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

6 months to
21 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 353 356 262
Rank change year-on-year +3 -94 -3
Contract jobs citing Public Cloud 346 206 353
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.65% 0.63% 0.91%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.92% 1.78% 2.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 230 134 225
10th Percentile £425 £358 £444
25th Percentile £513 £437 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £525 £575
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% -8.70% -5.85%
75th Percentile £688 £683 £750
90th Percentile £788 £754 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £610 £500 £598
% change year-on-year +22.00% -16.32% -0.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 1 3
10th Percentile - - £39.80
25th Percentile £71.25 £42.50 £44.38
Median hourly rate £72.50 £45.00 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year +61.11% -16.67% -30.77%
75th Percentile £73.75 £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 18,016 11,546 11,834
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.64% 35.22% 30.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,919 7,102 7,540
10th Percentile £322 £300 £300
25th Percentile £425 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £520 £550
Median % change year-on-year +0.96% -5.45% -
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 1,041 571 585
10th Percentile £14.88 £15.13 £12.30
25th Percentile £19.34 £18.87 £18.27
Median hourly rate £43.50 £30.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +45.00% -33.33% +10.31%
75th Percentile £68.75 £57.50 £67.50
90th Percentile £85.00 £76.25 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year +46.53% -36.84% +11.76%

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 August 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 August 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 -2 284 £610 +1.67% 62
UK excluding London -10 195 £610 +22.00% 50
Work from Home -11 104 £616 +20.78% 22
London -68 94 £615 -4.95% 18
North of England -43 69 £575 +27.78% 17
South East -29 50 £590 -14.18% 12
Yorkshire -19 41 £550 +36.82% 5
Midlands -23 34 £638 +18.72% 8
North West -34 24 £613 +36.11% 7
South West -29 22 £675 +10.20% 10
East Midlands -3 20 £638 +34.21% 1
Scotland -35 13 £530 +6.00% 1
West Midlands -44 10 £562 -8.20% 7
North East -29 8 £600 - 5
East of England -13 6 £475 -28.30%
Wales -18 1 - -
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 2

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 (2.89%) Apache
2 6 (1.73%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (1.73%) Confluence
3 5 (1.45%) OpenStack
4 3 (0.87%) CloudStack
4 3 (0.87%) SAS
4 3 (0.87%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.58%) IIS
5 2 (0.58%) nginx
5 2 (0.58%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.29%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 12 (3.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.31%) 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 81 (23.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.73%) SAP Business One
2 6 (1.73%) 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%) Exchequer
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
1 140 (40.46%) Azure
2 122 (35.26%) AWS
3 61 (17.63%) GCP
4 25 (7.23%) SuccessFactors
5 22 (6.36%) GitHub
6 19 (5.49%) OCI
7 17 (4.91%) SaaS
8 16 (4.62%) IaaS
9 15 (4.34%) PaaS
10 13 (3.76%) GitHub Actions
10 13 (3.76%) OpenShift
11 11 (3.18%) Amazon EKS
11 11 (3.18%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 11 (3.18%) Serverless
12 10 (2.89%) Azure DevOps
13 8 (2.31%) AWS CloudFormation
13 8 (2.31%) Entra ID
14 6 (1.73%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (1.73%) Microsoft 365
15 5 (1.45%) AWS Direct Connect
Communications & Networking
1 28 (8.09%) Firewall
2 27 (7.80%) DNS
3 21 (6.07%) Network Security
4 17 (4.91%) TCP/IP
5 15 (4.34%) VSAN
6 13 (3.76%) LAN
