Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £225, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 November 2025.

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

6 months to
29 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 120 135 86
Rank change year-on-year +15 -49 +61
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 843 689 1,206
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.34% 1.89% 2.63%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.57% 2.04% 2.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 576 459 875
10th Percentile £153 £150 £140
25th Percentile £185 £188 £185
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 £240 £238
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% +1.05% +0.64%
75th Percentile £338 £350 £400
90th Percentile £505 £519 £550
UK excluding London median daily rate £220 £220 £215
% change year-on-year - +2.33% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 47 63
10th Percentile £17.14 £16.91 £14.74
25th Percentile £19.70 £20.75 £17.13
Median hourly rate £24.00 £23.59 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +1.74% +24.16% -2.56%
75th Percentile £30.00 £26.00 £21.63
90th Percentile £46.88 £48.75 £23.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.00 £23.30 £19.00
% change year-on-year +3.03% +22.61% +7.22%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 32,783 33,839 42,964
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.95% 92.83% 93.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,795 20,464 29,004
10th Percentile £281 £300 £290
25th Percentile £402 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £649
90th Percentile £725 £738 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £494 £500
% change year-on-year -3.85% -1.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,905 1,235 1,530
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.22 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.89 £20.63 £19.08
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -21.35% +48.33%
75th Percentile £57.50 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.50 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £33.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -23.79% -25.84% +78.00%

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 29 November 2025.

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 29 November 2025.

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 29 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 +13 764 £225 -6.25% 354
UK excluding London +7 580 £220 - 338
London -5 216 £225 -25.00% 75
South East +29 187 £238 +3.48% 114
South West +37 105 £250 +12.36% 29
North of England -26 103 £200 - 83
Midlands +7 100 £255 -1.92% 50
Work from Home -19 100 £275 -21.43% 96
West Midlands +3 74 £271 +4.23% 35
North West -18 55 £190 -5.00% 41
East of England -9 51 £216 -2.81% 39
Yorkshire -19 36 £205 -8.89% 34
East Midlands +3 26 £180 -24.21% 15
Scotland -20 23 £213 +11.84% 16
Wales +13 21 £213 +6.25% 7
North East +1 12 £106 -34.77% 9
Northern Ireland -6 3 £175 +18.24% 5

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

For the 6 months to 29 November 2025, 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.

1 447 (53.02%) Windows
2 324 (38.43%) Microsoft
3 257 (30.49%) Security Cleared
4 248 (29.42%) Microsoft 365
5 239 (28.35%) Active Directory
6 193 (22.89%) SC Cleared
7 184 (21.83%) Problem-Solving
8 168 (19.93%) Customer Service
9 167 (19.81%) Windows 10
10 118 (14.00%) ITIL
11 108 (12.81%) Azure
12 103 (12.22%) ServiceNow
13 100 (11.86%) Linux
14 96 (11.39%) Microsoft Office
15 95 (11.27%) Microsoft Intune
16 89 (10.56%) DNS
17 78 (9.25%) DHCP
17 78 (9.25%) ITSM
18 77 (9.13%) SCCM
19 76 (9.02%) Service Management
20 75 (8.90%) SharePoint
21 74 (8.78%) TCP/IP
21 74 (8.78%) VPN
22 70 (8.30%) Microsoft Exchange
23 63 (7.47%) Migration
24 61 (7.24%) DV Cleared
24 61 (7.24%) PowerShell
25 57 (6.76%) Android
26 56 (6.64%) Cisco
27 55 (6.52%) Apple

