IT Engineer Contract Job Trends

IT Engineer
UK

The median IT Engineer daily rate in the UK is £200, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 January 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 227 238 214
Rank change year-on-year +11 -24 +84
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 463 342 475
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.22% 1.08% 1.09%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.34% 1.16% 1.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 257 234 285
10th Percentile £134 £125 £111
25th Percentile £158 £143 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £188 £200
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% -6.25% -
75th Percentile £238 £267 £269
90th Percentile £328 £530 £388
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £180 £200
% change year-on-year +5.56% -10.00% +12.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 125 42 111
10th Percentile £18.58 £15.11 £13.16
25th Percentile £20.50 £18.20 £16.13
Median hourly rate £24.00 £21.59 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.16% +19.94% +1.58%
75th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £20.25
90th Percentile - £27.67 £30.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.00 £21.59 £17.72
% change year-on-year +11.16% +21.84% -

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 34,674 29,426 40,527
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.44% 92.86% 93.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,946 18,016 26,864
10th Percentile £300 £288 £275
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £615 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £477 £500
% change year-on-year -0.31% -4.70% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,058 877 1,975
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.91 £13.41
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.25 £17.72
Median hourly rate £27.50 £32.50 £39.55
Median % change year-on-year -15.38% -17.83% +13.00%
75th Percentile £60.60 £62.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.85 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.59 £31.64 £40.28
% change year-on-year -19.11% -21.44% +34.25%

IT Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'IT Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

IT Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

IT Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Engineer job vacancies in the UK

IT Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing IT Engineer over the 6 months to 23 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for IT Engineer in the UK

IT Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Engineer job vacancies in the UK

IT Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing IT Engineer over the 6 months to 23 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IT Engineer in the UK

IT Engineer
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IT Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 23 January 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 +21 420 £200 +5.26% 361
UK excluding London +4 370 £190 +5.56% 383
London -8 91 £200 -12.09% 39
North of England -6 87 £200 - 88
South East -7 80 £189 -5.63% 124
East of England +18 58 £195 +8.33% 49
South West +1 55 £194 +3.33% 41
Midlands -46 52 £190 +5.56% 48
North West -4 43 £152 -18.11% 34
Yorkshire -32 31 £205 - 41
Scotland +9 30 £178 +24.56% 24
East Midlands -11 30 £200 +11.11% 31
West Midlands -58 24 £190 -5.00% 17
Work from Home -26 23 £313 +5.93% 66
North East -4 13 £106 -33.75% 17
Wales -17 11 £200 +37.93% 12

IT Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 23 January 2026, IT Engineer 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 IT Engineer in the job title.

1 188 (40.60%) Windows
2 154 (33.26%) Microsoft 365
3 149 (32.18%) Microsoft
4 130 (28.08%) Security Cleared
5 126 (27.21%) Active Directory
6 125 (27.00%) SC Cleared
7 102 (22.03%) Windows 10
8 99 (21.38%) Migration
9 92 (19.87%) Customer Service
10 75 (16.20%) Workflow
11 69 (14.90%) Workflow Management
12 68 (14.69%) Problem-Solving
13 48 (10.37%) Asset Management
14 45 (9.72%) Microsoft Intune
14 45 (9.72%) ServiceNow
15 42 (9.07%) Azure
15 42 (9.07%) ITIL
16 35 (7.56%) SCCM
17 33 (7.13%) ITSM
18 30 (6.48%) Microsoft Office
19 27 (5.83%) Cybersecurity
19 27 (5.83%) Firewall
20 26 (5.62%) TCP/IP
21 25 (5.40%) Dell
22 24 (5.18%) Infrastructure Engineering
22 24 (5.18%) Mac OS
23 23 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
24 22 (4.75%) SAP
25 21 (4.54%) Android
25 21 (4.54%) Break/Fix

