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 17 April 2026.

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

6 months to
17 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 160 126 106
Rank change year-on-year -34 -20 +21
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 743 652 905
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.61% 2.22% 2.06%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.75% 2.40% 2.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 503 428 637
10th Percentile £153 £153 £137
25th Percentile £185 £188 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £213 £240 £210
Median % change year-on-year -11.46% +14.29% -16.00%
75th Percentile £350 £388 £300
90th Percentile £473 £518 £450
UK excluding London median daily rate £203 £225 £200
% change year-on-year -10.00% +12.50% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 95 46 60
10th Percentile £18.77 £18.13 £16.23
25th Percentile £21.25 £20.73 £17.72
Median hourly rate £24.00 £24.09 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.37% +20.45% +3.63%
75th Percentile £35.25 £28.31 £30.00
90th Percentile £37.50 £60.88 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.58 £23.00 £18.00
% change year-on-year +2.50% +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 42,439 27,180 40,683
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.23% 92.60% 92.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,345 17,830 26,590
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% -1.90% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +2.63% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,678 986 2,604
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.71 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £19.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £41.94 £30.79 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +36.20% -12.02% -22.22%
75th Percentile £65.59 £63.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £78.08 £75.38 £72.33
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.00 £29.53 £35.00
% change year-on-year +45.64% -15.64% -17.38%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -41 665 £210 -14.29% 321
UK excluding London -41 498 £203 -10.00% 313
London -61 211 £275 -10.57% 43
South East -29 118 £211 -15.50% 71
North of England -46 116 £190 -11.63% 96
Midlands -44 83 £200 -30.43% 47
South West -31 81 £210 -6.67% 47
Work from Home -67 75 £223 -31.54% 83
North West -24 65 £169 -21.51% 54
East of England -7 58 £201 -9.55% 29
West Midlands -55 51 £270 -10.00% 22
Yorkshire -32 46 £205 -10.87% 35
Scotland +12 36 £250 +57.73% 18
East Midlands -7 33 £200 -5.88% 25
Wales -13 10 £200 +5.26% 4
North East -26 5 £106 -45.64% 12
Northern Ireland -8 2 £175 +18.24% 5

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

For the 6 months to 17 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.

1 346 (46.57%) Windows
2 265 (35.67%) Microsoft
3 247 (33.24%) Microsoft 365
4 234 (31.49%) Active Directory
5 168 (22.61%) Security Cleared
6 162 (21.80%) Windows 10
7 156 (21.00%) Customer Service
8 138 (18.57%) SC Cleared
9 131 (17.63%) Problem-Solving
10 121 (16.29%) Azure
11 97 (13.06%) Microsoft Intune
12 94 (12.65%) ITIL
13 83 (11.17%) ServiceNow
14 69 (9.29%) Migration
15 64 (8.61%) Entra ID
16 60 (8.08%) PowerShell
17 59 (7.94%) ITSM
18 56 (7.54%) SharePoint
19 54 (7.27%) Wi-Fi
20 50 (6.73%) DNS
20 50 (6.73%) JIRA
21 48 (6.46%) SQL
22 47 (6.33%) SCCM
23 46 (6.19%) Asset Management
24 44 (5.92%) Microsoft Office
25 41 (5.52%) DHCP
26 40 (5.38%) Linux
26 40 (5.38%) TCP/IP
27 36 (4.85%) Android
27 36 (4.85%) User Experience

