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 3 September 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
3 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 119 78 69
Rank change year-on-year -41 -9 -14
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,216 1,026 1,206
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.27% 3.16% 3.15%
As % of the Vendors category 5.42% 6.69% 7.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 809 645 738
10th Percentile £295 £300 £250
25th Percentile £400 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.46% -1.60% +7.53%
75th Percentile £575 £584 £575
90th Percentile £651 £638 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -6.50% - +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 41 32
10th Percentile £26.72 - £18.22
25th Percentile £40.13 £25.15 £21.93
Median hourly rate £52.50 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +75.00% +9.09% -42.11%
75th Percentile £67.84 £58.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £78.75 £83.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year +83.33% -40.00% +4.90%

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 22,429 15,339 16,876
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.83% 47.19% 44.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,832 9,388 10,318
10th Percentile £313 £275 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £728
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,168 783 734
10th Percentile £14.28 £14.69 £13.69
25th Percentile £17.20 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £29.07 £25.15 £29.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.59% -13.28% -31.76%
75th Percentile £65.00 £43.75 £62.38
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £21.26 £28.00
% change year-on-year +31.70% -24.07% -29.29%

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 3 September 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 3 September 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 3 September 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 -47 1,013 £500 - 915
UK excluding London -35 718 £468 -6.50% 583
London -36 380 £500 - 426
Work from Home -13 297 £475 +0.60% 239
North of England -7 244 £490 +3.16% 139
North West +10 170 £483 +1.68% 68
South East -57 149 £467 -11.14% 147
Midlands -37 128 £425 -10.53% 85
West Midlands -24 122 £425 -10.53% 38
Scotland +16 97 £413 -2.94% 34
Yorkshire -32 67 £500 +1.63% 51
South West -44 62 £525 -5.62% 83
East of England -15 36 £455 -14.95% 72
Wales +6 29 £390 +95.00% 21
Northern Ireland +4 8 £115 -67.14% 15
North East -39 8 £375 -31.82% 24
East Midlands -34 3 £525 +6.33% 47
Channel Islands -3 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 39 (3.21%) SharePoint
2 35 (2.88%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (0.99%) Confluence
4 10 (0.82%) OpenStack
5 8 (0.66%) SAS
6 7 (0.58%) Apache
7 6 (0.49%) JBoss
8 4 (0.33%) IIS
8 4 (0.33%) nginx
9 3 (0.25%) CloudStack
9 3 (0.25%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.16%) CMS
10 2 (0.16%) Skype for Business
11 1 (0.082%) Apache Spark
11 1 (0.082%) FactoryTalk
11 1 (0.082%) Mendix
11 1 (0.082%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 48 (3.95%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.22%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.89%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.25%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.082%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 1 (0.082%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.082%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 247 (20.31%) Azure
2 156 (12.83%) AWS
3 101 (8.31%) Microsoft 365
4 63 (5.18%) Entra ID
5 31 (2.55%) GitHub
6 30 (2.47%) OneDrive
7 23 (1.89%) GCP
8 18 (1.48%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 18 (1.48%) OpenShift
9 17 (1.40%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (1.23%) Power Platform
11 13 (1.07%) Nutanix
12 12 (0.99%) SaaS
13 10 (0.82%) Azure DevOps
13 10 (0.82%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (0.66%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.58%) AWS Direct Connect
