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 requiring WAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 91 64 51
Rank change year-on-year -27 -13 +32
Contract jobs citing WAN 49 57 98
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 2.02% 2.47% 3.57%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.76% 18.15% 20.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 35 26 79
10th Percentile - £341 £360
25th Percentile £129 £398 £461
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £335 £450 £550
Median % change year-on-year -25.56% -18.18% +22.22%
75th Percentile £534 £523 £649
90th Percentile £558 £630 £672
England median daily rate £450 £500 £497
% change year-on-year -10.00% +0.70% +8.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 1 1
10th Percentile £33.95 - -
25th Percentile £45.88 £18.03 -
Median hourly rate £66.50 £18.07 £47.83
Median % change year-on-year +268.12% -62.23% +17.88%
75th Percentile £68.71 £18.10 -
90th Percentile £69.58 - -
England median hourly rate £30.00 £70.00 £23.00
% change year-on-year -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 requiring communications or computer networking skills in the North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 332 314 479
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 13.70% 13.58% 17.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 205 161 351
10th Percentile £170 £213 £300
25th Percentile £356 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £458 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.68% -5.00% +6.38%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £682 £685 £669
England median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.60% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 8 12
10th Percentile £15.50 £29.91 -
25th Percentile £17.75 £42.66 £15.75
Median hourly rate £23.50 £48.56 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -51.61% +174.04% -10.87%
75th Percentile £71.19 £51.91 £47.11
90th Percentile £74.26 £52.08 £49.78
England median hourly rate £34.00 £49.00 £56.49
% change year-on-year -30.61% -13.26% +26.38%

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 job vacancy trend 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.

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 18 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for WAN in the North West

WAN
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing WAN.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing WAN

WAN
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing WAN in the North West over the 6 months to 18 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for WAN in the North West

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 18 November 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
Merseyside +1 16 £133 -41.11% 3
Cumbria +11 15 £525 +12.42%
Cheshire -19 10 £400 -11.11% 9
Manchester -19 4 £303 -32.78% 13
Lancashire -12 3 £255 -24.44% 8
WAN
England

WAN
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 6 (12.24%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (10.20%) Skype for Business
3 2 (4.08%) SharePoint
Applications
1 6 (12.24%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (8.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (8.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 4 (8.16%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 4 (8.16%) Azure
2 2 (4.08%) Microsoft 365
3 1 (2.04%) Entra ID
3 1 (2.04%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 35 (71.43%) LAN
2 19 (38.78%) Wi-Fi
3 17 (34.69%) Firewall
4 9 (18.37%) NetScaler
5 8 (16.33%) Cisco ISE
5 8 (16.33%) VPN
6 6 (12.24%) DHCP
6 6 (12.24%) DNS
6 6 (12.24%) Network Security
6 6 (12.24%) SD-WAN
7 5 (10.20%) Skype
7 5 (10.20%) TCP/IP
7 5 (10.20%) VLAN
8 4 (8.16%) Cisco IOS
8 4 (8.16%) MPLS
8 4 (8.16%) WLAN
9 3 (6.12%) BGP
9 3 (6.12%) Cisco Nexus
9 3 (6.12%) NX-OS
10 2 (4.08%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (8.16%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 1 (2.04%) JIRA
1 1 (2.04%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 7 (14.29%) Public Sector
2 5 (10.20%) Analytical Skills
2 5 (10.20%) Finance
3 4 (8.16%) Banking
3 4 (8.16%) Presentation Skills
3 4 (8.16%) Social Skills
4 1 (2.04%) Documentation Skills
4 1 (2.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 1 (2.04%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 19 (38.78%) Network Engineer
2 15 (30.61%) IT Technician
3 6 (12.24%) Architect
3 6 (12.24%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
3 6 (12.24%) Senior
4 4 (8.16%) Senior Network Engineer
5 3 (6.12%) Network Architect
5 3 (6.12%) Risk Management Specialist
5 3 (6.12%) Technical Architect
6 2 (4.08%) Analyst
6 2 (4.08%) Field Engineer
6 2 (4.08%) Field Service Engineer
7 1 (2.04%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 1 (2.04%) IT Support Analyst
7 1 (2.04%) Network Support
7 1 (2.04%) Network Support Engineer
7 1 (2.04%) Senior Analyst
7 1 (2.04%) Senior Support Analyst
7 1 (2.04%) Server Engineer
7 1 (2.04%) Technical Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (18.37%) 802.1X
2 1 (2.04%) Middleware
2 1 (2.04%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 10 (20.41%) Data Centre
2 1 (2.04%) Security Posture
2 1 (2.04%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 6 (12.24%) Windows
1 6 (12.24%) Windows 10
1 6 (12.24%) Windows 7
2 1 (2.04%) Windows 8
2 1 (2.04%) Windows Server
2 1 (2.04%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 21 (42.86%) Service Management
2 15 (30.61%) Customer Service
3 14 (28.57%) Network Architecture
4 9 (18.37%) Impact Assessments
4 9 (18.37%) Network Design
5 8 (16.33%) Load Balancing
5 8 (16.33%) Problem-Solving
6 7 (14.29%) Network Management
7 6 (12.24%) ITSM
8 5 (10.20%) Analytics
8 5 (10.20%) Data Analytics
8 5 (10.20%) Disk Encryption
9 4 (8.16%) Analytical Thinking
9 4 (8.16%) Compliance Audit
9 4 (8.16%) Risk Assessment
9 4 (8.16%) Risk Management
9 4 (8.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 4 (8.16%) Task Automation
10 3 (6.12%) Disaster Recovery
10 3 (6.12%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 6 (12.24%) PowerShell
1 6 (12.24%) Python
2 5 (10.20%) VB
2 5 (10.20%) VBScript
3 3 (6.12%) Perl
Qualifications
1 18 (36.73%) Security Cleared
2 12 (24.49%) SC Cleared
3 7 (14.29%) CCNP
3 7 (14.29%) Cisco Certification
4 5 (10.20%) DV Cleared
5 3 (6.12%) CCDP
6 2 (4.08%) CCIE
6 2 (4.08%) CCNA
7 1 (2.04%) BPSS Clearance
7 1 (2.04%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (2.04%) California Consumer Privacy Act
1 1 (2.04%) GDPR
1 1 (2.04%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 5 (10.20%) BitLocker
2 4 (8.16%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 5 (10.20%) SCCM
2 2 (4.08%) Ansible
3 1 (2.04%) FortiGate
3 1 (2.04%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (2.04%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 17 (34.69%) Cisco
2 16 (32.65%) Palo Alto
3 15 (30.61%) Meraki
4 12 (24.49%) Microsoft
5 6 (12.24%) ServiceNow
6 4 (8.16%) F5
6 4 (8.16%) SolarWinds
7 2 (4.08%) Fortinet
8 1 (2.04%) CheckPoint
8 1 (2.04%) Citrix
8 1 (2.04%) LogicMonitor
8 1 (2.04%) McAfee
8 1 (2.04%) VMware