Azure Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Azure
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Azure skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 14 6
Rank change year-on-year +8 -8 -2
Permanent jobs citing Azure 1,174 770 1,181
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 9.83% 14.75% 14.14%
As % of the Cloud Services category 41.43% 50.76% 46.04%
Number of salaries quoted 786 380 871
10th Percentile £31,125 £32,500 £36,250
25th Percentile £45,000 £40,652 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,500
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +3.60% -3.48%
75th Percentile £75,000 £72,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £65,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +8.33% - -4.76%

All Cloud Computing Skills
North West

Azure falls under the Cloud Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring cloud computing skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for cloud computing skills 2,834 1,517 2,565
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 23.74% 29.06% 30.72%
Number of salaries quoted 2,145 926 1,802
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £37,500 £41,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £80,000 £72,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £97,539 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £64,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +6.67% - -7.69%

Azure
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Azure relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Azure job vacancy trend in the North West

Azure
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Azure

Azure
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Azure in the North West over the 6 months to 17 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Azure in the North West

Azure
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Azure within the North West region over the 6 months to 17 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester -1 662 £65,000 +8.33% 345
Lancashire +31 174 £50,000 +5.26% 86
Cheshire -4 165 £55,000 +29.41% 41
Merseyside +4 153 £60,000 +4.35% 36
Cumbria -9 16 £47,500 -17.39% 3
Azure
England

