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 4 August 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
4 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 5 5
Rank change year-on-year 0 0 +3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 427 273 445
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 12.03% 14.35% 15.74%
As % of the Vendors category 36.81% 33.87% 35.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 274 160 294
10th Percentile £226 £200 £180
25th Percentile £368 £235 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £430 £500
Median % change year-on-year +9.30% -14.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £729 £641 £720
England median daily rate £490 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +3.16% -4.52% -0.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 42 35
10th Percentile £13.65 £18.13 £13.69
25th Percentile £14.09 £18.51 £21.38
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.87 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -60.27% +90.00%
75th Percentile £25.75 £30.69 £65.00
90th Percentile £63.88 £37.13 £77.00
England median hourly rate £23.08 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year +1.99% +39.43% -27.87%

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 1,160 806 1,241
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 32.68% 42.38% 43.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 686 471 797
10th Percentile £300 £220 £225
25th Percentile £401 £363 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -
75th Percentile £600 £625 £638
90th Percentile £702 £688 £700
England median daily rate £511 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +0.10% -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 158 100 151
10th Percentile £14.32 £14.31 £23.63
25th Percentile £17.75 £18.51 £43.75
Median hourly rate £39.50 £22.63 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +74.55% -65.18% +15.06%
75th Percentile £58.75 £65.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £76.75 £70.00 £77.50
England median hourly rate £35.53 £25.15 £29.00
% change year-on-year +41.27% -13.28% -26.77%

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 4 August 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 4 August 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 4 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
Bristol -3 116 £500 +40.85% 108
Somerset -1 84 £460 +64.11% 70
Gloucestershire +1 77 £410 +47.48% 80
Wiltshire +4 75 £550 - 44
Devon -1 38 £385 -16.30% 51
Dorset -2 24 £515 +21.18% 35
Cornwall -3 2 £525 - 2
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 62 (14.52%) SharePoint
2 20 (4.68%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (3.75%) Confluence
4 4 (0.94%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.70%) CMS
6 2 (0.47%) Apache
6 2 (0.47%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.23%) Appian
7 1 (0.23%) ColdFusion
7 1 (0.23%) IIS
7 1 (0.23%) JBoss
7 1 (0.23%) Moodle
7 1 (0.23%) Palantir Foundry
7 1 (0.23%) Sitecore CMS
7 1 (0.23%) Totara
7 1 (0.23%) Umbraco
Applications
1 63 (14.75%) Microsoft Excel
2 54 (12.65%) Microsoft Office
3 26 (6.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 20 (4.68%) Microsoft Project
5 10 (2.34%) Spreadsheet
6 9 (2.11%) MS Visio
7 2 (0.47%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.47%) InfoPath
8 1 (0.23%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 10 (2.34%) NetSuite
2 8 (1.87%) Oracle Payables
2 8 (1.87%) Oracle Receivables
3 6 (1.41%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.70%) Dynamics NAV
5 2 (0.47%) assyst
5 2 (0.47%) Dynamics AX
5 2 (0.47%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.23%) Magento
6 1 (0.23%) Oracle General Ledger
6 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.23%) SAP CRM
6 1 (0.23%) SAP Hybris
6 1 (0.23%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 159 (37.24%) Azure
2 96 (22.48%) Microsoft 365
3 47 (11.01%) Entra ID
3 47 (11.01%) Power Platform
4 30 (7.03%) AWS
5 27 (6.32%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (5.39%) GitHub
7 21 (4.92%) Dynamics 365
8 14 (3.28%) SaaS
9 13 (3.04%) Azure Key Vault
9 13 (3.04%) Power Automate
10 12 (2.81%) Serverless
