Microsoft Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Microsoft
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the West 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 28 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
28 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 5 4
Rank change year-on-year -2 -1 0
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 461 300 294
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 12.93% 16.35% 15.50%
As % of the Vendors category 29.68% 31.51% 32.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 326 217 198
10th Percentile £226 £165 £160
25th Percentile £363 £275 £251
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £430 £440 £425
Median % change year-on-year -2.27% +3.53% +6.25%
75th Percentile £501 £575 £534
90th Percentile £625 £643 £635
England median daily rate £490 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +3.16% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 21 3
10th Percentile £14.17 £18.00 £14.26
25th Percentile £17.48 £27.21 £18.50
Median hourly rate £19.41 £30.00 £26.13
Median % change year-on-year -35.30% +14.83% +30.63%
75th Percentile £21.75 £50.00 £30.84
90th Percentile £40.65 - £33.34
England median hourly rate £18.58 £22.63 £16.52
% change year-on-year -17.92% +37.01% -26.69%

All Vendors
West 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 West Midlands.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 1,553 952 909
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 43.57% 51.88% 47.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,015 620 592
10th Percentile £313 £242 £213
25th Percentile £403 £385 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -6.20% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £575 £584 £613
90th Percentile £675 £650 £713
England median daily rate £514 £507 £525
% change year-on-year +1.33% -3.38% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 97 32 13
10th Percentile £13.50 £15.18 £14.40
25th Percentile £17.57 £17.97 £15.22
Median hourly rate £21.50 £30.00 £26.13
Median % change year-on-year -28.33% +14.83% +13.59%
75th Percentile £33.99 £35.63 £45.50
90th Percentile £53.75 £50.00 £57.75
England median hourly rate £26.37 £25.15 £35.00
% change year-on-year +4.83% -28.14% -20.27%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

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

Microsoft job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Microsoft
Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

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

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

Microsoft
Daily Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft in the West Midlands

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

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

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

Microsoft
Hourly Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the West Midlands

