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 2 August 2026.

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

6 months to
2 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 258 207 269
Rank change year-on-year -51 +62 +5
Contract jobs requiring an IT Engineer 523 446 343
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.98% 1.35% 0.87%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.06% 1.47% 0.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 337 278 218
10th Percentile £150 £126 £124
25th Percentile £173 £150 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £190 £200
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £275 £250 £300
90th Percentile £418 £423 £505
UK excluding London median daily rate £200 £160 £184
% change year-on-year +25.00% -12.93% +0.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 99 66
10th Percentile £17.25 £18.51 £11.75
25th Percentile £18.37 £18.87 £13.59
Median hourly rate £21.25 £24.66 £18.27
Median % change year-on-year -13.83% +34.98% +3.10%
75th Percentile £25.75 £25.15 £22.00
90th Percentile £34.40 - £24.18
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.25 £24.66 £16.19
% change year-on-year -13.83% +52.32% -8.63%

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 49,411 30,266 36,487
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.62% 91.43% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,780 19,222 23,643
10th Percentile £331 £281 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £623 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,407 1,492 2,092
10th Percentile £15.36 £13.65 £14.16
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.89 £54.19 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.20 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +76.94% -41.51% +10.19%

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 2 August 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 2 August 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 2 August 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 -57 458 £200 +5.26% 230
UK excluding London -55 392 £200 +25.00% 209
London -46 124 £226 +0.22% 55
South East -44 109 £238 +48.44% 63
North of England -43 83 £190 +4.11% 38
East of England +9 50 £200 +5.26% 39
South West -53 48 £200 +25.00% 21
North West -41 45 £195 +11.43% 21
Midlands -61 43 £200 +31.15% 35
Scotland +2 36 £150 -20.53% 10
Yorkshire -27 35 £190 +2.70% 15
East Midlands -10 27 £200 +56.86% 18
Work from Home -76 22 £330 +20.00% 52
Wales -8 21 £190 +22.58% 9
West Midlands -75 15 £183 +14.06% 17
North East -39 4 £450 +125.00% 4
Northern Ireland +2 2 - - 4

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

For the 6 months to 2 August 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.

1 305 (58.32%) Windows
2 254 (48.57%) Microsoft
3 236 (45.12%) Microsoft 365
4 229 (43.79%) Active Directory
5 146 (27.92%) Customer Service
6 140 (26.77%) Windows 10
7 134 (25.62%) Problem-Solving
8 94 (17.97%) ITIL
9 85 (16.25%) Microsoft Intune
10 84 (16.06%) ServiceNow
11 82 (15.68%) Azure
12 74 (14.15%) Security Cleared
13 65 (12.43%) SC Cleared
14 63 (12.05%) ITSM
15 59 (11.28%) Entra ID
16 56 (10.71%) Microsoft Certification
16 56 (10.71%) SharePoint
17 54 (10.33%) A+ Certification
17 54 (10.33%) SAN
18 52 (9.94%) Break/Fix
19 51 (9.75%) Network+ Certification
19 51 (9.75%) VPN
20 49 (9.37%) DNS
21 46 (8.80%) Dell
21 46 (8.80%) DHCP
22 45 (8.60%) Microsoft Exchange
23 44 (8.41%) JIRA
24 43 (8.22%) CCNA
24 43 (8.22%) Cisco Certification
24 43 (8.22%) MCSE

