Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the South West

Microsoft
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South West requiring knowledge or experience of Microsoft products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Microsoft over the 6 months leading up to 3 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the Microsoft Corporation.

6 months to
3 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 5 5
Rank change year-on-year -2 0 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 354 267 513
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 10.47% 15.63% 15.77%
As % of the Vendors category 34.95% 34.27% 38.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 239 168 337
10th Percentile £184 £184 £180
25th Percentile £316 £220 £308
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £431 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% -13.75% -4.76%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £594
90th Percentile £650 £670 £700
England median daily rate £500 £476 £488
% change year-on-year +5.04% -2.36% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 32 48
10th Percentile £13.65 £18.13 £12.50
25th Percentile £15.24 £18.43 £13.69
Median hourly rate £19.33 £18.87 £17.07
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% +10.58% -47.49%
75th Percentile £37.50 £33.19 £51.25
90th Percentile £65.00 £37.13 £65.00
England median hourly rate £20.69 £18.87 £15.00
% change year-on-year +9.64% +25.80% -30.23%

All Vendors
South West

Microsoft falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services in the South West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 1,013 779 1,322
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 29.95% 45.61% 40.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 581 475 844
10th Percentile £263 £213 £200
25th Percentile £381 £363 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £510 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% -
75th Percentile £588 £613 £638
90th Percentile £668 £675 £725
England median daily rate £505 £520 £515
% change year-on-year -2.88% +0.97% -2.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 164 81 186
10th Percentile £16.62 £18.13 £13.77
25th Percentile £20.00 £18.87 £36.25
Median hourly rate £51.00 £32.50 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +56.92% -31.58% -20.83%
75th Percentile £58.75 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £71.05 £70.00 £76.25
England median hourly rate £32.50 £27.13 £23.80
% change year-on-year +19.82% +13.97% -39.01%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the South West

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the South West over the 6 months to 3 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the South West

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the South West over the 6 months to 3 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the South West

