Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £226, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 July 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 174 136 104
Rank change year-on-year -38 -32 -7
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 816 687 874
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.55% 2.10% 2.13%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.67% 2.30% 2.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 533 440 597
10th Percentile £163 £160 £140
25th Percentile £185 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £226 £238 £225
Median % change year-on-year -5.05% +5.56% -10.00%
75th Percentile £392 £385 £344
90th Percentile £492 £538 £505
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £230 £210
% change year-on-year -8.70% +9.52% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 63 58
10th Percentile £16.66 £16.95 £16.78
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.64 £18.06
Median hourly rate £25.77 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.47% +14.32% +12.82%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £24.80
90th Percentile £53.00 £68.00 £54.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year -12.52% +14.32% +15.79%

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 48,822 29,919 38,227
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.59% 91.60% 93.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,449 19,032 24,743
10th Percentile £325 £285 £298
25th Percentile £420 £400 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.05%
75th Percentile £625 £623 £638
90th Percentile £725 £730 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,293 1,436 2,397
10th Percentile £15.81 £13.75 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £18.13
Median hourly rate £43.69 £25.15 £40.33
Median % change year-on-year +73.72% -37.63% -7.70%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.00 £73.75 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +78.93% -40.82% +6.78%

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 23 July 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 23 July 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 23 July 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 -56 688 £220 -7.37% 271
UK excluding London -36 549 £210 -8.70% 266
London -49 235 £240 -8.57% 42
South East -30 166 £244 -2.50% 76
North of England -57 103 £190 -13.64% 62
Scotland +59 82 £437 +20.55% 19
Work from Home -96 80 £275 -20.29% 64
Midlands -58 66 £250 -9.09% 31
North West -37 64 £190 -13.64% 36
South West -57 61 £210 -10.64% 34
East of England -10 56 £200 - 46
West Midlands -73 42 £250 -9.09% 20
Yorkshire -28 38 £190 -19.15% 18
East Midlands -3 23 £235 +28.42% 11
Wales -28 10 £195 -2.50% 1
Northern Ireland +3 5 £175 - 4
North East -54 1 £290 +48.72% 9
Channel Islands - 1 £550 -

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

For the 6 months to 23 July 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.

