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

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 41 23 28
Rank change year-on-year -18 +5 -9
Contract jobs citing Linux 335 230 311
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.06% 6.60% 6.88%
As % of the Operating Systems category 43.34% 38.27% 38.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 232 168 196
10th Percentile £275 £206 £350
25th Percentile £445 £366 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £506
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -6.17% +1.05%
75th Percentile £600 £575 £608
90th Percentile £650 £600 £638
England median daily rate £525 £525 £542
% change year-on-year - -3.13% -5.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 6 18
10th Percentile £44.13 - £33.60
25th Percentile £51.25 £12.50 £61.76
Median hourly rate £60.00 £34.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +76.47% -51.43% +12.00%
75th Percentile £67.47 £58.44 -
90th Percentile £71.15 £58.75 £71.13
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 773 601 799
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.68% 17.24% 17.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 504 429 528
10th Percentile £204 £188 £203
25th Percentile £313 £219 £326
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £450 £450
Median % change year-on-year +9.94% - +5.88%
75th Percentile £577 £550 £575
90th Percentile £649 £623 £638
England median daily rate £470 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +4.42% -5.26% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 48 38
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.20 £16.22
25th Percentile £20.50 £15.50 £27.19
Median hourly rate £38.72 £18.87 £57.00
Median % change year-on-year +105.19% -66.89% +3.63%
75th Percentile £60.00 £25.86 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.47 £66.03 £71.13
England median hourly rate £38.50 £25.08 £60.00
% change year-on-year +53.54% -58.21% +25.88%

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 24 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 24 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 24 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 -5 165 £525 +16.67% 151
Hampshire -8 112 £550 +4.76% 114
Berkshire -27 69 £468 +10.00% 57
Buckinghamshire +14 57 £570 +7.85% 18
Oxfordshire +3 39 £525 +37.70% 76
Surrey -18 38 £455 +119.28% 55
West Sussex -21 9 £425 -18.11% 24
Middlesex -16 6 £198 - 1
Sussex -3 2 - - 1
East Sussex +2 1 £459 - 12
Isle of Wight - 1 - -
Home Counties - 1 £600 -
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 (2.69%) Apache
2 8 (2.39%) nginx
3 7 (2.09%) Confluence
3 7 (2.09%) IIS
4 6 (1.79%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (1.79%) OpenStack
5 3 (0.90%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.90%) WebSphere
5 3 (0.90%) WebSphere Application Server
6 2 (0.60%) JBoss
6 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
6 2 (0.60%) SAS
6 2 (0.60%) 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%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.30%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 3 (0.90%) Houdini
1 3 (0.90%) NUKE
2 2 (0.60%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 1 (0.30%) CINEMA 4D
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.30%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 103 (30.75%) Azure
2 72 (21.49%) AWS
3 38 (11.34%) Entra ID
4 24 (7.16%) OpenShift
5 21 (6.27%) Microsoft 365
6 16 (4.78%) GCP
7 15 (4.48%) Azure Monitor
8 12 (3.58%) Azure Sentinel
9 9 (2.69%) IaaS
9 9 (2.69%) SaaS
10 8 (2.39%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (2.09%) PaaS
12 6 (1.79%) GitHub
13 5 (1.49%) GitHub Actions
14 4 (1.19%) Amazon EKS
14 4 (1.19%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 4 (1.19%) Cloudflare
14 4 (1.19%) Serverless
15 3 (0.90%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 3 (0.90%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 43 (12.84%) DNS
