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 7 March 2026.

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

6 months to
7 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 146 133 105
Rank change year-on-year -13 -28 +24
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 832 611 979
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.95% 1.99% 2.18%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.12% 2.15% 2.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 557 412 693
10th Percentile £153 £153 £139
25th Percentile £185 £182 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £214 £225 £215
Median % change year-on-year -4.89% +4.65% -14.00%
75th Percentile £349 £375 £300
90th Percentile £500 £500 £413
UK excluding London median daily rate £207 £220 £200
% change year-on-year -5.91% +10.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 119 41 61
10th Percentile £17.89 £16.67 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.13 £18.70 £17.72
Median hourly rate £24.00 £23.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +15.00% +3.63%
75th Percentile £29.44 £28.00 £30.00
90th Percentile £41.60 £41.50 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.29 £22.50 £20.00
% change year-on-year +3.50% +12.50% +14.38%

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 39,253 28,458 41,733
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.91% 92.86% 92.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,589 18,093 27,411
10th Percentile £310 £293 £273
25th Percentile £409 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £723 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £485
% change year-on-year +1.32% -2.06% -3.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,404 876 2,465
10th Percentile £14.84 £16.17 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.89 £21.39 £16.25
Median hourly rate £34.50 £35.00 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.44% +6.06% -18.67%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.25 £71.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.17 £32.50 £33.07
% change year-on-year +2.06% -1.71% -14.67%

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 7 March 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 7 March 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 7 March 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 +1 752 £213 -7.61% 312
UK excluding London -6 575 £207 -5.91% 314
London -17 220 £275 -7.56% 55
South East -2 149 £225 +9.76% 114
North of England -36 115 £190 -13.64% 80
South West -1 111 £250 +11.11% 34
Midlands -11 100 £200 -18.37% 28
Work from Home -55 87 £275 -9.09% 67
West Midlands -29 61 £225 -13.46% 15
East of England +3 59 £203 -7.95% 33
North West -25 59 £152 -29.53% 43
Yorkshire -33 47 £205 -11.83% 29
East Midlands +1 41 £200 +5.26% 13
Scotland +15 37 £225 +41.96% 21
Wales -8 10 £200 - 5
North East -13 9 £106 -39.43% 12
Northern Ireland -10 2 £175 +18.24% 6

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

For the 6 months to 7 March 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.

1 399 (47.96%) Windows
2 292 (35.10%) Microsoft
3 255 (30.65%) Microsoft 365
4 239 (28.73%) Security Cleared
5 233 (28.00%) Active Directory
6 192 (23.08%) SC Cleared
7 178 (21.39%) Windows 10
8 168 (20.19%) Customer Service
9 152 (18.27%) Problem-Solving
10 115 (13.82%) Azure
11 106 (12.74%) ServiceNow
12 98 (11.78%) ITIL
13 93 (11.18%) Microsoft Intune
14 80 (9.62%) Migration
15 76 (9.13%) PowerShell
16 73 (8.77%) Linux
17 65 (7.81%) ITSM
18 64 (7.69%) SCCM
19 63 (7.57%) DNS
20 59 (7.09%) SharePoint
21 57 (6.85%) DHCP
22 56 (6.73%) Entra ID
22 56 (6.73%) Microsoft Office
23 55 (6.61%) Asset Management
23 55 (6.61%) TCP/IP
23 55 (6.61%) Wi-Fi
24 48 (5.77%) Mac OS
24 48 (5.77%) Workflow
25 47 (5.65%) Android
25 47 (5.65%) DV Cleared

