Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 January 2026.

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

6 months to
16 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 353 326 295
Rank change year-on-year -27 -31 +14
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 246 215 321
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.66% 0.67% 0.75%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.72% 0.73% 0.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 170 142 227
10th Percentile £150 £143 £130
25th Percentile £155 £181 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £206 £205
Median % change year-on-year -15.15% +0.61% +2.50%
75th Percentile £238 £237 £225
90th Percentile £275 £250 £275
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £208 £200
% change year-on-year -15.66% +3.75% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 15 16
10th Percentile £16.34 £22.50 £18.25
25th Percentile £19.54 £23.34 £18.95
Median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year -16.54% +20.90% +6.67%
75th Percentile £23.72 £28.63 £24.62
90th Percentile £31.40 £30.68 £30.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £20.00
% change year-on-year -16.54% +20.90% +11.11%

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 33,987 29,559 39,694
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.39% 92.78% 93.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,524 18,135 26,394
10th Percentile £300 £288 £280
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,986 889 1,685
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.61 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.22 £18.93
Median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.46% -23.53% +21.43%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.24 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.52 £45.00
% change year-on-year -20.21% -29.96% +53.85%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 16 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 16 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

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 UK over the 6 months to 16 January 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 -10 228 £190 -9.52% 22
UK excluding London -16 184 £175 -15.66% 20
London -14 57 £200 - 5
North of England -31 42 £175 -18.60% 3
Midlands -20 39 £175 -14.63% 2
South West -6 36 £225 - 5
East of England +3 32 £195 -4.88% 2
East Midlands -7 25 £175 -44.66% 1
South East -40 24 £172 -14.25% 5
North West -6 23 £175 -16.67% 2
West Midlands -32 14 £175 -6.54% 1
North East -6 11 £175 -14.63%
Work from Home -19 11 £163 -35.00% 3
Wales +8 10 £160 -27.27%
Yorkshire -53 8 £165 -25.84% 1
Scotland -10 4 £123 -17.83% 3
Northern Ireland -9 2 £200 +31.15%

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 16 January 2026, Desktop 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 Desktop Support in the job title.

1 146 (59.35%) Windows
2 113 (45.93%) Microsoft 365
3 101 (41.06%) Microsoft
4 93 (37.80%) Customer Service
5 88 (35.77%) Active Directory
6 84 (34.15%) Windows 10
7 82 (33.33%) Security Cleared
8 81 (32.93%) SC Cleared
9 56 (22.76%) Microsoft Office
10 44 (17.89%) Azure
10 44 (17.89%) ITIL
11 41 (16.67%) Mac OS
12 40 (16.26%) Android
13 39 (15.85%) Microsoft Intune
14 37 (15.04%) Cisco
15 36 (14.63%) Business Intelligence
15 36 (14.63%) Digital Marketing
15 36 (14.63%) Programme Management
15 36 (14.63%) SAP
16 35 (14.23%) SLA
17 34 (13.82%) Wireless
18 33 (13.41%) HP
18 33 (13.41%) SCCM
19 32 (13.01%) Dell
20 31 (12.60%) Microsoft Exchange
21 30 (12.20%) Migration
21 30 (12.20%) Service Management
22 29 (11.79%) Apple
23 28 (11.38%) SharePoint
24 27 (10.98%) Service Delivery

