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 15 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
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -2 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 666 461 796
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.30% 15.54% 14.56%
As % of the Vendors category 27.06% 29.46% 31.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 465 310 531
10th Percentile £202 £206 £190
25th Percentile £363 £313 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £480 £465
Median % change year-on-year -1.04% +3.23% +0.33%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £575
90th Percentile £660 £623 £675
England median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 31 72
10th Percentile £12.29 - £11.71
25th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £11.95
Median hourly rate £31.00 £15.00 £20.25
Median % change year-on-year +106.67% -25.93% +0.07%
75th Percentile £53.75 £24.38 £50.94
90th Percentile £88.70 £32.05 £61.48
England median hourly rate £20.35 £18.63 £15.00
% change year-on-year +9.23% +24.20% -28.57%

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 2,461 1,565 2,557
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 41.77% 52.75% 46.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,699 1,044 1,559
10th Percentile £300 £222 £213
25th Percentile £413 £400 £396
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £508 £500
Median % change year-on-year +0.49% +1.50% -
75th Percentile £610 £600 £600
90th Percentile £700 £663 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £518
% change year-on-year -4.76% +1.45% -2.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 160 87 182
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £12.00
25th Percentile £26.40 £16.95 £16.81
Median hourly rate £47.54 £24.66 £48.75
Median % change year-on-year +92.78% -49.42% +8.33%
75th Percentile £85.44 £58.72 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £72.25 £66.82
England median hourly rate £32.50 £26.45 £22.50
% change year-on-year +22.87% +17.56% -43.11%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 -1 343 £490 +3.16% 262
Berkshire -9 164 £500 +4.71% 122
Hampshire -9 133 £538 +7.50% 134
Buckinghamshire -4 110 £500 -9.09% 85
Surrey +12 95 £450 -8.26% 69
Oxfordshire 0 69 £415 +66.00% 62
West Sussex +1 45 £475 +26.67% 31
Kent -2 29 £284 +8.10% 48
East Sussex -3 10 £538 -2.27% 18
Home Counties +2 4 - - 1
Sussex -5 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 74 (11.11%) SharePoint
2 70 (10.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.80%) Confluence
4 3 (0.45%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.45%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.45%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.30%) GeoServer
6 1 (0.15%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.15%) Exchange Server 2010
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 81 (12.16%) Microsoft Office
2 73 (10.96%) Microsoft Excel
3 33 (4.95%) Microsoft Project
4 27 (4.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.65%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.45%) 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 9 (1.35%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (0.60%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.15%) iTrent
3 1 (0.15%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.15%) SAP PSCD
3 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 257 (38.59%) Azure
2 187 (28.08%) Microsoft 365
3 119 (17.87%) Entra ID
4 86 (12.91%) Power Platform
5 61 (9.16%) AWS
6 38 (5.71%) Azure DevOps
7 32 (4.80%) Power Automate
8 30 (4.50%) Dynamics 365
9 29 (4.35%) OneDrive
10 23 (3.45%) Microsoft Purview
10 23 (3.45%) SaaS
11 22 (3.30%) PowerApps
12 19 (2.85%) IaaS
13 18 (2.70%) Microsoft Copilot
14 17 (2.55%) GitHub
15 16 (2.40%) Serverless
16 15 (2.25%) Azure Functions
16 15 (2.25%) Azure Logic Apps
17 14 (2.10%) Azure Monitor
18 13 (1.95%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 60 (9.01%) DNS
2 45 (6.76%) DHCP
3 34 (5.11%) Wi-Fi
4 33 (4.95%) Firewall
5 22 (3.30%) VPN
6 19 (2.85%) LAN
7 16 (2.40%) WAN
8 15 (2.25%) TCP/IP
9 12 (1.80%) Kerberos
10 10 (1.50%) SD-WAN
