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 May 2026.

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

6 months to
23 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 243 191 247
Rank change year-on-year -52 +56 +33
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 506 406 410
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.04% 1.42% 0.97%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.13% 1.54% 1.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 291 265 258
10th Percentile £145 £123 £122
25th Percentile £163 £140 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £185 £201
Median % change year-on-year +8.11% -8.07% +5.92%
75th Percentile £288 £245 £300
90th Percentile £438 £423 £579
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £160 £184
% change year-on-year +18.75% -12.93% +2.08%
Number of hourly rates quoted 94 66 101
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.35 £12.00
25th Percentile £19.33 £18.51 £15.10
Median hourly rate £22.50 £21.01 £17.70
Median % change year-on-year +7.09% +18.70% -0.11%
75th Percentile £25.75 £25.15 £21.75
90th Percentile £26.85 £25.20 £24.15
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £20.00 £17.29
% change year-on-year +12.50% +15.71% -2.45%

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 44,842 26,406 39,383
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.30% 92.30% 92.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,414 17,194 25,665
10th Percentile £325 £289 £280
25th Percentile £413 £405 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £508 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.99% -3.33% -2.82%
75th Percentile £617 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,942 1,004 2,685
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.00 £12.81
25th Percentile £20.36 £18.13 £16.30
Median hourly rate £42.59 £27.97 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +52.31% -23.38% -18.89%
75th Percentile £66.44 £60.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.00 £26.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +66.04% -33.75% -5.88%

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 May 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 May 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 23 May 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 -49 440 £200 +6.67% 202
UK excluding London -48 392 £190 +18.75% 211
London -56 110 £300 +26.32% 23
South East -44 93 £205 +7.89% 58
North of England -51 82 £190 +2.01% 33
Midlands -50 62 £188 +33.93% 32
East of England +2 48 £200 +11.11% 38
South West -50 43 £185 +29.82% 31
Scotland +8 38 £166 -11.33% 11
East Midlands -7 37 £200 +60.00% 17
North West -32 36 £190 +2.70% 18
Yorkshire -47 36 £190 -3.80% 14
West Midlands -64 26 £185 +27.59% 15
Wales -10 23 £190 +29.52% 8
Work from Home -61 17 £429 +68.24% 53
North East -23 10 £450 +125.00% 3
Northern Ireland -3 3 - - 8

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

For the 6 months to 23 May 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.

1 220 (43.48%) Windows
2 188 (37.15%) Microsoft 365
3 179 (35.38%) Active Directory
3 179 (35.38%) Microsoft
4 129 (25.49%) Customer Service
5 109 (21.54%) Windows 10
6 102 (20.16%) Problem-Solving
7 95 (18.77%) Security Cleared
8 87 (17.19%) SC Cleared
9 74 (14.62%) Azure
10 63 (12.45%) Migration
11 60 (11.86%) SAN
12 58 (11.46%) ITIL
13 57 (11.26%) Break/Fix
13 57 (11.26%) Dell
14 56 (11.07%) Microsoft Certification
14 56 (11.07%) ServiceNow
15 55 (10.87%) Microsoft Intune
16 54 (10.67%) A+ Certification
16 54 (10.67%) Network+ Certification
17 51 (10.08%) CCNA
17 51 (10.08%) Cisco Certification
17 51 (10.08%) MCSE
18 43 (8.50%) Wi-Fi
19 39 (7.71%) ITSM
19 39 (7.71%) JIRA
20 38 (7.51%) Entra ID
21 37 (7.31%) DNS
21 37 (7.31%) Workflow
22 36 (7.11%) Infrastructure Engineering

