Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £214, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 5 February 2026.

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

6 months to
5 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 137 146 97
Rank change year-on-year +9 -49 +42
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 808 575 1,011
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.06% 1.85% 2.27%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.26% 1.99% 2.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 551 382 720
10th Percentile £151 £150 £140
25th Percentile £185 £182 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £214 £226 £215
Median % change year-on-year -5.10% +4.88% -10.32%
75th Percentile £338 £375 £325
90th Percentile £500 £524 £490
UK excluding London median daily rate £208 £220 £205
% change year-on-year -5.68% +7.32% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 117 41 59
10th Percentile £17.14 £15.22 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.40 £18.70 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.75 £23.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.26% +15.00% +3.19%
75th Percentile £25.77 £24.18 £24.77
90th Percentile £36.00 £41.50 £43.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £22.75 £20.00
% change year-on-year -1.10% +13.75% +14.29%

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 35,817 28,937 41,417
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.49% 92.92% 93.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,569 17,745 27,379
10th Percentile £300 £292 £275
25th Percentile £405 £408 £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 £477 £490
% change year-on-year -0.42% -2.65% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,156 846 2,282
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.92 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.57 £21.25 £16.54
Median hourly rate £30.00 £33.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% -5.71% -
75th Percentile £61.31 £62.50 £61.52
90th Percentile £71.25 £75.00 £72.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £32.13 £35.98
% change year-on-year -12.85% -10.69% +10.69%

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 +11 736 £220 -7.17% 420
UK excluding London +5 566 £208 -5.68% 413
London -21 206 £260 -5.45% 74
South East +13 159 £238 +16.10% 146
South West +23 109 £250 +11.11% 43
North of England -18 106 £190 -14.61% 85
Midlands -3 103 £200 -20.00% 63
Work from Home -20 98 £250 -23.08% 85
West Midlands -7 69 £230 -11.54% 39
North West -11 57 £152 -29.53% 49
East of England 0 55 £201 -8.52% 40
Yorkshire -33 39 £205 -8.89% 27
East Midlands +3 36 £200 +5.26% 24
Scotland +8 34 £200 +26.18% 29
North East -7 10 £106 -69.71% 10
Wales -3 7 £200 - 6
Northern Ireland -4 3 £163 +9.80% 6

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

For the 6 months to 5 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.

1 401 (49.63%) Windows
2 295 (36.51%) Microsoft
3 246 (30.45%) Security Cleared
4 240 (29.70%) Microsoft 365
5 222 (27.48%) Active Directory
6 192 (23.76%) SC Cleared
7 171 (21.16%) Windows 10
8 163 (20.17%) Customer Service
9 157 (19.43%) Problem-Solving
10 111 (13.74%) Azure
11 101 (12.50%) ITIL
12 97 (12.00%) ServiceNow
13 93 (11.51%) Microsoft Intune
14 89 (11.01%) Linux
15 75 (9.28%) Migration
16 70 (8.66%) ITSM
17 68 (8.42%) SCCM
18 67 (8.29%) Microsoft Office
19 65 (8.04%) PowerShell
20 64 (7.92%) DNS
20 64 (7.92%) Service Management
21 63 (7.80%) SharePoint
22 60 (7.43%) DHCP
23 58 (7.18%) TCP/IP
23 58 (7.18%) VPN
24 55 (6.81%) DV Cleared
25 52 (6.44%) Android
25 52 (6.44%) Asset Management
26 51 (6.31%) Windows Server
27 49 (6.06%) Infrastructure Engineering

