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 1 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
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 6 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 -2 -1
Contract jobs citing Microsoft 431 271 272
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 12.50% 15.45% 14.29%
As % of the Vendors category 27.75% 32.11% 31.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 314 182 181
10th Percentile £250 £165 £170
25th Percentile £372 £275 £255
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £445 £420 £415
Median % change year-on-year +5.95% +1.20% -
75th Percentile £501 £541 £525
90th Percentile £600 £613 £638
England median daily rate £489 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +2.95% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 20 5
10th Percentile £13.98 £17.71 £12.16
25th Percentile £17.42 £28.55 £13.25
Median hourly rate £19.41 £30.00 £14.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.30% +114.29% -28.21%
75th Percentile £21.75 £50.00 £26.69
90th Percentile £55.53 - £43.68
England median hourly rate £20.69 £22.63 £16.23
% change year-on-year -8.57% +39.43% -26.23%

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 1,553 844 863
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 45.04% 48.12% 45.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,019 545 585
10th Percentile £324 £235 £250
25th Percentile £406 £368 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.29% -4.00% +4.17%
75th Percentile £573 £575 £625
90th Percentile £675 £638 £713
England median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 89 26 14
10th Percentile £13.50 £16.56 £13.48
25th Percentile £17.74 £27.66 £14.44
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £25.06
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +19.70% +25.31%
75th Percentile £40.03 £48.31 £43.50
90th Percentile £60.85 £50.00 £53.13
England median hourly rate £32.00 £25.15 £30.00
% change year-on-year +27.24% -16.17% -27.71%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 0 130 £450 +13.64% 221
Warwickshire -1 86 £450 +11.80% 53
Coventry 0 85 £425 +36.00% 38
Shropshire -19 52 £447 -13.20% 22
Staffordshire -5 15 £400 +185.71% 50
Worcestershire +2 8 £425 -26.09% 37
Solihull -25 8 £393 -28.64% 15
Herefordshire +5 7 £500 -23.08% 17
Dudley - 5 £400 - 8
Walsall +2 4 £600 - 3
West Bromwich - 3 - - 5
Halesowen - 1 - - 3
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 47 (10.90%) SharePoint
2 21 (4.87%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (1.16%) SAS
4 4 (0.93%) Apache Spark
5 3 (0.70%) Apache
5 3 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (0.70%) IIS
5 3 (0.70%) Oracle Workflow
6 2 (0.46%) CloudStack
6 2 (0.46%) Confluence
6 2 (0.46%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.23%) Appian
7 1 (0.23%) CMS
7 1 (0.23%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 53 (12.30%) Microsoft Excel
2 43 (9.98%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (3.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (2.09%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.86%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.46%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 2 (0.46%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.23%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.23%) Navisworks
7 1 (0.23%) ProjectWise
7 1 (0.23%) Revit
7 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (4.41%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (1.16%) SAP PSCD
3 3 (0.70%) Primavera
3 3 (0.70%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.23%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.23%) Integrated Workplace Management System
4 1 (0.23%) MIS ActiveH
4 1 (0.23%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 186 (43.16%) Azure
2 110 (25.52%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (17.40%) Power Platform
4 58 (13.46%) Entra ID
5 52 (12.06%) Azure DevOps
6 50 (11.60%) Dynamics 365
7 43 (9.98%) Power Automate
8 34 (7.89%) Microsoft Purview
9 33 (7.66%) AWS
10 31 (7.19%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 30 (6.96%) Azure Data Factory
12 29 (6.73%) OneDrive
13 27 (6.26%) PowerApps
