Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £235, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 August 2026.

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

6 months to
1 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 134 110
Rank change year-on-year -39 -24 -16
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 845 696 815
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.58% 2.12% 2.07%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.71% 2.31% 2.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 558 448 566
10th Percentile £163 £160 £140
25th Percentile £188 £190 £175
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £235 £235 £225
Median % change year-on-year - +4.44% -10.00%
75th Percentile £400 £376 £345
90th Percentile £493 £538 £524
UK excluding London median daily rate £225 £228 £210
% change year-on-year -1.10% +8.33% -5.08%
Number of hourly rates quoted 54 66 49
10th Percentile £16.34 £17.39 £16.85
25th Percentile £18.31 £20.79 £18.03
Median hourly rate £25.39 £25.20 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +0.73% +14.55% +15.79%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £25.00
90th Percentile £53.00 £68.00 £60.18
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year -12.52% +14.32% +17.33%

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 49,377 30,074 36,691
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.62% 91.44% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,758 19,109 23,758
10th Percentile £331 £281 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £623 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,409 1,479 2,147
10th Percentile £15.25 £13.69 £14.13
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £19.22
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £42.91
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -41.39% +0.96%
75th Percentile £67.84 £54.88 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.35 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -41.51% +11.69%

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 1 August 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 1 August 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 1 August 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 -52 715 £225 -4.26% 276
UK excluding London -39 567 £225 -1.10% 257
London -39 245 £255 +2.00% 52
South East -30 168 £250 - 78
North of England -45 117 £200 - 61
Scotland +57 84 £442 +42.58% 15
Work from Home -90 79 £263 -22.79% 77
North West -29 77 £200 -10.61% 31
East of England -1 62 £200 - 42
Midlands -62 62 £250 -9.09% 38
South West -59 60 £210 -10.64% 25
Yorkshire -18 39 £210 -7.69% 24
West Midlands -77 39 £250 -9.09% 19
East Midlands -9 22 £250 +36.61% 19
Wales -24 10 £195 -5.45% 2
Northern Ireland -5 4 £175 -30.00% 6
North East -51 2 £233 +24.00% 8
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 1 August 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.

1 448 (53.02%) Windows
2 361 (42.72%) Active Directory
3 356 (42.13%) Microsoft
4 302 (35.74%) Microsoft 365
5 191 (22.60%) Problem-Solving
6 185 (21.89%) Windows 10
7 179 (21.18%) Customer Service
8 169 (20.00%) Security Cleared
9 158 (18.70%) ITIL
10 141 (16.69%) Azure
11 126 (14.91%) Microsoft Intune
12 121 (14.32%) Entra ID
12 121 (14.32%) ServiceNow
13 108 (12.78%) SC Cleared
14 100 (11.83%) SharePoint
15 92 (10.89%) DNS
16 91 (10.77%) ITSM
17 83 (9.82%) PowerShell
18 66 (7.81%) Continuous Improvement
19 64 (7.57%) Linux
19 64 (7.57%) SQL
20 63 (7.46%) VPN
21 62 (7.34%) JIRA
21 62 (7.34%) Migration
22 61 (7.22%) Service Delivery
23 60 (7.10%) Asset Management
23 60 (7.10%) Microsoft Exchange
24 59 (6.98%) Windows Server
25 57 (6.75%) DHCP
25 57 (6.75%) VMware

