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 21 April 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
21 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 101 64 65
Rank change year-on-year -37 +1 -1
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,104 1,055 1,351
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.39% 3.58% 3.11%
As % of the Vendors category 5.61% 7.56% 7.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 746 669 824
10th Percentile £292 £302 £259
25th Percentile £400 £406 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £487
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +2.72% +2.47%
75th Percentile £560 £588 £591
90th Percentile £636 £650 £710
UK excluding London median daily rate £476 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +0.26% - +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 19 44
10th Percentile £21.27 £17.55 £13.50
25th Percentile £30.06 £21.58 £23.53
Median hourly rate £54.86 £37.50 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +46.29% +25.00% -41.94%
75th Percentile £74.26 £66.88 £42.54
90th Percentile £88.25 £75.00 £73.67
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £33.52 £30.00
% change year-on-year +121.52% +11.74% -44.79%

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 19,678 13,954 18,446
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 42.52% 47.39% 42.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,581 8,788 11,487
10th Percentile £313 £295 £260
25th Percentile £413 £406 £403
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £518
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -0.97% -1.43%
75th Percentile £600 £615 £630
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.60% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 988 539 1,075
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £12.01
25th Percentile £18.50 £18.51 £14.36
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.99 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +7.18% +24.40% -48.70%
75th Percentile £60.00 £60.00 £57.33
90th Percentile £78.34 £77.50 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.47 £24.66 £21.46
% change year-on-year +7.34% +14.91% -46.35%

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 21 April 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 21 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cisco in the UK

Cisco
Top 17 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 21 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 -46 916 £481 -4.70% 485
UK excluding London -30 697 £476 +0.26% 460
Work from Home -22 285 £450 -10.00% 85
London -68 276 £500 -0.05% 130
South East -14 212 £500 - 136
North of England -43 177 £481 -3.75% 103
Midlands -13 148 £378 -16.11% 74
North West -15 140 £481 -1.79% 42
West Midlands 0 135 £350 -20.00% 41
Scotland +27 67 £450 +12.78% 31
South West -68 47 £505 -8.18% 43
East of England -8 40 £495 +4.21% 58
Yorkshire -84 35 £450 -14.29% 46
Wales -10 25 £425 - 19
Northern Ireland +10 9 £385 - 8
East Midlands -52 9 £415 -12.63% 33
North East -19 4 £550 +69.23% 16

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 37 (3.35%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (2.99%) SharePoint
3 16 (1.45%) Confluence
4 7 (0.63%) Apache
5 5 (0.45%) IIS
5 5 (0.45%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.091%) JBoss
6 1 (0.091%) SharePoint Server
6 1 (0.091%) Skype for Business
6 1 (0.091%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.091%) WebSphere
Applications
1 45 (4.08%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (3.62%) MS Visio
3 17 (1.54%) Microsoft Excel
4 12 (1.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.45%) Acrobat
6 3 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.091%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 17 (1.54%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.27%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.091%) Actimize
Cloud Services
1 197 (17.84%) Azure
2 162 (14.67%) AWS
3 83 (7.52%) Microsoft 365
4 41 (3.71%) Entra ID
5 34 (3.08%) GCP
6 17 (1.54%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 15 (1.36%) Datadog
