Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends

Service Desk Analyst
UK

The median Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 3 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 411 307 247
Rank change year-on-year -104 -60 +34
Contract jobs requiring a Service Desk Analyst 178 244 421
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.48% 0.75% 0.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.53% 0.81% 1.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 70 124 250
10th Percentile £131 £138 £125
25th Percentile £142 £150 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £190 £178
Median % change year-on-year -7.89% +6.74% +4.71%
75th Percentile £220 £210 £223
90th Percentile £293 £254 £263
UK excluding London median daily rate £170 £180 £165
% change year-on-year -5.56% +9.09% +3.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 36 126
10th Percentile £13.80 £14.22 £13.41
25th Percentile £14.38 £14.99 £14.00
Median hourly rate £16.00 £17.44 £15.31
Median % change year-on-year -8.26% +13.91% -1.23%
75th Percentile £20.44 £21.46 £18.56
90th Percentile £25.87 - £20.56
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £17.44 £15.31
% change year-on-year -8.26% +13.91% -1.23%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 33,764 30,229 40,234
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.23% 92.70% 93.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,403 18,500 26,941
10th Percentile £300 £289 £281
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -1.04% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,953 944 1,572
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.51 £14.18
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.17 £19.06
Median hourly rate £26.30 £32.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.08% -27.78% +40.82%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £72.00 £73.75 £76.73
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.13 £45.88
% change year-on-year -21.72% -29.97% +77.97%

Service Desk Analyst
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Service Desk Analyst' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Service Desk Analyst job vacancy trend in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Desk Analyst over the 6 months to 3 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Service Desk Analyst in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Desk Analyst over the 6 months to 3 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Desk Analyst in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
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 Service Desk Analyst within the UK over the 6 months to 3 January 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 -81 165 £175 -7.89% 45
UK excluding London -91 158 £170 -5.56% 47
East of England +2 59 £155 -31.11% 5
North of England -85 33 £175 +16.67% 10
South East -28 27 £185 +4.23% 15
Work from Home -40 23 £132 -26.06% 11
Midlands -37 22 £131 -30.97% 6
North West -41 19 £150 -4.76% 5
London -33 17 £275 +39.24% 6
East Midlands -18 12 £131 -30.97% 3
West Midlands -36 10 £250 +31.58% 3
Yorkshire -50 9 £163 +20.37% 5
South West -24 8 £216 +8.13% 5
North East -17 5 £180 +20.00%
Scotland -19 5 £190 -7.32% 3
Wales 0 4 £145 -12.12% 1
Northern Ireland -11 1 - - 2

Service Desk Analyst Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 3 January 2026, Service Desk Analyst contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Service Desk Analyst in the job title.

1 98 (55.06%) Customer Service
2 56 (31.46%) Active Directory
3 55 (30.90%) Windows
4 54 (30.34%) Microsoft
5 45 (25.28%) Microsoft 365
6 40 (22.47%) ITIL
6 40 (22.47%) Problem-Solving
7 30 (16.85%) Windows 10
8 27 (15.17%) Security Cleared
9 26 (14.61%) ServiceNow
10 22 (12.36%) Microsoft Exchange
10 22 (12.36%) SC Cleared
11 21 (11.80%) ITSM
11 21 (11.80%) Microsoft Office
12 16 (8.99%) Service Management
13 15 (8.43%) SLA
14 14 (7.87%) SCCM
15 13 (7.30%) DNS
16 11 (6.18%) Android
16 11 (6.18%) Google
16 11 (6.18%) Google Workspace
16 11 (6.18%) Incident Management
16 11 (6.18%) VoIP
17 10 (5.62%) Collaborative Working
17 10 (5.62%) Entra ID
18 9 (5.06%) Apple iOS
18 9 (5.06%) Azure
18 9 (5.06%) Continuous Improvement
18 9 (5.06%) Degree
18 9 (5.06%) Microsoft Intune

