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 16 June 2026.

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

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 172 135 114
Rank change year-on-year -37 -21 +1
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 771 635 852
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.54% 2.14% 1.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.66% 2.32% 2.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 499 406 575
10th Percentile £156 £160 £139
25th Percentile £183 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £220 £243 £215
Median % change year-on-year -9.28% +12.79% -14.00%
75th Percentile £388 £383 £338
90th Percentile £473 £488 £500
UK excluding London median daily rate £208 £230 £205
% change year-on-year -9.78% +12.20% -3.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 54 58
10th Percentile £17.78 £18.10 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.00 £19.04 £18.13
Median hourly rate £23.41 £24.83 £22.75
Median % change year-on-year -5.71% +9.14% +13.75%
75th Percentile £36.00 £35.63 £42.81
90th Percentile £42.15 £68.00 £54.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.83 £24.18
% change year-on-year -9.38% +2.69% +28.96%

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 46,390 27,334 40,477
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.40% 92.27% 92.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,221 17,578 25,945
10th Percentile £325 £288 £280
25th Percentile £413 £402 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £623 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,091 1,160 2,956
10th Percentile £15.25 £13.85 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.79 £17.75 £16.30
Median hourly rate £43.61 £27.45 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +58.85% -26.80% -16.67%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £62.01
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -2.55%

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 16 June 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 16 June 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 16 June 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 -53 673 £210 -13.40% 241
UK excluding London -41 520 £208 -9.78% 244
London -50 222 £275 +4.96% 45
South East -26 149 £225 -10.00% 70
North of England -65 90 £190 -9.52% 59
Work from Home -68 83 £220 -26.67% 74
Midlands -43 82 £209 -18.24% 30
South West -46 67 £210 -10.64% 35
East of England -9 62 £198 -12.22% 28
Scotland +30 57 £437 +48.14% 17
North West -40 55 £189 -10.12% 42
West Midlands -62 48 £225 -18.18% 16
East Midlands -2 33 £200 -5.88% 14
Yorkshire -38 33 £190 -19.15% 10
Wales -23 9 £250 +25.00% 6
Northern Ireland -3 4 £175 +16.67% 9
North East -47 2 £290 +48.72% 9
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 16 June 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.

