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 23 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 112 80 59
Rank change year-on-year -32 -21 +22
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 977 899 1,532
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.40% 2.95% 3.44%
As % of the Applications category 33.98% 37.95% 41.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 529 554 900
10th Percentile £163 £150 £148
25th Percentile £205 £200 £188
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £350 £300 £268
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +12.15% -28.67%
75th Percentile £538 £503 £500
90th Percentile £691 £600 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £325 £250 £227
% change year-on-year +30.00% +9.93% -35.02%
Number of hourly rates quoted 149 61 274
10th Percentile £12.50 £15.22 £11.77
25th Percentile £13.63 £18.00 £13.29
Median hourly rate £17.60 £24.00 £17.04
Median % change year-on-year -26.67% +40.87% -23.12%
75th Percentile £25.15 £30.78 £28.51
90th Percentile £48.91 £42.50 £48.72
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.36 £24.18 £16.06
% change year-on-year -32.36% +50.56% -23.27%

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 2,875 2,369 3,684
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 7.07% 7.76% 8.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,678 1,416 2,021
10th Percentile £203 £175 £161
25th Percentile £315 £250 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £400 £400
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% - -8.57%
75th Percentile £550 £538 £550
90th Percentile £650 £638 £673
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £356 £356
% change year-on-year +19.38% +0.14% -11.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 337 198 550
10th Percentile £12.94 £15.39 £12.11
25th Percentile £15.50 £17.13 £14.25
Median hourly rate £19.91 £27.35 £20.77
Median % change year-on-year -27.20% +31.68% -36.09%
75th Percentile £29.50 £44.31 £43.75
90th Percentile £62.44 £77.18 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.00 £27.35 £20.71
% change year-on-year -30.53% +32.09% -36.29%

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 23 February 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 23 February 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 23 February 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 -20 889 £367 +21.96% 522
UK excluding London -19 699 £325 +30.00% 477
London -50 243 £413 +10.00% 119
Work from Home -32 201 £411 +6.13% 219
South East +2 180 £425 +30.77% 155
North of England -34 167 £247 +6.36% 111
South West -7 120 £700 +211.11% 59
North West -17 103 £250 - 61
Midlands -31 94 £275 -20.69% 78
East of England +5 79 £200 -27.27% 55
West Midlands -48 62 £308 -27.65% 55
Yorkshire -53 54 £290 +27.47% 35
East Midlands -8 32 £185 -7.50% 22
Wales +10 28 £246 -52.76% 10
Scotland -34 20 £284 +43.07% 18
Northern Ireland +3 14 £245 +55.56% 5
North East -17 10 £175 -5.41% 17

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
1 144 (14.74%) SharePoint
2 97 (9.93%) Confluence
3 85 (8.70%) Microsoft Exchange
4 24 (2.46%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.51%) Exchange Server 2013
6 4 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.41%) CMS
6 4 (0.41%) Mattermost
7 3 (0.31%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.10%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.10%) SAS
Applications
1 316 (32.34%) Microsoft Excel
2 186 (19.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 91 (9.31%) Microsoft Project
4 81 (8.29%) MS Visio
5 12 (1.23%) Spreadsheet
6 8 (0.82%) Trello
7 5 (0.51%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 4 (0.41%) Adobe Captivate
8 4 (0.41%) Adobe Illustrator
9 2 (0.20%) Oracle Smart View
9 2 (0.20%) Photoshop
10 1 (0.10%) Adobe After Effects
10 1 (0.10%) Adobe Premiere
10 1 (0.10%) AutoCAD
10 1 (0.10%) InDesign
10 1 (0.10%) ProjectWise
10 1 (0.10%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 26 (2.66%) Remedy ITSM
2 16 (1.64%) SAP S/4HANA
3 10 (1.02%) Primavera
4 6 (0.61%) Oracle Financials
5 5 (0.51%) Veritas eDiscovery
6 4 (0.41%) Oracle Payables
6 4 (0.41%) Shopify
7 3 (0.31%) Aladdin
7 3 (0.31%) Fidessa
7 3 (0.31%) Maximo
7 3 (0.31%) Oracle EBS R12
7 3 (0.31%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.31%) SimCorp Dimension
8 2 (0.20%) Dynamics GP
8 2 (0.20%) IntelliMatch
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.20%) SAP MM
