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 1 December 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
1 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 3 2
Rank change year-on-year 0 -1 +5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 116 133 133
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 16.22% 18.42% 17.55%
As % of the Vendors category 29.22% 34.28% 32.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 94 106 107
10th Percentile £176 £182 £200
25th Percentile £300 £222 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £421 £450
Median % change year-on-year +7.02% -6.56% +2.86%
75th Percentile £545 £538 £575
90th Percentile £625 £634 £688
West Midlands median daily rate £483 £450 £425
% change year-on-year +7.22% +5.88% -5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 5 2
10th Percentile - £17.09 £17.23
25th Percentile - £25.56 £17.56
Median hourly rate £18.00 £29.00 £18.25
Median % change year-on-year -37.93% +58.90% -85.34%
75th Percentile - £30.68 £19.06
90th Percentile - - £19.48
West Midlands median hourly rate £30.00 £29.73 £21.50
% change year-on-year +0.93% +38.26% +46.46%

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 397 388 411
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 55.52% 53.74% 54.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 256 276 267
10th Percentile £258 £190 £247
25th Percentile £382 £350 £369
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +11.11% +4.35%
75th Percentile £600 £628 £600
90th Percentile £635 £744 £688
West Midlands median daily rate £513 £500 £470
% change year-on-year +2.50% +6.38% -5.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 8 4
10th Percentile £17.21 £14.09 £17.68
25th Percentile £17.85 £22.98 £18.69
Median hourly rate £20.00 £29.50 £37.25
Median % change year-on-year -32.20% -20.81% -48.08%
75th Percentile £27.25 £30.68 £58.44
90th Percentile £51.15 £39.47 £64.63
West Midlands median hourly rate £27.21 £30.00 £22.75
% change year-on-year -9.30% +31.87% +37.88%

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 1 December 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 9 (7.76%) SharePoint
2 4 (3.45%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.72%) Apache
3 2 (1.72%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (1.72%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.86%) Apache Pig
4 1 (0.86%) Confluence
4 1 (0.86%) IIS
Applications
1 18 (15.52%) Microsoft Excel
1 18 (15.52%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (7.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (2.59%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (1.72%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.86%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 1 (0.86%) Moqups
5 1 (0.86%) Oracle Smart View
5 1 (0.86%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (6.90%) Dynamics NAV
2 2 (1.72%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.86%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.86%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 36 (31.03%) Azure
2 23 (19.83%) Dynamics 365
2 23 (19.83%) Power Platform
3 18 (15.52%) Microsoft 365
4 13 (11.21%) AWS
5 12 (10.34%) Azure DevOps
5 12 (10.34%) Azure Synapse Analytics
6 11 (9.48%) Azure Data Factory
7 8 (6.90%) SaaS
8 6 (5.17%) Entra ID
8 6 (5.17%) GCP
9 5 (4.31%) Azure Sentinel
9 5 (4.31%) GitHub
9 5 (4.31%) GitHub Actions