Microsoft
Contract Job Locations in the West 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 West Midlands region over the 6 months to 28 September 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
Birmingham 0 140 £500 +25.00% 173
Coventry +1 91 £425 +38.78% 41
Warwickshire -2 90 £450 +2.04% 58
Shropshire -20 56 £445 -13.38% 28
Staffordshire -5 22 £413 +194.64% 71
Worcestershire +1 12 £175 -69.57% 29
Herefordshire +6 9 £500 -23.08% 23
Solihull -30 5 £228 -60.43% 14
Walsall +2 4 £600 - 5
West Bromwich - 3 - - 1
Dudley - 2 £388 - 9
Halesowen - 1 - -
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West 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 59 (12.80%) SharePoint
2 23 (4.99%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (0.87%) Apache Spark
3 4 (0.87%) SAS
4 3 (0.65%) Apache
4 3 (0.65%) Apache Airflow
4 3 (0.65%) IIS
4 3 (0.65%) Oracle Workflow
5 2 (0.43%) CloudStack
5 2 (0.43%) Skype for Business
6 1 (0.22%) Appian
6 1 (0.22%) CMS
6 1 (0.22%) Confluence
Applications
1 58 (12.58%) Microsoft Excel
2 48 (10.41%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (3.25%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.74%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (1.08%) Chatbot
5 5 (1.08%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.87%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 4 (0.87%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.22%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.22%) Navisworks
7 1 (0.22%) ProjectWise
7 1 (0.22%) Revit
Business Applications
1 29 (6.29%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (1.08%) SAP PSCD
2 5 (1.08%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.87%) ResourceLink
4 3 (0.65%) Primavera
4 3 (0.65%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.22%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.22%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.22%) MIS ActiveH
Cloud Services
1 208 (45.12%) Azure
2 135 (29.28%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (16.27%) Power Platform
4 72 (15.62%) Entra ID
5 59 (12.80%) Dynamics 365
6 56 (12.15%) Azure DevOps
7 55 (11.93%) Power Automate
8 40 (8.68%) AWS
9 30 (6.51%) PowerApps
10 29 (6.29%) Microsoft Purview
10 29 (6.29%) OneDrive
11 26 (5.64%) Serverless
12 25 (5.42%) Azure Data Factory
13 20 (4.34%) Azure Functions
13 20 (4.34%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 20 (4.34%) Microsoft Copilot
14 15 (3.25%) GCP
15 9 (1.95%) Azure Sentinel
15 9 (1.95%) GitHub
16 8 (1.74%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 37 (8.03%) DNS
2 33 (7.16%) DHCP
3 25 (5.42%) Firewall
3 25 (5.42%) VPN
4 16 (3.47%) TCP/IP
5 13 (2.82%) Wi-Fi
6 11 (2.39%) LAN
7 9 (1.95%) Wireless
8 7 (1.52%) WAN
9 6 (1.30%) Cisco IOS
9 6 (1.30%) SAN
9 6 (1.30%) Unified Communications
10 5 (1.08%) Network Security
10 5 (1.08%) VLAN
11 4 (0.87%) SD-WAN
11 4 (0.87%) VoIP
12 3 (0.65%) DMZ
12 3 (0.65%) DNSSEC
12 3 (0.65%) Internet
12 3 (0.65%) SNMP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (9.11%) SQL Server
2 33 (7.16%) Power BI
3 18 (3.90%) PostgreSQL
4 14 (3.04%) Data Warehouse
5 12 (2.60%) MySQL
6 10 (2.17%) Azure SQL Database
7 9 (1.95%) Data Lake
8 7 (1.52%) Power Query
8 7 (1.52%) Relational Database
9 6 (1.30%) Metadata
9 6 (1.30%) Oracle Reports
9 6 (1.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (1.08%) Data Vault
10 5 (1.08%) Delta Lake
11 4 (0.87%) Oracle BI Publisher
12 3 (0.65%) Data Mining
12 3 (0.65%) MongoDB
12 3 (0.65%) NoSQL
12 3 (0.65%) SAS Enterprise Guide
12 3 (0.65%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 16 (3.47%) JIRA
2 13 (2.82%) Git
3 12 (2.60%) Team Foundation Server
4 11 (2.39%) Cypress.io
4 11 (2.39%) Postman
4 11 (2.39%) Selenium
4 11 (2.39%) Visual Studio
4 11 (2.39%) WebDriver
5 8 (1.74%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.65%) GitLab
6 3 (0.65%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.65%) Protractor
7 2 (0.43%) NUnit
8 1 (0.22%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.22%) Maven
8 1 (0.22%) MLflow
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.22%) Rational Rhapsody
8 1 (0.22%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.22%) Zephyr
General
1 184 (39.91%) Social Skills
2 63 (13.67%) Finance
3 58 (12.58%) Analytical Skills
4 53 (11.50%) Public Sector
5 37 (8.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 26 (5.64%) Organisational Skills
7 19 (4.12%) Legal
8 11 (2.39%) Manufacturing
9 9 (1.95%) Banking
9 9 (1.95%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (1.95%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.74%) Billing
11 5 (1.08%) Marketing
11 5 (1.08%) Retail
12 4 (0.87%) Back Office
12 4 (0.87%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.65%) Law
14 2 (0.43%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.43%) Publishing
15 1 (0.22%) Military
Job Titles
1 61 (13.23%) Analyst
2 57 (12.36%) Developer
3 54 (11.71%) Senior
4 34 (7.38%) Data Engineer
4 34 (7.38%) Lead
5 31 (6.72%) Architect
6 28 (6.07%) Administrator
7 27 (5.86%) Support Engineer
8 25 (5.42%) Consultant
9 23 (4.99%) Azure Engineer
10 21 (4.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 21 (4.56%) IT Support
11 20 (4.34%) Solutions Architect
12 19 (4.12%) Dynamics 365 Developer
13 15 (3.25%) IT Engineer
