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

6 months to
17 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 8 13
Rank change year-on-year +2 +5 -7
Contract jobs citing Azure 430 244 272
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.53% 12.37% 10.26%
As % of the Cloud Services category 43.52% 40.73% 38.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 300 188 200
10th Percentile £399 £305 £363
25th Percentile £450 £396 £452
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £600
90th Percentile £733 £707 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 3 1
10th Percentile £93.28 £23.10 -
25th Percentile £94.40 £36.00 £77.50
Median hourly rate £96.27 £65.00 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year +48.10% -23.53% +304.76%
75th Percentile £98.13 £75.00 £92.50
90th Percentile £99.25 £76.50 -
England median hourly rate £52.50 £33.39 £38.50
% change year-on-year +57.26% -13.29% -16.63%

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 988 599 706
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 26.48% 30.36% 26.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 649 409 462
10th Percentile £325 £213 £233
25th Percentile £425 £355 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £588 £613
90th Percentile £730 £695 £685
England median daily rate £525 £501 £525
% change year-on-year +4.90% -4.67% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 36 42
10th Percentile £13.97 £18.13 £20.85
25th Percentile £15.24 £18.51 £33.50
Median hourly rate £18.92 £18.87 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +0.24% -73.04% +100.00%
75th Percentile £45.26 £34.50 -
90th Percentile £85.75 £36.75 -
England median hourly rate £33.99 £26.30 £33.00
% change year-on-year +29.24% -20.30% -

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 17 September 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 17 September 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
Bristol 0 115 £550 +23.04% 128
Somerset +3 107 £475 +11.76% 84
Devon +8 59 £530 +1.44% 49
Gloucestershire -4 53 £545 +3.81% 121
Wiltshire -4 41 £505 -11.21% 39
Dorset -1 30 £675 +34.33% 36
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 31 (7.21%) SharePoint
2 29 (6.74%) Confluence
3 10 (2.33%) Apache Spark
4 6 (1.40%) Microsoft Exchange
5 5 (1.16%) Apache
6 4 (0.93%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.70%) IIS
8 2 (0.47%) nginx
9 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
9 1 (0.23%) JBoss
9 1 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
9 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 5 (1.16%) MS Visio
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.70%) Trello
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%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.23%) ResourceLink
2 1 (0.23%) SAP EHS
2 1 (0.23%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 186 (43.26%) AWS
2 80 (18.60%) Azure DevOps
3 76 (17.67%) GCP
4 53 (12.33%) Entra ID
5 40 (9.30%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (7.44%) GitHub
7 24 (5.58%) Power Platform
8 15 (3.49%) Azure AKS
8 15 (3.49%) Azure Key Vault
8 15 (3.49%) Serverless
9 14 (3.26%) Azure Data Factory
10 13 (3.02%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (2.56%) Azure Monitor
11 11 (2.56%) Cloud Computing
12 10 (2.33%) SaaS
13 9 (2.09%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 9 (2.09%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (2.09%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (2.09%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 9 (2.09%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 34 (7.91%) Firewall
2 22 (5.12%) DNS
3 16 (3.72%) TCP/IP
4 15 (3.49%) DHCP
5 14 (3.26%) VPN
5 14 (3.26%) WAN
6 10 (2.33%) VLAN
7 9 (2.09%) BGP
8 8 (1.86%) VSAN
