Linux Contract Job Trends in the South East

Linux
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Linux skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 34 28 20
Rank change year-on-year -6 -8 -2
Contract jobs citing Linux 303 181 436
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.01% 6.08% 7.66%
As % of the Operating Systems category 40.24% 33.77% 43.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 214 136 291
10th Percentile £286 £414 £355
25th Percentile £404 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £531 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.90% -0.75% +2.88%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £654 £632 £650
England median daily rate £510 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -7.27% - -8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 7 26
10th Percentile £26.37 £38.98 £26.25
25th Percentile £43.81 £51.78 £47.19
Median hourly rate £48.13 £57.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year -16.30% -8.00% -3.85%
75th Percentile £54.06 £59.44 £70.00
90th Percentile £64.20 £61.08 £75.00
England median hourly rate £63.14 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -2.87% - -

All Operating Systems
South East

Linux falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 753 536 1,004
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 12.46% 18.01% 17.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 505 383 653
10th Percentile £204 £200 £203
25th Percentile £325 £325 £321
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £490 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.06% +3.16% +2.70%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £650 £661 £669
England median daily rate £456 £465 £475
% change year-on-year -1.94% -2.11% -5.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 52 37 59
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £15.98
25th Percentile £20.46 £16.95 £18.00
Median hourly rate £38.96 £18.82 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +107.03% -60.38% -17.39%
75th Percentile £53.75 £28.00 £69.38
90th Percentile £60.00 £58.75 £74.00
England median hourly rate £34.68 £19.27 £22.50
% change year-on-year +79.94% -14.36% -47.06%

Linux
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Linux relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Linux job vacancy trend in the South East

Linux
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux

Linux
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Linux in the South East over the 6 months to 9 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Linux in the South East

Linux
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Linux

Linux
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Linux in the South East over the 6 months to 9 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Linux in the South East

Linux
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Linux within the South East region over the 6 months to 9 June 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
Thames Valley +11 189 £475 -5.00% 60
Berkshire -11 86 £410 -18.10% 30
Hampshire -16 75 £550 -2.22% 63
Buckinghamshire +13 68 £560 +33.17% 12
Oxfordshire +2 35 £450 -18.18% 18
Surrey -12 28 £208 -57.44% 33
West Sussex -19 4 £580 +7.81% 4
East Sussex - 3 £459 - 2
Middlesex - 1 £198 - 4
Isle of Wight - 1 - -
Sussex - 1 - - 1
Linux
England

