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 May 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 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 687 458 820
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.46% 15.47% 14.61%
As % of the Vendors category 27.70% 29.13% 31.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 471 311 529
10th Percentile £201 £206 £200
25th Percentile £364 £291 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £465 £465
Median % change year-on-year +2.15% - +3.33%
75th Percentile £575 £562 £588
90th Percentile £675 £615 £675
England median daily rate £496 £477 £488
% change year-on-year +3.97% -2.10% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 71 30 76
10th Percentile £12.78 £14.09 £11.71
25th Percentile £15.88 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £27.50 £14.90 £23.22
Median % change year-on-year +84.56% -35.82% +23.81%
75th Percentile £53.17 £24.69 £58.49
90th Percentile £108.00 £32.08 £61.60
England median hourly rate £20.69 £18.87 £15.00
% change year-on-year +9.64% +25.80% -30.23%

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 2,480 1,572 2,643
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 41.36% 53.09% 47.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,682 1,058 1,574
10th Percentile £291 £224 £225
25th Percentile £413 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% - -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £700 £660 £688
England median daily rate £505 £520 £518
% change year-on-year -2.88% +0.48% -2.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 170 82 188
10th Percentile £15.59 £14.20 £12.00
25th Percentile £21.28 £15.76 £16.62
Median hourly rate £47.50 £24.66 £48.75
Median % change year-on-year +92.62% -49.42% +8.33%
75th Percentile £83.56 £58.39 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £71.13 £69.13
England median hourly rate £32.50 £27.06 £23.22
% change year-on-year +20.09% +16.57% -41.30%

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 May 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 May 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 May 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 -2 351 £490 +8.29% 230
Berkshire -6 178 £490 +2.62% 97
Hampshire -9 140 £550 +9.18% 102
Surrey +9 103 £438 - 58
Buckinghamshire -3 102 £500 -1.72% 78
Oxfordshire -1 71 £450 +80.00% 60
West Sussex -1 45 £468 +42.53% 33
Kent -3 24 £275 +4.76% 53
East Sussex -3 9 £538 -6.52% 16
Home Counties +2 4 - - 1
Sussex - 1 - - 3
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 78 (11.35%) SharePoint
2 67 (9.75%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.04%) Confluence
4 3 (0.44%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.44%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.44%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.29%) GeoServer
6 1 (0.15%) Apache
6 1 (0.15%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.15%) IIS
6 1 (0.15%) nginx
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.15%) Tomcat
Applications
1 72 (10.48%) Microsoft Excel
2 70 (10.19%) Microsoft Office
3 28 (4.08%) Microsoft Project
4 27 (3.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.60%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.44%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.15%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.15%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.15%) InDesign
7 1 (0.15%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.15%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.15%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 12 (1.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.58%) NEC Housing
2 4 (0.58%) SAP Business One
3 3 (0.44%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.15%) iTrent
4 1 (0.15%) SAP PSCD
4 1 (0.15%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 267 (38.86%) Azure
2 181 (26.35%) Microsoft 365
3 126 (18.34%) Entra ID
4 83 (12.08%) Power Platform
5 59 (8.59%) AWS
6 40 (5.82%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (4.51%) Dynamics 365
7 31 (4.51%) Power Automate
8 28 (4.08%) OneDrive
9 26 (3.78%) SaaS
10 22 (3.20%) PowerApps
11 21 (3.06%) Microsoft Purview
12 20 (2.91%) IaaS
13 18 (2.62%) Microsoft Copilot
13 18 (2.62%) Serverless
14 17 (2.47%) Azure Functions
14 17 (2.47%) Azure Logic Apps
