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 January 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 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 8 4
Rank change year-on-year +2 -4 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 601 487 814
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 13.94% 14.33% 16.27%
As % of the Vendors category 27.94% 28.60% 31.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 427 341 567
10th Percentile £202 £200 £165
25th Percentile £263 £338 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £451 £465
Median % change year-on-year +5.44% -3.11% +3.33%
75th Percentile £565 £590 £575
90th Percentile £640 £671 £650
England median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 65 15 30
10th Percentile £12.50 £16.28 £13.06
25th Percentile £14.50 £19.99 £15.69
Median hourly rate £17.50 £25.00 £21.68
Median % change year-on-year -30.00% +15.34% +17.16%
75th Percentile £21.00 £48.13 £54.69
90th Percentile £83.60 £57.62 £60.54
England median hourly rate £19.91 £22.27 £21.00
% change year-on-year -10.60% +6.05% +0.17%

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 2,151 1,703 2,570
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 49.88% 50.12% 51.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,551 1,118 1,646
10th Percentile £240 £241 £205
25th Percentile £406 £401 £370
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £515 £511
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% +0.88% +2.10%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £613
90th Percentile £675 £677 £688
England median daily rate £506 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.62% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 136 48 131
10th Percentile £13.31 £19.99 £15.71
25th Percentile £16.50 £24.18 £24.00
Median hourly rate £22.25 £40.25 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -44.72% -26.82% +72.36%
75th Percentile £64.06 £64.06 £67.26
90th Percentile £89.63 £72.34 £78.00
England median hourly rate £23.83 £30.00 £43.88
% change year-on-year -20.58% -31.63% +46.27%

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 11 January 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 January 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 January 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 +2 290 £475 -1.04% 293
Berkshire +1 185 £480 -5.88% 151
Hampshire -1 140 £535 +7.00% 146
Surrey +7 74 £244 -25.00% 111
Buckinghamshire -2 71 £475 +14.46% 89
Oxfordshire +2 34 £275 -18.52% 54
West Sussex -7 32 £231 -46.72% 63
Kent 0 27 £475 +105.41% 112
East Sussex +6 24 £550 +4.76% 62
Sussex -1 11 £463 +5.11% 11
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 57 (9.48%) SharePoint
2 49 (8.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.33%) Skype for Business
4 8 (1.33%) Confluence
4 8 (1.33%) Exchange Server 2010
5 7 (1.16%) Exchange Server 2013
5 7 (1.16%) Mattermost
5 7 (1.16%) SharePoint Server
6 6 (1.00%) Exchange Server 2003
6 6 (1.00%) Exchange Server 2007
6 6 (1.00%) Office Communications Server
7 2 (0.33%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.33%) CMS
7 2 (0.33%) GeoServer
7 2 (0.33%) MS Project Server
7 2 (0.33%) Smallworld
8 1 (0.17%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 121 (20.13%) Microsoft Office
2 68 (11.31%) Microsoft Excel
3 24 (3.99%) Microsoft Project
4 19 (3.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (1.33%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.17%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 11 (1.83%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.16%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.67%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.50%) Dynamics AX
4 3 (0.50%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.33%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.33%) SAP CO
5 2 (0.33%) SAP FI
5 2 (0.33%) SAP FI/CO
6 1 (0.17%) iTrent
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.17%) Sage 50
6 1 (0.17%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.17%) SAP EWM
6 1 (0.17%) SAP WM
6 1 (0.17%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 155 (25.79%) Azure
2 138 (22.96%) Microsoft 365
3 64 (10.65%) AWS
4 59 (9.82%) Entra ID
5 54 (8.99%) Power Platform
6 33 (5.49%) Dynamics 365
7 30 (4.99%) SaaS
8 24 (3.99%) Microsoft Purview
9 23 (3.83%) OneDrive
10 19 (3.16%) Power Automate
10 19 (3.16%) PowerApps
10 19 (3.16%) Sauce Labs
