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

6 months to
2 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 12 6
Rank change year-on-year +6 -6 +2
Contract jobs citing Azure 317 214 393
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 13.11% 10.63% 13.38%
As % of the Cloud Services category 46.08% 36.15% 45.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 249 162 318
10th Percentile £318 £400 £313
25th Percentile £433 £425 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £512 £505 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.29% -8.18% -
75th Percentile £638 £622 £675
90th Percentile £700 £700 £715
England median daily rate £520 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% -3.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 1 1
10th Percentile £67.45 - -
25th Percentile £76.38 £77.50 £14.93
Median hourly rate £92.50 £85.00 £15.35
Median % change year-on-year +8.82% +453.75% -78.07%
75th Percentile £93.75 £92.50 £15.78
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £49.25 £35.00 £46.18
% change year-on-year +40.71% -24.21% -9.45%

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 688 592 862
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 28.45% 29.39% 29.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 500 403 666
10th Percentile £248 £236 £215
25th Percentile £406 £425 £411
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.64% -0.70%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £638
90th Percentile £700 £700 £700
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 11 35
10th Percentile - £12.50 £14.25
25th Percentile £18.87 £17.67 £14.71
Median hourly rate £27.50 £27.13 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +1.38% +29.17% -65.29%
75th Percentile £53.41 £49.38 £33.00
90th Percentile £73.02 £68.75 £78.00
England median hourly rate £27.36 £28.50 £23.43
% change year-on-year -4.02% +21.66% +3.51%

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 2 January 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 2 January 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 2 January 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 +4 118 £475 -9.52% 42
Bristol -5 65 £508 +1.50% 81
Wiltshire +15 56 £550 +2.33% 18
Somerset +8 43 £525 -6.67% 18
Dorset -2 13 £525 -14.29% 18
Devon -2 10 £563 +36.36% 29
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 24 (7.57%) SharePoint
2 17 (5.36%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.95%) Apache
3 3 (0.95%) Apache Spark
3 3 (0.95%) Confluence
4 2 (0.63%) Documentum
4 2 (0.63%) nginx
5 1 (0.32%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.32%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.32%) CMS
5 1 (0.32%) IIS
5 1 (0.32%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 4 (1.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
2 2 (0.63%) Windchill
3 1 (0.32%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 8 (2.52%) Maximo
2 6 (1.89%) NEC Housing
3 3 (0.95%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.63%) Primavera
4 2 (0.63%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.32%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.32%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 104 (32.81%) AWS
2 84 (26.50%) Azure DevOps
3 48 (15.14%) GitHub
4 47 (14.83%) Entra ID
4 47 (14.83%) GCP
5 39 (12.30%) Microsoft 365
6 24 (7.57%) Azure Sentinel
7 19 (5.99%) Power Platform
8 16 (5.05%) Azure Data Factory
8 16 (5.05%) OpenShift
9 15 (4.73%) Azure Monitor
10 13 (4.10%) Azure AKS
10 13 (4.10%) Serverless
11 12 (3.79%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (3.47%) Azure Key Vault
12 11 (3.47%) Power Automate
13 9 (2.84%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 8 (2.52%) Dynamics 365
15 7 (2.21%) OneDrive
16 6 (1.89%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 26 (8.20%) VPN
2 18 (5.68%) Firewall
3 10 (3.15%) Network Security
4 8 (2.52%) DHCP
5 7 (2.21%) DNS
5 7 (2.21%) HTTP
5 7 (2.21%) WAN
6 5 (1.58%) SD-WAN
