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

6 months to
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 12
Rank change year-on-year +6 +1 -4
Contract jobs citing Azure 424 225 288
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.58% 11.57% 10.63%
As % of the Cloud Services category 43.62% 38.79% 40.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 295 170 217
10th Percentile £400 £312 £328
25th Percentile £450 £378 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +8.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £590
90th Percentile £732 £700 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £535
% change year-on-year - -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 4 1
10th Percentile £93.28 £27.40 -
25th Percentile £94.40 £46.75 £77.50
Median hourly rate £96.27 £70.00 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year +37.52% -17.65% +109.88%
75th Percentile £98.13 £77.80 £92.50
90th Percentile £99.25 £78.34 -
England median hourly rate £52.50 £37.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year +40.00% +7.14% -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 972 580 719
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.56% 29.82% 26.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 631 397 494
10th Percentile £325 £213 £239
25th Percentile £425 £350 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £529
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -10.12% -3.91%
75th Percentile £635 £588 £600
90th Percentile £730 £678 £675
England median daily rate £525 £503 £525
% change year-on-year +4.48% -4.29% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 59 38 46
10th Percentile £13.93 £18.13 £12.63
25th Percentile £15.24 £18.51 £30.75
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -73.04% +76.99%
75th Percentile £46.42 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £98.82 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £34.13 £26.30 £30.00
% change year-on-year +29.75% -12.33% -9.09%

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 31 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
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 31 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 +3 112 £475 +8.57% 31
Bristol 0 110 £550 +25.71% 88
Devon +7 57 £530 +1.44% 41
Gloucestershire -2 51 £525 +5.00% 70
Wiltshire -5 39 £500 -16.67% 17
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 29 (6.84%) Confluence
2 26 (6.13%) SharePoint
3 10 (2.36%) IIS
4 9 (2.12%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.18%) Apache
6 4 (0.94%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (0.71%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.47%) nginx
9 1 (0.24%) Apache Superset
9 1 (0.24%) ColdFusion
9 1 (0.24%) JBoss
9 1 (0.24%) Oracle Coherence
9 1 (0.24%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 5 (1.18%) MS Visio
2 3 (0.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.71%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.71%) Trello
3 1 (0.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.24%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.47%) Unit4 Business World
2 1 (0.24%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.24%) Maximo
2 1 (0.24%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.24%) ResourceLink
2 1 (0.24%) SAP EHS
2 1 (0.24%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 189 (44.58%) AWS
2 74 (17.45%) GCP
3 71 (16.75%) Azure DevOps
4 56 (13.21%) Entra ID
5 36 (8.49%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (7.78%) GitHub
7 26 (6.13%) Power Platform
8 16 (3.77%) Azure Key Vault
8 16 (3.77%) Azure Monitor
8 16 (3.77%) Serverless
9 15 (3.54%) GitHub Actions
10 11 (2.59%) Azure Data Factory
10 11 (2.59%) Cloud Computing
11 10 (2.36%) PaaS
11 10 (2.36%) SaaS
12 9 (2.12%) Azure AKS
12 9 (2.12%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 9 (2.12%) Azure Sentinel
12 9 (2.12%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 9 (2.12%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 32 (7.55%) Firewall
2 22 (5.19%) DNS
3 16 (3.77%) TCP/IP
4 14 (3.30%) VPN
5 13 (3.07%) DHCP
