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 7 November 2025.

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

6 months to
7 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 329 340 306
Rank change year-on-year +11 -34 +12
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 274 221 368
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.78% 0.60% 0.79%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.86% 0.65% 0.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 182 140 263
10th Percentile £150 £140 £132
25th Percentile £159 £167 £148
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £195 £210 £200
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% +5.00% -
75th Percentile £249 £234 £230
90th Percentile £278 £252 £285
UK excluding London median daily rate £195 £210 £200
% change year-on-year -7.14% +5.00% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 13 21
10th Percentile £13.88 £22.61 £16.54
25th Percentile £19.54 - £17.46
Median hourly rate £21.46 £24.18 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.25% +27.26% +5.56%
75th Percentile £31.40 £27.25 £20.00
90th Percentile £33.68 £36.10 £21.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.46 £24.18 £19.00
% change year-on-year -11.25% +27.26% +5.56%

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 31,779 34,114 43,832
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.90% 92.88% 93.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,168 20,586 29,825
10th Percentile £278 £300 £298
25th Percentile £402 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £500
% change year-on-year -3.06% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,814 1,278 1,528
10th Percentile £14.06 £15.09 £14.98
25th Percentile £17.69 £20.20 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.00 £44.75
Median % change year-on-year -32.03% -17.32% +54.84%
75th Percentile £51.19 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.65 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £36.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -30.14% -19.10% +85.42%

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 7 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 7 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 7 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 +31 246 £204 -5.23% 173
UK excluding London +6 189 £195 -7.14% 147
London +3 76 £200 -6.98% 87
North of England -5 51 £183 -12.05% 19
South West +23 47 £243 +8.99% 5
South East +9 39 £200 -6.98% 82
North West -9 30 £200 -1.23% 11
Midlands -3 28 £171 -2.01% 17
West Midlands -20 15 £175 +0.29% 6
East of England -14 14 £220 +10.00% 7
East Midlands -10 13 £158 -42.73% 10
North East 0 12 £175 - 5
Wales +14 10 £164 -25.57% 2
Yorkshire -25 9 £198 -11.24% 3
Work from Home +8 8 £235 +13.39% 30
Scotland -11 7 £132 -6.07% 21
Northern Ireland -6 4 £165 +6.45%

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

For the 6 months to 7 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 (55.84%) Windows
2 125 (45.62%) Microsoft
3 120 (43.80%) Microsoft 365
4 104 (37.96%) Customer Service
5 102 (37.23%) Security Cleared
6 98 (35.77%) SC Cleared
7 93 (33.94%) Active Directory
8 79 (28.83%) ITIL
9 73 (26.64%) Windows 10
10 70 (25.55%) Microsoft Office
11 48 (17.52%) Service Management
12 45 (16.42%) Problem-Solving
13 43 (15.69%) Business Intelligence
13 43 (15.69%) Microsoft Exchange
13 43 (15.69%) SAP
14 42 (15.33%) Digital Marketing
14 42 (15.33%) ITSM
14 42 (15.33%) Programme Management
15 40 (14.60%) Mac OS
16 38 (13.87%) ServiceNow
17 36 (13.14%) Android
17 36 (13.14%) Workflow
18 34 (12.41%) Cisco
18 34 (12.41%) Microsoft Intune
19 32 (11.68%) Azure
20 31 (11.31%) SCCM
21 30 (10.95%) Apple
21 30 (10.95%) SLA
22 28 (10.22%) Dell
22 28 (10.22%) HP

