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 9 September 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
9 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 4 6
Rank change year-on-year 0 +2 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 993 560 623
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 14.95% 16.07% 13.48%
As % of the Vendors category 34.07% 31.30% 27.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 598 389 402
10th Percentile £204 £189 £200
25th Percentile £356 £250 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £463
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -2.70% +1.55%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £587
90th Percentile £675 £628 £658
England median daily rate £488 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +2.63% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 137 40 30
10th Percentile £13.35 £14.00 £11.71
25th Percentile £15.50 £14.20 £16.69
Median hourly rate £21.35 £17.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.59% -62.22% +157.14%
75th Percentile £69.82 £32.12 £58.49
90th Percentile £97.94 £83.66 £61.20
England median hourly rate £19.41 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year -14.23% +39.43% -26.23%

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 2,915 1,789 2,278
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.89% 51.33% 49.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,807 1,204 1,360
10th Percentile £280 £205 £255
25th Percentile £430 £363 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £523 £500 £516
Median % change year-on-year +4.50% -3.15% +3.25%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £634
90th Percentile £700 £650 £700
England median daily rate £513 £501 £525
% change year-on-year +2.40% -4.67% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 248 105 122
10th Percentile £14.49 £14.20 £16.03
25th Percentile £17.59 £15.25 £27.13
Median hourly rate £38.72 £20.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +93.60% -65.13% +10.37%
75th Percentile £70.25 £38.42 £61.60
90th Percentile £89.35 £81.00 £70.00
England median hourly rate £30.27 £25.15 £35.00
% change year-on-year +20.36% -28.14% -17.65%

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 9 September 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 9 September 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 9 September 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 0 496 £500 +11.11% 398
Berkshire +2 267 £500 +5.26% 196
Hampshire -1 226 £500 -6.89% 211
Surrey +3 141 £450 +80.00% 191
Buckinghamshire -1 128 £525 +33.76% 127
Oxfordshire 0 101 £450 +80.00% 81
West Sussex -4 61 £380 +80.95% 62
Kent -1 38 £525 +100.00% 87
East Sussex -1 10 £220 -48.99% 53
Middlesex - 6 - - 34
Sussex - 4 - - 17
Home Counties 0 2 - -
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
1 102 (10.27%) SharePoint
2 51 (5.14%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.41%) Confluence
4 4 (0.40%) IIS
5 3 (0.30%) Apache
5 3 (0.30%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.20%) Apache Superset
6 2 (0.20%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.10%) nginx
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.10%) SharePoint 2010
7 1 (0.10%) SharePoint 2013
7 1 (0.10%) Smallworld
7 1 (0.10%) Tomcat
Applications
1 141 (14.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 131 (13.19%) Microsoft Office
3 68 (6.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 51 (5.14%) Microsoft Project
5 14 (1.41%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.20%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.10%) Adobe Captivate
8 1 (0.10%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.10%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.10%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.10%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.01%) SAP S/4HANA
2 14 (1.41%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.50%) SAP PSCD
4 4 (0.40%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.40%) Primavera
4 4 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
4 4 (0.40%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.30%) Maximo
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.10%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.10%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.10%) iTrent
7 1 (0.10%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Assets
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Cash Management
