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 12 March 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 424 374 337
Rank change year-on-year -50 -37 +12
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 187 156 280
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.44% 0.53% 0.63%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.48% 0.57% 0.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 126 111 200
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 £284 £316 £290
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £200 £200
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 18 25
10th Percentile £12.95 £21.05 £14.53
25th Percentile £15.50 £22.50 £17.25
Median hourly rate £16.25 £26.08 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -37.69% +47.18% -12.92%
75th Percentile £20.25 £32.56 £20.37
90th Percentile £22.08 £41.25 £23.49
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 39,233 27,349 41,475
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.88% 92.93% 92.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,515 17,680 27,207
10th Percentile £312 £293 £270
25th Percentile £410 £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 £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,440 862 2,502
10th Percentile £14.96 £15.60 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.24 £16.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £33.45 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.63% +2.92% -23.29%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £59.50
90th Percentile £75.79 £76.25 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £32.50
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -18.75%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -49 176 £190 -13.64% 78
UK excluding London -61 139 £190 -5.00% 69
North of England -17 67 £175 -10.26% 19
London -46 45 £220 -12.00% 17
Yorkshire -36 35 £190 -2.56% 7
North West -22 26 £175 -14.63% 12
Midlands -58 26 £185 -7.50% 5
Work from Home -27 22 £190 -15.56% 14
West Midlands -61 15 £200 -2.44% 3
East of England -19 14 £240 +6.67% 12
South West -16 12 £275 -29.94% 9
South East -59 12 £200 -5.88% 27
East Midlands -30 11 £158 -21.25% 2
Scotland -1 7 £225 +18.42%
North East -8 6 £175 -10.26%
Wales -11 1 £250 +25.00%

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

For the 6 months to 12 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.

