Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £210, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 May 2026.

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

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 169 134 111
Rank change year-on-year -35 -23 +13
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 745 627 847
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.56% 2.15% 1.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.69% 2.32% 2.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 501 398 594
10th Percentile £153 £151 £140
25th Percentile £185 £188 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £236 £210
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +12.50% -16.00%
75th Percentile £350 £385 £300
90th Percentile £470 £500 £442
UK excluding London median daily rate £203 £225 £200
% change year-on-year -10.00% +12.50% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 54 52
10th Percentile £18.11 £18.13 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £21.00 £17.54
Median hourly rate £23.83 £24.66 £20.82
Median % change year-on-year -3.39% +18.47% +4.08%
75th Percentile £35.63 £39.75 £29.06
90th Percentile £37.50 £68.00 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.50 £18.13
% change year-on-year -8.16% +35.14% -3.31%

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 44,026 26,985 39,997
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.25% 92.51% 92.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,063 17,602 26,016
10th Percentile £319 £300 £280
25th Percentile £413 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.46% -2.38% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £493 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.68% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,846 1,048 2,675
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.00 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.50 £16.28
Median hourly rate £44.00 £28.68 £36.65
Median % change year-on-year +53.44% -21.76% -18.56%
75th Percentile £67.25 £62.50 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.74
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.68 £27.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +66.12% -31.25% -5.88%

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 9 May 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 9 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Support Engineer in the UK

Support Engineer
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 Support Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 9 May 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 -42 657 £210 -12.50% 310
UK excluding London -41 500 £203 -10.00% 282
London -47 210 £275 -8.33% 56
South East -32 133 £208 -17.00% 96
North of England -63 96 £190 -11.63% 68
Midlands -29 88 £200 -27.27% 39
Work from Home -58 81 £208 -31.40% 78
South West -35 74 £210 -8.70% 38
North West -35 59 £190 -11.63% 35
East of England -16 57 £200 -10.11% 32
West Midlands -47 54 £238 -17.39% 29
Scotland +23 44 £437 +191.33% 12
Yorkshire -39 36 £190 -19.15% 26
East Midlands -5 35 £200 -5.88% 10
Wales -13 11 £200 +5.26%
Northern Ireland -5 3 £175 +18.24% 2
North East -32 1 - - 10

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

For the 6 months to 9 May 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.

1 333 (44.70%) Windows
2 260 (34.90%) Microsoft
3 237 (31.81%) Active Directory
3 237 (31.81%) Microsoft 365
4 156 (20.94%) Windows 10
5 152 (20.40%) Security Cleared
6 149 (20.00%) Customer Service
7 142 (19.06%) Problem-Solving
8 130 (17.45%) Azure
9 121 (16.24%) SC Cleared
10 100 (13.42%) ITIL
11 98 (13.15%) Microsoft Intune
12 81 (10.87%) ServiceNow
13 76 (10.20%) Entra ID
14 61 (8.19%) Migration
15 57 (7.65%) ITSM
16 56 (7.52%) PowerShell
17 53 (7.11%) SharePoint
18 52 (6.98%) JIRA
18 52 (6.98%) SQL
19 47 (6.31%) DNS
19 47 (6.31%) SCCM
20 46 (6.17%) Wi-Fi
21 43 (5.77%) Linux
22 39 (5.23%) Continuous Improvement
22 39 (5.23%) Degree
22 39 (5.23%) Mac OS
23 38 (5.10%) Unix
23 38 (5.10%) Windows Server
24 37 (4.97%) Asset Management

