Windows Server Contracts

Microsoft Windows Server
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Windows Server skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Windows Server over the 6 months leading up to 1 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 150 100 81
Rank change year-on-year -50 -19 +42
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 589 956 1,626
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.91% 2.21% 2.91%
As % of the Operating Systems category 13.93% 16.30% 18.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 407 696 1,154
10th Percentile £329 £211 £206
25th Percentile £425 £325 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -5.00% +11.73%
75th Percentile £600 £577 £612
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £500 £450
% change year-on-year +10.00% +11.11% +8.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 19 59
10th Percentile £14.49 £15.18 £20.00
25th Percentile £15.56 £16.13 £24.62
Median hourly rate £17.63 £38.50 £29.30
Median % change year-on-year -54.22% +31.40% +27.39%
75th Percentile £29.30 £61.60 £47.92
90th Percentile £55.14 £70.00 £61.34
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.63 £58.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year -69.61% +54.67% +66.67%

All Operating Systems
UK

Windows Server falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 4,228 5,864 8,885
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 13.72% 13.59% 15.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,744 3,860 6,147
10th Percentile £200 £190 £190
25th Percentile £313 £313 £338
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.21% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £580 £588 £638
90th Percentile £675 £700 £717
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £463 £462
% change year-on-year -2.70% +0.13% +8.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 217 435 407
10th Percentile £15.50 £12.75 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.44 £16.25 £18.44
Median hourly rate £22.00 £25.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -12.00% -41.18% +88.89%
75th Percentile £42.16 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £66.20 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.87 £31.25 £33.50
% change year-on-year -39.62% -6.72% +67.50%

Windows Server
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Windows Server as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Windows Server.

Daily rate trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows Server over the 6 months to 1 July 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Windows Server.

Hourly rate trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows Server over the 6 months to 1 July 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Top 15 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Windows Server within the UK over the 6 months to 1 July 2025. 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 -46 515 £550 +12.82% 1,938
UK excluding London -23 390 £550 +10.00% 1,416
London -35 167 £525 +16.67% 643
Work from Home -27 151 £504 +6.05% 752
South East -13 112 £550 - 405
North of England -16 91 £505 +3.59% 354
South West +30 67 £575 +6.98% 175
North West -7 55 £478 -40.31% 213
Scotland +19 53 £474 +39.34% 73
East of England +24 42 £550 +22.22% 174
Yorkshire -10 31 £525 +61.54% 115
Midlands -44 31 £450 +24.14% 183
West Midlands -19 23 £400 +14.29% 79
East Midlands -30 8 £500 +30.55% 104
North East -5 5 £500 +2.56% 27

