Azure Contract Job Trends in the South West

Microsoft Azure
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring Azure skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 29 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 11 9
Rank change year-on-year +7 -2 -1
Contract jobs citing Azure 441 204 324
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 12.50% 10.73% 11.15%
As % of the Cloud Services category 44.91% 36.30% 42.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 286 155 243
10th Percentile £394 £322 £338
25th Percentile £450 £363 £444
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £500 £505
Median % change year-on-year +7.55% -0.99% -8.18%
75th Percentile £624 £622 £590
90th Percentile £731 £700 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 4 1
10th Percentile - £27.40 -
25th Percentile £56.25 £46.75 £77.50
Median hourly rate £57.50 £70.00 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year -17.86% -17.65% +41.67%
75th Percentile £58.75 £77.80 £92.50
90th Percentile - £78.34 -
England median hourly rate £57.50 £41.45 £35.00
% change year-on-year +38.72% +18.43% -40.32%

All Cloud Computing Skills
South West

Azure falls under the Cloud Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring cloud computing skills in the South West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for cloud computing skills 982 562 767
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 27.84% 29.55% 26.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 616 396 552
10th Percentile £322 £219 £250
25th Percentile £415 £355 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -2.33%
75th Percentile £613 £588 £609
90th Percentile £705 £675 £675
England median daily rate £525 £512 £525
% change year-on-year +2.49% -2.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 39 45
10th Percentile £14.00 £18.13 £13.19
25th Percentile £17.09 £18.51 £33.00
Median hourly rate £44.28 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +134.66% -73.04% +40.00%
75th Percentile £58.75 £29.13 -
90th Percentile £77.13 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £37.50 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year +49.11% +14.32% -33.33%

Azure
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Azure relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Azure job vacancy trend in the South West

Azure
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Azure.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Azure

Azure
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Azure in the South West over the 6 months to 29 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Azure in the South West

Azure
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Azure.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Azure

Azure
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Azure in the South West over the 6 months to 29 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Azure in the South West

Azure
Contract Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Azure within the South West region over the 6 months to 29 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
Somerset +7 134 £495 +4.21% 39
Bristol +5 108 £550 +27.17% 72
Gloucestershire +1 53 £500 -20.79% 62
Devon +7 49 £519 -0.15% 24
Wiltshire -4 44 £500 -9.09% 19
Dorset +7 28 £675 +63.64% 5
Azure
England

