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

6 months to
8 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 148 89 62
Rank change year-on-year -59 -27 +16
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Office 829 809 1,367
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.75% 2.78% 3.17%
As % of the Applications category 29.19% 33.33% 40.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 453 472 744
10th Percentile £163 £156 £137
25th Percentile £263 £212 £188
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £375 £325 £256
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +27.13% -31.83%
75th Percentile £535 £509 £488
90th Percentile £699 £606 £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 126 87 303
10th Percentile £12.29 £13.71 £11.00
25th Percentile £14.03 £14.48 £12.52
Median hourly rate £18.50 £17.00 £15.86
Median % change year-on-year +8.82% +7.22% -29.94%
75th Percentile £28.85 £23.01 £23.17
90th Percentile £76.63 £26.24 £39.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.39 £16.30 £15.00
% change year-on-year +6.69% +8.63% -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 2,840 2,427 3,402
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 5.98% 8.34% 7.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,674 1,434 1,702
10th Percentile £250 £188 £161
25th Percentile £349 £263 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £413 £400
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% +3.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £568 £541 £538
90th Percentile £660 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £435 £375 £350
% change year-on-year +16.00% +7.14% -12.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 314 252 629
10th Percentile £13.39 £14.20 £11.50
25th Percentile £16.35 £15.62 £14.00
Median hourly rate £20.35 £22.95 £17.60
Median % change year-on-year -11.33% +30.40% -46.26%
75th Percentile £34.34 £43.75 £39.92
90th Percentile £68.75 £70.00 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.96 £22.50 £16.06
% change year-on-year -11.31% +40.10% -48.19%

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 8 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 8 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 8 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 -47 745 £401 +23.38% 588
UK excluding London -39 564 £375 +50.00% 534
London -73 222 £413 +6.45% 140
Work from Home -49 182 £363 -9.38% 208
South East -26 143 £438 +16.67% 142
North of England -68 125 £340 +44.68% 146
South West -18 98 £688 +176.38% 61
North West -23 79 £335 +34.00% 80
Midlands -46 76 £325 +3.50% 99
East of England -7 70 £325 +32.65% 51
West Midlands -43 47 £325 -18.75% 57
Yorkshire -74 40 £340 +44.68% 48
East Midlands -17 29 £325 +62.50% 42
Scotland -40 23 £284 +8.19% 29
Wales -1 17 £189 -45.09% 16
Northern Ireland +5 14 £350 +118.75% 9
North East -19 6 £263 +34.62% 22

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
1 123 (14.84%) SharePoint
2 77 (9.29%) Confluence
3 52 (6.27%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (0.97%) Skype for Business
5 7 (0.84%) Apache Airflow
5 7 (0.84%) CMS
6 2 (0.24%) 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
1 320 (38.60%) Microsoft Excel
2 204 (24.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 78 (9.41%) Microsoft Project
4 66 (7.96%) MS Visio
5 12 (1.45%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.60%) Trello
7 3 (0.36%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 3 (0.36%) 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 (2.77%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.21%) Remedy ITSM
3 8 (0.97%) Primavera
4 6 (0.72%) Veritas eDiscovery
5 4 (0.48%) Finacle
5 4 (0.48%) Oracle Financials
5 4 (0.48%) Salesforce CRM
5 4 (0.48%) SAP Business One
6 3 (0.36%) Aladdin
6 3 (0.36%) Fidessa
6 3 (0.36%) Maximo
6 3 (0.36%) SAP MM
6 3 (0.36%) SimCorp Dimension
6 3 (0.36%) Teamcenter
7 2 (0.24%) assyst
7 2 (0.24%) Magento
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.24%) Shopify
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 1 (0.12%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 158 (19.06%) Microsoft 365
2 89 (10.74%) Azure
3 54 (6.51%) Power Platform
4 34 (4.10%) AWS
5 20 (2.41%) Google Workspace
6 19 (2.29%) Entra ID