Windows Server
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 86 (14.60%) Microsoft Exchange
2 42 (7.13%) SharePoint
3 32 (5.43%) IIS
4 20 (3.40%) Confluence
5 14 (2.38%) Apache
5 14 (2.38%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 11 (1.87%) WebSphere
7 9 (1.53%) Skype for Business
8 5 (0.85%) Tomcat
9 4 (0.68%) BizTalk Server
9 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2013
9 4 (0.68%) SharePoint 2010
10 3 (0.51%) JBoss
11 2 (0.34%) Documentum
12 1 (0.17%) DataSynapse
12 1 (0.17%) nginx
12 1 (0.17%) SAS
12 1 (0.17%) WinCC
Applications
1 28 (4.75%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 5 (0.85%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.68%) InfoPath
4 2 (0.34%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 6 (1.02%) Maximo
2 5 (0.85%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.68%) Dynamics GP
3 4 (0.68%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.17%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 230 (39.05%) Azure
2 108 (18.34%) Microsoft 365
3 99 (16.81%) AWS
4 91 (15.45%) Entra ID
5 44 (7.47%) IaaS
6 30 (5.09%) Cohesity
7 27 (4.58%) OpenShift
8 26 (4.41%) GCP
8 26 (4.41%) PaaS
9 22 (3.74%) SaaS
10 20 (3.40%) Cloud Computing
10 20 (3.40%) GitHub
11 15 (2.55%) Nutanix
12 14 (2.38%) Azure DevOps
13 12 (2.04%) Azure Monitor
14 11 (1.87%) OneDrive
14 11 (1.87%) Power Platform
15 10 (1.70%) Amazon S3
16 9 (1.53%) Azure Sentinel
17 8 (1.36%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 171 (29.03%) DNS
2 97 (16.47%) DHCP
3 94 (15.96%) Firewall
4 64 (10.87%) SAN
5 49 (8.32%) VPN
6 47 (7.98%) TCP/IP
7 32 (5.43%) LAN
8 25 (4.24%) NAS
9 23 (3.90%) WAN
10 22 (3.74%) Network Security
11 21 (3.57%) SMTP
12 17 (2.89%) Skype
13 15 (2.55%) Fibre Channel
14 14 (2.38%) iSCSI
15 13 (2.21%) HTTP
16 12 (2.04%) Intrusion Detection
17 11 (1.87%) Wi-Fi
18 10 (1.70%) NetScaler
19 9 (1.53%) MPLS
20 8 (1.36%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (12.05%) SQL Server
2 22 (3.74%) Oracle Database
3 21 (3.57%) Amazon RDS
4 20 (3.40%) Elasticsearch
5 19 (3.23%) Big Data
6 10 (1.70%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 8 (1.36%) DB2
8 7 (1.19%) Oracle Reports
8 7 (1.19%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 6 (1.02%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
10 4 (0.68%) MongoDB
10 4 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.51%) Neo4j
11 3 (0.51%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.51%) Power BI
12 2 (0.34%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.34%) Hadoop
13 1 (0.17%) InterSystems Cache
13 1 (0.17%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 49 (8.32%) Git
2 40 (6.79%) Jenkins
3 28 (4.75%) JIRA
4 18 (3.06%) Bitbucket
5 17 (2.89%) GitLab
6 11 (1.87%) MSI
7 7 (1.19%) SonarQube
7 7 (1.19%) Sonatype Nexus
8 4 (0.68%) Robot Framework
8 4 (0.68%) Selenium
9 3 (0.51%) JUnit
9 3 (0.51%) Visual Studio
10 2 (0.34%) Artifactory
10 2 (0.34%) Octopus Deploy
11 1 (0.17%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 1 (0.17%) Fiddler
11 1 (0.17%) Postman
11 1 (0.17%) Subversion
11 1 (0.17%) Team Foundation Server
11 1 (0.17%) TeamCity
General
1 158 (26.83%) Social Skills
2 78 (13.24%) Finance
3 63 (10.70%) Public Sector
4 43 (7.30%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (4.75%) Banking
