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

6 months to
18 Dec 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 132 124 97
Rank change year-on-year -8 -27 +11
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 663 600 879
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.12% 2.07% 2.35%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.94% 6.41% 7.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 434 365 628
10th Percentile £278 £350 £319
25th Percentile £405 £425 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.33% -2.33% -2.18%
75th Percentile £606 £608 £650
90th Percentile £721 £720 £738
UK median daily rate £515 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -1.90% -2.33% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 17 19
10th Percentile £22.57 £11.75 £20.11
25th Percentile - £12.08 £21.63
Median hourly rate £25.15 £23.80 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +5.67% +3.48% -64.06%
75th Percentile £35.00 £24.18 £53.13
90th Percentile £69.17 £42.67 £76.53
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £23.00
% change year-on-year +4.01% +5.13% -63.49%

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 11,171 9,362 11,963
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 35.75% 32.32% 32.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,045 5,679 8,116
10th Percentile £281 £278 £269
25th Percentile £408 £413 £423
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.37% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £738 £788 £775
UK median daily rate £503 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -6.51% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 560 277 459
10th Percentile £14.25 £17.08 £16.75
25th Percentile £18.25 £23.60 £20.84
Median hourly rate £29.00 £37.00 £43.84
Median % change year-on-year -21.62% -15.60% +25.16%
75th Percentile £61.52 £66.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.75 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £27.21 £33.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year -17.55% -22.35% +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 18 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 18 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 18 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 +8 270 £525 - 130
North of England -13 131 £499 -0.25% 41
Midlands 0 88 £465 -19.83% 14
South East -28 87 £465 -7.00% 76
North West +15 83 £548 +9.50% 18
West Midlands -2 68 £472 -18.62% 11
Yorkshire -38 43 £398 -5.36% 18
South West -23 39 £550 +0.36% 23
East of England -22 28 £600 +42.01% 21
East Midlands -4 20 £203 -61.81% 3
North East -3 8 £175 - 6
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 (4.68%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (2.56%) Confluence
4 9 (1.36%) OpenStack
5 7 (1.06%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.75%) Apache
6 5 (0.75%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.60%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.45%) CICS
8 3 (0.45%) GeoServer
8 3 (0.45%) Smallworld
8 3 (0.45%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.30%) FileNet
9 2 (0.30%) nginx
9 2 (0.30%) ThingWorx
9 2 (0.30%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.15%) IIS
10 1 (0.15%) OpenEdge
10 1 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 56 (8.45%) Microsoft Office
2 30 (4.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 25 (3.77%) MS Visio
4 18 (2.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (2.11%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.90%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.60%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.45%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.30%) 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
1 122 (18.40%) Azure
2 91 (13.73%) AWS
3 71 (10.71%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (5.43%) GCP
5 23 (3.47%) Power Platform
6 18 (2.71%) Entra ID
7 16 (2.41%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 16 (2.41%) OpenShift
8 11 (1.66%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 10 (1.51%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 9 (1.36%) npm
10 9 (1.36%) SaaS
11 8 (1.21%) AWS Direct Connect
