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 26 May 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
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 105 65 65
Rank change year-on-year -40 0 -4
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,122 1,041 1,309
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.31% 3.64% 3.07%
As % of the Vendors category 5.64% 7.62% 7.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 769 646 807
10th Percentile £300 £300 £240
25th Percentile £402 £413 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £573 £588 £588
90th Percentile £643 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £498 £460
% change year-on-year -4.52% +8.15% +2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 20 36
10th Percentile £27.78 £17.53 £13.29
25th Percentile £44.00 £18.41 £16.00
Median hourly rate £53.75 £33.52 £26.25
Median % change year-on-year +60.34% +27.70% -47.50%
75th Percentile £70.96 £45.63 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £69.25 £55.70
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £22.00 £19.00
% change year-on-year +150.00% +15.79% -62.00%

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 19,907 13,659 18,007
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.00% 47.76% 42.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,578 8,512 11,244
10th Percentile £313 £281 £263
25th Percentile £413 £406 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £513
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% - -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £620 £625
90th Percentile £700 £714 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +0.06% -1.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,021 563 1,105
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.84 £12.01
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.30 £14.48
Median hourly rate £32.50 £25.00 £22.30
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% +12.11% -47.84%
75th Percentile £58.75 £56.00 £57.50
90th Percentile £75.40 £70.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.75 £22.00 £21.46
% change year-on-year +35.23% +2.52% -45.81%

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 26 May 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 26 May 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 26 May 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 -48 940 £478 -4.45% 559
UK excluding London -31 698 £475 -4.52% 534
Work from Home -17 293 £450 -10.00% 131
London -69 292 £500 - 162
North of England -39 203 £481 -3.75% 128
South East -20 196 £500 - 144
North West 0 168 £481 -3.75% 55
Midlands -25 136 £401 -10.89% 66
West Midlands -17 128 £400 -8.57% 42
Scotland +19 70 £450 +12.78% 42
South West -60 53 £513 -6.82% 71
East of England -12 40 £498 +16.03% 52
Yorkshire -81 34 £477 -5.27% 48
Wales -15 23 £468 +13.33% 23
Northern Ireland +8 8 £385 +10.00% 15
East Midlands -51 4 £458 -10.73% 23
North East -29 2 £425 +30.77% 26
Channel Islands -1 1 £550 +22.22%

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 (2.41%) SharePoint
2 19 (1.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.34%) Confluence
4 10 (0.89%) Apache
5 6 (0.53%) IIS
5 6 (0.53%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.27%) nginx
6 3 (0.27%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.18%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.18%) CMS
8 1 (0.089%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.089%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 40 (3.57%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (2.94%) MS Visio
3 16 (1.43%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (0.89%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.36%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.089%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 12 (1.07%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 202 (18.00%) Azure
2 145 (12.92%) AWS
3 67 (5.97%) Microsoft 365
4 33 (2.94%) Entra ID
5 22 (1.96%) GCP
6 15 (1.34%) SaaS
7 14 (1.25%) Nutanix
