Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the South East

Microsoft
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East requiring knowledge or experience of Microsoft products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Microsoft over the 6 months leading up to 14 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within the Microsoft Corporation.

6 months to
14 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 7 5
Rank change year-on-year -1 -2 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 649 458 866
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 12.33% 15.34% 15.39%
As % of the Vendors category 26.60% 29.88% 31.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 450 313 594
10th Percentile £204 £210 £180
25th Percentile £309 £363 £246
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £500 £464
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% +7.82% -3.39%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £575
90th Percentile £650 £650 £675
England median daily rate £492 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +3.58% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 19 67
10th Percentile £12.48 £13.08 £11.71
25th Percentile £13.47 £14.60 £12.81
Median hourly rate £17.50 £18.50 £22.58
Median % change year-on-year -5.41% -18.07% +12.90%
75th Percentile £27.50 £25.75 £55.06
90th Percentile £65.38 £34.26 £61.60
England median hourly rate £19.91 £24.18 £16.06
% change year-on-year -17.66% +50.56% -23.52%

All Vendors
South East

Microsoft falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 2,440 1,533 2,756
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 46.35% 51.36% 48.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,713 1,016 1,693
10th Percentile £282 £237 £205
25th Percentile £413 £406 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £600
90th Percentile £688 £675 £688
England median daily rate £503 £525 £515
% change year-on-year -4.29% +1.94% -4.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 174 78 156
10th Percentile £13.13 £16.03 £12.45
25th Percentile £17.25 £20.07 £16.94
Median hourly rate £30.63 £27.50 £31.25
Median % change year-on-year +11.36% -12.00% -30.56%
75th Percentile £83.00 £63.44 £62.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £78.06 £70.00
England median hourly rate £25.00 £30.45 £25.00
% change year-on-year -17.90% +21.80% -28.57%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the South East

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the South East over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the South East

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the South East over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the South East

