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 9 January 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
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 2 5
Rank change year-on-year 0 +3 +1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 129 129 112
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 16.71% 19.94% 16.16%
As % of the Vendors category 31.77% 36.54% 32.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 101 107 89
10th Percentile £165 £190 £200
25th Percentile £313 £281 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £473 £475
Median % change year-on-year -0.63% -0.42% +15.15%
75th Percentile £545 £550 £606
90th Percentile £625 £643 £688
West Midlands median daily rate £485 £450 £425
% change year-on-year +7.78% +5.88% -5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 5 4
10th Percentile - £17.09 £11.76
25th Percentile - £25.56 £12.72
Median hourly rate £18.00 £29.00 £15.25
Median % change year-on-year -37.93% +90.16% -87.75%
75th Percentile - £30.68 £17.69
90th Percentile - - £18.93
West Midlands median hourly rate £18.00 £27.56 £18.50
% change year-on-year -34.69% +48.99% +23.33%

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 406 353 341
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 52.59% 54.56% 49.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 253 257 203
10th Percentile £261 £200 £242
25th Percentile £370 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +11.11% +2.86%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £600
90th Percentile £631 £738 £688
West Midlands median daily rate £500 £500 £475
% change year-on-year - +5.26% -4.04%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 7 6
10th Percentile £17.21 £19.91 £12.19
25th Percentile £17.85 £27.28 £14.19
Median hourly rate £20.00 £30.00 £18.25
Median % change year-on-year -33.33% +64.38% +31.53%
75th Percentile £27.25 £30.68 £46.19
90th Percentile £51.15 £42.41 £61.88
West Midlands median hourly rate £23.50 £23.60 £22.50
% change year-on-year -0.42% +4.89% +32.86%

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 9 January 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 8 (6.20%) SharePoint
2 4 (3.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.55%) Apache
3 2 (1.55%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (1.55%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.78%) Apache Pig
4 1 (0.78%) Confluence
4 1 (0.78%) IIS
Applications
1 15 (11.63%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (10.85%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (5.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (2.33%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (1.55%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.78%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.78%) Moqups
6 1 (0.78%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.78%) Oracle Smart View
6 1 (0.78%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (8.53%) Dynamics NAV
2 4 (3.10%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.78%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.78%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 44 (34.11%) Azure
2 27 (20.93%) Dynamics 365
2 27 (20.93%) Power Platform
3 22 (17.05%) Microsoft 365
4 15 (11.63%) AWS
5 12 (9.30%) Azure Synapse Analytics
6 11 (8.53%) Azure DevOps
7 10 (7.75%) Azure Data Factory
8 8 (6.20%) Entra ID
8 8 (6.20%) SaaS
9 7 (5.43%) Azure Sentinel
9 7 (5.43%) Power Automate
