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 13 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 8 13
Rank change year-on-year +2 +5 -6
Contract jobs citing Azure 427 241 271
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.50% 12.25% 10.18%
As % of the Cloud Services category 44.11% 40.30% 38.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 296 186 200
10th Percentile £397 £304 £363
25th Percentile £450 £389 £452
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £600
90th Percentile £728 £708 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 3 1
10th Percentile £93.28 £23.10 -
25th Percentile £94.40 £36.00 £77.50
Median hourly rate £96.27 £65.00 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year +48.10% -23.53% +304.76%
75th Percentile £98.13 £75.00 £92.50
90th Percentile £99.25 £76.50 -
England median hourly rate £52.50 £34.24 £38.50
% change year-on-year +53.33% -11.06% -16.63%

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 968 598 702
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.07% 30.39% 26.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 633 409 465
10th Percentile £326 £213 £250
25th Percentile £425 £355 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £588 £613
90th Percentile £729 £693 £685
England median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.95% -4.71% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 55 37 42
10th Percentile £13.79 £18.13 £20.85
25th Percentile £14.80 £18.51 £33.50
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -73.04% +87.79%
75th Percentile £40.00 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £89.52 £36.60 -
England median hourly rate £33.99 £26.30 £31.75
% change year-on-year +29.24% -17.17% -3.79%

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 13 September 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
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 13 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
Bristol -1 114 £550 +23.04% 96
Somerset +3 108 £475 +11.76% 56
Devon +9 59 £530 +1.44% 39
Gloucestershire -4 51 £533 +6.50% 79
Wiltshire -5 40 £503 -14.47% 32
Dorset +1 30 £675 +34.33% 20
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 30 (7.03%) SharePoint
2 29 (6.79%) Confluence
3 10 (2.34%) Apache Spark
4 5 (1.17%) Apache
4 5 (1.17%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.94%) Apache Airflow
5 4 (0.94%) IIS
6 2 (0.47%) nginx
7 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
7 1 (0.23%) JBoss
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
7 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 5 (1.17%) MS Visio
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.70%) Trello
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.47%) Unit4 Business World
2 1 (0.23%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.23%) ResourceLink
2 1 (0.23%) SAP EHS
2 1 (0.23%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 186 (43.56%) AWS
2 80 (18.74%) Azure DevOps
3 75 (17.56%) GCP
4 53 (12.41%) Entra ID
5 39 (9.13%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (7.49%) GitHub
7 24 (5.62%) Power Platform
8 15 (3.51%) Azure AKS
8 15 (3.51%) Azure Key Vault
8 15 (3.51%) Serverless
9 13 (3.04%) Azure Data Factory
9 13 (3.04%) GitHub Actions
10 12 (2.81%) Azure Monitor
11 11 (2.58%) Cloud Computing
12 10 (2.34%) SaaS
13 9 (2.11%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 9 (2.11%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (2.11%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.11%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 9 (2.11%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 33 (7.73%) Firewall
2 21 (4.92%) DNS
3 16 (3.75%) TCP/IP
4 14 (3.28%) DHCP
4 14 (3.28%) VPN
4 14 (3.28%) WAN
5 10 (2.34%) VLAN
6 9 (2.11%) BGP
7 8 (1.87%) VSAN
8 6 (1.41%) Network Security
9 4 (0.94%) LAN
9 4 (0.94%) OSPF
9 4 (0.94%) SAN
10 3 (0.70%) Cisco IOS
10 3 (0.70%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.70%) NAS
10 3 (0.70%) Software-Defined Networking
10 3 (0.70%) Wireless
11 2 (0.47%) Reverse Proxy