6 13 (3.76%) VPN
6 13 (3.76%) WAN
7 11 (3.18%) DHCP
8 8 (2.31%) BGP
9 7 (2.02%) SAN
10 6 (1.73%) NAS
11 5 (1.45%) MPLS
11 5 (1.45%) VLAN
11 5 (1.45%) Wi-Fi
12 4 (1.16%) SNMP
12 4 (1.16%) TACACS
13 3 (0.87%) HTTPS
13 3 (0.87%) Kerberos
13 3 (0.87%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.91%) 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 6 (1.73%) Data Warehouse
6 5 (1.45%) BigQuery
7 4 (1.16%) BusinessObjects
7 4 (1.16%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.87%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.58%) Oracle Reports
9 2 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
9 2 (0.58%) Power BI
9 2 (0.58%) SAP HANA
10 1 (0.29%) Big Data
10 1 (0.29%) Data Lake
10 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
10 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.29%) SAP Data Services
10 1 (0.29%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 38 (10.98%) Git
2 19 (5.49%) Jenkins
3 14 (4.05%) GitLab
4 7 (2.02%) JIRA
5 6 (1.73%) JUnit
6 4 (1.16%) Hudson
6 4 (1.16%) Postman
7 3 (0.87%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.87%) Selenium
7 3 (0.87%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.87%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.29%) LSMW
8 1 (0.29%) MSI
8 1 (0.29%) PVCS
8 1 (0.29%) SoapUI
General
1 95 (27.46%) Finance
2 56 (16.18%) Social Skills
3 38 (10.98%) Public Sector
4 21 (6.07%) Analytical Skills
5 18 (5.20%) Banking
6 10 (2.89%) Local Government
7 9 (2.60%) General Ledger
8 8 (2.31%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (2.31%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (2.02%) Financial Institution
10 6 (1.73%) Billing
11 5 (1.45%) Military
11 5 (1.45%) Presentation Skills
11 5 (1.45%) Telecoms
12 4 (1.16%) Automotive
12 4 (1.16%) Manufacturing
12 4 (1.16%) Retail
13 3 (0.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.87%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.87%) Police
Job Titles
1 84 (24.28%) Architect
2 53 (15.32%) Senior
3 47 (13.58%) Lead
4 37 (10.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 34 (9.83%) Solutions Architect
6 22 (6.36%) Consultant
7 21 (6.07%) DevOps Engineer
8 20 (5.78%) Developer
9 18 (5.20%) Technical Architect
10 17 (4.91%) SAP Consultant
11 16 (4.62%) Cloud Engineer
11 16 (4.62%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 15 (4.34%) Azure Specialist
13 14 (4.05%) Cloud Architect
14 12 (3.47%) Azure Architect
14 12 (3.47%) Azure Engineer
15 10 (2.89%) Analyst
15 10 (2.89%) Network Engineer
15 10 (2.89%) Platform Engineer
15 10 (2.89%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 82 (23.70%) Terraform
2 15 (4.34%) Kafka
3 14 (4.05%) Middleware
3 14 (4.05%) Spring Boot
4 12 (3.47%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 11 (3.18%) Spring
6 9 (2.60%) SAP Fiori
7 8 (2.31%) REST
8 7 (2.02%) NumPy
8 7 (2.02%) Pandas
9 5 (1.45%) .NET
9 5 (1.45%) Elastic Stack
9 5 (1.45%) OAuth
9 5 (1.45%) Oracle Fusion
9 5 (1.45%) React
10 4 (1.16%) 802.1X
10 4 (1.16%) OpenID
10 4 (1.16%) PyTorch
10 4 (1.16%) scikit-learn
10 4 (1.16%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 44 (12.72%) Cloud Native
2 29 (8.38%) Hybrid Cloud
3 27 (7.80%) Data Centre
4 24 (6.94%) Private Cloud
5 16 (4.62%) PKI
6 9 (2.60%) Onboarding
7 7 (2.02%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (2.02%) Management Information System
8 6 (1.73%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.73%) Linux Command Line
8 6 (1.73%) Virtual Team
9 5 (1.45%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.16%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.16%) Robotics
10 4 (1.16%) Security Posture
11 3 (0.87%) Enterprise Cloud
11 3 (0.87%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (0.87%) Legacy Applications
11 3 (0.87%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 62 (17.92%) Linux
2 33 (9.54%) Windows
3 12 (3.47%) AIX
4 10 (2.89%) Ubuntu
5 8 (2.31%) Windows Server
6 7 (2.02%) Unix
7 6 (1.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (1.16%) Debian