Service Desk Analyst Skill Set
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 22 (12.36%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (3.93%) SharePoint
3 4 (2.25%) HCL Notes
4 1 (0.56%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 21 (11.80%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (2.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (2.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 5 (2.81%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (1.12%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.56%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 45 (25.28%) Microsoft 365
2 11 (6.18%) Google Workspace
3 10 (5.62%) Entra ID
4 9 (5.06%) Azure
5 7 (3.93%) GCP
6 2 (1.12%) Power Platform
7 1 (0.56%) Cloud Computing
7 1 (0.56%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.56%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 13 (7.30%) DNS
2 11 (6.18%) VoIP
3 8 (4.49%) DHCP
4 7 (3.93%) TCP/IP
5 6 (3.37%) Wi-Fi
6 4 (2.25%) VPN
7 3 (1.69%) Broadband
8 2 (1.12%) Internet
8 2 (1.12%) Network Security
8 2 (1.12%) Remote Desktop
9 1 (0.56%) LAN
9 1 (0.56%) SAN
9 1 (0.56%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.56%) Looker
Development Applications
1 1 (0.56%) JIRA
General
1 76 (42.70%) Social Skills
2 20 (11.24%) Romanian Language
3 14 (7.87%) Public Sector
4 12 (6.74%) Polish Language
5 9 (5.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 8 (4.49%) Manufacturing
7 7 (3.93%) Organisational Skills
7 7 (3.93%) Retail
8 6 (3.37%) Analytical Skills
8 6 (3.37%) Local Government
9 5 (2.81%) Military
10 4 (2.25%) Finance
11 3 (1.69%) Legal
11 3 (1.69%) Spanish Language
12 2 (1.12%) Documentation Skills
13 1 (0.56%) Advertising
13 1 (0.56%) Banking
13 1 (0.56%) French Language
13 1 (0.56%) Lithuanian Language
13 1 (0.56%) Pharmaceutical
Miscellaneous
1 9 (5.06%) Management Information System
2 8 (4.49%) Smartphone
3 6 (3.37%) Enterprise Software
3 6 (3.37%) Onboarding
4 5 (2.81%) Video Conferencing
5 4 (2.25%) Data Centre
6 3 (1.69%) Self-Motivation
7 2 (1.12%) CMDB
7 2 (1.12%) NHS
7 2 (1.12%) Virtual Team
8 1 (0.56%) Blackberry
8 1 (0.56%) BYOD
8 1 (0.56%) Data Protection Act
8 1 (0.56%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 55 (30.90%) Windows
2 30 (16.85%) Windows 10
3 11 (6.18%) Android
4 9 (5.06%) Apple iOS
5 8 (4.49%) Mac OS
6 2 (1.12%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.56%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.56%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (55.06%) Customer Service
2 40 (22.47%) ITIL
2 40 (22.47%) Problem-Solving
3 21 (11.80%) ITSM
4 16 (8.99%) Service Management
5 11 (6.18%) Incident Management
6 10 (5.62%) Collaborative Working
7 9 (5.06%) Continuous Improvement
7 9 (5.06%) Problem Management
7 9 (5.06%) Service Delivery
8 7 (3.93%) Customer Experience
8 7 (3.93%) Digital Strategy
8 7 (3.93%) Process Improvement
9 6 (3.37%) Active Listening
10 4 (2.25%) CRM
10 4 (2.25%) Customer Engagement
10 4 (2.25%) Cybersecurity
10 4 (2.25%) Mathematics
10 4 (2.25%) Migration
10 4 (2.25%) Proactive Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 3 (1.69%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 27 (15.17%) Security Cleared
2 22 (12.36%) SC Cleared
3 9 (5.06%) Degree
4 8 (4.49%) A+ Certification
4 8 (4.49%) ITIL Certification
5 7 (3.93%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (3.37%) DV Cleared
6 6 (3.37%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 3 (1.69%) MCSA
8 2 (1.12%) HNC
8 2 (1.12%) HND
9 1 (0.56%) BPSS Clearance
9 1 (0.56%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (8.43%) SLA
System Software
1 56 (31.46%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
2 1 (0.56%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 14 (7.87%) SCCM
2 9 (5.06%) Microsoft Intune
3 1 (0.56%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 54 (30.34%) Microsoft
2 26 (14.61%) ServiceNow
3 11 (6.18%) Google
4 6 (3.37%) Citrix
5 4 (2.25%) Lotus
6 3 (1.69%) Apple
6 3 (1.69%) Remedy
7 2 (1.12%) Altiris
8 1 (0.56%) Barracuda Networks
8 1 (0.56%) Bomgar
8 1 (0.56%) Cisco
8 1 (0.56%) Dell
8 1 (0.56%) Ivanti
8 1 (0.56%) Sophos
8 1 (0.56%) VMware