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 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
4 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 119 78 69
Rank change year-on-year -41 -9 -14
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,203 1,001 1,194
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.24% 3.10% 3.14%
As % of the Vendors category 5.37% 6.56% 7.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 796 626 728
10th Percentile £298 £300 £250
25th Percentile £400 £400 £384
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £479 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.64% -1.60% +8.11%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £575
90th Percentile £652 £638 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -6.40% - +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 42 32
10th Percentile £26.72 - £18.65
25th Percentile £42.06 £25.15 £21.93
Median hourly rate £53.75 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +79.17% +9.09% -42.11%
75th Percentile £67.84 £58.44 £57.50
90th Percentile £78.75 £81.58 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £32.50 £50.00
% change year-on-year +69.23% -35.00% +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 22,422 15,261 16,767
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.80% 47.23% 44.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,829 9,339 10,233
10th Percentile £313 £275 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £726
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,171 780 716
10th Percentile £14.25 £14.54 £14.06
25th Percentile £17.15 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £29.07 £25.15 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.59% -16.17% -29.41%
75th Percentile £65.00 £43.84 £63.75
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.75 £21.30 £29.00
% change year-on-year +30.28% -26.55% -27.50%

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 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 4 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 4 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 -49 1,003 £500 - 911
UK excluding London -35 712 £468 -6.40% 584
London -42 377 £500 - 423
Work from Home -22 296 £475 +0.60% 237
North of England -4 244 £490 +3.16% 136
North West +19 170 £483 +1.68% 67
South East -62 147 £468 -10.81% 150
Midlands -34 125 £425 -12.82% 86
West Midlands -19 119 £425 -10.53% 38
Scotland +21 97 £413 -2.94% 33
Yorkshire -29 67 £500 +2.15% 49
South West -44 62 £525 -4.55% 85
East of England -13 34 £475 -8.65% 70
Wales +6 29 £390 +95.00% 21
Northern Ireland +5 8 £115 -67.14% 16
North East -34 8 £375 -31.82% 23
East Midlands -36 3 £525 +5.00% 48
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 (3.24%) SharePoint
2 35 (2.91%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.00%) Confluence
4 10 (0.83%) OpenStack
5 8 (0.67%) SAS
6 7 (0.58%) Apache
7 6 (0.50%) JBoss
8 4 (0.33%) IIS
8 4 (0.33%) nginx
9 3 (0.25%) CloudStack
9 3 (0.25%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.17%) CMS
10 2 (0.17%) Skype for Business
11 1 (0.083%) Apache Spark
11 1 (0.083%) FactoryTalk
11 1 (0.083%) Mendix
11 1 (0.083%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 48 (3.99%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.24%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.91%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.25%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.083%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 1 (0.083%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.083%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 246 (20.45%) Azure
2 156 (12.97%) AWS
3 101 (8.40%) Microsoft 365
4 63 (5.24%) Entra ID
5 31 (2.58%) GitHub
6 30 (2.49%) OneDrive
7 23 (1.91%) GCP
8 18 (1.50%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 18 (1.50%) OpenShift
9 17 (1.41%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (1.25%) Power Platform
11 13 (1.08%) Nutanix
12 12 (1.00%) SaaS
