VLAN Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Virtual LAN (VLAN)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring VLAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 2 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 298 272 261
Rank change year-on-year -26 -11 -23
Contract jobs citing VLAN 188 109 104
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.66% 0.70% 0.59%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.36% 5.19% 4.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 121 79 62
10th Percentile £331 £219 £246
25th Percentile £419 £298 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £445 £413
Median % change year-on-year +12.36% +7.88% -14.06%
75th Percentile £600 £488 £572
90th Percentile £630 £679 £667
UK median daily rate £495 £446 £444
% change year-on-year +10.99% +0.51% -7.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 1 1
10th Percentile £18.50 - -
25th Percentile £33.70 £65.75 £21.25
Median hourly rate £47.00 £66.50 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -29.32% +195.56% -34.25%
75th Percentile £74.00 £67.25 £23.75
90th Percentile - - -
UK median hourly rate £49.25 £34.00 £30.25
% change year-on-year +44.85% +12.40% -8.94%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK excluding London

VLAN 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 2,954 2,102 2,546
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.43% 13.41% 14.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,619 1,335 1,397
10th Percentile £213 £200 £200
25th Percentile £355 £313 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £485
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -7.22% +5.43%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £650 £643 £663
UK median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 351 138 172
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.45 £14.27
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.97 £23.91
Median hourly rate £26.72 £42.22 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -36.71% -26.38% -0.26%
75th Percentile £65.88 £65.00 £65.51
90th Percentile £85.00 £80.41 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £32.50 £41.94 £50.50
% change year-on-year -22.51% -16.95% -10.60%

VLAN
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

VLAN job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

VLAN
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

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

VLAN
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing VLAN in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 2 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for VLAN in the UK excluding London

VLAN
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

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

VLAN
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing VLAN in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 2 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for VLAN in the UK excluding London

VLAN
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 VLAN within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 2 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 -33 59 £500 +11.86% 52
South East -58 46 £488 +14.71% 107
South West -11 31 £495 +29.41% 25
North West -34 30 £519 +9.27% 35
Yorkshire -10 28 £500 +150.00% 13
Midlands -53 20 £250 -47.37% 42
East of England -23 17 £600 +34.83% 29
West Midlands -44 12 £250 -47.37% 30
Scotland -23 11 £375 -14.77% 12
East Midlands -10 8 - - 12
Wales - 4 £363 - 6
North East -42 1 - - 7
VLAN
UK

