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 27 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
27 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 5 5
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 387 262 504
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 10.89% 14.95% 15.32%
As % of the Vendors category 35.41% 33.68% 36.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 250 157 332
10th Percentile £205 £200 £180
25th Percentile £350 £220 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £425 £500
Median % change year-on-year +11.76% -15.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £599
90th Percentile £725 £650 £700
England median daily rate £500 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.62% -0.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 37 46
10th Percentile £13.65 £18.13 £12.50
25th Percentile £15.24 £18.51 £13.69
Median hourly rate £19.33 £18.87 £22.82
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -17.32% -13.88%
75th Percentile £37.50 £33.75 £51.25
90th Percentile £65.00 £37.50 £65.00
England median hourly rate £22.64 £22.32 £16.00
% change year-on-year +1.43% +39.47% -28.09%

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 1,093 778 1,379
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 30.75% 44.41% 41.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 632 465 876
10th Percentile £287 £216 £208
25th Percentile £400 £356 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £514 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.24% -2.38% -
75th Percentile £600 £619 £638
90th Percentile £700 £675 £724
England median daily rate £508 £513 £520
% change year-on-year -0.98% -1.44% -0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 164 88 193
10th Percentile £16.62 £18.13 £14.54
25th Percentile £19.72 £18.87 £37.50
Median hourly rate £51.00 £32.50 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year +56.92% -42.47% -5.85%
75th Percentile £58.75 £67.63 £70.00
90th Percentile £71.05 £70.00 £75.00
England median hourly rate £35.00 £27.13 £24.50
% change year-on-year +29.03% +10.71% -34.67%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -4 104 £500 +112.77% 63
Gloucestershire +2 70 £405 +45.68% 69
Somerset +1 70 £473 +68.75% 54
Wiltshire 0 70 £550 - 32
Devon 0 41 £310 -38.10% 27
Dorset -7 18 £409 -3.76% 35
Cornwall -4 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 50 (12.92%) SharePoint
2 14 (3.62%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (2.33%) Confluence
4 2 (0.52%) Apache
4 2 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.52%) Oracle Workflow
4 2 (0.52%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.26%) Appian
5 1 (0.26%) CMS
5 1 (0.26%) ColdFusion
5 1 (0.26%) IIS
5 1 (0.26%) Umbraco
Applications
1 50 (12.92%) Microsoft Excel
2 48 (12.40%) Microsoft Office
3 26 (6.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (2.84%) Microsoft Project
5 6 (1.55%) MS Visio
6 5 (1.29%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.78%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.52%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.52%) InfoPath
9 1 (0.26%) InDesign
9 1 (0.26%) PTC Creo
9 1 (0.26%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 12 (3.10%) NetSuite
2 8 (2.07%) Oracle Payables
2 8 (2.07%) Oracle Receivables
3 5 (1.29%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.52%) assyst
4 2 (0.52%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.52%) Maximo
4 2 (0.52%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.26%) Oracle General Ledger
5 1 (0.26%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.26%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.26%) SAP Hybris
5 1 (0.26%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 150 (38.76%) Azure
2 79 (20.41%) Microsoft 365
3 46 (11.89%) Power Platform
4 45 (11.63%) Entra ID
5 27 (6.98%) Azure DevOps
6 24 (6.20%) AWS
7 19 (4.91%) GitHub
8 18 (4.65%) Dynamics 365
9 14 (3.62%) Power Automate
10 13 (3.36%) SaaS
11 11 (2.84%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 11 (2.84%) Azure Key Vault
