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

6 months to
16 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 147 90 64
Rank change year-on-year -57 -26 +16
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 821 816 1,319
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.71% 2.80% 3.10%
As % of the Applications category 29.26% 33.33% 39.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 440 472 711
10th Percentile £163 £156 £143
25th Percentile £256 £213 £190
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £350 £320 £263
Median % change year-on-year +9.55% +21.71% -30.00%
75th Percentile £523 £500 £497
90th Percentile £650 £600 £606
UK excluding London median daily rate £350 £250 £223
% change year-on-year +40.00% +12.36% -31.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 128 90 304
10th Percentile £12.29 £13.82 £11.00
25th Percentile £13.93 £14.71 £12.52
Median hourly rate £18.50 £17.00 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +8.82% +6.25% -30.13%
75th Percentile £28.78 £23.01 £24.11
90th Percentile £73.18 £26.53 £39.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.39 £16.67 £15.00
% change year-on-year +4.32% +11.10% -25.47%

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 2,806 2,448 3,333
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 5.84% 8.40% 7.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,636 1,431 1,683
10th Percentile £250 £188 £163
25th Percentile £340 £263 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £413 £400
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% +3.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £568 £538 £538
90th Percentile £650 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £430 £375 £350
% change year-on-year +14.67% +7.14% -12.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 309 255 626
10th Percentile £13.38 £14.20 £11.50
25th Percentile £16.35 £15.62 £14.00
Median hourly rate £20.35 £22.50 £17.11
Median % change year-on-year -9.56% +31.50% -47.35%
75th Percentile £34.56 £43.75 £38.43
90th Percentile £69.85 £67.50 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.33 £21.73 £16.06
% change year-on-year -6.47% +35.31% -41.60%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 -55 735 £400 +25.39% 576
UK excluding London -42 565 £350 +40.00% 524
London -84 216 £413 +10.00% 122
Work from Home -50 177 £363 -9.38% 214
South East -31 143 £438 +25.00% 146
North of England -69 125 £340 +44.68% 146
South West -25 92 £558 +112.38% 54
North West -16 79 £344 +20.70% 77
Midlands -43 77 £325 +3.83% 98
East of England -7 72 £325 +32.65% 52
West Midlands -53 46 £324 +2.70% 58
Yorkshire -77 40 £340 +44.68% 47
East Midlands -12 31 £375 +87.50% 40
Scotland -34 26 £275 +10.00% 20
Wales -3 17 £213 -47.69% 19
Northern Ireland +3 15 £350 +70.73% 9
North East -24 6 £263 +34.62% 24

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
1 125 (15.23%) SharePoint
2 72 (8.77%) Confluence
3 53 (6.46%) Microsoft Exchange
4 9 (1.10%) Skype for Business
5 7 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
5 7 (0.85%) CMS
6 4 (0.49%) HCL Notes
7 1 (0.12%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.12%) Drupal
7 1 (0.12%) SAS
7 1 (0.12%) WordPress
Applications
1 317 (38.61%) Microsoft Excel
2 207 (25.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 68 (8.28%) Microsoft Project
4 63 (7.67%) MS Visio
5 11 (1.34%) Spreadsheet
6 4 (0.49%) Trello
7 3 (0.37%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 3 (0.37%) Adobe Illustrator
8 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.12%) Photoshop
8 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.12%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 23 (2.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.22%) Remedy ITSM
3 8 (0.97%) Primavera
4 6 (0.73%) Veritas eDiscovery
5 4 (0.49%) Finacle
5 4 (0.49%) Oracle Financials
5 4 (0.49%) Salesforce CRM
5 4 (0.49%) SAP Business One
6 3 (0.37%) Aladdin
6 3 (0.37%) Fidessa
6 3 (0.37%) Magento
6 3 (0.37%) Maximo
6 3 (0.37%) SAP MM
6 3 (0.37%) SimCorp Dimension
6 3 (0.37%) Teamcenter
7 2 (0.24%) assyst
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.24%) Shopify
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.12%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 153 (18.64%) Microsoft 365
2 87 (10.60%) Azure
3 54 (6.58%) Power Platform
4 36 (4.38%) AWS
5 19 (2.31%) Entra ID
5 19 (2.31%) Google Workspace
6 16 (1.95%) SaaS
