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 10 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 63 47 36
Rank change year-on-year -16 -11 +8
Contract jobs citing Firewall 783 583 934
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.39% 4.61% 4.46%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 30.29% 28.92% 25.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 530 355 598
10th Percentile £318 £300 £286
25th Percentile £413 £391 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £575 £588 £608
90th Percentile £638 £650 £719
UK median daily rate £500 £510 £504
% change year-on-year -1.96% +1.19% -4.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 17 29
10th Percentile £19.67 - £23.92
25th Percentile £37.25 £14.20 £58.50
Median hourly rate £52.36 £35.00 £83.77
Median % change year-on-year +49.60% -58.22% +35.10%
75th Percentile £74.26 £41.50 £87.46
90th Percentile £85.10 £56.50 £87.53
UK median hourly rate £48.72 £35.82 £68.25
% change year-on-year +36.00% -47.51% +10.08%

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 2,585 2,016 3,614
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 11.18% 15.93% 17.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,607 1,236 2,098
10th Percentile £204 £200 £202
25th Percentile £356 £313 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £470 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.17% -1.16% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £654 £638 £688
UK median daily rate £499 £490 £485
% change year-on-year +1.79% +1.03% -6.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 129 348
10th Percentile £15.50 £14.20 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.34 £19.25 £17.69
Median hourly rate £53.25 £28.00 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year +90.18% -38.97% +148.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.20 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £42.71 £37.50 £39.25
% change year-on-year +13.88% -4.46% +106.58%

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 10 April 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 10 April 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 10 April 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
South East +4 238 £515 +3.00% 134
North of England -21 234 £508 +6.84% 105
North West -7 159 £528 +11.16% 67
Midlands -34 97 £425 -23.42% 62
West Midlands -18 85 £423 -17.20% 37
Yorkshire -23 73 £445 -13.22% 27
South West -38 65 £550 +0.55% 42
East of England -14 63 £488 -7.58% 51
Scotland +4 53 £425 +0.59% 22
Wales -13 31 £425 +9.68% 13
East Midlands -53 8 £475 -19.83% 25
North East -15 5 £548 -0.45% 12
Northern Ireland - 3 £500 - 5
South Coast - 2 £600 -
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 15 (1.92%) Confluence
2 9 (1.15%) Apache
2 9 (1.15%) CICS
3 8 (1.02%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.64%) IIS
5 4 (0.51%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.38%) SharePoint
7 2 (0.26%) Apache Pulsar
7 2 (0.26%) IBM HTTP Server
7 2 (0.26%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 2 (0.26%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.26%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.26%) WebSphere Application Server
7 2 (0.26%) WebSphere Portal
8 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 31 (3.96%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (2.17%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 13 (1.66%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
1 1 (0.13%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 215 (27.46%) Azure
2 154 (19.67%) AWS
3 57 (7.28%) Entra ID
3 57 (7.28%) GCP
4 39 (4.98%) Microsoft 365
5 33 (4.21%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 27 (3.45%) GitHub
7 24 (3.07%) Azure DevOps
7 24 (3.07%) Serverless
8 23 (2.94%) IaaS
9 22 (2.81%) AWS CloudFormation
10 21 (2.68%) Azure Sentinel
10 21 (2.68%) PaaS
11 20 (2.55%) AWS Lambda
12 19 (2.43%) Azure Monitor
13 17 (2.17%) Amazon EC2
14 15 (1.92%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 15 (1.92%) GitHub Actions
15 13 (1.66%) Amazon EKS
15 13 (1.66%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 210 (26.82%) WAN
2 204 (26.05%) Network Security
3 174 (22.22%) LAN
4 172 (21.97%) VPN
5 161 (20.56%) DNS
6 131 (16.73%) BGP