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
1 100 (11.83%) SharePoint
2 60 (7.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.42%) NetWeaver
4 11 (1.30%) HCL Notes
5 4 (0.47%) 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%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 42 (4.97%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.54%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 11 (1.30%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (0.83%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.47%) SAP EHS
4 2 (0.24%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.24%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle BRM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP BRIM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FI-CA
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FS
5 1 (0.12%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 302 (35.74%) Microsoft 365
2 141 (16.69%) Azure
3 121 (14.32%) Entra ID
4 38 (4.50%) OneDrive
5 32 (3.79%) AWS
6 20 (2.37%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.25%) SaaS
8 18 (2.13%) GCP
9 10 (1.18%) Power Platform
10 8 (0.95%) Google Workspace
11 7 (0.83%) PaaS
12 6 (0.71%) IaaS
13 5 (0.59%) Mimecast
14 3 (0.36%) Azure Data Factory
14 3 (0.36%) Cloud Functions
14 3 (0.36%) Google App Engine
14 3 (0.36%) Google Compute Engine
14 3 (0.36%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 3 (0.36%) OpenShift
14 3 (0.36%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 92 (10.89%) DNS
2 63 (7.46%) VPN
3 57 (6.75%) DHCP
4 55 (6.51%) TCP/IP
5 40 (4.73%) Wi-Fi
6 34 (4.02%) LAN
7 24 (2.84%) WAN
8 23 (2.72%) SAN
9 21 (2.49%) Firewall
10 20 (2.37%) Internet
11 16 (1.89%) VLAN
12 9 (1.07%) Wireless
13 7 (0.83%) HTTP
13 7 (0.83%) Skype
13 7 (0.83%) WLAN
14 5 (0.59%) SMTP
14 5 (0.59%) WebEx
15 4 (0.47%) Network Security
15 4 (0.47%) Remote Desktop
16 3 (0.36%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (4.62%) SQL Server
2 16 (1.89%) MySQL
3 12 (1.42%) SAP HANA
4 11 (1.30%) Sybase ASE
5 10 (1.18%) MaxDB
6 9 (1.07%) Power BI
7 8 (0.95%) Relational Database
8 7 (0.83%) Amazon Redshift
8 7 (0.83%) Pentaho
9 6 (0.71%) PostgreSQL
10 5 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.59%) Oracle Database
10 5 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.47%) Oracle Database 12c
12 3 (0.36%) Big Data
12 3 (0.36%) Data Warehouse
12 3 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
12 3 (0.36%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 2 (0.24%) MariaDB
13 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 62 (7.34%) JIRA
2 20 (2.37%) Git
3 9 (1.07%) 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%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.12%) Subversion
6 1 (0.12%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 341 (40.36%) Social Skills
2 101 (11.95%) Analytical Skills
3 67 (7.93%) Finance
4 42 (4.97%) Manufacturing
5 34 (4.02%) Banking
6 24 (2.84%) Organisational Skills
7 21 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 17 (2.01%) Investment Banking
9 16 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
10 15 (1.78%) Retail
11 13 (1.54%) Law
12 11 (1.30%) Front Office
13 10 (1.18%) Aerospace
13 10 (1.18%) Financial Institution
13 10 (1.18%) Legal
13 10 (1.18%) Telecoms
14 9 (1.07%) Aviation
14 9 (1.07%) Spanish Language
15 7 (0.83%) Marketing
15 7 (0.83%) Public Sector
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (1.78%) .NET
2 11 (1.30%) LDAP
2 11 (1.30%) SAP Basis
3 10 (1.18%) Oracle GoldenGate
4 9 (1.07%) REST
4 9 (1.07%) XML
5 7 (0.83%) JDO
6 6 (0.71%) .NET Framework
6 6 (0.71%) SAP Fiori
6 6 (0.71%) SAPUI5
6 6 (0.71%) Software Packaging
7 5 (0.59%) CSS
7 5 (0.59%) SAML
8 4 (0.47%) OAuth
9 3 (0.36%) Ajax
9 3 (0.36%) GraphQL
9 3 (0.36%) Middleware
9 3 (0.36%) React
9 3 (0.36%) RESTful
9 3 (0.36%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 109 (12.90%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.14%) Data Centre
3 23 (2.72%) Analytical Mindset
3 23 (2.72%) Video Conferencing
4 22 (2.60%) Self-Motivation
5 19 (2.25%) PKI
6 15 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
6 15 (1.78%) iPhone
7 14 (1.66%) Driving Licence
7 14 (1.66%) Hedge funds
8 13 (1.54%) Enterprise Software
9 12 (1.42%) Legacy Systems
9 12 (1.42%) Virtual Team
10 11 (1.30%) Blackberry
10 11 (1.30%) SCADA
11 10 (1.18%) iPad
11 10 (1.18%) Smartphone
