Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £220, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 12 March 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 143 131 106
Rank change year-on-year -12 -25 +25
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 819 615 959
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.92% 2.09% 2.15%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.09% 2.25% 2.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 549 417 681
10th Percentile £152 £152 £138
25th Percentile £185 £181 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £220 £225 £215
Median % change year-on-year -2.22% +4.65% -14.00%
75th Percentile £350 £375 £300
90th Percentile £500 £500 £438
UK excluding London median daily rate £207 £215 £200
% change year-on-year -3.72% +7.50% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 119 37 59
10th Percentile £17.89 £16.67 £16.20
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.20 £17.61
Median hourly rate £24.00 £22.50 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% +12.50% +3.63%
75th Percentile £30.00 £24.66 £30.00
90th Percentile £53.00 £41.50 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.58 £22.30 £20.00
% change year-on-year +5.74% +11.48% +14.29%

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 39,233 27,349 41,475
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.88% 92.93% 92.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,515 17,680 27,207
10th Percentile £312 £293 £270
25th Percentile £410 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,440 862 2,502
10th Percentile £14.96 £15.60 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.24 £16.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £33.45 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.63% +2.92% -23.29%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £59.50
90th Percentile £75.79 £76.25 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £32.50
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -18.75%

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 12 March 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 12 March 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 12 March 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 -10 736 £215 -6.74% 291
UK excluding London -15 565 £207 -3.72% 292
London -25 217 £275 -8.33% 48
South East -13 141 £238 +15.85% 91
North of England -31 120 £190 -13.64% 74
South West +3 109 £250 +11.11% 40
Midlands -18 93 £200 -10.11% 30
Work from Home -63 80 £290 -10.77% 63
North West -23 65 £152 -29.53% 39
East of England -4 58 £203 -5.81% 33
West Midlands -44 55 £250 -9.09% 18
Yorkshire -37 46 £205 -11.83% 31
Scotland +16 40 £225 +50.00% 16
East Midlands -2 39 £200 +5.26% 12
Wales -13 9 £200 - 7
North East -15 9 £106 -39.43% 9
Northern Ireland -13 2 £175 +18.24% 7

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

For the 6 months to 12 March 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.

1 387 (47.25%) Windows
2 290 (35.41%) Microsoft
3 253 (30.89%) Microsoft 365
4 237 (28.94%) Security Cleared
5 229 (27.96%) Active Directory
6 192 (23.44%) SC Cleared
7 175 (21.37%) Windows 10
8 167 (20.39%) Customer Service
9 145 (17.70%) Problem-Solving
10 110 (13.43%) Azure
11 104 (12.70%) ServiceNow
12 96 (11.72%) ITIL
13 94 (11.48%) Microsoft Intune
14 78 (9.52%) Migration
14 78 (9.52%) PowerShell
15 67 (8.18%) Linux
16 65 (7.94%) ITSM
17 63 (7.69%) DNS
18 61 (7.45%) SCCM
19 60 (7.33%) Wi-Fi
20 58 (7.08%) Entra ID
20 58 (7.08%) SharePoint
21 57 (6.96%) DHCP
22 55 (6.72%) Asset Management
23 54 (6.59%) TCP/IP
24 50 (6.11%) Microsoft Office
25 48 (5.86%) Workflow
26 47 (5.74%) Mac OS
27 46 (5.62%) DV Cleared
27 46 (5.62%) VPN

