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 4 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
4 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 103 67 67
Rank change year-on-year -36 0 -3
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,074 1,046 1,324
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.28% 3.57% 3.07%
As % of the Vendors category 5.45% 7.52% 7.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 723 656 807
10th Percentile £300 £300 £252
25th Percentile £400 £406 £370
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £488
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +2.56% +2.63%
75th Percentile £560 £588 £597
90th Percentile £642 £650 £707
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £475
% change year-on-year -3.06% +3.16% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 23 45
10th Percentile £21.46 £15.80 £13.57
25th Percentile £36.25 £21.58 £23.25
Median hourly rate £50.61 £37.50 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +34.96% +36.36% -45.00%
75th Percentile £74.26 £63.13 £41.25
90th Percentile £88.25 £74.75 £73.15
UK excluding London median hourly rate £63.14 £27.70 £27.50
% change year-on-year +127.92% +0.73% -46.78%

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 19,699 13,906 18,291
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.75% 47.47% 42.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,544 8,716 11,360
10th Percentile £313 £288 £263
25th Percentile £413 £407 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £515 £515
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% - -1.90%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £627
90th Percentile £705 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -2.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 986 571 1,096
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.84 £12.01
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.95 £14.48
Median hourly rate £31.09 £26.45 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +17.53% +17.56% -48.70%
75th Percentile £60.00 £56.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £78.65 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.50 £24.18 £21.50
% change year-on-year +13.73% +12.47% -45.71%

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 4 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 4 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cisco in the UK

Cisco
Top 16 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 4 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 -52 889 £475 -7.86% 499
UK excluding London -35 665 £475 -3.06% 471
Work from Home -23 286 £450 -10.00% 117
London -61 279 £500 -0.55% 144
South East -15 194 £500 - 124
North of England -50 176 £475 -5.00% 102
North West -15 143 £475 -3.06% 48
Midlands -29 131 £380 -15.56% 68
West Midlands -12 121 £371 -15.20% 53
Scotland +17 67 £450 +12.78% 37
South West -65 49 £510 -7.27% 67
East of England -10 44 £495 +13.14% 49
Yorkshire -68 34 £450 -14.29% 36
Wales -12 26 £471 +10.88% 21
Northern Ireland +9 9 £385 - 11
East Midlands -51 6 £415 -12.63% 15

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 24 (2.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 23 (2.14%) SharePoint
3 13 (1.21%) Confluence
4 6 (0.56%) Apache
5 5 (0.47%) IIS
5 5 (0.47%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.19%) CMS
7 1 (0.093%) JBoss
7 1 (0.093%) Skype for Business
7 1 (0.093%) WebSphere
Applications
1 39 (3.63%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (3.35%) MS Visio
3 15 (1.40%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.47%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.093%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 16 (1.49%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.28%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.093%) Actimize
Cloud Services
1 185 (17.23%) Azure
2 139 (12.94%) AWS
3 75 (6.98%) Microsoft 365
4 31 (2.89%) Entra ID
5 26 (2.42%) GCP
6 13 (1.21%) Nutanix
6 13 (1.21%) OpenShift
6 13 (1.21%) SaaS
