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 29 September 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
29 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 4 4
Rank change year-on-year +1 0 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 142 98 104
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 15.33% 16.20% 14.61%
As % of the Vendors category 34.80% 30.25% 27.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 103 82 77
10th Percentile £220 £128 £188
25th Percentile £375 £266 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £400 £425
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -5.88% -
75th Percentile £638 £543 £525
90th Percentile £684 £625 £573
West Midlands median daily rate £430 £440 £425
% change year-on-year -2.27% +3.53% +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 1 2
10th Percentile £14.51 - £12.85
25th Percentile £15.32 - £14.97
Median hourly rate £16.72 £18.00 £18.78
Median % change year-on-year -7.10% -4.17% +10.49%
75th Percentile £18.06 - £22.88
90th Percentile £18.83 - £25.16
West Midlands median hourly rate £19.41 £30.00 £26.13
% change year-on-year -35.30% +14.83% +30.63%

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 408 324 380
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 44.06% 53.55% 53.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 238 215 269
10th Percentile £281 £165 £200
25th Percentile £375 £362 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% +6.38%
75th Percentile £588 £581 £627
90th Percentile £688 £638 £750
West Midlands median daily rate £469 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -6.20% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 4 6
10th Percentile £13.28 £16.86 £13.33
25th Percentile £13.98 £17.39 £17.42
Median hourly rate £19.34 £17.85 £25.06
Median % change year-on-year +8.38% -28.80% +28.53%
75th Percentile £51.25 £21.07 £40.80
90th Percentile - £26.60 £52.75
West Midlands median hourly rate £21.50 £30.00 £26.13
% change year-on-year -28.33% +14.83% +13.59%

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 29 September 2026.

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 20 (14.08%) SharePoint
2 17 (11.97%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (2.11%) Apache Spark
4 2 (1.41%) Apache
4 2 (1.41%) CloudStack
4 2 (1.41%) SAS
5 1 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.70%) CMS
Applications
1 10 (7.04%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (4.23%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (2.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (2.11%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.70%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.70%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.70%) Navisworks
5 1 (0.70%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.70%) Revit
Business Applications
1 3 (2.11%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (1.41%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.70%) Integrated Workplace Management System
3 1 (0.70%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 72 (50.70%) Azure
2 60 (42.25%) Microsoft 365
3 42 (29.58%) Entra ID
4 18 (12.68%) OneDrive
5 15 (10.56%) Dynamics 365
6 14 (9.86%) AWS
6 14 (9.86%) Power Platform
7 10 (7.04%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (6.34%) Azure Sentinel
8 9 (6.34%) Microsoft Purview
9 6 (4.23%) IaaS
10 5 (3.52%) Azure Data Factory
10 5 (3.52%) GCP
