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 19 November 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
19 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 5 6 4
Rank change year-on-year +1 -2 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 627 581 876
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 15.49% 14.22% 16.41%
As % of the Vendors category 29.58% 28.62% 30.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 421 399 584
10th Percentile £190 £200 £163
25th Percentile £238 £345 £215
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £470 £470
Median % change year-on-year -2.13% - -0.53%
75th Percentile £550 £599 £588
90th Percentile £638 £675 £650
England median daily rate £475 £482 £500
% change year-on-year -1.45% -3.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 21 34
10th Percentile £12.50 £18.75 £13.70
25th Percentile £14.50 £30.41 £15.50
Median hourly rate £17.55 £56.75 £19.98
Median % change year-on-year -69.07% +184.08% +7.97%
75th Percentile £29.28 £59.57 £43.75
90th Percentile £87.09 £61.06 £55.98
England median hourly rate £22.32 £22.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -0.82% -2.17% +17.95%

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 2,120 2,030 2,828
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 52.38% 49.69% 52.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,444 1,292 1,779
10th Percentile £209 £255 £205
25th Percentile £382 £408 £370
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £524 £513
Median % change year-on-year -4.53% +2.10% +2.60%
75th Percentile £593 £628 £606
90th Percentile £650 £688 £678
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 160 66 126
10th Percentile £14.00 £19.06 £15.75
25th Percentile £15.72 £24.18 £21.05
Median hourly rate £20.79 £56.75 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -63.36% +8.09% +81.41%
75th Percentile £44.24 £66.77 £66.25
90th Percentile £86.36 £70.63 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.08 £35.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -28.36% -22.22% +73.08%

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 19 November 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 19 November 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 19 November 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 0 318 £469 -2.62% 363
Berkshire +2 202 £480 -7.69% 159
Hampshire +2 144 £536 -4.71% 177
Buckinghamshire 0 71 £451 +5.56% 125
Surrey +5 68 £208 -30.83% 151
Oxfordshire 0 45 £275 -21.43% 90
West Sussex -1 38 £210 -51.61% 81
Kent +1 23 £400 +23.08% 117
East Sussex +7 21 £550 +4.76% 70
Sussex 0 10 £463 +21.71% 41
Home Counties - 1 £550 -
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 65 (10.37%) Microsoft Exchange
2 46 (7.34%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.87%) Skype for Business
4 11 (1.75%) Exchange Server 2010
4 11 (1.75%) Exchange Server 2013
4 11 (1.75%) SharePoint Server
5 10 (1.59%) Exchange Server 2003
5 10 (1.59%) Exchange Server 2007
5 10 (1.59%) Office Communications Server
6 7 (1.12%) Mattermost
7 4 (0.64%) Apache
8 2 (0.32%) CMS
9 1 (0.16%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.16%) Confluence
9 1 (0.16%) Headless CMS
9 1 (0.16%) nginx
Applications
1 112 (17.86%) Microsoft Office
2 67 (10.69%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (2.71%) Microsoft Project
4 15 (2.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.96%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.32%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe Creative Suite
Business Applications
1 10 (1.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (1.28%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (1.12%) Remedy ITSM
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
6 2 (0.32%) SAP Oil and Gas
7 1 (0.16%) iTrent
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle BPM
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.16%) Sage 50
7 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP HCM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP WM
7 1 (0.16%) SystmOne
7 1 (0.16%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 156 (24.88%) Microsoft 365
2 152 (24.24%) Azure
3 64 (10.21%) AWS
4 59 (9.41%) Entra ID
5 44 (7.02%) Power Platform
6 37 (5.90%) Dynamics 365
7 30 (4.78%) SaaS
8 18 (2.87%) Azure DevOps
8 18 (2.87%) OneDrive
8 18 (2.87%) Sauce Labs
9 16 (2.55%) GCP
10 14 (2.23%) Microsoft Purview
