Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £235, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 28 August 2026.

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

6 months to
28 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 169 132 121
Rank change year-on-year -37 -11 -30
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 898 696 753
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.67% 2.13% 1.94%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.81% 2.33% 2.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 595 454 516
10th Percentile £163 £160 £140
25th Percentile £188 £191 £181
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £235 £238 £234
Median % change year-on-year -1.05% +1.36% -6.28%
75th Percentile £400 £375 £350
90th Percentile £500 £538 £525
UK excluding London median daily rate £213 £230 £220
% change year-on-year -7.58% +4.55% -1.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 70 45
10th Percentile £16.34 £16.50 £16.55
25th Percentile £18.44 £20.64 £18.13
Median hourly rate £22.50 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.54% +14.32% +15.06%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £25.00
90th Percentile £48.35 £68.00 £59.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.63 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year -14.02% +14.32% +15.79%

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 49,702 29,842 36,074
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.46% 91.23% 93.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,679 18,834 22,885
10th Percentile £325 £280 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.87%
75th Percentile £625 £621 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,561 1,567 1,910
10th Percentile £14.96 £13.72 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.50 £17.08 £19.50
Median hourly rate £41.74 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +65.94% -41.51% -0.73%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.81 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £71.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +7.50%

Support Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Support Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Support Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Support Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Support Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Support Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Support Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Support Engineer over the 6 months to 28 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Support Engineer in the UK

Support Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Support Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Support Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Support Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Support Engineer over the 6 months to 28 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Support Engineer in the UK

Support Engineer
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 Support Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 28 August 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 -46 762 £225 -5.26% 418
UK excluding London -34 582 £213 -7.58% 330
London -41 279 £255 +2.00% 132
South East -37 159 £250 - 117
North of England -17 139 £200 - 62
North West +1 99 £200 -12.09% 32
Work from Home -67 92 £300 -14.29% 100
Scotland +53 85 £375 +27.12% 19
East of England +2 64 £200 -9.09% 50
Midlands -62 64 £250 -9.09% 50
South West -46 57 £210 -10.64% 39
West Midlands -72 43 £250 -9.09% 28
Yorkshire -28 37 £200 -9.09% 25
East Midlands -14 20 £270 +47.54% 22
Wales -30 10 £438 +105.88% 2
Northern Ireland +1 4 £175 -12.50% 3
North East -47 4 £239 +22.44% 9
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

Support Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 28 August 2026, Support Engineer 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 Support Engineer in the job title.

1 505 (56.24%) Windows
2 414 (46.10%) Microsoft
3 396 (44.10%) Active Directory
4 349 (38.86%) Microsoft 365
5 221 (24.61%) Problem-Solving
6 216 (24.05%) Customer Service
7 195 (21.71%) Windows 10
8 184 (20.49%) ITIL
9 181 (20.16%) Security Cleared
10 145 (16.15%) Azure
11 138 (15.37%) Microsoft Intune
12 136 (15.14%) Entra ID
13 129 (14.37%) ITSM
14 128 (14.25%) ServiceNow
15 121 (13.47%) SharePoint
16 111 (12.36%) SC Cleared
17 103 (11.47%) DNS
17 103 (11.47%) PowerShell
18 85 (9.47%) Continuous Improvement
19 78 (8.69%) Linux
19 78 (8.69%) Windows Server
20 76 (8.46%) Asset Management
21 72 (8.02%) Service Delivery
21 72 (8.02%) VPN
22 71 (7.91%) Microsoft Exchange
22 71 (7.91%) TCP/IP
23 70 (7.80%) SQL
24 69 (7.68%) Degree
25 68 (7.57%) Service Management
26 67 (7.46%) Migration