10 6 (4.65%) GCP
11 5 (3.88%) GitHub
11 5 (3.88%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (3.88%) PowerApps
12 4 (3.10%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (3.10%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (2.33%) Azure API Management
13 3 (2.33%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 13 (10.08%) VPN
2 12 (9.30%) TCP/IP
3 9 (6.98%) DNS
3 9 (6.98%) Firewall
4 7 (5.43%) DHCP
5 4 (3.10%) Network Security
6 3 (2.33%) Unified Communications
7 2 (1.55%) SSL
7 2 (1.55%) Wireshark
8 1 (0.78%) Internet
8 1 (0.78%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.78%) SD-WAN
8 1 (0.78%) SSH
8 1 (0.78%) WAN
8 1 (0.78%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (13.95%) Power BI
2 8 (6.20%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (5.43%) Data Mining
4 3 (2.33%) Hadoop
4 3 (2.33%) NoSQL
4 3 (2.33%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (2.33%) Power Query
4 3 (2.33%) SQL Server
5 2 (1.55%) Apache Hive
5 2 (1.55%) Data Lake
5 2 (1.55%) Delta Lake
5 2 (1.55%) Tableau
6 1 (0.78%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.78%) Big Data
6 1 (0.78%) GIS
6 1 (0.78%) HBase
6 1 (0.78%) OLTP
6 1 (0.78%) Parquet
6 1 (0.78%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 1 (0.78%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 6 (4.65%) Jenkins
1 6 (4.65%) JIRA
2 5 (3.88%) Git
3 3 (2.33%) GitLab
4 2 (1.55%) CircleCI
4 2 (1.55%) Liquibase
5 1 (0.78%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.78%) Jaeger
5 1 (0.78%) MLflow
5 1 (0.78%) Selenium
5 1 (0.78%) SonarQube
5 1 (0.78%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.78%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.78%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 53 (41.09%) Social Skills
2 19 (14.73%) Analytical Skills
3 18 (13.95%) Finance
4 9 (6.98%) Legal
5 8 (6.20%) Public Sector
6 4 (3.10%) Documentation Skills
6 4 (3.10%) Manufacturing
6 4 (3.10%) Organisational Skills
6 4 (3.10%) Presentation Skills
7 3 (2.33%) Banking
8 1 (0.78%) Advertising
8 1 (0.78%) Automotive
8 1 (0.78%) Billing
8 1 (0.78%) Influencing Skills
8 1 (0.78%) Law
Job Titles
1 22 (17.05%) Analyst
2 17 (13.18%) Architect
3 10 (7.75%) IT Support
4 9 (6.98%) Developer
5 8 (6.20%) 2nd Line Support
5 8 (6.20%) Enterprise Architect
5 8 (6.20%) Project Manager
5 8 (6.20%) Senior
6 7 (5.43%) Business Architect
7 6 (4.65%) 1st/2nd Line Support
7 6 (4.65%) 2nd Line Support Analyst
7 6 (4.65%) Administrator
7 6 (4.65%) Azure Architect
7 6 (4.65%) Dynamics 365 Architect
7 6 (4.65%) IT Analyst
7 6 (4.65%) IT Support Analyst
7 6 (4.65%) Support Analyst
7 6 (4.65%) Support Engineer
8 5 (3.88%) 1st/2nd Line Support Analyst
8 5 (3.88%) TOGAF Enterprise Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.88%) REST
2 4 (3.10%) Middleware
3 3 (2.33%) .NET
3 3 (2.33%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (1.55%) OpenTelemetry
4 2 (1.55%) RESTful
5 1 (0.78%) Azure Blueprints
5 1 (0.78%) Blazor
5 1 (0.78%) CSS
5 1 (0.78%) CSS3
5 1 (0.78%) EDI
5 1 (0.78%) HTML
5 1 (0.78%) HTML5
5 1 (0.78%) jQuery
5 1 (0.78%) NumPy
5 1 (0.78%) OAuth
5 1 (0.78%) Oracle Fusion
5 1 (0.78%) Playwright
5 1 (0.78%) Razor View Engine
5 1 (0.78%) Spark Streaming
Miscellaneous
1 9 (6.98%) Security Posture
2 7 (5.43%) Self-Motivation
3 6 (4.65%) Team-Oriented Environment
4 4 (3.10%) Driving Licence
5 3 (2.33%) Cloud Native
5 3 (2.33%) Data Centre
5 3 (2.33%) Handset
5 3 (2.33%) Legacy Systems
5 3 (2.33%) Onboarding
