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

6 months to
25 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 8
Rank change year-on-year +6 -3 -3
Contract jobs citing Azure 349 213 378
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.81% 12.59% 11.82%
As % of the Cloud Services category 46.47% 40.26% 45.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 229 175 302
10th Percentile £318 £352 £213
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -11.50%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £598
90th Percentile £688 £700 £711
England median daily rate £525 £525 £540
% change year-on-year - -2.78% -4.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 2 0
10th Percentile - £30.37 -
25th Percentile £56.25 £38.43 -
Median hourly rate £57.50 £51.85 -
Median % change year-on-year +10.90% - -
75th Percentile £58.75 £65.28 -
90th Percentile - £73.33 -
England median hourly rate £57.50 £53.50 £46.12
% change year-on-year +7.48% +16.01% -16.15%

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 751 529 831
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 25.41% 31.26% 25.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 507 404 633
10th Percentile £247 £236 £210
25th Percentile £403 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £600
90th Percentile £688 £700 £700
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 13 28
10th Percentile £16.62 £18.20 £12.50
25th Percentile £37.18 £18.51 £14.00
Median hourly rate £57.50 £26.50 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +116.98% +82.76% -74.78%
75th Percentile £58.75 £37.50 £16.42
90th Percentile £60.00 £68.75 £29.77
England median hourly rate £39.75 £26.81 £21.00
% change year-on-year +48.25% +27.68% -16.00%

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 25 March 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 25 March 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 25 March 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
Gloucestershire +1 103 £475 -17.39% 68
Somerset +5 91 £550 -8.33% 51
Bristol -11 65 £525 - 73
Wiltshire 0 52 £525 -12.50% 21
Dorset -2 17 £675 +35.00% 24
Devon -10 11 £450 +9.09% 36
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 19 (5.44%) SharePoint
2 11 (3.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (2.87%) IIS
4 6 (1.72%) Apache
5 5 (1.43%) Confluence
6 4 (1.15%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.57%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.57%) Documentum
8 1 (0.29%) Apache Superset
8 1 (0.29%) CMS
8 1 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.29%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.57%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.29%) InDesign
3 1 (0.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.29%) PTC Creo
3 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.29%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.58%) Maximo
2 6 (1.72%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.57%) Primavera
3 2 (0.57%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.57%) Unit4 Business World
4 1 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.29%) SAP EHS
4 1 (0.29%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 102 (29.23%) AWS
2 88 (25.21%) Azure DevOps
3 44 (12.61%) Entra ID
3 44 (12.61%) GitHub
4 42 (12.03%) GCP
5 26 (7.45%) Microsoft 365
6 24 (6.88%) Azure Data Factory
7 22 (6.30%) Azure Monitor
7 22 (6.30%) Power Platform
8 15 (4.30%) Azure Sentinel
8 15 (4.30%) OpenShift
9 14 (4.01%) GitHub Actions
10 12 (3.44%) Azure Key Vault
11 11 (3.15%) Serverless
12 10 (2.87%) Azure AKS
13 9 (2.58%) Dynamics 365
14 7 (2.01%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 7 (2.01%) OneDrive
14 7 (2.01%) PaaS
15 6 (1.72%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 18 (5.16%) VPN
2 12 (3.44%) Firewall
3 9 (2.58%) DHCP
4 8 (2.29%) DNS
4 8 (2.29%) Network Security
5 4 (1.15%) LAN
5 4 (1.15%) WAN
6 3 (0.86%) TCP/IP
7 2 (0.57%) HTTP
7 2 (0.57%) NAS
7 2 (0.57%) NGFW
7 2 (0.57%) SAN
7 2 (0.57%) SD-WAN
7 2 (0.57%) VLAN
8 1 (0.29%) 5G
