Skype for Business Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Skype for Business (formerly Microsoft Lync)
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Skype for Business skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 27 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 124 112 140
Rank change year-on-year -12 +28 +34
Contract jobs citing Skype for Business 12 3 5
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 0.52% 0.13% 0.18%
As % of the Application Platforms category 4.18% 1.64% 2.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 0 0 3
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £221
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) - - £223
Median % change year-on-year - - +44.72%
75th Percentile - - £299
90th Percentile - - £345
England median daily rate £588 £513 £425
% change year-on-year +14.63% +20.59% -

All Application Platform Skills
North West

Skype for Business falls under the Application Platforms category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring application platform skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for application platform skills 287 183 210
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 12.32% 7.89% 7.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 220 118 140
10th Percentile £267 £213 £207
25th Percentile £338 £365 £338
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £408 £450 £461
Median % change year-on-year -9.44% -2.44% +3.07%
75th Percentile £494 £551 £575
90th Percentile £575 £639 £676
England median daily rate £500 £525 £510
% change year-on-year -4.76% +2.94% -2.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 4 13
10th Percentile £34.50 £26.56 -
25th Percentile £38.52 £28.45 £16.25
Median hourly rate £47.12 £33.00 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +42.79% +73.68% -72.86%
75th Percentile £69.72 £38.44 £22.53
90th Percentile £74.16 £44.63 £36.75
England median hourly rate £36.50 £42.50 £27.00
% change year-on-year -14.12% +57.41% +35.00%

Skype for Business
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Skype for Business relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Skype for Business job vacancy trend in the North West

Skype for Business
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Skype for Business.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Skype for Business

Skype for Business
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Skype for Business.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Skype for Business

Skype for Business
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Skype for Business within the North West region over the 6 months to 27 October 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Cheshire - 12 - -
Skype for Business
England

Skype for Business
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 8 (66.67%) Microsoft Exchange
1 8 (66.67%) SharePoint
2 7 (58.33%) Exchange Server 2013
3 4 (33.33%) Mattermost
Applications
1 7 (58.33%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (58.33%) Microsoft Office
1 7 (58.33%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 7 (58.33%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 8 (66.67%) OneDrive
2 7 (58.33%) Azure
2 7 (58.33%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 12 (100.00%) Skype
2 5 (41.67%) WebEx
3 4 (33.33%) Softphone
3 4 (33.33%) Unified Communications
General
1 12 (100.00%) Social Skills
2 7 (58.33%) Analytical Skills
Job Titles
1 11 (91.67%) Analyst
1 11 (91.67%) Operational Support Analyst
1 11 (91.67%) Operations Analyst
1 11 (91.67%) Operations Support Analyst
1 11 (91.67%) Support Analyst
2 5 (41.67%) Support Engineer
3 4 (33.33%) Messaging Analyst
3 4 (33.33%) Messaging Engineer
3 4 (33.33%) Messaging Support
3 4 (33.33%) Messaging Support Analyst
3 4 (33.33%) Messaging Support Engineer
3 4 (33.33%) Operations Engineer
3 4 (33.33%) Operations Support Engineer
4 1 (8.33%) Desktop Engineer
4 1 (8.33%) Desktop Support
4 1 (8.33%) Desktop Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (33.33%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 4 (33.33%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 4 (33.33%) Linux
2 1 (8.33%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (91.67%) ITIL
1 11 (91.67%) Problem Management
1 11 (91.67%) Problem-Solving
2 7 (58.33%) Migration
2 7 (58.33%) Project Management
2 7 (58.33%) Six Sigma
2 7 (58.33%) Validation
3 4 (33.33%) B2B
3 4 (33.33%) Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (8.33%) Customer Service
4 1 (8.33%) Security Management
4 1 (8.33%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 5 (41.67%) PowerShell
2 4 (33.33%) SQL
Qualifications
1 7 (58.33%) Degree
2 4 (33.33%) ITIL Certification
System Software
1 12 (100.00%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 7 (58.33%) Microsoft Intune
1 7 (58.33%) SCCM
2 4 (33.33%) SCOM
Vendors
1 12 (100.00%) Microsoft
2 4 (33.33%) Cisco
2 4 (33.33%) Red Hat
2 4 (33.33%) Splunk