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

6 months to
21 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 64 51 36
Rank change year-on-year -13 -15 +7
Contract jobs citing Firewall 764 563 907
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.27% 4.41% 4.39%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 30.02% 28.08% 26.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 511 352 583
10th Percentile £318 £300 £298
25th Percentile £413 £387 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £571 £588 £608
90th Percentile £635 £650 £748
UK median daily rate £500 £510 £513
% change year-on-year -1.96% -0.49% -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 17 30
10th Percentile £20.53 - £23.92
25th Percentile £37.25 £14.20 £58.88
Median hourly rate £56.00 £35.00 £83.77
Median % change year-on-year +60.00% -58.22% +35.10%
75th Percentile £74.26 £41.50 £87.46
90th Percentile £84.61 £56.50 £87.53
UK median hourly rate £56.00 £35.82 £68.25
% change year-on-year +56.33% -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 2,545 2,005 3,487
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.89% 15.70% 16.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,556 1,234 2,001
10th Percentile £206 £193 £203
25th Percentile £358 £305 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £464 £475
Median % change year-on-year +2.43% -2.37% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £653 £638 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £488 £489
% change year-on-year +2.56% -0.31% -5.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 171 134 354
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.44 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.83 £17.51 £17.17
Median hourly rate £55.50 £28.00 £46.14
Median % change year-on-year +98.21% -39.31% +149.38%
75th Percentile £70.29 £64.69 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £79.21 £71.07
UK median hourly rate £48.72 £37.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +29.92% -6.25% +110.53%

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 +1 243 £500 - 131
North of England -20 219 £500 +5.26% 109
North West -10 143 £528 +11.16% 51
Midlands -39 94 £425 -22.73% 56
West Midlands -24 82 £423 -19.18% 30
Yorkshire -32 74 £443 -13.66% 27
East of England -9 64 £500 -4.76% 49
South West -49 57 £550 +0.55% 38
Scotland +14 54 £425 -1.45% 21
Wales -11 31 £425 +11.11% 19
East Midlands -52 8 £475 -17.39% 25
North East -12 5 £548 -0.45% 32
Northern Ireland +4 3 £443 - 14
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 13 (1.70%) Confluence
2 9 (1.18%) Apache
2 9 (1.18%) CICS
3 8 (1.05%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.65%) IIS
5 3 (0.39%) SharePoint
6 2 (0.26%) Apache Pulsar
6 2 (0.26%) CMS
6 2 (0.26%) IBM HTTP Server
6 2 (0.26%) Oracle HTTP Server
6 2 (0.26%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.26%) Umbraco
6 2 (0.26%) WebSphere
6 2 (0.26%) WebSphere Application Server
6 2 (0.26%) WebSphere Portal
7 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 30 (3.93%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (2.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.96%) MS Visio
4 13 (1.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.39%) 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
1 214 (28.01%) Azure
2 144 (18.85%) AWS
3 56 (7.33%) Entra ID
4 55 (7.20%) GCP
5 40 (5.24%) Microsoft 365
6 28 (3.66%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 27 (3.53%) Azure DevOps
8 26 (3.40%) GitHub
9 22 (2.88%) Azure Sentinel
9 22 (2.88%) IaaS
10 20 (2.62%) PaaS
11 18 (2.36%) Serverless
12 16 (2.09%) AWS CloudFormation
12 16 (2.09%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 16 (2.09%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.83%) AWS Lambda
13 14 (1.83%) GitHub Actions
13 14 (1.83%) Nutanix
14 13 (1.70%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 12 (1.57%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 213 (27.88%) WAN
2 210 (27.49%) Network Security
3 182 (23.82%) LAN
4 170 (22.25%) VPN
5 160 (20.94%) DNS
6 135 (17.67%) BGP
7 124 (16.23%) OSPF
