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 23 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 8 13 5
Rank change year-on-year +5 -8 +5
Contract jobs citing Azure 274 253 444
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 13.42% 10.29% 14.17%
As % of the Cloud Services category 41.77% 36.51% 46.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 203 178 355
10th Percentile £322 £350 £400
25th Percentile £406 £425 £478
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £523 £505 £563
Median % change year-on-year +3.56% -10.22% +7.14%
75th Percentile £675 £600 £675
90th Percentile £731 £708 £725
England median daily rate £525 £535 £550
% change year-on-year -1.87% -2.73% -2.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 1 3
10th Percentile £58.70 - £14.68
25th Percentile £60.50 £77.50 £14.77
Median hourly rate £70.00 £85.00 £15.35
Median % change year-on-year -17.65% +453.75% -78.07%
75th Percentile £81.56 £92.50 £15.84
90th Percentile £88.88 - £15.88
England median hourly rate £35.99 £35.00 £46.18
% change year-on-year +2.83% -24.21% -16.04%

All Cloud 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 656 693 953
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 32.14% 28.18% 30.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 450 434 737
10th Percentile £223 £250 £313
25th Percentile £363 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £535 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.54% -2.73% +4.76%
75th Percentile £617 £638 £675
90th Percentile £700 £705 £725
England median daily rate £500 £530 £538
% change year-on-year -5.66% -1.40% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 40 48
10th Percentile - £24.71 £13.25
25th Percentile - £33.00 £15.42
Median hourly rate £18.87 £70.00 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -73.04% +112.12% -30.20%
75th Percentile £35.67 - £78.00
90th Percentile £67.70 - £78.60
England median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £27.50
% change year-on-year -28.14% +27.27% +22.22%

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 23 October 2025.

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 23 October 2025.

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 23 October 2025. 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 +6 84 £484 -4.63% 111
Gloucestershire +10 80 £600 +4.35% 88
Somerset +4 42 £463 -19.57% 49
Wiltshire +1 34 £550 +12.82% 42
Dorset +1 14 £503 +5.24% 22
Devon -12 9 £525 +25.00% 25
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 (8.39%) SharePoint
2 12 (4.38%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (2.19%) Confluence
4 3 (1.09%) nginx
5 2 (0.73%) Apache
5 2 (0.73%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.36%) Anypoint
6 1 (0.36%) CMS
6 1 (0.36%) IIS
6 1 (0.36%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 6 (2.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.82%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.73%) Windchill
4 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 4 (1.46%) Maximo
2 3 (1.09%) NetSuite
2 3 (1.09%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.73%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.36%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 106 (38.69%) AWS
2 45 (16.42%) Azure DevOps
3 42 (15.33%) GCP
4 37 (13.50%) GitHub
5 36 (13.14%) Entra ID
6 31 (11.31%) Microsoft 365
7 16 (5.84%) Power Platform
8 13 (4.74%) Serverless
9 12 (4.38%) Azure Sentinel
9 12 (4.38%) GitHub Actions
10 11 (4.01%) Azure Key Vault
11 10 (3.65%) Power Automate
12 9 (3.28%) Azure Stack
12 9 (3.28%) OpenShift
13 8 (2.92%) Azure Data Factory
13 8 (2.92%) OneDrive
14 7 (2.55%) AWS CloudFormation
15 6 (2.19%) Azure Monitor
15 6 (2.19%) ShareGate
16 5 (1.82%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.84%) VPN
2 15 (5.47%) Firewall
3 7 (2.55%) Network Security
3 7 (2.55%) WAN
4 6 (2.19%) HTTP
5 5 (1.82%) DNS
5 5 (1.82%) SD-WAN
6 4 (1.46%) NetScaler
