Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £225, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 June 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 174 141 110
Rank change year-on-year -33 -31 +2
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 773 632 863
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.52% 2.11% 1.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.65% 2.29% 2.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 502 405 579
10th Percentile £155 £160 £140
25th Percentile £185 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 £240 £215
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% +11.63% -14.00%
75th Percentile £384 £375 £339
90th Percentile £473 £498 £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 66 49 56
10th Percentile £17.59 £17.82 £16.25
25th Percentile £19.00 £20.64 £18.10
Median hourly rate £23.50 £25.00 £22.40
Median % change year-on-year -6.00% +11.61% +12.00%
75th Percentile £36.00 £47.50 £40.94
90th Percentile £45.25 £68.00 £55.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.83 £24.18
% change year-on-year -9.38% +2.69% +36.46%

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 46,904 27,610 40,551
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.36% 92.14% 92.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,521 17,729 25,983
10th Percentile £325 £288 £281
25th Percentile £414 £402 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -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% -3.60% -1.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,134 1,203 2,979
10th Percentile £15.38 £13.85 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.44 £16.37
Median hourly rate £43.25 £27.38 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +57.99% -27.00% -14.77%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -1.23%

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 23 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 23 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 23 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 -45 671 £213 -10.99% 237
UK excluding London -41 518 £208 -9.78% 251
London -52 226 £275 +6.49% 41
South East -32 145 £238 -5.00% 76
North of England -70 90 £190 -11.63% 52
Work from Home -74 83 £238 -20.83% 73
Midlands -32 80 £209 -16.30% 33
South West -47 66 £210 -10.64% 41
East of England 0 64 £198 -12.22% 26
Scotland +30 59 £437 +48.14% 24
North West -41 54 £189 -9.04% 35
West Midlands -58 48 £250 -5.66% 15
Yorkshire -36 34 £190 -19.15% 13
East Midlands +3 31 £200 +16.96% 18
Wales -22 9 £250 +25.00% 3
Northern Ireland -3 5 £175 - 7
North East -49 2 £290 +48.72% 6
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 23 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.

1 381 (49.29%) Windows
2 293 (37.90%) Active Directory
3 279 (36.09%) Microsoft
4 252 (32.60%) Microsoft 365
5 164 (21.22%) Problem-Solving
6 161 (20.83%) Windows 10
7 153 (19.79%) Security Cleared
8 141 (18.24%) Customer Service
9 133 (17.21%) Azure
10 131 (16.95%) ITIL
11 107 (13.84%) Microsoft Intune
12 102 (13.20%) SC Cleared
13 94 (12.16%) ServiceNow
14 86 (11.13%) Entra ID
15 73 (9.44%) DNS
16 72 (9.31%) SharePoint
17 70 (9.06%) PowerShell
18 67 (8.67%) ITSM
19 60 (7.76%) SQL
20 57 (7.37%) JIRA
20 57 (7.37%) Linux
21 55 (7.12%) Migration
22 52 (6.73%) Windows Server
23 50 (6.47%) VPN
24 49 (6.34%) Continuous Improvement
24 49 (6.34%) DHCP
25 47 (6.08%) Mac OS
26 46 (5.95%) Wi-Fi
27 45 (5.82%) Degree
27 45 (5.82%) Microsoft Exchange

