Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £210, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 May 2026.

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

6 months to
6 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 172 132 114
Rank change year-on-year -40 -18 +11
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 741 635 858
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.56% 2.17% 1.99%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.69% 2.34% 2.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 495 408 598
10th Percentile £153 £152 £140
25th Percentile £185 £188 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £240 £210
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +14.29% -16.00%
75th Percentile £369 £386 £300
90th Percentile £470 £500 £446
UK excluding London median daily rate £203 £225 £200
% change year-on-year -10.00% +12.50% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 85 54 53
10th Percentile £18.14 £18.13 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £21.00 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.83 £24.66 £20.82
Median % change year-on-year -3.39% +18.47% +4.08%
75th Percentile £36.00 £41.50 £28.75
90th Percentile £37.50 £68.00 £46.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.50 £18.00
% change year-on-year -8.16% +36.11% -4.00%

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 43,929 27,125 40,035
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.25% 92.53% 92.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,003 17,719 26,065
10th Percentile £318 £300 £280
25th Percentile £413 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £514 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.75% -2.10% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.58% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,852 1,052 2,665
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £44.00 £29.00 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +51.72% -20.55% -18.89%
75th Percentile £66.25 £62.50 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £28.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +62.36% -30.00% -4.76%

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 6 May 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 6 May 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 6 May 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 -53 653 £209 -14.59% 356
UK excluding London -40 497 £203 -10.00% 329
London -36 208 £275 -8.33% 68
South East -20 127 £208 -17.00% 111
North of England -57 100 £190 -13.64% 74
Midlands -43 87 £200 -27.27% 46
Work from Home -69 80 £210 -35.38% 90
South West -33 76 £210 -7.69% 44
North West -41 62 £183 -15.12% 45
East of England -13 56 £200 -10.11% 40
West Midlands -50 54 £218 -24.32% 32
Scotland +20 43 £437 +191.33% 17
Yorkshire -45 37 £190 -19.15% 26
East Midlands -3 34 £200 -5.88% 14
Wales -17 11 £200 +5.26% 3
Northern Ireland -8 3 £175 +18.24% 4
North East -32 1 - - 5

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

For the 6 months to 6 May 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.

1 326 (43.99%) Windows
2 253 (34.14%) Microsoft
3 232 (31.31%) Microsoft 365
4 230 (31.04%) Active Directory
5 156 (21.05%) Security Cleared
6 150 (20.24%) Windows 10
7 147 (19.84%) Customer Service
8 141 (19.03%) Problem-Solving
9 125 (16.87%) SC Cleared
10 124 (16.73%) Azure
11 95 (12.82%) ITIL
12 94 (12.69%) Microsoft Intune
13 79 (10.66%) ServiceNow
14 72 (9.72%) Entra ID
15 62 (8.37%) Migration
16 56 (7.56%) ITSM
17 53 (7.15%) PowerShell
18 51 (6.88%) JIRA
18 51 (6.88%) SharePoint
18 51 (6.88%) SQL
19 45 (6.07%) SCCM
20 44 (5.94%) DNS
20 44 (5.94%) Wi-Fi
21 43 (5.80%) Linux
22 40 (5.40%) Continuous Improvement
23 39 (5.26%) Asset Management
23 39 (5.26%) Degree
24 37 (4.99%) Microsoft Office
24 37 (4.99%) Unix
25 36 (4.86%) Mac OS

