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

6 months to
12 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 32 28 21
Rank change year-on-year -4 -7 0
Contract jobs citing Linux 312 194 402
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.31% 6.46% 7.29%
As % of the Operating Systems category 41.94% 37.45% 41.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 221 143 278
10th Percentile £206 £413 £354
25th Percentile £401 £463 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% -0.47%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £599
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 12 23
10th Percentile £19.38 £45.61 £32.00
25th Percentile £43.81 £52.14 £48.13
Median hourly rate £47.54 £57.63 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year -17.50% -7.80% -3.85%
75th Percentile £53.75 £62.81 £70.00
90th Percentile £68.80 £64.88 £74.00
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 744 518 975
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 12.65% 17.25% 17.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 508 369 648
10th Percentile £200 £200 £200
25th Percentile £313 £338 £281
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -7.00% +11.11% -4.18%
75th Percentile £565 £600 £575
90th Percentile £650 £675 £638
England median daily rate £450 £475 £470
% change year-on-year -5.26% +1.06% -8.29%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 35 58
10th Percentile £15.37 £14.20 £15.96
25th Percentile £23.11 £16.95 £17.69
Median hourly rate £47.54 £28.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +69.79% -41.05% -9.52%
75th Percentile £56.25 £58.75 £62.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £63.25 £71.13
England median hourly rate £47.50 £22.50 £22.00
% change year-on-year +111.11% +2.27% -41.21%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 +10 183 £450 -10.00% 91
Berkshire -6 99 £403 -19.50% 38
Hampshire -15 84 £538 -6.52% 73
Buckinghamshire +9 54 £543 +29.18% 18
Surrey +8 35 £208 -58.50% 28
Oxfordshire +3 30 £450 -18.18% 35
East Sussex - 4 £459 - 1
Sussex - 2 - - 3
West Sussex -18 1 £700 +27.27% 11
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 (5.13%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (1.60%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.28%) WebSphere
3 4 (1.28%) 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 (1.28%) 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 69 (22.12%) Azure
2 61 (19.55%) AWS
3 22 (7.05%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (5.77%) Entra ID
4 18 (5.77%) OpenShift
5 17 (5.45%) SaaS
6 14 (4.49%) GitHub
7 13 (4.17%) GitHub Actions
8 12 (3.85%) GCP
9 11 (3.53%) Amazon EKS
10 10 (3.21%) IaaS
11 9 (2.88%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 9 (2.88%) PaaS
12 7 (2.24%) AWS CloudFormation
13 6 (1.92%) Amazon EC2
13 6 (1.92%) Azure DevOps
13 6 (1.92%) Cloud Computing
13 6 (1.92%) Sauce Labs
14 5 (1.60%) Amazon ECS
14 5 (1.60%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 29 (9.29%) DNS
2 23 (7.37%) Firewall
3 21 (6.73%) TCP/IP
4 16 (5.13%) WAN
5 14 (4.49%) LAN
6 11 (3.53%) VSAN
7 8 (2.56%) DHCP
7 8 (2.56%) SAN
7 8 (2.56%) Wireless
8 7 (2.24%) Software-Defined Radio
8 7 (2.24%) SSH
8 7 (2.24%) Wireshark
9 6 (1.92%) Network Security
9 6 (1.92%) VPN
10 5 (1.60%) 5G
10 5 (1.60%) BGP
10 5 (1.60%) LTE
10 5 (1.60%) OSPF
10 5 (1.60%) Radio Access Network
10 5 (1.60%) VoLTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (8.65%) SQL Server
2 23 (7.37%) MySQL
