Cisco Contract Job Trends

Cisco
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of Cisco products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Cisco over the 6 months leading up to 23 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within Cisco Systems, Inc.

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 113 66 72
Rank change year-on-year -47 +6 -15
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,142 1,109 1,291
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.25% 3.70% 2.96%
As % of the Vendors category 5.52% 7.78% 6.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 795 682 787
10th Percentile £300 £300 £250
25th Percentile £402 £413 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £574 £588 £575
90th Percentile £639 £650 £670
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 27 38
10th Percentile £26.72 £24.66 £15.66
25th Percentile £34.44 £25.15 £20.98
Median hourly rate £53.75 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +79.17% +15.38% -48.00%
75th Percentile £68.88 £44.13 £41.25
90th Percentile £76.50 £62.98 £54.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £26.25
% change year-on-year +83.33% +14.29% -47.50%

All Vendors
UK

Cisco falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 20,692 14,246 18,519
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 40.75% 47.54% 42.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,970 8,765 11,497
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £403 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £518
Median % change year-on-year - -3.38% -1.43%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £715 £735
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,065 661 1,168
10th Percentile £15.64 £14.84 £12.25
25th Percentile £19.00 £17.30 £14.50
Median hourly rate £33.99 £25.50 £24.05
Median % change year-on-year +33.29% +6.03% -43.18%
75th Percentile £60.75 £53.75 £59.50
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.75 £23.00 £22.56
% change year-on-year +38.04% +1.95% -39.84%

Cisco
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Cisco job vacancy trend in the UK

Cisco
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cisco

Cisco
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cisco over the 6 months to 23 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Cisco in the UK

Cisco
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cisco

Cisco
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cisco over the 6 months to 23 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cisco in the UK

Cisco
Top 18 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cisco within the UK over the 6 months to 23 June 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 -50 961 £481 -3.75% 621
UK excluding London -40 704 £475 -5.00% 638
London -64 313 £500 - 147
Work from Home -33 288 £463 -7.50% 123
North of England -41 214 £481 -2.18% 159
South East -29 186 £500 - 146
North West -10 164 £481 +1.05% 79
Midlands -29 135 £413 -21.43% 78
West Midlands -23 128 £402 -23.43% 39
Scotland +18 83 £450 +12.78% 51
South West -65 51 £525 -4.55% 78
Yorkshire -71 48 £484 -3.20% 56
East of England -15 40 £500 +0.50% 86
Wales -19 19 £468 +61.21% 24
Northern Ireland +7 10 £175 -50.00% 28
East Midlands -36 4 £458 -3.68% 39
North East -40 3 £463 +42.31% 25
Channel Islands -1 1 £550 -24.14%

