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

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 11
Rank change year-on-year +6 0 -3
Contract jobs citing Azure 429 224 303
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.78% 11.60% 11.05%
As % of the Cloud Services category 44.09% 38.62% 41.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 295 171 228
10th Percentile £393 £313 £338
25th Percentile £450 £363 £434
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £500 £503
Median % change year-on-year +8.00% -0.50% -8.64%
75th Percentile £638 £631 £590
90th Percentile £736 £700 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £535
% change year-on-year - -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 4 1
10th Percentile £63.51 £27.40 -
25th Percentile £74.39 £46.75 £77.50
Median hourly rate £92.53 £70.00 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year +32.19% -17.65% +41.67%
75th Percentile £96.27 £77.80 £92.50
90th Percentile £98.51 £78.34 -
England median hourly rate £52.50 £35.99 £35.00
% change year-on-year +45.87% +2.83% -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 973 580 733
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.71% 30.04% 26.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 630 401 514
10th Percentile £325 £213 £250
25th Percentile £425 £350 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £636 £588 £600
90th Percentile £730 £675 £675
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 38 45
10th Percentile £13.97 £18.13 £12.60
25th Percentile £15.24 £18.51 £33.00
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -73.04% +76.99%
75th Percentile £48.75 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £98.82 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £35.00 £26.15 £27.00
% change year-on-year +33.84% -3.15% -18.18%

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 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 25 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 25 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 +3 116 £475 -1.30% 39
Bristol -1 108 £550 +25.71% 84
Devon +7 58 £530 +1.92% 48
Gloucestershire -2 52 £525 +5.00% 67
Wiltshire -7 39 £500 -12.09% 22
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 (6.76%) Confluence
2 27 (6.29%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.56%) IIS
4 9 (2.10%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.17%) Apache
6 4 (0.93%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.47%) 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 (1.17%) MS Visio
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.70%) Trello
3 1 (0.23%) InDesign
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.47%) Unit4 Business World
2 1 (0.23%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.23%) Maximo
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
1 190 (44.29%) AWS
2 74 (17.25%) GCP
3 72 (16.78%) Azure DevOps
4 57 (13.29%) Entra ID
5 35 (8.16%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (7.46%) GitHub
7 25 (5.83%) Power Platform
8 18 (4.20%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (3.96%) Azure Monitor
9 17 (3.96%) Serverless
10 14 (3.26%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (2.56%) Azure Data Factory
11 11 (2.56%) Cloud Computing
11 11 (2.56%) PaaS
12 10 (2.33%) SaaS
13 9 (2.10%) Azure AKS
13 9 (2.10%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 9 (2.10%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (2.10%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.10%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 31 (7.23%) Firewall
2 21 (4.90%) DNS
3 15 (3.50%) TCP/IP
3 15 (3.50%) VPN
4 12 (2.80%) DHCP
4 12 (2.80%) WAN
5 9 (2.10%) BGP
5 9 (2.10%) VLAN
6 8 (1.86%) VSAN
7 5 (1.17%) Network Security
8 4 (0.93%) OSPF
8 4 (0.93%) SAN
9 3 (0.70%) Intrusion Detection
