Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £216, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 June 2026.

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

6 months to
9 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 131 113
Rank change year-on-year -42 -18 +3
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 767 632 855
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.54% 2.16% 1.97%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.67% 2.34% 2.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 496 400 588
10th Percentile £153 £153 £138
25th Percentile £183 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £216 £248 £211
Median % change year-on-year -12.63% +17.16% -15.50%
75th Percentile £375 £385 £338
90th Percentile £481 £500 £491
UK excluding London median daily rate £207 £230 £200
% change year-on-year -10.00% +15.00% -5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 55 51
10th Percentile £17.98 £18.10 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.50 £19.58 £18.00
Median hourly rate £23.41 £25.00 £22.15
Median % change year-on-year -6.35% +12.87% +4.80%
75th Percentile £35.81 £35.25 £43.75
90th Percentile £39.05 £68.00 £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £24.83 £22.50
% change year-on-year -9.38% +10.36% +12.50%

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 45,859 27,036 40,213
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.31% 92.35% 92.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,926 17,399 25,887
10th Percentile £325 £287 £280
25th Percentile £413 £402 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,063 1,119 2,897
10th Percentile £15.15 £14.00 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.75 £17.84 £16.30
Median hourly rate £43.61 £28.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +55.73% -25.33% -16.67%
75th Percentile £67.50 £58.47 £61.75
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -5.88%

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 9 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 9 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 9 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 -55 673 £210 -15.15% 295
UK excluding London -33 519 £207 -10.00% 295
London -48 218 £275 +0.92% 51
South East -28 147 £213 -15.00% 87
North of England -69 92 £190 -11.63% 74
Midlands -40 86 £204 -22.92% 33
Work from Home -87 83 £213 -29.17% 80
South West -43 68 £210 -10.64% 36
East of England -10 62 £198 -11.24% 36
North West -33 58 £189 -12.21% 39
Scotland +28 53 £313 +5.93% 25
West Midlands -60 50 £238 -13.64% 14
East Midlands -2 37 £200 -18.37% 19
Yorkshire -44 32 £190 -19.15% 27
Wales -19 9 £250 +25.00% 3
Northern Ireland -2 4 £175 +16.67% 8
North East -39 2 £290 +48.72% 10
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 9 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.

