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 10 October 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
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 4 3
Rank change year-on-year +2 -1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 140 105 107
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 15.91% 16.36% 14.76%
As % of the Vendors category 36.08% 29.01% 27.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 98 87 80
10th Percentile £210 £128 £190
25th Percentile £375 £275 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £400 £421
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -4.88% -1.06%
75th Percentile £638 £545 £525
90th Percentile £684 £625 £573
West Midlands median daily rate £425 £440 £425
% change year-on-year -3.41% +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% +2.92%
75th Percentile £18.06 - £22.88
90th Percentile £18.83 - £25.16
West Midlands median hourly rate £19.41 £30.00 £30.56
% change year-on-year -35.30% -1.84% +42.15%

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 388 362 385
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 44.09% 56.39% 53.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 222 239 270
10th Percentile £261 £243 £196
25th Percentile £375 £368 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% +8.11%
75th Percentile £597 £575 £626
90th Percentile £684 £638 £750
West Midlands median daily rate £463 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -7.39% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 5 6
10th Percentile £15.59 £16.98 £13.33
25th Percentile £18.00 £17.69 £17.42
Median hourly rate £33.42 £18.00 £25.06
Median % change year-on-year +85.67% -28.18% -30.38%
75th Percentile £51.25 £20.75 £40.80
90th Percentile - £26.47 £52.75
West Midlands median hourly rate £20.62 £30.00 £28.81
% change year-on-year -31.28% +4.12% +25.27%

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 10 October 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 19 (13.57%) Microsoft Exchange
2 18 (12.86%) SharePoint
3 2 (1.43%) Apache
3 2 (1.43%) CloudStack
4 1 (0.71%) CMS
4 1 (0.71%) SAS
Applications
1 10 (7.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (4.29%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (2.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (2.14%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.71%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.71%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.71%) Navisworks
5 1 (0.71%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.71%) Revit
Business Applications
1 3 (2.14%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (1.43%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.71%) Integrated Workplace Management System
3 1 (0.71%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 71 (50.71%) Azure
2 63 (45.00%) Microsoft 365
3 43 (30.71%) Entra ID
4 16 (11.43%) OneDrive
5 15 (10.71%) Dynamics 365
5 15 (10.71%) Power Platform
6 13 (9.29%) AWS
7 10 (7.14%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (5.71%) IaaS
8 8 (5.71%) Microsoft Purview
9 7 (5.00%) Azure Sentinel
9 7 (5.00%) PaaS
10 5 (3.57%) Azure Data Factory
10 5 (3.57%) GCP
11 4 (2.86%) Power Automate
12 3 (2.14%) Azure AKS
13 2 (1.43%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 2 (1.43%) SaaS
14 1 (0.71%) Azure Cosmos DB
14 1 (0.71%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 12 (8.57%) Firewall
2 11 (7.86%) DNS
3 10 (7.14%) DHCP
3 10 (7.14%) VPN
4 7 (5.00%) TCP/IP
5 6 (4.29%) Wi-Fi
6 4 (2.86%) VLAN
6 4 (2.86%) Wireless
7 3 (2.14%) SAN
7 3 (2.14%) Structured Cabling
8 2 (1.43%) NAS
8 2 (1.43%) Network Security
8 2 (1.43%) Remote Desktop
8 2 (1.43%) Unified Communications
8 2 (1.43%) VoIP
8 2 (1.43%) WAN
9 1 (0.71%) Broadband
9 1 (0.71%) LAN
9 1 (0.71%) PSTN
9 1 (0.71%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (6.43%) Power BI
2 3 (2.14%) Azure SQL Database
3 2 (1.43%) Data Lake
3 2 (1.43%) Data Warehouse
3 2 (1.43%) Metadata
3 2 (1.43%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.71%) Base SAS
4 1 (0.71%) BigQuery
4 1 (0.71%) Data Mining
4 1 (0.71%) PowerPivot
4 1 (0.71%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.71%) SAS Enterprise Guide
4 1 (0.71%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 1 (0.71%) Git
1 1 (0.71%) Jenkins
1 1 (0.71%) JIRA
1 1 (0.71%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 34 (24.29%) Social Skills
2 29 (20.71%) Finance
3 13 (9.29%) Analytical Skills
4 11 (7.86%) Legal
5 9 (6.43%) Public Sector
6 5 (3.57%) Banking
7 3 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 3 (2.14%) Organisational Skills
8 2 (1.43%) Influencing Skills
8 2 (1.43%) Investment Banking
8 2 (1.43%) Law
8 2 (1.43%) Marketing
8 2 (1.43%) Retail
8 2 (1.43%) Telecoms
9 1 (0.71%) Manufacturing
9 1 (0.71%) Military
