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

6 months to
3 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 37 29 26
Rank change year-on-year -8 -3 -5
Contract jobs citing Linux 338 211 330
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.14% 6.03% 7.04%
As % of the Operating Systems category 43.17% 34.93% 40.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 239 155 215
10th Percentile £295 £221 £355
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -2.44% +2.50%
75th Percentile £595 £588 £608
90th Percentile £643 £600 £642
England median daily rate £525 £525 £548
% change year-on-year - -4.11% -4.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 5 20
10th Percentile £44.13 £32.94 £34.13
25th Percentile £51.25 £51.06 £58.66
Median hourly rate £60.00 £55.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -21.43% +14.29%
75th Percentile £67.47 £58.75 -
90th Percentile £71.15 - £70.38
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £67.50
% change year-on-year - -3.70% +8.00%

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 783 604 805
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.92% 17.26% 17.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 515 426 527
10th Percentile £204 £190 £204
25th Percentile £354 £250 £331
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £477 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.94% +5.89% +5.88%
75th Percentile £575 £597 £588
90th Percentile £638 £638 £638
England median daily rate £466 £451 £475
% change year-on-year +3.39% -5.16% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 73 53 40
10th Percentile £16.00 £15.12 £16.29
25th Percentile £20.50 £16.95 £25.25
Median hourly rate £47.54 £18.87 £55.13
Median % change year-on-year +151.93% -65.77% +0.23%
75th Percentile £60.00 £28.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.47 £58.75 £70.38
England median hourly rate £32.50 £24.25 £39.50
% change year-on-year +34.02% -38.61% -7.06%

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 3 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 3 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 3 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 +7 174 £518 +15.00% 120
Hampshire -6 106 £550 +4.76% 90
Berkshire -13 76 £444 -1.44% 59
Buckinghamshire +9 58 £561 +6.20% 17
Oxfordshire +6 40 £525 +44.83% 44
Surrey -17 40 £455 +104.49% 44
West Sussex -16 9 £425 -22.73% 16
Middlesex -21 5 £198 -
Sussex - 2 - - 2
Isle of Wight - 1 - - 3
East Sussex - 1 £459 - 7
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 (2.66%) Apache
2 8 (2.37%) Confluence
2 8 (2.37%) nginx
3 6 (1.78%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (1.78%) OpenStack
4 5 (1.48%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (1.18%) IIS
5 4 (1.18%) WebSphere
5 4 (1.18%) WebSphere Application Server
6 3 (0.89%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.59%) IBM HTTP Server
7 2 (0.59%) JBoss
7 2 (0.59%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 2 (0.59%) SharePoint
7 2 (0.59%) WebSphere Portal
8 1 (0.30%) Oracle Service Bus
8 1 (0.30%) SAS
8 1 (0.30%) WebLogic
Applications
1 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Project
2 3 (0.89%) Houdini
2 3 (0.89%) NUKE
3 2 (0.59%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 1 (0.30%) CINEMA 4D
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
4 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.30%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 101 (29.88%) Azure
2 73 (21.60%) AWS
3 36 (10.65%) Entra ID
4 23 (6.80%) Microsoft 365
5 18 (5.33%) OpenShift
6 15 (4.44%) Azure Monitor
7 14 (4.14%) Azure Sentinel
8 12 (3.55%) GCP
9 10 (2.96%) SaaS
10 9 (2.66%) IaaS
11 7 (2.07%) PaaS
12 6 (1.78%) Azure DevOps
12 6 (1.78%) GitHub
13 5 (1.48%) Amazon EKS
13 5 (1.48%) GitHub Actions
14 4 (1.18%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 4 (1.18%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 4 (1.18%) Cloudflare
14 4 (1.18%) Serverless
15 3 (0.89%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 45 (13.31%) DNS
2 41 (12.13%) Firewall
