The first table below looks at the demand for the 2nd Line Support role in IT contracts advertised across the UK. Included is a guide to the average contractor rates offered in IT contracts that have cited 2nd Line Support in their job title over the 3 months to 21 May 2013 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years. The second table is for comparison and provides aggregates for all Job Titles currently tracked.

Note that daily contractor rates and hourly contractor rates are treated separately. When calculating average contractor rates, daily rates are not derived from quoted hourly rates or vice versa.

Location
3 months to
21 May 2013
Same period 2012 Same period 2011
Second Line Support
Rank 218 228 285
Rank change year-on-year
+10 +57
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 403 452 353
As % of all contract IT jobs located in the UK 0.854% 0.773% 0.587%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.926% 0.835% 0.633%
Number of daily rates quoted 111 130 60
Average daily rate £173 £150 £168
Average daily rate % change year-on-year
+15.00% -10.44%
90% offered a daily rate of more than £118 £100 £100
10% offered a daily rate of more than £260 £250 £252
UK excluding London average daily rate £170 £140 £160
% change year-on-year
+21.42% -12.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 155 160 133
Average hourly rate £15.21 £15.13 £15.00
Average hourly rate % change year-on-year
+0.52% +0.83%
90% offered a hourly rate of more than £11.50 £11.50 £10.99
10% offered a hourly rate of more than £21.00 £20.05 £20.35
UK excluding London average hourly rate £15.00 £14.00 £14.00
% change year-on-year
+7.14% -
All Job Titles
UK
Contract IT job ads with a match in the
Job Titles category
43539 54119 55808
As % of all contract IT jobs located in the UK 92.22% 92.58% 92.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 24944 29835 30377
Average daily rate £400 £400 £425
Average daily rate % change year-on-year
- -5.88%
90% offered a daily rate of more than £240 £240 £250
10% offered a daily rate of more than £575 £575 £600
UK excluding London average daily rate £350 £350 £350
Number of hourly rates quoted 2174 2589 2882
Average hourly rate £18.50 £18.50 £20.00
Average hourly rate % change year-on-year
- -7.50%
90% offered a hourly rate of more than £11.00 £11.00 £11.00
10% offered a hourly rate of more than £41.50 £40.00 £41.28
UK excluding London average hourly rate £17.50 £18.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year
-2.77% -10.00%

2nd Line Support
Jobs Demand Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving total of IT contractor jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK as a proportion of the total demand within the Job Titles category.

2nd Line Support Jobs Demand Trend

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for daily rates quoted in IT contract jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK.

2nd Line Support Daily Rate Trend

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Histogram

This chart provides a histogram of daily rates quoted in contract IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK over the 3 months to 21 May 2013.

2nd Line Support Daily Rate Histogram

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for hourly rates quoted in IT contractor jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK.

2nd Line Support Hourly Rate Trend

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

This chart provides a histogram of hourly rates quoted in contract IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK over the 3 months to 21 May 2013.

2nd Line Support Hourly Rate Histogram

2nd Line Support
Top 30 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the average contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK over the 3 months to 21 May 2013. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 3 month period last year.

Location
(Click each for more statistics)
Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Average
Daily Rate
Last 3 Months
Average Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
England +23 371 £170 +13.33%
London -34 114 £183 +21.66%
South East -4 88 £186 +12.87%
City of London +6 47 £190 +46.15%
South West +42 35 £139 +38.75%
West Midlands +15 30 £135 -6.89%
East Midlands +18 28 £150 +36.36%
North West +26 26 £165 -
Yorkshire +2 24 £119 +18.75%
East of England +13 23 £166 +10.83%
Berkshire -13 20 £173 -18.34%
Somerset +19 17 £160 +68.42%
West Yorkshire -2 16 £119 +18.75%
Buckinghamshire +5 15 £210 +43.83%
Surrey -7 12 £140 +1.81%
Scotland -23 12 £125 -13.79%
Taunton - 12 - -
Reading +6 11 £170 -39.28%
Leeds -7 11 £119 +10.46%
Manchester +21 10 £165 -
Hertfordshire +19 10 £200 +33.33%
Leicestershire +1 10 - -
Hampshire -7 10 £120 -
Lancashire - 10 £90 -
Nottinghamshire - 10 - -
West Sussex +19 9 £153 -
Milton Keynes +11 9 £213 +4.93%
Birmingham +8 9 £120 -20.00%
Nottingham - 9 - -
Bristol +14 7 £100 -

2nd Line Support
Top 30 Related IT Skills

For the 6 months to 21 May 2013, IT contractor jobs within the UK that cited 2nd Line Support in their job title mentioned the following IT skills in order of popularity. The figures indicate the number of jobs and their proportion against the total number of contract IT job ads sampled with 2nd Line Support in their job title.