10 5 (3.52%) PaaS
10 5 (3.52%) Power Automate
11 3 (2.11%) Azure AKS
11 3 (2.11%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 2 (1.41%) PowerApps
12 2 (1.41%) SaaS
13 1 (0.70%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 14 (9.86%) DNS
2 13 (9.15%) DHCP
3 12 (8.45%) VPN
4 10 (7.04%) Firewall
5 8 (5.63%) TCP/IP
6 5 (3.52%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (2.82%) SAN
7 4 (2.82%) Wireless
8 3 (2.11%) NAS
8 3 (2.11%) VLAN
9 2 (1.41%) Network Security
9 2 (1.41%) Remote Desktop
9 2 (1.41%) Structured Cabling
9 2 (1.41%) Unified Communications
9 2 (1.41%) VoIP
10 1 (0.70%) Fibre Channel
10 1 (0.70%) iSCSI
10 1 (0.70%) LAN
10 1 (0.70%) Value-Added Service
10 1 (0.70%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (7.04%) Power BI
2 4 (2.82%) Data Lake
3 3 (2.11%) Azure SQL Database
3 3 (2.11%) Data Warehouse
3 3 (2.11%) Metadata
3 3 (2.11%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.70%) Amazon Redshift
4 1 (0.70%) Base SAS
4 1 (0.70%) BigQuery
4 1 (0.70%) Data Mining
4 1 (0.70%) Data Vault
4 1 (0.70%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.70%) Parquet
4 1 (0.70%) PowerPivot
4 1 (0.70%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.70%) SAS Enterprise Guide
4 1 (0.70%) Spark SQL
4 1 (0.70%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 2 (1.41%) Jenkins
1 2 (1.41%) JIRA
2 1 (0.70%) Git
2 1 (0.70%) Maven
2 1 (0.70%) SonarQube
2 1 (0.70%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 34 (23.94%) Social Skills
2 27 (19.01%) Finance
3 11 (7.75%) Analytical Skills
3 11 (7.75%) Legal
4 9 (6.34%) Banking
5 8 (5.63%) Public Sector
6 4 (2.82%) Retail
7 3 (2.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 3 (2.11%) Influencing Skills
7 3 (2.11%) Organisational Skills
8 2 (1.41%) Investment Banking
8 2 (1.41%) Law
8 2 (1.41%) Marketing
8 2 (1.41%) Publishing
9 1 (0.70%) Manufacturing
9 1 (0.70%) Military
9 1 (0.70%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 21 (14.79%) Architect
2 17 (11.97%) Analyst
3 15 (10.56%) Solutions Architect
3 15 (10.56%) Support Engineer
4 13 (9.15%) Lead
5 11 (7.75%) Consultant
5 11 (7.75%) IT Support
5 11 (7.75%) Senior
6 10 (7.04%) Azure Engineer
6 10 (7.04%) Data Engineer
7 9 (6.34%) IT Engineer
8 8 (5.63%) IT Support Engineer
9 7 (4.93%) Security Consultant
10 6 (4.23%) Microsoft Consultant
10 6 (4.23%) Security Engineer
10 6 (4.23%) Support Analyst
11 5 (3.52%) 2nd Line Support
11 5 (3.52%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
11 5 (3.52%) Desktop Support
11 5 (3.52%) Desktop Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (7.04%) Terraform
2 4 (2.82%) JSON
2 4 (2.82%) Microsoft Graph
3 3 (2.11%) REST
4 2 (1.41%) .NET
4 2 (1.41%) ADO
4 2 (1.41%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (1.41%) SailPoint
4 2 (1.41%) YAML
5 1 (0.70%) Apache Avro
5 1 (0.70%) ASP.NET
5 1 (0.70%) JSON Schema
5 1 (0.70%) Kafka
5 1 (0.70%) Loki
5 1 (0.70%) Node.js
5 1 (0.70%) OAuth
5 1 (0.70%) OpenID
5 1 (0.70%) Protocol Buffers
5 1 (0.70%) PySpark
5 1 (0.70%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 13 (9.15%) Onboarding
2 11 (7.75%) Management Information System
3 6 (4.23%) Security Operations Centre
4 5 (3.52%) Hybrid Cloud
4 5 (3.52%) iPhone
4 5 (3.52%) Mobile App
4 5 (3.52%) Security Posture
5 4 (2.82%) Cyber Threat
5 4 (2.82%) Public Cloud
6 3 (2.11%) Cloud Native
6 3 (2.11%) Data Centre
6 3 (2.11%) Enterprise Software
6 3 (2.11%) Video Conferencing
7 2 (1.41%) Acoustics
