Microsoft Contracts 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 August 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
28 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 6 4 3
Rank change year-on-year -2 -1 +6
DemandTrendContract jobs citing Microsoft 270 275 335
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the West Midlands 15.46% 14.44% 15.67%
As % of the Vendors category 32.03% 31.36% 31.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 182 184 252
10th Percentile £165 £167 £169
25th Percentile £275 £255 £275
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £411 £410 £420
Median % change year-on-year +0.30% -2.38% -4.00%
75th Percentile £541 £525 £538
90th Percentile £613 £638 £688
England median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 6 17
10th Percentile £17.71 £12.35 £15.94
25th Percentile £28.55 £13.44 £17.50
Median hourly rate £30.00 £20.06 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +49.53% +2.88% +32.83%
75th Percentile £50.00 £47.92 £24.00
90th Percentile - £55.63 £37.60
England median hourly rate £22.63 £16.23 £22.00
% change year-on-year +39.43% -26.23% +25.71%

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.

DemandTrendContract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 843 877 1,073
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 48.28% 46.06% 50.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 545 593 669
10th Percentile £235 £250 £220
25th Percentile £363 £358 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £488 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.56% +2.63% -4.04%
75th Percentile £575 £625 £600
90th Percentile £638 £713 £700
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -0.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 19 23
10th Percentile £14.59 £13.20 £17.10
25th Percentile £26.11 £13.98 £17.75
Median hourly rate £30.00 £16.82 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +78.36% -26.87% +39.39%
75th Percentile £46.63 £41.50 £48.00
90th Percentile £50.00 £55.25 £91.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £29.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -13.28% -27.50% +77.78%

Microsoft
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Job postings citing Microsoft as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Job vacancy trend for Microsoft 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 August 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 28 August 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft in the West Midlands

Microsoft
DemandTrendContract 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 August 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
DemandTrendContract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Birmingham -1 81 £392 -3.87% 88
Warwickshire -7 67 £400 -31.91% 29
Coventry +8 30 £313 -30.56% 21
Shropshire -8 25 £515 +71.67% 14
Solihull +7 23 £550 +29.11% 14
Staffordshire +3 15 £140 -30.00% 46
Worcestershire -1 9 £575 +76.92% 19
Wolverhampton +1 3 £263 -37.16% 11
Walsall 0 1 - - 9
Microsoft
England

