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 5 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 368 352 249
Rank change year-on-year -16 -103 +16
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 344 198 371
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.64% 0.61% 0.98%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.89% 1.72% 3.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 235 129 235
10th Percentile £443 £356 £444
25th Percentile £513 £438 £498
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £525 £576
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% -8.77% -4.08%
75th Percentile £688 £669 £738
90th Percentile £773 £751 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £500 £593
% change year-on-year +20.00% -15.61% -1.25%
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 18,242 11,531 11,511
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.81% 35.45% 30.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,027 7,069 7,183
10th Percentile £320 £300 £300
25th Percentile £423 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -6.36% -
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £750 £763 £823
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,094 568 518
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.13 £13.80
25th Percentile £18.53 £18.87 £20.74
Median hourly rate £38.72 £30.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +29.07% -36.84% +10.14%
75th Percentile £67.88 £57.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £82.33 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year +46.53% -45.45% +22.22%

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 5 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 5 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 -12 278 £600 +9.09% 355
UK excluding London -2 197 £600 +20.00% 186
Work from Home -6 98 £610 +19.61% 108
London -66 90 £615 -4.95% 239
North of England -27 78 £563 +25.00% 42
Yorkshire -16 50 £550 +22.22% 17
South East -33 47 £590 -14.18% 19
Midlands -36 28 £625 +17.15% 22
North West -48 24 £625 +38.89% 19
South West -21 19 £675 +10.20% 36
Scotland -45 18 £520 +4.00% 43
East Midlands -10 13 £625 +31.58% 6
West Midlands -40 12 £625 +13.59% 16
North East -32 8 £600 - 6
East of England -21 6 £475 -28.30% 5
Wales -18 1 - -
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 19

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 (2.33%) Apache
2 5 (1.45%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.16%) IIS
4 3 (0.87%) Apache Airflow
4 3 (0.87%) CloudStack
4 3 (0.87%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 3 (0.87%) SAS
4 3 (0.87%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.58%) Confluence
5 2 (0.58%) nginx
5 2 (0.58%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 12 (3.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.33%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (1.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (1.16%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.58%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 2 (0.58%) Houdini
4 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.58%) NUKE
4 2 (0.58%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.29%) Weka
Business Applications
1 69 (20.06%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.74%) SAP Business One
2 6 (1.74%) SAP SD
3 5 (1.45%) SAP ERP
4 4 (1.16%) iTrent
5 3 (0.87%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.58%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.58%) SAP FI-GL
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle ERP
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
1 139 (40.41%) Azure
2 132 (38.37%) AWS
3 65 (18.90%) GCP
4 23 (6.69%) GitHub
5 21 (6.10%) SaaS
6 19 (5.52%) OCI
7 18 (5.23%) IaaS
8 16 (4.65%) SuccessFactors
9 13 (3.78%) GitHub Actions
9 13 (3.78%) PaaS
10 12 (3.49%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 12 (3.49%) OpenShift
11 11 (3.20%) Entra ID
12 10 (2.91%) Azure DevOps
13 9 (2.62%) Amazon EKS
13 9 (2.62%) Serverless
14 6 (1.74%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (1.74%) Microsoft 365