11 13 (2.07%) Google Workspace
11 13 (2.07%) PowerApps
12 10 (1.59%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (1.59%) IaaS
12 10 (1.59%) Power Automate
13 9 (1.44%) GitHub
13 9 (1.44%) OpenShift
14 7 (1.12%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 61 (9.73%) Firewall
2 56 (8.93%) DNS
3 43 (6.86%) DHCP
4 31 (4.94%) TCP/IP
5 28 (4.47%) VPN
6 27 (4.31%) Wireless
7 17 (2.71%) Cisco IOS
7 17 (2.71%) SAN
8 16 (2.55%) Fibre Channel
9 14 (2.23%) iSCSI
9 14 (2.23%) VLAN
9 14 (2.23%) Wi-Fi
10 12 (1.91%) Network Security
11 11 (1.75%) Unified Communications
12 10 (1.59%) DDNS
13 9 (1.44%) 4G
14 8 (1.28%) Skype
15 7 (1.12%) VSAN
16 6 (0.96%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.96%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (6.54%) SQL Server
2 30 (4.78%) Relational Database
3 26 (4.15%) Power BI
4 22 (3.51%) MySQL
5 20 (3.19%) Oracle Database
6 8 (1.28%) PostgreSQL
7 7 (1.12%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (0.96%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
9 5 (0.80%) Crystal Reports
9 5 (0.80%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.80%) RDBMS
10 4 (0.64%) Azure SQL Database
10 4 (0.64%) Metadata
10 4 (0.64%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.48%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.48%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.32%) Apache Cassandra
12 2 (0.32%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.32%) GIS
Development Applications
1 20 (3.19%) Browser DevTools
2 18 (2.87%) Android Studio
2 18 (2.87%) Eclipse
2 18 (2.87%) Xcode
3 17 (2.71%) JIRA
4 11 (1.75%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.28%) MSI
6 6 (0.96%) Git
6 6 (0.96%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (0.64%) Robot Framework
8 3 (0.48%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.32%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.32%) JMeter
9 2 (0.32%) JUnit
9 2 (0.32%) Oracle APEX
9 2 (0.32%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.32%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.16%) Gatling
10 1 (0.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.16%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 242 (38.60%) Social Skills
2 95 (15.15%) Finance
3 85 (13.56%) Analytical Skills
4 55 (8.77%) Organisational Skills
5 32 (5.10%) Public Sector
6 20 (3.19%) Manufacturing
7 17 (2.71%) Legal
8 16 (2.55%) Games
9 11 (1.75%) Telecoms
10 10 (1.59%) Marketing
11 9 (1.44%) Documentation Skills
12 8 (1.28%) Retail
13 7 (1.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (0.96%) Automotive
14 6 (0.96%) Billing
14 6 (0.96%) Electronics
14 6 (0.96%) Law
14 6 (0.96%) Presentation Skills
15 5 (0.80%) Aerospace
15 5 (0.80%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 93 (14.83%) Analyst
2 91 (14.51%) Support Engineer
3 65 (10.37%) Architect
4 56 (8.93%) IT Support
5 42 (6.70%) Senior
6 35 (5.58%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 32 (5.10%) Consultant
8 27 (4.31%) Developer
8 27 (4.31%) Technical Support
9 24 (3.83%) Technical Engineer
9 24 (3.83%) Technical Support Engineer
10 23 (3.67%) Infrastructure Architect
10 23 (3.67%) IT Engineer
10 23 (3.67%) Platform Engineer
11 21 (3.35%) Infrastructure Support
11 21 (3.35%) Support Officer
12 19 (3.03%) Data Analyst
12 19 (3.03%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
12 19 (3.03%) UX Engineer
13 18 (2.87%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (4.78%) React
2 21 (3.35%) GraphQL
3 20 (3.19%) CSS
4 19 (3.03%) Ajax
4 19 (3.03%) AngularJS
5 12 (1.91%) .NET
6 11 (1.75%) OAuth
7 8 (1.28%) Middleware
7 8 (1.28%) SAML
8 7 (1.12%) SailPoint
9 6 (0.96%) OpenID
10 5 (0.80%) REST
11 4 (0.64%) JSON
11 4 (0.64%) LDAP
11 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Graph
11 4 (0.64%) OAuth2
11 4 (0.64%) Spring
11 4 (0.64%) WebdriverIO
12 3 (0.48%) ASP.NET
12 3 (0.48%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 32 (5.10%) PKI
2 27 (4.31%) Onboarding
3 24 (3.83%) Analytical Mindset
4 20 (3.19%) Management Information System
4 20 (3.19%) Mobile App
5 15 (2.39%) Replication
5 15 (2.39%) Security Operations Centre
6 13 (2.07%) Driving Licence
6 13 (2.07%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
7 10 (1.59%) Fat Client
7 10 (1.59%) Operational Technology
7 10 (1.59%) Thin Client
8 9 (1.44%) Cyber Defence
8 9 (1.44%) Cyber Threat
8 9 (1.44%) Private Cloud
8 9 (1.44%) Security Posture