14 17 (2.47%) GitHub
15 16 (2.33%) Azure Monitor
16 13 (1.89%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 62 (9.02%) DNS
2 44 (6.40%) DHCP
3 33 (4.80%) Wi-Fi
4 30 (4.37%) Firewall
5 24 (3.49%) VPN
6 23 (3.35%) LAN
7 17 (2.47%) WAN
8 12 (1.75%) Kerberos
9 11 (1.60%) TCP/IP
10 10 (1.46%) SD-WAN
11 9 (1.31%) MPLS
11 9 (1.31%) Unified Communications
12 8 (1.16%) Network Security
12 8 (1.16%) VLAN
13 7 (1.02%) SAN
14 6 (0.87%) IPsec
15 5 (0.73%) BGP
15 5 (0.73%) VSAN
15 5 (0.73%) Wireless
16 4 (0.58%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 63 (9.17%) Power BI
2 29 (4.22%) SQL Server
3 14 (2.04%) MySQL
4 11 (1.60%) Azure SQL Database
4 11 (1.60%) PostgreSQL
5 8 (1.16%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.02%) Data Lake
6 7 (1.02%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.02%) Metadata
7 6 (0.87%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 5 (0.73%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 4 (0.58%) Oracle Database
10 3 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.44%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.44%) GIS
10 3 (0.44%) MS Access
10 3 (0.44%) Star Schema
11 2 (0.29%) Oracle Reports
11 2 (0.29%) Spatial Data
11 2 (0.29%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 20 (2.91%) JIRA
2 12 (1.75%) Git
3 8 (1.16%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.87%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.87%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.87%) Xcode
5 3 (0.44%) Gradle
5 3 (0.44%) JUnit
5 3 (0.44%) Maven
5 3 (0.44%) MSI
5 3 (0.44%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.29%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.29%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.29%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.29%) Subversion
7 1 (0.15%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.15%) ERwin
7 1 (0.15%) NUnit
7 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 193 (28.09%) Social Skills
2 63 (9.17%) Finance
2 63 (9.17%) Public Sector
3 58 (8.44%) Analytical Skills
4 43 (6.26%) Organisational Skills
5 24 (3.49%) Legal
6 16 (2.33%) Documentation Skills
7 15 (2.18%) Aerospace
7 15 (2.18%) Military
8 11 (1.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 10 (1.46%) Telecoms
10 8 (1.16%) Retail
11 7 (1.02%) Local Government
12 6 (0.87%) Marketing
13 5 (0.73%) Aviation
13 5 (0.73%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (0.73%) Manufacturing
13 5 (0.73%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.58%) Advertising
14 4 (0.58%) Police
Job Titles
1 84 (12.23%) Architect
2 68 (9.90%) IT Support
3 63 (9.17%) Analyst
4 57 (8.30%) Senior
5 51 (7.42%) Support Engineer
6 49 (7.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 43 (6.26%) IT Engineer
8 41 (5.97%) Lead
9 36 (5.24%) Consultant
10 35 (5.09%) IT Support Engineer
11 34 (4.95%) Developer
12 24 (3.49%) Azure Engineer
13 23 (3.35%) Solutions Architect
14 22 (3.20%) Project Manager
15 20 (2.91%) Administrator
15 20 (2.91%) IT Analyst
16 18 (2.62%) Support Analyst
17 17 (2.47%) Microsoft Engineer
18 16 (2.33%) 3rd Line Engineer
18 16 (2.33%) DevOps Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (4.08%) .NET
2 24 (3.49%) LDAP
3 20 (2.91%) OAuth
4 19 (2.77%) SAML
5 18 (2.62%) OpenID
6 16 (2.33%) REST
7 14 (2.04%) OAuth2
7 14 (2.04%) Web Services
8 11 (1.60%) Microsoft Graph
8 11 (1.60%) SailPoint
9 10 (1.46%) React
10 9 (1.31%) AngularJS
10 9 (1.31%) ARM Templates
10 9 (1.31%) CSS
10 9 (1.31%) JSON
11 8 (1.16%) XML
12 7 (1.02%) GraphQL
13 6 (0.87%) ADO
13 6 (0.87%) Ajax
13 6 (0.87%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 47 (6.84%) Onboarding
2 28 (4.08%) PKI
3 23 (3.35%) Data Centre
3 23 (3.35%) Product Ownership
4 22 (3.20%) Cloud Native
5 18 (2.62%) Legacy Systems
6 17 (2.47%) Hybrid Cloud
7 15 (2.18%) Public Cloud
7 15 (2.18%) Replication
8 13 (1.89%) Operational Technology
9 12 (1.75%) Driving Licence
10 10 (1.46%) Enterprise Software
10 10 (1.46%) Self-Motivation
11 9 (1.31%) Cyber Defence
12 8 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (1.16%) Mobile App
12 8 (1.16%) Security Posture
12 8 (1.16%) Virtual Team
13 7 (1.02%) Data Structures
14 6 (0.87%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 198 (28.82%) Windows
2 61 (8.88%) Linux
2 61 (8.88%) Windows Server
3 27 (3.93%) Windows 10
4 21 (3.06%) Mac OS
