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 3 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
3 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 5 6
Rank change year-on-year -2 +1 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 756 526 789
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.97% 16.31% 13.81%
As % of the Vendors category 28.37% 30.40% 29.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 491 348 508
10th Percentile £201 £200 £200
25th Percentile £356 £284 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £469 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.35% -1.33% +2.15%
75th Percentile £581 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £623 £675
England median daily rate £495 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +4.21% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 35 75
10th Percentile £12.78 £14.08 £11.71
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.20 £12.00
Median hourly rate £30.75 £15.75 £23.22
Median % change year-on-year +95.24% -32.16% +22.18%
75th Percentile £53.88 £29.21 £59.00
90th Percentile £110.75 £32.59 £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 2,665 1,730 2,678
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 42.19% 53.64% 46.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,729 1,128 1,578
10th Percentile £283 £220 £244
25th Percentile £419 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -2.44% +2.50%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £694 £650 £700
England median daily rate £510 £513 £520
% change year-on-year -0.49% -1.44% -0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 189 108 192
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £12.03
25th Percentile £21.35 £15.47 £17.91
Median hourly rate £50.00 £20.33 £48.75
Median % change year-on-year +145.94% -58.30% +8.33%
75th Percentile £85.00 £38.42 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £68.15 £70.00
England median hourly rate £35.00 £25.50 £25.00
% change year-on-year +37.25% +2.00% -32.89%

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 3 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 3 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 3 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 0 397 £498 +10.56% 278
Berkshire -3 217 £500 +4.71% 128
Hampshire -9 152 £544 +3.82% 146
Surrey +4 108 £450 +85.57% 120
Buckinghamshire -4 104 £505 +22.42% 82
Oxfordshire -2 76 £405 +62.00% 77
West Sussex -1 51 £430 +68.63% 44
Kent -3 26 £275 -12.00% 54
East Sussex -3 7 £358 -42.22% 34
Home Counties +2 4 - -
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 74 (9.79%) SharePoint
2 70 (9.26%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.46%) Confluence
4 2 (0.26%) MS Project Server
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%) nginx
5 1 (0.13%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2013
5 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
5 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 87 (11.51%) Microsoft Excel
2 81 (10.71%) Microsoft Office
3 34 (4.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 32 (4.23%) Microsoft Project
5 13 (1.72%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.26%) 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 13 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (0.93%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.66%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.53%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.40%) SAP PSCD
6 1 (0.13%) iTrent
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 308 (40.74%) Azure
2 188 (24.87%) Microsoft 365
3 145 (19.18%) Entra ID
4 89 (11.77%) Power Platform
5 80 (10.58%) AWS
6 41 (5.42%) Azure DevOps
7 39 (5.16%) Dynamics 365
8 31 (4.10%) OneDrive
9 30 (3.97%) Power Automate
10 27 (3.57%) SaaS
11 23 (3.04%) GCP
12 19 (2.51%) Azure Logic Apps
12 19 (2.51%) Microsoft Purview
12 19 (2.51%) PowerApps
13 17 (2.25%) Azure Monitor
14 15 (1.98%) GitHub
14 15 (1.98%) IaaS
14 15 (1.98%) Serverless
15 14 (1.85%) Azure Functions
16 13 (1.72%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 77 (10.19%) DNS
2 51 (6.75%) DHCP
3 40 (5.29%) Wi-Fi
4 39 (5.16%) Firewall
5 31 (4.10%) LAN
6 30 (3.97%) VPN
