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 26 June 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
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 5 5
Rank change year-on-year -6 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 377 232 268
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 11.31% 15.80% 13.06%
As % of the Vendors category 25.20% 33.43% 29.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 290 144 178
10th Percentile £250 £167 £183
25th Percentile £350 £235 £266
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £398 £405
Median % change year-on-year +13.07% -1.73% -6.63%
75th Percentile £538 £538 £524
90th Percentile £623 £600 £650
England median daily rate £500 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.52% -0.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 20 20
10th Percentile £18.27 £14.84 £10.50
25th Percentile £19.34 £28.55 £11.06
Median hourly rate £25.00 £31.94 £14.44
Median % change year-on-year -21.73% +121.27% -17.36%
75th Percentile £70.00 £50.00 £26.50
90th Percentile £70.30 - £55.13
England median hourly rate £22.64 £21.00 £16.00
% change year-on-year +7.79% +31.25% -27.27%

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 1,496 694 897
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 44.88% 47.28% 43.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,036 432 592
10th Percentile £313 £200 £250
25th Percentile £400 £313 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £465 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.86% +3.33% -5.26%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £645 £671 £688
England median daily rate £507 £513 £520
% change year-on-year -1.07% -1.44% -0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 30 52
10th Percentile £18.10 £14.99 £11.08
25th Percentile £22.50 £24.75 £13.81
Median hourly rate £33.99 £30.00 £18.39
Median % change year-on-year +13.30% +63.18% -14.89%
75th Percentile £53.75 £42.93 £28.75
90th Percentile £67.06 £50.00 £56.13
England median hourly rate £35.00 £26.45 £24.50
% change year-on-year +32.33% +7.96% -34.67%

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 26 June 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 26 June 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 26 June 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 +5 117 £450 +12.50% 76
Warwickshire -3 90 £485 +61.67% 24
Coventry -1 60 £450 +60.00% 18
Shropshire -41 32 £421 -12.74% 13
Worcestershire +5 15 £475 -47.22% 25
Solihull -21 11 £425 -9.67% 10
Staffordshire -3 10 £354 +152.68% 20
Herefordshire +1 9 £700 -22.22% 4
Dudley - 5 £400 - 9
Walsall +2 4 £600 -
West Bromwich - 3 - - 2
Brierley Hill - 2 £446 -
Wolverhampton -5 1 - - 8
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 35 (9.28%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.98%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (2.12%) Confluence
4 6 (1.59%) SAS
5 4 (1.06%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.80%) Apache
6 3 (0.80%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.80%) IIS
6 3 (0.80%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.53%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.53%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.27%) Appian
8 1 (0.27%) CMS
Applications
1 47 (12.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 37 (9.81%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (5.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (3.71%) MS Visio
5 10 (2.65%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.53%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.27%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 21 (5.57%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.80%) Primavera
3 2 (0.53%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.27%) SAP EHS
4 1 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.27%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 142 (37.67%) Azure
2 72 (19.10%) Microsoft 365
3 62 (16.45%) Power Platform
4 41 (10.88%) Entra ID
5 38 (10.08%) AWS
6 34 (9.02%) Azure DevOps
7 33 (8.75%) Dynamics 365
8 28 (7.43%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 24 (6.37%) Microsoft Purview
10 22 (5.84%) Azure Data Factory
