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 4 December 2025, 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
4 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 5 7 4
Rank change year-on-year +2 -3 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 648 568 835
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 15.22% 14.29% 16.21%
As % of the Vendors category 29.24% 28.59% 30.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 441 402 557
10th Percentile £199 £200 £158
25th Percentile £255 £350 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £475 £474
Median % change year-on-year -2.11% +0.21% +2.21%
75th Percentile £558 £600 £588
90th Percentile £638 £675 £650
England median daily rate £475 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -1.04% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 17 35
10th Percentile £12.50 £15.13 £14.24
25th Percentile £14.63 £19.38 £16.25
Median hourly rate £17.50 £35.00 £21.35
Median % change year-on-year -50.00% +63.93% +15.41%
75th Percentile £27.75 £57.62 £48.69
90th Percentile £86.36 £58.40 £61.28
England median hourly rate £21.13 £22.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -6.11% -2.17% +15.00%

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 2,216 1,987 2,708
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 52.06% 49.99% 52.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,536 1,288 1,713
10th Percentile £218 £250 £205
25th Percentile £400 £408 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £517
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +1.55% +3.40%
75th Percentile £600 £630 £610
90th Percentile £675 £688 £678
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 158 64 123
10th Percentile £14.00 £18.58 £16.25
25th Percentile £15.75 £23.50 £22.44
Median hourly rate £20.79 £40.25 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -48.35% -23.33% +111.78%
75th Percentile £54.40 £65.25 £66.25
90th Percentile £89.63 £70.88 £76.53
England median hourly rate £24.00 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -26.15% -26.97% +71.15%

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 4 December 2025.

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 4 December 2025.

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 4 December 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
Thames Valley +1 321 £475 -2.56% 463
Berkshire 0 195 £480 -8.57% 245
Hampshire 0 148 £533 -3.18% 220
Buckinghamshire 0 83 £470 +9.30% 144
Surrey +8 70 £211 -35.00% 142
Oxfordshire 0 43 £275 -35.29% 84
West Sussex -2 40 £210 -51.61% 87
Kent +1 30 £413 +53.49% 162
East Sussex +7 22 £550 +4.76% 70
Sussex -1 10 £463 +5.11% 31
Home Counties - 1 £550 -
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 66 (10.19%) Microsoft Exchange
2 53 (8.18%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.78%) Skype for Business
4 12 (1.85%) Exchange Server 2010
5 11 (1.70%) Exchange Server 2013
5 11 (1.70%) SharePoint Server
6 10 (1.54%) Exchange Server 2003
6 10 (1.54%) Exchange Server 2007
6 10 (1.54%) Office Communications Server
7 7 (1.08%) Mattermost
8 2 (0.31%) Apache
8 2 (0.31%) CMS
8 2 (0.31%) Confluence
9 1 (0.15%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.15%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 127 (19.60%) Microsoft Office
2 74 (11.42%) Microsoft Excel
3 21 (3.24%) Microsoft Project
4 16 (2.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (1.23%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.15%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.15%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 11 (1.70%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.08%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (1.08%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.62%) NetSuite
4 3 (0.46%) Dynamics AX
5 2 (0.31%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.31%) SAP CO
5 2 (0.31%) SAP FI
5 2 (0.31%) SAP FI/CO
5 2 (0.31%) SAP Oil and Gas
6 1 (0.15%) iTrent
6 1 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.15%) Oracle Payroll
6 1 (0.15%) Sage 50
6 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.15%) SAP EWM
6 1 (0.15%) SAP Payroll
6 1 (0.15%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.15%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 165 (25.46%) Microsoft 365
2 163 (25.15%) Azure
3 64 (9.88%) AWS
4 61 (9.41%) Entra ID
5 51 (7.87%) Power Platform
6 42 (6.48%) Dynamics 365
