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

6 months to
20 Mar 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 124 136 103
Rank change year-on-year +12 -33 -3
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 793 500 826
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.13% 2.05% 2.19%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.35% 6.04% 7.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 499 330 579
10th Percentile £299 £345 £292
25th Percentile £400 £416 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £635 £638
90th Percentile £688 £688 £701
UK median daily rate £480 £518 £523
% change year-on-year -7.25% -0.96% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 13 36
10th Percentile £16.01 - £21.25
25th Percentile £19.02 £24.18 £22.08
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.66 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year +1.99% -0.84% +12.61%
75th Percentile £63.44 £29.25 £40.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £60.75 £41.25
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £24.66 £24.87
% change year-on-year +1.99% -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 12,488 8,281 11,656
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.62% 33.88% 30.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,934 5,366 7,623
10th Percentile £300 £299 £256
25th Percentile £412 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £545 £545
Median % change year-on-year -5.96% - -5.22%
75th Percentile £625 £675 £663
90th Percentile £747 £785 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.71% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 620 307 785
10th Percentile £15.62 £16.72 £12.50
25th Percentile £19.00 £22.39 £15.39
Median hourly rate £37.50 £33.00 £28.00
Median % change year-on-year +13.64% +17.86% +17.70%
75th Percentile £68.75 £66.00 £57.50
90th Percentile £85.04 £84.40 £67.50
UK median hourly rate £36.70 £32.50 £27.50
% change year-on-year +12.92% +18.18% +22.22%

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 20 March 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 20 March 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 20 March 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 -2 293 £540 +2.86% 184
North of England +22 185 £460 +8.12% 56
South East +10 156 £458 +3.98% 135
North West +20 98 £498 -0.50% 30
Yorkshire -14 72 £365 -4.33% 18
Midlands -27 69 £470 -23.70% 28
West Midlands -36 56 £474 -24.16% 11
East of England -11 33 £478 +13.14% 51
South West -47 31 £550 -0.90% 31
North East -2 17 £175 +59.09% 8
East Midlands -28 12 £158 -65.00% 17
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 23 (2.90%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.14%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.89%) Confluence
4 8 (1.01%) CICS
5 4 (0.50%) OpenStack
5 4 (0.50%) WebLogic
6 3 (0.38%) GeoServer
6 3 (0.38%) nginx
6 3 (0.38%) Smallworld
7 2 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.25%) HCL Notes
7 2 (0.25%) Tomcat
Applications
1 46 (5.80%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (2.90%) MS Visio
3 21 (2.65%) Microsoft Excel
4 17 (2.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 13 (1.64%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.38%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 5 (0.63%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.25%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.25%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 2 (0.25%) Primavera
4 1 (0.13%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.13%) Maximo
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Financials
4 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 139 (17.53%) Azure
2 114 (14.38%) AWS
3 61 (7.69%) Microsoft 365
4 44 (5.55%) GCP
5 22 (2.77%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 16 (2.02%) SaaS
7 14 (1.77%) Entra ID
8 13 (1.64%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 13 (1.64%) IaaS
9 12 (1.51%) Power Platform
10 11 (1.39%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 10 (1.26%) PaaS
12 9 (1.13%) Azure DevOps
12 9 (1.13%) OpenShift
