Data Centre Contract Job Trends in England

Data Center
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Data Centre in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Data Centre over the 6 months leading up to 26 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 137 124 96
Rank change year-on-year -13 -28 +6
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 725 541 844
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.05% 2.10% 2.26%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.03% 6.28% 7.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 468 325 584
10th Percentile £263 £349 £295
25th Percentile £384 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -7.57% -0.95% -4.55%
75th Percentile £576 £638 £638
90th Percentile £675 £710 £700
UK median daily rate £478 £509 £525
% change year-on-year -6.09% -3.10% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 12 36
10th Percentile £20.27 - £21.25
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £22.08
Median hourly rate £26.50 £24.66 £31.31
Median % change year-on-year +7.46% -21.23% -43.69%
75th Percentile £72.00 £25.81 £40.31
90th Percentile £74.26 £56.93 £54.38
UK median hourly rate £26.14 £24.18 £25.12
% change year-on-year +8.09% -3.72% +11.62%

All Generic Skills
England

Data Centre falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 12,032 8,620 11,535
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.02% 33.46% 30.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,663 5,335 7,548
10th Percentile £285 £275 £255
25th Percentile £409 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £540 £548
Median % change year-on-year -5.09% -1.50% -4.65%
75th Percentile £625 £668 £656
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 590 261 749
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.13 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.18 £16.25
Median hourly rate £33.09 £37.00 £31.50
Median % change year-on-year -10.58% +17.46% +40.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.00 £57.50
90th Percentile £77.50 £83.20 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £31.65 £32.91 £30.16
% change year-on-year -3.81% +9.10% +34.13%

Data Centre
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Data Centre relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Data Centre job vacancy trend in England

Data Centre
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Centre.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Centre

Data Centre
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Data Centre in England over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Data Centre in England

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Centre.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Centre

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Data Centre in England over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Centre in England

Data Centre
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Data Centre within the England region over the 6 months to 26 February 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
London -20 256 £515 -0.96% 150
North of England +8 175 £474 -5.20% 58
South East +3 130 £445 -1.11% 110
North West +17 102 £515 +3.00% 33
Midlands -23 73 £465 -21.19% 34
Yorkshire -33 59 £438 +4.29% 23
West Midlands -26 58 £474 -19.66% 23
South West -38 34 £550 -1.79% 26
East of England -11 30 £478 +13.14% 24
North East 0 17 £175 - 2
East Midlands -21 15 £158 -70.70% 11
Data Centre
UK

