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

6 months to
27 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 368 360 255
Rank change year-on-year -8 -105 +13
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 345 213 353
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.64% 0.92%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.85% 1.80% 3.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 236 133 210
10th Percentile £431 £366 £418
25th Percentile £513 £447 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £537 £566
Median % change year-on-year +11.73% -5.12% -5.67%
75th Percentile £688 £688 £675
90th Percentile £786 £773 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £515 £560
% change year-on-year +16.50% -8.04% -6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 2
10th Percentile - - £52.60
25th Percentile - £42.50 £53.50
Median hourly rate - £45.00 £56.00
Median % change year-on-year - -19.64% -28.21%
75th Percentile - £47.50 £57.50
90th Percentile - - £57.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate - - £58.00
% change year-on-year - - -25.64%

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 18,663 11,816 11,703
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.15% 35.76% 30.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,170 7,233 7,072
10th Percentile £320 £293 £284
25th Percentile £425 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £519 £538
Median % change year-on-year +1.25% -3.53% -2.27%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £672
90th Percentile £750 £750 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,235 601 445
10th Percentile £14.02 £15.00 £15.22
25th Percentile £17.85 £18.87 £22.50
Median hourly rate £37.50 £29.33 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +27.86% -41.34% +12.36%
75th Percentile £67.50 £52.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.25 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.25 £30.00 £57.35
% change year-on-year +27.50% -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 27 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 27 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 +2 281 £600 +1.27% 362
UK excluding London -27 191 £600 +16.50% 207
Work from Home -7 95 £610 +14.88% 152
London -51 95 £650 +0.46% 225
North of England -25 85 £569 +26.39% 46
Yorkshire -19 53 £550 +22.22% 15
South East -36 41 £575 -16.36% 33
North West -41 27 £625 +38.89% 24
Midlands -30 23 £600 +11.73% 16
South West -21 17 £675 +12.50% 30
Scotland -43 16 £530 +6.00% 48
West Midlands -40 11 £625 -0.04% 8
East Midlands -15 10 £588 +16.11% 8
North East -29 9 £602 - 7
East of England -18 8 £593 -28.18% 10
Wales -14 1 - - 3
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 22

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 (2.32%) Apache
2 6 (1.74%) IIS
2 6 (1.74%) OpenStack
3 3 (0.87%) CloudStack
3 3 (0.87%) Confluence
3 3 (0.87%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 2 (0.58%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.58%) nginx
4 2 (0.58%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.58%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 12 (3.48%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (2.90%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (2.03%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.58%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.58%) Houdini
5 2 (0.58%) NUKE
5 2 (0.58%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.29%) Weka
Business Applications
1 60 (17.39%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (2.03%) SAP SD
3 6 (1.74%) SAP Business One
4 4 (1.16%) iTrent
4 4 (1.16%) SAP ERP
5 3 (0.87%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.58%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.58%) 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
1 149 (43.19%) AWS
2 147 (42.61%) Azure
3 81 (23.48%) GCP
4 28 (8.12%) GitHub
5 21 (6.09%) IaaS
5 21 (6.09%) SaaS
6 19 (5.51%) OCI
7 16 (4.64%) OpenShift
8 15 (4.35%) GitHub Actions
9 14 (4.06%) PaaS
10 13 (3.77%) Entra ID
11 12 (3.48%) Azure DevOps
11 12 (3.48%) SuccessFactors
12 10 (2.90%) Amazon EKS
