WAN Contract Job Trends in the North West
Wide Area Network (WAN)
England > North West
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West citing WAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 102 | 96 | 62 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -6 | -34 | -13 |
| Contract jobs citing WAN | 79 | 45 | 57 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the North West | 1.99% | 1.89% | 2.44% |
| As % of the Communications & Networking category | 17.10% | 13.80% | 18.33% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 52 | 33 | 26 |
| 10th Percentile | £401 | - | £341 |
| 25th Percentile | £463 | £129 | £402 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £523 | £330 | £455 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +58.33% | -27.39% | -14.45% |
| 75th Percentile | £550 | £528 | £534 |
| 90th Percentile | £588 | £538 | £655 |
| England median daily rate | £505 | £475 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +6.32% | -5.00% | +2.56% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 10th Percentile | £17.31 | £33.95 | - |
| 25th Percentile | £19.26 | £45.88 | £18.03 |
| Median hourly rate | £23.56 | £66.50 | £18.07 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -64.58% | +268.12% | -62.23% |
| 75th Percentile | £27.81 | £68.71 | £18.10 |
| 90th Percentile | £29.72 | £69.58 | - |
| England median hourly rate | £19.00 | £30.00 | £70.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -36.67% | -57.14% | +204.35% |
All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
North West
WAN 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 citing communications or computer networking skills in the North West.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing communications or computer networking skills | 462 | 326 | 311 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West | 11.65% | 13.67% | 13.30% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 293 | 203 | 160 |
| 10th Percentile | £203 | £164 | £213 |
| 25th Percentile | £344 | £350 | £400 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £475 | £455 | £486 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.40% | -6.43% | -1.77% |
| 75th Percentile | £575 | £550 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £625 | £680 | £688 |
| England median daily rate | £500 | £488 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.56% | -2.50% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 16 | 18 | 8 |
| 10th Percentile | £16.25 | £15.50 | £29.91 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.25 | £16.25 | £42.66 |
| Median hourly rate | £19.57 | £20.00 | £48.56 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -2.16% | -58.81% | +188.02% |
| 75th Percentile | £34.50 | £67.25 | £51.91 |
| 90th Percentile | £66.26 | £74.26 | £52.08 |
| England median hourly rate | £45.00 | £34.00 | £57.38 |
| % change year-on-year | +32.35% | -40.74% | +1.57% |
WAN Job Vacancy Trend in the North West
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing WAN relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.
WAN Daily Rate Trend in the North West
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing WAN.
WAN Daily Rate Histogram in the North West
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing WAN in the North West over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
WAN Hourly Rate Trend in the North West
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing WAN.
WAN Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing WAN in the North West over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
WAN Contract Job Locations in the North West
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the North West region over the 6 months to 31 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | +19 | 26 | £550 | +37.50% | 1 |
| Cumbria | -4 | 26 | £517 | -1.52% | 2 |
| Manchester | -36 | 11 | £475 | +57.02% | 11 |
| Merseyside | -12 | 9 | £489 | +268.87% | 4 |
| Lancashire | -14 | 6 | £575 | +125.49% | 1 |
| WAN England |
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WAN Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Communications & Networking
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LAN | 59.5% | 47 |
| 2 | Firewall | 54.4% | 43 |
| 3 | Wireless | 48.1% | 38 |
| 4 | VPN | 46.8% | 37 |
| 5 | SD-WAN | 40.5% | 32 |
| 6 | Network Security | 38.0% | 30 |
| 7 | Wi-Fi | 30.4% | 24 |
| 8 | BGP | 21.5% | 17 |
| 8 | OSPF | 21.5% | 17 |
| 10 | DNS | 20.3% | 16 |
| 11 | Broadband | 16.5% | 13 |
| 11 | Converged Networks | 16.5% | 13 |
| 11 | VLAN | 16.5% | 13 |
| 14 | DHCP | 15.2% | 12 |
| 14 | MPLS | 15.2% | 12 |
| 16 | TCP/IP | 10.1% | 8 |
| 17 | Cisco IOS | 8.9% | 7 |
| 17 | DWDM | 8.9% | 7 |
| 17 | Ethernet VPN | 8.9% | 7 |
| 20 | Skype | 7.6% | 6 |