7 3 (1.09%) DHCP
7 3 (1.09%) Kerberos
8 2 (0.73%) LAN
8 2 (0.73%) SMTP
8 2 (0.73%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.73%) VLAN
9 1 (0.36%) 2G
9 1 (0.36%) BGP
9 1 (0.36%) Intrusion Detection
9 1 (0.36%) MPLS
9 1 (0.36%) OSPF
9 1 (0.36%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (6.93%) PostgreSQL
2 13 (4.74%) Power BI
2 13 (4.74%) SQL Server
3 9 (3.28%) Elasticsearch
4 7 (2.55%) Redis
5 6 (2.19%) Relational Database
6 5 (1.82%) MongoDB
6 5 (1.82%) NoSQL
7 4 (1.46%) Metadata
7 4 (1.46%) MySQL
7 4 (1.46%) Oracle Database
7 4 (1.46%) Tableau
8 3 (1.09%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (1.09%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (1.09%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (1.09%) Looker
8 3 (1.09%) SAP BW
8 3 (1.09%) SAP HANA
9 2 (0.73%) Big Data
9 2 (0.73%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 23 (8.39%) JIRA
2 20 (7.30%) Git
3 17 (6.20%) SonarQube
4 9 (3.28%) Jenkins
5 7 (2.55%) GitLab
6 3 (1.09%) Cypress.io
6 3 (1.09%) Oracle APEX
7 2 (0.73%) Selenium
7 2 (0.73%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.36%) Appium
8 1 (0.36%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.36%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.36%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.36%) CMake
8 1 (0.36%) GoogleTest
8 1 (0.36%) Maven
8 1 (0.36%) MSI
8 1 (0.36%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.36%) webpack
General
1 89 (32.48%) Social Skills
2 33 (12.04%) Public Sector
3 31 (11.31%) Finance
4 15 (5.47%) Analytical Skills
4 15 (5.47%) Manufacturing
5 13 (4.74%) Telecoms
6 11 (4.01%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (2.92%) Electronics
7 8 (2.92%) Marketing
8 6 (2.19%) Banking
9 4 (1.46%) Local Government
10 3 (1.09%) Aerospace
10 3 (1.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 3 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
10 3 (1.09%) Military
11 2 (0.73%) Law
11 2 (0.73%) Legal
11 2 (0.73%) Tech for Good
12 1 (0.36%) General Ledger
12 1 (0.36%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 53 (19.34%) Developer
2 36 (13.14%) Architect
3 27 (9.85%) Analyst
4 26 (9.49%) Senior
5 19 (6.93%) Lead
6 17 (6.20%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 15 (5.47%) Azure Engineer
7 15 (5.47%) Solutions Architect
8 12 (4.38%) Data Engineer
8 12 (4.38%) DevSecOps Engineer
9 11 (4.01%) Consultant
10 10 (3.65%) Backend Developer
10 10 (3.65%) Desktop Engineer
11 9 (3.28%) Security Engineer
11 9 (3.28%) Support Engineer
12 8 (2.92%) Azure Infrastructure Engineer
12 8 (2.92%) Network Architect
12 8 (2.92%) Python Developer
12 8 (2.92%) Senior Developer
13 7 (2.55%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (9.85%) React
2 18 (6.57%) Node.js
3 17 (6.20%) ARM Templates
4 16 (5.84%) AngularJS
5 14 (5.11%) .NET
5 14 (5.11%) SOAP
6 13 (4.74%) OAuth
6 13 (4.74%) REST
7 12 (4.38%) CSS
7 12 (4.38%) HTML
7 12 (4.38%) YAML
8 11 (4.01%) RESTful
9 10 (3.65%) OAuth2
9 10 (3.65%) XML
10 9 (3.28%) OpenID
10 9 (3.28%) Spring
11 8 (2.92%) Middleware
11 8 (2.92%) SAML
12 7 (2.55%) Flask
12 7 (2.55%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 27 (9.85%) Hybrid Cloud
2 26 (9.49%) Cloud Native
3 15 (5.47%) Data Centre
4 11 (4.01%) Onboarding
5 8 (2.92%) Product Ownership
6 5 (1.82%) IoT
6 5 (1.82%) Management Information System
6 5 (1.82%) Security Posture
7 4 (1.46%) Cyber Defence
7 4 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
7 4 (1.46%) PKI
7 4 (1.46%) Public Cloud
8 3 (1.09%) CMDB
8 3 (1.09%) Enterprise Cloud
8 3 (1.09%) iPad
8 3 (1.09%) iPhone
8 3 (1.09%) Legacy Applications
8 3 (1.09%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (1.09%) Virtual Team
9 2 (0.73%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 57 (20.80%) Windows
2 21 (7.66%) Windows Server
3 15 (5.47%) Linux
4 13 (4.74%) Windows 10
5 6 (2.19%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.46%) Android
6 4 (1.46%) Unix
