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

6 months to
16 Feb 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 142 131 92
Rank change year-on-year -11 -39 +12
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 681 541 879
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.00% 2.10% 2.31%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.87% 6.29% 7.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 447 321 612
10th Percentile £258 £350 £300
25th Percentile £378 £425 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.95% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £575 £638 £631
90th Percentile £675 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £518 £525
% change year-on-year -8.21% -1.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 12 38
10th Percentile £21.14 - £21.25
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £22.13
Median hourly rate £26.14 £24.66 £31.31
Median % change year-on-year +5.98% -21.23% -46.07%
75th Percentile £72.53 £25.81 £40.94
90th Percentile £74.26 £56.93 £70.13
UK median hourly rate £25.77 £24.18 £25.12
% change year-on-year +6.58% -3.72% -54.17%

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 11,607 8,601 11,826
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.13% 33.34% 31.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,394 5,244 7,765
10th Percentile £275 £275 £256
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £545 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.42% -0.91% -4.35%
75th Percentile £630 £666 £663
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 582 248 753
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.19 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.83 £24.18 £16.92
Median hourly rate £32.75 £37.00 £32.12
Median % change year-on-year -11.49% +15.21% +42.83%
75th Percentile £63.75 £66.13 £58.75
90th Percentile £75.90 £83.20 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £30.05 £34.50 £31.75
% change year-on-year -12.89% +8.66% +41.21%

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 16 February 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 16 February 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 16 February 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 -29 242 £515 -1.90% 155
North of England +3 163 £474 -4.72% 66
South East -6 112 £445 +1.14% 116
North West +10 94 £500 - 38
Midlands -24 74 £465 -21.19% 27
West Midlands -22 59 £474 -19.66% 17
Yorkshire -32 55 £438 +4.29% 20
South West -36 33 £550 -0.90% 29
East of England -16 29 £478 +13.14% 36
North East +1 17 £175 - 8
East Midlands -14 15 £158 -70.70% 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 27 (3.96%) SharePoint
2 19 (2.79%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.20%) Confluence
4 7 (1.03%) Apache Airflow
4 7 (1.03%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.88%) CICS
6 5 (0.73%) Apache
6 5 (0.73%) Apache Spark
7 3 (0.44%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.44%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.44%) Smallworld
7 3 (0.44%) WebLogic
8 2 (0.29%) nginx
9 1 (0.15%) Tomcat
Applications
1 49 (7.20%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.82%) MS Visio
3 24 (3.52%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (2.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (2.06%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.44%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.44%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.88%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.59%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.44%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.29%) DELMIA
4 2 (0.29%) 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
Cloud Services
1 112 (16.45%) Azure
2 96 (14.10%) AWS
3 59 (8.66%) Microsoft 365
4 33 (4.85%) GCP
5 16 (2.35%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 15 (2.20%) Power Platform
7 14 (2.06%) SaaS
8 13 (1.91%) OpenShift
9 12 (1.76%) Entra ID
10 11 (1.62%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 11 (1.62%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 10 (1.47%) PaaS
12 9 (1.32%) Azure DevOps
12 9 (1.32%) IaaS
13 8 (1.17%) AWS CloudFormation
14 7 (1.03%) Amazon S3
14 7 (1.03%) AWS CloudTrail