9 7 (1.63%) Network Security
10 4 (0.93%) Cisco IOS
10 4 (0.93%) LAN
10 4 (0.93%) OSPF
10 4 (0.93%) SAN
10 4 (0.93%) Wireless
11 3 (0.70%) Intrusion Detection
11 3 (0.70%) NAS
11 3 (0.70%) Software-Defined Networking
12 2 (0.47%) Asterisk PBX
12 2 (0.47%) NX-OS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (5.35%) SQL Server
2 20 (4.65%) Power BI
3 13 (3.02%) Geospatial Data
3 13 (3.02%) PostgreSQL
4 10 (2.33%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (2.09%) Data Lake
6 8 (1.86%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (1.86%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.63%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (1.63%) MongoDB
8 6 (1.40%) Amazon RDS
8 6 (1.40%) Big Data
8 6 (1.40%) Metadata
8 6 (1.40%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.16%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.93%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.70%) Data Vault
11 3 (0.70%) EDRMS
11 3 (0.70%) Hadoop
11 3 (0.70%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 50 (11.63%) Git
2 40 (9.30%) JIRA
3 35 (8.14%) GitLab
4 31 (7.21%) Jenkins
5 11 (2.56%) MSI
6 3 (0.70%) AdminStudio
6 3 (0.70%) Claude Code
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%) MLflow
7 2 (0.47%) Selenium
7 2 (0.47%) Spinnaker
7 2 (0.47%) Visual Studio Team System
8 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.23%) Gradle
8 1 (0.23%) TestNG
8 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 82 (19.07%) Social Skills
2 61 (14.19%) Public Sector
3 27 (6.28%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.05%) Finance
5 12 (2.79%) Local Government
6 11 (2.56%) Legal
7 10 (2.33%) Military
8 8 (1.86%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (1.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.63%) Banking
10 6 (1.40%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.16%) Retail
12 4 (0.93%) Police
13 3 (0.70%) Advertising
13 3 (0.70%) Aviation
13 3 (0.70%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.47%) Marketing
15 1 (0.23%) Manufacturing
15 1 (0.23%) Presentation Skills
15 1 (0.23%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 68 (15.81%) Architect
2 54 (12.56%) Developer
3 36 (8.37%) Senior
4 30 (6.98%) DevOps Engineer
5 29 (6.74%) Lead
6 27 (6.28%) Consultant
6 27 (6.28%) Product Manager
7 24 (5.58%) Digital Product Manager
8 22 (5.12%) Azure Engineer
8 22 (5.12%) Solutions Architect
9 20 (4.65%) Technical Architect
10 19 (4.42%) Data Engineer
11 16 (3.72%) Azure DevOps Engineer
11 16 (3.72%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 15 (3.49%) Analyst
12 15 (3.49%) Azure Architect
13 14 (3.26%) Azure Consultant
13 14 (3.26%) Software Developer
14 13 (3.02%) DBA
15 12 (2.79%) .NET Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 95 (22.09%) Terraform
2 39 (9.07%) .NET
3 24 (5.58%) .NET Framework
4 23 (5.35%) REST
5 21 (4.88%) RESTful
6 18 (4.19%) .NET Core
6 18 (4.19%) React
7 17 (3.95%) CSS
7 17 (3.95%) HTML
8 15 (3.49%) Kafka
9 13 (3.02%) GeoJSON
10 11 (2.56%) ATL
10 11 (2.56%) COM
10 11 (2.56%) CSS3
10 11 (2.56%) HTML5
10 11 (2.56%) MFC
10 11 (2.56%) WPF
11 10 (2.33%) ARM Templates
11 10 (2.33%) Node.js
11 10 (2.33%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 57 (13.26%) Cloud Native
2 37 (8.60%) Legacy Systems
3 30 (6.98%) Product Ownership
4 26 (6.05%) Onboarding
5 19 (4.42%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (3.72%) Wiki
7 14 (3.26%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (2.79%) Data Centre
8 12 (2.79%) Linux Command Line
8 12 (2.79%) Public Cloud
9 9 (2.09%) Security Operations Centre
10 8 (1.86%) Self-Motivation
11 7 (1.63%) Cyber Threat
11 7 (1.63%) Enterprise Cloud
12 6 (1.40%) Data Structures
12 6 (1.40%) PKI
13 4 (0.93%) AI Agents
13 4 (0.93%) Augmented Reality