7 30 (4.63%) SaaS
8 23 (3.55%) OneDrive
9 21 (3.24%) Microsoft Purview
10 19 (2.93%) Sauce Labs
11 18 (2.78%) GCP
12 16 (2.47%) Google Workspace
13 15 (2.31%) Azure DevOps
14 14 (2.16%) PowerApps
15 11 (1.70%) IaaS
15 11 (1.70%) Power Automate
16 10 (1.54%) Azure Sentinel
17 9 (1.39%) GitHub
17 9 (1.39%) OpenShift
18 8 (1.23%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 61 (9.41%) Firewall
2 58 (8.95%) DNS
3 44 (6.79%) DHCP
4 34 (5.25%) TCP/IP
5 30 (4.63%) VPN
6 27 (4.17%) Wireless
7 18 (2.78%) SAN
8 17 (2.62%) Wi-Fi
9 15 (2.31%) Cisco IOS
9 15 (2.31%) VLAN
10 14 (2.16%) Fibre Channel
11 12 (1.85%) iSCSI
11 12 (1.85%) Unified Communications
12 10 (1.54%) DDNS
13 9 (1.39%) 4G
13 9 (1.39%) Network Security
14 8 (1.23%) Skype
15 7 (1.08%) VSAN
16 6 (0.93%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.93%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (7.10%) SQL Server
2 31 (4.78%) Power BI
3 30 (4.63%) Relational Database
4 23 (3.55%) MySQL
5 18 (2.78%) Oracle Database
6 8 (1.23%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (1.23%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6 8 (1.23%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (1.23%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (0.93%) Metadata
8 5 (0.77%) Crystal Reports
8 5 (0.77%) Oracle Reports
8 5 (0.77%) RDBMS
9 4 (0.62%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (0.62%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 2 (0.31%) Apache Cassandra
11 2 (0.31%) Data Lake
11 2 (0.31%) NoSQL
12 1 (0.15%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 20 (3.09%) Android Studio
1 20 (3.09%) Browser DevTools
2 19 (2.93%) Eclipse
2 19 (2.93%) Xcode
3 16 (2.47%) JIRA
4 12 (1.85%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.93%) Git
6 5 (0.77%) MSI
7 4 (0.62%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.46%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.31%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.31%) JMeter
9 2 (0.31%) JUnit
9 2 (0.31%) Oracle APEX
9 2 (0.31%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.31%) Robot Framework
10 1 (0.15%) Gradle
10 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.15%) Subversion
General
1 262 (40.43%) Social Skills
2 106 (16.36%) Finance
3 86 (13.27%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (9.57%) Organisational Skills
5 40 (6.17%) Public Sector
6 21 (3.24%) Manufacturing
7 18 (2.78%) Legal
8 15 (2.31%) Games
9 11 (1.70%) Documentation Skills
10 10 (1.54%) Marketing
11 8 (1.23%) Influencing Skills
11 8 (1.23%) Retail
11 8 (1.23%) Telecoms
12 7 (1.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 6 (0.93%) Automotive
13 6 (0.93%) Billing
13 6 (0.93%) Electronics
14 5 (0.77%) Aerospace
14 5 (0.77%) Banking
14 5 (0.77%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 94 (14.51%) Support Engineer
2 92 (14.20%) Analyst
3 78 (12.04%) Architect
4 58 (8.95%) IT Support
5 47 (7.25%) Senior
6 37 (5.71%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 29 (4.48%) Consultant
8 28 (4.32%) Technical Support
9 27 (4.17%) Developer
10 26 (4.01%) IT Engineer
11 25 (3.86%) Technical Engineer
11 25 (3.86%) Technical Support Engineer
12 22 (3.40%) Support Officer
13 21 (3.24%) Infrastructure Architect
13 21 (3.24%) Infrastructure Support
13 21 (3.24%) Platform Engineer
14 20 (3.09%) IT Support Engineer
14 20 (3.09%) UX Engineer
15 19 (2.93%) Data Analyst
15 19 (2.93%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (4.63%) React
2 22 (3.40%) GraphQL
3 21 (3.24%) CSS
4 20 (3.09%) Ajax
4 20 (3.09%) AngularJS
5 15 (2.31%) .NET
6 11 (1.70%) OAuth
7 9 (1.39%) Middleware
8 8 (1.23%) SAML
9 6 (0.93%) OpenID
10 5 (0.77%) REST
10 5 (0.77%) SailPoint
11 4 (0.62%) LDAP
11 4 (0.62%) Microsoft Graph
11 4 (0.62%) OAuth2
11 4 (0.62%) Spring
12 3 (0.46%) Kafka
12 3 (0.46%) Web Services
12 3 (0.46%) WebdriverIO
13 2 (0.31%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 32 (4.94%) PKI
2 28 (4.32%) Onboarding
3 27 (4.17%) Analytical Mindset
4 22 (3.40%) Mobile App
5 20 (3.09%) Management Information System
6 15 (2.31%) Replication
6 15 (2.31%) Security Operations Centre
7 14 (2.16%) Enterprise Software
7 14 (2.16%) Self-Motivation
8 12 (1.85%) Driving Licence
9 11 (1.70%) Fat Client
9 11 (1.70%) Operational Technology
9 11 (1.70%) Thin Client
10 10 (1.54%) Data Centre
10 10 (1.54%) Video Conferencing
11 9 (1.39%) Cyber Defence
11 9 (1.39%) Cyber Threat
11 9 (1.39%) Private Cloud
