Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the East Midlands

Microsoft
England > East Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the East Midlands 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 15 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
15 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 3 5
Rank change year-on-year +1 +2 -3
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 221 156 101
As % of all contract jobs in the East Midlands 15.91% 18.42% 13.29%
As % of the Vendors category 40.93% 41.38% 31.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 91 101 57
10th Percentile £175 £200 £188
25th Percentile £263 £302 £270
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £443 £375 £392
Median % change year-on-year +18.00% -4.21% -7.88%
75th Percentile £575 £469 £450
90th Percentile £600 £550 £563
England median daily rate £492 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +3.63% -2.61% -2.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 51 13 13
10th Percentile £12.83 £16.78 £13.75
25th Percentile £13.25 £21.25 £15.00
Median hourly rate £17.97 £25.15 £17.00
Median % change year-on-year -28.55% +47.94% +36.05%
75th Percentile £25.75 - -
90th Percentile £26.50 - £47.70
England median hourly rate £18.25 £22.50 £21.00
% change year-on-year -18.89% +7.14% -8.70%

All Vendors
East Midlands

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 the East Midlands.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 540 377 323
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the East Midlands 38.88% 44.51% 42.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 238 259 191
10th Percentile £246 £209 £263
25th Percentile £401 £340 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £420 £475
Median % change year-on-year +19.05% -11.58% -
75th Percentile £588 £538 £559
90th Percentile £675 £638 £625
England median daily rate £517 £507 £525
% change year-on-year +1.90% -3.38% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 114 27 14
10th Percentile £13.11 £17.04 £13.86
25th Percentile £13.51 £18.51 £15.03
Median hourly rate £17.87 £21.25 £17.00
Median % change year-on-year -15.91% +25.00% +9.68%
75th Percentile £22.00 £25.15 £18.11
90th Percentile £28.50 - £51.30
England median hourly rate £25.75 £25.04 £35.18
% change year-on-year +2.85% -28.83% -20.94%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the East Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Microsoft relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the East Midlands.

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the East Midlands

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the East Midlands

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the East Midlands citing Microsoft.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the East Midlands citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the East Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the East Midlands over the 6 months to 15 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the East Midlands

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the East Midlands

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the East Midlands citing Microsoft.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the East Midlands citing Microsoft

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the East Midlands

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the East Midlands over the 6 months to 15 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the East Midlands

