Service Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Service Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 3 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 54 70 65
Rank change year-on-year +16 -5 -1
Contract jobs citing Service Management 639 495 706
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 4.07% 2.83% 3.31%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.56% 3.39% 3.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 374 338 531
10th Percentile £185 £196 £233
25th Percentile £293 £352 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £485 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.00% - -
75th Percentile £562 £600 £588
90th Percentile £619 £654 £675
UK median daily rate £490 £513 £525
% change year-on-year -4.44% -2.38% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 15 9
10th Percentile £12.62 £17.52 £20.50
25th Percentile £13.31 £25.22 £21.25
Median hourly rate £20.83 £36.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -42.14% +60.00% +12.50%
75th Percentile £33.75 £48.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £60.00 £52.25 £91.00
UK median hourly rate £21.28 £36.00 £54.50
% change year-on-year -40.89% -33.94% +165.85%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 14,004 14,598 18,828
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 89.24% 83.35% 88.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,416 8,258 12,404
10th Percentile £230 £239 £259
25th Percentile £369 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £671 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,518 1,100 1,283
10th Percentile £14.11 £14.84 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.14 £18.11 £17.72
Median hourly rate £22.32 £43.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -48.10% +1.18% +72.34%
75th Percentile £40.60 £66.61 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.00 £73.78 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £42.27 £42.50
% change year-on-year -40.49% -0.55% +44.07%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Service Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 3 October 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 3 October 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Service Management within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 3 October 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
North of England +7 198 £453 -8.11% 89
South East +10 128 £442 -18.85% 90
South West +16 115 £550 +4.76% 50
North West +19 113 £459 +2.06% 31
Midlands +31 105 £505 +1.00% 49
West Midlands +32 84 £515 -10.43% 29
Yorkshire -5 76 £375 -27.88% 43
Scotland +5 48 £466 -6.84% 22
East of England +7 35 £550 +4.76% 28
East Midlands +3 21 £317 -36.70% 20
North East -5 9 £195 -61.00% 17
Wales -7 8 £230 +15.00% 13
Northern Ireland -4 4 £150 -72.73%
Channel Islands - 3 £725 -
Service Management
UK

Service Management
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 32 (5.01%) Microsoft Exchange
2 26 (4.07%) SharePoint
3 23 (3.60%) Confluence
4 20 (3.13%) Apache
5 13 (2.03%) WebLogic
6 9 (1.41%) IIS
7 7 (1.10%) WebSphere
8 5 (0.78%) Skype for Business
9 3 (0.47%) SharePoint Server
10 1 (0.16%) Anypoint
10 1 (0.16%) CMS
10 1 (0.16%) JBoss
10 1 (0.16%) Oracle Self-Service HR
10 1 (0.16%) Oracle Workflow
10 1 (0.16%) Umbraco
Applications
1 76 (11.89%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (4.38%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (2.35%) MS Visio
4 14 (2.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.16%) Trello
Business Applications
1 15 (2.35%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (1.10%) assyst
2 7 (1.10%) Maximo
2 7 (1.10%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.47%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.47%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.31%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.31%) SAP LE
4 2 (0.31%) SAP WM
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS R12
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle iProcurement
5 1 (0.16%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.16%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 73 (11.42%) Azure