VLAN
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 (6.91%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (5.85%) SharePoint
3 6 (3.19%) Confluence
3 6 (3.19%) Skype for Business
4 5 (2.66%) FactoryTalk
Applications
1 8 (4.26%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.06%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.53%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (3.19%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 56 (29.79%) Azure
2 34 (18.09%) AWS
3 28 (14.89%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (10.64%) Entra ID
5 17 (9.04%) GCP
6 13 (6.91%) GitHub
7 7 (3.72%) GitHub Actions
8 6 (3.19%) IaaS
9 5 (2.66%) Nutanix
10 4 (2.13%) AWS Direct Connect
10 4 (2.13%) Azure DevOps
10 4 (2.13%) OneDrive
10 4 (2.13%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 3 (1.60%) Azure Sentinel
12 2 (1.06%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 2 (1.06%) Google Workspace
13 1 (0.53%) Azure Monitor
13 1 (0.53%) Google Ads
13 1 (0.53%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 112 (59.57%) Firewall
2 97 (51.60%) DNS
3 78 (41.49%) DHCP
4 68 (36.17%) VPN
5 60 (31.91%) BGP
6 57 (30.32%) LAN
6 57 (30.32%) OSPF
7 56 (29.79%) TCP/IP
8 55 (29.26%) WAN
9 41 (21.81%) Wireless
10 39 (20.74%) Network Security
11 32 (17.02%) Wi-Fi
12 30 (15.96%) Cisco Nexus
13 29 (15.43%) SAN
14 27 (14.36%) SD-WAN
15 22 (11.70%) WLAN
16 21 (11.17%) Cisco IOS
16 21 (11.17%) VXLAN
17 20 (10.64%) NX-OS
18 19 (10.11%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (3.72%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.53%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 14 (7.45%) JIRA
2 12 (6.38%) Jenkins
3 7 (3.72%) GitLab
4 4 (2.13%) Git
5 2 (1.06%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (1.06%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.53%) MSI
General
1 43 (22.87%) Social Skills
2 22 (11.70%) Analytical Skills
3 12 (6.38%) Public Sector
4 11 (5.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 10 (5.32%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (4.79%) Manufacturing
7 6 (3.19%) Telecoms
8 5 (2.66%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (2.66%) Pharmaceutical
8 5 (2.66%) Police
9 4 (2.13%) Games
10 3 (1.60%) Finance
10 3 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (1.06%) Legal
12 1 (0.53%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 71 (37.77%) Network Engineer
2 44 (23.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 30 (15.96%) Senior
4 20 (10.64%) Architect
5 17 (9.04%) Senior Network Engineer
6 14 (7.45%) IT Engineer
6 14 (7.45%) Network Architect
7 10 (5.32%) Cisco Engineer
8 8 (4.26%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 8 (4.26%) IT Support
8 8 (4.26%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
8 8 (4.26%) Support Engineer
8 8 (4.26%) Technical Architect
9 7 (3.72%) Automation Specialist
9 7 (3.72%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 6 (3.19%) Lead
10 6 (3.19%) QA Engineer
10 6 (3.19%) QA Test Engineer
10 6 (3.19%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
10 6 (3.19%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (14.36%) Terraform
2 7 (3.72%) 802.1X
3 5 (2.66%) NETCONF
3 5 (2.66%) REST
4 3 (1.60%) RESTCONF
5 2 (1.06%) gRPC
5 2 (1.06%) HTML
5 2 (1.06%) HTML5
5 2 (1.06%) JSON
5 2 (1.06%) ModSecurity
5 2 (1.06%) ODBC
5 2 (1.06%) YAML
6 1 (0.53%) .NET
6 1 (0.53%) Microsoft Graph
Miscellaneous
1 67 (35.64%) Data Centre
2 12 (6.38%) PKI
2 12 (6.38%) Self-Motivation
3 10 (5.32%) Onboarding
3 10 (5.32%) Operational Technology
4 9 (4.79%) Cloud Native
4 9 (4.79%) Replication
5 7 (3.72%) Driving Licence
5 7 (3.72%) SCADA
6 6 (3.19%) Hybrid Cloud
6 6 (3.19%) Life Science
6 6 (3.19%) Virtual Team
7 5 (2.66%) CMDB
8 4 (2.13%) Animation
8 4 (2.13%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 4 (2.13%) Linux Command Line