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 72 (9.31%) SharePoint
2 45 (5.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.55%) NetWeaver
4 7 (0.91%) HCL Notes
5 4 (0.52%) Confluence
5 4 (0.52%) IIS
6 3 (0.39%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.26%) Apache
7 2 (0.26%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.26%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 39 (5.05%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 11 (1.42%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.78%) Teamcenter
3 4 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.52%) SAP EHS
4 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.13%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 252 (32.60%) Microsoft 365
2 133 (17.21%) Azure
3 86 (11.13%) Entra ID
4 34 (4.40%) AWS
5 27 (3.49%) OneDrive
6 21 (2.72%) Azure DevOps
7 20 (2.59%) SaaS
8 13 (1.68%) GCP
9 10 (1.29%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.16%) PaaS
11 7 (0.91%) Amazon S3
12 6 (0.78%) Google Workspace
12 6 (0.78%) IaaS
13 5 (0.65%) Dynamics 365
14 4 (0.52%) Azure Data Factory
14 4 (0.52%) Mimecast
15 3 (0.39%) Amazon EC2
15 3 (0.39%) OpenShift
15 3 (0.39%) Sauce Labs
16 2 (0.26%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 73 (9.44%) DNS
2 50 (6.47%) VPN
3 49 (6.34%) DHCP
4 46 (5.95%) Wi-Fi
5 42 (5.43%) TCP/IP
6 41 (5.30%) LAN
7 26 (3.36%) WAN
8 24 (3.10%) SAN
9 19 (2.46%) Firewall
10 16 (2.07%) Internet
11 13 (1.68%) VLAN
12 11 (1.42%) Wireless
12 11 (1.42%) WLAN
13 7 (0.91%) HTTP
14 6 (0.78%) Skype
14 6 (0.78%) VoIP
15 4 (0.52%) Network Security
15 4 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
16 3 (0.39%) Unified Communications
16 3 (0.39%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (3.88%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.20%) MySQL
3 13 (1.68%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.55%) SAP HANA
5 11 (1.42%) Sybase ASE
6 10 (1.29%) MaxDB
7 9 (1.16%) Relational Database
8 8 (1.03%) Power BI
9 7 (0.91%) Pentaho
10 6 (0.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 5 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
11 5 (0.65%) Oracle Database
11 5 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
12 4 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
12 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database 12c
13 3 (0.39%) Big Data
13 3 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
14 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
14 2 (0.26%) MariaDB
14 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 57 (7.37%) JIRA
2 17 (2.20%) Git
3 9 (1.16%) 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
1 292 (37.77%) Social Skills
2 88 (11.38%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (7.37%) Finance
4 45 (5.82%) Manufacturing
5 37 (4.79%) Banking
6 23 (2.98%) Investment Banking
7 20 (2.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (2.46%) Organisational Skills
9 16 (2.07%) Aerospace
10 14 (1.81%) Aviation
10 14 (1.81%) Law
11 13 (1.68%) Documentation Skills
12 12 (1.55%) Retail
13 9 (1.16%) 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 (1.42%) SAP Basis
2 10 (1.29%) Oracle GoldenGate
3 9 (1.16%) 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%) PySpark
6 5 (0.65%) SAML
7 4 (0.52%) OAuth
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 69 (8.93%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.53%) Data Centre
3 25 (3.23%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (2.59%) Analytical Mindset
4 20 (2.59%) Virtual Team
5 15 (1.94%) Enterprise Software
6 14 (1.81%) Data Protection Act
6 14 (1.81%) PKI
6 14 (1.81%) Video Conferencing
7 12 (1.55%) iPhone
7 12 (1.55%) Legacy Systems
7 12 (1.55%) Smartphone
8 10 (1.29%) SCADA
9 9 (1.16%) Driving Licence
10 8 (1.03%) Hedge funds
11 7 (0.91%) Blackberry
11 7 (0.91%) iPad
12 6 (0.78%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.65%) BYOD
13 5 (0.65%) CCTV
Operating Systems
1 381 (49.29%) Windows
2 161 (20.83%) Windows 10
3 57 (7.37%) Linux
4 52 (6.73%) Windows Server
5 47 (6.08%) Mac OS
6 41 (5.30%) Unix
7 26 (3.36%) Apple iOS
8 21 (2.72%) Android
9 16 (2.07%) 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%) VMS
15 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
15 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 164 (21.22%) Problem-Solving
2 141 (18.24%) Customer Service
3 131 (16.95%) ITIL
4 67 (8.67%) ITSM
5 55 (7.12%) Migration
6 49 (6.34%) Continuous Improvement
7 44 (5.69%) Change Management
8 43 (5.56%) Service Delivery
9 42 (5.43%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 38 (4.92%) Asset Management
11 35 (4.53%) DevOps
11 35 (4.53%) Incident Management
12 33 (4.27%) Service Management
13 32 (4.14%) Problem Management
13 32 (4.14%) Root Cause Analysis
14 31 (4.01%) User Experience
15 27 (3.49%) Data Protection
16 24 (3.10%) Break/Fix
17 23 (2.98%) High Availability
18 21 (2.72%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 70 (9.06%) PowerShell
2 60 (7.76%) SQL
3 31 (4.01%) Python
4 20 (2.59%) C#
5 19 (2.46%) Java
6 16 (2.07%) Shell Script
7 15 (1.94%) JavaScript
8 14 (1.81%) Bash
9 10 (1.29%) Korn
10 7 (0.91%) C++
10 7 (0.91%) Perl
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) DCL
11 1 (0.13%) R
11 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.13%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.13%) VBA
11 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 153 (19.79%) Security Cleared
2 102 (13.20%) SC Cleared
3 45 (5.82%) Degree
4 36 (4.66%) DV Cleared
5 25 (3.23%) Microsoft Certification
6 24 (3.10%) A+ Certification
7 21 (2.72%) CCNA
7 21 (2.72%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (2.72%) Network+ Certification
8 16 (2.07%) MCSE
9 12 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (1.03%) Azure Certification
10 8 (1.03%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (0.91%) DBS Check
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 39 (5.05%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
2 4 (0.52%) QA
3 3 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials
4 2 (0.26%) GLP
4 2 (0.26%) GMP
4 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.13%) GRC
5 1 (0.13%) GxP
5 1 (0.13%) ITGC
System Software
1 293 (37.90%) Active Directory
2 33 (4.27%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.33%) Hyper-V
3 18 (2.33%) VMware ESXi
4 16 (2.07%) VMware NSX
5 11 (1.42%) vCloud
5 11 (1.42%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (1.29%) 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 (13.84%) Microsoft Intune
2 42 (5.43%) SCCM
3 20 (2.59%) Jamf Pro
3 20 (2.59%) Single Sign-On
4 18 (2.33%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.55%) SCOM
6 11 (1.42%) Grafana
7 10 (1.29%) Ansible
7 10 (1.29%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 10 (1.29%) 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
1 279 (36.09%) Microsoft
2 94 (12.16%) ServiceNow
3 41 (5.30%) VMware
4 31 (4.01%) Oracle
5 29 (3.75%) Apple
6 21 (2.72%) SAP
7 20 (2.59%) Dell
8 17 (2.20%) Okta
9 16 (2.07%) Cisco
9 16 (2.07%) Citrix
10 15 (1.94%) Google
11 14 (1.81%) HP
12 11 (1.42%) Sybase
13 9 (1.16%) McAfee
14 8 (1.03%) Denodo
14 8 (1.03%) Meraki
14 8 (1.03%) Red Hat
14 8 (1.03%) Starlink
14 8 (1.03%) Talend
15 7 (0.91%) Splunk