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%) VMS
11 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (28.61%) Migration
2 94 (27.17%) Infrastructure as Code
3 88 (25.43%) CI/CD
4 75 (21.68%) DevOps
5 56 (16.18%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 54 (15.61%) Stakeholder Management
7 49 (14.16%) Agile
8 44 (12.72%) Data Migration
9 34 (9.83%) ERP
10 32 (9.25%) Validation
11 31 (8.96%) Microservices
12 30 (8.67%) Infrastructure Automation
13 29 (8.38%) Identity Access Management
14 28 (8.09%) Cloud Security
14 28 (8.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 27 (7.80%) Problem-Solving
15 27 (7.80%) Technical Leadership
16 26 (7.51%) Observability
17 25 (7.23%) Architectural Patterns
17 25 (7.23%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 69 (19.94%) Python
2 29 (8.38%) PowerShell
3 27 (7.80%) Java
4 22 (6.36%) Bash
5 13 (3.76%) SQL
6 10 (2.89%) JavaScript
7 9 (2.60%) Bicep
8 6 (1.73%) Shell Script
9 4 (1.16%) Ruby
10 3 (0.87%) ABAP
10 3 (0.87%) Go
11 2 (0.58%) Groovy
11 2 (0.58%) Perl
11 2 (0.58%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.29%) C#
12 1 (0.29%) C++
12 1 (0.29%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.29%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 90 (26.01%) Security Cleared
2 74 (21.39%) SC Cleared
3 29 (8.38%) DV Cleared
4 25 (7.23%) Cisco Certification
5 13 (3.76%) AWS Certification
5 13 (3.76%) CCNP
6 11 (3.18%) Degree
6 11 (3.18%) VCAP
6 11 (3.18%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 9 (2.60%) Azure Certification
8 8 (2.31%) CISSP
9 7 (2.02%) ACCA
9 7 (2.02%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 7 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (2.02%) CIMA
10 5 (1.45%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 5 (1.45%) JNCIS
11 4 (1.16%) CISM
11 4 (1.16%) JNCIE
11 4 (1.16%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.89%) NCSC
2 9 (2.60%) NIST
3 8 (2.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 7 (2.02%) Data Quality
4 7 (2.02%) QA
5 5 (1.45%) GDPR
5 5 (1.45%) GRC
6 3 (0.87%) Government Security Classifications
6 3 (0.87%) HMG Security Policy Framework
6 3 (0.87%) ISO 20022
7 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
7 2 (0.58%) ISO 15022
7 2 (0.58%) PMO
8 1 (0.29%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
8 1 (0.29%) ISO 22301
8 1 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.29%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 29 (8.38%) VMware Infrastructure
2 21 (6.07%) VMware NSX
3 18 (5.20%) Active Directory
4 16 (4.62%) Docker
5 13 (3.76%) Oracle RAC
6 12 (3.47%) vSphere
7 10 (2.89%) VMware ESXi
8 7 (2.02%) Postfix
8 7 (2.02%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (1.45%) NFS
9 5 (1.45%) Varnish
10 4 (1.16%) Hyper-V
10 4 (1.16%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.58%) Dovecot
12 1 (0.29%) Firmware
12 1 (0.29%) GPFS
12 1 (0.29%) Lustre
12 1 (0.29%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 55 (15.90%) Kubernetes
2 48 (13.87%) Ansible
3 13 (3.76%) Data Guard
3 13 (3.76%) Oracle RMAN
4 12 (3.47%) Prometheus
5 11 (3.18%) Istio
6 10 (2.89%) Grafana
7 9 (2.60%) vCenter Server
8 7 (2.02%) HAProxy
8 7 (2.02%) Packer
8 7 (2.02%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.45%) Kubeflow
9 5 (1.45%) VxRail
10 4 (1.16%) systemd
11 3 (0.87%) Check_MK
12 2 (0.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 2 (0.58%) Argo
13 1 (0.29%) CASB
13 1 (0.29%) Cilium
13 1 (0.29%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 89 (25.72%) SAP
2 61 (17.63%) Microsoft
3 44 (12.72%) Oracle
4 39 (11.27%) VMware
5 32 (9.25%) Google
6 17 (4.91%) Cisco
7 12 (3.47%) Ariba
7 12 (3.47%) Juniper
8 8 (2.31%) F5
8 8 (2.31%) Red Hat
9 7 (2.02%) Fortinet
10 6 (1.73%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.73%) Splunk
11 5 (1.45%) Citrix
11 5 (1.45%) Concur
11 5 (1.45%) CyberArk
12 4 (1.16%) Commvault
12 4 (1.16%) Dynatrace
12 4 (1.16%) MikroTik
12 4 (1.16%) MuleSoft