2 71 (11.11%) Microsoft 365
3 46 (7.20%) AWS
4 30 (4.69%) Entra ID
5 15 (2.35%) Power Platform
6 13 (2.03%) Azure Monitor
7 11 (1.72%) OneDrive
8 10 (1.56%) Azure DevOps
8 10 (1.56%) GCP
9 8 (1.25%) SaaS
10 6 (0.94%) PowerApps
11 5 (0.78%) Google Workspace
12 4 (0.63%) GitHub
13 3 (0.47%) Lucidchart
14 2 (0.31%) Asana
14 2 (0.31%) Azure Cosmos DB
14 2 (0.31%) IaaS
14 2 (0.31%) Oracle CX
14 2 (0.31%) Power Automate
14 2 (0.31%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 45 (7.04%) Firewall
2 41 (6.42%) DNS
3 27 (4.23%) DHCP
4 24 (3.76%) WAN
5 23 (3.60%) LAN
6 17 (2.66%) TCP/IP
6 17 (2.66%) VPN
7 13 (2.03%) Unified Communications
7 13 (2.03%) VLAN
8 12 (1.88%) Skype
9 11 (1.72%) Cisco Firepower
9 11 (1.72%) Cisco IOS
9 11 (1.72%) Cisco ISE
9 11 (1.72%) Junos
10 9 (1.41%) BGP
10 9 (1.41%) MPLS
10 9 (1.41%) Network Security
10 9 (1.41%) Wireless
11 7 (1.10%) IPsec
11 7 (1.10%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.50%) SQL Server
2 13 (2.03%) Power BI
2 13 (2.03%) Relational Database
3 9 (1.41%) Amazon RDS
3 9 (1.41%) DB2
4 7 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.63%) Data Mining
5 4 (0.63%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.47%) Amazon Aurora
6 3 (0.47%) MariaDB
6 3 (0.47%) MySQL
6 3 (0.47%) Tableau
7 2 (0.31%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.31%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.31%) Oracle Discoverer
7 2 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.16%) BusinessObjects
8 1 (0.16%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.16%) Sqoop
Development Applications
1 51 (7.98%) JIRA
2 14 (2.19%) Jenkins
3 7 (1.10%) webpack
4 3 (0.47%) Bitbucket
4 3 (0.47%) Git
4 3 (0.47%) JMeter
4 3 (0.47%) LoadRunner
4 3 (0.47%) NeoLoad
5 1 (0.16%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.16%) Selenium
5 1 (0.16%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.16%) WebDriver
General
1 243 (38.03%) Social Skills
2 137 (21.44%) Analytical Skills
3 84 (13.15%) Finance
4 79 (12.36%) Public Sector
5 40 (6.26%) Telecoms
6 36 (5.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 25 (3.91%) Retail
8 23 (3.60%) Manufacturing
9 20 (3.13%) Military
10 16 (2.50%) Banking
10 16 (2.50%) Legal
10 16 (2.50%) Presentation Skills
11 15 (2.35%) Organisational Skills
12 14 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
12 14 (2.19%) Marketing
13 12 (1.88%) Electronics
13 12 (1.88%) Influencing Skills
13 12 (1.88%) Police
14 7 (1.10%) Billing
15 6 (0.94%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 118 (18.47%) Analyst
2 54 (8.45%) Architect
3 50 (7.82%) Support Engineer
4 48 (7.51%) Service Manager
5 45 (7.04%) IT Support
5 45 (7.04%) Support Analyst
6 43 (6.73%) Desktop Support
7 38 (5.95%) Lead
8 31 (4.85%) Network Engineer
8 31 (4.85%) Service Architect
9 28 (4.38%) IT Manager
10 27 (4.23%) 2nd Line Support
11 25 (3.91%) 1st Line Support
11 25 (3.91%) Service Analyst
12 23 (3.60%) Developer
12 23 (3.60%) Project Manager
13 22 (3.44%) Senior
14 21 (3.29%) IT Analyst
15 19 (2.97%) Consultant
15 19 (2.97%) Support Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (2.66%) Web Services
2 16 (2.50%) RFC 2544
3 15 (2.35%) HTML
4 14 (2.19%) SOAP
5 13 (2.03%) CSS
6 9 (1.41%) XML
7 8 (1.25%) NETCONF
7 8 (1.25%) RESTful
8 7 (1.10%) .NET
8 7 (1.10%) CSS3
8 7 (1.10%) HTML5
8 7 (1.10%) Node.js
8 7 (1.10%) React
8 7 (1.10%) Redux
8 7 (1.10%) RESTCONF
9 6 (0.94%) Middleware
9 6 (0.94%) REST
10 5 (0.78%) AngularJS
10 5 (0.78%) Elastic Stack
11 3 (0.47%) SAP PI
Miscellaneous
1 42 (6.57%) Data Centre
2 29 (4.54%) CMDB
2 29 (4.54%) Management Information System
3 25 (3.91%) iPhone
4 21 (3.29%) PKI
4 21 (3.29%) Smartphone
5 15 (2.35%) Product Ownership
5 15 (2.35%) Self-Motivation
6 13 (2.03%) Fibre Optics
7 12 (1.88%) Analytical Mindset
7 12 (1.88%) Mainframe
7 12 (1.88%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.56%) Driving Licence
8 10 (1.56%) Onboarding
9 7 (1.10%) Distributed Systems
9 7 (1.10%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (1.10%) Public Cloud
10 6 (0.94%) Tandem
10 6 (0.94%) Video Conferencing
