Virtual Machines Job Trends

Virtual Machine (VM)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Virtual Machines skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 485 444 374
Rank change year-on-year -41 -70 +138
Permanent jobs citing Virtual Machines 167 283 388
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.28% 0.53% 0.70%
As % of the System Software category 3.92% 4.23% 4.53%
Number of salaries quoted 114 184 261
10th Percentile £35,500 £41,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,625 £49,938 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £58,918 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.56% -1.80% +11.11%
75th Percentile £90,000 £78,125 £72,500
90th Percentile £120,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £46,160 £52,500 £56,525
% change year-on-year -12.08% -7.12% +25.61%

All System Software Skills
UK

Virtual Machines falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring system software skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 4,260 6,698 8,574
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 7.07% 12.50% 15.46%
Number of salaries quoted 3,002 4,020 7,040
10th Percentile £27,500 £30,000 £28,750
25th Percentile £32,000 £40,000 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +4.55% -
75th Percentile £74,066 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £98,750 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £42,000 £50,000 £48,000
% change year-on-year -16.00% +4.17% +1.05%

Virtual Machines
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Virtual Machines relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Virtual Machines job vacancy trend in the UK

Virtual Machines
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Virtual Machines.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Virtual Machines

Virtual Machines
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Virtual Machines over the 6 months to 15 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Virtual Machines in the UK

Virtual Machines
Top 13 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Virtual Machines within the UK over the 6 months to 15 January 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
England -39 148 £57,500 -4.17% 91
UK excluding London -71 91 £46,160 -12.08% 88
London +66 70 £90,000 +9.09% 16
Work from Home +16 48 £58,750 -12.96% 27
South East -2 26 £42,500 -37.04% 21
North West +6 24 £60,000 +20.00% 19
North of England -31 24 £60,000 +13.74% 26
Scotland +5 14 £39,594 -34.01% 8
South West +2 14 £31,000 -36.73% 11
Midlands +5 7 £63,750 +23.79% 12
West Midlands +14 6 £75,000 +42.86% 4
East of England +3 6 £46,160 -12.08% 9
East Midlands -22 1 £52,500 +31.25% 7

