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 8 July 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
8 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 5 6
Rank change year-on-year -2 +1 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 785 539 787
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 12.18% 16.32% 13.91%
As % of the Vendors category 28.69% 30.40% 29.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 508 359 506
10th Percentile £201 £200 £200
25th Percentile £356 £268 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £470 £468
Median % change year-on-year +1.06% +0.43% -0.95%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £623 £674
England median daily rate £493 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.68% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 85 36 75
10th Percentile £12.78 £13.75 £11.71
25th Percentile £16.50 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £31.25 £15.63 £24.43
Median % change year-on-year +100.00% -36.04% +25.28%
75th Percentile £57.50 £28.81 £59.50
90th Percentile £110.75 £32.54 £61.60
England median hourly rate £22.71 £22.50 £16.06
% change year-on-year +0.93% +40.10% -27.00%

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 2,736 1,773 2,660
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 42.45% 53.68% 47.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,774 1,158 1,570
10th Percentile £283 £220 £243
25th Percentile £419 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year +2.65% -1.96% +2.00%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £693 £656 £700
England median daily rate £510 £513 £515
% change year-on-year -0.49% -0.49% -1.90%
Number of hourly rates quoted 196 112 188
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £12.00
25th Percentile £22.75 £15.34 £18.00
Median hourly rate £52.50 £20.33 £51.50
Median % change year-on-year +158.24% -60.52% +14.44%
75th Percentile £85.00 £38.42 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £69.44 £70.00
England median hourly rate £35.00 £25.23 £25.00
% change year-on-year +38.75% +0.90% -30.56%

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 8 July 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 8 July 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 8 July 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 0 415 £500 +11.11% 282
Berkshire -1 234 £500 +1.52% 131
Hampshire -9 160 £538 +2.38% 118
Surrey +4 111 £450 +85.57% 107
Buckinghamshire -4 102 £500 +21.21% 82
Oxfordshire -2 79 £400 +60.00% 77
West Sussex -2 54 £460 +80.39% 52
Kent -3 25 £275 -12.00% 62
East Sussex 0 8 £375 -39.39% 32
Home Counties +2 4 - - 1
Middlesex - 1 - - 21
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 (9.94%) SharePoint
2 74 (9.43%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.27%) Confluence
4 2 (0.25%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.13%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.13%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.13%) BizTalk Server
5 1 (0.13%) IIS
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
5 1 (0.13%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2013
5 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
5 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 91 (11.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 85 (10.83%) Microsoft Office
3 37 (4.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 34 (4.33%) Microsoft Project
5 13 (1.66%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.25%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.13%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.13%) InDesign
7 1 (0.13%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.13%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (1.66%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.15%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.64%) NEC Housing
3 5 (0.64%) SAP PSCD
4 4 (0.51%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.13%) iTrent
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 318 (40.51%) Azure
2 196 (24.97%) Microsoft 365
3 151 (19.24%) Entra ID
4 92 (11.72%) Power Platform
5 80 (10.19%) AWS
6 44 (5.61%) Azure DevOps
7 42 (5.35%) Dynamics 365
8 34 (4.33%) OneDrive
9 28 (3.57%) Power Automate
10 27 (3.44%) SaaS
11 23 (2.93%) GCP
12 21 (2.68%) Azure Logic Apps
13 20 (2.55%) Microsoft Purview
14 18 (2.29%) Azure Monitor
