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

6 months to
22 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 126 134 102
Rank change year-on-year +8 -32 -8
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 832 511 811
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.10% 2.08% 2.19%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.43% 6.12% 7.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 532 335 585
10th Percentile £318 £343 £300
25th Percentile £405 £413 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £485 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -7.62% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £606 £625
90th Percentile £725 £675 £705
UK median daily rate £485 £517 £525
% change year-on-year -6.23% -1.48% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 14 35
10th Percentile £16.01 £24.18 £21.25
25th Percentile £18.07 £24.30 £22.08
Median hourly rate £19.85 £24.66 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -19.51% -0.84% +8.13%
75th Percentile £44.06 £43.75 £40.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £58.63 £41.25
UK median hourly rate £20.66 £24.66 £24.87
% change year-on-year -16.24% -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 12,945 8,347 11,457
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.66% 34.02% 30.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,196 5,464 7,488
10th Percentile £303 £300 £263
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £548 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.44% -0.41% -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £800
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 666 314 816
10th Percentile £16.05 £16.67 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £22.99 £15.13
Median hourly rate £45.46 £37.00 £28.25
Median % change year-on-year +22.86% +30.97% +23.77%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £85.45 £85.00 £69.44
UK median hourly rate £45.46 £32.50 £28.00
% change year-on-year +39.88% +16.07% +24.44%

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 22 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 22 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 22 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 +8 293 £550 +4.76% 182
South East +6 182 £463 -7.50% 114
North of England +17 180 £459 +17.69% 57
North West +4 84 £488 -2.48% 26
Yorkshire -7 84 £365 -3.31% 21
Midlands -45 54 £474 -21.00% 39
South West -39 49 £513 -6.48% 44
West Midlands -38 48 £474 -24.16% 34
East of England -17 36 £478 +24.16% 42
North East -6 14 £288 +161.36% 10
East Midlands -35 5 £316 -42.50% 5
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 17 (2.04%) Confluence
2 15 (1.80%) SharePoint
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 22 (2.64%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.28%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.92%) MS Visio
4 15 (1.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 12 (1.44%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.36%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.36%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.24%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.24%) EPLAN
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
1 139 (16.71%) Azure
2 124 (14.90%) AWS
3 44 (5.29%) GCP
4 34 (4.09%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (2.52%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 15 (1.80%) Entra ID
6 15 (1.80%) IaaS
7 14 (1.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 14 (1.68%) SaaS
8 12 (1.44%) Power Platform
9 11 (1.32%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 11 (1.32%) GitHub