7 120 (15.33%) OSPF
8 104 (13.28%) VLAN
9 97 (12.39%) DHCP
10 93 (11.88%) Wireless
11 83 (10.60%) TCP/IP
12 68 (8.68%) SD-WAN
13 63 (8.05%) Cisco ISE
14 60 (7.66%) IPsec
14 60 (7.66%) Wi-Fi
15 48 (6.13%) MPLS
15 48 (6.13%) VXLAN
16 45 (5.75%) Ethernet VPN
17 37 (4.73%) BIG-IP
17 37 (4.73%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.79%) Amazon RDS
2 12 (1.53%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.40%) SQL Server
4 9 (1.15%) DataStage
5 6 (0.77%) Power BI
6 4 (0.51%) Azure SQL Database
6 4 (0.51%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.51%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.51%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.51%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.38%) Delta Lake
7 3 (0.38%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.38%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.26%) Amazon QuickSight
8 2 (0.26%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.26%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.13%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.13%) MySQL
9 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 56 (7.15%) JIRA
2 33 (4.21%) Jenkins
3 30 (3.83%) GitLab
4 27 (3.45%) Git
5 17 (2.17%) Sonatype Nexus
6 16 (2.04%) Burp Suite
6 16 (2.04%) Metasploit
7 9 (1.15%) Bitbucket
7 9 (1.15%) Jaeger
8 4 (0.51%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.51%) CircleCI
9 3 (0.38%) Chocolatey
10 2 (0.26%) Introscope
11 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
11 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 1 (0.13%) MSI
11 1 (0.13%) Subversion
11 1 (0.13%) Travis CI
General
1 211 (26.95%) Social Skills
2 82 (10.47%) Finance
3 71 (9.07%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (8.56%) Public Sector
5 56 (7.15%) Documentation Skills
6 25 (3.19%) Banking
7 19 (2.43%) Manufacturing
8 17 (2.17%) Legal
8 17 (2.17%) Telecoms
9 16 (2.04%) Influencing Skills
10 12 (1.53%) Military
11 10 (1.28%) Financial Institution
12 8 (1.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 8 (1.02%) Law
13 6 (0.77%) Aerospace
13 6 (0.77%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.77%) Retail
14 4 (0.51%) Presentation Skills
15 3 (0.38%) Back Office
15 3 (0.38%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 252 (32.18%) Network Engineer
2 122 (15.58%) Architect
3 79 (10.09%) Senior
4 61 (7.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 57 (7.28%) Security Engineer
6 53 (6.77%) Network Architect
7 44 (5.62%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 33 (4.21%) Senior Network Engineer
9 25 (3.19%) Cisco Engineer
9 25 (3.19%) Cloud Engineer
10 24 (3.07%) IT Support
10 24 (3.07%) Platform Engineer
11 23 (2.94%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 23 (2.94%) Security Architect
12 22 (2.81%) Analyst
12 22 (2.81%) Lead
13 21 (2.68%) Designer
13 21 (2.68%) Network Specialist
14 20 (2.55%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
14 20 (2.55%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 61 (7.79%) 802.1X
2 24 (3.07%) SAML
3 22 (2.81%) LDAP
4 21 (2.68%) Middleware
5 18 (2.30%) Kafka
6 17 (2.17%) OAuth
6 17 (2.17%) OAuth2
7 15 (1.92%) OpenID
8 11 (1.40%) OpenTelemetry
9 9 (1.15%) Spring Boot
10 8 (1.02%) Node.js
11 6 (0.77%) LangChain
11 6 (0.77%) PyTorch
11 6 (0.77%) scikit-learn
12 5 (0.64%) JSON
12 5 (0.64%) REST
13 4 (0.51%) ARM Templates
13 4 (0.51%) YAML
14 3 (0.38%) Lambda Expressions
15 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
Miscellaneous
1 189 (24.14%) Data Centre
2 51 (6.51%) Security Posture
3 45 (5.75%) PKI
4 39 (4.98%) Cloud Native
5 29 (3.70%) Hybrid Cloud
6 27 (3.45%) Operational Technology
7 26 (3.32%) Clustering
8 24 (3.07%) Onboarding
9 20 (2.55%) IoT
10 18 (2.30%) NHS
11 16 (2.04%) Private Cloud
11 16 (2.04%) Public Cloud
12 15 (1.92%) Enterprise Software
12 15 (1.92%) Management Information System
13 14 (1.79%) SCADA
14 13 (1.66%) BYOD
14 13 (1.66%) Product Ownership
15 12 (1.53%) Self-Motivation
16 11 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
16 11 (1.40%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 226 (28.86%) Windows
2 150 (19.16%) Linux
3 91 (11.62%) Windows Server
4 27 (3.45%) Unix
5 21 (2.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (1.40%) Solaris