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.10%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.10%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 1 (0.10%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 390 (39.27%) Azure
2 233 (23.46%) Microsoft 365
3 161 (16.21%) Entra ID
4 118 (11.88%) Power Platform
5 95 (9.57%) AWS
6 57 (5.74%) Azure DevOps
7 56 (5.64%) Dynamics 365
8 39 (3.93%) SaaS
9 36 (3.63%) Azure Monitor
10 35 (3.52%) GCP
11 31 (3.12%) Power Automate
12 28 (2.82%) Azure Logic Apps
12 28 (2.82%) IaaS
13 22 (2.22%) Microsoft Purview
13 22 (2.22%) OneDrive
14 21 (2.11%) Azure Sentinel
15 20 (2.01%) PowerApps
16 19 (1.91%) Microsoft Copilot
17 16 (1.61%) OpenShift
18 15 (1.51%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 78 (7.85%) DNS
2 58 (5.84%) Firewall
3 54 (5.44%) DHCP
4 47 (4.73%) VPN
5 45 (4.53%) TCP/IP
6 30 (3.02%) Wi-Fi
7 28 (2.82%) LAN
8 26 (2.62%) WAN
9 15 (1.51%) Network Security
9 15 (1.51%) VLAN
10 12 (1.21%) MPLS
10 12 (1.21%) SD-WAN
11 9 (0.91%) DNSSEC
12 8 (0.81%) Internet
12 8 (0.81%) Unified Communications
13 7 (0.70%) BGP
13 7 (0.70%) Intranet
13 7 (0.70%) Wireless
14 6 (0.60%) BIG-IP
14 6 (0.60%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 88 (8.86%) Power BI
2 35 (3.52%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.21%) Azure SQL Database
4 11 (1.11%) MySQL
4 11 (1.11%) Oracle Database
5 10 (1.01%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (1.01%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (0.91%) Relational Database
7 8 (0.81%) Metadata
8 6 (0.60%) NoSQL
9 5 (0.50%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.40%) Data Lake
10 4 (0.40%) Tableau
11 3 (0.30%) GIS
11 3 (0.30%) MS Access
11 3 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.20%) BusinessObjects
12 2 (0.20%) Oracle Reports
12 2 (0.20%) Parquet
12 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 32 (3.22%) JIRA
2 12 (1.21%) Git
3 11 (1.11%) MSI
4 8 (0.81%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.70%) GitLab
6 3 (0.30%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.30%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.30%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.30%) Xcode
7 2 (0.20%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.10%) ERwin
8 1 (0.10%) JUnit
8 1 (0.10%) NUnit
8 1 (0.10%) Robot Framework
8 1 (0.10%) Visual Studio
General
1 365 (36.76%) Social Skills
2 160 (16.11%) Analytical Skills
3 113 (11.38%) Finance
4 91 (9.16%) Organisational Skills
5 83 (8.36%) Public Sector
6 49 (4.93%) Aerospace
7 36 (3.63%) Documentation Skills
8 33 (3.32%) Legal
9 24 (2.42%) Telecoms
10 20 (2.01%) Manufacturing
11 19 (1.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 19 (1.91%) Marketing
12 16 (1.61%) Influencing Skills
13 13 (1.31%) Military
14 12 (1.21%) Presentation Skills
15 11 (1.11%) Retail
16 9 (0.91%) Aviation
16 9 (0.91%) French Language
17 8 (0.81%) Local Government
18 7 (0.70%) Billing
Job Titles
1 127 (12.79%) Architect
2 97 (9.77%) Analyst
3 92 (9.26%) IT Support
4 83 (8.36%) Senior
5 68 (6.85%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 56 (5.64%) Lead
7 52 (5.24%) Support Engineer
8 51 (5.14%) Consultant
9 49 (4.93%) Developer
10 48 (4.83%) IT Engineer
11 47 (4.73%) Cloud Engineer
12 43 (4.33%) Administrator
13 42 (4.23%) Azure Engineer
14 34 (3.42%) IT Support Engineer
15 33 (3.32%) Solutions Architect
16 32 (3.22%) IT Analyst
16 32 (3.22%) Project Manager
17 26 (2.62%) Technical Architect
18 25 (2.52%) Microsoft Engineer
18 25 (2.52%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 77 (7.75%) Terraform
2 38 (3.83%) .NET
3 36 (3.63%) OAuth
4 34 (3.42%) SAML
5 33 (3.32%) OpenID
6 24 (2.42%) LDAP
6 24 (2.42%) REST
7 23 (2.32%) OAuth2
7 23 (2.32%) Web Services
8 19 (1.91%) SailPoint
9 18 (1.81%) ARM Templates
9 18 (1.81%) Microsoft Graph
10 13 (1.31%) JSON
11 12 (1.21%) Middleware
11 12 (1.21%) React
12 10 (1.01%) .NET Framework
12 10 (1.01%) XML
13 8 (0.81%) 802.1X
13 8 (0.81%) Entity Framework
13 8 (0.81%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 103 (10.37%) Onboarding
2 53 (5.34%) Hybrid Cloud
3 33 (3.32%) Cloud Native
4 32 (3.22%) Data Centre
4 32 (3.22%) PKI
5 30 (3.02%) Management Information System
6 24 (2.42%) Security Posture
7 22 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
7 22 (2.22%) Public Cloud
8 18 (1.81%) Product Ownership
9 16 (1.61%) Operational Technology
10 14 (1.41%) Driving Licence
10 14 (1.41%) Enterprise Cloud