Support Engineer 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
1 121 (13.47%) SharePoint
2 71 (7.91%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.22%) HCL Notes
4 9 (1.00%) NetWeaver
5 4 (0.45%) MTS
6 3 (0.33%) Confluence
6 3 (0.33%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.33%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.22%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.22%) IIS
7 2 (0.22%) OpenStack
Applications
1 51 (5.68%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (1.67%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.45%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.33%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.22%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.11%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 8 (0.89%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (0.78%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.45%) SAP EHS
4 3 (0.33%) SAP Retail
5 2 (0.22%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.11%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.11%) Bloomberg TOMS
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP BRIM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FI-CA
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
6 1 (0.11%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 349 (38.86%) Microsoft 365
2 145 (16.15%) Azure
3 136 (15.14%) Entra ID
4 46 (5.12%) OneDrive
5 40 (4.45%) AWS
6 21 (2.34%) SaaS
7 19 (2.12%) GCP
8 11 (1.22%) Power Platform
9 10 (1.11%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (0.78%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.67%) Mimecast
12 5 (0.56%) AWS CloudFormation
12 5 (0.56%) IaaS
12 5 (0.56%) PaaS
13 4 (0.45%) Cloud Functions
13 4 (0.45%) Google App Engine
13 4 (0.45%) Google Compute Engine
13 4 (0.45%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 3 (0.33%) Amazon OpenSearch
14 3 (0.33%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 103 (11.47%) DNS
2 72 (8.02%) VPN
3 71 (7.91%) TCP/IP
4 58 (6.46%) DHCP
5 41 (4.57%) Wi-Fi
6 35 (3.90%) LAN
7 31 (3.45%) WAN
8 25 (2.78%) Firewall
9 21 (2.34%) Internet
10 16 (1.78%) SAN
10 16 (1.78%) VLAN
11 10 (1.11%) Wireless
12 7 (0.78%) Skype
13 6 (0.67%) Network Security
13 6 (0.67%) SD-WAN
14 5 (0.56%) HTTP
14 5 (0.56%) SMTP
14 5 (0.56%) WebEx
14 5 (0.56%) WLAN
15 4 (0.45%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (4.12%) SQL Server
2 17 (1.89%) MySQL
3 9 (1.00%) Power BI
3 9 (1.00%) Relational Database
3 9 (1.00%) SAP HANA
4 8 (0.89%) MaxDB
4 8 (0.89%) Sybase ASE
5 7 (0.78%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (0.78%) Pentaho
5 7 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (0.56%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.45%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (0.33%) Big Data
8 3 (0.33%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.33%) KDB
8 3 (0.33%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 2 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.22%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.22%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 53 (5.90%) JIRA
2 21 (2.34%) Git
3 9 (1.00%) Browser DevTools
4 4 (0.45%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.33%) Android Studio
5 3 (0.33%) Artifactory
5 3 (0.33%) Eclipse
5 3 (0.33%) Xcode
6 2 (0.22%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.22%) Firebug
7 1 (0.11%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
7 1 (0.11%) GitLab
7 1 (0.11%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.11%) Subversion
7 1 (0.11%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 374 (41.65%) Social Skills
2 110 (12.25%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (9.02%) Finance
4 41 (4.57%) Manufacturing
5 37 (4.12%) Banking
6 27 (3.01%) Organisational Skills
7 24 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 20 (2.23%) Investment Banking
9 18 (2.00%) Front Office
9 18 (2.00%) Retail
10 17 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
11 15 (1.67%) Legal
11 15 (1.67%) Telecoms
12 14 (1.56%) Law
13 13 (1.45%) Public Sector
14 12 (1.34%) Financial Institution
15 10 (1.11%) Spanish Language
16 7 (0.78%) Marketing
17 6 (0.67%) Aerospace
18 5 (0.56%) Aviation
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (1.89%) .NET
2 15 (1.67%) Terraform
3 12 (1.34%) LDAP
4 10 (1.11%) XML
5 8 (0.89%) SAP Basis
6 7 (0.78%) .NET Framework
6 7 (0.78%) JDO
7 6 (0.67%) Oracle GoldenGate
7 6 (0.67%) REST
7 6 (0.67%) Software Packaging
8 5 (0.56%) CSS
8 5 (0.56%) SAML
8 5 (0.56%) SAP Fiori
8 5 (0.56%) SAPUI5
9 4 (0.45%) OAuth
9 4 (0.45%) React
10 3 (0.33%) AngularJS
10 3 (0.33%) FIX Protocol
10 3 (0.33%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.33%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 122 (13.59%) Onboarding
2 31 (3.45%) Data Centre
3 30 (3.34%) Video Conferencing
4 23 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
