Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £215, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 19 September 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 305 322 293
Rank change year-on-year +17 -29 +27
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 264 253 395
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.80% 0.66% 0.80%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.88% 0.71% 0.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 157 163 280
10th Percentile £139 £135 £133
25th Percentile £163 £158 £153
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £215 £200 £200
Median % change year-on-year +7.50% - -
75th Percentile £250 £230 £238
90th Percentile £282 £269 £288
UK excluding London median daily rate £215 £203 £200
% change year-on-year +6.17% +1.25% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 21 33
10th Percentile £13.75 £18.00 £15.42
25th Percentile £15.12 £18.13 £17.46
Median hourly rate £25.00 £24.18 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.39% +20.90% +3.41%
75th Percentile £31.40 £27.00 £25.71
90th Percentile £33.75 £28.75 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.43 £24.18 £17.60
% change year-on-year +13.42% +37.39% -8.40%

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 30,009 35,817 46,695
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.07% 92.96% 94.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,949 22,029 31,957
10th Percentile £278 £300 £300
25th Percentile £400 £413 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
75th Percentile £623 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,585 1,680 1,499
10th Percentile £13.75 £14.73 £14.99
25th Percentile £17.30 £20.50 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £43.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -41.51% -3.37% +71.15%
75th Percentile £52.50 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £45.00 £43.75
% change year-on-year -44.11% +2.86% +98.86%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings that featured Desktop Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Desktop Support 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 19 September 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 19 September 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 19 September 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 +15 230 £220 +8.64% 30
UK excluding London +30 179 £215 +6.17% 26
London -20 70 £222 +16.58% 10
South West +48 56 £225 +7.14% 3
North of England -4 49 £211 +8.33% 9
South East +18 34 £215 - 8
North West +4 26 £210 +3.70% 4
Midlands 0 22 £175 -33.33% 2
West Midlands +6 16 £175 -11.95%
Yorkshire -7 15 £235 +11.90% 3
Scotland -19 14 £150 -25.25% 1
Work from Home +9 9 £250 +31.58% 5
North East 0 8 £195 +2.63% 2
East of England -17 8 £220 +7.32% 1
East Midlands -4 6 £171 -37.82% 2
Northern Ireland -5 4 £165 +6.45%
Wales +5 3 £168 -23.86% 2

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 19 September 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 153 (57.95%) Social Skills
2 147 (55.68%) Windows
3 139 (52.65%) Microsoft
4 114 (43.18%) Customer Service
5 111 (42.05%) Active Directory
6 109 (41.29%) Microsoft 365
7 88 (33.33%) ITIL
8 73 (27.65%) Windows 10
9 71 (26.89%) Security Cleared
10 67 (25.38%) SC Cleared
10 67 (25.38%) Finance
11 63 (23.86%) ServiceNow
12 54 (20.45%) Microsoft Exchange
13 53 (20.08%) ITSM
13 53 (20.08%) Problem-Solving
14 52 (19.70%) Microsoft Office
15 50 (18.94%) Service Management
16 46 (17.42%) Analytical Skills
17 43 (16.29%) Microsoft Intune
18 40 (15.15%) SCCM
19 34 (12.88%) Workflow
19 34 (12.88%) Degree
20 33 (12.50%) Citrix
21 32 (12.12%) VPN
22 31 (11.74%) Azure
23 25 (9.47%) Inventory Management
23 25 (9.47%) Public Sector
24 24 (9.09%) Service Delivery
24 24 (9.09%) SharePoint
24 24 (9.09%) Time Management