7 3 (1.09%) Mac OS
7 3 (1.09%) Windows Server 2012
7 3 (1.09%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.73%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.36%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 88 (32.12%) DevOps
2 76 (27.74%) Agile
3 59 (21.53%) CI/CD
4 40 (14.60%) Problem-Solving
5 39 (14.23%) Infrastructure as Code
6 37 (13.50%) Containerisation
7 34 (12.41%) Migration
8 31 (11.31%) Scrum
9 29 (10.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 27 (9.85%) Stakeholder Management
11 26 (9.49%) Test Automation
12 23 (8.39%) ITIL
13 22 (8.03%) Business Intelligence
13 22 (8.03%) Mentoring
13 22 (8.03%) Microservices
14 21 (7.66%) DevSecOps
15 20 (7.30%) Incident Response
16 19 (6.93%) Cybersecurity
16 19 (6.93%) Roadmaps
17 18 (6.57%) Analytics
Programming Languages
1 55 (20.07%) Python
2 43 (15.69%) PowerShell
3 42 (15.33%) SQL
4 22 (8.03%) JavaScript
5 20 (7.30%) TypeScript
6 16 (5.84%) Bash
7 13 (4.74%) Go
7 13 (4.74%) Java
8 11 (4.01%) C#
9 9 (3.28%) Bicep
10 5 (1.82%) PL/SQL
11 3 (1.09%) C
11 3 (1.09%) C++
11 3 (1.09%) Ruby
12 2 (0.73%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.73%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.73%) VBA
13 1 (0.36%) Apex Code
13 1 (0.36%) Groovy
13 1 (0.36%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 135 (49.27%) Security Cleared
2 118 (43.07%) SC Cleared
3 40 (14.60%) DV Cleared
4 27 (9.85%) Azure Certification
5 11 (4.01%) AWS Certification
6 10 (3.65%) Degree
7 8 (2.92%) CISSP
7 8 (2.92%) Microsoft Certification
8 6 (2.19%) CISM
8 6 (2.19%) Network+ Certification
9 5 (1.82%) BPSS Clearance
9 5 (1.82%) ISTQB
10 4 (1.46%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
10 4 (1.46%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (1.09%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 3 (1.09%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (1.09%) ITIL Certification
11 3 (1.09%) MCSE
12 2 (0.73%) CCNP
12 2 (0.73%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (8.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 21 (7.66%) NCSC
3 18 (6.57%) GDPR
4 17 (6.20%) NIST
5 13 (4.74%) QA
6 7 (2.55%) Accessibility
7 5 (1.82%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 3 (1.09%) Basel III
8 3 (1.09%) Government Security Classifications
8 3 (1.09%) IFRS
8 3 (1.09%) IFRS 17
8 3 (1.09%) IFRS 9
8 3 (1.09%) NIST 800
8 3 (1.09%) PSD2
9 2 (0.73%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.73%) GRC
9 2 (0.73%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.73%) SLA
9 2 (0.73%) SOC 2
9 2 (0.73%) WCAG
System Software
1 48 (17.52%) Active Directory
2 44 (16.06%) Docker
3 13 (4.74%) Virtual Desktop
4 11 (4.01%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (2.55%) Hyper-V
6 6 (2.19%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (1.46%) XenDesktop
8 3 (1.09%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.73%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.36%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 43 (15.69%) Kubernetes
1 43 (15.69%) Terraform
2 24 (8.76%) Microsoft Intune
3 14 (5.11%) Grafana
3 14 (5.11%) SCCM
3 14 (5.11%) Single Sign-On
4 13 (4.74%) Prometheus
5 11 (4.01%) Ansible
6 6 (2.19%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 5 (1.82%) Kibana
8 4 (1.46%) Data Guard
8 4 (1.46%) Oracle RMAN
9 3 (1.09%) Argo
9 3 (1.09%) logstash
9 3 (1.09%) Nessus
9 3 (1.09%) Podman
9 3 (1.09%) Puppet
9 3 (1.09%) WSUS
10 2 (0.73%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 2 (0.73%) PingFederate
Vendors
1 96 (35.04%) Microsoft
2 14 (5.11%) Oracle
3 13 (4.74%) VMware
4 12 (4.38%) SAP
4 12 (4.38%) ServiceNow
5 7 (2.55%) NetApp
5 7 (2.55%) Salesforce
6 6 (2.19%) Blue Prism
6 6 (2.19%) Red Hat
7 5 (1.82%) Databricks
7 5 (1.82%) ForgeRock
7 5 (1.82%) Google
7 5 (1.82%) Ping Identity
8 4 (1.46%) Citrix
8 4 (1.46%) IBM
8 4 (1.46%) MuleSoft
8 4 (1.46%) Okta
8 4 (1.46%) Qualys
8 4 (1.46%) Splunk
8 4 (1.46%) Starlink