Network Security Contract Job Trends in Reading

Network Security
Berkshire > Reading

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Reading requiring Network Security skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 11 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 62 67 79
Rank change year-on-year +5 +12 -17
Contract jobs citing Network Security 11 22 13
As % of all contract jobs in Reading 1.55% 2.41% 1.32%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.00% 11.58% 6.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 8 9 11
10th Percentile £388 £405 £414
25th Percentile £419 £425 £466
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £625 £490
Median % change year-on-year -20.84% +27.55% -6.67%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £613
90th Percentile £827 - £740
Berkshire median daily rate £430 £600 £490
% change year-on-year -28.42% +22.45% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £57.50 -
Berkshire median hourly rate £20.00 £38.25 -
% change year-on-year -47.71% - -

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Reading

Network Security 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 Reading.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 100 190 213
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading 14.08% 20.81% 21.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 70 73 150
10th Percentile £255 £300 £205
25th Percentile £329 £400 £210
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £488 £448
Median % change year-on-year +0.51% +8.94% -14.76%
75th Percentile £599 £606 £577
90th Percentile £643 £650 £615
Berkshire median daily rate £430 £475 £413
% change year-on-year -9.47% +15.15% -17.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 1 2
10th Percentile £72.40 - £65.68
25th Percentile £76.00 £56.25 £66.69
Median hourly rate £84.00 £57.50 £69.25
Median % change year-on-year +46.09% -16.97% -
75th Percentile £89.88 £58.75 £72.69
90th Percentile £92.20 - £74.23
Berkshire median hourly rate £75.00 £38.25 £68.63
% change year-on-year +96.08% -44.27% +158.98%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend in Reading

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Network Security relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading.

Network Security job vacancy trend in Reading

Network Security
Daily Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security

Network Security
Daily Rate Histogram in Reading

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Security in Reading over the 6 months to 11 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Security in Reading

Network Security
Hourly Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security

Network Security
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Reading 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 1 (9.09%) Microsoft Exchange
1 1 (9.09%) Skype for Business
Cloud Services
1 5 (45.45%) Azure
2 3 (27.27%) AWS
2 3 (27.27%) Entra ID
3 2 (18.18%) GCP
4 1 (9.09%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (9.09%) Azure Sentinel
4 1 (9.09%) IaaS
4 1 (9.09%) PaaS
4 1 (9.09%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 5 (45.45%) Firewall
2 1 (9.09%) Intrusion Detection
2 1 (9.09%) Radio Access Network
2 1 (9.09%) Skype
2 1 (9.09%) Unified Communications
2 1 (9.09%) WebEx
General
1 7 (63.64%) Social Skills
2 6 (54.55%) Analytical Skills
3 2 (18.18%) Finance
4 1 (9.09%) Documentation Skills
4 1 (9.09%) Legal
4 1 (9.09%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 4 (36.36%) Architect
1 4 (36.36%) Security Architect
2 2 (18.18%) Analyst
2 2 (18.18%) Security Engineer
2 2 (18.18%) SOC Analyst
3 1 (9.09%) Cisco Consultant
3 1 (9.09%) Consultant
3 1 (9.09%) IP Architect
3 1 (9.09%) Network Architect
3 1 (9.09%) Network Engineer
3 1 (9.09%) Network Security Engineer
3 1 (9.09%) Network Support
3 1 (9.09%) Network Support Engineer
3 1 (9.09%) Project Manager - Cybersecurity
3 1 (9.09%) Security Manager
3 1 (9.09%) Senior
3 1 (9.09%) Senior Manager
3 1 (9.09%) Senior Project Manager
3 1 (9.09%) Solutions Architect
3 1 (9.09%) Support Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 5 (45.45%) Security Posture
2 2 (18.18%) Cloud Native
2 2 (18.18%) Cloud Security Posture
2 2 (18.18%) Enterprise Software
2 2 (18.18%) Hybrid Cloud
2 2 (18.18%) Management Information System
2 2 (18.18%) Public Cloud
2 2 (18.18%) Security Operations Centre
3 1 (9.09%) Clustering
3 1 (9.09%) Cyber Security Posture
3 1 (9.09%) Cyber Threat
3 1 (9.09%) Legacy Systems
3 1 (9.09%) Operational Technology
3 1 (9.09%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 2 (18.18%) Linux
1 2 (18.18%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (72.73%) SIEM
2 7 (63.64%) Cybersecurity
3 6 (54.55%) Problem-Solving
3 6 (54.55%) Security Architecture
4 4 (36.36%) Vulnerability Management
5 3 (27.27%) Analytical Thinking
5 3 (27.27%) Application Security
5 3 (27.27%) Cloud Security
5 3 (27.27%) Continuous Improvement
5 3 (27.27%) Data Privacy
5 3 (27.27%) DevOps
5 3 (27.27%) Roadmaps
5 3 (27.27%) TOGAF
6 2 (18.18%) Architectural Patterns
6 2 (18.18%) CI/CD
6 2 (18.18%) Incident Response
6 2 (18.18%) Malware Analysis
6 2 (18.18%) Mentoring
6 2 (18.18%) SDLC
6 2 (18.18%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 3 (27.27%) PowerShell
1 3 (27.27%) Python
2 1 (9.09%) Kusto Query Language
2 1 (9.09%) SQL
Qualifications
1 8 (72.73%) CISSP
2 5 (45.45%) Cisco Certification
3 4 (36.36%) Degree
4 3 (27.27%) Azure Certification
4 3 (27.27%) Security Cleared
5 2 (18.18%) (ISC)2 CCSP
5 2 (18.18%) AWS Certification
5 2 (18.18%) CCNA
5 2 (18.18%) CCNP
5 2 (18.18%) CCSP
5 2 (18.18%) CEH
5 2 (18.18%) CFCE
5 2 (18.18%) Computer Science Degree
5 2 (18.18%) GCFA
5 2 (18.18%) GCIA
5 2 (18.18%) GCIH
5 2 (18.18%) GIAC
5 2 (18.18%) Microsoft Certification
5 2 (18.18%) SC Cleared
6 1 (9.09%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (45.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 5 (45.45%) NIST
2 4 (36.36%) GDPR
3 2 (18.18%) PCI DSS
3 2 (18.18%) PSD2
4 1 (9.09%) HIPAA
System Software
1 2 (18.18%) Docker
2 1 (9.09%) Active Directory
2 1 (9.09%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 2 (18.18%) Kubernetes
2 1 (9.09%) Failover Clustering
2 1 (9.09%) Kibana
Vendors
1 3 (27.27%) Microsoft
2 2 (18.18%) Cisco
2 2 (18.18%) FireEye
2 2 (18.18%) Splunk
2 2 (18.18%) Tanium
3 1 (9.09%) ArcSight
3 1 (9.09%) CrowdStrike
3 1 (9.09%) LogRhythm
3 1 (9.09%) Polycom
3 1 (9.09%) SolarWinds
3 1 (9.09%) Tenable