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

6 months to
19 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 11
Rank change year-on-year +6 0 -4
Contract jobs citing Azure 431 205 309
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.79% 10.78% 11.15%
As % of the Cloud Services category 43.76% 36.74% 41.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 292 157 231
10th Percentile £389 £325 £338
25th Percentile £450 £363 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £539 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.75% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £590
90th Percentile £738 £704 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 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 £94.02 £78.34 -
England median hourly rate £55.00 £38.75 £35.00
% change year-on-year +41.94% +10.71% -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 985 558 738
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.95% 29.35% 26.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 632 385 525
10th Percentile £325 £213 £252
25th Percentile £423 £350 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £588 £613
90th Percentile £730 £679 £675
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 39 45
10th Percentile £14.00 £18.13 £12.60
25th Percentile £15.59 £18.51 £33.00
Median hourly rate £19.50 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.34% -73.04% +100.00%
75th Percentile £58.75 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £98.79 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £35.11 £26.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year +35.04% +4.00% -22.86%

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 19 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 19 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 19 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 +5 122 £478 -6.83% 42
Bristol -4 104 £550 +26.44% 139
Devon +7 56 £525 +0.96% 46
Gloucestershire +1 53 £520 -9.57% 134
Wiltshire -8 40 £500 -9.09% 19
Dorset +5 29 £675 +63.64% 17
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 27 (6.26%) Confluence
2 26 (6.03%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.55%) IIS
4 9 (2.09%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.16%) Apache
6 4 (0.93%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.46%) nginx
9 1 (0.23%) Apache Superset
9 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
9 1 (0.23%) JBoss
9 1 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
9 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 5 (1.16%) MS Visio
2 4 (0.93%) Trello
3 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Office
4 1 (0.23%) InDesign
4 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
4 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 (43.16%) AWS
2 75 (17.40%) Azure DevOps
3 74 (17.17%) GCP
4 56 (12.99%) Entra ID
5 33 (7.66%) GitHub
6 31 (7.19%) Microsoft 365
7 26 (6.03%) Power Platform
8 19 (4.41%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (3.94%) Azure Monitor
9 17 (3.94%) Serverless
10 15 (3.48%) GitHub Actions
11 12 (2.78%) Azure Data Factory
12 11 (2.55%) Cloud Computing
12 11 (2.55%) PaaS
13 10 (2.32%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 10 (2.32%) SaaS
14 9 (2.09%) Azure AKS
14 9 (2.09%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 9 (2.09%) Azure Sentinel
14 9 (2.09%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 30 (6.96%) Firewall
2 21 (4.87%) DNS
3 15 (3.48%) TCP/IP
4 14 (3.25%) VPN
5 12 (2.78%) DHCP
5 12 (2.78%) WAN
6 9 (2.09%) BGP
6 9 (2.09%) VLAN
7 8 (1.86%) VSAN
8 5 (1.16%) Network Security
9 4 (0.93%) OSPF
9 4 (0.93%) SAN
10 3 (0.70%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.70%) NAS
10 3 (0.70%) Software-Defined Networking
