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

6 months to
26 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 11 11
Rank change year-on-year +6 0 -3
Contract jobs citing Azure 426 221 304
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.72% 11.48% 11.09%
As % of the Cloud Services category 43.92% 38.30% 41.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 296 168 229
10th Percentile £394 £313 £338
25th Percentile £450 £363 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.95% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £590
90th Percentile £735 £700 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £533
% change year-on-year - -1.50% -3.09%
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% +41.67%
75th Percentile £98.13 £77.80 £92.50
90th Percentile £99.25 £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 970 577 733
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.68% 29.97% 26.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 631 397 514
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 £635 £588 £600
90th Percentile £730 £675 £675
England median daily rate £525 £508 £525
% change year-on-year +3.45% -3.33% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 59 38 45
10th Percentile £13.93 £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 £46.42 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £98.82 £37.50 -
England median hourly rate £35.00 £26.15 £27.50
% change year-on-year +33.84% -4.91% -16.67%

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 26 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 26 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 +4 114 £475 - 21
Bristol 0 109 £550 +25.71% 76
Devon +9 58 £530 +1.92% 25
Gloucestershire -3 52 £525 +5.00% 60
Wiltshire -8 37 £500 -14.89% 8
Dorset +5 29 £675 +63.64% 13
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 (6.81%) Confluence
2 27 (6.34%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.58%) IIS
4 9 (2.11%) Apache Spark
5 5 (1.17%) Apache
6 4 (0.94%) 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
1 188 (44.13%) AWS
2 73 (17.14%) GCP
3 72 (16.90%) Azure DevOps
4 57 (13.38%) Entra ID
5 35 (8.22%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (7.51%) GitHub
7 25 (5.87%) Power Platform
8 18 (4.23%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (3.99%) Azure Monitor
9 17 (3.99%) Serverless
10 14 (3.29%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (2.58%) Azure Data Factory
11 11 (2.58%) Cloud Computing
12 10 (2.35%) PaaS
12 10 (2.35%) SaaS
13 9 (2.11%) Azure AKS
13 9 (2.11%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 9 (2.11%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (2.11%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.11%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 31 (7.28%) Firewall
2 21 (4.93%) DNS
3 15 (3.52%) TCP/IP
3 15 (3.52%) VPN
4 12 (2.82%) DHCP
4 12 (2.82%) WAN
5 9 (2.11%) BGP
5 9 (2.11%) VLAN
6 8 (1.88%) VSAN
7 5 (1.17%) Network Security
8 4 (0.94%) OSPF
8 4 (0.94%) 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 (7.28%) SQL Server
2 21 (4.93%) Power BI
3 14 (3.29%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (3.05%) Geospatial Data
5 11 (2.58%) Data Warehouse
6 9 (2.11%) Data Lake
7 8 (1.88%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (1.88%) Oracle Database
8 7 (1.64%) Elasticsearch
8 7 (1.64%) Metadata
8 7 (1.64%) MongoDB
9 6 (1.41%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.41%) NoSQL
10 5 (1.17%) Big Data
10 5 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.94%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.94%) Tableau
12 3 (0.70%) Data Vault
12 3 (0.70%) Delta Lake
12 3 (0.70%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 43 (10.09%) Git
2 40 (9.39%) JIRA
3 27 (6.34%) GitLab
4 23 (5.40%) Jenkins
5 12 (2.82%) 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 (19.01%) Social Skills
2 58 (13.62%) Public Sector
3 29 (6.81%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.10%) Finance
5 12 (2.82%) Legal
6 10 (2.35%) Local Government
6 10 (2.35%) Military
7 8 (1.88%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (1.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.41%) Banking
8 6 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
8 6 (1.41%) Retail
9 4 (0.94%) Police
10 3 (0.70%) Advertising
10 3 (0.70%) Aviation
10 3 (0.70%) Investment Banking
10 3 (0.70%) Marketing
11 2 (0.47%) Publishing
12 1 (0.23%) Aerospace
12 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 67 (15.73%) Architect
2 54 (12.68%) Developer
3 32 (7.51%) Lead
3 32 (7.51%) Senior
4 27 (6.34%) Consultant
4 27 (6.34%) Product Manager
5 24 (5.63%) Digital Product Manager
6 22 (5.16%) DevOps Engineer
7 20 (4.69%) Technical Architect
8 19 (4.46%) Data Engineer
8 19 (4.46%) Solutions Architect
9 18 (4.23%) Azure Engineer
10 15 (3.52%) Azure Architect