Virtual Machines
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 12 (7.19%) SharePoint
2 8 (4.79%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.20%) Apache
4 1 (0.60%) Ethereum
4 1 (0.60%) Hyperledger
Applications
1 4 (2.40%) MS Visio
2 2 (1.20%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.60%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 94 (56.29%) Azure
2 50 (29.94%) Entra ID
3 35 (20.96%) Azure Monitor
4 30 (17.96%) Microsoft 365
5 24 (14.37%) Azure DevOps
6 17 (10.18%) IaaS
6 17 (10.18%) PaaS
7 16 (9.58%) AWS
7 16 (9.58%) GitHub
7 16 (9.58%) SaaS
8 14 (8.38%) GitHub Actions
9 13 (7.78%) Slack
10 12 (7.19%) Azure AKS
10 12 (7.19%) Datadog
11 10 (5.99%) Azure Key Vault
12 9 (5.39%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 9 (5.39%) Serverless
13 8 (4.79%) Azure Functions
13 8 (4.79%) Azure Storage
13 8 (4.79%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 54 (32.34%) Firewall
2 36 (21.56%) VPN
3 33 (19.76%) DNS
4 25 (14.97%) WAN
5 22 (13.17%) DHCP
6 18 (10.78%) Wireless
7 16 (9.58%) TCP/IP
8 11 (6.59%) Network Security
8 11 (6.59%) VLAN
9 10 (5.99%) LAN
10 8 (4.79%) NAS
10 8 (4.79%) SD-WAN
11 7 (4.19%) SAN
12 6 (3.59%) BGP
12 6 (3.59%) OSPF
12 6 (3.59%) Wi-Fi
13 4 (2.40%) Cisco ASA
13 4 (2.40%) EIGRP
13 4 (2.40%) SNMP
13 4 (2.40%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (3.59%) Azure SQL Database
1 6 (3.59%) SQL Server
2 3 (1.80%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.60%) MS Access
3 1 (0.60%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.60%) Power BI
3 1 (0.60%) Relational Database
3 1 (0.60%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 17 (10.18%) JIRA
2 4 (2.40%) Git
2 4 (2.40%) Jenkins
3 3 (1.80%) TeamCity
4 1 (0.60%) GitLab
4 1 (0.60%) Hardhat
4 1 (0.60%) Selenium
4 1 (0.60%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 56 (33.53%) Social Skills
2 44 (26.35%) Finance
3 18 (10.78%) Banking
4 14 (8.38%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (7.78%) Influencing Skills
5 13 (7.78%) Legal
5 13 (7.78%) Presentation Skills
5 13 (7.78%) Retail
6 5 (2.99%) Documentation Skills
6 5 (2.99%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 5 (2.99%) Telecoms
7 4 (2.40%) Marketing
7 4 (2.40%) Public Sector
8 2 (1.20%) Aerospace
8 2 (1.20%) Games
9 1 (0.60%) Investment Banking
9 1 (0.60%) Police
Job Titles
1 35 (20.96%) Senior
2 31 (18.56%) Cloud Engineer
3 21 (12.57%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 17 (10.18%) Analyst
4 17 (10.18%) Support Engineer
5 15 (8.98%) Software Engineer
6 14 (8.38%) Cloud Native Engineer
6 14 (8.38%) Cloud Software Engineer
7 13 (7.78%) Azure Engineer
8 11 (6.59%) Developer
9 10 (5.99%) Asset and Configuration Manager
9 10 (5.99%) Configuration Manager
9 10 (5.99%) DevOps Engineer
9 10 (5.99%) IT Support
9 10 (5.99%) Lead
9 10 (5.99%) Service Manager
10 9 (5.39%) Infrastructure Support
10 9 (5.39%) Senior Cloud Engineer
11 7 (4.19%) Lead Software Engineer
11 7 (4.19%) Senior SQL Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (5.39%) ADO
1 9 (5.39%) OAuth
1 9 (5.39%) SAML
1 9 (5.39%) YAML
2 4 (2.40%) 802.1X
3 3 (1.80%) Flash
3 3 (1.80%) Middleware
3 3 (1.80%) Node.js
4 2 (1.20%) Apache NiFi
4 2 (1.20%) ARM Templates
4 2 (1.20%) LAMP
5 1 (0.60%) Blazor
5 1 (0.60%) Flask
5 1 (0.60%) LDAP
5 1 (0.60%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.60%) Pyramid
5 1 (0.60%) Smart Contracts
5 1 (0.60%) Web Services
5 1 (0.60%) web3js
5 1 (0.60%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 21 (12.57%) Cloud Native
2 18 (10.78%) Management Information System
3 14 (8.38%) Distributed Systems
3 14 (8.38%) Legacy Code
3 14 (8.38%) Onboarding
4 13 (7.78%) Data Centre
5 11 (6.59%) CMDB
6 10 (5.99%) Product Ownership
7 9 (5.39%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (2.99%) Hybrid Cloud
8 5 (2.99%) Public Cloud
9 4 (2.40%) iPad
9 4 (2.40%) iPhone
9 4 (2.40%) Mobile App