6 12 (2.83%) WAN
7 10 (2.36%) VLAN
8 9 (2.12%) BGP
9 8 (1.89%) VSAN
10 5 (1.18%) Network Security
11 4 (0.94%) OSPF
11 4 (0.94%) SAN
12 3 (0.71%) Intrusion Detection
12 3 (0.71%) NAS
12 3 (0.71%) Software-Defined Networking
13 2 (0.47%) LAN
13 2 (0.47%) Reverse Proxy
13 2 (0.47%) SSL
14 1 (0.24%) Kerberos
14 1 (0.24%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (7.08%) SQL Server
2 22 (5.19%) Power BI
3 13 (3.07%) Geospatial Data
3 13 (3.07%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (2.59%) Data Warehouse
5 9 (2.12%) Data Lake
6 8 (1.89%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.65%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (1.65%) Elasticsearch
7 7 (1.65%) Metadata
7 7 (1.65%) MongoDB
8 6 (1.42%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.42%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.18%) Big Data
9 5 (1.18%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.94%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.94%) Tableau
11 3 (0.71%) Data Vault
11 3 (0.71%) Delta Lake
11 3 (0.71%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 43 (10.14%) Git
2 40 (9.43%) JIRA
3 30 (7.08%) GitLab
4 26 (6.13%) Jenkins
5 11 (2.59%) MSI
6 3 (0.71%) AdminStudio
6 3 (0.71%) InstallShield
6 3 (0.71%) JUnit
6 3 (0.71%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 3 (0.71%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.47%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.47%) MLflow
7 2 (0.47%) Selenium
7 2 (0.47%) Spinnaker
8 1 (0.24%) Appium
8 1 (0.24%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.24%) NUnit
8 1 (0.24%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.24%) TestNG
8 1 (0.24%) WebDriver
General
1 81 (19.10%) Social Skills
2 59 (13.92%) Public Sector
3 29 (6.84%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.13%) Finance
5 12 (2.83%) Legal
5 12 (2.83%) Local Government
6 10 (2.36%) Military
7 8 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (1.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.42%) Banking
8 6 (1.42%) Organisational Skills
9 5 (1.18%) Retail
10 4 (0.94%) Police
11 3 (0.71%) Advertising
11 3 (0.71%) Aviation
11 3 (0.71%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.47%) Marketing
13 1 (0.24%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.24%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.24%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 66 (15.57%) Architect
2 53 (12.50%) Developer
3 32 (7.55%) Lead
4 31 (7.31%) Senior
5 27 (6.37%) Product Manager
6 26 (6.13%) Consultant
7 24 (5.66%) Digital Product Manager
8 22 (5.19%) DevOps Engineer
9 20 (4.72%) Technical Architect
10 19 (4.48%) Data Engineer
11 18 (4.25%) Azure Engineer
11 18 (4.25%) Solutions Architect
12 16 (3.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 15 (3.54%) Azure Architect
14 14 (3.30%) Analyst
15 13 (3.07%) Azure Consultant
15 13 (3.07%) Data Architect
15 13 (3.07%) DBA
15 13 (3.07%) Site Engineer
15 13 (3.07%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 89 (20.99%) Terraform
2 46 (10.85%) .NET
3 31 (7.31%) .NET Framework
4 25 (5.90%) REST
5 20 (4.72%) RESTful
6 18 (4.25%) .NET Core
6 18 (4.25%) React
7 17 (4.01%) CSS
7 17 (4.01%) HTML
8 13 (3.07%) GeoJSON
9 12 (2.83%) Kafka
10 11 (2.59%) ATL
10 11 (2.59%) COM
10 11 (2.59%) CSS3
10 11 (2.59%) HTML5
10 11 (2.59%) MFC
10 11 (2.59%) SailPoint
10 11 (2.59%) WPF
11 10 (2.36%) Node.js
11 10 (2.36%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 56 (13.21%) Cloud Native
2 41 (9.67%) Legacy Systems
3 26 (6.13%) Onboarding
4 24 (5.66%) Product Ownership
5 19 (4.48%) Enterprise Software
6 12 (2.83%) Data Centre
6 12 (2.83%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (2.83%) Public Cloud
7 11 (2.59%) Linux Command Line
8 10 (2.36%) Wiki
9 9 (2.12%) Data Structures
9 9 (2.12%) Self-Motivation
10 8 (1.89%) Security Operations Centre
11 6 (1.42%) Cyber Threat
11 6 (1.42%) Legacy Code
11 6 (1.42%) PKI
12 5 (1.18%) Enterprise Cloud
13 4 (0.94%) Management Information System
13 4 (0.94%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 4 (0.94%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 75 (17.69%) Windows