8 105 (13.74%) VLAN
9 101 (13.22%) DHCP
10 98 (12.83%) Wireless
11 81 (10.60%) TCP/IP
12 72 (9.42%) SD-WAN
13 63 (8.25%) IPsec
14 60 (7.85%) Cisco ISE
15 57 (7.46%) Wi-Fi
16 50 (6.54%) VXLAN
17 48 (6.28%) MPLS
18 46 (6.02%) Ethernet VPN
19 42 (5.50%) Cisco Nexus
20 39 (5.10%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.83%) SQL Server
2 12 (1.57%) PostgreSQL
3 9 (1.18%) DataStage
4 8 (1.05%) Amazon RDS
5 6 (0.79%) Power BI
6 4 (0.52%) Azure SQL Database
6 4 (0.52%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.52%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.52%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.52%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.39%) Delta Lake
7 3 (0.39%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.39%) Oracle Database
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
9 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 53 (6.94%) JIRA
2 28 (3.66%) GitLab
2 28 (3.66%) Jenkins
3 22 (2.88%) Git
4 16 (2.09%) Burp Suite
4 16 (2.09%) Metasploit
5 14 (1.83%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.18%) Jaeger
7 6 (0.79%) Bitbucket
8 4 (0.52%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.52%) CircleCI
9 3 (0.39%) Chocolatey
10 2 (0.26%) Introscope
10 2 (0.26%) Team Foundation Server
11 1 (0.13%) Artifactory
11 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 1 (0.13%) MSI
11 1 (0.13%) Postman
11 1 (0.13%) Subversion
11 1 (0.13%) Travis CI
General
1 206 (26.96%) Social Skills
2 80 (10.47%) Finance
3 75 (9.82%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (8.12%) Public Sector
5 53 (6.94%) Documentation Skills
6 22 (2.88%) Banking
7 19 (2.49%) Manufacturing
8 17 (2.23%) Telecoms
9 16 (2.09%) Influencing Skills
10 15 (1.96%) Legal
11 14 (1.83%) Military
12 10 (1.31%) Financial Institution
13 8 (1.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 8 (1.05%) Law
14 7 (0.92%) Retail
15 6 (0.79%) Aerospace
15 6 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
16 4 (0.52%) Presentation Skills
17 3 (0.39%) Back Office
17 3 (0.39%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 249 (32.59%) Network Engineer
2 113 (14.79%) Architect
3 76 (9.95%) Senior
4 62 (8.12%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 53 (6.94%) Network Architect
5 53 (6.94%) Security Engineer
6 41 (5.37%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 33 (4.32%) Senior Network Engineer
8 25 (3.27%) Cisco Engineer
8 25 (3.27%) Cloud Engineer
9 24 (3.14%) IT Support
10 23 (3.01%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 22 (2.88%) Lead
11 22 (2.88%) Network Specialist
12 21 (2.75%) Designer
12 21 (2.75%) Security Architect
13 20 (2.62%) Platform Engineer
14 19 (2.49%) Analyst
14 19 (2.49%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
15 18 (2.36%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (7.46%) 802.1X
2 24 (3.14%) LDAP
3 20 (2.62%) Middleware
3 20 (2.62%) SAML
4 18 (2.36%) Kafka
5 12 (1.57%) OAuth
5 12 (1.57%) OAuth2
6 11 (1.44%) OpenTelemetry
7 10 (1.31%) OpenID
8 9 (1.18%) Spring Boot
9 6 (0.79%) LangChain
9 6 (0.79%) PyTorch
9 6 (0.79%) REST
9 6 (0.79%) scikit-learn
10 5 (0.65%) JSON
10 5 (0.65%) Node.js
11 4 (0.52%) ARM Templates
11 4 (0.52%) YAML
12 3 (0.39%) Lambda Expressions
13 2 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
Miscellaneous
1 187 (24.48%) Data Centre
2 48 (6.28%) Security Posture
3 45 (5.89%) PKI
4 39 (5.10%) Cloud Native
5 29 (3.80%) Operational Technology
6 27 (3.53%) Clustering
7 26 (3.40%) Hybrid Cloud
8 24 (3.14%) Onboarding
9 20 (2.62%) IoT
10 17 (2.23%) Public Cloud
11 16 (2.09%) NHS
11 16 (2.09%) SCADA
12 15 (1.96%) Enterprise Software
12 15 (1.96%) Management Information System
13 14 (1.83%) Private Cloud
14 13 (1.70%) BYOD
14 13 (1.70%) Product Ownership
14 13 (1.70%) Self-Motivation
15 12 (1.57%) Data Protection Act
16 11 (1.44%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 219 (28.66%) Windows
2 139 (18.19%) Linux
3 87 (11.39%) Windows Server
4 29 (3.80%) Unix
5 21 (2.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (1.44%) Solaris
7 9 (1.18%) AIX
