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 18 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 9
Rank change year-on-year +6 -2 -5
Contract jobs citing Azure 365 212 364
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.46% 12.23% 11.41%
As % of the Cloud Services category 45.85% 40.46% 44.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 177 294
10th Percentile £338 £340 £213
25th Percentile £431 £415 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £625 £589
90th Percentile £688 £700 £706
England median daily rate £523 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -0.48% -3.67% -3.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 3 0
10th Percentile - £16.60 -
25th Percentile £56.25 £19.75 -
Median hourly rate £57.50 £25.00 -
Median % change year-on-year +130.00% - -
75th Percentile £58.75 £51.85 -
90th Percentile - £67.96 -
England median hourly rate £57.50 £57.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year +0.88% +62.86% -31.03%

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 796 524 815
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 24.99% 30.24% 25.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 538 397 625
10th Percentile £271 £233 £208
25th Percentile £403 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £625 £600
90th Percentile £688 £688 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 23 23
10th Percentile £14.13 £18.13 £12.50
25th Percentile £20.93 £18.13 £13.93
Median hourly rate £57.50 £18.51 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +210.64% +27.66% -74.78%
75th Percentile £58.75 £35.25 £15.17
90th Percentile - £62.50 £20.40
England median hourly rate £45.00 £26.75 £20.77
% change year-on-year +68.22% +28.79% -24.47%

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 18 April 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 18 April 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 18 April 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 +2 95 £475 -9.52% 50
Somerset +6 94 £525 -4.55% 41
Bristol -8 67 £550 +15.79% 72
Wiltshire +6 58 £525 -13.40% 29
Dorset +2 26 £675 +35.00% 18
Devon -10 13 £450 -5.26% 27
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 18 (4.93%) SharePoint
2 11 (3.01%) IIS
3 6 (1.64%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (1.37%) Apache
4 5 (1.37%) Confluence
5 3 (0.82%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.55%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.55%) Documentum
6 2 (0.55%) nginx
7 1 (0.27%) Apache Superset
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 4 (1.10%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.27%) InDesign
2 1 (0.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.27%) PTC Creo
2 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
2 1 (0.27%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (2.19%) Maximo
2 6 (1.64%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.55%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.55%) Unit4 Business World
4 1 (0.27%) Primavera
4 1 (0.27%) SAP EHS
4 1 (0.27%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 104 (28.49%) AWS
2 86 (23.56%) Azure DevOps
3 50 (13.70%) GCP
4 37 (10.14%) Entra ID
5 32 (8.77%) GitHub
6 23 (6.30%) Azure Data Factory
7 22 (6.03%) Power Platform
8 20 (5.48%) Azure Monitor
8 20 (5.48%) Microsoft 365
9 15 (4.11%) Azure Sentinel
10 12 (3.29%) Serverless
11 11 (3.01%) Azure AKS
11 11 (3.01%) OpenShift
12 10 (2.74%) GitHub Actions
12 10 (2.74%) PaaS
13 9 (2.47%) Azure Key Vault
13 9 (2.47%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.47%) Dynamics 365
14 7 (1.92%) IaaS
15 6 (1.64%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 18 (4.93%) VPN
2 9 (2.47%) Firewall
3 8 (2.19%) DHCP
4 7 (1.92%) DNS
5 6 (1.64%) Network Security
6 4 (1.10%) LAN
7 3 (0.82%) WAN
8 2 (0.55%) HTTP
8 2 (0.55%) NGFW
8 2 (0.55%) Reverse Proxy
8 2 (0.55%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.55%) VLAN
9 1 (0.27%) AMQP
9 1 (0.27%) Cisco ASA
