Support Engineer Contract Job Trends

Support Engineer
UK

The median Support Engineer daily rate in the UK is £225, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 July 2026.

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

6 months to
13 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 135 108
Rank change year-on-year -35 -27 -4
Contract jobs requiring a Support Engineer 822 675 884
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.56% 2.07% 2.07%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.69% 2.25% 2.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 536 434 601
10th Percentile £156 £160 £140
25th Percentile £185 £200 £163
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 £238 £220
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +7.95% -12.00%
75th Percentile £386 £375 £340
90th Percentile £490 £500 £500
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £228 £205
% change year-on-year -7.69% +10.98% -7.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 61 55 61
10th Percentile £17.10 £18.10 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.82 £18.03
Median hourly rate £25.77 £25.15 £22.15
Median % change year-on-year +2.47% +13.54% +10.75%
75th Percentile £36.00 £43.75 £28.75
90th Percentile £53.00 £68.00 £53.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £25.15 £22.25
% change year-on-year -10.54% +13.03% +18.67%

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 48,729 30,023 39,779
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.49% 91.87% 93.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,502 19,148 25,568
10th Percentile £325 £287 £288
25th Percentile £419 £400 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,285 1,392 2,719
10th Percentile £15.90 £13.75 £13.00
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.41 £17.00
Median hourly rate £43.69 £26.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +64.87% -33.75% -5.88%
75th Percentile £67.84 £56.25 £63.20
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.75 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% +6.67%

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 13 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 13 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 13 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 -45 702 £213 -10.53% 277
UK excluding London -37 554 £210 -7.69% 294
London -43 236 £250 -4.76% 49
South East -37 161 £238 -5.00% 96
North of England -66 98 £190 -12.64% 50
Work from Home -84 87 £240 -20.00% 80
Midlands -38 76 £225 -11.76% 39
Scotland +48 73 £437 +20.55% 33
South West -49 66 £210 -10.64% 46
East of England +1 64 £198 -12.22% 23
North West -49 59 £190 -12.64% 25
West Midlands -73 45 £250 -9.09% 20
Yorkshire -31 38 £200 -14.89% 19
East Midlands +4 30 £200 +16.96% 19
Wales -24 11 £195 -2.50% 4
Northern Ireland -1 5 £175 - 8
North East -51 1 £290 +48.72% 8
Channel Islands - 1 £550 - 1

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

For the 6 months to 13 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 (51.82%) Windows
2 341 (41.48%) Active Directory
3 321 (39.05%) Microsoft
4 288 (35.04%) Microsoft 365
5 185 (22.51%) Problem-Solving
6 177 (21.53%) Windows 10
7 161 (19.59%) Customer Service
8 160 (19.46%) Security Cleared
9 154 (18.73%) ITIL
10 145 (17.64%) Azure
11 127 (15.45%) Microsoft Intune
12 112 (13.63%) ServiceNow
13 108 (13.14%) Entra ID
14 105 (12.77%) SC Cleared
15 89 (10.83%) DNS
16 86 (10.46%) SharePoint
17 84 (10.22%) ITSM
18 79 (9.61%) PowerShell
19 67 (8.15%) SQL
20 66 (8.03%) JIRA
21 62 (7.54%) Linux
22 61 (7.42%) VPN
23 58 (7.06%) DHCP
24 57 (6.93%) Continuous Improvement
24 57 (6.93%) Microsoft Exchange
25 55 (6.69%) Service Delivery
26 54 (6.57%) Migration
27 53 (6.45%) Mac OS
27 53 (6.45%) Windows Server
28 52 (6.33%) TCP/IP