8 9 (1.44%) Video Conferencing
9 8 (1.28%) Data Centre
10 6 (0.96%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 249 (39.71%) Windows
2 86 (13.72%) Linux
3 55 (8.77%) Windows 10
4 47 (7.50%) Windows Server
5 36 (5.74%) Android
6 32 (5.10%) Mac OS
7 24 (3.83%) Unix
8 20 (3.19%) Windows Server 2019
9 10 (1.59%) Windows Server 2003
10 9 (1.44%) Windows 7
10 9 (1.44%) Windows Server 2016
11 7 (1.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 7 (1.12%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.64%) Apple iOS
12 4 (0.64%) CentOS
13 2 (0.32%) Debian
13 2 (0.32%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 125 (19.94%) Problem-Solving
2 95 (15.15%) ITIL
3 73 (11.64%) Agile
4 67 (10.69%) Customer Service
5 64 (10.21%) Cybersecurity
6 59 (9.41%) Migration
7 53 (8.45%) Continuous Improvement
8 48 (7.66%) Stakeholder Management
9 45 (7.18%) DevOps
9 45 (7.18%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 42 (6.70%) Business Intelligence
11 36 (5.74%) Project Management
12 35 (5.58%) SIEM
13 34 (5.42%) Change Management
13 34 (5.42%) ERP
13 34 (5.42%) ITSM
13 34 (5.42%) Project Delivery
14 33 (5.26%) CI/CD
14 33 (5.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 32 (5.10%) Time Management
Programming Languages
1 97 (15.47%) PowerShell
2 83 (13.24%) SQL
3 72 (11.48%) Python
4 36 (5.74%) Java
5 32 (5.10%) JavaScript
6 20 (3.19%) Perl
7 19 (3.03%) C#
8 13 (2.07%) Bash
9 8 (1.28%) VB
10 6 (0.96%) PHP
10 6 (0.96%) X++
11 3 (0.48%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.48%) R
12 2 (0.32%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.32%) Bicep
12 2 (0.32%) Go
12 2 (0.32%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.32%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.16%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 184 (29.35%) Security Cleared
2 106 (16.91%) SC Cleared
3 68 (10.85%) DV Cleared
4 64 (10.21%) Degree
5 55 (8.77%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (3.19%) CISSP
7 18 (2.87%) Azure Certification
8 17 (2.71%) MCSE
8 17 (2.71%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 11 (1.75%) A+ Certification
9 11 (1.75%) Computer Science Degree
9 11 (1.75%) GCFA
9 11 (1.75%) GCIH
9 11 (1.75%) Network+ Certification
9 11 (1.75%) Server+ Certification
10 10 (1.59%) ITIL Certification
11 9 (1.44%) Cisco Certification
11 9 (1.44%) GCIA
11 9 (1.44%) PMI Certification
12 8 (1.28%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (6.70%) GDPR
2 26 (4.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 24 (3.83%) NIST
4 18 (2.87%) SLA
5 14 (2.23%) Data Quality
6 13 (2.07%) PMO
7 9 (1.44%) QA
8 5 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (0.64%) Accessibility
9 4 (0.64%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.48%) ECSS
10 3 (0.48%) ISO 9001
10 3 (0.48%) P3O
10 3 (0.48%) RMADS
11 2 (0.32%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 2 (0.32%) NCSC
11 2 (0.32%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.16%) COSHH
System Software
1 178 (28.39%) Active Directory
2 64 (10.21%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (3.99%) Hyper-V
4 23 (3.67%) vSphere
5 21 (3.35%) VMware ESXi
6 14 (2.23%) NFS
7 10 (1.59%) Brightmail
7 10 (1.59%) ISA Server
8 7 (1.12%) Docker
9 5 (0.80%) Terminal Services
10 4 (0.64%) Virtual Desktop
10 4 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
11 3 (0.48%) DFS Replication
11 3 (0.48%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 64 (10.21%) SCCM
2 58 (9.25%) Microsoft Intune
3 22 (3.51%) Ansible
4 20 (3.19%) Terraform
5 17 (2.71%) Kubernetes
6 16 (2.55%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 14 (2.23%) Single Sign-On
8 13 (2.07%) WMI
9 11 (1.75%) Microsoft Clustering
10 7 (1.12%) HP SiteScope
10 7 (1.12%) SCOM
10 7 (1.12%) vCenter Server
11 5 (0.80%) Jamf Pro
12 4 (0.64%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
13 3 (0.48%) Cisco CUCM
13 3 (0.48%) PaperCut
14 2 (0.32%) EnCase
14 2 (0.32%) FTK
14 2 (0.32%) Progress Chef
14 2 (0.32%) QRadar
Vendors
1 85 (13.56%) VMware
2 73 (11.64%) Splunk
3 60 (9.57%) ServiceNow
4 51 (8.13%) Oracle
5 45 (7.18%) Cisco
6 28 (4.47%) SAP
7 20 (3.19%) Citrix
8 19 (3.03%) Meraki
9 16 (2.55%) CrowdStrike
9 16 (2.55%) Veeam
10 15 (2.39%) NetApp
11 13 (2.07%) CyberArk
12 11 (1.75%) Remedy
12 11 (1.75%) Salesforce
13 10 (1.59%) Red Hat
14 8 (1.28%) Palo Alto
15 7 (1.12%) Google
16 6 (0.96%) ArcSight
16 6 (0.96%) LogRhythm
16 6 (0.96%) Workday