IT Engineer Contract Job Trends

IT Engineer
UK

The median IT Engineer daily rate in the UK is £190, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 November 2025.

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

6 months to
26 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 225 248 226
Rank change year-on-year +23 -22 +86
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 463 352 494
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.28% 0.97% 1.08%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.41% 1.04% 1.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 284 221 307
10th Percentile £133 £133 £111
25th Percentile £153 £156 £146
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £190 £200 £200
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £238 £300 £256
90th Percentile £336 £538 £400
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £185 £200
% change year-on-year +2.70% -7.50% +14.29%
Number of hourly rates quoted 127 47 108
10th Percentile £18.62 £15.10 £13.16
25th Percentile £19.00 £15.22 £16.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £21.59 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +16.49% +21.84% -
75th Percentile - £24.18 £19.81
90th Percentile - - £26.68
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £21.59 £17.72
% change year-on-year +16.49% +21.84% +0.11%

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 32,789 33,852 42,781
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.97% 92.81% 93.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,761 20,450 28,928
10th Percentile £281 £300 £290
25th Percentile £402 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £494 £500
% change year-on-year -3.75% -1.30% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,925 1,256 1,520
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.22 £15.24
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.69 £19.17
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.75
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -21.79% +49.17%
75th Percentile £56.25 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.16 £74.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -28.14% -22.22% +82.00%

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 26 November 2025.

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 26 November 2025.

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 26 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 +42 418 £195 -2.50% 286
UK excluding London +15 350 £190 +2.70% 295
London +16 102 £200 -16.23% 45
South East +11 92 £200 +2.56% 81
North of England -21 69 £170 -15.00% 66
South West +19 60 £231 +23.33% 36
Midlands -22 52 £190 +2.70% 51
East of England +14 51 £190 +5.56% 33
North West -5 36 £156 -14.66% 28
West Midlands -15 32 £250 +25.00% 29
Work from Home -18 28 £263 -28.08% 64
Scotland -5 24 £200 +21.21% 22
Yorkshire -29 24 £205 -18.00% 36
East Midlands -7 22 £128 -29.17% 22
Wales -13 11 £178 +22.41% 8
North East -2 9 £106 -47.00% 2
Northern Ireland -7 1 £195 - 2

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

For the 6 months to 26 November 2025, 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.

1 196 (42.33%) Windows
2 145 (31.32%) Microsoft
3 140 (30.24%) Microsoft 365
4 134 (28.94%) Security Cleared
5 129 (27.86%) SC Cleared
6 117 (25.27%) Active Directory
7 104 (22.46%) Windows 10
8 84 (18.14%) Migration
9 83 (17.93%) Customer Service
10 64 (13.82%) Workflow
11 59 (12.74%) Problem-Solving
11 59 (12.74%) Workflow Management
12 56 (12.10%) Asset Management
13 47 (10.15%) Azure
13 47 (10.15%) Microsoft Intune
14 40 (8.64%) ServiceNow
15 39 (8.42%) ITIL
16 35 (7.56%) Microsoft Office
16 35 (7.56%) SCCM
17 32 (6.91%) TCP/IP
18 31 (6.70%) Firewall
19 30 (6.48%) ITSM
20 27 (5.83%) Android
20 27 (5.83%) DBS Check
21 26 (5.62%) Cisco
21 26 (5.62%) Cybersecurity
22 25 (5.40%) Entra ID
22 25 (5.40%) SharePoint
23 24 (5.18%) Apple
23 24 (5.18%) DNS

