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

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 138 127 93
Rank change year-on-year -11 -34 +14
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 637 535 867
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.03% 2.01% 2.38%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.81% 6.18% 7.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 425 324 617
10th Percentile £278 £350 £303
25th Percentile £400 £425 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £614 £638
90th Percentile £688 £704 £713
UK median daily rate £492 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -6.29% - -4.07%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 13 23
10th Percentile £21.46 £11.75 £18.96
25th Percentile £25.15 £20.30 £21.25
Median hourly rate £26.50 £24.18 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.59% +5.13% -64.62%
75th Percentile £52.63 £24.66 £40.00
90th Percentile £73.75 £53.85 £76.47
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £23.00
% change year-on-year +4.01% +5.13% -64.06%

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 10,961 8,655 11,424
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.99% 32.56% 31.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,943 5,202 7,683
10th Percentile £285 £275 £263
25th Percentile £409 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.82% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £738 £780 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £533 £548
% change year-on-year -6.19% -2.65% -0.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 541 249 513
10th Percentile £14.54 £17.22 £15.34
25th Percentile £18.50 £24.18 £19.99
Median hourly rate £28.13 £37.00 £38.16
Median % change year-on-year -23.99% -3.03% +52.62%
75th Percentile £61.57 £66.50 £64.53
90th Percentile £74.26 £82.44 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £27.50 £33.77 £37.50
% change year-on-year -18.57% -9.95% +50.00%

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 13 January 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 13 January 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 13 January 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 -29 231 £525 - 114
North of England -4 142 £475 -4.76% 69
South East -4 95 £446 -0.89% 136
North West +19 89 £519 +3.85% 30
Midlands -5 81 £465 -19.83% 35
West Midlands -5 64 £474 -18.28% 15
Yorkshire -29 47 £414 -1.43% 30
South West -36 34 £550 - 44
East of England -11 29 £485 +14.79% 51
East Midlands -8 17 £179 -71.40% 19
North East -3 9 £175 - 10
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 30 (4.71%) SharePoint
2 21 (3.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.57%) Confluence
4 9 (1.41%) OpenStack
5 7 (1.10%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.78%) Apache
6 5 (0.78%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.63%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.47%) GeoServer
8 3 (0.47%) Smallworld
8 3 (0.47%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.31%) CICS
9 2 (0.31%) nginx
9 2 (0.31%) ThingWorx
9 2 (0.31%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.16%) FileNet
10 1 (0.16%) IIS
10 1 (0.16%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 52 (8.16%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (4.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 25 (3.92%) MS Visio
4 19 (2.98%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (2.20%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.16%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.94%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.63%) Oracle Financials
3 2 (0.31%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.16%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.16%) Maximo
4 1 (0.16%) Primavera
4 1 (0.16%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 111 (17.43%) Azure
2 88 (13.81%) AWS
3 62 (9.73%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (5.02%) GCP
5 24 (3.77%) Power Platform
6 13 (2.04%) OpenShift
7 12 (1.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 11 (1.73%) Entra ID
8 11 (1.73%) SaaS
9 10 (1.57%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 8 (1.26%) GitHub