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 86 (10.46%) SharePoint
2 57 (6.93%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.46%) NetWeaver
4 9 (1.09%) HCL Notes
5 5 (0.61%) Confluence
6 3 (0.36%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.24%) IIS
7 2 (0.24%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.24%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.12%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 41 (4.99%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 11 (1.34%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.73%) Teamcenter
3 5 (0.61%) Remedy ITSM
4 4 (0.49%) SAP EHS
5 2 (0.24%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.12%) Alphatax
6 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.12%) Dynamics GP
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.12%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 288 (35.04%) Microsoft 365
2 145 (17.64%) Azure
3 108 (13.14%) Entra ID
4 35 (4.26%) OneDrive
5 32 (3.89%) AWS
6 21 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
7 18 (2.19%) SaaS
8 15 (1.82%) GCP
9 11 (1.34%) Power Platform
10 9 (1.09%) PaaS
11 6 (0.73%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.73%) IaaS
12 5 (0.61%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.61%) Mimecast
13 4 (0.49%) Amazon S3
13 4 (0.49%) Dynamics 365
14 3 (0.36%) Amazon EC2
14 3 (0.36%) OpenShift
14 3 (0.36%) PowerApps
14 3 (0.36%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 89 (10.83%) DNS
2 61 (7.42%) VPN
3 58 (7.06%) DHCP
4 52 (6.33%) TCP/IP
5 49 (5.96%) Wi-Fi
6 42 (5.11%) LAN
7 26 (3.16%) WAN
8 24 (2.92%) SAN
9 20 (2.43%) Firewall
10 17 (2.07%) Internet
11 15 (1.82%) VLAN
12 11 (1.34%) WLAN
13 8 (0.97%) Wireless
14 7 (0.85%) HTTP
14 7 (0.85%) Skype
15 6 (0.73%) VoIP
16 4 (0.49%) Network Security
16 4 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
16 4 (0.49%) Unified Communications
17 3 (0.36%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (4.14%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.19%) MySQL
3 12 (1.46%) SAP HANA
4 11 (1.34%) Sybase ASE
5 10 (1.22%) Amazon Redshift
5 10 (1.22%) MaxDB
6 9 (1.09%) Power BI
6 9 (1.09%) Relational Database
7 7 (0.85%) Pentaho
7 7 (0.85%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 6 (0.73%) PostgreSQL
9 5 (0.61%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.49%) Oracle Database 12c
11 3 (0.36%) Big Data
11 3 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
11 3 (0.36%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.24%) MariaDB
12 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 66 (8.03%) JIRA
2 19 (2.31%) Git
3 9 (1.09%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (0.36%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.36%) Eclipse
4 3 (0.36%) Xcode
5 2 (0.24%) Firebug
5 2 (0.24%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.12%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
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 (40.02%) Social Skills
2 97 (11.80%) Analytical Skills
3 62 (7.54%) Finance
4 45 (5.47%) Manufacturing
5 37 (4.50%) Banking
6 22 (2.68%) Organisational Skills
7 21 (2.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 20 (2.43%) Investment Banking
9 15 (1.82%) Aerospace
9 15 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
9 15 (1.82%) Retail
10 14 (1.70%) Aviation
11 13 (1.58%) Law
12 10 (1.22%) Front Office
13 9 (1.09%) Financial Institution
14 8 (0.97%) Legal
14 8 (0.97%) Spanish Language
15 7 (0.85%) Marketing
15 7 (0.85%) Telecoms
16 6 (0.73%) Public Sector
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.34%) SAP Basis
2 10 (1.22%) Oracle GoldenGate
2 10 (1.22%) REST
3 8 (0.97%) .NET
4 7 (0.85%) JDO
5 6 (0.73%) SAP Fiori
5 6 (0.73%) SAPUI5
5 6 (0.73%) Software Packaging
6 5 (0.61%) CSS
6 5 (0.61%) LDAP
6 5 (0.61%) SAML
7 4 (0.49%) Middleware
7 4 (0.49%) OAuth
7 4 (0.49%) XML
8 3 (0.36%) Ajax
8 3 (0.36%) AngularJS
8 3 (0.36%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.36%) React
8 3 (0.36%) RESTful
8 3 (0.36%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 91 (11.07%) Onboarding
2 35 (4.26%) Data Centre
3 23 (2.80%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (2.55%) Analytical Mindset
5 20 (2.43%) Video Conferencing
6 19 (2.31%) Virtual Team
7 16 (1.95%) iPhone
8 14 (1.70%) Data Protection Act
8 14 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
8 14 (1.70%) PKI
9 12 (1.46%) Driving Licence