Cisco
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 27 (2.36%) SharePoint
2 19 (1.66%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.05%) Confluence
4 9 (0.79%) Apache
5 6 (0.53%) IIS
5 6 (0.53%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.26%) nginx
6 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.18%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.18%) CMS
8 1 (0.088%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.088%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 45 (3.94%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (2.45%) MS Visio
3 25 (2.19%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (0.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.35%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 6 (0.53%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 213 (18.65%) Azure
2 144 (12.61%) AWS
3 70 (6.13%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (3.68%) Entra ID
5 20 (1.75%) GCP
6 16 (1.40%) GitHub
6 16 (1.40%) SaaS
7 15 (1.31%) Nutanix
7 15 (1.31%) OpenShift
8 14 (1.23%) OneDrive
8 14 (1.23%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 13 (1.14%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.14%) Azure Sentinel
10 8 (0.70%) IaaS
10 8 (0.70%) Microsoft Purview
11 7 (0.61%) Power Platform
12 6 (0.53%) Azure DevOps
13 5 (0.44%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.44%) Rubrik
14 4 (0.35%) Cloudflare
Communications & Networking
1 494 (43.26%) Firewall
2 378 (33.10%) WAN
3 290 (25.39%) LAN
4 282 (24.69%) BGP
5 243 (21.28%) VPN
6 238 (20.84%) Network Security
7 196 (17.16%) OSPF
8 180 (15.76%) Wireless
9 177 (15.50%) DNS
10 163 (14.27%) SD-WAN
11 161 (14.10%) VLAN
12 113 (9.89%) MPLS
13 110 (9.63%) Cisco Nexus
14 106 (9.28%) Wi-Fi
15 100 (8.76%) Cisco ISE
16 99 (8.67%) VXLAN
17 95 (8.32%) DHCP
18 81 (7.09%) Cisco IOS
19 74 (6.48%) Multicast
20 73 (6.39%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (1.40%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.26%) MySQL
2 3 (0.26%) NoSQL
3 2 (0.18%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.088%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.088%) Apache Hive
4 1 (0.088%) Big Data
4 1 (0.088%) ClickHouse
4 1 (0.088%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.088%) Metadata
4 1 (0.088%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 23 (2.01%) JIRA
2 13 (1.14%) Sonatype Nexus
3 11 (0.96%) Git
4 9 (0.79%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.26%) GitLab
6 2 (0.18%) Bitbucket
General
1 261 (22.85%) Social Skills
2 118 (10.33%) Finance
3 70 (6.13%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (5.78%) Telecoms
5 61 (5.34%) Documentation Skills
5 61 (5.34%) Public Sector
6 58 (5.08%) Legal
7 54 (4.73%) Banking
8 21 (1.84%) Organisational Skills
9 20 (1.75%) Investment Banking
10 18 (1.58%) Financial Institution
10 18 (1.58%) Manufacturing
11 16 (1.40%) Law
11 16 (1.40%) Retail
12 11 (0.96%) Military
13 8 (0.70%) Marketing
14 7 (0.61%) Police
15 6 (0.53%) Presentation Skills
16 5 (0.44%) Influencing Skills
17 4 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 531 (46.50%) Network Engineer
2 138 (12.08%) Architect
3 125 (10.95%) Cisco Engineer
4 118 (10.33%) Senior
5 114 (9.98%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 86 (7.53%) Security Engineer
7 75 (6.57%) Network Architect
8 65 (5.69%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 65 (5.69%) Senior Network Engineer
9 63 (5.52%) Network Security Engineer
10 56 (4.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 46 (4.03%) Data Network Engineer
12 34 (2.98%) Analyst
12 34 (2.98%) Data Engineer
13 33 (2.89%) Cisco Security Engineer
14 28 (2.45%) Solutions Architect
15 26 (2.28%) Lead
15 26 (2.28%) Network Specialist
16 25 (2.19%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
17 23 (2.01%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 76 (6.65%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.23%) Flash
2 14 (1.23%) LDAP
2 14 (1.23%) SAML
3 12 (1.05%) REST
4 8 (0.70%) XMPP
5 6 (0.53%) Jinja
6 4 (0.35%) NETCONF
7 3 (0.26%) LAMP
7 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
7 3 (0.26%) OpenConfig
7 3 (0.26%) RESTCONF
7 3 (0.26%) YAML
7 3 (0.26%) YANG
8 2 (0.18%) .NET
8 2 (0.18%) .NET Core
8 2 (0.18%) ADO
8 2 (0.18%) ASP.NET
8 2 (0.18%) Django
8 2 (0.18%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 303 (26.53%) Data Centre
2 55 (4.82%) PKI
3 45 (3.94%) Replication
4 40 (3.50%) Clustering
5 38 (3.33%) Data Protection Act
6 36 (3.15%) Hybrid Cloud
6 36 (3.15%) Onboarding
7 27 (2.36%) Operational Technology
8 25 (2.19%) Driving Licence
9 23 (2.01%) Video Conferencing
10 20 (1.75%) Security Posture
11 19 (1.66%) Enterprise Storage
