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 10 June 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
10 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 699 471 821
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.60% 15.76% 14.29%
As % of the Vendors category 28.04% 29.83% 30.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 468 320 528
10th Percentile £202 £208 £200
25th Percentile £363 £299 £354
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £469 £466
Median % change year-on-year +1.35% +0.58% +3.56%
75th Percentile £575 £552 £588
90th Percentile £663 £623 £675
England median daily rate £497 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +4.66% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 80 30 76
10th Percentile £12.78 £14.09 £11.71
25th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £28.29 £14.90 £23.82
Median % change year-on-year +89.83% -37.45% +22.17%
75th Percentile £53.75 £27.56 £58.74
90th Percentile £108.28 £32.08 £61.60
England median hourly rate £21.00 £19.00 £15.00
% change year-on-year +10.53% +26.67% -31.82%

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 2,493 1,579 2,682
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 41.38% 52.84% 46.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,662 1,053 1,582
10th Percentile £300 £225 £243
25th Percentile £413 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% - -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £690 £656 £688
England median daily rate £505 £515 £518
% change year-on-year -1.94% -0.61% -1.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 177 88 193
10th Percentile £15.75 £14.20 £12.05
25th Percentile £21.00 £15.50 £17.13
Median hourly rate £47.50 £24.66 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +92.62% -53.03% +8.47%
75th Percentile £85.00 £53.56 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £70.38 £70.00
England median hourly rate £32.50 £27.13 £23.80
% change year-on-year +19.82% +13.97% -39.82%

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 10 June 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 10 June 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 10 June 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 0 367 £481 +5.60% 222
Berkshire -3 198 £491 +2.88% 97
Hampshire -8 139 £550 +8.37% 117
Surrey +3 102 £438 +29.63% 78
Buckinghamshire -4 97 £500 -0.50% 67
Oxfordshire -2 72 £433 +73.00% 63
West Sussex -2 47 £475 +58.86% 40
Kent -4 23 £275 -23.61% 60
East Sussex -5 7 £358 -40.42% 14
Home Counties +2 4 - - 1
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 79 (11.30%) SharePoint
2 65 (9.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.15%) Confluence
4 3 (0.43%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.43%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.43%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.29%) GeoServer
6 1 (0.14%) Apache
6 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.14%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.14%) IIS
6 1 (0.14%) nginx
6 1 (0.14%) SharePoint 2010
6 1 (0.14%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
Applications
1 75 (10.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 71 (10.16%) Microsoft Office
3 31 (4.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 28 (4.01%) Microsoft Project
5 10 (1.43%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.29%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.14%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.14%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.14%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.14%) InDesign
7 1 (0.14%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.14%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 12 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.57%) NEC Housing
2 4 (0.57%) SAP Business One
3 3 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.14%) iTrent
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.14%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 281 (40.20%) Azure
2 180 (25.75%) Microsoft 365
3 130 (18.60%) Entra ID
4 83 (11.87%) Power Platform
5 65 (9.30%) AWS
6 41 (5.87%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (4.43%) Dynamics 365
7 31 (4.43%) Power Automate
8 29 (4.15%) OneDrive
9 27 (3.86%) SaaS
10 21 (3.00%) Microsoft Purview
10 21 (3.00%) PowerApps
11 19 (2.72%) IaaS