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 25 (5.40%) SharePoint
2 23 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.22%) Confluence
3 1 (0.22%) IIS
3 1 (0.22%) Skype for Business
3 1 (0.22%) Tomcat
Applications
1 35 (7.56%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.65%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.22%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 7 (1.51%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.22%) Pegasus Opera
2 1 (0.22%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 140 (30.24%) Microsoft 365
2 47 (10.15%) Azure
3 25 (5.40%) Entra ID
4 20 (4.32%) Google Workspace
5 10 (2.16%) OneDrive
6 6 (1.30%) AWS
6 6 (1.30%) Azure Stack
7 4 (0.86%) Slack
8 3 (0.65%) IaaS
8 3 (0.65%) PaaS
8 3 (0.65%) Power Platform
8 3 (0.65%) SaaS
9 2 (0.43%) AWS IoT
9 2 (0.43%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (0.43%) Google Drive
10 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Copilot
10 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Purview
10 1 (0.22%) Mimecast
10 1 (0.22%) Power Automate
10 1 (0.22%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 32 (6.91%) TCP/IP
2 31 (6.70%) Firewall
3 24 (5.18%) DNS
4 23 (4.97%) VPN
5 22 (4.75%) DHCP
6 18 (3.89%) Wi-Fi
7 17 (3.67%) LAN
8 16 (3.46%) Network Security
9 14 (3.02%) ATM
9 14 (3.02%) Wireless
10 13 (2.81%) WAN
11 10 (2.16%) VLAN
12 9 (1.94%) VoIP
13 7 (1.51%) PABX
14 5 (1.08%) Remote Desktop
15 4 (0.86%) IP Telephony
15 4 (0.86%) SAN
16 3 (0.65%) Ethernet
16 3 (0.65%) NAS
17 2 (0.43%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.86%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.43%) Power BI
3 1 (0.22%) Electronic Patient Records
3 1 (0.22%) Metadata
3 1 (0.22%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 5 (1.08%) JIRA
2 1 (0.22%) Hudson
General
1 185 (39.96%) Social Skills
2 33 (7.13%) Finance
3 28 (6.05%) Manufacturing
4 27 (5.83%) Public Sector
5 19 (4.10%) Organisational Skills
6 18 (3.89%) Marketing
6 18 (3.89%) Telecoms
7 17 (3.67%) Banking
7 17 (3.67%) Electronics
7 17 (3.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 9 (1.94%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.30%) Local Government
10 4 (0.86%) Analytical Skills
10 4 (0.86%) Retail
11 3 (0.65%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (0.65%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.65%) Pharmaceutical
12 2 (0.43%) Automotive
12 2 (0.43%) Front Office
12 2 (0.43%) Law
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (0.43%) Middleware
2 1 (0.22%) JSON
2 1 (0.22%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 34 (7.34%) Driving Licence
2 18 (3.89%) EPoS
2 18 (3.89%) Self-Motivation
2 18 (3.89%) Smartphone
3 14 (3.02%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.02%) Operational Technology
4 10 (2.16%) Data Centre
4 10 (2.16%) Legacy Systems
5 6 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
5 6 (1.30%) iPhone
5 6 (1.30%) Video Conferencing
6 4 (0.86%) Management Information System
7 3 (0.65%) CCTV
7 3 (0.65%) Replication
8 2 (0.43%) 3D Printing
8 2 (0.43%) Digital Signage
8 2 (0.43%) Enterprise Software
8 2 (0.43%) IoT
8 2 (0.43%) Renewable Energy
8 2 (0.43%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 196 (42.33%) Windows
2 104 (22.46%) Windows 10
3 27 (5.83%) Android
4 23 (4.97%) Apple iOS
4 23 (4.97%) Windows Server
5 22 (4.75%) Mac OS
6 18 (3.89%) Linux
7 13 (2.81%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.65%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.65%) VMS
9 2 (0.43%) Solaris
9 2 (0.43%) Unix
9 2 (0.43%) Windows 8
9 2 (0.43%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.22%) CentOS
10 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (18.14%) Migration
2 83 (17.93%) Customer Service
3 64 (13.82%) Workflow
4 59 (12.74%) Problem-Solving
4 59 (12.74%) Workflow Management
5 56 (12.10%) Asset Management
6 39 (8.42%) ITIL
7 30 (6.48%) ITSM
8 26 (5.62%) Cybersecurity
9 22 (4.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 19 (4.10%) Break/Fix
10 19 (4.10%) Business Intelligence
11 17 (3.67%) Digital Marketing
11 17 (3.67%) Programme Management
12 16 (3.46%) Logistics
13 14 (3.02%) Service Management
13 14 (3.02%) Ticket Management
14 12 (2.59%) Business Continuity
14 12 (2.59%) User Experience
15 10 (2.16%) IT Asset Management
Programming Languages
1 21 (4.54%) PowerShell
2 4 (0.86%) SQL
3 3 (0.65%) Python
4 1 (0.22%) Bash
4 1 (0.22%) C
4 1 (0.22%) Java
Qualifications
1 134 (28.94%) Security Cleared
2 129 (27.86%) SC Cleared
3 27 (5.83%) DBS Check
4 10 (2.16%) Degree
5 9 (1.94%) Network+ Certification
6 7 (1.51%) DV Cleared
7 6 (1.30%) Azure Certification
7 6 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
8 5 (1.08%) A+ Certification
8 5 (1.08%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (0.86%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (0.86%) CCNA
10 3 (0.65%) CCNP
10 3 (0.65%) HND
11 2 (0.43%) City & Guilds
11 2 (0.43%) Computer Science Degree
11 2 (0.43%) HNC
11 2 (0.43%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 2 (0.43%) MCSE
12 1 (0.22%) ISACA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (3.46%) SLA
2 3 (0.65%) GDPR
3 2 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 117 (25.27%) Active Directory
2 16 (3.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (1.94%) Hyper-V
4 8 (1.73%) Virtual Desktop
5 6 (1.30%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.65%) Firmware
6 3 (0.65%) vSphere
7 2 (0.43%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.22%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.22%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 47 (10.15%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (7.56%) SCCM
3 14 (3.02%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (1.08%) WSUS
5 2 (0.43%) Ansible
5 2 (0.43%) Autotask
5 2 (0.43%) SCOM
5 2 (0.43%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.22%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 1 (0.22%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 145 (31.32%) Microsoft
2 40 (8.64%) ServiceNow
3 26 (5.62%) Cisco
4 24 (5.18%) Apple
5 23 (4.97%) VMware
6 22 (4.75%) HP
7 20 (4.32%) Google
8 19 (4.10%) Dell
8 19 (4.10%) SAP
9 9 (1.94%) Citrix
10 8 (1.73%) Remedy
11 6 (1.30%) Okta
12 4 (0.86%) Sophos
13 3 (0.65%) Bloomberg
13 3 (0.65%) CheckPoint
13 3 (0.65%) CrowdStrike
13 3 (0.65%) Datto
13 3 (0.65%) IBM
13 3 (0.65%) Reuters
13 3 (0.65%) Veeam