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 17 February 2026.

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

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 215 223 209
Rank change year-on-year +8 -14 +88
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 494 357 519
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.23% 1.17% 1.16%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.34% 1.26% 1.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 284 244 316
10th Percentile £150 £125 £121
25th Percentile £170 £144 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £188 £200
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% -6.25% -5.88%
75th Percentile £240 £250 £275
90th Percentile £384 £493 £424
UK excluding London median daily rate £200 £180 £200
% change year-on-year +11.11% -10.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 121 40 127
10th Percentile £18.87 £15.22 £13.15
25th Percentile £20.50 £18.51 £16.00
Median hourly rate £24.00 £21.59 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +11.16% +21.84% -
75th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £20.63
90th Percentile £25.77 £28.04 £27.15
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.79 £21.59 £17.71
% change year-on-year +10.18% +21.93% -0.07%

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 36,852 28,308 41,589
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.64% 92.93% 93.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,166 17,490 27,344
10th Percentile £304 £288 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £478 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +0.53% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,249 802 2,323
10th Percentile £14.59 £16.25 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.46 £16.30
Median hourly rate £30.00 £34.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.76% -2.86% -6.67%
75th Percentile £61.57 £63.75 £60.75
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -8.92% -7.14% -

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 17 February 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 17 February 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 17 February 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 +24 447 £200 +5.26% 304
UK excluding London -11 391 £200 +11.11% 325
London +5 102 £200 -3.03% 54
North of England -18 93 £195 -2.50% 72
South East -2 85 £200 - 107
East of England +18 64 £201 +11.81% 40
South West -14 53 £200 +7.38% 30
Midlands -49 53 £200 +11.11% 31
North West -14 42 £152 -22.31% 49
Scotland +1 34 £178 -5.33% 25
Yorkshire -33 33 £205 -2.38% 18
East Midlands -7 32 £200 +11.11% 15
Work from Home -53 24 £325 +12.07% 54
West Midlands -56 23 £188 +7.14% 16
North East 0 18 £225 +12.50% 7
Wales -20 11 £200 +36.33% 19
Northern Ireland -8 1 - - 2

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

For the 6 months to 17 February 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.

1 212 (42.91%) Windows
2 183 (37.04%) Microsoft 365
3 171 (34.62%) Microsoft
4 151 (30.57%) Active Directory
5 133 (26.92%) Security Cleared
6 128 (25.91%) SC Cleared
7 114 (23.08%) Windows 10
8 101 (20.45%) Migration
9 99 (20.04%) Customer Service
10 72 (14.57%) Workflow
11 70 (14.17%) Problem-Solving
12 66 (13.36%) Workflow Management
13 56 (11.34%) ServiceNow
14 53 (10.73%) Asset Management
14 53 (10.73%) Microsoft Intune
15 50 (10.12%) Azure
16 46 (9.31%) ITIL
17 45 (9.11%) ITSM
18 37 (7.49%) SCCM
19 36 (7.29%) Wi-Fi
20 34 (6.88%) Cybersecurity
21 30 (6.07%) Firewall
22 29 (5.87%) DHCP
22 29 (5.87%) DNS
22 29 (5.87%) VPN
23 28 (5.67%) Microsoft Office
24 26 (5.26%) LAN
24 26 (5.26%) Mac OS
24 26 (5.26%) SharePoint
24 26 (5.26%) TCP/IP

