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 2 May 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
2 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 6 5
Rank change year-on-year -1 -1 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 329 254 508
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 9.98% 15.07% 15.92%
As % of the Vendors category 32.38% 33.20% 39.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 240 175 334
10th Percentile £180 £191 £175
25th Percentile £318 £220 £280
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £470 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.26% -6.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £575 £592 £575
90th Percentile £653 £681 £688
England median daily rate £493 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +3.68% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 21 48
10th Percentile £13.65 - £12.50
25th Percentile £14.00 £18.13 £13.69
Median hourly rate £20.80 £18.51 £15.95
Median % change year-on-year +12.36% +16.09% -50.94%
75th Percentile £37.50 £25.00 £51.25
90th Percentile £65.00 £37.50 £65.00
England median hourly rate £20.09 £18.85 £15.00
% change year-on-year +6.58% +25.67% -31.03%

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 1,016 765 1,286
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 30.83% 45.40% 40.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 648 495 817
10th Percentile £263 £220 £185
25th Percentile £400 £397 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £513
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £738 £688 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £520
% change year-on-year -4.76% +0.96% -2.99%
Number of hourly rates quoted 145 65 174
10th Percentile £16.62 £18.13 £13.69
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.51 £29.69
Median hourly rate £57.50 £36.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +59.72% -24.21% -24.60%
75th Percentile £58.75 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £73.41 £70.00 £77.50
England median hourly rate £30.63 £27.13 £22.50
% change year-on-year +12.90% +20.56% -43.75%

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 2 May 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 2 May 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 2 May 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
Wiltshire -2 74 £525 -4.55% 27
Bristol -17 73 £500 +52.67% 66
Gloucestershire +1 69 £400 -5.88% 48
Somerset 0 56 £450 +21.62% 45
Devon +2 36 £310 -9.64% 39
Dorset -18 9 £409 -13.89% 34
Cornwall -8 1 £525 - 4
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 44 (13.37%) SharePoint
2 14 (4.26%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (1.22%) Confluence
4 2 (0.61%) Apache
4 2 (0.61%) Oracle Workflow
4 2 (0.61%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.30%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.30%) Appian
5 1 (0.30%) CMS
5 1 (0.30%) IIS
5 1 (0.30%) Umbraco
Applications
1 50 (15.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 44 (13.37%) Microsoft Office
3 23 (6.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (3.34%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (2.13%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (1.82%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.91%) Adobe Captivate
7 3 (0.91%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.61%) InDesign
8 2 (0.61%) InfoPath
9 1 (0.30%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.30%) PTC Creo
9 1 (0.30%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 7 (2.13%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.82%) Maximo
2 6 (1.82%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.61%) assyst
3 2 (0.61%) Dynamics AX
3 2 (0.61%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.61%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.61%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
4 1 (0.30%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 116 (35.26%) Azure
2 66 (20.06%) Microsoft 365
3 48 (14.59%) Power Platform
4 28 (8.51%) Azure DevOps
5 27 (8.21%) Entra ID
6 21 (6.38%) Dynamics 365
7 19 (5.78%) AWS
8 18 (5.47%) GitHub
9 16 (4.86%) Power Automate
