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 18 May 2026.

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

 6 months to
18 May 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 165 129 115
Rank change year-on-year -36 -14 +8
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 746 640 835
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.56% 2.18% 1.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.68% 2.36% 2.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 495 405 574
10th Percentile £153 £153 £140
25th Percentile £184 £189 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £235 £210
Median % change year-on-year -10.57% +11.90% -16.00%
75th Percentile £363 £384 £319
90th Percentile £470 £500 £448
UK excluding London median daily rate £203 £225 £200
% change year-on-year -10.00% +12.50% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 54 54
10th Percentile £17.68 £18.13 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £20.73 £17.72
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.66 £21.41
Median % change year-on-year +1.99% +15.19% +5.46%
75th Percentile £36.00 £35.63 £29.84
90th Percentile £38.00 £68.00 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.58 £18.20
% change year-on-year -8.46% +35.05% -9.00%

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 44,273 27,145 39,538
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.32% 92.37% 92.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,095 17,684 25,719
10th Percentile £325 £293 £280
25th Percentile £413 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.49% -2.38% -2.82%
75th Percentile £615 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,901 1,049 2,672
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.00 £12.82
25th Percentile £20.31 £18.13 £16.29
Median hourly rate £43.00 £28.15 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +52.75% -22.88% -18.89%
75th Percentile £67.25 £61.50 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £27.13 £40.00
% change year-on-year +65.90% -32.19% -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 18 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 18 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 18 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 -46 656 £210 -11.58% 295
UK excluding London -40 505 £203 -10.00% 279
London -46 206 £275 - 58
South East -30 140 £210 -16.00% 94
North of England -77 89 £190 -11.63% 59
Midlands -36 87 £209 -20.57% 46
Work from Home -55 83 £208 -30.83% 69
South West -28 75 £210 -10.64% 22
East of England -7 60 £200 -10.11% 37
North West -42 55 £190 -11.63% 34
West Midlands -54 53 £250 -9.09% 29
Scotland +28 47 £350 +133.33% 18
East Midlands 0 35 £200 -5.88% 17
Yorkshire -48 33 £190 -19.15% 19
Wales -17 9 £250 +25.00% 3
Northern Ireland -6 4 £175 +18.24% 2
North East -34 1 - - 8

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

For the 6 months to 18 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.

1 334 (44.77%) Windows
2 256 (34.32%) Microsoft
3 247 (33.11%) Active Directory
4 231 (30.97%) Microsoft 365
5 156 (20.91%) Windows 10
6 149 (19.97%) Security Cleared
7 147 (19.71%) Customer Service
8 141 (18.90%) Problem-Solving
9 133 (17.83%) Azure
10 112 (15.01%) SC Cleared
11 105 (14.08%) ITIL
12 97 (13.00%) Microsoft Intune
13 85 (11.39%) ServiceNow
14 76 (10.19%) Entra ID
15 59 (7.91%) ITSM
16 57 (7.64%) Migration
16 57 (7.64%) PowerShell
17 55 (7.37%) SQL
18 54 (7.24%) SharePoint
19 51 (6.84%) JIRA
20 50 (6.70%) DNS
21 45 (6.03%) SCCM
22 44 (5.90%) Linux
22 44 (5.90%) Wi-Fi
23 42 (5.63%) Degree
24 40 (5.36%) Continuous Improvement
25 39 (5.23%) Mac OS
26 38 (5.09%) DHCP
26 38 (5.09%) Unix
26 38 (5.09%) Windows Server

