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 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
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 4 4
Rank change year-on-year 0 0 -2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 130 83 95
As % of all contract jobs in Birmingham 14.25% 14.12% 13.42%
As % of the Vendors category 31.03% 29.96% 26.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 90 67 67
10th Percentile £212 £150 £190
25th Percentile £375 £263 £204
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £396 £415
Median % change year-on-year +13.64% -4.58% -2.35%
75th Percentile £597 £494 £500
90th Percentile £676 £600 £565
West Midlands median daily rate £445 £420 £415
% change year-on-year +5.95% +1.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 2 5
10th Percentile £15.05 £21.89 £12.16
25th Percentile £16.66 £27.72 £13.25
Median hourly rate £19.34 £38.38 £14.00
Median % change year-on-year -49.60% +174.11% -26.32%
75th Percentile - £49.97 £26.69
90th Percentile - £56.36 £43.68
West Midlands median hourly rate £19.41 £30.00 £14.00
% change year-on-year -35.30% +114.29% -28.21%

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 419 277 355
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Birmingham 45.94% 47.11% 50.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 188 256
10th Percentile £313 £157 £210
25th Percentile £400 £311 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -10.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £575 £558 £632
90th Percentile £675 £623 £750
West Midlands median daily rate £469 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -2.29% -4.00% +4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 3 9
10th Percentile £13.40 £20.46 £12.89
25th Percentile £15.32 £24.15 £14.00
Median hourly rate £19.34 £30.29 £24.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.15% +26.21% +14.29%
75th Percentile £43.27 £45.46 £37.50
90th Percentile £51.25 £54.56 £47.40
West Midlands median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £25.06
% change year-on-year -16.67% +19.70% +25.31%

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 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 17 (13.08%) SharePoint
2 14 (10.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (2.31%) Apache Spark
3 3 (2.31%) SAS
4 2 (1.54%) Apache
4 2 (1.54%) CloudStack
5 1 (0.77%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 8 (6.15%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (3.08%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (2.31%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (1.54%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.77%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.77%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.77%) Navisworks
5 1 (0.77%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.77%) Revit
Business Applications
1 3 (2.31%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.77%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.77%) Integrated Workplace Management System
2 1 (0.77%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 60 (46.15%) Azure
2 47 (36.15%) Microsoft 365
3 34 (26.15%) Entra ID
4 17 (13.08%) OneDrive
5 16 (12.31%) Power Platform
6 15 (11.54%) Dynamics 365
7 13 (10.00%) AWS
8 10 (7.69%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (6.15%) Azure Sentinel
9 8 (6.15%) Microsoft Purview
10 5 (3.85%) Azure Data Factory