3 32 (9.47%) DHCP
4 25 (7.40%) VPN
5 23 (6.80%) TCP/IP
6 16 (4.73%) LAN
6 16 (4.73%) WAN
7 15 (4.44%) Network Security
8 11 (3.25%) Software-Defined Radio
8 11 (3.25%) Wireless
9 10 (2.96%) Cisco ASA
9 10 (2.96%) Cisco Firepower
9 10 (2.96%) VSAN
10 9 (2.66%) SSH
10 9 (2.66%) SSL
11 8 (2.37%) SAN
12 7 (2.07%) LTE
13 6 (1.78%) Radio Access Network
13 6 (1.78%) VoLTE
13 6 (1.78%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (7.10%) SQL Server
2 18 (5.33%) Oracle Database
3 11 (3.25%) MySQL
4 7 (2.07%) DataStage
5 5 (1.48%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.18%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (1.18%) Oracle Database 11g
7 3 (0.89%) Oracle Database 12c
7 3 (0.89%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.59%) Electronic Patient Records
8 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database 10g
8 2 (0.59%) Redis
8 2 (0.59%) Vitess
9 1 (0.30%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.30%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.30%) Metadata
9 1 (0.30%) Oracle ODI
9 1 (0.30%) Pentaho
9 1 (0.30%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 26 (7.69%) JIRA
2 22 (6.51%) GitLab
3 14 (4.14%) Git
4 13 (3.85%) Jenkins
5 6 (1.78%) MLflow
6 5 (1.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (1.48%) Bitbucket
7 4 (1.18%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.89%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.89%) Browser DevTools
8 3 (0.89%) Eclipse
8 3 (0.89%) Xcode
9 2 (0.59%) Introscope
9 2 (0.59%) Jaeger
10 1 (0.30%) MSI
10 1 (0.30%) Octopus Deploy
10 1 (0.30%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.30%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 54 (15.98%) Social Skills
2 31 (9.17%) Analytical Skills
3 28 (8.28%) Public Sector
4 19 (5.62%) Documentation Skills
5 11 (3.25%) Aerospace
5 11 (3.25%) Finance
6 7 (2.07%) Military
6 7 (2.07%) Retail
7 5 (1.48%) Manufacturing
8 4 (1.18%) Financial Institution
8 4 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
8 4 (1.18%) Telecoms
9 1 (0.30%) Automotive
9 1 (0.30%) Banking
9 1 (0.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.30%) Legal
Job Titles
1 48 (14.20%) Linux Engineer
2 45 (13.31%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 45 (13.31%) Senior
3 27 (7.99%) Architect
4 24 (7.10%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
5 22 (6.51%) Platform Engineer
6 17 (5.03%) Embedded Engineer
6 17 (5.03%) Software Engineer
6 17 (5.03%) Support Engineer
7 15 (4.44%) Cloud Engineer
7 15 (4.44%) Developer
8 14 (4.14%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
9 12 (3.55%) Analyst
9 12 (3.55%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 12 (3.55%) Systems Engineer
10 11 (3.25%) Citrix Engineer
10 11 (3.25%) Network Engineer
10 11 (3.25%) Technical Engineer
10 11 (3.25%) Technical Support
10 11 (3.25%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (16.57%) Terraform
2 14 (4.14%) Kafka
3 13 (3.85%) ARM Templates
4 11 (3.25%) Yocto
5 10 (2.96%) Middleware
5 10 (2.96%) YAML
6 8 (2.37%) LDAP
7 6 (1.78%) Keycloak
8 5 (1.48%) GraphQL
9 4 (1.18%) gRPC
9 4 (1.18%) Loki
9 4 (1.18%) OpenTofu
9 4 (1.18%) Protocol Buffers
9 4 (1.18%) RESTful
10 3 (0.89%) .NET
10 3 (0.89%) Ajax
10 3 (0.89%) AngularJS
10 3 (0.89%) CSS
10 3 (0.89%) LAMP
10 3 (0.89%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 47 (13.91%) Onboarding
2 25 (7.40%) Hybrid Cloud
3 21 (6.21%) PKI
4 18 (5.33%) Management Information System
5 16 (4.73%) Embedded Systems
5 16 (4.73%) Public Cloud
6 14 (4.14%) Device Driver
7 13 (3.85%) Cloud Native
7 13 (3.85%) Product Ownership
8 11 (3.25%) Operational Technology
9 10 (2.96%) Enterprise Cloud
9 10 (2.96%) MicroBlaze
9 10 (2.96%) RISC-V
9 10 (2.96%) SCADA
10 9 (2.66%) Data Centre
11 7 (2.07%) ARM Cortex
11 7 (2.07%) Replication
12 6 (1.78%) Cyber Defence
13 5 (1.48%) Enterprise Software
13 5 (1.48%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 163 (48.22%) Windows
2 65 (19.23%) Unix
3 54 (15.98%) Windows Server
4 51 (15.09%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (6.21%) Embedded Linux
