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 25 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 140 124 93
Rank change year-on-year -16 -31 +13
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 655 592 871
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.07% 2.06% 2.37%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.83% 6.34% 7.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 429 359 622
10th Percentile £277 £350 £317
25th Percentile £400 £426 £417
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -0.46%
75th Percentile £600 £610 £650
90th Percentile £700 £708 £725
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 14 20
10th Percentile £22.20 £11.75 £20.31
25th Percentile - £13.89 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.01% +5.13% -64.62%
75th Percentile £35.00 £27.98 £45.94
90th Percentile £69.44 £51.34 £76.53
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 11,233 9,331 11,650
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 35.43% 32.47% 31.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,089 5,647 7,875
10th Percentile £285 £278 £263
25th Percentile £408 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £514 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.55% - -3.08%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £775
UK median daily rate £505 £533 £550
% change year-on-year -5.25% -3.09% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 560 271 465
10th Percentile £14.25 £17.08 £16.57
25th Percentile £18.25 £23.70 £20.51
Median hourly rate £28.06 £37.00 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year -24.16% -15.43% +24.02%
75th Percentile £61.52 £66.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.25 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £27.00 £33.54 £42.50
% change year-on-year -19.50% -21.08% +21.43%

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 25 December 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 25 December 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 25 December 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 +1 254 £525 - 228
North of England -14 136 £488 -2.01% 109
South East -27 92 £465 -7.00% 167
Midlands +1 88 £437 -24.66% 70
North West +6 87 £539 +7.70% 48
West Midlands -3 68 £468 -19.40% 37
Yorkshire -36 44 £390 -7.14% 53
South West -30 36 £550 +0.18% 59
East of England -22 27 £600 +42.01% 64
East Midlands -8 20 £203 -61.81% 29
North East -3 8 £175 - 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 31 (4.73%) SharePoint
2 22 (3.36%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.14%) Confluence
4 10 (1.53%) OpenStack
5 7 (1.07%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.76%) Apache
6 5 (0.76%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.61%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.46%) CICS
8 3 (0.46%) GeoServer
8 3 (0.46%) Smallworld
8 3 (0.46%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.31%) FileNet
9 2 (0.31%) nginx
9 2 (0.31%) ThingWorx
9 2 (0.31%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.15%) IIS
10 1 (0.15%) OpenEdge
10 1 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 56 (8.55%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (4.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 26 (3.97%) MS Visio
4 18 (2.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.68%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.92%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.61%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.46%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.15%) Epicor iScala
5 1 (0.15%) Maximo
5 1 (0.15%) Primavera
5 1 (0.15%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 1 (0.15%) StreamServe
Cloud Services
1 118 (18.02%) Azure
2 89 (13.59%) AWS
3 69 (10.53%) Microsoft 365
4 35 (5.34%) GCP
5 23 (3.51%) Power Platform
6 17 (2.60%) Entra ID
7 16 (2.44%) OpenShift
8 15 (2.29%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (1.68%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 9 (1.37%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 9 (1.37%) SaaS
11 8 (1.22%) AWS Direct Connect
11 8 (1.22%) npm
11 8 (1.22%) PaaS
12 7 (1.07%) AWS CloudFormation
12 7 (1.07%) GitHub
12 7 (1.07%) IaaS
12 7 (1.07%) OCI
13 5 (0.76%) Nutanix