10 4 (3.45%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (3.45%) Microsoft Purview
10 4 (3.45%) Power Automate
11 3 (2.59%) Azure AKS
11 3 (2.59%) Azure API Management
11 3 (2.59%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 12 (10.34%) TCP/IP
1 12 (10.34%) VPN
2 9 (7.76%) DNS
2 9 (7.76%) Firewall
3 7 (6.03%) DHCP
4 4 (3.45%) Network Security
5 3 (2.59%) Unified Communications
5 3 (2.59%) VoIP
6 2 (1.72%) Wireshark
7 1 (0.86%) Internet
7 1 (0.86%) Remote Desktop
7 1 (0.86%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.86%) SSH
7 1 (0.86%) WAN
7 1 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (14.66%) Power BI
2 8 (6.90%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (6.03%) Data Mining
4 3 (2.59%) Hadoop
4 3 (2.59%) NoSQL
4 3 (2.59%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (2.59%) SQL Server
5 2 (1.72%) Apache Hive
5 2 (1.72%) Data Lake
5 2 (1.72%) Delta Lake
5 2 (1.72%) Metadata
5 2 (1.72%) Tableau
6 1 (0.86%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.86%) Big Data
6 1 (0.86%) GIS
6 1 (0.86%) HBase
6 1 (0.86%) Parquet
6 1 (0.86%) Power Query
6 1 (0.86%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 1 (0.86%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 6 (5.17%) Jenkins
1 6 (5.17%) JIRA
2 3 (2.59%) Git
2 3 (2.59%) GitLab
3 2 (1.72%) CircleCI
3 2 (1.72%) Liquibase
4 1 (0.86%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.86%) Jaeger
4 1 (0.86%) MLflow
4 1 (0.86%) Selenium
4 1 (0.86%) SonarQube
4 1 (0.86%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.86%) Visual Studio
4 1 (0.86%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 47 (40.52%) Social Skills
2 18 (15.52%) Analytical Skills
2 18 (15.52%) Finance
3 11 (9.48%) Legal
4 9 (7.76%) Public Sector
5 7 (6.03%) Organisational Skills
6 5 (4.31%) Banking
7 4 (3.45%) Documentation Skills
7 4 (3.45%) Manufacturing
7 4 (3.45%) Presentation Skills
8 2 (1.72%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.86%) Advertising
9 1 (0.86%) Automotive
9 1 (0.86%) Billing
9 1 (0.86%) Law
Job Titles
1 23 (19.83%) Analyst
2 15 (12.93%) Architect
3 9 (7.76%) Project Manager
4 8 (6.90%) Enterprise Architect
4 8 (6.90%) IT Support
5 7 (6.03%) 2nd Line Support
5 7 (6.03%) Business Architect
5 7 (6.03%) IT Analyst
5 7 (6.03%) Senior
6 6 (5.17%) 2nd Line Support Analyst
6 6 (5.17%) Administrator
6 6 (5.17%) Azure Architect
6 6 (5.17%) Dynamics 365 Architect
6 6 (5.17%) IT Support Analyst
6 6 (5.17%) Support Analyst
7 5 (4.31%) 1st/2nd Line Support
7 5 (4.31%) 1st/2nd Line Support Analyst
7 5 (4.31%) Developer
7 5 (4.31%) TOGAF Architect
7 5 (4.31%) TOGAF Enterprise Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (4.31%) REST
2 4 (3.45%) .NET
2 4 (3.45%) Middleware
3 3 (2.59%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (1.72%) OpenTelemetry
4 2 (1.72%) RESTful
5 1 (0.86%) Azure Blueprints
5 1 (0.86%) Blazor
5 1 (0.86%) CSS
5 1 (0.86%) CSS3
5 1 (0.86%) EDI
5 1 (0.86%) HTML
5 1 (0.86%) HTML5
5 1 (0.86%) jQuery
5 1 (0.86%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.86%) NumPy
5 1 (0.86%) OAuth
5 1 (0.86%) Oracle Fusion
5 1 (0.86%) Playwright
5 1 (0.86%) Razor View Engine
Miscellaneous
1 9 (7.76%) Security Posture
2 8 (6.90%) Self-Motivation
3 5 (4.31%) Team-Oriented Environment
4 4 (3.45%) Driving Licence
5 3 (2.59%) Cloud Native
5 3 (2.59%) Handset
5 3 (2.59%) Legacy Systems
5 3 (2.59%) Video Conferencing
6 2 (1.72%) Algorithms
6 2 (1.72%) Cyber Defence
6 2 (1.72%) Data Centre
6 2 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
