Visual Studio Contract Job Trends

Microsoft Visual Studio
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Visual Studio skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 8 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 547 458 332
Rank change year-on-year -89 -126 +135
Contract jobs citing Visual Studio 112 99 244
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.21% 0.30% 0.63%
As % of the Development Applications category 1.77% 2.02% 4.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 55 47 157
10th Percentile £390 £358 £335
25th Percentile £422 £434 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year - -2.91% -0.96%
75th Percentile £556 £575 £619
90th Percentile £611 £714 £671
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £500 £514
% change year-on-year -15.00% -2.72% +8.21%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 20 33
10th Percentile £56.53 £64.68 £57.50
25th Percentile £62.19 - -
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
75th Percentile - £65.94 -
90th Percentile £68.00 £67.00 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year - - +23.81%

All Development Application Skills
UK

Visual Studio falls under the Development Applications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring development application skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for development application skills 6,312 4,903 4,986
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 11.78% 14.91% 12.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,046 3,312 3,269
10th Percentile £350 £325 £350
25th Percentile £413 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £625
90th Percentile £688 £688 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -0.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 263 112 214
10th Percentile £31.50 £26.23 £28.98
25th Percentile £56.25 £50.00 £46.25
Median hourly rate £67.47 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.80% - +4.00%
75th Percentile £75.00 £73.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £87.34 £85.10 £73.19
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.75 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +4.23% - +4.00%

Visual Studio
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Visual Studio relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Visual Studio job vacancy trend in the UK

Visual Studio
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Visual Studio.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Visual Studio

Visual Studio
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Visual Studio over the 6 months to 8 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Visual Studio in the UK

Visual Studio
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Visual Studio.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Visual Studio

Visual Studio
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Visual Studio over the 6 months to 8 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Visual Studio in the UK

Visual Studio
Top 14 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Visual Studio within the UK over the 6 months to 8 August 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 -87 100 £488 -2.40% 40
UK excluding London -100 62 £425 -15.00% 29
London -51 41 £525 -16.00% 12
Work from Home -77 30 £425 -22.73% 11
East of England -26 15 £510 +2.00% 3
Midlands -40 13 £421 +9.42% 4
West Midlands -41 13 £421 +8.71% 3
South East -55 13 £500 +2.04% 10
South West -36 12 £294 -17.54% 8
North of England -89 5 £494 +10.96% 3
Yorkshire -44 4 £494 +26.60%
Wales - 3 £700 -
Scotland -21 1 £368 -26.50% 1
North West -50 1 - - 3

