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

6 months to
13 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 9
Rank change year-on-year +6 -2 -2
Contract jobs citing Azure 436 207 316
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 12.08% 10.89% 11.31%
As % of the Cloud Services category 44.31% 36.64% 42.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 293 160 233
10th Percentile £390 £325 £343
25th Percentile £450 £372 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +8.00% -2.44% -6.82%
75th Percentile £638 £639 £599
90th Percentile £738 £714 £685
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 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 £79.02 £78.34 -
England median hourly rate £56.50 £40.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year +41.25% +14.29% -24.21%

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 984 565 742
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 27.27% 29.74% 26.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 626 393 527
10th Percentile £325 £213 £250
25th Percentile £425 £353 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £588 £606
90th Percentile £725 £688 £675
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 72 40 43
10th Percentile £14.00 £18.13 £12.97
25th Percentile £16.62 £18.51 £33.00
Median hourly rate £31.50 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +66.93% -73.04% +100.00%
75th Percentile £58.75 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £98.13 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £35.50 £26.00 £24.59
% change year-on-year +36.54% +5.73% -23.92%

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 August 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 13 August 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 13 August 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 +5 123 £475 -7.32% 35
Bristol -1 109 £550 +27.91% 117
Gloucestershire +1 55 £520 -20.00% 64
Devon +7 52 £513 -1.27% 44
Wiltshire -10 42 £500 -9.09% 19
Dorset +6 29 £675 +63.64% 14
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 (5.28%) Confluence
1 23 (5.28%) SharePoint
2 11 (2.52%) IIS
3 9 (2.06%) Apache Spark
4 6 (1.38%) Apache
5 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Exchange
6 3 (0.69%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.46%) nginx
8 1 (0.23%) Apache Superset
8 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
8 1 (0.23%) JBoss
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 4 (0.92%) Trello
2 3 (0.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.69%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.69%) 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 (0.46%) Maximo
1 2 (0.46%) 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 (42.66%) AWS
2 73 (16.74%) Azure DevOps
2 73 (16.74%) GCP
3 57 (13.07%) Entra ID
4 33 (7.57%) GitHub
5 32 (7.34%) Microsoft 365
6 27 (6.19%) Power Platform
7 19 (4.36%) Azure Key Vault
8 17 (3.90%) Azure Monitor
8 17 (3.90%) Serverless
9 15 (3.44%) GitHub Actions
10 14 (3.21%) Azure Data Factory
11 11 (2.52%) Cloud Computing
11 11 (2.52%) PaaS
12 10 (2.29%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 10 (2.29%) SaaS
13 9 (2.06%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 9 (2.06%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (2.06%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 8 (1.83%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 30 (6.88%) Firewall
2 22 (5.05%) DNS
3 15 (3.44%) TCP/IP
4 14 (3.21%) VPN
5 13 (2.98%) DHCP
6 12 (2.75%) WAN
7 9 (2.06%) BGP
7 9 (2.06%) VLAN
8 8 (1.83%) VSAN
9 5 (1.15%) Network Security
10 4 (0.92%) OSPF
10 4 (0.92%) SAN
11 3 (0.69%) NAS
11 3 (0.69%) Software-Defined Networking
12 2 (0.46%) Intrusion Detection
12 2 (0.46%) LAN
12 2 (0.46%) Reverse Proxy
12 2 (0.46%) SSL
13 1 (0.23%) SSH
13 1 (0.23%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (6.88%) SQL Server
