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

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 364 349 261
Rank change year-on-year -15 -88 +10
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 346 213 351
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.65% 0.92%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.85% 1.81% 3.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 237 133 212
10th Percentile £433 £366 £418
25th Percentile £513 £447 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £537 £565
Median % change year-on-year +11.73% -4.96% -5.83%
75th Percentile £688 £688 £678
90th Percentile £786 £773 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £508 £560
% change year-on-year +18.23% -9.38% -6.67%
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 18,700 11,779 11,620
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.06% 35.73% 30.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,201 7,202 7,053
10th Percentile £320 £294 £294
25th Percentile £425 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £538
Median % change year-on-year +1.92% -4.26% -2.18%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
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 1,224 596 449
10th Percentile £14.01 £15.06 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.99 £18.87 £22.40
Median hourly rate £37.50 £29.17 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +28.56% -41.66% +12.36%
75th Percentile £67.84 £52.13 £70.00
90th Percentile £81.95 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £29.33 £57.35
% change year-on-year +32.02% -48.86% +14.70%

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 24 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 24 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 -10 282 £600 +1.27% 464
UK excluding London -28 192 £600 +18.23% 258
Work from Home -22 96 £610 +14.88% 180
London -58 95 £650 +0.23% 298
North of England -25 83 £575 +27.78% 53
Yorkshire -9 52 £550 +22.22% 17
South East -30 44 £589 -14.31% 45
North West -41 26 £625 +38.89% 30
Midlands -39 23 £600 +11.73% 23
South West -26 17 £675 +10.20% 37
Scotland -43 16 £530 +6.00% 60
West Midlands -39 11 £625 -0.04% 14
East Midlands -18 10 £588 +16.11% 9
North East -36 9 £602 - 6
East of England -28 8 £593 -28.18% 9
Wales -13 1 - - 2
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 29

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 (2.31%) Apache
2 6 (1.73%) IIS
2 6 (1.73%) OpenStack
3 3 (0.87%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (0.87%) CloudStack
3 3 (0.87%) Confluence
3 3 (0.87%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 2 (0.58%) nginx
4 2 (0.58%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.58%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 11 (3.18%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (2.89%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (2.02%) 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 61 (17.63%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (2.02%) SAP SD
3 6 (1.73%) 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 (43.06%) AWS
2 147 (42.49%) Azure
3 81 (23.41%) GCP
4 28 (8.09%) GitHub
5 21 (6.07%) IaaS
5 21 (6.07%) SaaS
6 19 (5.49%) OCI
7 16 (4.62%) OpenShift
8 14 (4.05%) GitHub Actions
8 14 (4.05%) PaaS
9 13 (3.76%) Entra ID
9 13 (3.76%) SuccessFactors
10 12 (3.47%) Azure DevOps
11 11 (3.18%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 10 (2.89%) Amazon EKS
12 10 (2.89%) AWS CloudFormation
13 8 (2.31%) Serverless
14 7 (2.02%) Azure Sentinel
14 7 (2.02%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 6 (1.73%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 37 (10.69%) Firewall
2 29 (8.38%) DNS
3 19 (5.49%) Network Security