11 2 (0.46%) LAN
11 2 (0.46%) Reverse Proxy
11 2 (0.46%) SSL
12 1 (0.23%) HTTP
12 1 (0.23%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (6.96%) SQL Server
2 22 (5.10%) Power BI
3 15 (3.48%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (3.02%) Geospatial Data
5 12 (2.78%) Data Warehouse
6 9 (2.09%) Data Lake
7 8 (1.86%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (1.86%) Oracle Database
8 7 (1.62%) Metadata
8 7 (1.62%) MongoDB
9 6 (1.39%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.39%) NoSQL
10 5 (1.16%) Big Data
11 4 (0.93%) Elasticsearch
11 4 (0.93%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.93%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.93%) Tableau
12 3 (0.70%) Data Vault
12 3 (0.70%) Delta Lake
12 3 (0.70%) Redis
Development Applications
1 40 (9.28%) Git
2 38 (8.82%) JIRA
3 26 (6.03%) GitLab
4 22 (5.10%) Jenkins
5 12 (2.78%) MSI
6 3 (0.70%) AdminStudio
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 (0.46%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.46%) MLflow
7 2 (0.46%) Selenium
7 2 (0.46%) Spinnaker
7 2 (0.46%) Visual Studio
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 78 (18.10%) Social Skills
2 54 (12.53%) Public Sector
3 28 (6.50%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (5.80%) Finance
5 12 (2.78%) Legal
6 10 (2.32%) Local Government
6 10 (2.32%) Military
7 9 (2.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.86%) Documentation Skills
9 7 (1.62%) Retail
10 6 (1.39%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.16%) Marketing
12 4 (0.93%) Banking
12 4 (0.93%) Police
13 3 (0.70%) Advertising
13 3 (0.70%) Aviation
13 3 (0.70%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.46%) Publishing
15 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
15 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 66 (15.31%) Architect
2 52 (12.06%) Developer
3 34 (7.89%) Consultant
4 33 (7.66%) Lead
5 32 (7.42%) Senior
6 27 (6.26%) Product Manager
7 24 (5.57%) Digital Product Manager
8 22 (5.10%) DevOps Engineer
9 20 (4.64%) Technical Architect
10 18 (4.18%) Azure Engineer
10 18 (4.18%) Data Engineer
10 18 (4.18%) Solutions Architect
11 16 (3.71%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 14 (3.25%) Analyst
12 14 (3.25%) Azure Architect
13 13 (3.02%) .NET Developer
13 13 (3.02%) Azure Consultant
13 13 (3.02%) DBA
13 13 (3.02%) Site Engineer
13 13 (3.02%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 48 (11.14%) .NET
2 32 (7.42%) .NET Framework
3 28 (6.50%) REST
4 21 (4.87%) RESTful
5 18 (4.18%) .NET Core
6 16 (3.71%) React
7 14 (3.25%) CSS
7 14 (3.25%) GeoJSON
7 14 (3.25%) HTML
8 12 (2.78%) ATL
8 12 (2.78%) COM
8 12 (2.78%) Kafka
8 12 (2.78%) MFC
9 11 (2.55%) CSS3
9 11 (2.55%) HTML5
9 11 (2.55%) SailPoint
9 11 (2.55%) WPF
10 10 (2.32%) Node.js
10 10 (2.32%) Spring Boot
11 9 (2.09%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 57 (13.23%) Cloud Native
2 42 (9.74%) Legacy Systems
3 26 (6.03%) Onboarding
4 24 (5.57%) Product Ownership
5 19 (4.41%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (3.25%) Public Cloud
7 13 (3.02%) Data Centre
8 11 (2.55%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (2.55%) Linux Command Line
8 11 (2.55%) Self-Motivation
9 10 (2.32%) Data Structures
9 10 (2.32%) Wiki
10 7 (1.62%) Security Operations Centre
11 6 (1.39%) Legacy Code
11 6 (1.39%) PKI
12 5 (1.16%) Cyber Threat
12 5 (1.16%) Enterprise Cloud
13 4 (0.93%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.93%) Management Information System
13 4 (0.93%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 77 (17.87%) Windows
2 35 (8.12%) Linux
3 27 (6.26%) Windows Server
4 17 (3.94%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.39%) Android
7 5 (1.16%) Unix
8 4 (0.93%) Rocky
