Microsoft Contract Job Trends in Birmingham

Microsoft
West Midlands > Birmingham

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Birmingham 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 7 November 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
7 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 4 3 2
Rank change year-on-year -1 -1 +5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 105 123 139
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 15.56% 17.08% 17.82%
As % of the Vendors category 27.85% 32.11% 33.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 89 98 110
10th Percentile £150 £190 £200
25th Percentile £300 £213 £353
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £440 £438 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.57% -2.78% +1.41%
75th Percentile £563 £550 £550
90th Percentile £625 £641 £676
West Midlands median daily rate £475 £450 £425
% change year-on-year +5.56% +5.88% -2.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 2 2
10th Percentile - £12.85 £17.23
25th Percentile - £14.97 £17.56
Median hourly rate £18.00 £18.78 £18.25
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% +2.92% -73.39%
75th Percentile - £22.88 £19.06
90th Percentile - £25.16 £19.48
West Midlands median hourly rate £30.00 £35.00 £21.50
% change year-on-year -14.29% +62.79% +49.72%

All Vendors
Birmingham

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 Birmingham.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 377 383 412
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 55.85% 53.19% 52.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 249 277 266
10th Percentile £250 £196 £231
25th Percentile £365 £350 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £465
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +7.53% +3.33%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £600
90th Percentile £640 £750 £675
West Midlands median daily rate £506 £500 £465
% change year-on-year +1.10% +7.53% -6.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 5 4
10th Percentile £16.98 £12.95 £17.68
25th Percentile £17.69 £15.22 £18.69
Median hourly rate £18.00 £24.00 £37.25
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% -35.57% +96.05%
75th Percentile £20.75 £26.69 £58.44
90th Percentile £26.47 £46.68 £64.63
West Midlands median hourly rate £30.00 £31.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -4.76% +36.96% +39.39%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in Birmingham

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in Birmingham

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in Birmingham

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Birmingham citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Birmingham citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in Birmingham

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in Birmingham over the 6 months to 7 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in Birmingham

