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 30 April 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
30 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 5 9
Rank change year-on-year -3 +4 -5
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 352 218 226
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 11.21% 16.20% 11.64%
As % of the Vendors category 24.88% 34.71% 27.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 249 156 153
10th Percentile £258 £174 £188
25th Percentile £363 £235 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £400 £425
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% -5.88% -6.85%
75th Percentile £541 £538 £575
90th Percentile £620 £619 £680
England median daily rate £492 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +3.58% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 11 22
10th Percentile £14.08 £12.18 £10.54
25th Percentile £18.04 £12.25 £11.08
Median hourly rate £25.00 £20.00 £14.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% +42.86% -13.71%
75th Percentile £40.00 £30.68 £26.50
90th Percentile £70.18 £41.97 £53.38
England median hourly rate £20.09 £19.49 £15.00
% change year-on-year +3.10% +29.90% -31.03%

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 1,415 628 836
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 45.06% 46.66% 43.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 951 411 535
10th Percentile £306 £190 £250
25th Percentile £400 £322 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £488 £450
Median % change year-on-year -3.79% +8.33% -10.00%
75th Percentile £550 £596 £600
90th Percentile £645 £688 £700
England median daily rate £500 £525 £520
% change year-on-year -4.76% +0.96% -3.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 23 53
10th Percentile £19.41 £12.25 £11.07
25th Percentile £23.13 £15.22 £13.25
Median hourly rate £33.98 £18.51 £19.95
Median % change year-on-year +83.58% -7.22% +7.84%
75th Percentile £53.75 £29.50 £28.75
90th Percentile £69.78 £31.54 £55.00
England median hourly rate £30.49 £27.13 £22.50
% change year-on-year +12.41% +20.56% -44.10%

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 30 April 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 30 April 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 30 April 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 +1 128 £450 +4.65% 85
Warwickshire -6 66 £500 +70.94% 23
Coventry -3 43 £450 +119.51% 16
Shropshire -28 33 £450 +5.31% 9
Worcestershire +6 18 £700 -22.22% 20
Staffordshire -1 12 £325 +26.21% 24
Solihull -12 10 £425 -22.73% 4
Herefordshire -8 9 £700 -22.22% 5
Dudley - 5 £400 - 4
Smethwick - 3 - -
Brierley Hill - 2 £446 -
West Bromwich - 2 - - 5
Wolverhampton -4 1 - - 5
Walsall - 1 £160 - 6
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 29 (8.24%) SharePoint
2 13 (3.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (2.56%) Confluence
4 5 (1.42%) SAS
5 4 (1.14%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.85%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.57%) IIS
7 2 (0.57%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.28%) Apache
8 1 (0.28%) Appian
8 1 (0.28%) CMS
8 1 (0.28%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 37 (10.51%) Microsoft Excel
2 32 (9.09%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (4.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (3.98%) MS Visio
5 13 (3.69%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.57%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.28%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 16 (4.55%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (2.56%) Dynamics NAV
3 3 (0.85%) Maximo
4 2 (0.57%) Primavera
4 2 (0.57%) Workday HCM
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.28%) SAP EHS
5 1 (0.28%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.28%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 128 (36.36%) Azure
2 66 (18.75%) Power Platform
3 62 (17.61%) Microsoft 365
4 37 (10.51%) AWS
4 37 (10.51%) Entra ID
5 34 (9.66%) Dynamics 365
6 27 (7.67%) Azure Synapse Analytics
7 24 (6.82%) Azure DevOps