7 12 (1.46%) GCP
8 11 (1.34%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (0.97%) OneDrive
10 7 (0.85%) Amazon SageMaker
10 7 (0.85%) Dagster
10 7 (0.85%) GitHub
10 7 (0.85%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.85%) Google Analytics
11 6 (0.73%) Google Docs
11 6 (0.73%) Google Tag Manager
11 6 (0.73%) Mimecast
12 5 (0.61%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (0.61%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 39 (4.75%) VPN
2 30 (3.65%) Firewall
3 28 (3.41%) TCP/IP
4 25 (3.05%) Skype
5 22 (2.68%) Wireless
6 19 (2.31%) DNS
6 19 (2.31%) Wi-Fi
7 16 (1.95%) Ethernet
7 16 (1.95%) LAN
8 15 (1.83%) Network Security
9 13 (1.58%) DHCP
9 13 (1.58%) WAN
10 7 (0.85%) Internet
11 6 (0.73%) VoIP
12 5 (0.61%) BGP
12 5 (0.61%) Cisco IOS
12 5 (0.61%) MPLS
12 5 (0.61%) VLAN
13 4 (0.49%) NetScaler
13 4 (0.49%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (6.09%) Power BI
2 16 (1.95%) SQL Server
3 10 (1.22%) Relational Database
4 8 (0.97%) Oracle Database
4 8 (0.97%) RDBMS
5 6 (0.73%) Tableau
6 5 (0.61%) MySQL
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.49%) Azure SQL Database
7 4 (0.49%) BigQuery
7 4 (0.49%) Looker
7 4 (0.49%) SQLPlus
8 3 (0.37%) Data Mining
8 3 (0.37%) Metadata
8 3 (0.37%) Power Query
9 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.24%) Electronic Patient Records
9 2 (0.24%) PowerPivot
10 1 (0.12%) Amazon Redshift
10 1 (0.12%) DB2
Development Applications
1 90 (10.96%) JIRA
2 13 (1.58%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.58%) Metasploit
3 11 (1.34%) Git
4 7 (0.85%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.85%) MLflow
4 7 (0.85%) Subversion
4 7 (0.85%) Toad
5 3 (0.37%) Android Studio
5 3 (0.37%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.37%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.24%) JMeter
6 2 (0.24%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.24%) Tricentis qTest
7 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.12%) GitLab
7 1 (0.12%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.12%) PVCS
7 1 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.12%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 480 (58.47%) Social Skills
2 227 (27.65%) Finance
3 201 (24.48%) Analytical Skills
4 126 (15.35%) Organisational Skills
5 73 (8.89%) Public Sector
6 70 (8.53%) Banking
7 48 (5.85%) Legal
8 42 (5.12%) Presentation Skills
9 39 (4.75%) Military
10 30 (3.65%) Pharmaceutical
11 25 (3.05%) Marketing
12 24 (2.92%) Documentation Skills
12 24 (2.92%) Manufacturing
12 24 (2.92%) Telecoms
13 21 (2.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 20 (2.44%) Retail
15 19 (2.31%) Influencing Skills
15 19 (2.31%) Investment Banking
16 18 (2.19%) Law
17 15 (1.83%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 156 (19.00%) Analyst
2 55 (6.70%) Business Analyst
3 45 (5.48%) Administrator
4 43 (5.24%) IT Support
5 41 (4.99%) Senior
6 40 (4.87%) Architect
6 40 (4.87%) Support Officer
7 34 (4.14%) Support Engineer
8 33 (4.02%) Project Officer
9 32 (3.90%) Project Support Officer
10 30 (3.65%) Project Manager
11 27 (3.29%) Support Analyst
12 26 (3.17%) IT Analyst
12 26 (3.17%) Technical Engineer
13 25 (3.05%) Service Architect
14 23 (2.80%) Coordinator
14 23 (2.80%) Service Analyst
15 21 (2.56%) Lead
16 19 (2.31%) 2nd Line Support
16 19 (2.31%) Desktop Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.97%) Web Services
2 7 (0.85%) NumPy
2 7 (0.85%) Pandas
2 7 (0.85%) REST
2 7 (0.85%) scikit-learn
2 7 (0.85%) Seaborn
3 6 (0.73%) SOAP
4 5 (0.61%) JDO
5 4 (0.49%) .NET
5 4 (0.49%) VML
6 3 (0.37%) HTML
6 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Graph
6 3 (0.37%) NETCONF
6 3 (0.37%) OpenConfig
6 3 (0.37%) RESTCONF
6 3 (0.37%) YANG
7 2 (0.24%) ADO
7 2 (0.24%) FHIR
7 2 (0.24%) LDAP
7 2 (0.24%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 55 (6.70%) Onboarding
2 47 (5.72%) Self-Motivation
3 41 (4.99%) Management Information System
4 35 (4.26%) Product Ownership
5 20 (2.44%) Robotics
6 19 (2.31%) Data Protection Act
7 18 (2.19%) Social Media
8 16 (1.95%) Industry 4.0
9 15 (1.83%) Data Centre
10 13 (1.58%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.46%) Analytical Mindset
11 12 (1.46%) Virtual Team
12 11 (1.34%) Driving Licence
12 11 (1.34%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.34%) Life Science
12 11 (1.34%) PMI
13 9 (1.10%) Insider Threat
14 8 (0.97%) e-Learning
14 8 (0.97%) NHS
