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 20 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
20 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 112 65 72
Rank change year-on-year -47 +7 -14
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,148 1,103 1,301
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.27% 3.69% 2.96%
As % of the Vendors category 5.57% 7.76% 7.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 799 678 795
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 £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £643 £650 £674
UK excluding London median daily rate £478 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -4.45% +5.26% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 25 37
10th Percentile £26.72 £24.66 £15.55
25th Percentile £34.44 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £53.75 £35.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +53.57% +40.00% -50.00%
75th Percentile £68.88 £45.00 £41.25
90th Percentile £76.50 £63.84 £56.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year +83.33% +20.00% -48.89%

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 20,609 14,207 18,590
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 40.69% 47.58% 42.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,933 8,743 11,537
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £402 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £517
Median % change year-on-year - -3.29% -1.52%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £626
90th Percentile £700 £715 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,054 652 1,163
10th Percentile £15.52 £14.84 £12.25
25th Percentile £19.00 £17.30 £14.50
Median hourly rate £33.99 £25.23 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year +34.75% +5.99% -44.65%
75th Percentile £60.75 £53.95 £58.70
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.23 £23.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +40.11% +2.22% -43.15%

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 20 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 20 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 20 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 -52 965 £481 -3.75% 569
UK excluding London -39 706 £478 -4.45% 592
London -63 316 £500 - 133
Work from Home -36 290 £456 -8.75% 129
North of England -43 217 £481 -3.75% 142
South East -35 189 £500 - 136
North West -9 167 £481 -0.26% 71
Midlands -35 132 £402 -23.43% 72
West Midlands -22 125 £402 -23.43% 40
Scotland +25 84 £463 +15.91% 48
South West -67 50 £525 -4.55% 79
Yorkshire -75 48 £484 -3.20% 48
East of England -21 39 £500 +0.50% 75
Wales -18 19 £468 +61.21% 23
Northern Ireland +8 10 £175 -50.00% 28
East Midlands -36 4 £458 -3.68% 32
North East -40 3 £463 +42.31% 24
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 28 (2.44%) SharePoint
2 18 (1.57%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.05%) Confluence
4 9 (0.78%) Apache
5 6 (0.52%) IIS
5 6 (0.52%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.26%) nginx
6 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.17%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.17%) CMS
8 1 (0.087%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.087%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 45 (3.92%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (2.44%) MS Visio
3 24 (2.09%) Microsoft Excel
4 9 (0.78%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.35%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 7 (0.61%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 214 (18.64%) Azure
2 142 (12.37%) AWS
3 71 (6.18%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (3.66%) Entra ID
5 20 (1.74%) GCP
6 16 (1.39%) GitHub
6 16 (1.39%) SaaS
7 15 (1.31%) Nutanix
7 15 (1.31%) OpenShift
8 14 (1.22%) OneDrive
9 13 (1.13%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.13%) Azure Sentinel
10 12 (1.05%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 8 (0.70%) IaaS
