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 14 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 40 27 27
Rank change year-on-year -13 0 -7
Contract jobs citing Linux 337 219 319
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.11% 6.32% 6.91%
As % of the Operating Systems category 43.94% 36.38% 39.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 235 158 209
10th Percentile £275 £215 £354
25th Percentile £444 £380 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £483 £513
Median % change year-on-year +8.81% -5.85% +2.50%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £608
90th Percentile £643 £600 £646
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 5 18
10th Percentile £44.13 - £33.60
25th Percentile £51.25 £12.50 £61.76
Median hourly rate £60.00 £55.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -21.43% +12.00%
75th Percentile £67.47 £58.75 -
90th Percentile £71.15 - £71.13
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £67.50
% change year-on-year - -3.70% +3.85%

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 767 602 799
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.64% 17.36% 17.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 498 426 536
10th Percentile £204 £189 £203
25th Percentile £363 £250 £331
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% +5.56% +7.14%
75th Percentile £575 £583 £582
90th Percentile £643 £628 £638
England median daily rate £465 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +3.33% -5.26% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 50 38
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £16.22
25th Percentile £20.50 £15.50 £26.25
Median hourly rate £38.72 £18.87 £57.00
Median % change year-on-year +105.19% -66.89% +0.38%
75th Percentile £60.00 £27.29 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.47 £61.18 £71.13
England median hourly rate £35.79 £25.15 £57.38
% change year-on-year +42.30% -56.17% +20.37%

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 14 September 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 14 September 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 14 September 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 +3 169 £525 +16.67% 140
Hampshire -9 110 £550 +2.33% 91
Berkshire -20 70 £458 +1.67% 60
Buckinghamshire +10 59 £566 +7.14% 20
Oxfordshire +7 40 £525 +44.83% 61
Surrey -16 39 £455 +119.28% 48
West Sussex -23 9 £425 -18.11% 19
Middlesex -19 6 £198 -
Sussex -3 2 - - 2
East Sussex -2 1 £459 - 10
Isle of Wight - 1 - - 3
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 9 (2.67%) Apache
2 8 (2.37%) Confluence
2 8 (2.37%) nginx
3 6 (1.78%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (1.78%) IIS
3 6 (1.78%) OpenStack
4 4 (1.19%) Microsoft Exchange
5 3 (0.89%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.89%) WebSphere
5 3 (0.89%) WebSphere Application Server
6 2 (0.59%) JBoss
6 2 (0.59%) SharePoint
7 1 (0.30%) IBM HTTP Server
7 1 (0.30%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 1 (0.30%) Oracle Service Bus
7 1 (0.30%) SAS
7 1 (0.30%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.30%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 3 (0.89%) Houdini
1 3 (0.89%) NUKE
2 2 (0.59%) Adobe Creative Suite
2 2 (0.59%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.30%) CINEMA 4D
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.30%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 102 (30.27%) Azure
2 73 (21.66%) AWS
3 37 (10.98%) Entra ID
4 24 (7.12%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (6.23%) OpenShift
6 15 (4.45%) Azure Monitor
7 14 (4.15%) GCP
8 13 (3.86%) Azure Sentinel
9 9 (2.67%) IaaS
9 9 (2.67%) SaaS
10 7 (2.08%) PaaS
11 6 (1.78%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (1.78%) GitHub
12 5 (1.48%) GitHub Actions
13 4 (1.19%) Amazon EKS
13 4 (1.19%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 4 (1.19%) Cloudflare
13 4 (1.19%) Serverless
14 3 (0.89%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 3 (0.89%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 43 (12.76%) DNS