4 17 (4.91%) TCP/IP
5 14 (4.05%) VSAN
6 11 (3.18%) DHCP
7 10 (2.89%) VPN
8 9 (2.60%) BIG-IP
8 9 (2.60%) WAN
9 8 (2.31%) BGP
9 8 (2.31%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 8 (2.31%) LAN
10 7 (2.02%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 7 (2.02%) SAN
11 6 (1.73%) NAS
12 5 (1.45%) Wi-Fi
13 4 (1.16%) HTTPS
13 4 (1.16%) SNMP
13 4 (1.16%) TACACS
13 4 (1.16%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.05%) Oracle Database
2 13 (3.76%) RDBMS
2 13 (3.76%) Relational Database
3 12 (3.47%) Oracle Exadata
4 8 (2.31%) MySQL
5 5 (1.45%) SQL Server
6 4 (1.16%) BusinessObjects
6 4 (1.16%) SAP HANA
7 3 (0.87%) BigQuery
7 3 (0.87%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.87%) Oracle Reports
8 2 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.58%) Metadata
8 2 (0.58%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.58%) Power BI
9 1 (0.29%) Big Data
9 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.29%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 39 (11.27%) Git
2 25 (7.23%) Jenkins
3 15 (4.34%) GitLab
4 10 (2.89%) JIRA
5 8 (2.31%) JUnit
6 6 (1.73%) SonarQube
6 6 (1.73%) 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%) PVCS
General
1 99 (28.61%) Finance
2 66 (19.08%) Social Skills
3 33 (9.54%) Public Sector
4 24 (6.94%) Banking
5 18 (5.20%) Analytical Skills
6 11 (3.18%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (2.60%) General Ledger
8 7 (2.02%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (2.02%) Military
8 7 (2.02%) Presentation Skills
9 6 (1.73%) Billing
10 5 (1.45%) Local Government
10 5 (1.45%) Retail
10 5 (1.45%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.16%) Automotive
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 94 (27.17%) Architect
2 57 (16.47%) Senior
3 40 (11.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 37 (10.69%) Lead
5 35 (10.12%) Solutions Architect
6 25 (7.23%) Technical Architect
7 24 (6.94%) DevOps Engineer
8 21 (6.07%) Developer
9 20 (5.78%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 19 (5.49%) Cloud Architect
11 18 (5.20%) Consultant
12 16 (4.62%) Cloud Engineer
13 15 (4.34%) Python Developer
14 14 (4.05%) Azure Specialist
15 13 (3.76%) Analyst
15 13 (3.76%) Azure Engineer
16 12 (3.47%) Network Engineer
16 12 (3.47%) Platform Engineer
16 12 (3.47%) SAP Consultant
17 11 (3.18%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 88 (25.43%) Terraform
2 19 (5.49%) Kafka
3 16 (4.62%) Spring Boot
4 12 (3.47%) Oracle GoldenGate
4 12 (3.47%) Spring
5 10 (2.89%) SAP Fiori
6 9 (2.60%) REST
7 7 (2.02%) Web Services
8 5 (1.45%) .NET
8 5 (1.45%) Elastic Stack
8 5 (1.45%) Middleware
8 5 (1.45%) NumPy
8 5 (1.45%) OAuth
8 5 (1.45%) OpenID
8 5 (1.45%) Pandas
8 5 (1.45%) React
9 4 (1.16%) 802.1X
9 4 (1.16%) NETCONF
9 4 (1.16%) RESTCONF
9 4 (1.16%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 55 (15.90%) Cloud Native
2 47 (13.58%) Data Centre
3 37 (10.69%) Hybrid Cloud
4 29 (8.38%) Private Cloud
5 16 (4.62%) PKI
6 12 (3.47%) Management Information System
6 12 (3.47%) Onboarding
7 10 (2.89%) Legacy Systems
8 8 (2.31%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (2.02%) AI Agents
9 7 (2.02%) Legacy Applications
9 7 (2.02%) Security Posture
10 6 (1.73%) Enterprise Cloud
10 6 (1.73%) Linux Command Line
10 6 (1.73%) Self-Motivation
11 5 (1.45%) Data Structures
11 5 (1.45%) Distributed Systems
12 4 (1.16%) Mobile Payment
12 4 (1.16%) Robotics
12 4 (1.16%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 64 (18.50%) Linux
2 34 (9.83%) Windows
3 12 (3.47%) AIX
4 11 (3.18%) Unix
4 11 (3.18%) Windows Server
5 9 (2.60%) Ubuntu
6 4 (1.16%) Debian
6 4 (1.16%) VMS
7 3 (0.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.58%) CentOS
9 1 (0.29%) Android
