SDH Contract Job Trends in Berkshire

Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
South East > Berkshire

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

6 months to
6 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 88 102 111
Rank change year-on-year +14 +9 -
Contract jobs citing SDH 10 7 4
As % of all contract jobs in Berkshire 0.83% 0.43% 0.23%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 4.69% 2.40% 0.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 8 3 0
10th Percentile £405 £345 -
25th Percentile - £413 -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £525 -
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% - -
75th Percentile - - -
90th Percentile - - -
South East median daily rate £450 £525 £200
% change year-on-year -14.29% +162.50% -68.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 0 2
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £19.00 - -
Median hourly rate £20.00 - £14.00
75th Percentile £21.00 - -
90th Percentile - - -
South East median hourly rate £20.00 - £14.00

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Berkshire

SDH falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in Berkshire.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 213 292 427
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire 17.63% 17.89% 24.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 142 131 237
10th Percentile £221 £250 £205
25th Percentile £325 £376 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £431 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -13.75% +11.11% -2.17%
75th Percentile £537 £608 £600
90th Percentile £600 £650 £675
South East median daily rate £488 £500 £450
% change year-on-year -2.50% +11.11% -2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 5 19
10th Percentile £26.20 £33.60 £17.60
25th Percentile £37.00 £56.25 £24.75
Median hourly rate £55.00 £57.50 £73.50
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% -21.77% +226.67%
75th Percentile £74.38 £75.24 £75.89
90th Percentile £86.00 £82.57 £83.61
South East median hourly rate £56.25 £64.76 £60.00
% change year-on-year -13.14% +7.93% +33.33%

SDH
Job Vacancy Trend in Berkshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SDH relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire.

SDH job vacancy trend in Berkshire

SDH
Daily Rate Trend in Berkshire

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SDH.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SDH

SDH
Daily Rate Histogram in Berkshire

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SDH in Berkshire over the 6 months to 6 October 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SDH in Berkshire

SDH
Hourly Rate Trend in Berkshire

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SDH.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SDH

SDH
Contract Job Locations in Berkshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SDH within the Berkshire region over the 6 months to 6 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
Slough - 7 £450 -
Reading +30 1 - -
Wokingham - 1 £450 - 5
SDH
South East

SDH
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Berkshire 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:

Communications & Networking
1 9 (90.00%) MPLS
2 8 (80.00%) Ethernet
2 8 (80.00%) WAN
3 7 (70.00%) ATM
3 7 (70.00%) Frame Relay
3 7 (70.00%) GPRS
3 7 (70.00%) GSM
3 7 (70.00%) LAN
3 7 (70.00%) LTE
3 7 (70.00%) SAN
3 7 (70.00%) UMTS
3 7 (70.00%) VPN
3 7 (70.00%) Wireshark
4 2 (20.00%) DWDM
5 1 (10.00%) 5G
5 1 (10.00%) Network Security
5 1 (10.00%) NGN
5 1 (10.00%) Radio Access Network
Development Applications
1 1 (10.00%) Rational DOORS
General
1 9 (90.00%) Telecoms
2 7 (70.00%) Social Skills
3 1 (10.00%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (10.00%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 7 (70.00%) Network Engineer
2 6 (60.00%) IP Engineer
3 5 (50.00%) IP Network Engineer
3 5 (50.00%) Test Engineer
4 2 (20.00%) Consultant
4 2 (20.00%) IP Consultant
4 2 (20.00%) IP Network Consultant
4 2 (20.00%) Network Consultant
5 1 (10.00%) Architect
5 1 (10.00%) Solutions Architect
5 1 (10.00%) Telecoms Architect
5 1 (10.00%) Transmission Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 7 (70.00%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (10.00%) Data Centre
2 1 (10.00%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 7 (70.00%) Linux
1 7 (70.00%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (80.00%) Problem-Solving
2 7 (70.00%) Fault Management
2 7 (70.00%) Project Management
2 7 (70.00%) Regression Testing
2 7 (70.00%) Test Strategy
3 2 (20.00%) ITIL
4 1 (10.00%) ArchiMate
4 1 (10.00%) BPMN
4 1 (10.00%) Change Control
4 1 (10.00%) Continuous Improvement
4 1 (10.00%) Disaster Recovery
4 1 (10.00%) Enterprise Architecture
4 1 (10.00%) Integration Acceptance Testing
4 1 (10.00%) Low Latency
4 1 (10.00%) Network Monitoring
4 1 (10.00%) Network Planning
4 1 (10.00%) Process Management
4 1 (10.00%) Root Cause Analysis
4 1 (10.00%) Service Delivery
4 1 (10.00%) TOGAF
Programming Languages
1 7 (70.00%) Java
Qualifications
1 8 (80.00%) CCNP
1 8 (80.00%) Cisco Certification
2 7 (70.00%) ISEB
2 7 (70.00%) ISTQB
2 7 (70.00%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
3 2 (20.00%) SC Cleared
3 2 (20.00%) Security Cleared
4 1 (10.00%) BC Cleared
4 1 (10.00%) BPSS Clearance
4 1 (10.00%) CCNA
4 1 (10.00%) Degree
4 1 (10.00%) MCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (10.00%) SLA
Systems Management
1 1 (10.00%) Amdocs OSS
Vendors
1 8 (80.00%) Cisco
1 8 (80.00%) Juniper
2 7 (70.00%) Microsoft
3 2 (20.00%) Nokia
4 1 (10.00%) Ciena
4 1 (10.00%) Cramer
4 1 (10.00%) F5
4 1 (10.00%) IBM
4 1 (10.00%) Palo Alto