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 27 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 282 272 271
Rank change year-on-year -10 -1 -8
Contract jobs citing VLAN 191 99 94
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.69% 0.65% 0.52%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.55% 4.71% 3.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 121 67 57
10th Percentile £325 £218 £248
25th Percentile £410 £375 £267
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £450 £400
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% +12.50% -16.67%
75th Percentile £600 £538 £575
90th Percentile £656 £697 £672
UK median daily rate £475 £450 £438
% change year-on-year +5.56% +2.86% -10.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 1 0
10th Percentile £18.50 - -
25th Percentile £33.70 £65.75 -
Median hourly rate £58.25 £66.50 -
Median % change year-on-year -12.41% - -
75th Percentile £74.00 £67.25 -
90th Percentile £77.41 - -
UK median hourly rate £58.25 £62.00 -
% change year-on-year -6.05% - -

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 2,918 2,104 2,702
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.55% 13.72% 14.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,636 1,281 1,555
10th Percentile £213 £204 £206
25th Percentile £358 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +0.21% -5.00% +9.89%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £650 £644 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 315 138 260
10th Percentile £14.91 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.50 £20.19 £21.34
Median hourly rate £25.77 £43.25 £54.94
Median % change year-on-year -40.42% -21.27% -4.46%
75th Percentile £65.55 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £85.75 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £45.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year -42.22% -10.00% -11.49%

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 27 August 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 27 August 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 27 August 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 -27 63 £500 +9.65% 20
South East -42 47 £475 - 30
North West -25 36 £519 +9.26% 11
South West -19 30 £495 +29.41% 16
Midlands -46 29 £413 -21.43% 22
Yorkshire -26 26 £488 +143.75% 9
West Midlands -49 15 £413 -7.30% 20
East Midlands -9 13 £275 -57.69% 2
East of England -22 11 £600 +54.84% 11
Scotland -11 10 £375 -14.77% 1
Wales - 3 £363 - 2
North East -41 1 - - 2
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 15 (7.85%) Microsoft Exchange
2 10 (5.24%) SharePoint
3 6 (3.14%) Skype for Business
4 5 (2.62%) FactoryTalk
5 1 (0.52%) Apache
5 1 (0.52%) JBoss
5 1 (0.52%) OpenStack
Applications
1 8 (4.19%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.52%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 55 (28.80%) Azure
2 32 (16.75%) AWS
3 28 (14.66%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (10.47%) Entra ID
5 11 (5.76%) GCP
6 10 (5.24%) GitHub
7 6 (3.14%) Azure DevOps
7 6 (3.14%) Nutanix
7 6 (3.14%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 5 (2.62%) GitHub Actions
8 5 (2.62%) IaaS
9 4 (2.09%) OneDrive
10 3 (1.57%) AWS Direct Connect
10 3 (1.57%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 3 (1.57%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (1.05%) Google Workspace
12 1 (0.52%) Amazon EC2
12 1 (0.52%) Amazon GuardDuty
12 1 (0.52%) Google Ads
12 1 (0.52%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 106 (55.50%) Firewall
2 92 (48.17%) DNS
3 77 (40.31%) DHCP
4 62 (32.46%) BGP
4 62 (32.46%) OSPF
5 61 (31.94%) VPN
6 59 (30.89%) LAN
6 59 (30.89%) WAN
7 54 (28.27%) TCP/IP
8 44 (23.04%) Wireless
9 37 (19.37%) Network Security
9 37 (19.37%) Wi-Fi
10 33 (17.28%) SAN
11 32 (16.75%) Cisco Nexus
12 30 (15.71%) SD-WAN
13 23 (12.04%) WLAN
14 22 (11.52%) NAS
15 21 (10.99%) Cisco IOS
15 21 (10.99%) NX-OS
16 20 (10.47%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (5.24%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.52%) OpenStack Swift
Development Applications
1 10 (5.24%) Jenkins
2 8 (4.19%) JIRA
3 5 (2.62%) GitLab
4 3 (1.57%) Git
4 3 (1.57%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (1.05%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.52%) Browser DevTools
6 1 (0.52%) MSI
General
1 45 (23.56%) Social Skills
2 24 (12.57%) Analytical Skills
3 14 (7.33%) Public Sector
4 11 (5.76%) Documentation Skills
5 9 (4.71%) Manufacturing
6 8 (4.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 6 (3.14%) Police
7 6 (3.14%) Telecoms
8 5 (2.62%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (2.62%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (2.09%) Finance
9 4 (2.09%) Games
9 4 (2.09%) Legal
10 3 (1.57%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (1.05%) Advertising
12 1 (0.52%) Law
Job Titles
1 74 (38.74%) Network Engineer
2 40 (20.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 25 (13.09%) Architect
3 25 (13.09%) Senior
4 18 (9.42%) IT Engineer
5 14 (7.33%) Network Architect
5 14 (7.33%) Senior Network Engineer
6 10 (5.24%) Cisco Engineer