8 21 (5.97%) Azure Data Factory
9 20 (5.68%) Power Automate
10 19 (5.40%) Microsoft Purview
11 17 (4.83%) PowerApps
12 15 (4.26%) Serverless
13 11 (3.13%) GitHub
13 11 (3.13%) OneDrive
14 10 (2.84%) GitHub Actions
15 9 (2.56%) Azure Sentinel
15 9 (2.56%) GCP
16 8 (2.27%) Azure Logic Apps
17 7 (1.99%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 27 (7.67%) DNS
1 27 (7.67%) VPN
2 25 (7.10%) Firewall
3 15 (4.26%) Network Security
4 14 (3.98%) DHCP
5 13 (3.69%) LAN
5 13 (3.69%) SSL
6 10 (2.84%) WAN
7 9 (2.56%) HTTP
8 8 (2.27%) BIG-IP
8 8 (2.27%) HTTPS
8 8 (2.27%) TCP/IP
9 7 (1.99%) Cisco ASA
9 7 (1.99%) Cisco Nexus
9 7 (1.99%) Ethereal
9 7 (1.99%) IPsec
9 7 (1.99%) Wireless
9 7 (1.99%) Wireshark
10 5 (1.42%) Intrusion Detection
11 4 (1.14%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (11.08%) Power BI
2 26 (7.39%) Data Warehouse
3 16 (4.55%) SQL Server
4 14 (3.98%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (2.56%) Delta Lake
6 7 (1.99%) Data Lake
6 7 (1.99%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.99%) NoSQL
6 7 (1.99%) Relational Database
7 6 (1.70%) Metadata
7 6 (1.70%) Oracle Database
7 6 (1.70%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 5 (1.42%) Azure SQL Database
8 5 (1.42%) MySQL
8 5 (1.42%) Power Query
9 4 (1.14%) Redis
10 3 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.85%) SAP Data Services
10 3 (0.85%) Tableau
11 2 (0.57%) SAS Data Integration Studio
Development Applications
1 29 (8.24%) JIRA
2 15 (4.26%) Git
3 8 (2.27%) GitLab
4 5 (1.42%) MLflow
5 4 (1.14%) MSI
6 3 (0.85%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.85%) Selenium
7 2 (0.57%) InstallShield
7 2 (0.57%) JMeter
7 2 (0.57%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.28%) AdminStudio
8 1 (0.28%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.28%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.28%) Maven
8 1 (0.28%) NUnit
8 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
General
1 109 (30.97%) Social Skills
2 42 (11.93%) Analytical Skills
3 40 (11.36%) Finance
4 19 (5.40%) Public Sector
5 13 (3.69%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 13 (3.69%) Organisational Skills
6 9 (2.56%) Legal
7 8 (2.27%) Manufacturing
8 7 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (1.99%) Games
8 7 (1.99%) Influencing Skills
9 6 (1.70%) Banking
9 6 (1.70%) Police
10 5 (1.42%) Law
11 4 (1.14%) Electronics
11 4 (1.14%) Local Government
11 4 (1.14%) Marketing
12 3 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.85%) Publishing
12 3 (0.85%) Retail
Job Titles
1 45 (12.78%) Analyst
2 36 (10.23%) Developer
3 33 (9.38%) Architect
3 33 (9.38%) Senior
4 22 (6.25%) Data Engineer
5 18 (5.11%) Administrator
6 14 (3.98%) Lead
7 13 (3.69%) Consultant
7 13 (3.69%) Solutions Architect
8 12 (3.41%) Business Analyst
8 12 (3.41%) IT Support
9 11 (3.13%) Network Engineer
9 11 (3.13%) Support Engineer
10 10 (2.84%) Data Architect
10 10 (2.84%) IT Engineer
11 9 (2.56%) Azure Engineer
11 9 (2.56%) Project Manager
12 8 (2.27%) Business Intelligence Developer
12 8 (2.27%) Data Manager
12 8 (2.27%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (5.40%) PySpark
2 10 (2.84%) FastAPI
2 10 (2.84%) SailPoint
3 9 (2.56%) LDAP
3 9 (2.56%) SAML
4 8 (2.27%) .NET
4 8 (2.27%) REST
5 7 (1.99%) Flask
6 5 (1.42%) ADO
7 4 (1.14%) GraphQL
7 4 (1.14%) gRPC
7 4 (1.14%) JSON
7 4 (1.14%) Kafka
7 4 (1.14%) Middleware
7 4 (1.14%) NumPy
7 4 (1.14%) OpenTelemetry
7 4 (1.14%) Pandas
7 4 (1.14%) WebSockets
8 3 (0.85%) .NET Framework
8 3 (0.85%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 24 (6.82%) Onboarding
2 23 (6.53%) Cloud Native
3 10 (2.84%) Security Posture
4 9 (2.56%) Enterprise Software
4 9 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
5 8 (2.27%) Hybrid Cloud
5 8 (2.27%) Operational Technology
5 8 (2.27%) Product Ownership
5 8 (2.27%) Security Operations Centre
6 7 (1.99%) SCADA
7 4 (1.14%) CSOC
7 4 (1.14%) Data Centre
7 4 (1.14%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.14%) Driving Licence
7 4 (1.14%) PKI
8 3 (0.85%) CMDB
8 3 (0.85%) Cyber Threat
8 3 (0.85%) IoT
8 3 (0.85%) Management Information System