13 8 (1.01%) Amazon S3
13 8 (1.01%) AWS CloudFormation
13 8 (1.01%) AWS Direct Connect
13 8 (1.01%) GitHub
14 7 (0.88%) AWS CloudTrail
14 7 (0.88%) AWS KMS
Communications & Networking
1 229 (28.88%) Firewall
2 150 (18.92%) WAN
3 123 (15.51%) BGP
4 95 (11.98%) LAN
5 88 (11.10%) OSPF
6 85 (10.72%) Network Security
6 85 (10.72%) VPN
7 70 (8.83%) Structured Cabling
8 67 (8.45%) Wireless
9 64 (8.07%) DNS
10 62 (7.82%) VXLAN
11 52 (6.56%) VLAN
12 49 (6.18%) DHCP
12 49 (6.18%) SAN
13 39 (4.92%) Cisco ISE
13 39 (4.92%) Ethernet VPN
14 34 (4.29%) SD-WAN
14 34 (4.29%) Wi-Fi
15 31 (3.91%) MPLS
16 30 (3.78%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.01%) DataStage
1 8 (1.01%) Power BI
2 5 (0.63%) GIS
2 5 (0.63%) PostgreSQL
2 5 (0.63%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.50%) MongoDB
3 4 (0.50%) Power Query
3 4 (0.50%) PowerPivot
4 3 (0.38%) Big Data
4 3 (0.38%) Geospatial Data
4 3 (0.38%) InfluxDB
4 3 (0.38%) QGIS
4 3 (0.38%) Relational Database
4 3 (0.38%) SAP Data Services
5 2 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
5 2 (0.25%) RDBMS
6 1 (0.13%) Data Lake
6 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.13%) Redis
6 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 31 (3.91%) Git
2 27 (3.40%) JIRA
3 16 (2.02%) Jenkins
4 15 (1.89%) GitLab
5 9 (1.13%) Maven
6 4 (0.50%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 4 (0.50%) Eclipse
6 4 (0.50%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.50%) Subversion
7 2 (0.25%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.25%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.25%) ScriptRunner
8 1 (0.13%) AppScan
8 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Metasploit
General
1 214 (26.99%) Social Skills
2 133 (16.77%) Finance
3 92 (11.60%) Analytical Skills
4 88 (11.10%) Public Sector
5 55 (6.94%) Documentation Skills
6 51 (6.43%) Telecoms
7 41 (5.17%) Manufacturing
8 40 (5.04%) Banking
9 30 (3.78%) Marketing
10 23 (2.90%) Electronics
11 20 (2.52%) Legal
12 18 (2.27%) Retail
13 17 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 16 (2.02%) Influencing Skills
15 15 (1.89%) Presentation Skills
16 12 (1.51%) Organisational Skills
17 11 (1.39%) Investment Banking
18 8 (1.01%) Law
18 8 (1.01%) Military
19 6 (0.76%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 132 (16.65%) Network Engineer
2 111 (14.00%) Architect
3 74 (9.33%) Project Manager
4 63 (7.94%) Senior
5 54 (6.81%) Data Centre Engineer
6 47 (5.93%) Analyst
7 40 (5.04%) Data Centre Manager
8 39 (4.92%) Network Architect
9 34 (4.29%) IT Support
9 34 (4.29%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 32 (4.04%) Infrastructure Manager
11 31 (3.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 30 (3.78%) Lead
13 28 (3.53%) Cisco Engineer
13 28 (3.53%) Solutions Architect
14 26 (3.28%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 26 (3.28%) Infrastructure Project Manager
15 25 (3.15%) Desktop Support
15 25 (3.15%) Support Engineer
16 23 (2.90%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.04%) 802.1X
2 22 (2.77%) Middleware
3 7 (0.88%) LDAP
4 6 (0.76%) Spring
5 4 (0.50%) ADO
5 4 (0.50%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.50%) Elastic Stack
5 4 (0.50%) Jinja
5 4 (0.50%) NETCONF
5 4 (0.50%) OpenConfig
5 4 (0.50%) Redfish
5 4 (0.50%) RESTCONF
5 4 (0.50%) Spring Boot
5 4 (0.50%) VML
5 4 (0.50%) XML
5 4 (0.50%) YANG
6 3 (0.38%) RFC 2544
7 2 (0.25%) Kafka
7 2 (0.25%) OpenLayers
7 2 (0.25%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 41 (5.17%) Hybrid Cloud
2 25 (3.15%) Clustering
2 25 (3.15%) PKI
3 24 (3.03%) Analytical Mindset
4 19 (2.40%) Driving Licence
4 19 (2.40%) Fibre Optics
5 17 (2.14%) Replication
6 16 (2.02%) Onboarding
6 16 (2.02%) Self-Motivation
7 15 (1.89%) Public Cloud
8 13 (1.64%) Cloud Native
8 13 (1.64%) Management Information System
9 10 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
9 10 (1.26%) Mainframe
9 10 (1.26%) Private Cloud
10 8 (1.01%) BYOD
10 8 (1.01%) CMDB
10 8 (1.01%) Enterprise Storage
10 8 (1.01%) VSAM
11 7 (0.88%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 102 (12.86%) Windows
2 87 (10.97%) Linux