11 18 (4.77%) OneDrive
11 18 (4.77%) Power Automate
12 15 (3.98%) Microsoft Copilot
13 12 (3.18%) GCP
14 11 (2.92%) Serverless
15 10 (2.65%) GitHub
15 10 (2.65%) PowerApps
16 9 (2.39%) GitHub Actions
17 6 (1.59%) Azure AKS
17 6 (1.59%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 30 (7.96%) DNS
1 30 (7.96%) VPN
2 23 (6.10%) DHCP
2 23 (6.10%) Firewall
3 12 (3.18%) LAN
4 10 (2.65%) Network Security
4 10 (2.65%) WAN
5 9 (2.39%) Wi-Fi
6 8 (2.12%) SSL
6 8 (2.12%) TCP/IP
7 6 (1.59%) Cisco IOS
7 6 (1.59%) HTTP
8 5 (1.33%) BIG-IP
8 5 (1.33%) HTTPS
8 5 (1.33%) Intrusion Detection
8 5 (1.33%) Wireless
9 4 (1.06%) Cisco ASA
9 4 (1.06%) Cisco Nexus
9 4 (1.06%) Ethereal
9 4 (1.06%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (10.61%) Power BI
2 24 (6.37%) Data Warehouse
3 18 (4.77%) SQL Server
4 15 (3.98%) PostgreSQL
5 10 (2.65%) Azure SQL Database
6 9 (2.39%) Delta Lake
7 8 (2.12%) Data Lake
8 7 (1.86%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
8 7 (1.86%) Metadata
8 7 (1.86%) NoSQL
8 7 (1.86%) Relational Database
9 6 (1.59%) MySQL
10 4 (1.06%) Oracle Database
10 4 (1.06%) Redis
11 3 (0.80%) Amazon Redshift
11 3 (0.80%) Power Query
11 3 (0.80%) SAP Data Services
11 3 (0.80%) SAS Enterprise Guide
11 3 (0.80%) Tableau
12 2 (0.53%) Spark SQL
Development Applications
1 31 (8.22%) JIRA
2 8 (2.12%) Git
3 7 (1.86%) Team Foundation Server
4 6 (1.59%) Selenium
4 6 (1.59%) Visual Studio
4 6 (1.59%) WebDriver
5 4 (1.06%) Cypress.io
5 4 (1.06%) GitLab
5 4 (1.06%) MLflow
5 4 (1.06%) Postman
6 2 (0.53%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.53%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.53%) JMeter
6 2 (0.53%) MSI
6 2 (0.53%) NUnit
6 2 (0.53%) Protractor
7 1 (0.27%) CircleCI
7 1 (0.27%) Maven
7 1 (0.27%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.27%) Zephyr
General
1 117 (31.03%) Social Skills
2 50 (13.26%) Finance
3 43 (11.41%) Analytical Skills
4 29 (7.69%) Public Sector
5 17 (4.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 12 (3.18%) Organisational Skills
7 10 (2.65%) Banking
7 10 (2.65%) Manufacturing
8 8 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
9 7 (1.86%) Games
9 7 (1.86%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (1.59%) Legal
10 6 (1.59%) Police
11 5 (1.33%) Law
11 5 (1.33%) Retail
12 4 (1.06%) Electronics
12 4 (1.06%) Marketing
13 3 (0.80%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.80%) Publishing
14 2 (0.53%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 59 (15.65%) Analyst
2 42 (11.14%) Developer
3 36 (9.55%) Senior
4 33 (8.75%) Architect
5 26 (6.90%) Data Engineer
6 19 (5.04%) Consultant
6 19 (5.04%) Lead
7 15 (3.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 14 (3.71%) Business Analyst
9 13 (3.45%) Solutions Architect
9 13 (3.45%) Support Engineer
10 12 (3.18%) Azure Engineer
10 12 (3.18%) Data Architect
11 11 (2.92%) Administrator
12 10 (2.65%) IT Support
13 9 (2.39%) Senior Data Engineer
14 8 (2.12%) Cloud Engineer
14 8 (2.12%) IT Engineer
14 8 (2.12%) PMO Analyst
14 8 (2.12%) Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (5.31%) PySpark
2 10 (2.65%) JSON
2 10 (2.65%) XML
3 9 (2.39%) SailPoint
4 8 (2.12%) .NET
5 7 (1.86%) FastAPI
6 6 (1.59%) ActiveX
6 6 (1.59%) SAML
6 6 (1.59%) SOAP
7 5 (1.33%) ADO
7 5 (1.33%) LDAP
7 5 (1.33%) REST
8 4 (1.06%) .NET Framework
8 4 (1.06%) Flask
8 4 (1.06%) GraphQL
8 4 (1.06%) gRPC
8 4 (1.06%) Kafka
8 4 (1.06%) OpenTelemetry
8 4 (1.06%) WebSockets
8 4 (1.06%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 27 (7.16%) Onboarding
2 25 (6.63%) Cloud Native
3 17 (4.51%) Hybrid Cloud
4 10 (2.65%) Security Operations Centre
5 9 (2.39%) Enterprise Software
5 9 (2.39%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.39%) Self-Motivation
6 8 (2.12%) Data Centre
6 8 (2.12%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.12%) SCADA
7 6 (1.59%) Operational Technology
7 6 (1.59%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.59%) Smartphone
8 5 (1.33%) CMDB
8 5 (1.33%) Public Cloud
9 4 (1.06%) CSOC
9 4 (1.06%) Cyber Threat
9 4 (1.06%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.06%) Virtual Team
10 3 (0.80%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 81 (21.49%) Windows
2 27 (7.16%) Linux
2 27 (7.16%) Windows 10