8 4 (2.13%) Private Cloud
9 3 (1.60%) Video Conferencing
10 2 (1.06%) Management Information System
10 2 (1.06%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 63 (33.51%) Windows
2 40 (21.28%) Windows Server
3 23 (12.23%) Linux
4 11 (5.85%) Windows 10
5 9 (4.79%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (3.19%) CentOS
6 6 (3.19%) Rocky
6 6 (3.19%) Unix
6 6 (3.19%) Windows 7
7 3 (1.60%) Android
8 2 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.53%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.53%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 56 (29.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 38 (20.21%) Problem-Solving
3 33 (17.55%) Validation
4 30 (15.96%) ITSM
4 30 (15.96%) Network Segmentation
5 25 (13.30%) Infrastructure as Code
5 25 (13.30%) ITIL
6 23 (12.23%) Continuous Improvement
7 22 (11.70%) Network Design
7 22 (11.70%) Project Delivery
8 20 (10.64%) CI/CD
8 20 (10.64%) Disaster Recovery
8 20 (10.64%) High Availability
9 17 (9.04%) Network Monitoring
10 16 (8.51%) Cybersecurity
11 15 (7.98%) Infrastructure Automation
11 15 (7.98%) Migration
12 14 (7.45%) Mentoring
12 14 (7.45%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 13 (6.91%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 32 (17.02%) PowerShell
2 20 (10.64%) Python
3 6 (3.19%) Bash
3 6 (3.19%) VB
3 6 (3.19%) VBScript
4 5 (2.66%) ActionScript
5 2 (1.06%) SQL
5 2 (1.06%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.53%) Bicep
6 1 (0.53%) C#
Qualifications
1 72 (38.30%) Security Cleared
2 55 (29.26%) Cisco Certification
3 51 (27.13%) SC Cleared
4 49 (26.06%) CCNP
5 28 (14.89%) CCNA
6 20 (10.64%) DV Cleared
7 12 (6.38%) Degree
8 9 (4.79%) Network+ Certification
8 9 (4.79%) Server+ Certification
9 8 (4.26%) CCIE
10 5 (2.66%) ITIL Certification
10 5 (2.66%) Microsoft Certification
11 4 (2.13%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 3 (1.60%) Azure Certification
12 3 (1.60%) DBS Check
13 2 (1.06%) AWS Certification
13 2 (1.06%) JNCIE
14 1 (0.53%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 1 (0.53%) Computer Science Degree
14 1 (0.53%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (4.79%) QA
2 6 (3.19%) NCSC
2 6 (3.19%) SLA
3 4 (2.13%) 21 CFR Part 11
3 4 (2.13%) GxP
3 4 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 4 (2.13%) NIST
3 4 (2.13%) NIST 800
4 3 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (1.06%) Actionable Recommendations
5 2 (1.06%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 2 (1.06%) GDPR
5 2 (1.06%) JSP 440
6 1 (0.53%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 59 (31.38%) VMware Infrastructure
2 33 (17.55%) Active Directory
3 21 (11.17%) vSphere
4 20 (10.64%) Hyper-V
5 17 (9.04%) VMware ESXi
6 12 (6.38%) Firmware
7 9 (4.79%) VMware NSX
8 8 (4.26%) Virtual Machines
9 7 (3.72%) BitLocker
10 5 (2.66%) Virtual Desktop
11 4 (2.13%) KVM
11 4 (2.13%) VirtualBox
12 2 (1.06%) NFS
12 2 (1.06%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 35 (18.62%) Ansible
2 13 (6.91%) Microsoft Intune
3 9 (4.79%) vCenter Server
4 8 (4.26%) SCCM
5 6 (3.19%) FortiGate
5 6 (3.19%) Kubernetes
5 6 (3.19%) NetBackup
6 4 (2.13%) Grafana
6 4 (2.13%) Nagios
6 4 (2.13%) WSUS
7 3 (1.60%) Avamar
7 3 (1.60%) Prometheus
7 3 (1.60%) vMotion
8 2 (1.06%) Red Hat Satellite
8 2 (1.06%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.53%) Iperf
9 1 (0.53%) MobiControl
9 1 (0.53%) QRadar
9 1 (0.53%) Suricata
9 1 (0.53%) TrustSec
Vendors
1 92 (48.94%) Cisco
2 74 (39.36%) VMware
3 53 (28.19%) Microsoft
4 29 (15.43%) F5
5 25 (13.30%) ServiceNow
6 23 (12.23%) Palo Alto
7 20 (10.64%) Veeam
8 18 (9.57%) SolarWinds
9 16 (8.51%) Juniper
9 16 (8.51%) NetApp
10 15 (7.98%) CheckPoint
11 13 (6.91%) Meraki
12 12 (6.38%) Fortinet
13 7 (3.72%) Aruba
14 6 (3.19%) CyberArk
14 6 (3.19%) Remedy
14 6 (3.19%) Xerox
15 5 (2.66%) BT
15 5 (2.66%) Google
15 5 (2.66%) Rockwell