2 40 (11.94%) Firewall
3 33 (9.85%) DHCP
4 27 (8.06%) VPN
5 22 (6.57%) TCP/IP
6 16 (4.78%) Network Security
7 12 (3.58%) LAN
7 12 (3.58%) Software-Defined Radio
7 12 (3.58%) Wireless
8 11 (3.28%) WAN
9 9 (2.69%) SSH
9 9 (2.69%) SSL
10 8 (2.39%) Cisco ASA
10 8 (2.39%) Cisco Firepower
11 7 (2.09%) LTE
12 6 (1.79%) Diameter Protocol
12 6 (1.79%) Radio Access Network
12 6 (1.79%) VoLTE
12 6 (1.79%) VoWiFi
12 6 (1.79%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (6.57%) SQL Server
2 18 (5.37%) Oracle Database
3 10 (2.99%) MySQL
4 8 (2.39%) DataStage
5 5 (1.49%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.19%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (1.19%) Oracle Database 11g
7 3 (0.90%) Oracle Database 12c
8 2 (0.60%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.60%) Oracle Database 10g
8 2 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
9 1 (0.30%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.30%) Electronic Patient Records
9 1 (0.30%) IBM InfoSphere
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%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 24 (7.16%) GitLab
2 23 (6.87%) JIRA
3 18 (5.37%) Git
4 16 (4.78%) Jenkins
5 6 (1.79%) MLflow
6 5 (1.49%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (1.49%) Bitbucket
7 4 (1.19%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.90%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.90%) Browser DevTools
8 3 (0.90%) Eclipse
8 3 (0.90%) 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 55 (16.42%) Social Skills
2 33 (9.85%) Analytical Skills
3 26 (7.76%) Public Sector
4 20 (5.97%) Documentation Skills
5 11 (3.28%) Aerospace
6 6 (1.79%) Finance
6 6 (1.79%) Military
7 5 (1.49%) Retail
8 4 (1.19%) Telecoms
9 3 (0.90%) Manufacturing
10 2 (0.60%) Organisational Skills
11 1 (0.30%) Automotive
11 1 (0.30%) Banking
11 1 (0.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.30%) Legal
Job Titles
1 49 (14.63%) Linux Engineer
2 47 (14.03%) Senior
3 43 (12.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 24 (7.16%) Architect
5 22 (6.57%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 21 (6.27%) Platform Engineer
7 19 (5.67%) Software Engineer
7 19 (5.67%) Support Engineer
8 18 (5.37%) Developer
8 18 (5.37%) Embedded Engineer
9 16 (4.78%) Analyst
10 15 (4.48%) Cloud Engineer
10 15 (4.48%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
11 13 (3.88%) Embedded Software Engineer
11 13 (3.88%) Systems Engineer
12 11 (3.28%) Citrix Engineer
12 11 (3.28%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
12 11 (3.28%) Technical Engineer
12 11 (3.28%) Technical Support
12 11 (3.28%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 64 (19.10%) Terraform
2 13 (3.88%) ARM Templates
3 12 (3.58%) Kafka
3 12 (3.58%) Yocto
4 11 (3.28%) LDAP
5 10 (2.99%) YAML
6 7 (2.09%) OpenTofu
7 5 (1.49%) GraphQL
7 5 (1.49%) Keycloak
7 5 (1.49%) Middleware
8 4 (1.19%) 802.1X
8 4 (1.19%) gRPC
8 4 (1.19%) Protocol Buffers
8 4 (1.19%) RESTful
9 3 (0.90%) AngularJS
9 3 (0.90%) LEMP Stack
9 3 (0.90%) Loki
9 3 (0.90%) React
9 3 (0.90%) REST
9 3 (0.90%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 45 (13.43%) Onboarding
2 23 (6.87%) Management Information System
3 22 (6.57%) Hybrid Cloud
4 20 (5.97%) Embedded Systems
4 20 (5.97%) PKI
5 15 (4.48%) Device Driver
6 14 (4.18%) Product Ownership
6 14 (4.18%) Public Cloud
7 13 (3.88%) Cloud Native
8 11 (3.28%) Data Centre
8 11 (3.28%) MicroBlaze
8 11 (3.28%) Operational Technology
8 11 (3.28%) RISC-V
9 10 (2.99%) Enterprise Cloud
9 10 (2.99%) SCADA
10 7 (2.09%) ARM Cortex
11 6 (1.79%) Cyber Defence
12 5 (1.49%) Social Media
13 4 (1.19%) Enterprise Software
13 4 (1.19%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 162 (48.36%) Windows
2 63 (18.81%) Unix
3 55 (16.42%) Windows Server
4 52 (15.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 20 (5.97%) Ubuntu
6 19 (5.67%) Embedded Linux
7 17 (5.07%) CentOS
7 17 (5.07%) Windows 10
8 10 (2.99%) Debian
9 6 (1.79%) Mac OS
