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 7 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 123 129 99
Rank change year-on-year +6 -30 +1
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 779 537 871
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.14% 2.09% 2.28%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.33% 6.23% 7.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 501 336 606
10th Percentile £278 £349 £288
25th Percentile £375 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.95% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £580 £638 £638
90th Percentile £688 £709 £700
UK median daily rate £478 £513 £525
% change year-on-year -6.83% -2.38% -4.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 13 38
10th Percentile £19.49 - £21.25
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £22.13
Median hourly rate £25.77 £24.66 £24.99
Median % change year-on-year +4.50% -1.33% -55.05%
75th Percentile £72.00 £29.25 £40.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £64.00 £49.13
UK median hourly rate £25.77 £24.42 £24.87
% change year-on-year +5.53% -1.81% +10.53%

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 12,313 8,624 11,791
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.82% 33.55% 30.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,806 5,423 7,703
10th Percentile £290 £281 £256
25th Percentile £409 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £547 £545
Median % change year-on-year -6.31% +0.37% -5.22%
75th Percentile £628 £669 £659
90th Percentile £750 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 603 286 783
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.85 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.89 £22.99 £16.25
Median hourly rate £34.00 £35.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% +16.67% +33.33%
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £80.80 £83.71 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £33.50 £32.50 £30.00
% change year-on-year +3.08% +8.33% +33.42%

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 7 March 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 7 March 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 7 March 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 -13 274 £525 - 175
North of England +17 190 £470 -1.05% 63
South East +16 147 £450 +2.27% 128
North West +21 102 £500 - 31
Midlands -28 76 £466 -23.24% 47
Yorkshire -15 73 £365 -8.75% 26
West Midlands -24 62 £474 -21.91% 19
South West -44 34 £550 -0.90% 45
East of England -14 32 £478 +13.14% 41
North East +1 17 £175 +59.09% 6
East Midlands -23 14 £158 -65.00% 28
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 (3.59%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (2.05%) Confluence
4 8 (1.03%) CICS
5 5 (0.64%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.51%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.39%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.39%) nginx
7 3 (0.39%) Smallworld
8 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.26%) HCL Notes
8 2 (0.26%) Tomcat
Applications
1 51 (6.55%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (3.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (3.47%) MS Visio
3 23 (2.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.93%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.39%) Adobe Illustrator
5 3 (0.39%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (0.51%) Oracle Financials
1 4 (0.51%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.39%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.26%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.26%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.26%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 2 (0.26%) Primavera
4 1 (0.13%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.13%) Maximo
4 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 133 (17.07%) Azure
2 106 (13.61%) AWS
3 63 (8.09%) Microsoft 365
4 40 (5.13%) GCP
5 22 (2.82%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 16 (2.05%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.05%) SaaS
7 14 (1.80%) Entra ID
8 13 (1.67%) IaaS
