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 19 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 137 129 98
Rank change year-on-year -8 -31 +4
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 703 546 853
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.03% 2.11% 2.28%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.93% 6.30% 7.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 460 326 594
10th Percentile £261 £350 £300
25th Percentile £379 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £523 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.85% -0.48% -4.55%
75th Percentile £575 £638 £631
90th Percentile £675 £719 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £513 £525
% change year-on-year -7.32% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 12 38
10th Percentile £21.27 - £21.25
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £22.13
Median hourly rate £30.25 £24.66 £31.31
Median % change year-on-year +22.67% -21.23% -48.25%
75th Percentile £72.34 £25.81 £40.94
90th Percentile £74.26 £56.93 £70.13
UK median hourly rate £26.50 £24.18 £25.12
% change year-on-year +9.59% -3.72% -54.83%

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 11,852 8,666 11,604
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.14% 33.45% 30.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,534 5,329 7,598
10th Percentile £275 £275 £256
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £509 £540 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.69% -1.82% -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £663 £661
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 592 250 755
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.21 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.18 £17.00
Median hourly rate £33.50 £37.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -9.46% +13.85% +44.44%
75th Percentile £65.00 £66.38 £58.75
90th Percentile £76.25 £83.20 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £31.00 £34.00 £32.50
% change year-on-year -8.82% +4.62% +44.54%

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 19 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 19 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 19 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 -35 247 £515 -0.96% 231
North of England 0 169 £474 -2.52% 80
South East +2 124 £445 -1.11% 116
North West +16 100 £500 - 45
Midlands -34 74 £465 -21.19% 31
West Midlands -33 59 £472 -20.00% 18
Yorkshire -31 55 £454 +8.10% 30
South West -32 33 £550 -1.79% 28
East of England -19 29 £478 +13.14% 33
North East -1 17 £175 - 5
East Midlands -18 15 £158 -70.70% 13
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 27 (3.84%) SharePoint
2 19 (2.70%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (2.42%) Confluence
4 7 (1.00%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.85%) CICS
6 4 (0.57%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.57%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.43%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.43%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.43%) Smallworld
8 2 (0.28%) Apache
8 2 (0.28%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.28%) nginx
9 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
Applications
1 49 (6.97%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.70%) MS Visio
3 24 (3.41%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (2.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.99%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.43%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.14%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 5 (0.71%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.57%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.43%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.28%) DELMIA
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.14%) Epicor iScala
5 1 (0.14%) Maximo
5 1 (0.14%) Primavera
5 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 116 (16.50%) Azure
2 100 (14.22%) AWS
3 61 (8.68%) Microsoft 365
4 33 (4.69%) GCP
5 17 (2.42%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 16 (2.28%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.28%) SaaS
7 14 (1.99%) OpenShift
8 13 (1.85%) Entra ID
