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 1 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 145 93 60
Rank change year-on-year -52 -33 +20
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 853 810 1,408
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.81% 2.77% 3.23%
As % of the Applications category 29.70% 33.47% 40.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 461 478 772
10th Percentile £163 £156 £136
25th Percentile £250 £213 £188
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £375 £325 £255
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +27.29% -31.91%
75th Percentile £535 £518 £489
90th Percentile £690 £608 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate £375 £250 £220
% change year-on-year +50.00% +13.64% -32.31%
Number of hourly rates quoted 129 89 310
10th Percentile £12.29 £13.78 £11.00
25th Percentile £13.72 £14.66 £12.55
Median hourly rate £18.50 £17.00 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +8.82% +6.25% -29.72%
75th Percentile £28.75 £23.59 £22.56
90th Percentile £71.45 £26.74 £43.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.44 £16.51 £15.00
% change year-on-year +5.63% +10.08% -27.94%

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 2,872 2,420 3,450
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 6.08% 8.27% 7.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,686 1,436 1,743
10th Percentile £240 £188 £163
25th Percentile £350 £263 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £413 £400
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% +3.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £565 £545 £538
90th Percentile £650 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £434 £375 £350
% change year-on-year +15.60% +7.14% -10.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 318 257 633
10th Percentile £13.34 £14.20 £11.54
25th Percentile £16.35 £15.62 £14.00
Median hourly rate £20.35 £23.59 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -13.73% +33.13% -52.43%
75th Percentile £33.03 £43.75 £39.92
90th Percentile £68.23 £71.50 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.91 £22.50 £16.06
% change year-on-year -11.51% +40.10% -50.43%

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 1 May 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 1 May 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 1 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 -51 765 £408 +25.43% 594
UK excluding London -29 591 £375 +50.00% 517
London -69 220 £415 +3.75% 153
Work from Home -53 189 £375 -6.25% 213
South East -12 154 £438 +16.67% 144
North of England -63 133 £333 +41.49% 139
South West -15 100 £688 +192.55% 50
North West -22 84 £350 +40.00% 73
Midlands -52 76 £325 +3.83% 107
East of England -4 73 £273 +11.22% 46
West Midlands -49 48 £324 -23.88% 62
Yorkshire -72 43 £325 +38.30% 42
East Midlands -20 28 £375 +87.50% 45
Wales +5 22 £191 -44.36% 12
Scotland -36 22 £290 +5.45% 33
Northern Ireland +7 14 £350 +118.75% 5
North East -23 6 £200 +2.56% 27

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
1 122 (14.30%) SharePoint
2 78 (9.14%) Confluence
3 57 (6.68%) Microsoft Exchange
4 9 (1.06%) Skype for Business
5 7 (0.82%) Apache Airflow
5 7 (0.82%) CMS
6 1 (0.12%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.12%) Drupal
6 1 (0.12%) HCL Notes
6 1 (0.12%) SAS
6 1 (0.12%) WordPress
Applications
1 329 (38.57%) Microsoft Excel
2 208 (24.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 82 (9.61%) Microsoft Project
4 66 (7.74%) MS Visio
5 13 (1.52%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.59%) Trello
7 3 (0.35%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 3 (0.35%) Adobe Illustrator
8 2 (0.23%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.12%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 22 (2.58%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.29%) Remedy ITSM
3 9 (1.06%) Primavera
4 6 (0.70%) Veritas eDiscovery
5 4 (0.47%) Finacle
5 4 (0.47%) Oracle Financials
5 4 (0.47%) Salesforce CRM
5 4 (0.47%) SAP Business One
5 4 (0.47%) Shopify
6 3 (0.35%) Aladdin
6 3 (0.35%) Fidessa
6 3 (0.35%) Maximo
6 3 (0.35%) SAP MM
6 3 (0.35%) SimCorp Dimension
6 3 (0.35%) Teamcenter
7 2 (0.23%) assyst
7 2 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 1 (0.12%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 169 (19.81%) Microsoft 365
2 89 (10.43%) Azure
3 57 (6.68%) Power Platform
4 33 (3.87%) AWS