11 2 (0.47%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (5.62%) SQL Server
2 20 (4.68%) Power BI
3 13 (3.04%) Geospatial Data
4 12 (2.81%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (2.11%) Data Lake
5 9 (2.11%) Data Warehouse
5 9 (2.11%) Elasticsearch
6 8 (1.87%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.64%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (1.64%) MongoDB
8 6 (1.41%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.41%) Big Data
8 6 (1.41%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.17%) Metadata
9 5 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.94%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.70%) Data Vault
11 3 (0.70%) Delta Lake
11 3 (0.70%) Hadoop
11 3 (0.70%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 51 (11.94%) Git
2 40 (9.37%) JIRA
3 34 (7.96%) GitLab
4 30 (7.03%) Jenkins
5 11 (2.58%) MSI
6 3 (0.70%) AdminStudio
6 3 (0.70%) Claude Code
6 3 (0.70%) InstallShield
6 3 (0.70%) JUnit
6 3 (0.70%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 3 (0.70%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.47%) MLflow
7 2 (0.47%) Selenium
7 2 (0.47%) Spinnaker
7 2 (0.47%) Visual Studio Team System
8 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.23%) Gradle
8 1 (0.23%) TestNG
8 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 81 (18.97%) Social Skills
2 60 (14.05%) Public Sector
3 27 (6.32%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.09%) Finance
5 11 (2.58%) Legal
5 11 (2.58%) Local Government
6 10 (2.34%) Military
7 8 (1.87%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (1.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.41%) Banking
8 6 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
9 5 (1.17%) Retail
10 4 (0.94%) Police
11 3 (0.70%) Advertising
11 3 (0.70%) Aviation
11 3 (0.70%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.47%) Marketing
13 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
13 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
13 1 (0.23%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 66 (15.46%) Architect
2 53 (12.41%) Developer
3 34 (7.96%) Senior
4 30 (7.03%) DevOps Engineer
4 30 (7.03%) Lead
5 27 (6.32%) Product Manager
6 26 (6.09%) Consultant
7 24 (5.62%) Digital Product Manager
8 23 (5.39%) Azure Engineer
9 21 (4.92%) Solutions Architect
10 20 (4.68%) Technical Architect
11 19 (4.45%) Data Engineer
12 16 (3.75%) Azure DevOps Engineer
12 16 (3.75%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 15 (3.51%) Analyst
13 15 (3.51%) Azure Architect
14 13 (3.04%) Azure Consultant
14 13 (3.04%) DBA
14 13 (3.04%) Software Developer
15 12 (2.81%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 94 (22.01%) Terraform
2 40 (9.37%) .NET
3 25 (5.85%) .NET Framework
4 23 (5.39%) REST
5 20 (4.68%) RESTful
6 18 (4.22%) .NET Core
6 18 (4.22%) React
7 17 (3.98%) CSS
7 17 (3.98%) HTML
8 14 (3.28%) Kafka
9 13 (3.04%) GeoJSON
10 11 (2.58%) ATL
10 11 (2.58%) COM
10 11 (2.58%) CSS3
10 11 (2.58%) HTML5
10 11 (2.58%) MFC
10 11 (2.58%) WPF
11 10 (2.34%) ARM Templates
11 10 (2.34%) Node.js
11 10 (2.34%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 55 (12.88%) Cloud Native
2 38 (8.90%) Legacy Systems
3 30 (7.03%) Product Ownership
4 25 (5.85%) Onboarding
5 19 (4.45%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (3.75%) Wiki
7 13 (3.04%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (2.81%) Data Centre
8 12 (2.81%) Linux Command Line
8 12 (2.81%) Public Cloud
9 9 (2.11%) Security Operations Centre
10 8 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
11 7 (1.64%) Cyber Threat
11 7 (1.64%) Enterprise Cloud
12 6 (1.41%) Data Structures
12 6 (1.41%) PKI
13 4 (0.94%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.94%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 4 (0.94%) Virtual Reality
14 3 (0.70%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 67 (15.69%) Windows
2 34 (7.96%) Linux
3 22 (5.15%) Windows Server
4 14 (3.28%) Windows 10
5 8 (1.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.41%) Android
6 6 (1.41%) Unix
7 5 (1.17%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.94%) Rocky
