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 12 May 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
12 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 6 6
Rank change year-on-year -2 0 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 662 464 800
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 11.26% 15.45% 14.50%
As % of the Vendors category 26.81% 29.44% 30.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 465 313 534
10th Percentile £202 £211 £192
25th Percentile £357 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £480 £465
Median % change year-on-year -1.04% +3.23% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £575
90th Percentile £660 £623 £675
England median daily rate £498 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +4.74% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 54 31 72
10th Percentile £12.29 - £11.71
25th Percentile £13.81 £14.20 £11.95
Median hourly rate £27.50 £15.00 £20.25
Median % change year-on-year +83.33% -25.93% +1.25%
75th Percentile £53.94 £24.38 £50.94
90th Percentile £92.90 £32.05 £61.48
England median hourly rate £20.09 £18.63 £15.00
% change year-on-year +7.84% +24.20% -28.57%

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 2,469 1,576 2,587
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 41.98% 52.48% 46.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,707 1,054 1,583
10th Percentile £282 £233 £213
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £508 £500
Median % change year-on-year +0.49% +1.50% -
75th Percentile £610 £603 £600
90th Percentile £700 £675 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £518
% change year-on-year -4.76% +1.30% -2.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 154 87 183
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £12.00
25th Percentile £24.62 £16.95 £16.87
Median hourly rate £49.36 £24.66 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +100.16% -50.68% +11.11%
75th Percentile £87.50 £59.44 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £72.25 £66.62
England median hourly rate £32.11 £27.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +18.94% +20.00% -43.75%

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 12 May 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 12 May 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 12 May 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 0 343 £479 +0.52% 264
Berkshire -8 161 £500 +4.71% 118
Hampshire -8 134 £538 +7.50% 135
Buckinghamshire -3 114 £492 -10.59% 92
Surrey +14 96 £450 -10.00% 85
Oxfordshire 0 68 £338 +35.00% 58
West Sussex -3 41 £475 +23.38% 31
Kent -2 28 £344 +30.95% 49
East Sussex -4 10 £538 - 16
Home Counties +2 4 - - 1
Sussex -3 1 - - 5
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 69 (10.42%) SharePoint
2 68 (10.27%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.66%) Confluence
4 3 (0.45%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.45%) MS Project Server
4 3 (0.45%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.30%) 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 2010
6 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 85 (12.84%) Microsoft Office
2 78 (11.78%) Microsoft Excel
3 33 (4.98%) Microsoft Project
4 29 (4.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 12 (1.81%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.30%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.15%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.15%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.15%) InDesign
7 1 (0.15%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.15%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.15%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (1.36%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (0.60%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.15%) iTrent
3 1 (0.15%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.15%) SAP PSCD
3 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 255 (38.52%) Azure
2 188 (28.40%) Microsoft 365
3 117 (17.67%) Entra ID
4 85 (12.84%) Power Platform
5 59 (8.91%) AWS
6 38 (5.74%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (4.68%) Power Automate
8 28 (4.23%) Dynamics 365
9 26 (3.93%) OneDrive
10 23 (3.47%) Microsoft Purview
10 23 (3.47%) SaaS
11 22 (3.32%) PowerApps
12 19 (2.87%) IaaS
13 18 (2.72%) GitHub
13 18 (2.72%) Microsoft Copilot
14 16 (2.42%) Serverless
15 15 (2.27%) Azure Functions
16 14 (2.11%) Azure Logic Apps