11 8 (0.70%) Microsoft Purview
12 7 (0.61%) Power Platform
13 6 (0.52%) Azure DevOps
14 5 (0.44%) GitHub Actions
14 5 (0.44%) Rubrik
15 4 (0.35%) Cloudflare
Communications & Networking
1 495 (43.12%) Firewall
2 381 (33.19%) WAN
3 291 (25.35%) LAN
4 282 (24.56%) BGP
5 245 (21.34%) VPN
6 242 (21.08%) Network Security
7 196 (17.07%) OSPF
8 179 (15.59%) Wireless
9 176 (15.33%) DNS
10 165 (14.37%) VLAN
11 164 (14.29%) SD-WAN
12 110 (9.58%) MPLS
13 108 (9.41%) Cisco Nexus
14 105 (9.15%) Wi-Fi
15 100 (8.71%) Cisco ISE
15 100 (8.71%) VXLAN
16 95 (8.28%) DHCP
17 81 (7.06%) Cisco IOS
18 75 (6.53%) Multicast
19 74 (6.45%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.31%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.26%) MySQL
2 3 (0.26%) NoSQL
3 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.087%) Apache Hive
4 1 (0.087%) Big Data
4 1 (0.087%) ClickHouse
4 1 (0.087%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.087%) Metadata
4 1 (0.087%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 23 (2.00%) JIRA
2 13 (1.13%) Sonatype Nexus
3 11 (0.96%) Git
4 9 (0.78%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.35%) GitLab
6 2 (0.17%) Bitbucket
General
1 262 (22.82%) Social Skills
2 121 (10.54%) Finance
3 68 (5.92%) Analytical Skills
4 64 (5.57%) Public Sector
5 63 (5.49%) Telecoms
6 59 (5.14%) Legal
7 58 (5.05%) Documentation Skills
8 55 (4.79%) Banking
9 22 (1.92%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (1.74%) Investment Banking
11 18 (1.57%) Financial Institution
11 18 (1.57%) Manufacturing
12 17 (1.48%) Law
13 16 (1.39%) Retail
14 10 (0.87%) Military
15 8 (0.70%) Marketing
16 7 (0.61%) Police
17 6 (0.52%) Presentation Skills
18 5 (0.44%) Influencing Skills
19 4 (0.35%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 534 (46.52%) Network Engineer
2 143 (12.46%) Architect
3 125 (10.89%) Cisco Engineer
4 118 (10.28%) Senior
5 115 (10.02%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 85 (7.40%) Security Engineer
7 79 (6.88%) Network Architect
8 66 (5.75%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 65 (5.66%) Senior Network Engineer
10 62 (5.40%) Network Security Engineer
11 55 (4.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 46 (4.01%) Data Network Engineer
13 34 (2.96%) Analyst
13 34 (2.96%) Data Engineer
14 33 (2.87%) Cisco Security Engineer
15 29 (2.53%) Solutions Architect
16 26 (2.26%) Network Specialist
17 25 (2.18%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
17 25 (2.18%) Lead
18 23 (2.00%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 77 (6.71%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.22%) Flash
2 14 (1.22%) LDAP
2 14 (1.22%) SAML
3 12 (1.05%) REST
4 8 (0.70%) XMPP
5 6 (0.52%) Jinja
6 3 (0.26%) LAMP
6 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
6 3 (0.26%) NETCONF
6 3 (0.26%) YAML
7 2 (0.17%) .NET Core
7 2 (0.17%) Django
7 2 (0.17%) Elastic Stack
7 2 (0.17%) Middleware
7 2 (0.17%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.17%) OpenID
7 2 (0.17%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.17%) RFC 2544
7 2 (0.17%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 306 (26.66%) Data Centre
2 54 (4.70%) PKI
3 45 (3.92%) Replication
4 39 (3.40%) Clustering
5 38 (3.31%) Data Protection Act
5 38 (3.31%) Onboarding
6 35 (3.05%) Hybrid Cloud
7 27 (2.35%) Operational Technology
8 23 (2.00%) Driving Licence
8 23 (2.00%) Video Conferencing
9 20 (1.74%) Security Posture
10 19 (1.66%) Enterprise Storage
11 18 (1.57%) Linux Command Line
12 17 (1.48%) EMC VMAX
13 16 (1.39%) Cloud Native
14 15 (1.31%) Analytical Mindset
15 14 (1.22%) SCADA
15 14 (1.22%) Virtual Team
16 13 (1.13%) Self-Motivation
17 10 (0.87%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 223 (19.43%) Windows
2 120 (10.45%) Linux
3 71 (6.18%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.83%) Unix
5 16 (1.39%) Windows 10
6 14 (1.22%) Ubuntu
7 12 (1.05%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (0.78%) Android
