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

6 months to
31 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 136 125 90
Rank change year-on-year -11 -35 +17
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 651 544 901
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.97% 2.05% 2.37%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.69% 6.23% 7.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 438 325 635
10th Percentile £263 £350 £300
25th Percentile £385 £431 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.29% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £587 £638 £634
90th Percentile £688 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £488 £518 £525
% change year-on-year -5.80% -1.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 13 37
10th Percentile £21.46 £13.46 £21.25
25th Percentile £25.15 - £22.08
Median hourly rate £26.14 £24.18 £25.12
Median % change year-on-year +8.09% -3.72% -58.49%
75th Percentile £67.25 £24.66 £41.25
90th Percentile £73.90 £53.85 £71.00
UK median hourly rate £25.77 £24.18 £25.12
% change year-on-year +6.58% -3.72% -56.74%

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 11,451 8,726 11,858
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.63% 32.89% 31.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,316 5,260 7,882
10th Percentile £275 £267 £252
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.82% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £632 £675 £665
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £535
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% -2.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 554 248 707
10th Percentile £15.25 £18.51 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £24.18 £17.57
Median hourly rate £30.30 £37.25 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.65% +6.43% +55.66%
75th Percentile £63.75 £66.13 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.90 £83.20 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £28.50 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -18.56% - +56.18%

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 31 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 31 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 31 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 -34 228 £525 - 145
North of England -2 152 £475 -4.52% 58
South East -6 105 £445 +1.14% 108
North West +10 91 £519 +3.70% 30
Midlands -16 73 £465 -19.83% 22
West Midlands -20 58 £474 -18.28% 18
Yorkshire -31 47 £470 +11.90% 17
South West -28 35 £550 - 26
East of England -14 27 £478 +13.14% 34
North East -3 17 £175 - 12
East Midlands -15 15 £158 -70.70% 4
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 28 (4.30%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.69%) 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 (0.61%) 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%) nginx
9 2 (0.31%) ThingWorx
9 2 (0.31%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 49 (7.53%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.99%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.99%) MS Visio
3 17 (2.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (2.15%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
5 1 (0.15%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.92%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.61%) Oracle Financials
3 2 (0.31%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.15%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.15%) Maximo
4 1 (0.15%) Primavera
4 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.15%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 107 (16.44%) Azure
2 90 (13.82%) AWS
3 60 (9.22%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (4.30%) GCP
5 17 (2.61%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.46%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (2.15%) OpenShift
8 13 (2.00%) Entra ID
8 13 (2.00%) SaaS
9 11 (1.69%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 10 (1.54%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 9 (1.38%) AWS Direct Connect
12 8 (1.23%) AWS CloudFormation
12 8 (1.23%) Azure DevOps
12 8 (1.23%) GitHub
13 7 (1.08%) IaaS
13 7 (1.08%) npm