5 20 (2.23%) PKI
6 19 (2.12%) Analytical Mindset
7 17 (1.89%) Driving Licence
8 16 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
8 16 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
8 16 (1.78%) Hedge funds
9 15 (1.67%) iPhone
10 13 (1.45%) Smartphone
11 12 (1.34%) Legacy Systems
12 11 (1.22%) Blackberry
13 10 (1.11%) iPad
13 10 (1.11%) Management Information System
13 10 (1.11%) Virtual Team
14 9 (1.00%) Distributed Systems
15 8 (0.89%) CMDB
16 6 (0.67%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 505 (56.24%) Windows
2 195 (21.71%) Windows 10
3 78 (8.69%) Linux
3 78 (8.69%) Windows Server
4 62 (6.90%) Mac OS
5 41 (4.57%) Apple iOS
6 38 (4.23%) Android
7 35 (3.90%) Unix
8 19 (2.12%) Windows 7
9 11 (1.22%) Windows Server 2019
10 10 (1.11%) Ubuntu
11 7 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.45%) OpenVMS
12 4 (0.45%) Solaris
12 4 (0.45%) VMS
12 4 (0.45%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.45%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.45%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.33%) Windows XP
14 2 (0.22%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 221 (24.61%) Problem-Solving
2 216 (24.05%) Customer Service
3 184 (20.49%) ITIL
4 129 (14.37%) ITSM
5 85 (9.47%) Continuous Improvement
6 76 (8.46%) Asset Management
7 72 (8.02%) Service Delivery
8 68 (7.57%) Service Management
9 67 (7.46%) Migration
10 56 (6.24%) Root Cause Analysis
11 54 (6.01%) Incident Management
11 54 (6.01%) User Experience
12 53 (5.90%) Problem Management
13 49 (5.46%) Identity Access Management
14 43 (4.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 39 (4.34%) Runbook
16 37 (4.12%) Change Management
17 35 (3.90%) Technical Leadership
18 33 (3.67%) Data Protection
19 29 (3.23%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 103 (11.47%) PowerShell
2 70 (7.80%) SQL
3 48 (5.35%) Python
4 30 (3.34%) Java
5 23 (2.56%) Bash
5 23 (2.56%) JavaScript
6 19 (2.12%) C#
7 13 (1.45%) Shell Script
8 7 (0.78%) C++
9 6 (0.67%) Korn
10 5 (0.56%) Perl
10 5 (0.56%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.45%) Go
11 4 (0.45%) Tcl
12 2 (0.22%) DCL
12 2 (0.22%) VBA
13 1 (0.11%) C
13 1 (0.11%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.11%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.11%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 181 (20.16%) Security Cleared
2 111 (12.36%) SC Cleared
3 69 (7.68%) Degree
4 55 (6.12%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.34%) A+ Certification
6 22 (2.45%) Microsoft Certification
7 17 (1.89%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 17 (1.89%) Network+ Certification
8 16 (1.78%) Cisco Certification
9 15 (1.67%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.56%) CCNA
11 11 (1.22%) DBS Check
12 10 (1.11%) MCSE
13 9 (1.00%) Computer Science Degree
14 8 (0.89%) ITIL Certification
15 7 (0.78%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 6 (0.67%) Azure Certification
17 4 (0.45%) NVQ Level 4
18 2 (0.22%) CCNP
19 1 (0.11%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 61 (6.79%) SLA
2 6 (0.67%) QA
3 4 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (0.45%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 2 (0.22%) GDPR
5 2 (0.22%) GxP
5 2 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 1 (0.11%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.11%) GLP
6 1 (0.11%) GMP
6 1 (0.11%) GRC
6 1 (0.11%) ITGC
6 1 (0.11%) NCSC
System Software
1 396 (44.10%) Active Directory
2 49 (5.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (3.12%) VMware ESXi
4 25 (2.78%) Hyper-V
5 18 (2.00%) VMware NSX
6 17 (1.89%) Virtual Desktop
7 14 (1.56%) vCloud
8 10 (1.11%) Docker
9 7 (0.78%) vSphere
10 6 (0.67%) Oracle RAC
11 5 (0.56%) BitLocker
11 5 (0.56%) NFS
12 3 (0.33%) Firmware
12 3 (0.33%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.33%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.22%) zsh
14 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 138 (15.37%) Microsoft Intune
2 59 (6.57%) SCCM
3 28 (3.12%) vCenter Server
4 23 (2.56%) Single Sign-On
5 22 (2.45%) SCOM
6 17 (1.89%) Kubernetes
7 16 (1.78%) Jamf Pro
8 13 (1.45%) Grafana
9 12 (1.34%) Ansible
10 7 (0.78%) WSUS
11 6 (0.67%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 6 (0.67%) Oracle RMAN
12 5 (0.56%) Red Hat Satellite
13 4 (0.45%) ITRS Geneos
14 3 (0.33%) AirWatch
14 3 (0.33%) Nagios
14 3 (0.33%) NetBackup
14 3 (0.33%) Puppet
14 3 (0.33%) vMotion
14 3 (0.33%) vRealize
Vendors
1 414 (46.10%) Microsoft
2 128 (14.25%) ServiceNow
3 65 (7.24%) VMware
4 41 (4.57%) Apple
5 33 (3.67%) Okta
6 32 (3.56%) Oracle
7 30 (3.34%) Cisco
8 26 (2.90%) Google
9 25 (2.78%) Citrix
10 21 (2.34%) BeyondTrust
11 19 (2.12%) SAP
12 17 (1.89%) Splunk
13 15 (1.67%) Meraki
14 13 (1.45%) Bloomberg
14 13 (1.45%) Dell
14 13 (1.45%) iManage
14 13 (1.45%) Samsung
15 12 (1.34%) Sybase
16 11 (1.22%) HP
16 11 (1.22%) Lotus