13 10 (0.83%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (0.67%) Azure DevOps
14 8 (0.67%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.58%) AWS Direct Connect
15 7 (0.58%) IaaS
16 6 (0.50%) Amazon EC2
16 6 (0.50%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 512 (42.56%) Firewall
2 356 (29.59%) WAN
3 306 (25.44%) BGP
4 275 (22.86%) LAN
5 261 (21.70%) VPN
6 250 (20.78%) Network Security
7 207 (17.21%) Wireless
8 193 (16.04%) OSPF
9 188 (15.63%) DNS
9 188 (15.63%) VLAN
10 145 (12.05%) SD-WAN
11 138 (11.47%) Wi-Fi
12 120 (9.98%) MPLS
13 115 (9.56%) Cisco Nexus
14 106 (8.81%) DHCP
15 97 (8.06%) TCP/IP
16 95 (7.90%) Cisco ASA
17 93 (7.73%) Cisco ISE
18 90 (7.48%) VXLAN
19 77 (6.40%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.24%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.58%) Power BI
3 6 (0.50%) Big Data
3 6 (0.50%) Hadoop
4 4 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (0.25%) MySQL
6 2 (0.17%) Metadata
6 2 (0.17%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.083%) Apache Hive
7 1 (0.083%) ClickHouse
Development Applications
1 25 (2.08%) Git
2 19 (1.58%) JIRA
3 12 (1.00%) GitLab
4 11 (0.91%) Sonatype Nexus
5 8 (0.67%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.17%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.083%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.083%) Tricentis qTest
7 1 (0.083%) Zephyr
General
1 284 (23.61%) Social Skills
2 121 (10.06%) Telecoms
3 118 (9.81%) Finance
4 97 (8.06%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (5.15%) Public Sector
6 60 (4.99%) Banking
7 59 (4.90%) Documentation Skills
8 36 (2.99%) Legal
9 22 (1.83%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (1.66%) Investment Banking
11 17 (1.41%) Retail
12 15 (1.25%) Financial Institution
13 14 (1.16%) Law
14 13 (1.08%) Military
15 11 (0.91%) Manufacturing
15 11 (0.91%) Police
16 10 (0.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 9 (0.75%) Influencing Skills
18 6 (0.50%) Marketing
19 4 (0.33%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 603 (50.12%) Network Engineer
2 180 (14.96%) Senior
3 148 (12.30%) Cisco Engineer
4 147 (12.22%) Architect
5 132 (10.97%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 127 (10.56%) Senior Network Engineer
7 84 (6.98%) Security Engineer
8 76 (6.32%) Network Architect
9 65 (5.40%) Network Security Engineer
10 59 (4.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 53 (4.41%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 42 (3.49%) Field Engineer
13 37 (3.08%) Data Network Engineer
13 37 (3.08%) Lead
14 35 (2.91%) Telecoms Engineer
15 34 (2.83%) Solutions Architect
15 34 (2.83%) Support Engineer
16 32 (2.66%) Analyst
17 28 (2.33%) Cisco Security Engineer
17 28 (2.33%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 78 (6.48%) Terraform
2 57 (4.74%) 802.1X
3 27 (2.24%) REST
4 14 (1.16%) YAML
5 13 (1.08%) SAML
6 12 (1.00%) JSON
7 9 (0.75%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.58%) Microsoft Graph
8 7 (0.58%) RESTCONF
8 7 (0.58%) XMPP
9 6 (0.50%) Flash
10 5 (0.42%) OpenConfig
10 5 (0.42%) YANG
11 4 (0.33%) LDAP
12 3 (0.25%) .NET
12 3 (0.25%) Django
12 3 (0.25%) Java RMI
12 3 (0.25%) LAMP
12 3 (0.25%) Middleware
12 3 (0.25%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 294 (24.44%) Data Centre
2 49 (4.07%) Hybrid Cloud
2 49 (4.07%) Onboarding
2 49 (4.07%) PKI
3 37 (3.08%) Driving Licence
4 36 (2.99%) Data Protection Act
5 34 (2.83%) Operational Technology
6 29 (2.41%) Video Conferencing
7 25 (2.08%) Clustering
7 25 (2.08%) Replication
8 24 (2.00%) Cloud Native
9 20 (1.66%) Analytical Mindset
9 20 (1.66%) Public Cloud
10 17 (1.41%) Enterprise Storage
10 17 (1.41%) Management Information System
10 17 (1.41%) Private Cloud
11 16 (1.33%) Linux Command Line
11 16 (1.33%) Self-Motivation
12 14 (1.16%) IoT
12 14 (1.16%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 223 (18.54%) Windows
2 121 (10.06%) Linux
3 88 (7.32%) Windows Server
4 18 (1.50%) Ubuntu
5 17 (1.41%) Mac OS
5 17 (1.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.41%) Windows 10
6 9 (0.75%) Android
