Microsoft Office Contract Job Trends

Microsoft Office
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Microsoft Office skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 30 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 128 88 58
Rank change year-on-year -40 -30 +25
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 907 817 1,472
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.04% 2.79% 3.33%
As % of the Applications category 31.21% 34.33% 41.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 504 513 825
10th Percentile £163 £155 £140
25th Percentile £213 £206 £185
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £350 £325 £255
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +27.45% -32.00%
75th Percentile £535 £525 £488
90th Percentile £689 £600 £619
UK excluding London median daily rate £350 £250 £220
% change year-on-year +40.00% +13.64% -32.31%
Number of hourly rates quoted 141 80 316
10th Percentile £12.31 £14.17 £11.00
25th Percentile £13.72 £15.62 £12.63
Median hourly rate £17.94 £18.64 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year -3.77% +16.05% -27.00%
75th Percentile £25.77 £24.31 £24.12
90th Percentile £65.00 £33.78 £45.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.23 £18.36 £15.50
% change year-on-year -6.14% +18.44% -22.03%

All Software Application Skills
UK

Microsoft Office falls under the Software Applications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring software application skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for software application skills 2,906 2,380 3,526
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 6.55% 8.13% 7.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,704 1,459 1,835
10th Percentile £213 £188 £158
25th Percentile £335 £263 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £409 £400
Median % change year-on-year +10.02% +2.25% -5.88%
75th Percentile £551 £538 £538
90th Percentile £650 £640 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £375 £350
% change year-on-year +13.33% +7.14% -11.39%
Number of hourly rates quoted 337 238 622
10th Percentile £13.05 £14.79 £11.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £16.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £19.91 £25.91 £18.86
Median % change year-on-year -23.16% +37.36% -41.96%
75th Percentile £29.50 £45.00 £41.75
90th Percentile £65.00 £75.38 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.08 £26.42 £17.66
% change year-on-year -27.77% +49.59% -43.03%

Microsoft Office
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft Office relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Microsoft Office job vacancy trend in the UK

Microsoft Office
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Microsoft Office.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft Office over the 6 months to 30 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft Office in the UK

Microsoft Office
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Microsoft Office.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft Office over the 6 months to 30 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft Office in the UK

Microsoft Office
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 Microsoft Office within the UK over the 6 months to 30 March 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 -37 815 £400 +23.08% 589
UK excluding London -21 647 £350 +40.00% 523
London -68 219 £413 -2.94% 148
Work from Home -62 190 £350 -12.50% 213
South East -8 167 £453 +29.29% 163
North of England -42 157 £295 +21.65% 139
South West -15 101 £700 +133.33% 58
North West -16 96 £325 +30.00% 76
East of England -6 82 £205 -24.77% 50
Midlands -47 82 £313 -7.26% 82
West Midlands -43 54 £319 -25.06% 54
Yorkshire -55 53 £290 +20.83% 48
East Midlands -25 28 £224 +12.00% 28
Wales +5 26 £246 -28.36% 18
Scotland -26 24 £290 +45.00% 25
Northern Ireland -1 11 £350 +118.75% 5
North East -14 8 £175 -10.26% 21

