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 18 July 2026.

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

6 months to
18 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 177 131 107
Rank change year-on-year -46 -24 -5
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 822 689 875
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.55% 2.12% 2.08%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.68% 2.31% 2.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 533 440 599
10th Percentile £158 £160 £140
25th Percentile £185 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 £244 £220
Median % change year-on-year -7.69% +10.80% -12.00%
75th Percentile £392 £384 £340
90th Percentile £490 £538 £503
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £229 £205
% change year-on-year -8.20% +11.59% -8.07%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 63 58
10th Percentile £16.99 £16.95 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.64 £18.03
Median hourly rate £25.39 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +0.93% +14.32% +10.00%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £26.50
90th Percentile £53.00 £68.00 £54.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year -12.52% +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 48,955 29,836 39,186
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.53% 91.66% 93.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,608 19,006 25,297
10th Percentile £325 £285 £288
25th Percentile £420 £400 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £494
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.85% -1.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,284 1,415 2,570
10th Percentile £15.82 £13.75 £13.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £17.50
Median hourly rate £43.69 £25.30 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +72.69% -36.75% -5.88%
75th Percentile £67.84 £55.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.75 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.72
% change year-on-year +78.93% -38.24% +4.34%

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 18 July 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 18 July 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 18 July 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 -50 696 £220 -7.37% 243
UK excluding London -39 554 £210 -8.20% 241
London -41 238 £240 -8.57% 46
South East -24 165 £238 -5.00% 77
North of England -67 101 £190 -13.64% 51
Scotland +55 82 £437 +20.55% 21
Work from Home -97 82 £250 -26.47% 66
Midlands -55 69 £250 -9.09% 27
South West -52 63 £210 -10.64% 34
North West -48 62 £190 -13.64% 28
East of England -3 59 £200 -5.88% 31
West Midlands -71 43 £250 -9.09% 13
Yorkshire -21 38 £200 -14.89% 18
East Midlands -2 25 £220 +22.22% 14
Wales -26 10 £195 -2.50% 2
Northern Ireland -2 5 £175 - 4
North East -49 1 £290 +48.72% 7
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 18 July 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.

1 429 (52.19%) Windows
2 347 (42.21%) Active Directory
3 332 (40.39%) Microsoft
4 292 (35.52%) Microsoft 365
5 190 (23.11%) Problem-Solving
6 175 (21.29%) Windows 10
7 166 (20.19%) Customer Service
8 157 (19.10%) Security Cleared
9 155 (18.86%) ITIL
10 144 (17.52%) Azure
11 127 (15.45%) Microsoft Intune
12 116 (14.11%) Entra ID
13 114 (13.87%) ServiceNow
14 101 (12.29%) SC Cleared
15 93 (11.31%) SharePoint
16 91 (11.07%) DNS
17 88 (10.71%) ITSM
18 85 (10.34%) PowerShell
19 66 (8.03%) SQL
20 64 (7.79%) JIRA
21 63 (7.66%) Linux
21 63 (7.66%) VPN
22 59 (7.18%) Continuous Improvement
22 59 (7.18%) DHCP
23 58 (7.06%) Microsoft Exchange
24 57 (6.93%) Service Delivery
25 55 (6.69%) TCP/IP
26 54 (6.57%) Migration
26 54 (6.57%) Windows Server
27 53 (6.45%) Mac OS