15 17 (2.17%) PowerApps
16 15 (1.91%) IaaS
17 14 (1.78%) GitHub
17 14 (1.78%) Serverless
18 13 (1.66%) Azure Functions
19 12 (1.53%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 81 (10.32%) DNS
2 53 (6.75%) DHCP
3 41 (5.22%) Firewall
4 40 (5.10%) Wi-Fi
5 32 (4.08%) VPN
6 31 (3.95%) LAN
7 30 (3.82%) TCP/IP
8 24 (3.06%) WAN
9 16 (2.04%) SD-WAN
10 14 (1.78%) MPLS
11 12 (1.53%) Kerberos
11 12 (1.53%) VLAN
12 11 (1.40%) Network Security
12 11 (1.40%) Unified Communications
13 10 (1.27%) BGP
14 9 (1.15%) DNSSEC
14 9 (1.15%) IPsec
15 7 (0.89%) BIG-IP
15 7 (0.89%) OSPF
15 7 (0.89%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (9.04%) Power BI
2 30 (3.82%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.53%) MySQL
3 12 (1.53%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (1.02%) Azure SQL Database
4 8 (1.02%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (0.76%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (0.76%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 5 (0.64%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.51%) Metadata
8 3 (0.38%) Data Mining
8 3 (0.38%) MS Access
8 3 (0.38%) Star Schema
9 2 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.25%) BusinessObjects
9 2 (0.25%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.25%) Geospatial Data
9 2 (0.25%) Oracle Reports
9 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 26 (3.31%) JIRA
2 13 (1.66%) Git
3 4 (0.51%) JUnit
3 4 (0.51%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.38%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.38%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.38%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.38%) Gradle
4 3 (0.38%) Maven
4 3 (0.38%) MSI
4 3 (0.38%) Robot Framework
4 3 (0.38%) Xcode
5 2 (0.25%) GitLab
5 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) NUnit
6 1 (0.13%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 248 (31.59%) Social Skills
2 78 (9.94%) Analytical Skills
3 77 (9.81%) Public Sector
4 75 (9.55%) Finance
5 49 (6.24%) Organisational Skills
6 28 (3.57%) Legal
7 26 (3.31%) Documentation Skills
8 24 (3.06%) Aerospace
9 20 (2.55%) Telecoms
10 15 (1.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (1.91%) Military
11 14 (1.78%) Marketing
12 8 (1.02%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (0.89%) Local Government
13 7 (0.89%) Retail
14 6 (0.76%) Billing
14 6 (0.76%) French Language
14 6 (0.76%) Manufacturing
15 5 (0.64%) Arabic Language
15 5 (0.64%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 86 (10.96%) Architect
2 81 (10.32%) IT Support
3 79 (10.06%) Analyst
4 60 (7.64%) Senior
5 49 (6.24%) Consultant
6 48 (6.11%) Support Engineer
7 47 (5.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 46 (5.86%) IT Engineer
8 46 (5.86%) Lead
9 37 (4.71%) IT Support Engineer
10 35 (4.46%) Developer
11 29 (3.69%) IT Analyst
12 28 (3.57%) Azure Engineer
13 26 (3.31%) Administrator
13 26 (3.31%) Project Manager
13 26 (3.31%) Solutions Architect
13 26 (3.31%) Support Analyst
14 25 (3.18%) Cloud Engineer
15 21 (2.68%) IT Support Analyst
15 21 (2.68%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.82%) LDAP
2 28 (3.57%) .NET
3 27 (3.44%) OAuth
4 26 (3.31%) SAML
5 25 (3.18%) OpenID
6 18 (2.29%) Microsoft Graph
6 18 (2.29%) REST
6 18 (2.29%) Web Services
7 17 (2.17%) OAuth2
8 14 (1.78%) SailPoint
9 10 (1.27%) JSON
10 8 (1.02%) React
10 8 (1.02%) SOAP
10 8 (1.02%) XML
11 7 (0.89%) AngularJS
11 7 (0.89%) ARM Templates
11 7 (0.89%) CSS
11 7 (0.89%) Middleware
12 6 (0.76%) PySpark
12 6 (0.76%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 57 (7.26%) Onboarding
2 31 (3.95%) Data Centre
2 31 (3.95%) PKI
3 28 (3.57%) Cloud Native
4 25 (3.18%) Hybrid Cloud
5 22 (2.80%) Legacy Systems
5 22 (2.80%) Product Ownership
6 17 (2.17%) Operational Technology
6 17 (2.17%) Public Cloud
7 16 (2.04%) Replication
8 13 (1.66%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 12 (1.53%) Security Posture
10 11 (1.40%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (1.40%) Self-Motivation
11 10 (1.27%) Data Structures
12 9 (1.15%) Cyber Defence
12 9 (1.15%) Management Information System
13 8 (1.02%) Driving Licence
13 8 (1.02%) Private Cloud
13 8 (1.02%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 215 (27.39%) Windows
2 65 (8.28%) Windows Server
3 54 (6.88%) Linux
4 28 (3.57%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.18%) Mac OS