7 16 (1.93%) SaaS
8 12 (1.45%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (1.33%) GCP
10 7 (0.84%) Amazon SageMaker
10 7 (0.84%) Dagster
10 7 (0.84%) GitHub
10 7 (0.84%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.84%) Google Analytics
11 6 (0.72%) Dynamics 365
11 6 (0.72%) Google Docs
11 6 (0.72%) Google Tag Manager
11 6 (0.72%) OneDrive
12 5 (0.60%) Google Sheets
12 5 (0.60%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 36 (4.34%) VPN
2 31 (3.74%) Firewall
3 30 (3.62%) TCP/IP
4 24 (2.90%) Skype
4 24 (2.90%) Wireless
5 20 (2.41%) DNS
6 17 (2.05%) LAN
6 17 (2.05%) Wi-Fi
7 16 (1.93%) Ethernet
7 16 (1.93%) Network Security
8 14 (1.69%) WAN
9 13 (1.57%) DHCP
10 7 (0.84%) Internet
11 6 (0.72%) BGP
11 6 (0.72%) Cisco IOS
11 6 (0.72%) MPLS
11 6 (0.72%) VoIP
12 5 (0.60%) NetScaler
12 5 (0.60%) TACACS
12 5 (0.60%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (6.27%) Power BI
2 16 (1.93%) SQL Server
3 10 (1.21%) Relational Database
4 9 (1.09%) Oracle Database
5 8 (0.97%) RDBMS
6 6 (0.72%) Tableau
7 5 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
8 4 (0.48%) Azure SQL Database
8 4 (0.48%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.48%) Looker
8 4 (0.48%) MySQL
8 4 (0.48%) SQLPlus
9 3 (0.36%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.36%) Metadata
9 3 (0.36%) Power Query
10 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.24%) Electronic Patient Records
10 2 (0.24%) PowerPivot
11 1 (0.12%) Amazon Redshift
11 1 (0.12%) Oracle Database 10g
Development Applications
1 98 (11.82%) JIRA
2 13 (1.57%) Burp Suite
2 13 (1.57%) Metasploit
3 10 (1.21%) Git
4 8 (0.97%) Toad
5 7 (0.84%) MLflow
6 6 (0.72%) Jenkins
6 6 (0.72%) Subversion
7 3 (0.36%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.36%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.36%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.24%) JMeter
8 2 (0.24%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.24%) 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
1 490 (59.11%) Social Skills
2 227 (27.38%) Finance
3 202 (24.37%) Analytical Skills
4 125 (15.08%) Organisational Skills
5 78 (9.41%) Public Sector
6 68 (8.20%) Banking
7 46 (5.55%) Legal
8 45 (5.43%) Military
9 42 (5.07%) Presentation Skills
10 30 (3.62%) Pharmaceutical
11 26 (3.14%) Manufacturing
11 26 (3.14%) Marketing
11 26 (3.14%) Telecoms
12 25 (3.02%) Documentation Skills
13 20 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 20 (2.41%) Influencing Skills
14 17 (2.05%) Investment Banking
14 17 (2.05%) Law
15 16 (1.93%) Retail
16 13 (1.57%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 154 (18.58%) Analyst
2 54 (6.51%) Business Analyst
3 45 (5.43%) Architect
4 44 (5.31%) Administrator
5 43 (5.19%) IT Support
6 41 (4.95%) Senior
6 41 (4.95%) Support Officer
7 35 (4.22%) Support Engineer
8 34 (4.10%) Project Officer
9 33 (3.98%) Project Support Officer
10 30 (3.62%) Project Manager
10 30 (3.62%) Service Architect
11 27 (3.26%) Support Analyst
12 26 (3.14%) Technical Engineer
13 25 (3.02%) Coordinator
13 25 (3.02%) IT Analyst
14 23 (2.77%) Lead
14 23 (2.77%) Service Analyst
15 20 (2.41%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 20 (2.41%) PMO Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.97%) Web Services
2 7 (0.84%) NumPy
2 7 (0.84%) Pandas
2 7 (0.84%) REST
2 7 (0.84%) scikit-learn
2 7 (0.84%) Seaborn
2 7 (0.84%) SOAP
3 5 (0.60%) JDO
4 4 (0.48%) .NET
4 4 (0.48%) NETCONF
4 4 (0.48%) OpenConfig
4 4 (0.48%) RESTCONF
4 4 (0.48%) YANG
5 3 (0.36%) HTML
5 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Graph
5 3 (0.36%) VML
5 3 (0.36%) XML
6 2 (0.24%) ADO
6 2 (0.24%) Middleware
6 2 (0.24%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 55 (6.63%) Onboarding
2 48 (5.79%) Self-Motivation
3 40 (4.83%) Product Ownership
4 38 (4.58%) Management Information System
5 19 (2.29%) Robotics
6 18 (2.17%) Data Centre
6 18 (2.17%) Data Protection Act
7 17 (2.05%) Social Media
8 16 (1.93%) Industry 4.0
9 14 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
10 13 (1.57%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.45%) Driving Licence
11 12 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.33%) Life Science
12 11 (1.33%) PMI
13 10 (1.21%) Virtual Team
14 9 (1.09%) Insider Threat
14 9 (1.09%) NHS
15 8 (0.97%) e-Learning
