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 10 March 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
10 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 4 5
Rank change year-on-year -1 +1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 344 269 474
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 12.00% 16.18% 14.66%
As % of the Vendors category 35.17% 34.05% 35.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 194 311
10th Percentile £210 £200 £198
25th Percentile £378 £223 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £594
90th Percentile £725 £725 £713
England median daily rate £492 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +3.58% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 9 57
10th Percentile £15.60 £17.06 £12.92
25th Percentile £19.15 £18.51 £14.36
Median hourly rate £25.46 £27.13 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.14% -39.72% -26.83%
75th Percentile £60.00 £28.99 £48.72
90th Percentile £64.95 £37.00 £51.25
England median hourly rate £19.91 £23.99 £16.06
% change year-on-year -17.01% +49.38% -23.52%

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 978 790 1,353
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 34.11% 47.50% 41.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 617 538 856
10th Percentile £270 £215 £210
25th Percentile £406 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
75th Percentile £600 £613 £638
90th Percentile £738 £700 £725
England median daily rate £505 £525 £517
% change year-on-year -3.81% +1.55% -4.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 135 40 180
10th Percentile £18.87 £18.48 £14.40
25th Percentile £23.08 £25.26 £37.50
Median hourly rate £57.50 £63.25 £48.72
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +29.82% -22.95%
75th Percentile £60.00 £68.75 £67.72
90th Percentile £70.10 £74.50 £77.50
England median hourly rate £25.00 £30.62 £25.00
% change year-on-year -18.34% +22.46% -28.57%

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 10 March 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 10 March 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 10 March 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 -1 114 £550 - 34
Bristol -10 77 £512 +56.34% 70
Gloucestershire +3 68 £425 - 65
Somerset -4 41 £488 +6.85% 57
Devon +6 26 £220 +12.10% 41
Dorset -15 7 £394 -21.15% 32
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 54 (15.70%) SharePoint
2 45 (13.08%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (5.52%) Skype for Business
4 5 (1.45%) Confluence
5 3 (0.87%) Oracle Application Server
5 3 (0.87%) SharePoint Server
6 2 (0.58%) Apache
7 1 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.29%) CMS
7 1 (0.29%) IIS
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.29%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 35 (10.17%) Microsoft Office
2 30 (8.72%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (3.20%) Microsoft Project
4 9 (2.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (2.33%) Spreadsheet
6 7 (2.03%) Adobe Captivate
6 7 (2.03%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 3 (0.87%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.58%) InDesign
8 2 (0.58%) InfoPath
9 1 (0.29%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.29%) PTC Creo
9 1 (0.29%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 7 (2.03%) Maximo
2 6 (1.74%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.58%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.58%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.29%) assyst
4 1 (0.29%) Primavera
4 1 (0.29%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 104 (30.23%) Azure
2 82 (23.84%) Microsoft 365
3 39 (11.34%) Entra ID
3 39 (11.34%) Power Platform
4 29 (8.43%) Azure DevOps
5 27 (7.85%) AWS
6 19 (5.52%) Power Automate
7 18 (5.23%) GitHub
8 16 (4.65%) Dynamics 365
9 15 (4.36%) Azure Monitor
9 15 (4.36%) Azure Sentinel
9 15 (4.36%) PowerApps
10 13 (3.78%) Azure Key Vault
11 11 (3.20%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (3.20%) Serverless
12 10 (2.91%) Azure AKS