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 59 (7.09%) SharePoint
2 45 (5.41%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.80%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.48%) Apache
4 4 (0.48%) Confluence
4 4 (0.48%) NetWeaver
5 2 (0.24%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.24%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.24%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.24%) IIS
5 2 (0.24%) Jupyter
5 2 (0.24%) Palantir Foundry
5 2 (0.24%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.24%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
6 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 56 (6.73%) Microsoft Office
2 21 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 9 (1.08%) SAP EHS
2 8 (0.96%) Remedy ITSM
3 7 (0.84%) Shopify
4 6 (0.72%) Teamcenter
5 5 (0.60%) Primavera
6 4 (0.48%) SAP S/4HANA
7 1 (0.12%) Aladdin
7 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
7 1 (0.12%) assyst
7 1 (0.12%) Bloomberg TOMS
7 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
7 1 (0.12%) Eikon
7 1 (0.12%) Fidessa
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.12%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 255 (30.65%) Microsoft 365
2 115 (13.82%) Azure
3 56 (6.73%) Entra ID
4 35 (4.21%) OneDrive
5 27 (3.25%) AWS
6 22 (2.64%) SaaS
7 19 (2.28%) Google Workspace
8 16 (1.92%) Azure DevOps
9 12 (1.44%) Sauce Labs
10 11 (1.32%) Dynamics 365
10 11 (1.32%) Power Platform
11 7 (0.84%) npm
12 5 (0.60%) Amazon S3
12 5 (0.60%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.60%) PaaS
13 4 (0.48%) OpenShift
13 4 (0.48%) Snowflake
14 3 (0.36%) GCP
14 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Purview
14 3 (0.36%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 63 (7.57%) DNS
2 57 (6.85%) DHCP
3 55 (6.61%) TCP/IP
3 55 (6.61%) Wi-Fi
4 47 (5.65%) VPN
5 35 (4.21%) LAN
6 30 (3.61%) Firewall
7 26 (3.13%) Wireless
8 25 (3.00%) WAN
9 16 (1.92%) Skype
10 15 (1.80%) VLAN
11 13 (1.56%) Network Security
11 13 (1.56%) PABX
12 12 (1.44%) SAN
13 11 (1.32%) Internet
14 10 (1.20%) VoIP
15 9 (1.08%) HTTP
16 7 (0.84%) AMQP
16 7 (0.84%) Junos
16 7 (0.84%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.52%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.16%) Relational Database
3 17 (2.04%) MySQL
4 9 (1.08%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (0.96%) Amazon Redshift
5 8 (0.96%) Power BI
6 6 (0.72%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.48%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (0.48%) RDBMS
7 4 (0.48%) SAP HANA
7 4 (0.48%) Sybase ASE
8 3 (0.36%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.36%) MaxDB
8 3 (0.36%) Oracle Database 12c
8 3 (0.36%) Tableau
9 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.24%) GIS
9 2 (0.24%) Pentaho
9 2 (0.24%) PostgreSQL
10 1 (0.12%) Crystal Reports
Development Applications
1 42 (5.05%) JIRA
2 19 (2.28%) Browser DevTools
3 12 (1.44%) Android Studio
3 12 (1.44%) Eclipse
3 12 (1.44%) Git
3 12 (1.44%) Xcode
4 7 (0.84%) Maven
5 4 (0.48%) Firebug
6 3 (0.36%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.36%) MSI
7 2 (0.24%) Fiddler
8 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.12%) ClearCase
8 1 (0.12%) Hudson
8 1 (0.12%) RStudio
8 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 350 (42.07%) Social Skills
2 70 (8.41%) Finance
3 61 (7.33%) Analytical Skills
4 53 (6.37%) Manufacturing
5 44 (5.29%) Public Sector
6 43 (5.17%) Banking
7 29 (3.49%) Organisational Skills
8 27 (3.25%) Aerospace
8 27 (3.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 19 (2.28%) Telecoms
10 17 (2.04%) Investment Banking
11 16 (1.92%) Aviation
12 13 (1.56%) Electronics
12 13 (1.56%) Marketing
13 11 (1.32%) Law
14 9 (1.08%) Documentation Skills
14 9 (1.08%) Legal
15 8 (0.96%) Front Office
16 5 (0.60%) Automotive
17 4 (0.48%) French Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (2.64%) Middleware
2 16 (1.92%) CSS
3 12 (1.44%) Ajax
3 12 (1.44%) AngularJS
3 12 (1.44%) GraphQL
3 12 (1.44%) React
4 7 (0.84%) Oracle GoldenGate
4 7 (0.84%) REST
5 6 (0.72%) PySpark
6 5 (0.60%) OAuth
6 5 (0.60%) SOAP
6 5 (0.60%) YAML
7 4 (0.48%) HTML
7 4 (0.48%) JDO
7 4 (0.48%) Microsoft Graph
7 4 (0.48%) SAP Basis
7 4 (0.48%) XML
8 3 (0.36%) .NET
8 3 (0.36%) SAML
9 2 (0.24%) ADO
Miscellaneous
1 51 (6.13%) Onboarding
2 40 (4.81%) Self-Motivation
3 30 (3.61%) Data Centre
3 30 (3.61%) Driving Licence
4 24 (2.88%) Smartphone
5 18 (2.16%) Analytical Mindset
6 16 (1.92%) PKI
7 15 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (1.44%) Mobile App
8 12 (1.44%) Virtual Team