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 51 (6.88%) SharePoint
2 24 (3.24%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.94%) NetWeaver
4 4 (0.54%) Confluence
4 4 (0.54%) IIS
5 3 (0.40%) Apache
5 3 (0.40%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.27%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.13%) HCL Notes
7 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.13%) Tuxedo
7 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 37 (4.99%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.75%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 11 (1.48%) 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%) 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%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 232 (31.31%) Microsoft 365
2 124 (16.73%) Azure
3 72 (9.72%) Entra ID
4 24 (3.24%) AWS
5 23 (3.10%) OneDrive
6 21 (2.83%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (2.83%) SaaS
7 12 (1.62%) Power Platform
8 11 (1.48%) Dynamics 365
8 11 (1.48%) Google Workspace
9 9 (1.21%) GCP
10 6 (0.81%) Amazon S3
10 6 (0.81%) Sauce Labs
11 5 (0.67%) Azure Data Factory
11 5 (0.67%) npm
11 5 (0.67%) PaaS
12 4 (0.54%) Datadog
12 4 (0.54%) Mimecast
12 4 (0.54%) Snowflake
13 3 (0.40%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 44 (5.94%) DNS
1 44 (5.94%) Wi-Fi
2 33 (4.45%) DHCP
2 33 (4.45%) VPN
3 32 (4.32%) LAN
4 29 (3.91%) TCP/IP
5 20 (2.70%) WAN
6 19 (2.56%) Firewall
7 18 (2.43%) SAN
8 14 (1.89%) Wireless
9 9 (1.21%) Internet
10 7 (0.94%) HTTP
10 7 (0.94%) VLAN
11 6 (0.81%) Network Security
11 6 (0.81%) VoIP
11 6 (0.81%) WLAN
12 5 (0.67%) AMQP
12 5 (0.67%) Skype
13 4 (0.54%) Unified Communications
14 3 (0.40%) Softphone
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (3.10%) SQL Server
2 20 (2.70%) MySQL
3 15 (2.02%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.75%) Amazon Redshift
5 10 (1.35%) Power BI
6 9 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 7 (0.94%) Pentaho
7 7 (0.94%) 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
10 4 (0.54%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.40%) InfluxDB
11 3 (0.40%) MariaDB
12 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.27%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.27%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 51 (6.88%) JIRA
2 21 (2.83%) Git
3 13 (1.75%) 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%) Firebug
7 2 (0.27%) Jenkins
8 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
8 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
8 1 (0.13%) MSI
8 1 (0.13%) RStudio
8 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.13%) Subversion
8 1 (0.13%) TeamCity
8 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 284 (38.33%) Social Skills
2 74 (9.99%) Analytical Skills
3 48 (6.48%) Finance
3 48 (6.48%) Manufacturing
4 36 (4.86%) Banking
5 27 (3.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 23 (3.10%) Aerospace
7 18 (2.43%) Investment Banking
8 17 (2.29%) Aviation
9 16 (2.16%) Law
10 12 (1.62%) Public Sector
11 11 (1.48%) Organisational Skills
12 10 (1.35%) Front Office
12 10 (1.35%) Legal
13 7 (0.94%) Documentation Skills
13 7 (0.94%) Telecoms
14 6 (0.81%) French Language
14 6 (0.81%) Retail
15 4 (0.54%) Advertising
15 4 (0.54%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.35%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 9 (1.21%) CSS
3 8 (1.08%) REST
4 7 (0.94%) JDO
5 6 (0.81%) .NET
5 6 (0.81%) Ajax
5 6 (0.81%) AngularJS
5 6 (0.81%) GraphQL
5 6 (0.81%) Middleware
5 6 (0.81%) React
5 6 (0.81%) SAP Basis
6 5 (0.67%) SAML
6 5 (0.67%) YAML
7 4 (0.54%) HTML
7 4 (0.54%) OAuth
7 4 (0.54%) PySpark
8 3 (0.40%) JSP
8 3 (0.40%) Software Packaging
8 3 (0.40%) XML
9 2 (0.27%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 54 (7.29%) Onboarding
2 30 (4.05%) Data Centre
3 25 (3.37%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.10%) Analytical Mindset
5 22 (2.97%) Driving Licence
6 13 (1.75%) Smartphone
7 12 (1.62%) Data Protection Act
7 12 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
7 12 (1.62%) Virtual Team
8 11 (1.48%) PKI
9 10 (1.35%) iPhone
9 10 (1.35%) SCADA
10 9 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.08%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.94%) Video Conferencing