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in Birmingham

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Birmingham citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Birmingham citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Birmingham 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 8 (7.62%) SharePoint
2 3 (2.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.90%) Apache
3 2 (1.90%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (1.90%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.95%) Apache Pig
4 1 (0.95%) Confluence
4 1 (0.95%) IIS
Applications
1 17 (16.19%) Microsoft Excel
1 17 (16.19%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (8.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (2.86%) Microsoft Project
3 3 (2.86%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.95%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 1 (0.95%) Moqups
4 1 (0.95%) Oracle Smart View
4 1 (0.95%) Trello
Business Applications
1 2 (1.90%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (1.90%) Dynamics NAV
2 1 (0.95%) Elite 3E
Cloud Services
1 34 (32.38%) Azure
2 20 (19.05%) Power Platform
3 19 (18.10%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (17.14%) Dynamics 365
5 13 (12.38%) AWS
6 12 (11.43%) Azure Synapse Analytics
7 11 (10.48%) Azure Data Factory
8 10 (9.52%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (7.62%) SaaS
10 6 (5.71%) Entra ID
10 6 (5.71%) GCP
11 4 (3.81%) Azure Sentinel
11 4 (3.81%) GitHub
11 4 (3.81%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (2.86%) Azure AKS
12 3 (2.86%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (2.86%) Microsoft Purview
12 3 (2.86%) Power Automate
13 2 (1.90%) Azure API Management
13 2 (1.90%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 12 (11.43%) TCP/IP
1 12 (11.43%) VPN
2 11 (10.48%) DNS
3 10 (9.52%) DHCP
4 9 (8.57%) Firewall
5 4 (3.81%) Network Security
6 3 (2.86%) Unified Communications
6 3 (2.86%) VoIP
6 3 (2.86%) Wi-Fi
7 2 (1.90%) Wireshark
8 1 (0.95%) Internet
8 1 (0.95%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.95%) SD-WAN
8 1 (0.95%) SSH
8 1 (0.95%) WAN
8 1 (0.95%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (15.24%) Power BI
2 8 (7.62%) Data Mining
2 8 (7.62%) Data Warehouse
3 3 (2.86%) Hadoop
3 3 (2.86%) Metadata
3 3 (2.86%) NoSQL
3 3 (2.86%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (1.90%) Apache Hive
4 2 (1.90%) Data Lake
4 2 (1.90%) SQL Server
5 1 (0.95%) Azure SQL Database
5 1 (0.95%) Big Data
5 1 (0.95%) Delta Lake
5 1 (0.95%) GIS
5 1 (0.95%) HBase
5 1 (0.95%) OLTP
5 1 (0.95%) Parquet
5 1 (0.95%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 1 (0.95%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.95%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 6 (5.71%) Jenkins
2 4 (3.81%) JIRA
3 3 (2.86%) GitLab
4 2 (1.90%) CircleCI
4 2 (1.90%) Git
4 2 (1.90%) Liquibase
5 1 (0.95%) Jaeger
5 1 (0.95%) MLflow
5 1 (0.95%) SonarQube
5 1 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.95%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.95%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 44 (41.90%) Social Skills
2 18 (17.14%) Finance
3 16 (15.24%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (9.52%) Public Sector
5 9 (8.57%) Legal
6 8 (7.62%) Organisational Skills
7 5 (4.76%) Banking
8 4 (3.81%) Manufacturing
8 4 (3.81%) Presentation Skills
9 2 (1.90%) Documentation Skills
9 2 (1.90%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.95%) Advertising
10 1 (0.95%) Automotive
10 1 (0.95%) Billing
10 1 (0.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.95%) Law
Job Titles
1 22 (20.95%) Analyst
2 14 (13.33%) Architect
3 9 (8.57%) Project Manager
4 8 (7.62%) Enterprise Architect
5 7 (6.67%) 2nd Line Support
5 7 (6.67%) Business Architect
5 7 (6.67%) IT Analyst
5 7 (6.67%) IT Support
5 7 (6.67%) Support Analyst
6 6 (5.71%) 2nd Line Support Analyst
6 6 (5.71%) Azure Architect
6 6 (5.71%) Dynamics 365 Architect
6 6 (5.71%) IT Support Analyst
6 6 (5.71%) Senior
7 5 (4.76%) 1st/2nd Line Support
7 5 (4.76%) 1st/2nd Line Support Analyst
7 5 (4.76%) Consultant
7 5 (4.76%) Data Engineer
7 5 (4.76%) TOGAF Architect
7 5 (4.76%) TOGAF Enterprise Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (4.76%) REST