Microsoft
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 Microsoft within the South West region over the 6 months to 3 June 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 -8 92 £494 +110.11% 112
Gloucestershire +4 70 £400 +43.88% 63
Wiltshire -2 67 £550 - 48
Somerset +1 60 £450 +60.71% 60
Devon 0 39 £310 -31.22% 22
Dorset -11 13 £409 -3.76% 51
Cornwall -6 2 £525 - 7
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
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 49 (13.84%) SharePoint
2 14 (3.95%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (1.13%) Confluence
4 2 (0.56%) Apache
4 2 (0.56%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.56%) Oracle Workflow
4 2 (0.56%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.28%) Appian
5 1 (0.28%) CMS
5 1 (0.28%) IIS
5 1 (0.28%) Umbraco
Applications
1 47 (13.28%) Microsoft Excel
2 43 (12.15%) Microsoft Office
3 23 (6.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (3.39%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (1.41%) Spreadsheet
6 4 (1.13%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.85%) Adobe Captivate
7 3 (0.85%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.56%) InDesign
8 2 (0.56%) InfoPath
9 1 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.28%) PTC Creo
9 1 (0.28%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 12 (3.39%) NetSuite
2 8 (2.26%) Oracle Payables
2 8 (2.26%) Oracle Receivables
3 5 (1.41%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (1.41%) Maximo
4 2 (0.56%) assyst
4 2 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.56%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
5 1 (0.28%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.28%) SAP Hybris
5 1 (0.28%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 130 (36.72%) Azure
2 70 (19.77%) Microsoft 365
3 48 (13.56%) Power Platform
4 31 (8.76%) Entra ID
5 26 (7.34%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (5.93%) AWS
7 18 (5.08%) Dynamics 365
7 18 (5.08%) GitHub
8 17 (4.80%) Power Automate
9 13 (3.67%) PowerApps
10 12 (3.39%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 11 (3.11%) Azure Data Factory
11 11 (3.11%) SaaS
12 9 (2.54%) GCP
12 9 (2.54%) PaaS
13 8 (2.26%) Azure Monitor
13 8 (2.26%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (2.26%) Cloud Computing
14 7 (1.98%) Azure AKS
15 6 (1.69%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 17 (4.80%) VPN
2 14 (3.95%) Firewall
3 11 (3.11%) DHCP
3 11 (3.11%) DNS
4 8 (2.26%) TCP/IP
5 7 (1.98%) Skype
6 6 (1.69%) Ethernet
7 4 (1.13%) WAN
8 3 (0.85%) LAN
8 3 (0.85%) VoIP
8 3 (0.85%) Wi-Fi
8 3 (0.85%) Wireless
9 2 (0.56%) Cisco IOS
9 2 (0.56%) H.323
9 2 (0.56%) Network Security
9 2 (0.56%) RTP
9 2 (0.56%) SAN
9 2 (0.56%) Unified Communications
9 2 (0.56%) VLAN
10 1 (0.28%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (9.60%) Power BI
2 17 (4.80%) SQL Server
3 7 (1.98%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (1.69%) Relational Database
5 4 (1.13%) Azure SQL Database
5 4 (1.13%) Data Warehouse
5 4 (1.13%) Delta Lake
5 4 (1.13%) GIS
5 4 (1.13%) Metadata
5 4 (1.13%) MySQL
5 4 (1.13%) Redis
5 4 (1.13%) Star Schema
6 3 (0.85%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.85%) Power Query
7 2 (0.56%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.56%) Spatial Data
7 2 (0.56%) Tableau
8 1 (0.28%) Amazon RDS
8 1 (0.28%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 23 (6.50%) JIRA
2 9 (2.54%) Visual Studio
3 6 (1.69%) AdminStudio
3 6 (1.69%) Eclipse
3 6 (1.69%) Git
3 6 (1.69%) InstallShield
4 4 (1.13%) GitLab
4 4 (1.13%) Visual Studio Code
5 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.28%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.28%) HP UFT
5 1 (0.28%) MSI
5 1 (0.28%) Selenium
5 1 (0.28%) webpack
General
1 137 (38.70%) Social Skills
2 51 (14.41%) Analytical Skills
3 46 (12.99%) Finance
4 32 (9.04%) Organisational Skills
5 30 (8.47%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.50%) Military
7 16 (4.52%) Legal
8 10 (2.82%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (2.54%) General Ledger
10 8 (2.26%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.98%) Marketing
12 5 (1.41%) Aerospace
12 5 (1.41%) Local Government
12 5 (1.41%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.41%) Police
12 5 (1.41%) Retail
13 4 (1.13%) Back Office
14 2 (0.56%) Advertising
14 2 (0.56%) Banking
14 2 (0.56%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 39 (11.02%) Architect
2 33 (9.32%) Support Engineer
3 27 (7.63%) Consultant
4 25 (7.06%) Developer
5 24 (6.78%) Lead
6 23 (6.50%) Analyst
7 20 (5.65%) Administrator
8 19 (5.37%) Data Engineer
9 18 (5.08%) Desktop Support
9 18 (5.08%) Senior
10 17 (4.80%) Desktop Engineer
10 17 (4.80%) Desktop Support Engineer
11 16 (4.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 15 (4.24%) IT Support
12 15 (4.24%) Project Officer
13 13 (3.67%) Azure Engineer
14 12 (3.39%) DevOps Engineer
15 11 (3.11%) Solutions Architect
16 10 (2.82%) Project Support Officer
