LAN Contract Job Trends in England

Local Area Network (LAN)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring LAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 246 166 110
Rank change year-on-year -80 -56 +73
Contract jobs citing LAN 348 452 805
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.11% 1.57% 2.17%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 10.27% 12.27% 15.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 219 274 521
10th Percentile £205 £223 £200
25th Percentile £345 £335 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +5.56% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £627
90th Percentile £608 £650 £738
UK median daily rate £440 £471 £455
% change year-on-year -6.63% +3.57% +1.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 11 30
10th Percentile £12.97 £18.50 £17.70
25th Percentile £15.50 - £21.44
Median hourly rate £20.75 £20.00 £37.00
Median % change year-on-year +3.75% -45.95% +68.18%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.38 £50.00
90th Percentile £67.80 £71.25 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £21.44 £34.00
% change year-on-year +39.94% -36.95% +54.55%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
England

LAN falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 3,387 3,685 5,242
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.80% 12.80% 14.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,190 2,163 3,259
10th Percentile £206 £220 £210
25th Percentile £356 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% - -0.99%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £685 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 174 113 314
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.22 £18.68
25th Percentile £20.56 £21.46 £23.02
Median hourly rate £32.00 £35.00 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -8.57% -38.04% +25.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £66.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £73.75 £76.21
UK median hourly rate £32.00 £35.00 £56.45
% change year-on-year -8.57% -37.99% +37.57%

LAN
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing LAN relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

LAN job vacancy trend in England

LAN
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing LAN.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing LAN

LAN
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing LAN in England over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for LAN in England

LAN
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing LAN.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing LAN

LAN
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing LAN in England over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for LAN in England

LAN
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 LAN within the England region over the 6 months to 21 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 -7 135 £450 -10.00% 60
South East -27 71 £498 +12.11% 66
North of England -77 52 £238 -47.22% 31
North West -48 38 £175 -62.57% 19
Midlands -62 37 £425 -2.86% 28
West Midlands -30 34 £450 -10.00% 23
East of England -25 30 £280 -49.09% 14
Yorkshire -72 12 £238 -1.04% 13
South West -33 11 £506 +22.73% 19
East Midlands -47 3 £258 -26.43% 5
North East -4 2 £550 -
South Coast - 1 £575 -
LAN
UK