IT Engineer 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 23 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (4.54%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.22%) Confluence
3 1 (0.22%) IIS
3 1 (0.22%) Skype for Business
3 1 (0.22%) Tomcat
Applications
1 30 (6.48%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.86%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 7 (1.51%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.22%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 154 (33.26%) Microsoft 365
2 42 (9.07%) Azure
3 20 (4.32%) Entra ID
4 19 (4.10%) Google Workspace
5 10 (2.16%) OneDrive
6 8 (1.73%) AWS
6 8 (1.73%) SaaS
7 4 (0.86%) Mimecast
8 2 (0.43%) AWS IoT
8 2 (0.43%) Azure Sentinel
8 2 (0.43%) Azure Stack
8 2 (0.43%) Google Drive
8 2 (0.43%) Slack
9 1 (0.22%) GitHub
9 1 (0.22%) IaaS
9 1 (0.22%) PaaS
9 1 (0.22%) Power Platform
9 1 (0.22%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.83%) Firewall
2 26 (5.62%) TCP/IP
3 21 (4.54%) VPN
4 20 (4.32%) DNS
4 20 (4.32%) Wi-Fi
5 18 (3.89%) DHCP
6 15 (3.24%) Network Security
7 14 (3.02%) LAN
8 11 (2.38%) SAN
9 9 (1.94%) VLAN
9 9 (1.94%) WAN
9 9 (1.94%) Wireless
10 7 (1.51%) PABX
10 7 (1.51%) VoIP
11 5 (1.08%) ATM
12 4 (0.86%) Remote Desktop
13 3 (0.65%) Ethernet
13 3 (0.65%) IP Telephony
13 3 (0.65%) Modbus
13 3 (0.65%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.86%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.22%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.22%) Power BI
2 1 (0.22%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 10 (2.16%) JIRA
2 1 (0.22%) GitLab
2 1 (0.22%) Hudson
General
1 191 (41.25%) Social Skills
2 37 (7.99%) Finance
3 32 (6.91%) Manufacturing
4 30 (6.48%) Public Sector
5 19 (4.10%) Electronics
5 19 (4.10%) Marketing
5 19 (4.10%) Telecoms
6 18 (3.89%) Banking
7 16 (3.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 15 (3.24%) Organisational Skills
9 12 (2.59%) Analytical Skills
10 9 (1.94%) Aerospace
11 5 (1.08%) Law
12 4 (0.86%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (0.86%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.65%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.65%) Retail
14 2 (0.43%) Automotive
14 2 (0.43%) Front Office
14 2 (0.43%) Legal
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (0.43%) Middleware
2 1 (0.22%) JSON
2 1 (0.22%) React
2 1 (0.22%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 30 (6.48%) Driving Licence
2 27 (5.83%) Onboarding
3 19 (4.10%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (3.67%) Operational Technology
5 14 (3.02%) Smartphone
6 12 (2.59%) Data Centre
7 8 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (1.30%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (1.30%) Video Conferencing
8 6 (1.30%) Virtual Team
9 5 (1.08%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.08%) EPoS
10 4 (0.86%) iPhone
10 4 (0.86%) Management Information System
10 4 (0.86%) SCADA
11 3 (0.65%) CCTV
11 3 (0.65%) Hybrid Cloud
12 2 (0.43%) NHS
12 2 (0.43%) Public Cloud
12 2 (0.43%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 188 (40.60%) Windows
2 102 (22.03%) Windows 10
3 24 (5.18%) Mac OS
4 21 (4.54%) Android
5 18 (3.89%) Apple iOS
6 17 (3.67%) Linux
7 15 (3.24%) Windows Server
8 3 (0.65%) Unix
9 2 (0.43%) Solaris
9 2 (0.43%) VMS
9 2 (0.43%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.22%) CentOS
10 1 (0.22%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.22%) Windows 8
10 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (21.38%) Migration
2 92 (19.87%) Customer Service
3 75 (16.20%) Workflow
4 69 (14.90%) Workflow Management
5 68 (14.69%) Problem-Solving
6 48 (10.37%) Asset Management
7 42 (9.07%) ITIL
8 33 (7.13%) ITSM
9 27 (5.83%) Cybersecurity
10 24 (5.18%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 21 (4.54%) Break/Fix
12 20 (4.32%) Business Intelligence
13 19 (4.10%) Digital Marketing
13 19 (4.10%) Logistics
13 19 (4.10%) Programme Management
14 15 (3.24%) User Experience
15 11 (2.38%) Business Continuity
15 11 (2.38%) Service Management
16 10 (2.16%) IT Asset Management
16 10 (2.16%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 20 (4.32%) PowerShell
2 3 (0.65%) Python
3 2 (0.43%) SQL
4 1 (0.22%) Java
4 1 (0.22%) JavaScript
4 1 (0.22%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 130 (28.08%) Security Cleared
2 125 (27.00%) SC Cleared
3 12 (2.59%) A+ Certification
3 12 (2.59%) Network+ Certification
4 10 (2.16%) CCNA
4 10 (2.16%) Cisco Certification
4 10 (2.16%) DBS Check
4 10 (2.16%) Microsoft Certification
5 9 (1.94%) DV Cleared
6 8 (1.73%) MCSE
7 7 (1.51%) Degree
8 3 (0.65%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.43%) Azure Certification
9 2 (0.43%) CCNP
10 1 (0.22%) BC Cleared
10 1 (0.22%) HND
10 1 (0.22%) ISACA
10 1 (0.22%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 1 (0.22%) MCP
10 1 (0.22%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (2.59%) SLA
2 2 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
2 2 (0.43%) GDPR
3 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 1 (0.22%) PCI DSS
3 1 (0.22%) QA
System Software
1 126 (27.21%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.38%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (1.08%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (1.08%) Virtual Machines
4 4 (0.86%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.43%) Firmware
5 2 (0.43%) vSphere
6 1 (0.22%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.22%) Docker
6 1 (0.22%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 45 (9.72%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (7.56%) SCCM
3 15 (3.24%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (1.08%) WSUS
5 2 (0.43%) Ansible
5 2 (0.43%) FortiGate
5 2 (0.43%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.22%) Autotask
6 1 (0.22%) Kubernetes
6 1 (0.22%) SCOM
Vendors
1 149 (32.18%) Microsoft
2 45 (9.72%) ServiceNow
3 25 (5.40%) Dell
4 22 (4.75%) SAP
5 21 (4.54%) Cisco
6 20 (4.32%) Google
7 19 (4.10%) HP
8 17 (3.67%) Apple
8 17 (3.67%) VMware
9 8 (1.73%) Remedy
10 7 (1.51%) Citrix
11 6 (1.30%) Okta
12 4 (0.86%) CrowdStrike
12 4 (0.86%) Sophos
13 3 (0.65%) Bloomberg
13 3 (0.65%) Datto
13 3 (0.65%) Fortinet
13 3 (0.65%) Reuters
13 3 (0.65%) Veeam
14 2 (0.43%) CyberArk