Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £213, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 12 February 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 136 141 99
Rank change year-on-year +5 -42 +36
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 811 582 1,008
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.04% 1.88% 2.28%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.22% 2.02% 2.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 551 387 715
10th Percentile £151 £150 £140
25th Percentile £185 £181 £166
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £213 £225 £215
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +4.65% -10.42%
75th Percentile £328 £364 £320
90th Percentile £500 £519 £488
UK excluding London median daily rate £207 £220 £200
% change year-on-year -5.91% +10.00% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 41 59
10th Percentile £17.14 £15.22 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.85 £18.70 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.75 £23.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.26% +15.00% +2.66%
75th Percentile £26.14 £24.18 £27.64
90th Percentile £36.00 £41.50 £44.28
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.29 £22.75 £20.00
% change year-on-year +2.36% +13.75% +13.57%

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 36,458 28,796 41,269
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.54% 92.96% 93.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,924 17,765 27,180
10th Percentile £300 £288 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £478 £489
% change year-on-year -0.52% -2.35% -2.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,214 834 2,292
10th Percentile £14.53 £15.92 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.25 £16.45
Median hourly rate £30.00 £34.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.76% -2.86% -2.23%
75th Percentile £62.44 £63.75 £60.75
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £32.13 £35.00
% change year-on-year -7.87% -8.20% -

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 12 February 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 12 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Support Engineer in the UK

Support Engineer
Top 17 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 12 February 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 +14 739 £213 -6.80% 415
UK excluding London +6 568 £207 -5.91% 402
London -19 209 £260 -5.45% 81
South East +7 159 £238 +16.10% 158
South West +13 108 £250 +11.11% 39
North of England -30 106 £190 -12.64% 86
Midlands -2 102 £200 -20.00% 56
Work from Home -29 94 £250 -16.67% 83
West Midlands -20 66 £215 -17.31% 33
East of England +1 59 £203 -10.00% 38
North West -13 58 £152 -28.71% 50
Yorkshire -36 39 £205 -8.89% 29
East Midlands +6 38 £200 +5.26% 23
Scotland +2 35 £190 +13.77% 19
North East -11 9 £106 -69.71% 11
Wales -6 6 £185 -38.33% 8
Northern Ireland -5 3 £163 +9.80% 4

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

For the 6 months to 12 February 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.

1 410 (50.55%) Windows
2 300 (36.99%) Microsoft
3 253 (31.20%) Microsoft 365
4 241 (29.72%) Security Cleared
5 233 (28.73%) Active Directory
6 191 (23.55%) SC Cleared
7 179 (22.07%) Windows 10
8 165 (20.35%) Customer Service
9 160 (19.73%) Problem-Solving
10 113 (13.93%) Azure
11 103 (12.70%) ITIL
12 97 (11.96%) ServiceNow
13 96 (11.84%) Microsoft Intune
14 89 (10.97%) Linux
15 76 (9.37%) Migration
16 72 (8.88%) ITSM
17 68 (8.38%) SCCM
18 66 (8.14%) PowerShell
19 65 (8.01%) DNS
19 65 (8.01%) Microsoft Office
20 63 (7.77%) SharePoint
21 61 (7.52%) DHCP
21 61 (7.52%) Service Management
22 57 (7.03%) TCP/IP
23 55 (6.78%) VPN
24 52 (6.41%) Android
24 52 (6.41%) Asset Management
24 52 (6.41%) DV Cleared
25 50 (6.17%) Wi-Fi
26 49 (6.04%) Windows Server