8 3 (0.85%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 65 (18.47%) Windows
2 24 (6.82%) Windows 10
3 22 (6.25%) Windows Server
4 19 (5.40%) Linux
5 4 (1.14%) Mac OS
5 4 (1.14%) Unix
6 3 (0.85%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.85%) CatOS
6 3 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
6 3 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.57%) Windows 7
7 2 (0.57%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.28%) Android
8 1 (0.28%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 80 (22.73%) Agile
2 66 (18.75%) Problem-Solving
3 65 (18.47%) CI/CD
4 53 (15.06%) Analytics
5 51 (14.49%) DevOps
6 47 (13.35%) Continuous Improvement
6 47 (13.35%) Migration
7 43 (12.22%) AI
8 41 (11.65%) Business Intelligence
9 34 (9.66%) Cybersecurity
9 34 (9.66%) Stakeholder Management
10 33 (9.38%) ITIL
11 31 (8.81%) Containerisation
12 30 (8.52%) ETL
13 28 (7.95%) Customer Service
13 28 (7.95%) Data Modelling
13 28 (7.95%) Infrastructure as Code
14 26 (7.39%) Decision-Making
15 25 (7.10%) Change Management
15 25 (7.10%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 63 (17.90%) SQL
2 44 (12.50%) Python
3 23 (6.53%) PowerShell
4 11 (3.13%) Bicep
5 9 (2.56%) Java
6 8 (2.27%) C#
7 7 (1.99%) Kusto Query Language
7 7 (1.99%) PL/SQL
8 6 (1.70%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 6 (1.70%) Go
9 5 (1.42%) JavaScript
10 4 (1.14%) R
10 4 (1.14%) Shell Script
10 4 (1.14%) VBScript
11 3 (0.85%) MATLAB
11 3 (0.85%) Scala
11 3 (0.85%) VB
12 2 (0.57%) Bash
12 2 (0.57%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.57%) VBA
Qualifications
1 64 (18.18%) Security Cleared
2 49 (13.92%) SC Cleared
3 39 (11.08%) Degree
4 24 (6.82%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (3.41%) CISSP
6 10 (2.84%) AWS Certification
6 10 (2.84%) DV Cleared
7 9 (2.56%) Azure Certification
7 9 (2.56%) Cisco Certification
7 9 (2.56%) CISM
8 6 (1.70%) ISTQB
8 6 (1.70%) Master's Degree
9 5 (1.42%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 5 (1.42%) BPSS Clearance
9 5 (1.42%) CCNA
9 5 (1.42%) Computer Science Degree
9 5 (1.42%) ITIL Certification
9 5 (1.42%) PhD
10 4 (1.14%) OCP
10 4 (1.14%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (6.25%) Data Quality
2 19 (5.40%) QA
3 13 (3.69%) GDPR
4 12 (3.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (2.27%) NIST
5 8 (2.27%) SLA
6 7 (1.99%) PMO
7 6 (1.70%) Accessibility
8 4 (1.14%) GRC
9 3 (0.85%) ISO 9001
9 3 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 12207
9 3 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 15288
10 2 (0.57%) GxP
10 2 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.28%) FATCA
11 1 (0.28%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.28%) ISO 14001
11 1 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 1 (0.28%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.28%) WCAG
System Software
1 65 (18.47%) Active Directory
2 32 (9.09%) Docker
3 17 (4.83%) VMware Infrastructure
4 7 (1.99%) VMware NSX
5 4 (1.14%) Hyper-V
5 4 (1.14%) Snort
6 3 (0.85%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (0.85%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.57%) BitLocker
7 2 (0.57%) vSphere
7 2 (0.57%) XenApp
7 2 (0.57%) XenDesktop
8 1 (0.28%) NFS
Systems Management
1 41 (11.65%) Kubernetes
2 27 (7.67%) Terraform
3 23 (6.53%) Microsoft Intune
4 12 (3.41%) SCCM
5 11 (3.13%) Ansible
5 11 (3.13%) Grafana
5 11 (3.13%) Prometheus
6 10 (2.84%) Single Sign-On
7 4 (1.14%) CSIRT
8 3 (0.85%) Control-M
8 3 (0.85%) HP ALM
8 3 (0.85%) IBM Guardium
8 3 (0.85%) Nessus
8 3 (0.85%) WSUS
9 2 (0.57%) Docker Swarm
9 2 (0.57%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (0.57%) HP Quality Center
9 2 (0.57%) Puppet
9 2 (0.57%) QRadar
9 2 (0.57%) SCOM
Vendors
1 31 (8.81%) ServiceNow
2 25 (7.10%) Databricks
3 24 (6.82%) Oracle
4 20 (5.68%) SAP
5 19 (5.40%) VMware
6 16 (4.55%) Cisco
7 9 (2.56%) CheckPoint
7 9 (2.56%) Splunk
8 8 (2.27%) F5
8 8 (2.27%) Informatica
9 7 (1.99%) Okta
9 7 (1.99%) Palo Alto
9 7 (1.99%) SolarWinds
10 5 (1.42%) Citrix
10 5 (1.42%) Tenable
11 4 (1.14%) Workday
12 3 (0.85%) CyberArk
12 3 (0.85%) HP
12 3 (0.85%) MobileIron
13 2 (0.57%) Cognos