3 20 (6.41%) Relational Database
4 12 (3.85%) Oracle Database
5 11 (3.53%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (2.24%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (1.28%) Oracle Database 12c
7 4 (1.28%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (1.28%) 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 17 (5.45%) Jenkins
2 13 (4.17%) JIRA
3 11 (3.53%) Git
4 10 (3.21%) Eclipse
4 10 (3.21%) GitLab
5 6 (1.92%) Android Studio
5 6 (1.92%) Browser DevTools
5 6 (1.92%) Xcode
6 5 (1.60%) Maven
7 4 (1.28%) Jaeger
7 4 (1.28%) Subversion
8 3 (0.96%) JUnit
9 2 (0.64%) Burp Suite
9 2 (0.64%) Introscope
9 2 (0.64%) Robot Framework
9 2 (0.64%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.32%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.32%) Mockito
10 1 (0.32%) Postman
10 1 (0.32%) Storybook
General
1 48 (15.38%) Social Skills
2 31 (9.94%) Public Sector
3 21 (6.73%) Military
4 18 (5.77%) Analytical Skills
5 14 (4.49%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (2.88%) Finance
7 7 (2.24%) Organisational Skills
8 4 (1.28%) Financial Institution
8 4 (1.28%) Manufacturing
9 3 (0.96%) Aerospace
9 3 (0.96%) Law
9 3 (0.96%) Retail
9 3 (0.96%) Telecoms
10 1 (0.32%) Advertising
10 1 (0.32%) Back Office
10 1 (0.32%) Banking
10 1 (0.32%) Electronics
10 1 (0.32%) Front Office
10 1 (0.32%) Legal
10 1 (0.32%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 36 (11.54%) Linux Engineer
2 35 (11.22%) Senior
3 28 (8.97%) Architect
4 26 (8.33%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 22 (7.05%) Technical Support
6 21 (6.73%) Analyst
7 20 (6.41%) Support Engineer
8 19 (6.09%) Software Engineer
9 18 (5.77%) DevOps Engineer
10 16 (5.13%) Technical Architect
11 14 (4.49%) Developer
11 14 (4.49%) Technical Engineer
11 14 (4.49%) Technical Support Engineer
12 13 (4.17%) DBA
12 13 (4.17%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
13 12 (3.85%) Lead
14 11 (3.53%) Tester
15 10 (3.21%) Administrator
15 10 (3.21%) Network Engineer
15 10 (3.21%) Oracle DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (4.17%) Middleware
2 11 (3.53%) XML
3 10 (3.21%) YAML
4 8 (2.56%) .NET
4 8 (2.56%) GraphQL
4 8 (2.56%) JSON
4 8 (2.56%) Kafka
4 8 (2.56%) Loki
5 7 (2.24%) CSS
5 7 (2.24%) Elastic Stack
5 7 (2.24%) React
5 7 (2.24%) Yocto
6 6 (1.92%) Ajax
6 6 (1.92%) AngularJS
7 5 (1.60%) OpenTelemetry
8 4 (1.28%) Keycloak
8 4 (1.28%) Web Services
9 3 (0.96%) LDAP
9 3 (0.96%) REST
9 3 (0.96%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 27 (8.65%) Onboarding
2 18 (5.77%) PKI
3 16 (5.13%) Data Centre
4 15 (4.81%) Public Cloud
5 12 (3.85%) Cloud Native
5 12 (3.85%) Hybrid Cloud
5 12 (3.85%) Management Information System
6 10 (3.21%) Security Operations Centre
7 9 (2.88%) Legacy Systems
7 9 (2.88%) Security Posture
8 8 (2.56%) Cyberattack
8 8 (2.56%) Operational Technology
9 7 (2.24%) Device Driver
9 7 (2.24%) Embedded Systems
9 7 (2.24%) Product Ownership
9 7 (2.24%) SCADA
10 6 (1.92%) Cyber Defence
10 6 (1.92%) MicroBlaze
10 6 (1.92%) Mobile App
10 6 (1.92%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 155 (49.68%) Windows
2 63 (20.19%) Unix
3 43 (13.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 39 (12.50%) Windows Server
5 14 (4.49%) Ubuntu
6 11 (3.53%) Embedded Linux
7 8 (2.56%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (1.92%) Android
8 6 (1.92%) Debian
9 4 (1.28%) CentOS
9 4 (1.28%) 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 71 (22.76%) CI/CD
2 55 (17.63%) DevOps
3 53 (16.99%) SIEM
4 45 (14.42%) Agile