15 7 (0.58%) IaaS
16 6 (0.49%) Cloudflare
16 6 (0.49%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 516 (42.43%) Firewall
2 359 (29.52%) WAN
3 312 (25.66%) BGP
4 277 (22.78%) LAN
5 262 (21.55%) VPN
6 253 (20.81%) Network Security
7 207 (17.02%) Wireless
8 199 (16.37%) OSPF
9 190 (15.63%) DNS
9 190 (15.63%) VLAN
10 147 (12.09%) SD-WAN
11 139 (11.43%) Wi-Fi
12 124 (10.20%) MPLS
13 116 (9.54%) Cisco Nexus
14 108 (8.88%) DHCP
15 98 (8.06%) TCP/IP
16 97 (7.98%) Cisco ASA
17 95 (7.81%) Cisco ISE
18 93 (7.65%) VXLAN
19 78 (6.41%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.22%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.58%) Power BI
3 6 (0.49%) Big Data
3 6 (0.49%) Hadoop
4 4 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (0.25%) MySQL
6 2 (0.16%) Metadata
6 2 (0.16%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.16%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.082%) Apache Hive
7 1 (0.082%) ClickHouse
Development Applications
1 26 (2.14%) Git
2 20 (1.64%) JIRA
3 12 (0.99%) GitLab
4 11 (0.90%) Sonatype Nexus
5 9 (0.74%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.16%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.082%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.082%) Tricentis qTest
7 1 (0.082%) Zephyr
General
1 284 (23.36%) Social Skills
2 121 (9.95%) Telecoms
3 120 (9.87%) Finance
4 99 (8.14%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (5.10%) Public Sector
6 60 (4.93%) Banking
7 59 (4.85%) Documentation Skills
8 38 (3.13%) Legal
9 22 (1.81%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (1.64%) Investment Banking
11 17 (1.40%) Retail
12 16 (1.32%) Financial Institution
13 14 (1.15%) Law
14 13 (1.07%) Military
15 11 (0.90%) Manufacturing
15 11 (0.90%) Police
16 10 (0.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 9 (0.74%) Influencing Skills
18 6 (0.49%) Marketing
19 4 (0.33%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 608 (50.00%) Network Engineer
2 182 (14.97%) Senior
3 149 (12.25%) Cisco Engineer
4 147 (12.09%) Architect
5 133 (10.94%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 127 (10.44%) Senior Network Engineer
7 84 (6.91%) Security Engineer
8 75 (6.17%) Network Architect
9 65 (5.35%) Network Security Engineer
10 61 (5.02%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 54 (4.44%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 42 (3.45%) Field Engineer
13 38 (3.13%) Data Network Engineer
14 37 (3.04%) Lead
15 35 (2.88%) Support Engineer
15 35 (2.88%) Telecoms Engineer
16 34 (2.80%) Solutions Architect
17 33 (2.71%) Analyst
18 28 (2.30%) Cisco Security Engineer
18 28 (2.30%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 78 (6.41%) Terraform
2 59 (4.85%) 802.1X
3 27 (2.22%) REST
4 14 (1.15%) YAML
5 13 (1.07%) SAML
6 12 (0.99%) JSON
7 9 (0.74%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.58%) Flash
8 7 (0.58%) Microsoft Graph
8 7 (0.58%) RESTCONF
8 7 (0.58%) XMPP
9 5 (0.41%) OpenConfig
9 5 (0.41%) YANG
10 4 (0.33%) LDAP
11 3 (0.25%) .NET
11 3 (0.25%) Django
11 3 (0.25%) Java RMI
11 3 (0.25%) LAMP
11 3 (0.25%) Middleware
11 3 (0.25%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 296 (24.34%) Data Centre
2 50 (4.11%) PKI
3 49 (4.03%) Onboarding
4 48 (3.95%) Hybrid Cloud
5 37 (3.04%) Driving Licence
6 36 (2.96%) Data Protection Act
7 34 (2.80%) Operational Technology
8 29 (2.38%) Video Conferencing
9 26 (2.14%) Clustering
9 26 (2.14%) Replication
10 24 (1.97%) Cloud Native
11 21 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
12 20 (1.64%) Public Cloud
13 18 (1.48%) Enterprise Storage
14 17 (1.40%) Linux Command Line
14 17 (1.40%) Management Information System
14 17 (1.40%) Private Cloud
15 16 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
16 14 (1.15%) IoT
16 14 (1.15%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 229 (18.83%) Windows
2 123 (10.12%) Linux
3 91 (7.48%) Windows Server
4 18 (1.48%) Ubuntu
5 17 (1.40%) Mac OS
5 17 (1.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.40%) Windows 10
6 10 (0.82%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (0.74%) Android