6 2 (1.55%) Algorithms
6 2 (1.55%) Cyber Defence
6 2 (1.55%) Distributed Systems
6 2 (1.55%) Legacy Applications
6 2 (1.55%) PKI
6 2 (1.55%) Product Ownership
6 2 (1.55%) Public Cloud
6 2 (1.55%) Security Operations Centre
7 1 (0.78%) Cyberattack
7 1 (0.78%) Data Structures
7 1 (0.78%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 20 (15.50%) Windows
2 9 (6.98%) Linux
3 8 (6.20%) Windows 10
4 5 (3.88%) Windows Server
5 2 (1.55%) Mac OS X
5 2 (1.55%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.78%) Android
6 1 (0.78%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 22 (17.05%) Analytics
2 21 (16.28%) Agile
2 21 (16.28%) DevOps
3 19 (14.73%) Business Intelligence
4 16 (12.40%) CI/CD
5 15 (11.63%) Migration
5 15 (11.63%) Problem-Solving
6 14 (10.85%) ITIL
7 13 (10.08%) Change Management
7 13 (10.08%) Decision-Making
7 13 (10.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 12 (9.30%) Customer Service
9 11 (8.53%) Data Modelling
10 10 (7.75%) Cloud Security
10 10 (7.75%) Continuous Improvement
10 10 (7.75%) CRM
11 9 (6.98%) Containerisation
11 9 (6.98%) ITSM
11 9 (6.98%) Roadmaps
12 8 (6.20%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 19 (14.73%) Python
2 9 (6.98%) SQL
3 8 (6.20%) PowerShell
4 5 (3.88%) Go
5 4 (3.10%) C#
5 4 (3.10%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 4 (3.10%) R
6 3 (2.33%) JavaScript
6 3 (2.33%) Kusto Query Language
6 3 (2.33%) Scala
6 3 (2.33%) Shell Script
7 2 (1.55%) Bash
7 2 (1.55%) Java
8 1 (0.78%) Groovy
8 1 (0.78%) Perl
8 1 (0.78%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.78%) TypeScript
8 1 (0.78%) VB
Qualifications
1 12 (9.30%) Microsoft Certification
1 12 (9.30%) Security Cleared
2 11 (8.53%) SC Cleared
3 8 (6.20%) Degree
4 5 (3.88%) MCDST
4 5 (3.88%) MCP
5 3 (2.33%) Azure Certification
5 3 (2.33%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (2.33%) CISSP
5 3 (2.33%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (1.55%) AWS Certification
6 2 (1.55%) CISM
7 1 (0.78%) AAT
7 1 (0.78%) ACCA
7 1 (0.78%) CIMA
7 1 (0.78%) GIAC
7 1 (0.78%) IIBA
7 1 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (0.78%) PMI Certification
7 1 (0.78%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (3.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (2.33%) Cyber Essentials
2 3 (2.33%) GDPR
2 3 (2.33%) PMO
3 2 (1.55%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.55%) NCSC
4 1 (0.78%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.78%) Data Quality
4 1 (0.78%) GxP
4 1 (0.78%) ISO 22301
4 1 (0.78%) NIST
4 1 (0.78%) PCI DSS
4 1 (0.78%) QA
4 1 (0.78%) SLA
System Software
1 17 (13.18%) Active Directory
2 7 (5.43%) Docker
3 1 (0.78%) HDFS
3 1 (0.78%) Snort
3 1 (0.78%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 9 (6.98%) Kubernetes
2 7 (5.43%) Terraform
3 6 (4.65%) Microsoft Intune
3 6 (4.65%) SCCM
4 4 (3.10%) Ansible
5 3 (2.33%) Grafana
5 3 (2.33%) Prometheus
5 3 (2.33%) QRadar
6 2 (1.55%) CSIRT
7 1 (0.78%) Argo
7 1 (0.78%) Hadoop YARN
7 1 (0.78%) Istio
7 1 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 12 (9.30%) Splunk
2 8 (6.20%) ServiceNow
3 5 (3.88%) iManage
3 5 (3.88%) Mitel
4 3 (2.33%) Databricks
5 2 (1.55%) Cisco
5 2 (1.55%) F5
5 2 (1.55%) Google
5 2 (1.55%) Informatica
5 2 (1.55%) Sage
5 2 (1.55%) Tenable
5 2 (1.55%) Workday
6 1 (0.78%) Adobe
6 1 (0.78%) Aruba
6 1 (0.78%) Atlassian
6 1 (0.78%) Barracuda Networks
6 1 (0.78%) IBM
6 1 (0.78%) JD Edwards
6 1 (0.78%) SolarWinds
6 1 (0.78%) Veeam