8 4 (0.94%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.70%) Debian
10 2 (0.47%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.23%) CentOS
11 1 (0.23%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 149 (34.89%) DevOps
2 137 (32.08%) Agile
3 132 (30.91%) CI/CD
4 94 (22.01%) Infrastructure as Code
5 74 (17.33%) Containerisation
6 64 (14.99%) Continuous Improvement
7 57 (13.35%) Roadmaps
8 55 (12.88%) Stakeholder Management
9 54 (12.65%) DevSecOps
10 51 (11.94%) Problem-Solving
11 43 (10.07%) Technical Leadership
12 42 (9.84%) Deployment Automation
13 39 (9.13%) Decision-Making
13 39 (9.13%) Test Automation
14 38 (8.90%) Microservices
14 38 (8.90%) Software Engineering
15 37 (8.67%) Observability
16 36 (8.43%) Platform Engineering
17 35 (8.20%) Analytics
18 34 (7.96%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 79 (18.50%) Python
2 60 (14.05%) SQL
3 43 (10.07%) PowerShell
4 40 (9.37%) C#
5 37 (8.67%) Bash
6 36 (8.43%) Java
7 28 (6.56%) JavaScript
8 27 (6.32%) Bicep
9 24 (5.62%) TypeScript
10 13 (3.04%) Go
11 5 (1.17%) BeanShell
12 4 (0.94%) PL/SQL
12 4 (0.94%) R
12 4 (0.94%) Shell Script
13 3 (0.70%) T-SQL
14 2 (0.47%) C++
14 2 (0.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 2 (0.47%) Kotlin
15 1 (0.23%) Kusto Query Language
15 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 226 (52.93%) Security Cleared
2 161 (37.70%) SC Cleared
3 64 (14.99%) DV Cleared
4 20 (4.68%) Degree
5 16 (3.75%) CISSP
6 14 (3.28%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.81%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (2.81%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (2.58%) CISM
9 7 (1.64%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (1.64%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (1.41%) CCNA
11 5 (1.17%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 4 (0.94%) AWS Certification
12 4 (0.94%) TOGAF Certification
13 3 (0.70%) ACSP
13 3 (0.70%) VCAP
14 2 (0.47%) A+ Certification
14 2 (0.47%) ISTQB
14 2 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (5.15%) QA
2 20 (4.68%) Data Quality
2 20 (4.68%) NCSC
3 13 (3.04%) Accessibility
4 11 (2.58%) SLA
4 11 (2.58%) WCAG
5 7 (1.64%) GDPR
6 6 (1.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.17%) ISO 9000
7 5 (1.17%) NIST
8 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.47%) GRC
9 1 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
9 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.23%) PMO
9 1 (0.23%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 72 (16.86%) Docker
2 58 (13.58%) Active Directory
3 27 (6.32%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (4.22%) Hyper-V
5 17 (3.98%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (2.34%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (2.34%) vSphere
7 7 (1.64%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.70%) VirtualBox
9 2 (0.47%) KVM
10 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.23%) NFS
10 1 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.23%) zsh
Systems Management
1 100 (23.42%) Kubernetes
2 40 (9.37%) Ansible
3 20 (4.68%) Microsoft Intune
4 14 (3.28%) Grafana
5 13 (3.04%) Argo
6 12 (2.81%) Prometheus
7 7 (1.64%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 6 (1.41%) FortiGate
8 6 (1.41%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.17%) OPNET
9 5 (1.17%) VxRail
10 4 (0.94%) Istio
10 4 (0.94%) Proxmox
10 4 (0.94%) SCCM
11 3 (0.70%) Progress Chef
12 2 (0.47%) CASB
12 2 (0.47%) Data Guard
12 2 (0.47%) Kustomize
12 2 (0.47%) linkerd
12 2 (0.47%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 161 (37.70%) Microsoft
2 28 (6.56%) VMware
3 25 (5.85%) Google
4 21 (4.92%) Oracle
5 20 (4.68%) Databricks
6 11 (2.58%) Cisco
6 11 (2.58%) CyberArk
7 8 (1.87%) Red Hat
8 7 (1.64%) Splunk
9 6 (1.41%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.41%) InterSystems
9 6 (1.41%) MuleSoft
10 5 (1.17%) NetApp
10 5 (1.17%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.94%) Apple
11 4 (0.94%) McAfee
11 4 (0.94%) SAP
11 4 (0.94%) Starlink
12 3 (0.70%) Foundry
12 3 (0.70%) Thales