Visual Studio
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 10 (8.93%) SharePoint
2 8 (7.14%) IIS
3 2 (1.79%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.89%) CMS
4 1 (0.89%) Confluence
4 1 (0.89%) Umbraco
Applications
1 12 (10.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (6.25%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (2.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (1.79%) MS Visio
4 2 (1.79%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (2.68%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (1.79%) Dynamics GP
3 1 (0.89%) Maximo
Cloud Services
1 47 (41.96%) Azure
2 36 (32.14%) Azure DevOps
3 24 (21.43%) Dynamics 365
3 24 (21.43%) Power Platform
4 20 (17.86%) PowerApps
5 19 (16.96%) Power Automate
6 16 (14.29%) GitHub
7 11 (9.82%) Microsoft Copilot
8 9 (8.04%) Copilot Studio
9 7 (6.25%) Serverless
10 6 (5.36%) Azure Functions
10 6 (5.36%) Entra ID
10 6 (5.36%) SaaS
11 4 (3.57%) Azure API Management
11 4 (3.57%) Azure App Service
11 4 (3.57%) Azure Data Factory
11 4 (3.57%) Azure Monitor
11 4 (3.57%) Azure Service Bus
11 4 (3.57%) IaaS
11 4 (3.57%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 14 (12.50%) Ethernet
1 14 (12.50%) TCP/IP
2 4 (3.57%) Network Security
3 2 (1.79%) Wireshark
4 1 (0.89%) DHCP
4 1 (0.89%) DNS
4 1 (0.89%) Firewall
4 1 (0.89%) LAN
4 1 (0.89%) RS-232
4 1 (0.89%) RS-422
4 1 (0.89%) Unified Communications
4 1 (0.89%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (26.79%) SQL Server
2 9 (8.04%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 8 (7.14%) Relational Database
4 6 (5.36%) Azure SQL Database
4 6 (5.36%) MS Access
4 6 (5.36%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 4 (3.57%) Power BI
6 3 (2.68%) NoSQL
7 2 (1.79%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.89%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.89%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.89%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.89%) GIS
8 1 (0.89%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.89%) Snowflake Schema
8 1 (0.89%) SSDT
8 1 (0.89%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 30 (26.79%) Git
2 20 (17.86%) Team Foundation Server
3 14 (12.50%) Eclipse
4 10 (8.93%) Jenkins
5 5 (4.46%) Selenium
5 5 (4.46%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 4 (3.57%) JetBrains Rider
6 4 (3.57%) JIRA
6 4 (3.57%) JMeter
6 4 (3.57%) MSBuild
6 4 (3.57%) MSTest
6 4 (3.57%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (2.68%) Rational DOORS
7 3 (2.68%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (1.79%) Fiddler
8 2 (1.79%) GitLab
8 2 (1.79%) MSI
8 2 (1.79%) Postman
9 1 (0.89%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.89%) Visual Studio Coded UI
General
1 30 (26.79%) Finance
2 26 (23.21%) Social Skills
3 14 (12.50%) Military
4 8 (7.14%) Presentation Skills
5 7 (6.25%) Analytical Skills
6 6 (5.36%) Banking
7 5 (4.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 4 (3.57%) General Ledger
8 4 (3.57%) Public Sector
9 2 (1.79%) Aerospace
9 2 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
9 2 (1.79%) Health Technology
9 2 (1.79%) Influencing Skills
9 2 (1.79%) Pharmaceutical
9 2 (1.79%) Retail
10 1 (0.89%) Back Office
10 1 (0.89%) Law
10 1 (0.89%) Legal
10 1 (0.89%) Manufacturing
10 1 (0.89%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 67 (59.82%) Developer
2 18 (16.07%) Software Engineer
3 15 (13.39%) Software Developer
4 13 (11.61%) C# Software Engineer
5 12 (10.71%) C# Developer
6 11 (9.82%) Dynamics 365 Developer
7 10 (8.93%) .NET Developer
8 9 (8.04%) C++ Software Engineer
9 8 (7.14%) Full-Stack Developer
9 8 (7.14%) Microsoft Developer
10 5 (4.46%) C# .NET Developer
