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 19 November 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
19 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 7 4 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 0 +2
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 307 312 316
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 14.41% 16.63% 16.37%
As % of the Vendors category 26.51% 34.51% 31.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 235 216 234
10th Percentile £201 £190 £166
25th Percentile £304 £320 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £448 £425
Median % change year-on-year +6.03% +5.41% -5.56%
75th Percentile £588 £569 £550
90th Percentile £653 £635 £688
England median daily rate £475 £482 £500
% change year-on-year -1.45% -3.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 9 18
10th Percentile £17.55 £12.03 £17.50
25th Percentile £28.11 £25.56 £17.75
Median hourly rate £30.00 £30.45 £21.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.48% +41.63% +46.46%
75th Percentile £42.50 £35.00 £23.00
90th Percentile £50.00 - £34.50
England median hourly rate £22.32 £22.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -0.82% -2.17% +17.95%

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 1,158 904 1,009
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 54.37% 48.19% 52.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 750 592 653
10th Percentile £275 £250 £219
25th Percentile £400 £381 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.40% +5.26% -4.04%
75th Percentile £588 £613 £594
90th Percentile £651 £713 £675
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 35 16 21
10th Percentile £16.05 £13.70 £17.50
25th Percentile £20.38 £25.07 £17.75
Median hourly rate £30.00 £30.45 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.48% +32.39% +41.67%
75th Percentile £36.25 £35.00 £28.00
90th Percentile £50.00 £54.38 £42.25
England median hourly rate £25.08 £35.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -28.36% -22.22% +73.08%

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 19 November 2025.

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 19 November 2025.

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 19 November 2025. 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 -2 110 £440 +6.02% 141
Warwickshire -8 63 £550 -3.68% 40
Coventry +4 29 £310 -34.74% 41
Shropshire -27 29 £500 +14.94% 21
Worcestershire +4 24 £575 +130.00% 34
Staffordshire +2 21 £203 -41.09% 46
Solihull 0 10 £575 +28.64% 11
Herefordshire -8 7 £650 +2.36% 14
Wolverhampton -1 4 £265 -22.42% 21
Walsall +3 2 £160 - 13
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 23 (7.49%) SharePoint
2 13 (4.23%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (2.93%) SAS
4 7 (2.28%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (1.95%) Confluence
6 5 (1.63%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.98%) Apache
8 2 (0.65%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.65%) FileNet
9 1 (0.33%) Apache Pig
9 1 (0.33%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.33%) IIS
9 1 (0.33%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 1 (0.33%) WebLogic
Applications
1 55 (17.92%) Microsoft Office
2 44 (14.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 21 (6.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (4.89%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (1.63%) Adobe Captivate
5 5 (1.63%) Maya
6 3 (0.98%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.33%) Moqups
7 1 (0.33%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.33%) Oracle Smart View
7 1 (0.33%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (3.26%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (1.30%) Workday HCM
3 3 (0.98%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.33%) Elite 3E
4 1 (0.33%) MIS ActiveH
4 1 (0.33%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.33%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.33%) Oracle HRMS
4 1 (0.33%) Primavera
4 1 (0.33%) SAP BPC
4 1 (0.33%) SAP GRC
4 1 (0.33%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 103 (33.55%) Azure
2 55 (17.92%) Microsoft 365
3 44 (14.33%) Power Platform
4 43 (14.01%) AWS
5 30 (9.77%) Dynamics 365
6 26 (8.47%) Entra ID
7 25 (8.14%) Azure DevOps
8 19 (6.19%) Power Automate