6 9 (0.75%) Unix
6 9 (0.75%) Windows Server 2012
7 8 (0.67%) Windows Server 2019
8 7 (0.58%) AIX
8 7 (0.58%) Data ONTAP
9 6 (0.50%) CentOS
10 4 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.25%) VMS
12 1 (0.083%) CatOS
12 1 (0.083%) Debian
12 1 (0.083%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.083%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 191 (15.88%) Migration
2 154 (12.80%) Project Delivery
3 137 (11.39%) ITIL
4 128 (10.64%) Problem-Solving
5 120 (9.98%) High Availability
6 115 (9.56%) Load Balancing
7 96 (7.98%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 94 (7.81%) Change Management
9 93 (7.73%) Stakeholder Management
10 91 (7.56%) Network Design
11 82 (6.82%) Continuous Improvement
11 82 (6.82%) Validation
12 79 (6.57%) Infrastructure as Code
13 75 (6.23%) Technical Leadership
14 68 (5.65%) ITSM
15 63 (5.24%) Zero Trust
16 61 (5.07%) Data Protection
17 60 (4.99%) CI/CD
17 60 (4.99%) Network Monitoring
17 60 (4.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 137 (11.39%) Python
2 61 (5.07%) PowerShell
3 31 (2.58%) Bash
4 27 (2.24%) SQL
5 5 (0.42%) Java
6 4 (0.33%) C
6 4 (0.33%) C++
7 3 (0.25%) Lisp
7 3 (0.25%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.17%) Go
8 2 (0.17%) Perl
9 1 (0.083%) Bicep
9 1 (0.083%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.083%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 327 (27.18%) Cisco Certification
2 307 (25.52%) Security Cleared
3 230 (19.12%) CCNP
4 228 (18.95%) SC Cleared
5 132 (10.97%) CCNA
6 82 (6.82%) DV Cleared
7 71 (5.90%) Degree
8 62 (5.15%) CCIE
9 28 (2.33%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.91%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 20 (1.66%) MCSE
12 16 (1.33%) AWS Certification
12 16 (1.33%) Azure Certification
13 14 (1.16%) Computer Science Degree
13 14 (1.16%) Network+ Certification
14 13 (1.08%) BPSS Clearance
14 13 (1.08%) CCSE
14 13 (1.08%) CISSP
15 11 (0.91%) ISTQB
15 11 (0.91%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.41%) SLA
2 24 (2.00%) NIST
3 22 (1.83%) QA
4 19 (1.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 16 (1.33%) Cyber Essentials
6 11 (0.91%) NCSC
7 7 (0.58%) PCI DSS
8 6 (0.50%) GDPR
9 5 (0.42%) Disclosure Scotland
9 5 (0.42%) JSP 440
9 5 (0.42%) PMO
10 4 (0.33%) Data Quality
11 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.25%) 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 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 1 (0.083%) Def Stans
System Software
1 146 (12.14%) VMware Infrastructure
2 121 (10.06%) Active Directory
3 43 (3.57%) VMware NSX
4 42 (3.49%) vSphere
5 40 (3.33%) VMware ESXi
6 34 (2.83%) Hyper-V
7 33 (2.74%) Firmware
8 29 (2.41%) Virtual Machines
9 16 (1.33%) Docker
10 10 (0.83%) NFS
11 6 (0.50%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 6 (0.50%) GPFS
12 5 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
13 4 (0.33%) SRDF
13 4 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.25%) Dovecot
14 3 (0.25%) FreeRADIUS
14 3 (0.25%) Postfix
15 2 (0.17%) Snort
15 2 (0.17%) UAG
Systems Management
1 142 (11.80%) Ansible
2 77 (6.40%) FortiGate
3 32 (2.66%) Kubernetes
4 31 (2.58%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (1.83%) Cisco CUCM
6 21 (1.75%) SCCM
6 21 (1.75%) vCenter Server
7 20 (1.66%) Cisco Prime
8 12 (1.00%) Grafana
8 12 (1.00%) Prometheus
9 8 (0.67%) Failover Clustering
9 8 (0.67%) Puppet
9 8 (0.67%) Single Sign-On
9 8 (0.67%) WMI
9 8 (0.67%) WSUS
10 7 (0.58%) EMC VPLEX
11 6 (0.50%) Red Hat Satellite
11 6 (0.50%) vRealize
12 5 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
12 5 (0.42%) Nagios
Vendors
1 263 (21.86%) Palo Alto
2 233 (19.37%) Microsoft
3 205 (17.04%) Fortinet
4 202 (16.79%) VMware
5 198 (16.46%) F5
6 129 (10.72%) Juniper
7 116 (9.64%) Meraki
8 109 (9.06%) CheckPoint
9 88 (7.32%) Aruba
10 86 (7.15%) ServiceNow
11 79 (6.57%) SolarWinds
12 71 (5.90%) Arista
13 47 (3.91%) Zscaler
14 39 (3.24%) Splunk
15 37 (3.08%) Red Hat
16 33 (2.74%) Dell
17 29 (2.41%) Nokia
18 25 (2.08%) NetApp
19 20 (1.66%) Citrix
19 20 (1.66%) Infoblox