2nd Line Support Contract Job Trends

Second Line Support
UK

The median Second Line Support daily rate in the UK is £190, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 March 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 424 370 337
Rank change year-on-year -54 -33 +19
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 191 154 283
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.45% 0.52% 0.63%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.49% 0.56% 0.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 130 110 201
10th Percentile £154 £161 £139
25th Percentile £163 £188 £170
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £190 £213 £200
Median % change year-on-year -10.59% +6.25% -4.76%
75th Percentile £238 £250 £238
90th Percentile £282 £317 £294
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £200 £200
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -0.12%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 18 26
10th Percentile £12.95 £21.05 £14.60
25th Percentile £15.50 £22.50 £17.25
Median hourly rate £16.00 £26.08 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -38.65% +47.18% -12.92%
75th Percentile £20.25 £32.56 £20.37
90th Percentile £22.35 £41.25 £24.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £26.08 £17.72
% change year-on-year -38.65% +47.18% -11.40%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 38,836 27,659 41,539
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.96% 92.95% 92.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,338 17,830 27,237
10th Percentile £310 £294 £270
25th Percentile £409 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,391 872 2,505
10th Percentile £14.82 £15.81 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £34.95 £33.75 £32.69
Median % change year-on-year +3.54% +3.24% -20.33%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.25 £71.89
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 £32.50 £32.90
% change year-on-year +3.08% -1.20% -17.30%

2nd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '2nd Line Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

2nd Line Support job vacancy trend in the UK

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing 2nd Line Support over the 6 months to 9 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in the UK

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing 2nd Line Support over the 6 months to 9 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in the UK

2nd Line Support
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK over the 6 months to 9 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
England -33 179 £190 -13.64% 85
UK excluding London -52 141 £190 -5.00% 76
North of England -11 67 £175 -10.26% 21
London -33 46 £220 -12.00% 23
Yorkshire -30 35 £190 -2.56% 9
Midlands -53 29 £158 -21.25% 6
North West -12 26 £175 -14.63% 12
Work from Home -29 22 £190 -15.56% 19
West Midlands -49 18 £200 -4.76% 4
East of England -26 14 £240 +6.67% 12
South West -25 12 £275 +10.00% 7
East Midlands -31 11 £158 -21.25% 1
South East -59 11 £200 -5.88% 30
Scotland +1 7 £225 +18.42% 3
North East -6 6 £175 -10.26% 1
Wales -11 1 £250 +25.00%

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 9 March 2026, 2nd Line Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring 2nd Line Support in the job title.

1 118 (61.78%) Windows
2 107 (56.02%) Microsoft 365
3 68 (35.60%) Active Directory
4 63 (32.98%) Microsoft
5 59 (30.89%) Customer Service
6 55 (28.80%) Microsoft Office
7 51 (26.70%) Android
8 49 (25.65%) Windows 10
9 37 (19.37%) Azure
10 35 (18.32%) ITIL
11 34 (17.80%) Problem-Solving
12 33 (17.28%) Entra ID
12 33 (17.28%) Security Cleared
13 32 (16.75%) Microsoft Intune
13 32 (16.75%) SC Cleared
14 29 (15.18%) Apple
14 29 (15.18%) Wireless
15 28 (14.66%) Mac OS
15 28 (14.66%) Service Delivery
16 26 (13.61%) Cisco
17 24 (12.57%) Business Intelligence
17 24 (12.57%) Dell
17 24 (12.57%) SAP
17 24 (12.57%) Service Management
18 23 (12.04%) Digital Marketing
18 23 (12.04%) HP
18 23 (12.04%) Programme Management
18 23 (12.04%) Windows Server
19 22 (11.52%) Apple iOS
20 20 (10.47%) SharePoint