9 1 (0.27%) Cisco ISE
9 1 (0.27%) Hyperconnected
9 1 (0.27%) NAS
9 1 (0.27%) Remote Desktop
9 1 (0.27%) SD-WAN
9 1 (0.27%) tcpdump
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (5.21%) Power BI
1 19 (5.21%) SQL Server
2 16 (4.38%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (3.84%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (2.47%) Elasticsearch
5 7 (1.92%) Metadata
6 6 (1.64%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (1.64%) MongoDB
6 6 (1.64%) NoSQL
7 5 (1.37%) Delta Lake
8 4 (1.10%) Redis
8 4 (1.10%) Star Schema
9 3 (0.82%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.82%) GIS
9 3 (0.82%) Power Query
9 3 (0.82%) Tableau
10 2 (0.55%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.55%) Data Vault
10 2 (0.55%) Relational Database
10 2 (0.55%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 28 (7.67%) Oracle APEX
2 19 (5.21%) Git
3 17 (4.66%) GitLab
4 12 (3.29%) JIRA
5 10 (2.74%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.82%) AdminStudio
6 3 (0.82%) InstallShield
6 3 (0.82%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.82%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.55%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.55%) JUnit
7 2 (0.55%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.55%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.27%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.27%) Mocha
8 1 (0.27%) MSI
8 1 (0.27%) Selenium
8 1 (0.27%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.27%) TestNG
8 1 (0.27%) webpack
General
1 85 (23.29%) Social Skills
2 28 (7.67%) Finance
3 22 (6.03%) Public Sector
4 17 (4.66%) Analytical Skills
5 11 (3.01%) Legal
6 7 (1.92%) Banking
6 7 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
7 4 (1.10%) Back Office
7 4 (1.10%) Local Government
7 4 (1.10%) Marketing
8 3 (0.82%) Investment Banking
8 3 (0.82%) Military
8 3 (0.82%) Organisational Skills
8 3 (0.82%) Retail
8 3 (0.82%) Telecoms
9 2 (0.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 2 (0.55%) Manufacturing
10 1 (0.27%) Electronics
10 1 (0.27%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (0.27%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 56 (15.34%) Senior
2 55 (15.07%) Developer
3 48 (13.15%) Consultant
4 40 (10.96%) Architect
4 40 (10.96%) Implementation Consultant
5 31 (8.49%) Data Engineer
6 30 (8.22%) Azure Engineer
6 30 (8.22%) DevOps Engineer
7 28 (7.67%) Senior Developer
8 17 (4.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 17 (4.66%) Lead
9 16 (4.38%) Support Engineer
10 15 (4.11%) Analyst
10 15 (4.11%) Desktop Engineer
10 15 (4.11%) Desktop Support
10 15 (4.11%) Desktop Support Engineer
11 14 (3.84%) Azure Architect
11 14 (3.84%) Data Architect
12 13 (3.56%) Cloud Engineer
13 12 (3.29%) Azure Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (7.12%) .NET
2 18 (4.93%) Kafka
3 17 (4.66%) .NET Framework
3 17 (4.66%) REST
4 11 (3.01%) ARM Templates
4 11 (3.01%) Keycloak
5 8 (2.19%) Node.js
5 8 (2.19%) React
6 7 (1.92%) GraphQL
6 7 (1.92%) RabbitMQ
6 7 (1.92%) SailPoint
7 6 (1.64%) OAuth
7 6 (1.64%) PySpark
7 6 (1.64%) SOAP
7 6 (1.64%) WebSockets
8 5 (1.37%) Flask
8 5 (1.37%) Middleware
8 5 (1.37%) RESTful
8 5 (1.37%) SAML
9 4 (1.10%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.12%) Cloud Native
1 26 (7.12%) Hybrid Cloud
2 18 (4.93%) Product Ownership
3 16 (4.38%) Enterprise Software
3 16 (4.38%) Legacy Systems
4 14 (3.84%) Public Cloud
5 9 (2.47%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.19%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (1.64%) Legacy Code
8 5 (1.37%) Data Centre
9 4 (1.10%) Distributed Systems
9 4 (1.10%) FMCG
9 4 (1.10%) Legacy Applications
9 4 (1.10%) Management Information System
9 4 (1.10%) Private Cloud
10 3 (0.82%) Security Posture
10 3 (0.82%) Wiki
11 2 (0.55%) Data Protection Act
11 2 (0.55%) iPad
11 2 (0.55%) iPhone
Operating Systems
1 50 (13.70%) Windows
2 26 (7.12%) Linux
3 22 (6.03%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.01%) Windows 10