8 13 (1.16%) OpenShift
9 11 (0.98%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (0.98%) GitHub
9 11 (0.98%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 10 (0.89%) Azure Sentinel
11 9 (0.80%) OneDrive
12 8 (0.71%) IaaS
13 7 (0.62%) Power Platform
14 6 (0.53%) Azure DevOps
14 6 (0.53%) Datadog
14 6 (0.53%) Microsoft Purview
15 5 (0.45%) Cloudflare
15 5 (0.45%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 494 (44.03%) Firewall
2 372 (33.16%) WAN
3 289 (25.76%) LAN
4 288 (25.67%) BGP
5 241 (21.48%) VPN
6 229 (20.41%) Network Security
7 209 (18.63%) OSPF
8 162 (14.44%) DNS
9 161 (14.35%) Wireless
10 158 (14.08%) VLAN
11 150 (13.37%) SD-WAN
12 106 (9.45%) Cisco Nexus
13 100 (8.91%) MPLS
13 100 (8.91%) Wi-Fi
14 98 (8.73%) Cisco ISE
14 98 (8.73%) VXLAN
15 86 (7.66%) DHCP
16 82 (7.31%) IPsec
17 71 (6.33%) Multicast
18 67 (5.97%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (1.07%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.36%) MySQL
3 1 (0.089%) Apache Hive
3 1 (0.089%) Big Data
3 1 (0.089%) ClickHouse
3 1 (0.089%) Hadoop
3 1 (0.089%) MariaDB
3 1 (0.089%) Metadata
3 1 (0.089%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.089%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 24 (2.14%) JIRA
2 15 (1.34%) Sonatype Nexus
3 11 (0.98%) Git
4 7 (0.62%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.45%) GitLab
6 2 (0.18%) Bitbucket
General
1 235 (20.94%) Social Skills
2 118 (10.52%) Finance
3 66 (5.88%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (5.53%) Telecoms
5 61 (5.44%) Public Sector
6 60 (5.35%) Documentation Skills
7 54 (4.81%) Banking
8 52 (4.63%) Legal
9 25 (2.23%) Manufacturing
10 19 (1.69%) Investment Banking
10 19 (1.69%) Organisational Skills
11 16 (1.43%) Retail
12 15 (1.34%) Financial Institution
13 14 (1.25%) Law
14 10 (0.89%) Marketing
15 9 (0.80%) Military
16 8 (0.71%) Presentation Skills
17 7 (0.62%) Police
18 4 (0.36%) Electronics
18 4 (0.36%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 512 (45.63%) Network Engineer
2 136 (12.12%) Architect
3 122 (10.87%) Cisco Engineer
4 113 (10.07%) Cisco Network Engineer
5 109 (9.71%) Senior
6 84 (7.49%) Network Architect
6 84 (7.49%) Security Engineer
7 79 (7.04%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 60 (5.35%) Network Security Engineer
8 60 (5.35%) Senior Network Engineer
9 50 (4.46%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 46 (4.10%) Data Network Engineer
11 34 (3.03%) Analyst
11 34 (3.03%) Cisco Security Engineer
11 34 (3.03%) Data Engineer
12 26 (2.32%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 25 (2.23%) Lead
13 25 (2.23%) Network Specialist
13 25 (2.23%) Solutions Architect
14 22 (1.96%) Data Centre Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 72 (6.42%) 802.1X
2 18 (1.60%) LDAP
3 16 (1.43%) Flash
4 14 (1.25%) SAML
5 11 (0.98%) REST
6 7 (0.62%) XMPP
7 6 (0.53%) Jinja
8 4 (0.36%) NETCONF
9 3 (0.27%) HTML
9 3 (0.27%) LAMP
9 3 (0.27%) LEMP Stack
9 3 (0.27%) VML
9 3 (0.27%) YAML
9 3 (0.27%) YANG
10 2 (0.18%) ADO
10 2 (0.18%) CSS
10 2 (0.18%) Django
10 2 (0.18%) JSON
10 2 (0.18%) Middleware
10 2 (0.18%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 312 (27.81%) Data Centre
2 51 (4.55%) PKI
3 48 (4.28%) Replication
4 42 (3.74%) Clustering
5 35 (3.12%) Data Protection Act
6 32 (2.85%) Hybrid Cloud
7 31 (2.76%) Onboarding
7 31 (2.76%) Operational Technology
8 22 (1.96%) Linux Command Line
9 21 (1.87%) Video Conferencing
10 20 (1.78%) Security Posture
11 18 (1.60%) Cloud Native
12 17 (1.52%) Driving Licence
13 16 (1.43%) SCADA
14 14 (1.25%) EMC VMAX
14 14 (1.25%) Enterprise Storage
15 13 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
15 13 (1.16%) Virtual Team
16 12 (1.07%) Self-Motivation
17 10 (0.89%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 213 (18.98%) Windows
2 121 (10.78%) Linux
3 70 (6.24%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.87%) Unix
5 20 (1.78%) Windows 10
6 13 (1.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (1.16%) Ubuntu
7 10 (0.89%) Mac OS
8 8 (0.71%) Android
9 7 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