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 58 (7.08%) SharePoint
2 41 (5.01%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.83%) Skype for Business
4 5 (0.61%) NetWeaver
5 4 (0.49%) Apache
5 4 (0.49%) Confluence
6 3 (0.37%) IIS
7 2 (0.24%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.24%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.24%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.24%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.24%) Smallworld
7 2 (0.24%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 50 (6.11%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (2.44%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (1.10%) SAP EHS
2 8 (0.98%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (0.85%) Shopify
4 6 (0.73%) Teamcenter
5 5 (0.61%) SAP S/4HANA
6 3 (0.37%) Primavera
7 1 (0.12%) Aladdin
7 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
7 1 (0.12%) assyst
7 1 (0.12%) Bloomberg TOMS
7 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
7 1 (0.12%) Eikon
7 1 (0.12%) Fidessa
7 1 (0.12%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.12%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 253 (30.89%) Microsoft 365
2 110 (13.43%) Azure
3 58 (7.08%) Entra ID
4 35 (4.27%) OneDrive
5 26 (3.17%) AWS
6 22 (2.69%) SaaS
7 19 (2.32%) Google Workspace
8 14 (1.71%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (1.34%) Dynamics 365
9 11 (1.34%) Power Platform
9 11 (1.34%) Sauce Labs
10 6 (0.73%) npm
11 5 (0.61%) Amazon S3
11 5 (0.61%) Azure Data Factory
11 5 (0.61%) PaaS
12 4 (0.49%) Datadog
12 4 (0.49%) Snowflake
13 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (0.37%) Nutanix
13 3 (0.37%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 63 (7.69%) DNS
2 60 (7.33%) Wi-Fi
3 57 (6.96%) DHCP
4 54 (6.59%) TCP/IP
5 46 (5.62%) VPN
6 37 (4.52%) LAN
7 28 (3.42%) WAN
8 24 (2.93%) Firewall
8 24 (2.93%) Wireless
9 16 (1.95%) Skype
10 13 (1.59%) Network Security
10 13 (1.59%) PABX
10 13 (1.59%) VLAN
11 12 (1.47%) SAN
12 11 (1.34%) Internet
13 10 (1.22%) VoIP
14 8 (0.98%) HTTP
15 7 (0.85%) Cisco IOS
15 7 (0.85%) Junos
15 7 (0.85%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.69%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.08%) MySQL
3 16 (1.95%) Relational Database
4 9 (1.10%) Amazon Redshift
4 9 (1.10%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (0.98%) Power BI
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.61%) SAP HANA
6 5 (0.61%) Sybase ASE
7 4 (0.49%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (0.49%) MaxDB
7 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database 12c
8 3 (0.37%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.37%) Pentaho
8 3 (0.37%) RDBMS
8 3 (0.37%) Tableau
9 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.24%) GIS
9 2 (0.24%) PostgreSQL
10 1 (0.12%) Crystal Reports
Development Applications
1 42 (5.13%) JIRA
2 18 (2.20%) Browser DevTools
3 12 (1.47%) Git
4 11 (1.34%) Android Studio
4 11 (1.34%) Eclipse
4 11 (1.34%) Xcode
5 6 (0.73%) Maven
6 4 (0.49%) Firebug
7 3 (0.37%) Jenkins
7 3 (0.37%) MSI
8 2 (0.24%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.12%) Hudson
9 1 (0.12%) RStudio
9 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 350 (42.74%) Social Skills
2 66 (8.06%) Finance
3 57 (6.96%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (6.59%) Manufacturing
5 43 (5.25%) Public Sector
6 40 (4.88%) Banking
7 28 (3.42%) Organisational Skills
8 27 (3.30%) Aerospace
8 27 (3.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 18 (2.20%) Telecoms
10 16 (1.95%) Aviation
10 16 (1.95%) Investment Banking
11 13 (1.59%) Electronics
11 13 (1.59%) Marketing
12 10 (1.22%) Law
13 9 (1.10%) Documentation Skills
13 9 (1.10%) Legal
14 7 (0.85%) Front Office
15 4 (0.49%) Advertising
15 4 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.56%) Middleware
2 15 (1.83%) CSS
3 11 (1.34%) Ajax
3 11 (1.34%) AngularJS
3 11 (1.34%) GraphQL
3 11 (1.34%) React
4 9 (1.10%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 5 (0.61%) OAuth
5 5 (0.61%) REST
5 5 (0.61%) SAP Basis
5 5 (0.61%) YAML
6 4 (0.49%) HTML
6 4 (0.49%) JDO
6 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Graph
6 4 (0.49%) PySpark
6 4 (0.49%) SAML
6 4 (0.49%) XML
7 3 (0.37%) .NET
8 2 (0.24%) EDI
8 2 (0.24%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 52 (6.35%) Onboarding
2 40 (4.88%) Self-Motivation
3 30 (3.66%) Driving Licence
4 29 (3.54%) Data Centre
5 24 (2.93%) Smartphone
6 18 (2.20%) Analytical Mindset