11 9 (1.35%) Unified Communications
12 8 (1.20%) MPLS
12 8 (1.20%) Network Security
12 8 (1.20%) VLAN
13 6 (0.90%) SAN
14 5 (0.75%) BGP
14 5 (0.75%) IPsec
14 5 (0.75%) SNMP
14 5 (0.75%) SSL
14 5 (0.75%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 64 (9.61%) Power BI
2 31 (4.65%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.25%) Azure SQL Database
4 13 (1.95%) MySQL
5 10 (1.50%) Metadata
6 9 (1.35%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (1.20%) Relational Database
8 7 (1.05%) Data Lake
8 7 (1.05%) Data Warehouse
9 6 (0.90%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.60%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
10 4 (0.60%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.60%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.45%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.45%) Data Mining
11 3 (0.45%) GIS
11 3 (0.45%) Star Schema
12 2 (0.30%) MS Access
12 2 (0.30%) Oracle Reports
12 2 (0.30%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 20 (3.00%) JIRA
2 11 (1.65%) Git
3 9 (1.35%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.90%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.90%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.90%) Xcode
5 4 (0.60%) MSI
6 3 (0.45%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.45%) Gradle
6 3 (0.45%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.45%) JUnit
6 3 (0.45%) Maven
6 3 (0.45%) Robot Framework
6 3 (0.45%) Subversion
7 2 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.15%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.15%) GitLab
8 1 (0.15%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 188 (28.23%) Social Skills
2 68 (10.21%) Finance
2 68 (10.21%) Public Sector
3 62 (9.31%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (6.91%) Organisational Skills
5 18 (2.70%) Documentation Skills
5 18 (2.70%) Legal
6 15 (2.25%) Military
7 9 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.20%) Retail
8 8 (1.20%) Telecoms
9 7 (1.05%) Aerospace
9 7 (1.05%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (0.90%) Manufacturing
11 5 (0.75%) Marketing
11 5 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.60%) Aviation
12 4 (0.60%) General Ledger
12 4 (0.60%) Local Government
12 4 (0.60%) Police
Job Titles
1 89 (13.36%) Architect
2 64 (9.61%) Analyst
3 62 (9.31%) IT Support
4 54 (8.11%) Senior
5 51 (7.66%) Support Engineer
6 50 (7.51%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 42 (6.31%) IT Engineer
8 35 (5.26%) Lead
9 34 (5.11%) IT Support Engineer
10 33 (4.95%) Consultant
11 28 (4.20%) Developer
12 25 (3.75%) Solutions Architect
13 23 (3.45%) Azure Engineer
14 19 (2.85%) IT Analyst
15 18 (2.70%) Administrator
15 18 (2.70%) Technical Architect
16 17 (2.55%) Project Manager
17 16 (2.40%) DevOps Engineer
17 16 (2.40%) Support Analyst
18 15 (2.25%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.45%) .NET
2 19 (2.85%) LDAP
3 15 (2.25%) OAuth
4 14 (2.10%) SAML
5 13 (1.95%) OpenID
5 13 (1.95%) REST
6 12 (1.80%) Web Services
7 11 (1.65%) SailPoint
8 10 (1.50%) OAuth2
9 9 (1.35%) ARM Templates
9 9 (1.35%) CSS
9 9 (1.35%) React
10 8 (1.20%) Microsoft Graph
11 7 (1.05%) XML
12 6 (0.90%) ADO
12 6 (0.90%) Ajax
12 6 (0.90%) AngularJS
12 6 (0.90%) GraphQL
12 6 (0.90%) JSON
12 6 (0.90%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 49 (7.36%) Onboarding
2 32 (4.80%) PKI
3 21 (3.15%) Data Centre
3 21 (3.15%) Product Ownership
4 19 (2.85%) Cloud Native
5 17 (2.55%) Legacy Systems
6 16 (2.40%) Hybrid Cloud
7 15 (2.25%) Replication
8 14 (2.10%) Operational Technology
8 14 (2.10%) Public Cloud
9 12 (1.80%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.65%) Driving Licence
11 9 (1.35%) Cyber Defence
11 9 (1.35%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (1.35%) Mobile App
12 8 (1.20%) Virtual Team
13 7 (1.05%) Security Posture
14 6 (0.90%) Data Structures
14 6 (0.90%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 191 (28.68%) Windows
2 64 (9.61%) Linux
3 54 (8.11%) Windows Server
4 22 (3.30%) Windows 10
5 18 (2.70%) Mac OS
6 15 (2.25%) Android
7 14 (2.10%) Unix
8 13 (1.95%) Apple iOS
9 10 (1.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 9 (1.35%) Windows 7
