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 6 November 2025, 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
6 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 83 62 55
Rank change year-on-year -21 -7 +37
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,061 1,252 1,814
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.06% 3.43% 3.91%
As % of the Vendors category 6.44% 7.64% 8.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 704 747 1,114
10th Percentile £263 £267 £263
25th Percentile £380 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £484 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.25% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £575 £578 £575
90th Percentile £635 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £450
% change year-on-year +5.26% +5.56% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 54 27 78
10th Percentile - £19.28 £16.03
25th Percentile £25.15 £20.09 £23.25
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.50 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -33.73% +61.42%
75th Percentile £69.31 £54.38 £65.11
90th Percentile £87.64 £74.25 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £37.50 £43.90
% change year-on-year +59.99% -14.58% -3.88%

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 16,484 16,398 21,011
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 47.61% 44.89% 45.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,325 9,657 13,517
10th Percentile £283 £296 £260
25th Percentile £405 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -1.41%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £700 £718 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.60% - +2.04%
Number of hourly rates quoted 843 506 665
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.22 £14.57
25th Percentile £17.96 £17.00 £19.76
Median hourly rate £25.08 £31.50 £43.90
Median % change year-on-year -20.40% -28.25% +75.60%
75th Percentile £40.00 £63.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £69.92 £71.25 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.32 £28.00 £42.75
% change year-on-year -20.30% -34.50% +94.32%

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 6 November 2025.

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 6 November 2025.

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 6 November 2025. 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 -17 910 £500 - 1,276
UK excluding London -13 686 £500 +5.26% 1,168
London -39 297 £464 -7.25% 606
Work from Home -34 255 £450 -10.00% 812
South East +1 212 £500 - 643
Midlands +11 161 £414 -17.25% 138
North of England -32 143 £488 +2.63% 128
West Midlands +23 140 £450 -10.00% 75
North West -29 80 £475 -4.04% 68
Scotland +14 64 £425 +17.24% 66
South West -27 57 £550 +15.79% 56
Yorkshire -29 54 £490 -2.10% 36
East of England -14 37 £445 +27.14% 105
East Midlands -21 21 £158 -58.00% 55
Northern Ireland 0 11 £475 +31.03% 9
Wales -5 11 £200 -38.46% 38
North East -7 11 £175 -58.82% 24
Channel Islands - 2 £725 - 6