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 (7.80%) SharePoint
2 47 (5.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.98%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.50%) Apache
4 4 (0.50%) Confluence
5 3 (0.37%) SharePoint Server
6 2 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.25%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.25%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.25%) Exchange Server 2003
6 2 (0.25%) Exchange Server 2007
6 2 (0.25%) Exchange Server 2010
6 2 (0.25%) Exchange Server 2013
6 2 (0.25%) IIS
6 2 (0.25%) Jupyter
6 2 (0.25%) Office Communications Server
6 2 (0.25%) Palantir Foundry
6 2 (0.25%) Smallworld
Applications
1 67 (8.29%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (2.97%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
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 (0.87%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (0.87%) Shopify
3 5 (0.62%) Primavera
4 4 (0.50%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.12%) Aladdin
5 1 (0.12%) assyst
5 1 (0.12%) Bloomberg TOMS
5 1 (0.12%) Eikon
5 1 (0.12%) Fidessa
5 1 (0.12%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.12%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 240 (29.70%) Microsoft 365
2 111 (13.74%) Azure
3 47 (5.82%) Entra ID
4 33 (4.08%) AWS
5 29 (3.59%) OneDrive
6 26 (3.22%) SaaS
7 17 (2.10%) Google Workspace
8 15 (1.86%) Sauce Labs
9 10 (1.24%) Dynamics 365
9 10 (1.24%) Power Platform
10 7 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (0.87%) npm
11 5 (0.62%) Amazon S3
11 5 (0.62%) Azure Data Factory
12 4 (0.50%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.37%) GitHub
13 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (0.37%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.37%) Slack
14 2 (0.25%) Amazon OpenSearch
Communications & Networking
1 64 (7.92%) DNS
2 60 (7.43%) DHCP
3 58 (7.18%) TCP/IP
3 58 (7.18%) VPN
4 48 (5.94%) Wi-Fi
5 33 (4.08%) Firewall
6 32 (3.96%) WAN
6 32 (3.96%) Wireless
7 28 (3.47%) LAN
8 21 (2.60%) VLAN
9 18 (2.23%) Junos
10 16 (1.98%) Cisco IOS
10 16 (1.98%) MPLS
11 15 (1.86%) Cisco Firepower
11 15 (1.86%) Cisco ISE
11 15 (1.86%) Skype
12 14 (1.73%) BGP
12 14 (1.73%) IPsec
12 14 (1.73%) Network Security
13 13 (1.61%) PABX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (2.85%) Relational Database
2 19 (2.35%) MySQL
3 13 (1.61%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.87%) Power BI
5 6 (0.74%) Amazon Redshift
5 6 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.50%) Amazon Athena
6 4 (0.50%) 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 22 (2.72%) JIRA
2 20 (2.48%) Browser DevTools
3 15 (1.86%) Android Studio
3 15 (1.86%) Eclipse
3 15 (1.86%) Xcode
4 8 (0.99%) Git
5 7 (0.87%) Maven
6 4 (0.50%) 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
1 349 (43.19%) Social Skills
2 70 (8.66%) Finance
3 58 (7.18%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (6.68%) Public Sector
5 48 (5.94%) Manufacturing
6 41 (5.07%) Banking
7 27 (3.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 26 (3.22%) Organisational Skills
9 24 (2.97%) Aerospace
10 21 (2.60%) Telecoms
11 16 (1.98%) Investment Banking
12 14 (1.73%) Electronics
12 14 (1.73%) Law
12 14 (1.73%) Marketing
13 12 (1.49%) Aviation
14 11 (1.36%) Front Office
15 9 (1.11%) Documentation Skills
16 8 (0.99%) Legal
17 6 (0.74%) Automotive
18 5 (0.62%) French Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (2.97%) Middleware
2 20 (2.48%) CSS
3 16 (1.98%) Ajax
3 16 (1.98%) AngularJS
3 16 (1.98%) GraphQL
3 16 (1.98%) React
4 7 (0.87%) REST
5 6 (0.74%) PySpark
5 6 (0.74%) SOAP
6 5 (0.62%) XML
6 5 (0.62%) YAML
7 4 (0.50%) HTML
7 4 (0.50%) JDO
7 4 (0.50%) 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 43 (5.32%) Onboarding
2 39 (4.83%) Self-Motivation
3 31 (3.84%) Driving Licence
4 25 (3.09%) PKI
5 24 (2.97%) Smartphone
6 21 (2.60%) Data Centre
7 16 (1.98%) Data Protection Act
7 16 (1.98%) Mobile App
8 14 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.61%) Management Information System
10 12 (1.49%) iPhone
11 11 (1.36%) Video Conferencing
12 10 (1.24%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.24%) Virtual Team