Linux
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 17 (5.61%) Microsoft Exchange
2 6 (1.98%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.32%) Apache
3 4 (1.32%) Confluence
3 4 (1.32%) WebSphere
3 4 (1.32%) WebSphere Application Server
4 3 (0.99%) IIS
4 3 (0.99%) nginx
4 3 (0.99%) SharePoint
4 3 (0.99%) Tomcat
5 2 (0.66%) Appian
5 2 (0.66%) IBM HTTP Server
5 2 (0.66%) JBoss
5 2 (0.66%) Oracle HTTP Server
5 2 (0.66%) WebSphere Portal
6 1 (0.33%) SAS
Applications
1 4 (1.32%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.33%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 65 (21.45%) Azure
2 53 (17.49%) AWS
3 24 (7.92%) Entra ID
4 23 (7.59%) Microsoft 365
5 15 (4.95%) OpenShift
5 15 (4.95%) SaaS
6 12 (3.96%) GitHub
7 11 (3.63%) GitHub Actions
8 10 (3.30%) GCP
9 8 (2.64%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 8 (2.64%) IaaS
9 8 (2.64%) PaaS
10 7 (2.31%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (2.31%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (1.65%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (1.65%) Sauce Labs
12 4 (1.32%) Amazon ECS
12 4 (1.32%) Cloud Computing
13 3 (0.99%) Amazon EC2
13 3 (0.99%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 30 (9.90%) DNS
2 24 (7.92%) Firewall
3 16 (5.28%) WAN
4 14 (4.62%) LAN
5 13 (4.29%) VSAN
6 12 (3.96%) Network Security
6 12 (3.96%) TCP/IP
7 9 (2.97%) Cisco ASA
7 9 (2.97%) Cisco Firepower
7 9 (2.97%) VPN
8 8 (2.64%) SSH
8 8 (2.64%) Wireless
8 8 (2.64%) Wireshark
9 7 (2.31%) DHCP
9 7 (2.31%) SAN
9 7 (2.31%) Software-Defined Radio
10 6 (1.98%) Diameter Protocol
10 6 (1.98%) LTE
10 6 (1.98%) Radio Access Network
10 6 (1.98%) VoWiFi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (9.90%) SQL Server
2 24 (7.92%) MySQL
3 17 (5.61%) Relational Database
4 10 (3.30%) Oracle Database
5 7 (2.31%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (1.65%) Oracle Database 12c
7 3 (0.99%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.99%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.99%) Oracle Database 11g
7 3 (0.99%) Redis
8 2 (0.66%) DataStage
8 2 (0.66%) Electronic Patient Records
8 2 (0.66%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.66%) Oracle Reports
8 2 (0.66%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.66%) Vitess
9 1 (0.33%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.33%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.33%) Pentaho
9 1 (0.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (4.29%) JIRA
2 12 (3.96%) Jenkins
3 11 (3.63%) GitLab
4 9 (2.97%) Eclipse
5 8 (2.64%) Git
6 5 (1.65%) Android Studio
6 5 (1.65%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (1.65%) Maven
6 5 (1.65%) Xcode
7 4 (1.32%) Jaeger
7 4 (1.32%) Subversion
8 3 (0.99%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.66%) Burp Suite
9 2 (0.66%) Introscope
9 2 (0.66%) JUnit
9 2 (0.66%) Robot Framework
10 1 (0.33%) Metasploit
10 1 (0.33%) Mockito
10 1 (0.33%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.33%) Storybook
General
1 42 (13.86%) Social Skills
2 34 (11.22%) Public Sector
3 19 (6.27%) Military
4 18 (5.94%) Documentation Skills
5 17 (5.61%) Analytical Skills
6 9 (2.97%) Finance
7 6 (1.98%) Manufacturing
7 6 (1.98%) Retail
8 5 (1.65%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.32%) Financial Institution
10 3 (0.99%) Law
10 3 (0.99%) Telecoms
11 2 (0.66%) Aerospace
12 1 (0.33%) Advertising
12 1 (0.33%) Back Office
12 1 (0.33%) Electronics
12 1 (0.33%) Front Office
12 1 (0.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.33%) Legal
12 1 (0.33%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 41 (13.53%) Linux Engineer
1 41 (13.53%) Senior
2 32 (10.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 21 (6.93%) Architect
4 19 (6.27%) Technical Support
5 18 (5.94%) Analyst
6 17 (5.61%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
7 16 (5.28%) Software Engineer
7 16 (5.28%) Support Engineer
8 15 (4.95%) Network Engineer
9 13 (4.29%) Developer
9 13 (4.29%) DevOps Engineer
9 13 (4.29%) Technical Architect
9 13 (4.29%) Technical Engineer
9 13 (4.29%) Technical Support Engineer
10 12 (3.96%) Lead
11 11 (3.63%) Citrix Engineer
11 11 (3.63%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
11 11 (3.63%) DBA
11 11 (3.63%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (3.63%) YAML
2 10 (3.30%) Middleware
3 9 (2.97%) XML
4 8 (2.64%) Kafka
4 8 (2.64%) Loki
5 7 (2.31%) .NET
5 7 (2.31%) GraphQL
5 7 (2.31%) Yocto
6 6 (1.98%) CSS
6 6 (1.98%) JSON
6 6 (1.98%) Keycloak
6 6 (1.98%) React
7 5 (1.65%) Ajax
7 5 (1.65%) AngularJS
7 5 (1.65%) Elastic Stack
7 5 (1.65%) OpenTelemetry
8 4 (1.32%) 802.1X
8 4 (1.32%) LAMP
8 4 (1.32%) Web Services
9 3 (0.99%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 32 (10.56%) Onboarding
2 20 (6.60%) PKI
3 18 (5.94%) Data Centre
4 16 (5.28%) Public Cloud