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 63 (7.77%) SharePoint
2 48 (5.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.85%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.49%) Apache
4 4 (0.49%) Confluence
5 2 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.25%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.25%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.25%) IIS
5 2 (0.25%) Jupyter
5 2 (0.25%) Palantir Foundry
5 2 (0.25%) SharePoint Server
5 2 (0.25%) Smallworld
6 1 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2003
6 1 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2007
6 1 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2010
6 1 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.12%) Office Communications Server
Applications
1 65 (8.01%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (2.84%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) DaVinci Resolve
4 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.12%) OmniGraffle
4 1 (0.12%) Pro Tools
4 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (1.11%) SAP EHS
2 7 (0.86%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (0.86%) Shopify
3 5 (0.62%) Primavera
3 5 (0.62%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.12%) Aladdin
4 1 (0.12%) assyst
4 1 (0.12%) Bloomberg TOMS
4 1 (0.12%) Eikon
4 1 (0.12%) Fidessa
4 1 (0.12%) NetSuite
4 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
4 1 (0.12%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 253 (31.20%) Microsoft 365
2 113 (13.93%) Azure
3 47 (5.80%) Entra ID
4 33 (4.07%) AWS
5 32 (3.95%) OneDrive
6 26 (3.21%) SaaS
7 18 (2.22%) Google Workspace
8 15 (1.85%) Sauce Labs
9 10 (1.23%) Dynamics 365
9 10 (1.23%) Power Platform
10 8 (0.99%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (0.86%) npm
12 5 (0.62%) Amazon S3
12 5 (0.62%) Azure Data Factory
13 4 (0.49%) OpenShift
14 3 (0.37%) GitHub
14 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Purview
14 3 (0.37%) PowerApps
15 2 (0.25%) Amazon EKS
15 2 (0.25%) Amazon OpenSearch
Communications & Networking
1 65 (8.01%) DNS
2 61 (7.52%) DHCP
3 57 (7.03%) TCP/IP
4 55 (6.78%) VPN
5 50 (6.17%) Wi-Fi
6 32 (3.95%) LAN
6 32 (3.95%) Wireless
7 31 (3.82%) Firewall
8 28 (3.45%) WAN
9 21 (2.59%) VLAN
10 15 (1.85%) Junos
10 15 (1.85%) Skype
11 14 (1.73%) Cisco IOS
11 14 (1.73%) Network Security
12 13 (1.60%) Cisco Firepower
12 13 (1.60%) Cisco ISE
12 13 (1.60%) MPLS
12 13 (1.60%) PABX
13 11 (1.36%) BGP
13 11 (1.36%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.71%) Relational Database
2 19 (2.34%) MySQL
3 13 (1.60%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.86%) Power BI
5 6 (0.74%) Amazon Redshift
5 6 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.49%) Amazon Athena
6 4 (0.49%) RDBMS
7 3 (0.37%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.37%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.25%) GIS
8 2 (0.25%) Tableau
9 1 (0.12%) Apache Cassandra
9 1 (0.12%) Azure SQL Database
9 1 (0.12%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.12%) Electronic Patient Records
9 1 (0.12%) MariaDB
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle ODI
9 1 (0.12%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 27 (3.33%) JIRA
2 20 (2.47%) Browser DevTools
3 15 (1.85%) Android Studio
3 15 (1.85%) Eclipse
3 15 (1.85%) Xcode
4 8 (0.99%) Git
5 7 (0.86%) Maven
6 4 (0.49%) Firebug
7 3 (0.37%) Jenkins
8 2 (0.25%) Fiddler
8 2 (0.25%) MSI
9 1 (0.12%) ClearCase
9 1 (0.12%) Hudson
9 1 (0.12%) RStudio
General
1 355 (43.77%) Social Skills
2 70 (8.63%) Finance
3 58 (7.15%) Analytical Skills
4 51 (6.29%) Public Sector
5 47 (5.80%) Manufacturing
6 40 (4.93%) Banking
7 28 (3.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 27 (3.33%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (2.84%) Aerospace
10 21 (2.59%) Telecoms
11 16 (1.97%) Investment Banking
12 14 (1.73%) Electronics
12 14 (1.73%) Law
12 14 (1.73%) Marketing
13 13 (1.60%) Aviation
14 10 (1.23%) Front Office
15 9 (1.11%) Documentation Skills
16 7 (0.86%) Legal
17 5 (0.62%) Automotive
17 5 (0.62%) French Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (2.71%) Middleware
2 20 (2.47%) CSS
3 16 (1.97%) Ajax
3 16 (1.97%) AngularJS
3 16 (1.97%) GraphQL
3 16 (1.97%) React
4 7 (0.86%) REST
5 6 (0.74%) PySpark
5 6 (0.74%) SOAP
6 5 (0.62%) XML
6 5 (0.62%) YAML
7 4 (0.49%) HTML
7 4 (0.49%) JDO
7 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Graph
8 2 (0.25%) .NET
8 2 (0.25%) ADO
8 2 (0.25%) EDI
8 2 (0.25%) OAuth
8 2 (0.25%) OpenTelemetry
9 1 (0.12%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 47 (5.80%) Onboarding
2 39 (4.81%) Self-Motivation
3 31 (3.82%) Driving Licence
4 24 (2.96%) Smartphone
5 22 (2.71%) PKI
6 20 (2.47%) Data Centre
7 16 (1.97%) Mobile App
8 15 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