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 75 (8.90%) SharePoint
2 70 (8.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 24 (2.85%) Skype for Business
4 11 (1.30%) Exchange Server 2010
4 11 (1.30%) SharePoint Server
5 10 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2003
5 10 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2007
5 10 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2013
5 10 (1.19%) Office Communications Server
6 6 (0.71%) Confluence
7 3 (0.36%) Apache
7 3 (0.36%) Smallworld
8 2 (0.24%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.24%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.24%) ArcGIS
8 2 (0.24%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.24%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.12%) CMS
9 1 (0.12%) SAS
9 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 96 (11.39%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (2.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.24%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.12%) DaVinci Resolve
5 1 (0.12%) OmniGraffle
5 1 (0.12%) Pro Tools
5 1 (0.12%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (1.07%) Remedy ITSM
2 6 (0.71%) SAP EHS
3 5 (0.59%) Primavera
4 3 (0.36%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.24%) Eikon
5 2 (0.24%) Fidessa
6 1 (0.12%) Aladdin
6 1 (0.12%) assyst
6 1 (0.12%) Bloomberg TOMS
6 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.12%) Eze OMS
6 1 (0.12%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.12%) Shopify
6 1 (0.12%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 248 (29.42%) Microsoft 365
2 108 (12.81%) Azure
3 42 (4.98%) Entra ID
4 31 (3.68%) AWS
5 24 (2.85%) OneDrive
6 23 (2.73%) SaaS
7 18 (2.14%) Google Workspace
7 18 (2.14%) Sauce Labs
8 11 (1.30%) Power Platform
9 7 (0.83%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (0.83%) npm
10 5 (0.59%) OpenShift
10 5 (0.59%) SuccessFactors
11 4 (0.47%) Microsoft Purview
11 4 (0.47%) Slack
12 3 (0.36%) Azure AKS
12 3 (0.36%) Dynamics 365
12 3 (0.36%) PowerApps
13 2 (0.24%) GCP
13 2 (0.24%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 89 (10.56%) DNS
2 78 (9.25%) DHCP
3 74 (8.78%) TCP/IP
3 74 (8.78%) VPN
4 43 (5.10%) Firewall
5 42 (4.98%) WAN
6 40 (4.74%) Wireless
7 36 (4.27%) Wi-Fi
8 31 (3.68%) LAN
9 22 (2.61%) Cisco IOS
10 21 (2.49%) VLAN
11 20 (2.37%) Junos
12 19 (2.25%) MPLS
13 17 (2.02%) BGP
13 17 (2.02%) IPsec
14 15 (1.78%) Cisco Firepower
14 15 (1.78%) Cisco ISE
14 15 (1.78%) Skype
15 14 (1.66%) Network Security
16 13 (1.54%) PABX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (4.03%) Relational Database
2 25 (2.97%) MySQL
3 16 (1.90%) SQL Server
4 8 (0.95%) Power BI
5 6 (0.71%) MariaDB
6 5 (0.59%) RDBMS
7 4 (0.47%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.47%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.36%) DB2
8 3 (0.36%) GIS
8 3 (0.36%) Tableau
9 2 (0.24%) Apache Cassandra
9 2 (0.24%) Electronic Patient Records
9 2 (0.24%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.12%) Elasticsearch
10 1 (0.12%) Informix
10 1 (0.12%) PostgreSQL
10 1 (0.12%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 28 (3.32%) Browser DevTools
2 19 (2.25%) JIRA
3 18 (2.14%) Android Studio
3 18 (2.14%) Eclipse
3 18 (2.14%) Xcode
4 14 (1.66%) Git
5 9 (1.07%) Firebug
6 7 (0.83%) Jenkins
6 7 (0.83%) Maven
7 5 (0.59%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.36%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.24%) MSI
10 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.12%) ClearCase
10 1 (0.12%) Hudson
General
1 370 (43.89%) Social Skills
2 78 (9.25%) Finance
3 68 (8.07%) Public Sector
4 54 (6.41%) Analytical Skills
5 39 (4.63%) Manufacturing
6 35 (4.15%) Banking
7 28 (3.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 28 (3.32%) Organisational Skills
8 25 (2.97%) Telecoms
9 18 (2.14%) Aerospace
10 16 (1.90%) Marketing
11 15 (1.78%) Electronics
12 13 (1.54%) Front Office
13 11 (1.30%) Documentation Skills
14 9 (1.07%) Retail
15 8 (0.95%) Investment Banking
16 7 (0.83%) Law
16 7 (0.83%) Legal
17 6 (0.71%) Automotive
17 6 (0.71%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.44%) CSS
2 24 (2.85%) Middleware
3 21 (2.49%) React
4 19 (2.25%) Ajax
4 19 (2.25%) AngularJS
4 19 (2.25%) GraphQL
5 16 (1.90%) XML
6 10 (1.19%) HTML
7 7 (0.83%) JSON
8 5 (0.59%) .NET
8 5 (0.59%) REST
8 5 (0.59%) SOAP
9 4 (0.47%) JDO
9 4 (0.47%) OAuth
10 3 (0.36%) ADO
10 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.24%) Kafka
11 2 (0.24%) Node.js
11 2 (0.24%) OpenTelemetry
11 2 (0.24%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 37 (4.39%) Onboarding
2 34 (4.03%) Self-Motivation
3 32 (3.80%) Data Centre
4 27 (3.20%) Driving Licence