13 4 (0.93%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 4 (0.93%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 67 (15.58%) Windows
2 33 (7.67%) Linux
3 22 (5.12%) Windows Server
4 14 (3.26%) Windows 10
5 7 (1.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (1.40%) Android
6 6 (1.40%) Unix
7 5 (1.16%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.93%) Rocky
8 4 (0.93%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.70%) Debian
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
1 149 (34.65%) DevOps
2 137 (31.86%) Agile
3 133 (30.93%) CI/CD
4 94 (21.86%) Infrastructure as Code
5 74 (17.21%) Containerisation
6 63 (14.65%) Continuous Improvement
7 58 (13.49%) Roadmaps
8 56 (13.02%) Stakeholder Management
9 55 (12.79%) DevSecOps
10 51 (11.86%) Problem-Solving
11 43 (10.00%) Technical Leadership
12 42 (9.77%) Deployment Automation
13 40 (9.30%) Decision-Making
14 39 (9.07%) Microservices
14 39 (9.07%) Software Engineering
15 38 (8.84%) Observability
15 38 (8.84%) Test Automation
16 37 (8.60%) Platform Engineering
17 35 (8.14%) Analytics
17 35 (8.14%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 81 (18.84%) Python
2 60 (13.95%) SQL
3 42 (9.77%) PowerShell
4 41 (9.53%) C#
5 37 (8.60%) Bash
5 37 (8.60%) Java
6 28 (6.51%) JavaScript
7 27 (6.28%) Bicep
8 24 (5.58%) TypeScript
9 14 (3.26%) Go
10 5 (1.16%) BeanShell
11 4 (0.93%) PL/SQL
11 4 (0.93%) R
11 4 (0.93%) Shell Script
12 3 (0.70%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.47%) 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
1 227 (52.79%) Security Cleared
2 160 (37.21%) SC Cleared
3 67 (15.58%) DV Cleared
4 20 (4.65%) Degree
5 16 (3.72%) CISSP
6 15 (3.49%) Azure Certification
7 12 (2.79%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (2.79%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (2.56%) CISM
9 7 (1.63%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (1.63%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (1.40%) CCNA
11 5 (1.16%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 4 (0.93%) AWS Certification
12 4 (0.93%) TOGAF Certification
13 3 (0.70%) ACSP
13 3 (0.70%) VCAP
14 2 (0.47%) CCSK
14 2 (0.47%) DBS Check
14 2 (0.47%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (4.88%) QA
2 20 (4.65%) Data Quality
3 19 (4.42%) NCSC
4 13 (3.02%) Accessibility
5 11 (2.56%) SLA
5 11 (2.56%) WCAG
6 7 (1.63%) GDPR
7 6 (1.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.16%) ISO 9000
8 5 (1.16%) NIST
9 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.47%) GRC
10 1 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.23%) PMO
10 1 (0.23%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 73 (16.98%) Docker
2 59 (13.72%) Active Directory
3 27 (6.28%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (4.19%) Hyper-V
5 17 (3.95%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (2.33%) 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
1 101 (23.49%) Kubernetes
2 41 (9.53%) Ansible
3 20 (4.65%) Microsoft Intune
4 14 (3.26%) Grafana
5 13 (3.02%) Argo
6 12 (2.79%) Prometheus
7 7 (1.63%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 6 (1.40%) FortiGate
8 6 (1.40%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.16%) OPNET
9 5 (1.16%) 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%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.47%) linkerd
12 2 (0.47%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.47%) Podman
Vendors
1 162 (37.67%) Microsoft
2 28 (6.51%) VMware
3 27 (6.28%) Google
4 21 (4.88%) Databricks
4 21 (4.88%) Oracle
5 12 (2.79%) Cisco
6 11 (2.56%) CyberArk
7 7 (1.63%) Red Hat
7 7 (1.63%) Splunk
8 6 (1.40%) Dynatrace
8 6 (1.40%) InterSystems
8 6 (1.40%) MuleSoft
9 5 (1.16%) NetApp
9 5 (1.16%) Zscaler
10 4 (0.93%) Apple
10 4 (0.93%) Foundry
10 4 (0.93%) McAfee
10 4 (0.93%) SAP
10 4 (0.93%) Starlink
11 3 (0.70%) Thales