Windows Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Microsoft Windows
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the West Midlands requiring Windows skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 20 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 41 13 8
Rank change year-on-year -28 -5 0
Contract jobs citing Windows 164 183 207
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 4.77% 10.75% 10.94%
As % of the Operating Systems category 56.36% 76.89% 71.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 114 143 130
10th Percentile £180 £150 £163
25th Percentile £213 £216 £250
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £419 £429 £413
Median % change year-on-year -2.39% +4.00% +13.01%
75th Percentile £538 £536 £574
90th Percentile £582 £588 £675
England median daily rate £425 £408 £450
% change year-on-year +4.29% -9.44% +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 4 8
10th Percentile - £16.14 £15.40
25th Percentile £58.43 £17.66 £17.88
Median hourly rate £63.14 £21.59 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +192.49% +13.61% -1.30%
75th Percentile £70.11 £24.75 £22.44
90th Percentile £70.37 £24.90 £39.13
England median hourly rate £25.75 £18.87 £21.00
% change year-on-year +36.46% -10.14% -6.67%

All Operating Systems
West Midlands

Windows falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills in the West Midlands.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 291 238 290
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 8.47% 13.98% 15.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 211 175 191
10th Percentile £210 £160 £188
25th Percentile £373 £228 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £459 £450 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% - +12.50%
75th Percentile £526 £537 £575
90th Percentile £588 £588 £688
England median daily rate £470 £450 £488
% change year-on-year +4.44% -7.83% -2.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 4 8
10th Percentile £57.00 £16.14 £15.40
25th Percentile £58.43 £17.66 £17.88
Median hourly rate £63.14 £21.59 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +192.49% +13.61% -5.00%
75th Percentile £70.23 £24.75 £22.44
90th Percentile £71.97 £24.90 £39.13
England median hourly rate £34.68 £24.00 £32.50
% change year-on-year +44.48% -26.15% -12.96%

Windows
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Windows relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Windows job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Windows
Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Windows.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Windows

Windows
Daily Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 20 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Windows in the West Midlands

Windows
Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Windows.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Windows

Windows
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 Windows within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 20 August 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
Warwickshire -8 51 £525 +7.14% 8
Birmingham -22 38 £288 +4.55% 34
Coventry -18 18 £225 +2.27% 5
Staffordshire +3 15 £193 -12.50% 17
Shropshire -57 10 £391 -22.96% 3
Herefordshire +2 7 - - 4
Worcestershire -9 6 £575 - 13
Solihull -19 4 £240 -36.00% 4
Wolverhampton -6 1 £250 -9.09% 1
Windows
England