8 19 (6.19%) PowerApps
9 18 (5.86%) Serverless
10 17 (5.54%) Azure Data Factory
11 16 (5.21%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 14 (4.56%) GitHub
12 14 (4.56%) GitHub Actions
12 14 (4.56%) SaaS
13 12 (3.91%) GCP
14 11 (3.58%) Azure Key Vault
14 11 (3.58%) Microsoft Purview
15 10 (3.26%) PaaS
16 8 (2.61%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 26 (8.47%) DNS
2 24 (7.82%) Firewall
3 22 (7.17%) DHCP
4 15 (4.89%) TCP/IP
4 15 (4.89%) VPN
5 8 (2.61%) Wireless
6 7 (2.28%) WAN
7 6 (1.95%) LAN
7 6 (1.95%) Network Security
8 5 (1.63%) Cisco IOS
8 5 (1.63%) PuTTY
8 5 (1.63%) VoIP
8 5 (1.63%) Wi-Fi
8 5 (1.63%) WLAN
9 4 (1.30%) Unified Communications
10 3 (0.98%) Internet
11 2 (0.65%) Remote Desktop
11 2 (0.65%) VLAN
11 2 (0.65%) VSAN
11 2 (0.65%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (8.14%) Power BI
2 12 (3.91%) Data Warehouse
3 11 (3.58%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (2.61%) Redis
4 8 (2.61%) SQL Server
5 7 (2.28%) Data Mining
6 6 (1.95%) SAS Enterprise Guide
6 6 (1.95%) SAS Visual Analytics
7 5 (1.63%) Tableau
8 4 (1.30%) Data Lake
8 4 (1.30%) Metadata
8 4 (1.30%) Oracle Database
8 4 (1.30%) SAS Data Integration Studio
9 3 (0.98%) Hadoop
9 3 (0.98%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.98%) Pentaho
10 2 (0.65%) Apache Hive
10 2 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.65%) OLTP
10 2 (0.65%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 16 (5.21%) JIRA
2 14 (4.56%) Git
3 11 (3.58%) GitLab
4 9 (2.93%) Jenkins
5 4 (1.30%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.98%) InstallShield
6 3 (0.98%) MSI
7 2 (0.65%) CircleCI
7 2 (0.65%) Liquibase
7 2 (0.65%) MLflow
7 2 (0.65%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.33%) AdminStudio
8 1 (0.33%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.33%) Jaeger
8 1 (0.33%) NUnit
8 1 (0.33%) Selenium
8 1 (0.33%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.33%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.33%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.33%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 122 (39.74%) Social Skills
2 54 (17.59%) Analytical Skills
3 44 (14.33%) Finance
4 21 (6.84%) Public Sector
5 17 (5.54%) Organisational Skills
6 16 (5.21%) Manufacturing
7 14 (4.56%) Legal
8 10 (3.26%) Automotive
8 10 (3.26%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (2.93%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (2.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (2.28%) Banking
12 5 (1.63%) Games
13 4 (1.30%) Law
14 3 (0.98%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.98%) Marketing
15 1 (0.33%) Aeronautics
15 1 (0.33%) Aerospace
15 1 (0.33%) Billing
15 1 (0.33%) Environmental Health
Job Titles
1 54 (17.59%) Analyst
2 28 (9.12%) Architect
3 22 (7.17%) Developer
4 20 (6.51%) Senior
5 18 (5.86%) Administrator
6 17 (5.54%) Lead
6 17 (5.54%) Support Engineer
7 16 (5.21%) Support Analyst
8 13 (4.23%) IT Support
8 13 (4.23%) Project Manager
9 12 (3.91%) 2nd Line Support
10 11 (3.58%) Data Analyst
11 10 (3.26%) IT Analyst
12 9 (2.93%) Consultant
12 9 (2.93%) Python Developer
13 8 (2.61%) 2nd Line Support Analyst
13 8 (2.61%) Backend Developer
13 8 (2.61%) Data Engineer
13 8 (2.61%) Enterprise Architect
13 8 (2.61%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (5.21%) REST
2 13 (4.23%) .NET
3 12 (3.91%) Flask
4 11 (3.58%) FastAPI
5 9 (2.93%) HTML
6 8 (2.61%) GraphQL
6 8 (2.61%) WebSockets
7 7 (2.28%) gRPC
8 6 (1.95%) CSS
8 6 (1.95%) Django
9 5 (1.63%) Unreal Engine
9 5 (1.63%) V-Ray
10 4 (1.30%) Middleware
10 4 (1.30%) NumPy
10 4 (1.30%) Pandas
11 3 (0.98%) .NET Framework
11 3 (0.98%) Elastic Stack
11 3 (0.98%) LDAP
11 3 (0.98%) OAuth
11 3 (0.98%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 18 (5.86%) Onboarding
2 14 (4.56%) Cloud Native
3 12 (3.91%) Driving Licence
4 11 (3.58%) Security Posture
4 11 (3.58%) Self-Motivation
5 9 (2.93%) Data Centre
5 9 (2.93%) Product Ownership
6 7 (2.28%) SCADA
7 6 (1.95%) Operational Technology
8 5 (1.63%) Animation
8 5 (1.63%) Legacy Applications
8 5 (1.63%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (1.63%) Team-Oriented Environment
8 5 (1.63%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (1.63%) Virtual Reality
8 5 (1.63%) Virtual Team
9 4 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (1.30%) PKI