15 8 (0.97%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 186 (22.44%) Windows
2 84 (10.13%) Windows 10
3 35 (4.22%) Android
4 24 (2.90%) Linux
5 17 (2.05%) Windows 7
5 17 (2.05%) Windows Server
6 14 (1.69%) Mac OS
7 13 (1.57%) Apple iOS
8 10 (1.21%) Windows Server 2016
9 8 (0.97%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.84%) Unix
11 3 (0.36%) AIX
11 3 (0.36%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.24%) Solaris
12 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.12%) CentOS
13 1 (0.12%) FreeRTOS
13 1 (0.12%) MVS
13 1 (0.12%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 221 (26.66%) Problem-Solving
2 153 (18.46%) Agile
3 146 (17.61%) Project Management
4 120 (14.48%) Customer Service
5 119 (14.35%) Stakeholder Management
6 100 (12.06%) Continuous Improvement
6 100 (12.06%) ITIL
7 99 (11.94%) Project Delivery
8 84 (10.13%) Service Management
9 78 (9.41%) Decision-Making
10 69 (8.32%) PRINCE2
11 68 (8.20%) Change Management
12 66 (7.96%) Analytical Thinking
13 64 (7.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 63 (7.60%) AI
15 61 (7.36%) Time Management
16 59 (7.12%) Waterfall
17 53 (6.39%) Acceptance Criteria
18 50 (6.03%) Critical Thinking
19 47 (5.67%) Data Analysis
Programming Languages
1 57 (6.88%) SQL
2 37 (4.46%) PowerShell
3 23 (2.77%) Python
4 16 (1.93%) VB
5 10 (1.21%) PHP
6 8 (0.97%) PL/SQL
6 8 (0.97%) VBScript
7 7 (0.84%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.60%) Java
8 5 (0.60%) Perl
8 5 (0.60%) VBA
9 4 (0.48%) C
10 3 (0.36%) C++
10 3 (0.36%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.36%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.24%) R
11 2 (0.24%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.12%) Bash
12 1 (0.12%) JCL
12 1 (0.12%) Korn
Qualifications
1 304 (36.67%) Degree
2 212 (25.57%) Security Cleared
3 167 (20.14%) SC Cleared
4 42 (5.07%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.62%) TOGAF Certification
6 26 (3.14%) PMI Certification
6 26 (3.14%) PMP
7 22 (2.65%) Microsoft Certification
8 17 (2.05%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
9 15 (1.81%) DBS Check
10 14 (1.69%) APMP
10 14 (1.69%) Cisco Certification
11 13 (1.57%) CHECK Team Member
11 13 (1.57%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 12 (1.45%) A+ Certification
12 12 (1.45%) CBAP
13 11 (1.33%) Cyber Scheme
13 11 (1.33%) IIBA
13 11 (1.33%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 89 (10.74%) PMO
2 44 (5.31%) QA
3 34 (4.10%) SLA
4 25 (3.02%) Data Quality
4 25 (3.02%) GDPR
5 24 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 17 (2.05%) PCI DSS
7 11 (1.33%) Accessibility
8 7 (0.84%) Cyber Essentials
9 6 (0.72%) ISO 9001
9 6 (0.72%) NIST
9 6 (0.72%) P3O
10 5 (0.60%) MiFID
11 3 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 3 (0.36%) WCAG
12 2 (0.24%) ECSS
12 2 (0.24%) EMIR
12 2 (0.24%) HL7
12 2 (0.24%) ISO 20022
12 2 (0.24%) SOC 2
System Software
1 91 (10.98%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (1.09%) BitLocker
3 9 (1.09%) Docker
4 6 (0.72%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.60%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.60%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.60%) XenApp
5 5 (0.60%) XenDesktop
6 3 (0.36%) 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 38 (4.58%) SCCM
2 30 (3.62%) OPNET
3 29 (3.50%) Microsoft Intune
4 13 (1.57%) Nmap
5 10 (1.21%) Ansible
6 7 (0.84%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 7 (0.84%) HP Quality Center
7 5 (0.60%) SCVMM
7 5 (0.60%) TeamSite
7 5 (0.60%) vCenter Server
8 4 (0.48%) HP ALM
8 4 (0.48%) Terraform
9 3 (0.36%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.36%) PaperCut
9 3 (0.36%) SCOM
9 3 (0.36%) SCSM
9 3 (0.36%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.36%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 2 (0.24%) Cisco CUCM
10 2 (0.24%) WSUS
Vendors
1 557 (67.19%) Microsoft
2 85 (10.25%) ServiceNow
3 57 (6.88%) SAP
4 50 (6.03%) Remedy
5 43 (5.19%) Atlassian
6 38 (4.58%) Cisco
7 32 (3.86%) Google
8 30 (3.62%) Oracle
9 22 (2.65%) Citrix
10 19 (2.29%) Apple
11 17 (2.05%) HP
12 15 (1.81%) Siemens
13 13 (1.57%) Adobe
13 13 (1.57%) VMware
14 10 (1.21%) Salesforce
15 9 (1.09%) Planview
16 7 (0.84%) Dell
17 6 (0.72%) Ariba
17 6 (0.72%) Splunk
17 6 (0.72%) Workday