11 11 (2.58%) PaaS
11 11 (2.58%) PowerApps
12 9 (2.11%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 9 (2.11%) Cloud Computing
13 8 (1.87%) Azure Monitor
13 8 (1.87%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.87%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 8 (1.87%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 17 (3.98%) WAN
2 16 (3.75%) DNS
3 15 (3.51%) Firewall
4 10 (2.34%) DHCP
4 10 (2.34%) TCP/IP
4 10 (2.34%) VPN
5 9 (2.11%) Skype
6 8 (1.87%) SAN
7 7 (1.64%) Ethernet
8 6 (1.41%) LAN
9 5 (1.17%) BGP
9 5 (1.17%) VoIP
9 5 (1.17%) Wi-Fi
10 3 (0.70%) VLAN
11 2 (0.47%) NAS
11 2 (0.47%) SSL
12 1 (0.23%) HTTP
12 1 (0.23%) SMTP
12 1 (0.23%) Wireless
12 1 (0.23%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (8.43%) Power BI
2 23 (5.39%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.04%) Geospatial Data
3 13 (3.04%) PostgreSQL
4 10 (2.34%) Metadata
5 8 (1.87%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (1.41%) GIS
6 6 (1.41%) Relational Database
7 5 (1.17%) Data Lake
7 5 (1.17%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.94%) Data Warehouse
9 3 (0.70%) MySQL
9 3 (0.70%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.70%) Redis
9 3 (0.70%) Star Schema
9 3 (0.70%) Tableau
10 2 (0.47%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.47%) Electronic Patient Records
10 2 (0.47%) Power Query
10 2 (0.47%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 38 (8.90%) JIRA
2 20 (4.68%) Git
3 12 (2.81%) MSI
4 10 (2.34%) Visual Studio
5 6 (1.41%) AdminStudio
5 6 (1.41%) Eclipse
5 6 (1.41%) GitLab
5 6 (1.41%) InstallShield
6 4 (0.94%) Visual Studio Code
7 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.23%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.23%) HP UFT
7 1 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.23%) Selenium
7 1 (0.23%) webpack
General
1 167 (39.11%) Social Skills
2 57 (13.35%) Analytical Skills
3 53 (12.41%) Finance
4 46 (10.77%) Public Sector
5 37 (8.67%) Organisational Skills
6 34 (7.96%) Military
7 16 (3.75%) Legal
8 13 (3.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (2.81%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (2.11%) General Ledger
10 9 (2.11%) Local Government
11 8 (1.87%) Aerospace
11 8 (1.87%) Presentation Skills
11 8 (1.87%) Retail
12 6 (1.41%) Marketing
13 5 (1.17%) Manufacturing
14 3 (0.70%) Aviation
14 3 (0.70%) Influencing Skills
15 2 (0.47%) Advertising
15 2 (0.47%) Police
Job Titles
1 57 (13.35%) Architect
2 47 (11.01%) Lead
3 38 (8.90%) Developer
4 36 (8.43%) Consultant
5 29 (6.79%) Support Engineer
6 27 (6.32%) Senior
7 25 (5.85%) Analyst
8 20 (4.68%) Administrator
9 19 (4.45%) IT Support
9 19 (4.45%) Project Officer
10 15 (3.51%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 14 (3.28%) Data Engineer
11 14 (3.28%) Desktop Support
11 14 (3.28%) IT Engineer
11 14 (3.28%) Solutions Architect
11 14 (3.28%) Technical Architect
12 12 (2.81%) Azure Consultant
12 12 (2.81%) DBA
13 11 (2.58%) .NET Developer
13 11 (2.58%) Microsoft Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (8.20%) .NET
2 25 (5.85%) .NET Framework
3 24 (5.62%) REST
4 18 (4.22%) .NET Core
4 18 (4.22%) HTML
5 16 (3.75%) RESTful
6 15 (3.51%) CSS
7 14 (3.28%) CSS3
7 14 (3.28%) GeoJSON
7 14 (3.28%) HTML5
8 12 (2.81%) ATL
8 12 (2.81%) COM
8 12 (2.81%) MFC
9 11 (2.58%) WPF
10 9 (2.11%) Web Services
11 8 (1.87%) SailPoint
12 7 (1.64%) JDO
13 6 (1.41%) JSON
13 6 (1.41%) LDAP
13 6 (1.41%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 33 (7.73%) Onboarding
2 28 (6.56%) Cloud Native
3 19 (4.45%) Legacy Systems
3 19 (4.45%) Product Ownership
4 15 (3.51%) Virtual Team
5 12 (2.81%) Hybrid Cloud
6 11 (2.58%) Blackberry
6 11 (2.58%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (2.58%) Management Information System
6 11 (2.58%) Self-Motivation
7 7 (1.64%) Driving Licence
7 7 (1.64%) Wiki
8 6 (1.41%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.41%) EPoS
8 6 (1.41%) Legacy Applications
8 6 (1.41%) Low-Code
9 5 (1.17%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.17%) Freedom of Information
10 4 (0.94%) AI Agents
10 4 (0.94%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 110 (25.76%) Windows
2 41 (9.60%) Windows 10
3 30 (7.03%) Android
4 19 (4.45%) Linux
