Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends

Service Desk Analyst
UK

The median Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the UK is £173, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 January 2026.

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

6 months to
21 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 397 300 265
Rank change year-on-year -97 -35 +25
Contract jobs requiring a Service Desk Analyst 187 242 416
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.50% 0.77% 0.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.54% 0.83% 1.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 72 123 240
10th Percentile £130 £139 £127
25th Percentile £137 £150 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £173 £188 £178
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +5.34% +1.71%
75th Percentile £219 £210 £223
90th Percentile £294 £250 £266
UK excluding London median daily rate £168 £180 £168
% change year-on-year -6.94% +7.14% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 63 36 130
10th Percentile £13.80 £14.01 £13.33
25th Percentile £14.38 £14.92 £14.00
Median hourly rate £16.00 £17.47 £15.00
Median % change year-on-year -8.41% +16.47% -3.23%
75th Percentile £20.13 £21.46 £18.00
90th Percentile £25.64 £23.23 £21.33
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £17.44 £14.91
% change year-on-year -8.26% +17.01% -3.84%

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 34,444 29,232 40,404
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.42% 92.85% 93.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,829 17,869 26,812
10th Percentile £300 £290 £275
25th Percentile £405 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £615 £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 2,030 877 1,934
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.92 £13.50
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.25 £17.72
Median hourly rate £27.50 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -15.38% -18.75% +17.65%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.50 £63.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £74.81
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £40.50
% change year-on-year -22.62% -19.75% +36.13%

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 -102 171 £170 -10.53% 55
UK excluding London -84 168 £168 -6.94% 62
East of England 0 64 £155 -31.11% 8
North of England -79 33 £169 +12.50% 12
Work from Home -47 27 £131 -27.13% 17
South East -33 26 £175 -1.41% 19
Midlands -39 23 £131 -30.97% 14
North West -47 19 £150 -11.76% 7
London -46 16 £275 +44.74% 6
East Midlands -21 14 £131 -30.97% 5
South West -28 10 £194 -3.13% 4
Yorkshire -55 10 £181 +34.26% 3
West Midlands -39 9 £130 -31.58% 9
Scotland -4 8 £190 +16.92% 3
Wales -1 4 £145 +3.57% 4
North East -24 4 £188 +25.00% 2
Northern Ireland -2 1 - -

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

For the 6 months to 21 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.

1 104 (55.61%) Customer Service
2 63 (33.69%) Windows
3 58 (31.02%) Active Directory
3 58 (31.02%) Microsoft
4 49 (26.20%) Microsoft 365
5 45 (24.06%) Problem-Solving
6 44 (23.53%) ITIL
7 34 (18.18%) Security Cleared
7 34 (18.18%) Windows 10
8 30 (16.04%) SC Cleared
9 27 (14.44%) ServiceNow
10 25 (13.37%) Microsoft Exchange
11 20 (10.70%) Microsoft Office
12 19 (10.16%) ITSM
13 17 (9.09%) Service Management
14 16 (8.56%) SLA
15 14 (7.49%) Google
15 14 (7.49%) Google Workspace
16 13 (6.95%) Android
16 13 (6.95%) SCCM
17 12 (6.42%) Apple iOS
17 12 (6.42%) Collaborative Working
17 12 (6.42%) DNS
17 12 (6.42%) Microsoft Intune
17 12 (6.42%) Service Delivery
18 11 (5.88%) Entra ID
18 11 (5.88%) Incident Management
18 11 (5.88%) VoIP
19 10 (5.35%) Azure
19 10 (5.35%) Continuous Improvement