2 35 (8.25%) Linux
3 27 (6.37%) Windows Server
4 17 (4.01%) Windows 10
5 8 (1.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.42%) Android
6 6 (1.42%) Unix
7 4 (0.94%) Rocky
7 4 (0.94%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.71%) Debian
8 3 (0.71%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.47%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.24%) CentOS
10 1 (0.24%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 138 (32.55%) DevOps
2 135 (31.84%) Agile
3 128 (30.19%) CI/CD
4 88 (20.75%) Infrastructure as Code
5 66 (15.57%) Containerisation
6 59 (13.92%) Roadmaps
7 57 (13.44%) Continuous Improvement
8 56 (13.21%) Stakeholder Management
9 53 (12.50%) Problem-Solving
10 46 (10.85%) DevSecOps
11 43 (10.14%) Technical Leadership
12 40 (9.43%) Microservices
13 39 (9.20%) Decision-Making
13 39 (9.20%) Test Automation
14 38 (8.96%) Analytics
14 38 (8.96%) Migration
15 36 (8.49%) Data Modelling
15 36 (8.49%) Software Engineering
16 35 (8.25%) Deployment Automation
17 34 (8.02%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 77 (18.16%) Python
2 62 (14.62%) SQL
3 40 (9.43%) PowerShell
4 38 (8.96%) C#
5 35 (8.25%) Java
6 31 (7.31%) Bash
7 28 (6.60%) JavaScript
8 24 (5.66%) TypeScript
9 20 (4.72%) Bicep
10 13 (3.07%) Go
11 5 (1.18%) BeanShell
12 4 (0.94%) PL/SQL
12 4 (0.94%) R
12 4 (0.94%) Shell Script
13 3 (0.71%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 3 (0.71%) T-SQL
14 2 (0.47%) C++
14 2 (0.47%) Kotlin
15 1 (0.24%) Kusto Query Language
15 1 (0.24%) Rust
Qualifications
1 224 (52.83%) Security Cleared
2 164 (38.68%) SC Cleared
3 55 (12.97%) DV Cleared
4 21 (4.95%) Degree
5 15 (3.54%) CISSP
6 14 (3.30%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (3.07%) Azure Certification
8 12 (2.83%) Cisco Certification
9 10 (2.36%) CISM
10 8 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
11 7 (1.65%) Computer Science Degree
12 6 (1.42%) CCNA
13 5 (1.18%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 5 (1.18%) TOGAF Certification
14 3 (0.71%) ACSP
14 3 (0.71%) AWS Certification
14 3 (0.71%) ISTQB
14 3 (0.71%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.71%) VCAP
15 2 (0.47%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (5.66%) QA
2 20 (4.72%) NCSC
3 19 (4.48%) Data Quality
4 13 (3.07%) Accessibility
5 11 (2.59%) SLA
5 11 (2.59%) WCAG
6 9 (2.12%) GDPR
7 6 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.18%) ISO 9000
8 5 (1.18%) NIST
9 3 (0.71%) SNOMED CT
10 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.47%) GRC
10 2 (0.47%) HL7
11 1 (0.24%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.24%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.24%) ISO 22301
11 1 (0.24%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.24%) PMO
System Software
1 67 (15.80%) Docker
2 60 (14.15%) Active Directory
3 27 (6.37%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (4.25%) Hyper-V
5 17 (4.01%) Virtual Desktop
6 11 (2.59%) Virtual Machines
7 10 (2.36%) vSphere
8 7 (1.65%) VMware NSX
9 3 (0.71%) VirtualBox
10 2 (0.47%) KVM
11 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.24%) NFS
11 1 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.24%) zsh
Systems Management
1 93 (21.93%) Kubernetes
2 40 (9.43%) Ansible
3 23 (5.42%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (3.54%) Grafana
5 13 (3.07%) Argo
5 13 (3.07%) Prometheus
6 7 (1.65%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 7 (1.65%) Single Sign-On
7 6 (1.42%) FortiGate
8 5 (1.18%) OPNET
8 5 (1.18%) VxRail
9 4 (0.94%) Istio
9 4 (0.94%) Proxmox
9 4 (0.94%) SCCM
10 3 (0.71%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.47%) CASB
11 2 (0.47%) Cilium
11 2 (0.47%) Data Guard
11 2 (0.47%) Oracle RMAN
11 2 (0.47%) Podman
Vendors
1 160 (37.74%) Microsoft
2 28 (6.60%) VMware
3 22 (5.19%) Oracle
4 21 (4.95%) Databricks
4 21 (4.95%) Google
5 11 (2.59%) CyberArk
6 8 (1.89%) Cisco
6 8 (1.89%) Red Hat
7 7 (1.65%) InterSystems
7 7 (1.65%) Splunk
7 7 (1.65%) Starlink
8 6 (1.42%) Dynatrace
8 6 (1.42%) McAfee
8 6 (1.42%) MuleSoft
9 5 (1.18%) NetApp
9 5 (1.18%) Zscaler
10 4 (0.94%) Apple
10 4 (0.94%) SAP
11 3 (0.71%) Foundry
11 3 (0.71%) IBM