8 15 (1.85%) Data Protection Act
9 12 (1.48%) iPhone
9 12 (1.48%) Management Information System
10 11 (1.36%) Video Conferencing
10 11 (1.36%) Virtual Team
11 10 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (0.99%) Hybrid Cloud
13 7 (0.86%) iPad
13 7 (0.86%) Legacy Systems
14 4 (0.49%) CCTV
15 3 (0.37%) Hedge funds
15 3 (0.37%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 410 (50.55%) Windows
2 179 (22.07%) Windows 10
3 89 (10.97%) Linux
4 52 (6.41%) Android
5 49 (6.04%) Windows Server
6 47 (5.80%) Mac OS
7 40 (4.93%) Apple iOS
8 31 (3.82%) Unix
9 12 (1.48%) Ubuntu
10 10 (1.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 8 (0.99%) Windows 7
12 5 (0.62%) Windows Server 2016
13 4 (0.49%) CentOS
14 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2012
14 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
15 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
15 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2003
15 1 (0.12%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 165 (20.35%) Customer Service
2 160 (19.73%) Problem-Solving
3 103 (12.70%) ITIL
4 76 (9.37%) Migration
5 72 (8.88%) ITSM
6 61 (7.52%) Service Management
7 52 (6.41%) Asset Management
8 49 (6.04%) Workflow
9 45 (5.55%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 38 (4.69%) Workflow Management
11 37 (4.56%) User Experience
12 33 (4.07%) Root Cause Analysis
13 28 (3.45%) Logistics
13 28 (3.45%) Service Delivery
14 27 (3.33%) Stakeholder Management
15 26 (3.21%) Cybersecurity
16 25 (3.08%) Incident Management
16 25 (3.08%) OO
17 24 (2.96%) Continuous Improvement
18 21 (2.59%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 66 (8.14%) PowerShell
2 37 (4.56%) Java
3 36 (4.44%) Python
4 35 (4.32%) JavaScript
5 33 (4.07%) SQL
6 18 (2.22%) Shell Script
7 17 (2.10%) Perl
8 13 (1.60%) C
8 13 (1.60%) C++
9 12 (1.48%) Ada
9 12 (1.48%) Bash
10 6 (0.74%) C#
11 2 (0.25%) AWK
11 2 (0.25%) Magik
11 2 (0.25%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.25%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.12%) Korn
12 1 (0.12%) Tcl
12 1 (0.12%) VBA
12 1 (0.12%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 241 (29.72%) Security Cleared
2 191 (23.55%) SC Cleared
3 52 (6.41%) DV Cleared
4 33 (4.07%) Degree
5 28 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
6 19 (2.34%) Azure Certification
7 13 (1.60%) Network+ Certification
8 11 (1.36%) Server+ Certification
9 10 (1.23%) A+ Certification
9 10 (1.23%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (0.99%) DBS Check
10 8 (0.99%) ITIL Certification
11 5 (0.62%) CCNA
11 5 (0.62%) Cisco Certification
12 4 (0.49%) Computer Science Degree
12 4 (0.49%) MCSE
12 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 3 (0.37%) Master's Degree
14 2 (0.25%) CompTIA Security+
14 2 (0.25%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (3.58%) SLA
2 8 (0.99%) GDPR
3 5 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.49%) QA
5 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.12%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.12%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.12%) GAAP
6 1 (0.12%) IFRS
6 1 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.12%) SOC 2
System Software
1 233 (28.73%) Active Directory
2 30 (3.70%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.22%) Hyper-V
4 15 (1.85%) Virtual Desktop
5 14 (1.73%) VMware NSX
6 8 (0.99%) Docker
7 6 (0.74%) Firmware
8 5 (0.62%) vSphere
9 3 (0.37%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.25%) NFS
11 1 (0.12%) Brightmail
11 1 (0.12%) ISA Server
11 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
11 1 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.12%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.12%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 96 (11.84%) Microsoft Intune
2 68 (8.38%) SCCM
3 26 (3.21%) Jamf Pro
4 19 (2.34%) Ansible
5 16 (1.97%) vCenter Server
6 13 (1.60%) Terraform
7 11 (1.36%) Grafana
8 6 (0.74%) Kubernetes
8 6 (0.74%) Red Hat Satellite
9 5 (0.62%) Kibana
9 5 (0.62%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.49%) ITRS Geneos
11 3 (0.37%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.37%) SCOM
12 2 (0.25%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.25%) WSUS
13 1 (0.12%) logstash
13 1 (0.12%) Nagios
13 1 (0.12%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
13 1 (0.12%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 300 (36.99%) Microsoft
2 97 (11.96%) ServiceNow
3 42 (5.18%) VMware
4 40 (4.93%) Cisco
5 35 (4.32%) Oracle
6 33 (4.07%) Apple
7 27 (3.33%) SAP
8 24 (2.96%) Juniper
9 21 (2.59%) Google
10 20 (2.47%) HP
11 19 (2.34%) Red Hat
11 19 (2.34%) SolarWinds
12 18 (2.22%) Dell
12 18 (2.22%) Splunk
13 13 (1.60%) Citrix
14 10 (1.23%) Remedy
15 9 (1.11%) Bloomberg
15 9 (1.11%) Twitter
16 7 (0.86%) Starlink
17 6 (0.74%) McAfee