6 2 (1.72%) Legacy Applications
6 2 (1.72%) Product Ownership
6 2 (1.72%) Public Cloud
6 2 (1.72%) Security Operations Centre
7 1 (0.86%) Cyberattack
7 1 (0.86%) Data Structures
7 1 (0.86%) Mobile App
7 1 (0.86%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 16 (13.79%) Windows
2 7 (6.03%) Linux
2 7 (6.03%) Windows 10
3 4 (3.45%) Windows Server
4 2 (1.72%) Mac OS X
5 1 (0.86%) Android
5 1 (0.86%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 21 (18.10%) DevOps
2 18 (15.52%) Analytics
2 18 (15.52%) ITIL
2 18 (15.52%) Problem-Solving
3 17 (14.66%) Agile
4 16 (13.79%) Business Intelligence
5 13 (11.21%) Migration
6 12 (10.34%) Change Management
6 12 (10.34%) CI/CD
6 12 (10.34%) Customer Service
6 12 (10.34%) ITSM
7 11 (9.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 10 (8.62%) Continuous Improvement
8 10 (8.62%) Data Modelling
9 9 (7.76%) Containerisation
9 9 (7.76%) Decision-Making
9 9 (7.76%) Service Management
10 8 (6.90%) Cloud Security
10 8 (6.90%) CRM
10 8 (6.90%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 15 (12.93%) Python
2 7 (6.03%) SQL
3 5 (4.31%) Go
3 5 (4.31%) PowerShell
4 4 (3.45%) JavaScript
5 3 (2.59%) C#
5 3 (2.59%) Kusto Query Language
5 3 (2.59%) Scala
5 3 (2.59%) Shell Script
6 2 (1.72%) Bash
6 2 (1.72%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 2 (1.72%) Java
6 2 (1.72%) R
7 1 (0.86%) Groovy
7 1 (0.86%) Perl
7 1 (0.86%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.86%) TypeScript
7 1 (0.86%) VB
Qualifications
1 14 (12.07%) Security Cleared
2 12 (10.34%) SC Cleared
3 10 (8.62%) Microsoft Certification
4 8 (6.90%) Degree
5 5 (4.31%) MCDST
5 5 (4.31%) MCP
6 3 (2.59%) Azure Certification
6 3 (2.59%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (2.59%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (2.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (1.72%) AWS Certification
7 2 (1.72%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.86%) CISSP
8 1 (0.86%) GIAC
8 1 (0.86%) ISACA
8 1 (0.86%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (0.86%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.86%) PMI Certification
8 1 (0.86%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (4.31%) PMO
2 4 (3.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (2.59%) Cyber Essentials
3 3 (2.59%) GDPR
4 2 (1.72%) Accessibility
4 2 (1.72%) NCSC
5 1 (0.86%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 1 (0.86%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.86%) ISO 22301
5 1 (0.86%) NIST
5 1 (0.86%) QA
5 1 (0.86%) SLA
System Software
1 16 (13.79%) Active Directory
2 7 (6.03%) Docker
3 1 (0.86%) HDFS
3 1 (0.86%) Snort
3 1 (0.86%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 7 (6.03%) Kubernetes
2 6 (5.17%) SCCM
2 6 (5.17%) Terraform
3 4 (3.45%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (2.59%) Ansible
4 3 (2.59%) Grafana
4 3 (2.59%) Prometheus
4 3 (2.59%) QRadar
5 2 (1.72%) CSIRT
6 1 (0.86%) Argo
6 1 (0.86%) Hadoop YARN
6 1 (0.86%) Istio
6 1 (0.86%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 10 (8.62%) Splunk
2 6 (5.17%) ServiceNow
3 5 (4.31%) Cisco
3 5 (4.31%) iManage
3 5 (4.31%) Mitel
4 3 (2.59%) Databricks
5 2 (1.72%) F5
5 2 (1.72%) Google
5 2 (1.72%) Oracle
5 2 (1.72%) Tenable
6 1 (0.86%) Adobe
6 1 (0.86%) Aruba
6 1 (0.86%) Atlassian
6 1 (0.86%) BeyondTrust
6 1 (0.86%) Cloudera
6 1 (0.86%) IBM
6 1 (0.86%) JD Edwards
6 1 (0.86%) QAD
6 1 (0.86%) Sage
6 1 (0.86%) SAP