12 10 (2.90%) AWS CloudFormation
12 10 (2.90%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 9 (2.61%) Serverless
14 7 (2.03%) Azure Sentinel
14 7 (2.03%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 6 (1.74%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 38 (11.01%) Firewall
2 29 (8.41%) DNS
3 19 (5.51%) Network Security
4 17 (4.93%) TCP/IP
5 14 (4.06%) VSAN
6 11 (3.19%) DHCP
7 10 (2.90%) VPN
8 9 (2.61%) BIG-IP
8 9 (2.61%) WAN
9 8 (2.32%) BGP
9 8 (2.32%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 8 (2.32%) LAN
10 7 (2.03%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 7 (2.03%) SAN
11 6 (1.74%) NAS
12 5 (1.45%) Wi-Fi
13 4 (1.16%) MPLS
13 4 (1.16%) SNMP
13 4 (1.16%) TACACS
13 4 (1.16%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.06%) Oracle Database
2 13 (3.77%) RDBMS
2 13 (3.77%) Relational Database
3 12 (3.48%) Oracle Exadata
4 8 (2.32%) MySQL
5 6 (1.74%) SQL Server
6 4 (1.16%) BusinessObjects
6 4 (1.16%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (1.16%) SAP HANA
7 3 (0.87%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.58%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.58%) Metadata
8 2 (0.58%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.58%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.58%) Power BI
9 1 (0.29%) Data Lake
9 1 (0.29%) Power Query
9 1 (0.29%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 39 (11.30%) Git
2 25 (7.25%) Jenkins
3 16 (4.64%) GitLab
4 10 (2.90%) JIRA
5 8 (2.32%) JUnit
6 6 (1.74%) SonarQube
6 6 (1.74%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (1.16%) Hudson
8 3 (0.87%) Cucumber
8 3 (0.87%) Maven
8 3 (0.87%) Postman
8 3 (0.87%) Selenium
9 1 (0.29%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.29%) Liquibase
9 1 (0.29%) PVCS
General
1 99 (28.70%) Finance
2 68 (19.71%) Social Skills
3 34 (9.86%) Public Sector
4 24 (6.96%) Banking
5 18 (5.22%) Analytical Skills
6 10 (2.90%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (2.61%) General Ledger
8 7 (2.03%) Billing
8 7 (2.03%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (2.03%) Military
8 7 (2.03%) Presentation Skills
9 5 (1.45%) Local Government
9 5 (1.45%) Retail
9 5 (1.45%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.16%) Automotive
10 4 (1.16%) Manufacturing
10 4 (1.16%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.87%) Legal
11 3 (0.87%) Police
Job Titles
1 91 (26.38%) Architect
2 56 (16.23%) Senior
3 38 (11.01%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 35 (10.14%) Lead
5 34 (9.86%) Solutions Architect
6 26 (7.54%) DevOps Engineer
7 24 (6.96%) Technical Architect
8 21 (6.09%) Developer
9 20 (5.80%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 18 (5.22%) Cloud Architect
10 18 (5.22%) Consultant
11 15 (4.35%) Cloud Engineer
11 15 (4.35%) Python Developer
12 14 (4.06%) Analyst
12 14 (4.06%) Azure Specialist
13 13 (3.77%) Azure Engineer
13 13 (3.77%) Platform Engineer
14 12 (3.48%) Network Engineer
14 12 (3.48%) SAP Consultant
15 11 (3.19%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 88 (25.51%) Terraform
2 19 (5.51%) Kafka
3 16 (4.64%) Spring Boot
4 12 (3.48%) Oracle GoldenGate
4 12 (3.48%) Spring
5 10 (2.90%) SAP Fiori
6 9 (2.61%) REST
7 7 (2.03%) Web Services
8 6 (1.74%) Elastic Stack
9 5 (1.45%) .NET
9 5 (1.45%) Middleware
9 5 (1.45%) OAuth
9 5 (1.45%) OpenID
9 5 (1.45%) Pandas
9 5 (1.45%) React
10 4 (1.16%) 802.1X
10 4 (1.16%) JSON
10 4 (1.16%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (1.16%) SOAP
10 4 (1.16%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 57 (16.52%) Cloud Native
2 46 (13.33%) Data Centre
3 38 (11.01%) Hybrid Cloud
4 29 (8.41%) Private Cloud
5 15 (4.35%) PKI
6 12 (3.48%) Management Information System
7 11 (3.19%) Onboarding
8 10 (2.90%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (2.32%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (2.32%) Security Posture
10 7 (2.03%) AI Agents
10 7 (2.03%) Enterprise Cloud
10 7 (2.03%) Legacy Applications
11 6 (1.74%) Data Structures
11 6 (1.74%) Distributed Systems
11 6 (1.74%) Linux Command Line
11 6 (1.74%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (1.16%) Embedded Systems