6 18 (3.06%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (2.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 16 (2.72%) Manufacturing
8 15 (2.55%) Legal
9 13 (2.21%) Telecoms
10 12 (2.04%) Law
11 11 (1.87%) Military
12 6 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
13 5 (0.85%) Local Government
13 5 (0.85%) Organisational Skills
14 4 (0.68%) Front Office
14 4 (0.68%) Police
14 4 (0.68%) Spanish Language
15 3 (0.51%) Fire and Rescue
15 3 (0.51%) German Language
Job Titles
1 138 (23.43%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 46 (7.81%) Architect
3 44 (7.47%) Analyst
4 40 (6.79%) Senior
5 38 (6.45%) Support Engineer
6 34 (5.77%) Windows Engineer
7 28 (4.75%) 3rd Line Engineer
8 24 (4.07%) IT Engineer
9 22 (3.74%) Azure Engineer
10 20 (3.40%) Administrator
10 20 (3.40%) Infrastructure Architect
11 19 (3.23%) Lead
12 18 (3.06%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
13 17 (2.89%) Server Engineer
14 16 (2.72%) Consultant
14 16 (2.72%) Infrastructure Specialist
14 16 (2.72%) Linux Engineer
14 16 (2.72%) Wintel Engineer
15 15 (2.55%) Cloud Engineer
16 13 (2.21%) DevOps Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (3.40%) .NET
2 18 (3.06%) REST
3 17 (2.89%) SOAP
4 12 (2.04%) LDAP
5 9 (1.53%) Middleware
6 8 (1.36%) Web Services
6 8 (1.36%) XML
7 6 (1.02%) .NET Framework
7 6 (1.02%) HTML
8 5 (0.85%) ARM Templates
8 5 (0.85%) ASP.NET
8 5 (0.85%) CSS
9 4 (0.68%) Apache Axis
9 4 (0.68%) Azure Blueprints
10 3 (0.51%) Apache NiFi
10 3 (0.51%) jQuery
10 3 (0.51%) JSP
10 3 (0.51%) OpenAPI
10 3 (0.51%) Struts
10 3 (0.51%) X-Windows
Miscellaneous
1 61 (10.36%) PKI
2 42 (7.13%) Data Centre
3 28 (4.75%) Clustering
4 24 (4.07%) Hybrid Cloud
4 24 (4.07%) Onboarding
5 22 (3.74%) Linux Command Line
6 21 (3.57%) Management Information System
7 18 (3.06%) Self-Motivation
8 13 (2.21%) Data Protection Act
9 11 (1.87%) Legacy Applications
10 8 (1.36%) Replication
11 7 (1.19%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.19%) Enterprise Storage
11 7 (1.19%) Private Cloud
11 7 (1.19%) Public Cloud
11 7 (1.19%) Security Posture
12 5 (0.85%) Cyber Threat
12 5 (0.85%) Driving Licence
12 5 (0.85%) Grid Computing
12 5 (0.85%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 587 (99.66%) Windows
2 187 (31.75%) Linux
3 93 (15.79%) Windows Server 2019
4 89 (15.11%) Windows Server 2016
5 81 (13.75%) Windows 10
6 51 (8.66%) Windows Server 2012
7 45 (7.64%) Unix
8 44 (7.47%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 24 (4.07%) Ubuntu
10 22 (3.74%) Windows Server 2003
11 15 (2.55%) CentOS
12 11 (1.87%) VMS
13 10 (1.70%) Solaris
14 8 (1.36%) Android
14 8 (1.36%) Windows Server 2008
15 6 (1.02%) Amazon Linux
15 6 (1.02%) Mac OS
16 5 (0.85%) Apple iOS
16 5 (0.85%) Windows 8
16 5 (0.85%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (30.73%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 120 (20.37%) Problem-Solving
3 99 (16.81%) ITIL
4 83 (14.09%) Agile
4 83 (14.09%) DevOps
5 79 (13.41%) Migration
6 49 (8.32%) Disaster Recovery
6 49 (8.32%) High Availability
7 45 (7.64%) Service Management
8 42 (7.13%) SIEM
9 41 (6.96%) CI/CD
10 40 (6.79%) Deployment Automation
11 36 (6.11%) Cybersecurity
11 36 (6.11%) Project Delivery
12 34 (5.77%) ITSM
13 32 (5.43%) Change Management
13 32 (5.43%) Configuration Management
14 31 (5.26%) Cloud Security
