Job Vacancy Trend Daily Rate Trend Daily Rate Histogram Hourly Rate Trend Hourly Rate Histogram Job Locations Skill Sets
Period
to 17 January 2019

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for MCSA qualifications. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months to 17 January 2019 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

Note that daily and hourly rates are treated separately in these statistics. When calculating contractor rate percentiles, daily rates are never derived from quoted hourly rates or vice versa.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) formerly Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
UK
6 months to
17 Jan 2019		 Same period 2018 Same period 2017
Rank 604 630 640
Rank change year-on-year +26 +10 -60
Contract jobs citing MCSA 277 279 233
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 0.28% 0.28% 0.24%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.45% 1.46% 1.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 169 168
UK median daily rate £300 £313 £350
Median daily rate % change year-on-year -4.00% -10.71% +11.11%
10th Percentile £138 £140 £162
90th Percentile £600 £488 £533
UK excluding London median daily rate £275 £350 £348
% change year-on-year -21.43% +0.72% +6.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 35 15 9
UK median hourly rate £16.50 £25.00 £16.50
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year -34.00% +51.52% -10.81%
10th Percentile £15.23 £11.08 £13.98
90th Percentile £45.91 £39.75 £19.45
UK excluding London median hourly rate £15.75 £25.00 £16.50
% change year-on-year -37.00% +51.52% -10.81%

MCSA is in the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for academic qualifications or professional certifications.

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK
Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 19,063 19,074 20,029
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 19.18% 19.01% 20.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,332 11,696 12,546
UK median daily rate £450 £425 £425
Median daily rate % change year-on-year +5.88% - +6.25%
10th Percentile £258 £225 £250
90th Percentile £625 £620 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £400 £400
% change year-on-year +6.25% - +3.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 901 837 870
UK median hourly rate £28.50 £24.00 £25.50
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year +18.75% -5.88% -5.56%
10th Percentile £12.75 £12.00 £12.00
90th Percentile £51.75 £50.00 £49.19
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.42 £25.00 £27.00
% change year-on-year +13.68% -7.41% -1.82%

MCSA
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing MCSA as a percentage of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for daily rates quoted in contract jobs citing MCSA.

Contractor daily rate trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Daily Rate Histogram

The daily rate distribution of IT jobs citing MCSA over the 6 months to 17 January 2019.

Contractor daily rate histogram for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for contractor hourly rates quoted in IT jobs citing MCSA.

Contractor hourly rate trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Hourly Rate Histogram

The hourly rate distribution of IT jobs citing MCSA over the 6 months to 17 January 2019.

Contractor hourly rate histogram for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Top 14 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing MCSA within the UK over the 6 months to 17 January 2019. 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
Job
Vacancies
England +4 258 £300 -2.44% 129
UK excluding London -39 188 £275 -21.43% 98
London +7 78 £425 +123.68% 36
South East -5 58 £275 -21.43% 28
North of England +10 53 £175 -44.00% 20
South West -9 36 £490 +3.16% 15
North West -7 27 £175 -45.10% 9
East of England +4 22 £413 +37.50% 11
Yorkshire -1 22 £118 -81.92% 8
Midlands -17 11 £175 -61.11% 19
Scotland -1 10 £253 -13.13% 5
West Midlands -25 6 £180 -62.11% 9
East Midlands -2 5 £175 -29.29% 10
North East -3 4 £300 -25.74% 3

For the 6 months to 17 January 2019, IT contractor jobs citing MCSA also mentioned the following skills in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads with a requirement for MCSA.

