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 9 April 2026.

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

6 months to
9 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 162 126 104
Rank change year-on-year -36 -22 +20
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 772 649 918
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 2.22% 2.09%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.83% 2.40% 2.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 526 428 652
10th Percentile £153 £153 £136
25th Percentile £185 £188 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £213 £239 £210
Median % change year-on-year -10.99% +13.69% -16.00%
75th Percentile £350 £388 £300
90th Percentile £475 £518 £413
UK excluding London median daily rate £203 £220 £200
% change year-on-year -7.95% +10.00% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 100 43 58
10th Percentile £18.46 £18.13 £16.18
25th Percentile £21.25 £19.58 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.79 £23.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.42% +15.00% +3.63%
75th Percentile £35.25 £28.21 £28.82
90th Percentile £37.50 £51.30 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.00 £23.00 £18.00
% change year-on-year - +27.78% -3.36%

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 42,236 27,096 40,842
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.26% 92.72% 92.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,288 17,831 26,727
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £407 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £744
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +2.63% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,660 965 2,571
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.00 £20.26 £16.25
Median hourly rate £40.54 £31.76 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +27.64% -9.26% -21.40%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £71.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £30.45 £35.00
% change year-on-year +37.73% -13.00% -16.97%

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 9 April 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 9 April 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 9 April 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 -39 688 £210 -12.50% 309
UK excluding London -33 527 £203 -7.95% 282
London -47 210 £275 -8.33% 62
South East -26 123 £213 -15.00% 88
North of England -44 120 £190 -11.63% 71
South West -17 89 £210 -6.67% 39
Midlands -31 89 £200 -27.27% 39
Work from Home -78 74 £225 -30.77% 68
North West -21 68 £168 -22.99% 43
East of England -14 59 £203 -10.00% 28
West Midlands -50 55 £270 -6.09% 19
Yorkshire -31 46 £205 -8.89% 24
Scotland +20 39 £250 +57.73% 13
East Midlands -7 35 £200 - 20
Wales -16 11 £200 +2.56% 5
North East -23 6 £106 -45.64% 7
Northern Ireland -10 3 £175 +18.24% 4

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

For the 6 months to 9 April 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.

1 363 (47.02%) Windows
2 276 (35.75%) Microsoft
3 254 (32.90%) Microsoft 365
4 240 (31.09%) Active Directory
5 186 (24.09%) Security Cleared
6 170 (22.02%) Windows 10
7 167 (21.63%) Customer Service
8 154 (19.95%) SC Cleared
9 139 (18.01%) Problem-Solving
10 121 (15.67%) Azure
11 101 (13.08%) Microsoft Intune
12 96 (12.44%) ITIL
13 87 (11.27%) ServiceNow
14 71 (9.20%) Migration
15 66 (8.55%) Entra ID
16 65 (8.42%) PowerShell
17 63 (8.16%) SharePoint
18 61 (7.90%) ITSM
19 57 (7.38%) Wi-Fi
20 53 (6.87%) DNS
21 51 (6.61%) Asset Management
22 49 (6.35%) Microsoft Office
23 48 (6.22%) JIRA
23 48 (6.22%) SCCM
24 47 (6.09%) SQL
25 45 (5.83%) Linux
26 44 (5.70%) DHCP
26 44 (5.70%) TCP/IP
27 38 (4.92%) Android
27 38 (4.92%) Workflow