7 9 (0.74%) Unix
7 9 (0.74%) Windows Server 2012
8 7 (0.58%) AIX
8 7 (0.58%) Data ONTAP
9 6 (0.49%) CentOS
10 4 (0.33%) VMS
10 4 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.082%) Debian
11 1 (0.082%) Oracle Linux
11 1 (0.082%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.082%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 194 (15.95%) Migration
2 156 (12.83%) Project Delivery
3 138 (11.35%) ITIL
4 129 (10.61%) Problem-Solving
5 121 (9.95%) High Availability
6 116 (9.54%) Load Balancing
7 98 (8.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 96 (7.89%) Change Management
9 93 (7.65%) Stakeholder Management
10 91 (7.48%) Network Design
11 83 (6.83%) Continuous Improvement
11 83 (6.83%) Validation
12 81 (6.66%) Infrastructure as Code
13 75 (6.17%) Technical Leadership
14 68 (5.59%) ITSM
15 63 (5.18%) Zero Trust
16 62 (5.10%) CI/CD
17 61 (5.02%) Data Protection
17 61 (5.02%) Network Monitoring
18 60 (4.93%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 139 (11.43%) Python
2 61 (5.02%) PowerShell
3 31 (2.55%) Bash
4 28 (2.30%) SQL
5 5 (0.41%) Java
6 4 (0.33%) C
6 4 (0.33%) C++
7 3 (0.25%) Lisp
7 3 (0.25%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.16%) Go
8 2 (0.16%) Perl
9 1 (0.082%) Bicep
9 1 (0.082%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.082%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 328 (26.97%) Cisco Certification
2 310 (25.49%) Security Cleared
3 230 (18.91%) CCNP
4 229 (18.83%) SC Cleared
5 132 (10.86%) CCNA
6 83 (6.83%) DV Cleared
7 70 (5.76%) Degree
8 63 (5.18%) CCIE
9 28 (2.30%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.89%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 20 (1.64%) MCSE
12 16 (1.32%) AWS Certification
12 16 (1.32%) Azure Certification
13 14 (1.15%) BPSS Clearance
13 14 (1.15%) Computer Science Degree
13 14 (1.15%) Network+ Certification
14 13 (1.07%) CISSP
15 12 (0.99%) CCSE
16 11 (0.90%) ISTQB
16 11 (0.90%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.37%) SLA
2 24 (1.97%) NIST
3 22 (1.81%) QA
4 19 (1.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 16 (1.32%) Cyber Essentials
6 11 (0.90%) NCSC
7 7 (0.58%) PCI DSS
8 6 (0.49%) GDPR
8 6 (0.49%) PMO
9 5 (0.41%) Disclosure Scotland
9 5 (0.41%) JSP 440
10 4 (0.33%) Data Quality
11 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.25%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.16%) Accessibility
12 2 (0.16%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.16%) GRC
12 2 (0.16%) ISA99
12 2 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 1 (0.082%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 149 (12.25%) VMware Infrastructure
2 123 (10.12%) Active Directory
3 44 (3.62%) vSphere
4 43 (3.54%) VMware NSX
5 41 (3.37%) VMware ESXi
6 34 (2.80%) Hyper-V
7 33 (2.71%) Firmware
8 29 (2.38%) Virtual Machines
9 16 (1.32%) Docker
10 11 (0.90%) NFS
11 7 (0.58%) GPFS
12 6 (0.49%) EMC RecoverPoint
13 5 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
14 4 (0.33%) SRDF
14 4 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
15 3 (0.25%) Dovecot
15 3 (0.25%) FreeRADIUS
15 3 (0.25%) Postfix
16 2 (0.16%) Snort
16 2 (0.16%) UAG
Systems Management
1 144 (11.84%) Ansible
2 78 (6.41%) FortiGate
3 32 (2.63%) Kubernetes
4 31 (2.55%) Microsoft Intune
5 23 (1.89%) Cisco CUCM
6 22 (1.81%) SCCM
7 21 (1.73%) vCenter Server
8 20 (1.64%) Cisco Prime
9 12 (0.99%) Grafana
9 12 (0.99%) Prometheus
10 9 (0.74%) Puppet
10 9 (0.74%) WSUS
11 8 (0.66%) Failover Clustering
11 8 (0.66%) Single Sign-On
11 8 (0.66%) WMI
12 7 (0.58%) EMC VPLEX
12 7 (0.58%) vRealize
13 6 (0.49%) Red Hat Satellite
14 5 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
14 5 (0.41%) Nagios
Vendors
1 264 (21.71%) Palo Alto
2 233 (19.16%) Microsoft
3 206 (16.94%) Fortinet
3 206 (16.94%) VMware
4 201 (16.53%) F5
5 130 (10.69%) Juniper
6 116 (9.54%) Meraki
7 110 (9.05%) CheckPoint
8 88 (7.24%) Aruba
9 87 (7.15%) ServiceNow
10 80 (6.58%) SolarWinds
11 73 (6.00%) Arista
12 47 (3.87%) Zscaler
13 40 (3.29%) Splunk
14 37 (3.04%) Red Hat
15 34 (2.80%) Dell
16 29 (2.38%) Nokia
17 25 (2.06%) NetApp
18 20 (1.64%) Citrix
18 20 (1.64%) Infoblox