14 18 (4.18%) Serverless
15 15 (3.48%) Microsoft Copilot
16 12 (2.78%) GCP
17 10 (2.32%) GitHub
17 10 (2.32%) GitHub Actions
18 9 (2.09%) Azure Functions
19 8 (1.86%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 37 (8.58%) DNS
2 30 (6.96%) DHCP
3 26 (6.03%) VPN
4 22 (5.10%) Firewall
5 13 (3.02%) TCP/IP
6 11 (2.55%) LAN
6 11 (2.55%) Wi-Fi
7 8 (1.86%) WAN
8 6 (1.39%) Cisco IOS
8 6 (1.39%) SSL
9 5 (1.16%) SAN
10 4 (0.93%) Network Security
10 4 (0.93%) SD-WAN
10 4 (0.93%) Wireless
11 3 (0.70%) BIG-IP
11 3 (0.70%) NAS
11 3 (0.70%) Structured Cabling
11 3 (0.70%) Unified Communications
11 3 (0.70%) VLAN
11 3 (0.70%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (9.74%) Power BI
2 34 (7.89%) SQL Server
3 23 (5.34%) Data Warehouse
4 18 (4.18%) PostgreSQL
5 13 (3.02%) Azure SQL Database
6 11 (2.55%) Data Lake
6 11 (2.55%) MySQL
7 10 (2.32%) Delta Lake
8 7 (1.62%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 6 (1.39%) Data Vault
9 6 (1.39%) Metadata
9 6 (1.39%) Relational Database
10 5 (1.16%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 5 (1.16%) NoSQL
10 5 (1.16%) Oracle Database
11 4 (0.93%) Tableau
12 3 (0.70%) Oracle Reports
12 3 (0.70%) Power Query
12 3 (0.70%) Redis
12 3 (0.70%) SAS Enterprise Guide
Development Applications
1 17 (3.94%) JIRA
2 12 (2.78%) Team Foundation Server
3 11 (2.55%) Visual Studio
4 10 (2.32%) Selenium
4 10 (2.32%) WebDriver
5 9 (2.09%) Cypress.io
5 9 (2.09%) Postman
6 8 (1.86%) Git
7 6 (1.39%) Cucumber
8 4 (0.93%) MLflow
9 3 (0.70%) GitLab
9 3 (0.70%) Jenkins
9 3 (0.70%) Protractor
10 2 (0.46%) MSI
10 2 (0.46%) NUnit
11 1 (0.23%) Maven
11 1 (0.23%) Oracle Forms
11 1 (0.23%) Rational Rhapsody
11 1 (0.23%) SonarQube
11 1 (0.23%) Zephyr
General
1 154 (35.73%) Social Skills
2 60 (13.92%) Finance
3 46 (10.67%) Analytical Skills
3 46 (10.67%) Public Sector
4 33 (7.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 21 (4.87%) Organisational Skills
6 13 (3.02%) Legal
6 13 (3.02%) Manufacturing
7 10 (2.32%) Banking
8 7 (1.62%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (1.62%) Marketing
9 6 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (1.16%) Retail
11 4 (0.93%) Billing
11 4 (0.93%) Law
12 3 (0.70%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.46%) Electronics
13 2 (0.46%) Investment Banking
13 2 (0.46%) Local Government
13 2 (0.46%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 57 (13.23%) Analyst
2 55 (12.76%) Developer
3 51 (11.83%) Senior
4 39 (9.05%) Data Engineer
5 30 (6.96%) Architect
6 29 (6.73%) Lead
7 25 (5.80%) Consultant
8 24 (5.57%) Administrator
9 22 (5.10%) Azure Engineer
10 19 (4.41%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 18 (4.18%) Solutions Architect
12 16 (3.71%) Support Engineer
13 15 (3.48%) Dynamics 365 Developer
14 13 (3.02%) Senior Data Engineer
15 12 (2.78%) IT Support
16 11 (2.55%) Senior Analyst
17 10 (2.32%) Data Architect
17 10 (2.32%) Support Technician
17 10 (2.32%) Test Analyst
18 9 (2.09%) Junior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (4.87%) JSON
1 21 (4.87%) Terraform
2 18 (4.18%) PySpark
3 17 (3.94%) SOAP
3 17 (3.94%) XML
4 11 (2.55%) ActiveX
4 11 (2.55%) REST
5 9 (2.09%) Gherkin
6 8 (1.86%) .NET
7 7 (1.62%) Microsoft Graph
8 6 (1.39%) Kafka
9 5 (1.16%) JDBC
9 5 (1.16%) SAP PI
9 5 (1.16%) XSLT
10 4 (0.93%) IDoc
10 4 (0.93%) YAML
11 3 (0.70%) .NET Core
11 3 (0.70%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.70%) OAuth
11 3 (0.70%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 22 (5.10%) Management Information System
1 22 (5.10%) Onboarding
2 20 (4.64%) Cloud Native
3 16 (3.71%) Product Ownership
4 15 (3.48%) Hybrid Cloud
5 13 (3.02%) SCADA
6 9 (2.09%) CMDB
7 8 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
8 7 (1.62%) Cyber Threat
8 7 (1.62%) Operational Technology
8 7 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.62%) Smartphone
9 6 (1.39%) Data Centre
9 6 (1.39%) Data Structures
9 6 (1.39%) IoT
9 6 (1.39%) PKI
9 6 (1.39%) Virtual Team
10 5 (1.16%) Public Cloud
10 5 (1.16%) Security Operations Centre
10 5 (1.16%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 92 (21.35%) Windows
2 31 (7.19%) Windows Server
3 29 (6.73%) Windows 10
4 22 (5.10%) Linux
5 13 (3.02%) Mac OS
6 8 (1.86%) Android
