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 20 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Sep 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 133 112 93
Rank change year-on-year -21 -19 +22
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 617 700 1,062
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 2.22% 2.13% 2.49%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.17% 6.90% 7.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 407 448 740
10th Percentile £300 £366 £350
25th Percentile £405 £460 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £535 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.87% -2.73% +4.76%
75th Percentile £613 £615 £650
90th Percentile £725 £700 £743
UK median daily rate £514 £535 £540
% change year-on-year -3.97% -0.93% +2.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 26 12
10th Percentile - £11.75 £18.71
25th Percentile - £12.08 £21.57
Median hourly rate £25.15 £21.90 £23.25
Median % change year-on-year +14.84% -5.81% -61.57%
75th Percentile £36.50 £26.50 £37.20
90th Percentile £43.75 £28.75 £75.63
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £20.80 £23.00
% change year-on-year +20.94% -9.59% -61.98%

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 10,001 10,141 13,877
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 36.01% 30.79% 32.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,293 6,236 9,606
10th Percentile £300 £300 £300
25th Percentile £409 £425 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - -2.22%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £775 £825 £790
UK median daily rate £515 £540 £550
% change year-on-year -4.63% -1.82% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 500 412 420
10th Percentile £15.46 £15.13 £17.00
25th Percentile £18.87 £23.80 £21.25
Median hourly rate £32.83 £57.35 £45.85
Median % change year-on-year -42.76% +25.08% +79.80%
75th Percentile £58.19 £70.00 £67.56
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.16 £78.00
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £50.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -40.00% +12.36% +71.15%

Data Centre
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing Data Centre as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for Data Centre 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 20 September 2025.

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 20 September 2025.

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 20 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
London -14 226 £550 +4.76% 335
North of England -9 117 £479 -12.91% 75
South East -2 105 £450 -14.29% 232
Midlands -17 79 £500 -16.67% 56
Yorkshire +6 72 £450 -20.35% 16
West Midlands -9 62 £496 -17.33% 27
South West -8 46 £550 +2.33% 31
North West -11 45 £543 +8.50% 53
East of England 0 25 £600 +35.75% 44
East Midlands -2 17 £525 +17.98% 27
North East -7 1 - - 6
Data Centre
UK