9 6 (1.79%) Oracle Linux
10 4 (1.19%) Rocky
11 3 (0.90%) Android
11 3 (0.90%) Solaris
12 2 (0.60%) AIX
12 2 (0.60%) HPUX
12 2 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
13 1 (0.30%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 68 (20.30%) CI/CD
2 58 (17.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 52 (15.52%) DevOps
4 50 (14.93%) Agile
5 47 (14.03%) Infrastructure as Code
5 47 (14.03%) ITIL
6 45 (13.43%) Cybersecurity
7 42 (12.54%) Problem-Solving
7 42 (12.54%) SIEM
8 40 (11.94%) Containerisation
9 37 (11.04%) Platform Engineering
9 37 (11.04%) Software Engineering
10 35 (10.45%) Continuous Improvement
10 35 (10.45%) ITSM
11 34 (10.15%) Runbook
12 33 (9.85%) Computer Science
13 30 (8.96%) DevSecOps
14 28 (8.36%) Change Control
14 28 (8.36%) Migration
15 23 (6.87%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 105 (31.34%) Python
2 87 (25.97%) PowerShell
3 68 (20.30%) Bash
4 29 (8.66%) C
5 20 (5.97%) SQL
6 19 (5.67%) C++
7 17 (5.07%) Shell Script
8 13 (3.88%) Bicep
9 11 (3.28%) JavaScript
10 10 (2.99%) Java
11 9 (2.69%) Perl
12 7 (2.09%) PL/SQL
13 4 (1.19%) Embedded C++
13 4 (1.19%) Rust
14 3 (0.90%) Embedded C
15 2 (0.60%) C#
15 2 (0.60%) Scala
15 2 (0.60%) TypeScript
15 2 (0.60%) VBScript
16 1 (0.30%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 200 (59.70%) Security Cleared
2 132 (39.40%) SC Cleared
3 84 (25.07%) DV Cleared
4 48 (14.33%) Degree
5 15 (4.48%) Cisco Certification
6 13 (3.88%) CISM
6 13 (3.88%) CISSP
7 12 (3.58%) Computer Science Degree
8 10 (2.99%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 10 (2.99%) BPSS Clearance
8 10 (2.99%) RHCE
9 8 (2.39%) GIAC
9 8 (2.39%) ISTQB
9 8 (2.39%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 6 (1.79%) AWS Certification
10 6 (1.79%) CESG Certified Professional
10 6 (1.79%) CRISC
11 5 (1.49%) Azure Certification
11 5 (1.49%) RHCSA
11 5 (1.49%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (13.13%) NIST
2 37 (11.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.28%) Cyber Essentials
4 10 (2.99%) ISO 31000
4 10 (2.99%) SLA
5 6 (1.79%) GDPR
5 6 (1.79%) GRC
5 6 (1.79%) NCSC
6 5 (1.49%) PCI DSS
7 4 (1.19%) ISO 9001
7 4 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 27005
8 3 (0.90%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.90%) QA
9 2 (0.60%) Data Quality
9 2 (0.60%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.30%) DICOM
10 1 (0.30%) HL7
10 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.30%) OpenSCAP
System Software
1 82 (24.48%) Active Directory
2 38 (11.34%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (11.04%) Docker
4 19 (5.67%) VMware NSX
5 18 (5.37%) VMware ESXi
6 16 (4.78%) Firmware
7 15 (4.48%) Hyper-V
8 12 (3.58%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (1.49%) Oracle RAC
9 5 (1.49%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (1.49%) vSphere
10 4 (1.19%) ISA Server
10 4 (1.19%) KVM
11 3 (0.90%) Dovecot
11 3 (0.90%) Postfix
11 3 (0.90%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.60%) UAG
12 2 (0.60%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 67 (20.00%) Kubernetes
2 59 (17.61%) Ansible
3 17 (5.07%) Grafana
3 17 (5.07%) Prometheus
4 14 (4.18%) Puppet
5 11 (3.28%) SCCM
5 11 (3.28%) vCenter Server
6 9 (2.69%) Red Hat Satellite
7 8 (2.39%) Progress Chef
8 7 (2.09%) Microsoft Intune
8 7 (2.09%) Oracle RMAN
8 7 (2.09%) Podman
9 6 (1.79%) Packer
10 5 (1.49%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (1.49%) Data Guard
10 5 (1.49%) SCOM
11 4 (1.19%) CASB
11 4 (1.19%) Istio
11 4 (1.19%) NetBackup
12 3 (0.90%) Argo
Vendors
1 78 (23.28%) Microsoft
2 70 (20.90%) VMware
3 46 (13.73%) Oracle
4 42 (12.54%) Red Hat
5 24 (7.16%) CyberArk
6 22 (6.57%) BeyondTrust
7 20 (5.97%) Citrix
8 19 (5.67%) Cisco
9 18 (5.37%) ServiceNow
10 17 (5.07%) Splunk
11 12 (3.58%) CrowdStrike
11 12 (3.58%) Google
11 12 (3.58%) IBM
11 12 (3.58%) Palo Alto
12 10 (2.99%) SolarWinds
13 8 (2.39%) F5
14 7 (2.09%) Nokia
14 7 (2.09%) Tenable
15 6 (1.79%) Ericsson
15 6 (1.79%) Tanium