13 9 (2.62%) GCP
13 9 (2.62%) OneDrive
14 8 (2.33%) Figma
14 8 (2.33%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 43 (12.50%) DNS
2 28 (8.14%) Firewall
3 27 (7.85%) DHCP
4 25 (7.27%) Skype
5 20 (5.81%) TCP/IP
6 18 (5.23%) VPN
7 7 (2.03%) Unified Communications
8 5 (1.45%) Network Security
9 4 (1.16%) WAN
10 3 (0.87%) Ethernet
10 3 (0.87%) HTTP
10 3 (0.87%) LAN
10 3 (0.87%) VLAN
10 3 (0.87%) VoIP
10 3 (0.87%) Wireless
11 2 (0.58%) Cisco IOS
11 2 (0.58%) H.323
11 2 (0.58%) RTP
12 1 (0.29%) Internet
12 1 (0.29%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (7.85%) Power BI
2 13 (3.78%) SQL Server
3 12 (3.49%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (2.62%) Redis
5 6 (1.74%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (1.74%) Star Schema
6 5 (1.45%) Metadata
7 4 (1.16%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.87%) GIS
8 3 (0.87%) Oracle ODI
8 3 (0.87%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.87%) Power Query
9 2 (0.58%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.58%) Delta Lake
9 2 (0.58%) Looker
9 2 (0.58%) MySQL
9 2 (0.58%) Spatial Data
9 2 (0.58%) Tableau
10 1 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
10 1 (0.29%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 29 (8.43%) JIRA
2 9 (2.62%) Git
3 6 (1.74%) MSI
4 4 (1.16%) Artifactory
4 4 (1.16%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.87%) DBeaver
5 3 (0.87%) Eclipse
5 3 (0.87%) GitLab
5 3 (0.87%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.29%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.29%) Maven
6 1 (0.29%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.29%) webpack
General
1 147 (42.73%) Social Skills
2 60 (17.44%) Analytical Skills
3 43 (12.50%) Finance
4 36 (10.47%) Public Sector
5 17 (4.94%) Documentation Skills
6 14 (4.07%) Organisational Skills
7 10 (2.91%) Legal
7 10 (2.91%) Manufacturing
7 10 (2.91%) Military
8 9 (2.62%) Marketing
8 9 (2.62%) Telecoms
9 6 (1.74%) Banking
10 5 (1.45%) Electronics
11 4 (1.16%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.16%) Police
12 3 (0.87%) Back Office
13 2 (0.58%) Law
13 2 (0.58%) Local Government
13 2 (0.58%) Presentation Skills
14 1 (0.29%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 38 (11.05%) Architect
2 37 (10.76%) Support Engineer
3 33 (9.59%) Developer
4 29 (8.43%) Analyst
5 26 (7.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 20 (5.81%) Microsoft Engineer
7 18 (5.23%) Administrator
8 16 (4.65%) Solutions Architect
9 15 (4.36%) Azure Engineer
9 15 (4.36%) Desktop Engineer
9 15 (4.36%) Desktop Support
9 15 (4.36%) Desktop Support Engineer
10 13 (3.78%) Data Engineer
11 12 (3.49%) Senior
12 11 (3.20%) Consultant
13 10 (2.91%) Backend Developer
13 10 (2.91%) IT Support
14 9 (2.62%) Designer
14 9 (2.62%) DevOps Engineer
14 9 (2.62%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (6.40%) OAuth
2 21 (6.10%) OAuth2
2 21 (6.10%) REST
2 21 (6.10%) SAML
3 19 (5.52%) OpenID
4 12 (3.49%) ARM Templates
5 9 (2.62%) FastAPI
5 9 (2.62%) Flask
5 9 (2.62%) GraphQL
5 9 (2.62%) gRPC
5 9 (2.62%) WebSockets
6 8 (2.33%) CSS
6 8 (2.33%) HTML
7 6 (1.74%) JSON
7 6 (1.74%) SOAP
7 6 (1.74%) Web Services
8 5 (1.45%) .NET
8 5 (1.45%) JDO
9 4 (1.16%) Node.js
9 4 (1.16%) React
Miscellaneous
1 21 (6.10%) Hybrid Cloud
2 20 (5.81%) Onboarding
3 14 (4.07%) Blackberry
3 14 (4.07%) Cloud Native
4 11 (3.20%) Management Information System
4 11 (3.20%) PKI
5 10 (2.91%) Replication
6 9 (2.62%) Driving Licence
7 8 (2.33%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (2.33%) Mobile App
8 7 (2.03%) Private Cloud
8 7 (2.03%) Virtual Team
9 6 (1.74%) Product Ownership
10 5 (1.45%) Low-Code
11 4 (1.16%) Data Structures
11 4 (1.16%) Security Posture
12 3 (0.87%) Cyber Threat
12 3 (0.87%) Legacy Applications
12 3 (0.87%) Self-Motivation
13 2 (0.58%) Data Centre
Operating Systems
1 130 (37.79%) Windows
2 46 (13.37%) Windows Server
3 38 (11.05%) Windows 10
4 24 (6.98%) Linux
5 20 (5.81%) Android
6 17 (4.94%) Apple iOS
7 8 (2.33%) Windows Server 2016
8 5 (1.45%) Windows Server 2012
9 3 (0.87%) CentOS
10 2 (0.58%) Windows 7