10 8 (1.26%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 8 (1.26%) PaaS
11 7 (1.10%) AWS CloudFormation
11 7 (1.10%) AWS Direct Connect
11 7 (1.10%) npm
11 7 (1.10%) OCI
12 6 (0.94%) Azure DevOps
12 6 (0.94%) IaaS
13 5 (0.78%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 193 (30.30%) Firewall
2 126 (19.78%) WAN
3 81 (12.72%) Wireless
4 72 (11.30%) LAN
5 71 (11.15%) BGP
5 71 (11.15%) VPN
6 61 (9.58%) Network Security
7 49 (7.69%) OSPF
8 47 (7.38%) Wi-Fi
9 45 (7.06%) DNS
10 44 (6.91%) VLAN
11 37 (5.81%) SAN
12 32 (5.02%) VXLAN
13 29 (4.55%) Cisco ISE
13 29 (4.55%) SD-WAN
14 28 (4.40%) DHCP
14 28 (4.40%) IPsec
15 27 (4.24%) MPLS
15 27 (4.24%) Structured Cabling
15 27 (4.24%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (3.45%) Power BI
2 12 (1.88%) Relational Database
3 7 (1.10%) RDBMS
3 7 (1.10%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.94%) NoSQL
5 5 (0.78%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.78%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.78%) HBase
6 4 (0.63%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.63%) GIS
6 4 (0.63%) Power Query
6 4 (0.63%) PowerPivot
7 3 (0.47%) Big Data
7 3 (0.47%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.47%) Data Vault
7 3 (0.47%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.47%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.47%) Metadata
7 3 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.47%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 27 (4.24%) Git
2 21 (3.30%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.20%) GitLab
4 13 (2.04%) Sonatype Nexus
5 11 (1.73%) JIRA
6 9 (1.41%) Maven
7 7 (1.10%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.47%) ER Studio
8 3 (0.47%) ERwin
9 2 (0.31%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.31%) Gradle
9 2 (0.31%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.31%) ScriptRunner
9 2 (0.31%) Selenium
General
1 177 (27.79%) Social Skills
2 121 (19.00%) Finance
3 83 (13.03%) Analytical Skills
4 82 (12.87%) Public Sector
5 61 (9.58%) Telecoms
6 52 (8.16%) Banking
7 48 (7.54%) Documentation Skills
8 40 (6.28%) Manufacturing
9 26 (4.08%) Marketing
10 25 (3.92%) Electronics
11 21 (3.30%) Presentation Skills
12 17 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 14 (2.20%) Organisational Skills
14 13 (2.04%) Retail
15 7 (1.10%) Front Office
15 7 (1.10%) Influencing Skills
15 7 (1.10%) Investment Banking
15 7 (1.10%) Law
15 7 (1.10%) Local Government
16 6 (0.94%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 119 (18.68%) Network Engineer
2 100 (15.70%) Architect
3 62 (9.73%) Project Manager
4 60 (9.42%) Analyst
5 41 (6.44%) Network Architect
5 41 (6.44%) Senior
6 30 (4.71%) Data Centre Manager
7 28 (4.40%) Lead
7 28 (4.40%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 27 (4.24%) IT Support
9 26 (4.08%) Cisco Engineer
10 25 (3.92%) Desktop Support
10 25 (3.92%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 25 (3.92%) Security Engineer
11 24 (3.77%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 23 (3.61%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
12 23 (3.61%) 2nd Line Support
12 23 (3.61%) Consultant
12 23 (3.61%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
13 22 (3.45%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.61%) 802.1X
2 21 (3.30%) Middleware
3 8 (1.26%) LDAP
4 7 (1.10%) RFC 2544
5 5 (0.78%) Spark Streaming
6 4 (0.63%) ADO
6 4 (0.63%) Jinja
6 4 (0.63%) VML
7 2 (0.31%) ARM Templates
7 2 (0.31%) CSS
7 2 (0.31%) HTML
7 2 (0.31%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.31%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.31%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.31%) REST
7 2 (0.31%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.31%) YANG
8 1 (0.16%) Elastic Stack
8 1 (0.16%) JSSE
8 1 (0.16%) OpenLayers
Miscellaneous
1 40 (6.28%) Hybrid Cloud
2 23 (3.61%) Public Cloud
3 18 (2.83%) Cloud Native
4 17 (2.67%) Self-Motivation
5 16 (2.51%) Onboarding
6 15 (2.35%) Replication
7 14 (2.20%) Mainframe
7 14 (2.20%) Management Information System
8 13 (2.04%) Driving Licence
9 12 (1.88%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.88%) Fibre Optics
9 12 (1.88%) Private Cloud
10 11 (1.73%) Data Protection Act
11 10 (1.57%) PKI
