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 6 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 92 101 78
Rank change year-on-year +9 -23 +21
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,040 863 1,249
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.85% 2.40% 2.76%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.21% 2.74% 3.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 702 530 889
10th Percentile £200 £215 £259
25th Percentile £343 £375 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% +6.00%
75th Percentile £576 £618 £615
90th Percentile £700 £688 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year -0.05% -4.71% +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 88 27 19
10th Percentile £12.62 £20.03 £17.48
25th Percentile £16.68 £24.97 £20.25
Median hourly rate £20.81 £32.25 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -35.46% +43.31% +0.78%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.98 £60.00 £76.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.79 £34.25 £21.16
% change year-on-year -39.30% +61.90% -6.17%

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 32,432 31,463 40,054
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 88.97% 87.43% 88.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,408 19,089 26,807
10th Percentile £300 £309 £312
25th Percentile £405 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.50% -3.09%
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 2,095 1,098 1,556
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.24 £14.36
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.20 £18.93
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.75 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -23.21% -22.94% +21.43%
75th Percentile £45.46 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.50 £74.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.63 £32.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -30.37% -23.53% +30.77%

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 6 December 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 6 December 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 6 December 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 +14 931 £500 -4.76% 369
UK excluding London +17 735 £500 -0.05% 343
Work from Home +4 280 £500 -9.09% 149
London -54 227 £500 -4.31% 86
South East +28 190 £500 -4.76% 102
North of England -5 182 £456 +7.35% 80
South West +20 147 £568 -1.30% 39
Midlands +12 130 £463 -18.36% 63
North West +11 110 £492 +23.00% 42
West Midlands +12 105 £500 -11.74% 38
Yorkshire -15 57 £355 -21.11% 21
Scotland +3 41 £470 +4.44% 20
East of England -6 38 £452 -16.34% 26
East Midlands +1 25 £419 -24.72% 25
North East +5 18 £260 -56.39% 18
Wales -14 5 £175 -29.24% 12
Northern Ireland - 5 £325 - 7
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 81 (7.79%) Confluence
2 72 (6.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 65 (6.25%) SharePoint
4 19 (1.83%) 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%) 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
Applications
1 97 (9.33%) Microsoft Office
2 38 (3.65%) Microsoft Project
3 32 (3.08%) Microsoft Excel
4 14 (1.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.06%) 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 24 (2.31%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (1.15%) Oracle EBS
3 11 (1.06%) SAP S/4HANA
4 6 (0.58%) Salesforce CRM
5 5 (0.48%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (0.48%) Oracle ERP
5 5 (0.48%) Workday HCM
6 4 (0.38%) Maximo
7 3 (0.29%) assyst
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 PM
9 1 (0.096%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 168 (16.15%) Azure
2 109 (10.48%) AWS
3 102 (9.81%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (3.75%) Entra ID
5 36 (3.46%) GCP
6 29 (2.79%) Power Platform
7 27 (2.60%) Azure DevOps
7 27 (2.60%) OneDrive
8 26 (2.50%) SaaS
9 18 (1.73%) Azure Monitor
10 11 (1.06%) PowerApps
11 10 (0.96%) IaaS
12 8 (0.77%) Dynamics 365
12 8 (0.77%) Nutanix
12 8 (0.77%) PaaS
12 8 (0.77%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 8 (0.77%) Serverless
13 7 (0.67%) Power Automate
14 6 (0.58%) Amazon S3
14 6 (0.58%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 60 (5.77%) DNS
2 59 (5.67%) Firewall
3 37 (3.56%) DHCP
4 30 (2.88%) WAN