1 363 (47.33%) Windows
2 275 (35.85%) Active Directory
3 272 (35.46%) Microsoft
4 245 (31.94%) Microsoft 365
5 159 (20.73%) Windows 10
6 158 (20.60%) Security Cleared
7 152 (19.82%) Problem-Solving
8 141 (18.38%) Customer Service
9 140 (18.25%) Azure
10 123 (16.04%) ITIL
11 108 (14.08%) SC Cleared
12 106 (13.82%) Microsoft Intune
13 90 (11.73%) ServiceNow
14 82 (10.69%) Entra ID
15 67 (8.74%) PowerShell
16 65 (8.47%) ITSM
16 65 (8.47%) SharePoint
17 64 (8.34%) DNS
18 60 (7.82%) Migration
19 57 (7.43%) SQL
20 55 (7.17%) JIRA
21 53 (6.91%) Linux
22 48 (6.26%) Windows Server
23 46 (6.00%) VPN
24 45 (5.87%) DHCP
24 45 (5.87%) Infrastructure Engineering
25 44 (5.74%) Continuous Improvement
26 43 (5.61%) Degree
26 43 (5.61%) Wi-Fi
27 42 (5.48%) 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 65 (8.47%) SharePoint
2 39 (5.08%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.56%) 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 (5.08%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 11 (1.43%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.78%) Teamcenter
3 4 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.52%) SAP EHS
4 3 (0.39%) Shopify
5 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 245 (31.94%) Microsoft 365
2 140 (18.25%) Azure
3 82 (10.69%) Entra ID
4 33 (4.30%) AWS
5 23 (3.00%) SaaS
6 22 (2.87%) OneDrive
7 21 (2.74%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (1.56%) GCP
9 10 (1.30%) Power Platform
10 8 (1.04%) PaaS
11 7 (0.91%) Amazon S3
11 7 (0.91%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (0.65%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.65%) Google Workspace
12 5 (0.65%) IaaS
12 5 (0.65%) Sauce Labs
13 4 (0.52%) Mimecast
14 3 (0.39%) Amazon EC2
14 3 (0.39%) OpenShift
15 2 (0.26%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 64 (8.34%) DNS
2 46 (6.00%) VPN
3 45 (5.87%) DHCP
4 43 (5.61%) Wi-Fi
5 39 (5.08%) LAN
6 36 (4.69%) TCP/IP
7 24 (3.13%) SAN
8 23 (3.00%) WAN
9 16 (2.09%) Firewall
10 15 (1.96%) VLAN
11 13 (1.69%) Internet
12 11 (1.43%) WLAN
13 10 (1.30%) Wireless
14 7 (0.91%) HTTP
15 6 (0.78%) Skype
15 6 (0.78%) VoIP
16 4 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
17 3 (0.39%) Network Security
17 3 (0.39%) Unified Communications
18 2 (0.26%) AMQP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.04%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.35%) MySQL
3 13 (1.69%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.56%) Relational Database
4 12 (1.56%) SAP HANA
5 11 (1.43%) Sybase ASE
6 10 (1.30%) MaxDB
7 8 (1.04%) Power BI
8 7 (0.91%) Pentaho
8 7 (0.91%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.65%) Oracle Database
9 5 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
10 4 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
10 4 (0.52%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database 12c
11 2 (0.26%) Big Data
11 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.26%) Elasticsearch
11 2 (0.26%) MariaDB
11 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 55 (7.17%) JIRA
2 19 (2.48%) Git
3 11 (1.43%) Browser DevTools
4 5 (0.65%) Android Studio
4 5 (0.65%) Eclipse
4 5 (0.65%) Xcode
5 2 (0.26%) Firebug
5 2 (0.26%) Maven
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%) Jenkins
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
1 289 (37.68%) Social Skills
2 83 (10.82%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (7.43%) Finance
4 44 (5.74%) Manufacturing
5 37 (4.82%) Banking
6 24 (3.13%) Investment Banking
7 20 (2.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 18 (2.35%) Law
9 17 (2.22%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (2.09%) Aerospace
11 14 (1.83%) Aviation
11 14 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
12 9 (1.17%) Front Office
13 8 (1.04%) Retail
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%) French Language
15 6 (0.78%) Spanish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.43%) SAP Basis
2 10 (1.30%) Oracle GoldenGate
3 9 (1.17%) REST
4 7 (0.91%) CSS
4 7 (0.91%) JDO
4 7 (0.91%) Software Packaging
5 6 (0.78%) .NET
5 6 (0.78%) SAP Fiori
5 6 (0.78%) SAPUI5
6 5 (0.65%) Ajax
6 5 (0.65%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.65%) GraphQL
6 5 (0.65%) PySpark
6 5 (0.65%) React
6 5 (0.65%) SAML
7 4 (0.52%) OAuth
7 4 (0.52%) YAML
8 3 (0.39%) LDAP
8 3 (0.39%) Middleware
8 3 (0.39%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 64 (8.34%) Onboarding
2 34 (4.43%) Data Centre
3 23 (3.00%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (2.74%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.35%) Virtual Team
6 15 (1.96%) Enterprise Software
6 15 (1.96%) Smartphone