9 12 (1.54%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 12 (1.54%) OpenShift
10 11 (1.41%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 11 (1.41%) PaaS
11 9 (1.16%) Azure DevOps
12 8 (1.03%) Amazon S3
12 8 (1.03%) AWS CloudFormation
12 8 (1.03%) AWS Direct Connect
12 8 (1.03%) GitHub
12 8 (1.03%) OCI
13 7 (0.90%) AWS KMS
Communications & Networking
1 230 (29.53%) Firewall
2 146 (18.74%) WAN
3 114 (14.63%) BGP
4 90 (11.55%) LAN
5 80 (10.27%) Network Security
5 80 (10.27%) OSPF
5 80 (10.27%) VPN
6 71 (9.11%) Wireless
7 62 (7.96%) DNS
8 55 (7.06%) VXLAN
9 54 (6.93%) Structured Cabling
10 52 (6.68%) VLAN
11 47 (6.03%) DHCP
12 46 (5.91%) SAN
13 39 (5.01%) Cisco ISE
14 38 (4.88%) Wi-Fi
15 37 (4.75%) Ethernet VPN
16 32 (4.11%) MPLS
17 30 (3.85%) TCP/IP
18 28 (3.59%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.80%) Power BI
2 8 (1.03%) DataStage
3 6 (0.77%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.77%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.64%) GIS
5 4 (0.51%) MongoDB
5 4 (0.51%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.51%) Power Query
5 4 (0.51%) PowerPivot
5 4 (0.51%) RDBMS
6 3 (0.39%) Geospatial Data
6 3 (0.39%) InfluxDB
6 3 (0.39%) QGIS
6 3 (0.39%) SAP Data Services
7 1 (0.13%) Amazon RDS
7 1 (0.13%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.13%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.13%) Redis
7 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 32 (4.11%) Git
2 26 (3.34%) JIRA
3 17 (2.18%) Jenkins
4 15 (1.93%) GitLab
5 11 (1.41%) Maven
6 4 (0.51%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 4 (0.51%) Eclipse
6 4 (0.51%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.51%) Subversion
7 2 (0.26%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.26%) ScriptRunner
8 1 (0.13%) AppScan
8 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Metasploit
General
1 202 (25.93%) Social Skills
2 141 (18.10%) Finance
3 91 (11.68%) Analytical Skills
4 89 (11.42%) Public Sector
5 55 (7.06%) Documentation Skills
6 51 (6.55%) Telecoms
7 41 (5.26%) Banking
8 40 (5.13%) Manufacturing
9 30 (3.85%) Marketing
10 24 (3.08%) Electronics
11 19 (2.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 18 (2.31%) Influencing Skills
12 18 (2.31%) Presentation Skills
13 16 (2.05%) Legal
14 15 (1.93%) Retail
15 12 (1.54%) Investment Banking
15 12 (1.54%) Organisational Skills
16 8 (1.03%) Military
17 7 (0.90%) Law
18 6 (0.77%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 136 (17.46%) Network Engineer
2 105 (13.48%) Architect
3 77 (9.88%) Project Manager
4 58 (7.45%) Senior
5 55 (7.06%) Analyst
6 53 (6.80%) Data Centre Engineer
7 41 (5.26%) Data Centre Manager
8 39 (5.01%) Network Architect
9 35 (4.49%) IT Support
10 34 (4.36%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 33 (4.24%) Lead
12 30 (3.85%) Infrastructure Manager
13 28 (3.59%) Cisco Engineer
14 27 (3.47%) Support Engineer
15 26 (3.34%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 26 (3.34%) Infrastructure Project Manager
16 25 (3.21%) Desktop Support
16 25 (3.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 25 (3.21%) Security Engineer
16 25 (3.21%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.11%) 802.1X
2 21 (2.70%) Middleware
3 7 (0.90%) LDAP
4 6 (0.77%) RFC 2544
4 6 (0.77%) Spring
5 4 (0.51%) ADO
5 4 (0.51%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.51%) Jinja
5 4 (0.51%) NETCONF
5 4 (0.51%) OpenConfig
5 4 (0.51%) Redfish
5 4 (0.51%) RESTCONF
5 4 (0.51%) Spring Boot
5 4 (0.51%) VML
5 4 (0.51%) XML
5 4 (0.51%) YANG
6 2 (0.26%) AWS CDK
6 2 (0.26%) CSS
6 2 (0.26%) EJB
6 2 (0.26%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 42 (5.39%) Hybrid Cloud
2 23 (2.95%) Analytical Mindset
3 22 (2.82%) PKI
4 21 (2.70%) Clustering
5 19 (2.44%) Onboarding
5 19 (2.44%) Self-Motivation
6 18 (2.31%) Driving Licence
6 18 (2.31%) Public Cloud
7 16 (2.05%) Replication
8 14 (1.80%) Management Information System
9 13 (1.67%) Cloud Native
10 12 (1.54%) Mainframe
11 11 (1.41%) Fibre Optics
12 10 (1.28%) Data Protection Act
12 10 (1.28%) Private Cloud
13 8 (1.03%) BYOD
13 8 (1.03%) Enterprise Storage
13 8 (1.03%) VSAM
14 7 (0.90%) SCADA
14 7 (0.90%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 105 (13.48%) Windows