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 65 (6.13%) Microsoft Exchange
2 44 (4.15%) SharePoint
3 23 (2.17%) Confluence
4 19 (1.79%) Skype for Business
5 15 (1.41%) Apache
6 14 (1.32%) WebLogic
7 11 (1.04%) Mattermost
8 8 (0.75%) OpenStack
9 7 (0.66%) Appian
10 5 (0.47%) SharePoint Server
11 2 (0.19%) CICS
11 2 (0.19%) Gunicorn
11 2 (0.19%) nginx
11 2 (0.19%) Tomcat
11 2 (0.19%) WebSphere
12 1 (0.094%) Exchange Server 2010
12 1 (0.094%) Exchange Server 2013
12 1 (0.094%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 91 (8.58%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (2.26%) MS Visio
3 21 (1.98%) Microsoft Excel
4 12 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.47%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.094%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.094%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.094%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.094%) OmniGraffle
6 1 (0.094%) Revit
Business Applications
1 9 (0.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.094%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.094%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 170 (16.02%) Azure
2 137 (12.91%) AWS
3 120 (11.31%) Microsoft 365
4 44 (4.15%) GCP
5 37 (3.49%) Entra ID
6 15 (1.41%) Azure Monitor
7 13 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
8 12 (1.13%) Akamai
8 12 (1.13%) OpenShift
9 11 (1.04%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (1.04%) GitHub
10 10 (0.94%) SaaS
10 10 (0.94%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 8 (0.75%) Datadog
11 8 (0.75%) Power Platform
12 7 (0.66%) IaaS
12 7 (0.66%) Nutanix
12 7 (0.66%) PaaS
12 7 (0.66%) Tricentis Tosca
13 6 (0.57%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 449 (42.32%) Firewall
2 234 (22.05%) WAN
3 197 (18.57%) LAN
4 180 (16.97%) Wireless
5 166 (15.65%) VPN
6 165 (15.55%) BGP
7 144 (13.57%) Network Security
8 139 (13.10%) DNS
9 133 (12.54%) SD-WAN
10 125 (11.78%) OSPF
11 102 (9.61%) Cisco Nexus
12 101 (9.52%) Cisco ISE
13 93 (8.77%) Cisco IOS
14 89 (8.39%) DHCP
15 87 (8.20%) Wi-Fi
16 82 (7.73%) MPLS
17 81 (7.63%) VLAN
18 60 (5.66%) IPsec
19 58 (5.47%) TCP/IP
20 55 (5.18%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (1.13%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.47%) NoSQL
2 5 (0.47%) Power BI
3 3 (0.28%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.19%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.19%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.094%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 33 (3.11%) JIRA
2 18 (1.70%) GitLab
2 18 (1.70%) Sonatype Nexus
3 15 (1.41%) Git
4 9 (0.85%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.85%) SonarQube
5 8 (0.75%) Robot Framework
6 7 (0.66%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.66%) Selenium
7 3 (0.28%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
8 2 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.19%) Snyk
8 2 (0.19%) Subversion
8 2 (0.19%) webpack
9 1 (0.094%) Hudson
9 1 (0.094%) Mercurial
General
1 233 (21.96%) Social Skills
2 158 (14.89%) Public Sector
3 128 (12.06%) Telecoms
4 124 (11.69%) Finance
5 79 (7.45%) Analytical Skills
6 63 (5.94%) Manufacturing
7 38 (3.58%) Banking
8 37 (3.49%) Electronics
8 37 (3.49%) Marketing
9 34 (3.20%) Documentation Skills
10 27 (2.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 26 (2.45%) Legal
12 25 (2.36%) Games
13 10 (0.94%) Organisational Skills
14 9 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
15 8 (0.75%) Investment Banking
15 8 (0.75%) Military
16 7 (0.66%) Aerospace
16 7 (0.66%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.66%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 371 (34.97%) Network Engineer
2 116 (10.93%) Architect
3 88 (8.29%) Cisco Engineer
4 78 (7.35%) Network Architect
5 74 (6.97%) Consultant
6 71 (6.69%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 69 (6.50%) Analyst
8 65 (6.13%) Senior
9 59 (5.56%) Support Engineer
10 53 (5.00%) Network Consultant
11 50 (4.71%) Security Engineer
12 48 (4.52%) Platform Engineer
12 48 (4.52%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 46 (4.34%) IT Support
14 35 (3.30%) Network Security Engineer
15 33 (3.11%) Desktop Support
16 30 (2.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 30 (2.83%) Senior Network Engineer
16 30 (2.83%) Test Engineer
17 28 (2.64%) Network Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (2.92%) 802.1X
2 25 (2.36%) RFC 2544
3 22 (2.07%) XMPP
4 18 (1.70%) NETCONF
5 15 (1.41%) Jinja
6 12 (1.13%) JSON
7 11 (1.04%) XML
7 11 (1.04%) YANG
8 10 (0.94%) RESTCONF
9 9 (0.85%) Flash
9 9 (0.85%) REST
10 3 (0.28%) CSS
10 3 (0.28%) HTML
10 3 (0.28%) LDAP
10 3 (0.28%) Spring Boot
11 2 (0.19%) eBPF
11 2 (0.19%) Jest
11 2 (0.19%) SOAP
11 2 (0.19%) Web Services
11 2 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 236 (22.24%) Data Centre