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 54 (7.24%) SharePoint
2 25 (3.35%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.21%) NetWeaver
4 4 (0.54%) Confluence
4 4 (0.54%) HCL Notes
4 4 (0.54%) IIS
5 3 (0.40%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.27%) Apache
6 2 (0.27%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
7 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 33 (4.42%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.61%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 10 (1.34%) SAP EHS
2 8 (1.07%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.94%) Shopify
4 6 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
4 6 (0.80%) 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
1 231 (30.97%) Microsoft 365
2 133 (17.83%) Azure
3 76 (10.19%) Entra ID
4 25 (3.35%) AWS
5 22 (2.95%) Azure DevOps
5 22 (2.95%) OneDrive
5 22 (2.95%) SaaS
6 12 (1.61%) Power Platform
7 11 (1.47%) Dynamics 365
8 10 (1.34%) GCP
9 6 (0.80%) Amazon S3
9 6 (0.80%) Azure Data Factory
9 6 (0.80%) PaaS
9 6 (0.80%) Sauce Labs
10 5 (0.67%) Google Workspace
11 4 (0.54%) Datadog
11 4 (0.54%) Mimecast
11 4 (0.54%) Snowflake
12 3 (0.40%) GitHub
12 3 (0.40%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 50 (6.70%) DNS
2 44 (5.90%) Wi-Fi
3 38 (5.09%) DHCP
4 37 (4.96%) VPN
5 36 (4.83%) LAN
6 31 (4.16%) TCP/IP
7 22 (2.95%) WAN
8 21 (2.82%) SAN
9 14 (1.88%) Firewall
10 12 (1.61%) Internet
10 12 (1.61%) VLAN
11 9 (1.21%) Wireless
12 8 (1.07%) WLAN
13 7 (0.94%) HTTP
14 6 (0.80%) VoIP
15 5 (0.67%) Skype
16 4 (0.54%) Unified Communications
17 3 (0.40%) AMQP
17 3 (0.40%) Network Security
17 3 (0.40%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (3.49%) 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%) SAP HANA
6 9 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 8 (1.07%) Sybase ASE
8 7 (0.94%) MaxDB
8 7 (0.94%) Pentaho
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%) Azure SQL Database
12 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.27%) InfluxDB
12 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 51 (6.84%) JIRA
2 20 (2.68%) Git
3 13 (1.74%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.80%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.80%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.80%) 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
1 291 (39.01%) Social Skills
2 78 (10.46%) Analytical Skills
3 50 (6.70%) Manufacturing
4 45 (6.03%) Finance
5 34 (4.56%) Banking
6 22 (2.95%) Aerospace
6 22 (2.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 18 (2.41%) Investment Banking
7 18 (2.41%) Law
8 17 (2.28%) Aviation
9 12 (1.61%) Organisational Skills
10 11 (1.47%) Documentation Skills
10 11 (1.47%) Public Sector
11 9 (1.21%) Legal
12 8 (1.07%) Front Office
12 8 (1.07%) Telecoms
13 7 (0.94%) Retail
14 6 (0.80%) French Language
14 6 (0.80%) Marketing
15 4 (0.54%) Advertising
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.34%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 9 (1.21%) CSS
3 8 (1.07%) REST
3 8 (1.07%) SAP Basis
4 7 (0.94%) JDO
5 6 (0.80%) .NET
5 6 (0.80%) Ajax
5 6 (0.80%) AngularJS
5 6 (0.80%) GraphQL
5 6 (0.80%) React
6 5 (0.67%) Middleware
6 5 (0.67%) PySpark
6 5 (0.67%) SAML
6 5 (0.67%) YAML
7 4 (0.54%) HTML
7 4 (0.54%) OAuth
8 3 (0.40%) JSP
8 3 (0.40%) LDAP
8 3 (0.40%) Web Services
8 3 (0.40%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 52 (6.97%) Onboarding
2 31 (4.16%) Data Centre
3 26 (3.49%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.08%) Analytical Mindset
5 16 (2.14%) 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 (1.47%) iPhone
8 11 (1.47%) PKI
9 10 (1.34%) SCADA
10 8 (1.07%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (1.07%) Legacy Systems
11 7 (0.94%) Video Conferencing
12 6 (0.80%) Mobile App
13 4 (0.54%) Blackberry
13 4 (0.54%) CCTV
13 4 (0.54%) Hedge funds
13 4 (0.54%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 334 (44.77%) Windows
2 156 (20.91%) Windows 10
