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 12 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 309 316 305
Rank change year-on-year +7 -11 -64
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 378 222 322
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.76% 0.75% 0.74%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.33% 2.20% 2.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 239 141 219
10th Percentile £400 £405 £450
25th Percentile £500 £500 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £590 £600 £590
Median % change year-on-year -1.67% +1.69% -7.45%
75th Percentile £675 £694 £750
90th Percentile £725 £763 £838
UK excluding London median daily rate £595 £544 £600
% change year-on-year +9.48% -9.42% -3.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 2 2
10th Percentile - £45.25 £38.28
25th Percentile £71.25 £49.38 £40.56
Median hourly rate £72.50 £57.50 £46.25
Median % change year-on-year +26.09% +24.32% -40.71%
75th Percentile £73.75 £64.38 £52.06
90th Percentile - £67.75 £54.43
UK excluding London median hourly rate - £70.00 £38.50
% change year-on-year - +81.82% -50.64%

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 16,215 10,108 13,093
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.44% 34.34% 30.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,966 6,359 8,357
10th Percentile £315 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.50% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £630 £650 £660
90th Percentile £750 £775 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £497 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +4.66% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 813 432 938
10th Percentile £16.00 £15.84 £12.25
25th Percentile £20.89 £19.97 £15.28
Median hourly rate £41.94 £33.05 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +26.90% -5.57% +57.30%
75th Percentile £70.00 £62.24 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.48 £82.48 £71.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £32.05 £35.00
% change year-on-year +37.16% -8.43% +60.00%

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 12 June 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 12 June 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 +4 311 £600 -3.23% 62
UK excluding London +38 206 £595 +9.48% 43
London -67 109 £600 -10.28% 23
Work from Home -1 100 £610 +9.66% 37
North of England -23 66 £550 +2.42% 16
South East -31 56 £583 -2.92% 12
Midlands -31 39 £613 +14.06% 2
North West -9 34 £350 -34.82% 7
Yorkshire -27 30 £576 +19.67% 6
South West +3 29 £675 +22.73% 10
East Midlands 0 27 £625 +31.58%
Scotland -17 12 £425 -15.00% 2
West Midlands -52 8 £450 -22.58% 2
East of England -25 3 £593 +3.04%
North East -32 3 £650 - 4
Northern Ireland - 2 £385 -
Wales -18 1 - - 1

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 10 (2.65%) Confluence
2 9 (2.38%) Apache
3 5 (1.32%) Apache Airflow
3 5 (1.32%) SAS
3 5 (1.32%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.53%) CloudStack
4 2 (0.53%) IIS
4 2 (0.53%) nginx
4 2 (0.53%) OpenStack
4 2 (0.53%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 2 (0.53%) Palantir Foundry
4 2 (0.53%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.26%) WebLogic
Applications
1 6 (1.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.06%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.06%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.53%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.26%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.26%) Weka
Business Applications
1 86 (22.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.85%) Oracle ERP
3 6 (1.59%) SAP Business One
4 5 (1.32%) SAP ERP
4 5 (1.32%) SAP FI
5 4 (1.06%) iTrent
5 4 (1.06%) SAP CO
5 4 (1.06%) SAP FI/CO
6 2 (0.53%) SAP FI-GL
6 2 (0.53%) SAP SD
7 1 (0.26%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.26%) Oracle SCM
7 1 (0.26%) SAP FI-AR
Cloud Services
1 160 (42.33%) Azure
2 112 (29.63%) AWS
3 92 (24.34%) GCP
4 39 (10.32%) GitHub
5 24 (6.35%) SuccessFactors
6 23 (6.08%) Google Kubernetes Engine
7 21 (5.56%) PaaS
8 20 (5.29%) IaaS
9 19 (5.03%) GitHub Actions
10 17 (4.50%) OCI
11 15 (3.97%) Serverless
12 13 (3.44%) SaaS
13 11 (2.91%) Azure DevOps
14 10 (2.65%) AWS CloudFormation
15 9 (2.38%) Cloud Computing