8 2 (0.20%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 217 (22.21%) Microsoft 365
2 99 (10.13%) Azure
3 49 (5.02%) Power Platform
4 36 (3.68%) Google Workspace
5 28 (2.87%) AWS
6 19 (1.94%) OneDrive
7 15 (1.54%) Lucidchart
8 14 (1.43%) Entra ID
9 13 (1.33%) OCI
10 12 (1.23%) Azure DevOps
10 12 (1.23%) GCP
11 10 (1.02%) Google Tag Manager
12 9 (0.92%) Google Analytics
13 8 (0.82%) SaaS
14 5 (0.51%) Dynamics 365
14 5 (0.51%) Figma
14 5 (0.51%) GitHub
14 5 (0.51%) OpenShift
15 4 (0.41%) Amazon SageMaker
15 4 (0.41%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 54 (5.53%) Wireless
2 46 (4.71%) Skype
2 46 (4.71%) TCP/IP
2 46 (4.71%) VPN
3 41 (4.20%) LAN
4 40 (4.09%) Wi-Fi
5 39 (3.99%) DNS
6 36 (3.68%) Firewall
7 34 (3.48%) DHCP
7 34 (3.48%) WAN
8 18 (1.84%) Network Security
9 15 (1.54%) Ethernet
10 11 (1.13%) Structured Cabling
11 10 (1.02%) Cisco IOS
11 10 (1.02%) VLAN
12 9 (0.92%) Internet
12 9 (0.92%) MPLS
13 5 (0.51%) NetScaler
13 5 (0.51%) SSH
13 5 (0.51%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (4.81%) Power BI
2 15 (1.54%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.82%) BigQuery
3 8 (0.82%) Looker
3 8 (0.82%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.72%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (0.61%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.51%) Power Query
6 5 (0.51%) Tableau
7 4 (0.41%) Azure SQL Database
7 4 (0.41%) EDMS
7 4 (0.41%) RDBMS
7 4 (0.41%) SQLPlus
8 3 (0.31%) Electronic Patient Records
8 3 (0.31%) Metadata
8 3 (0.31%) MySQL
9 2 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.20%) DB2
9 2 (0.20%) GIS
9 2 (0.20%) Spotfire
Development Applications
1 106 (10.85%) JIRA
2 13 (1.33%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.33%) Metasploit
3 8 (0.82%) Toad
4 5 (0.51%) MLflow
5 4 (0.41%) Git
5 4 (0.41%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.31%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.31%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.31%) Subversion
7 2 (0.20%) Hudson
7 2 (0.20%) JMeter
7 2 (0.20%) PVCS
7 2 (0.20%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.20%) Tricentis qTest
8 1 (0.10%) Ant
8 1 (0.10%) ClearCase
8 1 (0.10%) JUnit
8 1 (0.10%) TestDirector
General
1 594 (60.80%) Social Skills
2 284 (29.07%) Finance
3 211 (21.60%) Analytical Skills
4 135 (13.82%) Organisational Skills
5 116 (11.87%) Public Sector
6 68 (6.96%) Banking
7 66 (6.76%) Manufacturing
8 54 (5.53%) Marketing
8 54 (5.53%) Telecoms
9 49 (5.02%) Legal
10 40 (4.09%) Military
11 38 (3.89%) Presentation Skills
12 37 (3.79%) Electronics
13 29 (2.97%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 27 (2.76%) Documentation Skills
15 25 (2.56%) Influencing Skills
16 21 (2.15%) Pharmaceutical
17 14 (1.43%) Investment Banking
18 11 (1.13%) Retail
19 10 (1.02%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 194 (19.86%) Analyst
2 98 (10.03%) IT Support
3 61 (6.24%) 2nd Line Support
3 61 (6.24%) Business Analyst
4 60 (6.14%) Support Engineer
5 56 (5.73%) Desktop Support
6 51 (5.22%) Architect
7 49 (5.02%) Support Analyst
8 46 (4.71%) Administrator
9 41 (4.20%) Support Officer
10 38 (3.89%) Senior
11 31 (3.17%) Lead
11 31 (3.17%) Project Manager
12 30 (3.07%) Service Architect
13 28 (2.87%) IT Engineer
14 27 (2.76%) Coordinator
15 25 (2.56%) Project Officer
15 25 (2.56%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
16 24 (2.46%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
17 23 (2.35%) Project Support Officer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (0.72%) Web Services
2 6 (0.61%) REST
2 6 (0.61%) SOAP
2 6 (0.61%) XML
3 5 (0.51%) .NET
4 4 (0.41%) NumPy
4 4 (0.41%) Oracle Fusion
4 4 (0.41%) Pandas
4 4 (0.41%) scikit-learn
4 4 (0.41%) Seaborn
5 2 (0.20%) ADO
5 2 (0.20%) FHIR
5 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Graph
5 2 (0.20%) NETCONF
5 2 (0.20%) OpenConfig
5 2 (0.20%) RESTCONF
5 2 (0.20%) YANG
6 1 (0.10%) CSS
6 1 (0.10%) HTML
6 1 (0.10%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 49 (5.02%) Data Centre
1 49 (5.02%) Management Information System
2 46 (4.71%) Onboarding
3 40 (4.09%) Product Ownership
4 39 (3.99%) Self-Motivation
5 30 (3.07%) Driving Licence
6 18 (1.84%) Data Protection Act
6 18 (1.84%) Enterprise Software
6 18 (1.84%) NHS
7 17 (1.74%) Mobile App
8 16 (1.64%) Industry 4.0
8 16 (1.64%) Robotics
9 14 (1.43%) Security Posture
10 12 (1.23%) Insider Threat
10 12 (1.23%) PMI
11 11 (1.13%) PKI
11 11 (1.13%) Virtual Team
12 9 (0.92%) Analytical Mindset
