Firewall Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Firewall
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Firewall skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 8 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 88 50 43
Rank change year-on-year -38 -7 -12
Contract jobs citing Firewall 755 669 741
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.68% 4.24% 4.25%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 25.80% 31.60% 29.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 486 405 423
10th Percentile £350 £293 £292
25th Percentile £425 £400 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% +2.56%
75th Percentile £600 £580 £600
90th Percentile £675 £650 £650
UK median daily rate £503 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +0.60% -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 22 20
10th Percentile £28.60 £18.51 £19.85
25th Percentile £39.28 £29.00 £20.00
Median hourly rate £67.00 £31.39 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +113.48% +14.13% -58.32%
75th Percentile £71.01 £69.31 £51.56
90th Percentile £98.82 £89.63 £73.90
UK median hourly rate £67.47 £30.00 £27.50
% change year-on-year +124.90% +9.09% -58.32%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK excluding London

Firewall falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 2,926 2,117 2,533
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.39% 13.43% 14.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,611 1,356 1,388
10th Percentile £213 £200 £200
25th Percentile £353 £313 £349
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £485
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -7.22% +5.43%
75th Percentile £581 £575 £588
90th Percentile £656 £644 £663
UK median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 355 136 160
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.42 £15.11
25th Percentile £19.33 £18.50 £25.36
Median hourly rate £26.14 £42.50 £56.13
Median % change year-on-year -38.49% -24.28% -2.39%
75th Percentile £65.88 £65.00 £65.51
90th Percentile £85.00 £80.68 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £32.50 £40.50 £50.00
% change year-on-year -19.75% -19.00% -11.49%

Firewall
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Firewall relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Firewall job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall

Firewall
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Firewall in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Firewall in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall

Firewall
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Firewall in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Firewall in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Firewall within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 8 October 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
North of England -3 279 £500 +5.26% 147
South East -45 162 £518 +3.50% 197
North West +9 161 £510 +7.37% 89
Yorkshire -24 96 £500 +2.15% 41
Midlands -70 94 £475 - 92
South West -4 93 £560 +16.67% 88
West Midlands -72 70 £450 -5.26% 57
East of England -16 69 £600 +15.38% 54
Scotland -12 60 £400 -20.00% 45
North East -13 29 £500 -13.04% 18
East Midlands -3 24 £500 +6.16% 35
Wales -16 3 £608 +203.75% 16
Channel Islands -7 2 £600 -17.24% 1
Northern Ireland -5 1 - - 16
Firewall
UK

