Service Management Contract Job Trends

Service Management
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 89 100 77
Rank change year-on-year +11 -23 +23
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,045 861 1,264
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.90% 2.36% 2.77%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.24% 2.72% 3.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 693 525 903
10th Percentile £198 £213 £261
25th Percentile £335 £375 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% +6.00%
75th Percentile £575 £618 £615
90th Percentile £688 £688 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% +9.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 95 28 18
10th Percentile £12.62 £20.28 £18.64
25th Percentile £16.48 £25.36 £20.69
Median hourly rate £20.79 £31.35 £41.38
Median % change year-on-year -33.68% -24.24% +89.14%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £58.75 £76.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.79 £32.50 £21.31
% change year-on-year -36.03% +52.51% -0.88%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 32,237 31,694 40,485
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 89.44% 86.89% 88.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,185 19,077 27,186
10th Percentile £300 £310 £308
25th Percentile £404 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.41% -3.18%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,109 1,149 1,555
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.22 £14.31
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.24 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -21.35% +27.14%
75th Percentile £45.46 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.50 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.85 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -29.69% -26.97% +48.33%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Service Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Service Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Service Management

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 26 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Service Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Service Management

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 26 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Top 18 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 Management within the UK over the 6 months to 26 November 2025. 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 +17 928 £500 -4.76% 344
UK excluding London +18 735 £500 -1.96% 326
Work from Home +15 288 £513 -6.82% 132
London -49 228 £500 -2.44% 75
North of England +4 196 £444 -1.44% 52
South East +22 181 £500 -9.09% 110
South West +26 145 £575 - 41
Midlands +17 123 £500 -12.40% 58
North West +16 123 £464 +16.00% 31
West Midlands +15 100 £510 -10.65% 39
Yorkshire -21 58 £355 -29.74% 12
Scotland 0 42 £466 +4.78% 20
East of England -10 36 £493 -7.16% 33
East Midlands +3 23 £419 -24.72% 19
North East 0 18 £260 -56.39% 9
Wales -16 7 £205 +2.50% 14
Northern Ireland 0 5 £325 -40.91% 4
Channel Islands - 3 £725 -

Service Management
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 82 (7.85%) Confluence
2 75 (7.18%) Microsoft Exchange
3 64 (6.12%) SharePoint
4 19 (1.82%) Apache
5 15 (1.44%) WebLogic
6 10 (0.96%) Skype for Business
7 5 (0.48%) SharePoint Server
8 4 (0.38%) IIS
8 4 (0.38%) WebSphere
9 2 (0.19%) Apache Solr
9 2 (0.19%) JBoss
10 1 (0.096%) CMS
10 1 (0.096%) Exchange Server 2010
10 1 (0.096%) Exchange Server 2013
10 1 (0.096%) HCL Notes
10 1 (0.096%) nginx
10 1 (0.096%) Oracle Self-Service HR
10 1 (0.096%) Oracle Workflow
10 1 (0.096%) SAS
Applications
1 99 (9.47%) Microsoft Office
2 34 (3.25%) Microsoft Excel
3 27 (2.58%) Microsoft Project
4 15 (1.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.34%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.38%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.096%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.096%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.096%) Trello
Business Applications
1 28 (2.68%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (1.05%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.86%) Oracle EBS
4 7 (0.67%) Oracle ERP
5 6 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
5 6 (0.57%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.48%) Workday HCM
7 4 (0.38%) assyst
7 4 (0.38%) Maximo
8 2 (0.19%) ResourceLink
8 2 (0.19%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.096%) Cloudability
9 1 (0.096%) Integrated Workplace Management System
9 1 (0.096%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.096%) SAP LE
9 1 (0.096%) SAP PM
