Public Cloud Contract Job Trends

Public Cloud
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Public Cloud in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Public Cloud over the 6 months leading up to 21 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 374 360 252
Rank change year-on-year -14 -108 +7
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 339 210 362
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.62% 0.64% 0.94%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.84% 1.80% 3.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 233 132 222
10th Percentile £428 £364 £418
25th Percentile £513 £438 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £530 £567
Median % change year-on-year +13.21% -6.53% -5.50%
75th Percentile £688 £689 £688
90th Percentile £787 £774 £799
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £500 £563
% change year-on-year +20.00% -11.11% -6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 3
10th Percentile - - £39.80
25th Percentile - £42.50 £44.38
Median hourly rate - £45.00 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year - -16.67% -30.77%
75th Percentile - £47.50 £57.00
90th Percentile - - £57.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate - - £48.25
% change year-on-year - - -38.14%

All Generic Skills
UK

Public Cloud falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 18,412 11,661 11,699
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.88% 35.71% 30.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,041 7,132 7,141
10th Percentile £320 £295 £294
25th Percentile £425 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £540
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -4.63% -1.82%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £750 £750 £807
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,193 587 467
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.00 £14.46
25th Percentile £18.00 £18.87 £21.53
Median hourly rate £38.25 £29.50 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +29.66% -41.00% +12.36%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.13 £70.00
90th Percentile £82.05 £73.30 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £30.00 £57.35
% change year-on-year +33.33% -47.69% +17.04%

Public Cloud
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Public Cloud relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Public Cloud job vacancy trend in the UK

Public Cloud
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud

Public Cloud
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Public Cloud over the 6 months to 21 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Public Cloud in the UK

Public Cloud
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Public Cloud

Public Cloud
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 Public Cloud within the UK over the 6 months to 21 September 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 -4 276 £600 +1.27% 638
UK excluding London -41 188 £600 +20.00% 374
Work from Home -19 95 £610 +16.19% 363
London -57 95 £650 +0.23% 387
North of England -30 81 £569 +26.39% 91
Yorkshire -14 51 £550 +22.22% 30
South East -31 43 £590 -14.18% 55
North West -41 25 £625 +35.14% 55
Midlands -39 23 £600 +11.73% 39
South West -26 17 £675 +3.85% 54
Scotland -45 16 £530 +6.00% 86
West Midlands -41 11 £625 -0.04% 29
East Midlands -14 10 £588 +16.11% 10
North East -32 9 £602 - 6
East of England -26 7 £475 -42.42% 12
Wales -14 1 - - 1
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 37