Firewall
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 28 (3.71%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (2.78%) Confluence
3 16 (2.12%) SharePoint
4 10 (1.32%) Apache
5 9 (1.19%) nginx
6 8 (1.06%) SAS
7 4 (0.53%) FactoryTalk
7 4 (0.53%) IIS
8 3 (0.40%) Skype for Business
8 3 (0.40%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.26%) CloudStack
9 2 (0.26%) CMS
9 2 (0.26%) Umbraco
Applications
1 20 (2.65%) MS Visio
2 10 (1.32%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.66%) Spreadsheet
4 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 6 (0.79%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.66%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.26%) Dynamics GP
3 2 (0.26%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Retail
Cloud Services
1 276 (36.56%) Azure
2 162 (21.46%) AWS
3 93 (12.32%) Entra ID
4 71 (9.40%) Microsoft 365
5 68 (9.01%) GCP
6 48 (6.36%) IaaS
7 41 (5.43%) Azure Monitor
8 40 (5.30%) SaaS
9 39 (5.17%) Azure DevOps
10 37 (4.90%) GitHub
11 35 (4.64%) OCI
12 27 (3.58%) Azure Sentinel
13 22 (2.91%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 22 (2.91%) PaaS
14 21 (2.78%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 17 (2.25%) Azure AKS
15 17 (2.25%) Serverless
16 14 (1.85%) AWS CloudFormation
16 14 (1.85%) GitHub Actions
16 14 (1.85%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 238 (31.52%) DNS
2 221 (29.27%) Network Security
3 219 (29.01%) VPN
4 190 (25.17%) WAN
5 160 (21.19%) LAN
6 153 (20.26%) DHCP
7 142 (18.81%) TCP/IP
8 128 (16.95%) BGP
9 119 (15.76%) Wireless
10 118 (15.63%) VLAN
11 109 (14.44%) OSPF
12 78 (10.33%) Wi-Fi
13 76 (10.07%) SD-WAN
14 59 (7.81%) BIG-IP
15 54 (7.15%) Cisco ASA
16 51 (6.75%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 49 (6.49%) IPsec
18 47 (6.23%) Cisco Nexus
18 47 (6.23%) SSL
19 44 (5.83%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.25%) SQL Server
2 13 (1.72%) Relational Database
3 12 (1.59%) Data Lake
4 10 (1.32%) NoSQL
5 9 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (0.53%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.40%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.40%) EDRMS
7 3 (0.40%) MySQL
8 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 1 (0.13%) Delta Lake
9 1 (0.13%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 60 (7.95%) JIRA
2 38 (5.03%) Jenkins
3 34 (4.50%) GitLab
4 17 (2.25%) Git
5 10 (1.32%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.19%) Bitbucket
7 6 (0.79%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 4 (0.53%) SonarQube
9 3 (0.40%) Maven
10 2 (0.26%) Burp Suite
10 2 (0.26%) Cucumber
10 2 (0.26%) Gatling
10 2 (0.26%) Gradle
10 2 (0.26%) LoadRunner
10 2 (0.26%) REST Assured
10 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 2 (0.26%) Team Foundation Server
11 1 (0.13%) Ant
11 1 (0.13%) MSI
11 1 (0.13%) Postman
General
1 182 (24.11%) Social Skills
2 83 (10.99%) Analytical Skills
3 82 (10.86%) Finance
4 54 (7.15%) Public Sector
5 36 (4.77%) Banking
6 33 (4.37%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.58%) Manufacturing
7 27 (3.58%) Telecoms
8 18 (2.38%) Legal
9 14 (1.85%) Military
10 11 (1.46%) Aerospace
11 10 (1.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 7 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.79%) Police
13 6 (0.79%) Retail
14 4 (0.53%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.53%) Pharmaceutical
15 3 (0.40%) Advertising
15 3 (0.40%) Law
15 3 (0.40%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 233 (30.86%) Network Engineer
2 131 (17.35%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 116 (15.36%) Senior
4 71 (9.40%) Architect
5 58 (7.68%) Security Engineer
6 46 (6.09%) Senior Network Engineer
7 45 (5.96%) Cloud Engineer
8 40 (5.30%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 34 (4.50%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 27 (3.58%) Platform Engineer
11 26 (3.44%) Azure Engineer
11 26 (3.44%) Lead
12 25 (3.31%) Network Security Engineer
13 21 (2.78%) Consultant
13 21 (2.78%) Network Architect
14 20 (2.65%) Solutions Architect
15 19 (2.52%) DevOps Engineer
16 16 (2.12%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
16 16 (2.12%) Project Engineer
16 16 (2.12%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 174 (23.05%) Terraform
2 26 (3.44%) ARM Templates
3 23 (3.05%) 802.1X
4 14 (1.85%) YAML
5 13 (1.72%) SAML
6 8 (1.06%) ModSecurity
6 8 (1.06%) OAuth
6 8 (1.06%) OpenID
6 8 (1.06%) React
6 8 (1.06%) REST
7 7 (0.93%) SailPoint
8 6 (0.79%) LDAP
8 6 (0.79%) OAuth2
9 5 (0.66%) Azure Blueprints
9 5 (0.66%) gRPC
9 5 (0.66%) Kafka
10 4 (0.53%) OpenTelemetry
10 4 (0.53%) Redfish
10 4 (0.53%) WebSockets
11 3 (0.40%) LangChain
Miscellaneous
1 164 (21.72%) Data Centre
2 64 (8.48%) Hybrid Cloud
3 54 (7.15%) PKI
4 51 (6.75%) Cloud Native
5 38 (5.03%) Security Posture
6 32 (4.24%) Operational Technology
7 30 (3.97%) Onboarding
8 28 (3.71%) Management Information System
9 25 (3.31%) Public Cloud