9 3 (0.70%) NAS
9 3 (0.70%) Software-Defined Networking
10 2 (0.47%) LAN
10 2 (0.47%) Reverse Proxy
10 2 (0.47%) SSL
11 1 (0.23%) HTTP
11 1 (0.23%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (7.23%) SQL Server
2 21 (4.90%) Power BI
3 14 (3.26%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (3.03%) Geospatial Data
5 11 (2.56%) Data Warehouse
6 9 (2.10%) Data Lake
7 8 (1.86%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (1.86%) Oracle Database
8 7 (1.63%) Elasticsearch
8 7 (1.63%) Metadata
8 7 (1.63%) MongoDB
9 6 (1.40%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.40%) NoSQL
10 5 (1.17%) Big Data
10 5 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.93%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.93%) Tableau
12 3 (0.70%) Data Vault
12 3 (0.70%) Delta Lake
12 3 (0.70%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 43 (10.02%) Git
2 40 (9.32%) JIRA
3 27 (6.29%) GitLab
4 23 (5.36%) Jenkins
5 12 (2.80%) 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 (0.47%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.47%) MLflow
7 2 (0.47%) Selenium
7 2 (0.47%) Spinnaker
8 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.23%) Gradle
8 1 (0.23%) TestNG
8 1 (0.23%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 81 (18.88%) Social Skills
2 58 (13.52%) Public Sector
3 29 (6.76%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.06%) Finance
5 12 (2.80%) Legal
6 10 (2.33%) Local Government
6 10 (2.33%) Military
7 9 (2.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.86%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (1.40%) Banking
9 6 (1.40%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (1.40%) Retail
10 4 (0.93%) Police
11 3 (0.70%) Advertising
11 3 (0.70%) Aviation
11 3 (0.70%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.70%) Marketing
12 2 (0.47%) Publishing
13 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
13 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 68 (15.85%) Architect
2 54 (12.59%) Developer
3 32 (7.46%) Lead
3 32 (7.46%) Senior
4 28 (6.53%) Consultant
5 27 (6.29%) Product Manager
6 24 (5.59%) Digital Product Manager
7 22 (5.13%) DevOps Engineer
8 20 (4.66%) Solutions Architect
8 20 (4.66%) Technical Architect
9 18 (4.20%) Azure Engineer
9 18 (4.20%) Data Engineer
10 16 (3.73%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 15 (3.50%) Azure Architect
12 14 (3.26%) Analyst
13 13 (3.03%) .NET Developer
13 13 (3.03%) Azure Consultant
13 13 (3.03%) DBA
13 13 (3.03%) Site Engineer
13 13 (3.03%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 87 (20.28%) Terraform
2 48 (11.19%) .NET
3 32 (7.46%) .NET Framework
4 27 (6.29%) REST
5 21 (4.90%) RESTful
6 19 (4.43%) React
7 18 (4.20%) .NET Core
8 17 (3.96%) CSS
8 17 (3.96%) HTML
9 14 (3.26%) GeoJSON
10 12 (2.80%) ATL
10 12 (2.80%) COM
10 12 (2.80%) Kafka
10 12 (2.80%) MFC
11 11 (2.56%) CSS3
11 11 (2.56%) HTML5
11 11 (2.56%) SailPoint
11 11 (2.56%) WPF
12 10 (2.33%) Node.js
12 10 (2.33%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 57 (13.29%) Cloud Native
2 42 (9.79%) Legacy Systems
3 26 (6.06%) Onboarding
4 24 (5.59%) Product Ownership
5 20 (4.66%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (3.26%) Public Cloud
7 13 (3.03%) Data Centre
8 12 (2.80%) Hybrid Cloud
9 11 (2.56%) Linux Command Line
10 10 (2.33%) Data Structures
10 10 (2.33%) Self-Motivation
10 10 (2.33%) Wiki
11 8 (1.86%) Security Operations Centre
12 6 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
12 6 (1.40%) Legacy Code
12 6 (1.40%) PKI
13 5 (1.17%) Enterprise Cloud
14 4 (0.93%) Augmented Reality
14 4 (0.93%) Team-Oriented Environment
14 4 (0.93%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 78 (18.18%) Windows
2 35 (8.16%) Linux
3 27 (6.29%) Windows Server
4 18 (4.20%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.40%) Android
7 5 (1.17%) Unix
8 4 (0.93%) Rocky
