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 29 August 2026.

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

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 171 133 121
Rank change year-on-year -38 -12 -30
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 900 703 744
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.67% 2.13% 1.93%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.81% 2.34% 2.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 595 464 515
10th Percentile £163 £160 £140
25th Percentile £186 £200 £181
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £235 £238 £235
Median % change year-on-year -1.16% +1.17% -6.00%
75th Percentile £400 £376 £350
90th Percentile £500 £538 £525
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £235 £220
% change year-on-year -10.57% +6.82% -1.12%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 70 43
10th Percentile £16.34 £16.50 £18.00
25th Percentile £18.44 £20.64 £18.13
Median hourly rate £22.50 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.54% +14.32% +15.06%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £26.00
90th Percentile £48.35 £68.00 £59.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.63 £25.15 £22.44
% change year-on-year -14.02% +12.09% +18.09%

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 49,838 30,062 35,859
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.47% 91.24% 93.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,768 18,992 22,689
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% -1.69%
75th Percentile £625 £621 £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 3,565 1,567 1,847
10th Percentile £14.96 £13.75 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.51 £17.04 £20.00
Median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +67.00% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.81 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £44.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -42.84% +10.00%

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 29 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 29 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 29 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 -45 764 £225 -5.46% 393
UK excluding London -30 581 £210 -10.57% 313
London -27 282 £260 +4.00% 124
South East -46 158 £250 - 110
North of England -19 139 £200 - 58
North West -9 99 £200 -12.09% 32
Work from Home -71 92 £300 - 99
Scotland +43 84 £367 +30.89% 19
East of England -3 64 £195 -11.36% 49
Midlands -60 64 £250 -9.09% 51
South West -56 57 £210 -10.64% 33
West Midlands -58 43 £250 -9.09% 29
Yorkshire -27 37 £220 - 20
East Midlands -11 20 £270 +47.54% 22
Wales -26 10 £438 +105.88% 2
Northern Ireland +2 5 £175 -12.50% 3
North East -45 4 £239 +22.44% 10
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 29 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.

1 507 (56.33%) Windows
2 416 (46.22%) Microsoft
3 398 (44.22%) Active Directory
4 351 (39.00%) Microsoft 365
5 221 (24.56%) Problem-Solving
6 216 (24.00%) Customer Service
7 195 (21.67%) Windows 10
8 182 (20.22%) ITIL
9 180 (20.00%) Security Cleared
10 146 (16.22%) Azure
11 138 (15.33%) Microsoft Intune
12 137 (15.22%) Entra ID
13 129 (14.33%) ITSM
14 128 (14.22%) ServiceNow
15 122 (13.56%) SharePoint
16 110 (12.22%) SC Cleared
17 103 (11.44%) DNS
17 103 (11.44%) PowerShell
18 85 (9.44%) Continuous Improvement
19 78 (8.67%) Linux
19 78 (8.67%) Windows Server
20 76 (8.44%) Asset Management
21 72 (8.00%) Service Delivery
21 72 (8.00%) VPN
22 71 (7.89%) Microsoft Exchange
22 71 (7.89%) SQL
22 71 (7.89%) TCP/IP
23 69 (7.67%) Degree
24 68 (7.56%) Migration
24 68 (7.56%) Service Management