7 29 (3.84%) TCP/IP
8 24 (3.17%) WAN
9 16 (2.12%) SD-WAN
10 14 (1.85%) MPLS
11 12 (1.59%) Kerberos
12 11 (1.46%) Unified Communications
13 10 (1.32%) BGP
13 10 (1.32%) Network Security
13 10 (1.32%) VLAN
14 9 (1.19%) DNSSEC
14 9 (1.19%) IPsec
15 7 (0.93%) BIG-IP
15 7 (0.93%) OSPF
16 6 (0.79%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (8.99%) Power BI
2 29 (3.84%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.59%) MySQL
3 12 (1.59%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (1.19%) Azure SQL Database
5 7 (0.93%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (0.79%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 6 (0.79%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 5 (0.66%) Relational Database
8 4 (0.53%) Metadata
8 4 (0.53%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.40%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.40%) MS Access
9 3 (0.40%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.26%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.26%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.26%) Geospatial Data
10 2 (0.26%) Oracle Reports
10 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 27 (3.57%) JIRA
2 11 (1.46%) Git
3 4 (0.53%) JUnit
3 4 (0.53%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.40%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.40%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.40%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.40%) Gradle
4 3 (0.40%) Maven
4 3 (0.40%) MSI
4 3 (0.40%) Robot Framework
4 3 (0.40%) Xcode
5 2 (0.26%) GitLab
5 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) MLflow
6 1 (0.13%) NUnit
6 1 (0.13%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 235 (31.08%) Social Skills
2 76 (10.05%) Public Sector
3 74 (9.79%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (9.13%) Finance
5 47 (6.22%) Organisational Skills
6 28 (3.70%) Legal
7 26 (3.44%) Documentation Skills
8 24 (3.17%) Aerospace
9 19 (2.51%) Telecoms
10 15 (1.98%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (1.98%) Military
11 12 (1.59%) Marketing
12 8 (1.06%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (0.93%) Local Government
14 6 (0.79%) Billing
14 6 (0.79%) French Language
14 6 (0.79%) Manufacturing
14 6 (0.79%) Retail
15 5 (0.66%) Arabic Language
15 5 (0.66%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 88 (11.64%) Architect
2 78 (10.32%) IT Support
3 72 (9.52%) Analyst
4 58 (7.67%) Senior
5 47 (6.22%) Lead
5 47 (6.22%) Support Engineer
6 46 (6.08%) Consultant
6 46 (6.08%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 45 (5.95%) IT Engineer
8 36 (4.76%) IT Support Engineer
9 34 (4.50%) Developer
10 28 (3.70%) IT Analyst
11 27 (3.57%) Azure Engineer
11 27 (3.57%) Solutions Architect
12 25 (3.31%) Administrator
12 25 (3.31%) Support Analyst
13 24 (3.17%) Project Manager
14 23 (3.04%) Cloud Engineer
15 21 (2.78%) Technical Architect
16 20 (2.65%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.97%) LDAP
2 29 (3.84%) .NET
3 27 (3.57%) OAuth
4 26 (3.44%) SAML
5 25 (3.31%) OpenID
6 18 (2.38%) Web Services
7 17 (2.25%) Microsoft Graph
7 17 (2.25%) OAuth2
8 16 (2.12%) REST
9 14 (1.85%) SailPoint
10 10 (1.32%) JSON
11 8 (1.06%) ARM Templates
11 8 (1.06%) React
11 8 (1.06%) XML
12 7 (0.93%) AngularJS
12 7 (0.93%) CSS
12 7 (0.93%) Middleware
13 6 (0.79%) PySpark
13 6 (0.79%) SOAP
13 6 (0.79%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 50 (6.61%) Onboarding
2 31 (4.10%) Data Centre
3 30 (3.97%) PKI
4 28 (3.70%) Cloud Native
5 25 (3.31%) Hybrid Cloud
6 23 (3.04%) Product Ownership
7 21 (2.78%) Legacy Systems
8 17 (2.25%) Public Cloud
9 15 (1.98%) Replication
10 14 (1.85%) Operational Technology
11 13 (1.72%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 12 (1.59%) Security Posture
13 11 (1.46%) Enterprise Software
13 11 (1.46%) Self-Motivation
14 10 (1.32%) Data Structures
15 9 (1.19%) Cyber Defence
15 9 (1.19%) Management Information System
16 8 (1.06%) Driving Licence
16 8 (1.06%) Private Cloud
16 8 (1.06%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 211 (27.91%) Windows
2 63 (8.33%) Windows Server
3 53 (7.01%) Linux
4 28 (3.70%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.31%) Mac OS
6 22 (2.91%) Apple iOS
7 13 (1.72%) Unix