5 24 (2.85%) PKI
6 21 (2.49%) Data Protection Act
7 20 (2.37%) Mobile App
8 15 (1.78%) Smartphone
9 13 (1.54%) iPhone
9 13 (1.54%) Video Conferencing
10 12 (1.42%) Management Information System
10 12 (1.42%) Replication
11 11 (1.30%) Analytical Mindset
12 7 (0.83%) iPad
12 7 (0.83%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (0.71%) NHS
14 5 (0.59%) Operational Technology
14 5 (0.59%) Virtual Team
15 4 (0.47%) CMDB
15 4 (0.47%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 447 (53.02%) Windows
2 167 (19.81%) Windows 10
3 100 (11.86%) Linux
4 57 (6.76%) Android
5 54 (6.41%) Windows Server
6 47 (5.58%) Mac OS
7 46 (5.46%) Apple iOS
8 32 (3.80%) Unix
9 13 (1.54%) Ubuntu
10 11 (1.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 10 (1.19%) Windows Server 2003
12 8 (0.95%) Windows 7
13 5 (0.59%) CentOS
13 5 (0.59%) Mac OS X
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2012
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2019
15 1 (0.12%) VMS
15 1 (0.12%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 184 (21.83%) Problem-Solving
2 168 (19.93%) Customer Service
3 118 (14.00%) ITIL
4 78 (9.25%) ITSM
5 76 (9.02%) Service Management
6 63 (7.47%) Migration
7 55 (6.52%) Asset Management
8 46 (5.46%) Workflow
9 44 (5.22%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 33 (3.91%) User Experience
11 32 (3.80%) Workflow Management
12 31 (3.68%) Business Intelligence
12 31 (3.68%) Cybersecurity
12 31 (3.68%) OO
12 31 (3.68%) Root Cause Analysis
12 31 (3.68%) Service Delivery
13 26 (3.08%) Continuous Improvement
13 26 (3.08%) Incident Management
13 26 (3.08%) Logistics
14 23 (2.73%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 61 (7.24%) PowerShell
2 45 (5.34%) Java
3 43 (5.10%) JavaScript
3 43 (5.10%) Python
4 26 (3.08%) SQL
5 20 (2.37%) Bash
5 20 (2.37%) Perl
6 17 (2.02%) Shell Script
7 16 (1.90%) C
8 13 (1.54%) C++
9 12 (1.42%) Ada
10 4 (0.47%) C#
11 3 (0.36%) Magik
11 3 (0.36%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.24%) AWK
12 2 (0.24%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.12%) Korn
13 1 (0.12%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.12%) VBA
13 1 (0.12%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 257 (30.49%) Security Cleared
2 193 (22.89%) SC Cleared
3 61 (7.24%) DV Cleared
4 46 (5.46%) Degree
5 31 (3.68%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (1.66%) Azure Certification
7 13 (1.54%) Network+ Certification
8 12 (1.42%) DBS Check
9 11 (1.30%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (1.30%) Server+ Certification
10 10 (1.19%) CCNA
11 9 (1.07%) A+ Certification
11 9 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (0.95%) ITIL Certification
13 5 (0.59%) MCSE
14 4 (0.47%) MCP
14 4 (0.47%) MCSA
15 3 (0.36%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 2 (0.24%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (4.03%) SLA
2 10 (1.19%) QA
3 9 (1.07%) GDPR
4 4 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (0.36%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.12%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.12%) GAAP
6 1 (0.12%) IFRS
6 1 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 239 (28.35%) Active Directory
2 31 (3.68%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (2.37%) Hyper-V
4 19 (2.25%) Virtual Desktop
5 16 (1.90%) VMware NSX
6 12 (1.42%) Firmware
7 10 (1.19%) Brightmail
7 10 (1.19%) Docker
7 10 (1.19%) ISA Server
8 9 (1.07%) vSphere
9 3 (0.36%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.24%) Microsoft App-V
10 2 (0.24%) NFS
10 2 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.12%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.12%) DFS Replication
11 1 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.12%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 95 (11.27%) Microsoft Intune
2 77 (9.13%) SCCM
3 35 (4.15%) Jamf Pro
4 24 (2.85%) Ansible
5 21 (2.49%) Terraform
6 18 (2.14%) vCenter Server
7 10 (1.19%) Kubernetes
7 10 (1.19%) Microsoft Clustering
8 9 (1.07%) Grafana
9 7 (0.83%) SCOM
10 6 (0.71%) Red Hat Satellite
11 5 (0.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.59%) AirWatch
11 5 (0.59%) Kibana
12 4 (0.47%) ITRS Geneos
13 3 (0.36%) Single Sign-On
14 2 (0.24%) Autotask
14 2 (0.24%) FortiGate
14 2 (0.24%) OpenView
14 2 (0.24%) WSUS
Vendors
1 324 (38.43%) Microsoft
2 103 (12.22%) ServiceNow
3 56 (6.64%) Cisco
4 55 (6.52%) Apple
5 50 (5.93%) Oracle
6 46 (5.46%) VMware
7 33 (3.91%) Juniper
8 30 (3.56%) SAP
9 26 (3.08%) HP
10 24 (2.85%) SolarWinds
11 23 (2.73%) Citrix
12 21 (2.49%) Splunk
13 20 (2.37%) Google
14 19 (2.25%) Red Hat
15 13 (1.54%) Dell
16 12 (1.42%) Bloomberg
16 12 (1.42%) Remedy
17 7 (0.83%) McAfee
17 7 (0.83%) Starlink
18 6 (0.71%) Zscaler