Data Centre
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 28 (3.86%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.34%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (2.21%) Confluence
4 7 (0.97%) CICS
5 6 (0.83%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.55%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.41%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.41%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.41%) nginx
7 3 (0.41%) Smallworld
8 2 (0.28%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.14%) Apache
9 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 51 (7.03%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.59%) MS Visio
3 22 (3.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (1.93%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.41%) Adobe Illustrator
5 3 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (0.55%) Oracle Financials
1 4 (0.55%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.41%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.28%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.14%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.14%) Maximo
4 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.14%) Primavera
4 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 120 (16.55%) Azure
2 101 (13.93%) AWS
3 61 (8.41%) Microsoft 365
4 37 (5.10%) GCP
5 18 (2.48%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 16 (2.21%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.21%) SaaS
7 13 (1.79%) Entra ID
7 13 (1.79%) OpenShift
8 12 (1.66%) IaaS
9 11 (1.52%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 11 (1.52%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (1.52%) PaaS
10 9 (1.24%) Azure DevOps
11 8 (1.10%) Amazon S3
11 8 (1.10%) AWS CloudFormation
11 8 (1.10%) GitHub
12 7 (0.97%) AWS CloudTrail
12 7 (0.97%) AWS KMS
12 7 (0.97%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 213 (29.38%) Firewall
2 138 (19.03%) WAN
3 101 (13.93%) BGP
4 88 (12.14%) LAN
5 76 (10.48%) Network Security
6 74 (10.21%) VPN
6 74 (10.21%) Wireless
7 70 (9.66%) OSPF
8 59 (8.14%) DNS
9 51 (7.03%) Structured Cabling
9 51 (7.03%) VLAN
10 44 (6.07%) VXLAN
11 43 (5.93%) DHCP
12 41 (5.66%) SAN
13 37 (5.10%) Wi-Fi
14 36 (4.97%) Cisco ISE
15 31 (4.28%) IPsec
16 28 (3.86%) Ethernet VPN
17 27 (3.72%) MPLS
17 27 (3.72%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.93%) Power BI
2 7 (0.97%) DataStage
3 6 (0.83%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.83%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.69%) GIS
5 4 (0.55%) MongoDB
5 4 (0.55%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.55%) Power Query
5 4 (0.55%) PowerPivot
5 4 (0.55%) RDBMS
6 3 (0.41%) Geospatial Data
6 3 (0.41%) InfluxDB
6 3 (0.41%) QGIS
7 1 (0.14%) Amazon RDS
7 1 (0.14%) Apache Hive
7 1 (0.14%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.14%) HBase
7 1 (0.14%) Redis
7 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
7 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (3.86%) Git
2 21 (2.90%) JIRA
3 17 (2.34%) Jenkins
4 15 (2.07%) GitLab
5 10 (1.38%) Maven
6 4 (0.55%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 3 (0.41%) Eclipse
7 3 (0.41%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.41%) Subversion
8 2 (0.28%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.28%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.28%) ScriptRunner
9 1 (0.14%) AppScan
9 1 (0.14%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.14%) Metasploit
General
1 198 (27.31%) Social Skills
2 126 (17.38%) Finance
3 87 (12.00%) Public Sector
4 86 (11.86%) Analytical Skills
5 57 (7.86%) Documentation Skills
6 52 (7.17%) Telecoms
7 41 (5.66%) Banking
8 40 (5.52%) Manufacturing
9 29 (4.00%) Marketing
10 24 (3.31%) Electronics
11 18 (2.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 18 (2.48%) Presentation Skills
12 16 (2.21%) Influencing Skills
12 16 (2.21%) Legal
13 13 (1.79%) Retail
14 12 (1.66%) Investment Banking
14 12 (1.66%) Organisational Skills
15 8 (1.10%) Military
16 7 (0.97%) Law
17 6 (0.83%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 131 (18.07%) Network Engineer
2 100 (13.79%) Architect
3 72 (9.93%) Project Manager
4 59 (8.14%) Analyst
5 52 (7.17%) Senior
6 41 (5.66%) Data Centre Engineer
7 39 (5.38%) Network Architect
8 36 (4.97%) Data Centre Manager
9 34 (4.69%) IT Support
9 34 (4.69%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 33 (4.55%) Lead
11 28 (3.86%) Infrastructure Manager
12 27 (3.72%) Cisco Engineer
13 26 (3.59%) Security Engineer
14 25 (3.45%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 25 (3.45%) Desktop Support
14 25 (3.45%) Support Engineer
15 24 (3.31%) Infrastructure Project Manager
15 24 (3.31%) Solutions Architect
16 23 (3.17%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (4.00%) 802.1X
2 22 (3.03%) Middleware
3 7 (0.97%) LDAP
4 6 (0.83%) RFC 2544
4 6 (0.83%) Spring
5 4 (0.55%) ADO
5 4 (0.55%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.55%) Spring Boot
5 4 (0.55%) VML
6 3 (0.41%) NETCONF
6 3 (0.41%) OpenConfig
6 3 (0.41%) RESTCONF