8 12 (1.59%) Android
9 9 (1.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.93%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.93%) Windows Server 2019
11 6 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
12 5 (0.66%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.40%) CentOS
13 3 (0.40%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.13%) OpenVMS
14 1 (0.13%) VMS
14 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 138 (18.25%) Problem-Solving
2 97 (12.83%) ITIL
3 94 (12.43%) Customer Service
4 91 (12.04%) Agile
5 86 (11.38%) DevOps
6 83 (10.98%) Stakeholder Management
7 74 (9.79%) CI/CD
8 73 (9.66%) Migration
9 71 (9.39%) Business Intelligence
9 71 (9.39%) Cybersecurity
10 63 (8.33%) ITSM
10 63 (8.33%) Project Delivery
11 59 (7.80%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 57 (7.54%) Decision-Making
12 57 (7.54%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 56 (7.41%) Analytics
14 55 (7.28%) Project Management
15 52 (6.88%) Continuous Improvement
16 51 (6.75%) AI
16 51 (6.75%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 117 (15.48%) PowerShell
2 72 (9.52%) Python
3 69 (9.13%) SQL
4 28 (3.70%) T-SQL
5 22 (2.91%) Bash
6 19 (2.51%) C#
7 16 (2.12%) JavaScript
8 14 (1.85%) Java
9 13 (1.72%) Bicep
10 8 (1.06%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 7 (0.93%) X++
12 6 (0.79%) Kusto Query Language
13 3 (0.40%) Perl
13 3 (0.40%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.26%) ABAP
14 2 (0.26%) 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
1 265 (35.05%) Security Cleared
2 192 (25.40%) SC Cleared
3 97 (12.83%) Degree
4 79 (10.45%) DV Cleared
5 35 (4.63%) Microsoft Certification
6 29 (3.84%) Azure Certification
7 17 (2.25%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (1.72%) AWS Certification
9 12 (1.59%) DBS Check
10 11 (1.46%) Computer Science Degree
11 10 (1.32%) BPSS Clearance
11 10 (1.32%) CISSP
12 9 (1.19%) CCNP
12 9 (1.19%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 8 (1.06%) CISM
13 8 (1.06%) GIAC
13 8 (1.06%) MCSA
13 8 (1.06%) MCSE
14 7 (0.93%) PMI Certification
14 7 (0.93%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.63%) NIST
2 29 (3.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (3.70%) NCSC
4 26 (3.44%) GDPR
5 25 (3.31%) SLA
6 19 (2.51%) Cyber Essentials
6 19 (2.51%) PMO
7 17 (2.25%) Data Quality
7 17 (2.25%) QA
8 6 (0.79%) ISO 31000
9 5 (0.66%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.53%) Accessibility
10 4 (0.53%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.13%) Disclosure Scotland
13 1 (0.13%) GRC
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 19650
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.13%) JSP 440
System Software
1 213 (28.17%) Active Directory
2 68 (8.99%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (3.84%) Hyper-V
4 18 (2.38%) vSphere
5 16 (2.12%) Virtual Machines
6 15 (1.98%) VMware ESXi
7 14 (1.85%) VMware NSX
8 11 (1.46%) Virtual Desktop
9 9 (1.19%) Docker
10 5 (0.66%) Firmware
11 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.26%) UAG
13 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
13 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.13%) Dovecot
13 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.13%) Postfix
13 1 (0.13%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 66 (8.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 46 (6.08%) Terraform
3 26 (3.44%) Active Directory Federation Services
3 26 (3.44%) SCCM
4 18 (2.38%) SCOM
5 17 (2.25%) Ansible
6 15 (1.98%) vCenter Server
7 14 (1.85%) Single Sign-On
8 13 (1.72%) Jamf Pro
8 13 (1.72%) Kubernetes
9 9 (1.19%) Avamar
10 4 (0.53%) Clonezilla
10 4 (0.53%) FortiGate
10 4 (0.53%) Puppet
10 4 (0.53%) QRadar
11 3 (0.40%) Progress Chef
11 3 (0.40%) SCSM
11 3 (0.40%) WMI
12 2 (0.26%) vMotion
12 2 (0.26%) WSUS
Vendors
1 86 (11.38%) VMware
2 42 (5.56%) Cisco
3 40 (5.29%) ServiceNow
4 33 (4.37%) SAP
5 22 (2.91%) Google
6 21 (2.78%) Meraki
7 15 (1.98%) Dell
7 15 (1.98%) SolarWinds
8 14 (1.85%) Databricks
8 14 (1.85%) Oracle
9 13 (1.72%) Avaya
9 13 (1.72%) Citrix
10 12 (1.59%) F5
10 12 (1.59%) Mitel
11 11 (1.46%) Fortinet
12 10 (1.32%) Palo Alto
12 10 (1.32%) Thales
13 9 (1.19%) Infoblox
13 9 (1.19%) Juniper
13 9 (1.19%) Splunk