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 14 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 93 97 77
Rank change year-on-year +4 -20 +19
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,005 788 1,168
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.72% 2.49% 2.75%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.09% 2.81% 3.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 695 465 820
10th Percentile £200 £217 £263
25th Percentile £350 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £529
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.71% +5.80%
75th Percentile £588 £623 £615
90th Percentile £720 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +12.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 23 14
10th Percentile £13.25 £21.05 £15.46
25th Percentile £17.15 £24.97 £16.84
Median hourly rate £23.56 £30.40 £20.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.52% +48.29% -19.31%
75th Percentile £60.00 £37.00 £53.44
90th Percentile £77.13 £68.50 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.79 £30.43 £17.72
% change year-on-year -31.67% +71.70% -49.45%

All Process & 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 32,475 28,042 37,290
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.84% 88.72% 87.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,506 17,042 24,746
10th Percentile £304 £306 £304
25th Percentile £406 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £650
90th Percentile £723 £744 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,987 893 1,582
10th Percentile £14.52 £15.62 £14.18
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.50 £18.18
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £40.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -19.75% +15.71%
75th Percentile £56.00 £62.24 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.39 £74.97 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £30.45 £43.83
% change year-on-year -21.76% -30.52% +51.12%

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 14 January 2026.

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 14 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
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 Management within the UK over the 6 months to 14 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 +6 907 £503 -4.29% 225
UK excluding London +15 694 £500 - 206
Work from Home +11 254 £497 -5.43% 105
London -55 231 £500 -4.76% 57
South East +37 187 £500 +2.56% 63
North of England -1 165 £478 +19.38% 48
South West -3 148 £575 +4.55% 20
Midlands +15 119 £475 -13.79% 39
North West +7 94 £550 +37.50% 22
West Midlands +3 90 £503 -8.80% 22
Yorkshire -15 57 £465 +100.97% 21
East of England -7 39 £452 -16.34% 18
Scotland -4 35 £469 -3.10% 9
East Midlands +1 29 £413 -17.50% 17
North East -5 17 £280 -53.04% 5
Northern Ireland - 4 £325 - 6
Wales -7 3 £170 -46.44% 6

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 74 (7.36%) Confluence
2 68 (6.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 58 (5.77%) SharePoint
4 15 (1.49%) Apache
4 15 (1.49%) WebLogic
5 12 (1.19%) Skype for Business
6 5 (0.50%) SharePoint Server
7 3 (0.30%) nginx
8 2 (0.20%) JBoss
9 1 (0.100%) CMS
9 1 (0.100%) Exchange Server 2010
9 1 (0.100%) Exchange Server 2013
9 1 (0.100%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.100%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.100%) WebSphere
Applications
1 95 (9.45%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (3.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 35 (3.48%) Microsoft Project
4 17 (1.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.80%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.40%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.100%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 27 (2.69%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.29%) Oracle EBS
3 5 (0.50%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.40%) Dynamics CRM
4 4 (0.40%) Oracle ERP
5 3 (0.30%) assyst
6 2 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.20%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.100%) Cloudability
7 1 (0.100%) Integrated Workplace Management System
7 1 (0.100%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.100%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.100%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.100%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.100%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.100%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.100%) SystmOne