Data Centre
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England 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 29 (4.70%) Confluence
2 21 (3.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.43%) SharePoint
4 11 (1.78%) OpenStack
5 5 (0.81%) Apache
5 5 (0.81%) Apache Airflow
5 5 (0.81%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.65%) ThingWorx
7 3 (0.49%) CICS
7 3 (0.49%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.49%) nginx
7 3 (0.49%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.32%) FileNet
8 2 (0.32%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.16%) IIS
9 1 (0.16%) OpenEdge
9 1 (0.16%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 27 (4.38%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (3.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.94%) MS Visio
4 11 (1.78%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (1.62%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.32%) AutoCAD
6 2 (0.32%) Revit
7 1 (0.16%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.97%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (0.49%) Oracle Financials
3 2 (0.32%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.32%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.16%) StreamServe
Cloud Services
1 104 (16.86%) Azure
2 103 (16.69%) AWS
3 37 (6.00%) GCP
4 36 (5.83%) Microsoft 365
5 22 (3.57%) OpenShift
6 18 (2.92%) Power Platform
7 17 (2.76%) IaaS
7 17 (2.76%) PaaS
8 16 (2.59%) Entra ID
9 9 (1.46%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 9 (1.46%) SaaS
10 8 (1.30%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 6 (0.97%) GitHub
11 6 (0.97%) OneDrive
12 5 (0.81%) Cloud Computing
13 4 (0.65%) Akamai
13 4 (0.65%) Azure DevOps
13 4 (0.65%) Azure Stack
13 4 (0.65%) npm
13 4 (0.65%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 153 (24.80%) Firewall
2 105 (17.02%) WAN
3 56 (9.08%) BGP
3 56 (9.08%) Wireless
4 52 (8.43%) VPN
5 50 (8.10%) DNS
6 48 (7.78%) LAN
7 44 (7.13%) Cisco Nexus
7 44 (7.13%) Network Security
8 42 (6.81%) OSPF
9 40 (6.48%) SD-WAN
10 34 (5.51%) SAN
11 32 (5.19%) Wi-Fi
12 28 (4.54%) DHCP
12 28 (4.54%) Ethernet VPN
13 27 (4.38%) MPLS
14 25 (4.05%) VXLAN
15 21 (3.40%) TCP/IP
16 20 (3.24%) Cisco ISE
17 19 (3.08%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (2.43%) Power BI
2 12 (1.94%) Big Data
2 12 (1.94%) Oracle Database
2 12 (1.94%) Relational Database
3 11 (1.78%) Amazon RDS
4 9 (1.46%) Elasticsearch
4 9 (1.46%) SQL Server
5 8 (1.30%) Oracle Reports
6 7 (1.13%) RDBMS
7 6 (0.97%) NoSQL
8 5 (0.81%) Apache Hive
8 5 (0.81%) Hadoop
8 5 (0.81%) HBase
8 5 (0.81%) PostgreSQL
9 4 (0.65%) Data Mining
10 3 (0.49%) Data Lake
10 3 (0.49%) Data Vault
10 3 (0.49%) Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.49%) DataStage
10 3 (0.49%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 30 (4.86%) JIRA
2 16 (2.59%) Git
3 15 (2.43%) Sonatype Nexus
4 14 (2.27%) GitLab
5 13 (2.11%) Jenkins
6 9 (1.46%) SonarQube
7 8 (1.30%) Maven
8 4 (0.65%) Gradle
8 4 (0.65%) Selenium
8 4 (0.65%) TeamCity
9 3 (0.49%) ER Studio
9 3 (0.49%) ERwin
10 2 (0.32%) Bitbucket
11 1 (0.16%) Fiddler
11 1 (0.16%) Postman
General
1 140 (22.69%) Social Skills
2 127 (20.58%) Finance
3 61 (9.89%) Public Sector
4 57 (9.24%) Analytical Skills
4 57 (9.24%) Banking
5 43 (6.97%) Telecoms
6 17 (2.76%) Documentation Skills
7 14 (2.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 13 (2.11%) Presentation Skills
9 11 (1.78%) Legal
10 10 (1.62%) Retail
11 9 (1.46%) Influencing Skills
12 8 (1.30%) Manufacturing
13 7 (1.13%) Front Office
14 6 (0.97%) Law
14 6 (0.97%) Organisational Skills
15 5 (0.81%) Billing
15 5 (0.81%) Local Government
15 5 (0.81%) Publishing
16 3 (0.49%) German Language
Job Titles
1 103 (16.69%) Architect
2 99 (16.05%) Network Engineer
3 67 (10.86%) Analyst
4 44 (7.13%) Senior
5 41 (6.65%) Project Manager
6 32 (5.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 30 (4.86%) Network Architect
8 29 (4.70%) Consultant
9 27 (4.38%) Support Engineer
10 26 (4.21%) Data Centre Manager
11 24 (3.89%) Lead
11 24 (3.89%) Security Engineer
12 23 (3.73%) Infrastructure Manager
13 21 (3.40%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 20 (3.24%) Infrastructure Architect
15 18 (2.92%) Data Centre Engineer
16 17 (2.76%) Cisco Engineer
17 16 (2.59%) Cisco Network Engineer
17 16 (2.59%) Infrastructure Project Manager
18 15 (2.43%) Data Centre Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (3.08%) RFC 2544
2 16 (2.59%) Middleware
3 14 (2.27%) 802.1X
4 5 (0.81%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.65%) Jinja
6 2 (0.32%) JSON
6 2 (0.32%) LDAP
6 2 (0.32%) ModSecurity
6 2 (0.32%) OpenTelemetry
7 1 (0.16%) .NET
7 1 (0.16%) ADO
7 1 (0.16%) ASP.NET
7 1 (0.16%) eBPF
7 1 (0.16%) EJB
7 1 (0.16%) REST
7 1 (0.16%) RESTful
7 1 (0.16%) SAML
7 1 (0.16%) Web Services
7 1 (0.16%) XML