9 1 (0.71%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 22 (15.71%) Architect
2 17 (12.14%) Solutions Architect
3 16 (11.43%) Analyst
4 15 (10.71%) Support Engineer
5 14 (10.00%) Lead
6 10 (7.14%) Azure Engineer
6 10 (7.14%) Consultant
6 10 (7.14%) Senior
7 9 (6.43%) IT Engineer
7 9 (6.43%) IT Support
8 8 (5.71%) IT Support Engineer
9 7 (5.00%) Data Engineer
10 6 (4.29%) Desktop Engineer
10 6 (4.29%) Microsoft Consultant
10 6 (4.29%) Security Consultant
10 6 (4.29%) Security Engineer
10 6 (4.29%) Team Leader
11 5 (3.57%) 1st Line Support
11 5 (3.57%) 2nd Line Support
11 5 (3.57%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (5.71%) Terraform
2 4 (2.86%) Microsoft Graph
3 3 (2.14%) REST
4 2 (1.43%) .NET
4 2 (1.43%) ADO
4 2 (1.43%) Elastic Stack
5 1 (0.71%) ARM Templates
5 1 (0.71%) ASP.NET
5 1 (0.71%) JSON
5 1 (0.71%) Loki
5 1 (0.71%) OAuth
5 1 (0.71%) OpenID
5 1 (0.71%) OpenTelemetry
5 1 (0.71%) SailPoint
5 1 (0.71%) SAML
5 1 (0.71%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 12 (8.57%) Management Information System
1 12 (8.57%) Onboarding
2 6 (4.29%) iPhone
2 6 (4.29%) Mobile App
2 6 (4.29%) Security Operations Centre
3 5 (3.57%) Hybrid Cloud
3 5 (3.57%) Security Posture
4 4 (2.86%) Cloud Native
4 4 (2.86%) Cyber Threat
4 4 (2.86%) Public Cloud
5 3 (2.14%) Data Centre
5 3 (2.14%) Enterprise Software
5 3 (2.14%) Video Conferencing
6 2 (1.43%) Acoustics
6 2 (1.43%) Data Protection Act
6 2 (1.43%) Driving Licence
6 2 (1.43%) Legacy Systems
6 2 (1.43%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (1.43%) Virtual Team
7 1 (0.71%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 39 (27.86%) Windows
2 9 (6.43%) Mac OS
2 9 (6.43%) Windows Server
3 8 (5.71%) Windows 10
4 3 (2.14%) Linux
5 2 (1.43%) Android
5 2 (1.43%) Apple iOS
5 2 (1.43%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.71%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 26 (18.57%) DevOps
1 26 (18.57%) ITSM
2 21 (15.00%) Problem-Solving
3 20 (14.29%) ITIL
4 19 (13.57%) Customer Service
4 19 (13.57%) Service Management
5 18 (12.86%) Migration
6 16 (11.43%) Mentoring
7 15 (10.71%) Project Delivery
7 15 (10.71%) Stakeholder Management
8 14 (10.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 13 (9.29%) Cybersecurity
10 12 (8.57%) Continuous Improvement
10 12 (8.57%) Roadmaps
11 11 (7.86%) Coaching
11 11 (7.86%) Information Security
11 11 (7.86%) Security Operations
12 10 (7.14%) CI/CD
12 10 (7.14%) Disaster Recovery
12 10 (7.14%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 9 (6.43%) PowerShell
2 8 (5.71%) SQL
3 6 (4.29%) Kusto Query Language
3 6 (4.29%) Python
4 3 (2.14%) C#
5 2 (1.43%) Bash
5 2 (1.43%) Bicep
5 2 (1.43%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 2 (1.43%) JavaScript
6 1 (0.71%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 14 (10.00%) Degree
2 9 (6.43%) Security Cleared
3 8 (5.71%) CISSP
4 6 (4.29%) Microsoft Certification
4 6 (4.29%) SC Cleared
5 5 (3.57%) CISM
5 5 (3.57%) Network+ Certification
6 4 (2.86%) A+ Certification
6 4 (2.86%) AWS Certification
7 3 (2.14%) BPSS Clearance
7 3 (2.14%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (1.43%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 2 (1.43%) Azure Certification
8 2 (1.43%) CCNP
8 2 (1.43%) ITIL Certification
8 2 (1.43%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 1 (0.71%) CompTIA Security+
9 1 (0.71%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.71%) GCIH
9 1 (0.71%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (8.57%) NIST
2 8 (5.71%) PCI DSS
3 7 (5.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (4.29%) GDPR
5 5 (3.57%) GRC
5 5 (3.57%) SLA
6 4 (2.86%) PMO
6 4 (2.86%) QA
7 3 (2.14%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.71%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.71%) Basel III
8 1 (0.71%) ISO 19650
8 1 (0.71%) NCSC
8 1 (0.71%) P3O
System Software
1 31 (22.14%) Active Directory
2 4 (2.86%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (2.14%) Hyper-V
3 3 (2.14%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (1.43%) Docker
4 2 (1.43%) Firmware
4 2 (1.43%) vSphere
5 1 (0.71%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 28 (20.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (5.00%) SCCM
3 6 (4.29%) Jamf Pro
4 4 (2.86%) Kubernetes
5 3 (2.14%) Grafana
5 3 (2.14%) Prometheus
5 3 (2.14%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (1.43%) Check_MK
7 1 (0.71%) Ansible
7 1 (0.71%) Argo
Vendors
1 24 (17.14%) ServiceNow
2 8 (5.71%) Cisco
2 8 (5.71%) Splunk
3 7 (5.00%) Samsung
4 6 (4.29%) Apple
5 5 (3.57%) Palo Alto
6 4 (2.86%) VMware
7 3 (2.14%) Fortinet
7 3 (2.14%) Remedy
7 3 (2.14%) Ribbon
7 3 (2.14%) Veeam
8 2 (1.43%) Autodesk
8 2 (1.43%) BeyondTrust
8 2 (1.43%) Citrix
8 2 (1.43%) Commvault
8 2 (1.43%) Databricks
8 2 (1.43%) Google
8 2 (1.43%) LogRhythm
8 2 (1.43%) Rapid7
8 2 (1.43%) Snow