11 17 (2.83%) Azure DevOps
12 16 (2.66%) GCP
12 16 (2.66%) Google Workspace
13 13 (2.16%) GitHub
14 12 (2.00%) Serverless
15 10 (1.66%) Azure Functions
15 10 (1.66%) IaaS
16 8 (1.33%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 54 (8.99%) DNS
2 43 (7.15%) DHCP
3 42 (6.99%) Firewall
4 27 (4.49%) TCP/IP
5 23 (3.83%) Wireless
6 21 (3.49%) VPN
7 18 (3.00%) Wi-Fi
8 15 (2.50%) VLAN
9 12 (2.00%) SAN
9 12 (2.00%) Unified Communications
10 9 (1.50%) 4G
10 9 (1.50%) Network Security
11 8 (1.33%) Skype
12 7 (1.16%) WebEx
13 6 (1.00%) DDNS
13 6 (1.00%) Fibre Channel
13 6 (1.00%) VSAN
14 5 (0.83%) WAN
15 4 (0.67%) MPLS
15 4 (0.67%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (6.66%) SQL Server
2 35 (5.82%) Power BI
3 29 (4.83%) Relational Database
4 22 (3.66%) MySQL
5 17 (2.83%) Oracle Database
6 11 (1.83%) Azure SQL Database
7 10 (1.66%) Metadata
8 9 (1.50%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
9 7 (1.16%) Data Warehouse
9 7 (1.16%) PostgreSQL
10 6 (1.00%) RDBMS
11 5 (0.83%) Data Lake
12 4 (0.67%) Amazon RDS
12 4 (0.67%) MongoDB
12 4 (0.67%) Oracle Reports
13 3 (0.50%) GIS
13 3 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
14 2 (0.33%) Apache Cassandra
14 2 (0.33%) Crystal Reports
14 2 (0.33%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 22 (3.66%) Android Studio
2 20 (3.33%) Browser DevTools
3 19 (3.16%) Eclipse
3 19 (3.16%) Xcode
4 15 (2.50%) JIRA
5 11 (1.83%) Jenkins
6 5 (0.83%) Git
7 3 (0.50%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.50%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.50%) Subversion
8 2 (0.33%) JMeter
8 2 (0.33%) JUnit
8 2 (0.33%) MSI
8 2 (0.33%) Oracle APEX
8 2 (0.33%) Oracle Forms
8 2 (0.33%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.17%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.17%) Gatling
9 1 (0.17%) Postman
9 1 (0.17%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 233 (38.77%) Social Skills
2 95 (15.81%) Finance
3 77 (12.81%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (10.32%) Organisational Skills
5 40 (6.66%) Public Sector
6 19 (3.16%) Manufacturing
7 11 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
8 10 (1.66%) Retail
9 9 (1.50%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.33%) Legal
10 8 (1.33%) Marketing
11 7 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
12 6 (1.00%) Telecoms
13 5 (0.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (0.67%) Aerospace
14 4 (0.67%) Banking
14 4 (0.67%) Billing
14 4 (0.67%) Electronics
14 4 (0.67%) Military
15 3 (0.50%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 90 (14.98%) Architect
2 81 (13.48%) Support Engineer
3 74 (12.31%) Analyst
4 54 (8.99%) IT Support
5 43 (7.15%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 43 (7.15%) Senior
6 24 (3.99%) Developer
6 24 (3.99%) Technical Support
7 23 (3.83%) IT Engineer
8 22 (3.66%) Consultant
8 22 (3.66%) Technical Engineer
8 22 (3.66%) Technical Support Engineer
9 21 (3.49%) Infrastructure Support
9 21 (3.49%) Support Officer
10 20 (3.33%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
10 20 (3.33%) IT Support Engineer
10 20 (3.33%) Solutions Architect
10 20 (3.33%) UX Engineer
11 19 (3.16%) Lead
12 18 (3.00%) Infrastructure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.16%) React
2 22 (3.66%) GraphQL
3 20 (3.33%) Ajax
3 20 (3.33%) AngularJS
3 20 (3.33%) CSS
4 17 (2.83%) .NET
5 9 (1.50%) REST
6 8 (1.33%) OAuth
7 7 (1.16%) Middleware
7 7 (1.16%) SAML
8 6 (1.00%) ARM Templates
9 5 (0.83%) LDAP
9 5 (0.83%) OpenID
10 4 (0.67%) ADO
10 4 (0.67%) OAuth2
10 4 (0.67%) SailPoint
10 4 (0.67%) Spring
11 3 (0.50%) Microsoft Graph
11 3 (0.50%) PySpark
12 2 (0.33%) .NET Core
Miscellaneous
1 34 (5.66%) PKI
2 31 (5.16%) Onboarding
3 29 (4.83%) Analytical Mindset
4 24 (3.99%) Mobile App
5 18 (3.00%) Management Information System
6 15 (2.50%) Enterprise Software
6 15 (2.50%) Product Ownership
6 15 (2.50%) Self-Motivation
7 14 (2.33%) Driving Licence
8 13 (2.16%) Fat Client
8 13 (2.16%) Thin Client
9 12 (2.00%) Replication
10 11 (1.83%) Operational Technology
10 11 (1.83%) Security Operations Centre
11 10 (1.66%) Video Conferencing
12 9 (1.50%) Data Centre
13 8 (1.33%) Cloud Native
14 7 (1.16%) Cyber Defence
15 6 (1.00%) CMDB
16 5 (0.83%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 197 (32.78%) Windows
2 80 (13.31%) Linux
3 40 (6.66%) Windows 10
4 31 (5.16%) Windows Server
5 24 (3.99%) Android
5 24 (3.99%) Unix
6 13 (2.16%) Mac OS
7 12 (2.00%) Windows 7