2 23 (5.28%) Power BI
3 15 (3.44%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (2.98%) Data Warehouse
4 13 (2.98%) Geospatial Data
5 9 (2.06%) Data Lake
6 8 (1.83%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (1.83%) Metadata
6 8 (1.83%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.61%) MongoDB
8 6 (1.38%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.38%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.15%) Big Data
10 4 (0.92%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.92%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.92%) Tableau
11 3 (0.69%) Data Vault
11 3 (0.69%) Delta Lake
11 3 (0.69%) Redis
11 3 (0.69%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 35 (8.03%) Git
1 35 (8.03%) JIRA
2 27 (6.19%) GitLab
3 22 (5.05%) Jenkins
4 12 (2.75%) MSI
5 3 (0.69%) AdminStudio
5 3 (0.69%) InstallShield
5 3 (0.69%) JUnit
5 3 (0.69%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 3 (0.69%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.46%) MLflow
6 2 (0.46%) Selenium
6 2 (0.46%) Spinnaker
6 2 (0.46%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.23%) Gradle
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.23%) TestNG
7 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 77 (17.66%) Social Skills
2 54 (12.39%) Public Sector
3 28 (6.42%) Analytical Skills
4 24 (5.50%) Finance
5 12 (2.75%) Legal
6 11 (2.52%) Local Government
7 10 (2.29%) Military
8 9 (2.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.38%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.15%) Marketing
11 5 (1.15%) Retail
12 4 (0.92%) Banking
12 4 (0.92%) Police
13 3 (0.69%) Advertising
13 3 (0.69%) Aviation
13 3 (0.69%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.46%) Publishing
15 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
15 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 69 (15.83%) Architect
2 50 (11.47%) Developer
3 40 (9.17%) Consultant
4 34 (7.80%) Lead
5 32 (7.34%) Senior
6 27 (6.19%) Product Manager
7 24 (5.50%) Digital Product Manager
8 20 (4.59%) Data Engineer
8 20 (4.59%) DevOps Engineer
8 20 (4.59%) Technical Architect
9 18 (4.13%) Solutions Architect
10 16 (3.67%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 15 (3.44%) Azure Engineer
12 14 (3.21%) Azure Architect
12 14 (3.21%) Data Architect
13 13 (2.98%) .NET Developer
13 13 (2.98%) DBA
13 13 (2.98%) Implementation Consultant
13 13 (2.98%) Site Engineer
13 13 (2.98%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 48 (11.01%) .NET
2 32 (7.34%) .NET Framework
3 28 (6.42%) REST
4 21 (4.82%) RESTful
5 18 (4.13%) .NET Core
6 14 (3.21%) GeoJSON
6 14 (3.21%) React
7 12 (2.75%) ATL
7 12 (2.75%) COM
7 12 (2.75%) CSS
7 12 (2.75%) HTML
7 12 (2.75%) Kafka
7 12 (2.75%) MFC
8 11 (2.52%) CSS3
8 11 (2.52%) HTML5
8 11 (2.52%) SailPoint
8 11 (2.52%) WPF
9 10 (2.29%) Node.js
9 10 (2.29%) Spring Boot
10 9 (2.06%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 56 (12.84%) Cloud Native
2 42 (9.63%) Legacy Systems
3 26 (5.96%) Onboarding
4 22 (5.05%) Product Ownership
5 19 (4.36%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (3.21%) Public Cloud
7 13 (2.98%) Data Centre
8 12 (2.75%) Hybrid Cloud
9 11 (2.52%) Self-Motivation
10 10 (2.29%) Data Structures
10 10 (2.29%) Linux Command Line
11 7 (1.61%) PKI
11 7 (1.61%) Wiki
12 6 (1.38%) Legacy Code
13 4 (0.92%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.92%) Enterprise Cloud
13 4 (0.92%) Virtual Reality
14 3 (0.69%) EPoS
14 3 (0.69%) Management Information System
14 3 (0.69%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 78 (17.89%) Windows
2 36 (8.26%) Linux
3 27 (6.19%) Windows Server
4 17 (3.90%) Windows 10
5 8 (1.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.38%) Android
7 5 (1.15%) Rocky
7 5 (1.15%) Ubuntu
7 5 (1.15%) Unix
8 4 (0.92%) Debian
9 3 (0.69%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.46%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.23%) CentOS