14 14 (3.04%) IT Support Engineer
15 12 (2.60%) Senior Analyst
15 12 (2.60%) Senior Data Engineer
15 12 (2.60%) Senior Developer
16 11 (2.39%) Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (6.51%) JSON
2 23 (4.99%) XML
3 21 (4.56%) SOAP
4 18 (3.90%) REST
4 18 (3.90%) Terraform
5 11 (2.39%) ActiveX
5 11 (2.39%) Gherkin
5 11 (2.39%) XSLT
6 9 (1.95%) Microsoft Graph
6 9 (1.95%) PySpark
7 7 (1.52%) .NET
8 6 (1.30%) OAuth
8 6 (1.30%) OpenID
9 5 (1.08%) JDBC
9 5 (1.08%) LangChain
9 5 (1.08%) Oracle Fusion
9 5 (1.08%) SAML
9 5 (1.08%) SAP PI
9 5 (1.08%) Semantic Kernel
10 4 (0.87%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 36 (7.81%) Management Information System
2 32 (6.94%) Onboarding
3 19 (4.12%) Cloud Native
4 15 (3.25%) Hybrid Cloud
4 15 (3.25%) Product Ownership
5 12 (2.60%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (2.39%) Data Structures
6 11 (2.39%) Taxonomies
7 10 (2.17%) Virtual Team
8 8 (1.74%) CMDB
8 8 (1.74%) Cyber Threat
8 8 (1.74%) SCADA
8 8 (1.74%) Smartphone
9 7 (1.52%) Operational Technology
10 6 (1.30%) AI Agents
10 6 (1.30%) PKI
10 6 (1.30%) Security Operations Centre
10 6 (1.30%) Self-Motivation
11 5 (1.08%) Mobile App
11 5 (1.08%) Reference Data
Operating Systems
1 109 (23.64%) Windows
2 34 (7.38%) Windows Server
3 30 (6.51%) Windows 10
4 23 (4.99%) Linux
5 15 (3.25%) Mac OS
6 10 (2.17%) Android
7 8 (1.74%) Ubuntu
8 5 (1.08%) Apple iOS
8 5 (1.08%) SUSE
8 5 (1.08%) Unix
9 4 (0.87%) CentOS
10 3 (0.65%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.65%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.65%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.43%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (21.48%) Problem-Solving
2 76 (16.49%) DevOps
3 72 (15.62%) Stakeholder Management
4 66 (14.32%) Agile
5 62 (13.45%) Continuous Improvement
6 59 (12.80%) AI
6 59 (12.80%) Migration
7 58 (12.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 51 (11.06%) Customer Service
9 47 (10.20%) CI/CD
9 47 (10.20%) Data Modelling
9 47 (10.20%) Technical Leadership
10 46 (9.98%) ITSM
11 42 (9.11%) Mentoring
12 40 (8.68%) ITIL
13 38 (8.24%) CRM
14 37 (8.03%) Business Intelligence
15 35 (7.59%) Analytics
16 34 (7.38%) Validation
17 33 (7.16%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 50 (10.85%) SQL
2 35 (7.59%) JavaScript
3 33 (7.16%) C#
4 29 (6.29%) Python
5 23 (4.99%) PowerShell
6 16 (3.47%) Java
7 13 (2.82%) VBA
8 11 (2.39%) VB
8 11 (2.39%) VB6
9 7 (1.52%) Kusto Query Language
10 6 (1.30%) Bicep
11 5 (1.08%) ABAP
11 5 (1.08%) PL/SQL
11 5 (1.08%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 3 (0.65%) Bash
14 2 (0.43%) Search Processing Language
14 2 (0.43%) TypeScript
15 1 (0.22%) Groovy
15 1 (0.22%) Scala
Qualifications
1 74 (16.05%) Security Cleared
2 59 (12.80%) SC Cleared
3 44 (9.54%) Microsoft Certification
4 24 (5.21%) Degree
5 20 (4.34%) BPSS Clearance
6 16 (3.47%) Azure Certification
7 14 (3.04%) CISSP
8 12 (2.60%) ISTQB
9 9 (1.95%) OCP
9 9 (1.95%) Oracle Certification
10 8 (1.74%) DBS Check
11 7 (1.52%) CISM
12 6 (1.30%) AWS Certification
12 6 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
13 5 (1.08%) A+ Certification
13 5 (1.08%) CCNP
14 4 (0.87%) Network+ Certification
15 3 (0.65%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 3 (0.65%) ITIL Certification
16 2 (0.43%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (7.59%) Accessibility
2 29 (6.29%) GDPR
3 26 (5.64%) Data Quality
4 20 (4.34%) WCAG
5 19 (4.12%) QA
6 18 (3.90%) NIST
6 18 (3.90%) SLA
7 16 (3.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 14 (3.04%) PMO
9 9 (1.95%) GRC
9 9 (1.95%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.65%) ISO 19650
11 2 (0.43%) NCSC
12 1 (0.22%) Basel III
12 1 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials
12 1 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.22%) HL7
12 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 17025
12 1 (0.22%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.22%) SOC 2
System Software
1 83 (18.00%) Active Directory
2 26 (5.64%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (3.47%) Hyper-V
3 16 (3.47%) vSphere
4 14 (3.04%) VMware ESXi
5 13 (2.82%) Docker
6 4 (0.87%) Firmware
6 4 (0.87%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.43%) XenApp
7 2 (0.43%) XenDesktop
8 1 (0.22%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.22%) NFS
8 1 (0.22%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 52 (11.28%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (5.42%) SCCM
3 19 (4.12%) Single Sign-On
4 15 (3.25%) Kubernetes
5 6 (1.30%) Jamf Pro
6 3 (0.65%) Ansible
6 3 (0.65%) Grafana
6 3 (0.65%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.65%) QRadar
7 2 (0.43%) Check_MK
7 2 (0.43%) Failover Clustering
7 2 (0.43%) WMI
7 2 (0.43%) WSUS
8 1 (0.22%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.22%) Argo
8 1 (0.22%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 44 (9.54%) ServiceNow
2 31 (6.72%) Oracle
2 31 (6.72%) VMware
3 27 (5.86%) Cisco
4 24 (5.21%) SAP
5 14 (3.04%) Splunk
6 12 (2.60%) Databricks
7 9 (1.95%) OpenAI
7 9 (1.95%) Palo Alto
7 9 (1.95%) UiPath
8 8 (1.74%) Apple
9 7 (1.52%) Adobe
9 7 (1.52%) Fortinet
9 7 (1.52%) Red Hat
10 6 (1.30%) Canon
10 6 (1.30%) Samsung
11 5 (1.08%) BeyondTrust
11 5 (1.08%) IBM
11 5 (1.08%) MathWorks
11 5 (1.08%) SolarWinds