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 26 February 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
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 96 58 59
Rank change year-on-year -38 +1 +20
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,089 1,120 1,507
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.63% 3.65% 3.44%
As % of the Vendors category 5.89% 7.83% 7.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 737 705 882
10th Percentile £250 £300 £250
25th Percentile £370 £413 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £474 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.20% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £550 £588 £600
90th Percentile £625 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £475
% change year-on-year - - +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 23 68
10th Percentile £21.33 £18.13 £14.11
25th Percentile £25.15 £20.00 £22.94
Median hourly rate £65.00 £24.66 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +163.58% -17.80% +16.69%
75th Percentile £74.26 £52.50 £47.07
90th Percentile £94.00 £74.75 £66.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £21.25 £27.50
% change year-on-year +249.46% -22.73% -16.67%

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 18,503 14,299 19,027
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 44.65% 46.60% 43.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,865 8,677 11,923
10th Percentile £305 £281 £256
25th Percentile £413 £406 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £517
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% +0.58% -1.99%
75th Percentile £604 £625 £630
90th Percentile £700 £713 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
Number of hourly rates quoted 918 420 944
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £12.99
25th Percentile £18.09 £21.25 £15.48
Median hourly rate £24.28 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.08% +15.38% -21.21%
75th Percentile £58.75 £63.75 £55.21
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.63 £27.24 £25.28
% change year-on-year -16.92% +7.76% -18.47%

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 26 February 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 26 February 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 26 February 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 -41 898 £481 -3.75% 338
UK excluding London -22 704 £475 - 291
Work from Home -35 297 £448 -10.50% 101
London -57 264 £488 -3.47% 84
South East +1 219 £500 - 83
North of England -59 161 £479 -4.13% 67
Midlands -5 150 £363 -19.44% 55
West Midlands -1 132 £375 -16.67% 31
North West -19 128 £481 -3.75% 40
Scotland +39 78 £425 +6.25% 21
South West -61 51 £550 +7.32% 38
East of England -8 38 £475 +8.57% 25
Yorkshire -83 27 £450 -10.00% 18
Wales -9 20 £170 -57.50% 12
East Midlands -37 16 £158 -65.00% 23
Northern Ireland +7 10 £475 - 3
North East -16 8 £175 -58.82% 9