8 4 (0.93%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.70%) Debian
9 3 (0.70%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.47%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.23%) CentOS
11 1 (0.23%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 139 (32.40%) DevOps
2 135 (31.47%) Agile
3 127 (29.60%) CI/CD
4 85 (19.81%) Infrastructure as Code
5 65 (15.15%) Containerisation
6 58 (13.52%) Continuous Improvement
6 58 (13.52%) Roadmaps
7 56 (13.05%) Problem-Solving
7 56 (13.05%) Stakeholder Management
8 43 (10.02%) DevSecOps
8 43 (10.02%) Technical Leadership
9 42 (9.79%) Microservices
10 41 (9.56%) Migration
11 39 (9.09%) Test Automation
12 38 (8.86%) Analytics
12 38 (8.86%) Decision-Making
13 35 (8.16%) Data Modelling
13 35 (8.16%) ITIL
13 35 (8.16%) Software Engineering
14 34 (7.93%) Deployment Automation
Programming Languages
1 77 (17.95%) Python
2 64 (14.92%) SQL
3 39 (9.09%) C#
3 39 (9.09%) PowerShell
4 35 (8.16%) Java
5 30 (6.99%) Bash
6 29 (6.76%) JavaScript
7 26 (6.06%) TypeScript
8 21 (4.90%) Bicep
9 14 (3.26%) Go
10 5 (1.17%) BeanShell
10 5 (1.17%) 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 (0.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 2 (0.47%) Kotlin
14 1 (0.23%) C
14 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 224 (52.21%) Security Cleared
2 164 (38.23%) SC Cleared
3 54 (12.59%) DV Cleared
4 22 (5.13%) Degree
5 15 (3.50%) CISSP
6 14 (3.26%) Azure Certification
6 14 (3.26%) Microsoft Certification
7 12 (2.80%) Cisco Certification
8 10 (2.33%) CISM
9 8 (1.86%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (1.86%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (1.40%) CCNA
11 5 (1.17%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (1.17%) TOGAF Certification
12 4 (0.93%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.70%) ACSP
13 3 (0.70%) AWS Certification
13 3 (0.70%) ISTQB
13 3 (0.70%) VCAP
14 2 (0.47%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (5.36%) QA
2 19 (4.43%) NCSC
3 18 (4.20%) Data Quality
4 13 (3.03%) Accessibility
5 11 (2.56%) SLA
5 11 (2.56%) WCAG
6 10 (2.33%) GDPR
7 6 (1.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.17%) ISO 9000
9 4 (0.93%) NIST
10 3 (0.70%) SNOMED CT
11 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.47%) GRC
11 2 (0.47%) HL7
12 1 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
12 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.23%) PMO
System Software
1 67 (15.62%) Docker
2 60 (13.99%) Active Directory
3 25 (5.83%) VMware Infrastructure
4 17 (3.96%) Hyper-V
4 17 (3.96%) Virtual Desktop
5 11 (2.56%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (2.33%) vSphere
7 7 (1.63%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.70%) VirtualBox
9 2 (0.47%) 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 (21.21%) Kubernetes
2 38 (8.86%) Ansible
3 24 (5.59%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (3.50%) Grafana
5 13 (3.03%) Prometheus
6 12 (2.80%) Argo
7 7 (1.63%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 7 (1.63%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.40%) FortiGate
9 5 (1.17%) OPNET
9 5 (1.17%) VxRail
10 4 (0.93%) Istio
10 4 (0.93%) Proxmox
10 4 (0.93%) SCCM
11 3 (0.70%) Progress Chef
12 2 (0.47%) CASB
12 2 (0.47%) Docker Swarm
12 2 (0.47%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.47%) linkerd
12 2 (0.47%) Podman
Vendors
1 165 (38.46%) Microsoft
2 26 (6.06%) VMware
3 24 (5.59%) Oracle
4 21 (4.90%) Google
5 20 (4.66%) Databricks
6 11 (2.56%) CyberArk
7 8 (1.86%) Cisco
7 8 (1.86%) Starlink
8 7 (1.63%) InterSystems
8 7 (1.63%) McAfee
8 7 (1.63%) Red Hat
9 6 (1.40%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.40%) MuleSoft
9 6 (1.40%) Splunk
10 5 (1.17%) NetApp
10 5 (1.17%) SAP
10 5 (1.17%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.93%) Apple
12 3 (0.70%) Foundry
12 3 (0.70%) IBM