7 1 (0.100%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 168 (16.72%) Azure
2 105 (10.45%) AWS
3 100 (9.95%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (4.18%) GCP
5 35 (3.48%) Entra ID
6 31 (3.08%) Power Platform
7 27 (2.69%) OneDrive
8 25 (2.49%) Azure DevOps
9 24 (2.39%) SaaS
10 18 (1.79%) Azure Monitor
11 11 (1.09%) PowerApps
12 10 (1.00%) GitHub
12 10 (1.00%) IaaS
13 8 (0.80%) Nutanix
14 7 (0.70%) Dynamics 365
14 7 (0.70%) Salesforce Service Cloud
15 6 (0.60%) OpenShift
15 6 (0.60%) PaaS
15 6 (0.60%) Power Automate
15 6 (0.60%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 64 (6.37%) DNS
2 56 (5.57%) Firewall
3 38 (3.78%) DHCP
4 33 (3.28%) VPN
5 28 (2.79%) TCP/IP
6 24 (2.39%) VLAN
7 23 (2.29%) WAN
8 22 (2.19%) Skype
9 21 (2.09%) LAN
10 19 (1.89%) Network Security
11 18 (1.79%) Cisco IOS
12 17 (1.69%) Cisco Firepower
12 17 (1.69%) Cisco ISE
12 17 (1.69%) Junos
13 13 (1.29%) SSH
14 12 (1.19%) Wi-Fi
15 10 (1.00%) HTTP
16 8 (0.80%) WebEx
16 8 (0.80%) Wireless
17 7 (0.70%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.09%) Power BI
2 16 (1.59%) Relational Database
3 13 (1.29%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.50%) Metadata
7 4 (0.40%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.40%) InfluxDB
7 4 (0.40%) Tableau
8 3 (0.30%) Elasticsearch
9 2 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.20%) Big Data
9 2 (0.20%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.20%) Oracle Reports
9 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 1 (0.100%) BusinessObjects
10 1 (0.100%) GIS
10 1 (0.100%) MariaDB
10 1 (0.100%) Oracle Discoverer
10 1 (0.100%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 131 (13.03%) JIRA
2 15 (1.49%) Jenkins
3 11 (1.09%) Git
4 9 (0.90%) GitLab
5 8 (0.80%) Bitbucket
6 4 (0.40%) ScriptRunner
7 2 (0.20%) TestRail
7 2 (0.20%) webpack
8 1 (0.100%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.100%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.100%) MLflow
8 1 (0.100%) Selenium
8 1 (0.100%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 418 (41.59%) Social Skills
2 173 (17.21%) Analytical Skills
3 146 (14.53%) Finance
4 135 (13.43%) Public Sector
5 45 (4.48%) Military
6 42 (4.18%) Legal
7 40 (3.98%) Organisational Skills
8 36 (3.58%) Telecoms
9 34 (3.38%) Banking
10 33 (3.28%) Influencing Skills
11 31 (3.08%) Documentation Skills
12 29 (2.89%) Manufacturing
13 22 (2.19%) Retail
14 15 (1.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 15 (1.49%) Presentation Skills
15 13 (1.29%) Marketing
16 12 (1.19%) Electronics
17 9 (0.90%) Investment Banking
18 7 (0.70%) Billing
18 7 (0.70%) Law
Job Titles
1 137 (13.63%) Analyst
2 126 (12.54%) Architect
3 120 (11.94%) Lead
4 67 (6.67%) Service Architect
4 67 (6.67%) Service Manager
5 66 (6.57%) Support Engineer
6 47 (4.68%) Consultant
7 44 (4.38%) IT Support
8 39 (3.88%) Service Analyst
9 36 (3.58%) Support Analyst
10 34 (3.38%) Senior
11 33 (3.28%) 2nd Line Support
12 32 (3.18%) Desktop Support
13 30 (2.99%) Platform Engineer
14 28 (2.79%) Network Engineer
15 27 (2.69%) IT Analyst
16 26 (2.59%) Business Analyst
17 25 (2.49%) Hardware Engineer
18 24 (2.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
19 23 (2.29%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (3.58%) REST
2 17 (1.69%) SOAP
3 10 (1.00%) .NET
4 9 (0.90%) LDAP
4 9 (0.90%) Web Services
5 8 (0.80%) RFC 2544
5 8 (0.80%) XMPP
6 7 (0.70%) CSS
6 7 (0.70%) Elastic Stack
7 6 (0.60%) HTML
8 4 (0.40%) RabbitMQ
8 4 (0.40%) React
9 3 (0.30%) AngularJS
9 3 (0.30%) EDI
9 3 (0.30%) Lightning Web Components
9 3 (0.30%) Middleware
10 2 (0.20%) CSS3
10 2 (0.20%) JSON
10 2 (0.20%) Node.js
10 2 (0.20%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 72 (7.16%) Product Ownership
2 50 (4.98%) CMDB
3 44 (4.38%) Data Centre
4 40 (3.98%) Management Information System
5 35 (3.48%) Onboarding
6 24 (2.39%) PKI
7 23 (2.29%) Analytical Mindset
8 20 (1.99%) Self-Motivation
8 20 (1.99%) Virtual Team
9 19 (1.89%) Driving Licence
10 13 (1.29%) Mainframe
10 13 (1.29%) PMI
11 10 (1.00%) NHS
12 9 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
13 8 (0.80%) Fibre Optics
14 7 (0.70%) Data Protection Act
14 7 (0.70%) Hybrid Cloud
14 7 (0.70%) Public Cloud
14 7 (0.70%) Tandem
14 7 (0.70%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 231 (22.99%) Windows
2 79 (7.86%) Linux
3 65 (6.47%) Windows Server
4 58 (5.77%) Windows 10
5 27 (2.69%) Unix
6 13 (1.29%) Mac OS
6 13 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (1.09%) Android
7 11 (1.09%) Apple iOS
8 8 (0.80%) Windows 7