5 43 (13.78%) Problem-Solving
6 34 (10.90%) Containerisation
6 34 (10.90%) Cybersecurity
7 33 (10.58%) Computer Science
7 33 (10.58%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 33 (10.58%) ITIL
8 29 (9.29%) Infrastructure as Code
9 27 (8.65%) High Availability
9 27 (8.65%) Platform Engineering
10 25 (8.01%) Runbook
10 25 (8.01%) Software Engineering
11 23 (7.37%) Migration
12 22 (7.05%) Root Cause Analysis
13 21 (6.73%) Change Control
13 21 (6.73%) DevSecOps
13 21 (6.73%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 95 (30.45%) Python
2 57 (18.27%) PowerShell
3 37 (11.86%) Bash
4 28 (8.97%) Java
4 28 (8.97%) SQL
5 25 (8.01%) JavaScript
6 23 (7.37%) Perl
7 14 (4.49%) C
7 14 (4.49%) C++
8 13 (4.17%) Shell Script
9 5 (1.60%) Go
10 4 (1.28%) Embedded C++
10 4 (1.28%) Rust
11 3 (0.96%) Ada
11 3 (0.96%) C#
11 3 (0.96%) Embedded C
11 3 (0.96%) Korn
11 3 (0.96%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.96%) TypeScript
12 2 (0.64%) Scala
Qualifications
1 198 (63.46%) Security Cleared
2 131 (41.99%) SC Cleared
3 77 (24.68%) DV Cleared
4 46 (14.74%) Degree
5 24 (7.69%) Computer Science Degree
6 14 (4.49%) Cisco Certification
6 14 (4.49%) RHCE
7 8 (2.56%) AWS Certification
7 8 (2.56%) CCNP
7 8 (2.56%) CISSP
7 8 (2.56%) GIAC
8 6 (1.92%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 6 (1.92%) BPSS Clearance
8 6 (1.92%) CESG Certified Professional
8 6 (1.92%) CISM
8 6 (1.92%) CRISC
8 6 (1.92%) ISTQB
8 6 (1.92%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 6 (1.92%) SANS
9 5 (1.60%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (10.90%) NIST
2 25 (8.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 15 (4.81%) Cyber Essentials
4 9 (2.88%) GDPR
4 9 (2.88%) NCSC
4 9 (2.88%) SLA
5 6 (1.92%) ISO 31000
6 5 (1.60%) PCI DSS
7 4 (1.28%) GRC
7 4 (1.28%) QA
8 3 (0.96%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.96%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.32%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.32%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.32%) DICOM
9 1 (0.32%) HL7
9 1 (0.32%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 57 (18.27%) Active Directory
2 52 (16.67%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (5.45%) Docker
4 15 (4.81%) VMware NSX
5 13 (4.17%) Hyper-V
6 10 (3.21%) Firmware
7 8 (2.56%) vSphere
8 7 (2.24%) VMware ESXi
9 6 (1.92%) Embedded Firmware
10 5 (1.60%) Oracle RAC
11 4 (1.28%) Virtual Machines
12 3 (0.96%) UAG
13 1 (0.32%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.32%) GPFS
13 1 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 48 (15.38%) Ansible
2 42 (13.46%) Kubernetes
3 36 (11.54%) Terraform
4 20 (6.41%) Grafana
5 19 (6.09%) Prometheus
6 11 (3.53%) Oracle RMAN
7 10 (3.21%) Red Hat Satellite
8 8 (2.56%) Puppet
8 8 (2.56%) vCenter Server
9 7 (2.24%) Data Guard
9 7 (2.24%) Rancher
10 6 (1.92%) Argo
10 6 (1.92%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 5 (1.60%) WSUS
12 4 (1.28%) Istio
12 4 (1.28%) Nessus
13 3 (0.96%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
14 2 (0.64%) Microsoft Intune
14 2 (0.64%) systemd
Vendors
1 77 (24.68%) VMware
2 65 (20.83%) Microsoft
3 61 (19.55%) Red Hat
4 46 (14.74%) Oracle
5 29 (9.29%) Splunk
6 18 (5.77%) BeyondTrust
7 16 (5.13%) CyberArk
8 15 (4.81%) Cisco
9 9 (2.88%) Palo Alto
9 9 (2.88%) ServiceNow
10 8 (2.56%) Citrix
10 8 (2.56%) MuleSoft
11 7 (2.24%) NVIDIA
12 5 (1.60%) BT
12 5 (1.60%) Dell
12 5 (1.60%) Ericsson
12 5 (1.60%) HP
12 5 (1.60%) IBM
12 5 (1.60%) Mellanox
12 5 (1.60%) Nokia