LAN
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 25 (7.18%) SharePoint
2 15 (4.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (3.45%) OpenStack
4 6 (1.72%) Skype for Business
5 5 (1.44%) Confluence
6 1 (0.29%) Apache
6 1 (0.29%) CICS
6 1 (0.29%) IIS
6 1 (0.29%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.29%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 28 (8.05%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (4.31%) MS Visio
3 12 (3.45%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (3.16%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.57%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.29%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 1 (0.29%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 73 (20.98%) Azure
2 52 (14.94%) AWS
3 38 (10.92%) Microsoft 365
4 17 (4.89%) Entra ID
4 17 (4.89%) GCP
5 9 (2.59%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 6 (1.72%) OpenShift
7 5 (1.44%) Azure DevOps
7 5 (1.44%) Microsoft Purview
8 4 (1.15%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 4 (1.15%) Serverless
9 3 (0.86%) AWS Direct Connect
9 3 (0.86%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.57%) Azure Functions
10 2 (0.57%) Azure Logic Apps
10 2 (0.57%) Azure Monitor
10 2 (0.57%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.57%) Azure Service Bus
10 2 (0.57%) Google Ads
10 2 (0.57%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 268 (77.01%) WAN
2 165 (47.41%) Firewall
3 108 (31.03%) VPN
4 87 (25.00%) SD-WAN
5 85 (24.43%) Wi-Fi
6 68 (19.54%) BGP
7 64 (18.39%) DNS
8 61 (17.53%) Network Security
8 61 (17.53%) Wireless
9 59 (16.95%) TCP/IP
10 53 (15.23%) OSPF
11 52 (14.94%) DHCP
12 43 (12.36%) Cisco Nexus
12 43 (12.36%) MPLS
12 43 (12.36%) VLAN
13 38 (10.92%) WLAN
14 24 (6.90%) Cisco ASA
14 24 (6.90%) IPsec
15 18 (5.17%) Cisco IOS
15 18 (5.17%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.16%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.72%) Oracle Database
3 4 (1.15%) MS Access
4 3 (0.86%) Power BI
5 2 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
5 2 (0.57%) Apache Cassandra
5 2 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.29%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
6 1 (0.29%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.29%) MySQL
6 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 5 (1.44%) JIRA
2 1 (0.29%) Git
2 1 (0.29%) Jenkins
2 1 (0.29%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 96 (27.59%) Social Skills
2 50 (14.37%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (11.78%) Public Sector
4 32 (9.20%) Telecoms
5 27 (7.76%) Finance
6 25 (7.18%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (3.45%) Manufacturing
8 9 (2.59%) Military
9 8 (2.30%) Banking
9 8 (2.30%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.30%) Presentation Skills
10 6 (1.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 6 (1.72%) Local Government
11 5 (1.44%) Retail
12 4 (1.15%) Financial Institution
12 4 (1.15%) Legal
13 3 (0.86%) Influencing Skills
13 3 (0.86%) Marketing
14 2 (0.57%) Law
14 2 (0.57%) Police
Job Titles
1 94 (27.01%) Network Engineer
2 90 (25.86%) Architect
3 68 (19.54%) Network Architect
4 34 (9.77%) Analyst
5 25 (7.18%) Support Analyst
6 18 (5.17%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 18 (5.17%) Senior
6 18 (5.17%) Support Engineer
6 18 (5.17%) Technical Support
7 17 (4.89%) 2nd Line Support
8 16 (4.60%) IT Support
8 16 (4.60%) Project Manager
8 16 (4.60%) Technical Analyst
8 16 (4.60%) Technical Support Analyst
9 13 (3.74%) Lead
10 12 (3.45%) Solutions Architect
10 12 (3.45%) Technical Architect
11 11 (3.16%) IT Technician
11 11 (3.16%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 10 (2.87%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.01%) Middleware
2 6 (1.72%) NETCONF
2 6 (1.72%) REST
2 6 (1.72%) YANG
3 5 (1.44%) LDAP
4 3 (0.86%) 802.1X
4 3 (0.86%) EDI
4 3 (0.86%) SAML
5 2 (0.57%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.57%) Node.js
5 2 (0.57%) YAML
6 1 (0.29%) .NET
6 1 (0.29%) CSS
6 1 (0.29%) HTML
6 1 (0.29%) LAMP
6 1 (0.29%) LAPP Stack
6 1 (0.29%) libvirt
6 1 (0.29%) React
6 1 (0.29%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 61 (17.53%) Data Centre
2 20 (5.75%) Hybrid Cloud
3 15 (4.31%) NHS
4 11 (3.16%) Driving Licence
4 11 (3.16%) Onboarding
5 10 (2.87%) CMDB
5 10 (2.87%) Management Information System
6 7 (2.01%) Data Protection Act
7 6 (1.72%) Cloud Native
