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 15 February 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
15 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 5 6
Rank change year-on-year 0 +1 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 355 291 442
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 13.08% 15.70% 14.11%
As % of the Vendors category 36.94% 33.56% 33.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 255 196 305
10th Percentile £208 £190 £200
25th Percentile £350 £220 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £464 £513
Median % change year-on-year +7.82% -9.51% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £602 £625
90th Percentile £725 £709 £720
England median daily rate £478 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +0.63% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 9 45
10th Percentile £15.60 £12.29 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.87 £18.20 £14.40
Median hourly rate £22.27 £27.13 £27.52
Median % change year-on-year -17.92% -1.42% -57.67%
75th Percentile £49.38 £28.99 £48.72
90th Percentile £64.60 £37.00 £56.99
England median hourly rate £19.91 £22.93 £17.86
% change year-on-year -13.17% +28.39% -14.81%

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 961 867 1,319
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 35.40% 46.79% 42.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 617 538 846
10th Percentile £225 £214 £216
25th Percentile £406 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year - - -0.94%
75th Percentile £600 £624 £638
90th Percentile £725 £696 £725
England median daily rate £501 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.67% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 120 33 158
10th Percentile £18.87 £13.71 £14.54
25th Percentile £22.43 £25.26 £36.56
Median hourly rate £57.50 £62.50 £48.72
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +28.28% -25.05%
75th Percentile £60.00 £68.75 £65.98
90th Percentile £73.84 £73.55 £70.65
England median hourly rate £23.83 £30.62 £27.76
% change year-on-year -22.18% +10.29% -15.89%

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 15 February 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 15 February 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 15 February 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 +1 110 £575 +4.55% 33
Gloucestershire +8 79 £410 +2.37% 52
Bristol -10 72 £519 +43.10% 58
Somerset +1 54 £438 -2.78% 45
Devon +11 24 £220 +14.29% 36
Dorset -13 8 £394 -21.15% 28
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 65 (18.31%) SharePoint
2 57 (16.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 22 (6.20%) Skype for Business
4 5 (1.41%) Confluence
5 4 (1.13%) Oracle Application Server
5 4 (1.13%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.85%) IIS
7 2 (0.56%) Apache
8 1 (0.28%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.28%) CMS
8 1 (0.28%) nginx
8 1 (0.28%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 37 (10.42%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (7.89%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (2.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.25%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (1.97%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 6 (1.69%) Adobe Captivate
7 5 (1.41%) Spreadsheet
8 3 (0.85%) MS Visio
9 2 (0.56%) Windchill
10 1 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
10 1 (0.28%) InDesign
10 1 (0.28%) PTC Creo
10 1 (0.28%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 8 (2.25%) Maximo
2 6 (1.69%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.85%) NetSuite
3 3 (0.85%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.56%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.28%) assyst
5 1 (0.28%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 112 (31.55%) Azure
2 91 (25.63%) Microsoft 365
3 37 (10.42%) Entra ID
3 37 (10.42%) Power Platform
4 31 (8.73%) AWS
5 27 (7.61%) Azure DevOps
6 19 (5.35%) Azure Sentinel
