Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £224, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 June 2026.

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

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 134 110
Rank change year-on-year -41 -24 0
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 769 642 870
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.51% 2.12% 2.00%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.64% 2.30% 2.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 502 410 588
10th Percentile £155 £160 £140
25th Percentile £185 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £224 £239 £215
Median % change year-on-year -6.18% +11.05% -14.00%
75th Percentile £379 £375 £338
90th Percentile £473 £501 £500
UK excluding London median daily rate £208 £230 £205
% change year-on-year -9.78% +12.20% -4.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 51 57
10th Percentile £17.39 £18.10 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.64 £18.13
Median hourly rate £23.50 £25.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -6.00% +11.11% +12.50%
75th Percentile £36.00 £45.63 £40.00
90th Percentile £48.35 £68.00 £54.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.83 £24.18
% change year-on-year -9.38% +2.69% +33.52%

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 47,008 27,876 40,382
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.38% 92.16% 92.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,552 17,889 25,942
10th Percentile £325 £288 £281
25th Percentile £415 £402 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,155 1,223 2,887
10th Percentile £15.38 £13.76 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.08 £17.31 £16.58
Median hourly rate £43.61 £26.45 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +64.86% -29.47% -12.79%
75th Percentile £67.50 £55.37 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.65 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -

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 26 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 26 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 26 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 -56 663 £213 -10.53% 228
UK excluding London -41 516 £208 -9.78% 246
London -43 224 £275 +7.84% 40
South East -31 145 £238 -5.00% 72
North of England -63 88 £190 -9.52% 51
Work from Home -89 80 £220 -26.67% 72
Midlands -46 78 £210 -17.65% 28
South West -49 65 £210 -10.64% 42
East of England -2 63 £200 -11.11% 24
Scotland +37 62 £437 +48.14% 25
North West -42 53 £189 -5.63% 34
West Midlands -62 47 £250 -9.09% 14
Yorkshire -31 34 £190 -19.15% 12
East Midlands +11 30 £200 +16.96% 14
Wales -20 10 £195 -2.50% 4
Northern Ireland 0 5 £175 - 9
North East -46 1 £290 +48.72% 7
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 26 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.

1 384 (49.93%) Windows
2 298 (38.75%) Active Directory
3 283 (36.80%) Microsoft
4 256 (33.29%) Microsoft 365
5 169 (21.98%) Problem-Solving
6 164 (21.33%) Windows 10
7 153 (19.90%) Security Cleared
8 142 (18.47%) Customer Service
9 133 (17.30%) Azure
10 130 (16.91%) ITIL
11 107 (13.91%) Microsoft Intune
12 103 (13.39%) SC Cleared
13 93 (12.09%) ServiceNow
14 86 (11.18%) Entra ID
15 75 (9.75%) DNS
16 74 (9.62%) SharePoint
17 70 (9.10%) PowerShell
18 67 (8.71%) ITSM
19 60 (7.80%) SQL
20 58 (7.54%) JIRA
20 58 (7.54%) Linux
21 54 (7.02%) Migration
22 51 (6.63%) VPN
22 51 (6.63%) Windows Server
23 50 (6.50%) Continuous Improvement
23 50 (6.50%) DHCP
24 47 (6.11%) Mac OS
24 47 (6.11%) Wi-Fi
25 46 (5.98%) Microsoft Exchange
26 45 (5.85%) Degree