14 7 (1.03%) AWS KMS
14 7 (1.03%) GitHub
14 7 (1.03%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 192 (28.19%) Firewall
2 126 (18.50%) WAN
3 89 (13.07%) BGP
4 80 (11.75%) LAN
5 77 (11.31%) VPN
6 75 (11.01%) Network Security
7 72 (10.57%) Wireless
8 61 (8.96%) OSPF
9 48 (7.05%) VLAN
10 46 (6.75%) DNS
11 45 (6.61%) Structured Cabling
12 37 (5.43%) Wi-Fi
13 33 (4.85%) VXLAN
14 32 (4.70%) SAN
15 31 (4.55%) DHCP
16 30 (4.41%) IPsec
17 29 (4.26%) Cisco ISE
18 25 (3.67%) MPLS
18 25 (3.67%) TCP/IP
19 22 (3.23%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.06%) Power BI
2 8 (1.17%) DataStage
2 8 (1.17%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.88%) RDBMS
3 6 (0.88%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.73%) Apache Hive
4 5 (0.73%) Hadoop
4 5 (0.73%) HBase
5 4 (0.59%) GIS
5 4 (0.59%) Power Query
5 4 (0.59%) PowerPivot
6 3 (0.44%) Geospatial Data
6 3 (0.44%) InfluxDB
6 3 (0.44%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.44%) QGIS
7 2 (0.29%) Big Data
7 2 (0.29%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.29%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.29%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 26 (3.82%) Git
2 16 (2.35%) Jenkins
2 16 (2.35%) JIRA
3 14 (2.06%) GitLab
4 9 (1.32%) Maven
5 5 (0.73%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.44%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.29%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.29%) Eclipse
7 2 (0.29%) ER Studio
7 2 (0.29%) ERwin
7 2 (0.29%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
7 2 (0.29%) Subversion
8 1 (0.15%) AppScan
8 1 (0.15%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.15%) Metasploit
General
1 193 (28.34%) Social Skills
2 120 (17.62%) Finance
3 87 (12.78%) Public Sector
4 85 (12.48%) Analytical Skills
5 57 (8.37%) Documentation Skills
6 51 (7.49%) Telecoms
7 40 (5.87%) Manufacturing
8 38 (5.58%) Banking
9 29 (4.26%) Marketing
10 24 (3.52%) Electronics
11 16 (2.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 16 (2.35%) Presentation Skills
12 14 (2.06%) Influencing Skills
12 14 (2.06%) Legal
13 13 (1.91%) Retail
14 11 (1.62%) Organisational Skills
15 9 (1.32%) Investment Banking
16 6 (0.88%) Aerospace
16 6 (0.88%) Law
16 6 (0.88%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 124 (18.21%) Network Engineer
2 92 (13.51%) Architect
3 68 (9.99%) Project Manager
4 56 (8.22%) Analyst
5 45 (6.61%) Senior
6 39 (5.73%) Data Centre Engineer
7 37 (5.43%) Network Architect
8 32 (4.70%) Lead
8 32 (4.70%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 31 (4.55%) Data Centre Manager
10 30 (4.41%) Cisco Engineer
10 30 (4.41%) IT Support
11 28 (4.11%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 25 (3.67%) Desktop Support
12 25 (3.67%) Security Engineer
13 24 (3.52%) Consultant
14 23 (3.38%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
14 23 (3.38%) 2nd Line Support
14 23 (3.38%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
15 22 (3.23%) Infrastructure Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.23%) Middleware
2 18 (2.64%) 802.1X
3 7 (1.03%) LDAP
3 7 (1.03%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.73%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.59%) ADO
5 4 (0.59%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.59%) Spring
5 4 (0.59%) VML
6 3 (0.44%) Spring Boot
7 2 (0.29%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.29%) CSS
7 2 (0.29%) HTML
7 2 (0.29%) Kafka
7 2 (0.29%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.29%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.29%) REST
7 2 (0.29%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.29%) XML
7 2 (0.29%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 41 (6.02%) Hybrid Cloud
2 19 (2.79%) Self-Motivation
3 18 (2.64%) Public Cloud
4 16 (2.35%) Analytical Mindset
4 16 (2.35%) Driving Licence
4 16 (2.35%) Onboarding
5 13 (1.91%) Fibre Optics
6 12 (1.76%) Management Information System
6 12 (1.76%) Replication
7 11 (1.62%) Cloud Native
8 10 (1.47%) Mainframe
8 10 (1.47%) Private Cloud
9 9 (1.32%) Data Protection Act
10 7 (1.03%) BYOD
10 7 (1.03%) Clustering
10 7 (1.03%) PKI
10 7 (1.03%) SCADA
11 6 (0.88%) CMDB
11 6 (0.88%) Product Ownership
11 6 (0.88%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 79 (11.60%) Linux