12 4 (1.16%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 65 (18.84%) Linux
2 34 (9.86%) Windows
3 12 (3.48%) AIX
3 12 (3.48%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.19%) Unix
5 9 (2.61%) Ubuntu
6 4 (1.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.16%) VMS
7 3 (0.87%) Debian
8 2 (0.58%) CentOS
9 1 (0.29%) Android
9 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.29%) Rocky
9 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (28.41%) Infrastructure as Code
2 97 (28.12%) CI/CD
2 97 (28.12%) Migration
3 78 (22.61%) DevOps
4 68 (19.71%) Agile
5 65 (18.84%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 52 (15.07%) Stakeholder Management
7 41 (11.88%) Microservices
8 39 (11.30%) Data Migration
9 38 (11.01%) Cloud Security
10 35 (10.14%) Problem-Solving
11 32 (9.28%) Roadmaps
12 31 (8.99%) Architectural Patterns
12 31 (8.99%) Containerisation
12 31 (8.99%) Event-Driven
13 30 (8.70%) Identity Access Management
13 30 (8.70%) Technical Leadership
14 29 (8.41%) ERP
14 29 (8.41%) Infrastructure Automation
14 29 (8.41%) Security Architecture
Programming Languages
1 83 (24.06%) Python
2 33 (9.57%) Java
3 28 (8.12%) PowerShell
4 26 (7.54%) Bash
5 12 (3.48%) SQL
6 10 (2.90%) Bicep
7 9 (2.61%) JavaScript
8 8 (2.32%) Shell Script
9 7 (2.03%) ActionScript
9 7 (2.03%) Go
10 5 (1.45%) Groovy
10 5 (1.45%) Ruby
11 4 (1.16%) ABAP
12 3 (0.87%) Perl
13 1 (0.29%) C++
13 1 (0.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.29%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.29%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 93 (26.96%) Security Cleared
2 77 (22.32%) SC Cleared
3 28 (8.12%) Cisco Certification
4 25 (7.25%) DV Cleared
5 19 (5.51%) AWS Certification
6 17 (4.93%) Degree
7 15 (4.35%) CISSP
8 12 (3.48%) VCAP
8 12 (3.48%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 11 (3.19%) Azure Certification
9 11 (3.19%) CCNP
10 10 (2.90%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 10 (2.90%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (2.61%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 9 (2.61%) CISM
12 7 (2.03%) ACCA
12 7 (2.03%) CCSP
12 7 (2.03%) CIMA
13 6 (1.74%) CREST Certified
14 5 (1.45%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (4.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 14 (4.06%) NIST
2 8 (2.32%) GDPR
2 8 (2.32%) NCSC
3 5 (1.45%) Data Quality
3 5 (1.45%) ISO 20022
3 5 (1.45%) PCI DSS
4 4 (1.16%) GRC
4 4 (1.16%) ISO 15022
4 4 (1.16%) ISO 31000
4 4 (1.16%) ISO 9001
4 4 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 27005
5 3 (0.87%) Government Security Classifications
5 3 (0.87%) HMG Security Policy Framework
6 2 (0.58%) Accessibility
6 2 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
7 1 (0.29%) ISO 22301
7 1 (0.29%) NIST 800
7 1 (0.29%) PMO
System Software
1 28 (8.12%) VMware Infrastructure
2 21 (6.09%) Docker
3 18 (5.22%) VMware NSX
4 15 (4.35%) Active Directory
5 13 (3.77%) Oracle RAC
6 12 (3.48%) vSphere
7 11 (3.19%) VMware ESXi
8 9 (2.61%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (1.45%) Postfix
10 4 (1.16%) ISA Server
11 3 (0.87%) NFS
11 3 (0.87%) Sendmail
11 3 (0.87%) Varnish
12 2 (0.58%) Dovecot
12 2 (0.58%) Hyper-V
12 2 (0.58%) Virtual Desktop
13 1 (0.29%) GPFS
13 1 (0.29%) Lustre
13 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 63 (18.26%) Kubernetes
2 51 (14.78%) Ansible
3 14 (4.06%) Grafana
4 13 (3.77%) Data Guard
4 13 (3.77%) Oracle RMAN
4 13 (3.77%) Prometheus
5 11 (3.19%) vCenter Server
6 7 (2.03%) Istio
6 7 (2.03%) Packer
7 5 (1.45%) CASB
7 5 (1.45%) HAProxy
7 5 (1.45%) VxRail
8 4 (1.16%) Puppet
8 4 (1.16%) systemd
9 3 (0.87%) Check_MK
10 2 (0.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 2 (0.58%) Argo
10 2 (0.58%) Kubeflow
10 2 (0.58%) Progress Chef
11 1 (0.29%) Cilium
Vendors
1 73 (21.16%) SAP
2 71 (20.58%) Microsoft
3 43 (12.46%) Google
3 43 (12.46%) Oracle
4 36 (10.43%) VMware
5 21 (6.09%) Cisco
6 18 (5.22%) F5
7 13 (3.77%) Splunk
8 11 (3.19%) Juniper
9 8 (2.32%) Ariba
9 8 (2.32%) CyberArk
9 8 (2.32%) Fortinet
10 7 (2.03%) Dynatrace
10 7 (2.03%) Red Hat
10 7 (2.03%) ServiceNow
11 6 (1.74%) Commvault
12 5 (1.45%) Concur
12 5 (1.45%) IBM
13 4 (1.16%) Centrify
13 4 (1.16%) MikroTik