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 15 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 87 100 77
Rank change year-on-year +13 -23 +22
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,020 868 1,286
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.87% 2.37% 2.75%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.20% 2.75% 3.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 650 538 926
10th Percentile £197 £213 £258
25th Percentile £328 £371 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £528
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -1.52% +4.55%
75th Percentile £575 £608 £615
90th Percentile £656 £688 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 102 27 19
10th Percentile £12.62 £21.05 £19.09
25th Percentile £16.15 £26.00 £20.88
Median hourly rate £20.81 £30.45 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -31.66% -35.89% +123.53%
75th Percentile £33.75 £48.75 £67.50
90th Percentile £69.39 £60.00 £76.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.79 £32.50 £21.91
% change year-on-year -36.03% +48.37% +3.08%

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 31,921 31,585 41,489
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 89.90% 86.22% 88.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 19,990 19,012 27,981
10th Percentile £295 £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 2,098 1,120 1,596
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.10 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.12 £18.95
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £43.42
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -19.38% +24.04%
75th Percentile £44.07 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.00 £73.58 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.63 £33.27 £43.54
% change year-on-year -31.98% -23.59% +47.59%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 +15 904 £500 -3.85% 482
UK excluding London +17 708 £500 - 369
Work from Home -1 278 £500 -9.09% 218
London -55 228 £500 -2.44% 147
North of England +15 198 £450 +2.86% 76
South East +20 159 £450 -11.76% 111
South West +22 134 £550 -4.35% 47
North West +26 129 £464 +12.48% 41
Midlands +23 123 £503 -11.30% 77
West Midlands +14 98 £515 -9.77% 51
Yorkshire -19 57 £355 -29.74% 22
Scotland +1 43 £466 +4.78% 14
East of England -8 41 £541 +2.42% 25
East Midlands +4 25 £425 -19.05% 26
North East -4 15 £415 +112.82% 13
Wales -12 7 £205 -8.34% 14
Northern Ireland 0 5 £325 -40.91% 10
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 71 (6.96%) Microsoft Exchange
2 65 (6.37%) Confluence
3 60 (5.88%) SharePoint
4 22 (2.16%) Apache
5 15 (1.47%) WebLogic
6 10 (0.98%) Skype for Business
7 7 (0.69%) IIS
7 7 (0.69%) WebSphere
8 5 (0.49%) SharePoint Server
9 2 (0.20%) Apache Solr
9 2 (0.20%) JBoss
10 1 (0.098%) CMS
10 1 (0.098%) Exchange Server 2010
10 1 (0.098%) Exchange Server 2013
10 1 (0.098%) HCL Notes
10 1 (0.098%) Oracle Self-Service HR
10 1 (0.098%) Oracle Workflow
10 1 (0.098%) SAS
Applications
1 82 (8.04%) Microsoft Office
2 35 (3.43%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 13 (1.27%) MS Visio
5 10 (0.98%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.39%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.098%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.098%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.098%) Trello
Business Applications
1 27 (2.65%) Remedy ITSM
2 10 (0.98%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (0.78%) Oracle ERP
4 7 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.69%) Maximo
5 6 (0.59%) assyst
5 6 (0.59%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.49%) Oracle EBS
7 4 (0.39%) Workday HCM
8 2 (0.20%) ResourceLink
8 2 (0.20%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.098%) Cloudability
9 1 (0.098%) Integrated Workplace Management System
9 1 (0.098%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.098%) SAP LE
9 1 (0.098%) SAP PM
9 1 (0.098%) SAP WM
9 1 (0.098%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 156 (15.29%) Azure
2 105 (10.29%) Microsoft 365
3 95 (9.31%) AWS
4 37 (3.63%) Entra ID
5 30 (2.94%) Power Platform
6 26 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
6 26 (2.55%) OneDrive
7 21 (2.06%) GCP
8 20 (1.96%) SaaS
9 18 (1.76%) Azure Monitor
10 9 (0.88%) PowerApps
11 8 (0.78%) Nutanix
12 7 (0.69%) Google Workspace