Windows
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 13 (7.93%) Microsoft Exchange
2 9 (5.49%) SharePoint
3 5 (3.05%) WebLogic
4 4 (2.44%) Apache
5 3 (1.83%) Confluence
5 3 (1.83%) IIS
6 2 (1.22%) CloudStack
6 2 (1.22%) Tuxedo
7 1 (0.61%) SAS
Applications
1 14 (8.54%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (7.93%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (1.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (1.22%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 69 (42.07%) Microsoft 365
2 64 (39.02%) Azure
3 43 (26.22%) Entra ID
4 24 (14.63%) AWS
5 20 (12.20%) OneDrive
6 6 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
6 6 (3.66%) Power Platform
7 5 (3.05%) GCP
8 4 (2.44%) Amazon EC2
8 4 (2.44%) Amazon S3
8 4 (2.44%) AWS CloudFormation
8 4 (2.44%) Azure Sentinel
8 4 (2.44%) GitHub
8 4 (2.44%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 3 (1.83%) OpenShift
9 3 (1.83%) Power Automate
9 3 (1.83%) Tricentis Tosca
10 2 (1.22%) Amazon SQS
10 2 (1.22%) Azure Logic Apps
10 2 (1.22%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 31 (18.90%) DNS
2 29 (17.68%) DHCP
3 23 (14.02%) VPN
4 15 (9.15%) Firewall
5 13 (7.93%) LAN
6 12 (7.32%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (6.71%) TCP/IP
8 8 (4.88%) SSL
9 7 (4.27%) Cisco IOS
9 7 (4.27%) SNMP
10 6 (3.66%) Internet
10 6 (3.66%) NetScaler
10 6 (3.66%) WAN
11 5 (3.05%) Network Security
11 5 (3.05%) SD-WAN
12 3 (1.83%) NAS
12 3 (1.83%) SAN
12 3 (1.83%) Structured Cabling
12 3 (1.83%) VLAN
13 2 (1.22%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (3.05%) Amazon RDS
2 4 (2.44%) SQL Server
3 2 (1.22%) Power BI
4 1 (0.61%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 13 (7.93%) JIRA
2 4 (2.44%) MSI
3 3 (1.83%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (1.83%) Toad
4 2 (1.22%) Artifactory
4 2 (1.22%) GitLab
5 1 (0.61%) Git
5 1 (0.61%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.61%) Robot Framework
General
1 65 (39.63%) Social Skills
2 24 (14.63%) Analytical Skills
2 24 (14.63%) Finance
3 11 (6.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 6 (3.66%) Banking
5 5 (3.05%) Documentation Skills
5 5 (3.05%) Manufacturing
5 5 (3.05%) Public Sector
6 3 (1.83%) Influencing Skills
7 2 (1.22%) Investment Banking
7 2 (1.22%) Organisational Skills
7 2 (1.22%) Telecoms
8 1 (0.61%) Aerospace
8 1 (0.61%) Billing
8 1 (0.61%) Law
8 1 (0.61%) Legal
8 1 (0.61%) Presentation Skills
8 1 (0.61%) Retail
Job Titles
1 25 (15.24%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 23 (14.02%) Analyst
3 22 (13.41%) Support Engineer
4 13 (7.93%) IT Support
5 11 (6.71%) Azure Engineer
5 11 (6.71%) IT Engineer
6 10 (6.10%) IT Support Engineer
6 10 (6.10%) Senior
7 9 (5.49%) Administrator
7 9 (5.49%) Lead
8 8 (4.88%) Support Technician
9 7 (4.27%) 2nd Line Engineer
9 7 (4.27%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 7 (4.27%) Service Analyst
9 7 (4.27%) Service Desk Analyst
10 6 (3.66%) Azure Infrastructure Engineer
10 6 (3.66%) Desktop Engineer
10 6 (3.66%) Help Desk Support
10 6 (3.66%) Help Desk Support Technician
10 6 (3.66%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (9.15%) Terraform
2 4 (2.44%) REST
2 4 (2.44%) XML
3 3 (1.83%) Microsoft Graph
3 3 (1.83%) SAML
4 2 (1.22%) Apache NiFi
4 2 (1.22%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (1.22%) FIDO
4 2 (1.22%) Fluent Bit
4 2 (1.22%) Kafka
4 2 (1.22%) OpenTelemetry
4 2 (1.22%) YAML
5 1 (0.61%) 802.1X
5 1 (0.61%) ISPF
5 1 (0.61%) JSON
5 1 (0.61%) Middleware
5 1 (0.61%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 20 (12.20%) Onboarding
2 14 (8.54%) Hybrid Cloud
3 9 (5.49%) Smartphone
4 6 (3.66%) Data Protection Act
4 6 (3.66%) PKI
4 6 (3.66%) Self-Motivation
5 5 (3.05%) Analytical Mindset
5 5 (3.05%) Data Centre
5 5 (3.05%) Enterprise Software
5 5 (3.05%) Mobile App
6 4 (2.44%) Enterprise Storage
6 4 (2.44%) iPhone
7 3 (1.83%) Cyber Threat
7 3 (1.83%) Management Information System
7 3 (1.83%) Public Cloud
7 3 (1.83%) SCADA
8 2 (1.22%) BYOD
8 2 (1.22%) Cloud Native