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
1 122 (13.56%) SharePoint
2 71 (7.89%) 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
1 351 (39.00%) Microsoft 365
2 146 (16.22%) Azure
3 137 (15.22%) Entra ID
4 47 (5.22%) OneDrive
5 41 (4.56%) AWS
6 21 (2.33%) SaaS
7 19 (2.11%) GCP
8 11 (1.22%) Power Platform
9 10 (1.11%) Azure DevOps
10 8 (0.89%) 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%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 103 (11.44%) DNS
2 72 (8.00%) VPN
3 71 (7.89%) TCP/IP
4 58 (6.44%) DHCP
5 41 (4.56%) Wi-Fi
6 35 (3.89%) LAN
7 32 (3.56%) WAN
8 26 (2.89%) Firewall
9 21 (2.33%) Internet
10 16 (1.78%) SAN
10 16 (1.78%) VLAN
11 10 (1.11%) Wireless
12 7 (0.78%) Network Security
12 7 (0.78%) SD-WAN
12 7 (0.78%) Skype
13 5 (0.56%) HTTP
13 5 (0.56%) SMTP
13 5 (0.56%) WebEx
13 5 (0.56%) WLAN
14 4 (0.44%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (3.89%) SQL Server
2 17 (1.89%) MySQL
3 9 (1.00%) Power BI
3 9 (1.00%) Relational Database
3 9 (1.00%) SAP HANA
4 8 (0.89%) MaxDB
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
7 4 (0.44%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (0.33%) Big Data
8 3 (0.33%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.33%) KDB
8 3 (0.33%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 2 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.22%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.22%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 53 (5.89%) JIRA
2 21 (2.33%) 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 (41.44%) Social Skills
2 111 (12.33%) Analytical Skills
3 82 (9.11%) Finance
4 41 (4.56%) Manufacturing
5 37 (4.11%) Banking
6 27 (3.00%) 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
13 13 (1.44%) Public Sector
14 12 (1.33%) Financial Institution
15 10 (1.11%) Spanish Language
16 7 (0.78%) Marketing
17 6 (0.67%) Aerospace
18 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
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
9 4 (0.44%) Oracle GoldenGate
9 4 (0.44%) React
10 3 (0.33%) AngularJS
10 3 (0.33%) FIX Protocol
10 3 (0.33%) Kafka
10 3 (0.33%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 123 (13.67%) Onboarding
2 32 (3.56%) Data Centre
3 30 (3.33%) Video Conferencing
4 23 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
5 20 (2.22%) PKI
6 19 (2.11%) Analytical Mindset
7 18 (2.00%) Driving Licence
8 16 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
8 16 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
8 16 (1.78%) Hedge funds
9 15 (1.67%) iPhone
10 13 (1.44%) 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%) CMDB
14 9 (1.00%) Distributed Systems
15 6 (0.67%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 507 (56.33%) Windows
2 195 (21.67%) Windows 10
3 78 (8.67%) Linux
3 78 (8.67%) Windows Server
4 62 (6.89%) Mac OS
5 41 (4.56%) Apple iOS
6 38 (4.22%) Android
7 33 (3.67%) Unix
8 19 (2.11%) Windows 7
9 11 (1.22%) Windows Server 2019
10 10 (1.11%) Ubuntu
11 7 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.44%) OpenVMS
12 4 (0.44%) Solaris
12 4 (0.44%) VMS
12 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2008
12 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.33%) Windows XP
14 2 (0.22%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 221 (24.56%) Problem-Solving
2 216 (24.00%) Customer Service
3 182 (20.22%) ITIL
4 129 (14.33%) ITSM
5 85 (9.44%) Continuous Improvement
6 76 (8.44%) Asset Management
7 72 (8.00%) Service Delivery
8 68 (7.56%) Migration
8 68 (7.56%) Service Management
9 58 (6.44%) Root Cause Analysis
10 54 (6.00%) Incident Management
10 54 (6.00%) User Experience
11 53 (5.89%) Problem Management
12 49 (5.44%) Identity Access Management
13 43 (4.78%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 39 (4.33%) Runbook
15 38 (4.22%) Change Management
16 35 (3.89%) Technical Leadership
17 33 (3.67%) Data Protection
18 29 (3.22%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 103 (11.44%) PowerShell
2 71 (7.89%) SQL
3 49 (5.44%) Python
4 30 (3.33%) Java
5 23 (2.56%) Bash
5 23 (2.56%) JavaScript
6 19 (2.11%) C#
7 11 (1.22%) Shell Script
8 7 (0.78%) C++
9 5 (0.56%) Perl
9 5 (0.56%) T-SQL
10 4 (0.44%) Go
10 4 (0.44%) Korn
10 4 (0.44%) Tcl
11 2 (0.22%) DCL
11 2 (0.22%) VBA
12 1 (0.11%) C
12 1 (0.11%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.11%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.11%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 180 (20.00%) Security Cleared
2 110 (12.22%) SC Cleared
3 69 (7.67%) Degree
4 55 (6.11%) DV Cleared
5 30 (3.33%) A+ Certification
6 22 (2.44%) 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 (6.78%) SLA
2 6 (0.67%) QA
3 4 (0.44%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (0.44%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 2 (0.22%) GDPR
5 2 (0.22%) GxP
5 2 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 1 (0.11%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.11%) GLP
6 1 (0.11%) GMP
6 1 (0.11%) GRC
6 1 (0.11%) ITGC
6 1 (0.11%) NCSC
System Software
1 398 (44.22%) Active Directory
2 49 (5.44%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (3.11%) 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%) vSphere
10 5 (0.56%) BitLocker
10 5 (0.56%) NFS
11 4 (0.44%) Oracle RAC
12 3 (0.33%) Firmware
12 3 (0.33%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.33%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.22%) zsh
14 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 138 (15.33%) Microsoft Intune
2 59 (6.56%) SCCM
3 28 (3.11%) vCenter Server
4 23 (2.56%) Single Sign-On
5 22 (2.44%) SCOM
6 17 (1.89%) Kubernetes
7 16 (1.78%) Jamf Pro
8 13 (1.44%) Ansible
8 13 (1.44%) Grafana
9 7 (0.78%) WSUS
10 5 (0.56%) Red Hat Satellite
11 4 (0.44%) ITRS Geneos
11 4 (0.44%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 4 (0.44%) Oracle RMAN
12 3 (0.33%) AirWatch
12 3 (0.33%) Nagios
12 3 (0.33%) NetBackup
12 3 (0.33%) Prometheus
12 3 (0.33%) vMotion
12 3 (0.33%) vRealize
Vendors
1 416 (46.22%) Microsoft
2 128 (14.22%) ServiceNow
3 65 (7.22%) VMware
4 41 (4.56%) Apple
5 33 (3.67%) Okta
6 31 (3.44%) Cisco
6 31 (3.44%) Oracle
7 27 (3.00%) Google
8 25 (2.78%) Citrix
9 21 (2.33%) BeyondTrust
10 19 (2.11%) SAP
11 17 (1.89%) Splunk
12 15 (1.67%) Meraki
13 13 (1.44%) Bloomberg
13 13 (1.44%) Dell
13 13 (1.44%) iManage
13 13 (1.44%) Samsung
14 12 (1.33%) Sybase
15 11 (1.22%) HP
15 11 (1.22%) Lotus