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 31 March 2026.

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

6 months to
31 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 218 201 217
Rank change year-on-year -17 +16 +67
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 534 369 489
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.20% 1.27% 1.10%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.30% 1.37% 1.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 312 251 294
10th Percentile £150 £125 £123
25th Percentile £171 £142 £149
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £188 £200
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% -6.25% -
75th Percentile £264 £253 £275
90th Percentile £422 £450 £417
UK excluding London median daily rate £200 £180 £190
% change year-on-year +11.11% -5.26% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 105 45 125
10th Percentile £18.77 £18.16 £12.15
25th Percentile £20.50 £18.51 £15.75
Median hourly rate £23.58 £21.28 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +10.78% +20.09% -
75th Percentile £25.15 £24.66 £20.25
90th Percentile £25.77 £28.25 £23.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.54 £21.01 £17.50
% change year-on-year +12.03% +20.06% -1.24%

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 40,988 26,987 41,095
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.05% 92.82% 92.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,540 17,745 26,925
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -3.67%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.11% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,566 944 2,532
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.02 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.72 £20.92 £16.25
Median hourly rate £38.63 £32.50 £32.90
Median % change year-on-year +18.86% -1.20% -25.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.91 £71.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £31.88 £32.90
% change year-on-year +25.47% -3.09% -21.32%

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 31 March 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 31 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IT Engineer in the UK

IT Engineer
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 IT Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 31 March 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 -7 477 £200 +5.26% 265
UK excluding London -17 413 £200 +11.11% 281
London -21 119 £213 -7.61% 30
North of England -14 113 £190 -7.32% 59
South East -32 91 £200 +5.26% 75
East of England +9 58 £203 +12.50% 30
Midlands -47 56 £200 +29.03% 46
North West -10 50 £170 -15.00% 35
Yorkshire -29 46 £205 -34.40% 22
South West -36 41 £186 +26.27% 41
East Midlands -15 34 £200 +11.11% 22
Scotland +8 33 £178 - 14
West Midlands -59 23 £188 +25.00% 24
Wales -12 21 £200 +37.13% 16
Work from Home -53 19 £238 -6.86% 58
North East -1 17 £338 +68.75% 5
Northern Ireland -8 1 - - 3

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

For the 6 months to 31 March 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.

1 232 (43.45%) Windows
2 206 (38.58%) Microsoft 365
3 200 (37.45%) Microsoft
4 182 (34.08%) Active Directory
5 122 (22.85%) Security Cleared
6 119 (22.28%) Customer Service
7 117 (21.91%) Windows 10
8 116 (21.72%) SC Cleared
9 92 (17.23%) Migration
10 79 (14.79%) Problem-Solving
11 66 (12.36%) Azure
12 63 (11.80%) Workflow
13 58 (10.86%) Workflow Management
14 57 (10.67%) Microsoft Intune
15 56 (10.49%) ServiceNow
16 51 (9.55%) Asset Management
17 49 (9.18%) ITIL
17 49 (9.18%) Wi-Fi
18 44 (8.24%) ITSM
19 39 (7.30%) Dell
20 37 (6.93%) SAN
21 36 (6.74%) Break/Fix
21 36 (6.74%) DHCP
21 36 (6.74%) DNS
22 35 (6.55%) Entra ID
22 35 (6.55%) JIRA
23 34 (6.37%) LAN
24 33 (6.18%) Microsoft Certification
25 32 (5.99%) Cybersecurity
26 31 (5.81%) SCCM