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 74 (9.62%) SharePoint
2 46 (5.98%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.56%) NetWeaver
4 7 (0.91%) HCL Notes
5 4 (0.52%) Confluence
6 3 (0.39%) IIS
6 3 (0.39%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.26%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.26%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 40 (5.20%) 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%) SAP EHS
4 3 (0.39%) Remedy ITSM
5 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 256 (33.29%) Microsoft 365
2 133 (17.30%) Azure
3 86 (11.18%) Entra ID
4 33 (4.29%) AWS
5 28 (3.64%) OneDrive
6 21 (2.73%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.47%) SaaS
8 13 (1.69%) GCP
9 10 (1.30%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.17%) PaaS
11 6 (0.78%) Amazon S3
11 6 (0.78%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.78%) IaaS
12 4 (0.52%) Azure Data Factory
12 4 (0.52%) Dynamics 365
12 4 (0.52%) Mimecast
13 3 (0.39%) Amazon EC2
13 3 (0.39%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.39%) Sauce Labs
14 2 (0.26%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 75 (9.75%) DNS
2 51 (6.63%) VPN
3 50 (6.50%) DHCP
4 47 (6.11%) Wi-Fi
5 44 (5.72%) TCP/IP
6 41 (5.33%) LAN
7 26 (3.38%) WAN
8 24 (3.12%) SAN
9 18 (2.34%) Firewall
10 16 (2.08%) Internet
11 13 (1.69%) VLAN
12 11 (1.43%) WLAN
13 10 (1.30%) Wireless
14 7 (0.91%) HTTP
15 6 (0.78%) Skype
15 6 (0.78%) VoIP
16 4 (0.52%) Network Security
16 4 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
17 3 (0.39%) Unified Communications
17 3 (0.39%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (3.90%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.34%) MySQL
3 12 (1.56%) Amazon Redshift
3 12 (1.56%) SAP HANA
4 11 (1.43%) Sybase ASE
5 10 (1.30%) MaxDB
6 9 (1.17%) Relational Database
7 8 (1.04%) Power BI
8 7 (0.91%) Pentaho
9 6 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
9 6 (0.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.65%) Oracle Database
11 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database 12c
12 3 (0.39%) Amazon Athena
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 58 (7.54%) JIRA
2 17 (2.21%) Git
3 9 (1.17%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.39%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.39%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.39%) 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%) 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 (38.23%) Social Skills
2 89 (11.57%) Analytical Skills
3 59 (7.67%) Finance
4 45 (5.85%) Manufacturing
5 35 (4.55%) Banking
6 21 (2.73%) Investment Banking
7 20 (2.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (2.47%) Organisational Skills
9 15 (1.95%) Aerospace
10 14 (1.82%) Aviation
10 14 (1.82%) Law
11 13 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
12 12 (1.56%) 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%) Spanish Language
15 6 (0.78%) Telecoms
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%) SAP Fiori
5 6 (0.78%) SAPUI5
6 5 (0.65%) CSS
6 5 (0.65%) SAML
7 4 (0.52%) OAuth
7 4 (0.52%) PySpark
8 3 (0.39%) Ajax
8 3 (0.39%) AngularJS
8 3 (0.39%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.39%) LDAP
8 3 (0.39%) Middleware
8 3 (0.39%) React
8 3 (0.39%) RESTful
8 3 (0.39%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 72 (9.36%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.55%) Data Centre
3 24 (3.12%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (2.73%) Analytical Mindset
5 19 (2.47%) Virtual Team
6 14 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (1.82%) PKI
6 14 (1.82%) Video Conferencing
7 12 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
7 12 (1.56%) iPhone
7 12 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
8 11 (1.43%) Smartphone
9 10 (1.30%) Driving Licence
9 10 (1.30%) SCADA
10 8 (1.04%) Hedge funds
11 7 (0.91%) Blackberry
11 7 (0.91%) iPad
12 6 (0.78%) BYOD