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 93 (11.31%) SharePoint
2 58 (7.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.46%) NetWeaver
4 9 (1.09%) HCL Notes
5 5 (0.61%) Confluence
6 3 (0.36%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.24%) IIS
7 2 (0.24%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.24%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 42 (5.11%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 11 (1.34%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.61%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.61%) Teamcenter
3 4 (0.49%) SAP EHS
4 2 (0.24%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.12%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 292 (35.52%) Microsoft 365
2 144 (17.52%) Azure
3 116 (14.11%) Entra ID
4 39 (4.74%) OneDrive
5 32 (3.89%) AWS
6 21 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.31%) SaaS
8 16 (1.95%) GCP
9 11 (1.34%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.09%) PaaS
11 6 (0.73%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.73%) IaaS
11 6 (0.73%) Mimecast
12 4 (0.49%) Amazon S3
12 4 (0.49%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.36%) Amazon EC2
13 3 (0.36%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.36%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.36%) Sauce Labs
14 2 (0.24%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 91 (11.07%) DNS
2 63 (7.66%) VPN
3 59 (7.18%) DHCP
4 55 (6.69%) TCP/IP
5 51 (6.20%) Wi-Fi
6 42 (5.11%) LAN
7 27 (3.28%) WAN
8 24 (2.92%) SAN
9 21 (2.55%) Firewall
10 18 (2.19%) Internet
11 16 (1.95%) VLAN
12 9 (1.09%) WLAN
13 8 (0.97%) Wireless
14 7 (0.85%) HTTP
14 7 (0.85%) Skype
15 6 (0.73%) VoIP
16 5 (0.61%) Network Security
17 4 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
17 4 (0.49%) Unified Communications
18 3 (0.36%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (4.74%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.07%) MySQL
3 12 (1.46%) SAP HANA
4 11 (1.34%) Sybase ASE
5 10 (1.22%) MaxDB
6 9 (1.09%) Amazon Redshift
6 9 (1.09%) Power BI
6 9 (1.09%) Relational Database
7 7 (0.85%) Pentaho
8 6 (0.73%) PostgreSQL
8 6 (0.73%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.61%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database 12c
11 3 (0.36%) Big Data
11 3 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
11 3 (0.36%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.24%) MariaDB
12 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 64 (7.79%) JIRA
2 20 (2.43%) Git
3 9 (1.09%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.36%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.36%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.36%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.36%) Xcode
5 2 (0.24%) Artifactory
5 2 (0.24%) Firebug
6 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.12%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.12%) Gemini Tracker
6 1 (0.12%) GitLab
6 1 (0.12%) MSI
6 1 (0.12%) RStudio
6 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.12%) Subversion
6 1 (0.12%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 333 (40.51%) Social Skills
2 97 (11.80%) Analytical Skills
3 63 (7.66%) Finance
4 45 (5.47%) Manufacturing
5 38 (4.62%) Banking
6 22 (2.68%) Organisational Skills
7 21 (2.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 20 (2.43%) Investment Banking
9 15 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
9 15 (1.82%) Retail
10 14 (1.70%) Aerospace
11 13 (1.58%) Aviation
11 13 (1.58%) Law
12 10 (1.22%) Front Office
13 9 (1.09%) Financial Institution
13 9 (1.09%) Legal
14 8 (0.97%) Spanish Language
14 8 (0.97%) Telecoms
15 7 (0.85%) Marketing
15 7 (0.85%) Public Sector
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (1.70%) .NET
2 11 (1.34%) SAP Basis
3 10 (1.22%) LDAP
3 10 (1.22%) Oracle GoldenGate
3 10 (1.22%) REST
4 8 (0.97%) XML
5 7 (0.85%) JDO
6 6 (0.73%) SAP Fiori
6 6 (0.73%) SAPUI5
6 6 (0.73%) Software Packaging
7 5 (0.61%) .NET Framework
7 5 (0.61%) CSS
7 5 (0.61%) SAML
8 4 (0.49%) Middleware
8 4 (0.49%) OAuth
9 3 (0.36%) Ajax
9 3 (0.36%) HTML
9 3 (0.36%) JSP
9 3 (0.36%) RESTful
9 3 (0.36%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 96 (11.68%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.26%) Data Centre
3 23 (2.80%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (2.55%) Analytical Mindset
4 21 (2.55%) Video Conferencing
5 17 (2.07%) PKI
6 16 (1.95%) iPhone
7 15 (1.82%) Virtual Team
8 14 (1.70%) Data Protection Act
9 13 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
10 12 (1.46%) Driving Licence