3 44 (5.90%) Linux
4 39 (5.23%) Mac OS
5 38 (5.09%) Unix
5 38 (5.09%) Windows Server
6 22 (2.95%) Android
7 21 (2.82%) Apple iOS
8 14 (1.88%) Windows 7
9 6 (0.80%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.40%) Mac OS X
11 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.27%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.13%) CentOS
13 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.13%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (19.71%) Customer Service
2 141 (18.90%) Problem-Solving
3 105 (14.08%) ITIL
4 59 (7.91%) ITSM
5 57 (7.64%) Migration
6 40 (5.36%) Continuous Improvement
7 35 (4.69%) Asset Management
7 35 (4.69%) Change Management
7 35 (4.69%) Root Cause Analysis
8 34 (4.56%) User Experience
9 33 (4.42%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 32 (4.29%) DevOps
11 30 (4.02%) Service Management
12 29 (3.89%) Incident Management
13 28 (3.75%) Service Delivery
14 25 (3.35%) Problem Management
15 24 (3.22%) Break/Fix
15 24 (3.22%) Data Protection
15 24 (3.22%) Workflow
16 21 (2.82%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 57 (7.64%) PowerShell
2 55 (7.37%) SQL
3 29 (3.89%) Python
4 21 (2.82%) Java
5 20 (2.68%) C#
6 19 (2.55%) JavaScript
7 15 (2.01%) Shell Script
8 10 (1.34%) Korn
8 10 (1.34%) Perl
9 9 (1.21%) Bash
10 2 (0.27%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) R
11 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.13%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.13%) VBA
11 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 149 (19.97%) Security Cleared
2 112 (15.01%) SC Cleared
3 42 (5.63%) Degree
4 29 (3.89%) 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 (2.14%) BPSS Clearance
8 16 (2.14%) MCSE
8 16 (2.14%) Network+ Certification
9 10 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (1.21%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.94%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.80%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.54%) NVQ Level 4
14 2 (0.27%) Master's Degree
15 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
15 1 (0.13%) CompTIA Security+
15 1 (0.13%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (3.89%) SLA
2 5 (0.67%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (0.54%) GDPR
4 3 (0.40%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
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%) QA
6 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 247 (33.11%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.08%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.61%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.34%) Oracle RAC
4 10 (1.34%) VMware NSX
5 8 (1.07%) Virtual Desktop
5 8 (1.07%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.67%) vCloud
6 5 (0.67%) vSphere
7 4 (0.54%) Firmware
8 2 (0.27%) NFS
8 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.13%) Docker
9 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 97 (13.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (6.03%) SCCM
3 18 (2.41%) Jamf Pro
4 16 (2.14%) Grafana
4 16 (2.14%) Single Sign-On
5 10 (1.34%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
5 10 (1.34%) Oracle RMAN
6 9 (1.21%) Terraform
7 8 (1.07%) Ansible
7 8 (1.07%) vCenter Server
8 5 (0.67%) SCOM
9 4 (0.54%) Kubernetes
10 3 (0.40%) vRealize
11 2 (0.27%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.27%) Kibana
11 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
11 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Satellite
11 2 (0.27%) WMI
Vendors
1 256 (34.32%) Microsoft
2 85 (11.39%) ServiceNow
3 35 (4.69%) Oracle
4 27 (3.62%) Dell
5 26 (3.49%) SAP
5 26 (3.49%) VMware
6 20 (2.68%) Apple
7 17 (2.28%) HP
8 16 (2.14%) Cisco
9 11 (1.47%) Google
9 11 (1.47%) Okta
10 10 (1.34%) McAfee
11 9 (1.21%) Bloomberg
12 8 (1.07%) Denodo
12 8 (1.07%) Remedy
12 8 (1.07%) Splunk
12 8 (1.07%) Starlink
12 8 (1.07%) Sybase
12 8 (1.07%) Talend
13 7 (0.94%) Databricks
328 Support Engineer jobs Nationwide