8 4 (0.93%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.70%) Debian
9 3 (0.70%) 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
1 141 (32.71%) DevOps
2 134 (31.09%) Agile
3 125 (29.00%) CI/CD
4 84 (19.49%) Infrastructure as Code
5 65 (15.08%) Containerisation
6 59 (13.69%) Continuous Improvement
7 56 (12.99%) Problem-Solving
7 56 (12.99%) Roadmaps
7 56 (12.99%) Stakeholder Management
8 44 (10.21%) Microservices
9 43 (9.98%) Technical Leadership
10 42 (9.74%) DevSecOps
11 41 (9.51%) Migration
12 40 (9.28%) Decision-Making
13 39 (9.05%) Analytics
14 37 (8.58%) Test Automation
15 36 (8.35%) Data Modelling
16 33 (7.66%) ITIL
17 32 (7.42%) Deployment Automation
17 32 (7.42%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 78 (18.10%) Python
2 63 (14.62%) SQL
3 39 (9.05%) C#
3 39 (9.05%) PowerShell
4 34 (7.89%) Java
5 30 (6.96%) Bash
6 26 (6.03%) JavaScript
7 23 (5.34%) TypeScript
8 21 (4.87%) Bicep
9 15 (3.48%) Go
10 5 (1.16%) BeanShell
10 5 (1.16%) PL/SQL
11 4 (0.93%) R
11 4 (0.93%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.93%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.70%) C++
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
1 218 (50.58%) Security Cleared
2 159 (36.89%) SC Cleared
3 54 (12.53%) DV Cleared
4 22 (5.10%) Degree
5 15 (3.48%) Azure Certification
6 14 (3.25%) CISSP
6 14 (3.25%) Microsoft Certification
7 12 (2.78%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (2.09%) CISM
9 8 (1.86%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (1.86%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (1.39%) CCNA
11 5 (1.16%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (1.16%) TOGAF Certification
12 4 (0.93%) ISTQB
13 3 (0.70%) ACSP
13 3 (0.70%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 3 (0.70%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.70%) Master's Degree
13 3 (0.70%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (5.57%) QA
2 19 (4.41%) Data Quality
2 19 (4.41%) NCSC
3 13 (3.02%) Accessibility
4 11 (2.55%) GDPR
4 11 (2.55%) SLA
4 11 (2.55%) WCAG
5 6 (1.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (1.16%) ISO 9000
7 4 (0.93%) NIST
8 3 (0.70%) SNOMED CT
9 2 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 2 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.46%) GRC
9 2 (0.46%) HL7
10 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.23%) PMO
System Software
1 67 (15.55%) Docker
2 59 (13.69%) Active Directory
3 25 (5.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 17 (3.94%) Hyper-V
4 17 (3.94%) Virtual Desktop
5 11 (2.55%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (2.32%) vSphere
7 7 (1.62%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.70%) VirtualBox
9 2 (0.46%) 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 91 (21.11%) Kubernetes
2 86 (19.95%) Terraform
3 37 (8.58%) Ansible
4 23 (5.34%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (3.71%) Grafana
6 14 (3.25%) Prometheus
7 12 (2.78%) Argo
8 7 (1.62%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 7 (1.62%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (1.39%) FortiGate
10 5 (1.16%) OPNET
10 5 (1.16%) VxRail
11 4 (0.93%) Istio
11 4 (0.93%) Proxmox
11 4 (0.93%) SCCM
12 3 (0.70%) Progress Chef
13 2 (0.46%) CASB
13 2 (0.46%) Docker Swarm
13 2 (0.46%) Failover Clustering
13 2 (0.46%) linkerd
Vendors
1 164 (38.05%) Microsoft
2 26 (6.03%) VMware
3 25 (5.80%) Oracle
4 20 (4.64%) Google
5 18 (4.18%) Databricks
6 11 (2.55%) CyberArk
7 8 (1.86%) Cisco
8 7 (1.62%) InterSystems
8 7 (1.62%) Red Hat
8 7 (1.62%) Siemens
8 7 (1.62%) Starlink
9 6 (1.39%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.39%) McAfee
9 6 (1.39%) SAP
9 6 (1.39%) Splunk
10 5 (1.16%) MuleSoft
10 5 (1.16%) NetApp
10 5 (1.16%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.93%) Apple
11 4 (0.93%) IBM