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 12 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 88 58
Rank change year-on-year -29 -30 +22
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 943 838 1,542
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.21% 2.85% 3.45%
As % of the Applications category 32.33% 35.98% 42.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 520 526 863
10th Percentile £163 £150 £145
25th Percentile £205 £200 £188
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £350 £306 £270
Median % change year-on-year +14.42% +13.29% -30.77%
75th Percentile £535 £513 £491
90th Percentile £690 £600 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £332 £250 £238
% change year-on-year +32.70% +5.26% -32.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 151 69 331
10th Percentile £12.50 £13.50 £11.00
25th Percentile £13.60 £15.84 £12.73
Median hourly rate £17.50 £20.75 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year -15.66% +29.20% -29.03%
75th Percentile £25.15 £25.00 £26.50
90th Percentile £45.75 £35.00 £48.72
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.36 £20.00 £15.93
% change year-on-year -18.23% +25.59% -25.93%

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 2,917 2,329 3,648
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 6.83% 7.91% 8.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,696 1,427 1,921
10th Percentile £205 £178 £158
25th Percentile £320 £250 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £400 £400
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% - -8.57%
75th Percentile £550 £538 £538
90th Percentile £650 £638 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £360 £350
% change year-on-year +18.06% +2.86% -12.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 348 211 633
10th Percentile £12.95 £14.84 £11.54
25th Percentile £15.60 £16.75 £14.00
Median hourly rate £19.91 £26.50 £19.38
Median % change year-on-year -24.87% +36.77% -47.99%
75th Percentile £27.73 £46.30 £43.75
90th Percentile £60.00 £76.25 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.00 £27.13 £17.80
% change year-on-year -29.95% +52.39% -50.56%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -27 854 £371 +14.96% 583
UK excluding London -17 677 £332 +32.70% 512
London -47 229 £400 +3.09% 140
Work from Home -49 185 £375 -6.25% 203
South East -2 174 £453 +34.07% 148
North of England -40 164 £268 +16.25% 114
South West -10 111 £700 +133.33% 56
North West -17 100 £300 +20.00% 70
Midlands -44 88 £300 -25.00% 99
East of England 0 82 £195 -25.00% 64
West Midlands -56 56 £308 -29.15% 67
Yorkshire -56 54 £290 +26.09% 33
East Midlands -19 32 £185 -7.50% 32
Wales +6 28 £246 -50.75% 14
Scotland -36 20 £287 +43.50% 24
Northern Ireland -1 13 £350 +118.75% 1
North East -14 10 £175 +16.67% 12

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
1 120 (12.73%) SharePoint
2 93 (9.86%) Confluence
3 71 (7.53%) Microsoft Exchange
4 11 (1.17%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.53%) CMS
6 4 (0.42%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.32%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.11%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.11%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 312 (33.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 179 (18.98%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 89 (9.44%) Microsoft Project
4 72 (7.64%) MS Visio
5 12 (1.27%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (0.64%) Trello
7 5 (0.53%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 4 (0.42%) Adobe Captivate
9 3 (0.32%) Adobe Illustrator
10 2 (0.21%) Oracle Smart View
11 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
11 1 (0.11%) Photoshop
11 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 18 (1.91%) SAP S/4HANA
2 17 (1.80%) Remedy ITSM
3 11 (1.17%) Primavera
4 6 (0.64%) Veritas eDiscovery
5 5 (0.53%) Shopify
6 4 (0.42%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.32%) Aladdin
7 3 (0.32%) Fidessa
7 3 (0.32%) Maximo
7 3 (0.32%) Oracle Financials
7 3 (0.32%) SAP MM
7 3 (0.32%) SimCorp Dimension
8 2 (0.21%) IntelliMatch
8 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.21%) Teamcenter
9 1 (0.11%) assyst
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
9 1 (0.11%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 201 (21.31%) Microsoft 365
2 87 (9.23%) Azure
3 42 (4.45%) Power Platform