10 6 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
11 5 (0.45%) CatOS
12 4 (0.36%) AIX
12 4 (0.36%) CentOS
12 4 (0.36%) Solaris
13 3 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
13 3 (0.27%) VMS
14 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
15 1 (0.089%) Windows 7
15 1 (0.089%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 161 (14.35%) Migration
2 128 (11.41%) Problem-Solving
3 126 (11.23%) Load Balancing
4 122 (10.87%) High Availability
5 91 (8.11%) Network Design
6 90 (8.02%) ITIL
7 87 (7.75%) ITSM
8 79 (7.04%) Project Delivery
9 72 (6.42%) Agile
10 71 (6.33%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 66 (5.88%) Change Management
12 63 (5.61%) Technical Leadership
13 62 (5.53%) Network Monitoring
14 61 (5.44%) Disaster Recovery
15 60 (5.35%) Continuous Improvement
16 57 (5.08%) Cybersecurity
17 53 (4.72%) Infrastructure as Code
17 53 (4.72%) Zero Trust
18 51 (4.55%) Network Segmentation
19 49 (4.37%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 114 (10.16%) Python
2 53 (4.72%) PowerShell
3 23 (2.05%) SQL
4 22 (1.96%) Bash
5 7 (0.62%) C
6 4 (0.36%) PHP
7 3 (0.27%) C++
7 3 (0.27%) Java
7 3 (0.27%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.18%) Korn
8 2 (0.18%) Lisp
8 2 (0.18%) Perl
8 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.089%) Bicep
9 1 (0.089%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 371 (33.07%) Security Cleared
2 339 (30.21%) Cisco Certification
3 281 (25.04%) SC Cleared
4 262 (23.35%) CCNP
5 126 (11.23%) CCNA
6 105 (9.36%) DV Cleared
7 77 (6.86%) Degree
8 64 (5.70%) CCIE
9 31 (2.76%) Microsoft Certification
10 26 (2.32%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 24 (2.14%) Network+ Certification
12 23 (2.05%) MCSE
13 17 (1.52%) JNCIS
13 17 (1.52%) Server+ Certification
13 17 (1.52%) VCAP
14 16 (1.43%) Azure Certification
14 16 (1.43%) MCSA
15 15 (1.34%) BPSS Clearance
15 15 (1.34%) CCSE
16 14 (1.25%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (3.03%) SLA
2 31 (2.76%) NIST
3 27 (2.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 23 (2.05%) Cyber Essentials
5 17 (1.52%) NCSC
5 17 (1.52%) QA
6 10 (0.89%) PMO
7 7 (0.62%) Disclosure Scotland
7 7 (0.62%) JSP 440
8 6 (0.53%) GDPR
9 4 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (0.27%) NIST 800
10 3 (0.27%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.27%) RMADS
11 2 (0.18%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.18%) GRC
11 2 (0.18%) ISA99
11 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 1 (0.089%) JTAG
System Software
1 149 (13.28%) VMware Infrastructure
2 82 (7.31%) Active Directory
3 63 (5.61%) vSphere
4 59 (5.26%) VMware ESXi
5 51 (4.55%) VMware NSX
6 32 (2.85%) Virtual Machines
7 25 (2.23%) Firmware
8 19 (1.69%) NFS
9 17 (1.52%) Hyper-V
10 16 (1.43%) GPFS
11 9 (0.80%) SRDF
12 5 (0.45%) Docker
12 5 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
13 4 (0.36%) vCloud
13 4 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.27%) Dovecot
14 3 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
14 3 (0.27%) Postfix
14 3 (0.27%) UAG
15 2 (0.18%) Snort
Systems Management
1 133 (11.85%) Ansible
2 101 (9.00%) FortiGate
3 52 (4.63%) Terraform
4 33 (2.94%) vCenter Server
5 27 (2.41%) Grafana
6 25 (2.23%) vRealize
7 20 (1.78%) Prometheus
8 19 (1.69%) Microsoft Intune
9 17 (1.52%) Kubernetes
10 16 (1.43%) SCCM
11 14 (1.25%) Cisco Prime
12 13 (1.16%) Single Sign-On
12 13 (1.16%) VxRail
13 11 (0.98%) Cisco CUCM
14 10 (0.89%) Nagios
15 7 (0.62%) SCOM
16 6 (0.53%) EMC TimeFinder
16 6 (0.53%) HAProxy
16 6 (0.53%) WMI
17 5 (0.45%) WSUS
Vendors
1 293 (26.11%) Palo Alto
2 217 (19.34%) F5
3 188 (16.76%) VMware
4 185 (16.49%) Microsoft
5 157 (13.99%) Juniper
6 156 (13.90%) Fortinet
7 127 (11.32%) Aruba
8 121 (10.78%) CheckPoint
9 102 (9.09%) ServiceNow
10 87 (7.75%) Meraki
10 87 (7.75%) SolarWinds
11 70 (6.24%) Arista
12 54 (4.81%) Splunk
13 48 (4.28%) Zscaler
14 42 (3.74%) Dell
15 35 (3.12%) IBM
16 28 (2.50%) EMC
16 28 (2.50%) Extreme Networks
17 25 (2.23%) Brocade
18 23 (2.05%) Infoblox