9 12 (1.71%) IaaS
10 11 (1.56%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 11 (1.56%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 11 (1.56%) PaaS
11 9 (1.28%) Azure DevOps
12 8 (1.14%) Amazon S3
12 8 (1.14%) AWS CloudFormation
13 7 (1.00%) AWS CloudTrail
13 7 (1.00%) AWS Direct Connect
13 7 (1.00%) GitHub
13 7 (1.00%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 201 (28.59%) Firewall
2 135 (19.20%) WAN
3 98 (13.94%) BGP
4 88 (12.52%) LAN
5 77 (10.95%) VPN
6 75 (10.67%) Network Security
7 72 (10.24%) Wireless
8 69 (9.82%) OSPF
9 54 (7.68%) DNS
10 48 (6.83%) VLAN
11 45 (6.40%) Structured Cabling
12 42 (5.97%) VXLAN
13 39 (5.55%) DHCP
14 37 (5.26%) Wi-Fi
15 36 (5.12%) SAN
16 35 (4.98%) Cisco ISE
17 30 (4.27%) IPsec
18 26 (3.70%) Ethernet VPN
19 25 (3.56%) MPLS
19 25 (3.56%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.99%) Power BI
2 8 (1.14%) DataStage
2 8 (1.14%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.85%) RDBMS
3 6 (0.85%) SQL Server
4 4 (0.57%) GIS
4 4 (0.57%) MongoDB
4 4 (0.57%) Power Query
4 4 (0.57%) PowerPivot
5 3 (0.43%) Geospatial Data
5 3 (0.43%) InfluxDB
5 3 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (0.43%) QGIS
6 2 (0.28%) Apache Hive
6 2 (0.28%) Big Data
6 2 (0.28%) Data Lake
6 2 (0.28%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.28%) HBase
6 2 (0.28%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 27 (3.84%) Git
2 18 (2.56%) JIRA
3 17 (2.42%) Jenkins
4 15 (2.13%) GitLab
5 9 (1.28%) Maven
6 5 (0.71%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (0.57%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 2 (0.28%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.28%) Eclipse
8 2 (0.28%) ER Studio
8 2 (0.28%) ERwin
8 2 (0.28%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.28%) ScriptRunner
8 2 (0.28%) Subversion
9 1 (0.14%) AppScan
9 1 (0.14%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.14%) Metasploit
General
1 198 (28.17%) Social Skills
2 121 (17.21%) Finance
3 89 (12.66%) Public Sector
4 86 (12.23%) Analytical Skills
5 58 (8.25%) Documentation Skills
6 51 (7.25%) Telecoms
7 40 (5.69%) Banking
7 40 (5.69%) Manufacturing
8 29 (4.13%) Marketing
9 24 (3.41%) Electronics
10 18 (2.56%) Presentation Skills
11 16 (2.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (2.13%) Influencing Skills
12 15 (2.13%) Legal
13 13 (1.85%) Retail
14 12 (1.71%) Organisational Skills
15 11 (1.56%) Investment Banking
16 8 (1.14%) Military
17 6 (0.85%) Aerospace
17 6 (0.85%) Law
Job Titles
1 128 (18.21%) Network Engineer
2 96 (13.66%) Architect
3 69 (9.82%) Project Manager
4 59 (8.39%) Analyst
5 49 (6.97%) Senior
6 40 (5.69%) Data Centre Engineer
7 38 (5.41%) Network Architect
8 33 (4.69%) Lead
9 32 (4.55%) Data Centre Manager
9 32 (4.55%) IT Support
9 32 (4.55%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 30 (4.27%) Cisco Engineer
11 28 (3.98%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 25 (3.56%) Desktop Support
12 25 (3.56%) Security Engineer
13 24 (3.41%) Consultant
14 23 (3.27%) 2nd Line Support
14 23 (3.27%) Infrastructure Manager
14 23 (3.27%) Solutions Architect
14 23 (3.27%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.70%) 802.1X
2 22 (3.13%) Middleware
3 7 (1.00%) LDAP
3 7 (1.00%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.71%) Spring
5 4 (0.57%) ADO
5 4 (0.57%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.57%) Spring Boot
5 4 (0.57%) VML
6 2 (0.28%) AWS CDK
6 2 (0.28%) CSS
6 2 (0.28%) HTML
6 2 (0.28%) Kafka
6 2 (0.28%) NETCONF
6 2 (0.28%) OpenConfig
6 2 (0.28%) REST
6 2 (0.28%) RESTCONF
6 2 (0.28%) Spark Streaming
6 2 (0.28%) XML
6 2 (0.28%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 41 (5.83%) Hybrid Cloud
2 19 (2.70%) Self-Motivation
3 18 (2.56%) Analytical Mindset
3 18 (2.56%) Public Cloud
4 17 (2.42%) Onboarding
5 16 (2.28%) Driving Licence
6 15 (2.13%) PKI
7 14 (1.99%) Clustering
8 13 (1.85%) Fibre Optics
9 12 (1.71%) Management Information System
9 12 (1.71%) Replication
10 11 (1.56%) Cloud Native
11 10 (1.42%) Data Protection Act
11 10 (1.42%) Mainframe
11 10 (1.42%) Private Cloud
12 7 (1.00%) BYOD
12 7 (1.00%) SCADA
13 6 (0.85%) CMDB
13 6 (0.85%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (0.85%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 89 (12.66%) Windows
