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 1 April 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
1 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 7 4
Rank change year-on-year -2 -3 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 646 444 839
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.72% 15.08% 14.88%
As % of the Vendors category 26.15% 28.65% 30.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 442 304 572
10th Percentile £204 £217 £185
25th Percentile £356 £363 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £500 £463
Median % change year-on-year -3.50% +8.11% -2.63%
75th Percentile £588 £593 £575
90th Percentile £650 £650 £675
England median daily rate £492 £476 £488
% change year-on-year +3.36% -2.36% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 23 67
10th Percentile £12.46 £13.30 £11.71
25th Percentile £14.50 £14.20 £12.45
Median hourly rate £17.50 £15.50 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +12.90% -31.11% +11.19%
75th Percentile £31.88 £21.88 £54.38
90th Percentile £67.00 £26.50 £61.60
England median hourly rate £19.96 £22.27 £15.25
% change year-on-year -10.40% +46.03% -27.42%

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 2,470 1,550 2,717
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 44.80% 52.63% 48.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,744 1,039 1,664
10th Percentile £305 £245 £213
25th Percentile £413 £406 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.38% +5.00% -0.10%
75th Percentile £609 £613 £600
90th Percentile £700 £675 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £515
% change year-on-year -4.76% +1.94% -4.19%
Number of hourly rates quoted 167 87 176
10th Percentile £13.35 £14.20 £12.81
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.50 £18.00
Median hourly rate £37.12 £25.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +48.48% -47.37% +5.56%
75th Percentile £85.63 £62.50 £61.38
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.88 £67.26
England median hourly rate £25.77 £29.07 £24.00
% change year-on-year -11.35% +21.13% -33.33%

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 1 April 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 1 April 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 1 April 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 -1 342 £475 -5.00% 240
Berkshire -2 197 £491 -1.80% 103
Hampshire -7 139 £550 +5.01% 139
Buckinghamshire -7 94 £475 +2.15% 88
Surrey +14 74 £463 +5.71% 87
Oxfordshire -1 51 £275 +10.00% 57
West Sussex -6 32 £415 -1.66% 42
Kent 0 26 £425 +18.06% 47
East Sussex +1 19 £600 +9.09% 29
Sussex +2 8 £463 -7.50% 11
Home Counties +1 4 - -
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 62 (9.60%) SharePoint
2 59 (9.13%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.70%) Confluence
4 3 (0.46%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.46%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.46%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.31%) GeoServer
6 1 (0.15%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.15%) Exchange Server 2010
6 1 (0.15%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 101 (15.63%) Microsoft Office
2 84 (13.00%) Microsoft Excel
3 31 (4.80%) Microsoft Project
4 29 (4.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.70%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.31%) SOLIDWORKS
6 2 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.15%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.15%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.15%) InDesign
7 1 (0.15%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.15%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 7 (1.08%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.15%) NEC Housing
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
2 1 (0.15%) Sage 50
2 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.15%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 213 (32.97%) Azure
2 180 (27.86%) Microsoft 365
3 103 (15.94%) Entra ID
4 62 (9.60%) AWS
5 60 (9.29%) Power Platform
6 32 (4.95%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (4.80%) OneDrive
8 27 (4.18%) Dynamics 365
8 27 (4.18%) Power Automate
9 23 (3.56%) Microsoft Purview
9 23 (3.56%) SaaS
10 22 (3.41%) PowerApps
11 21 (3.25%) GitHub
12 18 (2.79%) Serverless
13 17 (2.63%) Azure Functions
14 15 (2.32%) IaaS
14 15 (2.32%) Microsoft Copilot
15 13 (2.01%) Azure Logic Apps
15 13 (2.01%) Azure Monitor
