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 vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 115 - 135
Rank change year-on-year - - +46
Contract jobs citing Skype for Business 20 0 5
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 0.91% - 0.18%
As % of the Application Platforms category 7.49% - 2.17%
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 £550 £564 £425
% change year-on-year -2.44% +32.65% +0.89%

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 267 167 230
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 12.18% 7.05% 8.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 204 108 153
10th Percentile £301 £213 £214
25th Percentile £349 £382 £338
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £410 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.89% -10.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £488 £546 £600
90th Percentile £575 £639 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 5 12
10th Percentile £34.50 £24.22 -
25th Percentile £38.91 £25.30 £16.25
Median hourly rate £55.26 £31.00 £18.25
Median % change year-on-year +78.26% +69.86% -68.51%
75th Percentile £73.18 £35.00 £22.53
90th Percentile £76.75 £43.25 £38.25
England median hourly rate £41.45 £47.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -12.74% +11.76% +107.32%

Skype for Business
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings citing Skype for Business as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Skype for Business 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 17 September 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 - 16 - -
Cumbria - 4 - -
Skype for Business
England

Skype for Business
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West 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 12 (60.00%) Microsoft Exchange
2 8 (40.00%) Mattermost
2 8 (40.00%) SharePoint
3 7 (35.00%) Exchange Server 2013
4 4 (20.00%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 7 (35.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (35.00%) Microsoft Office
1 7 (35.00%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 7 (35.00%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 8 (40.00%) OneDrive
2 7 (35.00%) Azure
2 7 (35.00%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 20 (100.00%) Skype
2 9 (45.00%) WebEx
3 8 (40.00%) Softphone
3 8 (40.00%) Unified Communications
4 4 (20.00%) PSTN
4 4 (20.00%) SMTP
General
1 16 (80.00%) Social Skills
2 7 (35.00%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (5.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 14 (70.00%) Analyst
1 14 (70.00%) Operational Support Analyst
1 14 (70.00%) Operations Analyst
1 14 (70.00%) Operations Support Analyst
1 14 (70.00%) Support Analyst
2 9 (45.00%) Support Engineer
3 8 (40.00%) Messaging Engineer
3 8 (40.00%) Messaging Support
3 8 (40.00%) Messaging Support Engineer
3 8 (40.00%) Operations Engineer
3 8 (40.00%) Operations Support Engineer
4 7 (35.00%) Messaging Analyst
4 7 (35.00%) Messaging Support Analyst
5 4 (20.00%) Collaboration Engineer
6 3 (15.00%) Exchange Engineer
7 1 (5.00%) Desktop Engineer
7 1 (5.00%) Desktop Support
7 1 (5.00%) Desktop Support Engineer
7 1 (5.00%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (40.00%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 8 (40.00%) Management Information System
2 4 (20.00%) Blackberry
2 4 (20.00%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 8 (40.00%) Linux
2 4 (20.00%) Android
2 4 (20.00%) Windows Server 2019
3 1 (5.00%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 19 (95.00%) Problem Management
2 15 (75.00%) ITIL
2 15 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
3 8 (40.00%) B2B
3 8 (40.00%) Procure-to-Pay
4 7 (35.00%) Migration
4 7 (35.00%) Project Management
4 7 (35.00%) Six Sigma
4 7 (35.00%) Validation
5 4 (20.00%) Performance Monitoring
5 4 (20.00%) Performance Tuning
6 1 (5.00%) Customer Service
6 1 (5.00%) Security Management
6 1 (5.00%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 9 (45.00%) PowerShell
2 8 (40.00%) SQL
Qualifications
1 8 (40.00%) ITIL Certification
2 7 (35.00%) Degree
3 4 (20.00%) SC Cleared
3 4 (20.00%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (20.00%) SLA
System Software
1 16 (80.00%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 8 (40.00%) SCOM
2 7 (35.00%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (35.00%) SCCM
Vendors
1 20 (100.00%) Microsoft
2 8 (40.00%) Cisco
2 8 (40.00%) Red Hat
2 8 (40.00%) Splunk
3 4 (20.00%) Clearswift
3 4 (20.00%) Ribbon