10 12 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
11 11 (1.34%) SCADA
12 9 (1.09%) Blackberry
12 9 (1.09%) Hedge funds
12 9 (1.09%) iPad
13 8 (0.97%) Smartphone
14 7 (0.85%) Management Information System
15 6 (0.73%) BYOD
16 5 (0.61%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 429 (52.19%) Windows
2 175 (21.29%) Windows 10
3 63 (7.66%) Linux
4 54 (6.57%) Windows Server
5 53 (6.45%) Mac OS
6 43 (5.23%) Unix
7 27 (3.28%) Apple iOS
8 24 (2.92%) Android
9 15 (1.82%) Windows 7
10 8 (0.97%) Ubuntu
10 8 (0.97%) Windows Server 2016
11 7 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 7 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.49%) Solaris
13 3 (0.36%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.36%) Windows XP
14 2 (0.24%) Mac OS X
14 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
14 2 (0.24%) VMS
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (23.11%) Problem-Solving
2 166 (20.19%) Customer Service
3 155 (18.86%) ITIL
4 88 (10.71%) ITSM
5 59 (7.18%) Continuous Improvement
6 57 (6.93%) Service Delivery
7 54 (6.57%) Migration
8 51 (6.20%) Asset Management
9 44 (5.35%) Change Management
10 43 (5.23%) Service Management
11 42 (5.11%) User Experience
12 41 (4.99%) Problem Management
13 40 (4.87%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 38 (4.62%) Incident Management
15 36 (4.38%) Root Cause Analysis
16 34 (4.14%) DevOps
16 34 (4.14%) Identity Access Management
17 28 (3.41%) High Availability
18 27 (3.28%) Data Protection
19 26 (3.16%) Break/Fix
Programming Languages
1 85 (10.34%) PowerShell
2 66 (8.03%) SQL
3 34 (4.14%) Python
4 27 (3.28%) C#
5 22 (2.68%) Java
6 17 (2.07%) Bash
6 17 (2.07%) JavaScript
6 17 (2.07%) Shell Script
7 10 (1.22%) Korn
8 7 (0.85%) C++
8 7 (0.85%) Perl
9 4 (0.49%) T-SQL
10 2 (0.24%) DCL
10 2 (0.24%) Go
10 2 (0.24%) VBScript
11 1 (0.12%) C
11 1 (0.12%) R
11 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.12%) VBA
Qualifications
1 157 (19.10%) Security Cleared
2 101 (12.29%) SC Cleared
3 52 (6.33%) Degree
4 40 (4.87%) DV Cleared
5 32 (3.89%) Microsoft Certification
6 28 (3.41%) A+ Certification
7 23 (2.80%) Network+ Certification
8 21 (2.55%) CCNA
8 21 (2.55%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.95%) MCSE
10 15 (1.82%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.09%) Computer Science Degree
11 9 (1.09%) DBS Check
12 8 (0.97%) Azure Certification
13 7 (0.85%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 6 (0.73%) ITIL Certification
14 6 (0.73%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 4 (0.49%) NVQ Level 4
16 1 (0.12%) AWS Certification
16 1 (0.12%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (5.35%) SLA
2 4 (0.49%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.49%) GDPR
2 4 (0.49%) QA
3 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 2 (0.24%) GLP
4 2 (0.24%) GMP
4 2 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.12%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.12%) Disclosure Scotland
5 1 (0.12%) GRC
5 1 (0.12%) GxP
5 1 (0.12%) ITGC
System Software
1 347 (42.21%) Active Directory
2 38 (4.62%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.68%) VMware ESXi
4 21 (2.55%) Hyper-V
5 17 (2.07%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.58%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (1.46%) vCloud
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle RAC
9 8 (0.97%) vSphere
10 5 (0.61%) Docker
10 5 (0.61%) NFS
11 4 (0.49%) BitLocker
12 3 (0.36%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.36%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.24%) Firmware
13 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
14 1 (0.12%) zsh
Systems Management
1 127 (15.45%) Microsoft Intune
2 47 (5.72%) SCCM
3 22 (2.68%) vCenter Server
4 20 (2.43%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (2.19%) Jamf Pro
6 16 (1.95%) SCOM
7 12 (1.46%) Grafana
8 10 (1.22%) Ansible
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle RMAN
9 7 (0.85%) Kubernetes
9 7 (0.85%) Terraform
10 5 (0.61%) Red Hat Satellite
11 3 (0.36%) AirWatch
11 3 (0.36%) ITRS Geneos
11 3 (0.36%) Nagios
11 3 (0.36%) Puppet
11 3 (0.36%) vMotion
11 3 (0.36%) vRealize
12 2 (0.24%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 332 (40.39%) Microsoft
2 114 (13.87%) ServiceNow
3 50 (6.08%) VMware
4 34 (4.14%) Apple
5 31 (3.77%) Oracle
6 27 (3.28%) Okta
7 21 (2.55%) Dell
7 21 (2.55%) SAP
8 20 (2.43%) Citrix
9 18 (2.19%) Cisco
9 18 (2.19%) Google
10 17 (2.07%) BeyondTrust
11 15 (1.82%) HP
12 11 (1.34%) Meraki
12 11 (1.34%) Sybase
13 9 (1.09%) Lotus
13 9 (1.09%) McAfee
13 9 (1.09%) Splunk
14 8 (0.97%) Red Hat
14 8 (0.97%) Remedy