7 15 (1.36%) OpenShift
8 14 (1.27%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 12 (1.09%) Nutanix
9 12 (1.09%) SaaS
10 9 (0.82%) Azure Sentinel
10 9 (0.82%) GitHub
11 7 (0.63%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (0.63%) Mimecast
12 6 (0.54%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 6 (0.54%) Amazon Kinesis
12 6 (0.54%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (0.54%) Microsoft Purview
13 5 (0.45%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 474 (42.93%) Firewall
2 351 (31.79%) WAN
3 277 (25.09%) BGP
4 263 (23.82%) LAN
5 238 (21.56%) VPN
6 215 (19.47%) Network Security
7 204 (18.48%) OSPF
8 159 (14.40%) SD-WAN
9 148 (13.41%) Wireless
10 146 (13.22%) DNS
11 138 (12.50%) VLAN
12 106 (9.60%) MPLS
13 101 (9.15%) Cisco ISE
14 98 (8.88%) Cisco Nexus
15 93 (8.42%) VXLAN
16 81 (7.34%) Wi-Fi
17 79 (7.16%) Cisco ASA
18 78 (7.07%) DHCP
19 75 (6.79%) IPsec
20 72 (6.52%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.45%) DynamoDB
2 3 (0.27%) Amazon Athena
2 3 (0.27%) Power BI
2 3 (0.27%) SQL Server
3 2 (0.18%) MariaDB
4 1 (0.091%) Big Data
4 1 (0.091%) Metadata
4 1 (0.091%) MySQL
4 1 (0.091%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.091%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 23 (2.08%) JIRA
2 15 (1.36%) Sonatype Nexus
3 10 (0.91%) Git
4 8 (0.72%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.54%) GitLab
6 1 (0.091%) Bitbucket
General
1 237 (21.47%) Social Skills
2 131 (11.87%) Finance
3 113 (10.24%) Public Sector
4 78 (7.07%) Telecoms
5 70 (6.34%) Analytical Skills
6 59 (5.34%) Legal
7 58 (5.25%) Banking
8 54 (4.89%) Documentation Skills
9 38 (3.44%) Manufacturing
10 24 (2.17%) Marketing
11 19 (1.72%) Electronics
12 16 (1.45%) Investment Banking
12 16 (1.45%) Organisational Skills
13 15 (1.36%) Financial Institution
13 15 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
14 14 (1.27%) Law
15 13 (1.18%) Retail
16 9 (0.82%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (0.72%) Military
18 7 (0.63%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 467 (42.30%) Network Engineer
2 137 (12.41%) Architect
3 102 (9.24%) Cisco Engineer
4 97 (8.79%) Senior
5 94 (8.51%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 83 (7.52%) Network Architect
7 77 (6.97%) Security Engineer
8 71 (6.43%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 54 (4.89%) Network Security Engineer
10 51 (4.62%) Analyst
11 49 (4.44%) Senior Network Engineer
12 44 (3.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 40 (3.62%) Data Network Engineer
14 33 (2.99%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
15 31 (2.81%) Consultant
15 31 (2.81%) Data Engineer
16 30 (2.72%) Infrastructure Analyst
17 29 (2.63%) Network Consultant
18 28 (2.54%) Cisco Security Engineer
18 28 (2.54%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 62 (5.62%) 802.1X
2 17 (1.54%) Flash
2 17 (1.54%) LDAP
3 14 (1.27%) XMPP
4 11 (1.00%) SAML
5 9 (0.82%) REST
6 7 (0.63%) NETCONF
7 6 (0.54%) Jinja
7 6 (0.54%) YANG
8 5 (0.45%) Node.js
8 5 (0.45%) OpenConfig
9 4 (0.36%) HTML
9 4 (0.36%) JSON
9 4 (0.36%) RESTCONF
9 4 (0.36%) VML
10 2 (0.18%) ADO
10 2 (0.18%) CSS
10 2 (0.18%) Django
10 2 (0.18%) RFC 2544
10 2 (0.18%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 292 (26.45%) Data Centre
2 50 (4.53%) PKI
3 39 (3.53%) Replication
4 32 (2.90%) Clustering
4 32 (2.90%) Data Protection Act
4 32 (2.90%) Hybrid Cloud
4 32 (2.90%) Linux Command Line
5 30 (2.72%) Cloud Native
5 30 (2.72%) Onboarding
6 28 (2.54%) Operational Technology
7 21 (1.90%) Driving Licence
8 18 (1.63%) Product Ownership
9 17 (1.54%) Enterprise Storage
9 17 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.27%) EMC VMAX
10 14 (1.27%) SCADA
10 14 (1.27%) Security Posture
11 13 (1.18%) Video Conferencing
12 12 (1.09%) NHS
13 11 (1.00%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 191 (17.30%) Windows
2 117 (10.60%) Linux
3 66 (5.98%) Windows Server
4 26 (2.36%) Mac OS
4 26 (2.36%) Windows 10
5 25 (2.26%) Android
6 22 (1.99%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 19 (1.72%) Unix
8 8 (0.72%) Ubuntu
9 7 (0.63%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.36%) CatOS