13 5 (0.76%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 191 (29.16%) Firewall
2 120 (18.32%) WAN
3 86 (13.13%) Wireless
4 75 (11.45%) VPN
5 65 (9.92%) BGP
6 62 (9.47%) LAN
7 57 (8.70%) Network Security
8 50 (7.63%) DNS
9 48 (7.33%) Wi-Fi
10 44 (6.72%) OSPF
11 39 (5.95%) VLAN
12 35 (5.34%) SAN
13 32 (4.89%) SD-WAN
14 31 (4.73%) DHCP
15 30 (4.58%) Cisco ISE
15 30 (4.58%) MPLS
15 30 (4.58%) VXLAN
16 26 (3.97%) TCP/IP
17 25 (3.82%) Cisco Nexus
18 24 (3.66%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (3.05%) Power BI
2 14 (2.14%) Relational Database
3 8 (1.22%) RDBMS
3 8 (1.22%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.92%) NoSQL
5 5 (0.76%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.76%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.76%) HBase
6 4 (0.61%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.61%) GIS
6 4 (0.61%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.46%) Big Data
7 3 (0.46%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.46%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.46%) DataStage
7 3 (0.46%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.46%) Metadata
7 3 (0.46%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.46%) QGIS
7 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 22 (3.36%) Git
2 15 (2.29%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.98%) JIRA
3 13 (1.98%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (1.68%) Maven
5 8 (1.22%) GitLab
5 8 (1.22%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.46%) ER Studio
6 3 (0.46%) ERwin
6 3 (0.46%) Gradle
6 3 (0.46%) Selenium
7 2 (0.31%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.15%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.15%) Fiddler
8 1 (0.15%) Postman
8 1 (0.15%) ScriptRunner
General
1 172 (26.26%) Social Skills
2 121 (18.47%) Finance
3 80 (12.21%) Public Sector
4 79 (12.06%) Analytical Skills
5 66 (10.08%) Telecoms
6 61 (9.31%) Banking
7 35 (5.34%) Documentation Skills
7 35 (5.34%) Manufacturing
8 25 (3.82%) Electronics
8 25 (3.82%) Marketing
9 20 (3.05%) Presentation Skills
10 19 (2.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 15 (2.29%) Organisational Skills
12 12 (1.83%) Retail
13 8 (1.22%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.07%) Front Office
14 7 (1.07%) Investment Banking
14 7 (1.07%) Local Government
15 6 (0.92%) Law
15 6 (0.92%) Legal
Job Titles
1 107 (16.34%) Network Engineer
2 105 (16.03%) Architect
3 61 (9.31%) Analyst
4 59 (9.01%) Project Manager
5 43 (6.56%) Senior
6 41 (6.26%) Network Architect
7 36 (5.50%) Data Centre Manager
8 32 (4.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 31 (4.73%) Security Engineer
10 28 (4.27%) IT Support
11 27 (4.12%) Support Engineer
12 26 (3.97%) Infrastructure Manager
13 25 (3.82%) Consultant
13 25 (3.82%) Data Centre Engineer
13 25 (3.82%) Desktop Support
14 23 (3.51%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
14 23 (3.51%) 2nd Line Support
14 23 (3.51%) Lead
14 23 (3.51%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
15 21 (3.21%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.51%) 802.1X
2 14 (2.14%) Middleware
3 10 (1.53%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.76%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.61%) Jinja
5 4 (0.61%) VML
6 2 (0.31%) ARM Templates
6 2 (0.31%) LDAP
6 2 (0.31%) ModSecurity
6 2 (0.31%) NETCONF
6 2 (0.31%) OpenConfig
6 2 (0.31%) REST
6 2 (0.31%) RESTCONF
6 2 (0.31%) YANG
7 1 (0.15%) eBPF
7 1 (0.15%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.15%) OpenLayers
7 1 (0.15%) OpenTelemetry
7 1 (0.15%) RabbitMQ
7 1 (0.15%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 40 (6.11%) Hybrid Cloud
2 24 (3.66%) Cloud Native
3 22 (3.36%) Public Cloud
4 18 (2.75%) Replication
5 17 (2.60%) Self-Motivation
6 15 (2.29%) Driving Licence
6 15 (2.29%) Mainframe
7 14 (2.14%) Onboarding
8 12 (1.83%) Fibre Optics
8 12 (1.83%) Private Cloud
9 11 (1.68%) Data Protection Act
9 11 (1.68%) PKI
10 10 (1.53%) Analytical Mindset
11 8 (1.22%) Clustering
11 8 (1.22%) Management Information System
11 8 (1.22%) Product Ownership
12 7 (1.07%) SCADA
12 7 (1.07%) Virtual Team
13 6 (0.92%) Operational Technology
13 6 (0.92%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 86 (13.13%) Windows
2 56 (8.55%) Linux