Microsoft Office
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
1 114 (12.57%) SharePoint
2 85 (9.37%) Confluence
3 68 (7.50%) Microsoft Exchange
4 9 (0.99%) Skype for Business
5 7 (0.77%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.55%) CMS
7 3 (0.33%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.11%) Adobe Experience Manager
Applications
1 321 (35.39%) Microsoft Excel
2 189 (20.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 89 (9.81%) Microsoft Project
4 72 (7.94%) MS Visio
5 11 (1.21%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (0.66%) Trello
7 5 (0.55%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 3 (0.33%) Adobe Captivate
8 3 (0.33%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.11%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.11%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 18 (1.98%) SAP S/4HANA
2 16 (1.76%) Remedy ITSM
3 12 (1.32%) Primavera
4 6 (0.66%) Veritas eDiscovery
5 5 (0.55%) Shopify
6 4 (0.44%) Oracle Financials
6 4 (0.44%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.33%) Aladdin
7 3 (0.33%) Fidessa
7 3 (0.33%) Maximo
7 3 (0.33%) SAP MM
7 3 (0.33%) SimCorp Dimension
8 2 (0.22%) IntelliMatch
8 2 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.22%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.22%) Teamcenter
9 1 (0.11%) assyst
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle 11i
9 1 (0.11%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 186 (20.51%) Microsoft 365
2 90 (9.92%) Azure
3 44 (4.85%) Power Platform
4 35 (3.86%) Google Workspace
5 31 (3.42%) AWS
6 13 (1.43%) Azure DevOps
6 13 (1.43%) SaaS
7 12 (1.32%) Entra ID
8 10 (1.10%) GCP
8 10 (1.10%) OneDrive
9 8 (0.88%) GitHub
10 7 (0.77%) Amazon SageMaker
10 7 (0.77%) Dagster
10 7 (0.77%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.77%) Google Analytics
10 7 (0.77%) Google Tag Manager
11 6 (0.66%) Lucidchart
12 5 (0.55%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (0.55%) Figma
12 5 (0.55%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 44 (4.85%) Wireless
2 39 (4.30%) Firewall
2 39 (4.30%) VPN
2 39 (4.30%) Wi-Fi
3 38 (4.19%) TCP/IP
4 33 (3.64%) LAN
5 30 (3.31%) Skype
6 28 (3.09%) WAN
7 26 (2.87%) DNS
8 22 (2.43%) Network Security
9 20 (2.21%) DHCP
10 15 (1.65%) Ethernet
11 11 (1.21%) MPLS
12 10 (1.10%) Cisco IOS
12 10 (1.10%) VLAN
13 9 (0.99%) Internet
14 6 (0.66%) BGP
15 5 (0.55%) NetScaler
15 5 (0.55%) Structured Cabling
15 5 (0.55%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (4.52%) Power BI
2 14 (1.54%) SQL Server
3 6 (0.66%) Oracle Database
3 6 (0.66%) Relational Database
4 5 (0.55%) BigQuery
4 5 (0.55%) Electronic Patient Records
4 5 (0.55%) Looker
4 5 (0.55%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
5 4 (0.44%) EDMS
5 4 (0.44%) RDBMS
5 4 (0.44%) SQLPlus
5 4 (0.44%) Tableau
6 3 (0.33%) MySQL
6 3 (0.33%) Power Query
7 2 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.22%) DB2
7 2 (0.22%) GIS
7 2 (0.22%) Metadata
7 2 (0.22%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 106 (11.69%) JIRA
2 13 (1.43%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.43%) Metasploit
3 8 (0.88%) Git
3 8 (0.88%) MLflow
3 8 (0.88%) Toad
4 5 (0.55%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.44%) Subversion
6 3 (0.33%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.33%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.33%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.22%) JMeter