12 9 (0.92%) Video Conferencing
13 8 (0.82%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 260 (26.61%) Windows
2 111 (11.36%) Windows 10
3 81 (8.29%) Android
4 55 (5.63%) Mac OS
5 52 (5.32%) Linux
6 34 (3.48%) Apple iOS
7 27 (2.76%) Windows Server
8 15 (1.54%) Unix
8 15 (1.54%) Windows 7
9 14 (1.43%) Windows Server 2016
10 11 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
11 8 (0.82%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.41%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.31%) AIX
13 3 (0.31%) CentOS
14 2 (0.20%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 229 (23.44%) Problem-Solving
2 166 (16.99%) Agile
3 159 (16.27%) Customer Service
4 153 (15.66%) Project Management
5 134 (13.72%) ITIL
6 122 (12.49%) Stakeholder Management
7 110 (11.26%) Continuous Improvement
8 100 (10.24%) Project Delivery
9 97 (9.93%) Service Management
10 83 (8.50%) PRINCE2
11 81 (8.29%) Business Intelligence
12 78 (7.98%) Change Management
13 68 (6.96%) Decision-Making
14 63 (6.45%) ITSM
15 62 (6.35%) Analytical Thinking
15 62 (6.35%) Service Delivery
15 62 (6.35%) Time Management
16 60 (6.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 59 (6.04%) Critical Thinking
18 57 (5.83%) Acceptance Criteria
Programming Languages
1 77 (7.88%) SQL
2 46 (4.71%) PowerShell
3 27 (2.76%) Python
4 18 (1.84%) VB
5 10 (1.02%) PL/SQL
6 9 (0.92%) PHP
6 9 (0.92%) VBScript
7 8 (0.82%) JavaScript
8 7 (0.72%) Java
9 5 (0.51%) Perl
9 5 (0.51%) R
10 4 (0.41%) VBA
11 3 (0.31%) C
11 3 (0.31%) C#
11 3 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.31%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.20%) C++
12 2 (0.20%) Korn
12 2 (0.20%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 316 (32.34%) Degree
2 253 (25.90%) Security Cleared
3 204 (20.88%) SC Cleared
4 57 (5.83%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.07%) TOGAF Certification
6 27 (2.76%) ITIL Certification
6 27 (2.76%) PMI Certification
7 26 (2.66%) PMP
8 22 (2.25%) Microsoft Certification
9 17 (1.74%) APMP
9 17 (1.74%) Computer Science Degree
10 15 (1.54%) BPSS Clearance
10 15 (1.54%) CTC Cleared
10 15 (1.54%) MCSE
11 14 (1.43%) Master's Degree
12 13 (1.33%) CHECK Team Member
13 12 (1.23%) CBAP
13 12 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
13 12 (1.23%) IIBA
13 12 (1.23%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 96 (9.83%) PMO
2 44 (4.50%) QA
3 31 (3.17%) SLA
4 26 (2.66%) GDPR
5 24 (2.46%) Data Quality
6 20 (2.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 16 (1.64%) Accessibility
8 15 (1.54%) PCI DSS
9 12 (1.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 7 (0.72%) P3O
11 6 (0.61%) ISO 9001
12 5 (0.51%) Cyber Essentials
13 4 (0.41%) MiFID
13 4 (0.41%) NIST
14 3 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
14 3 (0.31%) ECSS
14 3 (0.31%) ISO 20022
15 2 (0.20%) COBIT
15 2 (0.20%) SOC 2
16 1 (0.10%) GRC
System Software
1 135 (13.82%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.02%) BitLocker
4 8 (0.82%) Docker
5 7 (0.72%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.61%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 6 (0.61%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.51%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.51%) XenApp
7 5 (0.51%) XenDesktop
8 4 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.10%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.10%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 52 (5.32%) SCCM
2 31 (3.17%) Microsoft Intune
3 30 (3.07%) OPNET
4 13 (1.33%) Nmap
4 13 (1.33%) SCOM
5 9 (0.92%) HP SiteScope
5 9 (0.92%) WSUS
6 8 (0.82%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (0.72%) HP Quality Center
8 5 (0.51%) Ansible
8 5 (0.51%) HP ALM
8 5 (0.51%) Kubernetes
8 5 (0.51%) SCVMM
8 5 (0.51%) TeamSite
9 4 (0.41%) Terraform
10 3 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.31%) PaperCut
10 3 (0.31%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.31%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 3 (0.31%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 626 (64.07%) Microsoft
2 83 (8.50%) SAP
3 78 (7.98%) ServiceNow
4 72 (7.37%) Cisco
5 70 (7.16%) Remedy
6 57 (5.83%) Apple
7 56 (5.73%) HP
8 42 (4.30%) Atlassian
9 39 (3.99%) Google
9 39 (3.99%) Oracle
10 38 (3.89%) Dell
11 23 (2.35%) Citrix
12 16 (1.64%) Siemens
12 16 (1.64%) Splunk
12 16 (1.64%) VMware
13 15 (1.54%) MobileIron
14 11 (1.13%) Adobe
15 10 (1.02%) Planview
16 9 (0.92%) Veeam
17 8 (0.82%) Salesforce