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 20 (10.47%) SharePoint
2 15 (7.85%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.52%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 55 (28.80%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.05%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 7 (3.66%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.52%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 107 (56.02%) Microsoft 365
2 37 (19.37%) Azure
3 33 (17.28%) Entra ID
4 14 (7.33%) OneDrive
5 7 (3.66%) Google Workspace
6 4 (2.09%) AWS
7 3 (1.57%) GCP
8 1 (0.52%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 29 (15.18%) Wireless
2 19 (9.95%) DHCP
2 19 (9.95%) DNS
3 16 (8.38%) WAN
4 15 (7.85%) LAN
4 15 (7.85%) TCP/IP
5 14 (7.33%) VPN
6 12 (6.28%) Wi-Fi
7 8 (4.19%) Firewall
8 6 (3.14%) Network Security
8 6 (3.14%) PABX
8 6 (3.14%) Structured Cabling
9 3 (1.57%) VoIP
10 2 (1.05%) BGP
10 2 (1.05%) IPsec
10 2 (1.05%) MPLS
10 2 (1.05%) VLAN
11 1 (0.52%) Internet
11 1 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
11 1 (0.52%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.57%) MySQL
1 3 (1.57%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.52%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.52%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 11 (5.76%) JIRA
2 1 (0.52%) Hudson
General
1 66 (34.55%) Social Skills
2 37 (19.37%) Public Sector
3 36 (18.85%) Finance
4 31 (16.23%) Manufacturing
5 24 (12.57%) Telecoms
6 23 (12.04%) Electronics
6 23 (12.04%) Marketing
7 11 (5.76%) Analytical Skills
7 11 (5.76%) Organisational Skills
8 8 (4.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (4.19%) Law
9 5 (2.62%) Retail
10 4 (2.09%) Banking
10 4 (2.09%) Legal
11 2 (1.05%) Documentation Skills
11 2 (1.05%) Investment Banking
12 1 (0.52%) French Language
12 1 (0.52%) Multimedia
12 1 (0.52%) Publishing
Miscellaneous
1 23 (12.04%) Data Centre
2 17 (8.90%) Driving Licence
3 13 (6.81%) NHS
3 13 (6.81%) Onboarding
4 11 (5.76%) Smartphone
5 7 (3.66%) Management Information System
6 6 (3.14%) CMDB
6 6 (3.14%) Team-Oriented Environment
7 5 (2.62%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (1.57%) iPhone
8 3 (1.57%) Mobile Payment
9 2 (1.05%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (1.05%) PKI
9 2 (1.05%) Video Conferencing
10 1 (0.52%) CCTV
10 1 (0.52%) Enterprise Software
10 1 (0.52%) Hedge funds
10 1 (0.52%) Life Science
10 1 (0.52%) Renewable Energy
10 1 (0.52%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 118 (61.78%) Windows
2 51 (26.70%) Android
3 49 (25.65%) Windows 10
4 28 (14.66%) Mac OS
5 23 (12.04%) Windows Server
6 22 (11.52%) Apple iOS
7 7 (3.66%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (30.89%) Customer Service
2 35 (18.32%) ITIL
3 34 (17.80%) Problem-Solving
4 28 (14.66%) Service Delivery
5 24 (12.57%) Business Intelligence
5 24 (12.57%) Service Management
6 23 (12.04%) Digital Marketing
6 23 (12.04%) Programme Management
7 16 (8.38%) ITSM
8 11 (5.76%) Asset Management
9 9 (4.71%) Customer Experience
9 9 (4.71%) Mobile Device Management
9 9 (4.71%) Problem Management
10 8 (4.19%) Network Management
11 7 (3.66%) Migration
12 6 (3.14%) Break/Fix
12 6 (3.14%) Change Management
12 6 (3.14%) Network Monitoring
13 5 (2.62%) CRM
13 5 (2.62%) Disk Encryption
Programming Languages
1 6 (3.14%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 33 (17.28%) Security Cleared
2 32 (16.75%) SC Cleared
3 6 (3.14%) ECDL
3 6 (3.14%) Microsoft Certification
4 5 (2.62%) MCDST
4 5 (2.62%) Microsoft Certified Professional
5 4 (2.09%) Degree
6 2 (1.05%) CCNA
6 2 (1.05%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (1.05%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.52%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.52%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (0.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 1 (0.52%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (4.19%) SLA
2 2 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials
3 1 (0.52%) GDPR
System Software
1 68 (35.60%) Active Directory
2 2 (1.05%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.52%) BitLocker
3 1 (0.52%) Firmware
3 1 (0.52%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 32 (16.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (9.42%) SCCM
3 2 (1.05%) Jamf Pro
4 1 (0.52%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 63 (32.98%) Microsoft
2 29 (15.18%) Apple
3 26 (13.61%) Cisco
4 24 (12.57%) Dell
4 24 (12.57%) SAP
5 23 (12.04%) HP
6 18 (9.42%) ServiceNow
7 11 (5.76%) Google
8 7 (3.66%) Remedy
9 5 (2.62%) iManage
9 5 (2.62%) Mitel
10 4 (2.09%) Citrix
11 3 (1.57%) Meraki
12 2 (1.05%) Juniper
12 2 (1.05%) VMware
13 1 (0.52%) Ariba
13 1 (0.52%) Bloomberg
13 1 (0.52%) Charles River
13 1 (0.52%) Logitech