6 13 (1.21%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 11 (1.02%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 11 (1.02%) GitHub
8 8 (0.74%) Azure Sentinel
8 8 (0.74%) Datadog
9 7 (0.65%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (0.56%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 6 (0.56%) Amazon Kinesis
10 6 (0.56%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (0.56%) Microsoft Purview
10 6 (0.56%) Mimecast
11 5 (0.47%) Amazon EventBridge
Communications & Networking
1 480 (44.69%) Firewall
2 356 (33.15%) WAN
3 278 (25.88%) BGP
4 270 (25.14%) LAN
5 238 (22.16%) VPN
6 219 (20.39%) Network Security
7 202 (18.81%) OSPF
8 151 (14.06%) DNS
9 147 (13.69%) Wireless
10 146 (13.59%) SD-WAN
11 140 (13.04%) VLAN
12 102 (9.50%) Cisco Nexus
13 100 (9.31%) MPLS
14 98 (9.12%) Cisco ISE
15 90 (8.38%) VXLAN
16 86 (8.01%) Wi-Fi
17 79 (7.36%) IPsec
18 77 (7.17%) DHCP
19 71 (6.61%) Cisco ASA
20 66 (6.15%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.56%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.47%) DynamoDB
3 3 (0.28%) Amazon Athena
4 2 (0.19%) MariaDB
5 1 (0.093%) Big Data
5 1 (0.093%) ClickHouse
5 1 (0.093%) Metadata
5 1 (0.093%) MySQL
5 1 (0.093%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.093%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.093%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 23 (2.14%) JIRA
2 15 (1.40%) Sonatype Nexus
3 9 (0.84%) Git
4 8 (0.74%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.56%) GitLab
6 1 (0.093%) Bitbucket
General
1 225 (20.95%) Social Skills
2 116 (10.80%) Finance
3 79 (7.36%) Public Sector
4 68 (6.33%) Telecoms
5 66 (6.15%) Analytical Skills
6 61 (5.68%) Banking
7 53 (4.93%) Documentation Skills
8 52 (4.84%) Legal
9 26 (2.42%) Manufacturing
10 18 (1.68%) Investment Banking
11 16 (1.49%) Organisational Skills
12 15 (1.40%) Financial Institution
12 15 (1.40%) Marketing
13 14 (1.30%) Law
13 14 (1.30%) Retail
14 11 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (0.84%) Electronics
16 8 (0.74%) Aerospace
16 8 (0.74%) Military
17 7 (0.65%) Police
Job Titles
1 494 (46.00%) Network Engineer
2 130 (12.10%) Architect
3 109 (10.15%) Cisco Engineer
4 104 (9.68%) Cisco Network Engineer
5 100 (9.31%) Senior
6 82 (7.64%) Security Engineer
7 77 (7.17%) Network Architect
8 75 (6.98%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 59 (5.49%) Network Security Engineer
10 54 (5.03%) Senior Network Engineer
11 44 (4.10%) Data Network Engineer
12 43 (4.00%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 39 (3.63%) Analyst
14 35 (3.26%) Data Engineer
15 32 (2.98%) Cisco Security Engineer
15 32 (2.98%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
16 26 (2.42%) Network Specialist
17 25 (2.33%) Solutions Architect
18 23 (2.14%) Lead
19 21 (1.96%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 68 (6.33%) 802.1X
2 19 (1.77%) LDAP
3 13 (1.21%) Flash
3 13 (1.21%) SAML
4 10 (0.93%) REST
5 8 (0.74%) XMPP
6 6 (0.56%) Jinja
6 6 (0.56%) NETCONF
7 5 (0.47%) Node.js
7 5 (0.47%) YANG
8 4 (0.37%) HTML
8 4 (0.37%) OpenConfig
8 4 (0.37%) RESTCONF
8 4 (0.37%) VML
9 3 (0.28%) JSON
10 2 (0.19%) ADO
10 2 (0.19%) CSS
10 2 (0.19%) Django
10 2 (0.19%) Middleware
10 2 (0.19%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 286 (26.63%) Data Centre
2 54 (5.03%) PKI
3 42 (3.91%) Replication
4 40 (3.72%) Clustering
5 35 (3.26%) Data Protection Act
6 32 (2.98%) Operational Technology
7 31 (2.89%) Hybrid Cloud
8 29 (2.70%) Onboarding
9 27 (2.51%) Cloud Native
10 21 (1.96%) Driving Licence
11 20 (1.86%) Linux Command Line
12 17 (1.58%) Enterprise Storage
12 17 (1.58%) Self-Motivation
12 17 (1.58%) Video Conferencing
13 16 (1.49%) SCADA
14 15 (1.40%) Security Posture
15 14 (1.30%) EMC VMAX
16 13 (1.21%) Analytical Mindset
17 11 (1.02%) NHS
18 10 (0.93%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 195 (18.16%) Windows
2 103 (9.59%) Linux
3 67 (6.24%) Windows Server
4 27 (2.51%) Windows 10
5 19 (1.77%) Mac OS
5 19 (1.77%) Unix
6 18 (1.68%) Android
7 16 (1.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 8 (0.74%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.47%) CatOS