7 2 (0.22%) PVCS
7 2 (0.22%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.22%) Tricentis qTest
8 1 (0.11%) Ant
8 1 (0.11%) ClearCase
8 1 (0.11%) JUnit
8 1 (0.11%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.11%) TestDirector
General
1 544 (59.98%) Social Skills
2 248 (27.34%) Finance
3 196 (21.61%) Analytical Skills
4 121 (13.34%) Organisational Skills
5 100 (11.03%) Public Sector
6 73 (8.05%) Banking
7 51 (5.62%) Legal
8 47 (5.18%) Marketing
9 44 (4.85%) Telecoms
10 43 (4.74%) Manufacturing
11 42 (4.63%) Presentation Skills
12 41 (4.52%) Military
13 29 (3.20%) Electronics
14 27 (2.98%) Documentation Skills
14 27 (2.98%) Influencing Skills
14 27 (2.98%) Pharmaceutical
15 25 (2.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 16 (1.76%) Investment Banking
17 14 (1.54%) Retail
18 12 (1.32%) Law
Job Titles
1 167 (18.41%) Analyst
2 79 (8.71%) IT Support
3 56 (6.17%) Business Analyst
4 50 (5.51%) Architect
5 47 (5.18%) Administrator
6 44 (4.85%) Support Engineer
7 42 (4.63%) 2nd Line Support
8 38 (4.19%) Senior
8 38 (4.19%) Support Officer
9 34 (3.75%) Desktop Support
9 34 (3.75%) Lead
10 32 (3.53%) Support Analyst
11 30 (3.31%) Service Architect
12 29 (3.20%) Project Manager
13 26 (2.87%) Project Officer
14 24 (2.65%) IT Engineer
14 24 (2.65%) Project Support Officer
14 24 (2.65%) Service Analyst
15 23 (2.54%) Coordinator
16 22 (2.43%) PMO Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.88%) Web Services
2 7 (0.77%) NumPy
2 7 (0.77%) Pandas
2 7 (0.77%) scikit-learn
2 7 (0.77%) Seaborn
2 7 (0.77%) SOAP
3 6 (0.66%) REST
4 5 (0.55%) XML
5 4 (0.44%) .NET
5 4 (0.44%) FHIR
5 4 (0.44%) NETCONF
5 4 (0.44%) OpenConfig
5 4 (0.44%) RESTCONF
5 4 (0.44%) YANG
6 3 (0.33%) JDO
6 3 (0.33%) Microsoft Graph
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle Fusion
7 2 (0.22%) ADO
7 2 (0.22%) HTML
7 2 (0.22%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 53 (5.84%) Onboarding
2 51 (5.62%) Self-Motivation
3 48 (5.29%) Management Information System
4 41 (4.52%) Product Ownership
5 35 (3.86%) Data Centre
6 25 (2.76%) Driving Licence
7 17 (1.87%) Data Protection Act
7 17 (1.87%) NHS
8 16 (1.76%) Industry 4.0
8 16 (1.76%) Robotics
9 15 (1.65%) Enterprise Software
9 15 (1.65%) PMI
10 14 (1.54%) Mobile App
10 14 (1.54%) Security Posture
11 13 (1.43%) Insider Threat
12 10 (1.10%) Analytical Mindset
13 9 (0.99%) Social Media
14 8 (0.88%) e-Learning
14 8 (0.88%) Life Science
14 8 (0.88%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 221 (24.37%) Windows
2 94 (10.36%) Windows 10
3 63 (6.95%) Android
4 46 (5.07%) Linux
5 39 (4.30%) Mac OS
6 24 (2.65%) Apple iOS
7 19 (2.09%) Windows Server
8 14 (1.54%) Windows 7
9 10 (1.10%) Windows Server 2016
10 9 (0.99%) Unix
11 8 (0.88%) Ubuntu
12 6 (0.66%) Windows Server 2019
13 4 (0.44%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2012
14 3 (0.33%) AIX
14 3 (0.33%) CentOS
15 2 (0.22%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 222 (24.48%) Problem-Solving
2 157 (17.31%) Agile
3 144 (15.88%) Project Management
4 139 (15.33%) Customer Service
5 113 (12.46%) Stakeholder Management
6 110 (12.13%) Continuous Improvement
7 107 (11.80%) ITIL
8 102 (11.25%) Project Delivery
9 86 (9.48%) Service Management
10 83 (9.15%) PRINCE2
11 76 (8.38%) Change Management
12 70 (7.72%) Decision-Making
13 68 (7.50%) Analytical Thinking
14 67 (7.39%) Business Intelligence