6 17 (5.03%) Ubuntu
7 15 (4.44%) Windows 10
8 12 (3.55%) CentOS
9 10 (2.96%) Debian
10 7 (2.07%) Oracle Linux
11 6 (1.78%) Mac OS
12 4 (1.18%) Rocky
12 4 (1.18%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.89%) Android
13 3 (0.89%) Solaris
14 2 (0.59%) AIX
14 2 (0.59%) HPUX
14 2 (0.59%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 2 (0.59%) Windows Server 2012
14 2 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (19.23%) CI/CD
2 55 (16.27%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 53 (15.68%) ITIL
4 47 (13.91%) Agile
5 46 (13.61%) DevOps
6 43 (12.72%) Infrastructure as Code
6 43 (12.72%) Problem-Solving
6 43 (12.72%) SIEM
7 41 (12.13%) Cybersecurity
8 37 (10.95%) Containerisation
8 37 (10.95%) Platform Engineering
9 34 (10.06%) ITSM
10 33 (9.76%) Continuous Improvement
10 33 (9.76%) Runbook
11 32 (9.47%) Software Engineering
12 31 (9.17%) Migration
13 29 (8.58%) Computer Science
14 28 (8.28%) DevSecOps
15 25 (7.40%) Change Control
15 25 (7.40%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 102 (30.18%) Python
2 87 (25.74%) PowerShell
3 65 (19.23%) Bash
4 27 (7.99%) C
5 21 (6.21%) C++
6 19 (5.62%) SQL
7 16 (4.73%) Shell Script
8 13 (3.85%) Bicep
9 11 (3.25%) JavaScript
10 10 (2.96%) Java
10 10 (2.96%) Perl
11 7 (2.07%) Embedded C++
11 7 (2.07%) PL/SQL
12 6 (1.78%) Embedded C
13 4 (1.18%) Rust
14 2 (0.59%) C#
14 2 (0.59%) Go
14 2 (0.59%) Scala
14 2 (0.59%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.59%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 202 (59.76%) Security Cleared
2 142 (42.01%) SC Cleared
3 81 (23.96%) DV Cleared
4 46 (13.61%) Degree
5 14 (4.14%) Cisco Certification
6 12 (3.55%) Computer Science Degree
7 11 (3.25%) BPSS Clearance
8 10 (2.96%) RHCE
9 8 (2.37%) CISM
9 8 (2.37%) CISSP
10 7 (2.07%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 7 (2.07%) ISTQB
10 7 (2.07%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 6 (1.78%) AWS Certification
11 6 (1.78%) CCNP
11 6 (1.78%) CESG Certified Professional
11 6 (1.78%) CRISC
11 6 (1.78%) GIAC
12 5 (1.48%) CCSE
12 5 (1.48%) RHCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (12.13%) NIST
2 32 (9.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (3.55%) SLA
4 11 (3.25%) Cyber Essentials
5 8 (2.37%) NCSC
6 7 (2.07%) ISO 31000
7 4 (1.18%) GDPR
7 4 (1.18%) GRC
7 4 (1.18%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.89%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.59%) Data Quality
9 2 (0.59%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.59%) QA
10 1 (0.30%) DICOM
10 1 (0.30%) HL7
10 1 (0.30%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.30%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 84 (24.85%) Active Directory
2 47 (13.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 34 (10.06%) Docker
4 23 (6.80%) VMware NSX
5 20 (5.92%) VMware ESXi
6 16 (4.73%) Firmware
6 16 (4.73%) Hyper-V
7 11 (3.25%) Embedded Firmware
8 7 (2.07%) vSphere
9 5 (1.48%) Oracle RAC
9 5 (1.48%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (1.18%) KVM
11 3 (0.89%) Dovecot
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
13 1 (0.30%) ISA Server
Systems Management
1 61 (18.05%) Kubernetes
2 55 (16.27%) Ansible
3 19 (5.62%) Grafana
3 19 (5.62%) Prometheus
4 14 (4.14%) Puppet
5 11 (3.25%) SCCM
5 11 (3.25%) vCenter Server
6 10 (2.96%) Red Hat Satellite
7 8 (2.37%) Progress Chef
8 7 (2.07%) Microsoft Intune
8 7 (2.07%) Oracle RMAN
8 7 (2.07%) Podman
9 6 (1.78%) Packer
10 5 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (1.48%) Data Guard
10 5 (1.48%) Istio
10 5 (1.48%) SCOM
10 5 (1.48%) WSUS
11 4 (1.18%) Argo
11 4 (1.18%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 81 (23.96%) VMware
2 78 (23.08%) Microsoft
3 49 (14.50%) Oracle
4 43 (12.72%) Red Hat
5 24 (7.10%) CyberArk
6 22 (6.51%) BeyondTrust
7 21 (6.21%) Cisco
7 21 (6.21%) ServiceNow
8 19 (5.62%) Citrix
9 16 (4.73%) Splunk
10 14 (4.14%) Palo Alto
11 12 (3.55%) IBM
12 11 (3.25%) SolarWinds
13 9 (2.66%) CrowdStrike
13 9 (2.66%) Google
14 7 (2.07%) Nokia
14 7 (2.07%) NVIDIA
15 6 (1.78%) BT
15 6 (1.78%) Ericsson
15 6 (1.78%) Huawei