Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends

Service Desk Analyst
UK

The median Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the UK is £170, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 22 January 2026.

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

6 months to
22 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 405 307 251
Rank change year-on-year -98 -56 +41
Contract jobs requiring a Service Desk Analyst 187 243 413
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.77% 0.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.54% 0.83% 1.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 72 124 239
10th Percentile £130 £139 £127
25th Percentile £137 £150 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £170 £189 £180
Median % change year-on-year -9.93% +4.86% +2.86%
75th Percentile £215 £210 £223
90th Percentile £294 £250 £266
UK excluding London median daily rate £165 £180 £167
% change year-on-year -8.33% +8.11% +4.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 63 36 129
10th Percentile £13.80 £14.01 £13.32
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 £21.34
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £17.44 £14.81
% change year-on-year -8.26% +17.76% -4.45%

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 34,562 29,431 40,133
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.43% 92.83% 93.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,880 18,000 26,627
10th Percentile £300 £289 £275
25th Percentile £406 £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 £478 £500
% change year-on-year -0.58% -4.45% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,053 885 1,927
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% +14.29%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.50 £62.96
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £74.37
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £40.41
% change year-on-year -22.62% -19.58% +34.71%

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 22 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 22 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 22 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 -89 171 £170 -10.53% 64
UK excluding London -88 169 £165 -8.33% 74
East of England +4 64 £155 -31.11% 10
North of England -90 33 £169 +12.50% 15
Work from Home -37 27 £131 -27.13% 22
South East -40 26 £175 -1.41% 25
Midlands -40 24 £131 -30.97% 13
North West -43 19 £150 -11.76% 8
East Midlands -13 15 £131 -30.97% 5
London -45 15 £280 +47.37% 8
South West -27 10 £194 -3.13% 4
Yorkshire -55 10 £181 +34.26% 5
West Midlands -44 9 £130 -31.58% 8
Scotland -11 8 £190 +16.92% 4
Wales -5 4 £145 +3.57% 6
North East -23 4 £188 +25.00% 2
Northern Ireland -5 1 - -

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

For the 6 months to 22 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 62 (33.16%) 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 26 (13.90%) Microsoft Exchange
9 26 (13.90%) ServiceNow
10 20 (10.70%) Microsoft Office
11 18 (9.63%) ITSM
11 18 (9.63%) Service Management
12 16 (8.56%) SLA
13 14 (7.49%) Google
13 14 (7.49%) Google Workspace
14 13 (6.95%) Android
14 13 (6.95%) SCCM
15 12 (6.42%) Apple iOS
15 12 (6.42%) Collaborative Working
15 12 (6.42%) DNS
15 12 (6.42%) Entra ID
15 12 (6.42%) Microsoft Intune
15 12 (6.42%) Service Delivery
16 11 (5.88%) Azure
16 11 (5.88%) Incident Management
16 11 (5.88%) Problem Management
16 11 (5.88%) VoIP

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 26 (13.90%) 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 12 (6.42%) Entra ID
4 11 (5.88%) 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
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%) Analytical Skills
7 7 (3.74%) Organisational 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 62 (33.16%) 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%) Windows Server
6 2 (1.07%) Windows Server 2012
7 1 (0.53%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (55.61%) Customer Service
2 45 (24.06%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (23.53%) ITIL
4 18 (9.63%) ITSM
4 18 (9.63%) Service Management
5 12 (6.42%) Collaborative Working
5 12 (6.42%) Service Delivery
6 11 (5.88%) Incident Management
6 11 (5.88%) Problem Management
7 10 (5.35%) Continuous Improvement
8 9 (4.81%) Digital Strategy
9 8 (4.28%) Customer Experience
9 8 (4.28%) Process Improvement
10 6 (3.21%) Active Listening
11 5 (2.67%) User Experience
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
Programming Languages
1 1 (0.53%) 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 8 (4.28%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (3.21%) A+ Certification
7 5 (2.67%) DV Cleared
7 5 (2.67%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 3 (1.60%) MCSA
9 2 (1.07%) HNC
9 2 (1.07%) HND
10 1 (0.53%) BPSS Clearance
10 1 (0.53%) MCP
10 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 26 (13.90%) 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%) Remedy
8 1 (0.53%) Altiris
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