Public Cloud
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 8 (2.36%) Apache
2 6 (1.77%) IIS
3 5 (1.47%) OpenStack
4 3 (0.88%) Apache Airflow
4 3 (0.88%) CloudStack
4 3 (0.88%) Confluence
4 3 (0.88%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 2 (0.59%) nginx
5 2 (0.59%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.59%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) SAS
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 11 (3.24%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (2.95%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (2.06%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.59%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.59%) Houdini
5 2 (0.59%) NUKE
5 2 (0.59%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.29%) Weka
Business Applications
1 60 (17.70%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (2.06%) SAP SD
3 6 (1.77%) SAP Business One
4 4 (1.18%) iTrent
4 4 (1.18%) SAP ERP
5 3 (0.88%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.59%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.59%) SAP FI-GL
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle SCM
7 1 (0.29%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.29%) SAP FI-AR
7 1 (0.29%) SAP MDG
7 1 (0.29%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.29%) SAP PS
Cloud Services
1 142 (41.89%) AWS
2 141 (41.59%) Azure
3 74 (21.83%) GCP
4 26 (7.67%) GitHub
5 20 (5.90%) IaaS
5 20 (5.90%) SaaS
6 19 (5.60%) OCI
7 16 (4.72%) OpenShift
8 14 (4.13%) GitHub Actions
9 13 (3.83%) Entra ID
9 13 (3.83%) PaaS
9 13 (3.83%) SuccessFactors
10 11 (3.24%) Azure DevOps
10 11 (3.24%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 10 (2.95%) Amazon EKS
11 10 (2.95%) AWS CloudFormation
12 8 (2.36%) Serverless
13 7 (2.06%) Azure Sentinel
13 7 (2.06%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 6 (1.77%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 36 (10.62%) Firewall
2 28 (8.26%) DNS
3 18 (5.31%) Network Security
4 17 (5.01%) TCP/IP
5 13 (3.83%) VSAN
6 11 (3.24%) DHCP
7 9 (2.65%) VPN
8 8 (2.36%) BIG-IP
8 8 (2.36%) LAN
8 8 (2.36%) WAN
9 7 (2.06%) BGP
9 7 (2.06%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 7 (2.06%) SAN
10 6 (1.77%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 6 (1.77%) NAS
11 5 (1.47%) Wi-Fi
12 4 (1.18%) HTTPS
12 4 (1.18%) MPLS
12 4 (1.18%) SNMP
12 4 (1.18%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.42%) Oracle Database
2 13 (3.83%) RDBMS
2 13 (3.83%) Relational Database
3 12 (3.54%) Oracle Exadata
4 8 (2.36%) MySQL
5 5 (1.47%) SQL Server
6 4 (1.18%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.88%) BigQuery
7 3 (0.88%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.88%) Oracle Reports
8 2 (0.59%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.59%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.59%) Power BI
8 2 (0.59%) SAP HANA
9 1 (0.29%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.29%) Big Data
9 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.29%) MongoDB
9 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.29%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 39 (11.50%) Git
2 24 (7.08%) Jenkins
3 14 (4.13%) GitLab
4 10 (2.95%) JIRA
5 8 (2.36%) JUnit
6 6 (1.77%) SonarQube
6 6 (1.77%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (1.18%) Hudson
8 3 (0.88%) Cucumber
8 3 (0.88%) Maven
8 3 (0.88%) Postman
8 3 (0.88%) Selenium
9 1 (0.29%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.29%) PVCS
General
1 97 (28.61%) Finance
2 65 (19.17%) Social Skills
3 31 (9.14%) Public Sector
4 24 (7.08%) Banking
5 18 (5.31%) Analytical Skills
6 9 (2.65%) General Ledger
6 9 (2.65%) Influencing Skills
7 7 (2.06%) Documentation Skills
7 7 (2.06%) Military
7 7 (2.06%) Presentation Skills
8 6 (1.77%) Billing
9 5 (1.47%) Local Government
9 5 (1.47%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.18%) Automotive
10 4 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.88%) Legal
11 3 (0.88%) Manufacturing
11 3 (0.88%) Police
11 3 (0.88%) Retail
Job Titles
1 89 (26.25%) Architect
2 55 (16.22%) Senior
3 38 (11.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 38 (11.21%) Lead
4 33 (9.73%) Solutions Architect
5 23 (6.78%) DevOps Engineer
6 22 (6.49%) Technical Architect
7 21 (6.19%) Developer
8 19 (5.60%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 18 (5.31%) Consultant
10 17 (5.01%) Cloud Architect
11 16 (4.72%) Cloud Engineer
12 15 (4.42%) Python Developer
13 14 (4.13%) Azure Specialist
14 13 (3.83%) Analyst
14 13 (3.83%) Azure Engineer
15 12 (3.54%) Network Engineer
15 12 (3.54%) Platform Engineer
15 12 (3.54%) SAP Consultant
16 11 (3.24%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 86 (25.37%) Terraform
2 17 (5.01%) Kafka
3 15 (4.42%) Spring Boot
4 12 (3.54%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 11 (3.24%) Spring
6 8 (2.36%) REST
6 8 (2.36%) SAP Fiori
7 7 (2.06%) Web Services
8 5 (1.47%) .NET
8 5 (1.47%) Elastic Stack
8 5 (1.47%) Middleware
8 5 (1.47%) NumPy
8 5 (1.47%) OAuth
8 5 (1.47%) OpenID
8 5 (1.47%) Pandas
8 5 (1.47%) React
9 4 (1.18%) 802.1X