15 5 (1.45%) AWS CloudFormation
16 4 (1.16%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 33 (9.59%) Firewall
2 27 (7.85%) DNS
3 18 (5.23%) Network Security
4 17 (4.94%) TCP/IP
5 15 (4.36%) VSAN
6 11 (3.20%) DHCP
6 11 (3.20%) LAN
6 11 (3.20%) VPN
6 11 (3.20%) WAN
7 8 (2.33%) BGP
8 7 (2.03%) SAN
9 6 (1.74%) NAS
10 5 (1.45%) BIG-IP
10 5 (1.45%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 5 (1.45%) VLAN
10 5 (1.45%) Wi-Fi
11 4 (1.16%) MPLS
11 4 (1.16%) SNMP
11 4 (1.16%) TACACS
12 3 (0.87%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.94%) Oracle Database
2 13 (3.78%) RDBMS
2 13 (3.78%) Relational Database
3 12 (3.49%) Oracle Exadata
4 8 (2.33%) MySQL
5 5 (1.45%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (1.16%) BusinessObjects
6 4 (1.16%) SQL Server
7 3 (0.87%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.58%) Oracle Reports
8 2 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.58%) Power BI
8 2 (0.58%) SAP HANA
9 1 (0.29%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.29%) Big Data
9 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.29%) SAP Data Services
9 1 (0.29%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 40 (11.63%) Git
2 22 (6.40%) Jenkins
3 14 (4.07%) GitLab
4 7 (2.03%) JIRA
5 6 (1.74%) JUnit
5 6 (1.74%) SonarQube
5 6 (1.74%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (1.16%) Hudson
6 4 (1.16%) Postman
7 3 (0.87%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.87%) Maven
7 3 (0.87%) Selenium
8 1 (0.29%) LSMW
8 1 (0.29%) MSI
8 1 (0.29%) PVCS
8 1 (0.29%) SoapUI
General
1 96 (27.91%) Finance
2 59 (17.15%) Social Skills
3 30 (8.72%) Public Sector
4 23 (6.69%) Banking
5 21 (6.10%) Analytical Skills
6 9 (2.62%) General Ledger
7 8 (2.33%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (2.33%) Local Government
8 7 (2.03%) Influencing Skills
8 7 (2.03%) Military
8 7 (2.03%) Presentation Skills
9 6 (1.74%) Billing
10 5 (1.45%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.16%) Automotive
11 4 (1.16%) Financial Institution
11 4 (1.16%) Manufacturing
11 4 (1.16%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 3 (0.87%) Legal
12 3 (0.87%) Police
Job Titles
1 86 (25.00%) Architect
2 62 (18.02%) Senior
3 41 (11.92%) Lead
4 38 (11.05%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 32 (9.30%) Solutions Architect
6 23 (6.69%) Developer
6 23 (6.69%) DevOps Engineer
7 22 (6.40%) Consultant
8 21 (6.10%) Technical Architect
9 19 (5.52%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 16 (4.65%) Cloud Engineer
10 16 (4.65%) SAP Consultant
11 15 (4.36%) Azure Specialist
12 14 (4.07%) Cloud Architect
12 14 (4.07%) Python Developer
13 13 (3.78%) Azure Engineer
14 11 (3.20%) Analyst
14 11 (3.20%) Network Engineer
14 11 (3.20%) Platform Engineer
15 10 (2.91%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 81 (23.55%) Terraform
2 16 (4.65%) Kafka
2 16 (4.65%) Spring Boot
3 12 (3.49%) Oracle GoldenGate
3 12 (3.49%) Spring
4 9 (2.62%) SAP Fiori
5 8 (2.33%) Middleware
5 8 (2.33%) REST
6 6 (1.74%) OAuth
7 5 (1.45%) .NET
7 5 (1.45%) Elastic Stack
7 5 (1.45%) JSON
7 5 (1.45%) NumPy
7 5 (1.45%) OpenID
7 5 (1.45%) Oracle Fusion
7 5 (1.45%) Pandas
7 5 (1.45%) React
7 5 (1.45%) Web Services
8 4 (1.16%) NETCONF
8 4 (1.16%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 50 (14.53%) Cloud Native
2 35 (10.17%) Data Centre
2 35 (10.17%) Hybrid Cloud
3 27 (7.85%) Private Cloud
4 17 (4.94%) PKI
5 9 (2.62%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.62%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.33%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (2.03%) AI Agents
7 7 (2.03%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.74%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.74%) Legacy Applications
8 6 (1.74%) Linux Command Line
9 4 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (1.16%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.16%) Robotics
9 4 (1.16%) Self-Motivation
9 4 (1.16%) Virtual Team
10 3 (0.87%) Product Ownership
10 3 (0.87%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 67 (19.48%) Linux
2 36 (10.47%) Windows
3 12 (3.49%) AIX
4 11 (3.20%) Unix
5 10 (2.91%) Windows Server
