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 16 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 123 136 101
Rank change year-on-year +13 -35 -7
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 832 514 823
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.12% 2.11% 2.20%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.48% 6.19% 7.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 531 337 595
10th Percentile £318 £345 £300
25th Percentile £406 £425 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £610 £638
90th Percentile £725 £675 £710
UK median daily rate £485 £518 £525
% change year-on-year -6.28% -1.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 15 35
10th Percentile £16.01 - £21.25
25th Percentile £18.07 £24.18 £22.04
Median hourly rate £21.46 £24.66 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -12.98% -0.84% +14.77%
75th Percentile £52.65 £43.75 £40.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £56.50 £41.25
UK median hourly rate £21.46 £24.66 £24.87
% change year-on-year -12.98% -0.84% +14.77%

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 12,836 8,307 11,561
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.69% 34.04% 30.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,151 5,452 7,555
10th Percentile £300 £300 £263
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £547 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.31% -0.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £675 £675
90th Percentile £749 £788 £788
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 653 314 818
10th Percentile £16.01 £16.67 £12.26
25th Percentile £20.89 £22.78 £15.13
Median hourly rate £45.46 £35.95 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +26.47% +30.71% +22.22%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.75 £58.24
90th Percentile £85.40 £85.00 £67.50
UK median hourly rate £45.00 £32.50 £27.25
% change year-on-year +38.46% +19.27% +21.19%

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 16 April 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 16 April 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 16 April 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 +7 296 £550 +4.76% 185
North of England +28 186 £462 +8.68% 46
South East 0 177 £475 -4.28% 98
North West +17 92 £500 - 20
Yorkshire -4 81 £365 -5.93% 23
Midlands -44 58 £474 -18.63% 36
West Midlands -38 49 £474 -24.16% 27
South West -33 45 £498 -9.22% 46
East of England -22 36 £478 +13.14% 33
North East -3 15 £175 +59.09% 3
East Midlands -31 8 £200 -63.64% 9
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 18 (2.16%) SharePoint
2 16 (1.92%) Confluence
3 13 (1.56%) Microsoft Exchange
4 9 (1.08%) CICS
5 4 (0.48%) OpenStack
5 4 (0.48%) WebLogic
6 3 (0.36%) nginx
7 2 (0.24%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.24%) HCL Notes
7 2 (0.24%) Tomcat
Applications
1 26 (3.13%) Microsoft Office
2 21 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 18 (2.16%) MS Visio
4 16 (1.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 12 (1.44%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.36%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.36%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.72%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.36%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.24%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.24%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 2 (0.24%) Primavera
4 1 (0.12%) Maximo
4 1 (0.12%) Oracle Financials
4 1 (0.12%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 140 (16.83%) Azure
2 126 (15.14%) AWS
3 46 (5.53%) GCP
4 39 (4.69%) Microsoft 365
5 22 (2.64%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 16 (1.92%) SaaS
7 15 (1.80%) Entra ID
7 15 (1.80%) IaaS
8 14 (1.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.56%) Power Platform
10 11 (1.32%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 11 (1.32%) GitHub
10 11 (1.32%) PaaS
11 10 (1.20%) OpenShift
12 9 (1.08%) Azure DevOps