7 4 (1.26%) LAN
8 3 (0.95%) Kerberos
8 3 (0.95%) TCP/IP
8 3 (0.95%) VLAN
9 2 (0.63%) SMTP
10 1 (0.32%) 2G
10 1 (0.32%) BGP
10 1 (0.32%) Intrusion Detection
10 1 (0.32%) OSPF
10 1 (0.32%) SAN
10 1 (0.32%) Wireless
10 1 (0.32%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (7.89%) PostgreSQL
2 17 (5.36%) Elasticsearch
3 15 (4.73%) Power BI
4 10 (3.15%) SQL Server
5 7 (2.21%) Redis
6 6 (1.89%) Metadata
6 6 (1.89%) Relational Database
7 5 (1.58%) Data Warehouse
8 4 (1.26%) Data Lake
8 4 (1.26%) MongoDB
8 4 (1.26%) MySQL
8 4 (1.26%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.95%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.95%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.95%) Tableau
10 2 (0.63%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.63%) Big Data
10 2 (0.63%) ClickHouse
10 2 (0.63%) Looker
10 2 (0.63%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 31 (9.78%) Oracle APEX
2 23 (7.26%) Git
3 20 (6.31%) JIRA
4 16 (5.05%) SonarQube
5 11 (3.47%) Jenkins
6 9 (2.84%) GitLab
7 2 (0.63%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.63%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.32%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.32%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.32%) CMake
8 1 (0.32%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.32%) GoogleTest
8 1 (0.32%) JUnit
8 1 (0.32%) Mocha
8 1 (0.32%) Postman
8 1 (0.32%) REST Assured
8 1 (0.32%) Snyk
8 1 (0.32%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.32%) TestNG
General
1 115 (36.28%) Social Skills
2 36 (11.36%) Public Sector
3 33 (10.41%) Finance
4 14 (4.42%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (3.79%) Documentation Skills
5 12 (3.79%) Telecoms
6 7 (2.21%) Manufacturing
7 5 (1.58%) Electronics
7 5 (1.58%) Marketing
7 5 (1.58%) Military
8 4 (1.26%) Back Office
8 4 (1.26%) Banking
9 3 (0.95%) Aerospace
10 2 (0.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.63%) Law
10 2 (0.63%) Local Government
10 2 (0.63%) Tech for Good
11 1 (0.32%) Legal
11 1 (0.32%) Presentation Skills
11 1 (0.32%) Social Housing
Job Titles
1 73 (23.03%) Developer
2 65 (20.50%) Senior
3 35 (11.04%) Architect
4 32 (10.09%) Senior Developer
5 27 (8.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 25 (7.89%) Data Engineer
7 21 (6.62%) Azure Engineer
8 20 (6.31%) Analyst
9 15 (4.73%) DevOps Engineer
10 14 (4.42%) DevSecOps Engineer
10 14 (4.42%) Senior Data Engineer
10 14 (4.42%) Support Engineer
11 13 (4.10%) Desktop Engineer
12 12 (3.79%) Desktop Support
12 12 (3.79%) Desktop Support Engineer
13 11 (3.47%) Cloud Engineer
14 10 (3.15%) Consultant
15 9 (2.84%) Azure Architect
15 9 (2.84%) Azure Infrastructure Engineer
15 9 (2.84%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (5.99%) ARM Templates
2 18 (5.68%) REST
3 16 (5.05%) Kafka
4 15 (4.73%) React
4 15 (4.73%) SOAP
4 15 (4.73%) YAML
5 13 (4.10%) OAuth
6 12 (3.79%) AngularJS
6 12 (3.79%) Keycloak
7 11 (3.47%) Node.js
8 10 (3.15%) .NET
8 10 (3.15%) OAuth2
8 10 (3.15%) SAML
8 10 (3.15%) XML
9 9 (2.84%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (2.84%) OpenID
10 8 (2.52%) RESTful
11 7 (2.21%) Flask
11 7 (2.21%) GraphQL
11 7 (2.21%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 40 (12.62%) Hybrid Cloud
2 31 (9.78%) Cloud Native
3 13 (4.10%) Product Ownership
4 12 (3.79%) Data Centre
5 10 (3.15%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (2.84%) Onboarding
7 7 (2.21%) Security Posture
8 4 (1.26%) CMDB
8 4 (1.26%) Cyber Defence
8 4 (1.26%) FMCG
8 4 (1.26%) IoT
8 4 (1.26%) Legacy Systems
8 4 (1.26%) Management Information System
9 3 (0.95%) Enterprise Cloud
9 3 (0.95%) iPad
9 3 (0.95%) iPhone
9 3 (0.95%) Public Cloud
9 3 (0.95%) Self-Motivation
9 3 (0.95%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.63%) Cloud Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 55 (17.35%) Windows
2 22 (6.94%) Windows Server
3 20 (6.31%) Linux
4 11 (3.47%) Windows 10
5 6 (1.89%) Apple iOS
6 5 (1.58%) Windows Server 2016
7 4 (1.26%) Android