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 53 (7.11%) SharePoint
2 24 (3.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.94%) NetWeaver
4 4 (0.54%) Confluence
4 4 (0.54%) IIS
5 3 (0.40%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.27%) Apache
6 2 (0.27%) HCL Notes
6 2 (0.27%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
7 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 36 (4.83%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.74%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 10 (1.34%) SAP EHS
2 8 (1.07%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (0.94%) Shopify
4 6 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
4 6 (0.81%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.13%) assyst
6 1 (0.13%) Bloomberg TOMS
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 237 (31.81%) Microsoft 365
2 130 (17.45%) Azure
3 76 (10.20%) Entra ID
4 25 (3.36%) AWS
5 23 (3.09%) OneDrive
6 21 (2.82%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (2.82%) SaaS
7 12 (1.61%) Power Platform
8 11 (1.48%) Dynamics 365
9 10 (1.34%) GCP
9 10 (1.34%) Google Workspace
10 6 (0.81%) Amazon S3
10 6 (0.81%) Sauce Labs
11 5 (0.67%) Azure Data Factory
11 5 (0.67%) PaaS
12 4 (0.54%) Datadog
12 4 (0.54%) Mimecast
12 4 (0.54%) Snowflake
13 3 (0.40%) GitHub
13 3 (0.40%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 47 (6.31%) DNS
2 46 (6.17%) Wi-Fi
3 37 (4.97%) VPN
4 36 (4.83%) DHCP
5 34 (4.56%) LAN
6 31 (4.16%) TCP/IP
7 21 (2.82%) WAN
8 19 (2.55%) SAN
9 18 (2.42%) Firewall
10 13 (1.74%) Wireless
11 10 (1.34%) Internet
12 9 (1.21%) VLAN
13 7 (0.94%) HTTP
13 7 (0.94%) WLAN
14 6 (0.81%) VoIP
15 5 (0.67%) Network Security
15 5 (0.67%) Skype
16 4 (0.54%) Unified Communications
17 3 (0.40%) AMQP
17 3 (0.40%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (3.22%) SQL Server
2 20 (2.68%) MySQL
3 14 (1.88%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.74%) Amazon Redshift
5 10 (1.34%) Power BI
6 9 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 7 (0.94%) Pentaho
7 7 (0.94%) SAP HANA
8 6 (0.81%) Sybase ASE
9 5 (0.67%) MaxDB
9 5 (0.67%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.54%) Amazon Athena
10 4 (0.54%) Oracle Database 12c
10 4 (0.54%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.40%) MariaDB
12 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.27%) InfluxDB
12 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.27%) Tableau
13 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 52 (6.98%) JIRA
2 19 (2.55%) Git
3 13 (1.74%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.81%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.81%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.81%) Xcode
5 3 (0.40%) Firebug
5 3 (0.40%) Maven
6 2 (0.27%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
7 1 (0.13%) MSI
7 1 (0.13%) RStudio
7 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.13%) Subversion
7 1 (0.13%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 289 (38.79%) Social Skills
2 75 (10.07%) Analytical Skills
3 48 (6.44%) Manufacturing
4 46 (6.17%) Finance
5 36 (4.83%) Banking
6 22 (2.95%) Aerospace
6 22 (2.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 18 (2.42%) Investment Banking
8 16 (2.15%) Aviation
8 16 (2.15%) Law
9 12 (1.61%) Public Sector
10 11 (1.48%) Organisational Skills
11 10 (1.34%) Front Office
12 9 (1.21%) Documentation Skills
12 9 (1.21%) Legal
13 7 (0.94%) Telecoms
14 6 (0.81%) French Language
14 6 (0.81%) Retail
15 4 (0.54%) Advertising
15 4 (0.54%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.34%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 9 (1.21%) CSS
3 8 (1.07%) REST
4 7 (0.94%) JDO
5 6 (0.81%) .NET
5 6 (0.81%) Ajax
5 6 (0.81%) AngularJS
5 6 (0.81%) GraphQL
5 6 (0.81%) React
5 6 (0.81%) SAP Basis
6 5 (0.67%) Middleware
6 5 (0.67%) SAML
6 5 (0.67%) YAML
7 4 (0.54%) HTML
7 4 (0.54%) OAuth
7 4 (0.54%) PySpark
8 3 (0.40%) JSP
8 3 (0.40%) Software Packaging
8 3 (0.40%) Web Services
8 3 (0.40%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 54 (7.25%) Onboarding
2 29 (3.89%) Data Centre
3 26 (3.49%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.09%) Analytical Mindset
5 21 (2.82%) Driving Licence
6 14 (1.88%) Smartphone
7 12 (1.61%) Data Protection Act
7 12 (1.61%) Enterprise Software
7 12 (1.61%) Virtual Team
8 11 (1.48%) PKI
9 10 (1.34%) iPhone
9 10 (1.34%) SCADA