5 26 (3.05%) Google Workspace
6 19 (2.23%) Entra ID
7 16 (1.88%) SaaS
8 11 (1.29%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.17%) GCP
10 7 (0.82%) Amazon SageMaker
10 7 (0.82%) Dagster
10 7 (0.82%) GitHub
10 7 (0.82%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.82%) Google Analytics
10 7 (0.82%) OneDrive
11 6 (0.70%) Dynamics 365
11 6 (0.70%) Google Docs
11 6 (0.70%) Google Tag Manager
12 5 (0.59%) Google Sheets
12 5 (0.59%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 41 (4.81%) VPN
2 35 (4.10%) Firewall
3 32 (3.75%) TCP/IP
4 28 (3.28%) Skype
5 26 (3.05%) DNS
6 25 (2.93%) Wi-Fi
6 25 (2.93%) Wireless
7 24 (2.81%) LAN
8 21 (2.46%) Network Security
9 20 (2.34%) WAN
10 18 (2.11%) DHCP
11 16 (1.88%) Ethernet
12 10 (1.17%) VLAN
13 9 (1.06%) Cisco IOS
14 8 (0.94%) Internet
15 7 (0.82%) MPLS
16 6 (0.70%) BGP
17 5 (0.59%) NetScaler
17 5 (0.59%) TACACS
17 5 (0.59%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 55 (6.45%) Power BI
2 15 (1.76%) SQL Server
3 10 (1.17%) Relational Database
4 9 (1.06%) Oracle Database
5 8 (0.94%) RDBMS
6 6 (0.70%) Tableau
7 5 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
8 4 (0.47%) Azure SQL Database
8 4 (0.47%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.47%) Looker
8 4 (0.47%) Power Query
8 4 (0.47%) SQLPlus
9 3 (0.35%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.35%) Metadata
9 3 (0.35%) MySQL
10 2 (0.23%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.23%) Electronic Patient Records
10 2 (0.23%) PowerPivot
11 1 (0.12%) EDRMS
11 1 (0.12%) Oracle Database 10g
Development Applications
1 102 (11.96%) JIRA
2 13 (1.52%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.52%) Metasploit
3 9 (1.06%) Git
4 8 (0.94%) Toad
5 7 (0.82%) MLflow
6 5 (0.59%) Jenkins
6 5 (0.59%) Subversion
7 3 (0.35%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.35%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.35%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.23%) JMeter
8 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.23%) Tricentis qTest
9 1 (0.12%) Ant
9 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.12%) JUnit
9 1 (0.12%) LabVIEW
9 1 (0.12%) PVCS
9 1 (0.12%) TestDirector
General
1 513 (60.14%) Social Skills
2 229 (26.85%) Finance
3 198 (23.21%) Analytical Skills
4 122 (14.30%) Organisational Skills
5 84 (9.85%) Public Sector
6 71 (8.32%) Banking
7 47 (5.51%) Legal
8 46 (5.39%) Military
9 41 (4.81%) Presentation Skills
10 32 (3.75%) Marketing
11 29 (3.40%) Pharmaceutical
11 29 (3.40%) Telecoms
12 27 (3.17%) Manufacturing
13 25 (2.93%) Documentation Skills
14 22 (2.58%) Influencing Skills
15 20 (2.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 17 (1.99%) Investment Banking
17 15 (1.76%) Law
18 13 (1.52%) Electronics
18 13 (1.52%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 156 (18.29%) Analyst
2 55 (6.45%) Business Analyst
3 50 (5.86%) IT Support
4 48 (5.63%) Architect
5 47 (5.51%) Administrator
6 42 (4.92%) Support Officer
7 40 (4.69%) Support Engineer
8 39 (4.57%) Senior
9 35 (4.10%) Project Officer
10 33 (3.87%) Project Support Officer
11 30 (3.52%) Project Manager
11 30 (3.52%) Service Architect
12 28 (3.28%) Support Analyst
13 27 (3.17%) Coordinator
14 26 (3.05%) Technical Engineer
15 24 (2.81%) Lead
16 23 (2.70%) IT Analyst
16 23 (2.70%) Service Analyst
17 20 (2.34%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
18 19 (2.23%) PMO Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.94%) Web Services
2 7 (0.82%) NumPy
2 7 (0.82%) Pandas
2 7 (0.82%) REST
2 7 (0.82%) scikit-learn
2 7 (0.82%) Seaborn
2 7 (0.82%) SOAP
3 5 (0.59%) JDO
4 4 (0.47%) .NET
4 4 (0.47%) HTML
4 4 (0.47%) NETCONF
4 4 (0.47%) OpenConfig
4 4 (0.47%) RESTCONF
4 4 (0.47%) YANG
5 3 (0.35%) Microsoft Graph
5 3 (0.35%) XML
6 2 (0.23%) FHIR
6 2 (0.23%) Middleware
6 2 (0.23%) Oracle Fusion
6 2 (0.23%) VML
Miscellaneous
1 55 (6.45%) Onboarding
2 50 (5.86%) Self-Motivation
3 41 (4.81%) Product Ownership
4 38 (4.45%) Management Information System
5 19 (2.23%) Data Centre
6 18 (2.11%) Data Protection Act
7 17 (1.99%) Robotics
8 16 (1.88%) Industry 4.0
9 15 (1.76%) Driving Licence
9 15 (1.76%) Social Media
10 14 (1.64%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.52%) Security Posture
12 12 (1.41%) Enterprise Software
13 11 (1.29%) Life Science
13 11 (1.29%) PMI
14 10 (1.17%) Mobile App
14 10 (1.17%) NHS
14 10 (1.17%) Virtual Team
15 9 (1.06%) Insider Threat
16 8 (0.94%) e-Learning
Operating Systems
1 197 (23.09%) Windows