6 22 (2.80%) Apple iOS
7 15 (1.91%) Unix
8 12 (1.53%) Android
9 10 (1.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.89%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
11 6 (0.76%) Windows Server 2012
12 5 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.38%) CentOS
13 3 (0.38%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.13%) OpenVMS
14 1 (0.13%) VMS
14 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 144 (18.34%) Problem-Solving
2 102 (12.99%) ITIL
3 97 (12.36%) Customer Service
4 93 (11.85%) Agile
5 90 (11.46%) DevOps
6 87 (11.08%) Stakeholder Management
7 78 (9.94%) CI/CD
8 75 (9.55%) Migration
9 74 (9.43%) Business Intelligence
9 74 (9.43%) Cybersecurity
10 69 (8.79%) ITSM
11 64 (8.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 62 (7.90%) Decision-Making
13 61 (7.77%) Project Delivery
14 60 (7.64%) Analytics
15 59 (7.52%) Continuous Improvement
16 58 (7.39%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 55 (7.01%) Project Management
18 52 (6.62%) AI
19 51 (6.50%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 122 (15.54%) PowerShell
2 72 (9.17%) Python
3 68 (8.66%) SQL
4 28 (3.57%) T-SQL
5 23 (2.93%) Bash
6 18 (2.29%) C#
7 16 (2.04%) Java
8 15 (1.91%) JavaScript
9 13 (1.66%) Bicep
10 11 (1.40%) Kusto Query Language
11 9 (1.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 7 (0.89%) X++
13 4 (0.51%) ABAP
14 3 (0.38%) Perl
14 3 (0.38%) TypeScript
15 2 (0.25%) Korn
16 1 (0.13%) Google Apps Script
16 1 (0.13%) Groovy
16 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
16 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 279 (35.54%) Security Cleared
2 202 (25.73%) SC Cleared
3 102 (12.99%) Degree
4 83 (10.57%) DV Cleared
5 40 (5.10%) Microsoft Certification
6 30 (3.82%) Azure Certification
7 17 (2.17%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (1.66%) AWS Certification
8 13 (1.66%) DBS Check
9 11 (1.40%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.27%) BPSS Clearance
10 10 (1.27%) CISSP
10 10 (1.27%) PMI Certification
10 10 (1.27%) PMP
11 9 (1.15%) CCNP
11 9 (1.15%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 8 (1.02%) CISM
12 8 (1.02%) GIAC
12 8 (1.02%) MCSA
12 8 (1.02%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.46%) NIST
2 30 (3.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (3.57%) GDPR
3 28 (3.57%) NCSC
4 25 (3.18%) SLA
5 19 (2.42%) Cyber Essentials
5 19 (2.42%) PMO
5 19 (2.42%) QA
6 18 (2.29%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.76%) ISO 31000
8 5 (0.64%) NIST 800
9 4 (0.51%) Accessibility
9 4 (0.51%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.38%) GRC
10 3 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 2 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.13%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.13%) ISO 9001
12 1 (0.13%) JSP 440
System Software
1 217 (27.64%) Active Directory
2 71 (9.04%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (3.82%) Hyper-V
4 18 (2.29%) vSphere
5 16 (2.04%) Virtual Machines
6 15 (1.91%) VMware ESXi
7 14 (1.78%) VMware NSX
8 12 (1.53%) Virtual Desktop
9 9 (1.15%) Docker
10 5 (0.64%) Firmware
11 3 (0.38%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.25%) UAG
13 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
13 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.13%) Dovecot
13 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.13%) Postfix
13 1 (0.13%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 70 (8.92%) Microsoft Intune
2 48 (6.11%) Terraform
3 27 (3.44%) SCCM
4 26 (3.31%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 19 (2.42%) SCOM
6 17 (2.17%) Ansible
7 16 (2.04%) vCenter Server
8 15 (1.91%) Kubernetes
9 14 (1.78%) Single Sign-On
10 13 (1.66%) Jamf Pro
11 10 (1.27%) Avamar
12 4 (0.51%) Clonezilla
12 4 (0.51%) FortiGate
12 4 (0.51%) Puppet
12 4 (0.51%) QRadar
13 3 (0.38%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.38%) SCSM
13 3 (0.38%) WMI
14 2 (0.25%) Nessus
14 2 (0.25%) WSUS
Vendors
1 89 (11.34%) VMware
2 44 (5.61%) ServiceNow
3 42 (5.35%) Cisco
4 36 (4.59%) SAP
5 23 (2.93%) Google
6 21 (2.68%) Meraki
7 16 (2.04%) Dell
8 15 (1.91%) Oracle
8 15 (1.91%) SolarWinds
9 13 (1.66%) Avaya
9 13 (1.66%) Citrix
9 13 (1.66%) Databricks
10 12 (1.53%) F5
10 12 (1.53%) Mitel
11 11 (1.40%) Fortinet
11 11 (1.40%) Thales
12 10 (1.27%) Palo Alto
13 9 (1.15%) Infoblox
13 9 (1.15%) Juniper
13 9 (1.15%) Splunk