9 4 (1.18%) NETCONF
9 4 (1.18%) RESTCONF
9 4 (1.18%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 52 (15.34%) Cloud Native
2 43 (12.68%) Data Centre
3 35 (10.32%) Hybrid Cloud
4 28 (8.26%) Private Cloud
5 16 (4.72%) PKI
6 12 (3.54%) Management Information System
7 11 (3.24%) Legacy Systems
7 11 (3.24%) Onboarding
8 8 (2.36%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (2.06%) AI Agents
9 7 (2.06%) Legacy Applications
9 7 (2.06%) Security Posture
10 6 (1.77%) Linux Command Line
11 5 (1.47%) Data Structures
11 5 (1.47%) Enterprise Cloud
11 5 (1.47%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (1.18%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (1.18%) Embedded Systems
12 4 (1.18%) Mobile Payment
12 4 (1.18%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 65 (19.17%) Linux
2 35 (10.32%) Windows
3 12 (3.54%) AIX
3 12 (3.54%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.24%) Unix
5 9 (2.65%) Ubuntu
6 4 (1.18%) Debian
6 4 (1.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.18%) VMS
7 2 (0.59%) CentOS
7 2 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.29%) Android
8 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (28.32%) Infrastructure as Code
2 93 (27.43%) Migration
3 91 (26.84%) CI/CD
4 76 (22.42%) DevOps
5 65 (19.17%) Agile
6 63 (18.58%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 51 (15.04%) Stakeholder Management
8 40 (11.80%) Data Migration
8 40 (11.80%) Microservices
9 35 (10.32%) Cloud Security
10 32 (9.44%) Problem-Solving
11 31 (9.14%) Roadmaps
12 30 (8.85%) ERP
13 29 (8.55%) Architectural Patterns
14 28 (8.26%) Containerisation
14 28 (8.26%) Identity Access Management
14 28 (8.26%) Infrastructure Automation
14 28 (8.26%) Technical Leadership
15 27 (7.96%) Observability
16 26 (7.67%) Event-Driven
Programming Languages
1 80 (23.60%) Python
2 32 (9.44%) Java
3 28 (8.26%) PowerShell
4 25 (7.37%) Bash
5 11 (3.24%) Bicep
5 11 (3.24%) SQL
6 9 (2.65%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.36%) Shell Script
8 6 (1.77%) ActionScript
8 6 (1.77%) Go
9 5 (1.47%) Groovy
10 4 (1.18%) Ruby
11 3 (0.88%) ABAP
11 3 (0.88%) Perl
12 1 (0.29%) C++
12 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.29%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 91 (26.84%) Security Cleared
2 75 (22.12%) SC Cleared
3 29 (8.55%) Cisco Certification
4 27 (7.96%) DV Cleared
5 18 (5.31%) AWS Certification
6 17 (5.01%) Degree
7 15 (4.42%) CISSP
8 12 (3.54%) CCNP
9 11 (3.24%) Azure Certification
9 11 (3.24%) VCAP
9 11 (3.24%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 10 (2.95%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 9 (2.65%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 9 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (2.65%) CISM
12 7 (2.06%) ACCA
12 7 (2.06%) CCSP
12 7 (2.06%) CIMA
13 5 (1.47%) CISA
13 5 (1.47%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (4.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 14 (4.13%) NIST
2 9 (2.65%) NCSC
3 8 (2.36%) GDPR
4 6 (1.77%) Data Quality
5 5 (1.47%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.47%) PCI DSS
6 4 (1.18%) GRC
6 4 (1.18%) ISO 15022
6 4 (1.18%) ISO 31000
6 4 (1.18%) ISO 9001
6 4 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 27005
7 3 (0.88%) Government Security Classifications
7 3 (0.88%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.59%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.29%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.29%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.29%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.29%) PMO
9 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 27 (7.96%) VMware Infrastructure
2 19 (5.60%) Docker
2 19 (5.60%) VMware NSX
3 15 (4.42%) Active Directory
4 13 (3.83%) Oracle RAC
5 12 (3.54%) vSphere
6 11 (3.24%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (2.65%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (1.47%) Postfix
9 4 (1.18%) ISA Server
10 3 (0.88%) NFS
10 3 (0.88%) Sendmail
10 3 (0.88%) Varnish
11 2 (0.59%) Dovecot
11 2 (0.59%) Hyper-V
12 1 (0.29%) GPFS
12 1 (0.29%) Lustre
12 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 59 (17.40%) Kubernetes
2 50 (14.75%) Ansible
3 13 (3.83%) Data Guard
3 13 (3.83%) Grafana
3 13 (3.83%) Oracle RMAN
4 12 (3.54%) Prometheus
5 10 (2.95%) vCenter Server
6 8 (2.36%) Istio
7 7 (2.06%) Packer
8 5 (1.47%) CASB
8 5 (1.47%) HAProxy
8 5 (1.47%) VxRail
9 4 (1.18%) systemd
10 3 (0.88%) Check_MK
10 3 (0.88%) Kubeflow
10 3 (0.88%) Puppet
11 2 (0.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 2 (0.59%) Argo
11 2 (0.59%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.29%) Cilium
Vendors
1 71 (20.94%) SAP
2 69 (20.35%) Microsoft
3 44 (12.98%) Oracle
4 43 (12.68%) Google
5 37 (10.91%) VMware
6 20 (5.90%) Cisco
7 17 (5.01%) F5
8 12 (3.54%) Splunk
9 11 (3.24%) Juniper
10 8 (2.36%) Ariba
10 8 (2.36%) CyberArk
10 8 (2.36%) Fortinet
11 7 (2.06%) Red Hat
12 6 (1.77%) Dynatrace
12 6 (1.77%) ServiceNow
13 5 (1.47%) Citrix
13 5 (1.47%) Commvault
13 5 (1.47%) Concur
13 5 (1.47%) IBM
14 4 (1.18%) Tripwire