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 27 August 2026.

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

6 months to
27 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 167 131 120
Rank change year-on-year -36 -11 -32
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 899 700 752
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.67% 2.14% 1.94%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.81% 2.34% 2.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 594 458 516
10th Percentile £163 £160 £140
25th Percentile £189 £191 £181
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £235 £238 £234
Median % change year-on-year -1.05% +1.36% -6.28%
75th Percentile £400 £383 £350
90th Percentile £500 £538 £525
UK excluding London median daily rate £215 £230 £220
% change year-on-year -6.52% +4.55% -1.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 71 45
10th Percentile £16.44 £16.50 £16.55
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.64 £18.13
Median hourly rate £23.00 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year -8.55% +14.32% +15.06%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £25.00
90th Percentile £46.80 £68.00 £59.00
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 49,647 29,883 36,109
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.47% 91.23% 93.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,658 18,862 22,923
10th Percentile £325 £280 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.87%
75th Percentile £625 £620 £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 3,547 1,583 1,920
10th Percentile £14.99 £13.66 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.51 £17.08 £19.50
Median hourly rate £41.74 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +65.94% -41.51% -1.44%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.93 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £71.20 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +7.50%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -40 763 £225 -5.26% 231
UK excluding London -35 582 £215 -6.52% 218
London -29 280 £255 +2.00% 35
South East -37 159 £250 - 59
North of England -17 139 £200 - 44
North West -2 99 £200 -12.09% 26
Work from Home -68 91 £300 -14.29% 48
Scotland +54 85 £375 +27.12% 13
Midlands -64 65 £250 -9.09% 41
East of England -5 63 £200 -9.09% 35
South West -58 57 £210 -10.64% 32
West Midlands -67 44 £250 -9.09% 21
Yorkshire -33 37 £200 -9.09% 15
East Midlands -12 20 £270 +47.54% 20
Wales -25 10 £438 +105.88% 2
Northern Ireland -2 4 £175 -12.50% 3
North East -49 4 £239 +22.44% 7
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 27 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.

1 502 (55.84%) Windows
2 412 (45.83%) Microsoft
3 394 (43.83%) Active Directory
4 347 (38.60%) Microsoft 365
5 221 (24.58%) Problem-Solving
6 215 (23.92%) Customer Service
7 194 (21.58%) Windows 10
8 184 (20.47%) ITIL
9 180 (20.02%) Security Cleared
10 147 (16.35%) Azure
11 137 (15.24%) Microsoft Intune
12 135 (15.02%) Entra ID
13 131 (14.57%) ServiceNow
14 128 (14.24%) ITSM
15 120 (13.35%) SharePoint
16 110 (12.24%) SC Cleared
17 102 (11.35%) DNS
17 102 (11.35%) PowerShell
18 85 (9.45%) Continuous Improvement
19 77 (8.57%) Linux
19 77 (8.57%) Windows Server
20 75 (8.34%) Asset Management
21 72 (8.01%) SQL
21 72 (8.01%) VPN
22 71 (7.90%) Service Delivery
22 71 (7.90%) TCP/IP
23 70 (7.79%) Microsoft Exchange
24 69 (7.68%) Degree
25 68 (7.56%) Service Management
26 67 (7.45%) Migration

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
1 120 (13.35%) SharePoint
2 70 (7.79%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.22%) HCL Notes
4 9 (1.00%) NetWeaver
5 4 (0.44%) MTS
6 3 (0.33%) Confluence
6 3 (0.33%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.33%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.22%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.22%) IIS
7 2 (0.22%) OpenStack
Applications
1 51 (5.67%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (1.67%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.33%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.22%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.11%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 8 (0.89%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (0.78%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.44%) SAP EHS