Microsoft
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Microsoft within the South East region over the 6 months to 14 March 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
Thames Valley +2 341 £475 -5.00% 251
Berkshire 0 215 £500 - 110
Hampshire -6 141 £544 +8.75% 135
Buckinghamshire -5 83 £465 - 88
Surrey +14 69 £438 +45.83% 78
Oxfordshire -1 43 £275 -12.00% 58
West Sussex -7 35 £408 -4.12% 39
Kent 0 29 £438 -19.61% 51
East Sussex +4 19 £600 +9.09% 25
Sussex +2 10 £463 -7.50% 3
Home Counties +1 4 - -
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 68 (10.48%) SharePoint
2 56 (8.63%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.54%) Confluence
4 3 (0.46%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.46%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.46%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.31%) GeoServer
6 1 (0.15%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.15%) Exchange Server 2010
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint Server
6 1 (0.15%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 106 (16.33%) Microsoft Office
2 83 (12.79%) Microsoft Excel
3 27 (4.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 27 (4.16%) Microsoft Project
4 10 (1.54%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.31%) SOLIDWORKS
5 2 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.15%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.15%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.15%) InDesign
6 1 (0.15%) MicroStation
6 1 (0.15%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 8 (1.23%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
2 1 (0.15%) iTrent
2 1 (0.15%) NEC Housing
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
2 1 (0.15%) Sage 50
2 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.15%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 205 (31.59%) Azure
2 172 (26.50%) Microsoft 365
3 107 (16.49%) Entra ID
4 65 (10.02%) Power Platform
5 62 (9.55%) AWS
6 38 (5.86%) OneDrive
7 29 (4.47%) Azure DevOps
8 28 (4.31%) Power Automate
9 27 (4.16%) Microsoft Purview
10 26 (4.01%) Dynamics 365
10 26 (4.01%) PowerApps
11 25 (3.85%) SaaS
12 21 (3.24%) GitHub
13 17 (2.62%) Serverless
14 16 (2.47%) Azure Functions
15 15 (2.31%) GCP
15 15 (2.31%) Microsoft Copilot
16 13 (2.00%) Google Workspace
16 13 (2.00%) IaaS
17 12 (1.85%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 58 (8.94%) DNS
2 42 (6.47%) DHCP
3 37 (5.70%) Firewall
4 33 (5.08%) Wi-Fi
5 21 (3.24%) VPN
6 16 (2.47%) TCP/IP
7 15 (2.31%) Unified Communications
7 15 (2.31%) Wireless
8 13 (2.00%) Kerberos
9 11 (1.69%) LAN
9 11 (1.69%) Network Security
10 9 (1.39%) 4G
11 8 (1.23%) BGP
11 8 (1.23%) VLAN
11 8 (1.23%) WAN
12 7 (1.08%) MPLS
12 7 (1.08%) SAN
12 7 (1.08%) WebEx
13 6 (0.92%) SNMP
13 6 (0.92%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 51 (7.86%) Power BI
2 40 (6.16%) SQL Server
3 20 (3.08%) Relational Database
4 17 (2.62%) Azure SQL Database
4 17 (2.62%) MySQL
5 12 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
6 10 (1.54%) Data Warehouse
6 10 (1.54%) Metadata
6 10 (1.54%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.08%) Data Lake
8 6 (0.92%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8 6 (0.92%) RDBMS
8 6 (0.92%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 6 (0.92%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 5 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.62%) GIS
10 4 (0.62%) MongoDB
10 4 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.46%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.46%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 14 (2.16%) Android Studio
1 14 (2.16%) Git
2 13 (2.00%) JIRA
3 11 (1.69%) Browser DevTools
3 11 (1.69%) Eclipse
3 11 (1.69%) Xcode
4 9 (1.39%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.77%) JUnit
6 4 (0.62%) Gradle
7 3 (0.46%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.46%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.46%) Maven
7 3 (0.46%) MSI
7 3 (0.46%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.46%) Subversion
8 2 (0.31%) JMeter
8 2 (0.31%) Oracle APEX
8 2 (0.31%) Oracle Forms
8 2 (0.31%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.15%) SonarQube
General
1 231 (35.59%) Social Skills
2 73 (11.25%) Finance
3 72 (11.09%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (10.02%) Organisational Skills
5 57 (8.78%) Public Sector
6 14 (2.16%) Manufacturing
7 13 (2.00%) Documentation Skills
7 13 (2.00%) Military
8 12 (1.85%) Legal
9 11 (1.69%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 9 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
11 8 (1.23%) Retail
12 7 (1.08%) Telecoms
13 6 (0.92%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.62%) Advertising
14 4 (0.62%) Marketing
14 4 (0.62%) Pharmaceutical
15 3 (0.46%) Banking
15 3 (0.46%) Billing
16 2 (0.31%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 100 (15.41%) Architect
2 65 (10.02%) Analyst
3 63 (9.71%) IT Support
3 63 (9.71%) Support Engineer
4 46 (7.09%) Senior
5 42 (6.47%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 39 (6.01%) IT Engineer
7 32 (4.93%) IT Support Engineer
8 28 (4.31%) Developer
9 25 (3.85%) Lead
10 24 (3.70%) Consultant
11 22 (3.39%) Solutions Architect
12 21 (3.24%) Administrator
13 19 (2.93%) Infrastructure Architect
14 17 (2.62%) Support Officer
15 15 (2.31%) Azure Engineer
15 15 (2.31%) Support Analyst
16 14 (2.16%) IT Analyst
17 13 (2.00%) Infrastructure Support
17 13 (2.00%) Product Owner
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (3.24%) .NET
2 14 (2.16%) CSS
2 14 (2.16%) LDAP
