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

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 138 126 96
Rank change year-on-year -12 -30 +7
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 648 578 853
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.04% 2.06% 2.35%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.79% 6.34% 7.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 429 348 607
10th Percentile £278 £355 £313
25th Percentile £405 £430 £414
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.41% -1.39%
75th Percentile £600 £608 £650
90th Percentile £700 £700 £725
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 15 20
10th Percentile £22.20 £11.75 £20.31
25th Percentile - £16.02 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.01% +5.13% -64.62%
75th Percentile £38.00 £26.96 £45.94
90th Percentile £73.68 £48.45 £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 11,201 9,115 11,499
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 35.33% 32.43% 31.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,089 5,491 7,761
10th Percentile £287 £275 £263
25th Percentile £409 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.82% - -3.51%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £784 £775
UK median daily rate £501 £526 £550
% change year-on-year -4.75% -4.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 546 262 479
10th Percentile £14.25 £17.25 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.50 £23.90 £20.50
Median hourly rate £29.00 £36.25 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% -17.14% +32.58%
75th Percentile £63.26 £66.38 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.25 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £27.36 £33.54 £42.40
% change year-on-year -18.44% -20.90% +34.61%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 -17 240 £525 - 237
North of England -9 141 £480 -3.52% 61
South East -13 92 £453 -9.50% 86
North West +13 90 £525 +5.00% 28
Midlands +1 86 £431 -25.69% 17
West Midlands -1 69 £472 -18.62% 14
Yorkshire -44 46 £398 -5.36% 25
South West -27 36 £550 +0.18% 28
East of England -13 29 £496 +17.40% 26
East Midlands -8 17 £179 -71.40% 3
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 29 (4.48%) SharePoint
2 21 (3.24%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.85%) Confluence
4 10 (1.54%) OpenStack
5 7 (1.08%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.77%) Apache
6 5 (0.77%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.62%) 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 54 (8.33%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (4.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 26 (4.01%) MS Visio
4 18 (2.78%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 13 (2.01%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.93%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.62%) Oracle Financials
3 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.15%) DELMIA
4 1 (0.15%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.15%) Maximo
4 1 (0.15%) Primavera
4 1 (0.15%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 1 (0.15%) StreamServe
Cloud Services
1 112 (17.28%) Azure
2 86 (13.27%) AWS
3 66 (10.19%) Microsoft 365
4 34 (5.25%) GCP
5 24 (3.70%) Power Platform
6 15 (2.31%) OpenShift
7 13 (2.01%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 13 (2.01%) Entra ID
8 11 (1.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 9 (1.39%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 9 (1.39%) SaaS
10 8 (1.23%) GitHub
10 8 (1.23%) npm
11 7 (1.08%) AWS CloudFormation
11 7 (1.08%) AWS Direct Connect
11 7 (1.08%) OCI
11 7 (1.08%) PaaS
12 6 (0.93%) IaaS
13 5 (0.77%) OneDrive
14 4 (0.62%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 193 (29.78%) Firewall
2 122 (18.83%) WAN
3 82 (12.65%) Wireless
4 73 (11.27%) VPN
5 67 (10.34%) BGP