15 9 (2.38%) Power Platform
16 8 (2.12%) Microsoft 365
17 7 (1.85%) OpenShift
18 6 (1.59%) Amazon EKS
18 6 (1.59%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 35 (9.26%) DNS
2 31 (8.20%) Firewall
3 24 (6.35%) Network Security
4 17 (4.50%) VPN
5 10 (2.65%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 10 (2.65%) LAN
5 10 (2.65%) WAN
6 7 (1.85%) SAN
6 7 (1.85%) TCP/IP
7 6 (1.59%) NAS
7 6 (1.59%) VSAN
8 5 (1.32%) Kerberos
8 5 (1.32%) Wireless
9 4 (1.06%) DHCP
10 3 (0.79%) BIG-IP
10 3 (0.79%) MPLS
10 3 (0.79%) NetScaler
10 3 (0.79%) SD-WAN
11 2 (0.53%) BGP
11 2 (0.53%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.91%) Oracle Database
2 8 (2.12%) Power BI
3 6 (1.59%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (1.59%) Oracle Exadata
3 6 (1.59%) Relational Database
3 6 (1.59%) SQL Server
4 5 (1.32%) BigQuery
4 5 (1.32%) RDBMS
5 4 (1.06%) BusinessObjects
6 3 (0.79%) Data Vault
6 3 (0.79%) Delta Lake
6 3 (0.79%) MySQL
7 2 (0.53%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.53%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.53%) Oracle Reports
7 2 (0.53%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.26%) Apache Cassandra
8 1 (0.26%) MongoDB
8 1 (0.26%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.26%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 36 (9.52%) Jenkins
2 23 (6.08%) Git
3 19 (5.03%) GitLab
3 19 (5.03%) JIRA
4 9 (2.38%) Postman
5 7 (1.85%) SoapUI
6 4 (1.06%) Cucumber
6 4 (1.06%) Hudson
6 4 (1.06%) TeamCity
7 3 (0.79%) JUnit
7 3 (0.79%) Liquibase
8 2 (0.53%) Selenium
8 2 (0.53%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.53%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.26%) LSMW
9 1 (0.26%) Maven
9 1 (0.26%) MSI
9 1 (0.26%) PVCS
9 1 (0.26%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.26%) Snyk
General
1 110 (29.10%) Finance
2 64 (16.93%) Social Skills
3 52 (13.76%) Public Sector
4 34 (8.99%) Banking
5 20 (5.29%) Local Government
6 13 (3.44%) Analytical Skills
6 13 (3.44%) General Ledger
7 11 (2.91%) Influencing Skills
8 7 (1.85%) Financial Institution
9 6 (1.59%) Investment Banking
9 6 (1.59%) Military
10 4 (1.06%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.79%) Retail
12 2 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.53%) Manufacturing
12 2 (0.53%) Telecoms
13 1 (0.26%) Corporate Banking
13 1 (0.26%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.26%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 94 (24.87%) Architect
2 50 (13.23%) Lead
3 48 (12.70%) Senior
4 37 (9.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 32 (8.47%) Solutions Architect
6 28 (7.41%) Cloud Engineer
7 25 (6.61%) GCP Engineer
8 21 (5.56%) Azure Specialist
9 20 (5.29%) DevOps Engineer
9 20 (5.29%) Technical Architect
10 17 (4.50%) Consultant
11 16 (4.23%) Cloud Architect
12 13 (3.44%) Developer
12 13 (3.44%) SAP Architect
13 12 (3.17%) Analyst
13 12 (3.17%) Azure Architect
13 12 (3.17%) Azure Engineer
13 12 (3.17%) SAP Consultant
14 11 (2.91%) Infrastructure Architect
14 11 (2.91%) SAP Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (5.56%) Middleware
2 19 (5.03%) REST
3 12 (3.17%) OAuth
3 12 (3.17%) Spring Boot
4 11 (2.91%) Kafka
5 10 (2.65%) Oracle Fusion
6 9 (2.38%) JSON
6 9 (2.38%) SOAP
7 8 (2.12%) JWT
7 8 (2.12%) Web Services
8 7 (1.85%) XML
8 7 (1.85%) XSLT
9 6 (1.59%) Elastic Stack
9 6 (1.59%) NumPy
9 6 (1.59%) Pandas
9 6 (1.59%) Spring
10 5 (1.32%) React
11 4 (1.06%) Oracle GoldenGate
11 4 (1.06%) SAP Fiori
11 4 (1.06%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 48 (12.70%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.03%) Data Centre
3 18 (4.76%) Hybrid Cloud
4 17 (4.50%) Private Cloud
5 8 (2.12%) PKI
6 7 (1.85%) Data Structures
6 7 (1.85%) Legacy Systems
6 7 (1.85%) Onboarding
7 6 (1.59%) Legacy Applications
7 6 (1.59%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.59%) Virtual Team
8 3 (0.79%) AI Agents
8 3 (0.79%) Data Protection Act
8 3 (0.79%) Greenfield Project
8 3 (0.79%) Management Information System
8 3 (0.79%) Reinsurance
8 3 (0.79%) Self-Motivation
9 2 (0.53%) Cloud Security Posture
9 2 (0.53%) Distributed Systems
9 2 (0.53%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 50 (13.23%) Linux
2 29 (7.67%) Windows
3 11 (2.91%) Unix
4 10 (2.65%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 7 (1.85%) Windows Server 2019