7 14 (1.71%) PKI
8 12 (1.47%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (1.47%) iPhone
8 12 (1.47%) Virtual Team
9 11 (1.34%) Enterprise Software
9 11 (1.34%) Mobile App
10 10 (1.22%) SCADA
11 9 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (0.98%) Hybrid Cloud
12 8 (0.98%) Management Information System
12 8 (0.98%) Video Conferencing
13 6 (0.73%) iPad
14 4 (0.49%) Hedge funds
15 3 (0.37%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 387 (47.25%) Windows
2 175 (21.37%) Windows 10
3 67 (8.18%) Linux
4 47 (5.74%) Mac OS
5 44 (5.37%) Android
6 42 (5.13%) Windows Server
7 35 (4.27%) Unix
8 32 (3.91%) Apple iOS
9 12 (1.47%) Ubuntu
10 7 (0.85%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.49%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.37%) CentOS
14 2 (0.24%) Mac OS X
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2012
15 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
15 1 (0.12%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (20.39%) Customer Service
2 145 (17.70%) Problem-Solving
3 96 (11.72%) ITIL
4 78 (9.52%) Migration
5 65 (7.94%) ITSM
6 55 (6.72%) Asset Management
7 48 (5.86%) Workflow
8 38 (4.64%) Workflow Management
9 37 (4.52%) Service Management
9 37 (4.52%) User Experience
10 34 (4.15%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 32 (3.91%) Root Cause Analysis
12 30 (3.66%) Continuous Improvement
13 29 (3.54%) Service Delivery
14 28 (3.42%) Break/Fix
14 28 (3.42%) Logistics
14 28 (3.42%) Stakeholder Management
15 26 (3.17%) Change Management
16 25 (3.05%) Cybersecurity
17 24 (2.93%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 78 (9.52%) PowerShell
2 45 (5.49%) SQL
3 33 (4.03%) Python
4 30 (3.66%) Java
4 30 (3.66%) JavaScript
5 26 (3.17%) Shell Script
6 15 (1.83%) C#
7 14 (1.71%) Bash
8 13 (1.59%) Perl
9 12 (1.47%) Ada
9 12 (1.47%) C
9 12 (1.47%) C++
10 9 (1.10%) Korn
11 3 (0.37%) VB.NET
12 2 (0.24%) AWK
12 2 (0.24%) Magik
12 2 (0.24%) VBA
12 2 (0.24%) VBScript
13 1 (0.12%) R
13 1 (0.12%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 237 (28.94%) Security Cleared
2 192 (23.44%) SC Cleared
3 46 (5.62%) DV Cleared
4 29 (3.54%) Degree
5 27 (3.30%) Microsoft Certification
6 16 (1.95%) A+ Certification
7 14 (1.71%) Network+ Certification
8 13 (1.59%) BPSS Clearance
8 13 (1.59%) CCNA
8 13 (1.59%) Cisco Certification
9 12 (1.47%) MCSE
10 8 (0.98%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.85%) ITIL Certification
12 6 (0.73%) DBS Check
13 4 (0.49%) Computer Science Degree
14 3 (0.37%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 3 (0.37%) Server+ Certification
15 1 (0.12%) HND
15 1 (0.12%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.27%) SLA
2 9 (1.10%) GDPR
3 5 (0.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
4 3 (0.37%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.37%) QA
5 1 (0.12%) Accessibility
5 1 (0.12%) GAAP
5 1 (0.12%) GLP
5 1 (0.12%) GMP
5 1 (0.12%) IFRS
5 1 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.12%) SOC 2
System Software
1 229 (27.96%) Active Directory
2 20 (2.44%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.47%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.22%) Virtual Desktop
5 9 (1.10%) Oracle RAC
5 9 (1.10%) VMware NSX
6 8 (0.98%) Firmware
7 6 (0.73%) Docker
8 3 (0.37%) Virtual Servers
8 3 (0.37%) vSphere
9 2 (0.24%) NFS
10 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.12%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 94 (11.48%) Microsoft Intune
2 61 (7.45%) SCCM
3 28 (3.42%) Jamf Pro
4 14 (1.71%) Ansible
4 14 (1.71%) Grafana
5 11 (1.34%) Terraform
6 9 (1.10%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 9 (1.10%) Oracle RMAN
6 9 (1.10%) Single Sign-On
6 9 (1.10%) vCenter Server
7 5 (0.61%) Kubernetes
8 4 (0.49%) Kibana
9 2 (0.24%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 2 (0.24%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.24%) Prometheus
9 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Satellite
9 2 (0.24%) WMI
9 2 (0.24%) WSUS
10 1 (0.12%) Autotask
10 1 (0.12%) ITRS Geneos
Vendors
1 290 (35.41%) Microsoft
2 104 (12.70%) ServiceNow
3 38 (4.64%) Oracle
4 35 (4.27%) SAP
5 33 (4.03%) Apple
6 29 (3.54%) Dell
7 28 (3.42%) Cisco
7 28 (3.42%) VMware
8 22 (2.69%) HP
9 20 (2.44%) Google
10 15 (1.83%) Red Hat
11 14 (1.71%) Juniper
11 14 (1.71%) Splunk
12 13 (1.59%) Twitter
13 11 (1.34%) Citrix
13 11 (1.34%) Remedy
14 10 (1.22%) Bloomberg
14 10 (1.22%) SolarWinds
15 8 (0.98%) Zscaler
16 6 (0.73%) New Relic