7 4 (1.26%) Unix
7 4 (1.26%) Windows Server 2019
8 3 (0.95%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.32%) Robot Operating System
10 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (44.79%) DevOps
2 95 (29.97%) Agile
3 67 (21.14%) CI/CD
4 54 (17.03%) Scrum
5 48 (15.14%) Problem-Solving
6 45 (14.20%) Infrastructure as Code
7 44 (13.88%) Containerisation
8 40 (12.62%) Validation
9 36 (11.36%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 33 (10.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 32 (10.09%) Collaborative Working
12 31 (9.78%) ITIL
13 29 (9.15%) Software Delivery
14 27 (8.52%) Migration
14 27 (8.52%) Requirements Analysis
14 27 (8.52%) Stakeholder Management
14 27 (8.52%) Web Application Development
15 25 (7.89%) Analytics
15 25 (7.89%) DevSecOps
15 25 (7.89%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 74 (23.34%) SQL
2 65 (20.50%) Python
3 50 (15.77%) JavaScript
4 45 (14.20%) PowerShell
5 39 (12.30%) PL/SQL
6 22 (6.94%) Bicep
7 21 (6.62%) Go
8 15 (4.73%) TypeScript
9 14 (4.42%) Bash
10 13 (4.10%) Java
11 8 (2.52%) C#
12 3 (0.95%) Ruby
13 2 (0.63%) C
13 2 (0.63%) C++
13 2 (0.63%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 2 (0.63%) T-SQL
14 1 (0.32%) Apex Code
14 1 (0.32%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 184 (58.04%) Security Cleared
2 169 (53.31%) SC Cleared
3 43 (13.56%) Azure Certification
4 38 (11.99%) DV Cleared
5 15 (4.73%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (4.42%) CISSP
7 12 (3.79%) CISM
8 11 (3.47%) Degree
9 10 (3.15%) AWS Certification
10 8 (2.52%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 5 (1.58%) Network+ Certification
12 4 (1.26%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
12 4 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
13 3 (0.95%) BPSS Clearance
13 3 (0.95%) ITIL Certification
14 2 (0.63%) Cisco Certification
14 2 (0.63%) CompTIA Security+
14 2 (0.63%) OCA
14 2 (0.63%) OCP
14 2 (0.63%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (8.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 22 (6.94%) NCSC
2 22 (6.94%) NIST
3 16 (5.05%) GDPR
4 12 (3.79%) QA
5 8 (2.52%) NIST 800
6 4 (1.26%) Data Quality
7 3 (0.95%) Government Security Classifications
7 3 (0.95%) JSP 440
7 3 (0.95%) PSD2
7 3 (0.95%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.63%) GRC
8 2 (0.63%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.32%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.32%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.32%) SLA
9 1 (0.32%) WCAG
System Software
1 64 (20.19%) Active Directory
2 51 (16.09%) Docker
3 12 (3.79%) Hyper-V
4 8 (2.52%) Virtual Desktop
4 8 (2.52%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (2.21%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.63%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.32%) KVM
7 1 (0.32%) Slurm Workload Manager
7 1 (0.32%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.32%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 60 (18.93%) Kubernetes
2 56 (17.67%) Terraform
3 27 (8.52%) Microsoft Intune
4 16 (5.05%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (4.73%) Grafana
6 14 (4.42%) Ansible
6 14 (4.42%) Prometheus
7 13 (4.10%) SCCM
8 6 (1.89%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 5 (1.58%) Kibana
10 4 (1.26%) Puppet
11 3 (0.95%) Argo
11 3 (0.95%) logstash
12 2 (0.63%) Data Guard
12 2 (0.63%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.63%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.63%) PingFederate
12 2 (0.63%) Podman
13 1 (0.32%) HP ALM
13 1 (0.32%) Icinga
Vendors
1 113 (35.65%) Microsoft
2 46 (14.51%) Oracle
3 15 (4.73%) Databricks
4 14 (4.42%) ServiceNow
5 12 (3.79%) Google
5 12 (3.79%) Red Hat
6 11 (3.47%) VMware
7 8 (2.52%) IBM
7 8 (2.52%) Salesforce
8 7 (2.21%) NetApp
8 7 (2.21%) SAP
9 6 (1.89%) Blue Prism
9 6 (1.89%) NEC
10 5 (1.58%) Cisco
10 5 (1.58%) ForgeRock
10 5 (1.58%) Ping Identity
11 4 (1.26%) Splunk
11 4 (1.26%) Starlink
12 3 (0.95%) MuleSoft
12 3 (0.95%) Okta