2 88 (11.30%) Linux
3 42 (5.39%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.11%) Android
4 32 (4.11%) Mac OS
5 27 (3.47%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 15 (1.93%) Unix
7 12 (1.54%) AIX
8 11 (1.41%) CentOS
9 10 (1.28%) Solaris
10 6 (0.77%) VMS
11 5 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.39%) Windows 10
13 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
14 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 132 (16.94%) Migration
2 124 (15.92%) Problem-Solving
3 93 (11.94%) Stakeholder Management
4 68 (8.73%) ITIL
5 67 (8.60%) Project Management
6 58 (7.45%) Change Management
6 58 (7.45%) Project Delivery
7 56 (7.19%) Agile
7 56 (7.19%) Continuous Improvement
7 56 (7.19%) Roadmaps
8 51 (6.55%) High Availability
8 51 (6.55%) Load Balancing
9 50 (6.42%) CI/CD
10 44 (5.65%) Data Centre Operations
10 44 (5.65%) Infrastructure as Code
10 44 (5.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 41 (5.26%) Change Control
11 41 (5.26%) Cybersecurity
11 41 (5.26%) Network Design
12 40 (5.13%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 70 (8.99%) Python
2 47 (6.03%) PowerShell
3 27 (3.47%) SQL
4 23 (2.95%) Bash
5 22 (2.82%) Java
6 15 (1.93%) Perl
7 11 (1.41%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.16%) Lisp
9 8 (1.03%) COBOL
10 7 (0.90%) MATLAB
11 5 (0.64%) Bicep
11 5 (0.64%) VBA
12 4 (0.51%) JavaScript
13 2 (0.26%) Korn
13 2 (0.26%) PL/SQL
14 1 (0.13%) C#
14 1 (0.13%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 1 (0.13%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 276 (35.43%) Security Cleared
2 212 (27.21%) SC Cleared
3 142 (18.23%) Cisco Certification
4 105 (13.48%) CCNP
5 65 (8.34%) Degree
6 57 (7.32%) CCNA
7 55 (7.06%) DV Cleared
8 24 (3.08%) CCIE
9 22 (2.82%) PMP
10 20 (2.57%) PMI Certification
11 19 (2.44%) AWS Certification
11 19 (2.44%) Network+ Certification
12 16 (2.05%) Microsoft Certification
13 15 (1.93%) A+ Certification
13 15 (1.93%) MCSE
14 14 (1.80%) JNCIS
15 13 (1.67%) JNCIP
16 12 (1.54%) CISSP
16 12 (1.54%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 11 (1.41%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.59%) PMO
2 22 (2.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (2.70%) SLA
4 20 (2.57%) NIST
5 19 (2.44%) PCI DSS
6 17 (2.18%) GDPR
7 16 (2.05%) QA
8 9 (1.16%) NCSC
9 7 (0.90%) Data Quality
10 5 (0.64%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.51%) GRC
12 3 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.39%) NIST 800
13 1 (0.13%) COBIT
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.13%) RMADS
13 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 62 (7.96%) VMware Infrastructure
2 55 (7.06%) Active Directory
3 33 (4.24%) VMware NSX
4 23 (2.95%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (2.44%) Firmware
6 15 (1.93%) Hyper-V
7 14 (1.80%) vSphere
8 13 (1.67%) Docker
9 10 (1.28%) KVM
10 9 (1.16%) VMware ESXi
11 2 (0.26%) Ceph
11 2 (0.26%) Lustre
11 2 (0.26%) PowerHA
11 2 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.26%) SRDF
11 2 (0.26%) vCloud
11 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.13%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.13%) NFS
12 1 (0.13%) Xen
Systems Management
1 75 (9.63%) Ansible
2 66 (8.47%) Terraform
3 45 (5.78%) FortiGate
4 29 (3.72%) Kubernetes
5 21 (2.70%) Grafana
5 21 (2.70%) SCCM
6 16 (2.05%) Microsoft Intune
7 12 (1.54%) Prometheus
8 7 (0.90%) CASB
8 7 (0.90%) Check_MK
8 7 (0.90%) Podman
8 7 (0.90%) Red Hat Satellite
8 7 (0.90%) SCOM
9 6 (0.77%) SCOrch
9 6 (0.77%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.51%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 4 (0.51%) Dell DRAC
10 4 (0.51%) Nagios
10 4 (0.51%) PowerCLI
10 4 (0.51%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 251 (32.22%) Cisco
2 97 (12.45%) Palo Alto
3 94 (12.07%) VMware
4 81 (10.40%) Microsoft
5 76 (9.76%) Dell
6 69 (8.86%) Juniper
7 59 (7.57%) F5
8 43 (5.52%) HP
9 42 (5.39%) CheckPoint
10 39 (5.01%) ServiceNow
11 37 (4.75%) Aruba
12 34 (4.36%) Meraki
13 32 (4.11%) Apple
14 31 (3.98%) SolarWinds
15 29 (3.72%) SAP
16 27 (3.47%) Fortinet
17 25 (3.21%) IBM
17 25 (3.21%) Oracle
18 24 (3.08%) Citrix
18 24 (3.08%) Splunk