1 277 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 212 (76.53%) Windows
3 196 (70.76%) Microsoft
4 187 (67.51%) MCSE
5 162 (58.48%) Active Directory
6 121 (43.68%) ITIL
7 101 (36.46%) VMware
8 99 (35.74%) Windows Server
9 96 (34.66%) Office 365
10 94 (33.94%) Windows 7
11 86 (31.05%) PowerShell
12 78 (28.16%) Windows Server 2012
13 74 (26.71%) MCP
14 73 (26.35%) Microsoft Office
15 72 (25.99%) Windows 10
16 69 (24.91%) SCCM
17 68 (24.55%) Microsoft Azure
18 65 (23.47%) Cisco
19 64 (23.10%) VMware Infrastructure
20 60 (21.66%) DNS
21 56 (20.22%) Cisco Certification
22 52 (18.77%) CCNA
23 50 (18.05%) Citrix
23 50 (18.05%) Security Cleared
23 50 (18.05%) Problem-Solving
24 48 (17.33%) Migration
25 44 (15.88%) DHCP
26 40 (14.44%) LAN
27 39 (14.08%) WAN
27 39 (14.08%) Agile Software Development

MCSA
Co-occurring IT Skills by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same job type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 31 (11.19%) MS Exchange
2 28 (10.11%) SharePoint
3 22 (7.94%) Skype for Business
4 16 (5.78%) Confluence
5 14 (5.05%) Exchange Server 2010
6 6 (2.17%) Exchange Server 2007
6 6 (2.17%) Exchange Server 2013
6 6 (2.17%) IIS
7 5 (1.81%) Office Communications Server
8 2 (0.72%) BizTalk Server
8 2 (0.72%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.72%) IBM Notes
8 2 (0.72%) SharePoint 2013
9 1 (0.36%) Apache
9 1 (0.36%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.36%) Tomcat
Applications
1 73 (26.35%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.81%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.44%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.36%) Photoshop
Cloud Services
1 96 (34.66%) Office 365
2 68 (24.55%) Microsoft Azure
3 24 (8.66%) Amazon AWS
4 13 (4.69%) Azure Active Directory
4 13 (4.69%) Google Cloud Platform
5 9 (3.25%) IaaS
6 6 (2.17%) OneDrive
7 3 (1.08%) Amazon S3
7 3 (1.08%) Cloud Computing
7 3 (1.08%) Dynamics 365
7 3 (1.08%) GitHub
8 2 (0.72%) Amazon EC2
8 2 (0.72%) Google Analytics
8 2 (0.72%) PaaS
8 2 (0.72%) SaaS
9 1 (0.36%) Azure Machine Learning
9 1 (0.36%) iTunes
9 1 (0.36%) Mimecast
9 1 (0.36%) Yammer
Communications & Networking
1 60 (21.66%) DNS
2 44 (15.88%) DHCP
3 40 (14.44%) LAN
4 39 (14.08%) WAN
5 34 (12.27%) Internet
5 34 (12.27%) TCP/IP
6 32 (11.55%) Firewall
7 24 (8.66%) VPN
8 23 (8.30%) Skype
9 21 (7.58%) Wireless
10 12 (4.33%) SAN
11 11 (3.97%) Intranet
11 11 (3.97%) IP Telephony
11 11 (3.97%) VoIP
12 10 (3.61%) Cisco IOS
12 10 (3.61%) Remote Desktop
12 10 (3.61%) WebEx
13 9 (3.25%) Unified Communications
14 6 (2.17%) ADSL
15 5 (1.81%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (11.91%) SQL Server
2 7 (2.53%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (2.17%) Azure SQL Database
3 6 (2.17%) SQL Server 2012
4 5 (1.81%) Power BI
5 4 (1.44%) SQL Server 2008
5 4 (1.44%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 4 (1.44%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (1.08%) OLAP
6 3 (1.08%) Relational Database
6 3 (1.08%) SQL Server 2005
6 3 (1.08%) SQL Server 2014
6 3 (1.08%) SQL Server 2016
6 3 (1.08%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 2 (0.72%) Big Data