Azure
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 23 (5.22%) Confluence
1 23 (5.22%) SharePoint
2 11 (2.49%) IIS
3 9 (2.04%) Apache Spark
4 5 (1.13%) Apache
5 3 (0.68%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Exchange
6 2 (0.45%) nginx
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Superset
7 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
7 1 (0.23%) JBoss
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 4 (0.91%) Microsoft Excel
1 4 (0.91%) Trello
2 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.68%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.23%) InDesign
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.45%) Maximo
1 2 (0.45%) Unit4 Business World
2 1 (0.23%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.23%) SAP EHS
2 1 (0.23%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 180 (40.82%) AWS
2 73 (16.55%) Azure DevOps
3 67 (15.19%) GCP
4 57 (12.93%) Entra ID
5 31 (7.03%) Microsoft 365
6 29 (6.58%) GitHub
7 28 (6.35%) Power Platform
8 18 (4.08%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (3.85%) Azure Data Factory
9 17 (3.85%) Azure Monitor
10 16 (3.63%) Serverless
11 14 (3.17%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (2.49%) Cloud Computing
12 11 (2.49%) PaaS
13 10 (2.27%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 10 (2.27%) SaaS
13 10 (2.27%) Snowflake
14 9 (2.04%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 9 (2.04%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 8 (1.81%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 27 (6.12%) Firewall
2 20 (4.54%) DNS
3 14 (3.17%) VPN
4 13 (2.95%) TCP/IP
5 12 (2.72%) WAN
6 11 (2.49%) DHCP
7 9 (2.04%) BGP
8 7 (1.59%) VLAN
9 6 (1.36%) VSAN
10 4 (0.91%) Network Security
10 4 (0.91%) OSPF
10 4 (0.91%) SAN
11 3 (0.68%) NAS
11 3 (0.68%) Software-Defined Networking
12 2 (0.45%) LAN
12 2 (0.45%) Reverse Proxy
12 2 (0.45%) SSL
13 1 (0.23%) HTTP
13 1 (0.23%) Kerberos
13 1 (0.23%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (6.58%) SQL Server
2 25 (5.67%) Power BI
3 15 (3.40%) Data Warehouse
3 15 (3.40%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (2.49%) Geospatial Data
5 9 (2.04%) Data Lake
6 8 (1.81%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (1.81%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.59%) Metadata
7 7 (1.59%) MongoDB
8 6 (1.36%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.36%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.13%) Big Data
10 4 (0.91%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.91%) Tableau
11 3 (0.68%) Data Vault
11 3 (0.68%) Delta Lake
11 3 (0.68%) GIS
11 3 (0.68%) Redis
11 3 (0.68%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 34 (7.71%) JIRA
2 31 (7.03%) Git
3 21 (4.76%) GitLab
4 16 (3.63%) Jenkins
5 10 (2.27%) MSI
6 3 (0.68%) AdminStudio
6 3 (0.68%) InstallShield
6 3 (0.68%) JUnit
6 3 (0.68%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 3 (0.68%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.45%) MLflow
7 2 (0.45%) Selenium
7 2 (0.45%) Spinnaker
7 2 (0.45%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.23%) Gradle
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.23%) TestNG
8 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 69 (15.65%) Social Skills
2 47 (10.66%) Public Sector
3 28 (6.35%) Analytical Skills
4 23 (5.22%) Finance
5 15 (3.40%) Legal
6 10 (2.27%) Military
7 9 (2.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.81%) Local Government
9 7 (1.59%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.36%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.13%) Marketing
11 5 (1.13%) Retail
12 4 (0.91%) Banking
12 4 (0.91%) Police
13 3 (0.68%) Advertising
13 3 (0.68%) Aviation
13 3 (0.68%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.45%) Publishing
15 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
15 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 66 (14.97%) Architect
2 53 (12.02%) Consultant
3 44 (9.98%) Developer
4 34 (7.71%) Lead
5 29 (6.58%) Senior
6 27 (6.12%) Implementation Consultant
6 27 (6.12%) Product Manager
7 24 (5.44%) Digital Product Manager
8 23 (5.22%) Data Engineer
9 21 (4.76%) DevOps Engineer
10 20 (4.54%) Technical Architect
11 17 (3.85%) Azure Engineer
11 17 (3.85%) Data Architect
12 16 (3.63%) Solutions Architect
13 15 (3.40%) Analyst
13 15 (3.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 14 (3.17%) Azure Architect
15 13 (2.95%) Azure Consultant
15 13 (2.95%) DBA
15 13 (2.95%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (10.20%) .NET
2 29 (6.58%) .NET Framework
3 26 (5.90%) REST
4 19 (4.31%) RESTful
5 15 (3.40%) .NET Core
6 14 (3.17%) React
7 12 (2.72%) GeoJSON
7 12 (2.72%) Kafka
8 11 (2.49%) SailPoint
9 10 (2.27%) ATL
9 10 (2.27%) COM
9 10 (2.27%) CSS
9 10 (2.27%) HTML
9 10 (2.27%) MFC
9 10 (2.27%) Node.js
9 10 (2.27%) Spring Boot
10 9 (2.04%) CSS3
10 9 (2.04%) HTML5
