Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £230, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 September 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 166 125 126
Rank change year-on-year -41 +1 -37
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 903 732 729
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.64% 2.22% 1.91%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.78% 2.44% 2.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 579 492 488
10th Percentile £163 £160 £142
25th Percentile £185 £190 £188
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £230 £235 £245
Median % change year-on-year -2.13% -4.08% -2.00%
75th Percentile £375 £370 £350
90th Percentile £502 £550 £538
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £230 £225
% change year-on-year -8.70% +2.22% +4.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 84 47
10th Percentile £15.24 £16.50 £18.02
25th Percentile £18.25 £20.52 £19.17
Median hourly rate £22.00 £25.15 £23.59
Median % change year-on-year -12.52% +6.61% +24.16%
75th Percentile £35.22 £43.75 £27.88
90th Percentile £44.70 £68.00 £58.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £25.15 £23.59
% change year-on-year -12.52% +6.61% +24.16%

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 50,643 30,010 35,418
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.25% 91.03% 92.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,934 18,949 21,605
10th Percentile £325 £277 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £630 £625 £638
90th Percentile £731 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,909 1,607 1,616
10th Percentile £14.50 £13.75 £14.84
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.30 £20.75
Median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +67.00% -41.51% -3.37%
75th Percentile £67.70 £51.57 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £69.65 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.08 £43.90
% change year-on-year +69.49% -42.88% +0.83%

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 24 September 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 24 September 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 24 September 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 -53 771 £225 -5.26% 665
UK excluding London -39 589 £210 -8.70% 451
London -37 277 £250 - 259
South East -52 160 £260 +6.56% 138
North of England -9 137 £200 -5.88% 81
North West +3 101 £200 -5.88% 50
Work from Home -83 95 £300 +9.09% 235
East of England +9 82 £200 -9.09% 51
Scotland +33 80 £350 +32.08% 41
Midlands -62 70 £250 -1.96% 86
West Midlands -60 51 £213 -19.81% 49
South West -70 46 £205 -12.77% 41
Yorkshire -24 33 £200 -9.09% 21
East Midlands -21 19 £270 +38.46% 37
Wales -24 8 £625 +194.12% 6
Northern Ireland +7 6 £175 -12.50% 17
North East -48 4 £239 +22.44% 13
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 24 September 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.

1 525 (58.14%) Windows
2 432 (47.84%) Microsoft
3 401 (44.41%) Active Directory
4 368 (40.75%) Microsoft 365
5 227 (25.14%) Customer Service
6 223 (24.70%) Problem-Solving
7 195 (21.59%) Windows 10
8 187 (20.71%) ITIL
9 177 (19.60%) Security Cleared
10 148 (16.39%) Azure
11 144 (15.95%) Entra ID
12 140 (15.50%) ITSM
13 137 (15.17%) Microsoft Intune
14 123 (13.62%) ServiceNow
15 121 (13.40%) SharePoint
16 107 (11.85%) PowerShell
17 102 (11.30%) DNS
18 98 (10.85%) SC Cleared
19 85 (9.41%) Continuous Improvement
20 82 (9.08%) Windows Server
21 81 (8.97%) Linux
22 79 (8.75%) Service Delivery
23 78 (8.64%) Asset Management
24 77 (8.53%) Microsoft Exchange
25 76 (8.42%) Service Management
25 76 (8.42%) VPN
26 74 (8.19%) Migration
27 73 (8.08%) SQL
28 72 (7.97%) Degree
29 70 (7.75%) VMware

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
1 121 (13.40%) SharePoint
2 77 (8.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.22%) HCL Notes
4 6 (0.66%) NetWeaver
5 5 (0.55%) Confluence
5 5 (0.55%) MTS
6 3 (0.33%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.22%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.22%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.22%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.11%) Appian
8 1 (0.11%) IIS
8 1 (0.11%) ThingWorx
Applications
1 55 (6.09%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (1.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.55%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.33%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.22%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.11%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.11%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 5 (0.55%) Remedy ITSM