Microsoft
Contract Job Locations in the East Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Microsoft within the East Midlands region over the 6 months to 15 October 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Derbyshire +1 61 £575 +40.24% 28
Leicestershire -1 46 £349 +39.50% 27
Northamptonshire +4 38 £363 -3.33% 30
Nottinghamshire +3 36 £424 +3.41% 25
Lincolnshire +2 35 £425 -39.29% 18
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the East Midlands 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 16 (7.24%) SharePoint
2 10 (4.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (1.81%) Oracle Workflow
4 2 (0.90%) Confluence
Applications
1 54 (24.43%) Microsoft Office
2 46 (20.81%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (2.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (1.36%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.45%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.45%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (4.52%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (1.36%) SAP CRM
2 3 (1.36%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.90%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.45%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.45%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 70 (31.67%) Azure
2 53 (23.98%) Microsoft 365
3 35 (15.84%) Entra ID
4 26 (11.76%) Power Platform
5 15 (6.79%) Dynamics 365
6 12 (5.43%) Power Automate
7 11 (4.98%) Microsoft Copilot
8 10 (4.52%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (2.71%) AWS
10 5 (2.26%) PowerApps
10 5 (2.26%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
11 4 (1.81%) Azure AKS
11 4 (1.81%) Azure Data Factory
11 4 (1.81%) Azure Service Bus
12 3 (1.36%) Algolia
12 3 (1.36%) Azure Logic Apps
12 3 (1.36%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (1.36%) Nutanix
12 3 (1.36%) OCI
12 3 (1.36%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 16 (7.24%) VPN
2 12 (5.43%) DNS
3 11 (4.98%) DHCP
4 8 (3.62%) Firewall
4 8 (3.62%) Network Security
5 6 (2.71%) LAN
5 6 (2.71%) WAN
6 5 (2.26%) SAN
7 4 (1.81%) TCP/IP
7 4 (1.81%) VLAN
8 2 (0.90%) SSL
9 1 (0.45%) BGP
9 1 (0.45%) Ethernet
9 1 (0.45%) IPsec
9 1 (0.45%) OSPF
9 1 (0.45%) Remote Desktop
9 1 (0.45%) Reverse Proxy
9 1 (0.45%) Wireless
9 1 (0.45%) X.509
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (9.05%) Power BI
2 9 (4.07%) SQL Server
3 4 (1.81%) Metadata
3 4 (1.81%) Power Query
4 3 (1.36%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (1.36%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.90%) Star Schema
6 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.45%) Big Data
6 1 (0.45%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.45%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.45%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.45%) PowerPivot
6 1 (0.45%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 4 (1.81%) JIRA
1 4 (1.81%) Oracle Forms
2 2 (0.90%) Git
3 1 (0.45%) GitLab
General
1 110 (49.77%) Social Skills
2 34 (15.38%) Organisational Skills
3 29 (13.12%) Analytical Skills
4 23 (10.41%) Finance
5 20 (9.05%) Manufacturing
6 17 (7.69%) Public Sector
7 14 (6.33%) Retail
8 13 (5.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 10 (4.52%) Police
10 7 (3.17%) Law
11 6 (2.71%) Automotive
11 6 (2.71%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (2.26%) Banking
13 3 (1.36%) Electronics
14 2 (0.90%) Aerospace
14 2 (0.90%) Fire and Rescue
14 2 (0.90%) Legal
14 2 (0.90%) Marketing
15 1 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
15 1 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 28 (12.67%) Developer
2 27 (12.22%) Administrator
3 20 (9.05%) Architect
4 19 (8.60%) Analyst
5 13 (5.88%) Consultant
6 12 (5.43%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 12 (5.43%) Senior
7 10 (4.52%) Coordinator
7 10 (4.52%) Deployment Engineer
7 10 (4.52%) IT Engineer
8 9 (4.07%) Lead
8 9 (4.07%) Solutions Architect
8 9 (4.07%) Support Engineer
8 9 (4.07%) Windows Engineer
9 8 (3.62%) .NET Developer
9 8 (3.62%) Data Analyst
9 8 (3.62%) IT Support
10 6 (2.71%) Azure Developer
10 6 (2.71%) Cloud Engineer
10 6 (2.71%) Lead Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (5.43%) .NET
2 6 (2.71%) Terraform
3 5 (2.26%) Node.js
3 5 (2.26%) React
4 4 (1.81%) Oracle Fusion
4 4 (1.81%) REST
5 2 (0.90%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.90%) Kafka
