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 12 February 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 358 323 308
Rank change year-on-year -35 -15 +4
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 246 209 326
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.62% 0.67% 0.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.67% 0.73% 0.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 175 133 234
10th Percentile £153 £150 £127
25th Percentile £156 £175 £143
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £200 £203
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% -1.23% +1.25%
75th Percentile £235 £238 £225
90th Percentile £275 £269 £275
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £205 £200
% change year-on-year -14.63% +2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 16 19
10th Percentile £16.34 £21.88 £18.95
25th Percentile £19.54 £22.50 £20.00
Median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £24.86
Median % change year-on-year -16.54% -2.72% +32.56%
75th Percentile £23.72 £27.94 £30.13
90th Percentile £31.40 £30.68 £30.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.18 £24.18 £20.50
% change year-on-year -16.54% +17.95% +17.14%

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 36,458 28,796 41,269
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.54% 92.96% 93.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,924 17,765 27,180
10th Percentile £300 £288 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £478 £489
% change year-on-year -0.52% -2.35% -2.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,214 834 2,292
10th Percentile £14.53 £15.92 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.25 £16.45
Median hourly rate £30.00 £34.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.76% -2.86% -2.23%
75th Percentile £62.44 £63.75 £60.75
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £32.13 £35.00
% change year-on-year -7.87% -8.20% -

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 12 February 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 12 February 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 12 February 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 -34 232 £195 -7.14% 30
UK excluding London -15 190 £175 -14.63% 30
London -45 54 £201 +0.25% 9
Midlands -24 43 £175 -14.63% 3
North of England -46 42 £175 -18.60% 4
South West -9 36 £225 - 5
East of England +2 35 £195 -7.14% 3
East Midlands +1 29 £175 -17.65% 2
South East -47 24 £172 -12.05% 11
North West -14 21 £175 -19.54% 4
Work from Home -8 16 £163 -41.18% 6
West Midlands -45 14 £175 -12.50% 1
North East -8 11 £175 -2.78%
Wales +8 10 £160 - 2
Yorkshire -58 10 £200 -10.11%
Scotland -5 3 £132 -12.33% 2
Northern Ireland -10 1 £150 - 2

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

For the 6 months to 12 February 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.

1 148 (60.16%) Windows
2 113 (45.93%) Microsoft 365
3 100 (40.65%) Microsoft
4 92 (37.40%) Active Directory
5 89 (36.18%) Customer Service
6 85 (34.55%) Windows 10
7 79 (32.11%) Security Cleared
8 78 (31.71%) SC Cleared
9 57 (23.17%) Microsoft Office
10 47 (19.11%) Azure
11 44 (17.89%) ITIL
12 41 (16.67%) Android
12 41 (16.67%) Mac OS
13 40 (16.26%) Microsoft Intune
14 37 (15.04%) Cisco
15 35 (14.23%) SLA
16 34 (13.82%) Wireless
17 33 (13.41%) Business Intelligence
17 33 (13.41%) Digital Marketing
17 33 (13.41%) HP
17 33 (13.41%) Programme Management
17 33 (13.41%) SAP
17 33 (13.41%) Service Management
18 32 (13.01%) SCCM
19 30 (12.20%) Microsoft Exchange
20 29 (11.79%) Apple
20 29 (11.79%) Dell
20 29 (11.79%) Migration
20 29 (11.79%) SharePoint
21 27 (10.98%) Problem-Solving