7 15 (4.23%) Azure Monitor
7 15 (4.23%) Dynamics 365
7 15 (4.23%) GitHub
7 15 (4.23%) Power Automate
8 13 (3.66%) PowerApps
9 12 (3.38%) Azure AKS
10 11 (3.10%) Azure Key Vault
10 11 (3.10%) OneDrive
11 10 (2.82%) GCP
11 10 (2.82%) GitHub Actions
11 10 (2.82%) SaaS
11 10 (2.82%) Serverless
12 8 (2.25%) Azure ExpressRoute
Communications & Networking
1 58 (16.34%) DNS
2 35 (9.86%) DHCP
3 30 (8.45%) Firewall
4 29 (8.17%) Skype
5 25 (7.04%) VPN
6 19 (5.35%) TCP/IP
7 10 (2.82%) Unified Communications
8 5 (1.41%) Network Security
9 4 (1.13%) LAN
9 4 (1.13%) VLAN
9 4 (1.13%) VoIP
9 4 (1.13%) WAAS
10 3 (0.85%) Kerberos
10 3 (0.85%) WAN
11 2 (0.56%) Cisco IOS
11 2 (0.56%) H.323
11 2 (0.56%) HTTP
11 2 (0.56%) RTP
11 2 (0.56%) SMTP
11 2 (0.56%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (7.89%) Power BI
2 18 (5.07%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.66%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (2.25%) Redis
5 6 (1.69%) Data Warehouse
6 5 (1.41%) Metadata
6 5 (1.41%) Star Schema
7 4 (1.13%) MySQL
7 4 (1.13%) Oracle ODI
7 4 (1.13%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.85%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.56%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.56%) Delta Lake
9 2 (0.56%) Looker
9 2 (0.56%) Power Query
9 2 (0.56%) Tableau
10 1 (0.28%) Elasticsearch
10 1 (0.28%) Relational Database
10 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 28 (7.89%) JIRA
2 9 (2.54%) MSI
3 8 (2.25%) Git
4 4 (1.13%) Artifactory
4 4 (1.13%) DBeaver
4 4 (1.13%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.85%) GitLab
6 2 (0.56%) AdminStudio
6 2 (0.56%) InstallShield
7 1 (0.28%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.28%) Eclipse
7 1 (0.28%) Maven
7 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.28%) Visual Studio
General
1 150 (42.25%) Social Skills
2 52 (14.65%) Analytical Skills
3 44 (12.39%) Public Sector
4 40 (11.27%) Finance
5 21 (5.92%) Documentation Skills
6 13 (3.66%) Organisational Skills
7 10 (2.82%) Manufacturing
7 10 (2.82%) Telecoms
8 8 (2.25%) Legal
8 8 (2.25%) Marketing
9 7 (1.97%) Military
10 6 (1.69%) Banking
10 6 (1.69%) Electronics
11 4 (1.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.13%) Police
12 3 (0.85%) Back Office
13 1 (0.28%) Advertising
13 1 (0.28%) Aerospace
13 1 (0.28%) Automotive
13 1 (0.28%) Law
Job Titles
1 39 (10.99%) Support Engineer
2 34 (9.58%) Analyst
3 29 (8.17%) Developer
4 28 (7.89%) Architect
4 28 (7.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 21 (5.92%) Microsoft Engineer
6 20 (5.63%) Desktop Engineer
7 19 (5.35%) Administrator
7 19 (5.35%) Desktop Support
7 19 (5.35%) Desktop Support Engineer
8 17 (4.79%) Azure Engineer
9 14 (3.94%) Solutions Architect
10 12 (3.38%) Consultant
10 12 (3.38%) Data Engineer
11 11 (3.10%) IT Support
11 11 (3.10%) Senior
12 9 (2.54%) Backend Developer
12 9 (2.54%) Designer
12 9 (2.54%) DevOps Engineer
12 9 (2.54%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (7.04%) OAuth
2 24 (6.76%) SAML
3 22 (6.20%) OAuth2
3 22 (6.20%) OpenID
4 17 (4.79%) REST
5 14 (3.94%) ARM Templates
6 8 (2.25%) CSS
6 8 (2.25%) FastAPI
6 8 (2.25%) Flask
6 8 (2.25%) GraphQL
6 8 (2.25%) gRPC
6 8 (2.25%) HTML
6 8 (2.25%) WebSockets
7 6 (1.69%) SOAP
8 5 (1.41%) .NET
8 5 (1.41%) JDO
8 5 (1.41%) JSON
8 5 (1.41%) LDAP
8 5 (1.41%) React
9 4 (1.13%) Oracle GoldenGate
Miscellaneous
1 23 (6.48%) Onboarding
2 21 (5.92%) Hybrid Cloud
3 17 (4.79%) PKI
4 14 (3.94%) Driving Licence
5 13 (3.66%) Cloud Native
6 11 (3.10%) Management Information System
6 11 (3.10%) Replication
7 10 (2.82%) Enterprise Software
7 10 (2.82%) Mobile App
8 7 (1.97%) Private Cloud
9 6 (1.69%) Product Ownership
10 5 (1.41%) Cyber Threat
10 5 (1.41%) Legacy Applications
10 5 (1.41%) Security Posture
11 4 (1.13%) Blackberry
11 4 (1.13%) Low-Code
11 4 (1.13%) Virtual Team
12 3 (0.85%) iPad
12 3 (0.85%) iPhone
12 3 (0.85%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 153 (43.10%) Windows
2 62 (17.46%) Windows 10
3 58 (16.34%) Windows Server
4 28 (7.89%) Linux