14 31 (5.26%) Patch Management
15 30 (5.09%) Server Management
Programming Languages
1 244 (41.43%) PowerShell
2 103 (17.49%) SQL
3 94 (15.96%) Python
4 47 (7.98%) Bash
5 33 (5.60%) C#
6 24 (4.07%) Java
7 19 (3.23%) PL/SQL
8 17 (2.89%) Perl
9 15 (2.55%) JavaScript
9 15 (2.55%) Shell Script
10 12 (2.04%) VB
11 7 (1.19%) VBScript
12 6 (1.02%) Bicep
13 5 (0.85%) C++
14 4 (0.68%) PHP
14 4 (0.68%) Ruby
15 2 (0.34%) C
16 1 (0.17%) ActionScript
16 1 (0.17%) VB.NET
16 1 (0.17%) VBA
Qualifications
1 228 (38.71%) Security Cleared
2 138 (23.43%) SC Cleared
3 98 (16.64%) DV Cleared
4 56 (9.51%) Degree
4 56 (9.51%) Microsoft Certification
5 34 (5.77%) Cisco Certification
6 31 (5.26%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 25 (4.24%) MCSE
8 18 (3.06%) Azure Certification
9 12 (2.04%) CCNP
10 11 (1.87%) CISSP
10 11 (1.87%) RHCE
11 10 (1.70%) OCA
11 10 (1.70%) Oracle Certification
12 9 (1.53%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.53%) CompTIA Security+
12 9 (1.53%) RHCA
12 9 (1.53%) VCP5
12 9 (1.53%) VCP6
13 7 (1.19%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (2.55%) QA
2 14 (2.38%) GDPR
2 14 (2.38%) SLA
3 13 (2.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 7 (1.19%) Cyber Essentials
4 7 (1.19%) NCSC
5 6 (1.02%) Disclosure Scotland
5 6 (1.02%) NIST
6 5 (0.85%) Accessibility
6 5 (0.85%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.68%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 4 (0.68%) SOC 2
8 2 (0.34%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.34%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.34%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.34%) IEC 61131
9 1 (0.17%) HL7
9 1 (0.17%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.17%) RMADS
9 1 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 333 (56.54%) Active Directory
2 167 (28.35%) VMware Infrastructure
3 87 (14.77%) Hyper-V
4 69 (11.71%) VMware ESXi
5 46 (7.81%) vSphere
6 42 (7.13%) Docker
7 35 (5.94%) Virtual Machines
8 34 (5.77%) Virtual Servers
9 27 (4.58%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 19 (3.23%) Virtual Desktop
11 17 (2.89%) NFS
12 14 (2.38%) BitLocker
13 13 (2.21%) Microsoft App-V
14 12 (2.04%) Terminal Services
14 12 (2.04%) VMware NSX
15 11 (1.87%) XenDesktop
16 8 (1.36%) XenApp
17 4 (0.68%) Citrix Hypervisor
17 4 (0.68%) Platform Symphony
17 4 (0.68%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 96 (16.30%) Ansible
2 88 (14.94%) SCCM
3 69 (11.71%) WSUS
4 63 (10.70%) Microsoft Intune
5 61 (10.36%) Terraform
6 53 (9.00%) vCenter Server
7 45 (7.64%) Kubernetes
8 30 (5.09%) Puppet
9 16 (2.72%) Progress Chef
10 14 (2.38%) NetBackup
11 13 (2.21%) SCOM
11 13 (2.21%) Single Sign-On
12 12 (2.04%) Nagios
12 12 (2.04%) vMotion
13 8 (1.36%) FortiGate
13 8 (1.36%) Grafana
13 8 (1.36%) Kibana
13 8 (1.36%) Microsoft Clustering
13 8 (1.36%) Oracle RMAN
14 7 (1.19%) Nessus
Vendors
1 278 (47.20%) Microsoft
2 247 (41.94%) VMware
3 65 (11.04%) Cisco
4 54 (9.17%) Citrix
4 54 (9.17%) Oracle
5 47 (7.98%) Red Hat
6 42 (7.13%) NetApp
7 39 (6.62%) Dell
8 35 (5.94%) Splunk
9 31 (5.26%) Veeam
10 29 (4.92%) HP
11 24 (4.07%) SolarWinds
12 23 (3.90%) IBM
13 19 (3.23%) Google
14 18 (3.06%) CyberArk
15 16 (2.72%) Veritas
16 15 (2.55%) ServiceNow
16 15 (2.55%) Symantec
17 12 (2.04%) Atlassian
18 11 (1.87%) Wyse