8 8 (1.33%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (1.16%) Windows Server 2016
10 6 (1.00%) Windows Server 2003
10 6 (1.00%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 2 (0.33%) Apple iOS
12 2 (0.33%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.17%) CentOS
13 1 (0.17%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (18.47%) Problem-Solving
2 81 (13.48%) Agile
3 77 (12.81%) ITIL
4 66 (10.98%) Customer Service
4 66 (10.98%) Cybersecurity
5 52 (8.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 50 (8.32%) Business Intelligence
6 50 (8.32%) Stakeholder Management
7 45 (7.49%) Continuous Improvement
8 44 (7.32%) Migration
8 44 (7.32%) Project Management
9 39 (6.49%) DevOps
9 39 (6.49%) Time Management
10 38 (6.32%) Project Delivery
11 35 (5.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 34 (5.66%) CI/CD
12 34 (5.66%) ITSM
12 34 (5.66%) SIEM
13 31 (5.16%) Collaborative Working
13 31 (5.16%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 72 (11.98%) Python
2 68 (11.31%) PowerShell
3 66 (10.98%) SQL
4 33 (5.49%) Java
5 31 (5.16%) JavaScript
6 21 (3.49%) Perl
7 13 (2.16%) C#
8 12 (2.00%) Bash
9 4 (0.67%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.67%) X++
10 3 (0.50%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.33%) Go
11 2 (0.33%) PHP
11 2 (0.33%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.17%) Bicep
12 1 (0.17%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 1 (0.17%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.17%) VB
Qualifications
1 205 (34.11%) Security Cleared
2 130 (21.63%) SC Cleared
3 69 (11.48%) DV Cleared
4 60 (9.98%) Degree
5 41 (6.82%) Microsoft Certification
6 21 (3.49%) CISSP
7 20 (3.33%) Azure Certification
8 11 (1.83%) ITIL Certification
8 11 (1.83%) Network+ Certification
8 11 (1.83%) Server+ Certification
9 10 (1.66%) A+ Certification
9 10 (1.66%) CISM
10 9 (1.50%) Cisco Certification
10 9 (1.50%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (1.50%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 8 (1.33%) GIAC
11 8 (1.33%) PMI Certification
12 7 (1.16%) CEH
12 7 (1.16%) Master's Degree
12 7 (1.16%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (4.66%) GDPR
2 23 (3.83%) NIST
2 23 (3.83%) PMO
3 19 (3.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (3.00%) SLA
5 15 (2.50%) Data Quality
6 10 (1.66%) QA
7 5 (0.83%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (0.67%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.50%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.50%) P3O
9 3 (0.50%) RMADS
10 2 (0.33%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 2 (0.33%) NCSC
10 2 (0.33%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.17%) COSHH
11 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.17%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.17%) GRC
11 1 (0.17%) NIST 800
System Software
1 151 (25.12%) Active Directory
2 48 (7.99%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (3.49%) Hyper-V
4 13 (2.16%) vSphere
5 10 (1.66%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (1.33%) Docker
7 7 (1.16%) Virtual Desktop
8 6 (1.00%) Brightmail
8 6 (1.00%) ISA Server
9 4 (0.67%) NFS
10 3 (0.50%) DFS Replication
10 3 (0.50%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.50%) VMware NSX
11 2 (0.33%) Terminal Services
12 1 (0.17%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 41 (6.82%) SCCM
2 34 (5.66%) Microsoft Intune
3 18 (3.00%) Single Sign-On
4 15 (2.50%) Ansible
5 13 (2.16%) Kubernetes
5 13 (2.16%) Terraform
5 13 (2.16%) WMI
6 11 (1.83%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 8 (1.33%) SCOM
8 7 (1.16%) HP SiteScope
8 7 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
8 7 (1.16%) Microsoft Clustering
8 7 (1.16%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.50%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.50%) PaperCut
9 3 (0.50%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 2 (0.33%) FTK
10 2 (0.33%) Grafana
10 2 (0.33%) Progress Chef
10 2 (0.33%) Puppet
Vendors
1 67 (11.15%) VMware
2 56 (9.32%) ServiceNow
3 47 (7.82%) Oracle
4 38 (6.32%) Splunk
5 24 (3.99%) Cisco
5 24 (3.99%) SAP
6 16 (2.66%) Citrix
7 12 (2.00%) Databricks
8 9 (1.50%) Thales
9 8 (1.33%) Remedy
10 7 (1.16%) CrowdStrike
10 7 (1.16%) CyberArk
10 7 (1.16%) Palo Alto
10 7 (1.16%) Tenable
11 6 (1.00%) Informatica
11 6 (1.00%) Red Hat
12 5 (0.83%) CheckPoint
12 5 (0.83%) Google
12 5 (0.83%) NetApp
12 5 (0.83%) Veeam