11 11 (2.84%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 10 (2.58%) Azure Monitor
12 10 (2.58%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (2.58%) PowerApps
12 10 (2.58%) Serverless
13 9 (2.33%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (2.33%) Cloud Computing
14 7 (1.81%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 17 (4.39%) DNS
1 17 (4.39%) Firewall
2 14 (3.62%) WAN
3 13 (3.36%) VPN
4 10 (2.58%) DHCP
5 9 (2.33%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.07%) SAN
7 7 (1.81%) Ethernet
7 7 (1.81%) Skype
8 6 (1.55%) VoIP
9 5 (1.29%) BGP
10 4 (1.03%) Wi-Fi
11 3 (0.78%) LAN
11 3 (0.78%) VLAN
12 2 (0.52%) NAS
12 2 (0.52%) Network Security
12 2 (0.52%) SSL
13 1 (0.26%) Unified Communications
13 1 (0.26%) WAAS
13 1 (0.26%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (8.79%) Power BI
2 24 (6.20%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.36%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (2.33%) Azure SQL Database
5 7 (1.81%) Geospatial Data
6 6 (1.55%) Relational Database
7 4 (1.03%) Data Lake
7 4 (1.03%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (1.03%) GIS
7 4 (1.03%) Metadata
7 4 (1.03%) MySQL
7 4 (1.03%) Oracle Database
7 4 (1.03%) Redis
7 4 (1.03%) Star Schema
8 3 (0.78%) Delta Lake
8 3 (0.78%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.52%) Electronic Patient Records
9 2 (0.52%) Power Query
9 2 (0.52%) Spatial Data
9 2 (0.52%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (7.24%) JIRA
2 11 (2.84%) Git
3 10 (2.58%) Visual Studio
4 6 (1.55%) AdminStudio
4 6 (1.55%) Eclipse
4 6 (1.55%) GitLab
4 6 (1.55%) InstallShield
4 6 (1.55%) MSI
5 4 (1.03%) Visual Studio Code
6 1 (0.26%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.26%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.26%) HP UFT
6 1 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.26%) Selenium
6 1 (0.26%) webpack
General
1 144 (37.21%) Social Skills
2 52 (13.44%) Analytical Skills
3 47 (12.14%) Finance
4 33 (8.53%) Organisational Skills
4 33 (8.53%) Public Sector
5 31 (8.01%) Military
6 16 (4.13%) Legal
7 14 (3.62%) Documentation Skills
8 10 (2.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (2.33%) General Ledger
10 8 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (1.55%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.55%) Marketing
12 5 (1.29%) Local Government
12 5 (1.29%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.29%) Retail
13 4 (1.03%) Police
14 3 (0.78%) Back Office
15 2 (0.52%) Banking
15 2 (0.52%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 50 (12.92%) Architect
2 37 (9.56%) Lead
3 35 (9.04%) Consultant
4 30 (7.75%) Developer
4 30 (7.75%) Support Engineer
5 23 (5.94%) Senior
6 22 (5.68%) Analyst
7 19 (4.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 18 (4.65%) Administrator
9 17 (4.39%) Data Engineer
10 14 (3.62%) IT Support
10 14 (3.62%) Project Officer
11 13 (3.36%) Desktop Support
11 13 (3.36%) IT Engineer
11 13 (3.36%) Solutions Architect
11 13 (3.36%) Technical Architect
12 12 (3.10%) Azure Consultant
12 12 (3.10%) Desktop Engineer
12 12 (3.10%) Desktop Support Engineer
13 11 (2.84%) DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.20%) .NET
2 15 (3.88%) REST
3 14 (3.62%) .NET Framework
4 11 (2.84%) HTML
5 10 (2.58%) CSS
5 10 (2.58%) RESTful
6 9 (2.33%) .NET Core
6 9 (2.33%) CSS3
6 9 (2.33%) HTML5
6 9 (2.33%) Web Services
7 8 (2.07%) GeoJSON
7 8 (2.07%) JDO
7 8 (2.07%) SailPoint
8 6 (1.55%) ATL
8 6 (1.55%) COM
8 6 (1.55%) LDAP
8 6 (1.55%) MFC
8 6 (1.55%) Node.js
9 5 (1.29%) JSON
9 5 (1.29%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 23 (5.94%) Onboarding
2 22 (5.68%) Cloud Native
3 16 (4.13%) Hybrid Cloud
3 16 (4.13%) Product Ownership
4 14 (3.62%) Blackberry
5 13 (3.36%) Enterprise Software
5 13 (3.36%) Legacy Systems
6 11 (2.84%) Management Information System
6 11 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
7 10 (2.58%) Virtual Team
8 8 (2.07%) Legacy Applications
9 7 (1.81%) Data Structures
9 7 (1.81%) Driving Licence
10 5 (1.29%) Data Centre
10 5 (1.29%) PKI
11 4 (1.03%) Clustering
11 4 (1.03%) Freedom of Information
11 4 (1.03%) Low-Code