11 1 (0.23%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (31.42%) DevOps
2 131 (30.05%) Agile
3 121 (27.75%) CI/CD
4 80 (18.35%) Infrastructure as Code
5 62 (14.22%) Containerisation
6 56 (12.84%) Roadmaps
7 55 (12.61%) Stakeholder Management
8 54 (12.39%) Continuous Improvement
8 54 (12.39%) Problem-Solving
9 44 (10.09%) Microservices
9 44 (10.09%) Migration
9 44 (10.09%) Technical Leadership
10 40 (9.17%) Analytics
11 39 (8.94%) Decision-Making
11 39 (8.94%) DevSecOps
12 36 (8.26%) Data Modelling
13 35 (8.03%) Test Automation
14 33 (7.57%) Data Pipeline
15 32 (7.34%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 32 (7.34%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 80 (18.35%) Python
2 63 (14.45%) SQL
3 39 (8.94%) C#
3 39 (8.94%) PowerShell
4 34 (7.80%) Java
5 26 (5.96%) Bash
6 25 (5.73%) JavaScript
7 21 (4.82%) TypeScript
8 18 (4.13%) Bicep
9 16 (3.67%) Go
10 5 (1.15%) BeanShell
10 5 (1.15%) PL/SQL
11 4 (0.92%) R
11 4 (0.92%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.69%) C++
12 3 (0.69%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 2 (0.46%) Kotlin
14 1 (0.23%) Kusto Query Language
14 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 220 (50.46%) Security Cleared
2 159 (36.47%) SC Cleared
3 56 (12.84%) DV Cleared
4 21 (4.82%) Degree
5 16 (3.67%) Azure Certification
6 14 (3.21%) Microsoft Certification
7 12 (2.75%) Cisco Certification
8 10 (2.29%) CISSP
9 8 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.61%) Computer Science Degree
11 6 (1.38%) CCNA
12 5 (1.15%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.15%) CISM
12 5 (1.15%) TOGAF Certification
13 4 (0.92%) ISTQB
14 3 (0.69%) ACSP
14 3 (0.69%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
14 3 (0.69%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.69%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.69%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (5.96%) QA
2 20 (4.59%) Data Quality
3 19 (4.36%) NCSC
4 13 (2.98%) Accessibility
5 11 (2.52%) SLA
5 11 (2.52%) WCAG
6 10 (2.29%) GDPR
7 6 (1.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.15%) ISO 9000
8 5 (1.15%) NIST
9 3 (0.69%) SNOMED CT
10 2 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.46%) GRC
10 2 (0.46%) HL7
10 2 (0.46%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
11 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.23%) PMO
System Software
1 65 (14.91%) Docker
2 61 (13.99%) Active Directory
3 26 (5.96%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (4.13%) Hyper-V
4 18 (4.13%) Virtual Desktop
5 11 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
5 11 (2.52%) vSphere
6 7 (1.61%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.69%) VirtualBox
8 2 (0.46%) KVM
9 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.23%) NFS
9 1 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.23%) zsh
Systems Management
1 88 (20.18%) Kubernetes
2 83 (19.04%) Terraform
3 37 (8.49%) Ansible
4 23 (5.28%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (3.67%) Grafana
6 14 (3.21%) Prometheus
7 12 (2.75%) Argo
8 8 (1.83%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (1.61%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 6 (1.38%) FortiGate
11 5 (1.15%) OPNET
11 5 (1.15%) VxRail
12 4 (0.92%) Istio
12 4 (0.92%) Proxmox
12 4 (0.92%) SCCM
13 3 (0.69%) Progress Chef
14 2 (0.46%) CASB
14 2 (0.46%) Docker Swarm
14 2 (0.46%) Failover Clustering
14 2 (0.46%) linkerd
Vendors
1 165 (37.84%) Microsoft
2 27 (6.19%) VMware
3 25 (5.73%) Oracle
4 19 (4.36%) Databricks
4 19 (4.36%) Google
5 13 (2.98%) Siemens
6 11 (2.52%) CyberArk
7 8 (1.83%) Cisco
8 7 (1.61%) InterSystems
8 7 (1.61%) Red Hat
8 7 (1.61%) SAP
8 7 (1.61%) Starlink
9 6 (1.38%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.38%) McAfee
9 6 (1.38%) Splunk
10 5 (1.15%) MuleSoft
10 5 (1.15%) NetApp
10 5 (1.15%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.92%) Apple
11 4 (0.92%) IBM