Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £195, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 November 2025.

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

6 months to
21 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 325 351 295
Rank change year-on-year +26 -56 +19
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 273 221 364
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.76% 0.61% 0.79%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.84% 0.65% 0.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 179 136 261
10th Percentile £150 £140 £131
25th Percentile £158 £172 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £195 £210 £200
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% +5.00% -
75th Percentile £248 £238 £233
90th Percentile £280 £269 £300
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £210 £200
% change year-on-year -9.52% +5.00% +3.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 19 17
10th Percentile £14.71 £22.44 £16.97
25th Percentile £19.54 - £17.70
Median hourly rate £21.46 £24.18 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.25% +27.26% -0.08%
75th Percentile £25.18 £30.34 £20.00
90th Percentile £31.40 £33.40 £21.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.46 £24.18 £19.50
% change year-on-year -11.25% +24.00% +8.33%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 32,630 33,866 43,334
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.96% 92.82% 93.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,686 20,426 29,351
10th Percentile £280 £300 £292
25th Percentile £402 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £645
90th Percentile £725 £738 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £493 £500
% change year-on-year -3.65% -1.40% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,921 1,265 1,542
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.22 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.75 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £36.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.14% -20.00% +50.00%
75th Percentile £55.85 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.00 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -28.14% -22.22% +83.67%

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 21 November 2025.

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 21 November 2025.

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 21 November 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
England +30 246 £200 -6.98% 64
UK excluding London -2 181 £190 -9.52% 40
London +6 84 £200 -7.62% 33
North of England -22 48 £175 -16.17% 6
South West +16 42 £250 +12.36% 1
South East -2 33 £195 -8.24% 15
Midlands -12 29 £171 -2.01% 5
North West -5 26 £190 -7.32% 3
East of England -8 19 £220 +10.00% 9
West Midlands -15 15 £175 +0.29% 2
East Midlands -4 14 £158 -42.73% 3
North East 0 12 £175 -
Wales +10 10 £160 -27.27%
Yorkshire -37 10 £165 -25.84% 3
Work from Home -3 7 £235 -2.08% 14
Scotland -20 7 £132 -6.07% 5
Northern Ireland -10 3 £200 +29.03%

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

For the 6 months to 21 November 2025, 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.

1 153 (56.04%) Windows
2 117 (42.86%) Microsoft 365
3 113 (41.39%) Microsoft
4 104 (38.10%) Security Cleared
5 101 (37.00%) SC Cleared
6 98 (35.90%) Customer Service
7 88 (32.23%) Active Directory
8 77 (28.21%) Windows 10
9 70 (25.64%) ITIL
10 64 (23.44%) Microsoft Office
11 43 (15.75%) Problem-Solving
12 42 (15.38%) Business Intelligence
12 42 (15.38%) Mac OS
12 42 (15.38%) SAP
13 41 (15.02%) Digital Marketing
13 41 (15.02%) Programme Management
14 40 (14.65%) Service Management
15 39 (14.29%) Microsoft Exchange
16 37 (13.55%) Android
16 37 (13.55%) Cisco
16 37 (13.55%) Workflow
17 34 (12.45%) ITSM
17 34 (12.45%) ServiceNow
18 32 (11.72%) Azure
18 32 (11.72%) Microsoft Intune
19 31 (11.36%) SLA
20 30 (10.99%) Apple
20 30 (10.99%) Dell
20 30 (10.99%) HP
20 30 (10.99%) SCCM