1 426 (52.21%) Windows
2 343 (42.03%) Active Directory
3 332 (40.69%) Microsoft
4 290 (35.54%) Microsoft 365
5 185 (22.67%) Problem-Solving
6 174 (21.32%) Windows 10
7 168 (20.59%) Customer Service
8 159 (19.49%) Security Cleared
9 149 (18.26%) ITIL
10 140 (17.16%) Azure
11 122 (14.95%) Microsoft Intune
12 118 (14.46%) Entra ID
13 112 (13.73%) ServiceNow
14 100 (12.25%) SC Cleared
15 97 (11.89%) SharePoint
16 91 (11.15%) DNS
17 86 (10.54%) ITSM
18 84 (10.29%) PowerShell
19 65 (7.97%) SQL
20 64 (7.84%) JIRA
21 63 (7.72%) VPN
22 61 (7.48%) Continuous Improvement
23 60 (7.35%) Linux
24 58 (7.11%) DHCP
25 57 (6.99%) Microsoft Exchange
26 56 (6.86%) Service Delivery
27 54 (6.62%) TCP/IP
28 53 (6.50%) Migration
28 53 (6.50%) Windows Server
29 52 (6.37%) 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 97 (11.89%) SharePoint
2 57 (6.99%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.47%) NetWeaver
4 10 (1.23%) HCL Notes
5 5 (0.61%) Confluence
6 3 (0.37%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.25%) IIS
7 2 (0.25%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.25%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 40 (4.90%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.47%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 11 (1.35%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (0.86%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.49%) SAP EHS
3 4 (0.49%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.25%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle BRM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP BRIM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FI-CA
5 1 (0.12%) SAP FS
5 1 (0.12%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 290 (35.54%) Microsoft 365
2 140 (17.16%) Azure
3 118 (14.46%) Entra ID
4 38 (4.66%) OneDrive
5 30 (3.68%) AWS
6 21 (2.57%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.33%) SaaS
8 17 (2.08%) GCP
9 11 (1.35%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.10%) PaaS
11 6 (0.74%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.74%) IaaS
12 5 (0.61%) Mimecast
13 3 (0.37%) Amazon EC2
13 3 (0.37%) Amazon S3
13 3 (0.37%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.37%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.37%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.37%) Sauce Labs
14 2 (0.25%) Google App Engine
Communications & Networking
1 91 (11.15%) DNS
2 63 (7.72%) VPN
3 58 (7.11%) DHCP
4 54 (6.62%) TCP/IP
5 48 (5.88%) Wi-Fi
6 40 (4.90%) LAN
7 25 (3.06%) WAN
8 23 (2.82%) SAN
9 20 (2.45%) Firewall
10 19 (2.33%) Internet
11 15 (1.84%) VLAN
12 8 (0.98%) Wireless
12 8 (0.98%) WLAN
13 7 (0.86%) HTTP
13 7 (0.86%) Skype
14 4 (0.49%) Network Security
14 4 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
14 4 (0.49%) Unified Communications
15 3 (0.37%) VoIP
15 3 (0.37%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (4.66%) SQL Server
2 16 (1.96%) MySQL
3 12 (1.47%) SAP HANA
4 11 (1.35%) Sybase ASE
5 10 (1.23%) MaxDB
6 9 (1.10%) Power BI
7 8 (0.98%) Amazon Redshift
7 8 (0.98%) Relational Database
8 7 (0.86%) Pentaho
9 6 (0.74%) PostgreSQL
10 5 (0.61%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.61%) Oracle Database
10 5 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database 12c
12 3 (0.37%) Big Data
12 3 (0.37%) Data Warehouse
12 3 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
12 3 (0.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 2 (0.25%) MariaDB
13 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 64 (7.84%) JIRA
2 20 (2.45%) Git
3 9 (1.10%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.37%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.37%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.37%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.37%) Xcode
5 2 (0.25%) Artifactory
5 2 (0.25%) Firebug
6 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.12%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.12%) Gemini Tracker
6 1 (0.12%) GitLab
6 1 (0.12%) MSI
6 1 (0.12%) RStudio
6 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.12%) Subversion
6 1 (0.12%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 329 (40.32%) Social Skills
2 97 (11.89%) Analytical Skills
3 62 (7.60%) Finance
4 44 (5.39%) Manufacturing
5 34 (4.17%) Banking
6 22 (2.70%) Organisational Skills
7 19 (2.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 17 (2.08%) Investment Banking
9 15 (1.84%) Documentation Skills
9 15 (1.84%) Retail
10 13 (1.59%) Aerospace
10 13 (1.59%) Law
11 12 (1.47%) Aviation
12 9 (1.10%) Financial Institution
12 9 (1.10%) Front Office
12 9 (1.10%) Telecoms
13 8 (0.98%) Legal
13 8 (0.98%) Spanish Language
14 7 (0.86%) Marketing
15 6 (0.74%) Public Sector
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (1.72%) .NET
2 11 (1.35%) SAP Basis
3 10 (1.23%) LDAP
3 10 (1.23%) Oracle GoldenGate
4 9 (1.10%) REST
5 8 (0.98%) XML
6 7 (0.86%) JDO
7 6 (0.74%) SAP Fiori
7 6 (0.74%) SAPUI5
7 6 (0.74%) Software Packaging
8 5 (0.61%) .NET Framework
8 5 (0.61%) CSS
8 5 (0.61%) SAML
9 4 (0.49%) OAuth
10 3 (0.37%) Ajax