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 54 (20.45%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (9.09%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.76%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.38%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.38%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 52 (19.70%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (6.82%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (1.52%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (1.52%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.38%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.38%) Eikon
2 1 (0.38%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.38%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 109 (41.29%) Microsoft 365
2 31 (11.74%) Azure
3 18 (6.82%) OneDrive
4 9 (3.41%) Entra ID
5 2 (0.76%) Google Workspace
6 1 (0.38%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 32 (12.12%) VPN
2 16 (6.06%) DHCP
2 16 (6.06%) DNS
3 15 (5.68%) LAN
4 10 (3.79%) Remote Desktop
4 10 (3.79%) WAN
5 8 (3.03%) TCP/IP
6 7 (2.65%) Firewall
6 7 (2.65%) Wi-Fi
7 6 (2.27%) Wireless
8 5 (1.89%) PABX
8 5 (1.89%) Structured Cabling
8 5 (1.89%) VLAN
9 4 (1.52%) VoIP
10 3 (1.14%) Skype
10 3 (1.14%) Telepresence
10 3 (1.14%) Unified Communications
11 2 (0.76%) Internet
11 2 (0.76%) IP Telephony
11 2 (0.76%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.38%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 2 (0.76%) JIRA
General
1 153 (57.95%) Social Skills
2 67 (25.38%) Finance
3 46 (17.42%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (9.47%) Public Sector
5 21 (7.95%) Manufacturing
6 16 (6.06%) Electronics
6 16 (6.06%) Marketing
6 16 (6.06%) Telecoms
7 15 (5.68%) Banking
8 10 (3.79%) Front Office
9 8 (3.03%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (1.52%) Investment Banking
10 4 (1.52%) Presentation Skills
11 2 (0.76%) Aerospace
11 2 (0.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 2 (0.76%) Legal
11 2 (0.76%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.38%) Pharmaceutical
12 1 (0.38%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.38%) FIX Protocol
1 1 (0.38%) X-Windows
Miscellaneous
1 22 (8.33%) Driving Licence
2 14 (5.30%) iPad
2 14 (5.30%) iPhone
2 14 (5.30%) Smartphone
3 10 (3.79%) Self-Motivation
4 9 (3.41%) Onboarding
5 6 (2.27%) Video Conferencing
6 4 (1.52%) CMDB
6 4 (1.52%) Management Information System
7 3 (1.14%) Hedge funds
8 2 (0.76%) Enterprise Software
9 1 (0.38%) BYOD
9 1 (0.38%) Data Protection Act
9 1 (0.38%) Fat Client
9 1 (0.38%) Fixed Income
9 1 (0.38%) Legacy Applications
9 1 (0.38%) Legacy Systems
9 1 (0.38%) Mobile App
9 1 (0.38%) Replication
9 1 (0.38%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 147 (55.68%) Windows
2 73 (27.65%) Windows 10
3 18 (6.82%) Mac OS
4 17 (6.44%) Apple iOS
5 10 (3.79%) Windows Server
6 8 (3.03%) Android
7 6 (2.27%) Windows 8
7 6 (2.27%) Windows Server 2012
7 6 (2.27%) Windows XP
8 5 (1.89%) Linux
8 5 (1.89%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (1.52%) Windows Server 2003
9 4 (1.52%) Windows Server 2008
10 3 (1.14%) Mac OS X
11 2 (0.76%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 114 (43.18%) Customer Service
2 88 (33.33%) ITIL
3 53 (20.08%) ITSM
3 53 (20.08%) Problem-Solving
4 50 (18.94%) Service Management
5 34 (12.88%) Workflow
6 25 (9.47%) Inventory Management
7 24 (9.09%) Service Delivery
7 24 (9.09%) Time Management
8 23 (8.71%) Patch Management
9 21 (7.95%) Asset Management
9 21 (7.95%) Migration
10 20 (7.58%) Collaborative Working
10 20 (7.58%) Mobile Device Management
11 19 (7.20%) Workflow Management
12 17 (6.44%) Business Intelligence
13 16 (6.06%) Digital Marketing
13 16 (6.06%) Programme Management
14 14 (5.30%) Data Analysis
15 13 (4.92%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 20 (7.58%) PowerShell
2 3 (1.14%) SQL
3 1 (0.38%) Python
Qualifications
1 71 (26.89%) Security Cleared
2 67 (25.38%) SC Cleared
3 34 (12.88%) Degree
4 20 (7.58%) Microsoft Certification
5 14 (5.30%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 11 (4.17%) ITIL Certification
7 5 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
7 5 (1.89%) Dell Certification
8 4 (1.52%) DBS Check
9 3 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
10 2 (0.76%) A+ Certification
10 2 (0.76%) DV Cleared
10 2 (0.76%) MCSE
11 1 (0.38%) CCNA
11 1 (0.38%) Cisco Certification
11 1 (0.38%) CISSP
11 1 (0.38%) GIAC
11 1 (0.38%) MCP
11 1 (0.38%) MCSA
11 1 (0.38%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (8.71%) SLA
2 13 (4.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (4.55%) QA
4 3 (1.14%) GDPR
5 1 (0.38%) COBIT
System Software
1 111 (42.05%) Active Directory
2 16 (6.06%) Virtual Desktop
3 11 (4.17%) BitLocker
4 4 (1.52%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (1.14%) vSphere
6 2 (0.76%) XenApp
7 1 (0.38%) Firmware
7 1 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.38%) Xen
Systems Management
1 43 (16.29%) Microsoft Intune
2 40 (15.15%) SCCM
3 2 (0.76%) AppManager
3 2 (0.76%) McAfee ePO
3 2 (0.76%) Norton AntiVirus
Vendors
1 139 (52.65%) Microsoft
2 63 (23.86%) ServiceNow
3 33 (12.50%) Citrix
4 17 (6.44%) Dell
4 17 (6.44%) SAP
5 13 (4.92%) HP
6 11 (4.17%) Apple
7 9 (3.41%) Cisco
8 8 (3.03%) Bloomberg
8 8 (3.03%) McAfee
8 8 (3.03%) VMware
9 6 (2.27%) Canon
9 6 (2.27%) Starlink
9 6 (2.27%) Wyse
10 5 (1.89%) Remedy
11 3 (1.14%) Sage
12 2 (0.76%) Adobe
12 2 (0.76%) Reuters
12 2 (0.76%) Sophos
12 2 (0.76%) Symantec