2 39 (3.68%) PKI
3 32 (3.02%) Onboarding
4 27 (2.54%) Driving Licence
5 24 (2.26%) Data Protection Act
5 24 (2.26%) Hybrid Cloud
6 22 (2.07%) Fibre Optics
7 19 (1.79%) Linux Command Line
7 19 (1.79%) Video Conferencing
8 18 (1.70%) Replication
9 17 (1.60%) Management Information System
10 14 (1.32%) Cloud Native
10 14 (1.32%) Operational Technology
10 14 (1.32%) Security Posture
10 14 (1.32%) Virtual Team
11 13 (1.23%) Product Ownership
11 13 (1.23%) Public Cloud
12 11 (1.04%) CMDB
13 9 (0.85%) Enterprise Storage
14 8 (0.75%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 176 (16.59%) Windows
2 109 (10.27%) Linux
3 78 (7.35%) Mac OS
4 74 (6.97%) Android
5 58 (5.47%) Windows Server
6 24 (2.26%) Windows 10
7 21 (1.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 20 (1.89%) Unix
9 7 (0.66%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.47%) CentOS
11 4 (0.38%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.38%) Windows 8
11 4 (0.38%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.28%) VMS
12 3 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.19%) Solaris
13 2 (0.19%) zOS
14 1 (0.094%) MVS
14 1 (0.094%) Windows Server 2003
14 1 (0.094%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (11.69%) Problem-Solving
2 113 (10.65%) Migration
3 112 (10.56%) Service Management
4 100 (9.43%) ITIL
5 82 (7.73%) Network Design
6 71 (6.69%) Agile
7 68 (6.41%) Roadmaps
8 62 (5.84%) Change Management
8 62 (5.84%) Collaborative Working
8 62 (5.84%) Project Delivery
8 62 (5.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 57 (5.37%) Incident Response
10 56 (5.28%) Business Intelligence
11 54 (5.09%) Network Architecture
12 53 (5.00%) High Availability
13 52 (4.90%) Load Balancing
14 51 (4.81%) Continuous Improvement
15 50 (4.71%) ITSM
16 49 (4.62%) Computer Science
16 49 (4.62%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 133 (12.54%) Python
2 92 (8.67%) PowerShell
3 38 (3.58%) SQL
4 36 (3.39%) Bash
5 24 (2.26%) Perl
6 15 (1.41%) JavaScript
7 9 (0.85%) C++
8 8 (0.75%) Java
9 7 (0.66%) Lisp
10 5 (0.47%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.38%) Go
11 4 (0.38%) VB
12 2 (0.19%) C
12 2 (0.19%) PHP
12 2 (0.19%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.094%) VBA
Qualifications
1 422 (39.77%) Security Cleared
2 321 (30.25%) SC Cleared
3 287 (27.05%) Cisco Certification
4 202 (19.04%) CCNP
5 109 (10.27%) DV Cleared
6 105 (9.90%) CCNA
7 91 (8.58%) Degree
8 69 (6.50%) CCIE
9 32 (3.02%) Computer Science Degree
10 28 (2.64%) ITIL Certification
11 22 (2.07%) Microsoft Certification
12 21 (1.98%) CISSP
13 18 (1.70%) BPSS Clearance
13 18 (1.70%) JNCIE
14 15 (1.41%) JNCIA
15 14 (1.32%) AWS Certification
15 14 (1.32%) Azure Certification
15 14 (1.32%) CCDP
16 12 (1.13%) CCSA
17 11 (1.04%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.05%) SLA
2 25 (2.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 19 (1.79%) NIST
4 17 (1.60%) GDPR
5 12 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
6 11 (1.04%) PCI DSS
7 8 (0.75%) PMO
8 7 (0.66%) NCSC
9 4 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
10 3 (0.28%) QA
11 2 (0.19%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.19%) Def Stans
12 1 (0.094%) COBIT
12 1 (0.094%) GxP
12 1 (0.094%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.094%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.094%) NIST 800
System Software
1 163 (15.36%) Active Directory
2 110 (10.37%) VMware Infrastructure
3 43 (4.05%) VMware NSX
4 33 (3.11%) VMware ESXi
5 27 (2.54%) vSphere
6 25 (2.36%) Firmware
7 22 (2.07%) Docker
8 13 (1.23%) Hyper-V
9 10 (0.94%) NFS
9 10 (0.94%) Virtual Machines
10 9 (0.85%) GPFS
11 7 (0.66%) Virtual Servers
12 6 (0.57%) Snort
13 5 (0.47%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 4 (0.38%) KVM
14 4 (0.38%) Squid
15 3 (0.28%) BitLocker
15 3 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
16 2 (0.19%) Ceph
16 2 (0.19%) Xen
Systems Management
1 112 (10.56%) Ansible
2 54 (5.09%) FortiGate
3 50 (4.71%) Microsoft Intune
3 50 (4.71%) SCCM
4 43 (4.05%) Terraform
5 42 (3.96%) vCenter Server
6 23 (2.17%) Kubernetes
7 21 (1.98%) Cisco CUCM
8 17 (1.60%) vRealize
9 12 (1.13%) SCOM
10 11 (1.04%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 9 (0.85%) EMC NetWorker
12 8 (0.75%) WSUS
13 7 (0.66%) EMC VPLEX
13 7 (0.66%) HP SiteScope
13 7 (0.66%) Nessus
13 7 (0.66%) VxRail
14 6 (0.57%) NetBackup
14 6 (0.57%) OpenView
15 5 (0.47%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 244 (23.00%) Microsoft
2 187 (17.62%) Juniper
3 161 (15.17%) Palo Alto
4 141 (13.29%) VMware
5 137 (12.91%) Fortinet
6 121 (11.40%) F5
7 116 (10.93%) SolarWinds
8 106 (9.99%) Meraki
9 85 (8.01%) Splunk
10 82 (7.73%) CheckPoint
11 79 (7.45%) Dell
12 65 (6.13%) HP
13 62 (5.84%) ServiceNow
14 58 (5.47%) Aruba
15 46 (4.34%) Apple
16 39 (3.68%) SAP
17 34 (3.20%) Zscaler
18 31 (2.92%) Oracle
19 28 (2.64%) Arista
20 27 (2.54%) AppDynamics