9 11 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
9 11 (1.32%) iPhone
10 9 (1.08%) SCADA
10 9 (1.08%) Video Conferencing
11 8 (0.96%) Hybrid Cloud
11 8 (0.96%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (0.96%) Management Information System
12 6 (0.72%) iPad
13 4 (0.48%) Hedge funds
14 3 (0.36%) Fat Client
Operating Systems
1 399 (47.96%) Windows
2 178 (21.39%) Windows 10
3 73 (8.77%) Linux
4 48 (5.77%) Mac OS
5 47 (5.65%) Android
6 43 (5.17%) Windows Server
7 36 (4.33%) Apple iOS
7 36 (4.33%) Unix
8 12 (1.44%) Ubuntu
9 8 (0.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.84%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.84%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.48%) CentOS
11 4 (0.48%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
13 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.12%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 168 (20.19%) Customer Service
2 152 (18.27%) Problem-Solving
3 98 (11.78%) ITIL
4 80 (9.62%) Migration
5 65 (7.81%) ITSM
6 55 (6.61%) Asset Management
7 48 (5.77%) Workflow
8 42 (5.05%) Service Management
9 38 (4.57%) User Experience
9 38 (4.57%) Workflow Management
10 37 (4.45%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 35 (4.21%) Root Cause Analysis
12 30 (3.61%) Service Delivery
12 30 (3.61%) Stakeholder Management
13 29 (3.49%) Continuous Improvement
14 28 (3.37%) Break/Fix
14 28 (3.37%) Logistics
15 26 (3.13%) Incident Management
16 25 (3.00%) Cybersecurity
16 25 (3.00%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 76 (9.13%) PowerShell
2 46 (5.53%) SQL
3 35 (4.21%) Java
3 35 (4.21%) Python
4 31 (3.73%) JavaScript
5 26 (3.13%) Shell Script
6 15 (1.80%) C#
7 14 (1.68%) Bash
7 14 (1.68%) Perl
8 13 (1.56%) C
8 13 (1.56%) C++
9 12 (1.44%) Ada
10 7 (0.84%) Korn
11 3 (0.36%) VB.NET
12 2 (0.24%) AWK
12 2 (0.24%) Magik
12 2 (0.24%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.24%) VBA
12 2 (0.24%) VBScript
13 1 (0.12%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 239 (28.73%) Security Cleared
2 192 (23.08%) SC Cleared
3 47 (5.65%) DV Cleared
4 32 (3.85%) Degree
5 31 (3.73%) Microsoft Certification
6 17 (2.04%) A+ Certification
7 15 (1.80%) Network+ Certification
8 13 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
8 13 (1.56%) CCNA
8 13 (1.56%) Cisco Certification
9 12 (1.44%) MCSE
10 11 (1.32%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.84%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.72%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.48%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (0.48%) Server+ Certification
14 3 (0.36%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 1 (0.12%) HND
15 1 (0.12%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (3.97%) SLA
2 9 (1.08%) GDPR
3 4 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.36%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.36%) QA
5 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.12%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.12%) GAAP
6 1 (0.12%) GLP
6 1 (0.12%) GMP
6 1 (0.12%) IFRS
6 1 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.12%) SOC 2
System Software
1 233 (28.00%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.00%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (1.80%) Hyper-V
4 11 (1.32%) Virtual Desktop
5 9 (1.08%) VMware NSX
6 8 (0.96%) Firmware
7 7 (0.84%) Docker
7 7 (0.84%) Oracle RAC
8 5 (0.60%) vSphere
9 3 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.24%) NFS
11 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.12%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 93 (11.18%) Microsoft Intune
2 64 (7.69%) SCCM
3 28 (3.37%) Jamf Pro
4 16 (1.92%) Ansible
5 14 (1.68%) Grafana
6 12 (1.44%) Terraform
7 9 (1.08%) vCenter Server
8 8 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (0.84%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 7 (0.84%) Oracle RMAN
10 5 (0.60%) Kubernetes
11 4 (0.48%) Kibana
12 3 (0.36%) Red Hat Satellite
13 2 (0.24%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 2 (0.24%) ITRS Geneos
13 2 (0.24%) McAfee ePO
13 2 (0.24%) Prometheus
13 2 (0.24%) SCOM
13 2 (0.24%) WMI
13 2 (0.24%) WSUS
Vendors
1 292 (35.10%) Microsoft
2 106 (12.74%) ServiceNow
3 40 (4.81%) Oracle
4 34 (4.09%) SAP
4 34 (4.09%) VMware
5 33 (3.97%) Apple
6 29 (3.49%) Dell
7 28 (3.37%) Cisco
8 21 (2.52%) HP
9 20 (2.40%) Google
10 16 (1.92%) Red Hat
11 15 (1.80%) Splunk
12 14 (1.68%) Juniper
13 13 (1.56%) Twitter
14 12 (1.44%) Citrix
15 11 (1.32%) Remedy
16 10 (1.20%) Bloomberg
16 10 (1.20%) SolarWinds
17 7 (0.84%) Zscaler
18 6 (0.72%) New Relic