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 56 (7.54%) SharePoint
2 25 (3.36%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.81%) NetWeaver
4 5 (0.67%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.54%) Apache
5 4 (0.54%) Confluence
6 3 (0.40%) IIS
7 2 (0.27%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.27%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 44 (5.92%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.62%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 9 (1.21%) SAP EHS
2 8 (1.08%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (0.94%) Shopify
4 6 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
4 6 (0.81%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.27%) 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
1 247 (33.24%) Microsoft 365
2 121 (16.29%) Azure
3 64 (8.61%) Entra ID
4 26 (3.50%) OneDrive
5 23 (3.10%) AWS
6 21 (2.83%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.15%) Google Workspace
8 15 (2.02%) SaaS
9 12 (1.62%) Power Platform
10 11 (1.48%) Dynamics 365
11 6 (0.81%) Amazon S3
11 6 (0.81%) Sauce Labs
12 5 (0.67%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.67%) GCP
12 5 (0.67%) npm
12 5 (0.67%) PaaS
13 4 (0.54%) Datadog
13 4 (0.54%) Snowflake
14 3 (0.40%) Mimecast
15 2 (0.27%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 54 (7.27%) Wi-Fi
2 50 (6.73%) DNS
3 41 (5.52%) DHCP
4 40 (5.38%) TCP/IP
5 35 (4.71%) LAN
5 35 (4.71%) VPN
6 24 (3.23%) WAN
7 21 (2.83%) Firewall
8 16 (2.15%) SAN
8 16 (2.15%) Wireless
9 10 (1.35%) Internet
9 10 (1.35%) Network Security
9 10 (1.35%) VoIP
10 8 (1.08%) VLAN
11 7 (0.94%) HTTP
11 7 (0.94%) Skype
12 6 (0.81%) WLAN
13 5 (0.67%) AMQP
14 4 (0.54%) Unified Communications
15 3 (0.40%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.96%) SQL Server
2 16 (2.15%) MySQL
3 13 (1.75%) Amazon Redshift
4 11 (1.48%) Relational Database
5 10 (1.35%) Power BI
6 9 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 7 (0.94%) Pentaho
8 6 (0.81%) SAP HANA
8 6 (0.81%) Sybase ASE
9 5 (0.67%) MaxDB
9 5 (0.67%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.54%) Amazon Athena
10 4 (0.54%) Oracle Database 12c
11 3 (0.40%) InfluxDB
11 3 (0.40%) Tableau
12 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.27%) PostgreSQL
12 2 (0.27%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 1 (0.13%) NonStop SQL
Development Applications
1 50 (6.73%) JIRA
2 20 (2.69%) Git
3 11 (1.48%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.81%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.81%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.81%) Xcode
5 5 (0.67%) Maven
6 3 (0.40%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.13%) Firebug
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
1 300 (40.38%) Social Skills
2 63 (8.48%) Analytical Skills
3 60 (8.08%) Finance
4 48 (6.46%) Manufacturing
5 38 (5.11%) Banking
6 29 (3.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 22 (2.96%) Public Sector
8 20 (2.69%) Aerospace
9 18 (2.42%) Investment Banking
10 15 (2.02%) Aviation
10 15 (2.02%) Organisational Skills
11 12 (1.62%) Telecoms
12 11 (1.48%) Front Office
13 10 (1.35%) Law
14 9 (1.21%) Legal
15 8 (1.08%) Electronics
15 8 (1.08%) Marketing
16 6 (0.81%) French Language
17 5 (0.67%) Documentation Skills
18 4 (0.54%) Advertising
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.35%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 7 (0.94%) .NET
2 7 (0.94%) CSS
2 7 (0.94%) JDO
2 7 (0.94%) Middleware
3 6 (0.81%) Ajax
3 6 (0.81%) AngularJS
3 6 (0.81%) GraphQL
3 6 (0.81%) React
3 6 (0.81%) REST
3 6 (0.81%) SAP Basis
4 5 (0.67%) SAML
4 5 (0.67%) YAML
5 4 (0.54%) OAuth
5 4 (0.54%) PySpark
6 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (0.27%) Node.js
6 2 (0.27%) RESTful
6 2 (0.27%) Software Packaging
6 2 (0.27%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 51 (6.86%) Onboarding
2 28 (3.77%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (3.63%) Data Centre
4 25 (3.36%) Driving Licence
5 20 (2.69%) Analytical Mindset
6 12 (1.62%) Smartphone
6 12 (1.62%) Virtual Team
7 11 (1.48%) Data Protection Act
7 11 (1.48%) iPhone
7 11 (1.48%) Legacy Systems
8 10 (1.35%) PKI
8 10 (1.35%) SCADA
9 9 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
10 8 (1.08%) Hybrid Cloud
