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 18 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
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 5 6
Rank change year-on-year -1 +1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 721 493 815
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.75% 16.34% 14.16%
As % of the Vendors category 28.33% 30.53% 30.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 477 327 526
10th Percentile £202 £200 £200
25th Percentile £363 £281 £359
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £455 £475
Median % change year-on-year +4.40% -4.21% +4.40%
75th Percentile £575 £553 £588
90th Percentile £650 £614 £675
England median daily rate £494 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +3.89% -4.52% -0.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 32 77
10th Percentile £12.78 - £11.71
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £29.07 £15.63 £23.22
Median % change year-on-year +86.05% -32.69% +13.41%
75th Percentile £53.75 £25.85 £58.49
90th Percentile £110.20 £32.05 £61.60
England median hourly rate £22.50 £19.00 £15.76
% change year-on-year +18.42% +20.60% -29.98%

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 2,545 1,615 2,674
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 41.49% 53.51% 46.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,668 1,063 1,572
10th Percentile £289 £220 £243
25th Percentile £414 £376 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% - -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £688 £660 £690
England median daily rate £505 £513 £518
% change year-on-year -1.46% -0.97% -1.43%
Number of hourly rates quoted 183 94 194
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £12.08
25th Percentile £21.35 £15.50 £16.81
Median hourly rate £47.54 £23.25 £48.75
Median % change year-on-year +104.47% -52.31% -0.51%
75th Percentile £85.00 £46.30 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £69.90 £70.00
England median hourly rate £33.99 £26.50 £24.00
% change year-on-year +28.26% +10.42% -40.00%

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 18 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 18 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 18 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 0 378 £486 +7.89% 239
Berkshire -3 204 £500 +5.26% 94
Hampshire -8 144 £550 +8.37% 120
Surrey +7 107 £438 +75.00% 70
Buckinghamshire -7 100 £500 +2.56% 73
Oxfordshire -1 74 £415 +66.00% 75
West Sussex -1 47 £460 +80.39% 40
Kent -3 24 £275 -18.22% 53
East Sussex -5 7 £358 -40.42% 20
Home Counties +1 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 80 (11.10%) SharePoint
2 66 (9.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.08%) Confluence
4 3 (0.42%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.42%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.28%) GeoServer
5 2 (0.28%) MS Project Server
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 82 (11.37%) Microsoft Excel
2 77 (10.68%) Microsoft Office
3 34 (4.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 31 (4.30%) Microsoft Project
5 11 (1.53%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.28%) 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 (1.66%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.83%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.69%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.55%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.14%) iTrent
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.14%) SAP PSCD
6 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 290 (40.22%) Azure
2 181 (25.10%) Microsoft 365
3 136 (18.86%) Entra ID
4 89 (12.34%) Power Platform
5 64 (8.88%) AWS
6 42 (5.83%) Azure DevOps
7 39 (5.41%) Dynamics 365
8 33 (4.58%) Power Automate
9 30 (4.16%) OneDrive
10 27 (3.74%) SaaS
11 23 (3.19%) PowerApps
12 22 (3.05%) Microsoft Purview
13 20 (2.77%) Azure Logic Apps
14 19 (2.64%) Serverless
15 18 (2.50%) Azure Functions
15 18 (2.50%) Azure Monitor
15 18 (2.50%) IaaS
15 18 (2.50%) Microsoft Copilot
16 17 (2.36%) GitHub
17 13 (1.80%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 66 (9.15%) DNS
2 48 (6.66%) DHCP
3 33 (4.58%) Wi-Fi
4 28 (3.88%) Firewall
5 24 (3.33%) LAN
5 24 (3.33%) VPN