9 11 (1.32%) PaaS
10 10 (1.20%) OpenShift
11 9 (1.08%) Azure DevOps
12 8 (0.96%) AWS Direct Connect
13 7 (0.84%) AWS CloudFormation
13 7 (0.84%) AWS KMS
13 7 (0.84%) Azure Sentinel
13 7 (0.84%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 232 (27.88%) Firewall
2 157 (18.87%) WAN
3 145 (17.43%) BGP
4 110 (13.22%) OSPF
5 102 (12.26%) LAN
6 88 (10.58%) Network Security
7 85 (10.22%) VPN
8 76 (9.13%) VXLAN
9 75 (9.01%) Structured Cabling
10 71 (8.53%) VLAN
11 67 (8.05%) DNS
12 64 (7.69%) SAN
13 52 (6.25%) DHCP
14 44 (5.29%) Ethernet VPN
15 42 (5.05%) Wireless
16 36 (4.33%) SD-WAN
17 34 (4.09%) Cisco Nexus
18 32 (3.85%) Cisco ISE
18 32 (3.85%) NX-OS
19 30 (3.61%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.08%) DataStage
2 7 (0.84%) 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%) 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%) Amazon RDS
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%) JIRA
2 32 (3.85%) Git
3 18 (2.16%) 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
1 225 (27.04%) Social Skills
2 120 (14.42%) Finance
3 105 (12.62%) Analytical Skills
4 68 (8.17%) Public Sector
5 52 (6.25%) Documentation Skills
6 43 (5.17%) Banking
7 30 (3.61%) Telecoms
8 25 (3.00%) Legal
9 22 (2.64%) Retail
10 20 (2.40%) Manufacturing
11 19 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
12 13 (1.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 13 (1.56%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (1.32%) Marketing
14 8 (0.96%) Military
14 8 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
15 7 (0.84%) Aerospace
15 7 (0.84%) Investment Banking
15 7 (0.84%) Law
16 5 (0.60%) Portuguese Language
Job Titles
1 146 (17.55%) Network Engineer
2 119 (14.30%) Architect
3 78 (9.38%) Senior
4 69 (8.29%) Project Manager
5 67 (8.05%) Data Centre Engineer
6 44 (5.29%) Data Centre Manager
7 43 (5.17%) Network Architect
8 38 (4.57%) Lead
9 37 (4.45%) Analyst
10 36 (4.33%) IT Engineer
11 35 (4.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 33 (3.97%) Field Engineer
13 32 (3.85%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 31 (3.73%) Field Service Engineer
15 28 (3.37%) Infrastructure Manager
16 27 (3.25%) Cisco Engineer
17 26 (3.13%) Cisco Network Engineer
17 26 (3.13%) Solutions Architect
18 24 (2.88%) Data Centre Project Manager
18 24 (2.88%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.61%) 802.1X
2 28 (3.37%) Middleware
3 9 (1.08%) LDAP
4 7 (0.84%) Redfish
5 6 (0.72%) Spring
6 5 (0.60%) Jinja
6 5 (0.60%) NETCONF
6 5 (0.60%) XML
7 4 (0.48%) ADO
7 4 (0.48%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.48%) Elastic Stack
7 4 (0.48%) OpenConfig
7 4 (0.48%) RESTCONF
7 4 (0.48%) Spring Boot
7 4 (0.48%) VML
7 4 (0.48%) YANG
8 3 (0.36%) Kafka
8 3 (0.36%) REST
8 3 (0.36%) RFC 2544
9 2 (0.24%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 45 (5.41%) Hybrid Cloud
2 39 (4.69%) Analytical Mindset
3 28 (3.37%) Clustering
4 27 (3.25%) PKI
5 22 (2.64%) Fibre Optics
6 19 (2.28%) Driving Licence
7 18 (2.16%) Onboarding
8 17 (2.04%) Replication
9 16 (1.92%) Cloud Native
9 16 (1.92%) Management Information System
9 16 (1.92%) Public Cloud
9 16 (1.92%) Self-Motivation
10 15 (1.80%) Private Cloud
11 13 (1.56%) CMDB
12 12 (1.44%) Enterprise Storage
12 12 (1.44%) Mainframe
13 10 (1.20%) Data Protection Act
14 9 (1.08%) BYOD
14 9 (1.08%) SCADA
14 9 (1.08%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 105 (12.62%) Windows
2 93 (11.18%) Linux
3 36 (4.33%) Windows Server
4 30 (3.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 20 (2.40%) Unix
6 18 (2.16%) AIX
7 15 (1.80%) Solaris
8 11 (1.32%) CentOS
9 8 (0.96%) Android