12 6 (0.78%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.65%) CCTV
Operating Systems
1 384 (49.93%) Windows
2 164 (21.33%) Windows 10
3 58 (7.54%) Linux
4 51 (6.63%) Windows Server
5 47 (6.11%) Mac OS
6 42 (5.46%) Unix
7 26 (3.38%) Apple iOS
8 21 (2.73%) Android
9 16 (2.08%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.91%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.91%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.78%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.52%) Solaris
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
1 169 (21.98%) Problem-Solving
2 142 (18.47%) Customer Service
3 130 (16.91%) ITIL
4 67 (8.71%) ITSM
5 54 (7.02%) Migration
6 50 (6.50%) Continuous Improvement
7 44 (5.72%) Change Management
8 43 (5.59%) Service Delivery
9 39 (5.07%) Asset Management
9 39 (5.07%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 35 (4.55%) DevOps
10 35 (4.55%) Incident Management
11 33 (4.29%) User Experience
12 32 (4.16%) Problem Management
12 32 (4.16%) Root Cause Analysis
12 32 (4.16%) Service Management
13 25 (3.25%) Data Protection
14 24 (3.12%) Break/Fix
14 24 (3.12%) High Availability
15 22 (2.86%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 70 (9.10%) PowerShell
2 60 (7.80%) SQL
3 31 (4.03%) Python
4 20 (2.60%) C#
5 19 (2.47%) Java
6 16 (2.08%) Shell Script
7 15 (1.95%) Bash
7 15 (1.95%) JavaScript
8 10 (1.30%) Korn
9 7 (0.91%) C++
9 7 (0.91%) Perl
10 1 (0.13%) C
10 1 (0.13%) DCL
10 1 (0.13%) Go
10 1 (0.13%) R
10 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.13%) VB.NET
10 1 (0.13%) VBA
10 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 153 (19.90%) Security Cleared
2 103 (13.39%) SC Cleared
3 45 (5.85%) Degree
4 35 (4.55%) DV Cleared
5 25 (3.25%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (2.99%) A+ Certification
7 21 (2.73%) CCNA
7 21 (2.73%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (2.73%) Network+ Certification
8 16 (2.08%) MCSE
9 12 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (1.04%) Computer Science Degree
10 8 (1.04%) DBS Check
11 7 (0.91%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.91%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 6 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.52%) NVQ Level 4
14 3 (0.39%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
15 1 (0.13%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (4.94%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
2 4 (0.52%) QA
3 3 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (0.39%) Sarbanes-Oxley
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
System Software
1 298 (38.75%) Active Directory
2 33 (4.29%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.34%) Hyper-V
3 18 (2.34%) VMware ESXi
4 16 (2.08%) VMware NSX
5 11 (1.43%) vCloud
5 11 (1.43%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (1.30%) Oracle RAC
7 7 (0.91%) vSphere
8 5 (0.65%) Docker
8 5 (0.65%) NFS
9 4 (0.52%) BitLocker
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 (13.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 43 (5.59%) SCCM
3 20 (2.60%) Jamf Pro
4 19 (2.47%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (2.34%) vCenter Server
6 12 (1.56%) Grafana
6 12 (1.56%) SCOM
7 10 (1.30%) Ansible
7 10 (1.30%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 10 (1.30%) Oracle RMAN
8 6 (0.78%) Kubernetes
8 6 (0.78%) Terraform
9 5 (0.65%) Red Hat Satellite
10 3 (0.39%) AirWatch
10 3 (0.39%) Nagios
10 3 (0.39%) Puppet
10 3 (0.39%) vMotion
10 3 (0.39%) vRealize
11 2 (0.26%) WMI
11 2 (0.26%) WSUS
Vendors
1 283 (36.80%) Microsoft
2 93 (12.09%) ServiceNow
3 41 (5.33%) VMware
4 32 (4.16%) Oracle
5 28 (3.64%) Apple
6 21 (2.73%) Dell
6 21 (2.73%) SAP
7 19 (2.47%) Okta
8 16 (2.08%) Citrix
9 15 (1.95%) Cisco
9 15 (1.95%) Google
9 15 (1.95%) HP
10 11 (1.43%) Sybase
11 9 (1.17%) BeyondTrust
11 9 (1.17%) McAfee
12 8 (1.04%) Denodo
12 8 (1.04%) Meraki
12 8 (1.04%) Splunk
12 8 (1.04%) Starlink
12 8 (1.04%) Talend