1 608 (77.75%) Windows
2 450 (57.54%) Active Directory
3 328 (41.94%) Windows XP
4 326 (41.69%) Microsoft
5 311 (39.77%) Windows 7
6 304 (38.87%) MS Office
7 177 (22.63%) MS Exchange
8 159 (20.33%) Citrix
9 158 (20.20%) MS Excel
10 153 (19.57%) Windows Server 2008
11 151 (19.31%) Windows Server 2003
12 142 (18.16%) ITIL
13 136 (17.39%) Blackberry
14 105 (13.43%) VMware
15 101 (12.92%) Microsoft Certification
16 96 (12.28%) TCP/IP
17 87 (11.13%) LAN
18 73 (9.335%) Windows Vista
19 69 (8.824%) Security Cleared
20 68 (8.696%) Exchange Server 2007
20 68 (8.696%) Cisco
21 63 (8.056%) DNS
22 62 (7.928%) WAN
23 61 (7.801%) Exchange Server 2003
24 60 (7.673%) VMware Infrastructure
25 59 (7.545%) SCCM
26 57 (7.289%) MCP
27 55 (7.033%) DHCP
28 54 (6.905%) SLA
29 53 (6.777%) HP

2nd Line Support
Top Related IT Skills by Category

For the 6 months to 21 May 2013, IT contractor jobs within the UK that cited 2nd Line Support in their job title mentioned the following IT skills grouped by category. The figures indicate the number of jobs and their proportion against the total number of contract IT job ads sampled with 2nd Line Support in their job title. Up to 20 skills are shown per category.