9 7 (0.70%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
11 5 (0.50%) Windows Server 2003
12 4 (0.40%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.40%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.40%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.30%) CentOS
14 2 (0.20%) VMS
14 2 (0.20%) Windows XP
15 1 (0.100%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 573 (57.01%) ITIL
2 436 (43.38%) ITSM
3 208 (20.70%) Problem-Solving
4 183 (18.21%) Agile
5 171 (17.01%) Continuous Improvement
6 165 (16.42%) Change Management
7 156 (15.52%) Stakeholder Management
8 140 (13.93%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 139 (13.83%) Service Delivery
10 124 (12.34%) Customer Service
10 124 (12.34%) Service Design
11 102 (10.15%) Project Management
12 93 (9.25%) Incident Management
13 87 (8.66%) DevOps
14 82 (8.16%) Project Delivery
15 73 (7.26%) Problem Management
16 68 (6.77%) Knowledge Transfer
17 61 (6.07%) Business Continuity
17 61 (6.07%) Configuration Management
18 58 (5.77%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 84 (8.36%) PowerShell
2 64 (6.37%) SQL
3 59 (5.87%) Python
4 21 (2.09%) JavaScript
5 16 (1.59%) Java
6 15 (1.49%) Perl
6 15 (1.49%) Shell Script
7 13 (1.29%) Bash
8 7 (0.70%) VB
8 7 (0.70%) VBScript
9 4 (0.40%) Go
10 3 (0.30%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.30%) Bicep
10 3 (0.30%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.20%) ActionScript
11 2 (0.20%) ActionScript 2.0
11 2 (0.20%) C#
11 2 (0.20%) PHP
12 1 (0.100%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.100%) VBA
Qualifications
1 416 (41.39%) Security Cleared
2 336 (33.43%) SC Cleared
3 129 (12.84%) Degree
4 76 (7.56%) DV Cleared
5 52 (5.17%) ITIL Certification
6 39 (3.88%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (2.99%) TOGAF Certification
8 23 (2.29%) BPSS Clearance
9 21 (2.09%) PMI Certification
10 19 (1.89%) A+ Certification
11 18 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
12 17 (1.69%) Azure Certification
12 17 (1.69%) MCSE
13 16 (1.59%) Cisco Certification
13 16 (1.59%) PMP
14 14 (1.39%) Server+ Certification
15 13 (1.29%) CCNP
16 12 (1.19%) CCNA
16 12 (1.19%) Network+ Certification
17 11 (1.09%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 50 (4.98%) SLA
2 28 (2.79%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 20 (1.99%) GDPR
3 20 (1.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 19 (1.89%) Data Quality
5 15 (1.49%) QA
6 12 (1.19%) PMO
7 9 (0.90%) Accessibility
7 9 (0.90%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 7 (0.70%) COBIT
8 7 (0.70%) GRC
8 7 (0.70%) NIST
9 5 (0.50%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.40%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.40%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.40%) ISO 9001
11 3 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 3 (0.30%) NCSC
11 3 (0.30%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 124 (12.34%) Active Directory
2 45 (4.48%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.09%) VMware NSX
4 16 (1.59%) Docker
4 16 (1.59%) Hyper-V
5 11 (1.09%) Virtual Desktop
6 7 (0.70%) BitLocker
7 6 (0.60%) Virtual Servers
8 5 (0.50%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 4 (0.40%) NDS
9 4 (0.40%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 4 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
10 3 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
11 1 (0.100%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.100%) Terminal Services
11 1 (0.100%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 33 (3.28%) SCCM
2 32 (3.18%) OPNET
3 28 (2.79%) Ansible
4 27 (2.69%) Terraform
5 26 (2.59%) Microsoft Intune
6 25 (2.49%) vCenter Server
7 24 (2.39%) Kubernetes
8 16 (1.59%) WSUS
9 11 (1.09%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 8 (0.80%) Single Sign-On
11 6 (0.60%) Grafana
11 6 (0.60%) SCOM
12 5 (0.50%) FortiGate
12 5 (0.50%) Jamf Pro
12 5 (0.50%) Prometheus
13 4 (0.40%) Nessus
13 4 (0.40%) Packer
13 4 (0.40%) Progress Chef
14 2 (0.20%) Docker Swarm
14 2 (0.20%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 249 (24.78%) ServiceNow
2 179 (17.81%) Microsoft
3 80 (7.96%) Cisco
4 66 (6.57%) Remedy
5 62 (6.17%) Atlassian
6 58 (5.77%) VMware
7 56 (5.57%) Oracle
8 35 (3.48%) Splunk
9 34 (3.38%) Google
10 33 (3.28%) SolarWinds
11 31 (3.08%) SAP
12 30 (2.99%) HP
13 22 (2.19%) Dynatrace
14 21 (2.09%) AppDynamics
15 20 (1.99%) Salesforce
16 19 (1.89%) Juniper
17 14 (1.39%) Citrix
17 14 (1.39%) Red Hat
17 14 (1.39%) Veeam
18 13 (1.29%) Palo Alto