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 11 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
11 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 5 6
Rank change year-on-year -2 +1 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 800 550 787
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 12.29% 16.34% 14.02%
As % of the Vendors category 28.81% 30.44% 29.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 521 365 506
10th Percentile £201 £200 £200
25th Percentile £353 £274 £355
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £466
Median % change year-on-year - +1.88% -1.84%
75th Percentile £577 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £623 £675
England median daily rate £492 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +3.58% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 38 74
10th Percentile £13.13 £13.85 £11.71
25th Percentile £17.05 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £31.88 £16.06 £26.22
Median % change year-on-year +98.54% -38.76% +34.44%
75th Percentile £57.88 £30.19 £59.50
90th Percentile £110.75 £48.27 £61.60
England median hourly rate £22.57 £22.50 £16.06
% change year-on-year +0.29% +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 2,777 1,807 2,647
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 42.66% 53.67% 47.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,800 1,177 1,561
10th Percentile £285 £213 £250
25th Percentile £419 £375 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -1.96% +2.00%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £688 £650 £699
England median daily rate £510 £513 £515
% change year-on-year -0.49% -0.49% -1.90%
Number of hourly rates quoted 196 115 183
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £12.00
25th Percentile £24.81 £15.31 £18.00
Median hourly rate £52.50 £20.75 £53.00
Median % change year-on-year +153.01% -60.85% +17.78%
75th Percentile £85.00 £42.36 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £70.75 £70.00
England median hourly rate £35.50 £25.15 £25.00
% change year-on-year +41.15% +0.60% -31.51%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 0 425 £500 +11.11% 265
Berkshire -1 241 £500 +4.71% 122
Hampshire -9 158 £525 - 103
Surrey +4 113 £450 +80.00% 102
Buckinghamshire -4 103 £510 +23.64% 78
Oxfordshire -2 81 £403 +61.00% 73
West Sussex -3 56 £400 +66.67% 38
Kent -3 27 £275 -12.00% 61
East Sussex +1 9 £298 -53.33% 25
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 80 (10.00%) SharePoint
2 75 (9.38%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.25%) Confluence
4 2 (0.25%) OpenStack
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%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2013
5 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
5 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 93 (11.63%) Microsoft Excel
2 86 (10.75%) Microsoft Office
3 38 (4.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 34 (4.25%) Microsoft Project
5 14 (1.75%) 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 14 (1.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.25%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.63%) NEC Housing
3 5 (0.63%) SAP PSCD
4 4 (0.50%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.13%) iTrent
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) Primavera
6 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 326 (40.75%) Azure
2 200 (25.00%) Microsoft 365
3 159 (19.88%) Entra ID
4 91 (11.38%) Power Platform
5 82 (10.25%) AWS
6 45 (5.63%) Azure DevOps
7 43 (5.38%) Dynamics 365
8 35 (4.38%) OneDrive
9 29 (3.63%) SaaS
10 27 (3.38%) Power Automate
11 25 (3.13%) GCP
12 23 (2.88%) Azure Logic Apps
13 20 (2.50%) Microsoft Purview
14 19 (2.38%) Azure Monitor
15 18 (2.25%) IaaS
16 17 (2.13%) PowerApps
17 14 (1.75%) GitHub
17 14 (1.75%) Serverless
18 13 (1.63%) Azure Functions
19 12 (1.50%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 81 (10.13%) DNS