6 18 (2.50%) WAN
7 14 (1.94%) TCP/IP
8 12 (1.66%) Kerberos
9 11 (1.53%) SD-WAN
9 11 (1.53%) Unified Communications
10 9 (1.25%) MPLS
11 6 (0.83%) FTP
11 6 (0.83%) Network Security
11 6 (0.83%) SSL
11 6 (0.83%) VLAN
12 5 (0.69%) Internet
12 5 (0.69%) IPsec
12 5 (0.69%) SAN
12 5 (0.69%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (9.57%) Power BI
2 26 (3.61%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.66%) MySQL
3 12 (1.66%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (1.53%) Azure SQL Database
5 7 (0.97%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (0.83%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 6 (0.83%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 5 (0.69%) Data Lake
7 5 (0.69%) Relational Database
8 4 (0.55%) Metadata
9 3 (0.42%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.42%) GIS
9 3 (0.42%) MS Access
9 3 (0.42%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.42%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.28%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.28%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.28%) Oracle Reports
10 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 25 (3.47%) JIRA
2 11 (1.53%) Git
3 5 (0.69%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.42%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.42%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.42%) Gradle
4 3 (0.42%) JUnit
4 3 (0.42%) Maven
4 3 (0.42%) MSI
4 3 (0.42%) Robot Framework
4 3 (0.42%) Xcode
5 2 (0.28%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.28%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.28%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 2 (0.28%) Subversion
6 1 (0.14%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.14%) GitLab
6 1 (0.14%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 213 (29.54%) Social Skills
2 72 (9.99%) Public Sector
3 68 (9.43%) Finance
4 63 (8.74%) Analytical Skills
5 43 (5.96%) Organisational Skills
6 27 (3.74%) Legal
7 21 (2.91%) Documentation Skills
8 20 (2.77%) Aerospace
9 16 (2.22%) Military
10 13 (1.80%) Telecoms
11 12 (1.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 11 (1.53%) Marketing
13 7 (0.97%) Local Government
13 7 (0.97%) Retail
14 6 (0.83%) Billing
14 6 (0.83%) Manufacturing
15 5 (0.69%) Arabic Language
15 5 (0.69%) French Language
15 5 (0.69%) General Ledger
15 5 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 79 (10.96%) Architect
2 73 (10.12%) IT Support
3 65 (9.02%) Analyst
4 55 (7.63%) Senior
5 49 (6.80%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 48 (6.66%) Support Engineer
7 44 (6.10%) IT Engineer
7 44 (6.10%) Lead
8 39 (5.41%) Consultant
9 36 (4.99%) Developer
9 36 (4.99%) IT Support Engineer
10 27 (3.74%) Azure Engineer
11 26 (3.61%) Solutions Architect
12 25 (3.47%) Administrator
13 23 (3.19%) IT Analyst
13 23 (3.19%) Project Manager
14 21 (2.91%) Cloud Engineer
15 20 (2.77%) Support Analyst
16 19 (2.64%) Microsoft Engineer
17 17 (2.36%) 3rd Line Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (4.30%) .NET
2 28 (3.88%) LDAP
3 25 (3.47%) OAuth
4 24 (3.33%) SAML
5 23 (3.19%) OpenID
6 18 (2.50%) Web Services
7 17 (2.36%) OAuth2
8 16 (2.22%) REST
9 14 (1.94%) SailPoint
10 13 (1.80%) Microsoft Graph
11 10 (1.39%) JSON
12 9 (1.25%) ARM Templates
13 8 (1.11%) React
13 8 (1.11%) XML
14 7 (0.97%) AngularJS
14 7 (0.97%) CSS
15 6 (0.83%) ADO
15 6 (0.83%) Middleware
15 6 (0.83%) Software Packaging
16 5 (0.69%) .NET Framework
Miscellaneous
1 48 (6.66%) Onboarding
2 28 (3.88%) PKI
3 27 (3.74%) Data Centre
4 26 (3.61%) Product Ownership
5 25 (3.47%) Cloud Native
6 19 (2.64%) Legacy Systems
7 17 (2.36%) Hybrid Cloud
8 16 (2.22%) Public Cloud
9 15 (2.08%) Replication
10 13 (1.80%) Operational Technology
11 11 (1.53%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.39%) Driving Licence
13 9 (1.25%) Data Structures
13 9 (1.25%) Security Posture
13 9 (1.25%) Self-Motivation
14 8 (1.11%) Cyber Defence
14 8 (1.11%) Virtual Team
15 7 (0.97%) Analytical Mindset
15 7 (0.97%) CMDB
15 7 (0.97%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 200 (27.74%) Windows
2 64 (8.88%) Windows Server
3 52 (7.21%) Linux
4 26 (3.61%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.47%) Mac OS
6 22 (3.05%) Apple iOS