1 5 (0.55%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.44%) SAP EHS
3 3 (0.33%) SAP Retail
4 1 (0.11%) Bloomberg TOMS
4 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
4 1 (0.11%) SAP BRIM
4 1 (0.11%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.11%) SAP FI-CA
4 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
4 1 (0.11%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 368 (40.75%) Microsoft 365
2 148 (16.39%) Azure
3 144 (15.95%) Entra ID
4 50 (5.54%) OneDrive
5 44 (4.87%) AWS
6 22 (2.44%) SaaS
7 17 (1.88%) GCP
8 8 (0.89%) Google Workspace
8 8 (0.89%) Power Platform
9 6 (0.66%) AWS CloudFormation
9 6 (0.66%) Mimecast
10 5 (0.55%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (0.44%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 4 (0.44%) Amazon EKS
11 4 (0.44%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 4 (0.44%) Google App Engine
11 4 (0.44%) Google Compute Engine
11 4 (0.44%) IaaS
11 4 (0.44%) PaaS
11 4 (0.44%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 102 (11.30%) DNS
2 76 (8.42%) VPN
3 69 (7.64%) TCP/IP
4 56 (6.20%) DHCP
5 38 (4.21%) LAN
5 38 (4.21%) Wi-Fi
6 34 (3.77%) WAN
7 31 (3.43%) Firewall
8 21 (2.33%) Internet
9 15 (1.66%) VLAN
9 15 (1.66%) Wireless
10 12 (1.33%) SAN
11 10 (1.11%) SD-WAN
12 8 (0.89%) WebEx
13 7 (0.78%) Network Security
14 6 (0.66%) BGP
14 6 (0.66%) OSPF
14 6 (0.66%) SMTP
15 5 (0.55%) MPLS
15 5 (0.55%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (3.21%) SQL Server
2 13 (1.44%) MySQL
3 9 (1.00%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (0.89%) Relational Database
5 7 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
6 6 (0.66%) Power BI
6 6 (0.66%) SAP HANA
7 5 (0.55%) MaxDB
7 5 (0.55%) Oracle Database
7 5 (0.55%) Sybase ASE
8 3 (0.33%) Big Data
8 3 (0.33%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.33%) KDB
9 2 (0.22%) Amazon Aurora
9 2 (0.22%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.22%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.22%) Pentaho
9 2 (0.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 1 (0.11%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 1 (0.11%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 49 (5.43%) JIRA
2 16 (1.77%) Git
3 6 (0.66%) Browser DevTools
4 5 (0.55%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.44%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.33%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.33%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.33%) Xcode
7 2 (0.22%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.22%) Firebug
7 2 (0.22%) GitLab
7 2 (0.22%) Team Foundation Server
8 1 (0.11%) Claude Code
8 1 (0.11%) eggPlant
8 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
8 1 (0.11%) Postman
8 1 (0.11%) TeamCity
8 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 379 (41.97%) Social Skills
2 97 (10.74%) Analytical Skills
3 83 (9.19%) Finance
4 47 (5.20%) Manufacturing
5 40 (4.43%) Banking
6 28 (3.10%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (2.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 21 (2.33%) Investment Banking
9 20 (2.21%) Front Office
10 19 (2.10%) Legal
11 18 (1.99%) Retail
12 17 (1.88%) Documentation Skills
13 15 (1.66%) Telecoms
14 14 (1.55%) Financial Institution
14 14 (1.55%) Law
15 11 (1.22%) Public Sector
16 10 (1.11%) Spanish Language
17 7 (0.78%) Marketing
18 6 (0.66%) Aerospace
19 4 (0.44%) French Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (1.88%) Terraform
2 16 (1.77%) .NET
3 12 (1.33%) LDAP
4 11 (1.22%) XML
5 7 (0.78%) .NET Framework
6 6 (0.66%) CSS
6 6 (0.66%) REST
7 5 (0.55%) JDO
7 5 (0.55%) SAP Basis
7 5 (0.55%) SAP Fiori
7 5 (0.55%) SAPUI5
7 5 (0.55%) Software Packaging
8 4 (0.44%) FIX Protocol
8 4 (0.44%) React
8 4 (0.44%) Web Services
9 3 (0.33%) AngularJS
9 3 (0.33%) GraphQL
9 3 (0.33%) Jakarta EE
9 3 (0.33%) JSP
9 3 (0.33%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 134 (14.84%) Onboarding
2 34 (3.77%) Data Centre
2 34 (3.77%) Video Conferencing
3 21 (2.33%) Driving Licence
3 21 (2.33%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (2.21%) PKI
5 18 (1.99%) Hedge funds
6 17 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
7 16 (1.77%) Data Protection Act
8 14 (1.55%) Analytical Mindset
8 14 (1.55%) Management Information System
8 14 (1.55%) Smartphone
