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 27 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
27 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 6 7
Rank change year-on-year +2 +1 -3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 946 549 630
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 14.26% 15.50% 13.17%
As % of the Vendors category 32.71% 29.97% 26.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 576 381 406
10th Percentile £203 £200 £200
25th Percentile £355 £255 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £460 £466
Median % change year-on-year +3.26% -1.20% +0.46%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £623 £664
England median daily rate £488 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +2.63% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 121 43 38
10th Percentile £13.41 £14.00 £11.71
25th Percentile £15.50 £14.20 £11.79
Median hourly rate £29.07 £17.00 £38.75
Median % change year-on-year +71.00% -56.13% +118.31%
75th Percentile £70.25 £32.05 £57.31
90th Percentile £101.75 £81.15 £61.22
England median hourly rate £20.88 £22.57 £16.23
% change year-on-year -7.48% +39.03% -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 2,892 1,832 2,334
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.59% 51.74% 48.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,803 1,225 1,402
10th Percentile £281 £208 £254
25th Percentile £425 £365 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £634
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 244 116 133
10th Percentile £15.14 £14.20 £14.50
25th Percentile £19.16 £15.13 £26.03
Median hourly rate £50.99 £18.94 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +169.30% -66.98% +19.60%
75th Percentile £77.50 £42.06 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £72.50 £70.00
England median hourly rate £32.00 £25.15 £29.77
% change year-on-year +27.24% -15.52% -28.27%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 +1 476 £500 +11.11% 201
Berkshire +3 256 £500 +3.36% 82
Hampshire -1 219 £500 -5.21% 113
Surrey +4 132 £450 +80.00% 75
Buckinghamshire -4 123 £520 +32.48% 69
Oxfordshire 0 97 £450 +80.00% 55
West Sussex -5 56 £380 +80.95% 33
Kent -1 38 £488 +85.71% 54
East Sussex -2 9 £220 -60.00% 27
Middlesex - 4 - - 4
Home Counties +1 2 - -
Sussex - 2 - - 15
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 96 (10.15%) SharePoint
2 55 (5.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.48%) Confluence
4 3 (0.32%) Apache
4 3 (0.32%) 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 (0.11%) nginx
6 1 (0.11%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.11%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.11%) Smallworld
6 1 (0.11%) Tomcat
Applications
1 123 (13.00%) Microsoft Excel
2 122 (12.90%) Microsoft Office
3 59 (6.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 47 (4.97%) Microsoft Project
5 13 (1.37%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.32%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.11%) Adobe Captivate
7 1 (0.11%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.11%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.11%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.37%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.53%) 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 2 (0.21%) Maximo
5 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.11%) iTrent
6 1 (0.11%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Assets
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Cash Management
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.11%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 381 (40.27%) Azure
2 227 (24.00%) Microsoft 365
3 163 (17.23%) Entra ID
4 105 (11.10%) Power Platform
5 91 (9.62%) AWS
6 56 (5.92%) Azure DevOps
7 54 (5.71%) Dynamics 365
8 37 (3.91%) SaaS
9 36 (3.81%) Azure Monitor
10 33 (3.49%) GCP
11 31 (3.28%) Power Automate
12 29 (3.07%) IaaS
13 28 (2.96%) Azure Logic Apps
14 23 (2.43%) OneDrive
15 22 (2.33%) Microsoft Purview
16 20 (2.11%) Azure Sentinel
16 20 (2.11%) PowerApps
17 17 (1.80%) Microsoft Copilot