2 39 (11.57%) Firewall
3 32 (9.50%) DHCP
4 25 (7.42%) VPN
5 22 (6.53%) TCP/IP
6 15 (4.45%) Network Security
7 13 (3.86%) LAN
7 13 (3.86%) WAN
8 11 (3.26%) Software-Defined Radio
8 11 (3.26%) Wireless
9 9 (2.67%) Cisco ASA
9 9 (2.67%) Cisco Firepower
9 9 (2.67%) SSH
10 8 (2.37%) SSL
10 8 (2.37%) VSAN
11 7 (2.08%) LTE
12 6 (1.78%) Radio Access Network
12 6 (1.78%) SAN
12 6 (1.78%) VoLTE
12 6 (1.78%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.82%) SQL Server
2 18 (5.34%) Oracle Database
3 10 (2.97%) MySQL
4 7 (2.08%) DataStage
5 5 (1.48%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.19%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (1.19%) Oracle Database 11g
7 3 (0.89%) Oracle Database 12c
8 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database 10g
8 2 (0.59%) PostgreSQL
9 1 (0.30%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.30%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.30%) Electronic Patient Records
9 1 (0.30%) Metadata
9 1 (0.30%) Oracle ODI
9 1 (0.30%) Pentaho
9 1 (0.30%) Redis
9 1 (0.30%) SQLite
9 1 (0.30%) Vitess
Development Applications
1 24 (7.12%) JIRA
2 22 (6.53%) GitLab
3 16 (4.75%) Git
4 14 (4.15%) Jenkins
5 6 (1.78%) MLflow
6 5 (1.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (1.48%) Bitbucket
7 4 (1.19%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.89%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.89%) Browser DevTools
8 3 (0.89%) Eclipse
8 3 (0.89%) Xcode
9 1 (0.30%) Introscope
9 1 (0.30%) Jaeger
9 1 (0.30%) MSI
9 1 (0.30%) Octopus Deploy
9 1 (0.30%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.30%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 57 (16.91%) Social Skills
2 31 (9.20%) Analytical Skills
3 26 (7.72%) Public Sector
4 19 (5.64%) Documentation Skills
5 11 (3.26%) Aerospace
6 7 (2.08%) Finance
7 6 (1.78%) Military
7 6 (1.78%) Retail
8 4 (1.19%) Manufacturing
8 4 (1.19%) Telecoms
9 3 (0.89%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.30%) Automotive
10 1 (0.30%) Banking
10 1 (0.30%) Financial Institution
10 1 (0.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.30%) Legal
Job Titles
1 50 (14.84%) Linux Engineer
2 49 (14.54%) Senior
3 45 (13.35%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 26 (7.72%) Architect
5 24 (7.12%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 21 (6.23%) Platform Engineer
7 18 (5.34%) Software Engineer
7 18 (5.34%) Support Engineer
8 17 (5.04%) Developer
8 17 (5.04%) Embedded Engineer
9 16 (4.75%) Cloud Engineer
10 14 (4.15%) Analyst
10 14 (4.15%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
11 13 (3.86%) Systems Engineer
12 12 (3.56%) Embedded Software Engineer
13 11 (3.26%) Citrix Engineer
13 11 (3.26%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
13 11 (3.26%) Technical Engineer
13 11 (3.26%) Technical Support
13 11 (3.26%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (17.80%) Terraform
2 13 (3.86%) ARM Templates
3 12 (3.56%) Kafka
4 11 (3.26%) Yocto
5 10 (2.97%) LDAP
5 10 (2.97%) YAML
6 6 (1.78%) Middleware
6 6 (1.78%) OpenTofu
7 5 (1.48%) GraphQL
7 5 (1.48%) Keycloak
8 4 (1.19%) gRPC
8 4 (1.19%) Protocol Buffers
8 4 (1.19%) RESTful
9 3 (0.89%) Ajax
9 3 (0.89%) AngularJS
9 3 (0.89%) CSS
9 3 (0.89%) LAMP
9 3 (0.89%) LEMP Stack
9 3 (0.89%) Loki
9 3 (0.89%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 45 (13.35%) Onboarding
2 24 (7.12%) Hybrid Cloud
3 21 (6.23%) Management Information System
3 21 (6.23%) PKI
4 18 (5.34%) Embedded Systems
5 15 (4.45%) Public Cloud
6 14 (4.15%) Device Driver
6 14 (4.15%) Product Ownership
7 13 (3.86%) Cloud Native
8 11 (3.26%) Operational Technology
9 10 (2.97%) Data Centre
9 10 (2.97%) Enterprise Cloud
9 10 (2.97%) MicroBlaze
9 10 (2.97%) RISC-V
9 10 (2.97%) SCADA
10 7 (2.08%) ARM Cortex
11 6 (1.78%) Cyber Defence
12 5 (1.48%) Social Media
13 4 (1.19%) Enterprise Software
13 4 (1.19%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 160 (47.48%) Windows
2 64 (18.99%) Unix
3 55 (16.32%) Windows Server
4 50 (14.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 20 (5.93%) Embedded Linux
6 18 (5.34%) Ubuntu
7 16 (4.75%) Windows 10