7 7 (1.62%) Ubuntu
8 5 (1.16%) SUSE
8 5 (1.16%) Unix
9 4 (0.93%) Apple iOS
10 3 (0.70%) CentOS
10 3 (0.70%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.70%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.70%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.46%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 91 (21.11%) Problem-Solving
2 69 (16.01%) Agile
2 69 (16.01%) DevOps
3 60 (13.92%) Stakeholder Management
4 56 (12.99%) Continuous Improvement
5 54 (12.53%) Migration
6 50 (11.60%) CI/CD
6 50 (11.60%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 49 (11.37%) AI
8 46 (10.67%) Analytics
9 44 (10.21%) Customer Service
10 42 (9.74%) Data Modelling
11 41 (9.51%) Business Intelligence
11 41 (9.51%) ITSM
11 41 (9.51%) Technical Leadership
12 39 (9.05%) ITIL
13 34 (7.89%) Validation
14 32 (7.42%) ETL
14 32 (7.42%) Mentoring
15 28 (6.50%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 62 (14.39%) SQL
2 35 (8.12%) Python
3 26 (6.03%) JavaScript
4 25 (5.80%) C#
5 20 (4.64%) PowerShell
6 16 (3.71%) Java
7 13 (3.02%) VBA
8 11 (2.55%) VB
8 11 (2.55%) VB6
9 10 (2.32%) Bicep
10 6 (1.39%) Kusto Query Language
11 5 (1.16%) ABAP
11 5 (1.16%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.93%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 3 (0.70%) Bash
13 3 (0.70%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.46%) Scala
14 2 (0.46%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.46%) VBScript
15 1 (0.23%) Go
Qualifications
1 71 (16.47%) Security Cleared
2 57 (13.23%) SC Cleared
3 37 (8.58%) Microsoft Certification
4 28 (6.50%) Degree
5 16 (3.71%) BPSS Clearance
6 12 (2.78%) Azure Certification
6 12 (2.78%) ISTQB
7 10 (2.32%) CISSP
8 9 (2.09%) OCP
8 9 (2.09%) Oracle Certification
9 6 (1.39%) AWS Certification
9 6 (1.39%) CISM
10 5 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
10 5 (1.16%) DBS Check
11 4 (0.93%) A+ Certification
11 4 (0.93%) CCNP
11 4 (0.93%) Master's Degree
11 4 (0.93%) Network+ Certification
11 4 (0.93%) PhD
12 3 (0.70%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (6.50%) Accessibility
2 27 (6.26%) Data Quality
3 23 (5.34%) GDPR
4 17 (3.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 16 (3.71%) NIST
5 16 (3.71%) QA
6 13 (3.02%) PMO
6 13 (3.02%) SLA
7 12 (2.78%) WCAG
8 7 (1.62%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.93%) GRC
10 2 (0.46%) NCSC
11 1 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
11 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
11 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
11 1 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 17025
11 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.23%) SOC 2
System Software
1 73 (16.94%) Active Directory
2 26 (6.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (3.71%) Docker
3 16 (3.71%) Hyper-V
4 14 (3.25%) vSphere
5 12 (2.78%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.93%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.46%) Firmware
7 2 (0.46%) Microsoft App-V
7 2 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.46%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.46%) XenApp
7 2 (0.46%) XenDesktop
8 1 (0.23%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.23%) NFS
Systems Management
1 44 (10.21%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (6.26%) SCCM
3 19 (4.41%) Kubernetes
4 17 (3.94%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (1.16%) Ansible
5 5 (1.16%) Grafana
5 5 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (0.93%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.70%) QRadar
8 2 (0.46%) Check_MK
8 2 (0.46%) Failover Clustering
8 2 (0.46%) WMI
8 2 (0.46%) WSUS
9 1 (0.23%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.23%) Argo
9 1 (0.23%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.23%) SCOM
Vendors
1 37 (8.58%) ServiceNow
2 33 (7.66%) Oracle
3 32 (7.42%) VMware
4 26 (6.03%) Cisco
5 25 (5.80%) Databricks
6 23 (5.34%) SAP
7 13 (3.02%) Splunk
8 10 (2.32%) UiPath
9 9 (2.09%) Informatica
9 9 (2.09%) Palo Alto
10 8 (1.86%) Apple
10 8 (1.86%) Red Hat
11 7 (1.62%) Fortinet
12 6 (1.39%) Canon
12 6 (1.39%) Citrix
13 5 (1.16%) Adobe
13 5 (1.16%) F5
13 5 (1.16%) IBM
13 5 (1.16%) Samsung
13 5 (1.16%) Siemens