15 65 (7.17%) Time Management
16 57 (6.28%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 56 (6.17%) AI
17 56 (6.17%) Waterfall
18 54 (5.95%) Critical Thinking
19 53 (5.84%) Acceptance Criteria
Programming Languages
1 60 (6.62%) SQL
2 36 (3.97%) PowerShell
3 25 (2.76%) Python
4 17 (1.87%) VB
5 10 (1.10%) PHP
6 9 (0.99%) VBScript
7 8 (0.88%) PL/SQL
8 7 (0.77%) JavaScript
9 6 (0.66%) Java
10 5 (0.55%) Perl
10 5 (0.55%) VBA
11 4 (0.44%) C
12 3 (0.33%) C++
12 3 (0.33%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.33%) Kusto Query Language
12 3 (0.33%) Shell Script
12 3 (0.33%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.22%) R
14 1 (0.11%) Bash
14 1 (0.11%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 312 (34.40%) Degree
2 241 (26.57%) Security Cleared
3 190 (20.95%) SC Cleared
4 58 (6.39%) DV Cleared
5 31 (3.42%) PMI Certification
6 30 (3.31%) TOGAF Certification
7 28 (3.09%) PMP
8 20 (2.21%) Microsoft Certification
9 18 (1.98%) BPSS Clearance
10 16 (1.76%) APMP
10 16 (1.76%) CTC Cleared
11 15 (1.65%) Computer Science Degree
12 14 (1.54%) ITIL Certification
13 13 (1.43%) CHECK Team Member
14 12 (1.32%) CBAP
14 12 (1.32%) Cisco Certification
14 12 (1.32%) MCSE
14 12 (1.32%) Postgraduate
15 11 (1.21%) CREST Certified
15 11 (1.21%) IIBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 100 (11.03%) PMO
2 41 (4.52%) QA
3 32 (3.53%) SLA
4 26 (2.87%) Data Quality
5 25 (2.76%) GDPR
6 19 (2.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 16 (1.76%) PCI DSS
8 14 (1.54%) Accessibility
9 8 (0.88%) P3O
10 7 (0.77%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (0.55%) MiFID
12 4 (0.44%) NIST
13 3 (0.33%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.33%) ECSS
13 3 (0.33%) HL7
13 3 (0.33%) ISO 20022
14 2 (0.22%) SOC 2
14 2 (0.22%) WCAG
15 1 (0.11%) COBIT
System Software
1 101 (11.14%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.21%) Docker
3 10 (1.10%) BitLocker
3 10 (1.10%) VMware Infrastructure
4 7 (0.77%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.55%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.55%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.55%) XenApp
5 5 (0.55%) XenDesktop
6 1 (0.11%) Citrix Presentation Server
6 1 (0.11%) Firmware
6 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.11%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.11%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 39 (4.30%) SCCM
2 30 (3.31%) OPNET
3 24 (2.65%) Microsoft Intune
4 13 (1.43%) Nmap
5 11 (1.21%) Ansible
6 8 (0.88%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (0.77%) HP Quality Center
8 5 (0.55%) Kubernetes
8 5 (0.55%) SCOM
8 5 (0.55%) SCVMM
8 5 (0.55%) TeamSite
9 4 (0.44%) HP ALM
9 4 (0.44%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.44%) WSUS
10 3 (0.33%) Cisco Prime
10 3 (0.33%) PaperCut
10 3 (0.33%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.33%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 3 (0.33%) Terraform
11 1 (0.11%) Puppet
Vendors
1 592 (65.27%) Microsoft
2 74 (8.16%) ServiceNow
3 73 (8.05%) SAP
4 59 (6.50%) Remedy
5 58 (6.39%) Cisco
6 46 (5.07%) HP
7 44 (4.85%) Apple
8 43 (4.74%) Atlassian
9 39 (4.30%) Google
10 26 (2.87%) Dell
10 26 (2.87%) Oracle
11 24 (2.65%) Citrix
12 15 (1.65%) MobileIron
12 15 (1.65%) Siemens
13 14 (1.54%) VMware
14 12 (1.32%) Adobe
15 9 (0.99%) Planview
15 9 (0.99%) Salesforce
16 6 (0.66%) Ariba
17 5 (0.55%) Juniper