10 5 (4.46%) DevOps Engineer
10 5 (4.46%) Lead
10 5 (4.46%) Senior
10 5 (4.46%) VB Developer
10 5 (4.46%) VB6 Developer
11 4 (3.57%) Lead Developer
11 4 (3.57%) Lead Software Developer
11 4 (3.57%) Lecturer
11 4 (3.57%) SQL Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (50.00%) .NET
2 22 (19.64%) Web Services
3 20 (17.86%) .NET Framework
3 20 (17.86%) XML
4 15 (13.39%) RESTful
4 15 (13.39%) WinForms
5 13 (11.61%) ActiveX
5 13 (11.61%) Node.js
5 13 (11.61%) SOAP
6 12 (10.71%) ASP.NET
6 12 (10.71%) REST
7 11 (9.82%) Entity Framework
8 9 (8.04%) ASP.NET Web API
8 9 (8.04%) JSON
8 9 (8.04%) React
9 8 (7.14%) .NET Core
9 8 (7.14%) WCF
10 7 (6.25%) HTML
11 6 (5.36%) XSLT
12 5 (4.46%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 8 (7.14%) Low-Code
2 6 (5.36%) Replication
3 5 (4.46%) Cloud Native
3 5 (4.46%) Self-Motivation
4 3 (2.68%) BYOD
4 3 (2.68%) Data Structures
4 3 (2.68%) Enterprise Software
5 2 (1.79%) AI Agents
5 2 (1.79%) Data Protection Act
5 2 (1.79%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 2 (1.79%) Greenfield Project
5 2 (1.79%) Legacy Applications
6 1 (0.89%) Credit Derivative
6 1 (0.89%) Derivative
6 1 (0.89%) Legacy Systems
6 1 (0.89%) Management Information System
6 1 (0.89%) Team-Oriented Environment
6 1 (0.89%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 37 (33.04%) Windows
2 15 (13.39%) Linux
3 4 (3.57%) Windows Server
4 1 (0.89%) Unix
4 1 (0.89%) Windows 10
4 1 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 54 (48.21%) Agile
2 41 (36.61%) CI/CD
3 40 (35.71%) DevOps
4 34 (30.36%) Unit Testing
5 25 (22.32%) Software Engineering
6 21 (18.75%) Scrum
7 18 (16.07%) Continuous Integration
8 17 (15.18%) Continuous Improvement
9 16 (14.29%) AI
9 16 (14.29%) Continuous Delivery
10 15 (13.39%) SDLC
10 15 (13.39%) TDD
10 15 (13.39%) Validation
11 14 (12.50%) Digital Twin
11 14 (12.50%) Problem-Solving
11 14 (12.50%) Synthetic Environment
12 13 (11.61%) ERP
12 13 (11.61%) Verification and Validation
12 13 (11.61%) Visualisation
13 12 (10.71%) Data Management
Programming Languages
1 79 (70.54%) C#
2 39 (34.82%) SQL
3 29 (25.89%) C++
4 27 (24.11%) JavaScript
5 19 (16.96%) VBA
6 16 (14.29%) X++
7 14 (12.50%) Java
7 14 (12.50%) Python
7 14 (12.50%) VB
7 14 (12.50%) VB6
8 12 (10.71%) T-SQL
9 11 (9.82%) VB.NET
10 10 (8.93%) TypeScript
11 9 (8.04%) PL/SQL
12 8 (7.14%) PowerShell
13 5 (4.46%) C
13 5 (4.46%) VBScript
13 5 (4.46%) XPath
14 2 (1.79%) Bicep
14 2 (1.79%) XAML
Qualifications
1 50 (44.64%) Security Cleared
2 42 (37.50%) SC Cleared
3 17 (15.18%) Degree
4 13 (11.61%) BPSS Clearance
5 6 (5.36%) DV Cleared
6 5 (4.46%) ISTQB
7 4 (3.57%) Computer Science Degree
7 4 (3.57%) DBS Check
7 4 (3.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 2 (1.79%) Master's Degree
8 2 (1.79%) Microsoft Certification
8 2 (1.79%) PhD
9 1 (0.89%) Azure Certification
9 1 (0.89%) ISEB
9 1 (0.89%) Numerate Degree
9 1 (0.89%) PMI Certification
9 1 (0.89%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (4.46%) QA
2 4 (3.57%) Data Quality
3 3 (2.68%) HMG Security Policy Framework
3 3 (2.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (2.68%) SLA
4 1 (0.89%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.89%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 4 (3.57%) Docker
2 1 (0.89%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 10 (8.93%) Single Sign-On
2 4 (3.57%) Ansible
2 4 (3.57%) Terraform
3 3 (2.68%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.89%) PTC Integrity
4 1 (0.89%) SCCM
Vendors
1 57 (50.89%) Microsoft
2 11 (9.82%) Oracle
3 3 (2.68%) Citrix
4 2 (1.79%) IBM
4 2 (1.79%) ServiceNow
5 1 (0.89%) CrowdStrike
5 1 (0.89%) Databricks
5 1 (0.89%) F5
5 1 (0.89%) Green Hills
5 1 (0.89%) PTC