11 4 (1.03%) Virtual Reality
11 4 (1.03%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 113 (29.20%) Windows
2 34 (8.79%) Windows 10
3 30 (7.75%) Android
4 24 (6.20%) Windows Server
5 18 (4.65%) Linux
6 17 (4.39%) Apple iOS
7 5 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.78%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (23.00%) Problem-Solving
2 58 (14.99%) Agile
3 54 (13.95%) Continuous Improvement
4 48 (12.40%) Stakeholder Management
5 44 (11.37%) DevOps
6 38 (9.82%) CI/CD
7 37 (9.56%) Analytics
7 37 (9.56%) ITIL
8 36 (9.30%) Migration
8 36 (9.30%) Project Delivery
9 33 (8.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 30 (7.75%) Decision-Making
11 29 (7.49%) PRINCE2
12 27 (6.98%) Technical Leadership
13 26 (6.72%) Project Management
13 26 (6.72%) Roadmaps
14 25 (6.46%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 25 (6.46%) Validation
15 23 (5.94%) Customer Service
16 22 (5.68%) RBAC
Programming Languages
1 52 (13.44%) SQL
2 34 (8.79%) PowerShell
3 28 (7.24%) Python
4 23 (5.94%) C#
5 22 (5.68%) JavaScript
6 16 (4.13%) Java
7 12 (3.10%) Bicep
8 8 (2.07%) C++
9 6 (1.55%) TypeScript
10 5 (1.29%) BeanShell
11 4 (1.03%) Go
12 3 (0.78%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 2 (0.52%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.52%) VBA
14 1 (0.26%) Ada
14 1 (0.26%) Ada 95
14 1 (0.26%) Bash
14 1 (0.26%) Kusto Query Language
14 1 (0.26%) PHP
14 1 (0.26%) VB
Qualifications
1 167 (43.15%) Security Cleared
2 119 (30.75%) SC Cleared
3 53 (13.70%) DV Cleared
4 34 (8.79%) Degree
5 18 (4.65%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (3.62%) Azure Certification
7 10 (2.58%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 9 (2.33%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (2.33%) PMP
9 8 (2.07%) ACCA
9 8 (2.07%) CIMA
10 5 (1.29%) CISSP
11 3 (0.78%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 3 (0.78%) ACSP
11 3 (0.78%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (0.78%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
12 2 (0.52%) CBAP
12 2 (0.52%) DBS Check
12 2 (0.52%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (4.39%) Data Quality
2 12 (3.10%) Accessibility
2 12 (3.10%) QA
3 11 (2.84%) SLA
4 10 (2.58%) PMO
5 7 (1.81%) GDPR
5 7 (1.81%) NCSC
6 5 (1.29%) WCAG
7 4 (1.03%) ISO 9000
7 4 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 3 (0.78%) NIST
9 2 (0.52%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.52%) HL7
9 2 (0.52%) NIST 800
9 2 (0.52%) SNOMED CT
10 1 (0.26%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.26%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.26%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 78 (20.16%) Active Directory
2 17 (4.39%) Virtual Desktop
3 14 (3.62%) Hyper-V
4 12 (3.10%) Docker
5 10 (2.58%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (1.29%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.78%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.78%) vSphere
8 1 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 44 (11.37%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (8.01%) Terraform
3 18 (4.65%) Kubernetes
4 15 (3.88%) Single Sign-On
5 14 (3.62%) SCCM
6 7 (1.81%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 7 (1.81%) Ansible
7 5 (1.29%) FortiGate
7 5 (1.29%) WSUS
8 4 (1.03%) Grafana
8 4 (1.03%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 4 (1.03%) Prometheus
8 4 (1.03%) VxRail
9 3 (0.78%) Failover Clustering
10 2 (0.52%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.26%) CA Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.26%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.26%) Puppet
11 1 (0.26%) SCOM
11 1 (0.26%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 33 (8.53%) VMware
2 23 (5.94%) Oracle
3 15 (3.88%) Citrix
4 14 (3.62%) MobileIron
4 14 (3.62%) SAP
5 13 (3.36%) Apple
6 12 (3.10%) ServiceNow
7 11 (2.84%) McAfee
8 10 (2.58%) Cisco
9 9 (2.33%) HP
10 8 (2.07%) Google
11 7 (1.81%) Adobe
11 7 (1.81%) Databricks
11 7 (1.81%) Red Hat
11 7 (1.81%) Starlink
12 6 (1.55%) BiZZdesign
12 6 (1.55%) Dell
13 5 (1.29%) CyberArk
13 5 (1.29%) NetApp
13 5 (1.29%) Zscaler