4 3 (0.33%) SAP Retail
5 2 (0.22%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.11%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.11%) Bloomberg TOMS
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.11%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP BRIM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FI-CA
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
6 1 (0.11%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 347 (38.60%) Microsoft 365
2 147 (16.35%) Azure
3 135 (15.02%) Entra ID
4 46 (5.12%) OneDrive
5 40 (4.45%) AWS
6 21 (2.34%) SaaS
7 19 (2.11%) GCP
8 12 (1.33%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (1.22%) Power Platform
10 7 (0.78%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.67%) Mimecast
12 5 (0.56%) AWS CloudFormation
12 5 (0.56%) IaaS
12 5 (0.56%) PaaS
13 4 (0.44%) Cloud Functions
13 4 (0.44%) Google App Engine
13 4 (0.44%) Google Compute Engine
13 4 (0.44%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 3 (0.33%) Amazon OpenSearch
14 3 (0.33%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 102 (11.35%) DNS
2 72 (8.01%) VPN
3 71 (7.90%) TCP/IP
4 58 (6.45%) DHCP
5 41 (4.56%) Wi-Fi
6 35 (3.89%) LAN
7 31 (3.45%) WAN
8 25 (2.78%) Firewall
9 21 (2.34%) Internet
10 16 (1.78%) SAN
10 16 (1.78%) VLAN
11 10 (1.11%) Wireless
12 7 (0.78%) Skype
13 6 (0.67%) Network Security
13 6 (0.67%) SD-WAN
14 5 (0.56%) HTTP
14 5 (0.56%) SMTP
14 5 (0.56%) WebEx
14 5 (0.56%) WLAN
15 4 (0.44%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (4.23%) SQL Server
2 17 (1.89%) MySQL
3 9 (1.00%) Power BI
3 9 (1.00%) SAP HANA
4 8 (0.89%) MaxDB
4 8 (0.89%) Relational Database
4 8 (0.89%) Sybase ASE
5 7 (0.78%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (0.78%) Pentaho
5 7 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (0.56%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.33%) Big Data
7 3 (0.33%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.33%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.33%) KDB
7 3 (0.33%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 2 (0.22%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.22%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 56 (6.23%) JIRA
2 21 (2.34%) Git
3 9 (1.00%) Browser DevTools
4 4 (0.44%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.33%) Android Studio
5 3 (0.33%) Artifactory
5 3 (0.33%) Eclipse
5 3 (0.33%) Xcode
6 2 (0.22%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.22%) Firebug
7 1 (0.11%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
7 1 (0.11%) GitLab
7 1 (0.11%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.11%) Subversion
7 1 (0.11%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 373 (41.49%) Social Skills
2 111 (12.35%) Analytical Skills
3 82 (9.12%) Finance
4 42 (4.67%) Manufacturing
5 38 (4.23%) Banking
6 28 (3.11%) Organisational Skills
7 24 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 20 (2.22%) Investment Banking
9 18 (2.00%) Front Office
9 18 (2.00%) Retail
10 17 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
11 15 (1.67%) Legal
11 15 (1.67%) Telecoms
12 14 (1.56%) Law
12 14 (1.56%) Public Sector
13 12 (1.33%) Financial Institution
14 10 (1.11%) Spanish Language
15 7 (0.78%) Marketing
16 6 (0.67%) Aerospace
17 5 (0.56%) Aviation
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (1.89%) .NET
2 15 (1.67%) Terraform
3 12 (1.33%) LDAP
4 10 (1.11%) XML
5 8 (0.89%) SAP Basis
6 7 (0.78%) .NET Framework
6 7 (0.78%) JDO
6 7 (0.78%) Oracle GoldenGate
7 6 (0.67%) REST
7 6 (0.67%) Software Packaging
8 5 (0.56%) CSS
8 5 (0.56%) SAML
8 5 (0.56%) SAP Fiori
8 5 (0.56%) SAPUI5
9 4 (0.44%) OAuth
10 3 (0.33%) AngularJS
10 3 (0.33%) FIX Protocol
10 3 (0.33%) Kafka
10 3 (0.33%) React
10 3 (0.33%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 121 (13.46%) Onboarding
2 31 (3.45%) Data Centre
3 30 (3.34%) Video Conferencing
4 23 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
5 20 (2.22%) PKI
6 19 (2.11%) Analytical Mindset
7 17 (1.89%) Driving Licence
8 16 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
8 16 (1.78%) Hedge funds
9 15 (1.67%) Enterprise Software
9 15 (1.67%) iPhone
10 13 (1.45%) Smartphone
11 12 (1.33%) Legacy Systems
12 11 (1.22%) Blackberry
13 10 (1.11%) iPad
13 10 (1.11%) Management Information System
13 10 (1.11%) Virtual Team