9 1 (0.096%) SAP WM
9 1 (0.096%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 167 (15.98%) Azure
2 111 (10.62%) Microsoft 365
3 107 (10.24%) AWS
4 38 (3.64%) Entra ID
5 31 (2.97%) Power Platform
6 30 (2.87%) GCP
7 27 (2.58%) Azure DevOps
7 27 (2.58%) SaaS
8 26 (2.49%) OneDrive
9 18 (1.72%) Azure Monitor
10 10 (0.96%) PowerApps
11 8 (0.77%) Dynamics 365
11 8 (0.77%) Nutanix
11 8 (0.77%) Serverless
12 7 (0.67%) IaaS
12 7 (0.67%) PaaS
12 7 (0.67%) Power Automate
12 7 (0.67%) Salesforce Service Cloud
13 6 (0.57%) Amazon S3
13 6 (0.57%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 69 (6.60%) Firewall
2 68 (6.51%) DNS
3 39 (3.73%) DHCP
4 33 (3.16%) VPN
5 32 (3.06%) WAN
6 30 (2.87%) LAN
7 28 (2.68%) TCP/IP
8 22 (2.11%) VLAN
9 20 (1.91%) Skype
10 18 (1.72%) Cisco IOS
11 17 (1.63%) Cisco Firepower
11 17 (1.63%) Cisco ISE
11 17 (1.63%) Junos
12 16 (1.53%) Network Security
13 15 (1.44%) BGP
14 14 (1.34%) SSH
15 13 (1.24%) Wi-Fi
16 12 (1.15%) Unified Communications
17 11 (1.05%) HTTP
18 10 (0.96%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (2.20%) Power BI
2 19 (1.82%) Relational Database
2 19 (1.82%) SQL Server
3 11 (1.05%) Amazon RDS
4 8 (0.77%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (0.57%) DB2
6 5 (0.48%) Metadata
6 5 (0.48%) MySQL
7 4 (0.38%) Amazon Aurora
7 4 (0.38%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.38%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.38%) Tableau
8 3 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.29%) InfluxDB
9 2 (0.19%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.19%) Big Data
9 2 (0.19%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.19%) Pentaho
9 2 (0.19%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 146 (13.97%) JIRA
2 17 (1.63%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.24%) Git
4 6 (0.57%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.48%) webpack
6 4 (0.38%) GitLab
7 2 (0.19%) ScriptRunner
7 2 (0.19%) Selenium
7 2 (0.19%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.19%) Storybook
8 1 (0.096%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.096%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.096%) MLflow
8 1 (0.096%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.096%) TestRail
8 1 (0.096%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.096%) Zephyr
General
1 421 (40.29%) Social Skills
2 192 (18.37%) Analytical Skills
3 142 (13.59%) Finance
4 126 (12.06%) Public Sector
5 43 (4.11%) Military
6 42 (4.02%) Telecoms
7 37 (3.54%) Influencing Skills
8 35 (3.35%) Legal
9 33 (3.16%) Manufacturing
10 30 (2.87%) Documentation Skills
11 28 (2.68%) Banking
12 26 (2.49%) Organisational Skills
13 25 (2.39%) Presentation Skills
14 23 (2.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 18 (1.72%) Retail
16 17 (1.63%) Marketing
17 13 (1.24%) Electronics
18 12 (1.15%) Police
19 11 (1.05%) Investment Banking
20 8 (0.77%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 158 (15.12%) Analyst
2 117 (11.20%) Architect
3 104 (9.95%) Lead
4 76 (7.27%) Service Manager
5 73 (6.99%) Support Engineer
6 55 (5.26%) Service Architect
7 48 (4.59%) IT Support
7 48 (4.59%) Support Analyst
8 47 (4.50%) Consultant
9 42 (4.02%) Senior
9 42 (4.02%) Service Analyst
10 41 (3.92%) Network Engineer
11 40 (3.83%) 2nd Line Support
12 37 (3.54%) Desktop Support
13 34 (3.25%) IT Analyst
14 32 (3.06%) Delivery Manager
15 31 (2.97%) Business Analyst
15 31 (2.97%) Platform Engineer
16 30 (2.87%) Developer
16 30 (2.87%) Service Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.25%) REST
2 22 (2.11%) Web Services
3 20 (1.91%) RFC 2544
3 20 (1.91%) SOAP
4 14 (1.34%) .NET
5 13 (1.24%) CSS
5 13 (1.24%) HTML
6 10 (0.96%) LDAP
6 10 (0.96%) React
6 10 (0.96%) RESTful
7 8 (0.77%) Lightning Web Components
7 8 (0.77%) XMPP
8 7 (0.67%) AngularJS
8 7 (0.67%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.67%) Node.js
8 7 (0.67%) RESTCONF
9 6 (0.57%) Elastic Stack
9 6 (0.57%) XML
10 5 (0.48%) CSS3
10 5 (0.48%) HTML5
Miscellaneous
1 57 (5.45%) Product Ownership
2 54 (5.17%) Data Centre
3 45 (4.31%) Management Information System
4 40 (3.83%) CMDB
5 34 (3.25%) Onboarding
6 33 (3.16%) PKI
7 24 (2.30%) Self-Motivation
8 20 (1.91%) Analytical Mindset
8 20 (1.91%) Virtual Team
9 14 (1.34%) Driving Licence
9 14 (1.34%) Fibre Optics
10 13 (1.24%) NHS
11 12 (1.15%) Mainframe
12 10 (0.96%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.86%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (0.86%) Enterprise Software
14 8 (0.77%) Public Cloud
14 8 (0.77%) Tandem
15 7 (0.67%) PMI
16 5 (0.48%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 225 (21.53%) Windows
2 73 (6.99%) Linux
3 65 (6.22%) Windows Server
4 56 (5.36%) Windows 10
5 27 (2.58%) Unix