6 3 (0.41%) XML
6 3 (0.41%) YANG
7 2 (0.28%) CSS
7 2 (0.28%) EJB
7 2 (0.28%) HTML
7 2 (0.28%) Java EE
7 2 (0.28%) Kafka
7 2 (0.28%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 41 (5.66%) Hybrid Cloud
2 21 (2.90%) Analytical Mindset
3 18 (2.48%) PKI
3 18 (2.48%) Public Cloud
3 18 (2.48%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (2.34%) Driving Licence
5 16 (2.21%) Onboarding
6 15 (2.07%) Clustering
7 13 (1.79%) Management Information System
7 13 (1.79%) Replication
8 12 (1.66%) Cloud Native
9 11 (1.52%) Fibre Optics
9 11 (1.52%) Mainframe
10 10 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
10 10 (1.38%) Private Cloud
11 7 (0.97%) BYOD
11 7 (0.97%) CMDB
11 7 (0.97%) SCADA
11 7 (0.97%) VSAM
12 6 (0.83%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 92 (12.69%) Windows
2 81 (11.17%) Linux
3 38 (5.24%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.41%) Android
4 32 (4.41%) Mac OS
5 27 (3.72%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 14 (1.93%) Unix
7 11 (1.52%) CentOS
8 9 (1.24%) Solaris
9 8 (1.10%) AIX
10 6 (0.83%) VMS
11 5 (0.69%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.41%) Windows 10
13 2 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.28%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
14 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 123 (16.97%) Migration
2 116 (16.00%) Problem-Solving
3 91 (12.55%) Stakeholder Management
4 60 (8.28%) ITIL
4 60 (8.28%) Project Management
5 53 (7.31%) Project Delivery
6 52 (7.17%) Continuous Improvement
7 50 (6.90%) Agile
7 50 (6.90%) Change Management
8 47 (6.48%) CI/CD
9 46 (6.34%) High Availability
9 46 (6.34%) Roadmaps
10 45 (6.21%) Load Balancing
11 44 (6.07%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 40 (5.52%) Change Control
12 40 (5.52%) Infrastructure as Code
12 40 (5.52%) Network Design
13 39 (5.38%) Customer Service
13 39 (5.38%) Cybersecurity
14 37 (5.10%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 60 (8.28%) Python
2 46 (6.34%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.59%) SQL
4 23 (3.17%) Bash
5 21 (2.90%) Java
6 14 (1.93%) Perl
7 12 (1.66%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.24%) Lisp
9 7 (0.97%) COBOL
9 7 (0.97%) MATLAB
10 5 (0.69%) Bicep
10 5 (0.69%) VBA
11 4 (0.55%) JavaScript
12 2 (0.28%) Korn
12 2 (0.28%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.14%) C#
13 1 (0.14%) C++
13 1 (0.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.14%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 270 (37.24%) Security Cleared
2 211 (29.10%) SC Cleared
3 133 (18.34%) Cisco Certification
4 100 (13.79%) CCNP
5 60 (8.28%) Degree
6 56 (7.72%) CCNA
7 55 (7.59%) DV Cleared
8 22 (3.03%) CCIE
9 21 (2.90%) PMP
10 20 (2.76%) AWS Certification
11 19 (2.62%) PMI Certification
12 18 (2.48%) Network+ Certification
13 15 (2.07%) Microsoft Certification
14 14 (1.93%) A+ Certification
14 14 (1.93%) JNCIS
14 14 (1.93%) MCSE
15 12 (1.66%) CISSP
15 12 (1.66%) JNCIP
16 10 (1.38%) JNCIA
16 10 (1.38%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.72%) PMO
2 20 (2.76%) NIST
2 20 (2.76%) SLA
3 19 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (2.48%) PCI DSS
5 15 (2.07%) GDPR
6 14 (1.93%) QA
7 9 (1.24%) NCSC
8 8 (1.10%) Data Quality
9 5 (0.69%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (0.55%) GRC
11 3 (0.41%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.41%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.14%) COBIT
13 1 (0.14%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.14%) RMADS
13 1 (0.14%) SOC 2
System Software
1 61 (8.41%) VMware Infrastructure
2 51 (7.03%) Active Directory
3 34 (4.69%) VMware NSX
4 23 (3.17%) Virtual Machines
5 16 (2.21%) Hyper-V
6 14 (1.93%) vSphere
7 13 (1.79%) Docker
8 12 (1.66%) Firmware
9 10 (1.38%) KVM
10 9 (1.24%) VMware ESXi
11 2 (0.28%) Ceph
11 2 (0.28%) Lustre
11 2 (0.28%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.28%) SRDF
11 2 (0.28%) vCloud
12 1 (0.14%) HDFS
12 1 (0.14%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.14%) NFS
12 1 (0.14%) RHEV
12 1 (0.14%) UAG
Systems Management
1 69 (9.52%) Ansible
2 65 (8.97%) Terraform
3 42 (5.79%) FortiGate
4 25 (3.45%) Kubernetes
5 21 (2.90%) SCCM
6 18 (2.48%) Grafana
7 11 (1.52%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.38%) Prometheus
9 7 (0.97%) CASB
9 7 (0.97%) Check_MK
9 7 (0.97%) Podman
9 7 (0.97%) Red Hat Satellite
9 7 (0.97%) SCOM
10 6 (0.83%) SCOrch
10 6 (0.83%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.55%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.55%) Nagios
11 4 (0.55%) PowerCLI
11 4 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
12 3 (0.41%) Endace
Vendors
1 241 (33.24%) Cisco
2 98 (13.52%) Palo Alto
3 90 (12.41%) VMware
4 73 (10.07%) Microsoft
5 72 (9.93%) Dell
6 65 (8.97%) Juniper
7 55 (7.59%) F5
8 44 (6.07%) CheckPoint
9 43 (5.93%) HP
10 40 (5.52%) ServiceNow
11 37 (5.10%) Aruba
12 33 (4.55%) Meraki
13 32 (4.41%) Apple
14 29 (4.00%) Fortinet
15 28 (3.86%) SAP
16 26 (3.59%) SolarWinds
17 24 (3.31%) Oracle
18 23 (3.17%) Citrix
19 20 (2.76%) Splunk
20 19 (2.62%) Red Hat