11 7 (1.05%) Windows Server 2019
12 6 (0.90%) Windows Server 2012
13 5 (0.75%) Windows Server 2016
14 4 (0.60%) Ubuntu
15 3 (0.45%) CentOS
16 1 (0.15%) Debian
16 1 (0.15%) OpenVMS
16 1 (0.15%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (14.86%) Problem-Solving
2 81 (12.16%) Agile
3 79 (11.86%) DevOps
3 79 (11.86%) ITIL
4 74 (11.11%) Customer Service
5 72 (10.81%) Business Intelligence
6 68 (10.21%) Migration
7 62 (9.31%) CI/CD
8 60 (9.01%) Cybersecurity
9 57 (8.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 56 (8.41%) Stakeholder Management
11 55 (8.26%) Analytics
12 54 (8.11%) Project Management
13 47 (7.06%) Decision-Making
14 45 (6.76%) Project Delivery
15 44 (6.61%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 41 (6.16%) ITSM
17 39 (5.86%) User Experience
18 37 (5.56%) SIEM
19 36 (5.41%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 96 (14.41%) PowerShell
2 66 (9.91%) Python
3 57 (8.56%) SQL
4 23 (3.45%) T-SQL
5 17 (2.55%) Bash
5 17 (2.55%) C#
6 15 (2.25%) JavaScript
7 12 (1.80%) Java
8 10 (1.50%) Bicep
9 8 (1.20%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (1.05%) Kusto Query Language
11 6 (0.90%) Perl
12 2 (0.30%) Korn
12 2 (0.30%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.30%) X++
13 1 (0.15%) Google Apps Script
13 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.15%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 231 (34.68%) Security Cleared
2 160 (24.02%) SC Cleared
3 74 (11.11%) Degree
4 70 (10.51%) DV Cleared
5 23 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
6 13 (1.95%) CISSP
7 12 (1.80%) Azure Certification
7 12 (1.80%) Computer Science Degree
7 12 (1.80%) GIAC
8 11 (1.65%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (1.35%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (1.35%) CISM
9 9 (1.35%) PMI Certification
9 9 (1.35%) PMP
10 8 (1.20%) AWS Certification
10 8 (1.20%) DBS Check
11 5 (0.75%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (0.75%) CESG Certified Professional
11 5 (0.75%) CRISC
11 5 (0.75%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.95%) NIST
2 24 (3.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (3.15%) Cyber Essentials
3 21 (3.15%) PMO
4 19 (2.85%) NCSC
5 18 (2.70%) SLA
6 17 (2.55%) GDPR
7 16 (2.40%) Data Quality
8 11 (1.65%) QA
9 6 (0.90%) ISO 31000
9 6 (0.90%) NIST 800
10 5 (0.75%) Accessibility
11 3 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 3 (0.45%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.30%) JSP 440
13 1 (0.15%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.15%) Disclosure Scotland
13 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 206 (30.93%) Active Directory
2 66 (9.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (4.05%) Hyper-V
4 13 (1.95%) vSphere
5 12 (1.80%) Docker
5 12 (1.80%) Virtual Desktop
5 12 (1.80%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (1.50%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (1.50%) VMware NSX
7 5 (0.75%) Firmware
8 3 (0.45%) DFS Replication
9 2 (0.30%) UAG
10 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.15%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.15%) Sendmail
10 1 (0.15%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 59 (8.86%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (4.80%) Terraform
3 28 (4.20%) SCCM
4 18 (2.70%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 18 (2.70%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (2.25%) Ansible
6 12 (1.80%) Kubernetes
7 10 (1.50%) Jamf Pro
7 10 (1.50%) SCOM
8 8 (1.20%) vCenter Server
9 7 (1.05%) WMI
10 4 (0.60%) Avamar
10 4 (0.60%) QRadar
11 3 (0.45%) Nessus
11 3 (0.45%) SCSM
11 3 (0.45%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.45%) WSUS
12 2 (0.30%) Grafana
12 2 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 79 (11.86%) VMware
2 30 (4.50%) Cisco
3 29 (4.35%) SAP
4 21 (3.15%) ServiceNow
5 18 (2.70%) Meraki
6 16 (2.40%) Databricks
7 14 (2.10%) Oracle
8 13 (1.95%) Citrix
9 12 (1.80%) Splunk
9 12 (1.80%) Thales
10 10 (1.50%) Avaya
10 10 (1.50%) Dell
11 9 (1.35%) Google
11 9 (1.35%) Mitel
12 8 (1.20%) Fortinet
13 7 (1.05%) F5
13 7 (1.05%) Red Hat
13 7 (1.05%) SolarWinds
13 7 (1.05%) Veeam
14 6 (0.90%) CheckPoint