2 14 (2.16%) React
3 13 (2.00%) GraphQL
4 12 (1.85%) REST
5 11 (1.69%) Ajax
5 11 (1.69%) AngularJS
5 11 (1.69%) ARM Templates
5 11 (1.69%) OAuth
6 9 (1.39%) OpenID
6 9 (1.39%) SAML
7 7 (1.08%) ADO
8 6 (0.92%) Microsoft Graph
8 6 (0.92%) OAuth2
8 6 (0.92%) SailPoint
8 6 (0.92%) Spring
8 6 (0.92%) XML
9 5 (0.77%) PySpark
10 4 (0.62%) .NET Core
Miscellaneous
1 40 (6.16%) Onboarding
2 36 (5.55%) PKI
3 22 (3.39%) Analytical Mindset
4 20 (3.08%) Replication
5 19 (2.93%) Product Ownership
6 17 (2.62%) Enterprise Software
7 16 (2.47%) Legacy Systems
7 16 (2.47%) Self-Motivation
8 15 (2.31%) Cloud Native
8 15 (2.31%) Mobile App
9 14 (2.16%) Driving Licence
10 12 (1.85%) Video Conferencing
11 11 (1.69%) Operational Technology
12 10 (1.54%) Fat Client
12 10 (1.54%) Thin Client
13 9 (1.39%) Data Centre
13 9 (1.39%) Hybrid Cloud
13 9 (1.39%) Management Information System
14 7 (1.08%) Security Operations Centre
15 5 (0.77%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 192 (29.58%) Windows
2 68 (10.48%) Linux
3 43 (6.63%) Windows Server
4 35 (5.39%) Windows 10
5 17 (2.62%) Mac OS
6 16 (2.47%) Android
7 12 (1.85%) Unix
8 9 (1.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (1.39%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.08%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.92%) Windows Server 2016
10 6 (0.92%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.62%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.46%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) Apple iOS
13 1 (0.15%) Debian
13 1 (0.15%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.15%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (14.95%) Problem-Solving
2 77 (11.86%) Customer Service
3 72 (11.09%) Agile
3 72 (11.09%) Cybersecurity
4 67 (10.32%) Migration
5 65 (10.02%) DevOps
6 60 (9.24%) ITIL
7 59 (9.09%) Business Intelligence
8 55 (8.47%) Project Management
8 55 (8.47%) Stakeholder Management
9 54 (8.32%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 49 (7.55%) CI/CD
11 48 (7.40%) Project Delivery
12 44 (6.78%) Time Management
13 40 (6.16%) Analytics
13 40 (6.16%) Continuous Improvement
14 36 (5.55%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 34 (5.24%) Roadmaps
16 33 (5.08%) User Experience
17 32 (4.93%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 95 (14.64%) PowerShell
2 77 (11.86%) Python
3 54 (8.32%) SQL
4 22 (3.39%) JavaScript
5 21 (3.24%) Java
6 20 (3.08%) Bash
7 18 (2.77%) C#
8 12 (1.85%) Perl
9 10 (1.54%) T-SQL
10 6 (0.92%) Bicep
11 4 (0.62%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.62%) PL/SQL
12 3 (0.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.46%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.31%) Korn
13 2 (0.31%) PHP
13 2 (0.31%) X++
14 1 (0.15%) Google Apps Script
14 1 (0.15%) VB
14 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 225 (34.67%) Security Cleared
2 150 (23.11%) SC Cleared
3 67 (10.32%) DV Cleared
4 62 (9.55%) Degree
5 30 (4.62%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (2.77%) Azure Certification
7 17 (2.62%) CISSP
8 12 (1.85%) DBS Check
9 11 (1.69%) PMI Certification
10 10 (1.54%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.54%) PMP
11 9 (1.39%) GIAC
12 8 (1.23%) AWS Certification
13 7 (1.08%) A+ Certification
13 7 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
13 7 (1.08%) CISM
13 7 (1.08%) Master's Degree
14 6 (0.92%) BPSS Clearance
14 6 (0.92%) CEH
14 6 (0.92%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.85%) NIST
1 25 (3.85%) PMO
2 24 (3.70%) GDPR
3 21 (3.24%) SLA
4 15 (2.31%) Data Quality
4 15 (2.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 12 (1.85%) QA
6 11 (1.69%) Cyber Essentials
7 8 (1.23%) NCSC
8 5 (0.77%) NIST 800
9 3 (0.46%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.46%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.46%) P3O
10 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) COSHH
11 1 (0.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.15%) JSP 440
11 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 195 (30.05%) Active Directory
2 55 (8.47%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (3.70%) Hyper-V
4 11 (1.69%) Docker
4 11 (1.69%) Virtual Desktop
5 9 (1.39%) vSphere
6 7 (1.08%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (0.92%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.46%) DFS Replication
9 2 (0.31%) Firmware
10 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.15%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.15%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 60 (9.24%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (6.93%) SCCM
3 27 (4.16%) Terraform
4 23 (3.54%) Single Sign-On
5 19 (2.93%) Ansible
6 18 (2.77%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 12 (1.85%) WMI
8 11 (1.69%) Kubernetes
9 10 (1.54%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.62%) Cisco CUCM
10 4 (0.62%) vCenter Server
11 3 (0.46%) Grafana
11 3 (0.46%) Nessus
11 3 (0.46%) PaperCut
11 3 (0.46%) Puppet
11 3 (0.46%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 2 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.31%) Progress Chef
12 2 (0.31%) SCOM
12 2 (0.31%) WSUS
Vendors
1 70 (10.79%) VMware
2 43 (6.63%) ServiceNow
3 26 (4.01%) Oracle
4 24 (3.70%) Cisco
5 21 (3.24%) SAP
6 19 (2.93%) Splunk
7 17 (2.62%) Databricks
8 16 (2.47%) Citrix
9 10 (1.54%) Fortinet
9 10 (1.54%) Tenable
10 9 (1.39%) Thales
11 8 (1.23%) F5
11 8 (1.23%) Meraki
11 8 (1.23%) Red Hat
12 7 (1.08%) CyberArk
12 7 (1.08%) Palo Alto
13 6 (0.92%) CrowdStrike
13 6 (0.92%) Juniper
13 6 (0.92%) Virgin Media
14 5 (0.77%) Informatica