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 56 (10.71%) SharePoint
2 45 (8.60%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (2.10%) HCL Notes
4 4 (0.76%) Confluence
Applications
1 23 (4.40%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.19%) Acrobat
3 1 (0.19%) Chatbot
3 1 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (0.76%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.38%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 236 (45.12%) Microsoft 365
2 82 (15.68%) Azure
3 59 (11.28%) Entra ID
4 25 (4.78%) OneDrive
5 18 (3.44%) Azure DevOps
5 18 (3.44%) SaaS
6 12 (2.29%) AWS
7 11 (2.10%) IaaS
8 10 (1.91%) PaaS
9 5 (0.96%) Datadog
9 5 (0.96%) Mimecast
9 5 (0.96%) Nutanix
10 4 (0.76%) GitHub
11 3 (0.57%) Amazon EC2
11 3 (0.57%) Amazon S3
11 3 (0.57%) Google Workspace
11 3 (0.57%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.38%) Amazon EKS
12 2 (0.38%) Power Automate
12 2 (0.38%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 54 (10.33%) SAN
2 51 (9.75%) VPN
3 49 (9.37%) DNS
4 46 (8.80%) DHCP
5 35 (6.69%) Wi-Fi
6 30 (5.74%) TCP/IP
7 29 (5.54%) LAN
8 26 (4.97%) VLAN
9 17 (3.25%) Firewall
9 17 (3.25%) WAN
10 12 (2.29%) Internet
11 7 (1.34%) WLAN
12 5 (0.96%) IPv4
12 5 (0.96%) IPv6
12 5 (0.96%) Network Security
12 5 (0.96%) Skype
13 4 (0.76%) Remote Desktop
13 4 (0.76%) Wireless
14 3 (0.57%) VoIP
15 2 (0.38%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.49%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.38%) Power BI
2 2 (0.38%) Relational Database
3 1 (0.19%) MariaDB
3 1 (0.19%) MySQL
3 1 (0.19%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 44 (8.41%) JIRA
2 6 (1.15%) Git
3 5 (0.96%) Chocolatey
4 4 (0.76%) GitLab
General
1 241 (46.08%) Social Skills
2 80 (15.30%) Analytical Skills
3 26 (4.97%) Finance
4 24 (4.59%) Manufacturing
5 23 (4.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 20 (3.82%) Banking
7 14 (2.68%) Organisational Skills
8 13 (2.49%) Public Sector
9 7 (1.34%) Marketing
10 6 (1.15%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (0.76%) Financial Institution
11 4 (0.76%) Investment Banking
11 4 (0.76%) Legal
11 4 (0.76%) Retail
12 3 (0.57%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.38%) Italian Language
13 2 (0.38%) Presentation Skills
14 1 (0.19%) Aerospace
14 1 (0.19%) Japanese Language
14 1 (0.19%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (0.76%) React
2 2 (0.38%) JSON
2 2 (0.38%) Middleware
2 2 (0.38%) RabbitMQ
2 2 (0.38%) REST
2 2 (0.38%) XML
3 1 (0.19%) 802.1X
3 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Graph
3 1 (0.19%) OpenID
3 1 (0.19%) PySpark
3 1 (0.19%) Redfish
3 1 (0.19%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 63 (12.05%) Onboarding
2 52 (9.94%) Data Centre
3 45 (8.60%) Analytical Mindset
4 17 (3.25%) Video Conferencing
5 15 (2.87%) Driving Licence
5 15 (2.87%) Self-Motivation
6 13 (2.49%) Blackberry
6 13 (2.49%) Virtual Team
7 8 (1.53%) EPoS
8 7 (1.34%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.34%) Operational Technology
9 6 (1.15%) iPhone
10 5 (0.96%) Cyber Threat
10 5 (0.96%) iPad
10 5 (0.96%) SCADA
11 4 (0.76%) CCTV
11 4 (0.76%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (0.76%) Renewable Energy
12 3 (0.57%) Digital Signage
12 3 (0.57%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 305 (58.32%) Windows
2 140 (26.77%) Windows 10
3 37 (7.07%) Windows Server
4 27 (5.16%) Mac OS
5 21 (4.02%) Apple iOS
6 18 (3.44%) Android
7 10 (1.91%) Linux
8 4 (0.76%) Windows 7
9 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2008
9 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.19%) Solaris
11 1 (0.19%) Unix
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (27.92%) Customer Service
2 134 (25.62%) Problem-Solving
3 94 (17.97%) ITIL
4 63 (12.05%) ITSM
5 52 (9.94%) Break/Fix
6 42 (8.03%) Asset Management
6 42 (8.03%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 40 (7.65%) Service Delivery
8 38 (7.27%) Continuous Improvement
9 35 (6.69%) Migration
10 29 (5.54%) Change Management
10 29 (5.54%) User Experience
11 24 (4.59%) Cybersecurity
12 23 (4.40%) Disaster Recovery
13 19 (3.63%) DevOps
14 18 (3.44%) Service Management
15 16 (3.06%) Problem Management
16 14 (2.68%) Data Protection
17 13 (2.49%) Inventory Management
18 12 (2.29%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 36 (6.88%) PowerShell
2 23 (4.40%) SQL
3 18 (3.44%) C#
4 8 (1.53%) Python
5 4 (0.76%) JavaScript
5 4 (0.76%) TypeScript
6 2 (0.38%) Java
Qualifications
1 74 (14.15%) Security Cleared
2 65 (12.43%) SC Cleared
3 56 (10.71%) Microsoft Certification
4 54 (10.33%) A+ Certification
5 51 (9.75%) Network+ Certification
6 43 (8.22%) CCNA
6 43 (8.22%) Cisco Certification
6 43 (8.22%) MCSE
7 19 (3.63%) Degree
8 11 (2.10%) DV Cleared
9 8 (1.53%) DBS Check
10 5 (0.96%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 2 (0.38%) Azure Certification
11 2 (0.38%) CEH
11 2 (0.38%) CISM
11 2 (0.38%) CISSP
12 1 (0.19%) BPSS Clearance
12 1 (0.19%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (5.74%) SLA
2 9 (1.72%) Cyber Essentials
3 8 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.76%) GDPR
5 3 (0.57%) NIST
5 3 (0.57%) PCI DSS
5 3 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (0.38%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.38%) Disclosure Scotland
6 2 (0.38%) GxP
7 1 (0.19%) ITGC
7 1 (0.19%) NCSC
System Software
1 229 (43.79%) Active Directory
2 21 (4.02%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (3.44%) Hyper-V
4 3 (0.57%) Firmware
4 3 (0.57%) Virtual Desktop
4 3 (0.57%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (0.57%) vSphere
5 2 (0.38%) Docker
6 1 (0.19%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 85 (16.25%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (5.54%) SCCM
3 7 (1.34%) WSUS
4 6 (1.15%) Jamf Pro
4 6 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (0.96%) Kubernetes
6 4 (0.76%) Terraform
7 3 (0.57%) Ansible
8 2 (0.38%) Dell DRAC
8 2 (0.38%) Failover Clustering
8 2 (0.38%) PaperCut
9 1 (0.19%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.19%) Grafana
9 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Clustering
9 1 (0.19%) ServiceCenter
9 1 (0.19%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 254 (48.57%) Microsoft
2 84 (16.06%) ServiceNow
3 46 (8.80%) Dell
4 34 (6.50%) VMware
5 27 (5.16%) Apple
6 16 (3.06%) Cisco
7 13 (2.49%) Lotus
8 11 (2.10%) Citrix
9 9 (1.72%) HP
9 9 (1.72%) Veeam
10 6 (1.15%) Dynatrace
10 6 (1.15%) Remedy
10 6 (1.15%) Samsung
10 6 (1.15%) Tenable
11 5 (0.96%) AppDynamics
11 5 (0.96%) Fortinet
12 3 (0.57%) Freshdesk
12 3 (0.57%) Google
12 3 (0.57%) iManage
12 3 (0.57%) Meraki