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 15 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 31 28 21
Rank change year-on-year -3 -7 0
Contract jobs citing Linux 314 185 396
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.33% 6.24% 7.24%
As % of the Operating Systems category 41.92% 36.13% 40.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 222 137 274
10th Percentile £208 £413 £352
25th Percentile £401 £463 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £600
90th Percentile £655 £675 £638
England median daily rate £513 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -6.82% - -8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 11 21
10th Percentile £19.38 £45.00 £35.00
25th Percentile £43.81 £51.78 £50.00
Median hourly rate £47.54 £57.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year -17.32% -8.00% -3.85%
75th Percentile £53.75 £62.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £68.80 £63.75 £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 749 512 966
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 12.71% 17.26% 17.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 509 365 642
10th Percentile £200 £200 £200
25th Percentile £319 £325 £281
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.00% +11.11% -3.23%
75th Percentile £570 £588 £575
90th Percentile £650 £675 £638
England median daily rate £450 £469 £470
% change year-on-year -4.00% -0.27% -8.29%
Number of hourly rates quoted 51 35 56
10th Percentile £15.62 £14.20 £15.94
25th Percentile £26.80 £16.95 £17.69
Median hourly rate £47.50 £28.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +69.64% -41.05% -9.52%
75th Percentile £54.50 £58.72 £62.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £62.50 £71.88
England median hourly rate £47.50 £21.59 £22.00
% change year-on-year +120.01% -1.86% -42.11%

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 15 May 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 15 May 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 15 May 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 +9 187 £456 -5.35% 79
Berkshire -2 101 £403 -19.50% 34
Hampshire -17 82 £540 -6.09% 70
Buckinghamshire +7 56 £543 +29.18% 14
Surrey +4 35 £208 -58.50% 31
Oxfordshire +6 30 £450 -18.18% 31
East Sussex - 4 £459 - 1
Sussex - 2 - - 1
West Sussex -20 1 £700 +27.27% 8
Isle of Wight - 1 - -
Middlesex - 1 £198 -
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 16 (5.10%) Microsoft Exchange
2 6 (1.91%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.27%) WebSphere
3 4 (1.27%) WebSphere Application Server
4 3 (0.96%) Apache
4 3 (0.96%) Confluence
5 2 (0.64%) Appian
5 2 (0.64%) IBM HTTP Server
5 2 (0.64%) JBoss
5 2 (0.64%) Oracle HTTP Server
5 2 (0.64%) WebSphere Portal
6 1 (0.32%) SAS
6 1 (0.32%) SharePoint
Applications
1 4 (1.27%) Microsoft Project
2 2 (0.64%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
1 1 (0.32%) Oracle EBS R12
1 1 (0.32%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 71 (22.61%) Azure
2 62 (19.75%) AWS
3 22 (7.01%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (5.73%) Entra ID
5 17 (5.41%) OpenShift
5 17 (5.41%) SaaS
6 13 (4.14%) GitHub
7 12 (3.82%) GCP
7 12 (3.82%) GitHub Actions
8 11 (3.50%) Amazon EKS
9 10 (3.18%) IaaS
10 9 (2.87%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 9 (2.87%) PaaS
11 7 (2.23%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (1.91%) Amazon EC2
12 6 (1.91%) Azure DevOps
12 6 (1.91%) Azure Sentinel
12 6 (1.91%) Cloud Computing
12 6 (1.91%) Sauce Labs
13 5 (1.59%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 29 (9.24%) DNS
2 23 (7.32%) Firewall
3 21 (6.69%) TCP/IP
4 16 (5.10%) WAN
5 14 (4.46%) LAN
6 12 (3.82%) VSAN
7 8 (2.55%) DHCP
7 8 (2.55%) SAN
7 8 (2.55%) Wireless
7 8 (2.55%) Wireshark
8 7 (2.23%) Software-Defined Radio
8 7 (2.23%) SSH
9 6 (1.91%) 5G
9 6 (1.91%) Diameter Protocol
9 6 (1.91%) LTE
9 6 (1.91%) Network Security
9 6 (1.91%) Radio Access Network
9 6 (1.91%) VoLTE
9 6 (1.91%) VoWiFi