10 13 (3.95%) PowerApps
11 12 (3.65%) Azure Monitor
11 12 (3.65%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (3.04%) Azure AKS
12 10 (3.04%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 10 (3.04%) PaaS
13 9 (2.74%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (2.74%) GCP
13 9 (2.74%) SaaS
14 8 (2.43%) Serverless
15 6 (1.82%) Azure ExpressRoute
Communications & Networking
1 20 (6.08%) VPN
2 18 (5.47%) Firewall
3 13 (3.95%) DNS
4 11 (3.34%) DHCP
5 6 (1.82%) TCP/IP
6 5 (1.52%) Skype
7 4 (1.22%) Ethernet
7 4 (1.22%) WAN
8 3 (0.91%) LAN
8 3 (0.91%) Network Security
8 3 (0.91%) Unified Communications
8 3 (0.91%) VLAN
8 3 (0.91%) VoIP
8 3 (0.91%) Wi-Fi
8 3 (0.91%) Wireless
9 2 (0.61%) Cisco IOS
9 2 (0.61%) H.323
9 2 (0.61%) HTTP
9 2 (0.61%) RTP
10 1 (0.30%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (10.33%) Power BI
2 13 (3.95%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.52%) Relational Database
4 4 (1.22%) Azure SQL Database
4 4 (1.22%) Data Warehouse
4 4 (1.22%) Delta Lake
4 4 (1.22%) Metadata
4 4 (1.22%) MySQL
4 4 (1.22%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (1.22%) Redis
4 4 (1.22%) Star Schema
5 3 (0.91%) GIS
5 3 (0.91%) Power Query
6 2 (0.61%) Data Lake
6 2 (0.61%) Electronic Patient Records
6 2 (0.61%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.61%) Spatial Data
6 2 (0.61%) Tableau
7 1 (0.30%) Snowflake Schema
7 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 27 (8.21%) JIRA
2 7 (2.13%) Git
3 6 (1.82%) Visual Studio
4 4 (1.22%) AdminStudio
4 4 (1.22%) Eclipse
4 4 (1.22%) GitLab
4 4 (1.22%) InstallShield
4 4 (1.22%) Visual Studio Code
5 3 (0.91%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.61%) MSI
7 1 (0.30%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.30%) HP UFT
7 1 (0.30%) Selenium
7 1 (0.30%) webpack
General
1 135 (41.03%) Social Skills
2 52 (15.81%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (12.46%) Finance
4 32 (9.73%) Public Sector
5 31 (9.42%) Organisational Skills
6 23 (6.99%) Military
7 16 (4.86%) Legal
8 13 (3.95%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (2.43%) Presentation Skills
10 7 (2.13%) Marketing
11 6 (1.82%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.52%) Police
13 4 (1.22%) Back Office
13 4 (1.22%) Banking
13 4 (1.22%) Local Government
14 3 (0.91%) General Ledger
15 2 (0.61%) Electronics
15 2 (0.61%) Investment Banking
15 2 (0.61%) Telecoms
16 1 (0.30%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 44 (13.37%) Architect
2 29 (8.81%) Support Engineer
3 28 (8.51%) Developer
4 24 (7.29%) Analyst
5 19 (5.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 18 (5.47%) Administrator
7 17 (5.17%) Data Engineer
7 17 (5.17%) Desktop Support
7 17 (5.17%) Project Officer
7 17 (5.17%) Senior
8 16 (4.86%) Desktop Engineer
8 16 (4.86%) Desktop Support Engineer
8 16 (4.86%) Lead
9 14 (4.26%) Azure Engineer
9 14 (4.26%) Solutions Architect
10 13 (3.95%) IT Support
11 11 (3.34%) Project Support Officer
11 11 (3.34%) Support Officer
12 10 (3.04%) Consultant
12 10 (3.04%) DevOps Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (5.47%) .NET
2 13 (3.95%) REST
3 11 (3.34%) ARM Templates
4 9 (2.74%) .NET Framework
4 9 (2.74%) OAuth
5 8 (2.43%) JDO
5 8 (2.43%) OAuth2
5 8 (2.43%) SAML
6 7 (2.13%) Web Services
7 6 (1.82%) JSON
7 6 (1.82%) OpenID
8 5 (1.52%) CSS
8 5 (1.52%) HTML
9 4 (1.22%) CSS3
9 4 (1.22%) Flask
9 4 (1.22%) HTML5
9 4 (1.22%) React
9 4 (1.22%) Spring
9 4 (1.22%) Spring Boot
9 4 (1.22%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 19 (5.78%) Hybrid Cloud
2 16 (4.86%) Cloud Native
3 14 (4.26%) Blackberry
3 14 (4.26%) Product Ownership
4 11 (3.34%) Enterprise Software
4 11 (3.34%) Management Information System
5 10 (3.04%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.04%) Self-Motivation
6 8 (2.43%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.43%) Legacy Systems
6 8 (2.43%) Virtual Team
7 6 (1.82%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.82%) Legacy Applications
8 5 (1.52%) Low-Code
9 4 (1.22%) Freedom of Information
9 4 (1.22%) Wiki
10 3 (0.91%) Data Centre
10 3 (0.91%) Mobile App
10 3 (0.91%) PKI
11 2 (0.61%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 100 (30.40%) Windows