9 8 (0.96%) Mac OS
10 7 (0.84%) VMS
11 5 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.48%) HPUX
12 4 (0.48%) Oracle Linux
12 4 (0.48%) SUSE
13 3 (0.36%) Windows 10
14 2 (0.24%) Data ONTAP
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2008
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
15 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 149 (17.91%) Problem-Solving
2 142 (17.07%) Migration
3 88 (10.58%) Stakeholder Management
4 81 (9.74%) ITIL
5 75 (9.01%) Continuous Improvement
6 70 (8.41%) Roadmaps
7 65 (7.81%) High Availability
8 64 (7.69%) Project Management
9 63 (7.57%) Change Management
10 57 (6.85%) Project Delivery
11 53 (6.37%) Load Balancing
12 51 (6.13%) CI/CD
12 51 (6.13%) Infrastructure as Code
13 48 (5.77%) Technical Leadership
14 47 (5.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 46 (5.53%) Break/Fix
15 46 (5.53%) Validation
16 45 (5.41%) Customer Service
16 45 (5.41%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 44 (5.29%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 78 (9.38%) Python
2 38 (4.57%) PowerShell
3 22 (2.64%) Java
4 21 (2.52%) Bash
5 19 (2.28%) SQL
6 13 (1.56%) Perl
6 13 (1.56%) Shell Script
7 11 (1.32%) COBOL
8 9 (1.08%) MATLAB
9 6 (0.72%) Bicep
10 5 (0.60%) VBA
11 4 (0.48%) JavaScript
11 4 (0.48%) Lisp
12 2 (0.24%) C++
12 2 (0.24%) Korn
12 2 (0.24%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.12%) C
13 1 (0.12%) Ruby
13 1 (0.12%) Scala
13 1 (0.12%) VB
Qualifications
1 269 (32.33%) Security Cleared
2 192 (23.08%) SC Cleared
3 179 (21.51%) Cisco Certification
4 118 (14.18%) CCNP
5 77 (9.25%) CCNA
6 65 (7.81%) 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 26 (3.13%) CCIE
12 23 (2.76%) PMP
13 20 (2.40%) AWS Certification
13 20 (2.40%) PMI Certification
14 19 (2.28%) Azure Certification
15 16 (1.92%) City & Guilds
15 16 (1.92%) JNCIS
16 15 (1.80%) JNCIP
17 14 (1.68%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 27 (3.25%) SLA
2 24 (2.88%) NIST
3 23 (2.76%) PMO
4 22 (2.64%) GDPR
5 16 (1.92%) PCI DSS
5 16 (1.92%) QA
6 9 (1.08%) NCSC
7 8 (0.96%) GRC
8 5 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.36%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.24%) Data Quality
10 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.12%) COBIT
11 1 (0.12%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.12%) RMADS
11 1 (0.12%) SOC 1
System Software
1 75 (9.01%) VMware Infrastructure
2 49 (5.89%) Active Directory
3 36 (4.33%) VMware NSX
4 22 (2.64%) Firmware
5 21 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
6 18 (2.16%) VMware ESXi
7 17 (2.04%) Hyper-V
8 16 (1.92%) vSphere
9 10 (1.20%) 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 82 (9.86%) Ansible
2 70 (8.41%) Terraform
3 46 (5.53%) FortiGate
4 37 (4.45%) Kubernetes
5 27 (3.25%) Grafana
6 20 (2.40%) Prometheus
7 14 (1.68%) Microsoft Intune
7 14 (1.68%) SCCM
8 9 (1.08%) Check_MK
8 9 (1.08%) NetBackup
8 9 (1.08%) Podman
8 9 (1.08%) Red Hat Satellite
8 9 (1.08%) vCenter Server
9 7 (0.84%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 7 (0.84%) Dell DRAC
10 6 (0.72%) SCOM
11 5 (0.60%) Endace
11 5 (0.60%) Nagios
11 5 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
12 4 (0.48%) EMC NetWorker
Vendors
1 246 (29.57%) Cisco
2 111 (13.34%) VMware
3 99 (11.90%) Palo Alto
4 83 (9.98%) Microsoft
5 72 (8.65%) Juniper
6 70 (8.41%) F5
7 68 (8.17%) Dell
8 41 (4.93%) CheckPoint
9 37 (4.45%) Fortinet
9 37 (4.45%) SolarWinds
10 36 (4.33%) Aruba
10 36 (4.33%) ServiceNow
11 34 (4.09%) Arista
12 28 (3.37%) Meraki
12 28 (3.37%) Splunk
13 27 (3.25%) IBM
13 27 (3.25%) Red Hat
14 23 (2.76%) HP
15 22 (2.64%) Oracle
16 21 (2.52%) Citrix