8 9 (0.78%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (0.61%) Mac OS
10 6 (0.52%) Windows Server 2012
11 5 (0.44%) AIX
11 5 (0.44%) Data ONTAP
11 5 (0.44%) VMS
12 4 (0.35%) CentOS
12 4 (0.35%) Solaris
13 3 (0.26%) CatOS
14 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
15 1 (0.087%) Check Point GAiA
15 1 (0.087%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (15.77%) Migration
2 129 (11.24%) Load Balancing
3 124 (10.80%) High Availability
4 121 (10.54%) Problem-Solving
5 102 (8.89%) ITIL
6 96 (8.36%) Project Delivery
7 94 (8.19%) ITSM
8 92 (8.01%) Network Design
9 73 (6.36%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 72 (6.27%) Continuous Improvement
11 71 (6.18%) Change Management
12 70 (6.10%) Agile
13 64 (5.57%) Stakeholder Management
13 64 (5.57%) Technical Leadership
14 62 (5.40%) Disaster Recovery
14 62 (5.40%) Network Monitoring
15 60 (5.23%) Cybersecurity
15 60 (5.23%) Infrastructure as Code
15 60 (5.23%) Validation
16 55 (4.79%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 129 (11.24%) Python
2 56 (4.88%) PowerShell
3 24 (2.09%) SQL
4 22 (1.92%) Bash
5 6 (0.52%) 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 (0.17%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.17%) Korn
8 2 (0.17%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.087%) Bicep
9 1 (0.087%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.087%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 337 (29.36%) Cisco Certification
2 336 (29.27%) Security Cleared
3 250 (21.78%) CCNP
4 243 (21.17%) SC Cleared
5 134 (11.67%) CCNA
6 104 (9.06%) DV Cleared
7 67 (5.84%) Degree
8 62 (5.40%) CCIE
9 26 (2.26%) Microsoft Certification
10 25 (2.18%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 22 (1.92%) Network+ Certification
12 18 (1.57%) MCSE
13 17 (1.48%) Server+ Certification
14 16 (1.39%) Azure Certification
15 14 (1.22%) BPSS Clearance
15 14 (1.22%) CCSE
16 13 (1.13%) JNCIS
16 13 (1.13%) VCAP
17 12 (1.05%) JNCIP
17 12 (1.05%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.57%) SLA
2 33 (2.87%) NIST
3 29 (2.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 26 (2.26%) Cyber Essentials
5 21 (1.83%) QA
6 18 (1.57%) NCSC
7 9 (0.78%) PMO
8 7 (0.61%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 7 (0.61%) Disclosure Scotland
9 6 (0.52%) 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 (0.17%) Accessibility
12 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.17%) GRC
12 2 (0.17%) ISA99
12 2 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.17%) RMADS
System Software
1 153 (13.33%) VMware Infrastructure
2 98 (8.54%) Active Directory
3 58 (5.05%) VMware ESXi
4 56 (4.88%) vSphere
5 48 (4.18%) VMware NSX
6 33 (2.87%) Virtual Machines
7 28 (2.44%) Firmware
8 21 (1.83%) Hyper-V
9 18 (1.57%) NFS
10 14 (1.22%) GPFS
11 12 (1.05%) SRDF
12 7 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
13 6 (0.52%) 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 (0.17%) Snort
Systems Management
1 135 (11.76%) Ansible
2 104 (9.06%) FortiGate
3 52 (4.53%) Terraform
4 30 (2.61%) vCenter Server
5 27 (2.35%) Grafana
6 25 (2.18%) Microsoft Intune
7 21 (1.83%) Kubernetes
7 21 (1.83%) SCCM
8 20 (1.74%) Prometheus
9 18 (1.57%) vRealize
10 14 (1.22%) Cisco CUCM
10 14 (1.22%) Cisco Prime
11 13 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
12 9 (0.78%) VxRail
13 8 (0.70%) WMI
14 6 (0.52%) EMC TimeFinder
14 6 (0.52%) EMC VPLEX
14 6 (0.52%) HAProxy
14 6 (0.52%) SCOM
15 5 (0.44%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 290 (25.26%) Palo Alto
2 212 (18.47%) F5
3 197 (17.16%) Microsoft
4 193 (16.81%) VMware
5 176 (15.33%) Fortinet
6 155 (13.50%) Juniper
7 120 (10.45%) Aruba
8 103 (8.97%) CheckPoint
9 101 (8.80%) ServiceNow
10 94 (8.19%) SolarWinds
11 87 (7.58%) Meraki
12 77 (6.71%) Arista
13 57 (4.97%) Splunk
14 49 (4.27%) Zscaler
15 42 (3.66%) Dell
16 31 (2.70%) EMC
17 29 (2.53%) Extreme Networks
17 29 (2.53%) IBM
18 27 (2.35%) Brocade
19 25 (2.18%) Infoblox