14 8 (0.97%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 184 (22.41%) Windows
2 87 (10.60%) Windows 10
3 33 (4.02%) Android
4 21 (2.56%) Linux
5 18 (2.19%) Windows 7
6 15 (1.83%) Windows Server
7 13 (1.58%) Apple iOS
7 13 (1.58%) Mac OS
8 9 (1.10%) Windows Server 2016
9 8 (0.97%) Unix
10 7 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.37%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.24%) AIX
12 2 (0.24%) Solaris
13 1 (0.12%) FreeRTOS
13 1 (0.12%) MVS
13 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.12%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 226 (27.53%) Problem-Solving
2 146 (17.78%) Project Management
3 143 (17.42%) Agile
4 123 (14.98%) Customer Service
5 120 (14.62%) Stakeholder Management
6 98 (11.94%) Continuous Improvement
6 98 (11.94%) ITIL
7 90 (10.96%) Project Delivery
8 81 (9.87%) Decision-Making
8 81 (9.87%) Service Management
9 69 (8.40%) Change Management
10 65 (7.92%) AI
10 65 (7.92%) PRINCE2
11 63 (7.67%) Time Management
12 61 (7.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 59 (7.19%) Analytical Thinking
14 57 (6.94%) Waterfall
15 49 (5.97%) Data Analysis
16 48 (5.85%) Data Protection
16 48 (5.85%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 55 (6.70%) SQL
2 34 (4.14%) PowerShell
3 24 (2.92%) Python
4 17 (2.07%) VB
5 10 (1.22%) PHP
6 9 (1.10%) VBScript
7 7 (0.85%) JavaScript
7 7 (0.85%) PL/SQL
8 5 (0.61%) VBA
9 4 (0.49%) C
9 4 (0.49%) Java
9 4 (0.49%) Perl
10 3 (0.37%) C++
10 3 (0.37%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.37%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.24%) R
11 2 (0.24%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.12%) Ada
12 1 (0.12%) JCL
12 1 (0.12%) REXX
Qualifications
1 301 (36.66%) Degree
2 199 (24.24%) Security Cleared
3 154 (18.76%) SC Cleared
4 39 (4.75%) DV Cleared
5 26 (3.17%) PMI Certification
5 26 (3.17%) PMP
6 25 (3.05%) TOGAF Certification
7 21 (2.56%) Microsoft Certification
8 19 (2.31%) Computer Science Degree
9 17 (2.07%) DBS Check
10 15 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
11 13 (1.58%) CHECK Team Member
11 13 (1.58%) Cisco Certification
11 13 (1.58%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 12 (1.46%) A+ Certification
12 12 (1.46%) CBAP
13 11 (1.34%) CREST Certified
13 11 (1.34%) CTC Cleared
13 11 (1.34%) IIBA
13 11 (1.34%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (10.23%) PMO
2 42 (5.12%) QA
3 35 (4.26%) SLA
4 26 (3.17%) GDPR
5 25 (3.05%) Data Quality
6 24 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 18 (2.19%) PCI DSS
8 11 (1.34%) Accessibility
9 8 (0.97%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (0.73%) NIST
11 5 (0.61%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.61%) MiFID
11 5 (0.61%) P3O
12 4 (0.49%) EMIR
13 3 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 3 (0.37%) WCAG
14 2 (0.24%) GRC
14 2 (0.24%) HL7
14 2 (0.24%) ISO 20022
14 2 (0.24%) SOC 2
System Software
1 92 (11.21%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.34%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.22%) BitLocker
4 9 (1.10%) Docker
5 6 (0.73%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (0.61%) VMware ESXi
7 4 (0.49%) Hyper-V
7 4 (0.49%) XenApp
7 4 (0.49%) XenDesktop
8 3 (0.37%) vSphere
9 1 (0.12%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.12%) Firmware
9 1 (0.12%) Job Entry Subsystem
9 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 40 (4.87%) SCCM
2 28 (3.41%) Microsoft Intune
3 25 (3.05%) OPNET
4 13 (1.58%) Nmap
5 9 (1.10%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 9 (1.10%) Ansible
6 7 (0.85%) HP Quality Center
7 5 (0.61%) TeamSite
7 5 (0.61%) vCenter Server
8 4 (0.49%) HP ALM
8 4 (0.49%) SCVMM
8 4 (0.49%) Terraform
9 3 (0.37%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.37%) SCOM
9 3 (0.37%) SCSM
9 3 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.37%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 2 (0.24%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.12%) Progress Chef
11 1 (0.12%) Puppet
Vendors
1 552 (67.24%) Microsoft
2 82 (9.99%) ServiceNow
3 55 (6.70%) SAP
4 45 (5.48%) Remedy
5 37 (4.51%) Cisco
6 36 (4.38%) Atlassian
7 33 (4.02%) Google
8 30 (3.65%) Oracle
9 21 (2.56%) Apple
10 18 (2.19%) Citrix
11 17 (2.07%) HP
12 15 (1.83%) Siemens
13 13 (1.58%) Adobe
13 13 (1.58%) VMware
14 10 (1.22%) Salesforce
15 9 (1.10%) Planview
16 8 (0.97%) Workday
17 6 (0.73%) Ariba
17 6 (0.73%) Splunk
18 5 (0.61%) Dell