11 13 (1.31%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 13 (1.31%) Legacy Systems
12 12 (1.21%) Data Structures
13 11 (1.11%) Analytical Mindset
13 11 (1.11%) Private Cloud
14 10 (1.01%) Cyber Defence
14 10 (1.01%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 256 (25.78%) Windows
2 93 (9.37%) Windows Server
3 79 (7.96%) Linux
4 45 (4.53%) Windows 10
5 28 (2.82%) Apple iOS
6 19 (1.91%) Mac OS
7 15 (1.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 15 (1.51%) Unix
8 12 (1.21%) Android
9 10 (1.01%) CentOS
9 10 (1.01%) Ubuntu
10 7 (0.70%) Windows 7
11 6 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.30%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2012
14 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 220 (22.16%) Problem-Solving
2 164 (16.52%) Stakeholder Management
3 141 (14.20%) Agile
4 130 (13.09%) Continuous Improvement
5 126 (12.69%) ITIL
6 118 (11.88%) DevOps
7 106 (10.67%) Customer Service
7 106 (10.67%) Cybersecurity
8 104 (10.47%) CI/CD
9 102 (10.27%) Analytics
10 100 (10.07%) ITSM
11 97 (9.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 95 (9.57%) Business Intelligence
13 89 (8.96%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 83 (8.36%) Migration
15 79 (7.96%) Decision-Making
16 75 (7.55%) Project Delivery
17 72 (7.25%) Infrastructure as Code
17 72 (7.25%) Technical Leadership
18 68 (6.85%) AI
Programming Languages
1 152 (15.31%) PowerShell
2 90 (9.06%) Python
3 87 (8.76%) SQL
4 36 (3.63%) Bash
5 30 (3.02%) Bicep
6 23 (2.32%) JavaScript
7 22 (2.22%) T-SQL
8 20 (2.01%) C#
9 17 (1.71%) Java
10 15 (1.51%) Kusto Query Language
11 9 (0.91%) TypeScript
12 8 (0.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 8 (0.81%) X++
13 4 (0.40%) ABAP
14 3 (0.30%) Perl
15 2 (0.20%) VBA
16 1 (0.10%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 370 (37.26%) Security Cleared
2 237 (23.87%) SC Cleared
3 139 (14.00%) Degree
3 139 (14.00%) DV Cleared
4 56 (5.64%) Microsoft Certification
5 44 (4.43%) Azure Certification
6 19 (1.91%) AWS Certification
6 19 (1.91%) Cisco Certification
6 19 (1.91%) DBS Check
7 17 (1.71%) Computer Science Degree
8 16 (1.61%) BPSS Clearance
8 16 (1.61%) PMI Certification
9 15 (1.51%) PMP
10 13 (1.31%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 11 (1.11%) CISSP
12 10 (1.01%) MCSA
13 9 (0.91%) CISM
13 9 (0.91%) MCSE
13 9 (0.91%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 8 (0.81%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (4.53%) Data Quality
1 45 (4.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 44 (4.43%) NIST
3 42 (4.23%) PMO
4 34 (3.42%) GDPR
4 34 (3.42%) NCSC
5 28 (2.82%) SLA
6 22 (2.22%) QA
7 20 (2.01%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (1.11%) GRC
9 8 (0.81%) ISO 31000
9 8 (0.81%) JSP 440
10 6 (0.60%) PCI DSS
11 4 (0.40%) Accessibility
11 4 (0.40%) ISO 19650
11 4 (0.40%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.30%) GMP
12 3 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 213 (21.45%) Active Directory
2 70 (7.05%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (2.92%) Hyper-V
4 23 (2.32%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (1.81%) Docker
6 17 (1.71%) vSphere
7 16 (1.61%) Virtual Desktop
8 13 (1.31%) VMware ESXi
9 10 (1.01%) VMware NSX
10 6 (0.60%) Firmware
11 3 (0.30%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.20%) ISA Server
12 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.20%) UAG
12 2 (0.20%) Virtual Servers
13 1 (0.10%) Dovecot
13 1 (0.10%) Postfix
13 1 (0.10%) vCloud
13 1 (0.10%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 63 (6.34%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (4.53%) Kubernetes
3 35 (3.52%) SCCM
4 34 (3.42%) Ansible
5 26 (2.62%) SCOM
6 23 (2.32%) vCenter Server
7 14 (1.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 13 (1.31%) Avamar
9 12 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
9 12 (1.21%) WMI
10 10 (1.01%) Jamf Pro
11 8 (0.81%) Grafana
11 8 (0.81%) QRadar
12 6 (0.60%) FortiGate
13 5 (0.50%) Progress Chef
13 5 (0.50%) Puppet
14 4 (0.40%) Clonezilla
14 4 (0.40%) Prometheus
15 3 (0.30%) Dell DRAC
15 3 (0.30%) Istio
Vendors
1 89 (8.96%) VMware
2 62 (6.24%) ServiceNow
3 56 (5.64%) SAP
4 38 (3.83%) Cisco
4 38 (3.83%) Google
5 29 (2.92%) Oracle
6 21 (2.11%) Databricks
7 19 (1.91%) Dell
8 17 (1.71%) Splunk
9 16 (1.61%) Meraki
10 14 (1.41%) SolarWinds
11 13 (1.31%) Thales
12 12 (1.21%) CrowdStrike
12 12 (1.21%) F5
13 9 (0.91%) Avaya
13 9 (0.91%) Infoblox
13 9 (0.91%) Palo Alto
13 9 (0.91%) Veeam
14 8 (0.81%) Mitel
14 8 (0.81%) Salesforce