9 5 (0.47%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (0.37%) Solaris
11 3 (0.28%) Data ONTAP
11 3 (0.28%) VMS
12 2 (0.19%) AIX
12 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.093%) CentOS
13 1 (0.093%) Debian
13 1 (0.093%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 150 (13.97%) Migration
2 133 (12.38%) Problem-Solving
3 117 (10.89%) High Availability
4 114 (10.61%) Load Balancing
5 97 (9.03%) Network Design
6 93 (8.66%) ITIL
7 80 (7.45%) ITSM
8 73 (6.80%) Change Management
9 72 (6.70%) Agile
10 66 (6.15%) Cybersecurity
11 64 (5.96%) Disaster Recovery
12 60 (5.59%) Network Monitoring
12 60 (5.59%) Project Delivery
13 59 (5.49%) Continuous Improvement
13 59 (5.49%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 55 (5.12%) Technical Leadership
15 51 (4.75%) Infrastructure as Code
16 50 (4.66%) Data Protection
16 50 (4.66%) Validation
17 47 (4.38%) Capacity Planning
Programming Languages
1 119 (11.08%) Python
2 51 (4.75%) PowerShell
3 20 (1.86%) Bash
4 12 (1.12%) SQL
5 8 (0.74%) C
6 4 (0.37%) PHP
7 3 (0.28%) C++
7 3 (0.28%) Java
7 3 (0.28%) JavaScript
7 3 (0.28%) Perl
8 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.19%) Korn
8 2 (0.19%) Lisp
8 2 (0.19%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.093%) Bicep
9 1 (0.093%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.093%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.093%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 382 (35.57%) Security Cleared
2 309 (28.77%) Cisco Certification
3 285 (26.54%) SC Cleared
4 235 (21.88%) CCNP
5 114 (10.61%) CCNA
6 112 (10.43%) DV Cleared
7 75 (6.98%) Degree
8 64 (5.96%) CCIE
9 26 (2.42%) Microsoft Certification
10 21 (1.96%) JNCIS
10 21 (1.96%) MCSE
10 21 (1.96%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 20 (1.86%) BPSS Clearance
12 17 (1.58%) Azure Certification
13 16 (1.49%) Network+ Certification
14 15 (1.40%) JNCIP
14 15 (1.40%) VCAP
15 14 (1.30%) JNCIA
15 14 (1.30%) MCSA
16 13 (1.21%) CCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (3.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 30 (2.79%) SLA
3 28 (2.61%) NIST
4 25 (2.33%) Cyber Essentials
5 17 (1.58%) NCSC
6 13 (1.21%) PMO
6 13 (1.21%) QA
7 11 (1.02%) GDPR
8 7 (0.65%) JSP 440
8 7 (0.65%) PCI DSS
9 6 (0.56%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.28%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 3 (0.28%) RMADS
12 2 (0.19%) ISA99
12 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.19%) NIST 800
13 1 (0.093%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.093%) Data Quality
System Software
1 143 (13.31%) VMware Infrastructure
2 80 (7.45%) Active Directory
3 58 (5.40%) VMware NSX
4 53 (4.93%) vSphere
5 50 (4.66%) VMware ESXi
6 25 (2.33%) Virtual Machines
7 23 (2.14%) Firmware
8 18 (1.68%) Hyper-V
9 16 (1.49%) NFS
10 13 (1.21%) GPFS
11 9 (0.84%) SRDF
12 7 (0.65%) Docker
13 6 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
14 4 (0.37%) vCloud
14 4 (0.37%) Virtual Servers
15 3 (0.28%) EMC RecoverPoint
15 3 (0.28%) KVM
15 3 (0.28%) Snort
15 3 (0.28%) UAG
16 1 (0.093%) Squid
Systems Management
1 118 (10.99%) Ansible
2 105 (9.78%) FortiGate
3 47 (4.38%) Terraform
4 36 (3.35%) vCenter Server
5 25 (2.33%) Grafana
5 25 (2.33%) vRealize
6 19 (1.77%) Microsoft Intune
7 18 (1.68%) Prometheus
8 16 (1.49%) Kubernetes
8 16 (1.49%) SCCM
9 14 (1.30%) Cisco Prime
9 14 (1.30%) VxRail
10 12 (1.12%) Single Sign-On
11 10 (0.93%) Nagios
12 8 (0.74%) Cisco CUCM
13 7 (0.65%) EMC NetWorker
13 7 (0.65%) EMC VPLEX
13 7 (0.65%) SCOM
14 6 (0.56%) EMC TimeFinder
14 6 (0.56%) WSUS
Vendors
1 291 (27.09%) Palo Alto
2 199 (18.53%) F5
3 181 (16.85%) VMware
4 169 (15.74%) Microsoft
5 165 (15.36%) Juniper
6 143 (13.31%) Fortinet
7 124 (11.55%) CheckPoint
8 118 (10.99%) Aruba
9 95 (8.85%) Meraki
10 86 (8.01%) ServiceNow
11 83 (7.73%) SolarWinds
12 63 (5.87%) Arista
13 55 (5.12%) Dell
14 50 (4.66%) Splunk
15 47 (4.38%) Zscaler
16 35 (3.26%) IBM
17 34 (3.17%) HP
18 31 (2.89%) EMC
19 29 (2.70%) Extreme Networks
20 26 (2.42%) Broadcom