11 5 (0.78%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 139 (21.75%) Windows
2 44 (6.89%) Linux
3 34 (5.32%) Windows Server
4 32 (5.01%) Mac OS
5 29 (4.54%) Windows 10
6 26 (4.07%) Unix
7 12 (1.88%) Apple iOS
8 8 (1.25%) Android
9 5 (0.78%) Solaris
10 3 (0.47%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.47%) Windows Server 2008
10 3 (0.47%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.31%) HPUX
12 1 (0.16%) AIX
12 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 360 (56.34%) ITIL
2 274 (42.88%) ITSM
3 135 (21.13%) Customer Service
4 124 (19.41%) Problem-Solving
5 98 (15.34%) Stakeholder Management
6 94 (14.71%) Change Management
7 85 (13.30%) Service Delivery
8 77 (12.05%) Service Design
9 74 (11.58%) Agile
10 71 (11.11%) Incident Management
11 67 (10.49%) Continuous Improvement
12 56 (8.76%) Project Delivery
13 54 (8.45%) Project Management
13 54 (8.45%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 48 (7.51%) DevOps
15 38 (5.95%) Analytics
15 38 (5.95%) Business Intelligence
16 35 (5.48%) Disaster Recovery
16 35 (5.48%) Problem Management
17 34 (5.32%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 60 (9.39%) SQL
2 33 (5.16%) Python
3 27 (4.23%) JavaScript
4 19 (2.97%) PowerShell
5 11 (1.72%) Shell Script
6 8 (1.25%) Java
7 7 (1.10%) Perl
7 7 (1.10%) TypeScript
8 5 (0.78%) C#
9 3 (0.47%) Bash
10 2 (0.31%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.31%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.16%) HiveQL
11 1 (0.16%) VBA
Qualifications
1 225 (35.21%) Security Cleared
2 171 (26.76%) SC Cleared
3 71 (11.11%) Degree
4 42 (6.57%) ITIL Certification
5 39 (6.10%) DV Cleared
6 34 (5.32%) Microsoft Certification
7 26 (4.07%) Cisco Certification
8 23 (3.60%) CCNP
9 16 (2.50%) Azure Certification
10 14 (2.19%) A+ Certification
10 14 (2.19%) Computer Science Degree
10 14 (2.19%) Server+ Certification
11 11 (1.72%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (1.25%) CCNA
12 8 (1.25%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 6 (0.94%) MCSE
14 5 (0.78%) APMP
14 5 (0.78%) Master's Degree
15 4 (0.63%) CCIE
15 4 (0.63%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (8.45%) SLA
2 28 (4.38%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 14 (2.19%) GDPR
4 13 (2.03%) QA
5 8 (1.25%) GxP
5 8 (1.25%) NCSC
5 8 (1.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 6 (0.94%) Data Quality
6 6 (0.94%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.63%) Accessibility
7 4 (0.63%) PMO
8 3 (0.47%) COBIT
8 3 (0.47%) GRC
8 3 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.31%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.31%) ISO 9001
9 2 (0.31%) WCAG
10 1 (0.16%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.16%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 81 (12.68%) Active Directory
2 29 (4.54%) VMware Infrastructure
3 14 (2.19%) VMware NSX
4 12 (1.88%) Hyper-V
5 11 (1.72%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.94%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.94%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.78%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 3 (0.47%) Docker
9 2 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 21 (3.29%) Jamf Pro
2 18 (2.82%) vCenter Server
3 12 (1.88%) Ansible
4 8 (1.25%) Kubernetes
4 8 (1.25%) NSN NetAct
4 8 (1.25%) Terraform
5 7 (1.10%) SCCM
5 7 (1.10%) WSUS
6 5 (0.78%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 4 (0.63%) Grafana
7 4 (0.63%) Microsoft Intune
7 4 (0.63%) OpenView
8 3 (0.47%) Check_MK
8 3 (0.47%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.31%) OPNET
9 2 (0.31%) Prometheus
9 2 (0.31%) SCOM
10 1 (0.16%) Nessus
10 1 (0.16%) NetBackup
10 1 (0.16%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
Vendors
1 158 (24.73%) ServiceNow
2 157 (24.57%) Microsoft
3 82 (12.83%) Cisco
4 33 (5.16%) Oracle
4 33 (5.16%) VMware
5 32 (5.01%) SAP
6 31 (4.85%) Splunk
7 25 (3.91%) Apple
8 23 (3.60%) Juniper
8 23 (3.60%) SolarWinds
9 21 (3.29%) Remedy
10 17 (2.66%) IBM
11 14 (2.19%) Dynatrace
11 14 (2.19%) Google
12 13 (2.03%) AppDynamics
13 10 (1.56%) Atlassian
13 10 (1.56%) Veeam
14 8 (1.25%) Ericsson
14 8 (1.25%) Nokia
15 7 (1.10%) Fortinet