Desktop 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 31 (12.60%) Microsoft Exchange
2 28 (11.38%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.41%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 56 (22.76%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (6.10%) Spreadsheet
3 14 (5.69%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.81%) assyst
2 1 (0.41%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 113 (45.93%) Microsoft 365
2 44 (17.89%) Azure
3 16 (6.50%) OneDrive
4 11 (4.47%) Entra ID
5 2 (0.81%) Google Workspace
6 1 (0.41%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 34 (13.82%) Wireless
2 16 (6.50%) VPN
3 13 (5.28%) PABX
4 12 (4.88%) DNS
5 10 (4.07%) DHCP
6 9 (3.66%) Skype
7 8 (3.25%) Cisco IOS
7 8 (3.25%) TCP/IP
8 5 (2.03%) Structured Cabling
9 3 (1.22%) LAN
9 3 (1.22%) Softphone
9 3 (1.22%) WAN
10 2 (0.81%) Firewall
10 2 (0.81%) Telepresence
10 2 (0.81%) Unified Communications
10 2 (0.81%) VLAN
10 2 (0.81%) Wi-Fi
11 1 (0.41%) Network Security
Development Applications
1 2 (0.81%) JIRA
General
1 114 (46.34%) Social Skills
2 71 (28.86%) Finance
3 43 (17.48%) Public Sector
4 39 (15.85%) Telecoms
5 36 (14.63%) Electronics
5 36 (14.63%) Manufacturing
5 36 (14.63%) Marketing
6 28 (11.38%) Analytical Skills
7 12 (4.88%) Banking
8 9 (3.66%) Retail
9 7 (2.85%) Aerospace
10 6 (2.44%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (2.44%) Front Office
10 6 (2.44%) Law
11 4 (1.63%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (1.22%) Investment Banking
12 3 (1.22%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.81%) Legal
14 1 (0.41%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.41%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.41%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 30 (12.20%) Self-Motivation
1 30 (12.20%) Smartphone
2 25 (10.16%) Data Centre
3 10 (4.07%) Mobile App
4 9 (3.66%) Onboarding
5 8 (3.25%) iPad
5 8 (3.25%) iPhone
5 8 (3.25%) Management Information System
5 8 (3.25%) Video Conferencing
6 7 (2.85%) Hybrid Cloud
7 5 (2.03%) Virtual Team
8 4 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
8 4 (1.63%) Hedge funds
9 2 (0.81%) Driving Licence
9 2 (0.81%) Tandem
10 1 (0.41%) BYOD
10 1 (0.41%) Data Protection Act
10 1 (0.41%) Fat Client
10 1 (0.41%) Legacy Systems
10 1 (0.41%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 146 (59.35%) Windows
2 84 (34.15%) Windows 10
3 41 (16.67%) Mac OS
4 40 (16.26%) Android
5 20 (8.13%) Apple iOS
6 13 (5.28%) Windows Server
7 4 (1.63%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.81%) Windows 8
8 2 (0.81%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.41%) Linux
9 1 (0.41%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (37.80%) Customer Service
2 44 (17.89%) ITIL
3 36 (14.63%) Business Intelligence
3 36 (14.63%) Digital Marketing
3 36 (14.63%) Programme Management
4 30 (12.20%) Migration
4 30 (12.20%) Service Management
5 27 (10.98%) Service Delivery
6 26 (10.57%) Problem-Solving
7 24 (9.76%) Time Management
8 21 (8.54%) ITSM
9 20 (8.13%) Workflow
10 17 (6.91%) Continuous Improvement
10 17 (6.91%) Inventory Management
11 16 (6.50%) Mobile Device Management
12 14 (5.69%) Logistics
13 13 (5.28%) Patch Management
14 12 (4.88%) Workflow Management
15 11 (4.47%) Incident Management
16 10 (4.07%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 19 (7.72%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.41%) Python
Qualifications
1 82 (33.33%) Security Cleared
2 81 (32.93%) SC Cleared
3 14 (5.69%) Degree
3 14 (5.69%) ITIL Certification
4 6 (2.44%) A+ Certification
5 4 (1.63%) Microsoft Certification
6 3 (1.22%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (0.81%) BPSS Clearance
7 2 (0.81%) Computer Science Degree
7 2 (0.81%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (14.23%) SLA
2 7 (2.85%) GDPR
3 5 (2.03%) QA
System Software
1 88 (35.77%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.69%) Virtual Desktop
3 4 (1.63%) Firmware
4 1 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.41%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.41%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 39 (15.85%) Microsoft Intune
2 33 (13.41%) SCCM
3 1 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 101 (41.06%) Microsoft
2 37 (15.04%) Cisco
3 36 (14.63%) SAP
4 33 (13.41%) HP
5 32 (13.01%) Dell
6 29 (11.79%) Apple
7 23 (9.35%) ServiceNow
8 9 (3.66%) McAfee
9 6 (2.44%) Bloomberg
9 6 (2.44%) Starlink
10 4 (1.63%) Remedy
11 3 (1.22%) Citrix
12 2 (0.81%) Google
13 1 (0.41%) Barracuda Networks
13 1 (0.41%) CrowdStrike
13 1 (0.41%) Reuters
13 1 (0.41%) Salesforce
13 1 (0.41%) SolarWinds
13 1 (0.41%) Trayport
13 1 (0.41%) Veeam