7 6 (1.72%) PKI
7 6 (1.72%) SCADA
8 5 (1.44%) Operational Technology
8 5 (1.44%) Replication
8 5 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
8 5 (1.44%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (1.15%) iPhone
10 3 (0.86%) CCTV
10 3 (0.86%) Client/Server
10 3 (0.86%) Life Science
10 3 (0.86%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 86 (24.71%) Windows
2 35 (10.06%) Windows Server
3 26 (7.47%) Windows 10
4 17 (4.89%) Linux
5 13 (3.74%) Windows Server 2016
6 8 (2.30%) Android
6 8 (2.30%) Windows Server 2019
7 6 (1.72%) Windows 7
8 5 (1.44%) Apple iOS
8 5 (1.44%) Mac OS
9 4 (1.15%) Ubuntu
9 4 (1.15%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.57%) CatOS
10 2 (0.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.29%) Solaris
11 1 (0.29%) Unix
11 1 (0.29%) VMS
11 1 (0.29%) Windows 8
11 1 (0.29%) Windows Server 2003
11 1 (0.29%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 60 (17.24%) Network Design
2 55 (15.80%) Problem-Solving
3 41 (11.78%) Network Architecture
4 40 (11.49%) ITIL
5 34 (9.77%) Migration
6 29 (8.33%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 28 (8.05%) Cybersecurity
8 24 (6.90%) Customer Service
8 24 (6.90%) Network Monitoring
8 24 (6.90%) Service Management
8 24 (6.90%) Stakeholder Management
9 23 (6.61%) Project Delivery
10 21 (6.03%) Change Management
10 21 (6.03%) High Availability
10 21 (6.03%) Zero Trust
11 20 (5.75%) Incident Response
11 20 (5.75%) ITSM
11 20 (5.75%) Roadmaps
12 18 (5.17%) Continuous Improvement
12 18 (5.17%) Network Segmentation
Programming Languages
1 30 (8.62%) Python
2 19 (5.46%) PowerShell
3 8 (2.30%) SQL
4 6 (1.72%) VB
4 6 (1.72%) VBScript
5 5 (1.44%) Perl
6 2 (0.57%) Bicep
7 1 (0.29%) Bash
7 1 (0.29%) C#
7 1 (0.29%) Java
7 1 (0.29%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.29%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.29%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 110 (31.61%) Security Cleared
2 99 (28.45%) Cisco Certification
3 80 (22.99%) CCNP
4 74 (21.26%) SC Cleared
5 43 (12.36%) Degree
6 37 (10.63%) DV Cleared
7 33 (9.48%) CCIE
8 28 (8.05%) CCNA
9 20 (5.75%) JNCIE
10 13 (3.74%) AWS Certification
11 10 (2.87%) JNCIP
11 10 (2.87%) Microsoft Certification
12 8 (2.30%) Azure Certification
12 8 (2.30%) CISSP
12 8 (2.30%) JNCIS
13 7 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
13 7 (2.01%) CCSA
13 7 (2.01%) CCSE
13 7 (2.01%) MCP
13 7 (2.01%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (3.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 9 (2.59%) NIST
2 9 (2.59%) SLA
3 8 (2.30%) GDPR
4 7 (2.01%) PCI DSS
5 4 (1.15%) PMO
5 4 (1.15%) QA
6 2 (0.57%) Accessibility
6 2 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.57%) JSP 440
6 2 (0.57%) NCSC
7 1 (0.29%) GRC
7 1 (0.29%) MiFID
7 1 (0.29%) RMADS
System Software
1 57 (16.38%) Active Directory
2 27 (7.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (5.17%) VMware NSX
4 9 (2.59%) Hyper-V
5 6 (1.72%) Firmware
6 5 (1.44%) BitLocker
6 5 (1.44%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.86%) Docker
7 3 (0.86%) KVM
8 2 (0.57%) NFS
8 2 (0.57%) ProxySG
8 2 (0.57%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.57%) Xen
9 1 (0.29%) iptables
9 1 (0.29%) Lustre
9 1 (0.29%) Samba
9 1 (0.29%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.29%) SRDF
9 1 (0.29%) Veritas Cluster Server
9 1 (0.29%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 33 (9.48%) Ansible
2 29 (8.33%) Terraform
3 20 (5.75%) FortiGate
4 15 (4.31%) Microsoft Intune
5 14 (4.02%) SCCM
6 6 (1.72%) Single Sign-On
7 4 (1.15%) Nagios
7 4 (1.15%) SCOM
8 3 (0.86%) CA Spectrum
8 3 (0.86%) Cisco CUCM
8 3 (0.86%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.57%) Grafana
10 1 (0.29%) Endace
10 1 (0.29%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.29%) Kubernetes
10 1 (0.29%) PowerCLI
10 1 (0.29%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.29%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.29%) SELinux
10 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 168 (48.28%) Cisco
2 65 (18.68%) Fortinet
3 62 (17.82%) Microsoft
4 59 (16.95%) Palo Alto
5 55 (15.80%) Juniper
6 39 (11.21%) VMware
7 37 (10.63%) F5
8 32 (9.20%) CheckPoint
9 29 (8.33%) Meraki
10 23 (6.61%) SolarWinds
11 21 (6.03%) Aruba
12 20 (5.75%) ServiceNow
13 17 (4.89%) Zscaler
14 16 (4.60%) Citrix
15 9 (2.59%) Oracle
16 7 (2.01%) LogicMonitor
16 7 (2.01%) Remedy
16 7 (2.01%) Veeam
17 5 (1.44%) Arista
17 5 (1.44%) Infoblox