13 8 (0.96%) AWS CloudFormation
13 8 (0.96%) AWS Direct Connect
14 7 (0.84%) AWS KMS
14 7 (0.84%) Azure Sentinel
14 7 (0.84%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 240 (28.85%) Firewall
2 159 (19.11%) WAN
3 140 (16.83%) BGP
4 104 (12.50%) OSPF
5 101 (12.14%) LAN
6 88 (10.58%) Network Security
7 86 (10.34%) VPN
8 74 (8.89%) Structured Cabling
9 72 (8.65%) VXLAN
10 69 (8.29%) DNS
11 67 (8.05%) VLAN
12 66 (7.93%) SAN
13 55 (6.61%) DHCP
14 47 (5.65%) Wireless
15 44 (5.29%) Ethernet VPN
16 37 (4.45%) Cisco ISE
17 35 (4.21%) SD-WAN
18 32 (3.85%) NX-OS
18 32 (3.85%) Wi-Fi
19 30 (3.61%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.08%) DataStage
2 8 (0.96%) Power BI
3 5 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (0.48%) MongoDB
4 4 (0.48%) Power Query
4 4 (0.48%) PowerPivot
4 4 (0.48%) SAP Data Services
4 4 (0.48%) SQL Server
5 3 (0.36%) Big Data
5 3 (0.36%) InfluxDB
6 2 (0.24%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.24%) Data Lake
6 2 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.24%) GIS
6 2 (0.24%) RDBMS
6 2 (0.24%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.12%) DB2
7 1 (0.12%) Elasticsearch
7 1 (0.12%) MS Access
7 1 (0.12%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 34 (4.09%) Git
2 32 (3.85%) JIRA
3 19 (2.28%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.04%) GitLab
5 9 (1.08%) Maven
6 4 (0.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 4 (0.48%) Eclipse
6 4 (0.48%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.48%) Subversion
7 2 (0.24%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.24%) ScriptRunner
8 1 (0.12%) AppScan
8 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Metasploit
General
1 221 (26.56%) Social Skills
2 122 (14.66%) Finance
3 103 (12.38%) Analytical Skills
4 73 (8.77%) Public Sector
5 53 (6.37%) Documentation Skills
6 42 (5.05%) Banking
7 32 (3.85%) Telecoms
8 24 (2.88%) Manufacturing
9 23 (2.76%) Legal
10 22 (2.64%) Retail
11 18 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
12 15 (1.80%) Marketing
13 14 (1.68%) Presentation Skills
14 13 (1.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 8 (0.96%) Investment Banking
15 8 (0.96%) Military
15 8 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
16 7 (0.84%) Aerospace
16 7 (0.84%) Electronics
16 7 (0.84%) Law
Job Titles
1 149 (17.91%) Network Engineer
2 120 (14.42%) Architect
3 76 (9.13%) Senior
4 71 (8.53%) Project Manager
5 64 (7.69%) Data Centre Engineer
6 43 (5.17%) Data Centre Manager
7 41 (4.93%) Network Architect
8 38 (4.57%) Analyst
9 37 (4.45%) Lead
10 36 (4.33%) IT Engineer
11 34 (4.09%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 34 (4.09%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 32 (3.85%) Field Engineer
13 31 (3.73%) Field Service Engineer
14 29 (3.49%) Infrastructure Manager
15 27 (3.25%) Cisco Engineer
15 27 (3.25%) Solutions Architect
16 26 (3.13%) Cisco Network Engineer
17 24 (2.88%) Data Centre Project Manager
17 24 (2.88%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.21%) 802.1X
2 28 (3.37%) Middleware
3 9 (1.08%) LDAP
4 6 (0.72%) Redfish
4 6 (0.72%) Spring
5 5 (0.60%) Jinja
5 5 (0.60%) NETCONF
5 5 (0.60%) XML
6 4 (0.48%) ADO
6 4 (0.48%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.48%) Elastic Stack
6 4 (0.48%) OpenConfig
6 4 (0.48%) REST
6 4 (0.48%) RESTCONF
6 4 (0.48%) Spring Boot
6 4 (0.48%) VML
6 4 (0.48%) YANG
7 3 (0.36%) Kafka
7 3 (0.36%) RFC 2544
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 45 (5.41%) Hybrid Cloud
2 38 (4.57%) Analytical Mindset
3 28 (3.37%) Clustering
4 27 (3.25%) PKI
5 22 (2.64%) Fibre Optics
6 19 (2.28%) Driving Licence
6 19 (2.28%) Onboarding
7 18 (2.16%) Replication
8 16 (1.92%) Cloud Native
8 16 (1.92%) Management Information System
8 16 (1.92%) Public Cloud
8 16 (1.92%) Self-Motivation
9 15 (1.80%) Private Cloud
10 13 (1.56%) CMDB
11 12 (1.44%) Mainframe
12 11 (1.32%) Enterprise Storage
13 9 (1.08%) BYOD
13 9 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.08%) VSAM