17 13 (1.96%) Azure Monitor
17 13 (1.96%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 54 (8.16%) DNS
2 39 (5.89%) DHCP
3 33 (4.98%) Wi-Fi
4 32 (4.83%) Firewall
5 20 (3.02%) VPN
6 17 (2.57%) LAN
7 15 (2.27%) WAN
8 12 (1.81%) Kerberos
8 12 (1.81%) TCP/IP
9 9 (1.36%) MPLS
9 9 (1.36%) Network Security
9 9 (1.36%) Unified Communications
10 8 (1.21%) SD-WAN
11 7 (1.06%) BGP
12 6 (0.91%) SAN
12 6 (0.91%) SNMP
12 6 (0.91%) VLAN
12 6 (0.91%) Wireless
13 5 (0.76%) IPsec
13 5 (0.76%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 63 (9.52%) Power BI
2 31 (4.68%) SQL Server
3 16 (2.42%) Azure SQL Database
4 13 (1.96%) MySQL
5 10 (1.51%) Metadata
5 10 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.21%) Relational Database
7 7 (1.06%) Data Lake
7 7 (1.06%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (0.91%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.76%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
10 4 (0.60%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.60%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.45%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.45%) Data Mining
11 3 (0.45%) GIS
11 3 (0.45%) Star Schema
12 2 (0.30%) Geospatial Data
12 2 (0.30%) QGIS
12 2 (0.30%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 20 (3.02%) JIRA
2 11 (1.66%) Git
3 9 (1.36%) Android Studio
4 6 (0.91%) Browser DevTools
4 6 (0.91%) Eclipse
4 6 (0.91%) Xcode
5 4 (0.60%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.60%) JUnit
5 4 (0.60%) MSI
6 3 (0.45%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.45%) Gradle
6 3 (0.45%) Maven
6 3 (0.45%) Robot Framework
6 3 (0.45%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.45%) Subversion
7 1 (0.15%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.15%) ERwin
7 1 (0.15%) JMeter
7 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 187 (28.25%) Social Skills
2 69 (10.42%) Public Sector
3 68 (10.27%) Finance
4 65 (9.82%) Analytical Skills
5 48 (7.25%) Organisational Skills
6 17 (2.57%) Documentation Skills
6 17 (2.57%) Legal
7 15 (2.27%) Military
8 10 (1.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (1.36%) Telecoms
10 8 (1.21%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.21%) Manufacturing
11 6 (0.91%) Aerospace
11 6 (0.91%) Marketing
11 6 (0.91%) Retail
12 5 (0.76%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (0.60%) Advertising
13 4 (0.60%) General Ledger
13 4 (0.60%) Police
14 3 (0.45%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 88 (13.29%) Architect
2 63 (9.52%) Analyst
3 58 (8.76%) IT Support
4 56 (8.46%) Senior
5 53 (8.01%) Support Engineer
6 48 (7.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 42 (6.34%) IT Engineer
8 36 (5.44%) Lead
9 34 (5.14%) IT Support Engineer
10 32 (4.83%) Consultant
11 28 (4.23%) Developer
12 24 (3.63%) Azure Engineer
12 24 (3.63%) Solutions Architect
13 18 (2.72%) Administrator
13 18 (2.72%) IT Analyst
13 18 (2.72%) Technical Architect
14 17 (2.57%) Project Manager
15 16 (2.42%) DevOps Engineer
16 15 (2.27%) Support Analyst
17 14 (2.11%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (3.63%) .NET
2 19 (2.87%) LDAP
3 15 (2.27%) OAuth
4 14 (2.11%) SAML
5 13 (1.96%) OpenID
6 12 (1.81%) REST
7 11 (1.66%) Web Services
8 10 (1.51%) OAuth2
8 10 (1.51%) SailPoint
9 9 (1.36%) ARM Templates
9 9 (1.36%) CSS
9 9 (1.36%) React
10 8 (1.21%) Microsoft Graph
11 7 (1.06%) ADO
12 6 (0.91%) Ajax
12 6 (0.91%) AngularJS
12 6 (0.91%) GraphQL
12 6 (0.91%) XML
13 5 (0.76%) PySpark
13 5 (0.76%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 51 (7.70%) Onboarding
2 31 (4.68%) PKI
3 20 (3.02%) Product Ownership
4 19 (2.87%) Cloud Native
5 17 (2.57%) Hybrid Cloud
5 17 (2.57%) Legacy Systems
6 16 (2.42%) Data Centre
7 15 (2.27%) Operational Technology
7 15 (2.27%) Replication
8 14 (2.11%) Public Cloud
9 13 (1.96%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.96%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.66%) Cyber Defence
11 10 (1.51%) Driving Licence
12 9 (1.36%) Mobile App
13 8 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
13 8 (1.21%) Virtual Team
14 7 (1.06%) Security Posture
15 6 (0.91%) Data Structures
15 6 (0.91%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 190 (28.70%) Windows
2 65 (9.82%) Linux
3 53 (8.01%) Windows Server
4 21 (3.17%) Windows 10
5 14 (2.11%) Android
5 14 (2.11%) Mac OS
5 14 (2.11%) Unix
6 10 (1.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 8 (1.21%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.21%) Windows 7