6 10 (5.24%) Technical Architect
7 9 (4.71%) IT Support
8 8 (4.19%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 8 (4.19%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
8 8 (4.19%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
8 8 (4.19%) Support Engineer
8 8 (4.19%) Test Engineer
9 7 (3.66%) Automation Specialist
9 7 (3.66%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 6 (3.14%) IT Support Engineer
10 6 (3.14%) Systems Engineer
10 6 (3.14%) Technical Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (12.04%) Terraform
2 7 (3.66%) 802.1X
3 3 (1.57%) NETCONF
4 2 (1.05%) HTML
4 2 (1.05%) HTML5
4 2 (1.05%) ModSecurity
4 2 (1.05%) ODBC
5 1 (0.52%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.52%) REST
5 1 (0.52%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 67 (35.08%) Data Centre
2 15 (7.85%) Onboarding
2 15 (7.85%) Self-Motivation
3 12 (6.28%) PKI
4 11 (5.76%) Replication
5 9 (4.71%) Cloud Native
5 9 (4.71%) Operational Technology
6 8 (4.19%) Driving Licence
7 7 (3.66%) Hybrid Cloud
7 7 (3.66%) SCADA
8 6 (3.14%) Life Science
8 6 (3.14%) Virtual Team
9 4 (2.09%) Animation
9 4 (2.09%) CMDB
9 4 (2.09%) Private Cloud
10 3 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
10 3 (1.57%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 3 (1.57%) Linux Command Line
11 2 (1.05%) Legacy Systems
11 2 (1.05%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 64 (33.51%) Windows
2 41 (21.47%) Windows Server
3 20 (10.47%) Linux
4 14 (7.33%) Windows 10
5 10 (5.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 7 (3.66%) Rocky
7 6 (3.14%) CentOS
7 6 (3.14%) Windows 7
8 4 (2.09%) Unix
9 2 (1.05%) Android
9 2 (1.05%) Ubuntu
9 2 (1.05%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.52%) VMS
10 1 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (27.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 40 (20.94%) Problem-Solving
3 29 (15.18%) Network Segmentation
3 29 (15.18%) Validation
4 26 (13.61%) ITIL
5 23 (12.04%) ITSM
6 22 (11.52%) Continuous Improvement
7 20 (10.47%) Disaster Recovery
7 20 (10.47%) High Availability
7 20 (10.47%) Project Delivery
8 19 (9.95%) Infrastructure as Code
9 17 (8.90%) CI/CD
9 17 (8.90%) Migration
9 17 (8.90%) Network Design
10 15 (7.85%) Network Monitoring
11 14 (7.33%) Cybersecurity
11 14 (7.33%) Infrastructure Automation
11 14 (7.33%) Mentoring
12 12 (6.28%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 12 (6.28%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 27 (14.14%) PowerShell
2 20 (10.47%) Python
3 6 (3.14%) VB
3 6 (3.14%) VBScript
4 5 (2.62%) ActionScript
4 5 (2.62%) Bash
5 4 (2.09%) SQL
6 2 (1.05%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.52%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 76 (39.79%) Security Cleared
2 60 (31.41%) Cisco Certification
3 54 (28.27%) CCNP
4 53 (27.75%) SC Cleared
5 33 (17.28%) CCNA
6 19 (9.95%) DV Cleared
7 11 (5.76%) Degree
7 11 (5.76%) Network+ Certification
7 11 (5.76%) Server+ Certification
8 8 (4.19%) CCIE
9 4 (2.09%) Azure Certification
9 4 (2.09%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (2.09%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 3 (1.57%) AWS Certification
10 3 (1.57%) DBS Check
10 3 (1.57%) ITIL Certification
11 1 (0.52%) CWNA
11 1 (0.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 1 (0.52%) JNCIA
11 1 (0.52%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (3.66%) QA
2 6 (3.14%) NCSC
3 5 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (2.62%) SLA
4 4 (2.09%) 21 CFR Part 11
4 4 (2.09%) GxP
4 4 (2.09%) NIST
4 4 (2.09%) NIST 800
5 3 (1.57%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (1.05%) GDPR
6 2 (1.05%) JSP 440
7 1 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 54 (28.27%) VMware Infrastructure
2 32 (16.75%) Active Directory
3 18 (9.42%) Hyper-V
4 17 (8.90%) vSphere
5 12 (6.28%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (5.76%) Firmware
7 10 (5.24%) VMware NSX
8 9 (4.71%) Virtual Machines
9 7 (3.66%) BitLocker
10 5 (2.62%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (1.57%) KVM
11 3 (1.57%) NFS
11 3 (1.57%) VirtualBox
12 1 (0.52%) iptables
12 1 (0.52%) Samba
12 1 (0.52%) Snort
12 1 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 27 (14.14%) Ansible
2 13 (6.81%) Microsoft Intune
3 8 (4.19%) vCenter Server
4 7 (3.66%) SCCM
4 7 (3.66%) WSUS
5 6 (3.14%) NetBackup
6 5 (2.62%) FortiGate
7 4 (2.09%) Kubernetes
7 4 (2.09%) Nagios
8 3 (1.57%) Avamar
8 3 (1.57%) Grafana
8 3 (1.57%) PowerCLI
9 2 (1.05%) Red Hat Satellite
9 2 (1.05%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (1.05%) Suricata
9 2 (1.05%) vMotion
10 1 (0.52%) Iperf
10 1 (0.52%) MobiControl
10 1 (0.52%) SELinux
10 1 (0.52%) systemd
Vendors
1 97 (50.79%) Cisco
2 71 (37.17%) VMware
3 48 (25.13%) Microsoft
4 26 (13.61%) F5
5 24 (12.57%) Palo Alto
6 23 (12.04%) ServiceNow
7 17 (8.90%) Veeam
8 16 (8.38%) CheckPoint
8 16 (8.38%) SolarWinds
9 13 (6.81%) Aruba
9 13 (6.81%) Fortinet
10 12 (6.28%) Juniper
10 12 (6.28%) Meraki
11 10 (5.24%) NetApp
12 7 (3.66%) Citrix
13 6 (3.14%) CyberArk
13 6 (3.14%) Ekahau
13 6 (3.14%) HP
14 5 (2.62%) Rockwell
14 5 (2.62%) Xerox