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 December 2025, 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 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 6 7 4
Rank change year-on-year +1 -3 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 621 538 814
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 14.03% 14.59% 16.33%
As % of the Vendors category 27.62% 29.02% 31.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 439 388 551
10th Percentile £200 £200 £163
25th Percentile £255 £337 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £464 £465
Median % change year-on-year +2.43% -0.26% +1.74%
75th Percentile £567 £588 £575
90th Percentile £642 £675 £638
England median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 15 31
10th Percentile £12.50 £16.99 £13.57
25th Percentile £14.88 £21.75 £16.25
Median hourly rate £17.50 £30.41 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year -42.45% +38.23% +18.92%
75th Percentile £22.63 £55.68 £53.69
90th Percentile £87.09 £57.62 £60.39
England median hourly rate £20.26 £22.27 £23.00
% change year-on-year -9.05% -3.17% +12.36%

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 2,248 1,854 2,598
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 50.79% 50.27% 52.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,603 1,233 1,657
10th Percentile £221 £237 £205
25th Percentile £405 £402 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £510
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% +0.49% +2.00%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £608
90th Percentile £675 £688 £683
England median daily rate £508 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.33% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 148 49 122
10th Percentile £14.00 £20.24 £16.25
25th Percentile £16.47 £24.18 £24.27
Median hourly rate £22.00 £52.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -58.10% -4.55% +110.61%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £67.69
90th Percentile £89.63 £71.97 £77.40
England median hourly rate £23.60 £30.52 £45.88
% change year-on-year -22.67% -33.48% +69.93%

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 December 2025.

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 December 2025.

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 December 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 +1 299 £475 -2.06% 373
Berkshire -1 191 £480 -7.25% 200
Hampshire -1 144 £535 +5.94% 166
Surrey +7 72 £208 -35.16% 116
Buckinghamshire -2 67 £453 +5.23% 115
Oxfordshire +2 41 £275 -18.52% 58
West Sussex -4 38 £213 -50.40% 59
Kent 0 29 £425 +100.00% 126
East Sussex +8 24 £550 +4.76% 56
Sussex -1 11 £463 +5.11% 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 51 (8.21%) SharePoint
2 50 (8.05%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.42%) Skype for Business
4 9 (1.45%) Exchange Server 2010
5 8 (1.29%) Exchange Server 2013
5 8 (1.29%) SharePoint Server
6 7 (1.13%) Exchange Server 2003
6 7 (1.13%) Exchange Server 2007
6 7 (1.13%) Mattermost
6 7 (1.13%) Office Communications Server
7 2 (0.32%) CMS
7 2 (0.32%) Confluence
8 1 (0.16%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.16%) Headless CMS
8 1 (0.16%) MS Project Server
Applications
1 122 (19.65%) Microsoft Office
2 68 (10.95%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (3.70%) Microsoft Project
4 16 (2.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 9 (1.45%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.16%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 11 (1.77%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.13%) Remedy ITSM
3 6 (0.97%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.64%) NetSuite
5 3 (0.48%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
6 2 (0.32%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.32%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.32%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.16%) iTrent
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle Payroll
7 1 (0.16%) Sage 50
7 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP Payroll
7 1 (0.16%) SAP WM
7 1 (0.16%) SystmOne
7 1 (0.16%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 159 (25.60%) Azure
2 150 (24.15%) Microsoft 365
3 66 (10.63%) AWS
4 61 (9.82%) Entra ID
5 47 (7.57%) Power Platform
6 35 (5.64%) Dynamics 365
7 32 (5.15%) SaaS
8 23 (3.70%) Microsoft Purview
8 23 (3.70%) OneDrive
9 21 (3.38%) Sauce Labs
10 18 (2.90%) GCP