13 6 (0.81%) Mobile App
14 4 (0.54%) iPad
14 4 (0.54%) Management Information System
15 3 (0.40%) CCTV
15 3 (0.40%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 326 (43.99%) Windows
2 150 (20.24%) Windows 10
3 43 (5.80%) Linux
4 37 (4.99%) Unix
5 36 (4.86%) Mac OS
6 34 (4.59%) Windows Server
7 26 (3.51%) Android
8 20 (2.70%) Apple iOS
9 13 (1.75%) 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 2012
11 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.27%) CentOS
13 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.13%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (19.84%) Customer Service
2 141 (19.03%) Problem-Solving
3 95 (12.82%) ITIL
4 62 (8.37%) Migration
5 56 (7.56%) ITSM
6 40 (5.40%) Continuous Improvement
7 39 (5.26%) Asset Management
8 34 (4.59%) Root Cause Analysis
9 33 (4.45%) Change Management
9 33 (4.45%) User Experience
10 31 (4.18%) Service Management
11 30 (4.05%) DevOps
12 29 (3.91%) Workflow
13 28 (3.78%) Incident Management
14 27 (3.64%) Break/Fix
15 26 (3.51%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 23 (3.10%) Stakeholder Management
17 22 (2.97%) Problem Management
18 21 (2.83%) Data Protection
18 21 (2.83%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 53 (7.15%) PowerShell
2 51 (6.88%) SQL
3 26 (3.51%) Python
4 23 (3.10%) Java
5 20 (2.70%) C#
6 19 (2.56%) JavaScript
7 16 (2.16%) Shell Script
8 10 (1.35%) Korn
8 10 (1.35%) Perl
9 8 (1.08%) Bash
10 2 (0.27%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) AWK
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) PL/SQL
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
1 156 (21.05%) Security Cleared
2 125 (16.87%) SC Cleared
3 39 (5.26%) Degree
4 27 (3.64%) DV Cleared
5 25 (3.37%) Microsoft Certification
6 22 (2.97%) A+ Certification
7 20 (2.70%) CCNA
7 20 (2.70%) Cisco Certification
8 17 (2.29%) MCSE
9 16 (2.16%) BPSS Clearance
9 16 (2.16%) Network+ Certification
10 10 (1.35%) Computer Science Degree
11 9 (1.21%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.94%) DBS Check
13 6 (0.81%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.40%) Master's Degree
15 2 (0.27%) NVQ Level 4
16 1 (0.13%) CCNP
16 1 (0.13%) MCITP
16 1 (0.13%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.64%) SLA
2 5 (0.67%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (0.54%) Data Quality
4 3 (0.40%) GDPR
4 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.40%) QA
5 2 (0.27%) GLP
5 2 (0.27%) GMP
6 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.13%) GAAP
6 1 (0.13%) GRC
6 1 (0.13%) GxP
6 1 (0.13%) IFRS
6 1 (0.13%) ITGC
6 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 230 (31.04%) Active Directory
2 21 (2.83%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (1.48%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.35%) Oracle RAC
5 7 (0.94%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (0.94%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.67%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.67%) vSphere
7 4 (0.54%) Firmware
8 3 (0.40%) Docker
9 2 (0.27%) vCloud
10 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 94 (12.69%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (6.07%) SCCM
3 17 (2.29%) Grafana
3 17 (2.29%) Jamf Pro
4 15 (2.02%) Single Sign-On
5 12 (1.62%) Terraform
6 11 (1.48%) Ansible
7 10 (1.35%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 10 (1.35%) Oracle RMAN
8 5 (0.67%) Kubernetes
8 5 (0.67%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.40%) Kibana
9 3 (0.40%) vRealize
9 3 (0.40%) WSUS
10 2 (0.27%) AirWatch
10 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
10 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
10 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.27%) SCOM
10 2 (0.27%) WMI
Vendors
1 253 (34.14%) Microsoft
2 79 (10.66%) ServiceNow
3 36 (4.86%) Oracle
4 31 (4.18%) Dell
5 26 (3.51%) SAP
6 23 (3.10%) VMware
7 22 (2.97%) Apple
8 21 (2.83%) Cisco
9 20 (2.70%) HP
10 15 (2.02%) Google
11 11 (1.48%) Bloomberg
11 11 (1.48%) Okta
12 10 (1.35%) McAfee
12 10 (1.35%) Remedy
13 9 (1.21%) Citrix
14 8 (1.08%) Denodo
14 8 (1.08%) Splunk
14 8 (1.08%) Starlink
14 8 (1.08%) Talend
15 7 (0.94%) Meraki