2 79 (11.24%) Linux
3 38 (5.41%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.55%) Android
4 32 (4.55%) Mac OS
5 26 (3.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 14 (1.99%) Unix
7 11 (1.56%) CentOS
8 7 (1.00%) Solaris
9 6 (0.85%) AIX
9 6 (0.85%) VMS
10 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.43%) Windows 10
12 2 (0.28%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
13 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 117 (16.64%) Migration
2 115 (16.36%) Problem-Solving
3 89 (12.66%) Stakeholder Management
4 56 (7.97%) ITIL
5 55 (7.82%) Project Management
6 53 (7.54%) Project Delivery
7 50 (7.11%) Agile
8 49 (6.97%) Continuous Improvement
9 46 (6.54%) Change Management
10 45 (6.40%) CI/CD
10 45 (6.40%) Load Balancing
10 45 (6.40%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 44 (6.26%) High Availability
12 43 (6.12%) Roadmaps
13 40 (5.69%) Change Control
14 38 (5.41%) Customer Service
14 38 (5.41%) Network Design
15 37 (5.26%) Business Intelligence
15 37 (5.26%) Cybersecurity
15 37 (5.26%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 62 (8.82%) Python
2 47 (6.69%) PowerShell
3 25 (3.56%) SQL
4 22 (3.13%) Bash
5 19 (2.70%) Java
6 14 (1.99%) Perl
7 13 (1.85%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.28%) Lisp
9 7 (1.00%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.85%) COBOL
11 5 (0.71%) Bicep
11 5 (0.71%) VBA
12 3 (0.43%) JavaScript
13 1 (0.14%) C#
13 1 (0.14%) C++
13 1 (0.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.14%) Korn
13 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.14%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 264 (37.55%) Security Cleared
2 208 (29.59%) SC Cleared
3 126 (17.92%) Cisco Certification
4 96 (13.66%) CCNP
5 60 (8.53%) Degree
6 53 (7.54%) DV Cleared
7 52 (7.40%) CCNA
8 22 (3.13%) CCIE
9 21 (2.99%) AWS Certification
10 19 (2.70%) PMP
11 17 (2.42%) PMI Certification
12 13 (1.85%) Microsoft Certification
12 13 (1.85%) Network+ Certification
13 12 (1.71%) A+ Certification
13 12 (1.71%) CISSP
13 12 (1.71%) JNCIS
13 12 (1.71%) MCSE
14 10 (1.42%) Azure Certification
14 10 (1.42%) JNCIP
15 9 (1.28%) JNCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (3.41%) PMO
2 19 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 19 (2.70%) SLA
3 18 (2.56%) NIST
3 18 (2.56%) PCI DSS
4 15 (2.13%) GDPR
5 14 (1.99%) QA
6 9 (1.28%) Data Quality
7 7 (1.00%) NCSC
8 5 (0.71%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (0.57%) GRC
10 3 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.28%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.14%) COBIT
12 1 (0.14%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.14%) RMADS
12 1 (0.14%) SOC 2
System Software
1 65 (9.25%) VMware Infrastructure
2 51 (7.25%) Active Directory
3 36 (5.12%) VMware NSX
4 24 (3.41%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (2.56%) Hyper-V
6 14 (1.99%) vSphere
7 12 (1.71%) KVM
8 11 (1.56%) Docker
8 11 (1.56%) Firmware
9 8 (1.14%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.28%) Ceph
10 2 (0.28%) HDFS
10 2 (0.28%) Lustre
10 2 (0.28%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.28%) SRDF
10 2 (0.28%) vCloud
11 1 (0.14%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.14%) NFS
11 1 (0.14%) RHEV
11 1 (0.14%) UAG
Systems Management
1 70 (9.96%) Ansible
2 65 (9.25%) Terraform
3 39 (5.55%) FortiGate
4 24 (3.41%) Kubernetes
5 21 (2.99%) SCCM
6 18 (2.56%) Grafana
7 10 (1.42%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (1.42%) Prometheus
8 8 (1.14%) SCOM
9 7 (1.00%) CASB
9 7 (1.00%) Check_MK
9 7 (1.00%) Podman
9 7 (1.00%) Red Hat Satellite
10 6 (0.85%) SCOrch
10 6 (0.85%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.57%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.57%) Nagios
11 4 (0.57%) PowerCLI
11 4 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
12 3 (0.43%) Endace
Vendors
1 236 (33.57%) Cisco
2 96 (13.66%) Palo Alto
3 89 (12.66%) VMware
4 72 (10.24%) Microsoft
5 67 (9.53%) Dell
6 61 (8.68%) Juniper
7 51 (7.25%) F5
8 43 (6.12%) CheckPoint
9 42 (5.97%) HP
10 37 (5.26%) Aruba
11 34 (4.84%) ServiceNow
12 33 (4.69%) Meraki
13 32 (4.55%) Apple
14 29 (4.13%) Fortinet
15 28 (3.98%) SAP
16 24 (3.41%) Citrix
16 24 (3.41%) SolarWinds
17 22 (3.13%) Oracle
18 18 (2.56%) Red Hat
18 18 (2.56%) Splunk