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 (8.16%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.89%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.04%) Skype for Business
4 6 (0.78%) NetWeaver
5 4 (0.52%) Apache
5 4 (0.52%) Confluence
6 3 (0.39%) IIS
7 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.26%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.26%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.26%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 49 (6.35%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (2.20%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 9 (1.17%) SAP EHS
2 8 (1.04%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (0.91%) Shopify
4 6 (0.78%) SAP S/4HANA
4 6 (0.78%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) Aladdin
6 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.13%) assyst
6 1 (0.13%) Bloomberg TOMS
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.13%) Eikon
6 1 (0.13%) Fidessa
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.13%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 254 (32.90%) Microsoft 365
2 121 (15.67%) Azure
3 66 (8.55%) Entra ID
4 28 (3.63%) OneDrive
5 23 (2.98%) AWS
6 19 (2.46%) Azure DevOps
7 18 (2.33%) Google Workspace
8 16 (2.07%) SaaS
9 11 (1.42%) Dynamics 365
9 11 (1.42%) Power Platform
10 7 (0.91%) Sauce Labs
11 6 (0.78%) Amazon S3
12 5 (0.65%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.65%) GCP
12 5 (0.65%) npm
12 5 (0.65%) PaaS
13 4 (0.52%) Datadog
13 4 (0.52%) Snowflake
14 3 (0.39%) Mimecast
15 2 (0.26%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 57 (7.38%) Wi-Fi
2 53 (6.87%) DNS
3 44 (5.70%) DHCP
3 44 (5.70%) TCP/IP
4 37 (4.79%) VPN
5 36 (4.66%) LAN
6 26 (3.37%) WAN
7 23 (2.98%) Firewall
8 17 (2.20%) Wireless
9 16 (2.07%) SAN
10 12 (1.55%) Network Security
11 11 (1.42%) Internet
12 10 (1.30%) Skype
12 10 (1.30%) VoIP
13 8 (1.04%) VLAN
14 7 (0.91%) HTTP
15 6 (0.78%) WLAN
16 5 (0.65%) AMQP
16 5 (0.65%) MPLS
17 4 (0.52%) PABX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.85%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.20%) MySQL
3 13 (1.68%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.55%) Relational Database
5 9 (1.17%) Power BI
5 9 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (0.91%) Pentaho
7 6 (0.78%) SAP HANA
7 6 (0.78%) Sybase ASE
8 5 (0.65%) MaxDB
8 5 (0.65%) Oracle Database
9 4 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
9 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database 12c
10 3 (0.39%) InfluxDB
10 3 (0.39%) Tableau
11 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.26%) PostgreSQL
11 2 (0.26%) RDBMS
11 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 1 (0.13%) NonStop SQL
Development Applications
1 48 (6.22%) JIRA
2 18 (2.33%) Git
3 12 (1.55%) Browser DevTools
4 7 (0.91%) Android Studio
4 7 (0.91%) Eclipse
4 7 (0.91%) Xcode
5 5 (0.65%) Maven
6 3 (0.39%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.13%) Firebug
7 1 (0.13%) Hudson
7 1 (0.13%) MSI
7 1 (0.13%) RStudio
7 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 321 (41.58%) Social Skills
2 64 (8.29%) Analytical Skills
3 62 (8.03%) Finance
4 50 (6.48%) Manufacturing
5 40 (5.18%) Banking
6 30 (3.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 26 (3.37%) Public Sector
8 22 (2.85%) Aerospace
9 19 (2.46%) Organisational Skills
10 17 (2.20%) Investment Banking
11 15 (1.94%) Aviation
11 15 (1.94%) Telecoms
12 11 (1.42%) Front Office
13 9 (1.17%) Electronics
13 9 (1.17%) Law
13 9 (1.17%) Legal
13 9 (1.17%) Marketing
14 6 (0.78%) Documentation Skills
14 6 (0.78%) French Language
15 4 (0.52%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.30%) Middleware
1 10 (1.30%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 8 (1.04%) CSS
3 7 (0.91%) .NET
3 7 (0.91%) Ajax
3 7 (0.91%) AngularJS
3 7 (0.91%) GraphQL
3 7 (0.91%) React
4 6 (0.78%) JDO
4 6 (0.78%) SAP Basis
5 5 (0.65%) REST
5 5 (0.65%) SAML
5 5 (0.65%) YAML
6 4 (0.52%) OAuth
6 4 (0.52%) PySpark
7 2 (0.26%) EDI
7 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
7 2 (0.26%) RESTful
7 2 (0.26%) SOAP
7 2 (0.26%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 51 (6.61%) Onboarding
2 33 (4.27%) Self-Motivation
3 28 (3.63%) Data Centre
4 27 (3.50%) Driving Licence
5 20 (2.59%) Analytical Mindset
6 16 (2.07%) Smartphone
7 13 (1.68%) Legacy Systems
8 12 (1.55%) iPhone
8 12 (1.55%) PKI
8 12 (1.55%) Virtual Team