14 7 (0.84%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 107 (12.86%) Windows
2 92 (11.06%) Linux
3 38 (4.57%) Windows Server
4 29 (3.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (2.28%) Unix
6 17 (2.04%) AIX
7 14 (1.68%) Solaris
8 12 (1.44%) Android
8 12 (1.44%) Mac OS
9 11 (1.32%) CentOS
10 7 (0.84%) VMS
11 5 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.36%) HPUX
12 3 (0.36%) Oracle Linux
12 3 (0.36%) SUSE
12 3 (0.36%) Windows 10
13 2 (0.24%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (17.55%) Problem-Solving
2 142 (17.07%) Migration
3 85 (10.22%) Stakeholder Management
4 78 (9.38%) ITIL
5 70 (8.41%) Continuous Improvement
6 69 (8.29%) Roadmaps
7 65 (7.81%) High Availability
8 64 (7.69%) Project Management
9 62 (7.45%) Change Management
10 58 (6.97%) Load Balancing
11 56 (6.73%) Project Delivery
12 52 (6.25%) Infrastructure as Code
13 51 (6.13%) CI/CD
14 47 (5.65%) Customer Service
14 47 (5.65%) Technical Leadership
15 46 (5.53%) Break/Fix
16 45 (5.41%) Agile
16 45 (5.41%) ITSM
16 45 (5.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 44 (5.29%) Network Design
Programming Languages
1 81 (9.74%) Python
2 42 (5.05%) PowerShell
3 23 (2.76%) Bash
4 22 (2.64%) Java
5 20 (2.40%) SQL
6 14 (1.68%) Perl
7 13 (1.56%) Shell Script
8 11 (1.32%) COBOL
9 9 (1.08%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.72%) Bicep
10 6 (0.72%) VBA
11 5 (0.60%) Lisp
12 4 (0.48%) JavaScript
13 2 (0.24%) C++
13 2 (0.24%) Korn
13 2 (0.24%) PL/SQL
14 1 (0.12%) C
14 1 (0.12%) Ruby
14 1 (0.12%) Scala
14 1 (0.12%) VB
Qualifications
1 277 (33.29%) Security Cleared
2 201 (24.16%) SC Cleared
3 176 (21.15%) Cisco Certification
4 116 (13.94%) CCNP
5 76 (9.13%) CCNA
6 66 (7.93%) Degree
7 62 (7.45%) DV Cleared
8 35 (4.21%) Network+ Certification
9 30 (3.61%) Microsoft Certification
10 29 (3.49%) A+ Certification
10 29 (3.49%) MCSE
11 24 (2.88%) CCIE
12 22 (2.64%) PMP
13 21 (2.52%) AWS Certification
14 18 (2.16%) Azure Certification
14 18 (2.16%) PMI Certification
15 16 (1.92%) JNCIS
16 14 (1.68%) City & Guilds
16 14 (1.68%) JNCIP
17 13 (1.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 27 (3.25%) SLA
3 25 (3.00%) NIST
4 23 (2.76%) GDPR
4 23 (2.76%) PMO
5 17 (2.04%) PCI DSS
6 14 (1.68%) QA
7 9 (1.08%) NCSC
8 7 (0.84%) GRC
9 5 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.36%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.24%) Data Quality
11 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.12%) COBIT
12 1 (0.12%) NEBOSH
12 1 (0.12%) RMADS
12 1 (0.12%) SOC 1
System Software
1 75 (9.01%) VMware Infrastructure
2 53 (6.37%) Active Directory
3 36 (4.33%) VMware NSX
4 21 (2.52%) Firmware
4 21 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (2.16%) VMware ESXi
6 17 (2.04%) Hyper-V
7 16 (1.92%) vSphere
8 12 (1.44%) Docker
9 10 (1.20%) KVM
10 3 (0.36%) NFS
10 3 (0.36%) PowerHA
10 3 (0.36%) SRDF
10 3 (0.36%) UAG
10 3 (0.36%) Veritas Cluster Server
11 2 (0.24%) Ceph
11 2 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.24%) vCloud
11 2 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 83 (9.98%) Ansible
2 71 (8.53%) Terraform
3 47 (5.65%) FortiGate
4 38 (4.57%) Kubernetes
5 28 (3.37%) Grafana
6 21 (2.52%) Prometheus
7 16 (1.92%) SCCM
8 14 (1.68%) Microsoft Intune
9 9 (1.08%) Check_MK
9 9 (1.08%) NetBackup
9 9 (1.08%) Podman
9 9 (1.08%) Red Hat Satellite
9 9 (1.08%) vCenter Server
10 7 (0.84%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 7 (0.84%) SCOM
11 6 (0.72%) Dell DRAC
12 5 (0.60%) Endace
12 5 (0.60%) Nagios
12 5 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
13 4 (0.48%) EMC NetWorker
Vendors
1 249 (29.93%) Cisco
2 111 (13.34%) VMware
3 103 (12.38%) Palo Alto
4 85 (10.22%) Microsoft
5 73 (8.77%) Dell
6 72 (8.65%) Juniper
7 66 (7.93%) F5
8 41 (4.93%) CheckPoint
9 38 (4.57%) ServiceNow
10 37 (4.45%) Arista
10 37 (4.45%) SolarWinds
11 36 (4.33%) Aruba
11 36 (4.33%) Fortinet
12 31 (3.73%) Meraki
13 28 (3.37%) Splunk
14 27 (3.25%) IBM
15 26 (3.13%) HP
15 26 (3.13%) Red Hat
16 22 (2.64%) Citrix
16 22 (2.64%) Google