13 8 (0.99%) Hybrid Cloud
14 7 (0.87%) iPad
14 7 (0.87%) Legacy Systems
15 4 (0.50%) CCTV
15 4 (0.50%) Operational Technology
16 3 (0.37%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 401 (49.63%) Windows
2 171 (21.16%) Windows 10
3 89 (11.01%) Linux
4 52 (6.44%) Android
5 51 (6.31%) Windows Server
6 44 (5.45%) Mac OS
7 40 (4.95%) Apple iOS
8 30 (3.71%) Unix
9 12 (1.49%) Ubuntu
10 10 (1.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 8 (0.99%) Windows 7
12 5 (0.62%) Windows Server 2016
13 4 (0.50%) CentOS
14 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2012
14 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
15 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2003
16 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
16 1 (0.12%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 163 (20.17%) Customer Service
2 157 (19.43%) Problem-Solving
3 101 (12.50%) ITIL
4 75 (9.28%) Migration
5 70 (8.66%) ITSM
6 64 (7.92%) Service Management
7 52 (6.44%) Asset Management
8 49 (6.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 48 (5.94%) Workflow
10 38 (4.70%) Workflow Management
11 36 (4.46%) User Experience
12 33 (4.08%) Root Cause Analysis
13 29 (3.59%) Logistics
14 28 (3.47%) Continuous Improvement
14 28 (3.47%) Service Delivery
14 28 (3.47%) Stakeholder Management
15 25 (3.09%) Cybersecurity
15 25 (3.09%) OO
16 24 (2.97%) Incident Management
17 22 (2.72%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 65 (8.04%) PowerShell
2 37 (4.58%) Java
3 36 (4.46%) Python
4 35 (4.33%) JavaScript
5 33 (4.08%) SQL
6 17 (2.10%) Perl
6 17 (2.10%) Shell Script
7 13 (1.61%) C
7 13 (1.61%) C++
8 12 (1.49%) Ada
8 12 (1.49%) Bash
9 5 (0.62%) C#
10 2 (0.25%) AWK
10 2 (0.25%) Magik
10 2 (0.25%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.25%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.12%) R
11 1 (0.12%) Tcl
11 1 (0.12%) VBA
11 1 (0.12%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 246 (30.45%) Security Cleared
2 192 (23.76%) SC Cleared
3 55 (6.81%) DV Cleared
4 34 (4.21%) Degree
5 26 (3.22%) Microsoft Certification
6 19 (2.35%) Azure Certification
7 12 (1.49%) Network+ Certification
8 11 (1.36%) Server+ Certification
9 10 (1.24%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (1.11%) A+ Certification
11 8 (0.99%) DBS Check
11 8 (0.99%) ITIL Certification
12 5 (0.62%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (0.50%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 3 (0.37%) CCNA
14 3 (0.37%) Cisco Certification
14 3 (0.37%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.37%) MCSE
15 2 (0.25%) CompTIA Security+
15 2 (0.25%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (3.96%) SLA
2 8 (0.99%) GDPR
3 5 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.50%) 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
1 222 (27.48%) Active Directory
2 30 (3.71%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (2.35%) Hyper-V
4 16 (1.98%) VMware NSX
5 15 (1.86%) Virtual Desktop
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%) Brightmail
10 2 (0.25%) ISA Server
10 2 (0.25%) NFS
11 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
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 93 (11.51%) Microsoft Intune
2 68 (8.42%) SCCM
3 27 (3.34%) Jamf Pro
4 19 (2.35%) Ansible
5 18 (2.23%) vCenter Server
6 13 (1.61%) Terraform
7 12 (1.49%) 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 (0.50%) ITRS Geneos
11 3 (0.37%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.37%) SCOM
12 2 (0.25%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Clustering
12 2 (0.25%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.25%) WSUS
13 1 (0.12%) Failover Clustering
13 1 (0.12%) Nagios
Vendors
1 295 (36.51%) Microsoft
2 97 (12.00%) ServiceNow
3 44 (5.45%) VMware
4 42 (5.20%) Cisco
5 34 (4.21%) Apple
5 34 (4.21%) Oracle
6 29 (3.59%) Juniper
7 28 (3.47%) SAP
8 23 (2.85%) HP
9 21 (2.60%) SolarWinds
10 20 (2.48%) Google
11 19 (2.35%) Red Hat
12 18 (2.23%) Dell
12 18 (2.23%) Splunk
13 13 (1.61%) Citrix
14 10 (1.24%) Remedy
15 9 (1.11%) Bloomberg
16 8 (0.99%) Twitter
17 7 (0.87%) New Relic
17 7 (0.87%) Starlink