10 3 (0.37%) HTML
10 3 (0.37%) JSP
10 3 (0.37%) Middleware
10 3 (0.37%) React
10 3 (0.37%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 98 (12.01%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.29%) Data Centre
3 22 (2.70%) Analytical Mindset
3 22 (2.70%) Self-Motivation
3 22 (2.70%) Video Conferencing
4 16 (1.96%) PKI
5 15 (1.84%) Data Protection Act
6 14 (1.72%) iPhone
7 13 (1.59%) Driving Licence
7 13 (1.59%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (1.59%) Virtual Team
8 12 (1.47%) Legacy Systems
9 11 (1.35%) SCADA
10 10 (1.23%) Blackberry
10 10 (1.23%) Hedge funds
11 9 (1.10%) iPad
12 8 (0.98%) Smartphone
13 7 (0.86%) Management Information System
14 6 (0.74%) BYOD
15 5 (0.61%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 426 (52.21%) Windows
2 174 (21.32%) Windows 10
3 60 (7.35%) Linux
4 53 (6.50%) Windows Server
5 52 (6.37%) Mac OS
6 41 (5.02%) Unix
7 29 (3.55%) Apple iOS
8 27 (3.31%) Android
9 14 (1.72%) Windows 7
10 8 (0.98%) Ubuntu
11 7 (0.86%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 7 (0.86%) Windows Server 2019
12 6 (0.74%) Windows Server 2016
13 4 (0.49%) Solaris
14 3 (0.37%) Windows XP
15 2 (0.25%) Mac OS X
15 2 (0.25%) OpenVMS
15 2 (0.25%) VMS
15 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2008
15 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 185 (22.67%) Problem-Solving
2 168 (20.59%) Customer Service
3 149 (18.26%) ITIL
4 86 (10.54%) ITSM
5 61 (7.48%) Continuous Improvement
6 56 (6.86%) Service Delivery
7 53 (6.50%) Migration
8 51 (6.25%) Asset Management
9 44 (5.39%) Change Management
10 43 (5.27%) Problem Management
11 42 (5.15%) User Experience
12 41 (5.02%) Service Management
13 38 (4.66%) Incident Management
14 37 (4.53%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 36 (4.41%) Identity Access Management
16 35 (4.29%) Root Cause Analysis
17 31 (3.80%) DevOps
18 29 (3.55%) Data Protection
19 28 (3.43%) High Availability
20 27 (3.31%) Break/Fix
Programming Languages
1 84 (10.29%) PowerShell
2 65 (7.97%) SQL
3 32 (3.92%) Python
4 27 (3.31%) C#
5 20 (2.45%) Java
6 17 (2.08%) Bash
6 17 (2.08%) Shell Script
7 15 (1.84%) JavaScript
8 10 (1.23%) Korn
9 7 (0.86%) C++
10 6 (0.74%) Perl
11 4 (0.49%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.25%) DCL
12 2 (0.25%) Go
12 2 (0.25%) VBScript
13 1 (0.12%) C
13 1 (0.12%) R
13 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
13 1 (0.12%) VBA
Qualifications
1 159 (19.49%) Security Cleared
2 100 (12.25%) SC Cleared
3 51 (6.25%) Degree
4 43 (5.27%) DV Cleared
5 33 (4.04%) Microsoft Certification
6 29 (3.55%) A+ Certification
7 24 (2.94%) Network+ Certification
8 21 (2.57%) CCNA
8 21 (2.57%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.96%) MCSE
10 15 (1.84%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
11 9 (1.10%) DBS Check
12 7 (0.86%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 6 (0.74%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 5 (0.61%) ITIL Certification
15 4 (0.49%) NVQ Level 4
16 1 (0.12%) AWS Certification
16 1 (0.12%) CTC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (5.51%) SLA
2 4 (0.49%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.49%) GDPR
2 4 (0.49%) QA
3 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (0.37%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 2 (0.25%) GLP
4 2 (0.25%) GMP
4 2 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.12%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.12%) Disclosure Scotland
5 1 (0.12%) GRC
5 1 (0.12%) GxP
5 1 (0.12%) ITGC
System Software
1 343 (42.03%) Active Directory
2 40 (4.90%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (2.82%) VMware ESXi
4 21 (2.57%) Hyper-V
5 17 (2.08%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.59%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (1.47%) vCloud
8 10 (1.23%) Oracle RAC
9 7 (0.86%) vSphere
10 5 (0.61%) Docker
10 5 (0.61%) NFS
11 4 (0.49%) BitLocker
12 3 (0.37%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.37%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.25%) Firmware
13 2 (0.25%) zsh
14 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 122 (14.95%) Microsoft Intune
2 47 (5.76%) SCCM
3 23 (2.82%) vCenter Server
4 20 (2.45%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (2.21%) Jamf Pro
6 17 (2.08%) SCOM
7 12 (1.47%) Grafana
8 10 (1.23%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 10 (1.23%) Oracle RMAN
9 9 (1.10%) Ansible
10 8 (0.98%) Kubernetes
10 8 (0.98%) Terraform
11 5 (0.61%) Red Hat Satellite
12 3 (0.37%) AirWatch
12 3 (0.37%) ITRS Geneos
12 3 (0.37%) Nagios
12 3 (0.37%) Puppet
12 3 (0.37%) vMotion
12 3 (0.37%) vRealize
13 2 (0.25%) Kibana
Vendors
1 332 (40.69%) Microsoft
2 112 (13.73%) ServiceNow
3 51 (6.25%) VMware
4 35 (4.29%) Apple
5 31 (3.80%) Oracle
6 28 (3.43%) Okta
7 22 (2.70%) SAP
8 21 (2.57%) Dell
9 20 (2.45%) Citrix
10 19 (2.33%) Google
11 18 (2.21%) BeyondTrust
11 18 (2.21%) Cisco
12 14 (1.72%) HP
13 11 (1.35%) Meraki
13 11 (1.35%) Sybase
14 10 (1.23%) Lotus
14 10 (1.23%) Remedy
15 9 (1.10%) McAfee
15 9 (1.10%) Splunk
16 8 (0.98%) Red Hat