3G Contract Job Trends

3G
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring 3G skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 7 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 605 487 549
Rank change year-on-year -118 +62 +104
Contract jobs citing 3G 13 41 51
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.029% 0.14% 0.12%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 0.29% 1.08% 0.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 7 31 32
10th Percentile £409 £193 £326
25th Percentile £425 £431 £374
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £483
Median % change year-on-year - -6.74% +20.63%
75th Percentile £461 - £788
90th Percentile £472 £475 -
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £310 £475
% change year-on-year +45.16% -34.74% +18.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 1
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £24.25
Median hourly rate - - £24.50
75th Percentile - - £24.75
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate - - £24.50
% change year-on-year - - -62.40%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

3G 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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,519 3,781 5,848
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.91% 12.92% 13.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,876 2,341 3,530
10th Percentile £225 £213 £205
25th Percentile £383 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £477
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% +2.20% -8.27%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £468 £475
% change year-on-year +1.60% -1.58% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 199 156 411
10th Percentile £15.62 £14.99 £13.85
25th Percentile £19.34 £21.46 £17.69
Median hourly rate £42.25 £35.75 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +18.18% +10.00% +71.05%
75th Percentile £70.29 £62.69 £61.75
90th Percentile £76.70 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £50.00 £28.00 £44.00
% change year-on-year +78.57% -36.36% +137.84%

3G
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing 3G relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

3G job vacancy trend in the UK

3G
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing 3G.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing 3G

3G
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing 3G.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing 3G

3G
Top 6 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 3G within the UK over the 6 months to 7 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
England -115 13 £450 +9.09% 7
UK excluding London -119 8 £450 +45.16% 8
South West - 5 £450 -
London -61 4 - -
South East -73 3 £440 +100.00% 2
Work from Home -37 1 £443 +116.24%

3G
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 1 (7.69%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
Communications & Networking
1 10 (76.92%) 4G
1 10 (76.92%) 5G
2 5 (38.46%) 2G
3 4 (30.77%) Radio Access Network
4 3 (23.08%) LTE
5 2 (15.38%) Diameter Protocol
5 2 (15.38%) SIGTRAN
5 2 (15.38%) SS7
6 1 (7.69%) 3GPP
6 1 (7.69%) Network Security
General
1 9 (69.23%) Telecoms
2 4 (30.77%) Social Skills
3 3 (23.08%) Analytical Skills
4 2 (15.38%) Electronics
5 1 (7.69%) Marketing
5 1 (7.69%) Presentation Skills
5 1 (7.69%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 3 (23.08%) Designer
1 3 (23.08%) Project Manager
1 3 (23.08%) Telecoms Manager
1 3 (23.08%) Telecoms Project Manager
2 1 (7.69%) Architect
2 1 (7.69%) Mobile Designer
2 1 (7.69%) Network Architect
2 1 (7.69%) Network Security Architect
2 1 (7.69%) Security Architect
2 1 (7.69%) Technical Manager
Miscellaneous
1 2 (15.38%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (7.69%) Cloud Native
2 1 (7.69%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 1 (7.69%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (30.77%) Stakeholder Management
2 3 (23.08%) Agile
2 3 (23.08%) Budget Management
2 3 (23.08%) Change Control
2 3 (23.08%) Computer Science
2 3 (23.08%) PRINCE2
2 3 (23.08%) Risk Management
3 2 (15.38%) Capacity Planning
3 2 (15.38%) Network Optimisation
3 2 (15.38%) Performance Analysis
3 2 (15.38%) Service Design
3 2 (15.38%) Test Automation
4 1 (7.69%) AI
4 1 (7.69%) Data Management
4 1 (7.69%) Escalation Management
4 1 (7.69%) Programme Management
4 1 (7.69%) Risk Analysis
4 1 (7.69%) Technical Leadership
4 1 (7.69%) Validation
4 1 (7.69%) Value Proposition
Qualifications
1 3 (23.08%) Degree
1 3 (23.08%) PMP
1 3 (23.08%) Six Sigma Green Belt
2 1 (7.69%) SC Cleared
2 1 (7.69%) Security Cleared
Vendors
1 2 (15.38%) Huawei
1 2 (15.38%) Nokia
2 1 (7.69%) BT
2 1 (7.69%) Ericsson
2 1 (7.69%) Oracle