7 9 (1.15%) AIX
8 7 (0.89%) Windows 7
8 7 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
9 5 (0.64%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.64%) VMS
9 5 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.51%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.38%) Amazon Linux
11 3 (0.38%) CatOS
11 3 (0.38%) Data ONTAP
12 2 (0.26%) Oracle Linux
12 2 (0.26%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 2 (0.26%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (16.99%) Cybersecurity
2 120 (15.33%) Problem-Solving
3 114 (14.56%) DevOps
4 107 (13.67%) Load Balancing
5 101 (12.90%) CI/CD
6 98 (12.52%) ITIL
7 96 (12.26%) High Availability
8 89 (11.37%) Infrastructure as Code
9 88 (11.24%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 70 (8.94%) Change Management
11 69 (8.81%) Zero Trust
12 68 (8.68%) Observability
13 66 (8.43%) Agile
14 65 (8.30%) Identity Access Management
15 61 (7.79%) Network Segmentation
15 61 (7.79%) SIEM
16 60 (7.66%) Cloud Security
16 60 (7.66%) Technical Leadership
17 58 (7.41%) Migration
17 58 (7.41%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 111 (14.18%) Python
2 104 (13.28%) PowerShell
3 57 (7.28%) Bash
4 33 (4.21%) SQL
5 26 (3.32%) Java
6 25 (3.19%) Bicep
7 20 (2.55%) Perl
8 9 (1.15%) COBOL
9 8 (1.02%) Ruby
9 8 (1.02%) Rust
10 4 (0.51%) C#
10 4 (0.51%) JavaScript
11 3 (0.38%) Go
11 3 (0.38%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.38%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.38%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.26%) C++
12 2 (0.26%) Jython
13 1 (0.13%) C
13 1 (0.13%) Korn
Qualifications
1 329 (42.02%) Security Cleared
2 215 (27.46%) SC Cleared
3 167 (21.33%) Cisco Certification
4 134 (17.11%) CCNP
5 94 (12.01%) DV Cleared
6 83 (10.60%) CCNA
7 75 (9.58%) Degree
8 42 (5.36%) CISSP
9 31 (3.96%) AWS Certification
10 27 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
11 25 (3.19%) Azure Certification
12 20 (2.55%) CISM
13 19 (2.43%) CCIE
14 17 (2.17%) Network+ Certification
15 16 (2.04%) CHECK Team Member
15 16 (2.04%) JNCIS
16 14 (1.79%) CREST Certified
16 14 (1.79%) Cyber Scheme
17 13 (1.66%) Computer Science Degree
17 13 (1.66%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 63 (8.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 45 (5.75%) NIST
3 40 (5.11%) GDPR
4 33 (4.21%) PCI DSS
5 24 (3.07%) NCSC
6 20 (2.55%) Cyber Essentials
7 16 (2.04%) QA
8 14 (1.79%) SLA
9 12 (1.53%) PMO
10 5 (0.64%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.38%) Data Quality
12 3 (0.38%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.38%) GRC
12 3 (0.38%) ISA99
12 3 (0.38%) RMADS
13 2 (0.26%) Government Security Classifications
13 2 (0.26%) GxP
13 2 (0.26%) PSD2
13 2 (0.26%) SOC 2
System Software
1 155 (19.80%) Active Directory
2 119 (15.20%) VMware Infrastructure
3 64 (8.17%) Docker
4 40 (5.11%) VMware NSX
5 33 (4.21%) vSphere
6 23 (2.94%) Hyper-V
7 15 (1.92%) VMware ESXi
8 14 (1.79%) Firmware
9 9 (1.15%) Virtual Machines
10 8 (1.02%) Virtual Desktop
11 5 (0.64%) Virtual Servers
12 3 (0.38%) DFS Replication
13 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
13 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.13%) iptables
13 1 (0.13%) KVM
13 1 (0.13%) RHEV
13 1 (0.13%) UAG
13 1 (0.13%) XenApp
13 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 104 (13.28%) Terraform
2 70 (8.94%) Kubernetes
3 69 (8.81%) Ansible
4 46 (5.87%) FortiGate
5 29 (3.70%) Single Sign-On
6 26 (3.32%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 23 (2.94%) Grafana
8 22 (2.81%) Microsoft Intune
9 20 (2.55%) vCenter Server
10 18 (2.30%) Nmap
11 17 (2.17%) Prometheus
12 11 (1.40%) Nagios
13 10 (1.28%) SCCM
14 9 (1.15%) CASB
14 9 (1.15%) Cisco Prime
14 9 (1.15%) Kiali
15 8 (1.02%) Nessus
16 7 (0.89%) VxRail
16 7 (0.89%) WMI
17 6 (0.77%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 293 (37.42%) Cisco
2 160 (20.43%) Microsoft
3 151 (19.28%) VMware
4 150 (19.16%) Palo Alto
5 91 (11.62%) Juniper
6 85 (10.86%) F5
7 70 (8.94%) Fortinet
8 68 (8.68%) CheckPoint
9 66 (8.43%) Splunk
10 62 (7.92%) SolarWinds
11 56 (7.15%) Aruba
12 38 (4.85%) Meraki
12 38 (4.85%) ServiceNow
13 35 (4.47%) Google
14 24 (3.07%) Extreme Networks
14 24 (3.07%) Red Hat
15 22 (2.81%) Oracle
16 21 (2.68%) Citrix
17 15 (1.92%) IBM
17 15 (1.92%) Veeam