3 42 (6.41%) Mac OS
4 41 (6.26%) Android
5 40 (6.11%) Windows Server
6 14 (2.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 12 (1.83%) Unix
8 6 (0.92%) CentOS
8 6 (0.92%) Windows 10
8 6 (0.92%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.61%) VMS
9 4 (0.61%) Windows Server 2008
9 4 (0.61%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.46%) Solaris
11 2 (0.31%) AIX
11 2 (0.31%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.31%) zOS
12 1 (0.15%) Apple iOS
12 1 (0.15%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (16.95%) Migration
2 94 (14.35%) Problem-Solving
3 78 (11.91%) Stakeholder Management
4 57 (8.70%) ITIL
5 54 (8.24%) Agile
6 45 (6.87%) Change Management
6 45 (6.87%) Project Delivery
6 45 (6.87%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 44 (6.72%) Infrastructure as Code
8 43 (6.56%) CI/CD
8 43 (6.56%) Project Management
9 42 (6.41%) Customer Service
9 42 (6.41%) Network Design
9 42 (6.41%) Service Management
10 41 (6.26%) Business Intelligence
11 40 (6.11%) DevOps
11 40 (6.11%) Load Balancing
12 37 (5.65%) Cybersecurity
13 36 (5.50%) Data Centre Operations
14 35 (5.34%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 66 (10.08%) Python
2 42 (6.41%) PowerShell
3 30 (4.58%) SQL
4 20 (3.05%) Java
5 18 (2.75%) Bash
6 10 (1.53%) Perl
7 8 (1.22%) Lisp
8 5 (0.76%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.46%) Bicep
9 3 (0.46%) Go
9 3 (0.46%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.46%) VBA
10 2 (0.31%) C
10 2 (0.31%) C#
11 1 (0.15%) C++
11 1 (0.15%) COBOL
11 1 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.15%) PromQL
Qualifications
1 217 (33.13%) Security Cleared
2 180 (27.48%) SC Cleared
3 87 (13.28%) Cisco Certification
4 68 (10.38%) CCNP
5 50 (7.63%) Degree
6 43 (6.56%) DV Cleared
7 29 (4.43%) CCNA
8 25 (3.82%) CCIE
9 20 (3.05%) AWS Certification
10 13 (1.98%) CISSP
10 13 (1.98%) JNCIE
11 9 (1.37%) PMP
11 9 (1.37%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 8 (1.22%) PMI Certification
13 7 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (1.07%) Microsoft Certification
13 7 (1.07%) Network+ Certification
14 6 (0.92%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 6 (0.92%) CCSP
14 6 (0.92%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (2.90%) NIST
2 18 (2.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 17 (2.60%) PCI DSS
3 17 (2.60%) SLA
4 16 (2.44%) PMO
5 14 (2.14%) QA
6 12 (1.83%) GDPR
7 11 (1.68%) Data Quality
8 6 (0.92%) NCSC
9 3 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.15%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.15%) ISO 22301
11 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.15%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.15%) SOC 2
System Software
1 66 (10.08%) VMware Infrastructure
2 46 (7.02%) Active Directory
3 37 (5.65%) VMware NSX
4 24 (3.66%) Docker
5 16 (2.44%) Virtual Machines
6 14 (2.14%) Hyper-V
6 14 (2.14%) vSphere
7 8 (1.22%) Firmware
8 6 (0.92%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.76%) HDFS
9 5 (0.76%) KVM
10 3 (0.46%) Lustre
11 2 (0.31%) Ceph
11 2 (0.31%) Microsoft App-V
11 2 (0.31%) NFS
11 2 (0.31%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.31%) SRDF
11 2 (0.31%) Xen
12 1 (0.15%) Veritas Cluster Server
12 1 (0.15%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 69 (10.53%) Ansible
2 64 (9.77%) Terraform
3 28 (4.27%) FortiGate
4 24 (3.66%) SCCM
5 21 (3.21%) Kubernetes
6 13 (1.98%) Grafana
7 12 (1.83%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.53%) SCOM
9 9 (1.37%) vCenter Server
10 7 (1.07%) CASB
10 7 (1.07%) Puppet
10 7 (1.07%) Single Sign-On
11 6 (0.92%) SCOrch
12 5 (0.76%) Hadoop YARN
12 5 (0.76%) Prometheus
13 4 (0.61%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 3 (0.46%) Argo
14 3 (0.46%) Nagios
14 3 (0.46%) OPNET
14 3 (0.46%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 226 (34.50%) Cisco
2 85 (12.98%) Microsoft
3 81 (12.37%) VMware
4 75 (11.45%) Palo Alto
5 65 (9.92%) Dell
6 55 (8.40%) Juniper
7 52 (7.94%) F5
8 49 (7.48%) HP
9 41 (6.26%) Apple
10 35 (5.34%) CheckPoint
11 31 (4.73%) SAP
11 31 (4.73%) ServiceNow
12 30 (4.58%) Fortinet
12 30 (4.58%) Meraki
13 25 (3.82%) Oracle
14 22 (3.36%) Aruba
15 18 (2.75%) Arista
16 17 (2.60%) Citrix
17 14 (2.14%) NetApp
17 14 (2.14%) Remedy