5 15 (2.18%) Android
5 15 (2.18%) Apple iOS
6 14 (2.04%) Unix
7 10 (1.46%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (1.31%) Windows Server 2019
9 8 (1.16%) Windows 7
10 6 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.87%) Windows Server 2016
11 5 (0.73%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.58%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) Debian
13 1 (0.15%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.15%) VMS
13 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (14.56%) Problem-Solving
2 86 (12.52%) DevOps
3 85 (12.37%) Agile
4 80 (11.64%) Customer Service
5 77 (11.21%) ITIL
6 73 (10.63%) Migration
7 68 (9.90%) CI/CD
8 67 (9.75%) Business Intelligence
9 62 (9.02%) Cybersecurity
10 60 (8.73%) Stakeholder Management
11 56 (8.15%) Analytics
11 56 (8.15%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 50 (7.28%) Project Management
13 47 (6.84%) ITSM
13 47 (6.84%) Project Delivery
14 46 (6.70%) Decision-Making
15 42 (6.11%) Roadmaps
15 42 (6.11%) User Experience
16 41 (5.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 39 (5.68%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 97 (14.12%) PowerShell
2 63 (9.17%) Python
3 60 (8.73%) SQL
4 27 (3.93%) T-SQL
5 20 (2.91%) C#
6 15 (2.18%) JavaScript
7 14 (2.04%) Bash
7 14 (2.04%) Java
8 10 (1.46%) Bicep
9 8 (1.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (1.02%) Kusto Query Language
11 6 (0.87%) Perl
12 4 (0.58%) X++
13 3 (0.44%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.29%) Korn
15 1 (0.15%) Google Apps Script
15 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.15%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 236 (34.35%) Security Cleared
2 167 (24.31%) SC Cleared
3 75 (10.92%) Degree
4 70 (10.19%) DV Cleared
5 24 (3.49%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (2.91%) Azure Certification
7 15 (2.18%) CISSP
8 12 (1.75%) Computer Science Degree
8 12 (1.75%) GIAC
9 11 (1.60%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (1.60%) CISM
10 9 (1.31%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (1.31%) DBS Check
11 6 (0.87%) AWS Certification
11 6 (0.87%) PMI Certification
11 6 (0.87%) PMP
12 5 (0.73%) ACCA
12 5 (0.73%) CIMA
12 5 (0.73%) CRISC
12 5 (0.73%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.80%) NIST
2 26 (3.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (3.64%) GDPR
3 25 (3.64%) SLA
4 23 (3.35%) NCSC
5 21 (3.06%) Cyber Essentials
6 18 (2.62%) PMO
7 17 (2.47%) Data Quality
8 12 (1.75%) QA
9 6 (0.87%) ISO 31000
9 6 (0.87%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.58%) Accessibility
10 4 (0.58%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.44%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.29%) JSP 440
13 1 (0.15%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 207 (30.13%) Active Directory
2 66 (9.61%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (3.49%) Hyper-V
4 15 (2.18%) vSphere
5 13 (1.89%) Virtual Machines
6 11 (1.60%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.46%) VMware NSX
8 9 (1.31%) Docker
8 9 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
9 5 (0.73%) Firmware
10 3 (0.44%) DFS Replication
11 2 (0.29%) UAG
12 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.15%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 1 (0.15%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.15%) Postfix
12 1 (0.15%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 60 (8.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (4.51%) Terraform
3 26 (3.78%) SCCM
4 23 (3.35%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 17 (2.47%) Single Sign-On
6 15 (2.18%) SCOM
7 12 (1.75%) vCenter Server
8 11 (1.60%) Ansible
8 11 (1.60%) Kubernetes
9 10 (1.46%) Jamf Pro
10 8 (1.16%) Avamar
11 4 (0.58%) QRadar
11 4 (0.58%) WMI
12 3 (0.44%) Clonezilla
12 3 (0.44%) Nessus
12 3 (0.44%) SCSM
12 3 (0.44%) WSUS
13 2 (0.29%) Grafana
13 2 (0.29%) Oracle RMAN
13 2 (0.29%) Puppet
Vendors
1 79 (11.50%) VMware
2 34 (4.95%) Cisco
3 29 (4.22%) SAP
4 22 (3.20%) ServiceNow
5 18 (2.62%) Meraki
6 15 (2.18%) Databricks
6 15 (2.18%) Oracle
7 14 (2.04%) Dell
7 14 (2.04%) Thales
8 13 (1.89%) Citrix
9 12 (1.75%) Splunk
10 10 (1.46%) Avaya
11 9 (1.31%) Fortinet
11 9 (1.31%) Google
11 9 (1.31%) Mitel
12 8 (1.16%) F5
12 8 (1.16%) Red Hat
12 8 (1.16%) SolarWinds
13 7 (1.02%) Juniper
13 7 (1.02%) Veeam