16 10 (2.82%) Support Officer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (5.08%) .NET
2 13 (3.67%) REST
3 11 (3.11%) Web Services
4 9 (2.54%) .NET Framework
5 8 (2.26%) JDO
6 6 (1.69%) ARM Templates
6 6 (1.69%) HTML
6 6 (1.69%) Node.js
6 6 (1.69%) SailPoint
7 5 (1.41%) CSS
7 5 (1.41%) JSON
8 4 (1.13%) CSS3
8 4 (1.13%) HTML5
8 4 (1.13%) LDAP
8 4 (1.13%) OAuth
8 4 (1.13%) OpenID
8 4 (1.13%) SOAP
8 4 (1.13%) Spring
8 4 (1.13%) Spring MVC
8 4 (1.13%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 21 (5.93%) Hybrid Cloud
2 14 (3.95%) Blackberry
2 14 (3.95%) Cloud Native
2 14 (3.95%) Enterprise Software
2 14 (3.95%) Product Ownership
3 13 (3.67%) Onboarding
4 11 (3.11%) Self-Motivation
5 10 (2.82%) Management Information System
5 10 (2.82%) Virtual Team
6 8 (2.26%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.26%) Legacy Applications
6 8 (2.26%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (1.98%) Driving Licence
8 4 (1.13%) Augmented Reality
8 4 (1.13%) Freedom of Information
8 4 (1.13%) Low-Code
8 4 (1.13%) Virtual Reality
8 4 (1.13%) Wiki
9 3 (0.85%) CCTV
9 3 (0.85%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 99 (27.97%) Windows
2 32 (9.04%) Windows 10
3 28 (7.91%) Android
4 20 (5.65%) Windows Server
5 17 (4.80%) Apple iOS
6 16 (4.52%) Linux
7 4 (1.13%) Mac OS
7 4 (1.13%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (23.45%) Problem-Solving
2 52 (14.69%) Agile
3 44 (12.43%) Continuous Improvement
4 42 (11.86%) DevOps
5 41 (11.58%) Stakeholder Management
6 40 (11.30%) ITIL
7 38 (10.73%) Analytics
8 34 (9.60%) CI/CD
9 31 (8.76%) Project Delivery
9 31 (8.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 30 (8.47%) Migration
11 29 (8.19%) PRINCE2
11 29 (8.19%) Project Management
12 26 (7.34%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 25 (7.06%) Change Management
14 24 (6.78%) Customer Service
14 24 (6.78%) Data Modelling
15 23 (6.50%) Business Intelligence
15 23 (6.50%) Decision-Making
16 20 (5.65%) RBAC
Programming Languages
1 41 (11.58%) SQL
2 40 (11.30%) PowerShell
3 26 (7.34%) Python
4 19 (5.37%) JavaScript
5 17 (4.80%) C#
6 13 (3.67%) Java
7 10 (2.82%) Bicep
8 7 (1.98%) C++
9 4 (1.13%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (1.13%) Go
10 3 (0.85%) BeanShell
10 3 (0.85%) PHP
10 3 (0.85%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.56%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.56%) VBA
12 1 (0.28%) Bash
12 1 (0.28%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.28%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.28%) VB
Qualifications
1 154 (43.50%) Security Cleared
2 119 (33.62%) SC Cleared
3 43 (12.15%) DV Cleared
4 34 (9.60%) Degree
5 20 (5.65%) Microsoft Certification
6 19 (5.37%) Azure Certification
7 10 (2.82%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 9 (2.54%) PMP
9 8 (2.26%) ACCA
9 8 (2.26%) CIMA
10 7 (1.98%) CISSP
11 6 (1.69%) BPSS Clearance
12 5 (1.41%) CISM
12 5 (1.41%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 4 (1.13%) Computer Science Degree
14 3 (0.85%) ACSP
14 3 (0.85%) ITIL Certification
15 2 (0.56%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 2 (0.56%) CBAP
15 2 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (4.52%) Data Quality
2 9 (2.54%) PMO
2 9 (2.54%) SLA
3 8 (2.26%) Accessibility
3 8 (2.26%) GDPR
4 7 (1.98%) NIST
5 6 (1.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 6 (1.69%) QA
6 5 (1.41%) NIST 800
7 2 (0.56%) HL7
7 2 (0.56%) SNOMED CT
8 1 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
8 1 (0.28%) GRC
8 1 (0.28%) ISO 22301
8 1 (0.28%) ISO 9000
8 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 74 (20.90%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.95%) Hyper-V
3 11 (3.11%) Virtual Desktop
4 8 (2.26%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (1.98%) Docker
6 3 (0.85%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.28%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.28%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 44 (12.43%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (6.78%) Terraform
3 15 (4.24%) Kubernetes
4 13 (3.67%) SCCM
5 12 (3.39%) Single Sign-On
6 7 (1.98%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 7 (1.98%) Ansible
7 4 (1.13%) Grafana
7 4 (1.13%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.85%) VxRail
9 2 (0.56%) Cisco CUCM
9 2 (0.56%) McAfee ePO
10 1 (0.28%) CA Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.28%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.28%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 1 (0.28%) Puppet
10 1 (0.28%) SCOM
10 1 (0.28%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.28%) WSUS
Vendors
1 30 (8.47%) VMware
2 16 (4.52%) Citrix
2 16 (4.52%) Oracle
3 14 (3.95%) MobileIron
3 14 (3.95%) SAP
4 12 (3.39%) Apple
5 11 (3.11%) Google
5 11 (3.11%) ServiceNow
6 9 (2.54%) Adobe
6 9 (2.54%) Databricks
7 8 (2.26%) McAfee
8 7 (1.98%) HP
8 7 (1.98%) NetApp
8 7 (1.98%) Starlink
9 6 (1.69%) Cisco
9 6 (1.69%) Red Hat
10 5 (1.41%) Dell
10 5 (1.41%) IBM
10 5 (1.41%) InterSystems
11 3 (0.85%) Freshdesk