11 14 (3.29%) Analyst
11 14 (3.29%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 13 (3.05%) .NET Developer
12 13 (3.05%) Azure Consultant
12 13 (3.05%) DBA
12 13 (3.05%) Site Engineer
12 13 (3.05%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 87 (20.42%) Terraform
2 48 (11.27%) .NET
3 32 (7.51%) .NET Framework
4 27 (6.34%) REST
5 21 (4.93%) RESTful
6 19 (4.46%) React
7 18 (4.23%) .NET Core
8 17 (3.99%) CSS
8 17 (3.99%) HTML
9 14 (3.29%) GeoJSON
10 12 (2.82%) ATL
10 12 (2.82%) COM
10 12 (2.82%) Kafka
10 12 (2.82%) MFC
11 11 (2.58%) CSS3
11 11 (2.58%) HTML5
11 11 (2.58%) SailPoint
11 11 (2.58%) WPF
12 10 (2.35%) Node.js
12 10 (2.35%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 56 (13.15%) Cloud Native
2 41 (9.62%) Legacy Systems
3 26 (6.10%) Onboarding
4 24 (5.63%) Product Ownership
5 19 (4.46%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (3.05%) Public Cloud
7 12 (2.82%) Data Centre
7 12 (2.82%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (2.58%) Linux Command Line
9 10 (2.35%) Data Structures
9 10 (2.35%) Self-Motivation
9 10 (2.35%) Wiki
10 8 (1.88%) Security Operations Centre
11 6 (1.41%) Cyber Threat
11 6 (1.41%) Legacy Code
11 6 (1.41%) PKI
12 5 (1.17%) Enterprise Cloud
13 4 (0.94%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.94%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 4 (0.94%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 77 (18.08%) Windows
2 34 (7.98%) Linux
3 27 (6.34%) Windows Server
4 18 (4.23%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.41%) Android
7 5 (1.17%) Unix
8 4 (0.94%) Rocky
8 4 (0.94%) 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
1 138 (32.39%) DevOps
2 135 (31.69%) Agile
3 127 (29.81%) CI/CD
4 85 (19.95%) Infrastructure as Code
5 65 (15.26%) Containerisation
6 58 (13.62%) Roadmaps
7 57 (13.38%) Continuous Improvement
8 56 (13.15%) Stakeholder Management
9 55 (12.91%) Problem-Solving
10 43 (10.09%) DevSecOps
10 43 (10.09%) Technical Leadership
11 42 (9.86%) Microservices
12 39 (9.15%) Migration
12 39 (9.15%) Test Automation
13 38 (8.92%) Analytics
13 38 (8.92%) Decision-Making
14 35 (8.22%) Data Modelling
14 35 (8.22%) ITIL
14 35 (8.22%) Software Engineering
15 34 (7.98%) Deployment Automation
Programming Languages
1 77 (18.08%) Python
2 63 (14.79%) SQL
3 39 (9.15%) C#
3 39 (9.15%) PowerShell
4 35 (8.22%) Java
5 30 (7.04%) Bash
6 29 (6.81%) JavaScript
7 26 (6.10%) TypeScript
8 21 (4.93%) Bicep
9 14 (3.29%) Go
10 5 (1.17%) BeanShell
10 5 (1.17%) PL/SQL
11 4 (0.94%) R
11 4 (0.94%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.94%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.70%) C++
13 2 (0.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 2 (0.47%) Kotlin
14 1 (0.23%) Kusto Query Language
14 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 223 (52.35%) Security Cleared
2 164 (38.50%) SC Cleared
3 54 (12.68%) DV Cleared
4 22 (5.16%) Degree
5 15 (3.52%) CISSP
6 14 (3.29%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (3.05%) Azure Certification
8 12 (2.82%) Cisco Certification
9 10 (2.35%) CISM
10 8 (1.88%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (1.88%) Computer Science Degree
11 6 (1.41%) CCNA
12 5 (1.17%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.17%) TOGAF Certification
13 4 (0.94%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.70%) ACSP
14 3 (0.70%) AWS Certification
14 3 (0.70%) ISTQB
14 3 (0.70%) VCAP
15 2 (0.47%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (5.40%) QA
2 19 (4.46%) NCSC
3 18 (4.23%) Data Quality
4 13 (3.05%) Accessibility
5 11 (2.58%) SLA
5 11 (2.58%) WCAG
6 10 (2.35%) GDPR
7 6 (1.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.17%) ISO 9000
9 4 (0.94%) 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 (15.73%) Docker
2 60 (14.08%) Active Directory
3 25 (5.87%) VMware Infrastructure
4 17 (3.99%) Hyper-V
4 17 (3.99%) Virtual Desktop
5 11 (2.58%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (2.35%) vSphere
7 7 (1.64%) 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 (21.36%) Kubernetes
2 37 (8.69%) Ansible
3 24 (5.63%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (3.52%) Grafana
5 13 (3.05%) Prometheus
6 12 (2.82%) Argo
7 7 (1.64%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 7 (1.64%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.41%) FortiGate
9 5 (1.17%) OPNET
9 5 (1.17%) VxRail
10 4 (0.94%) Istio
10 4 (0.94%) Proxmox
10 4 (0.94%) 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
1 164 (38.50%) Microsoft
2 26 (6.10%) VMware
3 24 (5.63%) Oracle
4 21 (4.93%) Databricks
4 21 (4.93%) Google
5 11 (2.58%) CyberArk
6 8 (1.88%) Cisco
6 8 (1.88%) Starlink
7 7 (1.64%) InterSystems
7 7 (1.64%) McAfee
7 7 (1.64%) Red Hat
8 6 (1.41%) Dynatrace
8 6 (1.41%) MuleSoft
8 6 (1.41%) Splunk
9 5 (1.17%) NetApp
9 5 (1.17%) SAP
9 5 (1.17%) Zscaler
10 4 (0.94%) Apple
11 3 (0.70%) Foundry
11 3 (0.70%) IBM