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 30 (12.20%) Microsoft Exchange
2 29 (11.79%) SharePoint
Applications
1 57 (23.17%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (6.10%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (6.10%) Spreadsheet
3 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 47 (19.11%) Azure
3 17 (6.91%) OneDrive
4 11 (4.47%) Entra ID
5 4 (1.63%) Google Ads
6 3 (1.22%) Google Workspace
6 3 (1.22%) Slack
7 1 (0.41%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 34 (13.82%) Wireless
2 22 (8.94%) VPN
3 13 (5.28%) DNS
3 13 (5.28%) PABX
4 11 (4.47%) DHCP
5 10 (4.07%) TCP/IP
6 9 (3.66%) Skype
7 8 (3.25%) Cisco IOS
8 5 (2.03%) Structured Cabling
9 4 (1.63%) LAN
10 3 (1.22%) Softphone
10 3 (1.22%) WAN
10 3 (1.22%) Wi-Fi
11 2 (0.81%) Firewall
11 2 (0.81%) Telepresence
11 2 (0.81%) Unified Communications
11 2 (0.81%) VLAN
12 1 (0.41%) IPv4
12 1 (0.41%) Network Security
12 1 (0.41%) VoIP
Development Applications
1 3 (1.22%) JIRA
General
1 108 (43.90%) Social Skills
2 62 (25.20%) Finance
3 40 (16.26%) Public Sector
4 36 (14.63%) Telecoms
5 33 (13.41%) Electronics
5 33 (13.41%) Manufacturing
5 33 (13.41%) Marketing
6 27 (10.98%) Analytical Skills
7 9 (3.66%) Retail
8 8 (3.25%) Banking
9 7 (2.85%) Aerospace
10 6 (2.44%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (2.44%) Law
11 4 (1.63%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (1.22%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.81%) Front Office
13 2 (0.81%) Investment Banking
13 2 (0.81%) Legal
14 1 (0.41%) Financial Institution
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.41%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 31 (12.60%) Self-Motivation
2 30 (12.20%) Smartphone
3 25 (10.16%) Data Centre
4 11 (4.47%) Onboarding
5 10 (4.07%) Mobile App
6 8 (3.25%) Hybrid Cloud
6 8 (3.25%) Management Information System
7 7 (2.85%) iPad
7 7 (2.85%) iPhone
7 7 (2.85%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (2.03%) Virtual Team
9 4 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.22%) Hedge funds
11 2 (0.81%) Driving Licence
11 2 (0.81%) Tandem
12 1 (0.41%) Augmented Reality
12 1 (0.41%) BYOD
12 1 (0.41%) Data Protection Act
12 1 (0.41%) Fat Client
12 1 (0.41%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 148 (60.16%) Windows
2 85 (34.55%) Windows 10
3 41 (16.67%) Android
3 41 (16.67%) Mac OS
4 21 (8.54%) Apple iOS
5 13 (5.28%) Windows Server
6 6 (2.44%) Windows 7
7 4 (1.63%) Windows 8
8 2 (0.81%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.41%) Linux
9 1 (0.41%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (36.18%) Customer Service
2 44 (17.89%) ITIL
3 33 (13.41%) Business Intelligence
3 33 (13.41%) Digital Marketing
3 33 (13.41%) Programme Management
3 33 (13.41%) Service Management
4 29 (11.79%) Migration
5 27 (10.98%) Problem-Solving
6 26 (10.57%) Service Delivery
7 22 (8.94%) Time Management
8 21 (8.54%) Inventory Management
8 21 (8.54%) ITSM
9 19 (7.72%) Continuous Improvement
10 17 (6.91%) Workflow
11 15 (6.10%) Logistics
11 15 (6.10%) Mobile Device Management
12 14 (5.69%) Incident Management
13 13 (5.28%) Patch Management
14 12 (4.88%) Asset Management
15 10 (4.07%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 20 (8.13%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.41%) Python
Qualifications
1 79 (32.11%) Security Cleared
2 78 (31.71%) SC Cleared
3 15 (6.10%) Degree
3 15 (6.10%) ITIL Certification
4 6 (2.44%) A+ Certification
5 3 (1.22%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 2 (0.81%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (0.81%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (14.23%) SLA
2 7 (2.85%) GDPR
3 2 (0.81%) QA
System Software
1 92 (37.40%) 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 40 (16.26%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (13.01%) SCCM
3 1 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 100 (40.65%) Microsoft
2 37 (15.04%) Cisco
3 33 (13.41%) HP
3 33 (13.41%) SAP
4 29 (11.79%) Apple
4 29 (11.79%) Dell
5 26 (10.57%) ServiceNow
6 9 (3.66%) McAfee
7 7 (2.85%) Starlink
8 5 (2.03%) Remedy
9 4 (1.63%) Bloomberg
9 4 (1.63%) Google
10 2 (0.81%) Citrix
11 1 (0.41%) Altiris
11 1 (0.41%) Barracuda Networks
11 1 (0.41%) Salesforce
11 1 (0.41%) SolarWinds
11 1 (0.41%) Veeam
11 1 (0.41%) VMware
11 1 (0.41%) Wyse