12 18 (1.58%) Linux Command Line
13 17 (1.49%) EMC VMAX
14 16 (1.40%) Analytical Mindset
15 15 (1.31%) Cloud Native
16 14 (1.23%) SCADA
16 14 (1.23%) Virtual Team
17 13 (1.14%) Self-Motivation
18 11 (0.96%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 223 (19.53%) Windows
2 122 (10.68%) Linux
3 72 (6.30%) Windows Server
4 20 (1.75%) Unix
5 15 (1.31%) Windows 10
6 14 (1.23%) Ubuntu
7 13 (1.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (0.79%) Android
8 9 (0.79%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (0.61%) Mac OS
10 6 (0.53%) AIX
10 6 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
11 5 (0.44%) Data ONTAP
11 5 (0.44%) VMS
12 4 (0.35%) CentOS
13 3 (0.26%) CatOS
13 3 (0.26%) Solaris
14 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
15 1 (0.088%) Debian
15 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 179 (15.67%) Migration
2 130 (11.38%) Load Balancing
3 122 (10.68%) High Availability
4 119 (10.42%) Problem-Solving
5 102 (8.93%) ITIL
6 97 (8.49%) Project Delivery
7 93 (8.14%) ITSM
8 90 (7.88%) Network Design
9 74 (6.48%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 71 (6.22%) Change Management
10 71 (6.22%) Continuous Improvement
11 70 (6.13%) Agile
12 63 (5.52%) Stakeholder Management
13 62 (5.43%) Infrastructure as Code
13 62 (5.43%) Technical Leadership
14 61 (5.34%) Disaster Recovery
14 61 (5.34%) Network Monitoring
15 60 (5.25%) Cybersecurity
15 60 (5.25%) Validation
16 55 (4.82%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 130 (11.38%) Python
2 56 (4.90%) PowerShell
3 24 (2.10%) SQL
4 22 (1.93%) Bash
5 6 (0.53%) C
6 4 (0.35%) Perl
6 4 (0.35%) PHP
7 3 (0.26%) C++
7 3 (0.26%) Java
7 3 (0.26%) Lisp
8 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.18%) Korn
8 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.088%) Bicep
9 1 (0.088%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.088%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 335 (29.33%) Cisco Certification
2 329 (28.81%) Security Cleared
3 247 (21.63%) CCNP
4 238 (20.84%) SC Cleared
5 132 (11.56%) CCNA
6 101 (8.84%) DV Cleared
7 66 (5.78%) Degree
8 62 (5.43%) CCIE
9 26 (2.28%) Microsoft Certification
10 25 (2.19%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 22 (1.93%) Network+ Certification
12 18 (1.58%) MCSE
13 17 (1.49%) Server+ Certification
14 16 (1.40%) Azure Certification
14 16 (1.40%) BPSS Clearance
15 14 (1.23%) CCSE
16 13 (1.14%) VCAP
17 12 (1.05%) JNCIP
17 12 (1.05%) JNCIS
17 12 (1.05%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (3.68%) SLA
2 33 (2.89%) NIST
3 29 (2.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 26 (2.28%) Cyber Essentials
5 21 (1.84%) QA
6 18 (1.58%) NCSC
7 9 (0.79%) PMO
8 7 (0.61%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 7 (0.61%) Disclosure Scotland
9 6 (0.53%) GDPR
10 5 (0.44%) JSP 440
10 5 (0.44%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 3 (0.26%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.18%) Accessibility
12 2 (0.18%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.18%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.18%) GRC
12 2 (0.18%) ISA99
12 2 (0.18%) RMADS
System Software
1 152 (13.31%) VMware Infrastructure
2 100 (8.76%) Active Directory
3 58 (5.08%) VMware ESXi
4 56 (4.90%) vSphere
5 47 (4.12%) VMware NSX
6 33 (2.89%) Virtual Machines
7 28 (2.45%) Firmware
8 22 (1.93%) Hyper-V
9 18 (1.58%) NFS
10 14 (1.23%) GPFS
11 12 (1.05%) SRDF
12 7 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
13 6 (0.53%) Docker
14 5 (0.44%) EMC RecoverPoint
15 4 (0.35%) vCloud
15 4 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
16 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
16 3 (0.26%) Postfix
16 3 (0.26%) UAG
17 2 (0.18%) Snort
Systems Management
1 137 (12.00%) Ansible
2 102 (8.93%) FortiGate
3 54 (4.73%) Terraform
4 30 (2.63%) vCenter Server
5 27 (2.36%) Grafana
6 25 (2.19%) Microsoft Intune
7 21 (1.84%) SCCM
8 20 (1.75%) Kubernetes
8 20 (1.75%) Prometheus
9 18 (1.58%) vRealize
10 14 (1.23%) Cisco CUCM
10 14 (1.23%) Cisco Prime
11 13 (1.14%) Single Sign-On
12 9 (0.79%) VxRail
13 8 (0.70%) WMI
14 6 (0.53%) EMC TimeFinder
14 6 (0.53%) EMC VPLEX
14 6 (0.53%) HAProxy
14 6 (0.53%) SCOM
15 5 (0.44%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 287 (25.13%) Palo Alto
2 213 (18.65%) F5
3 197 (17.25%) Microsoft
4 194 (16.99%) VMware
5 177 (15.50%) Fortinet
6 153 (13.40%) Juniper
7 119 (10.42%) Aruba
8 103 (9.02%) CheckPoint
9 101 (8.84%) ServiceNow
10 93 (8.14%) SolarWinds
11 87 (7.62%) Meraki
12 76 (6.65%) Arista
13 58 (5.08%) Splunk
14 46 (4.03%) Zscaler
15 42 (3.68%) Dell
16 31 (2.71%) EMC
17 30 (2.63%) IBM
18 29 (2.54%) Extreme Networks
19 27 (2.36%) Brocade
20 25 (2.19%) Infoblox