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 39 (14.29%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (7.69%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2010
3 1 (0.37%) HCL Notes
3 1 (0.37%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 64 (23.44%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (9.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (3.30%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.73%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.37%) assyst
2 1 (0.37%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.37%) Eikon
2 1 (0.37%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.37%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 117 (42.86%) Microsoft 365
2 32 (11.72%) Azure
3 17 (6.23%) OneDrive
4 5 (1.83%) Entra ID
5 1 (0.37%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 30 (10.99%) Wireless
2 20 (7.33%) VPN
3 13 (4.76%) PABX
4 12 (4.40%) DNS
5 11 (4.03%) DHCP
6 8 (2.93%) Skype
7 7 (2.56%) TCP/IP
8 6 (2.20%) Cisco IOS
8 6 (2.20%) LAN
9 5 (1.83%) Structured Cabling
9 5 (1.83%) WAN
10 4 (1.47%) Remote Desktop
11 3 (1.10%) Firewall
11 3 (1.10%) VLAN
12 2 (0.73%) Internet
12 2 (0.73%) IP Telephony
12 2 (0.73%) Softphone
12 2 (0.73%) Wi-Fi
12 2 (0.73%) WLAN
13 1 (0.37%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.37%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (0.37%) JIRA
General
1 138 (50.55%) Social Skills
2 89 (32.60%) Finance
3 50 (18.32%) Public Sector
4 43 (15.75%) Telecoms
5 42 (15.38%) Manufacturing
6 41 (15.02%) Electronics
6 41 (15.02%) Marketing
7 38 (13.92%) Analytical Skills
8 15 (5.49%) Banking
9 10 (3.66%) Front Office
10 7 (2.56%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (2.20%) Aerospace
11 6 (2.20%) Retail
12 5 (1.83%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (1.47%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.73%) Legal
15 1 (0.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 1 (0.37%) Law
15 1 (0.37%) Pharmaceutical
15 1 (0.37%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.37%) FIX Protocol
1 1 (0.37%) X-Windows
Miscellaneous
1 26 (9.52%) Self-Motivation
2 25 (9.16%) Data Centre
3 15 (5.49%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.13%) iPad
4 14 (5.13%) iPhone
5 12 (4.40%) Driving Licence
6 10 (3.66%) Onboarding
7 9 (3.30%) Mobile App
7 9 (3.30%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (1.83%) Management Information System
9 4 (1.47%) Hedge funds
10 3 (1.10%) CMDB
10 3 (1.10%) Virtual Team
11 2 (0.73%) Tandem
12 1 (0.37%) Blackberry
12 1 (0.37%) BYOD
12 1 (0.37%) Data Protection Act
12 1 (0.37%) Fat Client
12 1 (0.37%) Fixed Income
12 1 (0.37%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 153 (56.04%) Windows
2 77 (28.21%) Windows 10
3 42 (15.38%) Mac OS
4 37 (13.55%) Android
5 13 (4.76%) Apple iOS
6 12 (4.40%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.10%) Linux
8 2 (0.73%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.73%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.37%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (35.90%) Customer Service
2 70 (25.64%) ITIL
3 43 (15.75%) Problem-Solving
4 42 (15.38%) Business Intelligence
5 41 (15.02%) Digital Marketing
5 41 (15.02%) Programme Management
6 40 (14.65%) Service Management
7 37 (13.55%) Workflow
8 34 (12.45%) ITSM
9 28 (10.26%) Time Management
10 27 (9.89%) Migration
11 26 (9.52%) Service Delivery
12 24 (8.79%) Inventory Management
12 24 (8.79%) Workflow Management
13 21 (7.69%) Patch Management
14 17 (6.23%) Mobile Device Management
15 13 (4.76%) Antivirus Management
15 13 (4.76%) Asset Management
16 12 (4.40%) Data Analysis
16 12 (4.40%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 17 (6.23%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.37%) Python
2 1 (0.37%) SQL
Qualifications
1 104 (38.10%) Security Cleared
2 101 (37.00%) SC Cleared
3 23 (8.42%) Degree
4 17 (6.23%) ITIL Certification
5 14 (5.13%) Microsoft Certification
6 4 (1.47%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (1.47%) DBS Check
6 4 (1.47%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 3 (1.10%) A+ Certification
8 2 (0.73%) MCSE
9 1 (0.37%) CCNA
9 1 (0.37%) Cisco Certification
9 1 (0.37%) Computer Science Degree
9 1 (0.37%) Dell Certification
9 1 (0.37%) MCP
9 1 (0.37%) MCSA
9 1 (0.37%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (11.36%) SLA
2 12 (4.40%) QA
3 7 (2.56%) GDPR
4 1 (0.37%) COBIT
System Software
1 88 (32.23%) Active Directory
2 15 (5.49%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (1.83%) BitLocker
4 4 (1.47%) Firmware
5 1 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.37%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.37%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.37%) vSphere
5 1 (0.37%) Xen
Systems Management
1 32 (11.72%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (10.99%) SCCM
Vendors
1 113 (41.39%) Microsoft
2 42 (15.38%) SAP
3 37 (13.55%) Cisco
4 34 (12.45%) ServiceNow
5 30 (10.99%) Apple
5 30 (10.99%) Dell
5 30 (10.99%) HP
6 10 (3.66%) Bloomberg
7 9 (3.30%) McAfee
8 7 (2.56%) Starlink
9 5 (1.83%) Citrix
9 5 (1.83%) Remedy
10 3 (1.10%) VMware
11 2 (0.73%) Reuters
11 2 (0.73%) Tradeweb
11 2 (0.73%) Wyse
12 1 (0.37%) Avaya
12 1 (0.37%) Lotus
12 1 (0.37%) Oracle
12 1 (0.37%) Trayport