11 4 (0.36%) Solaris
12 3 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
12 3 (0.27%) VMS
13 2 (0.18%) AIX
13 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.091%) CentOS
14 1 (0.091%) Debian
14 1 (0.091%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 169 (15.31%) Migration
2 138 (12.50%) Problem-Solving
3 110 (9.96%) Load Balancing
4 105 (9.51%) High Availability
5 99 (8.97%) ITIL
6 97 (8.79%) Network Design
7 86 (7.79%) Agile
8 84 (7.61%) ITSM
9 73 (6.61%) Roadmaps
10 72 (6.52%) Change Management
11 71 (6.43%) Cybersecurity
12 64 (5.80%) Continuous Improvement
13 62 (5.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 58 (5.25%) Project Delivery
15 57 (5.16%) Disaster Recovery
16 55 (4.98%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 54 (4.89%) Network Monitoring
18 53 (4.80%) Service Management
19 52 (4.71%) Stakeholder Management
20 51 (4.62%) Observability
Programming Languages
1 129 (11.68%) Python
2 53 (4.80%) PowerShell
3 27 (2.45%) Bash
4 11 (1.00%) Perl
5 8 (0.72%) C
5 8 (0.72%) SQL
6 4 (0.36%) PHP
7 3 (0.27%) C++
7 3 (0.27%) Java
7 3 (0.27%) JavaScript
7 3 (0.27%) Lisp
8 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.18%) Korn
8 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.091%) Bicep
9 1 (0.091%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.091%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.091%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 402 (36.41%) Security Cleared
2 314 (28.44%) Cisco Certification
3 307 (27.81%) SC Cleared
4 248 (22.46%) CCNP
5 115 (10.42%) CCNA
6 109 (9.87%) DV Cleared
7 83 (7.52%) Degree
8 76 (6.88%) CCIE
9 23 (2.08%) BPSS Clearance
10 21 (1.90%) Azure Certification
10 21 (1.90%) JNCIS
10 21 (1.90%) Microsoft Certification
11 18 (1.63%) Network+ Certification
12 16 (1.45%) JNCIP
13 15 (1.36%) AWS Certification
13 15 (1.36%) JNCIA
14 14 (1.27%) CCSE
14 14 (1.27%) MCSE
14 14 (1.27%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 12 (1.09%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (3.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 32 (2.90%) NIST
3 31 (2.81%) SLA
4 23 (2.08%) Cyber Essentials
5 17 (1.54%) NCSC
6 16 (1.45%) GDPR
7 15 (1.36%) PMO
8 12 (1.09%) PCI DSS
9 10 (0.91%) QA
10 5 (0.45%) Disclosure Scotland
11 4 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.36%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.27%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.27%) RMADS
13 2 (0.18%) ISA99
13 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.18%) NIST 800
14 1 (0.091%) GRC
14 1 (0.091%) JTAG
System Software
1 152 (13.77%) VMware Infrastructure
2 92 (8.33%) Active Directory
3 64 (5.80%) VMware NSX
4 61 (5.53%) vSphere
5 47 (4.26%) VMware ESXi
6 20 (1.81%) Firmware
6 20 (1.81%) NFS
7 17 (1.54%) GPFS
7 17 (1.54%) Hyper-V
8 15 (1.36%) Virtual Machines
9 9 (0.82%) SRDF
10 7 (0.63%) Docker
11 6 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
12 4 (0.36%) vCloud
12 4 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
13 3 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
13 3 (0.27%) KVM
13 3 (0.27%) Snort
13 3 (0.27%) UAG
14 1 (0.091%) iptables
Systems Management
1 115 (10.42%) Ansible
2 102 (9.24%) FortiGate
3 52 (4.71%) Terraform
4 37 (3.35%) vRealize
5 34 (3.08%) vCenter Server
6 24 (2.17%) Grafana
7 20 (1.81%) Microsoft Intune
7 20 (1.81%) SCCM
7 20 (1.81%) VxRail
8 18 (1.63%) Prometheus
9 16 (1.45%) Kubernetes
10 13 (1.18%) Cisco Prime
11 10 (0.91%) Nagios
11 10 (0.91%) Single Sign-On
12 7 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 7 (0.63%) EMC NetWorker
12 7 (0.63%) EMC VPLEX
12 7 (0.63%) SCOM
13 6 (0.54%) Cisco CUCM
13 6 (0.54%) WSUS
Vendors
1 286 (25.91%) Palo Alto
2 192 (17.39%) F5
2 192 (17.39%) VMware
3 181 (16.39%) Microsoft
4 167 (15.13%) Juniper
5 138 (12.50%) Fortinet
6 130 (11.78%) Aruba
7 120 (10.87%) CheckPoint
8 97 (8.79%) SolarWinds
9 96 (8.70%) Meraki
10 94 (8.51%) ServiceNow
11 65 (5.89%) Dell
12 62 (5.62%) Arista
13 54 (4.89%) Splunk
14 48 (4.35%) IBM
15 43 (3.89%) HP
15 43 (3.89%) Zscaler
16 31 (2.81%) EMC
17 29 (2.63%) Citrix
18 28 (2.54%) Extreme Networks