12 8 (1.26%) Clustering
13 7 (1.10%) Product Ownership
13 7 (1.10%) SCADA
14 6 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
14 6 (0.94%) Legacy Systems
14 6 (0.94%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 81 (12.72%) Windows
2 60 (9.42%) Linux
3 39 (6.12%) Windows Server
4 37 (5.81%) Android
4 37 (5.81%) Mac OS
5 19 (2.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (1.57%) CentOS
6 10 (1.57%) Unix
7 6 (0.94%) Windows 10
7 6 (0.94%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (0.63%) VMS
8 4 (0.63%) Windows Server 2008
8 4 (0.63%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.31%) Solaris
9 2 (0.31%) zOS
10 1 (0.16%) MVS
10 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (15.70%) Migration
2 95 (14.91%) Problem-Solving
3 81 (12.72%) Stakeholder Management
4 60 (9.42%) ITIL
5 54 (8.48%) Agile
6 50 (7.85%) Project Management
7 48 (7.54%) Project Delivery
8 44 (6.91%) Network Design
9 43 (6.75%) Business Intelligence
9 43 (6.75%) DevOps
10 41 (6.44%) Change Management
10 41 (6.44%) CI/CD
11 40 (6.28%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 39 (6.12%) Customer Service
12 39 (6.12%) Load Balancing
12 39 (6.12%) Service Management
13 37 (5.81%) Programme Management
14 36 (5.65%) Continuous Improvement
14 36 (5.65%) Infrastructure as Code
15 34 (5.34%) Change Control
Programming Languages
1 65 (10.20%) Python
2 41 (6.44%) PowerShell
3 31 (4.87%) SQL
4 18 (2.83%) Bash
5 16 (2.51%) Java
6 11 (1.73%) Shell Script
7 10 (1.57%) Perl
8 8 (1.26%) Lisp
9 6 (0.94%) MATLAB
10 5 (0.78%) VBA
11 3 (0.47%) JavaScript
12 2 (0.31%) Bicep
13 1 (0.16%) C#
13 1 (0.16%) C++
13 1 (0.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.16%) Go
13 1 (0.16%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 231 (36.26%) Security Cleared
2 192 (30.14%) SC Cleared
3 100 (15.70%) Cisco Certification
4 80 (12.56%) CCNP
5 57 (8.95%) Degree
6 42 (6.59%) DV Cleared
7 39 (6.12%) CCNA
8 24 (3.77%) CCIE
9 21 (3.30%) AWS Certification
10 15 (2.35%) PMP
11 14 (2.20%) PMI Certification
12 12 (1.88%) CISSP
12 12 (1.88%) JNCIE
13 8 (1.26%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 7 (1.10%) Azure Certification
14 7 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
14 7 (1.10%) Network+ Certification
15 6 (0.94%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 6 (0.94%) Microsoft Certification
15 6 (0.94%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (2.98%) SLA
2 18 (2.83%) PMO
3 16 (2.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (2.51%) NIST
4 14 (2.20%) PCI DSS
4 14 (2.20%) QA
5 13 (2.04%) Data Quality
6 12 (1.88%) GDPR
7 6 (0.94%) NCSC
8 1 (0.16%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.16%) ISO 22301
8 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 1 (0.16%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.16%) SOC 2
System Software
1 65 (10.20%) VMware Infrastructure
2 47 (7.38%) Active Directory
3 35 (5.49%) VMware NSX
4 20 (3.14%) Docker
5 17 (2.67%) Virtual Machines
6 16 (2.51%) Hyper-V
7 10 (1.57%) vSphere
8 9 (1.41%) Firmware
9 8 (1.26%) KVM
10 7 (1.10%) VMware ESXi
11 5 (0.78%) HDFS
12 3 (0.47%) Lustre
13 2 (0.31%) Ceph
13 2 (0.31%) Microsoft App-V
13 2 (0.31%) NFS
13 2 (0.31%) Slurm Workload Manager
13 2 (0.31%) SRDF
13 2 (0.31%) vCloud
13 2 (0.31%) Xen
14 1 (0.16%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 73 (11.46%) Ansible
2 60 (9.42%) Terraform
3 30 (4.71%) FortiGate
4 25 (3.92%) SCCM
5 18 (2.83%) Kubernetes
6 11 (1.73%) Grafana
7 10 (1.57%) SCOM
8 9 (1.41%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.41%) vCenter Server
9 7 (1.10%) CASB
9 7 (1.10%) Puppet
10 6 (0.94%) Check_MK
10 6 (0.94%) Podman
10 6 (0.94%) Red Hat Satellite
10 6 (0.94%) SCOrch
11 5 (0.78%) Hadoop YARN
12 4 (0.63%) Nagios
12 4 (0.63%) Prometheus
12 4 (0.63%) Single Sign-On
13 3 (0.47%) OPNET
Vendors
1 227 (35.64%) Cisco
2 89 (13.97%) Palo Alto
3 86 (13.50%) VMware
4 77 (12.09%) Microsoft
5 60 (9.42%) Dell
6 55 (8.63%) Juniper
7 51 (8.01%) F5
8 45 (7.06%) HP
9 41 (6.44%) CheckPoint
10 37 (5.81%) Apple
11 31 (4.87%) Aruba
11 31 (4.87%) ServiceNow
12 30 (4.71%) Fortinet
13 29 (4.55%) Meraki
13 29 (4.55%) SAP
14 24 (3.77%) Oracle
15 17 (2.67%) Arista
16 16 (2.51%) Citrix
17 14 (2.20%) Remedy
17 14 (2.20%) SolarWinds