9 12 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
10 10 (1.22%) SCADA
11 9 (1.09%) Blackberry
11 9 (1.09%) Hedge funds
11 9 (1.09%) iPad
12 8 (0.97%) Smartphone
13 7 (0.85%) Management Information System
14 6 (0.73%) BYOD
15 5 (0.61%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 426 (51.82%) Windows
2 177 (21.53%) Windows 10
3 62 (7.54%) Linux
4 53 (6.45%) Mac OS
4 53 (6.45%) Windows Server
5 43 (5.23%) Unix
6 26 (3.16%) Apple iOS
7 24 (2.92%) Android
8 14 (1.70%) Windows 7
9 8 (0.97%) Ubuntu
9 8 (0.97%) Windows Server 2016
10 7 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.49%) Solaris
12 3 (0.36%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.36%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.24%) Mac OS X
13 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
13 2 (0.24%) VMS
14 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 185 (22.51%) Problem-Solving
2 161 (19.59%) Customer Service
3 154 (18.73%) ITIL
4 84 (10.22%) ITSM
5 57 (6.93%) Continuous Improvement
6 55 (6.69%) Service Delivery
7 54 (6.57%) Migration
8 45 (5.47%) Asset Management
9 44 (5.35%) Change Management
10 41 (4.99%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 40 (4.87%) Problem Management
12 39 (4.74%) User Experience
13 38 (4.62%) Service Management
14 37 (4.50%) Incident Management
15 35 (4.26%) Root Cause Analysis
16 34 (4.14%) DevOps
17 28 (3.41%) High Availability
18 27 (3.28%) Data Protection
18 27 (3.28%) Identity Access Management
19 25 (3.04%) Break/Fix
Programming Languages
1 79 (9.61%) PowerShell
2 67 (8.15%) SQL
3 33 (4.01%) Python
4 22 (2.68%) C#
5 21 (2.55%) Java
6 17 (2.07%) JavaScript
6 17 (2.07%) Shell Script
7 16 (1.95%) Bash
8 10 (1.22%) Korn
9 7 (0.85%) C++
9 7 (0.85%) Perl
10 4 (0.49%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.24%) DCL
11 2 (0.24%) Go
11 2 (0.24%) VBScript
12 1 (0.12%) C
12 1 (0.12%) R
12 1 (0.12%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.12%) VBA
Qualifications
1 160 (19.46%) Security Cleared
2 105 (12.77%) SC Cleared
3 50 (6.08%) Degree
4 40 (4.87%) DV Cleared
5 31 (3.77%) Microsoft Certification
6 27 (3.28%) A+ Certification
7 23 (2.80%) Network+ Certification
8 21 (2.55%) CCNA
8 21 (2.55%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.95%) MCSE
10 14 (1.70%) BPSS Clearance
11 9 (1.09%) DBS Check
12 8 (0.97%) Azure Certification
12 8 (0.97%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (0.85%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 6 (0.73%) ITIL Certification
15 5 (0.61%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 4 (0.49%) NVQ Level 4
17 1 (0.12%) CTC Cleared
17 1 (0.12%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (5.11%) SLA
2 4 (0.49%) Data Quality
2 4 (0.49%) GDPR
2 4 (0.49%) QA
3 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 2 (0.24%) GLP
4 2 (0.24%) GMP
4 2 (0.24%) 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
1 341 (41.48%) Active Directory
2 37 (4.50%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.68%) VMware ESXi
4 20 (2.43%) Hyper-V
5 17 (2.07%) VMware NSX
6 12 (1.46%) vCloud
7 11 (1.34%) Virtual Desktop
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle RAC
9 8 (0.97%) vSphere
10 5 (0.61%) Docker
10 5 (0.61%) NFS
11 4 (0.49%) BitLocker
12 3 (0.36%) Firmware
12 3 (0.36%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.36%) Terminal Services
13 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 1 (0.12%) XenDesktop
14 1 (0.12%) zsh
Systems Management
1 127 (15.45%) Microsoft Intune
2 48 (5.84%) SCCM
3 22 (2.68%) vCenter Server
4 19 (2.31%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (2.19%) Jamf Pro
6 16 (1.95%) SCOM
7 12 (1.46%) Grafana
8 10 (1.22%) Ansible
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 10 (1.22%) Oracle RMAN
9 6 (0.73%) Kubernetes
9 6 (0.73%) Terraform
10 5 (0.61%) Red Hat Satellite
11 3 (0.36%) AirWatch
11 3 (0.36%) Nagios
11 3 (0.36%) Puppet
11 3 (0.36%) vMotion
11 3 (0.36%) vRealize
12 2 (0.24%) PaperCut
12 2 (0.24%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 321 (39.05%) Microsoft
2 112 (13.63%) ServiceNow
3 48 (5.84%) VMware
4 33 (4.01%) Apple
5 31 (3.77%) Oracle
6 23 (2.80%) Okta
7 21 (2.55%) Dell
7 21 (2.55%) SAP
8 18 (2.19%) Citrix
9 17 (2.07%) Cisco
9 17 (2.07%) Google
10 15 (1.82%) HP
11 13 (1.58%) BeyondTrust
12 11 (1.34%) Sybase
13 10 (1.22%) Meraki
14 9 (1.09%) Lotus
14 9 (1.09%) McAfee
15 8 (0.97%) Red Hat
15 8 (0.97%) Remedy
15 8 (0.97%) Splunk