3 41 (5.17%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.04%) Android
4 32 (4.04%) Mac OS
5 25 (3.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 15 (1.89%) Unix
7 13 (1.64%) AIX
8 10 (1.26%) Solaris
9 9 (1.13%) CentOS
10 6 (0.76%) VMS
11 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.38%) Windows 10
13 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
14 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 132 (16.65%) Problem-Solving
2 131 (16.52%) Migration
3 97 (12.23%) Stakeholder Management
4 74 (9.33%) ITIL
5 66 (8.32%) Project Management
6 63 (7.94%) High Availability
7 62 (7.82%) Roadmaps
8 60 (7.57%) Continuous Improvement
9 59 (7.44%) Change Management
10 58 (7.31%) Load Balancing
10 58 (7.31%) Project Delivery
11 53 (6.68%) Agile
12 50 (6.31%) CI/CD
13 46 (5.80%) Data Centre Operations
14 43 (5.42%) Infrastructure as Code
14 43 (5.42%) Network Design
15 42 (5.30%) Cybersecurity
15 42 (5.30%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 41 (5.17%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 40 (5.04%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 75 (9.46%) Python
2 47 (5.93%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.03%) Bash
4 22 (2.77%) SQL
5 21 (2.65%) Java
6 16 (2.02%) Perl
7 11 (1.39%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.13%) COBOL
9 8 (1.01%) Lisp
10 7 (0.88%) MATLAB
11 5 (0.63%) Bicep
11 5 (0.63%) VBA
12 4 (0.50%) JavaScript
13 2 (0.25%) Korn
13 2 (0.25%) PL/SQL
14 1 (0.13%) C++
14 1 (0.13%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 1 (0.13%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 277 (34.93%) Security Cleared
2 209 (26.36%) SC Cleared
3 146 (18.41%) Cisco Certification
4 106 (13.37%) CCNP
5 66 (8.32%) Degree
6 58 (7.31%) CCNA
6 58 (7.31%) DV Cleared
7 23 (2.90%) CCIE
8 22 (2.77%) PMP
9 20 (2.52%) AWS Certification
9 20 (2.52%) Network+ Certification
10 19 (2.40%) PMI Certification
11 17 (2.14%) Microsoft Certification
12 16 (2.02%) A+ Certification
12 16 (2.02%) Azure Certification
12 16 (2.02%) JNCIS
12 16 (2.02%) MCSE
13 14 (1.77%) JNCIP
14 12 (1.51%) JNCIA
14 12 (1.51%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 25 (3.15%) SLA
3 24 (3.03%) NIST
4 23 (2.90%) PMO
5 21 (2.65%) GDPR
6 17 (2.14%) PCI DSS
7 13 (1.64%) QA
8 9 (1.13%) NCSC
9 5 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.63%) Data Quality
10 4 (0.50%) GRC
11 3 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.38%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.13%) COBIT
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.13%) RMADS
13 1 (0.13%) SOC 1
13 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 69 (8.70%) VMware Infrastructure
2 54 (6.81%) Active Directory
3 34 (4.29%) VMware NSX
4 24 (3.03%) Virtual Machines
5 21 (2.65%) Firmware
6 16 (2.02%) Hyper-V
7 15 (1.89%) Docker
7 15 (1.89%) vSphere
8 13 (1.64%) VMware ESXi
9 10 (1.26%) KVM
10 3 (0.38%) PowerHA
11 2 (0.25%) Ceph
11 2 (0.25%) Lustre
11 2 (0.25%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.25%) SRDF
11 2 (0.25%) vCloud
11 2 (0.25%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.13%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.13%) NFS
12 1 (0.13%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 74 (9.33%) Ansible
2 67 (8.45%) Terraform
3 43 (5.42%) FortiGate
4 37 (4.67%) Kubernetes
5 26 (3.28%) Grafana
6 19 (2.40%) Prometheus
6 19 (2.40%) SCCM
7 14 (1.77%) Microsoft Intune
8 7 (0.88%) Check_MK
8 7 (0.88%) Podman
8 7 (0.88%) Red Hat Satellite
8 7 (0.88%) SCOM
8 7 (0.88%) vCenter Server
9 6 (0.76%) CASB
10 5 (0.63%) SCOrch
11 4 (0.50%) Dell DRAC
11 4 (0.50%) Endace
11 4 (0.50%) Nagios
11 4 (0.50%) PowerCLI
11 4 (0.50%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 252 (31.78%) Cisco
2 102 (12.86%) VMware
3 100 (12.61%) Palo Alto
4 78 (9.84%) Dell
4 78 (9.84%) Microsoft
5 70 (8.83%) Juniper
6 59 (7.44%) F5
7 43 (5.42%) HP
8 42 (5.30%) CheckPoint
9 37 (4.67%) Aruba
10 35 (4.41%) Meraki
10 35 (4.41%) ServiceNow
11 33 (4.16%) SolarWinds
12 32 (4.04%) Apple
13 29 (3.66%) SAP
14 28 (3.53%) Fortinet
14 28 (3.53%) IBM
15 26 (3.28%) Arista
15 26 (3.28%) Splunk
16 24 (3.03%) Citrix
450 Data Centre jobs in England