Microsoft
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the West Midlands by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 28 (10.37%) SharePoint
2 14 (5.19%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (3.33%) SAS
4 7 (2.59%) Apache Airflow
4 7 (2.59%) Confluence
5 5 (1.85%) Oracle Workflow
6 3 (1.11%) Apache
6 3 (1.11%) IIS
7 2 (0.74%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.74%) FileNet
8 1 (0.37%) Apache Pig
8 1 (0.37%) Oracle Self-Service HR
8 1 (0.37%) WebLogic
Applications
1 41 (15.19%) Microsoft Excel
1 41 (15.19%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (5.93%) Microsoft Project
3 13 (4.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (2.22%) Adobe Captivate
4 6 (2.22%) Maya
5 3 (1.11%) MS Visio
5 3 (1.11%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.37%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.37%) Moqups
6 1 (0.37%) Trello
Business Applications
1 7 (2.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (2.22%) SAP PM
3 1 (0.37%) Oracle EBS R12
3 1 (0.37%) Oracle HRMS
3 1 (0.37%) Primavera
3 1 (0.37%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 82 (30.37%) Azure
2 54 (20.00%) Microsoft 365
3 40 (14.81%) Power Platform
4 26 (9.63%) AWS
5 24 (8.89%) Entra ID
6 21 (7.78%) PowerApps
7 16 (5.93%) Power Automate
8 15 (5.56%) Dynamics 365
9 13 (4.81%) Azure Data Factory
10 12 (4.44%) Azure DevOps
11 10 (3.70%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 10 (3.70%) Microsoft Purview
12 9 (3.33%) GCP
12 9 (3.33%) OneDrive
13 8 (2.96%) Azure Cosmos DB
14 7 (2.59%) GitHub
14 7 (2.59%) GitHub Actions
14 7 (2.59%) PaaS
14 7 (2.59%) Serverless
15 6 (2.22%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 24 (8.89%) Firewall
2 18 (6.67%) DNS
3 17 (6.30%) DHCP
4 10 (3.70%) Wireless
5 7 (2.59%) WAN
6 6 (2.22%) LAN
6 6 (2.22%) TCP/IP
6 6 (2.22%) VPN
7 5 (1.85%) Cisco IOS
7 5 (1.85%) PuTTY
7 5 (1.85%) WLAN
8 4 (1.48%) Network Security
9 3 (1.11%) Unified Communications
9 3 (1.11%) VLAN
9 3 (1.11%) VoIP
9 3 (1.11%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.74%) HTTP
10 2 (0.74%) Intrusion Detection
10 2 (0.74%) IPsec
10 2 (0.74%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (8.52%) Power BI
2 13 (4.81%) SQL Server
3 10 (3.70%) Azure SQL Database
4 9 (3.33%) NoSQL
5 8 (2.96%) Delta Lake
6 7 (2.59%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (2.59%) Oracle Database
7 6 (2.22%) GIS
7 6 (2.22%) SAS Enterprise Guide
7 6 (2.22%) SAS Visual Analytics
7 6 (2.22%) Tableau
8 5 (1.85%) Data Mining
8 5 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
9 4 (1.48%) Metadata
9 4 (1.48%) SAS Data Integration Studio
10 3 (1.11%) Hadoop
10 3 (1.11%) Pentaho
11 2 (0.74%) Apache Hive
11 2 (0.74%) Big Data
11 2 (0.74%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 15 (5.56%) JIRA
2 8 (2.96%) Git
2 8 (2.96%) GitLab
3 5 (1.85%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.48%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.74%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.37%) Jaeger
6 1 (0.37%) LoadRunner
6 1 (0.37%) MLflow
6 1 (0.37%) NUnit
6 1 (0.37%) PVCS
6 1 (0.37%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.37%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.37%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.37%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 114 (42.22%) Social Skills
2 45 (16.67%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (15.19%) Finance
4 24 (8.89%) Public Sector
5 19 (7.04%) Organisational Skills
6 18 (6.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (4.81%) Manufacturing
8 12 (4.44%) Automotive
9 9 (3.33%) Legal
9 9 (3.33%) Presentation Skills
10 7 (2.59%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (2.22%) Games
12 3 (1.11%) Banking
13 2 (0.74%) Advertising
13 2 (0.74%) Law
13 2 (0.74%) Marketing
14 1 (0.37%) Aerospace
14 1 (0.37%) Billing
14 1 (0.37%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.37%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 50 (18.52%) Analyst
2 21 (7.78%) Architect
3 19 (7.04%) Developer
4 18 (6.67%) Administrator
5 13 (4.81%) Lead
5 13 (4.81%) Support Analyst
5 13 (4.81%) Support Engineer
6 12 (4.44%) Project Manager
7 10 (3.70%) Consultant
7 10 (3.70%) Data Analyst
7 10 (3.70%) Senior
7 10 (3.70%) Solutions Architect
7 10 (3.70%) Support Assistant
8 9 (3.33%) IT Engineer
9 8 (2.96%) 1st Line Support
9 8 (2.96%) Support Officer
10 7 (2.59%) IT Support
11 6 (2.22%) Data Architect
11 6 (2.22%) Engagement Manager
11 6 (2.22%) Product Owner
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (7.04%) .NET
2 11 (4.07%) HTML
3 7 (2.59%) CSS
3 7 (2.59%) Django
3 7 (2.59%) Kafka
4 6 (2.22%) .NET Framework
4 6 (2.22%) Unreal Engine
4 6 (2.22%) V-Ray
5 4 (1.48%) Middleware
6 2 (0.74%) ASP.NET Web API
6 2 (0.74%) Flask
6 2 (0.74%) HTML5 Canvas