9 4 (2.40%) Video Conferencing
10 3 (1.80%) Enterprise Cloud
10 3 (1.80%) IBM Storwize
11 2 (1.20%) AS400
11 2 (1.20%) Driving Licence
11 2 (1.20%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 39 (23.35%) Windows
2 25 (14.97%) Linux
3 22 (13.17%) Windows Server
4 13 (7.78%) VMS
5 5 (2.99%) Windows 10
5 5 (2.99%) Windows Server 2019
6 4 (2.40%) Apple iOS
7 3 (1.80%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (1.20%) CentOS
8 2 (1.20%) Debian
8 2 (1.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (1.20%) Ubuntu
8 2 (1.20%) Unix
9 1 (0.60%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (31.74%) DevOps
2 51 (30.54%) Cybersecurity
3 42 (25.15%) CI/CD
4 41 (24.55%) Continuous Improvement
5 40 (23.95%) ITIL
6 36 (21.56%) Infrastructure as Code
7 34 (20.36%) Disaster Recovery
7 34 (20.36%) Problem-Solving
8 32 (19.16%) Analytics
9 27 (16.17%) Log Analytics
10 26 (15.57%) Cost Management
10 26 (15.57%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 23 (13.77%) Asset Management
12 22 (13.17%) Business Continuity
12 22 (13.17%) Network Virtualisation
13 20 (11.98%) Agile
13 20 (11.98%) User Experience
14 19 (11.38%) AI
14 19 (11.38%) Infrastructure Management
15 17 (10.18%) Information Security
Programming Languages
1 46 (27.54%) PowerShell
2 31 (18.56%) Python
3 29 (17.37%) SQL
4 27 (16.17%) Go
5 26 (15.57%) Bash
6 16 (9.58%) Java
7 15 (8.98%) C
8 14 (8.38%) C++
8 14 (8.38%) Rust
9 12 (7.19%) Bicep
10 9 (5.39%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (1.20%) Perl
12 1 (0.60%) C#
12 1 (0.60%) JavaScript
12 1 (0.60%) Solidity
12 1 (0.60%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 32 (19.16%) Degree
2 18 (10.78%) Azure Certification
3 14 (8.38%) Security Cleared
4 12 (7.19%) SC Cleared
5 11 (6.59%) Computer Science Degree
6 10 (5.99%) Microsoft Certification
7 7 (4.19%) Cisco Certification
8 6 (3.59%) BPSS Clearance
8 6 (3.59%) CCNP
9 4 (2.40%) CCIE
9 4 (2.40%) CISA
9 4 (2.40%) CISM
9 4 (2.40%) CISSP
9 4 (2.40%) DV Cleared
10 3 (1.80%) CCNA
10 3 (1.80%) Network+ Certification
11 2 (1.20%) A+ Certification
11 2 (1.20%) MCP
12 1 (0.60%) HND
12 1 (0.60%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (19.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (10.18%) NIST
3 13 (7.78%) Accessibility
3 13 (7.78%) SOC 2
4 10 (5.99%) GDPR
4 10 (5.99%) ISO/IEC 19770
5 7 (4.19%) SLA
6 4 (2.40%) PMO
7 3 (1.80%) GRC
8 2 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.60%) NCSC
9 1 (0.60%) QA
System Software
1 48 (28.74%) Active Directory
2 32 (19.16%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (14.37%) Hyper-V
4 17 (10.18%) Virtual Servers
5 15 (8.98%) Virtual Desktop
6 14 (8.38%) vSphere
7 13 (7.78%) Docker
8 4 (2.40%) ProxySG
8 4 (2.40%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.60%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.60%) Firmware
9 1 (0.60%) pfSense
9 1 (0.60%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.60%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 38 (22.75%) Terraform
2 34 (20.36%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (16.17%) Kubernetes
4 14 (8.38%) Ansible
5 5 (2.99%) SCOM
5 5 (2.99%) vCenter Server
5 5 (2.99%) ZABBIX
6 2 (1.20%) FortiGate
6 2 (1.20%) PaperCut
7 1 (0.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 1 (0.60%) Grafana
7 1 (0.60%) Nagios
7 1 (0.60%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.60%) Puppet
7 1 (0.60%) SCCM
7 1 (0.60%) SolarWinds Orion
7 1 (0.60%) VxRail
7 1 (0.60%) WSUS
Vendors
1 64 (38.32%) Microsoft
2 34 (20.36%) VMware
3 30 (17.96%) ServiceNow
4 21 (12.57%) Palo Alto
5 15 (8.98%) Cisco
6 13 (7.78%) Tenable
7 12 (7.19%) Fortinet
8 10 (5.99%) Zscaler
9 8 (4.79%) LogicMonitor
10 6 (3.59%) Meraki
11 5 (2.99%) Datto
11 5 (2.99%) SolarWinds
12 4 (2.40%) Aruba
12 4 (2.40%) Carbon Black
12 4 (2.40%) CrowdStrike
12 4 (2.40%) Darktrace
12 4 (2.40%) Draytek
12 4 (2.40%) F5
12 4 (2.40%) Infoblox
12 4 (2.40%) Qualys