2 4 (3.81%) Middleware
3 3 (2.86%) .NET
3 3 (2.86%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (1.90%) OpenTelemetry
4 2 (1.90%) RESTful
5 1 (0.95%) Azure Blueprints
5 1 (0.95%) Blazor
5 1 (0.95%) CSS
5 1 (0.95%) CSS3
5 1 (0.95%) EDI
5 1 (0.95%) HTML
5 1 (0.95%) HTML5
5 1 (0.95%) jQuery
5 1 (0.95%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.95%) NumPy
5 1 (0.95%) OAuth
5 1 (0.95%) Oracle Fusion
5 1 (0.95%) Razor View Engine
5 1 (0.95%) Spark Streaming
Miscellaneous
1 8 (7.62%) Self-Motivation
2 7 (6.67%) Security Posture
3 5 (4.76%) Team-Oriented Environment
4 4 (3.81%) Driving Licence
5 3 (2.86%) Cloud Native
5 3 (2.86%) Handset
5 3 (2.86%) Legacy Systems
5 3 (2.86%) Video Conferencing
6 2 (1.90%) Algorithms
6 2 (1.90%) Data Centre
6 2 (1.90%) Distributed Systems
6 2 (1.90%) Legacy Applications
6 2 (1.90%) Product Ownership
6 2 (1.90%) Public Cloud
7 1 (0.95%) CCTV
7 1 (0.95%) Cyberattack
7 1 (0.95%) Data Protection Act
7 1 (0.95%) Freedom of Information
7 1 (0.95%) Mobile App
7 1 (0.95%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 20 (19.05%) Windows
2 7 (6.67%) Linux
2 7 (6.67%) Windows 10
3 4 (3.81%) Windows Server
4 3 (2.86%) Android
5 2 (1.90%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.95%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 20 (19.05%) ITIL
1 20 (19.05%) Problem-Solving
2 19 (18.10%) DevOps
3 16 (15.24%) Agile
3 16 (15.24%) Analytics
4 15 (14.29%) Business Intelligence
5 12 (11.43%) Customer Service
6 11 (10.48%) Change Management
6 11 (10.48%) Migration
6 11 (10.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 10 (9.52%) Continuous Improvement
8 9 (8.57%) AI
8 9 (8.57%) CI/CD
8 9 (8.57%) Data Modelling
8 9 (8.57%) ITSM
8 9 (8.57%) Project Management
9 8 (7.62%) Cloud Security
9 8 (7.62%) Containerisation
9 8 (7.62%) Cybersecurity
9 8 (7.62%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 13 (12.38%) Python
2 7 (6.67%) PowerShell
3 6 (5.71%) SQL
4 5 (4.76%) Go
5 3 (2.86%) JavaScript
5 3 (2.86%) Shell Script
6 2 (1.90%) Bash
6 2 (1.90%) Java
6 2 (1.90%) Kusto Query Language
6 2 (1.90%) Scala
7 1 (0.95%) C#
7 1 (0.95%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.95%) Groovy
7 1 (0.95%) Perl
7 1 (0.95%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.95%) VB
Qualifications
1 12 (11.43%) Microsoft Certification
1 12 (11.43%) Security Cleared
2 9 (8.57%) SC Cleared
3 8 (7.62%) Degree
4 6 (5.71%) MCP
5 5 (4.76%) MCDST
6 3 (2.86%) Azure Certification
6 3 (2.86%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (2.86%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (2.86%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (1.90%) AWS Certification
7 2 (1.90%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.95%) CCNA
8 1 (0.95%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.95%) CISSP
8 1 (0.95%) ISACA
8 1 (0.95%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (0.95%) MCSA
8 1 (0.95%) PMI Certification
8 1 (0.95%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (3.81%) Cyber Essentials
1 4 (3.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 4 (3.81%) PMO
2 3 (2.86%) Accessibility
2 3 (2.86%) GDPR
2 3 (2.86%) NCSC
3 2 (1.90%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 2 (1.90%) NIST
4 1 (0.95%) Data Quality
4 1 (0.95%) ISO 22301
4 1 (0.95%) SLA
System Software
1 20 (19.05%) Active Directory
2 7 (6.67%) Docker
3 1 (0.95%) BitLocker
3 1 (0.95%) Firmware
3 1 (0.95%) HDFS
3 1 (0.95%) Snort
3 1 (0.95%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.95%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 9 (8.57%) SCCM
2 7 (6.67%) Kubernetes
3 5 (4.76%) Terraform
4 4 (3.81%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (2.86%) Grafana
5 3 (2.86%) Prometheus
5 3 (2.86%) QRadar
6 2 (1.90%) Ansible
6 2 (1.90%) CSIRT
7 1 (0.95%) Argo
7 1 (0.95%) Hadoop YARN
7 1 (0.95%) Istio
7 1 (0.95%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 10 (9.52%) Splunk
2 6 (5.71%) Cisco
3 5 (4.76%) iManage
3 5 (4.76%) Mitel
4 3 (2.86%) ServiceNow
5 2 (1.90%) Databricks
5 2 (1.90%) F5
5 2 (1.90%) Google
5 2 (1.90%) Oracle
6 1 (0.95%) Adobe
6 1 (0.95%) Apple
6 1 (0.95%) Aruba
6 1 (0.95%) Atlassian
6 1 (0.95%) HP
6 1 (0.95%) IBM
6 1 (0.95%) JD Edwards
6 1 (0.95%) McAfee
6 1 (0.95%) QAD
6 1 (0.95%) Sage
6 1 (0.95%) SAP