5 14 (4.62%) Management Information System
6 12 (3.96%) Hybrid Cloud
7 10 (3.30%) Product Ownership
7 10 (3.30%) Security Operations Centre
8 9 (2.97%) Legacy Systems
8 9 (2.97%) Security Posture
9 8 (2.64%) Cyberattack
9 8 (2.64%) Operational Technology
10 7 (2.31%) Device Driver
10 7 (2.31%) Embedded Systems
10 7 (2.31%) SCADA
11 6 (1.98%) Analytical Mindset
11 6 (1.98%) Cyber Defence
11 6 (1.98%) MicroBlaze
11 6 (1.98%) Replication
11 6 (1.98%) RISC-V
Operating Systems
1 147 (48.51%) Windows
2 67 (22.11%) Unix
3 40 (13.20%) Windows Server
4 39 (12.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 14 (4.62%) Ubuntu
6 11 (3.63%) Embedded Linux
7 8 (2.64%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (2.31%) CentOS
8 7 (2.31%) Debian
9 6 (1.98%) Windows Server 2019
10 5 (1.65%) Android
11 4 (1.32%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.66%) Kali Linux
12 2 (0.66%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.66%) Oracle Linux
12 2 (0.66%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 2 (0.66%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.33%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.33%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 56 (18.48%) CI/CD
1 56 (18.48%) SIEM
2 42 (13.86%) DevOps
3 38 (12.54%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 38 (12.54%) Problem-Solving
4 36 (11.88%) ITIL
5 35 (11.55%) Cybersecurity
6 34 (11.22%) Agile
7 33 (10.89%) Computer Science
8 30 (9.90%) Runbook
9 29 (9.57%) High Availability
10 25 (8.25%) Containerisation
11 24 (7.92%) ITSM
12 23 (7.59%) Change Control
12 23 (7.59%) Infrastructure as Code
12 23 (7.59%) Migration
12 23 (7.59%) Root Cause Analysis
13 21 (6.93%) Privileged Access Management
13 21 (6.93%) Security Operations
13 21 (6.93%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 93 (30.69%) Python
2 61 (20.13%) PowerShell
3 32 (10.56%) Bash
4 26 (8.58%) SQL
5 24 (7.92%) Java
6 22 (7.26%) JavaScript
7 19 (6.27%) Perl
8 15 (4.95%) C
9 14 (4.62%) C++
10 11 (3.63%) Shell Script
11 6 (1.98%) Rust
12 5 (1.65%) Go
13 4 (1.32%) Embedded C++
14 3 (0.99%) Ada
14 3 (0.99%) Embedded C
14 3 (0.99%) Korn
14 3 (0.99%) PL/SQL
14 3 (0.99%) TypeScript
15 2 (0.66%) C#
15 2 (0.66%) Jython
Qualifications
1 196 (64.69%) Security Cleared
2 137 (45.21%) SC Cleared
3 72 (23.76%) DV Cleared
4 51 (16.83%) Degree
5 21 (6.93%) Computer Science Degree
6 16 (5.28%) Cisco Certification
7 14 (4.62%) RHCE
8 10 (3.30%) CCNP
9 8 (2.64%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (2.64%) CISSP
9 8 (2.64%) GIAC
10 7 (2.31%) RHCSA
11 6 (1.98%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 6 (1.98%) CESG Certified Professional
11 6 (1.98%) CISM
11 6 (1.98%) CRISC
11 6 (1.98%) LFCS
11 6 (1.98%) SANS
12 5 (1.65%) CCSE
12 5 (1.65%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (13.53%) NIST
2 29 (9.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 14 (4.62%) Cyber Essentials
4 12 (3.96%) SLA
5 9 (2.97%) NCSC
6 6 (1.98%) GDPR
6 6 (1.98%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.65%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.32%) GRC
9 3 (0.99%) JSP 440
9 3 (0.99%) NIST 800
9 3 (0.99%) QA
10 1 (0.33%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.33%) Data Quality
10 1 (0.33%) DICOM
10 1 (0.33%) HL7
10 1 (0.33%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 65 (21.45%) Active Directory
2 47 (15.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (7.92%) VMware NSX
4 10 (3.30%) Docker
4 10 (3.30%) Firmware
4 10 (3.30%) Hyper-V
5 9 (2.97%) VMware ESXi
6 7 (2.31%) vSphere
7 6 (1.98%) Embedded Firmware
8 5 (1.65%) Oracle RAC
9 3 (0.99%) Dovecot
9 3 (0.99%) Postfix
9 3 (0.99%) UAG
9 3 (0.99%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.33%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.33%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 39 (12.87%) Ansible
2 32 (10.56%) Kubernetes
3 30 (9.90%) Terraform
4 18 (5.94%) Grafana
4 18 (5.94%) Prometheus
5 10 (3.30%) Oracle RMAN
6 9 (2.97%) Red Hat Satellite
7 8 (2.64%) vCenter Server
8 7 (2.31%) Puppet
9 6 (1.98%) Rancher
10 5 (1.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (1.65%) Argo
10 5 (1.65%) Data Guard
11 4 (1.32%) Istio
11 4 (1.32%) Nessus
11 4 (1.32%) WSUS
12 3 (0.99%) HAProxy
12 3 (0.99%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 3 (0.99%) Podman
12 3 (0.99%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 78 (25.74%) VMware
2 57 (18.81%) Microsoft
3 52 (17.16%) Red Hat
4 45 (14.85%) Oracle
5 23 (7.59%) BeyondTrust
5 23 (7.59%) Cisco
5 23 (7.59%) Splunk
6 20 (6.60%) CyberArk
7 18 (5.94%) Citrix
8 14 (4.62%) Palo Alto
9 13 (4.29%) ServiceNow
10 10 (3.30%) NVIDIA
11 6 (1.98%) BT
11 6 (1.98%) CheckPoint
11 6 (1.98%) Ericsson
11 6 (1.98%) Fortinet
11 6 (1.98%) Huawei
11 6 (1.98%) IBM
11 6 (1.98%) Nokia
11 6 (1.98%) SolarWinds