6 14 (1.34%) Mac OS
7 13 (1.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 12 (1.15%) Apple iOS
9 10 (0.96%) Android
10 7 (0.67%) Windows Server 2012
11 6 (0.57%) Windows 7
12 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2003
12 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2019
13 4 (0.38%) Windows Server 2008
13 4 (0.38%) Windows Server 2016
14 3 (0.29%) CentOS
14 3 (0.29%) Ubuntu
14 3 (0.29%) VMS
15 1 (0.096%) Mac OS X
15 1 (0.096%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 585 (55.98%) ITIL
2 451 (43.16%) ITSM
3 220 (21.05%) Problem-Solving
4 193 (18.47%) Agile
5 169 (16.17%) Change Management
6 162 (15.50%) Stakeholder Management
7 160 (15.31%) Continuous Improvement
8 148 (14.16%) Service Delivery
9 133 (12.73%) Customer Service
10 127 (12.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 119 (11.39%) Service Design
12 99 (9.47%) Project Management
13 98 (9.38%) Incident Management
14 95 (9.09%) Project Delivery
15 91 (8.71%) DevOps
16 68 (6.51%) Problem Management
17 63 (6.03%) Analytics
17 63 (6.03%) Business Intelligence
18 56 (5.36%) Configuration Management
19 53 (5.07%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 79 (7.56%) PowerShell
2 75 (7.18%) SQL
3 73 (6.99%) Python
4 32 (3.06%) JavaScript
5 20 (1.91%) Java
6 15 (1.44%) Perl
7 14 (1.34%) Bash
7 14 (1.34%) Shell Script
8 9 (0.86%) TypeScript
9 5 (0.48%) VB
9 5 (0.48%) VBScript
10 3 (0.29%) Bicep
10 3 (0.29%) C#
10 3 (0.29%) Go
11 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
11 2 (0.19%) ActionScript 2.0
11 2 (0.19%) Apex Code
12 1 (0.096%) Groovy
12 1 (0.096%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.096%) VBA
Qualifications
1 412 (39.43%) Security Cleared
2 343 (32.82%) SC Cleared
3 140 (13.40%) Degree
4 63 (6.03%) ITIL Certification
5 60 (5.74%) DV Cleared
6 45 (4.31%) Microsoft Certification
7 29 (2.78%) Cisco Certification
8 24 (2.30%) BPSS Clearance
8 24 (2.30%) CCNP
9 21 (2.01%) A+ Certification
10 20 (1.91%) Computer Science Degree
10 20 (1.91%) TOGAF Certification
11 18 (1.72%) Azure Certification
12 16 (1.53%) MCSE
12 16 (1.53%) PMP
13 15 (1.44%) PMI Certification
14 14 (1.34%) CCNA
14 14 (1.34%) Server+ Certification
15 13 (1.24%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 11 (1.05%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 58 (5.55%) SLA
2 32 (3.06%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 25 (2.39%) GDPR
4 22 (2.11%) QA
5 16 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 12 (1.15%) PMO
7 11 (1.05%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 10 (0.96%) COBIT
9 9 (0.86%) Data Quality
10 8 (0.77%) Accessibility
10 8 (0.77%) NCSC
11 6 (0.57%) GRC
11 6 (0.57%) GxP
11 6 (0.57%) ISO 9001
12 5 (0.48%) Disclosure Scotland
12 5 (0.48%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.29%) NIST
14 2 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
14 2 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
15 1 (0.096%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 130 (12.44%) Active Directory
2 49 (4.69%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.01%) VMware NSX
4 17 (1.63%) Hyper-V
5 14 (1.34%) Docker
6 13 (1.24%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (1.15%) VMware ESXi
8 6 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
9 5 (0.48%) BitLocker
9 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 4 (0.38%) NDS
10 4 (0.38%) NetIQ eDirectory
11 3 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
11 3 (0.29%) vSphere
12 1 (0.096%) Btrfs
12 1 (0.096%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.096%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 31 (2.97%) Ansible
2 26 (2.49%) SCCM
2 26 (2.49%) Terraform
3 25 (2.39%) Microsoft Intune
3 25 (2.39%) vCenter Server
4 23 (2.20%) Kubernetes
5 22 (2.11%) OPNET
6 14 (1.34%) WSUS
7 11 (1.05%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 11 (1.05%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.48%) Jamf Pro
8 5 (0.48%) SCOM
9 4 (0.38%) Grafana
9 4 (0.38%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.29%) Check_MK
10 3 (0.29%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.29%) Nessus
10 3 (0.29%) Packer
10 3 (0.29%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.19%) NSN NetAct
Vendors
1 253 (24.21%) ServiceNow
2 215 (20.57%) Microsoft
3 106 (10.14%) Cisco
4 61 (5.84%) VMware
5 58 (5.55%) Atlassian
5 58 (5.55%) Oracle
6 55 (5.26%) Remedy
7 40 (3.83%) SAP
8 38 (3.64%) Splunk
9 31 (2.97%) SolarWinds
10 29 (2.78%) Google
11 23 (2.20%) Juniper
12 21 (2.01%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.91%) AppDynamics
13 20 (1.91%) Dynatrace
14 17 (1.63%) IBM
15 14 (1.34%) Citrix
15 14 (1.34%) Red Hat
15 14 (1.34%) Veeam
16 13 (1.24%) IFS