics 365
8 38 (3.97%) SaaS
9 36 (3.76%) Azure Monitor
10 33 (3.45%) GCP
11 30 (3.13%) Power Automate
12 29 (3.03%) IaaS
13 28 (2.93%) Azure Logic Apps
14 22 (2.30%) Microsoft Purview
14 22 (2.30%) OneDrive
15 21 (2.19%) Azure Sentinel
16 19 (1.99%) PowerApps
17 17 (1.78%) Microsoft Copilot
18 16 (1.67%) OpenShift
19 14 (1.46%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 80 (8.36%) DNS
2 61 (6.37%) Firewall
3 55 (5.75%) DHCP
4 46 (4.81%) TCP/IP
4 46 (4.81%) VPN
5 32 (3.34%) LAN
6 31 (3.24%) Wi-Fi
7 28 (2.93%) WAN
8 17 (1.78%) Network Security
8 17 (1.78%) VLAN
9 14 (1.46%) MPLS
10 12 (1.25%) SD-WAN
11 9 (0.94%) BGP
11 9 (0.94%) DNSSEC
12 8 (0.84%) Internet
12 8 (0.84%) Unified Communications
13 7 (0.73%) Intranet
14 6 (0.63%) BIG-IP
14 6 (0.63%) SSH
14 6 (0.63%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 81 (8.46%) Power BI
2 33 (3.45%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.25%) Azure SQL Database
4 11 (1.15%) MySQL
5 10 (1.04%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (1.04%) Oracle Database
6 9 (0.94%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (0.84%) Metadata
7 8 (0.84%) Relational Database
8 6 (0.63%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.42%) Data Lake
9 4 (0.42%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.31%) GIS
10 3 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 2 (0.21%) Geospatial Data
11 2 (0.21%) MS Access
11 2 (0.21%) Oracle Reports
11 2 (0.21%) Parquet
11 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 2 (0.21%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (3.13%) JIRA
2 12 (1.25%) Git
3 10 (1.04%) MSI
4 8 (0.84%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.73%) GitLab
6 3 (0.31%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.31%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.31%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.31%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.31%) Xcode
7 2 (0.21%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.21%) Robot Framework
7 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.10%) ERwin
8 1 (0.10%) JUnit
8 1 (0.10%) NUnit
8 1 (0.10%) Visual Studio
General
1 342 (35.74%) Social Skills
2 151 (15.78%) Analytical Skills
3 101 (10.55%) Finance
4 83 (8.67%) Public Sector
5 81 (8.46%) Organisational Skills
6 47 (4.91%) Aerospace
7 35 (3.66%) Documentation Skills
8 31 (3.24%) Legal
9 24 (2.51%) Telecoms
10 20 (2.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 19 (1.99%) Manufacturing
12 17 (1.78%) Marketing
13 16 (1.67%) Influencing Skills
14 14 (1.46%) Military
15 11 (1.15%) Presentation Skills
16 9 (0.94%) French Language
17 8 (0.84%) Aviation
17 8 (0.84%) Retail
18 7 (0.73%) Billing
18 7 (0.73%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 118 (12.33%) Architect
2 94 (9.82%) Analyst
3 89 (9.30%) IT Support
4 79 (8.25%) Senior
5 69 (7.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 54 (5.64%) Lead
7 52 (5.43%) Consultant
8 50 (5.22%) Support Engineer
9 49 (5.12%) IT Engineer
10 48 (5.02%) Cloud Engineer
11 46 (4.81%) Developer
12 42 (4.39%) Azure Engineer
13 35 (3.66%) Administrator
14 34 (3.55%) IT Support Engineer
15 33 (3.45%) IT Analyst
16 30 (3.13%) Solutions Architect
17 29 (3.03%) Project Manager
18 26 (2.72%) Support Analyst
18 26 (2.72%) Technical Architect
19 25 (2.61%) Microsoft Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 79 (8.25%) Terraform
2 38 (3.97%) .NET
3 37 (3.87%) OAuth
4 35 (3.66%) SAML
5 34 (3.55%) OpenID
6 24 (2.51%) LDAP
6 24 (2.51%) OAuth2
6 24 (2.51%) REST
7 22 (2.30%) Web Services
8 20 (2.09%) SailPoint
9 18 (1.88%) ARM Templates
9 18 (1.88%) Microsoft Graph
10 12 (1.25%) JSON
10 12 (1.25%) Middleware
11 10 (1.04%) .NET Framework
11 10 (1.04%) React
12 9 (0.94%) XML
13 8 (0.84%) Entity Framework
13 8 (0.84%) PySpark
13 8 (0.84%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 98 (10.24%) Onboarding
2 54 (5.64%) Hybrid Cloud
3 33 (3.45%) Cloud Native
4 32 (3.34%) PKI
5 31 (3.24%) Data Centre
6 25 (2.61%) Management Information System
7 22 (2.30%) Enterprise Software
7 22 (2.30%) Security Posture
8 20 (2.09%) Public Cloud
9 19 (1.99%) Product Ownership
10 16 (1.67%) Operational Technology
11 14 (1.46%) Driving Licence
11 14 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
12 13 (1.36%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 13 (1.36%) Enterprise Cloud