8 1 (0.29%) AMQP
8 1 (0.29%) Cisco ASA
8 1 (0.29%) Hyperconnected
8 1 (0.29%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.29%) tcpdump
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.59%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (5.44%) Power BI
3 17 (4.87%) SQL Server
4 15 (4.30%) Data Warehouse
5 12 (3.44%) Elasticsearch
6 7 (2.01%) Metadata
6 7 (2.01%) Redis
7 6 (1.72%) Azure SQL Database
8 4 (1.15%) Delta Lake
8 4 (1.15%) Star Schema
9 3 (0.86%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.86%) GIS
9 3 (0.86%) Power Query
10 2 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.57%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.57%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.57%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.57%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.57%) Snowflake Schema
10 2 (0.57%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 28 (8.02%) Oracle APEX
2 22 (6.30%) Git
3 16 (4.58%) JIRA
4 11 (3.15%) GitLab
5 10 (2.87%) Jenkins
6 7 (2.01%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.86%) AdminStudio
7 3 (0.86%) InstallShield
8 2 (0.57%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.57%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.29%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.29%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.29%) MLflow
9 1 (0.29%) Mocha
9 1 (0.29%) Postman
9 1 (0.29%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.29%) Snyk
9 1 (0.29%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.29%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.29%) webpack
General
1 91 (26.07%) Social Skills
2 31 (8.88%) Public Sector
3 28 (8.02%) Finance
4 16 (4.58%) Analytical Skills
5 8 (2.29%) Legal
6 6 (1.72%) Telecoms
7 5 (1.43%) Documentation Skills
7 5 (1.43%) Marketing
8 4 (1.15%) Back Office
8 4 (1.15%) Banking
8 4 (1.15%) Local Government
8 4 (1.15%) Military
9 3 (0.86%) Manufacturing
10 2 (0.57%) Electronics
10 2 (0.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.57%) Organisational Skills
10 2 (0.57%) Retail
11 1 (0.29%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.29%) Presentation Skills
11 1 (0.29%) Social Housing
Job Titles
1 62 (17.77%) Developer
2 59 (16.91%) Senior
3 48 (13.75%) Consultant
4 40 (11.46%) Implementation Consultant
5 34 (9.74%) Architect
6 31 (8.88%) Data Engineer
7 29 (8.31%) Senior Developer
8 27 (7.74%) DevOps Engineer
9 26 (7.45%) Azure Engineer
10 19 (5.44%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 17 (4.87%) Analyst
12 15 (4.30%) Data Architect
13 14 (4.01%) Lead
13 14 (4.01%) Support Engineer
14 13 (3.72%) Desktop Engineer
14 13 (3.72%) Desktop Support
14 13 (3.72%) Desktop Support Engineer
15 12 (3.44%) Senior Data Engineer
16 11 (3.15%) Site Reliability Engineer
17 10 (2.87%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (5.73%) REST
2 19 (5.44%) .NET
3 17 (4.87%) Kafka
4 14 (4.01%) ARM Templates
5 12 (3.44%) Keycloak
6 10 (2.87%) .NET Framework
7 8 (2.29%) SOAP
8 7 (2.01%) CSS
8 7 (2.01%) FastAPI
8 7 (2.01%) Flask
8 7 (2.01%) GraphQL
8 7 (2.01%) gRPC
8 7 (2.01%) HTML
8 7 (2.01%) WebSockets
8 7 (2.01%) YAML
9 6 (1.72%) Node.js
9 6 (1.72%) OAuth
9 6 (1.72%) OAuth2
9 6 (1.72%) React
9 6 (1.72%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 32 (9.17%) Hybrid Cloud
2 25 (7.16%) Cloud Native
3 19 (5.44%) Product Ownership
4 12 (3.44%) Enterprise Software
5 11 (3.15%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.58%) Onboarding
6 9 (2.58%) Public Cloud
7 8 (2.29%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.72%) Legacy Code
8 6 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (1.43%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.43%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.15%) CMDB
10 4 (1.15%) FMCG
11 3 (0.86%) Data Protection Act
11 3 (0.86%) Legacy Applications
11 3 (0.86%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.86%) Private Cloud
12 2 (0.57%) Data Fabric
12 2 (0.57%) Distributed Computing
Operating Systems
1 52 (14.90%) Windows