9 11 (1.42%) Data Protection Act
10 10 (1.30%) Enterprise Software
10 10 (1.30%) SCADA
11 8 (1.04%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.91%) Mobile App
13 5 (0.65%) iPad
13 5 (0.65%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.65%) Video Conferencing
14 3 (0.39%) Hedge funds
15 2 (0.26%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 363 (47.02%) Windows
2 170 (22.02%) Windows 10
3 45 (5.83%) Linux
4 38 (4.92%) Android
5 37 (4.79%) Mac OS
6 35 (4.53%) Windows Server
7 32 (4.15%) Unix
8 29 (3.76%) Apple iOS
9 11 (1.42%) Windows 7
10 6 (0.78%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.39%) Mac OS X
11 3 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.26%) CentOS
12 2 (0.26%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.13%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (21.63%) Customer Service
2 139 (18.01%) Problem-Solving
3 96 (12.44%) ITIL
4 71 (9.20%) Migration
5 61 (7.90%) ITSM
6 51 (6.61%) Asset Management
7 38 (4.92%) Workflow
8 37 (4.79%) User Experience
9 33 (4.27%) Continuous Improvement
9 33 (4.27%) Service Management
10 32 (4.15%) Change Management
10 32 (4.15%) Incident Management
11 31 (4.02%) Root Cause Analysis
12 30 (3.89%) Logistics
12 30 (3.89%) Workflow Management
13 29 (3.76%) Break/Fix
14 27 (3.50%) DevOps
15 26 (3.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 25 (3.24%) Stakeholder Management
17 24 (3.11%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 65 (8.42%) PowerShell
2 47 (6.09%) SQL
3 30 (3.89%) Python
4 20 (2.59%) Java
5 19 (2.46%) C#
6 16 (2.07%) Shell Script
7 15 (1.94%) JavaScript
8 11 (1.42%) Bash
9 10 (1.30%) Korn
10 9 (1.17%) Perl
11 3 (0.39%) C
11 3 (0.39%) C++
11 3 (0.39%) VB.NET
12 2 (0.26%) Ada
12 2 (0.26%) AWK
12 2 (0.26%) VBA
12 2 (0.26%) VBScript
13 1 (0.13%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.13%) R
13 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 186 (24.09%) Security Cleared
2 154 (19.95%) SC Cleared
3 34 (4.40%) Degree
4 33 (4.27%) DV Cleared
5 24 (3.11%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (2.59%) A+ Certification
7 17 (2.20%) CCNA
7 17 (2.20%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (1.94%) MCSE
9 14 (1.81%) Network+ Certification
10 13 (1.68%) BPSS Clearance
11 8 (1.04%) Azure Certification
12 6 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
13 5 (0.65%) DBS Check
14 4 (0.52%) Computer Science Degree
15 3 (0.39%) Master's Degree
16 2 (0.26%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
17 1 (0.13%) CompTIA Security+
17 1 (0.13%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.63%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials
2 4 (0.52%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
3 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (0.39%) QA
4 2 (0.26%) GLP
4 2 (0.26%) GMP
5 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.13%) GAAP
5 1 (0.13%) GxP
5 1 (0.13%) IFRS
5 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 240 (31.09%) Active Directory
2 18 (2.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.30%) Oracle RAC
3 10 (1.30%) Virtual Desktop
4 9 (1.17%) Hyper-V
5 6 (0.78%) Firmware
5 6 (0.78%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.65%) Docker
7 3 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
7 3 (0.39%) vSphere
8 2 (0.26%) NFS
9 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 101 (13.08%) Microsoft Intune
2 48 (6.22%) SCCM
3 25 (3.24%) Jamf Pro
4 17 (2.20%) Grafana
5 13 (1.68%) Ansible
5 13 (1.68%) Terraform
6 10 (1.30%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 10 (1.30%) Oracle RMAN
7 9 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.78%) vCenter Server
9 5 (0.65%) Kubernetes
10 4 (0.52%) Kibana
11 2 (0.26%) McAfee ePO
11 2 (0.26%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.26%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.26%) WMI
11 2 (0.26%) WSUS
12 1 (0.13%) Cisco Prime
12 1 (0.13%) Nagios
12 1 (0.13%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 276 (35.75%) Microsoft
2 87 (11.27%) ServiceNow
3 33 (4.27%) Oracle
4 32 (4.15%) SAP
5 31 (4.02%) Dell
6 24 (3.11%) Cisco
7 23 (2.98%) Apple
8 22 (2.85%) VMware
9 20 (2.59%) Google
10 19 (2.46%) HP
11 11 (1.42%) Splunk
12 10 (1.30%) Bloomberg
12 10 (1.30%) McAfee
12 10 (1.30%) Remedy
13 9 (1.17%) Starlink
14 8 (1.04%) Citrix
14 8 (1.04%) Denodo
14 8 (1.04%) Juniper
14 8 (1.04%) Talend
15 7 (0.91%) Meraki