5 29 (2.79%) LAN
6 28 (2.69%) TCP/IP
7 26 (2.50%) VPN
8 22 (2.12%) VLAN
9 20 (1.92%) Skype
10 18 (1.73%) Cisco IOS
11 17 (1.63%) Cisco Firepower
11 17 (1.63%) Cisco ISE
11 17 (1.63%) Junos
12 15 (1.44%) Network Security
13 14 (1.35%) SSH
14 12 (1.15%) Wi-Fi
15 11 (1.06%) HTTP
16 8 (0.77%) SAN
16 8 (0.77%) WebEx
16 8 (0.77%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (1.92%) Power BI
2 17 (1.63%) Relational Database
2 17 (1.63%) SQL Server
3 9 (0.87%) Amazon RDS
4 6 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.48%) Metadata
5 5 (0.48%) Tableau
6 4 (0.38%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.38%) DB2
6 4 (0.38%) Oracle Reports
7 3 (0.29%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.29%) MySQL
8 2 (0.19%) Amazon Aurora
8 2 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.19%) Big Data
8 2 (0.19%) MariaDB
9 1 (0.096%) Amazon Athena
9 1 (0.096%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.096%) Oracle Database
9 1 (0.096%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 144 (13.85%) JIRA
2 15 (1.44%) Jenkins
3 12 (1.15%) Git
4 6 (0.58%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.48%) webpack
6 4 (0.38%) GitLab
7 2 (0.19%) Selenium
8 1 (0.096%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.096%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.096%) MLflow
8 1 (0.096%) ScriptRunner
8 1 (0.096%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.096%) TestRail
8 1 (0.096%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.096%) WebDriver
General
1 423 (40.67%) Social Skills
2 182 (17.50%) Analytical Skills
3 149 (14.33%) Finance
4 136 (13.08%) Public Sector
5 53 (5.10%) Military
6 39 (3.75%) Telecoms
7 35 (3.37%) Influencing Skills
7 35 (3.37%) Legal
8 32 (3.08%) Manufacturing
9 30 (2.88%) Organisational Skills
10 29 (2.79%) Banking
11 25 (2.40%) Documentation Skills
12 22 (2.12%) Presentation Skills
13 21 (2.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 19 (1.83%) Retail
15 16 (1.54%) Marketing
16 13 (1.25%) Electronics
17 11 (1.06%) Investment Banking
18 10 (0.96%) Police
19 7 (0.67%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 152 (14.62%) Analyst
2 127 (12.21%) Architect
3 110 (10.58%) Lead
4 75 (7.21%) Service Manager
5 71 (6.83%) Support Engineer
6 65 (6.25%) Service Architect
7 49 (4.71%) Consultant
8 44 (4.23%) IT Support
8 44 (4.23%) Service Analyst
9 42 (4.04%) Support Analyst
10 39 (3.75%) Senior
11 36 (3.46%) 2nd Line Support
12 33 (3.17%) Delivery Manager
13 32 (3.08%) Desktop Support
14 31 (2.98%) Business Analyst
14 31 (2.98%) IT Analyst
14 31 (2.98%) Service Delivery Manager
15 30 (2.88%) Network Engineer
16 29 (2.79%) Platform Engineer
17 27 (2.60%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (3.56%) REST
2 23 (2.21%) SOAP
3 22 (2.12%) Web Services
4 15 (1.44%) .NET
5 14 (1.35%) CSS
5 14 (1.35%) HTML
5 14 (1.35%) RFC 2544
6 10 (0.96%) LDAP
6 10 (0.96%) RESTful
7 9 (0.87%) Lightning Web Components
8 8 (0.77%) React
8 8 (0.77%) XMPP
9 7 (0.67%) AngularJS
10 6 (0.58%) Elastic Stack
10 6 (0.58%) XML
11 5 (0.48%) CSS3
11 5 (0.48%) HTML5
11 5 (0.48%) Middleware
11 5 (0.48%) Node.js
11 5 (0.48%) Redux
Miscellaneous
1 68 (6.54%) Product Ownership
2 47 (4.52%) Data Centre
3 45 (4.33%) CMDB
4 43 (4.13%) Management Information System
5 37 (3.56%) Onboarding
6 26 (2.50%) PKI
7 24 (2.31%) Self-Motivation
8 21 (2.02%) Analytical Mindset
8 21 (2.02%) Virtual Team
9 15 (1.44%) Driving Licence
10 14 (1.35%) NHS
11 13 (1.25%) Mainframe
12 10 (0.96%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.87%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (0.87%) Fibre Optics
14 8 (0.77%) PMI
14 8 (0.77%) Tandem
15 7 (0.67%) Public Cloud
16 6 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
16 6 (0.58%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 218 (20.96%) Windows
2 71 (6.83%) Linux
3 64 (6.15%) Windows Server
4 51 (4.90%) Windows 10
5 27 (2.60%) Unix
6 14 (1.35%) Mac OS
7 13 (1.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (0.87%) Android
8 9 (0.87%) Apple iOS
9 7 (0.67%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.58%) Windows 7
10 6 (0.58%) Windows Server 2019
11 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2003
12 4 (0.38%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.38%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.38%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.29%) CentOS