7 2 (0.72%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 2 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.36%) Amazon RDS
8 1 (0.36%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.36%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 19 (6.86%) JIRA
2 11 (3.97%) Atlassian Bamboo
3 6 (2.17%) Git (software)
3 6 (2.17%) Team Foundation Server
3 6 (2.17%) Visual Studio
4 3 (1.08%) Bitbucket
4 3 (1.08%) CF BOSH
4 3 (1.08%) GitLab
5 2 (0.72%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.72%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.36%) MSI
6 1 (0.36%) Octopus Deploy
6 1 (0.36%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.36%) Visual Studio Team System
General
1 29 (10.47%) Finance
2 9 (3.25%) Automotive
3 7 (2.53%) Military
3 7 (2.53%) Spanish Language
4 5 (1.81%) Retail
4 5 (1.81%) Telecoms
5 4 (1.44%) Manufacturing
6 1 (0.36%) Back Office
6 1 (0.36%) Banking
6 1 (0.36%) Electronics
6 1 (0.36%) Front Office
6 1 (0.36%) Law
6 1 (0.36%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 45 (16.25%) Analyst
2 41 (14.80%) Support Engineer
3 31 (11.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 26 (9.39%) 2nd Line Support
5 22 (7.94%) Desktop Support
6 20 (7.22%) IT Support
6 20 (7.22%) Service Analyst
6 20 (7.22%) Service Desk Analyst
7 19 (6.86%) 3rd Line Engineer
8 17 (6.14%) 2nd Line Engineer
9 16 (5.78%) Desktop Engineer
10 14 (5.05%) 3rd Line Support
10 14 (5.05%) Support Analyst
11 13 (4.69%) Desktop Support Engineer
12 12 (4.33%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 12 (4.33%) Developer
13 10 (3.61%) Administrator
13 10 (3.61%) Architect
13 10 (3.61%) IT Analyst
13 10 (3.61%) Technical Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (2.89%) REST
2 7 (2.53%) .NET
2 7 (2.53%) HTML
3 6 (2.17%) HTML5
3 6 (2.17%) Silverlight
3 6 (2.17%) WPF
4 3 (1.08%) 802.1X
4 3 (1.08%) Node.js
5 2 (0.72%) Middleware
6 1 (0.36%) LDAP
6 1 (0.36%) OAuth
6 1 (0.36%) RabbitMQ
6 1 (0.36%) RESTful
6 1 (0.36%) SAML
6 1 (0.36%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 33 (11.91%) Data Centre
2 28 (10.11%) Video Conferencing
3 26 (9.39%) Management Information System
4 24 (8.66%) Analytical Skills
5 17 (6.14%) PKI
6 14 (5.05%) Blackberry
7 11 (3.97%) Mobile App
7 11 (3.97%) Virtual Team
8 10 (3.61%) iPad
8 10 (3.61%) iPhone
9 9 (3.25%) Replication
10 7 (2.53%) Client/Server
11 6 (2.17%) Driving Licence
11 6 (2.17%) Hybrid Cloud
11 6 (2.17%) Public Cloud
11 6 (2.17%) Smartphone
11 6 (2.17%) User Experience
12 5 (1.81%) Fat Client
12 5 (1.81%) Thin Client
13 3 (1.08%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 212 (76.53%) Windows
2 99 (35.74%) Windows Server
3 94 (33.94%) Windows 7
4 78 (28.16%) Windows Server 2012
5 72 (25.99%) Windows 10
6 34 (12.27%) Windows Server 2008
7 22 (7.94%) Linux
7 22 (7.94%) Windows XP
8 20 (7.22%) Mac OS X
9 16 (5.78%) Unix
10 13 (4.69%) Windows 2000
10 13 (4.69%) Windows Vista
11 9 (3.25%) Apple iOS
11 9 (3.25%) Windows Server 2003
12 6 (2.17%) CentOS
13 5 (1.81%) Android
14 4 (1.44%) Ubuntu
15 3 (1.08%) Windows 8
15 3 (1.08%) Windows Mobile
16 1 (0.36%) Windows Phone
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (43.68%) ITIL