11 6 (0.81%) Mobile App
12 5 (0.67%) Management Information System
13 4 (0.54%) iPad
13 4 (0.54%) Video Conferencing
14 3 (0.40%) Hedge funds
15 2 (0.27%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 346 (46.57%) Windows
2 162 (21.80%) Windows 10
3 40 (5.38%) Linux
4 36 (4.85%) Android
5 35 (4.71%) Windows Server
6 34 (4.58%) Mac OS
7 31 (4.17%) Unix
8 29 (3.90%) Apple iOS
9 11 (1.48%) Windows 7
10 6 (0.81%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.40%) Mac OS X
11 3 (0.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.27%) CentOS
12 2 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.13%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 156 (21.00%) Customer Service
2 131 (17.63%) Problem-Solving
3 94 (12.65%) ITIL
4 69 (9.29%) Migration
5 59 (7.94%) ITSM
6 46 (6.19%) Asset Management
7 36 (4.85%) User Experience
8 35 (4.71%) Workflow
9 34 (4.58%) Continuous Improvement
10 33 (4.44%) Change Management
11 31 (4.17%) Incident Management
11 31 (4.17%) Service Management
12 29 (3.90%) Break/Fix
12 29 (3.90%) DevOps
12 29 (3.90%) Logistics
12 29 (3.90%) Workflow Management
13 27 (3.63%) Root Cause Analysis
14 24 (3.23%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 23 (3.10%) Stakeholder Management
16 22 (2.96%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 60 (8.08%) PowerShell
2 48 (6.46%) SQL
3 27 (3.63%) Python
4 20 (2.69%) C#
4 20 (2.69%) Java
5 14 (1.88%) Shell Script
6 12 (1.62%) JavaScript
7 10 (1.35%) Bash
7 10 (1.35%) Korn
8 8 (1.08%) Perl
9 2 (0.27%) AWK
9 2 (0.27%) VB.NET
9 2 (0.27%) VBScript
10 1 (0.13%) C
10 1 (0.13%) C++
10 1 (0.13%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.13%) R
10 1 (0.13%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 168 (22.61%) Security Cleared
2 138 (18.57%) SC Cleared
3 34 (4.58%) Degree
4 29 (3.90%) DV Cleared
5 23 (3.10%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (2.69%) A+ Certification
7 17 (2.29%) CCNA
7 17 (2.29%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (2.02%) MCSE
9 14 (1.88%) Network+ Certification
10 13 (1.75%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.21%) Azure Certification
12 5 (0.67%) DBS Check
12 5 (0.67%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.54%) Computer Science Degree
14 3 (0.40%) Master's Degree
15 2 (0.27%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 1 (0.13%) AWS Certification
16 1 (0.13%) CompTIA Security+
16 1 (0.13%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.50%) SLA
2 4 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials
2 4 (0.54%) Data Quality
3 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (0.40%) QA
4 2 (0.27%) GDPR
4 2 (0.27%) GLP
4 2 (0.27%) 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%) ITGC
5 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 234 (31.49%) Active Directory
2 17 (2.29%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.35%) Hyper-V
3 10 (1.35%) Oracle RAC
4 9 (1.21%) Virtual Desktop
5 6 (0.81%) Firmware
6 5 (0.67%) Docker
6 5 (0.67%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.40%) vSphere
8 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.13%) NFS
9 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 97 (13.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 47 (6.33%) SCCM
3 23 (3.10%) Jamf Pro
4 17 (2.29%) Grafana
5 13 (1.75%) Ansible
5 13 (1.75%) Terraform
6 10 (1.35%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 10 (1.35%) Oracle RMAN
7 8 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.67%) Kubernetes
9 4 (0.54%) Kibana
9 4 (0.54%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
10 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
10 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.27%) WMI
10 2 (0.27%) WSUS
11 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
11 1 (0.13%) Autotask
11 1 (0.13%) vRealize
Vendors
1 265 (35.67%) Microsoft
2 83 (11.17%) ServiceNow
3 32 (4.31%) Oracle
4 31 (4.17%) SAP
5 30 (4.04%) Dell
6 22 (2.96%) Apple
7 21 (2.83%) Cisco
7 21 (2.83%) VMware
8 18 (2.42%) Google
8 18 (2.42%) HP
9 10 (1.35%) Bloomberg
9 10 (1.35%) McAfee
9 10 (1.35%) Remedy
9 10 (1.35%) Splunk
10 8 (1.08%) Citrix
10 8 (1.08%) Denodo
10 8 (1.08%) Starlink
10 8 (1.08%) Talend
11 6 (0.81%) New Relic
11 6 (0.81%) Zscaler