13 12 (1.25%) Data Structures
14 11 (1.15%) Private Cloud
15 10 (1.04%) Analytical Mindset
15 10 (1.04%) Cyber Defence
16 9 (0.94%) Cloud Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 254 (26.54%) Windows
2 94 (9.82%) Windows Server
3 77 (8.05%) Linux
4 43 (4.49%) Windows 10
5 26 (2.72%) Apple iOS
6 22 (2.30%) Mac OS
7 15 (1.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 15 (1.57%) Unix
8 12 (1.25%) Android
9 9 (0.94%) CentOS
10 8 (0.84%) Ubuntu
11 7 (0.73%) Windows 7
12 6 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.31%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
15 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 214 (22.36%) Problem-Solving
2 150 (15.67%) Stakeholder Management
3 139 (14.52%) Agile
4 125 (13.06%) Continuous Improvement
5 124 (12.96%) ITIL
6 119 (12.43%) DevOps
7 104 (10.87%) CI/CD
8 103 (10.76%) Customer Service
8 103 (10.76%) Cybersecurity
9 99 (10.34%) ITSM
10 98 (10.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 94 (9.82%) Analytics
12 89 (9.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 88 (9.20%) Business Intelligence
14 80 (8.36%) Migration
15 76 (7.94%) Decision-Making
16 72 (7.52%) Project Delivery
17 71 (7.42%) Infrastructure as Code
18 70 (7.31%) Technical Leadership
19 64 (6.69%) AI
Programming Languages
1 148 (15.46%) PowerShell
2 92 (9.61%) Python
3 86 (8.99%) SQL
4 37 (3.87%) Bash
5 30 (3.13%) Bicep
6 22 (2.30%) JavaScript
6 22 (2.30%) T-SQL
7 20 (2.09%) C#
8 15 (1.57%) Java
8 15 (1.57%) Kusto Query Language
9 8 (0.84%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (0.84%) X++
10 7 (0.73%) TypeScript
11 4 (0.42%) ABAP
12 3 (0.31%) Perl
13 2 (0.21%) VBA
14 1 (0.10%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 363 (37.93%) Security Cleared
2 235 (24.56%) SC Cleared
3 135 (14.11%) Degree
3 135 (14.11%) DV Cleared
4 55 (5.75%) Microsoft Certification
5 44 (4.60%) Azure Certification
6 20 (2.09%) AWS Certification
7 18 (1.88%) Cisco Certification
7 18 (1.88%) DBS Check
8 17 (1.78%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.57%) BPSS Clearance
9 15 (1.57%) PMI Certification
9 15 (1.57%) PMP
10 13 (1.36%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 10 (1.04%) MCSA
12 9 (0.94%) CISSP
12 9 (0.94%) MCSE
12 9 (0.94%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 8 (0.84%) CCNP
14 7 (0.73%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 42 (4.39%) NIST
3 40 (4.18%) Data Quality
4 39 (4.08%) PMO
5 33 (3.45%) NCSC
6 32 (3.34%) GDPR
7 26 (2.72%) SLA
8 21 (2.19%) QA
9 20 (2.09%) Cyber Essentials
10 9 (0.94%) GRC
11 7 (0.73%) JSP 440
12 6 (0.63%) ISO 31000
13 4 (0.42%) ISO 19650
13 4 (0.42%) PCI DSS
13 4 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 3 (0.31%) Accessibility
14 3 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
14 3 (0.31%) GMP
14 3 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 42001
15 2 (0.21%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 215 (22.47%) Active Directory
2 72 (7.52%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (3.13%) Hyper-V
4 23 (2.40%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (1.88%) Docker
6 17 (1.78%) vSphere
7 16 (1.67%) Virtual Desktop
8 13 (1.36%) VMware ESXi
9 10 (1.04%) VMware NSX
10 6 (0.63%) Firmware
11 3 (0.31%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.21%) UAG
12 2 (0.21%) Virtual Servers
13 1 (0.10%) Dovecot
13 1 (0.10%) Postfix
13 1 (0.10%) vCloud
13 1 (0.10%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 63 (6.58%) Microsoft Intune
2 44 (4.60%) Kubernetes
3 37 (3.87%) Ansible
4 33 (3.45%) SCCM
5 26 (2.72%) SCOM
6 23 (2.40%) vCenter Server
7 14 (1.46%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 13 (1.36%) Avamar
9 12 (1.25%) Single Sign-On
10 11 (1.15%) WMI
11 10 (1.04%) Jamf Pro
12 8 (0.84%) Grafana
13 6 (0.63%) FortiGate
13 6 (0.63%) QRadar
14 5 (0.52%) Progress Chef
14 5 (0.52%) Puppet
15 4 (0.42%) Clonezilla
15 4 (0.42%) Prometheus
16 3 (0.31%) Dell DRAC
16 3 (0.31%) Istio
Vendors
1 90 (9.40%) VMware
2 59 (6.17%) ServiceNow
3 53 (5.54%) SAP
4 37 (3.87%) Cisco
5 35 (3.66%) Google
6 27 (2.82%) Oracle
7 19 (1.99%) Databricks
7 19 (1.99%) Dell
8 17 (1.78%) Meraki
9 14 (1.46%) SolarWinds
10 13 (1.36%) Thales
11 12 (1.25%) Splunk
12 11 (1.15%) F5
13 10 (1.04%) Avaya
13 10 (1.04%) CrowdStrike
14 9 (0.94%) Infoblox
14 9 (0.94%) Mitel
14 9 (0.94%) Palo Alto
14 9 (0.94%) Veeam
15 8 (0.84%) Fortinet