7 14 (1.94%) Android
8 11 (1.53%) Unix
9 8 (1.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 8 (1.11%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.97%) Windows 7
11 6 (0.83%) Windows Server 2012
12 5 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.42%) CentOS
13 3 (0.42%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.14%) OpenVMS
14 1 (0.14%) VMS
14 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 116 (16.09%) Problem-Solving
2 90 (12.48%) DevOps
3 86 (11.93%) ITIL
4 85 (11.79%) Agile
5 84 (11.65%) Customer Service
6 74 (10.26%) Migration
7 73 (10.12%) Business Intelligence
8 72 (9.99%) CI/CD
8 72 (9.99%) Stakeholder Management
9 61 (8.46%) Cybersecurity
10 59 (8.18%) ITSM
11 58 (8.04%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 57 (7.91%) Analytics
13 55 (7.63%) Project Delivery
14 53 (7.35%) Project Management
15 47 (6.52%) Decision-Making
15 47 (6.52%) Roadmaps
15 47 (6.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 47 (6.52%) User Experience
16 44 (6.10%) AI
Programming Languages
1 107 (14.84%) PowerShell
2 65 (9.02%) SQL
3 62 (8.60%) Python
4 28 (3.88%) T-SQL
5 21 (2.91%) C#
6 16 (2.22%) Bash
6 16 (2.22%) JavaScript
7 12 (1.66%) Bicep
8 11 (1.53%) Java
9 9 (1.25%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (0.97%) X++
11 6 (0.83%) Kusto Query Language
12 3 (0.42%) Perl
12 3 (0.42%) TypeScript
13 2 (0.28%) Korn
14 1 (0.14%) Google Apps Script
14 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
14 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 246 (34.12%) Security Cleared
2 175 (24.27%) SC Cleared
3 87 (12.07%) Degree
4 71 (9.85%) DV Cleared
5 29 (4.02%) Microsoft Certification
6 24 (3.33%) Azure Certification
7 12 (1.66%) AWS Certification
7 12 (1.66%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (1.66%) Computer Science Degree
8 11 (1.53%) CISSP
9 10 (1.39%) DBS Check
10 9 (1.25%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (1.25%) CISM
10 9 (1.25%) GIAC
11 6 (0.83%) MCSA
11 6 (0.83%) MCSE
11 6 (0.83%) PMI Certification
11 6 (0.83%) PMP
12 5 (0.69%) CCNP
12 5 (0.69%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.58%) NIST
2 28 (3.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 28 (3.88%) SLA
3 26 (3.61%) GDPR
4 23 (3.19%) NCSC
5 19 (2.64%) Cyber Essentials
5 19 (2.64%) Data Quality
5 19 (2.64%) PMO
6 14 (1.94%) QA
7 6 (0.83%) ISO 31000
8 5 (0.69%) NIST 800
9 4 (0.55%) Accessibility
9 4 (0.55%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 2 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
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
System Software
1 210 (29.13%) Active Directory
2 68 (9.43%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (3.74%) Hyper-V
4 19 (2.64%) vSphere
5 16 (2.22%) Virtual Machines
5 16 (2.22%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (1.53%) Virtual Desktop
7 10 (1.39%) VMware NSX
8 9 (1.25%) Docker
9 5 (0.69%) Firmware
10 3 (0.42%) DFS Replication
11 2 (0.28%) UAG
12 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.14%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 1 (0.14%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.14%) OpenAM
12 1 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.14%) Postfix
12 1 (0.14%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 67 (9.29%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (4.85%) Terraform
3 29 (4.02%) SCCM
4 24 (3.33%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 18 (2.50%) Single Sign-On
6 17 (2.36%) SCOM
7 14 (1.94%) vCenter Server
8 13 (1.80%) Ansible
8 13 (1.80%) Jamf Pro
9 11 (1.53%) Kubernetes
10 8 (1.11%) Avamar
11 4 (0.55%) Clonezilla
11 4 (0.55%) Puppet
11 4 (0.55%) QRadar
12 3 (0.42%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.42%) Progress Chef
12 3 (0.42%) SCSM
12 3 (0.42%) WMI
13 2 (0.28%) Nessus
13 2 (0.28%) WSUS
Vendors
1 81 (11.23%) VMware
2 35 (4.85%) Cisco
2 35 (4.85%) ServiceNow
3 31 (4.30%) SAP
4 18 (2.50%) Meraki
5 15 (2.08%) Citrix
5 15 (2.08%) Databricks
6 13 (1.80%) Dell
7 12 (1.66%) Oracle
7 12 (1.66%) Thales
8 11 (1.53%) Google
8 11 (1.53%) SolarWinds
9 10 (1.39%) Avaya
9 10 (1.39%) Fortinet
10 9 (1.25%) Mitel
10 9 (1.25%) Splunk
11 8 (1.11%) F5
11 8 (1.11%) Juniper
12 7 (0.97%) CheckPoint
12 7 (0.97%) Red Hat