11 8 (1.21%) PaaS
12 7 (1.06%) AWS CloudFormation
12 7 (1.06%) IaaS
12 7 (1.06%) OCI
13 6 (0.90%) Nutanix
14 5 (0.75%) Azure Monitor
14 5 (0.75%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 188 (28.36%) Firewall
2 121 (18.25%) WAN
3 86 (12.97%) Wireless
4 74 (11.16%) VPN
5 67 (10.11%) BGP
6 62 (9.35%) LAN
7 54 (8.14%) DNS
8 53 (7.99%) Network Security
9 48 (7.24%) Wi-Fi
10 46 (6.94%) OSPF
11 37 (5.58%) SAN
12 35 (5.28%) VLAN
13 34 (5.13%) DHCP
14 31 (4.68%) Cisco ISE
14 31 (4.68%) SD-WAN
14 31 (4.68%) VXLAN
15 30 (4.52%) MPLS
16 26 (3.92%) Cisco Nexus
16 26 (3.92%) TCP/IP
17 24 (3.62%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (3.02%) Power BI
2 15 (2.26%) Relational Database
3 9 (1.36%) RDBMS
3 9 (1.36%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.90%) NoSQL
5 5 (0.75%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.75%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.75%) HBase
5 5 (0.75%) InfluxDB
6 4 (0.60%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.60%) GIS
6 4 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.45%) Big Data
7 3 (0.45%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.45%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.45%) DataStage
7 3 (0.45%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.45%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.45%) QGIS
7 3 (0.45%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 23 (3.47%) Git
2 16 (2.41%) JIRA
3 14 (2.11%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.11%) Sonatype Nexus
4 13 (1.96%) Maven
5 9 (1.36%) SonarQube
6 8 (1.21%) GitLab
7 4 (0.60%) Gradle
7 4 (0.60%) Selenium
8 3 (0.45%) ER Studio
8 3 (0.45%) ERwin
9 2 (0.30%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.15%) Fiddler
10 1 (0.15%) Postman
General
1 172 (25.94%) Social Skills
2 124 (18.70%) Finance
3 80 (12.07%) Public Sector
4 78 (11.76%) Analytical Skills
5 66 (9.95%) Telecoms
6 63 (9.50%) Banking
7 36 (5.43%) Documentation Skills
8 35 (5.28%) Manufacturing
9 25 (3.77%) Electronics
9 25 (3.77%) Marketing
10 21 (3.17%) Presentation Skills
11 20 (3.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (2.26%) Organisational Skills
13 11 (1.66%) Retail
14 9 (1.36%) Influencing Skills
15 7 (1.06%) Front Office
15 7 (1.06%) Investment Banking
15 7 (1.06%) Local Government
16 6 (0.90%) Legal
16 6 (0.90%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 109 (16.44%) Architect
2 104 (15.69%) Network Engineer
3 63 (9.50%) Analyst
3 63 (9.50%) Project Manager
4 42 (6.33%) Senior
5 40 (6.03%) Network Architect
6 39 (5.88%) Data Centre Manager
7 33 (4.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 30 (4.52%) Security Engineer
9 29 (4.37%) Support Engineer
10 28 (4.22%) IT Support
11 27 (4.07%) Infrastructure Manager
12 25 (3.77%) Consultant
12 25 (3.77%) Desktop Support
13 23 (3.47%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
13 23 (3.47%) 2nd Line Support
13 23 (3.47%) Lead
13 23 (3.47%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
14 22 (3.32%) Data Centre Project Manager
14 22 (3.32%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.47%) 802.1X
2 14 (2.11%) Middleware
3 10 (1.51%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.75%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.60%) Jinja
5 4 (0.60%) VML
6 2 (0.30%) ARM Templates
6 2 (0.30%) LDAP
6 2 (0.30%) ModSecurity
6 2 (0.30%) NETCONF
6 2 (0.30%) OpenConfig
6 2 (0.30%) REST
6 2 (0.30%) RESTCONF
6 2 (0.30%) YANG
7 1 (0.15%) eBPF
7 1 (0.15%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.15%) JSSE
7 1 (0.15%) OpenLayers
7 1 (0.15%) OpenTelemetry
7 1 (0.15%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 41 (6.18%) Hybrid Cloud
2 25 (3.77%) Cloud Native
3 23 (3.47%) Public Cloud
4 22 (3.32%) Replication
5 16 (2.41%) Onboarding
6 15 (2.26%) Mainframe
7 14 (2.11%) Driving Licence
7 14 (2.11%) Self-Motivation
8 12 (1.81%) Fibre Optics
8 12 (1.81%) PKI
9 11 (1.66%) Private Cloud
10 10 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
10 10 (1.51%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (1.36%) Clustering
11 9 (1.36%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.21%) Management Information System
13 7 (1.06%) SCADA
13 7 (1.06%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.90%) Operational Technology