9 6 (1.91%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (8.60%) SQL Server
2 23 (7.32%) MySQL
3 20 (6.37%) Relational Database
4 13 (4.14%) Oracle Database
5 10 (3.18%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (2.23%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (1.27%) Oracle Database 12c
7 4 (1.27%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (1.27%) Redis
8 2 (0.64%) Electronic Patient Records
8 2 (0.64%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.64%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.64%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.64%) Vitess
9 1 (0.32%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.32%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.32%) Oracle Exadata
9 1 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 1 (0.32%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 16 (5.10%) Jenkins
2 13 (4.14%) JIRA
3 11 (3.50%) Git
4 10 (3.18%) Eclipse
4 10 (3.18%) GitLab
5 6 (1.91%) Android Studio
5 6 (1.91%) Browser DevTools
5 6 (1.91%) Xcode
6 5 (1.59%) Maven
7 4 (1.27%) Jaeger
7 4 (1.27%) Subversion
8 2 (0.64%) Burp Suite
8 2 (0.64%) Introscope
8 2 (0.64%) JUnit
8 2 (0.64%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.32%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.32%) Metasploit
9 1 (0.32%) Mockito
9 1 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.32%) Storybook
General
1 47 (14.97%) Social Skills
2 32 (10.19%) Public Sector
3 21 (6.69%) Military
4 17 (5.41%) Analytical Skills
5 14 (4.46%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (2.87%) Finance
7 7 (2.23%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (1.59%) Manufacturing
9 4 (1.27%) Financial Institution
9 4 (1.27%) Retail
10 3 (0.96%) Aerospace
10 3 (0.96%) Law
10 3 (0.96%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.32%) Advertising
11 1 (0.32%) Back Office
11 1 (0.32%) Banking
11 1 (0.32%) Electronics
11 1 (0.32%) Front Office
11 1 (0.32%) Legal
11 1 (0.32%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 36 (11.46%) Linux Engineer
2 35 (11.15%) Senior
3 28 (8.92%) Architect
4 27 (8.60%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 22 (7.01%) Technical Support
6 21 (6.69%) Analyst
7 19 (6.05%) Software Engineer
7 19 (6.05%) Support Engineer
8 18 (5.73%) DevOps Engineer
9 16 (5.10%) Technical Architect
10 14 (4.46%) DBA
10 14 (4.46%) Technical Engineer
10 14 (4.46%) Technical Support Engineer
11 13 (4.14%) Developer
11 13 (4.14%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 12 (3.82%) Lead
13 11 (3.50%) Administrator
13 11 (3.50%) Network Engineer
13 11 (3.50%) Oracle DBA
13 11 (3.50%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (4.14%) Middleware
2 11 (3.50%) XML
3 10 (3.18%) YAML
4 8 (2.55%) .NET
4 8 (2.55%) GraphQL
4 8 (2.55%) JSON
4 8 (2.55%) Loki
5 7 (2.23%) CSS
5 7 (2.23%) Elastic Stack
5 7 (2.23%) Kafka
5 7 (2.23%) React
5 7 (2.23%) Yocto
6 6 (1.91%) Ajax
6 6 (1.91%) AngularJS
7 5 (1.59%) OpenTelemetry
8 4 (1.27%) Keycloak
8 4 (1.27%) Web Services
9 3 (0.96%) LDAP
9 3 (0.96%) Oracle GoldenGate
9 3 (0.96%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 27 (8.60%) Onboarding
2 17 (5.41%) Data Centre
2 17 (5.41%) PKI
3 15 (4.78%) Public Cloud
4 12 (3.82%) Cloud Native
4 12 (3.82%) Hybrid Cloud
4 12 (3.82%) Management Information System
5 10 (3.18%) Security Operations Centre
6 9 (2.87%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.87%) Security Posture
7 8 (2.55%) Cyberattack
7 8 (2.55%) Operational Technology
8 7 (2.23%) Device Driver
8 7 (2.23%) Embedded Systems
8 7 (2.23%) Product Ownership
8 7 (2.23%) SCADA
9 6 (1.91%) Cyber Defence
9 6 (1.91%) MicroBlaze
9 6 (1.91%) Mobile App
9 6 (1.91%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 155 (49.36%) Windows
2 64 (20.38%) Unix
3 43 (13.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 38 (12.10%) Windows Server
5 14 (4.46%) Ubuntu
6 11 (3.50%) Embedded Linux
7 8 (2.55%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (1.91%) Android
8 6 (1.91%) Debian
9 4 (1.27%) CentOS