10 3 (0.98%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (0.98%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 71 (23.13%) Windows
2 20 (6.51%) Windows 10
3 17 (5.54%) Windows Server
4 15 (4.89%) Linux
5 5 (1.63%) Mac OS
6 2 (0.65%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.33%) Android
7 1 (0.33%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.33%) SUSE
7 1 (0.33%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.33%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (19.22%) DevOps
2 50 (16.29%) Migration
3 49 (15.96%) Agile
4 48 (15.64%) ITIL
5 46 (14.98%) Problem-Solving
6 43 (14.01%) Analytics
7 41 (13.36%) CI/CD
8 34 (11.07%) Change Management
9 33 (10.75%) Continuous Improvement
10 29 (9.45%) Business Intelligence
10 29 (9.45%) Project Management
11 27 (8.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 25 (8.14%) Customer Service
12 25 (8.14%) Stakeholder Management
13 24 (7.82%) Containerisation
13 24 (7.82%) Cybersecurity
14 22 (7.17%) Data Management
15 21 (6.84%) Decision-Making
15 21 (6.84%) Service Management
16 19 (6.19%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 43 (14.01%) SQL
2 31 (10.10%) PowerShell
3 27 (8.79%) Python
4 12 (3.91%) Go
5 11 (3.58%) JavaScript
6 10 (3.26%) Java
7 8 (2.61%) C#
8 6 (1.95%) C++
8 6 (1.95%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (1.30%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.98%) Scala
10 3 (0.98%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.98%) VB
10 3 (0.98%) VBScript
11 2 (0.65%) Bash
12 1 (0.33%) Groovy
12 1 (0.33%) Perl
12 1 (0.33%) R
12 1 (0.33%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.33%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 60 (19.54%) Security Cleared
2 53 (17.26%) SC Cleared
3 35 (11.40%) Degree
4 29 (9.45%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (4.23%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (3.58%) DV Cleared
7 10 (3.26%) AWS Certification
7 10 (3.26%) Azure Certification
8 7 (2.28%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 7 (2.28%) MCP
9 6 (1.95%) CCNA
9 6 (1.95%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (1.95%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 5 (1.63%) CCNP
10 5 (1.63%) MCDST
11 4 (1.30%) BPSS Clearance
11 4 (1.30%) MCSE
12 3 (0.98%) CISSP
12 3 (0.98%) HNC
13 2 (0.65%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.58%) QA
2 9 (2.93%) Data Quality
2 9 (2.93%) PMO
3 7 (2.28%) Accessibility
3 7 (2.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (1.63%) GDPR
5 4 (1.30%) Cyber Essentials
5 4 (1.30%) NIST
5 4 (1.30%) SLA
6 2 (0.65%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (0.65%) ISO 9001
6 2 (0.65%) NCSC
7 1 (0.33%) COSHH
7 1 (0.33%) GRC
7 1 (0.33%) HIPAA
7 1 (0.33%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.33%) ISO 22301
7 1 (0.33%) NEBOSH
7 1 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 57 (18.57%) Active Directory
2 27 (8.79%) Docker
3 8 (2.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.63%) Firmware
5 4 (1.30%) vSphere
6 3 (0.98%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.98%) Microsoft App-V
7 2 (0.65%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.33%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.33%) HDFS
8 1 (0.33%) Snort
8 1 (0.33%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.33%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 28 (9.12%) Kubernetes
1 28 (9.12%) SCCM
2 16 (5.21%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (3.91%) Terraform
4 11 (3.58%) Grafana
4 11 (3.58%) Prometheus
5 8 (2.61%) Ansible
6 4 (1.30%) QRadar
7 3 (0.98%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.98%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.65%) CSIRT
8 2 (0.65%) SCOM
8 2 (0.65%) vRealize
9 1 (0.33%) Argo
9 1 (0.33%) Hadoop YARN
9 1 (0.33%) Istio
9 1 (0.33%) PowerCLI
9 1 (0.33%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.33%) VxRail
9 1 (0.33%) WSUS
Vendors
1 24 (7.82%) ServiceNow
2 21 (6.84%) Cisco
3 20 (6.51%) Oracle
4 13 (4.23%) Splunk
5 10 (3.26%) Adobe
5 10 (3.26%) SAP
5 10 (3.26%) VMware
6 7 (2.28%) AppDynamics
6 7 (2.28%) IBM
7 6 (1.95%) Apple
7 6 (1.95%) Citrix
7 6 (1.95%) CyberArk
7 6 (1.95%) iManage
8 5 (1.63%) Atlassian
8 5 (1.63%) Autodesk
8 5 (1.63%) Dynatrace
8 5 (1.63%) Mitel
8 5 (1.63%) Peregrine
8 5 (1.63%) Remedy
9 4 (1.30%) Virgin Media