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 26 (5.26%) SharePoint
2 23 (4.66%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.61%) Confluence
4 1 (0.20%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 28 (5.67%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.62%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 7 (1.42%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.20%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 183 (37.04%) Microsoft 365
2 50 (10.12%) Azure
3 25 (5.06%) Entra ID
4 19 (3.85%) OneDrive
5 18 (3.64%) Google Workspace
6 13 (2.63%) SaaS
7 9 (1.82%) AWS
8 8 (1.62%) PaaS
9 6 (1.21%) IaaS
10 5 (1.01%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (0.61%) Datadog
11 3 (0.61%) Mimecast
11 3 (0.61%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.40%) AWS IoT
12 2 (0.40%) Azure Sentinel
12 2 (0.40%) Azure Stack
12 2 (0.40%) GitHub
12 2 (0.40%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.40%) Rubrik
13 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 36 (7.29%) Wi-Fi
2 30 (6.07%) Firewall
3 29 (5.87%) DHCP
3 29 (5.87%) DNS
3 29 (5.87%) VPN
4 26 (5.26%) LAN
4 26 (5.26%) TCP/IP
5 17 (3.44%) SAN
6 15 (3.04%) Network Security
6 15 (3.04%) WAN
7 12 (2.43%) VLAN
8 10 (2.02%) VoIP
9 9 (1.82%) Wireless
10 7 (1.42%) PABX
11 6 (1.21%) WLAN
12 5 (1.01%) ATM
13 4 (0.81%) Unified Communications
14 3 (0.61%) Ethernet
14 3 (0.61%) Internet
14 3 (0.61%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.21%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.20%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.20%) Power BI
2 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 23 (4.66%) JIRA
2 3 (0.61%) Chocolatey
3 2 (0.40%) GitLab
4 1 (0.20%) Hudson
General
1 209 (42.31%) Social Skills
2 39 (7.89%) Manufacturing
3 38 (7.69%) Finance
4 35 (7.09%) Public Sector
5 22 (4.45%) Banking
6 19 (3.85%) Electronics
6 19 (3.85%) Marketing
6 19 (3.85%) Organisational Skills
6 19 (3.85%) Telecoms
7 17 (3.44%) Analytical Skills
8 15 (3.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 10 (2.02%) Aerospace
10 5 (1.01%) Investment Banking
10 5 (1.01%) Law
11 4 (0.81%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (0.61%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.61%) Retail
13 2 (0.40%) Automotive
13 2 (0.40%) Front Office
13 2 (0.40%) Legal
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Graph
1 2 (0.40%) Middleware
1 2 (0.40%) React
Miscellaneous
1 34 (6.88%) Onboarding
2 28 (5.67%) Driving Licence
3 20 (4.05%) Self-Motivation
4 18 (3.64%) Operational Technology
5 14 (2.83%) Data Centre
6 12 (2.43%) Smartphone
7 10 (2.02%) Analytical Mindset
8 9 (1.82%) Virtual Team
9 6 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
10 5 (1.01%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.01%) EPoS
11 4 (0.81%) CCTV
11 4 (0.81%) Hybrid Cloud
11 4 (0.81%) IoT
11 4 (0.81%) iPhone
11 4 (0.81%) Management Information System
11 4 (0.81%) SCADA
12 3 (0.61%) Cyber Threat
13 2 (0.40%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 212 (42.91%) Windows
2 114 (23.08%) Windows 10
3 26 (5.26%) Mac OS
4 24 (4.86%) Android
5 21 (4.25%) Apple iOS
6 15 (3.04%) Windows Server
7 14 (2.83%) Linux
8 3 (0.61%) Unix
9 2 (0.40%) Solaris
9 2 (0.40%) VMS
10 1 (0.20%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.20%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (20.45%) Migration
2 99 (20.04%) Customer Service
3 72 (14.57%) Workflow
4 70 (14.17%) Problem-Solving
5 66 (13.36%) Workflow Management
6 53 (10.73%) Asset Management
7 46 (9.31%) ITIL
8 45 (9.11%) ITSM
9 34 (6.88%) Cybersecurity
10 24 (4.86%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 21 (4.25%) Break/Fix
12 20 (4.05%) Business Intelligence
12 20 (4.05%) Logistics
13 19 (3.85%) Digital Marketing
13 19 (3.85%) Programme Management
14 17 (3.44%) User Experience
15 13 (2.63%) Disaster Recovery
16 12 (2.43%) DevOps
16 12 (2.43%) Service Management
17 11 (2.23%) Inventory Management
Programming Languages
1 24 (4.86%) PowerShell
2 7 (1.42%) SQL
3 6 (1.21%) Python
4 5 (1.01%) C#
5 2 (0.40%) JavaScript
5 2 (0.40%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 133 (26.92%) Security Cleared
2 128 (25.91%) SC Cleared
3 16 (3.24%) Microsoft Certification
4 14 (2.83%) Network+ Certification
5 13 (2.63%) A+ Certification
5 13 (2.63%) CCNA
5 13 (2.63%) Cisco Certification
6 11 (2.23%) MCSE
7 10 (2.02%) DV Cleared
8 9 (1.82%) DBS Check
9 6 (1.21%) Degree
10 3 (0.61%) BPSS Clearance
11 2 (0.40%) Azure Certification
11 2 (0.40%) CCNP
12 1 (0.20%) BC Cleared
12 1 (0.20%) HND
12 1 (0.20%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 1 (0.20%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (3.04%) SLA
2 2 (0.40%) Cyber Essentials
2 2 (0.40%) GDPR
3 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 1 (0.20%) PCI DSS
3 1 (0.20%) QA
System Software
1 151 (30.57%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 7 (1.42%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.01%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (0.81%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.40%) Docker
6 2 (0.40%) vSphere
7 1 (0.20%) Firmware
7 1 (0.20%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 53 (10.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 37 (7.49%) SCCM
3 16 (3.24%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (1.01%) WSUS
5 2 (0.40%) Ansible
5 2 (0.40%) FortiGate
5 2 (0.40%) Kubernetes
5 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.20%) SCOM
Vendors
1 171 (34.62%) Microsoft
2 56 (11.34%) ServiceNow
3 25 (5.06%) Dell
4 21 (4.25%) SAP
5 19 (3.85%) VMware
6 18 (3.64%) Cisco
6 18 (3.64%) Google
7 17 (3.44%) HP
8 15 (3.04%) Apple
9 8 (1.62%) Remedy
10 6 (1.21%) Citrix
10 6 (1.21%) Tenable
11 4 (0.81%) CrowdStrike
12 3 (0.61%) Computacenter
12 3 (0.61%) Datto
12 3 (0.61%) Fortinet
12 3 (0.61%) Okta
12 3 (0.61%) Sophos
12 3 (0.61%) Veeam
12 3 (0.61%) Zscaler