Application Development
1 11 (1.407%) .NET
2 9 (1.151%) J2EE
3 4 (0.512%) Application Packaging
4 2 (0.256%) Web Services
4 2 (0.256%) ASP.NET
4 2 (0.256%) COM
4 2 (0.256%) WAP
4 2 (0.256%) Flash
5 1 (0.128%) SOAP
5 1 (0.128%) WebSphere
Application Platforms
1 177 (22.63%) MS Exchange
2 68 (8.696%) Exchange Server 2007
3 61 (7.801%) Exchange Server 2003
4 53 (6.777%) Exchange Server 2010
5 51 (6.522%) Lotus Notes
6 28 (3.581%) SharePoint
7 21 (2.685%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
8 11 (1.407%) Apache
9 9 (1.151%) Tomcat
10 8 (1.023%) WebLogic
11 7 (0.895%) IIS
12 4 (0.512%) Lync
13 3 (0.384%) GroupWise
13 3 (0.384%) SharePoint 2010
14 2 (0.256%) Exchange Server 2000
14 2 (0.256%) WorkSite
15 1 (0.128%) Oracle Coherence
Applications
1 304 (38.87%) MS Office
2 158 (20.20%) MS Excel
3 11 (1.407%) MS PowerPoint
4 10 (1.279%) Office 365
5 6 (0.767%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.384%) Photoshop
6 3 (0.384%) MS Project
7 2 (0.256%) SPSS
8 1 (0.128%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.128%) Vectorworks
8 1 (0.128%) Google Apps
8 1 (0.128%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.128%) CINEMA 4D
Business Applications
1 3 (0.384%) Line 500
2 2 (0.256%) assyst
3 1 (0.128%) ION MarketView
3 1 (0.128%) Dynamics AX
3 1 (0.128%) Beauchamp
Communications & Networking
1 96 (12.28%) TCP/IP
2 87 (11.13%) LAN
3 63 (8.056%) DNS
4 62 (7.928%) WAN
5 55 (7.033%) DHCP
6 40 (5.115%) VPN
7 39 (4.987%) Internet
8 19 (2.430%) Wireless
9 17 (2.174%) VoIP
10 12 (1.535%) SAN
10 12 (1.535%) ADSL
11 11 (1.407%) Firewall
12 10 (1.279%) HTTP
13 9 (1.151%) Wi-Fi
14 7 (0.895%) MPLS
14 7 (0.895%) Unified Communications
15 6 (0.767%) Ethernet
15 6 (0.767%) FTP
16 5 (0.639%) SMTP
17 4 (0.512%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (2.941%) SQL Server
2 11 (1.407%) Oracle 8/8i
3 9 (1.151%) SQL Server 2008
3 9 (1.151%) Oracle 11g
4 5 (0.639%) Crystal Reports
5 4 (0.512%) SQL Server 2005
6 3 (0.384%) MySQL
7 2 (0.256%) SQL Server 2000
8 1 (0.128%) Oracle 10g
8 1 (0.128%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 2 (0.256%) Fiddler
2 1 (0.128%) MSI
General
1 44 (5.627%) Finance
2 22 (2.813%) Retail
3 17 (2.174%) Telecoms
4 15 (1.918%) Banking
5 9 (1.151%) Law
6 7 (0.895%) Advertising
7 6 (0.767%) Legal
7 6 (0.767%) Manufacturing
7 6 (0.767%) Back Office
8 5 (0.639%) Publishing
9 4 (0.512%) Investment Banking
9 4 (0.512%) Front Office
10 3 (0.384%) Pharmaceutical
10 3 (0.384%) Local Government
11 2 (0.256%) Marketing
11 2 (0.256%) Welsh Language
12 1 (0.128%) Electronics
12 1 (0.128%) Military
12 1 (0.128%) French Language
12 1 (0.128%) German Language
Miscellaneous
1 136 (17.39%) Blackberry
2 22 (2.813%) Video Conferencing
3 20 (2.558%) NHS
4 16 (2.046%) iPhone
4 16 (2.046%) PDA
4 16 (2.046%) iPad
5 9 (1.151%) Thin Client
5 9 (1.151%) Fat Client
6 6 (0.767%) Mathematics
6 6 (0.767%) Computer Science
6 6 (0.767%) Handset
7 5 (0.639%) Management Information System
7 5 (0.639%) Client/Server
8 3 (0.384%) EPoS
8 3 (0.384%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (0.256%) Smartphone
9 2 (0.256%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (0.256%) Mobile App
9 2 (0.256%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 2 (0.256%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 608 (77.75%) Windows
2 328 (41.94%) Windows XP
3 311 (39.77%) Windows 7
4 153 (19.57%) Windows Server 2008
5 151 (19.31%) Windows Server 2003
6 73 (9.335%) Windows Vista
7 30 (3.836%) Windows 2000
8 23 (2.941%) UNIX
8 23 (2.941%) Mac OS X
9 20 (2.558%) Linux
10 9 (1.151%) Windows 2000 Server
11 8 (1.023%) Windows NT
12 4 (0.512%) Windows Mobile
13 3 (0.384%) NetWare
13 3 (0.384%) Apple iOS
13 3 (0.384%) Windows 8
13 3 (0.384%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.384%) Ubuntu
14 2 (0.256%) CentOS
14 2 (0.256%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (18.16%) ITIL
2 31 (3.964%) Migration
3 23 (2.941%) Incident Management
4 20 (2.558%) Service Management