14 6 (0.90%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 88 (13.27%) Windows
2 60 (9.05%) Linux
3 43 (6.49%) Mac OS
4 42 (6.33%) Android
5 41 (6.18%) Windows Server
6 16 (2.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 12 (1.81%) Unix
8 7 (1.06%) CentOS
9 6 (0.90%) Windows 10
9 6 (0.90%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (0.60%) Windows Server 2008
10 4 (0.60%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.45%) Solaris
11 3 (0.45%) VMS
12 2 (0.30%) AIX
12 2 (0.30%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.30%) zOS
13 1 (0.15%) Apple iOS
13 1 (0.15%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (18.70%) Migration
2 92 (13.88%) Problem-Solving
3 80 (12.07%) Stakeholder Management
4 58 (8.75%) ITIL
5 55 (8.30%) Agile
6 50 (7.54%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 47 (7.09%) Change Management
8 46 (6.94%) Infrastructure as Code
9 45 (6.79%) Customer Service
9 45 (6.79%) Project Management
10 44 (6.64%) CI/CD
11 42 (6.33%) DevOps
11 42 (6.33%) Network Design
11 42 (6.33%) Project Delivery
12 41 (6.18%) Business Intelligence
12 41 (6.18%) Service Management
13 40 (6.03%) Cybersecurity
13 40 (6.03%) Load Balancing
13 40 (6.03%) Roadmaps
14 37 (5.58%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 66 (9.95%) Python
2 42 (6.33%) PowerShell
3 31 (4.68%) SQL
4 22 (3.32%) Java
5 18 (2.71%) Bash
6 10 (1.51%) Perl
7 8 (1.21%) Lisp
8 5 (0.75%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.45%) Bicep
9 3 (0.45%) C
9 3 (0.45%) Go
9 3 (0.45%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.45%) VBA
10 2 (0.30%) C#
11 1 (0.15%) AWK
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%) sed
Qualifications
1 213 (32.13%) Security Cleared
2 176 (26.55%) SC Cleared
3 85 (12.82%) Cisco Certification
4 66 (9.95%) CCNP
5 51 (7.69%) Degree
6 43 (6.49%) DV Cleared
7 27 (4.07%) CCIE
8 24 (3.62%) CCNA
9 20 (3.02%) AWS Certification
10 13 (1.96%) CISSP
10 13 (1.96%) JNCIE
11 9 (1.36%) PMP
11 9 (1.36%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 8 (1.21%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (1.21%) PMI Certification
13 7 (1.06%) Microsoft Certification
13 7 (1.06%) Network+ Certification
13 7 (1.06%) VCAP
14 6 (0.90%) A+ Certification
14 6 (0.90%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.02%) NIST
2 18 (2.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 18 (2.71%) SLA
3 17 (2.56%) PCI DSS
3 17 (2.56%) PMO
4 13 (1.96%) QA
5 12 (1.81%) GDPR
6 11 (1.66%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.90%) NCSC
8 3 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.30%) 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 69 (10.41%) VMware Infrastructure
2 49 (7.39%) Active Directory
3 38 (5.73%) VMware NSX
4 26 (3.92%) Docker
5 16 (2.41%) Hyper-V
6 15 (2.26%) Virtual Machines
6 15 (2.26%) vSphere
7 8 (1.21%) Firmware
8 7 (1.06%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.75%) HDFS
9 5 (0.75%) KVM
10 3 (0.45%) Lustre
10 3 (0.45%) NFS
11 2 (0.30%) Ceph
11 2 (0.30%) GPFS
11 2 (0.30%) Microsoft App-V
11 2 (0.30%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.30%) SRDF
11 2 (0.30%) Xen
12 1 (0.15%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 70 (10.56%) Ansible
2 65 (9.80%) Terraform
3 28 (4.22%) FortiGate
4 25 (3.77%) SCCM
5 21 (3.17%) Kubernetes
6 14 (2.11%) Grafana
7 13 (1.96%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.51%) SCOM
9 9 (1.36%) vCenter Server
10 8 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
11 7 (1.06%) CASB
11 7 (1.06%) Puppet
12 6 (0.90%) SCOrch
13 5 (0.75%) Hadoop YARN
13 5 (0.75%) Prometheus
14 4 (0.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 4 (0.60%) Argo
15 3 (0.45%) OPNET
15 3 (0.45%) PowerCLI
16 2 (0.30%) Nagios
Vendors
1 221 (33.33%) Cisco
2 90 (13.57%) Microsoft
3 85 (12.82%) VMware
4 69 (10.41%) Palo Alto
5 66 (9.95%) Dell
6 52 (7.84%) Juniper
7 51 (7.69%) F5
8 50 (7.54%) HP
9 42 (6.33%) Apple
10 33 (4.98%) CheckPoint
11 32 (4.83%) Fortinet
12 31 (4.68%) SAP
12 31 (4.68%) ServiceNow
13 30 (4.52%) Meraki
14 27 (4.07%) Oracle
15 21 (3.17%) Aruba
16 19 (2.87%) Arista
17 17 (2.56%) Citrix
18 16 (2.41%) NetApp
19 14 (2.11%) Remedy
275 Data Centre jobs in England