7 1 (0.16%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 28 (4.54%) Cloud Native
2 24 (3.89%) Hybrid Cloud
3 23 (3.73%) PKI
4 17 (2.76%) Clustering
4 17 (2.76%) Fibre Optics
4 17 (2.76%) Public Cloud
4 17 (2.76%) Replication
5 16 (2.59%) Onboarding
6 15 (2.43%) SCADA
7 14 (2.27%) Driving Licence
7 14 (2.27%) Mainframe
8 12 (1.94%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (1.94%) Private Cloud
9 11 (1.78%) Management Information System
10 10 (1.62%) Enterprise Storage
11 8 (1.30%) CMDB
11 8 (1.30%) Linux Command Line
11 8 (1.30%) Self-Motivation
12 7 (1.13%) Legacy Systems
12 7 (1.13%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 84 (13.61%) Windows
2 71 (11.51%) Linux
3 27 (4.38%) Windows Server
4 20 (3.24%) Unix
5 15 (2.43%) Android
5 15 (2.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 14 (2.27%) CentOS
7 13 (2.11%) Mac OS
8 10 (1.62%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.81%) Windows 10
10 4 (0.65%) Apple iOS
10 4 (0.65%) Solaris
10 4 (0.65%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.65%) Windows Server 2008
10 4 (0.65%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.32%) AIX
11 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.32%) zOS
12 1 (0.16%) HPUX
12 1 (0.16%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 126 (20.42%) Migration
2 63 (10.21%) Problem-Solving
3 55 (8.91%) Agile
4 53 (8.59%) Change Management
5 50 (8.10%) DevOps
6 46 (7.46%) Disaster Recovery
7 45 (7.29%) Service Management
8 42 (6.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 42 (6.81%) Stakeholder Management
9 40 (6.48%) ITIL
10 39 (6.32%) CI/CD
10 39 (6.32%) Infrastructure as Code
10 39 (6.32%) Project Management
11 35 (5.67%) Customer Service
12 34 (5.51%) Risk Management
12 34 (5.51%) Roadmaps
13 33 (5.35%) High Availability
13 33 (5.35%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 31 (5.02%) Network Design
15 28 (4.54%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 60 (9.72%) Python
2 34 (5.51%) PowerShell
3 27 (4.38%) SQL
4 17 (2.76%) Java
5 10 (1.62%) Bash
5 10 (1.62%) Shell Script
6 6 (0.97%) Go
7 4 (0.65%) Bicep
7 4 (0.65%) C
8 3 (0.49%) C#
9 2 (0.32%) AWK
9 2 (0.32%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.32%) Perl
9 2 (0.32%) PromQL
9 2 (0.32%) sed
10 1 (0.16%) C++
10 1 (0.16%) COBOL
10 1 (0.16%) Lisp
10 1 (0.16%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.16%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 209 (33.87%) Security Cleared
2 158 (25.61%) SC Cleared
3 72 (11.67%) Cisco Certification
4 62 (10.05%) DV Cleared
5 44 (7.13%) Degree
6 35 (5.67%) CCNP
7 26 (4.21%) CCIE
8 17 (2.76%) CCNA
9 13 (2.11%) AWS Certification
10 9 (1.46%) CISSP
10 9 (1.46%) JNCIE
10 9 (1.46%) PMP
11 8 (1.30%) PMI Certification
12 7 (1.13%) CISA
12 7 (1.13%) Computer Science Degree
13 6 (0.97%) BPSS Clearance
14 5 (0.81%) CIMA
14 5 (0.81%) CISM
14 5 (0.81%) Network+ Certification
14 5 (0.81%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (3.08%) SLA
2 17 (2.76%) PCI DSS
3 15 (2.43%) NIST
4 13 (2.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (2.11%) PMO
5 9 (1.46%) QA
6 8 (1.30%) Data Quality
7 5 (0.81%) GDPR
8 4 (0.65%) JSP 440
8 4 (0.65%) RMADS
9 3 (0.49%) NCSC
10 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.32%) GRC
11 1 (0.16%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.16%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 68 (11.02%) VMware Infrastructure
2 55 (8.91%) Active Directory
3 29 (4.70%) Docker
4 26 (4.21%) Hyper-V
5 22 (3.57%) VMware NSX
6 19 (3.08%) VMware ESXi
7 14 (2.27%) vSphere
8 11 (1.78%) Microsoft App-V
9 9 (1.46%) BitLocker
9 9 (1.46%) Terminal Services
10 7 (1.13%) Firmware
11 5 (0.81%) HDFS
11 5 (0.81%) Virtual Machines
12 4 (0.65%) KVM
13 3 (0.49%) GPFS
13 3 (0.49%) NFS
14 2 (0.32%) Virtual Servers
15 1 (0.16%) Samba
15 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
15 1 (0.16%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 72 (11.67%) Ansible
2 43 (6.97%) Terraform
3 32 (5.19%) Kubernetes
4 19 (3.08%) vCenter Server
5 17 (2.76%) Puppet
6 15 (2.43%) FortiGate
7 14 (2.27%) SCCM
8 11 (1.78%) Microsoft Intune
9 9 (1.46%) Nagios
9 9 (1.46%) vMotion
10 8 (1.30%) Grafana
10 8 (1.30%) Oracle RMAN
11 6 (0.97%) VxRail
12 5 (0.81%) Hadoop YARN
12 5 (0.81%) Single Sign-On
13 4 (0.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 4 (0.65%) Argo
13 4 (0.65%) OpenView
13 4 (0.65%) OPNET
13 4 (0.65%) SCOM
Vendors
1 158 (25.61%) Cisco
2 100 (16.21%) Microsoft
3 85 (13.78%) VMware
4 52 (8.43%) F5
5 38 (6.16%) Juniper
6 37 (6.00%) Palo Alto
7 34 (5.51%) HP
8 32 (5.19%) Oracle
9 31 (5.02%) Fortinet
10 29 (4.70%) Dell
11 27 (4.38%) ServiceNow
11 27 (4.38%) SolarWinds
12 24 (3.89%) Arista
13 20 (3.24%) Google
14 19 (3.08%) CheckPoint
15 18 (2.92%) Citrix
16 16 (2.59%) Meraki
17 13 (2.11%) NetApp
18 12 (1.94%) Apple
18 12 (1.94%) IBM
673 Data Centre jobs in England