2 78 (11.45%) Windows
3 38 (5.58%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.70%) Android
4 32 (4.70%) Mac OS
5 24 (3.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 12 (1.76%) Unix
7 11 (1.62%) CentOS
8 7 (1.03%) Solaris
9 6 (0.88%) AIX
9 6 (0.88%) VMS
10 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.44%) Windows 10
12 2 (0.29%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.15%) Kali Linux
13 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 115 (16.89%) Migration
2 106 (15.57%) Problem-Solving
3 85 (12.48%) Stakeholder Management
4 54 (7.93%) Project Management
5 53 (7.78%) Project Delivery
6 48 (7.05%) Agile
6 48 (7.05%) ITIL
7 46 (6.75%) CI/CD
8 45 (6.61%) Continuous Improvement
9 44 (6.46%) Change Management
9 44 (6.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 39 (5.73%) Change Control
10 39 (5.73%) Roadmaps
11 38 (5.58%) Network Design
12 37 (5.43%) Business Intelligence
12 37 (5.43%) Cybersecurity
12 37 (5.43%) Infrastructure as Code
12 37 (5.43%) Load Balancing
13 36 (5.29%) Customer Service
14 35 (5.14%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 64 (9.40%) Python
2 47 (6.90%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.52%) SQL
4 22 (3.23%) Bash
5 18 (2.64%) Java
6 15 (2.20%) Shell Script
7 13 (1.91%) Perl
8 9 (1.32%) Lisp
9 7 (1.03%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.88%) COBOL
11 5 (0.73%) Bicep
11 5 (0.73%) VBA
12 3 (0.44%) JavaScript
13 1 (0.15%) C#
13 1 (0.15%) C++
13 1 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.15%) Korn
13 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.15%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 253 (37.15%) Security Cleared
2 206 (30.25%) SC Cleared
3 115 (16.89%) Cisco Certification
4 95 (13.95%) CCNP
5 59 (8.66%) Degree
6 50 (7.34%) CCNA
7 46 (6.75%) DV Cleared
8 22 (3.23%) CCIE
9 21 (3.08%) AWS Certification
10 18 (2.64%) PMP
11 16 (2.35%) PMI Certification
12 12 (1.76%) CISSP
13 11 (1.62%) Microsoft Certification
13 11 (1.62%) Network+ Certification
14 10 (1.47%) A+ Certification
14 10 (1.47%) MCSE
15 9 (1.32%) Azure Certification
15 9 (1.32%) JNCIE
15 9 (1.32%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
16 8 (1.17%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (3.38%) PMO
2 19 (2.79%) SLA
3 18 (2.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 18 (2.64%) NIST
3 18 (2.64%) PCI DSS
4 15 (2.20%) GDPR
5 14 (2.06%) QA
6 9 (1.32%) Data Quality
7 7 (1.03%) NCSC
8 4 (0.59%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.59%) GRC
9 2 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.29%) NIST 800
9 2 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.15%) COBIT
10 1 (0.15%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.15%) RMADS
10 1 (0.15%) SOC 2
System Software
1 64 (9.40%) VMware Infrastructure
2 50 (7.34%) Active Directory
3 36 (5.29%) VMware NSX
4 23 (3.38%) Virtual Machines
5 17 (2.50%) Hyper-V
6 13 (1.91%) vSphere
7 11 (1.62%) Docker
7 11 (1.62%) Firmware
7 11 (1.62%) KVM
8 7 (1.03%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.73%) HDFS
10 2 (0.29%) Ceph
10 2 (0.29%) Lustre
10 2 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.29%) SRDF
10 2 (0.29%) vCloud
11 1 (0.15%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.15%) NFS
11 1 (0.15%) RHEV
11 1 (0.15%) UAG
Systems Management
1 71 (10.43%) Ansible
2 64 (9.40%) Terraform
3 31 (4.55%) FortiGate
4 22 (3.23%) Kubernetes
5 21 (3.08%) SCCM
6 17 (2.50%) Grafana
7 9 (1.32%) Microsoft Intune
7 9 (1.32%) Prometheus
7 9 (1.32%) SCOM
8 7 (1.03%) CASB
8 7 (1.03%) Check_MK
8 7 (1.03%) Podman
8 7 (1.03%) Red Hat Satellite
9 6 (0.88%) Puppet
9 6 (0.88%) SCOrch
10 5 (0.73%) Hadoop YARN
10 5 (0.73%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.59%) Nagios
11 4 (0.59%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 227 (33.33%) Cisco
2 96 (14.10%) Palo Alto
3 88 (12.92%) VMware
4 72 (10.57%) Microsoft
5 65 (9.54%) Dell
6 53 (7.78%) Juniper
7 43 (6.31%) CheckPoint
7 43 (6.31%) F5
8 42 (6.17%) HP
9 37 (5.43%) Aruba
10 33 (4.85%) Meraki
10 33 (4.85%) ServiceNow
11 32 (4.70%) Apple
12 29 (4.26%) Fortinet
13 28 (4.11%) SAP
14 23 (3.38%) Citrix
15 21 (3.08%) Oracle
16 17 (2.50%) Arista
16 17 (2.50%) IBM
16 17 (2.50%) Red Hat
400 Data Centre jobs in England