14 9 (1.00%) Distributed Systems
15 7 (0.78%) CMDB
16 6 (0.67%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 502 (55.84%) Windows
2 194 (21.58%) Windows 10
3 77 (8.57%) Linux
3 77 (8.57%) Windows Server
4 62 (6.90%) Mac OS
5 41 (4.56%) Apple iOS
6 38 (4.23%) Android
7 36 (4.00%) Unix
8 19 (2.11%) Windows 7
9 10 (1.11%) Ubuntu
9 10 (1.11%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (0.44%) OpenVMS
11 4 (0.44%) Solaris
11 4 (0.44%) VMS
11 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2008
11 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.33%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.22%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 221 (24.58%) Problem-Solving
2 215 (23.92%) Customer Service
3 184 (20.47%) ITIL
4 128 (14.24%) ITSM
5 85 (9.45%) Continuous Improvement
6 75 (8.34%) Asset Management
7 71 (7.90%) Service Delivery
8 68 (7.56%) Service Management
9 67 (7.45%) Migration
10 57 (6.34%) Root Cause Analysis
11 54 (6.01%) User Experience
12 53 (5.90%) Incident Management
12 53 (5.90%) Problem Management
13 48 (5.34%) Identity Access Management
14 42 (4.67%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 40 (4.45%) Change Management
16 39 (4.34%) Runbook
17 34 (3.78%) Technical Leadership
18 33 (3.67%) Data Protection
19 30 (3.34%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 102 (11.35%) PowerShell
2 72 (8.01%) SQL
3 47 (5.23%) Python
4 30 (3.34%) Java
5 23 (2.56%) JavaScript
6 22 (2.45%) Bash
7 21 (2.34%) C#
8 14 (1.56%) Shell Script
9 7 (0.78%) C++
9 7 (0.78%) Korn
10 5 (0.56%) Perl
10 5 (0.56%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.44%) Tcl
12 3 (0.33%) Go
13 2 (0.22%) DCL
13 2 (0.22%) VBA
14 1 (0.11%) C
14 1 (0.11%) Search Processing Language
14 1 (0.11%) VB.NET
14 1 (0.11%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 180 (20.02%) Security Cleared
2 110 (12.24%) SC Cleared
3 69 (7.68%) Degree
4 53 (5.90%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.34%) A+ Certification
6 22 (2.45%) Microsoft Certification
7 17 (1.89%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 17 (1.89%) Network+ Certification
8 16 (1.78%) Cisco Certification
9 15 (1.67%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.56%) CCNA
11 11 (1.22%) DBS Check
12 10 (1.11%) MCSE
13 9 (1.00%) Computer Science Degree
14 8 (0.89%) ITIL Certification
15 7 (0.78%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 6 (0.67%) Azure Certification
17 4 (0.44%) NVQ Level 4
18 2 (0.22%) CCNP
19 1 (0.11%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 61 (6.79%) SLA
2 6 (0.67%) QA
3 5 (0.56%) Data Quality
4 4 (0.44%) Cyber Essentials
5 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.22%) GDPR
6 2 (0.22%) GxP
6 2 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 1 (0.11%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.11%) GLP
7 1 (0.11%) GMP
7 1 (0.11%) GRC
7 1 (0.11%) ITGC
7 1 (0.11%) NCSC
System Software
1 394 (43.83%) Active Directory
2 48 (5.34%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (3.00%) VMware ESXi
4 25 (2.78%) Hyper-V
5 18 (2.00%) VMware NSX
6 17 (1.89%) Virtual Desktop
7 14 (1.56%) vCloud
8 10 (1.11%) Docker
9 7 (0.78%) Oracle RAC
9 7 (0.78%) vSphere
10 5 (0.56%) BitLocker
10 5 (0.56%) NFS
11 3 (0.33%) Firmware
11 3 (0.33%) Microsoft App-V
11 3 (0.33%) Terminal Services
12 2 (0.22%) zsh
13 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 137 (15.24%) Microsoft Intune
2 58 (6.45%) SCCM
3 27 (3.00%) vCenter Server
4 22 (2.45%) Single Sign-On
5 21 (2.34%) SCOM
6 17 (1.89%) Kubernetes
7 16 (1.78%) Jamf Pro
8 13 (1.45%) Grafana
9 12 (1.33%) Ansible
10 7 (0.78%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 7 (0.78%) Oracle RMAN
10 7 (0.78%) WSUS
11 5 (0.56%) Red Hat Satellite
12 4 (0.44%) ITRS Geneos
13 3 (0.33%) AirWatch
13 3 (0.33%) Nagios
13 3 (0.33%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.33%) Puppet
13 3 (0.33%) vMotion
13 3 (0.33%) vRealize
Vendors
1 412 (45.83%) Microsoft
2 131 (14.57%) ServiceNow
3 64 (7.12%) VMware
4 41 (4.56%) Apple
5 33 (3.67%) Okta
5 33 (3.67%) Oracle
6 30 (3.34%) Cisco
7 26 (2.89%) Google
8 25 (2.78%) Citrix
9 21 (2.34%) BeyondTrust
10 19 (2.11%) SAP
11 17 (1.89%) Splunk
12 15 (1.67%) Meraki
13 13 (1.45%) Bloomberg
13 13 (1.45%) Dell
13 13 (1.45%) iManage
13 13 (1.45%) Samsung
14 12 (1.33%) Sybase
15 11 (1.22%) HP
15 11 (1.22%) Lotus