8 2 (1.22%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 2 (1.22%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 42 (25.61%) Windows Server
2 37 (22.56%) Linux
3 34 (20.73%) Windows 10
4 16 (9.76%) Mac OS
5 8 (4.88%) Android
6 5 (3.05%) Ubuntu
7 4 (2.44%) AIX
7 4 (2.44%) Apple iOS
7 4 (2.44%) Unix
8 3 (1.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (1.83%) Windows 7
8 3 (1.83%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (1.22%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (1.22%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.61%) CentOS
10 1 (0.61%) HPUX
10 1 (0.61%) VMS
10 1 (0.61%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 45 (27.44%) Problem-Solving
2 39 (23.78%) ITSM
3 31 (18.90%) Customer Service
4 29 (17.68%) ITIL
5 28 (17.07%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 22 (13.41%) Infrastructure as Code
7 18 (10.98%) Migration
7 18 (10.98%) Problem Management
8 17 (10.37%) Service Management
9 16 (9.76%) User Experience
10 15 (9.15%) Patch Management
11 14 (8.54%) DevOps
12 13 (7.93%) Incident Management
13 12 (7.32%) Validation
14 11 (6.71%) Asset Management
14 11 (6.71%) Root Cause Analysis
15 10 (6.10%) CI/CD
15 10 (6.10%) Cost Optimisation
16 8 (4.88%) Agile
16 8 (4.88%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 22 (13.41%) SQL
2 19 (11.59%) PowerShell
3 10 (6.10%) Python
4 5 (3.05%) Bash
5 3 (1.83%) Java
5 3 (1.83%) PL/SQL
6 2 (1.22%) Search Processing Language
6 2 (1.22%) VBScript
7 1 (0.61%) Bicep
7 1 (0.61%) JCL
7 1 (0.61%) REXX
7 1 (0.61%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 36 (21.95%) Security Cleared
2 26 (15.85%) SC Cleared
3 11 (6.71%) DV Cleared
4 10 (6.10%) Azure Certification
4 10 (6.10%) Microsoft Certification
5 9 (5.49%) Cisco Certification
5 9 (5.49%) Degree
6 6 (3.66%) AWS Certification
6 6 (3.66%) CCNA
6 6 (3.66%) MCSE
6 6 (3.66%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 4 (2.44%) ISEB
7 4 (2.44%) ISTQB
7 4 (2.44%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 4 (2.44%) RHCA
8 3 (1.83%) A+ Certification
8 3 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
8 3 (1.83%) DBS Check
8 3 (1.83%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 3 (1.83%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (8.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 14 (8.54%) SLA
2 8 (4.88%) NIST
3 5 (3.05%) Cyber Essentials
4 2 (1.22%) Data Quality
4 2 (1.22%) GDPR
5 1 (0.61%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 1 (0.61%) QA
System Software
1 73 (44.51%) Active Directory
2 27 (16.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (10.37%) Hyper-V
4 12 (7.32%) vSphere
5 10 (6.10%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (3.66%) Docker
7 4 (2.44%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (2.44%) XenApp
7 4 (2.44%) XenDesktop
8 3 (1.83%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (1.22%) etcd
9 2 (1.22%) Firmware
9 2 (1.22%) Microsoft App-V
10 1 (0.61%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.61%) Job Entry Subsystem
10 1 (0.61%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 42 (25.61%) Microsoft Intune
2 39 (23.78%) SCCM
3 13 (7.93%) Kubernetes
4 9 (5.49%) Ansible
5 7 (4.27%) WMI
6 6 (3.66%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (2.44%) Podman
7 4 (2.44%) Prometheus
7 4 (2.44%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (1.83%) QRadar
9 2 (1.22%) AirWatch
9 2 (1.22%) Check_MK
9 2 (1.22%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (1.22%) Fluentd
9 2 (1.22%) Grafana
9 2 (1.22%) WSUS
10 1 (0.61%) Backup Exec
10 1 (0.61%) Control-M
10 1 (0.61%) Iperf
10 1 (0.61%) SCOM
Vendors
1 86 (52.44%) Microsoft
2 36 (21.95%) VMware
3 31 (18.90%) Cisco
4 29 (17.68%) ServiceNow
5 17 (10.37%) Splunk
6 12 (7.32%) Fortinet
7 11 (6.71%) Citrix
8 9 (5.49%) SolarWinds
9 8 (4.88%) Apple
9 8 (4.88%) F5
9 8 (4.88%) Oracle
9 8 (4.88%) Palo Alto
10 7 (4.27%) Qualys
11 6 (3.66%) Canon
12 5 (3.05%) HP
12 5 (3.05%) NetApp
13 4 (2.44%) Atlassian
13 4 (2.44%) Samsung
13 4 (2.44%) SAP
14 3 (1.83%) Zscaler