16 12 (1.86%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 55 (8.51%) DNS
2 37 (5.73%) DHCP
3 36 (5.57%) Firewall
4 33 (5.11%) Wi-Fi
5 19 (2.94%) VPN
6 16 (2.48%) Unified Communications
7 14 (2.17%) TCP/IP
8 13 (2.01%) LAN
9 12 (1.86%) Kerberos
9 12 (1.86%) Wireless
10 11 (1.70%) Network Security
11 10 (1.55%) WAN
12 8 (1.24%) BGP
12 8 (1.24%) MPLS
13 7 (1.08%) SAN
14 6 (0.93%) 4G
14 6 (0.93%) SD-WAN
14 6 (0.93%) SNMP
14 6 (0.93%) SSL
15 5 (0.77%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (7.28%) Power BI
2 35 (5.42%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.32%) Azure SQL Database
3 15 (2.32%) Relational Database
4 12 (1.86%) MySQL
5 10 (1.55%) Metadata
5 10 (1.55%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.24%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (1.24%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.08%) Data Lake
8 6 (0.93%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8 6 (0.93%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.77%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 4 (0.62%) GIS
10 4 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
10 4 (0.62%) RDBMS
11 3 (0.46%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.46%) Star Schema
12 2 (0.31%) Geospatial Data
12 2 (0.31%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 17 (2.63%) JIRA
2 14 (2.17%) Git
3 11 (1.70%) Android Studio
4 9 (1.39%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.24%) Browser DevTools
5 8 (1.24%) Eclipse
5 8 (1.24%) Xcode
6 5 (0.77%) JUnit
7 4 (0.62%) Gradle
7 4 (0.62%) MSI
8 3 (0.46%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.46%) Cucumber
8 3 (0.46%) Maven
8 3 (0.46%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.46%) Subversion
9 2 (0.31%) JMeter
9 2 (0.31%) Oracle APEX
9 2 (0.31%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.31%) Robot Framework
10 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio
General
1 222 (34.37%) Social Skills
2 69 (10.68%) Finance
3 65 (10.06%) Analytical Skills
4 64 (9.91%) Organisational Skills
5 56 (8.67%) Public Sector
6 15 (2.32%) Manufacturing
7 13 (2.01%) Documentation Skills
7 13 (2.01%) Legal
7 13 (2.01%) Military
8 12 (1.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (1.39%) Retail
10 8 (1.24%) Influencing Skills
11 7 (1.08%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.08%) Telecoms
12 5 (0.77%) Marketing
13 4 (0.62%) Advertising
13 4 (0.62%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.62%) Police
14 3 (0.46%) Automotive
14 3 (0.46%) Billing
Job Titles
1 98 (15.17%) Architect
2 66 (10.22%) IT Support
3 64 (9.91%) Analyst
4 58 (8.98%) Support Engineer
5 53 (8.20%) Senior
6 44 (6.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 41 (6.35%) IT Engineer
8 34 (5.26%) IT Support Engineer
9 30 (4.64%) Developer
10 28 (4.33%) Lead
11 25 (3.87%) Solutions Architect
12 22 (3.41%) Consultant
13 20 (3.10%) Administrator
14 19 (2.94%) Infrastructure Architect
15 18 (2.79%) Azure Engineer
15 18 (2.79%) IT Analyst
16 16 (2.48%) Support Analyst
17 15 (2.32%) Project Manager
17 15 (2.32%) Support Officer
18 14 (2.17%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (3.72%) .NET
2 13 (2.01%) LDAP
2 13 (2.01%) REST
3 12 (1.86%) React
4 11 (1.70%) ARM Templates
4 11 (1.70%) CSS
5 10 (1.55%) GraphQL
6 9 (1.39%) OAuth
7 8 (1.24%) Ajax
7 8 (1.24%) AngularJS
7 8 (1.24%) OpenID
7 8 (1.24%) SAML
8 7 (1.08%) ADO
9 6 (0.93%) OAuth2
9 6 (0.93%) Spring
9 6 (0.93%) XML
10 5 (0.77%) .NET Core
10 5 (0.77%) Microsoft Graph
10 5 (0.77%) PySpark
10 5 (0.77%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 37 (5.73%) PKI
2 35 (5.42%) Onboarding
3 20 (3.10%) Product Ownership
4 17 (2.63%) Analytical Mindset
4 17 (2.63%) Cloud Native
4 17 (2.63%) Legacy Systems
4 17 (2.63%) Replication
5 16 (2.48%) Self-Motivation
6 14 (2.17%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (2.01%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (1.86%) Driving Licence
8 12 (1.86%) Mobile App
9 11 (1.70%) Operational Technology
10 10 (1.55%) Data Centre
10 10 (1.55%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.39%) Fat Client
11 9 (1.39%) Thin Client
12 8 (1.24%) Public Cloud
13 7 (1.08%) Security Operations Centre
13 7 (1.08%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 187 (28.95%) Windows
2 65 (10.06%) Linux
3 43 (6.66%) Windows Server
4 29 (4.49%) Windows 10
5 17 (2.63%) Mac OS
6 13 (2.01%) Android
7 9 (1.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 9 (1.39%) Unix