3 23 (6.10%) Windows Server
4 9 (2.39%) Mac OS
5 7 (1.86%) Android
6 5 (1.33%) Apple iOS
6 5 (1.33%) SUSE
7 4 (1.06%) Ubuntu
7 4 (1.06%) Unix
8 3 (0.80%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.80%) Windows Server 2012
8 3 (0.80%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.27%) CatOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (19.89%) Problem-Solving
2 68 (18.04%) Agile
3 58 (15.38%) DevOps
4 57 (15.12%) CI/CD
5 55 (14.59%) Migration
6 49 (13.00%) Continuous Improvement
7 48 (12.73%) AI
8 46 (12.20%) Analytics
9 40 (10.61%) Business Intelligence
10 38 (10.08%) Stakeholder Management
11 32 (8.49%) Customer Service
12 30 (7.96%) Infrastructure as Code
12 30 (7.96%) Validation
13 28 (7.43%) Data Modelling
13 28 (7.43%) ETL
13 28 (7.43%) ITIL
14 27 (7.16%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 27 (7.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 26 (6.90%) Containerisation
16 25 (6.63%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 62 (16.45%) SQL
2 37 (9.81%) Python
3 18 (4.77%) PowerShell
4 13 (3.45%) Bicep
5 11 (2.92%) C#
5 11 (2.92%) Java
6 9 (2.39%) Kusto Query Language
7 8 (2.12%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.12%) VB
7 8 (2.12%) VBA
8 7 (1.86%) PL/SQL
9 6 (1.59%) VB6
10 5 (1.33%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (1.06%) Go
12 3 (0.80%) MATLAB
12 3 (0.80%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.53%) Scala
13 2 (0.53%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.53%) VBScript
14 1 (0.27%) Bash
Qualifications
1 64 (16.98%) Security Cleared
2 50 (13.26%) SC Cleared
3 32 (8.49%) Degree
4 16 (4.24%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (3.45%) CISSP
6 11 (2.92%) AWS Certification
6 11 (2.92%) ISTQB
7 10 (2.65%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (2.39%) DV Cleared
9 8 (2.12%) Azure Certification
9 8 (2.12%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (2.12%) CISM
10 5 (1.33%) CCNA
10 5 (1.33%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 5 (1.33%) Master's Degree
11 4 (1.06%) ITIL Certification
11 4 (1.06%) OCP
11 4 (1.06%) Oracle Certification
11 4 (1.06%) PhD
12 3 (0.80%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.37%) Data Quality
2 17 (4.51%) QA
3 16 (4.24%) GDPR
4 15 (3.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 14 (3.71%) Accessibility
5 14 (3.71%) SLA
6 13 (3.45%) PMO
7 12 (3.18%) NIST
8 5 (1.33%) WCAG
9 4 (1.06%) GRC
10 3 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 3 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 2 (0.53%) GxP
11 2 (0.53%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.27%) Basel III
12 1 (0.27%) HIPAA
12 1 (0.27%) NCSC
12 1 (0.27%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.27%) SOC 2
System Software
1 71 (18.83%) Active Directory
2 26 (6.90%) Docker
3 22 (5.84%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (2.65%) Hyper-V
4 10 (2.65%) vSphere
5 7 (1.86%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (1.06%) Snort
6 4 (1.06%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.80%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.80%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.53%) BitLocker
8 2 (0.53%) Microsoft App-V
8 2 (0.53%) XenApp
8 2 (0.53%) XenDesktop
9 1 (0.27%) NFS
Systems Management
1 35 (9.28%) Kubernetes
2 33 (8.75%) Microsoft Intune
3 22 (5.84%) SCCM
3 22 (5.84%) Terraform
4 14 (3.71%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (2.92%) Grafana
5 11 (2.92%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.06%) CSIRT
7 3 (0.80%) Ansible
7 3 (0.80%) Control-M
7 3 (0.80%) HP ALM
7 3 (0.80%) IBM Guardium
7 3 (0.80%) Nessus
7 3 (0.80%) QRadar
8 2 (0.53%) AirWatch
8 2 (0.53%) Check_MK
8 2 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.53%) SCOM
8 2 (0.53%) WMI
8 2 (0.53%) WSUS
Vendors
1 33 (8.75%) ServiceNow
2 27 (7.16%) Oracle
3 26 (6.90%) VMware
4 25 (6.63%) Cisco
4 25 (6.63%) Databricks
5 24 (6.37%) SAP
6 12 (3.18%) Splunk
7 9 (2.39%) UiPath
8 8 (2.12%) Red Hat
9 7 (1.86%) F5
9 7 (1.86%) Okta
10 6 (1.59%) Canon
10 6 (1.59%) CheckPoint
10 6 (1.59%) Fortinet
10 6 (1.59%) Informatica
10 6 (1.59%) Palo Alto
10 6 (1.59%) SolarWinds
11 5 (1.33%) IBM
11 5 (1.33%) MathWorks
11 5 (1.33%) Siemens