12 18 (2.58%) Azure Logic Apps
12 18 (2.58%) Microsoft Copilot
13 17 (2.43%) GitHub
13 17 (2.43%) Serverless
14 16 (2.29%) Azure Functions
14 16 (2.29%) Azure Monitor
15 13 (1.86%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 66 (9.44%) DNS
2 48 (6.87%) DHCP
3 33 (4.72%) Wi-Fi
4 28 (4.01%) Firewall
5 25 (3.58%) VPN
6 24 (3.43%) LAN
7 18 (2.58%) WAN
8 13 (1.86%) TCP/IP
9 12 (1.72%) Kerberos
9 12 (1.72%) SD-WAN
10 11 (1.57%) Unified Communications
11 9 (1.29%) MPLS
12 7 (1.00%) Network Security
13 6 (0.86%) FTP
13 6 (0.86%) IPsec
13 6 (0.86%) SSL
13 6 (0.86%) VLAN
14 5 (0.72%) Internet
14 5 (0.72%) SAN
14 5 (0.72%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (9.30%) Power BI
2 27 (3.86%) SQL Server
3 13 (1.86%) MySQL
4 12 (1.72%) PostgreSQL
5 11 (1.57%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (0.86%) Data Lake
6 6 (0.86%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (0.86%) Metadata
6 6 (0.86%) Relational Database
6 6 (0.86%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 5 (0.72%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.43%) Data Mining
8 3 (0.43%) GIS
8 3 (0.43%) MS Access
8 3 (0.43%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.43%) Star Schema
9 2 (0.29%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.29%) Geospatial Data
9 2 (0.29%) QGIS
9 2 (0.29%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 22 (3.15%) JIRA
2 11 (1.57%) Git
3 6 (0.86%) Android Studio
4 4 (0.57%) Browser DevTools
4 4 (0.57%) Eclipse
4 4 (0.57%) Xcode
5 3 (0.43%) Gradle
5 3 (0.43%) JUnit
5 3 (0.43%) Maven
5 3 (0.43%) MSI
5 3 (0.43%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.29%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.29%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.29%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.29%) Subversion
7 1 (0.14%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.14%) ERwin
7 1 (0.14%) NUnit
7 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 204 (29.18%) Social Skills
2 65 (9.30%) Public Sector
3 63 (9.01%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (8.87%) Finance
5 41 (5.87%) Organisational Skills
6 26 (3.72%) Legal
7 20 (2.86%) Documentation Skills
8 17 (2.43%) Aerospace
9 16 (2.29%) Military
10 13 (1.86%) Telecoms
11 12 (1.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 7 (1.00%) Local Government
12 7 (1.00%) Retail
13 6 (0.86%) Manufacturing
13 6 (0.86%) Marketing
14 5 (0.72%) Arabic Language
14 5 (0.72%) Aviation
14 5 (0.72%) French Language
14 5 (0.72%) Influencing Skills
15 4 (0.57%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 83 (11.87%) Architect
2 72 (10.30%) IT Support
3 63 (9.01%) Analyst
4 56 (8.01%) Senior
5 49 (7.01%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 49 (7.01%) Support Engineer
6 44 (6.29%) IT Engineer
7 42 (6.01%) Lead
8 39 (5.58%) Consultant
9 36 (5.15%) IT Support Engineer
10 32 (4.58%) Developer
11 26 (3.72%) Solutions Architect
12 25 (3.58%) Azure Engineer
13 23 (3.29%) Administrator
14 21 (3.00%) IT Analyst
14 21 (3.00%) Project Manager
15 19 (2.72%) Microsoft Engineer
16 18 (2.58%) Cloud Engineer
16 18 (2.58%) Support Analyst
17 17 (2.43%) 3rd Line Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (4.15%) .NET
2 27 (3.86%) LDAP
3 24 (3.43%) OAuth
4 23 (3.29%) SAML
5 22 (3.15%) OpenID
6 17 (2.43%) OAuth2
6 17 (2.43%) Web Services
7 16 (2.29%) REST
8 14 (2.00%) SailPoint
9 12 (1.72%) Microsoft Graph
10 10 (1.43%) JSON
11 9 (1.29%) ARM Templates
11 9 (1.29%) React
12 8 (1.14%) AngularJS
12 8 (1.14%) CSS
12 8 (1.14%) XML
13 7 (1.00%) ADO
14 6 (0.86%) Software Packaging
15 5 (0.72%) .NET Framework
15 5 (0.72%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 46 (6.58%) Onboarding
2 27 (3.86%) Data Centre
3 26 (3.72%) PKI
3 26 (3.72%) Product Ownership
4 24 (3.43%) Cloud Native
5 18 (2.58%) Hybrid Cloud
5 18 (2.58%) Legacy Systems
6 16 (2.29%) Public Cloud
7 15 (2.15%) Replication
8 14 (2.00%) Operational Technology
9 11 (1.57%) Enterprise Software
10 10 (1.43%) Driving Licence
10 10 (1.43%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (1.14%) Cyber Defence
11 8 (1.14%) Security Posture
11 8 (1.14%) Virtual Team
12 7 (1.00%) Analytical Mindset
12 7 (1.00%) CMDB
12 7 (1.00%) Data Structures
13 6 (0.86%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 201 (28.76%) Windows
2 65 (9.30%) Windows Server
3 57 (8.15%) Linux
4 26 (3.72%) Windows 10
5 24 (3.43%) Mac OS