8 14 (4.15%) CentOS
9 10 (2.97%) Debian
10 6 (1.78%) Mac OS
10 6 (1.78%) Oracle Linux
11 4 (1.19%) Rocky
12 3 (0.89%) Android
12 3 (0.89%) Solaris
12 3 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.59%) AIX
13 2 (0.59%) HPUX
13 2 (0.59%) Windows Server 2012
14 1 (0.30%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 66 (19.58%) CI/CD
2 57 (16.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 51 (15.13%) ITIL
4 48 (14.24%) Agile
4 48 (14.24%) DevOps
5 46 (13.65%) Infrastructure as Code
6 44 (13.06%) Cybersecurity
6 44 (13.06%) Problem-Solving
7 43 (12.76%) SIEM
8 39 (11.57%) Containerisation
9 36 (10.68%) Platform Engineering
10 35 (10.39%) Continuous Improvement
10 35 (10.39%) Software Engineering
11 34 (10.09%) ITSM
12 33 (9.79%) Runbook
13 32 (9.50%) Computer Science
14 30 (8.90%) DevSecOps
15 29 (8.61%) Migration
16 27 (8.01%) Change Control
17 24 (7.12%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 102 (30.27%) Python
2 85 (25.22%) PowerShell
3 65 (19.29%) Bash
4 29 (8.61%) C
5 20 (5.93%) C++
6 19 (5.64%) SQL
7 16 (4.75%) Shell Script
8 13 (3.86%) Bicep
9 11 (3.26%) JavaScript
10 10 (2.97%) Java
11 9 (2.67%) Perl
12 7 (2.08%) PL/SQL
13 6 (1.78%) Embedded C++
14 5 (1.48%) Embedded C
15 4 (1.19%) Rust
16 2 (0.59%) C#
16 2 (0.59%) Scala
16 2 (0.59%) TypeScript
16 2 (0.59%) VBScript
17 1 (0.30%) Ada
Qualifications
1 203 (60.24%) Security Cleared
2 137 (40.65%) SC Cleared
3 85 (25.22%) DV Cleared
4 48 (14.24%) Degree
5 15 (4.45%) Cisco Certification
6 12 (3.56%) Computer Science Degree
7 11 (3.26%) CISM
7 11 (3.26%) CISSP
7 11 (3.26%) RHCE
8 10 (2.97%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (2.67%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 7 (2.08%) GIAC
10 7 (2.08%) ISTQB
10 7 (2.08%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 6 (1.78%) AWS Certification
11 6 (1.78%) CESG Certified Professional
11 6 (1.78%) CRISC
11 6 (1.78%) RHCSA
12 5 (1.48%) LFCS
12 5 (1.48%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (13.06%) NIST
2 35 (10.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (3.56%) Cyber Essentials
4 11 (3.26%) SLA
5 9 (2.67%) ISO 31000
6 8 (2.37%) NCSC
7 5 (1.48%) GDPR
7 5 (1.48%) GRC
8 4 (1.19%) JSP 440
8 4 (1.19%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.89%) ISO 9001
9 3 (0.89%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 3 (0.89%) QA
10 2 (0.59%) Data Quality
10 2 (0.59%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.30%) DICOM
11 1 (0.30%) HL7
11 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.30%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 83 (24.63%) Active Directory
2 42 (12.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 35 (10.39%) Docker
4 22 (6.53%) VMware NSX
5 19 (5.64%) VMware ESXi
6 15 (4.45%) Firmware
6 15 (4.45%) Hyper-V
7 11 (3.26%) Embedded Firmware
8 6 (1.78%) vSphere
9 5 (1.48%) Oracle RAC
9 5 (1.48%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (1.19%) KVM
11 3 (0.89%) Dovecot
11 3 (0.89%) ISA Server
11 3 (0.89%) Postfix
11 3 (0.89%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.59%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.59%) UAG
12 2 (0.59%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 63 (18.69%) Kubernetes
2 56 (16.62%) Ansible
3 16 (4.75%) Grafana
3 16 (4.75%) Prometheus
4 14 (4.15%) Puppet
5 11 (3.26%) SCCM
5 11 (3.26%) vCenter Server
6 9 (2.67%) Red Hat Satellite
7 8 (2.37%) Progress Chef
8 7 (2.08%) Microsoft Intune
8 7 (2.08%) Oracle RMAN
8 7 (2.08%) Podman
9 6 (1.78%) Packer
10 5 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (1.48%) Data Guard
10 5 (1.48%) SCOM
11 4 (1.19%) Istio
11 4 (1.19%) NetBackup
11 4 (1.19%) WSUS
12 3 (0.89%) Argo
Vendors
1 81 (24.04%) Microsoft
2 75 (22.26%) VMware
3 47 (13.95%) Oracle
4 42 (12.46%) Red Hat
5 24 (7.12%) CyberArk
6 22 (6.53%) BeyondTrust
6 22 (6.53%) Cisco
7 19 (5.64%) Citrix
7 19 (5.64%) ServiceNow
8 18 (5.34%) Splunk
9 13 (3.86%) Palo Alto
10 11 (3.26%) CrowdStrike
10 11 (3.26%) Google
10 11 (3.26%) IBM
10 11 (3.26%) SolarWinds
11 7 (2.08%) F5
11 7 (2.08%) Nokia
12 6 (1.78%) BT
12 6 (1.78%) Ericsson
12 6 (1.78%) Huawei