8 7 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.91%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.76%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.60%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.45%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) Debian
13 1 (0.15%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.15%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (14.50%) Problem-Solving
2 81 (12.24%) Agile
3 79 (11.93%) DevOps
4 74 (11.18%) Business Intelligence
4 74 (11.18%) ITIL
5 72 (10.88%) Customer Service
6 69 (10.42%) Migration
7 63 (9.52%) CI/CD
8 62 (9.37%) Cybersecurity
9 57 (8.61%) Stakeholder Management
10 55 (8.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 55 (8.31%) Project Management
11 54 (8.16%) Analytics
12 48 (7.25%) Project Delivery
13 44 (6.65%) Decision-Making
13 44 (6.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 40 (6.04%) SIEM
15 36 (5.44%) Roadmaps
16 35 (5.29%) User Experience
17 33 (4.98%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 99 (14.95%) PowerShell
2 67 (10.12%) Python
3 55 (8.31%) SQL
4 20 (3.02%) T-SQL
5 17 (2.57%) Bash
5 17 (2.57%) C#
6 15 (2.27%) JavaScript
7 13 (1.96%) Java
8 10 (1.51%) Bicep
9 8 (1.21%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (1.06%) Kusto Query Language
11 6 (0.91%) Perl
12 2 (0.30%) Korn
12 2 (0.30%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.30%) X++
13 1 (0.15%) Google Apps Script
13 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.15%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 230 (34.74%) Security Cleared
2 161 (24.32%) SC Cleared
3 70 (10.57%) Degree
3 70 (10.57%) DV Cleared
4 23 (3.47%) Microsoft Certification
5 15 (2.27%) CISSP
6 14 (2.11%) GIAC
7 12 (1.81%) Azure Certification
7 12 (1.81%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.66%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.51%) PMI Certification
9 10 (1.51%) PMP
10 9 (1.36%) CISM
11 8 (1.21%) AWS Certification
11 8 (1.21%) BPSS Clearance
11 8 (1.21%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.91%) Master's Degree
13 5 (0.76%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 5 (0.76%) CESG Certified Professional
13 5 (0.76%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.98%) NIST
2 24 (3.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (3.32%) PMO
4 21 (3.17%) Cyber Essentials
5 19 (2.87%) NCSC
6 18 (2.72%) SLA
7 17 (2.57%) GDPR
8 16 (2.42%) Data Quality
9 11 (1.66%) QA
10 6 (0.91%) ISO 31000
10 6 (0.91%) NIST 800
11 5 (0.76%) Accessibility
12 3 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 3 (0.45%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.30%) JSP 440
14 1 (0.15%) Actionable Recommendations
14 1 (0.15%) Disclosure Scotland
14 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
14 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 204 (30.82%) Active Directory
2 64 (9.67%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (4.08%) Hyper-V
4 12 (1.81%) Docker
4 12 (1.81%) Virtual Desktop
5 11 (1.66%) vSphere
6 10 (1.51%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (1.51%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (1.51%) VMware NSX
7 5 (0.76%) Firmware
8 3 (0.45%) DFS Replication
9 2 (0.30%) UAG
10 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.15%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.15%) Sendmail
10 1 (0.15%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 58 (8.76%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (4.83%) Terraform
3 30 (4.53%) SCCM
4 18 (2.72%) Single Sign-On
5 17 (2.57%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 17 (2.57%) Ansible
6 13 (1.96%) Kubernetes
7 9 (1.36%) SCOM
8 7 (1.06%) Jamf Pro
8 7 (1.06%) vCenter Server
8 7 (1.06%) WMI
9 4 (0.60%) QRadar
10 3 (0.45%) Avamar
10 3 (0.45%) Nessus
10 3 (0.45%) PaperCut
10 3 (0.45%) SCSM
10 3 (0.45%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 3 (0.45%) WSUS
11 2 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
11 2 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 77 (11.63%) VMware
2 31 (4.68%) SAP
3 30 (4.53%) Cisco
4 17 (2.57%) ServiceNow
5 16 (2.42%) Citrix
5 16 (2.42%) Databricks
5 16 (2.42%) Meraki
6 14 (2.11%) Oracle
7 12 (1.81%) Splunk
8 11 (1.66%) Thales
9 10 (1.51%) Avaya
10 9 (1.36%) Fortinet
10 9 (1.36%) Mitel
11 8 (1.21%) Dell
11 8 (1.21%) F5
11 8 (1.21%) Google
12 7 (1.06%) Red Hat
13 6 (0.91%) Juniper
13 6 (0.91%) Palo Alto
14 5 (0.76%) Zscaler