6 65 (10.03%) LAN
7 58 (8.95%) Network Security
8 48 (7.41%) Wi-Fi
9 47 (7.25%) DNS
10 46 (7.10%) OSPF
11 42 (6.48%) VLAN
12 37 (5.71%) SAN
13 31 (4.78%) SD-WAN
14 30 (4.63%) VXLAN
15 29 (4.48%) Cisco ISE
15 29 (4.48%) DHCP
15 29 (4.48%) MPLS
16 27 (4.17%) IPsec
17 25 (3.86%) TCP/IP
18 24 (3.70%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (3.24%) Power BI
2 14 (2.16%) Relational Database
3 8 (1.23%) RDBMS
3 8 (1.23%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.93%) NoSQL
5 5 (0.77%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.77%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.77%) HBase
6 4 (0.62%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.62%) GIS
6 4 (0.62%) 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%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.46%) PowerPivot
7 3 (0.46%) QGIS
7 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 25 (3.86%) Git
2 17 (2.62%) Jenkins
3 13 (2.01%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (1.70%) GitLab
4 11 (1.70%) JIRA
4 11 (1.70%) Maven
5 8 (1.23%) 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%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.31%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.31%) ScriptRunner
General
1 176 (27.16%) Social Skills
2 122 (18.83%) Finance
3 81 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (12.50%) Public Sector
4 63 (9.72%) Telecoms
5 56 (8.64%) Banking
6 42 (6.48%) Documentation Skills
7 38 (5.86%) Manufacturing
8 25 (3.86%) Electronics
8 25 (3.86%) Marketing
9 21 (3.24%) Presentation Skills
10 18 (2.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (2.16%) Organisational Skills
12 11 (1.70%) Retail
13 8 (1.23%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.08%) Front Office
14 7 (1.08%) Investment Banking
14 7 (1.08%) Law
14 7 (1.08%) Local Government
15 6 (0.93%) Legal
Job Titles
1 112 (17.28%) Network Engineer
2 100 (15.43%) Architect
3 62 (9.57%) Analyst
3 62 (9.57%) Project Manager
4 42 (6.48%) Senior
5 40 (6.17%) Network Architect
6 33 (5.09%) Data Centre Manager
7 28 (4.32%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 28 (4.32%) IT Support
8 26 (4.01%) Consultant
8 26 (4.01%) Security Engineer
9 25 (3.86%) Desktop Support
9 25 (3.86%) Lead
10 24 (3.70%) Data Centre Engineer
10 24 (3.70%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 24 (3.70%) Support Engineer
11 23 (3.55%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
11 23 (3.55%) 2nd Line Support
11 23 (3.55%) Infrastructure Manager
11 23 (3.55%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.55%) 802.1X
2 16 (2.47%) Middleware
3 9 (1.39%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.77%) LDAP
4 5 (0.77%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.62%) Jinja
5 4 (0.62%) VML
6 2 (0.31%) ADO
6 2 (0.31%) ARM Templates
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%) ASP.NET
7 1 (0.15%) CSS
7 1 (0.15%) eBPF
7 1 (0.15%) EJB
7 1 (0.15%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 40 (6.17%) Hybrid Cloud
2 23 (3.55%) Cloud Native
2 23 (3.55%) Public Cloud
3 18 (2.78%) Replication
3 18 (2.78%) Self-Motivation
4 15 (2.31%) Mainframe
5 14 (2.16%) Driving Licence
6 13 (2.01%) Onboarding
7 12 (1.85%) Fibre Optics
8 11 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
8 11 (1.70%) Data Protection Act
8 11 (1.70%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.70%) Private Cloud
9 9 (1.39%) PKI
10 8 (1.23%) Clustering
11 7 (1.08%) Product Ownership
11 7 (1.08%) SCADA
12 6 (0.93%) Distributed Systems
12 6 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
12 6 (0.93%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 86 (13.27%) Windows
2 59 (9.10%) Linux
3 39 (6.02%) Android
3 39 (6.02%) Mac OS
3 39 (6.02%) Windows Server
4 17 (2.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (1.70%) Unix
6 9 (1.39%) CentOS
7 6 (0.93%) Windows 10