10 5 (3.85%) Power Automate
11 3 (2.31%) Azure AKS
11 3 (2.31%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 3 (2.31%) GCP
11 3 (2.31%) IaaS
12 2 (1.54%) Amazon S3
12 2 (1.54%) Amazon SageMaker
12 2 (1.54%) OpenShift
12 2 (1.54%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 14 (10.77%) DNS
2 13 (10.00%) DHCP
3 11 (8.46%) VPN
4 8 (6.15%) TCP/IP
5 6 (4.62%) Firewall
6 4 (3.08%) SAN
7 3 (2.31%) NAS
8 2 (1.54%) Network Security
8 2 (1.54%) Remote Desktop
8 2 (1.54%) Structured Cabling
8 2 (1.54%) VLAN
8 2 (1.54%) Wi-Fi
9 1 (0.77%) BIG-IP
9 1 (0.77%) iSCSI
9 1 (0.77%) LAN
9 1 (0.77%) Value-Added Service
9 1 (0.77%) VoIP
9 1 (0.77%) WAN
9 1 (0.77%) Wireless
9 1 (0.77%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (9.23%) Power BI
2 5 (3.85%) Data Lake
2 5 (3.85%) Data Warehouse
3 4 (3.08%) SQL Server
4 3 (2.31%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (2.31%) Metadata
5 2 (1.54%) Amazon Redshift
5 2 (1.54%) Data Vault
5 2 (1.54%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 1 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
6 1 (0.77%) Base SAS
6 1 (0.77%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.77%) Hadoop
6 1 (0.77%) Parquet
6 1 (0.77%) PowerPivot
6 1 (0.77%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.77%) SAS Enterprise Guide
6 1 (0.77%) Spark SQL
Development Applications
1 2 (1.54%) Git
1 2 (1.54%) Jenkins
1 2 (1.54%) JIRA
2 1 (0.77%) Maven
2 1 (0.77%) SonarQube
2 1 (0.77%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 29 (22.31%) Social Skills
2 26 (20.00%) Finance
3 10 (7.69%) Analytical Skills
3 10 (7.69%) Banking
3 10 (7.69%) Legal
4 6 (4.62%) Public Sector
5 4 (3.08%) Retail
6 3 (2.31%) Influencing Skills
6 3 (2.31%) Organisational Skills
7 2 (1.54%) Investment Banking
7 2 (1.54%) Marketing
7 2 (1.54%) Publishing
8 1 (0.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 1 (0.77%) Law
8 1 (0.77%) Manufacturing
8 1 (0.77%) Military
8 1 (0.77%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 17 (13.08%) Analyst
2 16 (12.31%) Architect
3 12 (9.23%) Lead
4 11 (8.46%) Consultant
4 11 (8.46%) Data Engineer
5 10 (7.69%) Solutions Architect
5 10 (7.69%) Support Engineer
6 9 (6.92%) Azure Engineer
6 9 (6.92%) IT Support
7 8 (6.15%) Senior
8 7 (5.38%) IT Engineer
8 7 (5.38%) Security Consultant
9 6 (4.62%) Microsoft Consultant
9 6 (4.62%) Support Analyst
10 5 (3.85%) Cybersecurity Specialist
10 5 (3.85%) Developer
10 5 (3.85%) IT Support Engineer
10 5 (3.85%) PowerShell Engineer
10 5 (3.85%) Security Engineer
10 5 (3.85%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (8.46%) Terraform
2 4 (3.08%) JSON
2 4 (3.08%) Microsoft Graph
3 2 (1.54%) .NET
3 2 (1.54%) ADO
3 2 (1.54%) Elastic Stack
3 2 (1.54%) PySpark
3 2 (1.54%) REST
3 2 (1.54%) SailPoint
3 2 (1.54%) YAML
4 1 (0.77%) Apache Avro
4 1 (0.77%) ARM Templates
4 1 (0.77%) ASP.NET
4 1 (0.77%) JSON Schema
4 1 (0.77%) Kafka
4 1 (0.77%) Loki
4 1 (0.77%) OpenTelemetry
4 1 (0.77%) Protocol Buffers
4 1 (0.77%) SAML
4 1 (0.77%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 10 (7.69%) Onboarding
2 9 (6.92%) Management Information System
3 7 (5.38%) Hybrid Cloud
4 5 (3.85%) Security Operations Centre
4 5 (3.85%) Security Posture
5 4 (3.08%) iPhone
5 4 (3.08%) Mobile App
5 4 (3.08%) Public Cloud
6 3 (2.31%) Cloud Native
6 3 (2.31%) Cyber Threat
6 3 (2.31%) Data Centre
6 3 (2.31%) Enterprise Software
7 2 (1.54%) Data Protection Act
7 2 (1.54%) Replication