2 52 (6.50%) DHCP
3 43 (5.38%) Wi-Fi
4 41 (5.13%) Firewall
5 32 (4.00%) LAN
5 32 (4.00%) VPN
6 31 (3.88%) TCP/IP
7 25 (3.13%) WAN
8 16 (2.00%) SD-WAN
9 15 (1.88%) MPLS
10 12 (1.50%) Network Security
10 12 (1.50%) VLAN
11 11 (1.38%) BGP
11 11 (1.38%) Kerberos
11 11 (1.38%) Unified Communications
12 9 (1.13%) DNSSEC
12 9 (1.13%) IPsec
13 7 (0.88%) BIG-IP
13 7 (0.88%) OSPF
13 7 (0.88%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (8.75%) Power BI
2 32 (4.00%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.50%) MySQL
3 12 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (1.00%) Data Warehouse
5 7 (0.88%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (0.75%) Metadata
6 6 (0.75%) Oracle Database
6 6 (0.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 6 (0.75%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 5 (0.63%) Relational Database
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 (3.25%) JIRA
2 14 (1.75%) Git
3 4 (0.50%) JUnit
3 4 (0.50%) MSI
3 4 (0.50%) 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%) Robot Framework
4 3 (0.38%) Xcode
5 2 (0.25%) GitLab
5 2 (0.25%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.13%) NUnit
6 1 (0.13%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 255 (31.88%) Social Skills
2 84 (10.50%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (10.13%) Public Sector
4 76 (9.50%) Finance
5 48 (6.00%) Organisational Skills
6 29 (3.63%) Documentation Skills
6 29 (3.63%) Legal
7 25 (3.13%) Aerospace
8 22 (2.75%) Telecoms
9 16 (2.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (1.88%) Marketing
10 15 (1.88%) Military
11 8 (1.00%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (0.88%) French Language
12 7 (0.88%) Local Government
12 7 (0.88%) Retail
13 6 (0.75%) Billing
13 6 (0.75%) Manufacturing
14 5 (0.63%) Arabic Language
14 5 (0.63%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 84 (10.50%) Architect
2 83 (10.38%) Analyst
2 83 (10.38%) IT Support
3 59 (7.38%) Senior
4 51 (6.38%) Consultant
5 50 (6.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 49 (6.13%) Support Engineer
7 48 (6.00%) IT Engineer
7 48 (6.00%) Lead
8 38 (4.75%) IT Support Engineer
9 35 (4.38%) Developer
10 30 (3.75%) Azure Engineer
10 30 (3.75%) IT Analyst
11 28 (3.50%) Cloud Engineer
12 27 (3.38%) Solutions Architect
12 27 (3.38%) Support Analyst
13 26 (3.25%) Administrator
13 26 (3.25%) Project Manager
14 22 (2.75%) IT Support Analyst
15 20 (2.50%) Microsoft Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.75%) LDAP
2 28 (3.50%) OAuth
3 27 (3.38%) .NET
3 27 (3.38%) SAML
4 26 (3.25%) OpenID
5 19 (2.38%) REST
6 18 (2.25%) Microsoft Graph
6 18 (2.25%) OAuth2
6 18 (2.25%) Web Services
7 14 (1.75%) SailPoint
8 10 (1.25%) JSON
9 8 (1.00%) React
9 8 (1.00%) SOAP
9 8 (1.00%) XML
10 7 (0.88%) AngularJS
10 7 (0.88%) CSS
10 7 (0.88%) Middleware
10 7 (0.88%) YAML
11 6 (0.75%) PySpark
11 6 (0.75%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 59 (7.38%) Onboarding
2 32 (4.00%) Data Centre
3 29 (3.63%) PKI
4 28 (3.50%) Cloud Native
5 27 (3.38%) Hybrid Cloud
6 23 (2.88%) Product Ownership
7 22 (2.75%) Legacy Systems
8 19 (2.38%) Public Cloud
9 17 (2.13%) Operational Technology
10 15 (1.88%) Replication
11 13 (1.63%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 13 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
12 12 (1.50%) Security Posture
13 10 (1.25%) Cyber Defence
13 10 (1.25%) Data Structures
13 10 (1.25%) Management Information System
13 10 (1.25%) Self-Motivation
14 9 (1.13%) Driving Licence
14 9 (1.13%) Private Cloud
15 8 (1.00%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 221 (27.63%) Windows
2 67 (8.38%) Windows Server
3 56 (7.00%) Linux
4 31 (3.88%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.13%) Mac OS
6 22 (2.75%) Apple iOS
7 15 (1.88%) Unix
8 12 (1.50%) Android
9 11 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 8 (1.00%) Windows Server 2019