2 86 (10.08%) Windows 10
3 39 (4.57%) Android
4 29 (3.40%) Linux
5 19 (2.23%) Mac OS
6 18 (2.11%) Windows 7
6 18 (2.11%) Windows Server
7 14 (1.64%) Apple iOS
8 11 (1.29%) Windows Server 2016
9 8 (0.94%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.82%) Unix
11 4 (0.47%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.35%) AIX
13 2 (0.23%) Solaris
13 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
14 1 (0.12%) CentOS
14 1 (0.12%) FreeRTOS
14 1 (0.12%) MVS
14 1 (0.12%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 227 (26.61%) Problem-Solving
2 152 (17.82%) Agile
3 144 (16.88%) Project Management
4 125 (14.65%) Customer Service
5 119 (13.95%) Stakeholder Management
6 108 (12.66%) Continuous Improvement
7 104 (12.19%) ITIL
8 101 (11.84%) Project Delivery
9 86 (10.08%) Service Management
10 77 (9.03%) Decision-Making
11 72 (8.44%) PRINCE2
12 68 (7.97%) Change Management
13 66 (7.74%) Analytical Thinking
14 64 (7.50%) Time Management
15 63 (7.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 62 (7.27%) AI
17 57 (6.68%) Waterfall
18 53 (6.21%) Acceptance Criteria
19 52 (6.10%) Business Intelligence
20 50 (5.86%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 59 (6.92%) SQL
2 38 (4.45%) PowerShell
3 23 (2.70%) Python
4 17 (1.99%) VB
5 10 (1.17%) PHP
6 9 (1.06%) VBScript
7 8 (0.94%) PL/SQL
8 7 (0.82%) JavaScript
9 5 (0.59%) Java
9 5 (0.59%) Perl
9 5 (0.59%) VBA
10 4 (0.47%) C
11 3 (0.35%) C++
11 3 (0.35%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.35%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.23%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.23%) R
12 2 (0.23%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.12%) Bash
13 1 (0.12%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 313 (36.69%) Degree
2 220 (25.79%) Security Cleared
3 172 (20.16%) SC Cleared
4 50 (5.86%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.52%) TOGAF Certification
6 27 (3.17%) PMI Certification
6 27 (3.17%) PMP
7 22 (2.58%) Microsoft Certification
8 18 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.76%) APMP
9 15 (1.76%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.64%) DBS Check
11 13 (1.52%) CHECK Team Member
11 13 (1.52%) Cisco Certification
11 13 (1.52%) ITIL Certification
11 13 (1.52%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 12 (1.41%) A+ Certification
12 12 (1.41%) CBAP
13 11 (1.29%) CREST Certified
13 11 (1.29%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 90 (10.55%) PMO
2 44 (5.16%) QA
3 35 (4.10%) SLA
4 25 (2.93%) Data Quality
4 25 (2.93%) GDPR
5 23 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 16 (1.88%) PCI DSS
7 11 (1.29%) Accessibility
8 7 (0.82%) ISO 9001
8 7 (0.82%) P3O
9 6 (0.70%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (0.59%) MiFID
10 5 (0.59%) NIST
11 3 (0.35%) ECSS
11 3 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 3 (0.35%) WCAG
12 2 (0.23%) EMIR
12 2 (0.23%) HL7
12 2 (0.23%) ISO 20022
12 2 (0.23%) SOC 2
System Software
1 96 (11.25%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.41%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.17%) BitLocker
3 10 (1.17%) Docker
4 7 (0.82%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.59%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.59%) XenApp
5 5 (0.59%) XenDesktop
6 3 (0.35%) vSphere
7 1 (0.12%) Citrix Presentation Server
7 1 (0.12%) Firmware
7 1 (0.12%) Job Entry Subsystem
7 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 39 (4.57%) SCCM
2 30 (3.52%) OPNET
3 29 (3.40%) Microsoft Intune
4 13 (1.52%) Nmap
5 10 (1.17%) Ansible
6 8 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (0.82%) HP Quality Center
8 5 (0.59%) SCVMM
8 5 (0.59%) TeamSite
8 5 (0.59%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.47%) HP ALM
9 4 (0.47%) Terraform
10 3 (0.35%) Cisco Prime
10 3 (0.35%) PaperCut
10 3 (0.35%) SCOM
10 3 (0.35%) SCSM
10 3 (0.35%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.35%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 2 (0.23%) WSUS
12 1 (0.12%) Control-M
Vendors
1 582 (68.23%) Microsoft
2 85 (9.96%) ServiceNow
3 59 (6.92%) SAP
4 52 (6.10%) Remedy
5 43 (5.04%) Atlassian
6 41 (4.81%) Cisco
7 37 (4.34%) Google
8 28 (3.28%) Oracle
9 23 (2.70%) Citrix
10 22 (2.58%) Apple
11 20 (2.34%) HP
12 15 (1.76%) Siemens
13 14 (1.64%) VMware
14 13 (1.52%) Adobe
15 10 (1.17%) Salesforce
16 9 (1.06%) Planview
17 8 (0.94%) Dell
18 6 (0.70%) Veeam
19 5 (0.59%) NEC
19 5 (0.59%) Splunk