10 2 (0.58%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.29%) Windows 8
11 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 92 (26.74%) Problem-Solving
2 48 (13.95%) Agile
3 42 (12.21%) ITIL
4 39 (11.34%) DevOps
4 39 (11.34%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 37 (10.76%) RBAC
6 36 (10.47%) Analytics
7 33 (9.59%) Migration
7 33 (9.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 33 (9.59%) Stakeholder Management
8 31 (9.01%) CI/CD
9 29 (8.43%) Business Intelligence
10 28 (8.14%) Change Management
11 26 (7.56%) Identity Access Management
12 24 (6.98%) Knowledge Transfer
13 23 (6.69%) Continuous Improvement
14 21 (6.10%) Customer Service
14 21 (6.10%) Service Management
15 20 (5.81%) Cloud Security
16 19 (5.52%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 84 (24.42%) PowerShell
2 46 (13.37%) SQL
3 37 (10.76%) Python
4 23 (6.69%) JavaScript
5 16 (4.65%) Bicep
6 9 (2.62%) C#
6 9 (2.62%) Go
7 7 (2.03%) Java
8 6 (1.74%) TypeScript
9 4 (1.16%) C++
9 4 (1.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.87%) PHP
10 3 (0.87%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.58%) Bash
12 1 (0.29%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.29%) Perl
12 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.29%) VBA
12 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 189 (54.94%) Security Cleared
2 132 (38.37%) SC Cleared
3 80 (23.26%) DV Cleared
4 45 (13.08%) Microsoft Certification
5 24 (6.98%) Degree
6 21 (6.10%) Azure Certification
7 9 (2.62%) CISSP
8 8 (2.33%) CISM
8 8 (2.33%) ITIL Certification
8 8 (2.33%) MCSE
9 7 (2.03%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 3 (0.87%) ACCA
10 3 (0.87%) APMP
10 3 (0.87%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (0.87%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.87%) MCSA
10 3 (0.87%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 2 (0.58%) A+ Certification
11 2 (0.58%) CCNP
11 2 (0.58%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (4.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 14 (4.07%) GDPR
2 14 (4.07%) PMO
3 11 (3.20%) NIST
4 10 (2.91%) Data Quality
5 8 (2.33%) Accessibility
6 7 (2.03%) NIST 800
7 4 (1.16%) NCSC
7 4 (1.16%) SLA
8 3 (0.87%) GAAP
8 3 (0.87%) IFRS
9 2 (0.58%) PSD2
9 2 (0.58%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.29%) GRC
10 1 (0.29%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.29%) QA
10 1 (0.29%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.29%) WCAG
System Software
1 103 (29.94%) Active Directory
2 23 (6.69%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (4.65%) Hyper-V
4 12 (3.49%) Docker
5 8 (2.33%) Virtual Machines
6 6 (1.74%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.87%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 2 (0.58%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.29%) KVM
9 1 (0.29%) Microsoft App-V
9 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.29%) UAG
9 1 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.29%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.29%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 41 (11.92%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (9.30%) Single Sign-On
3 30 (8.72%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 25 (7.27%) Terraform
5 24 (6.98%) Kubernetes
6 18 (5.23%) SCCM
7 9 (2.62%) Grafana
7 9 (2.62%) Prometheus
7 9 (2.62%) WSUS
8 6 (1.74%) Norton AntiVirus
8 6 (1.74%) vCenter Server
9 5 (1.45%) Ansible
10 3 (0.87%) VxRail
11 2 (0.58%) CA Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.58%) Cisco CUCM
11 2 (0.58%) McAfee ePO
11 2 (0.58%) NetBackup
11 2 (0.58%) Puppet
12 1 (0.29%) SCOM
12 1 (0.29%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 46 (13.37%) VMware
2 17 (4.94%) Cisco
2 17 (4.94%) Citrix
3 15 (4.36%) SAP
4 14 (4.07%) MobileIron
5 12 (3.49%) Adobe
6 11 (3.20%) Red Hat
7 10 (2.91%) McAfee
8 8 (2.33%) Oracle
9 7 (2.03%) Databricks
9 7 (2.03%) IBM
9 7 (2.03%) ServiceNow
9 7 (2.03%) SolarWinds
9 7 (2.03%) Veeam
10 6 (1.74%) Blue Prism
10 6 (1.74%) Google
10 6 (1.74%) Symantec
11 4 (1.16%) Dell
11 4 (1.16%) ForgeRock
12 3 (0.87%) Atlassian