1 375 (48.64%) Windows
2 284 (36.84%) Active Directory
3 276 (35.80%) Microsoft
4 251 (32.56%) Microsoft 365
5 160 (20.75%) Windows 10
6 157 (20.36%) Problem-Solving
7 156 (20.23%) Security Cleared
8 140 (18.16%) Customer Service
9 137 (17.77%) Azure
10 127 (16.47%) ITIL
11 107 (13.88%) Microsoft Intune
12 104 (13.49%) SC Cleared
13 93 (12.06%) ServiceNow
14 85 (11.02%) Entra ID
15 69 (8.95%) PowerShell
16 68 (8.82%) DNS
17 67 (8.69%) SharePoint
18 66 (8.56%) ITSM
19 58 (7.52%) Migration
20 57 (7.39%) Linux
20 57 (7.39%) SQL
21 56 (7.26%) JIRA
22 50 (6.49%) Windows Server
23 48 (6.23%) VPN
24 47 (6.10%) DHCP
25 46 (5.97%) Continuous Improvement
26 45 (5.84%) Infrastructure Engineering
26 45 (5.84%) Wi-Fi
27 43 (5.58%) Change Management
27 43 (5.58%) 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 67 (8.69%) SharePoint
2 43 (5.58%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.56%) NetWeaver
4 7 (0.91%) HCL Notes
5 4 (0.52%) Confluence
5 4 (0.52%) IIS
6 3 (0.39%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.26%) Apache
7 2 (0.26%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.26%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 38 (4.93%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.56%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 11 (1.43%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.78%) Teamcenter
3 4 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.52%) SAP EHS
4 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.13%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 251 (32.56%) Microsoft 365
2 137 (17.77%) Azure
3 85 (11.02%) Entra ID
4 34 (4.41%) AWS
5 25 (3.24%) OneDrive
6 21 (2.72%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (2.72%) SaaS
7 13 (1.69%) GCP
8 10 (1.30%) Power Platform
9 9 (1.17%) PaaS
10 7 (0.91%) Amazon S3
11 6 (0.78%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.78%) IaaS
12 5 (0.65%) Dynamics 365
13 4 (0.52%) Azure Data Factory
13 4 (0.52%) Mimecast
13 4 (0.52%) Sauce Labs
14 3 (0.39%) Amazon EC2
14 3 (0.39%) OpenShift
15 2 (0.26%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 68 (8.82%) DNS
2 48 (6.23%) VPN
3 47 (6.10%) DHCP
4 45 (5.84%) Wi-Fi
5 41 (5.32%) LAN
6 39 (5.06%) TCP/IP
7 25 (3.24%) WAN
8 24 (3.11%) SAN
9 18 (2.33%) Firewall
10 13 (1.69%) Internet
10 13 (1.69%) VLAN
11 11 (1.43%) WLAN
12 10 (1.30%) Wireless
13 7 (0.91%) HTTP
14 6 (0.78%) Skype
14 6 (0.78%) VoIP
15 4 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
16 3 (0.39%) Network Security
16 3 (0.39%) SMTP
16 3 (0.39%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (3.89%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.20%) MySQL
3 13 (1.69%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.56%) SAP HANA
5 11 (1.43%) Sybase ASE
6 10 (1.30%) MaxDB
6 10 (1.30%) Relational Database
7 8 (1.04%) Power BI
8 7 (0.91%) Pentaho
9 6 (0.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.65%) Oracle Database
10 5 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
11 4 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
11 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database 12c
12 3 (0.39%) Big Data
12 3 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
13 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
13 2 (0.26%) MariaDB
13 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 56 (7.26%) JIRA
2 18 (2.33%) Git
3 10 (1.30%) Browser DevTools
4 4 (0.52%) Android Studio
4 4 (0.52%) Eclipse
4 4 (0.52%) Xcode
5 2 (0.26%) Firebug
5 2 (0.26%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
6 1 (0.13%) GitLab
6 1 (0.13%) Maven
6 1 (0.13%) MSI
6 1 (0.13%) RStudio
6 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.13%) Subversion
6 1 (0.13%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 294 (38.13%) Social Skills
2 84 (10.89%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (7.39%) Finance
4 45 (5.84%) Manufacturing
5 38 (4.93%) Banking
6 24 (3.11%) Investment Banking
7 21 (2.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (2.46%) Organisational Skills
9 16 (2.08%) Aerospace
9 16 (2.08%) Law
10 14 (1.82%) Aviation
11 13 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
12 10 (1.30%) Retail
13 9 (1.17%) Front Office
14 7 (0.91%) Financial Institution
14 7 (0.91%) Legal
14 7 (0.91%) Marketing
14 7 (0.91%) Public Sector
15 6 (0.78%) French Language
15 6 (0.78%) Spanish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.43%) SAP Basis
2 10 (1.30%) Oracle GoldenGate
3 9 (1.17%) REST
4 7 (0.91%) .NET
4 7 (0.91%) JDO
4 7 (0.91%) Software Packaging
5 6 (0.78%) CSS
5 6 (0.78%) SAP Fiori
5 6 (0.78%) SAPUI5
6 5 (0.65%) PySpark
6 5 (0.65%) SAML
7 4 (0.52%) Ajax
7 4 (0.52%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.52%) GraphQL
7 4 (0.52%) OAuth
7 4 (0.52%) React