5 19 (2.430%) Service Delivery
6 18 (2.302%) Problem Management
7 17 (2.174%) Software Deployment
8 16 (2.046%) Time Management
9 12 (1.535%) Asset Management
10 10 (1.279%) ERP
10 10 (1.279%) Change Management
11 8 (1.023%) BPEL
12 7 (0.895%) Disaster Recovery
12 7 (0.895%) Data Protection
13 6 (0.767%) ITIL V3
13 6 (0.767%) Change Control
13 6 (0.767%) Root Cause Analysis
14 5 (0.639%) Configuration Management
14 5 (0.639%) Project Management
14 5 (0.639%) Data Security
Programming Languages
1 47 (6.010%) SQL
2 16 (2.046%) Java
3 12 (1.535%) PL/SQL
4 11 (1.407%) C#
5 6 (0.767%) C
6 4 (0.512%) Perl
6 4 (0.512%) VB
7 3 (0.384%) Shell Script
7 3 (0.384%) PowerShell
8 2 (0.256%) VBScript
9 1 (0.128%) VB.NET
9 1 (0.128%) VBA
9 1 (0.128%) Bash shell
Qualifications
1 101 (12.92%) Microsoft Certification
2 69 (8.824%) Security Cleared
3 57 (7.289%) MCP
4 46 (5.882%) SC Cleared
5 39 (4.987%) MCSE
6 28 (3.581%) DV Cleared
7 22 (2.813%) MCSA
8 18 (2.302%) MCDST
9 17 (2.174%) Degree
10 15 (1.918%) ITIL Certification
11 10 (1.279%) MCITP
12 9 (1.151%) Cisco Certification
13 8 (1.023%) MCTS
13 8 (1.023%) CCNA
14 6 (0.767%) A+ Certification
15 5 (0.639%) CCNP
16 3 (0.384%) Dell Certification
16 3 (0.384%) CCIP
16 3 (0.384%) CCA
16 3 (0.384%) Citrix Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (6.905%) SLA
2 1 (0.128%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 450 (57.54%) Active Directory
2 60 (7.673%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.302%) XenApp
4 15 (1.918%) VMware ESXi
5 13 (1.662%) Terminal Services
6 12 (1.535%) XenDesktop
7 11 (1.407%) vSphere
8 9 (1.151%) Microsoft App-V
9 5 (0.639%) VMware ESX
10 3 (0.384%) VMware Workstation
11 2 (0.256%) Hyper-V
12 1 (0.128%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
12 1 (0.128%) MetaFrame
12 1 (0.128%) XenServer
12 1 (0.128%) Novell eDirectory
12 1 (0.128%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 59 (7.545%) SCCM
2 20 (2.558%) Backup Exec
3 12 (1.535%) Norton AntiVirus
4 10 (1.279%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 10 (1.279%) DameWare
5 6 (0.767%) SCOM
5 6 (0.767%) OpenView
6 5 (0.639%) WSUS
7 4 (0.512%) NetBackup
8 3 (0.384%) OpenView Configuration Management
8 3 (0.384%) ZENworks
8 3 (0.384%) OVSD
9 2 (0.256%) Symantec Enterprise Vault
9 2 (0.256%) HP SIM
9 2 (0.256%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.256%) Unicenter
10 1 (0.128%) Tivoli
10 1 (0.128%) HP Data Protector
10 1 (0.128%) HP NNM
Vendors
1 326 (41.69%) Microsoft
2 159 (20.33%) Citrix
3 105 (13.43%) VMware
4 68 (8.696%) Cisco
5 53 (6.777%) HP
6 52 (6.650%) Lotus
7 50 (6.394%) Apple
8 26 (3.325%) McAfee
9 22 (2.813%) Kaspersky
10 21 (2.685%) Symantec
11 20 (2.558%) Oracle
12 17 (2.174%) Remedy
12 17 (2.174%) Dell
13 12 (1.535%) Juniper
13 12 (1.535%) SAP
14 8 (1.023%) LANDesk
14 8 (1.023%) Twitter
14 8 (1.023%) CA
14 8 (1.023%) Avaya
14 8 (1.023%) Adobe
Edinburgh, Scotland
A leading Edinburgh based organisation is currently recruiting for a 2nd line support engineer to join their large team. The role includes 1/2 line support, and experience...
Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd
Rate: £100.00 - £130.00 per day
Posted: 8 May 2013
UK Greater London, South East
2nd/3rd Line Support Engineer System Support IT Administration Citrix Windows Server 2nd/3rd Line Support Engineer My fantastic client in Surrey are currently looking for a solid...
Premier Group
Rate: £180.00 - £230.00 per day
Posted: 18 May 2013
South East
2nd/3rd Line Support Engineer System Support IT Administration Citrix Windows Server... The role will include generic 2nd/3rd Line Support based around Microsoft and Windows products. The...
Premier Group Recruitment
Rate: £180.00 - £230.00 per day
Posted: 17 May 2013
City, London
The successful candidate will need to have understanding of Mac platforms in addition to windows 7; our client is a progressive with a number of technologies you will...
Roc Search
Posted: 16 May 2013