10 9 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.07%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.94%) Video Conferencing
13 6 (0.81%) Mobile App
14 5 (0.67%) Management Information System
15 4 (0.54%) iPad
16 3 (0.40%) CCTV
16 3 (0.40%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 333 (44.70%) Windows
2 156 (20.94%) Windows 10
3 43 (5.77%) Linux
4 39 (5.23%) Mac OS
5 38 (5.10%) Unix
5 38 (5.10%) Windows Server
6 26 (3.49%) Android
7 22 (2.95%) Apple iOS
8 14 (1.88%) Windows 7
9 6 (0.81%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.40%) Mac OS X
10 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.13%) CentOS
12 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.13%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 149 (20.00%) Customer Service
2 142 (19.06%) Problem-Solving
3 100 (13.42%) ITIL
4 61 (8.19%) Migration
5 57 (7.65%) ITSM
6 39 (5.23%) Continuous Improvement
7 37 (4.97%) Asset Management
8 34 (4.56%) User Experience
9 33 (4.43%) Change Management
9 33 (4.43%) Root Cause Analysis
10 31 (4.16%) Service Management
11 30 (4.03%) DevOps
12 29 (3.89%) Incident Management
13 28 (3.76%) Break/Fix
14 27 (3.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 27 (3.62%) Workflow
15 24 (3.22%) Service Delivery
16 22 (2.95%) Problem Management
17 21 (2.82%) Data Protection
17 21 (2.82%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 56 (7.52%) PowerShell
2 52 (6.98%) SQL
3 26 (3.49%) Python
4 21 (2.82%) Java
5 20 (2.68%) C#
5 20 (2.68%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.15%) Shell Script
7 10 (1.34%) Korn
7 10 (1.34%) Perl
8 8 (1.07%) Bash
9 2 (0.27%) C++
10 1 (0.13%) C
10 1 (0.13%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.13%) R
10 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.13%) VB.NET
10 1 (0.13%) VBA
10 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 152 (20.40%) Security Cleared
2 121 (16.24%) SC Cleared
3 39 (5.23%) Degree
4 27 (3.62%) DV Cleared
5 24 (3.22%) Microsoft Certification
6 22 (2.95%) A+ Certification
7 20 (2.68%) CCNA
7 20 (2.68%) Cisco Certification
8 16 (2.15%) MCSE
8 16 (2.15%) Network+ Certification
9 15 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
10 10 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
11 9 (1.21%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.94%) DBS Check
13 6 (0.81%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.40%) Master's Degree
15 2 (0.27%) NVQ Level 4
16 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
16 1 (0.13%) CompTIA Security+
16 1 (0.13%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.76%) SLA
2 5 (0.67%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (0.54%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.40%) GDPR
4 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.40%) QA
5 2 (0.27%) GLP
5 2 (0.27%) GMP
6 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.13%) GRC
6 1 (0.13%) GxP
6 1 (0.13%) ITGC
6 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 237 (31.81%) Active Directory
2 22 (2.95%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.61%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.34%) Oracle RAC
5 9 (1.21%) Virtual Desktop
6 8 (1.07%) VMware NSX
7 6 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.67%) vSphere
9 4 (0.54%) Firmware
10 3 (0.40%) vCloud
11 2 (0.27%) Docker
11 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
12 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 98 (13.15%) Microsoft Intune
2 47 (6.31%) SCCM
3 17 (2.28%) Jamf Pro
4 16 (2.15%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (2.01%) Grafana
6 10 (1.34%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 10 (1.34%) Oracle RMAN
6 10 (1.34%) Terraform
7 9 (1.21%) Ansible
8 6 (0.81%) vCenter Server
9 5 (0.67%) Kubernetes
10 3 (0.40%) Kibana
10 3 (0.40%) SCOM
10 3 (0.40%) vRealize
10 3 (0.40%) WSUS
11 2 (0.27%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
11 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.27%) WMI
Vendors
1 260 (34.90%) Microsoft
2 81 (10.87%) ServiceNow
3 33 (4.43%) Oracle
4 31 (4.16%) Dell
5 25 (3.36%) SAP
5 25 (3.36%) VMware
6 22 (2.95%) Apple
7 20 (2.68%) Cisco
7 20 (2.68%) HP
8 14 (1.88%) Google
9 11 (1.48%) Bloomberg
9 11 (1.48%) Okta
10 10 (1.34%) McAfee
10 10 (1.34%) Remedy
11 9 (1.21%) Citrix
12 8 (1.07%) Denodo
12 8 (1.07%) Splunk
12 8 (1.07%) Starlink
12 8 (1.07%) Talend
13 6 (0.81%) Meraki