4 36 (3.82%) Google Workspace
5 27 (2.86%) AWS
6 12 (1.27%) Entra ID
7 11 (1.17%) SaaS
8 10 (1.06%) GCP
8 10 (1.06%) OneDrive
9 9 (0.95%) Azure DevOps
10 8 (0.85%) Google Tag Manager
10 8 (0.85%) Lucidchart
11 7 (0.74%) Google Analytics
11 7 (0.74%) OCI
12 5 (0.53%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (0.53%) Figma
12 5 (0.53%) GitHub
12 5 (0.53%) OpenShift
13 4 (0.42%) Amazon SageMaker
13 4 (0.42%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 54 (5.73%) Wireless
2 45 (4.77%) VPN
3 42 (4.45%) TCP/IP
4 39 (4.14%) Wi-Fi
5 36 (3.82%) LAN
6 35 (3.71%) Firewall
7 33 (3.50%) Skype
8 31 (3.29%) WAN
9 30 (3.18%) DNS
10 25 (2.65%) DHCP
11 18 (1.91%) Network Security
12 15 (1.59%) Ethernet
13 11 (1.17%) MPLS
14 10 (1.06%) Cisco IOS
14 10 (1.06%) VLAN
15 9 (0.95%) Internet
16 7 (0.74%) Structured Cabling
17 6 (0.64%) BGP
18 5 (0.53%) NetScaler
18 5 (0.53%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (4.14%) Power BI
2 14 (1.48%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.74%) Oracle Reports
3 7 (0.74%) Relational Database
4 6 (0.64%) BigQuery
4 6 (0.64%) Looker
4 6 (0.64%) Oracle Database
5 5 (0.53%) Tableau
6 4 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
6 4 (0.42%) RDBMS
6 4 (0.42%) SQLPlus
7 3 (0.32%) EDMS
7 3 (0.32%) Electronic Patient Records
7 3 (0.32%) Metadata
7 3 (0.32%) MySQL
7 3 (0.32%) Power Query
8 2 (0.21%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.21%) DB2
8 2 (0.21%) GIS
8 2 (0.21%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 106 (11.24%) JIRA
2 13 (1.38%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.38%) Metasploit
3 8 (0.85%) Toad
4 5 (0.53%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.53%) MLflow
5 4 (0.42%) Git
6 3 (0.32%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.32%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.32%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 3 (0.32%) Subversion
7 2 (0.21%) JMeter
7 2 (0.21%) PVCS
7 2 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.21%) 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
1 574 (60.87%) Social Skills
2 269 (28.53%) Finance
3 200 (21.21%) Analytical Skills
4 135 (14.32%) Organisational Skills
5 112 (11.88%) Public Sector
6 72 (7.64%) Banking
7 57 (6.04%) Manufacturing
8 56 (5.94%) Legal
9 53 (5.62%) Marketing
10 52 (5.51%) Telecoms
11 40 (4.24%) Military
12 39 (4.14%) Presentation Skills
13 36 (3.82%) Electronics
14 29 (3.08%) Influencing Skills
15 26 (2.76%) Documentation Skills
15 26 (2.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 25 (2.65%) Pharmaceutical
17 14 (1.48%) Investment Banking
18 13 (1.38%) Retail
19 10 (1.06%) Law
Job Titles
1 173 (18.35%) Analyst
2 93 (9.86%) IT Support
3 57 (6.04%) Business Analyst
4 55 (5.83%) 2nd Line Support
5 50 (5.30%) Architect
5 50 (5.30%) Desktop Support
5 50 (5.30%) Support Engineer
6 46 (4.88%) Administrator
7 42 (4.45%) Support Officer
8 36 (3.82%) Senior
9 34 (3.61%) Lead
10 33 (3.50%) Support Analyst
11 30 (3.18%) Service Architect
12 29 (3.08%) Project Manager
13 27 (2.86%) IT Engineer
14 26 (2.76%) Project Officer
15 25 (2.65%) Coordinator
15 25 (2.65%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
16 24 (2.55%) Project Support Officer
17 23 (2.44%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.85%) Web Services
2 7 (0.74%) REST
2 7 (0.74%) SOAP
3 5 (0.53%) XML
4 4 (0.42%) .NET
4 4 (0.42%) NETCONF
4 4 (0.42%) NumPy
4 4 (0.42%) OpenConfig
4 4 (0.42%) Oracle Fusion
4 4 (0.42%) Pandas
4 4 (0.42%) RESTCONF
4 4 (0.42%) scikit-learn
4 4 (0.42%) Seaborn
4 4 (0.42%) YANG
5 2 (0.21%) ADO
5 2 (0.21%) FHIR
5 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.11%) CSS
6 1 (0.11%) Swagger
6 1 (0.11%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 52 (5.51%) Management Information System
2 49 (5.20%) Data Centre
2 49 (5.20%) Onboarding
3 48 (5.09%) Self-Motivation
4 40 (4.24%) Product Ownership
5 30 (3.18%) Driving Licence
6 18 (1.91%) NHS
7 17 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
7 17 (1.80%) Enterprise Software
8 16 (1.70%) Industry 4.0
8 16 (1.70%) Robotics
9 15 (1.59%) Mobile App
10 14 (1.48%) Security Posture
11 13 (1.38%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.38%) Insider Threat
11 13 (1.38%) PMI
12 11 (1.17%) Virtual Team
13 9 (0.95%) Social Media
13 9 (0.95%) Video Conferencing
14 8 (0.85%) Client/Server
Operating Systems
1 249 (26.41%) Windows
2 105 (11.13%) Windows 10
3 79 (8.38%) Android