Azure
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 77 (6.56%) SharePoint
2 61 (5.20%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.53%) Confluence
4 17 (1.45%) IIS
5 16 (1.36%) Apache Airflow
6 15 (1.28%) WordPress
7 12 (1.02%) Apache Spark
8 9 (0.77%) Apache
9 8 (0.68%) CMS
10 3 (0.26%) Anypoint
10 3 (0.26%) BizTalk Server
10 3 (0.26%) GeoServer
10 3 (0.26%) nginx
10 3 (0.26%) SharePoint Server
11 2 (0.17%) CICS
11 2 (0.17%) Headless CMS
11 2 (0.17%) OpenStack
11 2 (0.17%) Tomcat
11 2 (0.17%) Umbraco
11 2 (0.17%) WebSphere
Applications
1 57 (4.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (0.60%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (0.60%) Trello
3 4 (0.34%) Chatbot
4 3 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.085%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.085%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 17 (1.45%) Dynamics CRM
2 12 (1.02%) Cloudability
3 9 (0.77%) Dynamics NAV
4 5 (0.43%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.34%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.17%) Magento
7 1 (0.085%) SAP ERP
Cloud Services
1 281 (23.94%) AWS
2 196 (16.70%) Microsoft 365
3 190 (16.18%) Power Platform
4 164 (13.97%) Azure DevOps
5 127 (10.82%) GCP
6 101 (8.60%) Azure AI
7 98 (8.35%) Entra ID
8 88 (7.50%) GitHub
9 66 (5.62%) SaaS
10 58 (4.94%) PowerApps
11 56 (4.77%) Dynamics 365
11 56 (4.77%) Power Automate
12 34 (2.90%) GitHub Actions
12 34 (2.90%) Serverless
13 31 (2.64%) Microsoft Copilot
13 31 (2.64%) OneDrive
14 22 (1.87%) Azure Cosmos DB
14 22 (1.87%) Microsoft Purview
15 20 (1.70%) Azure Data Factory
16 19 (1.62%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 63 (5.37%) Firewall
2 60 (5.11%) DNS
3 48 (4.09%) DHCP
4 33 (2.81%) VPN
5 29 (2.47%) WAN
6 28 (2.39%) TCP/IP
7 27 (2.30%) SAN
8 24 (2.04%) VoIP
9 22 (1.87%) LAN
10 19 (1.62%) SD-WAN
11 17 (1.45%) VLAN
12 12 (1.02%) Remote Desktop
13 10 (0.85%) Internet
13 10 (0.85%) Network Security
13 10 (0.85%) Wi-Fi
13 10 (0.85%) WLAN
14 9 (0.77%) Cisco IOS
15 8 (0.68%) SNMP
16 4 (0.34%) LTE
16 4 (0.34%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 120 (10.22%) Power BI
2 111 (9.45%) SQL Server
3 59 (5.03%) Azure SQL Database
4 56 (4.77%) Tableau
5 45 (3.83%) MongoDB
6 26 (2.21%) Data Warehouse
6 26 (2.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 21 (1.79%) NoSQL
7 21 (1.79%) Relational Database
8 20 (1.70%) Data Lake
8 20 (1.70%) PostgreSQL
9 16 (1.36%) Elasticsearch
10 15 (1.28%) MySQL
11 12 (1.02%) BigQuery
12 10 (0.85%) Metadata
13 9 (0.77%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 7 (0.60%) Delta Lake
15 4 (0.34%) Data Vault
15 4 (0.34%) Neo4j
15 4 (0.34%) OLAP
Development Applications
1 74 (6.30%) Git
2 57 (4.86%) JIRA
3 25 (2.13%) Jenkins
4 17 (1.45%) GitLab
5 12 (1.02%) Postman
6 8 (0.68%) Cypress.io
7 7 (0.60%) NUnit
8 5 (0.43%) Selenium
9 4 (0.34%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.34%) Cucumber
9 4 (0.34%) Robot Framework
9 4 (0.34%) Vite
10 3 (0.26%) Eclipse
10 3 (0.26%) IntelliJ
11 2 (0.17%) JUnit
11 2 (0.17%) Mockito
11 2 (0.17%) MSTest
11 2 (0.17%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 2 (0.17%) Visual Studio
11 2 (0.17%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 415 (35.35%) Social Skills
2 98 (8.35%) Finance
3 93 (7.92%) Analytical Skills
4 57 (4.86%) Retail
5 50 (4.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 48 (4.09%) Law
7 40 (3.41%) Public Sector
8 35 (2.98%) Legal
9 25 (2.13%) Documentation Skills
10 22 (1.87%) Marketing
11 21 (1.79%) Games
12 16 (1.36%) Banking
13 15 (1.28%) Organisational Skills
14 14 (1.19%) Manufacturing
15 10 (0.85%) Influencing Skills
15 10 (0.85%) Multimedia
16 9 (0.77%) Police
17 7 (0.60%) Presentation Skills
17 7 (0.60%) Retail Banking
18 6 (0.51%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 218 (18.57%) Senior
2 214 (18.23%) Developer
3 182 (15.50%) Analyst
4 110 (9.37%) Junior
5 98 (8.35%) Junior Analyst
6 94 (8.01%) Lead
7 90 (7.67%) Architect
8 80 (6.81%) Azure Engineer
9 72 (6.13%) Senior Developer
10 64 (5.45%) Cloud Engineer
11 57 (4.86%) Data Engineer
12 55 (4.68%) .NET Developer
13 52 (4.43%) Cybersecurity Analyst
13 52 (4.43%) Data Analyst
13 52 (4.43%) Security Analyst
14 50 (4.26%) Junior Security Analyst
15 49 (4.17%) IT Support
16 48 (4.09%) Ethical Hacker
16 48 (4.09%) Junior Data Analyst
17 47 (4.00%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 144 (12.27%) .NET
2 64 (5.45%) ASP.NET
3 61 (5.20%) .NET Core
4 59 (5.03%) CSS
5 58 (4.94%) HTML
6 57 (4.86%) REST
7 56 (4.77%) React
8 45 (3.83%) ASP.NET Core
9 41 (3.49%) Node.js
10 40 (3.41%) RESTful
11 32 (2.73%) Middleware
12 31 (2.64%) Entity Framework
13 29 (2.47%) AngularJS
14 21 (1.79%) ASP.NET Web API
14 21 (1.79%) OAuth
14 21 (1.79%) Vue
15 20 (1.70%) EDI
15 20 (1.70%) Kafka
15 20 (1.70%) SOAP
16 19 (1.62%) .NET Framework
Miscellaneous
1 59 (5.03%) Cyberattack
2 48 (4.09%) Cloud Native
3 37 (3.15%) Product Ownership
4 35 (2.98%) Hybrid Cloud
5 34 (2.90%) Onboarding
6 30 (2.56%) Greenfield Project
7 29 (2.47%) Driving Licence