9 11 (1.22%) Blackberry
9 11 (1.22%) iPhone
9 11 (1.22%) Virtual Team
10 10 (1.11%) CMDB
11 9 (1.00%) Distributed Systems
12 7 (0.78%) iPad
12 7 (0.78%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (0.66%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 525 (58.14%) Windows
2 195 (21.59%) Windows 10
3 82 (9.08%) Windows Server
4 81 (8.97%) Linux
5 68 (7.53%) Mac OS
6 47 (5.20%) Android
7 43 (4.76%) Apple iOS
8 28 (3.10%) Unix
9 18 (1.99%) Windows 7
10 13 (1.44%) Ubuntu
10 13 (1.44%) Windows Server 2019
11 8 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 5 (0.55%) CentOS
12 5 (0.55%) VMS
13 4 (0.44%) OpenVMS
13 4 (0.44%) Solaris
13 4 (0.44%) Windows Server 2008
14 3 (0.33%) Windows Server 2012
14 3 (0.33%) Windows XP
15 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 227 (25.14%) Customer Service
2 223 (24.70%) Problem-Solving
3 187 (20.71%) ITIL
4 140 (15.50%) ITSM
5 85 (9.41%) Continuous Improvement
6 79 (8.75%) Service Delivery
7 78 (8.64%) Asset Management
8 76 (8.42%) Service Management
9 74 (8.19%) Migration
10 68 (7.53%) Root Cause Analysis
11 53 (5.87%) Problem Management
11 53 (5.87%) User Experience
12 50 (5.54%) Incident Management
13 46 (5.09%) Identity Access Management
14 43 (4.76%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 43 (4.76%) Technical Leadership
15 37 (4.10%) Data Protection
15 37 (4.10%) Runbook
16 31 (3.43%) Change Management
16 31 (3.43%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 107 (11.85%) PowerShell
2 73 (8.08%) SQL
3 50 (5.54%) Python
4 30 (3.32%) Java
5 24 (2.66%) JavaScript
6 22 (2.44%) Bash
7 16 (1.77%) C#
8 8 (0.89%) Shell Script
9 6 (0.66%) C++
10 5 (0.55%) Perl
10 5 (0.55%) Tcl
10 5 (0.55%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.44%) Go
11 4 (0.44%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.22%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) Korn
13 1 (0.11%) Search Processing Language
13 1 (0.11%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.11%) VBA
13 1 (0.11%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 177 (19.60%) Security Cleared
2 98 (10.85%) SC Cleared
3 72 (7.97%) Degree
4 63 (6.98%) DV Cleared
5 31 (3.43%) A+ Certification
6 21 (2.33%) Microsoft Certification
7 19 (2.10%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 14 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
8 14 (1.55%) Network+ Certification
9 13 (1.44%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.33%) DBS Check
11 10 (1.11%) CCNA
12 9 (1.00%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (0.78%) MCSE
13 7 (0.78%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 6 (0.66%) Azure Certification
15 5 (0.55%) ITIL Certification
16 4 (0.44%) NVQ Level 4
17 3 (0.33%) CCNP
17 3 (0.33%) OCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 61 (6.76%) SLA
2 7 (0.78%) QA
3 4 (0.44%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 3 (0.33%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.33%) GDPR
4 3 (0.33%) GxP
5 2 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.11%) GRC
6 1 (0.11%) ITGC
6 1 (0.11%) NCSC
System Software
1 401 (44.41%) Active Directory
2 53 (5.87%) VMware Infrastructure
3 32 (3.54%) VMware ESXi
4 25 (2.77%) Hyper-V
5 19 (2.10%) Virtual Desktop
6 17 (1.88%) VMware NSX
7 15 (1.66%) vCloud
8 10 (1.11%) Docker
9 7 (0.78%) vSphere
10 5 (0.55%) BitLocker
10 5 (0.55%) NFS
11 4 (0.44%) Firmware
12 3 (0.33%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.33%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.22%) zsh
14 1 (0.11%) Oracle RAC
14 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 137 (15.17%) Microsoft Intune
2 65 (7.20%) SCCM
3 32 (3.54%) vCenter Server
4 26 (2.88%) SCOM
5 19 (2.10%) Single Sign-On
6 18 (1.99%) Kubernetes
7 17 (1.88%) Jamf Pro
8 15 (1.66%) Ansible
9 9 (1.00%) Grafana
10 7 (0.78%) WSUS
11 5 (0.55%) Red Hat Satellite
12 4 (0.44%) ITRS Geneos
12 4 (0.44%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.33%) Nagios
13 3 (0.33%) Puppet
13 3 (0.33%) vMotion
14 2 (0.22%) AirWatch
14 2 (0.22%) Kibana
14 2 (0.22%) NetBackup
14 2 (0.22%) vRealize
Vendors
1 432 (47.84%) Microsoft
2 123 (13.62%) ServiceNow
3 70 (7.75%) VMware
4 43 (4.76%) Apple
5 40 (4.43%) Cisco
6 31 (3.43%) Okta
7 30 (3.32%) Citrix
8 29 (3.21%) Oracle
9 27 (2.99%) Google
10 21 (2.33%) BeyondTrust
11 18 (1.99%) Splunk
12 16 (1.77%) Meraki
12 16 (1.77%) SAP
13 14 (1.55%) Bloomberg
14 13 (1.44%) iManage
14 13 (1.44%) Samsung
15 12 (1.33%) Broadcom
16 11 (1.22%) Dell
16 11 (1.22%) Lotus
16 11 (1.22%) SolarWinds