6 6 (1.59%) Ubuntu
7 5 (1.32%) VMS
8 4 (1.06%) AIX
8 4 (1.06%) Debian
8 4 (1.06%) Windows Server 2012
9 3 (0.79%) CentOS
9 3 (0.79%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (28.31%) DevOps
2 95 (25.13%) CI/CD
3 93 (24.60%) Infrastructure as Code
4 90 (23.81%) Migration
5 56 (14.81%) Stakeholder Management
6 55 (14.55%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 54 (14.29%) Agile
8 40 (10.58%) Analytics
9 39 (10.32%) Containerisation
10 38 (10.05%) ERP
11 36 (9.52%) Microservices
11 36 (9.52%) User Acceptance Testing
12 31 (8.20%) Cloud Security
12 31 (8.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 29 (7.67%) Data Migration
14 27 (7.14%) Identity Access Management
14 27 (7.14%) Project Delivery
14 27 (7.14%) Validation
15 26 (6.88%) Problem-Solving
16 25 (6.61%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 70 (18.52%) Python
2 23 (6.08%) Java
3 21 (5.56%) PowerShell
4 20 (5.29%) SQL
5 13 (3.44%) Bash
6 8 (2.12%) Bicep
7 6 (1.59%) Go
7 6 (1.59%) Shell Script
8 5 (1.32%) Ruby
9 4 (1.06%) JavaScript
9 4 (1.06%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.79%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.53%) C++
11 2 (0.53%) Perl
12 1 (0.26%) C#
12 1 (0.26%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.26%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 88 (23.28%) Security Cleared
2 73 (19.31%) SC Cleared
3 24 (6.35%) Cisco Certification
4 18 (4.76%) DV Cleared
5 14 (3.70%) Degree
6 12 (3.17%) CCNP
7 10 (2.65%) CISSP
8 9 (2.38%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 9 (2.38%) AWS Certification
8 9 (2.38%) SAP Certification
9 8 (2.12%) Azure Certification
9 8 (2.12%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.85%) ACCA
10 7 (1.85%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 7 (1.85%) CIMA
10 7 (1.85%) CISM
10 7 (1.85%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 6 (1.59%) ISTQB
12 5 (1.32%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
12 5 (1.32%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (3.97%) NIST
2 14 (3.70%) NCSC
3 12 (3.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (2.65%) GDPR
5 8 (2.12%) QA
6 5 (1.32%) Cyber Essentials
6 5 (1.32%) Data Quality
6 5 (1.32%) GRC
7 4 (1.06%) SLA
8 2 (0.53%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.53%) ISO 15022
8 2 (0.53%) ISO 20022
8 2 (0.53%) PMO
9 1 (0.26%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.26%) COBIT
9 1 (0.26%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.26%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.26%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.26%) RMADS
System Software
1 27 (7.14%) Docker
2 26 (6.88%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (3.44%) Active Directory
4 12 (3.17%) Hyper-V
4 12 (3.17%) VMware NSX
5 7 (1.85%) Oracle RAC
5 7 (1.85%) Postfix
6 5 (1.32%) NFS
6 5 (1.32%) Varnish
6 5 (1.32%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (1.32%) vSphere
7 4 (1.06%) Sendmail
7 4 (1.06%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.79%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.53%) Dovecot
10 1 (0.26%) Firmware
10 1 (0.26%) GPFS
10 1 (0.26%) Lustre
10 1 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
10 1 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 83 (21.96%) Terraform
2 62 (16.40%) Kubernetes
3 38 (10.05%) Ansible
4 20 (5.29%) Istio
5 11 (2.91%) Prometheus
6 9 (2.38%) Grafana
6 9 (2.38%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (1.85%) Data Guard
7 7 (1.85%) HAProxy
7 7 (1.85%) Oracle RMAN
8 5 (1.32%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 5 (1.32%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (1.06%) Argo
9 4 (1.06%) Kubeflow
9 4 (1.06%) Packer
10 3 (0.79%) SCCM
10 3 (0.79%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.53%) Check_MK
11 2 (0.53%) Puppet
11 2 (0.53%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 96 (25.40%) SAP
2 53 (14.02%) Google
3 50 (13.23%) Microsoft
4 39 (10.32%) Oracle
5 38 (10.05%) VMware
6 17 (4.50%) F5
7 15 (3.97%) Ariba
8 12 (3.17%) Red Hat
9 10 (2.65%) Cisco
10 9 (2.38%) ServiceNow
11 7 (1.85%) MuleSoft
12 6 (1.59%) Splunk
13 5 (1.32%) Citrix
13 5 (1.32%) Databricks
13 5 (1.32%) Palo Alto
13 5 (1.32%) Veeam
14 4 (1.06%) Fortinet
14 4 (1.06%) Juniper
15 3 (0.79%) Commvault
15 3 (0.79%) Foundry