5 18 (4.22%) Windows Server
6 14 (3.28%) Apple iOS
7 6 (1.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.70%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.47%) VMS
9 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.23%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (21.78%) Problem-Solving
2 70 (16.39%) Agile
3 66 (15.46%) Continuous Improvement
4 61 (14.29%) Stakeholder Management
5 50 (11.71%) DevOps
5 50 (11.71%) Project Delivery
6 49 (11.48%) CI/CD
7 44 (10.30%) Migration
8 39 (9.13%) ITIL
9 38 (8.90%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 37 (8.67%) PRINCE2
11 36 (8.43%) Project Management
12 35 (8.20%) Technical Leadership
13 33 (7.73%) Decision-Making
14 32 (7.49%) Customer Service
15 30 (7.03%) Infrastructure as Code
16 29 (6.79%) Analytics
16 29 (6.79%) Roadmaps
17 26 (6.09%) Knowledge Transfer
18 25 (5.85%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 51 (11.94%) SQL
2 37 (8.67%) Python
3 34 (7.96%) C#
4 30 (7.03%) PowerShell
5 28 (6.56%) JavaScript
6 16 (3.75%) Bicep
7 14 (3.28%) Java
8 12 (2.81%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.87%) C++
10 5 (1.17%) Bash
10 5 (1.17%) BeanShell
10 5 (1.17%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.70%) Go
12 2 (0.47%) VB
13 1 (0.23%) C
13 1 (0.23%) PHP
13 1 (0.23%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.23%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.23%) VBA
13 1 (0.23%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 191 (44.73%) Security Cleared
2 138 (32.32%) SC Cleared
3 54 (12.65%) DV Cleared
4 35 (8.20%) Degree
5 16 (3.75%) Microsoft Certification
6 15 (3.51%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (2.58%) Azure Certification
8 10 (2.34%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 9 (2.11%) PMP
10 8 (1.87%) ACCA
10 8 (1.87%) CIMA
11 5 (1.17%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.17%) DBS Check
12 3 (0.70%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 3 (0.70%) ACSP
12 3 (0.70%) CISSP
13 2 (0.47%) A+ Certification
13 2 (0.47%) CCNA
13 2 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
13 2 (0.47%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (4.68%) Data Quality
2 17 (3.98%) Accessibility
3 16 (3.75%) PMO
4 14 (3.28%) QA
5 13 (3.04%) NCSC
5 13 (3.04%) SLA
6 11 (2.58%) WCAG
7 9 (2.11%) GDPR
8 5 (1.17%) ISO 9000
9 3 (0.70%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.70%) Disclosure Scotland
10 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.47%) HL7
10 2 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 2 (0.47%) SNOMED CT
11 1 (0.23%) GRC
11 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
11 1 (0.23%) MIL-STD-1553
11 1 (0.23%) NIST
System Software
1 77 (18.03%) Active Directory
2 22 (5.15%) Docker
3 17 (3.98%) Virtual Desktop
4 12 (2.81%) Hyper-V
5 10 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (1.17%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.94%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.70%) vSphere
9 2 (0.47%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.23%) zsh
Systems Management
1 40 (9.37%) Microsoft Intune
2 36 (8.43%) Terraform
3 23 (5.39%) Kubernetes
4 22 (5.15%) SCCM
5 9 (2.11%) Single Sign-On
6 7 (1.64%) Ansible
7 5 (1.17%) FortiGate
7 5 (1.17%) Grafana
7 5 (1.17%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 5 (1.17%) WSUS
8 4 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 3 (0.70%) Failover Clustering
9 3 (0.70%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.47%) Argo
10 2 (0.47%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.23%) CA Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.23%) Podman
11 1 (0.23%) PTC Integrity
11 1 (0.23%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.23%) VxRail
Vendors
1 26 (6.09%) VMware
2 25 (5.85%) Oracle
3 15 (3.51%) ServiceNow
4 14 (3.28%) Apple
5 12 (2.81%) Citrix
6 11 (2.58%) Cisco
6 11 (2.58%) Google
6 11 (2.58%) McAfee
6 11 (2.58%) MobileIron
6 11 (2.58%) SAP
7 10 (2.34%) HP
8 9 (2.11%) Red Hat
9 8 (1.87%) Databricks
10 7 (1.64%) Starlink
11 6 (1.41%) BiZZdesign
12 5 (1.17%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.17%) Informatica
12 5 (1.17%) InterSystems
12 5 (1.17%) NetApp
12 5 (1.17%) Zscaler