8 7 (0.92%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.79%) VMS
9 6 (0.79%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.65%) Mac OS
10 5 (0.65%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.39%) Amazon Linux
12 3 (0.39%) CatOS
12 3 (0.39%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.26%) Oracle Linux
13 2 (0.26%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
13 2 (0.26%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (17.02%) Cybersecurity
2 111 (14.53%) Problem-Solving
3 106 (13.87%) DevOps
4 98 (12.83%) High Availability
4 98 (12.83%) Load Balancing
5 97 (12.70%) ITIL
6 95 (12.43%) CI/CD
7 89 (11.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 82 (10.73%) Infrastructure as Code
9 71 (9.29%) Zero Trust
10 68 (8.90%) Change Management
11 67 (8.77%) Observability
12 63 (8.25%) Agile
13 61 (7.98%) Network Segmentation
14 60 (7.85%) Cloud Security
14 60 (7.85%) Identity Access Management
14 60 (7.85%) Migration
14 60 (7.85%) SIEM
14 60 (7.85%) Technical Leadership
15 58 (7.59%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 95 (12.43%) Python
2 89 (11.65%) PowerShell
3 44 (5.76%) Bash
4 33 (4.32%) SQL
5 24 (3.14%) Bicep
6 23 (3.01%) Java
7 14 (1.83%) Perl
8 9 (1.18%) COBOL
9 8 (1.05%) Rust
10 5 (0.65%) Ruby
11 4 (0.52%) C#
11 4 (0.52%) JavaScript
12 3 (0.39%) Go
12 3 (0.39%) Kusto Query Language
12 3 (0.39%) PL/SQL
12 3 (0.39%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.26%) C++
13 2 (0.26%) Jython
14 1 (0.13%) C
14 1 (0.13%) Korn
Qualifications
1 311 (40.71%) Security Cleared
2 209 (27.36%) SC Cleared
3 175 (22.91%) Cisco Certification
4 135 (17.67%) CCNP
5 86 (11.26%) CCNA
6 85 (11.13%) DV Cleared
7 76 (9.95%) Degree
8 43 (5.63%) CISSP
9 28 (3.66%) AWS Certification
10 25 (3.27%) Azure Certification
11 20 (2.62%) CCIE
11 20 (2.62%) CISM
12 19 (2.49%) Microsoft Certification
13 17 (2.23%) Network+ Certification
14 16 (2.09%) CHECK Team Member
14 16 (2.09%) JNCIS
15 14 (1.83%) CREST Certified
15 14 (1.83%) Cyber Scheme
16 13 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
16 13 (1.70%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 63 (8.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 43 (5.63%) GDPR
2 43 (5.63%) NIST
3 34 (4.45%) PCI DSS
4 20 (2.62%) Cyber Essentials
4 20 (2.62%) NCSC
5 18 (2.36%) QA
6 14 (1.83%) SLA
7 12 (1.57%) PMO
8 5 (0.65%) Disclosure Scotland
8 5 (0.65%) JSP 440
9 4 (0.52%) Data Quality
9 4 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 4 (0.52%) SOC 2
10 3 (0.39%) GRC
10 3 (0.39%) ISA99
10 3 (0.39%) RMADS
11 2 (0.26%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.26%) GxP
11 2 (0.26%) NIST 800
System Software
1 144 (18.85%) Active Directory
2 111 (14.53%) VMware Infrastructure
3 50 (6.54%) Docker
4 41 (5.37%) VMware NSX
5 27 (3.53%) vSphere
6 21 (2.75%) Hyper-V
7 15 (1.96%) Firmware
7 15 (1.96%) VMware ESXi
8 11 (1.44%) Virtual Machines
9 8 (1.05%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.39%) DFS Replication
10 3 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.13%) KVM
11 1 (0.13%) RHEV
11 1 (0.13%) Squid
11 1 (0.13%) UAG
11 1 (0.13%) Xen
11 1 (0.13%) XenApp
11 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 96 (12.57%) Terraform
2 69 (9.03%) Ansible
3 59 (7.72%) Kubernetes
4 48 (6.28%) FortiGate
5 24 (3.14%) Single Sign-On
6 23 (3.01%) Grafana
6 23 (3.01%) Microsoft Intune
7 21 (2.75%) vCenter Server
8 20 (2.62%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 18 (2.36%) Nmap
10 17 (2.23%) Prometheus
11 11 (1.44%) Nagios
12 10 (1.31%) CASB
12 10 (1.31%) SCCM
13 9 (1.18%) Cisco Prime
13 9 (1.18%) Kiali
14 8 (1.05%) Nessus
15 7 (0.92%) VxRail
16 6 (0.79%) Progress Chef
17 5 (0.65%) Endace
Vendors
1 296 (38.74%) Cisco
2 151 (19.76%) Microsoft
3 147 (19.24%) Palo Alto
4 140 (18.32%) VMware
5 91 (11.91%) Juniper
6 88 (11.52%) F5
7 73 (9.55%) Fortinet
8 71 (9.29%) CheckPoint
9 67 (8.77%) Splunk
10 64 (8.38%) SolarWinds
11 54 (7.07%) Aruba
12 38 (4.97%) ServiceNow
13 36 (4.71%) Google
14 32 (4.19%) Meraki
15 25 (3.27%) Extreme Networks
16 24 (3.14%) Red Hat
17 21 (2.75%) Citrix
18 20 (2.62%) Oracle
19 17 (2.23%) Veeam
20 15 (1.96%) IBM