4 52 (5.51%) Mac OS
5 49 (5.20%) Linux
6 30 (3.18%) Apple iOS
7 26 (2.76%) Windows Server
8 14 (1.48%) Windows 7
9 12 (1.27%) Unix
10 10 (1.06%) Windows Server 2016
11 8 (0.85%) Ubuntu
12 6 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
13 4 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 4 (0.42%) Windows Server 2012
14 3 (0.32%) AIX
14 3 (0.32%) CentOS
15 2 (0.21%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 225 (23.86%) Problem-Solving
2 157 (16.65%) Agile
3 156 (16.54%) Customer Service
4 144 (15.27%) Project Management
5 114 (12.09%) Stakeholder Management
6 111 (11.77%) ITIL
7 108 (11.45%) Continuous Improvement
8 101 (10.71%) Project Delivery
9 85 (9.01%) Service Management
10 80 (8.48%) PRINCE2
11 79 (8.38%) Change Management
12 76 (8.06%) Business Intelligence
13 71 (7.53%) Decision-Making
14 66 (7.00%) Time Management
15 65 (6.89%) Analytical Thinking
16 59 (6.26%) Service Delivery
16 59 (6.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 58 (6.15%) Critical Thinking
18 55 (5.83%) Acceptance Criteria
19 53 (5.62%) Waterfall
Programming Languages
1 67 (7.10%) SQL
2 37 (3.92%) PowerShell
3 27 (2.86%) Python
4 18 (1.91%) VB
5 10 (1.06%) PHP
5 10 (1.06%) PL/SQL
6 9 (0.95%) VBScript
7 7 (0.74%) JavaScript
8 6 (0.64%) Java
9 5 (0.53%) Perl
9 5 (0.53%) VBA
10 4 (0.42%) R
11 3 (0.32%) C
11 3 (0.32%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.32%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.32%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.32%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.21%) C#
12 2 (0.21%) C++
12 2 (0.21%) Korn
Qualifications
1 309 (32.77%) Degree
2 254 (26.94%) Security Cleared
3 204 (21.63%) SC Cleared
4 58 (6.15%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.18%) TOGAF Certification
6 26 (2.76%) PMI Certification
7 24 (2.55%) PMP
8 20 (2.12%) Microsoft Certification
9 17 (1.80%) APMP
9 17 (1.80%) BPSS Clearance
10 16 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
10 16 (1.70%) CTC Cleared
10 16 (1.70%) ITIL Certification
11 14 (1.48%) MCSE
12 13 (1.38%) CHECK Team Member
13 12 (1.27%) Master's Degree
13 12 (1.27%) Postgraduate
14 11 (1.17%) Cisco Certification
14 11 (1.17%) CREST Certified
14 11 (1.17%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (10.07%) PMO
2 40 (4.24%) QA
3 32 (3.39%) SLA
4 26 (2.76%) Data Quality
5 25 (2.65%) GDPR
6 19 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 15 (1.59%) PCI DSS
8 14 (1.48%) Accessibility
9 7 (0.74%) P3O
10 6 (0.64%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (0.53%) MiFID
11 5 (0.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.42%) NIST
13 3 (0.32%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.32%) ECSS
13 3 (0.32%) ISO 20022
14 2 (0.21%) COBIT
14 2 (0.21%) SOC 2
15 1 (0.11%) WCAG
System Software
1 114 (12.09%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.27%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.06%) BitLocker
4 8 (0.85%) Docker
5 7 (0.74%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (0.53%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.53%) XenApp
6 5 (0.53%) XenDesktop
7 3 (0.32%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 3 (0.32%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.11%) Citrix Presentation Server
8 1 (0.11%) Firmware
8 1 (0.11%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.11%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 47 (4.98%) SCCM
2 30 (3.18%) OPNET
3 26 (2.76%) Microsoft Intune
4 13 (1.38%) Nmap
5 9 (0.95%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (0.85%) Ansible
6 8 (0.85%) HP Quality Center
7 6 (0.64%) WSUS
8 5 (0.53%) HP ALM
8 5 (0.53%) Kubernetes
8 5 (0.53%) SCOM
8 5 (0.53%) SCVMM
8 5 (0.53%) TeamSite
9 4 (0.42%) vCenter Server
10 3 (0.32%) PaperCut
10 3 (0.32%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.32%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 3 (0.32%) Terraform
11 1 (0.11%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.11%) Puppet
Vendors
1 611 (64.79%) Microsoft
2 82 (8.70%) SAP
3 76 (8.06%) ServiceNow
4 69 (7.32%) Cisco
5 61 (6.47%) Remedy
6 58 (6.15%) HP
7 57 (6.04%) Apple
8 45 (4.77%) Atlassian
9 39 (4.14%) Google
10 37 (3.92%) Dell
11 28 (2.97%) Oracle
12 24 (2.55%) Citrix
13 16 (1.70%) Siemens
13 16 (1.70%) VMware
14 15 (1.59%) MobileIron
15 12 (1.27%) Adobe
16 9 (0.95%) Salesforce
17 7 (0.74%) Planview
17 7 (0.74%) Veeam
18 6 (0.64%) Thales