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 43 (15.69%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (7.66%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.73%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.36%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 70 (25.55%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (9.49%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (2.55%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (1.09%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.36%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.36%) Eikon
2 1 (0.36%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.36%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 120 (43.80%) Microsoft 365
2 32 (11.68%) Azure
3 18 (6.57%) OneDrive
4 6 (2.19%) Entra ID
5 1 (0.36%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 28 (10.22%) Wireless
2 23 (8.39%) VPN
3 13 (4.74%) PABX
4 12 (4.38%) DNS
5 11 (4.01%) DHCP
6 9 (3.28%) LAN
7 8 (2.92%) Skype
7 8 (2.92%) WAN
8 7 (2.55%) TCP/IP
9 5 (1.82%) Cisco IOS
9 5 (1.82%) Structured Cabling
10 4 (1.46%) Remote Desktop
11 3 (1.09%) Firewall
11 3 (1.09%) VLAN
11 3 (1.09%) Wi-Fi
12 2 (0.73%) Internet
12 2 (0.73%) IP Telephony
12 2 (0.73%) VoIP
12 2 (0.73%) WLAN
13 1 (0.36%) RFID
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.36%) Power BI
General
1 145 (52.92%) Social Skills
2 90 (32.85%) Finance
3 52 (18.98%) Public Sector
4 43 (15.69%) Manufacturing
5 42 (15.33%) Electronics
5 42 (15.33%) Marketing
5 42 (15.33%) Telecoms
6 39 (14.23%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (5.47%) Banking
8 10 (3.65%) Front Office
9 7 (2.55%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (2.19%) Aerospace
11 5 (1.82%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.46%) Investment Banking
12 4 (1.46%) Retail
13 1 (0.36%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.36%) Legal
13 1 (0.36%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.36%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.36%) FIX Protocol
1 1 (0.36%) X-Windows
Miscellaneous
1 24 (8.76%) Self-Motivation
2 23 (8.39%) Data Centre
3 15 (5.47%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.11%) Driving Licence
4 14 (5.11%) iPad
4 14 (5.11%) iPhone
5 10 (3.65%) Onboarding
6 9 (3.28%) Video Conferencing
7 8 (2.92%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.46%) Hedge funds
9 3 (1.09%) CMDB
9 3 (1.09%) Management Information System
9 3 (1.09%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.73%) Tandem
11 1 (0.36%) Blackberry
11 1 (0.36%) Fat Client
11 1 (0.36%) Fixed Income
11 1 (0.36%) Legacy Applications
11 1 (0.36%) Legacy Systems
11 1 (0.36%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 153 (55.84%) Windows
2 73 (26.64%) Windows 10
3 40 (14.60%) Mac OS
4 36 (13.14%) Android
5 15 (5.47%) Apple iOS
6 10 (3.65%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.09%) Linux
8 2 (0.73%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.73%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.36%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (37.96%) Customer Service
2 79 (28.83%) ITIL
3 48 (17.52%) Service Management
4 45 (16.42%) Problem-Solving
5 43 (15.69%) Business Intelligence
6 42 (15.33%) Digital Marketing
6 42 (15.33%) ITSM
6 42 (15.33%) Programme Management
7 36 (13.14%) Workflow
8 26 (9.49%) Migration
8 26 (9.49%) Time Management
9 24 (8.76%) Inventory Management
9 24 (8.76%) Patch Management
10 23 (8.39%) Service Delivery
11 21 (7.66%) Workflow Management
12 19 (6.93%) Mobile Device Management
13 14 (5.11%) Asset Management
13 14 (5.11%) Data Analysis
14 12 (4.38%) Antivirus Management
15 11 (4.01%) Ticket Management
Programming Languages
1 18 (6.57%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.36%) Python
2 1 (0.36%) SQL
Qualifications
1 102 (37.23%) Security Cleared
2 98 (35.77%) SC Cleared
3 26 (9.49%) Degree
4 17 (6.20%) ITIL Certification
5 15 (5.47%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (2.19%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 5 (1.82%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (1.46%) DBS Check
9 3 (1.09%) A+ Certification
10 2 (0.73%) DV Cleared
10 2 (0.73%) MCSE
11 1 (0.36%) CCNA
11 1 (0.36%) Cisco Certification
11 1 (0.36%) Computer Science Degree
11 1 (0.36%) Dell Certification
11 1 (0.36%) MCP
11 1 (0.36%) MCSA
11 1 (0.36%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (10.95%) SLA
2 12 (4.38%) QA
3 7 (2.55%) GDPR
4 2 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.36%) COBIT
System Software
1 93 (33.94%) Active Directory
2 17 (6.20%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (1.82%) BitLocker
4 3 (1.09%) Firmware
5 1 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.36%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.36%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.36%) vSphere
5 1 (0.36%) Xen
Systems Management
1 34 (12.41%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (11.31%) SCCM
Vendors
1 125 (45.62%) Microsoft
2 43 (15.69%) SAP
3 38 (13.87%) ServiceNow
4 34 (12.41%) Cisco
5 30 (10.95%) Apple
6 28 (10.22%) Dell
6 28 (10.22%) HP
7 9 (3.28%) Citrix
7 9 (3.28%) McAfee
8 8 (2.92%) Bloomberg
9 7 (2.55%) Starlink
10 6 (2.19%) Remedy
11 4 (1.46%) Wyse
12 3 (1.09%) VMware
13 2 (0.73%) Reuters
13 2 (0.73%) Tradeweb
14 1 (0.36%) Eze Software Group
14 1 (0.36%) FactSet
14 1 (0.36%) Polycom
14 1 (0.36%) Trayport