10 23 (3.05%) Self-Motivation
11 21 (2.78%) Driving Licence
12 17 (2.25%) SCADA
13 15 (1.99%) Data Protection Act
13 15 (1.99%) Enterprise Storage
14 14 (1.85%) Linux Command Line
15 13 (1.72%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
16 12 (1.59%) Cyber Threat
17 11 (1.46%) Replication
18 10 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
19 8 (1.06%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 224 (29.67%) Windows
2 158 (20.93%) Linux
3 110 (14.57%) Windows Server
4 35 (4.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 15 (1.99%) Unix
6 13 (1.72%) CentOS
6 13 (1.72%) Ubuntu
7 11 (1.46%) VMS
8 10 (1.32%) Mac OS
8 10 (1.32%) Windows 10
9 8 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.93%) Android
10 7 (0.93%) Rocky
11 5 (0.66%) Apple iOS
11 5 (0.66%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.40%) Check Point GAiA
12 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.26%) SUSE
13 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2003
14 1 (0.13%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (23.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 169 (22.38%) CI/CD
3 166 (21.99%) Infrastructure as Code
4 145 (19.21%) Cybersecurity
5 142 (18.81%) DevOps
6 132 (17.48%) Problem-Solving
7 124 (16.42%) Load Balancing
8 101 (13.38%) Agile
9 99 (13.11%) ITIL
10 91 (12.05%) Migration
11 79 (10.46%) SIEM
11 79 (10.46%) Zero Trust
12 77 (10.20%) Technical Leadership
13 76 (10.07%) High Availability
13 76 (10.07%) Project Delivery
13 76 (10.07%) Stakeholder Management
14 66 (8.74%) Validation
15 65 (8.61%) Change Management
15 65 (8.61%) Continuous Improvement
16 64 (8.48%) Network Segmentation
Programming Languages
1 163 (21.59%) Python
2 152 (20.13%) PowerShell
3 89 (11.79%) Bash
4 34 (4.50%) Bicep
5 30 (3.97%) Java
6 26 (3.44%) SQL
7 18 (2.38%) ActionScript
8 5 (0.66%) Go
8 5 (0.66%) Kusto Query Language
8 5 (0.66%) Search Processing Language
8 5 (0.66%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.53%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.40%) Groovy
11 2 (0.26%) JavaScript
11 2 (0.26%) Perl
11 2 (0.26%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.13%) C
12 1 (0.13%) C++
12 1 (0.13%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 304 (40.26%) Security Cleared
2 189 (25.03%) SC Cleared
3 141 (18.68%) Cisco Certification
4 104 (13.77%) DV Cleared
5 99 (13.11%) CCNP
6 65 (8.61%) CCNA
7 56 (7.42%) Degree
8 42 (5.56%) CISSP
9 36 (4.77%) AWS Certification
10 34 (4.50%) Azure Certification
11 20 (2.65%) CCIE
11 20 (2.65%) Microsoft Certification
12 13 (1.72%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 12 (1.59%) Network+ Certification
13 12 (1.59%) VCAP
14 10 (1.32%) Computer Science Degree
15 9 (1.19%) CEH
15 9 (1.19%) CISM
15 9 (1.19%) Server+ Certification
16 7 (0.93%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (5.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 36 (4.77%) NIST
3 21 (2.78%) NCSC
4 20 (2.65%) GDPR
5 17 (2.25%) QA
6 16 (2.12%) PCI DSS
7 10 (1.32%) Cyber Essentials
8 9 (1.19%) JSP 440
8 9 (1.19%) SLA
9 8 (1.06%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 6 (0.79%) NIST 800
11 5 (0.66%) Data Quality
11 5 (0.66%) Disclosure Scotland
12 4 (0.53%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 4 (0.53%) GxP
12 4 (0.53%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.40%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.26%) GRC
14 2 (0.26%) SOC 2
15 1 (0.13%) ITGC
System Software
1 152 (20.13%) Active Directory
2 136 (18.01%) VMware Infrastructure
3 60 (7.95%) Hyper-V
4 50 (6.62%) vSphere
5 49 (6.49%) Docker
6 45 (5.96%) VMware NSX
7 35 (4.64%) VMware ESXi
8 19 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
9 17 (2.25%) Firmware
10 8 (1.06%) Virtual Servers
11 7 (0.93%) Virtual Desktop
12 5 (0.66%) FreeRADIUS
13 4 (0.53%) VirtualBox
14 3 (0.40%) Dovecot
14 3 (0.40%) Postfix
15 2 (0.26%) BitLocker
15 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Virtual Server
16 1 (0.13%) KVM
16 1 (0.13%) NFS
16 1 (0.13%) Squid
Systems Management
1 139 (18.41%) Ansible
2 87 (11.52%) Kubernetes
3 36 (4.77%) Microsoft Intune
4 34 (4.50%) FortiGate
5 27 (3.58%) Progress Chef
6 20 (2.65%) Grafana
7 19 (2.52%) SCCM
8 18 (2.38%) Prometheus
8 18 (2.38%) Single Sign-On
8 18 (2.38%) VxRail
9 15 (1.99%) vCenter Server
10 13 (1.72%) CASB
11 8 (1.06%) Argo
11 8 (1.06%) Istio
12 7 (0.93%) Nagios
12 7 (0.93%) NetBackup
12 7 (0.93%) Packer
13 6 (0.79%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 4 (0.53%) Dell DRAC
14 4 (0.53%) Kustomize
Vendors
1 267 (35.36%) Cisco
2 209 (27.68%) Microsoft
3 168 (22.25%) VMware
4 164 (21.72%) Palo Alto
5 103 (13.64%) F5
6 72 (9.54%) Fortinet
7 66 (8.74%) CheckPoint
8 65 (8.61%) Juniper
9 42 (5.56%) SolarWinds
10 41 (5.43%) Aruba
11 36 (4.77%) Google
11 36 (4.77%) ServiceNow
12 33 (4.37%) Meraki
13 31 (4.11%) Splunk
14 29 (3.84%) Arista
15 24 (3.18%) Veeam
16 23 (3.05%) Red Hat
17 21 (2.78%) Zscaler
18 18 (2.38%) NetApp
19 17 (2.25%) Databricks