7 2 (1.41%) Data Protection Act
7 2 (1.41%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (1.41%) Replication
7 2 (1.41%) Self-Motivation
7 2 (1.41%) Virtual Team
8 1 (0.70%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 39 (27.46%) Windows
2 11 (7.75%) Windows 10
3 9 (6.34%) Windows Server
4 8 (5.63%) Mac OS
5 3 (2.11%) Linux
6 2 (1.41%) Android
6 2 (1.41%) Apple iOS
6 2 (1.41%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 27 (19.01%) ITSM
2 25 (17.61%) DevOps
3 20 (14.08%) Problem-Solving
4 19 (13.38%) Migration
5 18 (12.68%) ITIL
6 17 (11.97%) Customer Service
6 17 (11.97%) Service Management
7 15 (10.56%) Mentoring
7 15 (10.56%) Stakeholder Management
8 14 (9.86%) Project Delivery
9 13 (9.15%) Cybersecurity
9 13 (9.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 12 (8.45%) CI/CD
10 12 (8.45%) Information Security
10 12 (8.45%) Roadmaps
11 11 (7.75%) Agile
11 11 (7.75%) Continuous Improvement
11 11 (7.75%) Disaster Recovery
11 11 (7.75%) Security Operations
12 10 (7.04%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 11 (7.75%) Python
2 10 (7.04%) SQL
3 8 (5.63%) PowerShell
4 6 (4.23%) Kusto Query Language
5 3 (2.11%) C#
5 3 (2.11%) JavaScript
6 2 (1.41%) Bash
6 2 (1.41%) Bicep
6 2 (1.41%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.70%) Groovy
7 1 (0.70%) Java
7 1 (0.70%) Scala
7 1 (0.70%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.70%) VBA
Qualifications
1 14 (9.86%) Degree
2 9 (6.34%) CISSP
2 9 (6.34%) Security Cleared
3 6 (4.23%) CISM
3 6 (4.23%) Microsoft Certification
3 6 (4.23%) SC Cleared
4 4 (2.82%) A+ Certification
4 4 (2.82%) AWS Certification
4 4 (2.82%) Network+ Certification
5 3 (2.11%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (2.11%) ITIL Certification
6 2 (1.41%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
6 2 (1.41%) Azure Certification
6 2 (1.41%) CCNP
6 2 (1.41%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (1.41%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 1 (0.70%) CRISC
7 1 (0.70%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.70%) GCIH
7 1 (0.70%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (8.45%) NIST
2 8 (5.63%) PCI DSS
3 7 (4.93%) GDPR
3 7 (4.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (4.23%) SLA
5 5 (3.52%) GRC
6 4 (2.82%) PMO
6 4 (2.82%) QA
7 3 (2.11%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.70%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.70%) Basel III
8 1 (0.70%) ISO 19650
8 1 (0.70%) NCSC
8 1 (0.70%) P3O
System Software
1 33 (23.24%) Active Directory
2 4 (2.82%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (2.11%) Docker
3 3 (2.11%) Hyper-V
3 3 (2.11%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (1.41%) Firmware
4 2 (1.41%) vSphere
5 1 (0.70%) NFS
Systems Management
1 27 (19.01%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (4.93%) SCCM
3 5 (3.52%) Jamf Pro
3 5 (3.52%) Kubernetes
4 4 (2.82%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (2.11%) Grafana
5 3 (2.11%) Prometheus
6 2 (1.41%) Ansible
6 2 (1.41%) Check_MK
7 1 (0.70%) Argo
Vendors
1 24 (16.90%) ServiceNow
2 8 (5.63%) Cisco
2 8 (5.63%) Splunk
3 6 (4.23%) Samsung
4 5 (3.52%) Apple
5 4 (2.82%) Palo Alto
5 4 (2.82%) VMware
6 3 (2.11%) Databricks
6 3 (2.11%) Remedy
6 3 (2.11%) Ribbon
6 3 (2.11%) Veeam
7 2 (1.41%) Autodesk
7 2 (1.41%) BeyondTrust
7 2 (1.41%) Citrix
7 2 (1.41%) Commvault
7 2 (1.41%) CrowdStrike
7 2 (1.41%) Fortinet
7 2 (1.41%) Google
7 2 (1.41%) Okta
7 2 (1.41%) Rapid7