1 117 (62.57%) Windows
2 105 (56.15%) Microsoft 365
3 65 (34.76%) Active Directory
4 61 (32.62%) Microsoft
5 55 (29.41%) Customer Service
5 55 (29.41%) Microsoft Office
6 51 (27.27%) Android
7 47 (25.13%) Windows 10
8 37 (19.79%) Azure
9 33 (17.65%) Entra ID
9 33 (17.65%) ITIL
9 33 (17.65%) Security Cleared
10 32 (17.11%) Microsoft Intune
10 32 (17.11%) SC Cleared
11 30 (16.04%) Problem-Solving
12 29 (15.51%) Apple
12 29 (15.51%) Wireless
13 28 (14.97%) Mac OS
14 26 (13.90%) Cisco
15 24 (12.83%) Business Intelligence
15 24 (12.83%) Dell
15 24 (12.83%) HP
15 24 (12.83%) SAP
15 24 (12.83%) Service Delivery
15 24 (12.83%) Service Management
15 24 (12.83%) Windows Server
16 23 (12.30%) Digital Marketing
16 23 (12.30%) Programme Management
17 22 (11.76%) Apple iOS
18 20 (10.70%) 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 (10.70%) SharePoint
2 14 (7.49%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.53%) IIS
Applications
1 55 (29.41%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.07%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 7 (3.74%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.53%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 105 (56.15%) Microsoft 365
2 37 (19.79%) Azure
3 33 (17.65%) Entra ID
4 14 (7.49%) OneDrive
5 7 (3.74%) Google Workspace
6 4 (2.14%) AWS
7 3 (1.60%) GCP
8 1 (0.53%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 29 (15.51%) Wireless
2 17 (9.09%) DHCP
2 17 (9.09%) DNS
2 17 (9.09%) WAN
3 16 (8.56%) LAN
4 13 (6.95%) TCP/IP
4 13 (6.95%) Wi-Fi
5 11 (5.88%) VPN
6 8 (4.28%) Firewall
7 6 (3.21%) Network Security
7 6 (3.21%) PABX
7 6 (3.21%) Structured Cabling
8 3 (1.60%) VoIP
9 2 (1.07%) BGP
9 2 (1.07%) IPsec
9 2 (1.07%) MPLS
9 2 (1.07%) VLAN
10 1 (0.53%) Internet
10 1 (0.53%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.60%) MySQL
1 3 (1.60%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.53%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.53%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 11 (5.88%) JIRA
2 1 (0.53%) Hudson
General
1 62 (33.16%) Social Skills
2 37 (19.79%) Finance
2 37 (19.79%) Public Sector
3 30 (16.04%) Manufacturing
4 24 (12.83%) Telecoms
5 23 (12.30%) Electronics
5 23 (12.30%) Marketing
6 10 (5.35%) Organisational Skills
7 8 (4.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 8 (4.28%) Law
8 7 (3.74%) Analytical Skills
9 5 (2.67%) Legal
9 5 (2.67%) Retail
10 4 (2.14%) Banking
11 2 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
11 2 (1.07%) Investment Banking
12 1 (0.53%) French Language
12 1 (0.53%) Multimedia
12 1 (0.53%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.53%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 23 (12.30%) Data Centre
2 17 (9.09%) Driving Licence
3 13 (6.95%) NHS
3 13 (6.95%) Onboarding
4 11 (5.88%) Smartphone
5 7 (3.74%) Management Information System
6 6 (3.21%) CMDB
7 4 (2.14%) iPhone
8 3 (1.60%) Mobile Payment
8 3 (1.60%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 2 (1.07%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (1.07%) PKI
9 2 (1.07%) Self-Motivation
9 2 (1.07%) Video Conferencing
10 1 (0.53%) CCTV
10 1 (0.53%) Enterprise Software
10 1 (0.53%) Hedge funds
10 1 (0.53%) Smartcard
10 1 (0.53%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 117 (62.57%) Windows
2 51 (27.27%) Android
3 47 (25.13%) Windows 10
4 28 (14.97%) Mac OS
5 24 (12.83%) Windows Server
6 22 (11.76%) Apple iOS
7 7 (3.74%) Linux
8 1 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (29.41%) Customer Service
2 33 (17.65%) ITIL
3 30 (16.04%) Problem-Solving
4 24 (12.83%) Business Intelligence
4 24 (12.83%) Service Delivery
4 24 (12.83%) Service Management
5 23 (12.30%) Digital Marketing
5 23 (12.30%) Programme Management
6 16 (8.56%) ITSM
7 12 (6.42%) Asset Management
8 9 (4.81%) Customer Experience
9 8 (4.28%) Network Management
10 7 (3.74%) Migration
10 7 (3.74%) Problem Management
11 6 (3.21%) Break/Fix
11 6 (3.21%) Mobile Device Management
11 6 (3.21%) Network Monitoring
12 5 (2.67%) AI
12 5 (2.67%) Continuous Improvement
12 5 (2.67%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 6 (3.21%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.53%) SQL
Qualifications
1 33 (17.65%) Security Cleared
2 32 (17.11%) SC Cleared
3 6 (3.21%) ECDL
4 3 (1.60%) Degree
4 3 (1.60%) Microsoft Certification
5 2 (1.07%) CCNA
5 2 (1.07%) Cisco Certification
5 2 (1.07%) DBS Check
5 2 (1.07%) ITIL Certification
5 2 (1.07%) MCDST
5 2 (1.07%) Microsoft Certified Professional
6 1 (0.53%) Computer Science Degree
6 1 (0.53%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 1 (0.53%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (4.81%) SLA
2 2 (1.07%) Cyber Essentials
3 1 (0.53%) GDPR
System Software
1 65 (34.76%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.53%) BitLocker
2 1 (0.53%) Firmware
2 1 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 32 (17.11%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (8.56%) SCCM
3 2 (1.07%) Jamf Pro
4 1 (0.53%) AirWatch
4 1 (0.53%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 61 (32.62%) Microsoft
2 29 (15.51%) Apple
3 26 (13.90%) Cisco
4 24 (12.83%) Dell
4 24 (12.83%) HP
4 24 (12.83%) SAP
5 18 (9.63%) ServiceNow
6 11 (5.88%) Google
7 7 (3.74%) Remedy
8 3 (1.60%) Citrix
8 3 (1.60%) Meraki
9 2 (1.07%) Bloomberg
9 2 (1.07%) iManage
9 2 (1.07%) Juniper
9 2 (1.07%) Mitel
10 1 (0.53%) Ariba
10 1 (0.53%) Charles River
10 1 (0.53%) Logitech
10 1 (0.53%) VMware