Desktop Support Contracts in the Thames Valley

Desktop Support
South East > Thames Valley

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the Thames Valley is £250, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 90 115 128
Rank change year-on-year +25 +13 -8
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 12 30 23
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 0.79% 1.12% 0.78%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.85% 1.20% 0.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 9 27 16
10th Percentile £121 £195 £163
25th Percentile £163 £213 £180
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £250 £215 £222
Median % change year-on-year +16.28% -3.15% +58.57%
75th Percentile - £218 £330
90th Percentile £269 £232 £461
South East median daily rate £205 £205 £205
% change year-on-year - - +9.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 3
10th Percentile - - £17.20
25th Percentile - - £18.63
Median hourly rate - £16.00 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year - -23.81% -0.24%
75th Percentile - - £22.00
90th Percentile - - £22.60
South East median hourly rate - £29.50 £22.25
% change year-on-year - +32.58% +23.61%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Thames Valley

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the Thames Valley. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the Thames Valley with a recognized job title 1,405 2,505 2,767
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.98% 93.26% 94.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 864 1,430 1,916
10th Percentile £300 £206 £313
25th Percentile £409 £370 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - +5.26%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
South East median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - +2.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 189 76
10th Percentile £14.20 £15.78 £17.31
25th Percentile £16.94 £19.25 £20.75
Median hourly rate £45.65 £45.00 £46.70
Median % change year-on-year +1.44% -3.64% +166.86%
75th Percentile £65.62 £62.50 £66.21
90th Percentile £77.47 £84.57 £79.19
South East median hourly rate £32.50 £47.50 £48.40
% change year-on-year -31.58% -1.86% +130.48%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Job postings that featured Desktop Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Job vacancy trend for Desktop Support in the Thames Valley

Desktop Support
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the Thames Valley.

Daily rate trend for Desktop Support in the Thames Valley

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram in the Thames Valley

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the Thames Valley

Desktop Support
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the Thames Valley.

Hourly rate trend for Desktop Support in the Thames Valley

Desktop Support
Contract Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 1 May 2025. 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
Berkshire +14 6 £250 +16.28% 2
Buckinghamshire +16 4 £123 -44.32% 2
Oxfordshire +4 2 £250 +88.68% 2
Desktop Support
South East

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the Thames Valley

For the 6 months to 1 May 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Thames Valley region featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 8 (66.67%) Windows
2 6 (50.00%) Microsoft
3 5 (41.67%) Active Directory
4 4 (33.33%) Social Skills
5 3 (25.00%) Microsoft 365
5 3 (25.00%) Windows 10
5 3 (25.00%) SC Cleared
5 3 (25.00%) Security Cleared
6 2 (16.67%) PowerShell
6 2 (16.67%) Logistics
6 2 (16.67%) Windows 7
6 2 (16.67%) CMDB
6 2 (16.67%) Problem Management
6 2 (16.67%) SCCM
6 2 (16.67%) VPN
6 2 (16.67%) Configuration Management
6 2 (16.67%) Pharmaceutical
6 2 (16.67%) Firewall
6 2 (16.67%) Management Information System
6 2 (16.67%) Wireless
6 2 (16.67%) ServiceNow
6 2 (16.67%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 2 (16.67%) Entra ID
6 2 (16.67%) Break/Fix
6 2 (16.67%) Customer Service
7 1 (8.33%) Deployment Automation
7 1 (8.33%) Driving Licence
7 1 (8.33%) Customer Experience
7 1 (8.33%) IT Asset Management
7 1 (8.33%) Enterprise Software

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the Thames Valley by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Cloud Services
1 3 (25.00%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (16.67%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 2 (16.67%) Firewall
1 2 (16.67%) VPN
1 2 (16.67%) Wireless
General
1 4 (33.33%) Social Skills
2 2 (16.67%) Pharmaceutical
3 1 (8.33%) Finance
3 1 (8.33%) Telecoms
Miscellaneous
1 2 (16.67%) CMDB
1 2 (16.67%) Management Information System
2 1 (8.33%) Client/Server
2 1 (8.33%) Data Protection Act
2 1 (8.33%) Driving Licence
2 1 (8.33%) Enterprise Software
2 1 (8.33%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 8 (66.67%) Windows
2 3 (25.00%) Windows 10
3 2 (16.67%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (16.67%) Break/Fix
1 2 (16.67%) Configuration Management
1 2 (16.67%) Customer Service
1 2 (16.67%) Infrastructure Engineering
1 2 (16.67%) Logistics
1 2 (16.67%) Problem Management
2 1 (8.33%) Asset Management
2 1 (8.33%) Customer Experience
2 1 (8.33%) Data Protection
2 1 (8.33%) Deployment Automation
2 1 (8.33%) IT Asset Management
2 1 (8.33%) Mathematics
Programming Languages
1 2 (16.67%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 3 (25.00%) SC Cleared
1 3 (25.00%) Security Cleared
2 1 (8.33%) Dell Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (8.33%) SLA
System Software
1 5 (41.67%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 2 (16.67%) SCCM
Vendors
1 6 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 2 (16.67%) ServiceNow
3 1 (8.33%) Cisco
3 1 (8.33%) Dell
3 1 (8.33%) HP