13 3 (0.29%) VMS
14 1 (0.096%) Mac OS X
14 1 (0.096%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 601 (57.79%) ITIL
2 452 (43.46%) ITSM
3 219 (21.06%) Problem-Solving
4 202 (19.42%) Agile
5 175 (16.83%) Change Management
6 163 (15.67%) Continuous Improvement
7 160 (15.38%) Stakeholder Management
8 143 (13.75%) Service Delivery
9 132 (12.69%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 129 (12.40%) Customer Service
11 127 (12.21%) Service Design
12 100 (9.62%) Project Management
13 98 (9.42%) Incident Management
14 93 (8.94%) Project Delivery
15 91 (8.75%) DevOps
16 70 (6.73%) Problem Management
17 63 (6.06%) Knowledge Transfer
18 61 (5.87%) Analytics
18 61 (5.87%) Business Continuity
18 61 (5.87%) Configuration Management
Programming Languages
1 80 (7.69%) PowerShell
2 72 (6.92%) SQL
3 64 (6.15%) Python
4 34 (3.27%) JavaScript
5 18 (1.73%) Java
6 15 (1.44%) Perl
7 14 (1.35%) Shell Script
8 13 (1.25%) Bash
9 7 (0.67%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.48%) VB
10 5 (0.48%) VBScript
11 3 (0.29%) Apex Code
11 3 (0.29%) Bicep
11 3 (0.29%) C#
11 3 (0.29%) Go
12 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
12 2 (0.19%) ActionScript 2.0
13 1 (0.096%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.096%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.096%) VBA
Qualifications
1 413 (39.71%) Security Cleared
2 339 (32.60%) SC Cleared
3 140 (13.46%) Degree
4 65 (6.25%) DV Cleared
5 62 (5.96%) ITIL Certification
6 44 (4.23%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (2.88%) TOGAF Certification
8 26 (2.50%) BPSS Clearance
9 21 (2.02%) A+ Certification
9 21 (2.02%) Cisco Certification
9 21 (2.02%) Computer Science Degree
10 18 (1.73%) Azure Certification
10 18 (1.73%) PMI Certification
10 18 (1.73%) PMP
11 16 (1.54%) CCNP
11 16 (1.54%) MCSE
12 14 (1.35%) CCNA
12 14 (1.35%) Server+ Certification
13 12 (1.15%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 11 (1.06%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (5.48%) SLA
2 34 (3.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 24 (2.31%) GDPR
4 23 (2.21%) QA
5 17 (1.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 13 (1.25%) PMO
7 11 (1.06%) Data Quality
7 11 (1.06%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 10 (0.96%) COBIT
9 8 (0.77%) Accessibility
9 8 (0.77%) NCSC
10 6 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
10 6 (0.58%) GxP
10 6 (0.58%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.48%) GRC
12 4 (0.38%) HIPAA
12 4 (0.38%) NIST
13 2 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
14 1 (0.096%) Actionable Recommendations
14 1 (0.096%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 127 (12.21%) Active Directory
2 42 (4.04%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.02%) VMware NSX
4 16 (1.54%) Hyper-V
5 12 (1.15%) Docker
5 12 (1.15%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.58%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.48%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
8 4 (0.38%) NDS
8 4 (0.38%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 3 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.19%) vSphere
11 1 (0.096%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.096%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 32 (3.08%) OPNET
2 29 (2.79%) SCCM
3 28 (2.69%) Terraform
4 26 (2.50%) Ansible
4 26 (2.50%) vCenter Server
5 24 (2.31%) Microsoft Intune
6 22 (2.12%) Kubernetes
7 14 (1.35%) WSUS
8 11 (1.06%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 11 (1.06%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (0.58%) SCOM
10 5 (0.48%) Jamf Pro
11 4 (0.38%) Grafana
11 4 (0.38%) Nessus
11 4 (0.38%) Packer
11 4 (0.38%) Prometheus
12 3 (0.29%) Check_MK
12 3 (0.29%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.29%) Progress Chef
13 2 (0.19%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 266 (25.58%) ServiceNow
2 200 (19.23%) Microsoft
3 90 (8.65%) Cisco
4 61 (5.87%) Remedy
5 60 (5.77%) Atlassian
6 56 (5.38%) Oracle
6 56 (5.38%) VMware
7 39 (3.75%) SAP
8 38 (3.65%) Splunk
9 31 (2.98%) Google
9 31 (2.98%) SolarWinds
10 24 (2.31%) Salesforce
11 22 (2.12%) Juniper
12 20 (1.92%) AppDynamics
12 20 (1.92%) Dynatrace
13 15 (1.44%) IBM
14 14 (1.35%) Citrix
14 14 (1.35%) Red Hat
14 14 (1.35%) Veeam
15 12 (1.15%) HP