12 7 (0.69%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 7 (0.69%) Serverless
13 6 (0.59%) Dynamics 365
14 5 (0.49%) Amazon S3
14 5 (0.49%) Azure Logic Apps
14 5 (0.49%) GitHub
14 5 (0.49%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 76 (7.45%) Firewall
2 69 (6.76%) DNS
3 41 (4.02%) DHCP
4 34 (3.33%) VPN
5 33 (3.24%) WAN
6 30 (2.94%) LAN
7 28 (2.75%) TCP/IP
8 22 (2.16%) VLAN
9 20 (1.96%) Skype
10 18 (1.76%) Cisco IOS
11 17 (1.67%) Cisco Firepower
11 17 (1.67%) Cisco ISE
11 17 (1.67%) Junos
11 17 (1.67%) Network Security
12 15 (1.47%) BGP
13 14 (1.37%) SSH
14 13 (1.27%) Wi-Fi
15 12 (1.18%) Unified Communications
15 12 (1.18%) Wireless
16 11 (1.08%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (2.45%) Power BI
2 21 (2.06%) SQL Server
3 17 (1.67%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.27%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (0.88%) DB2
6 8 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
7 7 (0.69%) MySQL
8 5 (0.49%) Amazon Aurora
9 4 (0.39%) Data Mining
9 4 (0.39%) Metadata
9 4 (0.39%) Oracle Reports
9 4 (0.39%) Tableau
10 3 (0.29%) MariaDB
10 3 (0.29%) Pentaho
10 3 (0.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 2 (0.20%) Elasticsearch
11 2 (0.20%) Looker
11 2 (0.20%) Oracle Database
11 2 (0.20%) Power Query
11 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 131 (12.84%) JIRA
2 17 (1.67%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.27%) Git
4 7 (0.69%) Bitbucket
4 7 (0.69%) webpack
5 3 (0.29%) GitLab
5 3 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
6 2 (0.20%) SonarQube
6 2 (0.20%) Storybook
7 1 (0.098%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.098%) MLflow
7 1 (0.098%) Selenium
7 1 (0.098%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.098%) WebDriver
7 1 (0.098%) Zephyr
General
1 390 (38.24%) Social Skills
2 177 (17.35%) Analytical Skills
3 137 (13.43%) Finance
4 134 (13.14%) Public Sector
5 44 (4.31%) Telecoms
6 34 (3.33%) Influencing Skills
6 34 (3.33%) Manufacturing
7 30 (2.94%) Legal
8 29 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
9 27 (2.65%) Banking
9 27 (2.65%) Military
10 25 (2.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 24 (2.35%) Organisational Skills
11 24 (2.35%) Presentation Skills
12 19 (1.86%) Marketing
13 16 (1.57%) Retail
14 14 (1.37%) Electronics
15 13 (1.27%) Police
16 11 (1.08%) Investment Banking
17 9 (0.88%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 170 (16.67%) Analyst
2 99 (9.71%) Architect
3 86 (8.43%) Lead
4 77 (7.55%) Service Manager
4 77 (7.55%) Support Engineer
5 61 (5.98%) Support Analyst
6 55 (5.39%) IT Support
7 54 (5.29%) Consultant
8 46 (4.51%) Desktop Support
9 43 (4.22%) Network Engineer
9 43 (4.22%) Senior
10 42 (4.12%) Service Analyst
11 41 (4.02%) Service Architect
12 39 (3.82%) 2nd Line Support
13 38 (3.73%) IT Analyst
14 32 (3.14%) Developer
15 31 (3.04%) Delivery Manager
16 29 (2.84%) IT Manager
16 29 (2.84%) Platform Engineer
16 29 (2.84%) Service Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.33%) REST
2 25 (2.45%) Web Services
3 23 (2.25%) RFC 2544
3 23 (2.25%) SOAP
4 15 (1.47%) CSS
4 15 (1.47%) HTML
5 12 (1.18%) .NET
5 12 (1.18%) React
5 12 (1.18%) RESTful
6 9 (0.88%) LDAP
6 9 (0.88%) Node.js
6 9 (0.88%) XML
7 8 (0.78%) AngularJS
7 8 (0.78%) Lightning Web Components
7 8 (0.78%) XMPP
8 7 (0.69%) CSS3
8 7 (0.69%) HTML5
8 7 (0.69%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.69%) Redux
8 7 (0.69%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 57 (5.59%) Data Centre
2 47 (4.61%) Management Information System
3 39 (3.82%) CMDB
3 39 (3.82%) Product Ownership
4 31 (3.04%) Onboarding
5 29 (2.84%) PKI
6 23 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
7 20 (1.96%) Analytical Mindset
7 20 (1.96%) Virtual Team
8 16 (1.57%) Fibre Optics
9 13 (1.27%) Driving Licence
9 13 (1.27%) NHS
10 10 (0.98%) Mainframe
10 10 (0.98%) Public Cloud
10 10 (0.98%) Video Conferencing
11 8 (0.78%) Data Protection Act
11 8 (0.78%) Tandem
12 7 (0.69%) Enterprise Software
12 7 (0.69%) iPhone
13 6 (0.59%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 225 (22.06%) Windows
2 67 (6.57%) Linux
2 67 (6.57%) Windows Server
3 55 (5.39%) Windows 10
4 27 (2.65%) Unix
5 17 (1.67%) Apple iOS
6 14 (1.37%) Mac OS
7 12 (1.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 10 (0.98%) Android
9 7 (0.69%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.59%) Windows 7