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 25 (13.37%) Microsoft Exchange
2 6 (3.21%) SharePoint
3 4 (2.14%) HCL Notes
4 2 (1.07%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 20 (10.70%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (3.21%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (2.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 5 (2.67%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (1.07%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.53%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 49 (26.20%) Microsoft 365
2 14 (7.49%) Google Workspace
3 11 (5.88%) Entra ID
4 10 (5.35%) Azure
5 9 (4.81%) GCP
6 3 (1.60%) Power Platform
7 1 (0.53%) Cloud Computing
7 1 (0.53%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.53%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 12 (6.42%) DNS
2 11 (5.88%) VoIP
3 7 (3.74%) DHCP
3 7 (3.74%) TCP/IP
4 6 (3.21%) Wi-Fi
5 4 (2.14%) VPN
6 3 (1.60%) Broadband
7 2 (1.07%) Internet
7 2 (1.07%) Network Security
7 2 (1.07%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.53%) LAN
8 1 (0.53%) SAN
8 1 (0.53%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.53%) Looker
1 1 (0.53%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (0.53%) JIRA
General
1 80 (42.78%) Social Skills
2 20 (10.70%) Romanian Language
3 18 (9.63%) Public Sector
4 12 (6.42%) Polish Language
5 10 (5.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 8 (4.28%) Manufacturing
7 7 (3.74%) Organisational Skills
8 6 (3.21%) Analytical Skills
8 6 (3.21%) Local Government
8 6 (3.21%) Military
8 6 (3.21%) Retail
9 4 (2.14%) Finance
10 3 (1.60%) Legal
10 3 (1.60%) Spanish Language
11 2 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.53%) Advertising
12 1 (0.53%) Banking
12 1 (0.53%) French Language
12 1 (0.53%) Lithuanian Language
12 1 (0.53%) Presentation Skills
Miscellaneous
1 10 (5.35%) Management Information System
1 10 (5.35%) Onboarding
1 10 (5.35%) Smartphone
2 7 (3.74%) Enterprise Software
3 4 (2.14%) Data Centre
3 4 (2.14%) Self-Motivation
4 3 (1.60%) Video Conferencing
5 2 (1.07%) CMDB
5 2 (1.07%) Virtual Team
6 1 (0.53%) Blackberry
6 1 (0.53%) BYOD
6 1 (0.53%) Data Protection Act
6 1 (0.53%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 63 (33.69%) Windows
2 34 (18.18%) Windows 10
3 13 (6.95%) Android
4 12 (6.42%) Apple iOS
5 10 (5.35%) Mac OS
6 2 (1.07%) Mac OS X
6 2 (1.07%) Windows Server
6 2 (1.07%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (55.61%) Customer Service
2 45 (24.06%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (23.53%) ITIL
4 19 (10.16%) ITSM
5 17 (9.09%) Service Management
6 12 (6.42%) Collaborative Working
6 12 (6.42%) Service Delivery
7 11 (5.88%) Incident Management
8 10 (5.35%) Continuous Improvement
8 10 (5.35%) Problem Management
9 9 (4.81%) Digital Strategy
10 8 (4.28%) Customer Experience
10 8 (4.28%) Process Improvement
11 6 (3.21%) Active Listening
12 4 (2.14%) Customer Engagement
12 4 (2.14%) Cybersecurity
12 4 (2.14%) Mathematics
12 4 (2.14%) Proactive Monitoring
12 4 (2.14%) Root Cause Analysis
12 4 (2.14%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 2 (1.07%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 34 (18.18%) Security Cleared
2 30 (16.04%) SC Cleared
3 10 (5.35%) ITIL Certification
4 9 (4.81%) Degree
5 7 (3.74%) A+ Certification
5 7 (3.74%) Microsoft Certification
6 5 (2.67%) DV Cleared
6 5 (2.67%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 3 (1.60%) MCSA
8 2 (1.07%) HNC
8 2 (1.07%) HND
9 1 (0.53%) BPSS Clearance
9 1 (0.53%) MCP
9 1 (0.53%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (8.56%) SLA
2 1 (0.53%) GDPR
2 1 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 58 (31.02%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.53%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 13 (6.95%) SCCM
2 12 (6.42%) Microsoft Intune
3 1 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 58 (31.02%) Microsoft
2 27 (14.44%) ServiceNow
3 14 (7.49%) Google
4 5 (2.67%) Citrix
5 4 (2.14%) Lotus
6 3 (1.60%) Apple
7 2 (1.07%) Altiris
7 2 (1.07%) Remedy
8 1 (0.53%) Barracuda Networks
8 1 (0.53%) Bomgar
8 1 (0.53%) Dell
8 1 (0.53%) Ivanti
8 1 (0.53%) Sophos
8 1 (0.53%) VMware