18 14 (1.48%) Azure Functions
18 14 (1.48%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 79 (8.35%) DNS
2 58 (6.13%) Firewall
3 53 (5.60%) DHCP
4 44 (4.65%) TCP/IP
5 43 (4.55%) VPN
6 32 (3.38%) LAN
6 32 (3.38%) Wi-Fi
7 28 (2.96%) WAN
8 17 (1.80%) Network Security
8 17 (1.80%) VLAN
9 14 (1.48%) MPLS
10 12 (1.27%) SD-WAN
11 9 (0.95%) BGP
11 9 (0.95%) DNSSEC
12 8 (0.85%) Internet
12 8 (0.85%) Unified Communications
13 7 (0.74%) Intranet
14 6 (0.63%) BIG-IP
14 6 (0.63%) OSPF
14 6 (0.63%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 76 (8.03%) Power BI
2 34 (3.59%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.27%) Azure SQL Database
4 11 (1.16%) MySQL
5 10 (1.06%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (1.06%) Oracle Database
6 9 (0.95%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (0.85%) Metadata
7 8 (0.85%) Relational Database
8 6 (0.63%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.42%) Data Lake
9 4 (0.42%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.32%) GIS
10 3 (0.32%) 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
12 1 (0.11%) Ataccama
Development Applications
1 29 (3.07%) JIRA
2 12 (1.27%) Git
3 9 (0.95%) MSI
4 8 (0.85%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.74%) GitLab
6 3 (0.32%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.32%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.32%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.32%) Xcode
7 2 (0.21%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.21%) Robot Framework
7 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.11%) ERwin
8 1 (0.11%) JUnit
8 1 (0.11%) NUnit
8 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
General
1 334 (35.31%) Social Skills
2 146 (15.43%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (10.47%) Finance
4 83 (8.77%) Public Sector
5 79 (8.35%) Organisational Skills
6 44 (4.65%) Aerospace
7 35 (3.70%) Documentation Skills
8 31 (3.28%) Legal
9 24 (2.54%) Telecoms
10 21 (2.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 18 (1.90%) Manufacturing
12 17 (1.80%) Marketing
13 16 (1.69%) Influencing Skills
14 14 (1.48%) Military
15 11 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
16 9 (0.95%) French Language
17 8 (0.85%) Aviation
17 8 (0.85%) Retail
18 7 (0.74%) Billing
18 7 (0.74%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 116 (12.26%) Architect
2 94 (9.94%) Analyst
3 87 (9.20%) IT Support
4 76 (8.03%) Senior
5 68 (7.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 54 (5.71%) Lead
7 52 (5.50%) Consultant
8 50 (5.29%) Support Engineer
9 49 (5.18%) IT Engineer
10 46 (4.86%) Cloud Engineer
10 46 (4.86%) Developer
11 41 (4.33%) Azure Engineer
12 36 (3.81%) Administrator
13 34 (3.59%) IT Analyst
13 34 (3.59%) IT Support Engineer
14 29 (3.07%) Solutions Architect
15 28 (2.96%) Project Manager
16 27 (2.85%) Support Analyst
17 26 (2.75%) Technical Architect
18 25 (2.64%) Microsoft Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 74 (7.82%) Terraform
2 38 (4.02%) OAuth
3 37 (3.91%) .NET
4 35 (3.70%) SAML
5 34 (3.59%) OpenID
6 24 (2.54%) LDAP
6 24 (2.54%) OAuth2
6 24 (2.54%) REST
7 22 (2.33%) Web Services
8 20 (2.11%) SailPoint
9 19 (2.01%) Microsoft Graph
10 17 (1.80%) ARM Templates
11 12 (1.27%) JSON
11 12 (1.27%) Middleware
12 10 (1.06%) .NET Framework
12 10 (1.06%) React
13 9 (0.95%) XML
14 8 (0.85%) Entity Framework
14 8 (0.85%) PySpark
14 8 (0.85%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 97 (10.25%) Onboarding
2 51 (5.39%) Hybrid Cloud
3 33 (3.49%) Cloud Native
4 31 (3.28%) Data Centre
4 31 (3.28%) PKI
5 22 (2.33%) Enterprise Software
5 22 (2.33%) Security Posture
6 21 (2.22%) Management Information System
7 20 (2.11%) Product Ownership
8 19 (2.01%) Public Cloud
9 16 (1.69%) Operational Technology
10 15 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
11 14 (1.48%) Driving Licence
12 13 (1.37%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 13 (1.37%) Enterprise Cloud
13 12 (1.27%) Data Structures
14 11 (1.16%) Private Cloud
15 10 (1.06%) Analytical Mindset
15 10 (1.06%) Cyber Defence
16 9 (0.95%) Cloud Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 251 (26.53%) Windows