11 5 (0.49%) Windows Server 2003
11 5 (0.49%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.29%) CentOS
13 3 (0.29%) VMS
14 1 (0.098%) Mac OS X
14 1 (0.098%) SUSE
14 1 (0.098%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 555 (54.41%) ITIL
2 438 (42.94%) ITSM
3 216 (21.18%) Problem-Solving
4 177 (17.35%) Agile
5 163 (15.98%) Change Management
6 156 (15.29%) Stakeholder Management
7 150 (14.71%) Service Delivery
8 146 (14.31%) Continuous Improvement
9 144 (14.12%) Customer Service
10 114 (11.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 107 (10.49%) Service Design
12 94 (9.22%) Incident Management
13 91 (8.92%) DevOps
14 90 (8.82%) Project Delivery
14 90 (8.82%) Project Management
15 74 (7.25%) Problem Management
16 65 (6.37%) Business Intelligence
17 64 (6.27%) Analytics
18 54 (5.29%) Configuration Management
19 51 (5.00%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 79 (7.75%) PowerShell
2 76 (7.45%) Python
3 74 (7.25%) SQL
4 36 (3.53%) JavaScript
5 19 (1.86%) Java
6 16 (1.57%) Bash
7 15 (1.47%) Perl
8 13 (1.27%) Shell Script
9 11 (1.08%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.49%) VB
10 5 (0.49%) VBScript
11 3 (0.29%) Bicep
11 3 (0.29%) C#
12 2 (0.20%) ActionScript
12 2 (0.20%) ActionScript 2.0
12 2 (0.20%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.20%) Groovy
13 1 (0.098%) Go
13 1 (0.098%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.098%) VBA
Qualifications
1 395 (38.73%) Security Cleared
2 323 (31.67%) SC Cleared
3 117 (11.47%) Degree
4 63 (6.18%) ITIL Certification
5 59 (5.78%) DV Cleared
6 45 (4.41%) Microsoft Certification
7 32 (3.14%) Cisco Certification
8 27 (2.65%) CCNP
9 24 (2.35%) BPSS Clearance
10 21 (2.06%) A+ Certification
11 20 (1.96%) Computer Science Degree
12 18 (1.76%) Azure Certification
13 16 (1.57%) MCSE
14 15 (1.47%) CCNA
15 14 (1.37%) Server+ Certification
16 13 (1.27%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 11 (1.08%) Network+ Certification
18 9 (0.88%) PMI Certification
18 9 (0.88%) PMP
19 6 (0.59%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 65 (6.37%) SLA
2 32 (3.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 25 (2.45%) GDPR
4 24 (2.35%) QA
5 14 (1.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (1.08%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 9 (0.88%) COBIT
7 9 (0.88%) Data Quality
8 8 (0.78%) Accessibility
8 8 (0.78%) NCSC
9 7 (0.69%) GRC
9 7 (0.69%) PMO
10 6 (0.59%) GxP
10 6 (0.59%) HIPAA
10 6 (0.59%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.49%) Disclosure Scotland
12 2 (0.20%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.20%) NIST
12 2 (0.20%) WCAG
System Software
1 125 (12.25%) Active Directory
2 48 (4.71%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.06%) VMware NSX
4 16 (1.57%) Hyper-V
5 13 (1.27%) Docker
5 13 (1.27%) Virtual Desktop
5 13 (1.27%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.59%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.49%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.49%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 4 (0.39%) NDS
8 4 (0.39%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 3 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.29%) vSphere
10 1 (0.098%) Btrfs
10 1 (0.098%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.098%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 26 (2.55%) SCCM
2 25 (2.45%) Ansible
2 25 (2.45%) vCenter Server
3 24 (2.35%) Microsoft Intune
4 20 (1.96%) Terraform
5 18 (1.76%) Kubernetes
6 13 (1.27%) WSUS
7 11 (1.08%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 11 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.59%) OPNET
9 5 (0.49%) Jamf Pro
9 5 (0.49%) SCOM
10 4 (0.39%) Grafana
10 4 (0.39%) NSN NetAct
10 4 (0.39%) OpenView
11 3 (0.29%) Check_MK
11 3 (0.29%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.29%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.20%) PowerCLI
13 1 (0.098%) Packer
Vendors
1 239 (23.43%) ServiceNow
2 219 (21.47%) Microsoft
3 113 (11.08%) Cisco
4 58 (5.69%) VMware
5 55 (5.39%) Oracle
6 43 (4.22%) Atlassian
7 39 (3.82%) SAP
8 38 (3.73%) Remedy
8 38 (3.73%) Splunk
9 31 (3.04%) SolarWinds
10 25 (2.45%) Google
11 23 (2.25%) Juniper
12 21 (2.06%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.96%) AppDynamics
13 20 (1.96%) Dynatrace
13 20 (1.96%) IBM
14 14 (1.37%) Red Hat
14 14 (1.37%) Veeam
15 13 (1.27%) IFS
16 12 (1.18%) Citrix