2 50 (18.05%) Problem-Solving
3 48 (17.33%) Migration
4 39 (14.08%) Agile Software Development
5 38 (13.72%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 27 (9.75%) Change Management
7 23 (8.30%) ITIL V3
8 22 (7.94%) Root Cause Analysis
9 20 (7.22%) Computer Science
9 20 (7.22%) ITSM
10 15 (5.42%) Change Control
11 14 (5.05%) Problem Management
11 14 (5.05%) Service Delivery
12 13 (4.69%) Analytics
12 13 (4.69%) Decision-Making
12 13 (4.69%) DevOps
12 13 (4.69%) Incident Management
13 12 (4.33%) Critical Thinking
13 12 (4.33%) Reverse Engineering
13 12 (4.33%) Time Management
Programming Languages
1 86 (31.05%) PowerShell
2 33 (11.91%) SQL
3 8 (2.89%) Python
4 7 (2.53%) Java
5 6 (2.17%) C#
5 6 (2.17%) VB
6 4 (1.44%) C
7 3 (1.08%) Bash Shell
7 3 (1.08%) Ruby
7 3 (1.08%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.72%) R
8 2 (0.72%) VBScript
9 1 (0.36%) Perl
9 1 (0.36%) PHP
Qualifications
1 277 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 187 (67.51%) MCSE
3 74 (26.71%) MCP
4 56 (20.22%) Cisco Certification
5 52 (18.77%) CCNA
6 50 (18.05%) Security Cleared
7 39 (14.08%) SC Cleared
8 36 (13.00%) Degree
8 36 (13.00%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 27 (9.75%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 21 (7.58%) MCITP
11 14 (5.05%) DV Cleared
12 13 (4.69%) A+ Certification
12 13 (4.69%) HNC
12 13 (4.69%) MCTS
13 12 (4.33%) ITIL Certification
13 12 (4.33%) OCA
13 12 (4.33%) Oracle Certification
14 11 (3.97%) DBS Check
14 11 (3.97%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (13.36%) SLA
2 5 (1.81%) QA
3 4 (1.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.72%) Data Quality
4 2 (0.72%) GDPR
5 1 (0.36%) PMO
System Software
1 162 (58.48%) Active Directory
2 64 (23.10%) VMware Infrastructure
3 31 (11.19%) Hyper-V
4 13 (4.69%) vSphere
5 12 (4.33%) Virtual Desktop
6 11 (3.97%) Virtual Servers
6 11 (3.97%) XenDesktop
7 10 (3.61%) Virtual Machines
7 10 (3.61%) VMware ESXi
8 7 (2.53%) Terminal Server
9 6 (2.17%) BitLocker
9 6 (2.17%) XenApp
10 4 (1.44%) XenServer
11 3 (1.08%) Forefront TMG
11 3 (1.08%) Microsoft App-V
11 3 (1.08%) UAG
11 3 (1.08%) VMware NSX
12 2 (0.72%) ISA Server
12 2 (0.72%) Terminal Services
13 1 (0.36%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 69 (24.91%) SCCM
2 23 (8.30%) vCenter Server
3 14 (5.05%) Microsoft Intune
4 12 (4.33%) WSUS
5 11 (3.97%) PowerCLI
6 9 (3.25%) McAfee ePO
6 9 (3.25%) SCOM
7 6 (2.17%) Puppet
7 6 (2.17%) SCVMM
8 5 (1.81%) AirWatch
8 5 (1.81%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.81%) Terraform
9 4 (1.44%) CASB
9 4 (1.44%) Cisco CUCM
9 4 (1.44%) Forefront Identity Manager
9 4 (1.44%) Norton AntiVirus
10 3 (1.08%) Ansible
10 3 (1.08%) Failover Clustering
10 3 (1.08%) NetBackup
10 3 (1.08%) Opscode Chef
Vendors
1 196 (70.76%) Microsoft
2 101 (36.46%) VMware
3 65 (23.47%) Cisco
4 50 (18.05%) Citrix
5 37 (13.36%) Apple
6 23 (8.30%) Oracle
7 20 (7.22%) Polycom
8 17 (6.14%) Google
9 16 (5.78%) Avaya
10 15 (5.42%) HP
10 15 (5.42%) McAfee
10 15 (5.42%) Wyse
11 10 (3.61%) Atlassian
11 10 (3.61%) Veeam
12 9 (3.25%) Xerox
13 7 (2.53%) IronPort
14 6 (2.17%) Altiris
14 6 (2.17%) Juniper
15 5 (1.81%) Dell
15 5 (1.81%) EMC