7 2 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
7 2 (1.54%) Video Conferencing
8 1 (0.77%) Acoustics
8 1 (0.77%) CMDB
8 1 (0.77%) Enterprise Storage
8 1 (0.77%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 34 (26.15%) Windows
2 13 (10.00%) Windows 10
3 7 (5.38%) Mac OS
3 7 (5.38%) Windows Server
4 3 (2.31%) Linux
5 2 (1.54%) Apple iOS
5 2 (1.54%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.77%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 24 (18.46%) ITSM
2 22 (16.92%) DevOps
3 21 (16.15%) Problem-Solving
4 19 (14.62%) Migration
5 16 (12.31%) Customer Service
6 14 (10.77%) ITIL
7 13 (10.00%) Service Management
8 12 (9.23%) CI/CD
9 11 (8.46%) Agile
9 11 (8.46%) Continuous Improvement
9 11 (8.46%) Mentoring
9 11 (8.46%) Project Delivery
9 11 (8.46%) SIEM
9 11 (8.46%) Stakeholder Management
10 10 (7.69%) Cybersecurity
10 10 (7.69%) Data Modelling
10 10 (7.69%) Information Security
10 10 (7.69%) Security Operations
11 9 (6.92%) SDLC
11 9 (6.92%) Threat Detection
Programming Languages
1 14 (10.77%) Python
2 12 (9.23%) SQL
3 9 (6.92%) PowerShell
4 6 (4.62%) Kusto Query Language
5 3 (2.31%) Bash
5 3 (2.31%) Bicep
5 3 (2.31%) JavaScript
6 2 (1.54%) C#
6 2 (1.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 2 (1.54%) Scala
7 1 (0.77%) Groovy
7 1 (0.77%) Java
7 1 (0.77%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.77%) VBA
Qualifications
1 11 (8.46%) Degree
2 9 (6.92%) CISSP
3 8 (6.15%) Security Cleared
4 6 (4.62%) Microsoft Certification
5 5 (3.85%) CISM
5 5 (3.85%) SC Cleared
6 4 (3.08%) A+ Certification
6 4 (3.08%) AWS Certification
6 4 (3.08%) Network+ Certification
7 2 (1.54%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 2 (1.54%) Azure Certification
7 2 (1.54%) CCNP
7 2 (1.54%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (1.54%) ITIL Certification
7 2 (1.54%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 1 (0.77%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.77%) GCIH
8 1 (0.77%) ISTQB
8 1 (0.77%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 1 (0.77%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (7.69%) NIST
2 6 (4.62%) GDPR
2 6 (4.62%) PCI DSS
3 5 (3.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (3.85%) SLA
4 3 (2.31%) GRC
4 3 (2.31%) PMO
4 3 (2.31%) QA
5 2 (1.54%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.77%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.77%) Basel III
6 1 (0.77%) ISO 19650
6 1 (0.77%) NCSC
6 1 (0.77%) P3O
System Software
1 30 (23.08%) Active Directory
2 4 (3.08%) Hyper-V
2 4 (3.08%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (2.31%) Docker
3 3 (2.31%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (1.54%) vSphere
5 1 (0.77%) Firmware
5 1 (0.77%) NFS
Systems Management
1 26 (20.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (5.38%) SCCM
3 6 (4.62%) Kubernetes
4 4 (3.08%) Ansible
4 4 (3.08%) Grafana
4 4 (3.08%) Jamf Pro
4 4 (3.08%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (2.31%) Prometheus
6 2 (1.54%) Check_MK
7 1 (0.77%) Argo
Vendors
1 20 (15.38%) ServiceNow
2 8 (6.15%) Splunk
3 7 (5.38%) Cisco
4 5 (3.85%) Samsung
5 4 (3.08%) Apple
5 4 (3.08%) Databricks
5 4 (3.08%) Okta
5 4 (3.08%) VMware
6 3 (2.31%) Palo Alto
6 3 (2.31%) Remedy
6 3 (2.31%) Ribbon
6 3 (2.31%) Veeam
7 2 (1.54%) Autodesk
7 2 (1.54%) BeyondTrust
7 2 (1.54%) Citrix
7 2 (1.54%) Commvault
7 2 (1.54%) CrowdStrike
7 2 (1.54%) CyberArk
7 2 (1.54%) Fortinet
7 2 (1.54%) Informatica