2 93 (9.83%) Windows Server
3 76 (8.03%) Linux
4 43 (4.55%) Windows 10
5 24 (2.54%) Apple iOS
6 22 (2.33%) Mac OS
7 15 (1.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 15 (1.59%) Unix
8 12 (1.27%) Android
9 9 (0.95%) CentOS
10 8 (0.85%) Ubuntu
11 7 (0.74%) Windows 7
12 6 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
15 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 210 (22.20%) Problem-Solving
2 147 (15.54%) Stakeholder Management
3 134 (14.16%) Agile
4 123 (13.00%) ITIL
5 118 (12.47%) Continuous Improvement
6 116 (12.26%) DevOps
7 102 (10.78%) Customer Service
7 102 (10.78%) Cybersecurity
8 101 (10.68%) CI/CD
9 98 (10.36%) ITSM
10 97 (10.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 90 (9.51%) Analytics
12 87 (9.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 83 (8.77%) Business Intelligence
14 78 (8.25%) Migration
15 76 (8.03%) Decision-Making
16 69 (7.29%) Project Delivery
17 68 (7.19%) Technical Leadership
18 65 (6.87%) Infrastructure as Code
19 63 (6.66%) AI
Programming Languages
1 146 (15.43%) PowerShell
2 90 (9.51%) Python
3 87 (9.20%) SQL
4 35 (3.70%) Bash
5 26 (2.75%) Bicep
6 22 (2.33%) JavaScript
6 22 (2.33%) T-SQL
7 20 (2.11%) C#
8 15 (1.59%) Java
8 15 (1.59%) Kusto Query Language
9 8 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (0.85%) X++
10 7 (0.74%) TypeScript
11 4 (0.42%) ABAP
12 3 (0.32%) Perl
12 3 (0.32%) VBA
13 1 (0.11%) Google Apps Script
13 1 (0.11%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 351 (37.10%) Security Cleared
2 229 (24.21%) SC Cleared
3 132 (13.95%) Degree
4 131 (13.85%) DV Cleared
5 51 (5.39%) Microsoft Certification
6 44 (4.65%) Azure Certification
7 20 (2.11%) AWS Certification
8 18 (1.90%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
9 16 (1.69%) DBS Check
10 15 (1.59%) BPSS Clearance
10 15 (1.59%) PMI Certification
10 15 (1.59%) PMP
11 12 (1.27%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 10 (1.06%) MCSA
13 9 (0.95%) CISSP
13 9 (0.95%) MCSE
13 9 (0.95%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 8 (0.85%) CCNP
15 7 (0.74%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 42 (4.44%) NIST
3 39 (4.12%) Data Quality
4 37 (3.91%) PMO
5 32 (3.38%) GDPR
6 30 (3.17%) NCSC
7 26 (2.75%) SLA
8 21 (2.22%) QA
9 20 (2.11%) Cyber Essentials
10 9 (0.95%) GRC
11 6 (0.63%) ISO 31000
11 6 (0.63%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.42%) ISO 19650
12 4 (0.42%) PCI DSS
12 4 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.32%) Accessibility
13 3 (0.32%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.21%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 218 (23.04%) Active Directory
2 71 (7.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (3.07%) Hyper-V
4 23 (2.43%) Virtual Machines
5 17 (1.80%) Docker
5 17 (1.80%) vSphere
6 16 (1.69%) Virtual Desktop
7 13 (1.37%) VMware ESXi
8 10 (1.06%) VMware NSX
9 6 (0.63%) Firmware
10 3 (0.32%) OpenAM
11 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 2 (0.21%) UAG
11 2 (0.21%) Virtual Servers
12 1 (0.11%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.11%) Postfix
12 1 (0.11%) vCloud
12 1 (0.11%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 63 (6.66%) Microsoft Intune
2 41 (4.33%) Kubernetes
3 35 (3.70%) Ansible
4 32 (3.38%) SCCM
5 26 (2.75%) SCOM
6 23 (2.43%) vCenter Server
7 14 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 13 (1.37%) Avamar
9 12 (1.27%) Single Sign-On
10 10 (1.06%) Jamf Pro
10 10 (1.06%) WMI
11 7 (0.74%) Grafana
12 6 (0.63%) FortiGate
12 6 (0.63%) QRadar
13 5 (0.53%) Progress Chef
13 5 (0.53%) Puppet
14 4 (0.42%) Clonezilla
15 3 (0.32%) Dell DRAC
15 3 (0.32%) Prometheus
15 3 (0.32%) SCSM
Vendors
1 89 (9.41%) VMware
2 57 (6.03%) ServiceNow
3 53 (5.60%) SAP
4 37 (3.91%) Cisco
5 36 (3.81%) Google
6 26 (2.75%) Oracle
7 19 (2.01%) Databricks
7 19 (2.01%) Dell
8 18 (1.90%) Meraki
9 14 (1.48%) SolarWinds
10 13 (1.37%) Thales
11 12 (1.27%) Splunk
12 11 (1.16%) Avaya
12 11 (1.16%) F5
13 10 (1.06%) CrowdStrike
13 10 (1.06%) Mitel
14 9 (0.95%) Infoblox
14 9 (0.95%) Palo Alto
14 9 (0.95%) Veeam
15 8 (0.85%) Fortinet