8 25 (2.13%) Distributed Systems
9 20 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
10 19 (1.62%) Management Information System
11 14 (1.19%) AI Agents
11 14 (1.19%) Data Centre
11 14 (1.19%) Self-Motivation
12 13 (1.11%) Mobile App
13 11 (0.94%) Enterprise Cloud
13 11 (0.94%) Legacy Systems
14 10 (0.85%) Enterprise Storage
14 10 (0.85%) Low-Code
14 10 (0.85%) Public Cloud
14 10 (0.85%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 148 (12.61%) Windows
2 98 (8.35%) Windows Server
3 42 (3.58%) Linux
4 18 (1.53%) Mac OS
5 15 (1.28%) Windows Server 2016
6 12 (1.02%) Windows 10
7 11 (0.94%) Unix
7 11 (0.94%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (0.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (0.51%) Android
9 6 (0.51%) CentOS
10 5 (0.43%) Apple iOS
10 5 (0.43%) VMS
11 3 (0.26%) CoreOS
11 3 (0.26%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.17%) Debian
12 2 (0.17%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.17%) Windows 8
13 1 (0.085%) Solaris
13 1 (0.085%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 277 (23.59%) DevOps
2 257 (21.89%) CI/CD
3 250 (21.29%) AI
4 249 (21.21%) Agile
5 195 (16.61%) Problem-Solving
6 194 (16.52%) Cybersecurity
7 191 (16.27%) Continuous Improvement
8 170 (14.48%) Mentoring
9 121 (10.31%) Roadmaps
10 117 (9.97%) Business Intelligence
11 114 (9.71%) Infrastructure as Code
12 96 (8.18%) Software Engineering
13 93 (7.92%) Stakeholder Management
14 91 (7.75%) ITIL
15 90 (7.67%) Analytics
15 90 (7.67%) Full-Stack Development
16 88 (7.50%) Customer Service
17 78 (6.64%) Decision-Making
18 73 (6.22%) Data Engineering
19 72 (6.13%) Platform Engineering
Programming Languages
1 297 (25.30%) SQL
2 245 (20.87%) Python
3 161 (13.71%) C#
4 103 (8.77%) JavaScript
5 74 (6.30%) PowerShell
6 52 (4.43%) Java
7 41 (3.49%) TypeScript
8 31 (2.64%) Bicep
9 30 (2.56%) Bash
10 21 (1.79%) PHP
11 13 (1.11%) R
12 10 (0.85%) Scala
13 8 (0.68%) T-SQL
14 7 (0.60%) C++
15 6 (0.51%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 6 (0.51%) Go
15 6 (0.51%) Kotlin
16 5 (0.43%) Apex Code
17 4 (0.34%) Kusto Query Language
18 3 (0.26%) DataWeave
Qualifications
1 236 (20.10%) Azure Certification
2 73 (6.22%) Security Cleared
3 68 (5.79%) Degree
4 64 (5.45%) SC Cleared
5 51 (4.34%) CompTIA CySA+
6 50 (4.26%) CEH
6 50 (4.26%) CompTIA Security+
7 42 (3.58%) Microsoft Certification
8 31 (2.64%) Cisco Certification
9 29 (2.47%) CCNA
10 27 (2.30%) AWS Certification
11 26 (2.21%) Computer Science Degree
11 26 (2.21%) Network+ Certification
12 23 (1.96%) DBS Check
13 17 (1.45%) CISSP
14 13 (1.11%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 13 (1.11%) ITIL Certification
15 10 (0.85%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
15 10 (0.85%) PMI Certification
16 9 (0.77%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (3.83%) QA
2 43 (3.66%) Data Quality
3 31 (2.64%) GDPR
4 24 (2.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 22 (1.87%) NIST
6 16 (1.36%) Cyber Essentials
7 14 (1.19%) SLA
8 12 (1.02%) TickIT
9 6 (0.51%) PMO
10 5 (0.43%) GRC
11 4 (0.34%) Accessibility
11 4 (0.34%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 3 (0.26%) ISAE 3402
13 2 (0.17%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.17%) WCAG
14 1 (0.085%) DICOM
14 1 (0.085%) GxP
14 1 (0.085%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 130 (11.07%) Active Directory
2 61 (5.20%) Docker
3 55 (4.68%) VMware Infrastructure
4 37 (3.15%) Hyper-V
5 21 (1.79%) Virtual Machines
6 13 (1.11%) Virtual Desktop
7 9 (0.77%) Firmware
8 4 (0.34%) vSphere
9 3 (0.26%) DFS Replication
10 2 (0.17%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.085%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 1 (0.085%) KVM
11 1 (0.085%) MetaFrame
11 1 (0.085%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.085%) NFS
11 1 (0.085%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.085%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.085%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.085%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 115 (9.80%) Terraform
2 74 (6.30%) Microsoft Intune
3 72 (6.13%) Kubernetes
4 30 (2.56%) Ansible
5 17 (1.45%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (0.94%) Grafana
7 9 (0.77%) FortiGate
7 9 (0.77%) Prometheus
8 6 (0.51%) Microsoft Clustering
8 6 (0.51%) Puppet
8 6 (0.51%) SCCM
9 5 (0.43%) Argo
9 5 (0.43%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.34%) Istio
10 4 (0.34%) linkerd
10 4 (0.34%) Nessus
10 4 (0.34%) Proxmox
11 3 (0.26%) McAfee ePO
11 3 (0.26%) Progress Chef
11 3 (0.26%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 642 (54.68%) Microsoft
2 120 (10.22%) ForeScout
3 76 (6.47%) Databricks
4 75 (6.39%) VMware
5 54 (4.60%) Cisco
6 28 (2.39%) Google
7 20 (1.70%) Apple
7 20 (1.70%) Meraki
8 19 (1.62%) Salesforce
9 18 (1.53%) ServiceNow
10 16 (1.36%) Adobe
11 14 (1.19%) Splunk
12 12 (1.02%) MuleSoft
12 12 (1.02%) OpenAI
12 12 (1.02%) Oracle
13 11 (0.94%) Palo Alto
14 10 (0.85%) HP
14 10 (0.85%) SAP
15 9 (0.77%) ProCurve
16 8 (0.68%) SolarWinds