6 19 (2.72%) Apple iOS
7 13 (1.86%) Android
8 12 (1.72%) Unix
9 9 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 9 (1.29%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (1.00%) Windows 7
10 7 (1.00%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.86%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.57%) CentOS
12 4 (0.57%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.14%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.14%) VMS
13 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (15.88%) Problem-Solving
2 88 (12.59%) DevOps
3 82 (11.73%) Customer Service
4 81 (11.59%) ITIL
5 80 (11.44%) Agile
6 73 (10.44%) Migration
7 69 (9.87%) Business Intelligence
7 69 (9.87%) CI/CD
8 64 (9.16%) Stakeholder Management
9 60 (8.58%) Cybersecurity
10 58 (8.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 57 (8.15%) ITSM
12 56 (8.01%) Analytics
13 51 (7.30%) Project Delivery
14 48 (6.87%) Project Management
15 46 (6.58%) User Experience
16 45 (6.44%) Roadmaps
17 44 (6.29%) Decision-Making
18 42 (6.01%) Stakeholder Engagement
19 41 (5.87%) AI
Programming Languages
1 104 (14.88%) PowerShell
2 63 (9.01%) Python
3 59 (8.44%) SQL
4 29 (4.15%) T-SQL
5 20 (2.86%) C#
6 16 (2.29%) Bash
7 15 (2.15%) JavaScript
8 13 (1.86%) Java
9 11 (1.57%) Bicep
10 8 (1.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 6 (0.86%) Kusto Query Language
12 4 (0.57%) Perl
12 4 (0.57%) X++
13 3 (0.43%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.29%) Korn
15 1 (0.14%) Google Apps Script
15 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 244 (34.91%) Security Cleared
2 175 (25.04%) SC Cleared
3 81 (11.59%) Degree
4 66 (9.44%) DV Cleared
5 28 (4.01%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (3.29%) Azure Certification
7 13 (1.86%) CISSP
8 12 (1.72%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (1.57%) AWS Certification
9 11 (1.57%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.43%) CISM
10 10 (1.43%) GIAC
11 9 (1.29%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.29%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.86%) MCSA
12 6 (0.86%) MCSE
12 6 (0.86%) PMI Certification
12 6 (0.86%) PMP
13 5 (0.72%) CCNP
13 5 (0.72%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (5.01%) NIST
2 29 (4.15%) SLA
3 28 (4.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 25 (3.58%) GDPR
5 24 (3.43%) NCSC
6 19 (2.72%) Cyber Essentials
7 18 (2.58%) Data Quality
7 18 (2.58%) PMO
8 13 (1.86%) QA
9 6 (0.86%) ISO 31000
9 6 (0.86%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.57%) Accessibility
10 4 (0.57%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.14%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.14%) GRC
12 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
12 1 (0.14%) JSP 440
12 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 210 (30.04%) Active Directory
2 70 (10.01%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (3.86%) Hyper-V
4 20 (2.86%) vSphere
5 17 (2.43%) Virtual Machines
6 16 (2.29%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.43%) Virtual Desktop
7 10 (1.43%) VMware NSX
8 9 (1.29%) Docker
9 5 (0.72%) Firmware
10 3 (0.43%) DFS Replication
11 2 (0.29%) UAG
12 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.14%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 1 (0.14%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.14%) Postfix
12 1 (0.14%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 64 (9.16%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (5.01%) Terraform
3 28 (4.01%) SCCM
4 23 (3.29%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 18 (2.58%) Single Sign-On
6 17 (2.43%) SCOM
7 15 (2.15%) vCenter Server
8 13 (1.86%) Ansible
8 13 (1.86%) Jamf Pro
9 12 (1.72%) Kubernetes
10 8 (1.14%) Avamar
11 4 (0.57%) Clonezilla
11 4 (0.57%) Puppet
11 4 (0.57%) QRadar
12 3 (0.43%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.43%) Nessus
12 3 (0.43%) Progress Chef
12 3 (0.43%) SCSM
12 3 (0.43%) WMI
13 2 (0.29%) WSUS
Vendors
1 83 (11.87%) VMware
2 36 (5.15%) Cisco
3 31 (4.43%) ServiceNow
4 30 (4.29%) SAP
5 18 (2.58%) Meraki
6 16 (2.29%) Citrix
7 14 (2.00%) Databricks
7 14 (2.00%) Dell
8 13 (1.86%) Oracle
8 13 (1.86%) Thales
9 11 (1.57%) SolarWinds
10 10 (1.43%) Avaya
10 10 (1.43%) Fortinet
10 10 (1.43%) Splunk
11 9 (1.29%) Google
11 9 (1.29%) Mitel
12 8 (1.14%) F5
12 8 (1.14%) Juniper
12 8 (1.14%) Red Hat
13 7 (1.00%) Veeam