2 26 (7.45%) Linux
3 23 (6.59%) Windows Server
4 9 (2.58%) Windows 10
5 6 (1.72%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.15%) Windows Server 2016
7 3 (0.86%) Debian
7 3 (0.86%) Rocky
7 3 (0.86%) Ubuntu
8 2 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.29%) Android
9 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (42.12%) DevOps
2 93 (26.65%) Agile
3 69 (19.77%) CI/CD
4 49 (14.04%) ERP
4 49 (14.04%) Validation
5 48 (13.75%) Scrum
6 47 (13.47%) Problem-Solving
7 40 (11.46%) PLM
8 38 (10.89%) Analytics
8 38 (10.89%) Containerisation
8 38 (10.89%) Infrastructure as Code
9 34 (9.74%) ETL
10 32 (9.17%) ITIL
11 31 (8.88%) Collaborative Working
11 31 (8.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 29 (8.31%) Data Engineering
12 29 (8.31%) Migration
12 29 (8.31%) Software Delivery
13 28 (8.02%) Business Intelligence
13 28 (8.02%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 74 (21.20%) SQL
2 66 (18.91%) Python
3 50 (14.33%) PowerShell
4 46 (13.18%) JavaScript
5 35 (10.03%) PL/SQL
6 23 (6.59%) Go
7 19 (5.44%) Bicep
8 12 (3.44%) Java
9 11 (3.15%) TypeScript
10 8 (2.29%) Bash
10 8 (2.29%) C#
11 4 (1.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (1.15%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.86%) Ruby
13 1 (0.29%) C++
13 1 (0.29%) Scala
13 1 (0.29%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 170 (48.71%) Security Cleared
2 152 (43.55%) SC Cleared
3 36 (10.32%) Azure Certification
4 26 (7.45%) DV Cleared
5 16 (4.58%) Degree
5 16 (4.58%) Microsoft Certification
6 9 (2.58%) Computer Science Degree
7 7 (2.01%) CISM
7 7 (2.01%) CISSP
7 7 (2.01%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
8 5 (1.43%) AWS Certification
9 4 (1.15%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (0.86%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
10 3 (0.86%) ITIL Certification
11 2 (0.57%) ISTQB
11 2 (0.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 1 (0.29%) ACSP
12 1 (0.29%) CBAP
12 1 (0.29%) IIBA
12 1 (0.29%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (5.44%) QA
2 18 (5.16%) GDPR
3 16 (4.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 14 (4.01%) NIST
5 13 (3.72%) Data Quality
6 12 (3.44%) NCSC
7 8 (2.29%) NIST 800
8 3 (0.86%) Government Security Classifications
8 3 (0.86%) PSD2
8 3 (0.86%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.57%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 2 (0.57%) HL7
9 2 (0.57%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.57%) SLA
9 2 (0.57%) SNOMED CT
10 1 (0.29%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.29%) PMO
10 1 (0.29%) WCAG
System Software
1 59 (16.91%) Active Directory
2 45 (12.89%) Docker
3 11 (3.15%) Hyper-V
4 8 (2.29%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (1.72%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (1.43%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.57%) vSphere
8 1 (0.29%) KVM
8 1 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.29%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 60 (17.19%) Kubernetes
2 51 (14.61%) Terraform
3 25 (7.16%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (4.30%) Ansible
4 15 (4.30%) Single Sign-On
5 13 (3.72%) Grafana
6 11 (3.15%) Prometheus
7 10 (2.87%) SCCM
8 9 (2.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 4 (1.15%) Argo
10 3 (0.86%) Puppet
11 2 (0.57%) CA Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.57%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.29%) Failover Clustering
12 1 (0.29%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.29%) Icinga
12 1 (0.29%) Kibana
12 1 (0.29%) Kubeflow
12 1 (0.29%) logstash
12 1 (0.29%) WSUS
Vendors
1 104 (29.80%) Microsoft
2 42 (12.03%) Oracle
3 40 (11.46%) Siemens
4 21 (6.02%) Databricks
5 13 (3.72%) Google
5 13 (3.72%) Red Hat
6 10 (2.87%) SAP
6 10 (2.87%) VMware
7 9 (2.58%) IBM
8 8 (2.29%) NEC
8 8 (2.29%) ServiceNow
9 5 (1.43%) Cisco
9 5 (1.43%) NetApp
9 5 (1.43%) Starlink
10 4 (1.15%) McAfee
10 4 (1.15%) MuleSoft
11 3 (0.86%) F5
11 3 (0.86%) ForgeRock
11 3 (0.86%) Fortinet
11 3 (0.86%) Salesforce