Loughborough, East Midlands
My client is looking for a 1st/2nd line support technician to join them on a 3 month contract to effectively manage the helpdesk and diagnose and resolve...
Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd
Rate: £10.00 - £15.00 per hour + Dependant on rate
Posted: 27 April 2013
City, London
Strong experience with the Microsoft Windows platform including Windows XP and Windows 7... MS Office 2002 - 2010 suites... Knowledge of User Administration via Active Directory... In order to...
ComputAppoint
Rate: £195 per day
Posted: 17 May 2013
Bradford, West Yorkshire
Good knowledge of Microsoft Office products in network environment... * Windows Server 2003 and 2008 * Understanding of IP networking DNS, DHCP, Routing, etc Desirable Skills: Microsoft Qualified or Certifications...
ninesharp
Posted: 20 May 2013
London
Key skills: Windows XP/7 Mac OSX, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion 10.8 MS Exchange MS Office 2007/2010 Apple Remote Desktop Casper Suite Blackberry & BES Printer &...
Marcus Donald People
Rate: £12 to £15 per hour
Posted: 17 May 2013
West Yorkshire
You will Have experience of working in a ITIL environment supporting IT systems - Windows 7, Office 2010, Active Directory. Day to day duties involve: Manage and deliver the...
Computer Futures
Rate: £11 - £12 per hour
Posted: 15 May 2013
City, London
1. st /2 nd Line Desktop Support Roc Search are urgently recruiting for a 1 st /2 nd Line Desktop Support Engineer to work for one of my...
Roc Search
Posted: 20 May 2013
Edinburgh, Midlothian
Reed's client, a leading organisation based in Edinburgh, are looking to recruit a 2nd Line Support Technician on a temporary basis for 1 year. This position has...
Reed Technology
Rate: £20000 - £24000 per annum
Posted: 20 May 2013
Preston, Lancashire
Provides account administration support via Active Directory. * Provides request fulfilment support across varying services such as Software Deployment Main Responsibilities * Problem solve across MS Office Suite, operating systems (...
LA International
Posted: 20 May 2013
Birmingham, West Midlands (County)
Roc Searches client are currently recruiting for a number of positions due to an increased work level. The ideal candidate will have a varied background in support thus...
Roc Search
Posted: 20 May 2013
Cheltenham, South West
MAC/PC Desktop Support, 1st/ 2nd Line Support,Service desk, Helpdesk, My market leading client are looking for a 1st and 2nd line Mac/PC desktop support engineer-...
OPUS
Rate: GBP14 per hour
Posted: 17 May 2013
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Good knowledge of OSX, Office 2011 for Mac, Adobe CS Products, AD user administration, Office 2007-2010 for PC and Windows 7. Additional knowledge of Apple Remote Desktop,...
Opus Recruitment Solutions Ltd
Rate: £14
Posted: 16 May 2013
Hertfordshire, South East
Experience supporting below technologies necessary:- Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003/Terminal Services/Windows 7- Micros Res 3700/Mymicros report suite/Myinventory- Email / MS Exchange including ActiveSync/Gmail- Mobile...
DP Connect Ltd
Rate: £15 per hour
Posted: 24 April 2013
Surrey
Imaging a PC, Hardware Installation, MS Office - Good understanding of service management techniques, including change management, incident management Desktop Support Engineer / 2 nd Line Support /Deskside Engineer are...
Coal IT Services
Rate: Up to £150 per day
Posted: 17 May 2013
City, London
Desktop refreshes/VC upgrades *Take the lead on all desktop related projects The successful candidate will have the following skills and experience: *The ability to work with users...
SEC Recruitment Limited
Rate: £214.32 - £240.04 per month
Posted: 15 May 2013
Bristol, South West
My client, a manufacturing company based on the outskirts of Bristol has an exciting requirement for a 2nd line support engineer for a 6 month contract.The RoleTo...
Rate: £18.00 - £20.00 per hour
Posted: 2 May 2013