10 9 (2.04%) LDAP
10 9 (2.04%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 50 (11.34%) Cloud Native
2 40 (9.07%) Legacy Systems
3 24 (5.44%) Onboarding
4 20 (4.54%) Product Ownership
5 18 (4.08%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (3.17%) Public Cloud
7 12 (2.72%) Data Centre
8 11 (2.49%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (2.49%) Self-Motivation
9 10 (2.27%) Data Structures
10 8 (1.81%) Linux Command Line
11 7 (1.59%) PKI
12 6 (1.36%) Legacy Code
12 6 (1.36%) Wiki
13 4 (0.91%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.91%) Enterprise Cloud
13 4 (0.91%) Management Information System
13 4 (0.91%) Virtual Reality
14 3 (0.68%) EPoS
14 3 (0.68%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 72 (16.33%) Windows
2 33 (7.48%) Linux
3 24 (5.44%) Windows Server
4 17 (3.85%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.36%) Android
7 4 (0.91%) Rocky
7 4 (0.91%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.68%) Debian
8 3 (0.68%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.68%) Unix
9 2 (0.45%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.23%) CentOS
10 1 (0.23%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (30.16%) DevOps
2 131 (29.71%) Agile
3 110 (24.94%) CI/CD
4 70 (15.87%) Infrastructure as Code
5 56 (12.70%) Continuous Improvement
6 54 (12.24%) Containerisation
6 54 (12.24%) Roadmaps
7 52 (11.79%) Stakeholder Management
8 51 (11.56%) Problem-Solving
9 43 (9.75%) Analytics
9 43 (9.75%) Migration
10 42 (9.52%) Microservices
10 42 (9.52%) Technical Leadership
11 39 (8.84%) Data Modelling
12 38 (8.62%) Decision-Making
13 34 (7.71%) Data Pipeline
13 34 (7.71%) ERP
14 33 (7.48%) DevSecOps
15 32 (7.26%) Test Automation
16 30 (6.80%) ETL
Programming Languages
1 74 (16.78%) Python
2 67 (15.19%) SQL
3 39 (8.84%) PowerShell
4 33 (7.48%) C#
5 31 (7.03%) Java
6 25 (5.67%) Bash
7 23 (5.22%) JavaScript
8 19 (4.31%) TypeScript
9 16 (3.63%) Bicep
10 14 (3.17%) Go
11 5 (1.13%) BeanShell
11 5 (1.13%) PL/SQL
12 4 (0.91%) R
12 4 (0.91%) T-SQL
13 3 (0.68%) C++
14 2 (0.45%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 2 (0.45%) Kotlin
14 2 (0.45%) Scala
14 2 (0.45%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 214 (48.53%) Security Cleared
2 157 (35.60%) SC Cleared
3 54 (12.24%) DV Cleared
4 22 (4.99%) Degree
5 14 (3.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 13 (2.95%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.72%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (2.04%) CISSP
9 8 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.36%) CCNA
10 6 (1.36%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (1.13%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 4 (0.91%) CISM
12 4 (0.91%) ISTQB
12 4 (0.91%) TOGAF Certification
13 3 (0.68%) ACSP
13 3 (0.68%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 3 (0.68%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.68%) Master's Degree
13 3 (0.68%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (6.12%) QA
2 23 (5.22%) Data Quality
3 16 (3.63%) NCSC
4 12 (2.72%) GDPR
5 11 (2.49%) Accessibility
6 10 (2.27%) SLA
7 9 (2.04%) WCAG
8 6 (1.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 5 (1.13%) ISO 9000
9 5 (1.13%) NIST
10 3 (0.68%) SNOMED CT
11 2 (0.45%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.45%) GRC
11 2 (0.45%) HL7
11 2 (0.45%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
12 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.23%) PMO
System Software
1 62 (14.06%) Active Directory
2 59 (13.38%) Docker
3 21 (4.76%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (4.08%) Virtual Desktop
5 15 (3.40%) Hyper-V
6 10 (2.27%) vSphere
7 9 (2.04%) Virtual Machines
8 7 (1.59%) VMware NSX
9 2 (0.45%) KVM
9 2 (0.45%) VirtualBox
10 1 (0.23%) NFS
10 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 78 (17.69%) Kubernetes
2 73 (16.55%) Terraform
3 32 (7.26%) Ansible
4 22 (4.99%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (3.63%) Grafana
6 14 (3.17%) Prometheus
7 12 (2.72%) Argo
8 10 (2.27%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (1.59%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 6 (1.36%) FortiGate
11 5 (1.13%) OPNET
12 4 (0.91%) Istio
12 4 (0.91%) Proxmox
12 4 (0.91%) SCCM
13 3 (0.68%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 3 (0.68%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.68%) VxRail
14 2 (0.45%) Docker Swarm
14 2 (0.45%) Kustomize
14 2 (0.45%) Podman
Vendors
1 155 (35.15%) Microsoft
2 27 (6.12%) Siemens
3 25 (5.67%) Oracle
4 22 (4.99%) VMware
5 20 (4.54%) Databricks
6 16 (3.63%) Google
7 11 (2.49%) CyberArk
8 8 (1.81%) Cisco
9 7 (1.59%) InterSystems
9 7 (1.59%) Red Hat
9 7 (1.59%) SAP
9 7 (1.59%) Starlink
10 6 (1.36%) McAfee
11 5 (1.13%) Dynatrace
11 5 (1.13%) NetApp
11 5 (1.13%) Splunk
11 5 (1.13%) Zscaler
12 4 (0.91%) Apple
12 4 (0.91%) IBM
12 4 (0.91%) MuleSoft