6 2 (0.74%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (0.74%) OpenTelemetry
6 2 (0.74%) Razor View Engine
6 2 (0.74%) Web Services
7 1 (0.37%) Blazor
7 1 (0.37%) FastAPI
7 1 (0.37%) GraphQL
7 1 (0.37%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 10 (3.70%) Product Ownership
2 9 (3.33%) Data Centre
2 9 (3.33%) SCADA
3 8 (2.96%) Driving Licence
3 8 (2.96%) IoT
4 7 (2.59%) Cloud Native
4 7 (2.59%) Legacy Systems
4 7 (2.59%) Management Information System
4 7 (2.59%) Onboarding
5 6 (2.22%) Animation
5 6 (2.22%) Security Posture
5 6 (2.22%) Virtual Reality
5 6 (2.22%) Virtual Team
6 5 (1.85%) Self-Motivation
7 4 (1.48%) Operational Technology
7 4 (1.48%) Video Conferencing
8 3 (1.11%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (1.11%) Data Protection Act
8 3 (1.11%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 3 (1.11%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 59 (21.85%) Windows
2 11 (4.07%) Linux
2 11 (4.07%) Windows 10
3 7 (2.59%) Android
3 7 (2.59%) Windows Server
4 3 (1.11%) Mac OS
5 2 (0.74%) Mac OS X
6 1 (0.37%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.37%) SUSE
6 1 (0.37%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.37%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 52 (19.26%) ITIL
2 51 (18.89%) Problem-Solving
3 46 (17.04%) Agile
4 44 (16.30%) Migration
5 37 (13.70%) DevOps
6 34 (12.59%) Customer Service
7 32 (11.85%) Analytics
8 29 (10.74%) Business Intelligence
9 26 (9.63%) Change Management
10 25 (9.26%) CI/CD
10 25 (9.26%) Stakeholder Management
11 24 (8.89%) Project Delivery
12 21 (7.78%) Continuous Improvement
13 20 (7.41%) Project Management
13 20 (7.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 19 (7.04%) Visualisation
15 17 (6.30%) Computer Science
15 17 (6.30%) Data Management
15 17 (6.30%) Workflow
16 16 (5.93%) Data Analysis
Programming Languages
1 57 (21.11%) SQL
2 29 (10.74%) PowerShell
3 20 (7.41%) Python
4 11 (4.07%) Java
5 9 (3.33%) C#
5 9 (3.33%) JavaScript
6 8 (2.96%) Kusto Query Language
7 7 (2.59%) C++
8 4 (1.48%) Bicep
9 3 (1.11%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 3 (1.11%) Scala
9 3 (1.11%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.74%) Perl
11 1 (0.37%) Bash
11 1 (0.37%) Go
11 1 (0.37%) Groovy
11 1 (0.37%) R
11 1 (0.37%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.37%) UniBasic
11 1 (0.37%) VB
Qualifications
1 37 (13.70%) Security Cleared
2 35 (12.96%) Degree
3 27 (10.00%) SC Cleared
4 15 (5.56%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (4.07%) Computer Science Degree
6 7 (2.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 6 (2.22%) CCNA
7 6 (2.22%) Cisco Certification
8 5 (1.85%) Azure Certification
8 5 (1.85%) CCNP
8 5 (1.85%) MCSE
9 4 (1.48%) AWS Certification
9 4 (1.48%) CISSP
9 4 (1.48%) DV Cleared
10 3 (1.11%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 3 (1.11%) HNC
11 2 (0.74%) ITIL Certification
11 2 (0.74%) MCP
11 2 (0.74%) PMP
11 2 (0.74%) Tableau Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (5.93%) Data Quality
2 15 (5.56%) PMO
3 13 (4.81%) SLA
4 8 (2.96%) GDPR
5 5 (1.85%) Accessibility
5 5 (1.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.85%) QA
6 3 (1.11%) NIST
7 2 (0.74%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.37%) COSHH
8 1 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.37%) HIPAA
8 1 (0.37%) ISO 14001
8 1 (0.37%) NCSC
8 1 (0.37%) NEBOSH
System Software
1 44 (16.30%) Active Directory
2 15 (5.56%) Docker
3 6 (2.22%) Firmware
4 5 (1.85%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (1.11%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.37%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.37%) HDFS
6 1 (0.37%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.37%) Microsoft App-V
6 1 (0.37%) Snort
6 1 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.37%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 20 (7.41%) Kubernetes
2 17 (6.30%) Microsoft Intune
2 17 (6.30%) SCCM
3 9 (3.33%) Terraform
4 5 (1.85%) Grafana
5 3 (1.11%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (1.11%) Ansible
5 3 (1.11%) QRadar
5 3 (1.11%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.74%) CSIRT
6 2 (0.74%) Nagios
6 2 (0.74%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.37%) Argo
7 1 (0.37%) Hadoop YARN
7 1 (0.37%) Istio
7 1 (0.37%) PowerCLI
7 1 (0.37%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 23 (8.52%) Cisco
1 23 (8.52%) Oracle
2 15 (5.56%) SAP
3 11 (4.07%) Adobe
4 9 (3.33%) Splunk
5 8 (2.96%) Databricks
5 8 (2.96%) ServiceNow
6 6 (2.22%) Autodesk
6 6 (2.22%) IBM
6 6 (2.22%) Informatica
6 6 (2.22%) Salesforce
6 6 (2.22%) VMware
7 5 (1.85%) Atlassian
7 5 (1.85%) Google
7 5 (1.85%) Peregrine
7 5 (1.85%) Remedy
8 4 (1.48%) AppDynamics
8 4 (1.48%) Apple
8 4 (1.48%) Dynatrace
9 3 (1.11%) CrowdStrike