Help Desk Support Contracts

Help Desk Support
UK

The median Help Desk Support daily rate in the UK is £215, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 May 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
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 497 542 656
Rank change year-on-year +45 +114 +118
Contract jobs requiring a Help Desk Support 23 40 62
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.079% 0.092% 0.10%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.085% 0.099% 0.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 7 18 47
10th Percentile £155 £81 £120
25th Percentile £178 £101 £153
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £215 £145 £450
Median % change year-on-year +48.28% -67.78% +233.33%
75th Percentile £244 £184 £823
90th Percentile £250 £211 -
UK excluding London median daily rate £215 £163 £123
% change year-on-year +32.31% +32.65% -9.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 19 4
10th Percentile £13.25 £10.95 £16.80
25th Percentile - £13.25 £17.25
Median hourly rate £14.20 £13.60 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.41% -26.47% +7.22%
75th Percentile - £14.00 £21.63
90th Percentile - £18.75 £25.45
UK excluding London median hourly rate £14.20 £13.60 £19.00
% change year-on-year +4.41% -28.42% +45.43%

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 27,084 40,415 56,464
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.52% 92.78% 94.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,692 26,309 39,470
10th Percentile £300 £275 £313
25th Percentile £406 £410 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -2.78% +2.86%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £492 £500
% change year-on-year -3.46% -1.60% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,035 2,664 1,570
10th Percentile £14.07 £12.86 £14.29
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.30 £19.50
Median hourly rate £29.00 £36.42 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.37% -19.07% +91.49%
75th Percentile £62.50 £60.75 £65.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £39.55 £42.50
% change year-on-year -29.20% -6.94% +117.95%

Help Desk Support
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Job vacancy trend for Help Desk Support in the UK

Help Desk Support
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Help Desk Support.

Daily rate trend for Help Desk Support in the UK

Help Desk Support
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Help Desk Support.

Hourly rate trend for Help Desk Support in the UK

Help Desk Support
Top 12 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Help Desk Support within the UK over the 6 months to 1 May 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
UK excluding London +56 23 £215 +32.31% 14
England +41 20 £225 +55.17% 16
Work from Home +50 16 £238 +58.33% 4
South East +43 11 - - 6
North of England +17 4 £238 +30.14% 4
North West +16 4 £238 +69.64% 1
East of England +30 3 - - 5
Northern Ireland - 2 £160 -
South West +44 1 £215 +43.33% 2
Midlands +22 1 - -
West Midlands +14 1 - -
Scotland +11 1 - -

Help Desk Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 1 May 2025, Help Desk 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 Help Desk Support in the job title.

1 16 (69.57%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (65.22%) Problem-Solving
2 15 (65.22%) Social Skills
3 13 (56.52%) Microsoft
4 12 (52.17%) Time Management
5 11 (47.83%) Microsoft Excel
6 10 (43.48%) Windows
7 6 (26.09%) Internet
7 6 (26.09%) Firewall
7 6 (26.09%) Wireless
7 6 (26.09%) Analytical Skills
8 5 (21.74%) Windows 10
9 4 (17.39%) Telecoms
9 4 (17.39%) ITIL
9 4 (17.39%) Customer Service
10 3 (13.04%) Service Catalogue
10 3 (13.04%) Apple
10 3 (13.04%) Service Delivery
10 3 (13.04%) Change Management
10 3 (13.04%) Process Improvement
10 3 (13.04%) Android
10 3 (13.04%) Agile
10 3 (13.04%) Problem Management
11 2 (8.70%) VMware
11 2 (8.70%) Banking
11 2 (8.70%) Investment Banking
11 2 (8.70%) Incident Management
11 2 (8.70%) Degree
11 2 (8.70%) Blackberry
11 2 (8.70%) Active Directory

Help Desk 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 2 (8.70%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (4.35%) IBM Notes
Applications
1 16 (69.57%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (47.83%) Microsoft Excel
Communications & Networking
1 6 (26.09%) Firewall
1 6 (26.09%) Internet
1 6 (26.09%) Wireless
2 2 (8.70%) DHCP
2 2 (8.70%) DNS
2 2 (8.70%) TCP/IP
General
1 15 (65.22%) Social Skills
2 6 (26.09%) Analytical Skills
3 4 (17.39%) Telecoms
4 2 (8.70%) Banking
4 2 (8.70%) Investment Banking
5 1 (4.35%) Finance
5 1 (4.35%) German Language
5 1 (4.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
Miscellaneous
1 2 (8.70%) Blackberry
2 1 (4.35%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 10 (43.48%) Windows
2 5 (21.74%) Windows 10
3 3 (13.04%) Android
4 1 (4.35%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 15 (65.22%) Problem-Solving
2 12 (52.17%) Time Management
3 4 (17.39%) Customer Service
3 4 (17.39%) ITIL
4 3 (13.04%) Agile
4 3 (13.04%) Change Management
4 3 (13.04%) Problem Management
4 3 (13.04%) Process Improvement
4 3 (13.04%) Service Catalogue
4 3 (13.04%) Service Delivery
5 2 (8.70%) Incident Management
6 1 (4.35%) Data Protection
6 1 (4.35%) Proactive Monitoring
6 1 (4.35%) Service Management
6 1 (4.35%) Software Licensing
Qualifications
1 2 (8.70%) Degree
2 1 (4.35%) DBS Check
2 1 (4.35%) DV Cleared
2 1 (4.35%) SC Cleared
2 1 (4.35%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 2 (8.70%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 2 (8.70%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 13 (56.52%) Microsoft
2 3 (13.04%) Apple
3 2 (8.70%) VMware
4 1 (4.35%) Lotus
4 1 (4.35%) ServiceNow