5 12 (3.38%) Apple iOS
6 9 (2.54%) Android
7 8 (2.25%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (1.97%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (1.41%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.85%) CentOS
10 3 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.56%) Mac OS
11 2 (0.56%) Windows 7
11 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.28%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (25.35%) Problem-Solving
2 56 (15.77%) ITIL
3 51 (14.37%) Agile
4 41 (11.55%) DevOps
4 41 (11.55%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 39 (10.99%) Migration
6 38 (10.70%) RBAC
7 33 (9.30%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 32 (9.01%) Customer Service
9 31 (8.73%) Analytics
9 31 (8.73%) Change Management
10 30 (8.45%) Business Intelligence
11 27 (7.61%) Identity Access Management
12 26 (7.32%) CI/CD
12 26 (7.32%) Knowledge Transfer
13 25 (7.04%) Stakeholder Management
14 24 (6.76%) Continuous Improvement
14 24 (6.76%) Service Management
15 21 (5.92%) Cloud Security
16 19 (5.35%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 92 (25.92%) PowerShell
2 46 (12.96%) SQL
3 34 (9.58%) Python
4 18 (5.07%) JavaScript
5 17 (4.79%) Bicep
6 8 (2.25%) Go
7 7 (1.97%) Java
8 6 (1.69%) C#
9 5 (1.41%) TypeScript
10 4 (1.13%) T-SQL
10 4 (1.13%) VBScript
11 3 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.85%) Perl
12 2 (0.56%) Bash
12 2 (0.56%) PHP
13 1 (0.28%) C++
13 1 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
13 1 (0.28%) VBA
Qualifications
1 196 (55.21%) Security Cleared
2 133 (37.46%) SC Cleared
3 82 (23.10%) DV Cleared
4 57 (16.06%) Microsoft Certification
5 27 (7.61%) Degree
6 21 (5.92%) Azure Certification
7 12 (3.38%) ITIL Certification
8 11 (3.10%) CISSP
8 11 (3.10%) MCSE
9 10 (2.82%) CISM
10 8 (2.25%) A+ Certification
10 8 (2.25%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 6 (1.69%) MCSA
12 5 (1.41%) CCNA
12 5 (1.41%) CCNP
12 5 (1.41%) Cisco Certification
12 5 (1.41%) Master's Degree
13 3 (0.85%) ACCA
13 3 (0.85%) APMP
14 2 (0.56%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (5.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 18 (5.07%) GDPR
3 13 (3.66%) NIST
4 11 (3.10%) Data Quality
4 11 (3.10%) PMO
5 8 (2.25%) Accessibility
5 8 (2.25%) NIST 800
6 6 (1.69%) SLA
7 4 (1.13%) NCSC
8 3 (0.85%) GAAP
8 3 (0.85%) IFRS
9 2 (0.56%) PSD2
9 2 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.56%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.28%) QA
10 1 (0.28%) WCAG
System Software
1 131 (36.90%) Active Directory
2 31 (8.73%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (4.51%) Hyper-V
4 13 (3.66%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (3.38%) Docker
6 5 (1.41%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 5 (1.41%) Virtual Servers
6 5 (1.41%) VMware NSX
7 4 (1.13%) Microsoft App-V
8 3 (0.85%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.28%) KVM
10 1 (0.28%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.28%) UAG
Systems Management
1 38 (10.70%) Microsoft Intune
2 36 (10.14%) Single Sign-On
3 33 (9.30%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 32 (9.01%) SCCM
5 25 (7.04%) Terraform
6 23 (6.48%) Kubernetes
7 14 (3.94%) WSUS
8 12 (3.38%) vCenter Server
9 8 (2.25%) Grafana
9 8 (2.25%) Prometheus
10 7 (1.97%) Norton AntiVirus
11 5 (1.41%) Ansible
12 3 (0.85%) VxRail
13 2 (0.56%) Cisco CUCM
13 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Clustering
13 2 (0.56%) NetApp OnCommand
13 2 (0.56%) PingFederate
13 2 (0.56%) SCOM
13 2 (0.56%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
13 2 (0.56%) vMotion
Vendors
1 45 (12.68%) VMware
2 24 (6.76%) Cisco
3 15 (4.23%) SAP
4 12 (3.38%) Red Hat
4 12 (3.38%) SolarWinds
4 12 (3.38%) Veeam
5 10 (2.82%) Adobe
5 10 (2.82%) McAfee
5 10 (2.82%) Oracle
6 8 (2.25%) IBM
6 8 (2.25%) ServiceNow
7 7 (1.97%) Symantec
8 6 (1.69%) Blue Prism
8 6 (1.69%) Citrix
8 6 (1.69%) Databricks
9 5 (1.41%) Google
9 5 (1.41%) Splunk
10 4 (1.13%) Dell
10 4 (1.13%) ForgeRock
10 4 (1.13%) MobileIron