8 3 (0.39%) Middleware
8 3 (0.39%) RESTful
8 3 (0.39%) Web Services
8 3 (0.39%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 67 (8.69%) Onboarding
2 36 (4.67%) Data Centre
3 24 (3.11%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (2.59%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.33%) Virtual Team
6 15 (1.95%) Enterprise Software
7 14 (1.82%) Data Protection Act
7 14 (1.82%) PKI
8 13 (1.69%) Smartphone
9 12 (1.56%) iPhone
9 12 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
10 11 (1.43%) Video Conferencing
11 10 (1.30%) SCADA
12 8 (1.04%) Hedge funds
13 7 (0.91%) Blackberry
13 7 (0.91%) Driving Licence
13 7 (0.91%) iPad
14 5 (0.65%) CCTV
14 5 (0.65%) Hybrid Cloud
14 5 (0.65%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 375 (48.64%) Windows
2 160 (20.75%) Windows 10
3 57 (7.39%) Linux
4 50 (6.49%) Windows Server
5 43 (5.58%) Mac OS
6 41 (5.32%) Unix
7 25 (3.24%) Apple iOS
8 21 (2.72%) Android
9 17 (2.20%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.91%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.52%) Solaris
12 4 (0.52%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.52%) Windows XP
13 3 (0.39%) Windows Server 2012
14 2 (0.26%) Mac OS X
15 1 (0.13%) OpenVMS
15 1 (0.13%) VMS
15 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 157 (20.36%) Problem-Solving
2 140 (18.16%) Customer Service
3 127 (16.47%) ITIL
4 66 (8.56%) ITSM
5 58 (7.52%) Migration
6 46 (5.97%) Continuous Improvement
7 45 (5.84%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 43 (5.58%) Change Management
9 41 (5.32%) Service Delivery
10 38 (4.93%) Asset Management
11 35 (4.54%) Incident Management
12 34 (4.41%) DevOps
13 33 (4.28%) Service Management
14 32 (4.15%) Problem Management
14 32 (4.15%) Root Cause Analysis
15 31 (4.02%) User Experience
16 26 (3.37%) Data Protection
17 22 (2.85%) Break/Fix
17 22 (2.85%) High Availability
18 21 (2.72%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 69 (8.95%) PowerShell
2 57 (7.39%) SQL
3 30 (3.89%) Python
4 20 (2.59%) C#
4 20 (2.59%) Java
5 16 (2.08%) JavaScript
6 15 (1.95%) Shell Script
7 12 (1.56%) Bash
8 10 (1.30%) Korn
9 8 (1.04%) Perl
10 7 (0.91%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) DCL
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
1 156 (20.23%) Security Cleared
2 104 (13.49%) SC Cleared
3 41 (5.32%) Degree
4 37 (4.80%) DV Cleared
5 24 (3.11%) Microsoft Certification
6 22 (2.85%) A+ Certification
7 21 (2.72%) CCNA
7 21 (2.72%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (2.72%) Network+ Certification
8 16 (2.08%) MCSE
9 12 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (1.17%) Azure Certification
11 8 (1.04%) Computer Science Degree
12 7 (0.91%) DBS Check
12 7 (0.91%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 6 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
14 4 (0.52%) NVQ Level 4
15 3 (0.39%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
16 1 (0.13%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (4.93%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
2 4 (0.52%) QA
3 3 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (0.39%) Data Quality
4 2 (0.26%) GLP
4 2 (0.26%) GMP
4 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.13%) GRC
5 1 (0.13%) GxP
5 1 (0.13%) ITGC
5 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 284 (36.84%) Active Directory
2 32 (4.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.20%) Hyper-V
3 17 (2.20%) VMware ESXi
4 15 (1.95%) VMware NSX
5 11 (1.43%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (1.30%) Oracle RAC
6 10 (1.30%) vCloud
7 6 (0.78%) vSphere
8 5 (0.65%) NFS
9 4 (0.52%) BitLocker
9 4 (0.52%) Docker
10 3 (0.39%) Firmware
10 3 (0.39%) Microsoft App-V
10 3 (0.39%) Terminal Services
11 2 (0.26%) Virtual Servers
12 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
12 1 (0.13%) zsh
Systems Management
1 107 (13.88%) Microsoft Intune
2 41 (5.32%) SCCM
3 21 (2.72%) Jamf Pro
4 20 (2.59%) Single Sign-On
5 17 (2.20%) vCenter Server
6 12 (1.56%) Grafana
7 11 (1.43%) Ansible
7 11 (1.43%) SCOM
8 10 (1.30%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 10 (1.30%) Oracle RMAN
9 7 (0.91%) Terraform
10 6 (0.78%) Kubernetes
11 5 (0.65%) Red Hat Satellite
12 3 (0.39%) Nagios
12 3 (0.39%) Puppet
12 3 (0.39%) vMotion
12 3 (0.39%) vRealize
13 2 (0.26%) AirWatch
13 2 (0.26%) WMI
13 2 (0.26%) WSUS
Vendors
1 276 (35.80%) Microsoft
2 93 (12.06%) ServiceNow
3 38 (4.93%) VMware
4 32 (4.15%) Oracle
5 24 (3.11%) Apple
6 21 (2.72%) Dell
6 21 (2.72%) SAP
7 15 (1.95%) Citrix
7 15 (1.95%) Google
7 15 (1.95%) Okta
8 14 (1.82%) Cisco
8 14 (1.82%) HP
9 11 (1.43%) Sybase
10 9 (1.17%) McAfee
11 8 (1.04%) Denodo
11 8 (1.04%) Meraki
11 8 (1.04%) Red Hat
11 8 (1.04%) Starlink
11 8 (1.04%) Talend
12 7 (0.91%) Remedy