11 16 (2.58%) Google Workspace
12 14 (2.25%) PowerApps
13 12 (1.93%) Azure DevOps
14 11 (1.77%) Power Automate
15 10 (1.61%) Azure Sentinel
15 10 (1.61%) IaaS
16 9 (1.45%) OpenShift
17 7 (1.13%) GitHub
17 7 (1.13%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 59 (9.50%) DNS
2 48 (7.73%) Firewall
3 44 (7.09%) DHCP
4 32 (5.15%) TCP/IP
5 27 (4.35%) VPN
5 27 (4.35%) Wireless
6 18 (2.90%) Wi-Fi
7 15 (2.42%) VLAN
8 13 (2.09%) SAN
9 12 (1.93%) Unified Communications
10 11 (1.77%) Network Security
11 10 (1.61%) Fibre Channel
12 9 (1.45%) 4G
13 8 (1.29%) iSCSI
13 8 (1.29%) Skype
14 7 (1.13%) DDNS
14 7 (1.13%) VSAN
14 7 (1.13%) WebEx
15 6 (0.97%) Remote Desktop
16 5 (0.81%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (7.09%) SQL Server
2 32 (5.15%) Relational Database
3 28 (4.51%) Power BI
4 25 (4.03%) MySQL
5 19 (3.06%) Oracle Database
6 8 (1.29%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (1.29%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6 8 (1.29%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (1.29%) Metadata
6 8 (1.29%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (0.97%) RDBMS
8 5 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
9 4 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (0.64%) Data Lake
9 4 (0.64%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 2 (0.32%) Apache Cassandra
11 2 (0.32%) Crystal Reports
11 2 (0.32%) NoSQL
12 1 (0.16%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 22 (3.54%) Android Studio
1 22 (3.54%) Browser DevTools
2 21 (3.38%) Eclipse
2 21 (3.38%) Xcode
3 12 (1.93%) JIRA
4 11 (1.77%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.97%) Git
6 3 (0.48%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.32%) JMeter
7 2 (0.32%) JUnit
7 2 (0.32%) MSI
7 2 (0.32%) Oracle APEX
7 2 (0.32%) Oracle Forms
7 2 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.16%) Fiddler
8 1 (0.16%) Gatling
8 1 (0.16%) Gradle
8 1 (0.16%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.16%) Subversion
General
1 257 (41.38%) Social Skills
2 102 (16.43%) Finance
3 81 (13.04%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (10.14%) Organisational Skills
5 39 (6.28%) Public Sector
6 20 (3.22%) Manufacturing
7 17 (2.74%) Legal
8 10 (1.61%) Retail
9 9 (1.45%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.29%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.29%) Marketing
11 6 (0.97%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (0.97%) Telecoms
12 5 (0.81%) Billing
12 5 (0.81%) Electronics
12 5 (0.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (0.81%) Law
13 4 (0.64%) Banking
13 4 (0.64%) Front Office
13 4 (0.64%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 90 (14.49%) Support Engineer
2 85 (13.69%) Architect
3 84 (13.53%) Analyst
4 58 (9.34%) IT Support
5 48 (7.73%) Senior
6 42 (6.76%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 27 (4.35%) IT Engineer
7 27 (4.35%) Technical Support
8 25 (4.03%) Technical Engineer
8 25 (4.03%) Technical Support Engineer
9 24 (3.86%) Consultant
9 24 (3.86%) Support Officer
10 23 (3.70%) Developer
11 22 (3.54%) Infrastructure Architect
11 22 (3.54%) UX Engineer
12 21 (3.38%) IT Support Engineer
13 20 (3.22%) Infrastructure Support
14 19 (3.06%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
14 19 (3.06%) Solutions Architect
15 18 (2.90%) Front-End Engineer (Client-Side Engineer)
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (4.67%) React
2 24 (3.86%) GraphQL
3 22 (3.54%) Ajax
3 22 (3.54%) AngularJS
3 22 (3.54%) CSS
4 13 (2.09%) .NET
5 9 (1.45%) Middleware
6 8 (1.29%) OAuth
7 7 (1.13%) SAML
8 5 (0.81%) OpenID
8 5 (0.81%) REST
9 4 (0.64%) LDAP
9 4 (0.64%) OAuth2
9 4 (0.64%) SailPoint
9 4 (0.64%) Spring
10 3 (0.48%) Kafka
10 3 (0.48%) Microsoft Graph
10 3 (0.48%) PySpark
11 2 (0.32%) .NET Core
11 2 (0.32%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 34 (5.48%) PKI
2 30 (4.83%) Onboarding
3 28 (4.51%) Analytical Mindset
4 24 (3.86%) Mobile App
5 21 (3.38%) Management Information System
6 16 (2.58%) Enterprise Software
7 15 (2.42%) Security Operations Centre
7 15 (2.42%) Self-Motivation
8 13 (2.09%) Driving Licence
8 13 (2.09%) Fat Client
8 13 (2.09%) Thin Client
9 12 (1.93%) Data Centre
9 12 (1.93%) Operational Technology
9 12 (1.93%) Replication
10 10 (1.61%) Video Conferencing
11 9 (1.45%) Cyber Threat
11 9 (1.45%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.29%) Cyber Defence
13 7 (1.13%) Private Cloud
14 6 (0.97%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 220 (35.43%) Windows