7 6 (0.93%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (0.62%) VMS
8 4 (0.62%) Windows Server 2008
8 4 (0.62%) Windows Server 2016
9 3 (0.46%) Solaris
10 2 (0.31%) AIX
10 2 (0.31%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.31%) zOS
11 1 (0.15%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (16.36%) Migration
2 93 (14.35%) Problem-Solving
3 81 (12.50%) Stakeholder Management
4 57 (8.80%) ITIL
5 54 (8.33%) Agile
6 48 (7.41%) Project Management
7 46 (7.10%) Project Delivery
8 45 (6.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 43 (6.64%) Change Management
9 43 (6.64%) Network Design
10 42 (6.48%) Business Intelligence
10 42 (6.48%) CI/CD
10 42 (6.48%) DevOps
10 42 (6.48%) Infrastructure as Code
11 40 (6.17%) Customer Service
12 39 (6.02%) Load Balancing
12 39 (6.02%) Service Management
13 35 (5.40%) Cybersecurity
13 35 (5.40%) Data Centre Operations
14 34 (5.25%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 66 (10.19%) Python
2 41 (6.33%) PowerShell
3 31 (4.78%) SQL
4 19 (2.93%) Bash
4 19 (2.93%) Java
5 10 (1.54%) Perl
6 8 (1.23%) Lisp
6 8 (1.23%) Shell Script
7 4 (0.62%) VBA
8 3 (0.46%) MATLAB
9 2 (0.31%) Bicep
9 2 (0.31%) C
9 2 (0.31%) Go
9 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
10 1 (0.15%) C#
10 1 (0.15%) C++
10 1 (0.15%) COBOL
10 1 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 220 (33.95%) Security Cleared
2 183 (28.24%) SC Cleared
3 92 (14.20%) Cisco Certification
4 72 (11.11%) CCNP
5 52 (8.02%) Degree
6 41 (6.33%) DV Cleared
7 34 (5.25%) CCNA
8 25 (3.86%) CCIE
9 21 (3.24%) AWS Certification
10 13 (2.01%) CISSP
10 13 (2.01%) JNCIE
10 13 (2.01%) PMP
11 12 (1.85%) PMI Certification
12 8 (1.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 7 (1.08%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (1.08%) Network+ Certification
14 6 (0.93%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 6 (0.93%) A+ Certification
14 6 (0.93%) Microsoft Certification
14 6 (0.93%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (2.93%) NIST
2 18 (2.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 18 (2.78%) SLA
3 17 (2.62%) PCI DSS
3 17 (2.62%) PMO
4 14 (2.16%) QA
5 12 (1.85%) GDPR
6 11 (1.70%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.93%) NCSC
8 3 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.15%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.15%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 1 (0.15%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.15%) SOC 2
System Software
1 67 (10.34%) VMware Infrastructure
2 46 (7.10%) Active Directory
3 36 (5.56%) VMware NSX
4 23 (3.55%) Docker
5 17 (2.62%) Virtual Machines
6 15 (2.31%) Hyper-V
7 13 (2.01%) vSphere
8 9 (1.39%) Firmware
9 7 (1.08%) KVM
10 6 (0.93%) VMware ESXi
11 5 (0.77%) HDFS
12 3 (0.46%) 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%) Xen
14 1 (0.15%) Samba
14 1 (0.15%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 72 (11.11%) Ansible
2 63 (9.72%) Terraform
3 29 (4.48%) FortiGate
4 23 (3.55%) SCCM
5 20 (3.09%) Kubernetes
6 12 (1.85%) Grafana
7 11 (1.70%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.54%) SCOM
9 9 (1.39%) vCenter Server
10 7 (1.08%) CASB
10 7 (1.08%) Puppet
11 6 (0.93%) SCOrch
11 6 (0.93%) Single Sign-On
12 5 (0.77%) Hadoop YARN
12 5 (0.77%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.46%) Check_MK
13 3 (0.46%) Nagios
13 3 (0.46%) OPNET
13 3 (0.46%) PowerCLI
13 3 (0.46%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 227 (35.03%) Cisco
2 84 (12.96%) VMware
3 83 (12.81%) Palo Alto
4 82 (12.65%) Microsoft
5 63 (9.72%) Dell
6 54 (8.33%) Juniper
7 50 (7.72%) F5
8 47 (7.25%) HP
9 39 (6.02%) Apple
10 36 (5.56%) CheckPoint
11 31 (4.78%) ServiceNow
12 30 (4.63%) Fortinet
12 30 (4.63%) SAP
13 29 (4.48%) Meraki
14 26 (4.01%) Aruba
14 26 (4.01%) Oracle
15 18 (2.78%) Arista
16 16 (2.47%) Citrix
17 14 (2.16%) NetApp
17 14 (2.16%) Remedy