5 6 (1.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.82%) Debian
6 3 (0.82%) Rocky
6 3 (0.82%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.55%) Windows Server 2016
7 2 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.27%) Android
8 1 (0.27%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 139 (38.08%) DevOps
2 91 (24.93%) Agile
3 71 (19.45%) CI/CD
4 48 (13.15%) ERP
5 46 (12.60%) Validation
6 45 (12.33%) Problem-Solving
7 44 (12.05%) Scrum
8 40 (10.96%) Infrastructure as Code
8 40 (10.96%) PLM
9 39 (10.68%) Analytics
10 35 (9.59%) Containerisation
11 34 (9.32%) Continuous Improvement
12 32 (8.77%) Collaborative Working
13 30 (8.22%) Data Modelling
13 30 (8.22%) ETL
14 29 (7.95%) ITIL
14 29 (7.95%) Software Delivery
15 28 (7.67%) Business Intelligence
15 28 (7.67%) Data Engineering
16 27 (7.40%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 75 (20.55%) SQL
2 56 (15.34%) Python
3 42 (11.51%) JavaScript
4 41 (11.23%) PowerShell
5 35 (9.59%) PL/SQL
6 17 (4.66%) Bicep
6 17 (4.66%) Go
7 15 (4.11%) C#
7 15 (4.11%) Java
8 13 (3.56%) Bash
9 12 (3.29%) TypeScript
10 4 (1.10%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 4 (1.10%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.27%) C++
11 1 (0.27%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.27%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.27%) Scala
11 1 (0.27%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 163 (44.66%) Security Cleared
2 142 (38.90%) SC Cleared
3 32 (8.77%) Azure Certification
4 24 (6.58%) DV Cleared
5 16 (4.38%) Microsoft Certification
6 12 (3.29%) Degree
7 6 (1.64%) CISM
7 6 (1.64%) CISSP
7 6 (1.64%) Computer Science Degree
7 6 (1.64%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
8 3 (0.82%) AWS Certification
8 3 (0.82%) BPSS Clearance
8 3 (0.82%) ISTQB
8 3 (0.82%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 3 (0.82%) ITIL Certification
8 3 (0.82%) TOGAF Certification
9 2 (0.55%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
10 1 (0.27%) BC Cleared
10 1 (0.27%) CSPO
10 1 (0.27%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (6.03%) QA
2 14 (3.84%) Data Quality
3 12 (3.29%) GDPR
4 11 (3.01%) NIST
5 9 (2.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 7 (1.92%) NIST 800
7 4 (1.10%) NCSC
8 2 (0.55%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 2 (0.55%) HL7
8 2 (0.55%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.55%) SNOMED CT
9 1 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.27%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.27%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.27%) PMO
9 1 (0.27%) SLA
System Software
1 51 (13.97%) Active Directory
2 39 (10.68%) Docker
3 9 (2.47%) Hyper-V
4 7 (1.92%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (1.37%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.55%) vSphere
8 1 (0.27%) KVM
8 1 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.27%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 56 (15.34%) Kubernetes
2 47 (12.88%) Terraform
3 24 (6.58%) Microsoft Intune
4 16 (4.38%) Ansible
5 12 (3.29%) Grafana
6 10 (2.74%) Prometheus
7 9 (2.47%) SCCM
7 9 (2.47%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.37%) Argo
9 4 (1.10%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 3 (0.82%) Puppet
11 2 (0.55%) Cilium
11 2 (0.55%) Podman
11 2 (0.55%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.27%) Docker Swarm
12 1 (0.27%) Failover Clustering
12 1 (0.27%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.27%) Kibana
12 1 (0.27%) Kubeflow
12 1 (0.27%) logstash
Vendors
1 110 (30.14%) Microsoft
2 40 (10.96%) Siemens
3 39 (10.68%) Oracle
4 23 (6.30%) Databricks
5 14 (3.84%) Google
6 10 (2.74%) SAP
7 9 (2.47%) Red Hat
7 9 (2.47%) VMware
8 8 (2.19%) IBM
8 8 (2.19%) NEC
9 7 (1.92%) Starlink
10 6 (1.64%) McAfee
11 5 (1.37%) Cisco
11 5 (1.37%) NetApp
11 5 (1.37%) ServiceNow
12 3 (0.82%) MuleSoft
13 2 (0.55%) Broadcom
13 2 (0.55%) Citrix
13 2 (0.55%) CyberArk
13 2 (0.55%) F5