9 4 (1.27%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.64%) Kali Linux
10 2 (0.64%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.64%) Oracle Linux
10 2 (0.64%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 2 (0.64%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.32%) OpenVMS
11 1 (0.32%) VMS
11 1 (0.32%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (22.29%) CI/CD
2 55 (17.52%) DevOps
3 54 (17.20%) SIEM
4 43 (13.69%) Agile
5 42 (13.38%) Problem-Solving
6 34 (10.83%) Containerisation
6 34 (10.83%) Cybersecurity
6 34 (10.83%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 34 (10.83%) ITIL
7 33 (10.51%) Computer Science
8 29 (9.24%) High Availability
8 29 (9.24%) Infrastructure as Code
9 26 (8.28%) Platform Engineering
10 25 (7.96%) Runbook
10 25 (7.96%) Software Engineering
11 23 (7.32%) Migration
12 22 (7.01%) Root Cause Analysis
13 21 (6.69%) Change Control
13 21 (6.69%) DevSecOps
13 21 (6.69%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 96 (30.57%) Python
2 57 (18.15%) PowerShell
3 37 (11.78%) Bash
4 29 (9.24%) SQL
5 27 (8.60%) Java
6 25 (7.96%) JavaScript
7 23 (7.32%) Perl
8 14 (4.46%) C
8 14 (4.46%) C++
9 13 (4.14%) Shell Script
10 5 (1.59%) Go
11 4 (1.27%) Embedded C++
11 4 (1.27%) PL/SQL
11 4 (1.27%) Rust
12 3 (0.96%) Ada
12 3 (0.96%) C#
12 3 (0.96%) Embedded C
12 3 (0.96%) Korn
12 3 (0.96%) TypeScript
13 2 (0.64%) Scala
Qualifications
1 199 (63.38%) Security Cleared
2 132 (42.04%) SC Cleared
3 77 (24.52%) DV Cleared
4 46 (14.65%) Degree
5 24 (7.64%) Computer Science Degree
6 15 (4.78%) Cisco Certification
7 14 (4.46%) RHCE
8 9 (2.87%) CCNP
9 8 (2.55%) AWS Certification
9 8 (2.55%) CISSP
9 8 (2.55%) GIAC
10 6 (1.91%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 6 (1.91%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.91%) CESG Certified Professional
10 6 (1.91%) CISM
10 6 (1.91%) CRISC
10 6 (1.91%) ISTQB
10 6 (1.91%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 6 (1.91%) SANS
11 5 (1.59%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (10.83%) NIST
2 25 (7.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 15 (4.78%) Cyber Essentials
4 11 (3.50%) SLA
5 9 (2.87%) GDPR
5 9 (2.87%) NCSC
6 6 (1.91%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.59%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.27%) GRC
8 4 (1.27%) QA
9 3 (0.96%) JSP 440
9 3 (0.96%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.32%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.32%) Data Quality
10 1 (0.32%) DICOM
10 1 (0.32%) HL7
10 1 (0.32%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 57 (18.15%) Active Directory
2 51 (16.24%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (5.41%) Docker
4 16 (5.10%) VMware NSX
5 13 (4.14%) Hyper-V
6 10 (3.18%) Firmware
7 8 (2.55%) VMware ESXi
7 8 (2.55%) vSphere
8 6 (1.91%) Embedded Firmware
8 6 (1.91%) Oracle RAC
9 4 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.96%) UAG
11 1 (0.32%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.32%) GPFS
11 1 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 47 (14.97%) Ansible
2 42 (13.38%) Kubernetes
3 36 (11.46%) Terraform
4 20 (6.37%) Grafana
5 19 (6.05%) Prometheus
6 12 (3.82%) Oracle RMAN
7 10 (3.18%) Red Hat Satellite
8 8 (2.55%) Data Guard
8 8 (2.55%) Puppet
8 8 (2.55%) vCenter Server
9 7 (2.23%) Rancher
10 6 (1.91%) Argo
10 6 (1.91%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 5 (1.59%) WSUS
12 4 (1.27%) Istio
12 4 (1.27%) Nessus
13 3 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
14 2 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 2 (0.64%) Packer
14 2 (0.64%) Podman
Vendors
1 77 (24.52%) VMware
2 64 (20.38%) Microsoft
3 61 (19.43%) Red Hat
4 47 (14.97%) Oracle
5 29 (9.24%) Splunk
6 18 (5.73%) BeyondTrust
7 16 (5.10%) Cisco
7 16 (5.10%) CyberArk
8 10 (3.18%) Palo Alto
9 9 (2.87%) Citrix
9 9 (2.87%) ServiceNow
10 8 (2.55%) MuleSoft
11 7 (2.23%) NVIDIA
12 6 (1.91%) BT
12 6 (1.91%) Ericsson
12 6 (1.91%) Fortinet
12 6 (1.91%) Huawei
12 6 (1.91%) Nokia
13 5 (1.59%) CheckPoint
13 5 (1.59%) HP