13 7 (1.08%) OCI
13 7 (1.08%) PaaS
14 6 (0.92%) AWS KMS
Communications & Networking
1 189 (29.03%) Firewall
2 127 (19.51%) WAN
3 79 (12.14%) BGP
4 76 (11.67%) LAN
5 75 (11.52%) Wireless
6 71 (10.91%) VPN
7 68 (10.45%) Network Security
8 54 (8.29%) OSPF
9 46 (7.07%) VLAN
10 45 (6.91%) DNS
11 42 (6.45%) Wi-Fi
12 37 (5.68%) Structured Cabling
13 36 (5.53%) SAN
14 30 (4.61%) Cisco ISE
14 30 (4.61%) DHCP
15 29 (4.45%) TCP/IP
16 28 (4.30%) IPsec
17 27 (4.15%) VXLAN
18 26 (3.99%) MPLS
19 25 (3.84%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.46%) Power BI
2 10 (1.54%) Relational Database
3 7 (1.08%) RDBMS
3 7 (1.08%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.77%) Apache Hive
4 5 (0.77%) Hadoop
4 5 (0.77%) HBase
4 5 (0.77%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.61%) DataStage
5 4 (0.61%) GIS
5 4 (0.61%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.61%) Power Query
5 4 (0.61%) PowerPivot
6 3 (0.46%) Big Data
6 3 (0.46%) Data Vault
6 3 (0.46%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.46%) InfluxDB
6 3 (0.46%) Metadata
6 3 (0.46%) QGIS
6 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 23 (3.53%) Git
2 18 (2.76%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.15%) GitLab
4 12 (1.84%) JIRA
5 8 (1.23%) Maven
6 7 (1.08%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.46%) ER Studio
7 3 (0.46%) ERwin
7 3 (0.46%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.31%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.31%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.31%) ScriptRunner
9 1 (0.15%) AppScan
9 1 (0.15%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.15%) Gradle
9 1 (0.15%) Metasploit
9 1 (0.15%) Selenium
General
1 178 (27.34%) Social Skills
2 116 (17.82%) Finance
3 86 (13.21%) Analytical Skills
4 85 (13.06%) Public Sector
5 53 (8.14%) Documentation Skills
6 52 (7.99%) Telecoms
7 43 (6.61%) Banking
8 41 (6.30%) Manufacturing
9 28 (4.30%) Marketing
10 25 (3.84%) Electronics
11 18 (2.76%) Presentation Skills
12 17 (2.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 13 (2.00%) Retail
14 11 (1.69%) Organisational Skills
15 10 (1.54%) Legal
16 8 (1.23%) Influencing Skills
17 7 (1.08%) Investment Banking
17 7 (1.08%) Local Government
18 6 (0.92%) Law
18 6 (0.92%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 121 (18.59%) Network Engineer
2 96 (14.75%) Architect
3 66 (10.14%) Project Manager
4 53 (8.14%) Analyst
5 37 (5.68%) Senior
6 36 (5.53%) Network Architect
7 31 (4.76%) Lead
7 31 (4.76%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 29 (4.45%) Data Centre Manager
8 29 (4.45%) IT Support
9 28 (4.30%) Cisco Engineer
10 27 (4.15%) Data Centre Engineer
10 27 (4.15%) Security Engineer
11 26 (3.99%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 25 (3.84%) Consultant
12 25 (3.84%) Desktop Support
13 24 (3.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 23 (3.53%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
14 23 (3.53%) 2nd Line Support
14 23 (3.53%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.38%) Middleware
2 19 (2.92%) 802.1X
3 9 (1.38%) LDAP
4 7 (1.08%) RFC 2544
5 5 (0.77%) Spark Streaming
6 4 (0.61%) ADO
6 4 (0.61%) VML
7 3 (0.46%) ARM Templates
8 2 (0.31%) AWS CDK
8 2 (0.31%) CSS
8 2 (0.31%) HTML
8 2 (0.31%) ModSecurity
8 2 (0.31%) NETCONF
8 2 (0.31%) OpenConfig
8 2 (0.31%) REST
8 2 (0.31%) RESTCONF
8 2 (0.31%) YANG
9 1 (0.15%) Elastic Stack
9 1 (0.15%) OpenLayers
9 1 (0.15%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 42 (6.45%) Hybrid Cloud
2 21 (3.23%) Public Cloud
3 18 (2.76%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (2.61%) Onboarding
5 16 (2.46%) Replication
6 15 (2.30%) Analytical Mindset
6 15 (2.30%) Private Cloud
7 13 (2.00%) Cloud Native
7 13 (2.00%) Driving Licence
7 13 (2.00%) Fibre Optics
8 12 (1.84%) Management Information System
9 10 (1.54%) Data Protection Act
9 10 (1.54%) SCADA
10 9 (1.38%) Mainframe
11 8 (1.23%) PKI
12 7 (1.08%) Clustering
12 7 (1.08%) Operational Technology
13 6 (0.92%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (0.92%) Security Posture
14 5 (0.77%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 81 (12.44%) Windows
2 66 (10.14%) Linux
3 40 (6.14%) Windows Server
4 34 (5.22%) Android