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 30 (5.62%) SharePoint
2 25 (4.68%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.56%) Confluence
4 1 (0.19%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 23 (4.31%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.56%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (1.12%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.37%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.19%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 206 (38.58%) Microsoft 365
2 66 (12.36%) Azure
3 35 (6.55%) Entra ID
4 18 (3.37%) Google Workspace
5 17 (3.18%) OneDrive
5 17 (3.18%) SaaS
6 16 (3.00%) Azure DevOps
7 11 (2.06%) PaaS
8 10 (1.87%) AWS
9 9 (1.69%) IaaS
10 5 (0.94%) Datadog
11 4 (0.75%) GitHub
12 3 (0.56%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.56%) Power Platform
12 3 (0.56%) Rubrik
13 2 (0.37%) AWS IoT
13 2 (0.37%) Azure Sentinel
13 2 (0.37%) PowerApps
14 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Copilot
14 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 49 (9.18%) Wi-Fi
2 37 (6.93%) SAN
3 36 (6.74%) DHCP
3 36 (6.74%) DNS
4 34 (6.37%) LAN
5 28 (5.24%) VPN
6 26 (4.87%) Firewall
7 23 (4.31%) TCP/IP
8 19 (3.56%) WAN
9 17 (3.18%) VLAN
10 14 (2.62%) Network Security
11 10 (1.87%) VoIP
12 8 (1.50%) Wireless
13 7 (1.31%) Internet
14 6 (1.12%) WLAN
15 4 (0.75%) ATM
15 4 (0.75%) Unified Communications
16 3 (0.56%) Modbus
16 3 (0.56%) PABX
16 3 (0.56%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (1.87%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.19%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.19%) Power BI
2 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 35 (6.55%) JIRA
2 5 (0.94%) Chocolatey
3 4 (0.75%) GitLab
4 3 (0.56%) Git
5 1 (0.19%) Hudson
General
1 226 (42.32%) Social Skills
2 42 (7.87%) Finance
3 38 (7.12%) Analytical Skills
3 38 (7.12%) Manufacturing
4 32 (5.99%) Banking
4 32 (5.99%) Public Sector
5 20 (3.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 17 (3.18%) Telecoms
7 16 (3.00%) Electronics
7 16 (3.00%) Marketing
7 16 (3.00%) Organisational Skills
8 7 (1.31%) Investment Banking
9 6 (1.12%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.12%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (0.75%) Financial Institution
11 3 (0.56%) Front Office
11 3 (0.56%) Law
12 2 (0.37%) Retail
13 1 (0.19%) Automotive
13 1 (0.19%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (0.75%) React
2 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Graph
2 2 (0.37%) Middleware
3 1 (0.19%) 802.1X
3 1 (0.19%) Redfish
Miscellaneous
1 41 (7.68%) Onboarding
2 33 (6.18%) Data Centre
3 27 (5.06%) Analytical Mindset
4 23 (4.31%) Driving Licence
5 19 (3.56%) Self-Motivation
6 14 (2.62%) Operational Technology
7 11 (2.06%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.87%) EPoS
9 7 (1.31%) Smartphone
10 6 (1.12%) Hybrid Cloud
10 6 (1.12%) Video Conferencing
11 5 (0.94%) Cyber Threat
11 5 (0.94%) Enterprise Software
12 4 (0.75%) IoT
12 4 (0.75%) iPhone
12 4 (0.75%) Legacy Systems
12 4 (0.75%) Management Information System
13 3 (0.56%) SCADA
14 2 (0.37%) CCTV
14 2 (0.37%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 232 (43.45%) Windows
2 117 (21.91%) Windows 10
3 26 (4.87%) Android
4 24 (4.49%) Mac OS
5 22 (4.12%) Apple iOS
6 21 (3.93%) Windows Server
7 15 (2.81%) Linux
8 3 (0.56%) Unix
9 2 (0.37%) Solaris
9 2 (0.37%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.19%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.19%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (22.28%) Customer Service
2 92 (17.23%) Migration
3 79 (14.79%) Problem-Solving
4 63 (11.80%) Workflow
5 58 (10.86%) Workflow Management
6 51 (9.55%) Asset Management
7 49 (9.18%) ITIL
8 44 (8.24%) ITSM
9 36 (6.74%) Break/Fix
10 32 (5.99%) Cybersecurity
11 27 (5.06%) User Experience
12 24 (4.49%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 22 (4.12%) Change Management
14 21 (3.93%) DevOps
15 20 (3.75%) Logistics
16 19 (3.56%) Disaster Recovery
17 17 (3.18%) Business Intelligence
18 16 (3.00%) Digital Marketing
18 16 (3.00%) Programme Management
19 15 (2.81%) Problem Management
Programming Languages
1 30 (5.62%) PowerShell
2 17 (3.18%) SQL
3 16 (3.00%) C#
4 7 (1.31%) Python
5 4 (0.75%) JavaScript
5 4 (0.75%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 122 (22.85%) Security Cleared
2 116 (21.72%) SC Cleared
3 33 (6.18%) Microsoft Certification
4 30 (5.62%) Network+ Certification
5 29 (5.43%) A+ Certification
5 29 (5.43%) CCNA
5 29 (5.43%) Cisco Certification
6 28 (5.24%) MCSE
7 12 (2.25%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.12%) Degree
9 4 (0.75%) DBS Check
10 3 (0.56%) BPSS Clearance
11 2 (0.37%) CCNP
12 1 (0.19%) Azure Certification
12 1 (0.19%) HND
12 1 (0.19%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 1 (0.19%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.93%) SLA
2 6 (1.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 4 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials
4 3 (0.56%) NIST
5 1 (0.19%) GDPR
5 1 (0.19%) GxP
5 1 (0.19%) PCI DSS
5 1 (0.19%) QA
System Software
1 182 (34.08%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.69%) Hyper-V
3 6 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.56%) Firmware
4 3 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.37%) Docker
5 2 (0.37%) VMware Workstation
5 2 (0.37%) vSphere
6 1 (0.19%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 57 (10.67%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (5.81%) SCCM
3 17 (3.18%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (0.94%) WSUS
5 4 (0.75%) Ansible
5 4 (0.75%) Kubernetes
6 3 (0.56%) FortiGate
6 3 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (0.56%) Terraform
7 2 (0.37%) PaperCut
8 1 (0.19%) Dell DRAC
8 1 (0.19%) SCOM
8 1 (0.19%) ServiceCenter
Vendors
1 200 (37.45%) Microsoft
2 56 (10.49%) ServiceNow
3 39 (7.30%) Dell
4 17 (3.18%) Google
4 17 (3.18%) SAP
5 16 (3.00%) HP
5 16 (3.00%) VMware
6 14 (2.62%) Cisco
7 11 (2.06%) Apple
8 8 (1.50%) Citrix
8 8 (1.50%) Tenable
9 6 (1.12%) Remedy
10 5 (0.94%) AppDynamics
10 5 (0.94%) Dynatrace
10 5 (0.94%) Fortinet
11 4 (0.75%) CrowdStrike
12 3 (0.56%) Okta
12 3 (0.56%) Veeam
12 3 (0.56%) Zscaler
13 2 (0.37%) Computacenter