6 9 (2.62%) Ubuntu
7 6 (1.74%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (1.16%) Debian
8 4 (1.16%) VMS
8 4 (1.16%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (0.87%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.58%) CentOS
11 1 (0.29%) Android
11 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (28.49%) Migration
2 90 (26.16%) Infrastructure as Code
3 87 (25.29%) CI/CD
4 76 (22.09%) DevOps
5 60 (17.44%) Agile
6 56 (16.28%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 54 (15.70%) Stakeholder Management
8 44 (12.79%) Data Migration
9 39 (11.34%) Microservices
10 32 (9.30%) ERP
11 31 (9.01%) Architectural Patterns
12 29 (8.43%) Cloud Security
13 28 (8.14%) Infrastructure Automation
13 28 (8.14%) Problem-Solving
14 27 (7.85%) Containerisation
14 27 (7.85%) DevSecOps
14 27 (7.85%) Observability
15 26 (7.56%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 26 (7.56%) Technical Leadership
15 26 (7.56%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 73 (21.22%) Python
2 31 (9.01%) Java
3 28 (8.14%) PowerShell
4 24 (6.98%) Bash
5 12 (3.49%) SQL
6 10 (2.91%) Bicep
6 10 (2.91%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.33%) Shell Script
8 5 (1.45%) Groovy
9 3 (0.87%) ABAP
9 3 (0.87%) ActionScript
9 3 (0.87%) Go
9 3 (0.87%) Ruby
10 2 (0.58%) Perl
10 2 (0.58%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.29%) C#
11 1 (0.29%) C++
11 1 (0.29%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 93 (27.03%) Security Cleared
2 77 (22.38%) SC Cleared
3 29 (8.43%) DV Cleared
4 26 (7.56%) Cisco Certification
5 13 (3.78%) CCNP
5 13 (3.78%) Degree
6 12 (3.49%) AWS Certification
7 11 (3.20%) VCAP
7 11 (3.20%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 10 (2.91%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (2.62%) CISSP
10 7 (2.03%) ACCA
10 7 (2.03%) Azure Certification
10 7 (2.03%) CIMA
11 6 (1.74%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.45%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 5 (1.45%) CCSP
12 5 (1.45%) CISM
12 5 (1.45%) JNCIS
12 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.20%) NCSC
1 11 (3.20%) NIST
2 9 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 7 (2.03%) Data Quality
4 6 (1.74%) GDPR
5 5 (1.45%) ISO 20022
6 4 (1.16%) ISO 15022
7 3 (0.87%) Government Security Classifications
7 3 (0.87%) GRC
7 3 (0.87%) HMG Security Policy Framework
7 3 (0.87%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.87%) QA
8 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
8 2 (0.58%) ISO 31000
8 2 (0.58%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 27005
8 2 (0.58%) PMO
9 1 (0.29%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.29%) NIST 800
System Software
1 31 (9.01%) VMware Infrastructure
2 21 (6.10%) VMware NSX
3 19 (5.52%) Docker
4 13 (3.78%) Active Directory
4 13 (3.78%) Oracle RAC
5 12 (3.49%) vSphere
6 11 (3.20%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (2.62%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (1.45%) Postfix
9 3 (0.87%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.87%) NFS
9 3 (0.87%) Sendmail
9 3 (0.87%) Varnish
10 2 (0.58%) Dovecot
10 2 (0.58%) ISA Server
11 1 (0.29%) GPFS
11 1 (0.29%) Lustre
11 1 (0.29%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 55 (15.99%) Kubernetes
2 48 (13.95%) Ansible
3 13 (3.78%) Data Guard
3 13 (3.78%) Grafana
3 13 (3.78%) Oracle RMAN
4 12 (3.49%) Prometheus
5 10 (2.91%) vCenter Server
6 9 (2.62%) Istio
7 7 (2.03%) Packer
8 5 (1.45%) HAProxy
8 5 (1.45%) VxRail
9 4 (1.16%) systemd
10 3 (0.87%) CASB
10 3 (0.87%) Check_MK
10 3 (0.87%) Kubeflow
11 2 (0.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 2 (0.58%) Argo
11 2 (0.58%) Single Sign-On
12 1 (0.29%) AirWatch
12 1 (0.29%) vMotion
Vendors
1 78 (22.67%) SAP
2 66 (19.19%) Microsoft
3 46 (13.37%) Oracle
4 40 (11.63%) VMware
5 34 (9.88%) Google
6 21 (6.10%) Cisco
7 13 (3.78%) F5
8 12 (3.49%) Ariba
8 12 (3.49%) Juniper
9 10 (2.91%) Splunk
10 7 (2.03%) Fortinet
10 7 (2.03%) Red Hat
11 5 (1.45%) Citrix
11 5 (1.45%) Concur
11 5 (1.45%) CyberArk
11 5 (1.45%) ServiceNow
12 4 (1.16%) Broadcom
12 4 (1.16%) Dynatrace
12 4 (1.16%) MikroTik
12 4 (1.16%) Mistral