8 8 (1.24%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.08%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.93%) Windows Server 2016
10 6 (0.93%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.62%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.46%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) Apple iOS
13 1 (0.15%) Debian
13 1 (0.15%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.15%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (14.86%) Problem-Solving
2 85 (13.16%) Customer Service
3 75 (11.61%) Agile
4 72 (11.15%) Cybersecurity
5 71 (10.99%) DevOps
6 67 (10.37%) Migration
7 58 (8.98%) Business Intelligence
7 58 (8.98%) ITIL
7 58 (8.98%) Project Management
8 54 (8.36%) CI/CD
9 53 (8.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 53 (8.20%) Project Delivery
9 53 (8.20%) Stakeholder Management
10 44 (6.81%) Analytics
10 44 (6.81%) Time Management
11 38 (5.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 35 (5.42%) Continuous Improvement
13 34 (5.26%) Infrastructure as Code
14 33 (5.11%) Roadmaps
14 33 (5.11%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 89 (13.78%) PowerShell
2 72 (11.15%) Python
3 50 (7.74%) SQL
4 21 (3.25%) C#
4 21 (3.25%) JavaScript
5 18 (2.79%) Bash
5 18 (2.79%) Java
6 10 (1.55%) T-SQL
7 9 (1.39%) Bicep
7 9 (1.39%) Perl
8 7 (1.08%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.62%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.62%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.31%) Korn
10 2 (0.31%) PHP
10 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.31%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.31%) X++
11 1 (0.15%) Google Apps Script
11 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 219 (33.90%) Security Cleared
2 146 (22.60%) SC Cleared
3 70 (10.84%) DV Cleared
4 64 (9.91%) Degree
5 23 (3.56%) Microsoft Certification
6 16 (2.48%) CISSP
7 12 (1.86%) Azure Certification
7 12 (1.86%) DBS Check
7 12 (1.86%) PMI Certification
8 11 (1.70%) PMP
9 10 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (1.39%) GIAC
11 8 (1.24%) A+ Certification
12 7 (1.08%) Master's Degree
13 6 (0.93%) AWS Certification
13 6 (0.93%) BPSS Clearance
13 6 (0.93%) Cisco Certification
13 6 (0.93%) CISM
14 5 (0.77%) CCIE
14 5 (0.77%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (4.02%) NIST
2 25 (3.87%) PMO
3 20 (3.10%) SLA
4 18 (2.79%) GDPR
5 15 (2.32%) Data Quality
6 13 (2.01%) Cyber Essentials
6 13 (2.01%) NCSC
7 12 (1.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 10 (1.55%) QA
9 5 (0.77%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.62%) Accessibility
11 3 (0.46%) P3O
12 2 (0.31%) JSP 440
13 1 (0.15%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.15%) Disclosure Scotland
13 1 (0.15%) GRC
13 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 1 (0.15%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 192 (29.72%) Active Directory
2 53 (8.20%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (3.56%) Hyper-V
4 13 (2.01%) Docker
5 12 (1.86%) Virtual Desktop
6 8 (1.24%) VMware NSX
7 7 (1.08%) vSphere
8 6 (0.93%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.77%) Firmware
9 5 (0.77%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.46%) DFS Replication
11 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.15%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.15%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 61 (9.44%) Microsoft Intune
2 40 (6.19%) SCCM
3 33 (5.11%) Terraform
4 19 (2.94%) Ansible
4 19 (2.94%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (2.32%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 13 (2.01%) Kubernetes
7 11 (1.70%) WMI
8 10 (1.55%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.46%) Grafana
9 3 (0.46%) Nessus
9 3 (0.46%) PaperCut
9 3 (0.46%) Puppet
9 3 (0.46%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 3 (0.46%) WSUS
10 2 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
10 2 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
10 2 (0.31%) Progress Chef
10 2 (0.31%) SCOM
10 2 (0.31%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 68 (10.53%) VMware
2 31 (4.80%) ServiceNow
3 28 (4.33%) Cisco
4 19 (2.94%) Oracle
4 19 (2.94%) SAP
5 18 (2.79%) Splunk
6 17 (2.63%) Databricks
7 16 (2.48%) Citrix
8 11 (1.70%) Fortinet
8 11 (1.70%) Meraki
9 10 (1.55%) Tenable
10 9 (1.39%) Avaya
10 9 (1.39%) Thales
11 8 (1.24%) F5
11 8 (1.24%) Mitel
11 8 (1.24%) Palo Alto
11 8 (1.24%) Red Hat
12 6 (0.93%) CrowdStrike
12 6 (0.93%) Google
12 6 (0.93%) Juniper