12 7 (0.83%) CMDB
12 7 (0.83%) Management Information System
13 6 (0.71%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 448 (53.02%) Windows
2 185 (21.89%) Windows 10
3 64 (7.57%) Linux
4 59 (6.98%) Windows Server
5 52 (6.15%) Mac OS
6 41 (4.85%) Unix
7 30 (3.55%) Apple iOS
8 28 (3.31%) Android
9 18 (2.13%) Windows 7
10 9 (1.07%) Windows Server 2019
11 8 (0.95%) Ubuntu
12 7 (0.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 6 (0.71%) Windows Server 2016
14 4 (0.47%) Solaris
14 4 (0.47%) Windows Server 2008
15 3 (0.36%) OpenVMS
15 3 (0.36%) VMS
15 3 (0.36%) Windows Server 2012
15 3 (0.36%) Windows XP
16 2 (0.24%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 191 (22.60%) Problem-Solving
2 179 (21.18%) Customer Service
3 158 (18.70%) ITIL
4 91 (10.77%) ITSM
5 66 (7.81%) Continuous Improvement
6 62 (7.34%) Migration
7 61 (7.22%) Service Delivery
8 60 (7.10%) Asset Management
9 47 (5.56%) Change Management
10 46 (5.44%) Problem Management
10 46 (5.44%) Service Management
11 44 (5.21%) User Experience
12 41 (4.85%) Incident Management
13 40 (4.73%) Identity Access Management
14 39 (4.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 38 (4.50%) Root Cause Analysis
16 30 (3.55%) Data Protection
16 30 (3.55%) DevOps
17 29 (3.43%) Break/Fix
17 29 (3.43%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 83 (9.82%) PowerShell
2 64 (7.57%) SQL
3 32 (3.79%) Python
4 27 (3.20%) C#
5 21 (2.49%) Java
6 17 (2.01%) Bash
6 17 (2.01%) Shell Script
7 16 (1.89%) JavaScript
8 10 (1.18%) Korn
9 7 (0.83%) C++
10 6 (0.71%) Perl
11 4 (0.47%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.24%) DCL
12 2 (0.24%) Go
12 2 (0.24%) VBScript
13 1 (0.12%) C
13 1 (0.12%) Search Processing Language
13 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.12%) VBA
Qualifications
1 169 (20.00%) Security Cleared
2 108 (12.78%) SC Cleared
3 56 (6.63%) Degree
4 46 (5.44%) DV Cleared
5 32 (3.79%) Microsoft Certification
6 31 (3.67%) A+ Certification
7 24 (2.84%) Network+ Certification
8 22 (2.60%) CCNA
8 22 (2.60%) Cisco Certification
9 17 (2.01%) MCSE
10 16 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
11 10 (1.18%) Computer Science Degree
12 9 (1.07%) DBS Check
13 7 (0.83%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 6 (0.71%) Azure Certification
14 6 (0.71%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 5 (0.59%) ITIL Certification
16 4 (0.47%) NVQ Level 4
17 1 (0.12%) AWS Certification
17 1 (0.12%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 52 (6.15%) SLA
2 6 (0.71%) QA
3 5 (0.59%) Data Quality
4 4 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
4 4 (0.47%) GDPR
5 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.24%) GLP
6 2 (0.24%) GMP
6 2 (0.24%) GxP
6 2 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 1 (0.12%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.12%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.12%) GRC
7 1 (0.12%) ITGC
7 1 (0.12%) NCSC
System Software
1 361 (42.72%) Active Directory
2 45 (5.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (2.84%) VMware ESXi
4 22 (2.60%) Hyper-V
5 17 (2.01%) VMware NSX
6 15 (1.78%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (1.42%) vCloud
8 10 (1.18%) Oracle RAC
9 7 (0.83%) vSphere
10 5 (0.59%) BitLocker
10 5 (0.59%) Docker
10 5 (0.59%) NFS
11 4 (0.47%) Firmware
12 3 (0.36%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.36%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.24%) zsh
14 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 126 (14.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 49 (5.80%) SCCM
3 24 (2.84%) vCenter Server
4 21 (2.49%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (2.13%) SCOM
6 16 (1.89%) Jamf Pro
7 12 (1.42%) Grafana
8 10 (1.18%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 10 (1.18%) Oracle RMAN
9 9 (1.07%) Ansible
9 9 (1.07%) Kubernetes
9 9 (1.07%) Terraform
10 5 (0.59%) 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
11 3 (0.36%) WSUS
Vendors
1 356 (42.13%) Microsoft
2 121 (14.32%) ServiceNow
3 57 (6.75%) VMware
4 35 (4.14%) Apple
5 32 (3.79%) Oracle
6 31 (3.67%) Okta
7 25 (2.96%) Google
8 22 (2.60%) Dell
9 21 (2.49%) Cisco
9 21 (2.49%) Citrix
9 21 (2.49%) SAP
10 20 (2.37%) BeyondTrust
11 14 (1.66%) HP
12 12 (1.42%) Meraki
13 11 (1.30%) Lotus
13 11 (1.30%) Sybase
14 10 (1.18%) Splunk
15 9 (1.07%) iManage
15 9 (1.07%) McAfee
15 9 (1.07%) Remedy