11 6 (0.75%) Windows 7
11 6 (0.75%) Windows Server 2012
12 5 (0.63%) 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
1 147 (18.38%) Problem-Solving
2 104 (13.00%) ITIL
3 98 (12.25%) Customer Service
4 94 (11.75%) Agile
5 91 (11.38%) DevOps
6 88 (11.00%) Stakeholder Management
7 81 (10.13%) CI/CD
8 79 (9.88%) Migration
9 74 (9.25%) Cybersecurity
10 73 (9.13%) Business Intelligence
11 70 (8.75%) ITSM
12 66 (8.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 64 (8.00%) Decision-Making
14 63 (7.88%) Project Delivery
15 62 (7.75%) Continuous Improvement
15 62 (7.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 59 (7.38%) Analytics
17 55 (6.88%) Project Management
18 54 (6.75%) Roadmaps
19 53 (6.63%) AI
Programming Languages
1 125 (15.63%) PowerShell
2 73 (9.13%) Python
3 69 (8.63%) SQL
4 28 (3.50%) T-SQL
5 25 (3.13%) Bash
6 17 (2.13%) C#
7 16 (2.00%) Java
8 14 (1.75%) Bicep
8 14 (1.75%) JavaScript
9 12 (1.50%) Kusto Query Language
10 9 (1.13%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 7 (0.88%) X++
12 4 (0.50%) ABAP
13 3 (0.38%) Perl
13 3 (0.38%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.25%) Korn
15 1 (0.13%) Google Apps Script
15 1 (0.13%) Groovy
15 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 281 (35.13%) Security Cleared
2 206 (25.75%) SC Cleared
3 105 (13.13%) Degree
4 81 (10.13%) DV Cleared
5 42 (5.25%) Microsoft Certification
6 33 (4.13%) Azure Certification
7 18 (2.25%) Cisco Certification
8 14 (1.75%) AWS Certification
9 12 (1.50%) BPSS Clearance
9 12 (1.50%) Computer Science Degree
9 12 (1.50%) DBS Check
10 10 (1.25%) PMI Certification
10 10 (1.25%) PMP
11 9 (1.13%) CCNP
11 9 (1.13%) CISSP
11 9 (1.13%) MCSA
11 9 (1.13%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 8 (1.00%) MCSE
13 7 (0.88%) CCIE
13 7 (0.88%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.38%) NIST
2 30 (3.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 29 (3.63%) GDPR
4 28 (3.50%) NCSC
5 26 (3.25%) SLA
6 21 (2.63%) Data Quality
7 20 (2.50%) QA
8 19 (2.38%) Cyber Essentials
9 18 (2.25%) PMO
10 6 (0.75%) ISO 31000
11 5 (0.63%) NIST 800
12 4 (0.50%) Accessibility
12 4 (0.50%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.38%) GRC
13 3 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 3 (0.38%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 1 (0.13%) ISO 19650
14 1 (0.13%) ISO 9001
14 1 (0.13%) JSP 440
System Software
1 225 (28.13%) Active Directory
2 73 (9.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (3.75%) Hyper-V
4 18 (2.25%) Virtual Machines
4 18 (2.25%) vSphere
5 15 (1.88%) VMware ESXi
6 14 (1.75%) VMware NSX
7 13 (1.63%) Virtual Desktop
8 9 (1.13%) Docker
9 5 (0.63%) Firmware
10 3 (0.38%) OpenAM
11 2 (0.25%) UAG
12 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 1 (0.13%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.13%) Postfix
12 1 (0.13%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 72 (9.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 50 (6.25%) Terraform
3 31 (3.88%) SCCM
4 25 (3.13%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 19 (2.38%) Ansible
5 19 (2.38%) SCOM
6 18 (2.25%) Kubernetes
7 17 (2.13%) vCenter Server
8 14 (1.75%) Single Sign-On
9 13 (1.63%) Jamf Pro
10 10 (1.25%) Avamar
11 5 (0.63%) QRadar
12 4 (0.50%) Clonezilla
12 4 (0.50%) FortiGate
12 4 (0.50%) Puppet
13 3 (0.38%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.38%) SCSM
14 2 (0.25%) Grafana
14 2 (0.25%) vMotion
14 2 (0.25%) WSUS
Vendors
1 91 (11.38%) VMware
2 47 (5.88%) ServiceNow
3 43 (5.38%) Cisco
4 36 (4.50%) SAP
5 25 (3.13%) Google
6 22 (2.75%) Meraki
7 17 (2.13%) Dell
7 17 (2.13%) Oracle
8 15 (1.88%) SolarWinds
9 14 (1.75%) Avaya
9 14 (1.75%) Citrix
10 13 (1.63%) F5
10 13 (1.63%) Mitel
11 12 (1.50%) Databricks
11 12 (1.50%) Fortinet
12 11 (1.38%) Splunk
13 10 (1.25%) Juniper
13 10 (1.25%) Palo Alto
13 10 (1.25%) Thales
14 9 (1.13%) Infoblox