2 90 (14.49%) Linux
3 53 (8.53%) Windows 10
4 36 (5.80%) Windows Server
5 27 (4.35%) Unix
6 26 (4.19%) Android
7 20 (3.22%) Mac OS
8 12 (1.93%) Windows Server 2019
9 11 (1.77%) Windows 7
10 10 (1.61%) Windows Server 2016
11 9 (1.45%) Windows Server 2012
12 7 (1.13%) Windows Server 2003
13 3 (0.48%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 2 (0.32%) Apple iOS
14 2 (0.32%) Ubuntu
15 1 (0.16%) CentOS
15 1 (0.16%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (19.48%) Problem-Solving
2 92 (14.81%) ITIL
3 83 (13.37%) Agile
4 68 (10.95%) Customer Service
4 68 (10.95%) Cybersecurity
5 53 (8.53%) Migration
6 52 (8.37%) Continuous Improvement
6 52 (8.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 50 (8.05%) Stakeholder Management
8 43 (6.92%) Business Intelligence
9 41 (6.60%) Project Management
9 41 (6.60%) Time Management
10 40 (6.44%) SIEM
11 37 (5.96%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 35 (5.64%) ITSM
12 35 (5.64%) User Experience
13 33 (5.31%) DevOps
13 33 (5.31%) Project Delivery
14 32 (5.15%) ERP
15 31 (4.99%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 80 (12.88%) PowerShell
2 76 (12.24%) Python
3 72 (11.59%) SQL
4 37 (5.96%) Java
5 31 (4.99%) JavaScript
6 23 (3.70%) Perl
7 14 (2.25%) Bash
8 11 (1.77%) C#
9 4 (0.64%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.64%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.64%) X++
10 2 (0.32%) Go
10 2 (0.32%) PHP
10 2 (0.32%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.16%) Bicep
11 1 (0.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.16%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.16%) VB
Qualifications
1 199 (32.05%) Security Cleared
2 123 (19.81%) SC Cleared
3 68 (10.95%) DV Cleared
4 67 (10.79%) Degree
5 51 (8.21%) Microsoft Certification
6 25 (4.03%) CISSP
7 21 (3.38%) Azure Certification
8 14 (2.25%) Computer Science Degree
9 12 (1.93%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 11 (1.77%) A+ Certification
10 11 (1.77%) GCFA
10 11 (1.77%) GCIH
10 11 (1.77%) ITIL Certification
10 11 (1.77%) MCSE
10 11 (1.77%) Network+ Certification
10 11 (1.77%) Server+ Certification
11 10 (1.61%) Cisco Certification
11 10 (1.61%) GIAC
12 9 (1.45%) CISM
12 9 (1.45%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (6.60%) GDPR
2 29 (4.67%) NIST
3 27 (4.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 20 (3.22%) SLA
5 16 (2.58%) PMO
6 15 (2.42%) Data Quality
7 10 (1.61%) QA
8 7 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (0.64%) Accessibility
9 4 (0.64%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.48%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.48%) P3O
10 3 (0.48%) RMADS
11 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 2 (0.32%) NCSC
11 2 (0.32%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.16%) GRC
12 1 (0.16%) JSP 440
12 1 (0.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 161 (25.93%) Active Directory
2 59 (9.50%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (4.03%) Hyper-V
4 18 (2.90%) vSphere
5 15 (2.42%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (1.29%) Docker
6 8 (1.29%) NFS
6 8 (1.29%) Virtual Desktop
7 7 (1.13%) Brightmail
7 7 (1.13%) ISA Server
8 5 (0.81%) Terminal Services
9 4 (0.64%) VMware NSX
10 3 (0.48%) DFS Replication
10 3 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
11 1 (0.16%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 51 (8.21%) SCCM
2 45 (7.25%) Microsoft Intune
3 17 (2.74%) Ansible
3 17 (2.74%) Single Sign-On
4 15 (2.42%) Kubernetes
5 13 (2.09%) Terraform
6 12 (1.93%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 12 (1.93%) WMI
7 8 (1.29%) Microsoft Clustering
7 8 (1.29%) SCOM
7 8 (1.29%) vCenter Server
8 7 (1.13%) HP SiteScope
8 7 (1.13%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.64%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
10 3 (0.48%) Cisco CUCM
10 3 (0.48%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.32%) FTK
11 2 (0.32%) Grafana
11 2 (0.32%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.32%) Puppet
Vendors
1 78 (12.56%) VMware
2 59 (9.50%) ServiceNow
3 52 (8.37%) Oracle
3 52 (8.37%) Splunk
4 29 (4.67%) Cisco
5 26 (4.19%) SAP
6 21 (3.38%) Citrix
7 13 (2.09%) CrowdStrike
8 9 (1.45%) Databricks
8 9 (1.45%) NetApp
8 9 (1.45%) Remedy
8 9 (1.45%) Veeam
9 8 (1.29%) Palo Alto
9 8 (1.29%) Red Hat
10 7 (1.13%) CyberArk
10 7 (1.13%) Tenable
11 6 (0.97%) ArcSight
11 6 (0.97%) CheckPoint
11 6 (0.97%) LogRhythm
11 6 (0.97%) Thales