2 29 (8.81%) Windows 10
3 24 (7.29%) Windows Server
4 23 (6.99%) Android
5 16 (4.86%) Linux
6 15 (4.56%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.22%) Windows Server 2016
8 3 (0.91%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.61%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.30%) CentOS
10 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (24.01%) Problem-Solving
2 49 (14.89%) Agile
3 39 (11.85%) DevOps
4 38 (11.55%) Continuous Improvement
5 37 (11.25%) Analytics
5 37 (11.25%) ITIL
6 34 (10.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 33 (10.03%) CI/CD
8 31 (9.42%) Stakeholder Management
9 30 (9.12%) Migration
9 30 (9.12%) Project Management
10 29 (8.81%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 29 (8.81%) Project Delivery
11 24 (7.29%) Business Intelligence
11 24 (7.29%) Data Modelling
12 23 (6.99%) Customer Service
12 23 (6.99%) PRINCE2
13 22 (6.69%) Change Management
14 20 (6.08%) Collaborative Working
14 20 (6.08%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 43 (13.07%) PowerShell
2 36 (10.94%) SQL
3 28 (8.51%) Python
4 20 (6.08%) JavaScript
5 16 (4.86%) C#
6 14 (4.26%) Bicep
7 10 (3.04%) Java
8 5 (1.52%) C++
9 4 (1.22%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (1.22%) Go
9 4 (1.22%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.91%) PHP
10 3 (0.91%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.61%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.61%) VBA
12 1 (0.30%) Bash
12 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.30%) VB
Qualifications
1 161 (48.94%) Security Cleared
2 119 (36.17%) SC Cleared
3 50 (15.20%) DV Cleared
4 35 (10.64%) Degree
5 25 (7.60%) Microsoft Certification
6 21 (6.38%) Azure Certification
7 9 (2.74%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 7 (2.13%) CISSP
9 6 (1.82%) CISM
9 6 (1.82%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 5 (1.52%) BPSS Clearance
11 3 (0.91%) APMP
11 3 (0.91%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (0.91%) ITIL Certification
11 3 (0.91%) PMP
12 2 (0.61%) ACCA
12 2 (0.61%) CBAP
12 2 (0.61%) CIMA
12 2 (0.61%) MCSE
12 2 (0.61%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (5.17%) Data Quality
2 11 (3.34%) PMO
3 8 (2.43%) Accessibility
3 8 (2.43%) GDPR
3 8 (2.43%) NIST
4 7 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 6 (1.82%) NIST 800
6 3 (0.91%) QA
6 3 (0.91%) SLA
7 2 (0.61%) HL7
7 2 (0.61%) SNOMED CT
8 1 (0.30%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.30%) GRC
8 1 (0.30%) ISO 22301
8 1 (0.30%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.30%) NCSC
System Software
1 76 (23.10%) Active Directory
2 13 (3.95%) Hyper-V
3 10 (3.04%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (2.74%) Docker
5 6 (1.82%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.91%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.91%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.30%) KVM
7 1 (0.30%) UAG
7 1 (0.30%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.30%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.30%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 41 (12.46%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (9.12%) Terraform
3 19 (5.78%) Kubernetes
4 17 (5.17%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (3.34%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 10 (3.04%) SCCM
7 8 (2.43%) Ansible
8 4 (1.22%) Grafana
8 4 (1.22%) Prometheus
9 3 (0.91%) VxRail
10 2 (0.61%) Cisco CUCM
10 2 (0.61%) McAfee ePO
10 2 (0.61%) Puppet
10 2 (0.61%) WSUS
11 1 (0.30%) CA Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.30%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.30%) Norton AntiVirus
11 1 (0.30%) SCOM
11 1 (0.30%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 31 (9.42%) VMware
2 16 (4.86%) Citrix
3 14 (4.26%) MobileIron
4 13 (3.95%) ServiceNow
5 11 (3.34%) Google
6 10 (3.04%) SAP
7 9 (2.74%) Databricks
7 9 (2.74%) McAfee
7 9 (2.74%) Red Hat
8 8 (2.43%) Adobe
9 7 (2.13%) Apple
9 7 (2.13%) Cisco
9 7 (2.13%) Oracle
9 7 (2.13%) Starlink
10 6 (1.82%) IBM
11 5 (1.52%) NetApp
12 4 (1.22%) Dell
12 4 (1.22%) HP
12 4 (1.22%) InterSystems
13 3 (0.91%) BeyondTrust