7 14 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (1.56%) iPhone
8 12 (1.56%) PKI
9 11 (1.43%) Legacy Systems
10 10 (1.30%) SCADA
10 10 (1.30%) Video Conferencing
11 8 (1.04%) Driving Licence
11 8 (1.04%) Hedge funds
12 7 (0.91%) Blackberry
13 6 (0.78%) Hybrid Cloud
13 6 (0.78%) iPad
14 5 (0.65%) CCTV
14 5 (0.65%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 363 (47.33%) Windows
2 159 (20.73%) Windows 10
3 53 (6.91%) Linux
4 48 (6.26%) Windows Server
5 42 (5.48%) Mac OS
6 41 (5.35%) Unix
7 25 (3.26%) Apple iOS
8 22 (2.87%) Android
9 17 (2.22%) Windows 7
10 7 (0.91%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.91%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.52%) Solaris
11 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.52%) Windows XP
12 3 (0.39%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.39%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.26%) Mac OS X
14 1 (0.13%) CentOS
14 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
14 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 152 (19.82%) Problem-Solving
2 141 (18.38%) Customer Service
3 123 (16.04%) ITIL
4 65 (8.47%) ITSM
5 60 (7.82%) Migration
6 45 (5.87%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 44 (5.74%) Continuous Improvement
8 41 (5.35%) Change Management
9 40 (5.22%) Service Delivery
10 39 (5.08%) Asset Management
11 35 (4.56%) Service Management
12 34 (4.43%) DevOps
12 34 (4.43%) Incident Management
13 33 (4.30%) Root Cause Analysis
14 32 (4.17%) User Experience
15 30 (3.91%) Problem Management
16 26 (3.39%) Data Protection
17 22 (2.87%) Break/Fix
17 22 (2.87%) CI/CD
18 21 (2.74%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 67 (8.74%) PowerShell
2 57 (7.43%) SQL
3 30 (3.91%) Python
4 20 (2.61%) C#
4 20 (2.61%) Java
5 17 (2.22%) JavaScript
6 15 (1.96%) Shell Script
7 12 (1.56%) Bash
8 10 (1.30%) Korn
9 9 (1.17%) Perl
10 6 (0.78%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) C
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
1 158 (20.60%) Security Cleared
2 108 (14.08%) SC Cleared
3 43 (5.61%) Degree
4 36 (4.69%) DV Cleared
5 24 (3.13%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (3.00%) A+ Certification
7 20 (2.61%) CCNA
7 20 (2.61%) Cisco Certification
8 19 (2.48%) Network+ Certification
9 16 (2.09%) MCSE
10 11 (1.43%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.17%) Azure Certification
12 8 (1.04%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (0.91%) DBS Check
14 6 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
15 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 4 (0.52%) NVQ Level 4
17 2 (0.26%) AWS Certification
17 2 (0.26%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
18 1 (0.13%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (4.69%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
2 4 (0.52%) QA
3 3 (0.39%) Data Quality
3 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.26%) GLP
4 2 (0.26%) GMP
5 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.13%) GRC
5 1 (0.13%) GxP
5 1 (0.13%) ITGC
5 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 275 (35.85%) Active Directory
2 32 (4.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.22%) Hyper-V
4 15 (1.96%) VMware ESXi
5 14 (1.83%) VMware NSX
6 11 (1.43%) Virtual Desktop
7 10 (1.30%) Oracle RAC
8 9 (1.17%) vCloud
9 6 (0.78%) vSphere
10 5 (0.65%) NFS
11 4 (0.52%) Docker
12 3 (0.39%) BitLocker
12 3 (0.39%) Firmware
13 2 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
13 2 (0.26%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.26%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
14 1 (0.13%) zsh
Systems Management
1 106 (13.82%) Microsoft Intune
2 41 (5.35%) SCCM
3 20 (2.61%) Jamf Pro
4 18 (2.35%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (1.96%) vCenter Server
6 13 (1.69%) Grafana
7 10 (1.30%) Ansible
7 10 (1.30%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 10 (1.30%) Oracle RMAN
7 10 (1.30%) SCOM
8 8 (1.04%) Terraform
9 5 (0.65%) Kubernetes
9 5 (0.65%) Red Hat Satellite
10 3 (0.39%) vRealize
11 2 (0.26%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.26%) Kibana
11 2 (0.26%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.26%) vMotion
11 2 (0.26%) WMI
11 2 (0.26%) WSUS
Vendors
1 272 (35.46%) Microsoft
2 90 (11.73%) ServiceNow
3 37 (4.82%) VMware
4 34 (4.43%) Oracle
5 24 (3.13%) Apple
5 24 (3.13%) Dell
6 21 (2.74%) SAP
7 16 (2.09%) HP
8 14 (1.83%) Citrix
9 13 (1.69%) Cisco
9 13 (1.69%) Okta
10 12 (1.56%) Google
11 11 (1.43%) Sybase
12 9 (1.17%) McAfee
13 8 (1.04%) Denodo
13 8 (1.04%) Red Hat
13 8 (1.04%) Starlink
13 8 (1.04%) Talend
14 7 (0.91%) Lotus
14 7 (0.91%) Remedy