4 34 (5.22%) Mac OS
5 21 (3.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (1.69%) CentOS
7 7 (1.08%) Unix
7 7 (1.08%) Windows Server 2019
8 6 (0.92%) Windows 10
9 5 (0.77%) VMS
10 4 (0.61%) Windows Server 2008
10 4 (0.61%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.46%) Solaris
12 2 (0.31%) zOS
13 1 (0.15%) AIX
13 1 (0.15%) Kali Linux
13 1 (0.15%) MVS
13 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (16.13%) Migration
2 99 (15.21%) Problem-Solving
3 81 (12.44%) Stakeholder Management
4 52 (7.99%) ITIL
5 50 (7.68%) Agile
5 50 (7.68%) Project Management
6 49 (7.53%) Project Delivery
7 44 (6.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 41 (6.30%) CI/CD
9 40 (6.14%) Continuous Improvement
10 39 (5.99%) Business Intelligence
10 39 (5.99%) DevOps
10 39 (5.99%) Network Design
11 37 (5.68%) Change Management
11 37 (5.68%) Customer Service
11 37 (5.68%) Infrastructure as Code
11 37 (5.68%) Programme Management
12 36 (5.53%) Change Control
12 36 (5.53%) Cybersecurity
13 34 (5.22%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 62 (9.52%) Python
2 45 (6.91%) PowerShell
3 25 (3.84%) SQL
4 20 (3.07%) Bash
5 14 (2.15%) Java
6 12 (1.84%) Shell Script
7 10 (1.54%) Perl
8 9 (1.38%) Lisp
9 7 (1.08%) MATLAB
10 5 (0.77%) VBA
11 3 (0.46%) Bicep
11 3 (0.46%) JavaScript
12 1 (0.15%) C#
12 1 (0.15%) C++
12 1 (0.15%) COBOL
12 1 (0.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 1 (0.15%) Korn
12 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.15%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 238 (36.56%) Security Cleared
2 198 (30.41%) SC Cleared
3 107 (16.44%) Cisco Certification
4 85 (13.06%) CCNP
5 57 (8.76%) Degree
6 44 (6.76%) CCNA
7 42 (6.45%) DV Cleared
8 24 (3.69%) CCIE
9 22 (3.38%) AWS Certification
10 16 (2.46%) PMP
11 14 (2.15%) PMI Certification
12 12 (1.84%) JNCIE
13 11 (1.69%) CISSP
14 9 (1.38%) A+ Certification
14 9 (1.38%) MCSE
14 9 (1.38%) Microsoft Certification
14 9 (1.38%) Network+ Certification
15 8 (1.23%) Azure Certification
15 8 (1.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
16 7 (1.08%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.23%) PMO
2 19 (2.92%) SLA
3 17 (2.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 16 (2.46%) NIST
4 16 (2.46%) PCI DSS
5 14 (2.15%) GDPR
5 14 (2.15%) QA
6 11 (1.69%) Data Quality
7 7 (1.08%) NCSC
8 4 (0.61%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.61%) GRC
9 1 (0.15%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.15%) COBIT
9 1 (0.15%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.15%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 1 (0.15%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.15%) RMADS
9 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.15%) SOC 2
System Software
1 72 (11.06%) VMware Infrastructure
2 52 (7.99%) Active Directory
3 38 (5.84%) VMware NSX
4 21 (3.23%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (2.76%) Hyper-V
6 14 (2.15%) Docker
6 14 (2.15%) vSphere
7 11 (1.69%) Firmware
7 11 (1.69%) KVM
8 9 (1.38%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.77%) HDFS
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%) vCloud
11 2 (0.31%) Xen
12 1 (0.15%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 69 (10.60%) Ansible
2 60 (9.22%) Terraform
3 31 (4.76%) FortiGate
4 24 (3.69%) SCCM
5 18 (2.76%) Kubernetes
6 14 (2.15%) Grafana
7 11 (1.69%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.54%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.38%) SCOM
10 7 (1.08%) Check_MK
10 7 (1.08%) Podman
10 7 (1.08%) Prometheus
10 7 (1.08%) Puppet
10 7 (1.08%) Red Hat Satellite
11 6 (0.92%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 6 (0.92%) CASB
11 6 (0.92%) SCOrch
12 5 (0.77%) Hadoop YARN
13 4 (0.61%) Nagios
13 4 (0.61%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 226 (34.72%) Cisco
2 94 (14.44%) Palo Alto
2 94 (14.44%) VMware
3 78 (11.98%) Microsoft
4 65 (9.98%) Dell
5 50 (7.68%) Juniper
6 44 (6.76%) F5
6 44 (6.76%) HP
7 41 (6.30%) CheckPoint
8 34 (5.22%) Apple
9 33 (5.07%) Aruba
9 33 (5.07%) Meraki
10 31 (4.76%) Fortinet
10 31 (4.76%) ServiceNow
11 29 (4.45%) SAP
12 22 (3.38%) Oracle
13 19 (2.92%) Citrix
14 15 (2.30%) SolarWinds
15 14 (2.15%) Google
15 14 (2.15%) Remedy