5 2 (0.90%) OAuth
5 2 (0.90%) RabbitMQ
5 2 (0.90%) Software Packaging
5 2 (0.90%) XML
6 1 (0.45%) 802.1X
6 1 (0.45%) AngularJS
6 1 (0.45%) ASP.NET Web API
6 1 (0.45%) Express.js
6 1 (0.45%) Lightning Web Components
6 1 (0.45%) MACH
6 1 (0.45%) MERN Stack
6 1 (0.45%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 16 (7.24%) Management Information System
2 15 (6.79%) CMDB
3 14 (6.33%) Driving Licence
4 9 (4.07%) Onboarding
5 7 (3.17%) Data Protection Act
6 6 (2.71%) Hybrid Cloud
7 4 (1.81%) Data Structures
7 4 (1.81%) Legacy Systems
7 4 (1.81%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (1.36%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (1.36%) Enterprise Software
8 3 (1.36%) SCADA
8 3 (1.36%) Security Posture
9 2 (0.90%) AI Agents
9 2 (0.90%) Analytical Mindset
9 2 (0.90%) Cloud Native
9 2 (0.90%) Freedom of Information Act
9 2 (0.90%) Low-Code
9 2 (0.90%) Public Cloud
9 2 (0.90%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 55 (24.89%) Windows
2 23 (10.41%) Windows 10
3 17 (7.69%) Windows Server
4 6 (2.71%) Linux
5 4 (1.81%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.90%) Android
6 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.45%) CentOS
7 1 (0.45%) macOS
7 1 (0.45%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.45%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (23.98%) Problem-Solving
2 43 (19.46%) Migration
3 32 (14.48%) Continuous Improvement
4 27 (12.22%) CRM
5 22 (9.95%) Decision-Making
6 21 (9.50%) ERP
7 20 (9.05%) Business Intelligence
7 20 (9.05%) Logistics
7 20 (9.05%) Stakeholder Management
8 18 (8.14%) Customer Service
8 18 (8.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 16 (7.24%) DevOps
9 16 (7.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 15 (6.79%) AI
10 15 (6.79%) Data Entry
11 13 (5.88%) CI/CD
11 13 (5.88%) Process Improvement
11 13 (5.88%) Technical Leadership
12 12 (5.43%) Data Protection
12 12 (5.43%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 13 (5.88%) SQL
2 10 (4.52%) C#
3 8 (3.62%) JavaScript
3 8 (3.62%) PowerShell
4 4 (1.81%) Python
5 3 (1.36%) Kusto Query Language
6 2 (0.90%) ABAP
6 2 (0.90%) Bicep
7 1 (0.45%) Apex Code
7 1 (0.45%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.45%) R
7 1 (0.45%) SOQL
7 1 (0.45%) SOSL
7 1 (0.45%) TypeScript
7 1 (0.45%) VBA
7 1 (0.45%) X++
Qualifications
1 48 (21.72%) Security Cleared
2 38 (17.19%) SC Cleared
3 12 (5.43%) Degree
4 5 (2.26%) CISM
4 5 (2.26%) CISSP
4 5 (2.26%) Microsoft Certification
5 4 (1.81%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (1.36%) ACCA
6 3 (1.36%) CIMA
6 3 (1.36%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.90%) Azure Certification
7 2 (0.90%) CRISC
7 2 (0.90%) DV Cleared
7 2 (0.90%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
7 2 (0.90%) MCSA
7 2 (0.90%) MCSE
7 2 (0.90%) Oracle Certification
8 1 (0.45%) AWS Certification
8 1 (0.45%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 1 (0.45%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (5.43%) Data Quality
2 6 (2.71%) QA
3 4 (1.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (1.36%) NIST
4 3 (1.36%) PMO
5 2 (0.90%) GDPR
5 2 (0.90%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 1 (0.45%) ISO 22301
6 1 (0.45%) ISO 9001
6 1 (0.45%) SLA
System Software
1 47 (21.27%) Active Directory
2 7 (3.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (1.81%) Docker
4 2 (0.90%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.45%) Firmware
5 1 (0.45%) NFS
5 1 (0.45%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.45%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 27 (12.22%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (9.95%) SCCM
3 3 (1.36%) Kubernetes
3 3 (1.36%) Single Sign-On
3 3 (1.36%) VxRail
4 2 (0.90%) SCOM
5 1 (0.45%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 1 (0.45%) Ansible
5 1 (0.45%) Failover Clustering
5 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Clustering
Vendors
1 23 (10.41%) SAP
2 11 (4.98%) Oracle
3 10 (4.52%) VMware
4 9 (4.07%) Salesforce
5 6 (2.71%) Apple
6 5 (2.26%) Databricks
7 4 (1.81%) Aruba
8 3 (1.36%) AVEVA
8 3 (1.36%) CheckPoint
8 3 (1.36%) Google
8 3 (1.36%) MuleSoft
8 3 (1.36%) Sage
8 3 (1.36%) Samsung
9 2 (0.90%) NetApp
9 2 (0.90%) ServiceNow
9 2 (0.90%) SolarWinds
10 1 (0.45%) CyberArk
10 1 (0.45%) F5
10 1 (0.45%) NEC
10 1 (0.45%) Palo Alto