9 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (28.32%) Infrastructure as Code
2 97 (28.03%) Migration
3 96 (27.75%) CI/CD
4 79 (22.83%) DevOps
5 67 (19.36%) Agile
6 65 (18.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 52 (15.03%) Stakeholder Management
8 42 (12.14%) Microservices
9 39 (11.27%) Data Migration
10 36 (10.40%) Cloud Security
11 33 (9.54%) Problem-Solving
11 33 (9.54%) Roadmaps
12 32 (9.25%) Architectural Patterns
13 31 (8.96%) Event-Driven
14 30 (8.67%) Identity Access Management
14 30 (8.67%) Technical Leadership
15 29 (8.38%) ERP
15 29 (8.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 28 (8.09%) Infrastructure Automation
16 28 (8.09%) Security Architecture
Programming Languages
1 83 (23.99%) Python
2 33 (9.54%) Java
3 28 (8.09%) PowerShell
4 25 (7.23%) Bash
5 11 (3.18%) Bicep
5 11 (3.18%) SQL
6 9 (2.60%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.31%) Shell Script
8 7 (2.02%) ActionScript
9 6 (1.73%) Go
10 5 (1.45%) Groovy
11 4 (1.16%) ABAP
11 4 (1.16%) Ruby
12 3 (0.87%) Perl
13 1 (0.29%) C++
13 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.29%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 93 (26.88%) Security Cleared
2 77 (22.25%) SC Cleared
3 29 (8.38%) Cisco Certification
4 27 (7.80%) DV Cleared
5 18 (5.20%) AWS Certification
6 17 (4.91%) Degree
7 15 (4.34%) CISSP
8 12 (3.47%) CCNP
8 12 (3.47%) VCAP
8 12 (3.47%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 11 (3.18%) Azure Certification
10 10 (2.89%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 10 (2.89%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (2.60%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 9 (2.60%) CISM
12 7 (2.02%) ACCA
12 7 (2.02%) CCSP
12 7 (2.02%) CIMA
13 5 (1.45%) CREST Certified
13 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (4.34%) NIST
2 14 (4.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 9 (2.60%) NCSC
4 8 (2.31%) GDPR
5 5 (1.45%) Data Quality
5 5 (1.45%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.45%) PCI DSS
6 4 (1.16%) GRC
6 4 (1.16%) ISO 15022
6 4 (1.16%) ISO 31000
6 4 (1.16%) ISO 9001
6 4 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 27005
7 3 (0.87%) Government Security Classifications
7 3 (0.87%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.29%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.29%) QA
9 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 28 (8.09%) VMware Infrastructure
2 20 (5.78%) VMware NSX
3 19 (5.49%) Docker
4 15 (4.34%) Active Directory
5 13 (3.76%) Oracle RAC
6 12 (3.47%) VMware ESXi
6 12 (3.47%) vSphere
7 9 (2.60%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (1.45%) Postfix
9 4 (1.16%) ISA Server
10 3 (0.87%) NFS
10 3 (0.87%) Sendmail
10 3 (0.87%) Varnish
11 2 (0.58%) Dovecot
11 2 (0.58%) 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 61 (17.63%) Kubernetes
2 51 (14.74%) Ansible
3 13 (3.76%) Data Guard
3 13 (3.76%) Grafana
3 13 (3.76%) Oracle RMAN
4 12 (3.47%) Prometheus
5 11 (3.18%) vCenter Server
6 8 (2.31%) Istio
7 7 (2.02%) Packer
8 5 (1.45%) CASB
8 5 (1.45%) HAProxy
8 5 (1.45%) VxRail
9 4 (1.16%) systemd
10 3 (0.87%) Check_MK
10 3 (0.87%) Kubeflow
10 3 (0.87%) Puppet
11 2 (0.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 2 (0.58%) Argo
11 2 (0.58%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.29%) Salt
Vendors
1 72 (20.81%) SAP
2 70 (20.23%) Microsoft
3 45 (13.01%) Google
4 43 (12.43%) Oracle
5 38 (10.98%) VMware
6 21 (6.07%) Cisco
7 18 (5.20%) F5
8 12 (3.47%) Splunk
9 11 (3.18%) Juniper
10 8 (2.31%) Ariba
10 8 (2.31%) CyberArk
10 8 (2.31%) Fortinet
11 7 (2.02%) Dynatrace
11 7 (2.02%) ServiceNow
12 6 (1.73%) Red Hat
13 5 (1.45%) Citrix
13 5 (1.45%) Commvault
13 5 (1.45%) Concur
13 5 (1.45%) IBM
14 4 (1.16%) MikroTik