11 9 (1.39%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.23%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 244 (37.65%) Windows
2 87 (13.43%) Linux
3 53 (8.18%) Windows 10
4 42 (6.48%) Windows Server
5 36 (5.56%) Android
6 30 (4.63%) Mac OS
7 25 (3.86%) Unix
8 16 (2.47%) Windows Server 2019
9 10 (1.54%) Windows 7
9 10 (1.54%) Windows Server 2003
10 9 (1.39%) Windows Server 2016
11 8 (1.23%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 3 (0.46%) Apple iOS
13 3 (0.46%) Debian
13 3 (0.46%) Ubuntu
14 2 (0.31%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (19.14%) Problem-Solving
2 103 (15.90%) ITIL
3 78 (12.04%) Agile
4 74 (11.42%) Customer Service
5 69 (10.65%) Cybersecurity
6 57 (8.80%) Migration
7 55 (8.49%) Stakeholder Management
8 51 (7.87%) Continuous Improvement
9 49 (7.56%) Business Intelligence
10 47 (7.25%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 41 (6.33%) Project Management
12 40 (6.17%) DevOps
13 39 (6.02%) Time Management
14 38 (5.86%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 36 (5.56%) SIEM
16 35 (5.40%) Change Management
16 35 (5.40%) ITSM
17 34 (5.25%) CI/CD
17 34 (5.25%) Project Delivery
18 33 (5.09%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 91 (14.04%) PowerShell
2 80 (12.35%) SQL
3 73 (11.27%) Python
4 36 (5.56%) Java
5 31 (4.78%) JavaScript
6 21 (3.24%) Perl
7 16 (2.47%) C#
8 14 (2.16%) Bash
9 6 (0.93%) X++
10 5 (0.77%) VB
11 4 (0.62%) PHP
12 3 (0.46%) PL/SQL
13 2 (0.31%) Bicep
13 2 (0.31%) Go
13 2 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
13 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
14 1 (0.15%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 198 (30.56%) Security Cleared
2 120 (18.52%) SC Cleared
3 71 (10.96%) DV Cleared
4 69 (10.65%) Degree
5 55 (8.49%) Microsoft Certification
6 22 (3.40%) CISSP
7 20 (3.09%) Azure Certification
8 15 (2.31%) MCSE
8 15 (2.31%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 12 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
10 11 (1.70%) A+ Certification
10 11 (1.70%) GCFA
10 11 (1.70%) GCIH
10 11 (1.70%) ITIL Certification
10 11 (1.70%) Network+ Certification
10 11 (1.70%) Server+ Certification
11 10 (1.54%) Cisco Certification
11 10 (1.54%) PMI Certification
12 9 (1.39%) GCIA
12 9 (1.39%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (6.48%) GDPR
2 27 (4.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 27 (4.17%) NIST
3 18 (2.78%) SLA
4 16 (2.47%) PMO
5 15 (2.31%) Data Quality
6 11 (1.70%) QA
7 6 (0.93%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (0.62%) Accessibility
8 4 (0.62%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 3 (0.46%) ECSS
9 3 (0.46%) P3O
9 3 (0.46%) RMADS
10 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.31%) ISO 9001
10 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 2 (0.31%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.31%) NCSC
10 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 181 (27.93%) Active Directory
2 62 (9.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (3.86%) Hyper-V
4 21 (3.24%) vSphere
5 18 (2.78%) VMware ESXi
6 12 (1.85%) NFS
7 10 (1.54%) Brightmail
7 10 (1.54%) ISA Server
8 8 (1.23%) Docker
8 8 (1.23%) Virtual Desktop
9 5 (0.77%) Terminal Services
10 3 (0.46%) DFS Replication
10 3 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.46%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.15%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 62 (9.57%) SCCM
2 57 (8.80%) Microsoft Intune
3 21 (3.24%) Ansible
4 19 (2.93%) Terraform
5 16 (2.47%) Kubernetes
6 15 (2.31%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 15 (2.31%) Single Sign-On
7 13 (2.01%) WMI
8 11 (1.70%) Microsoft Clustering
9 8 (1.23%) SCOM
10 7 (1.08%) HP SiteScope
10 7 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
10 7 (1.08%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.62%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
12 3 (0.46%) Cisco CUCM
12 3 (0.46%) PaperCut
13 2 (0.31%) Grafana
13 2 (0.31%) Progress Chef
13 2 (0.31%) Puppet
13 2 (0.31%) QRadar
Vendors
1 84 (12.96%) VMware
2 67 (10.34%) Splunk
3 60 (9.26%) ServiceNow
4 48 (7.41%) Oracle
5 42 (6.48%) Cisco
6 28 (4.32%) SAP
7 20 (3.09%) Citrix
8 17 (2.62%) Meraki
9 14 (2.16%) NetApp
9 14 (2.16%) Veeam
10 13 (2.01%) CrowdStrike
11 11 (1.70%) Remedy
12 10 (1.54%) Red Hat
13 9 (1.39%) Google
14 8 (1.23%) CyberArk
14 8 (1.23%) Palo Alto
14 8 (1.23%) Salesforce
15 7 (1.08%) Databricks
16 6 (0.93%) ArcSight
16 6 (0.93%) LogRhythm