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 29 (5.73%) Microsoft Exchange
2 28 (5.53%) SharePoint
3 5 (0.99%) HCL Notes
4 2 (0.40%) Confluence
Applications
1 16 (3.16%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.40%) NetSuite
1 2 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 188 (37.15%) Microsoft 365
2 74 (14.62%) Azure
3 38 (7.51%) Entra ID
4 19 (3.75%) Azure DevOps
5 17 (3.36%) OneDrive
5 17 (3.36%) SaaS
6 11 (2.17%) PaaS
7 9 (1.78%) AWS
7 9 (1.78%) IaaS
8 6 (1.19%) Mimecast
9 5 (0.99%) Datadog
9 5 (0.99%) Nutanix
10 4 (0.79%) GitHub
10 4 (0.79%) Google Workspace
11 3 (0.59%) Rubrik
12 2 (0.40%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.40%) PowerApps
13 1 (0.20%) Azure Data Factory
13 1 (0.20%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 1 (0.20%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 60 (11.86%) SAN
2 43 (8.50%) Wi-Fi
3 37 (7.31%) DNS
4 35 (6.92%) DHCP
5 32 (6.32%) LAN
6 31 (6.13%) VPN
7 23 (4.55%) VLAN
8 17 (3.36%) TCP/IP
8 17 (3.36%) WAN
9 15 (2.96%) Firewall
10 10 (1.98%) WLAN
11 7 (1.38%) Internet
12 6 (1.19%) Network Security
12 6 (1.19%) VoIP
13 5 (0.99%) IPv4
13 5 (0.99%) IPv6
13 5 (0.99%) Skype
14 4 (0.79%) Unified Communications
15 3 (0.59%) Structured Cabling
15 3 (0.59%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.57%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.20%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 39 (7.71%) JIRA
2 6 (1.19%) Git
3 5 (0.99%) Chocolatey
4 4 (0.79%) GitLab
General
1 199 (39.33%) Social Skills
2 68 (13.44%) Analytical Skills
3 28 (5.53%) Finance
4 27 (5.34%) Manufacturing
5 22 (4.35%) Banking
6 17 (3.36%) Public Sector
7 16 (3.16%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 13 (2.57%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (1.78%) Marketing
10 8 (1.58%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (0.79%) Investment Banking
11 4 (0.79%) Retail
11 4 (0.79%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.59%) Electronics
12 3 (0.59%) Financial Institution
12 3 (0.59%) Law
13 2 (0.40%) Pharmaceutical
14 1 (0.20%) Aerospace
14 1 (0.20%) Front Office
14 1 (0.20%) Japanese Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (0.79%) React
2 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Graph
3 1 (0.20%) 802.1X
3 1 (0.20%) PySpark
3 1 (0.20%) Redfish
Miscellaneous
1 59 (11.66%) Data Centre
2 51 (10.08%) Analytical Mindset
3 39 (7.71%) Onboarding
4 19 (3.75%) Virtual Team
5 14 (2.77%) Self-Motivation
6 12 (2.37%) Driving Licence
7 11 (2.17%) Operational Technology
8 10 (1.98%) EPoS
9 7 (1.38%) SCADA
9 7 (1.38%) Video Conferencing
10 6 (1.19%) Hybrid Cloud
11 5 (0.99%) Blackberry
11 5 (0.99%) CCTV
11 5 (0.99%) Cyber Threat
12 4 (0.79%) Renewable Energy
12 4 (0.79%) Smartphone
13 3 (0.59%) Enterprise Software
14 2 (0.40%) Greenfield Project
14 2 (0.40%) IoT
14 2 (0.40%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 220 (43.48%) Windows
2 109 (21.54%) Windows 10
3 24 (4.74%) Windows Server
4 18 (3.56%) Mac OS
5 15 (2.96%) Android
6 13 (2.57%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.79%) Linux
8 2 (0.40%) Unix
8 2 (0.40%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.40%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.20%) Solaris
9 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 129 (25.49%) Customer Service
2 102 (20.16%) Problem-Solving
3 63 (12.45%) Migration
4 58 (11.46%) ITIL
5 57 (11.26%) Break/Fix
6 39 (7.71%) ITSM
7 37 (7.31%) Workflow
8 36 (7.11%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 35 (6.92%) Workflow Management
10 27 (5.34%) Asset Management
11 25 (4.94%) Change Management
12 22 (4.35%) DevOps
12 22 (4.35%) User Experience
13 20 (3.95%) Disaster Recovery
14 17 (3.36%) Service Delivery
15 16 (3.16%) Cybersecurity
16 15 (2.96%) Problem Management
17 13 (2.57%) Continuous Improvement
18 11 (2.17%) Decision-Making
19 10 (1.98%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 21 (4.15%) SQL
2 20 (3.95%) PowerShell
3 19 (3.75%) C#
4 7 (1.38%) Python
5 4 (0.79%) JavaScript
5 4 (0.79%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 95 (18.77%) Security Cleared
2 87 (17.19%) SC Cleared
3 56 (11.07%) Microsoft Certification
4 54 (10.67%) A+ Certification
4 54 (10.67%) Network+ Certification
5 51 (10.08%) CCNA
5 51 (10.08%) Cisco Certification
5 51 (10.08%) MCSE
6 14 (2.77%) DV Cleared
7 7 (1.38%) Degree
8 3 (0.59%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.20%) Azure Certification
9 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (4.55%) SLA
2 7 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials
3 6 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (0.99%) GDPR
5 4 (0.79%) PCI DSS
6 3 (0.59%) NIST
7 1 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.20%) GxP
7 1 (0.20%) ITGC
7 1 (0.20%) QA
System Software
1 179 (35.38%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.57%) Hyper-V
3 10 (1.98%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.59%) Firmware
4 3 (0.59%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.40%) Docker
5 2 (0.40%) vSphere
6 1 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.20%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 55 (10.87%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (4.74%) SCCM
3 10 (1.98%) Jamf Pro
4 7 (1.38%) WSUS
5 4 (0.79%) Kubernetes
6 3 (0.59%) Ansible
6 3 (0.59%) FortiGate
6 3 (0.59%) Terraform
7 2 (0.40%) PaperCut
7 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.20%) Dell DRAC
8 1 (0.20%) ServiceCenter
Vendors
1 179 (35.38%) Microsoft
2 57 (11.26%) Dell
3 56 (11.07%) ServiceNow
4 19 (3.75%) VMware
5 13 (2.57%) HP
6 12 (2.37%) Apple
7 9 (1.78%) Cisco
7 9 (1.78%) Citrix
8 8 (1.58%) Fortinet
8 8 (1.58%) Veeam
9 7 (1.38%) Tenable
10 5 (0.99%) AppDynamics
10 5 (0.99%) Dynatrace
10 5 (0.99%) Lotus
11 4 (0.79%) Freshdesk
11 4 (0.79%) Google
11 4 (0.79%) SAP
12 2 (0.40%) Arista
12 2 (0.40%) Aruba
12 2 (0.40%) Computacenter