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 52 (4.78%) SharePoint
2 42 (3.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.47%) Confluence
4 11 (1.01%) Skype for Business
5 10 (0.92%) Apache
6 5 (0.46%) Appian
6 5 (0.46%) IIS
6 5 (0.46%) SharePoint Server
7 4 (0.37%) Mattermost
7 4 (0.37%) OpenStack
7 4 (0.37%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.092%) JBoss
8 1 (0.092%) WebSphere
Applications
1 74 (6.80%) Microsoft Office
2 44 (4.04%) MS Visio
3 20 (1.84%) Microsoft Excel
4 14 (1.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.46%) Acrobat
5 5 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.092%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 21 (1.93%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.28%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.092%) Actimize
3 1 (0.092%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 168 (15.43%) Azure
2 144 (13.22%) AWS
3 95 (8.72%) Microsoft 365
4 41 (3.76%) GCP
5 37 (3.40%) Entra ID
6 17 (1.56%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (1.29%) Datadog
8 12 (1.10%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (1.01%) Nutanix
10 10 (0.92%) AWS CloudFormation
10 10 (0.92%) Azure Sentinel
10 10 (0.92%) OpenShift
11 9 (0.83%) AWS Lambda
11 9 (0.83%) SaaS
11 9 (0.83%) Serverless
12 7 (0.64%) Microsoft Purview
12 7 (0.64%) OneDrive
13 6 (0.55%) Amazon Kinesis
13 6 (0.55%) GitHub
13 6 (0.55%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 436 (40.04%) Firewall
2 318 (29.20%) WAN
3 230 (21.12%) LAN
4 229 (21.03%) VPN
5 216 (19.83%) BGP
6 186 (17.08%) Network Security
7 168 (15.43%) Wireless
8 157 (14.42%) OSPF
9 135 (12.40%) SD-WAN
10 129 (11.85%) DNS
11 111 (10.19%) MPLS
12 106 (9.73%) VLAN
13 97 (8.91%) Cisco ISE
14 78 (7.16%) Wi-Fi
15 76 (6.98%) IPsec
16 75 (6.89%) Cisco Nexus
17 74 (6.80%) Cisco IOS
18 73 (6.70%) Cisco ASA
19 72 (6.61%) DHCP
20 56 (5.14%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (0.92%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.46%) DynamoDB
2 5 (0.46%) Power BI
3 3 (0.28%) Amazon Athena
4 2 (0.18%) MariaDB
5 1 (0.092%) Metadata
5 1 (0.092%) MySQL
5 1 (0.092%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.092%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 20 (1.84%) JIRA
2 13 (1.19%) GitLab
3 12 (1.10%) Sonatype Nexus
4 10 (0.92%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.46%) Cucumber
5 5 (0.46%) Git
5 5 (0.46%) Robot Framework
5 5 (0.46%) Selenium
5 5 (0.46%) SonarQube
6 2 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.092%) Bitbucket
General
1 246 (22.59%) Social Skills
2 165 (15.15%) Public Sector
3 160 (14.69%) Finance
4 116 (10.65%) Telecoms
5 74 (6.80%) Analytical Skills
6 65 (5.97%) Manufacturing
7 59 (5.42%) Documentation Skills
8 53 (4.87%) Banking
9 52 (4.78%) Legal
10 46 (4.22%) Marketing
11 45 (4.13%) Electronics
12 17 (1.56%) Presentation Skills
13 15 (1.38%) Investment Banking
14 14 (1.29%) Organisational Skills
15 12 (1.10%) Financial Institution
15 12 (1.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 11 (1.01%) Law
17 10 (0.92%) Aerospace
17 10 (0.92%) Military
18 8 (0.73%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 397 (36.46%) Network Engineer
2 128 (11.75%) Architect
3 82 (7.53%) Cisco Engineer
4 79 (7.25%) Network Architect
5 69 (6.34%) Cisco Network Engineer
5 69 (6.34%) Senior
6 64 (5.88%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 60 (5.51%) Security Engineer
8 56 (5.14%) Analyst
9 51 (4.68%) Consultant
9 51 (4.68%) IT Support
10 46 (4.22%) Network Consultant
11 37 (3.40%) Network Security Engineer
12 36 (3.31%) Desktop Support
13 34 (3.12%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 34 (3.12%) Solutions Architect
14 33 (3.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 33 (3.03%) Support Engineer
15 31 (2.85%) Senior Network Engineer
16 26 (2.39%) Infrastructure Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (4.87%) 802.1X
2 16 (1.47%) LDAP
2 16 (1.47%) XMPP
3 15 (1.38%) Flash
4 10 (0.92%) NETCONF
5 9 (0.83%) SAML
5 9 (0.83%) YANG
6 8 (0.73%) JSON
7 7 (0.64%) XML
8 6 (0.55%) Jinja
9 5 (0.46%) Node.js
9 5 (0.46%) RFC 2544
10 4 (0.37%) HTML
10 4 (0.37%) OpenConfig
10 4 (0.37%) REST
10 4 (0.37%) VML
11 3 (0.28%) RESTCONF
12 2 (0.18%) CSS
12 2 (0.18%) Django
12 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Graph
Miscellaneous
1 281 (25.80%) Data Centre
2 55 (5.05%) PKI
3 32 (2.94%) Replication
4 31 (2.85%) Linux Command Line
5 30 (2.75%) Data Protection Act
6 28 (2.57%) Hybrid Cloud
7 27 (2.48%) Onboarding
7 27 (2.48%) Operational Technology
8 25 (2.30%) Cloud Native
9 24 (2.20%) Driving Licence
10 23 (2.11%) Clustering
11 18 (1.65%) Self-Motivation
12 17 (1.56%) Security Posture
12 17 (1.56%) Video Conferencing
13 14 (1.29%) Product Ownership
14 13 (1.19%) NHS
15 12 (1.10%) SCADA
16 11 (1.01%) CMDB
17 9 (0.83%) Enterprise Software
17 9 (0.83%) Enterprise Storage
Operating Systems
1 185 (16.99%) Windows
2 111 (10.19%) Linux
3 69 (6.34%) Windows Server
4 52 (4.78%) Mac OS
5 51 (4.68%) Android
6 37 (3.40%) Windows 10
7 22 (2.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 18 (1.65%) Unix
9 6 (0.55%) Ubuntu
9 6 (0.55%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (0.55%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.37%) CatOS
10 4 (0.37%) Solaris
10 4 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.28%) VMS
12 1 (0.092%) AIX
12 1 (0.092%) CentOS
12 1 (0.092%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 155 (14.23%) Migration
2 134 (12.30%) Problem-Solving
3 89 (8.17%) Agile
3 89 (8.17%) Network Design
4 84 (7.71%) ITIL
5 81 (7.44%) Roadmaps
6 80 (7.35%) Load Balancing
7 78 (7.16%) High Availability
7 78 (7.16%) ITSM
8 77 (7.07%) Cybersecurity
9 74 (6.80%) Project Delivery
10 69 (6.34%) Change Management
11 68 (6.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 62 (5.69%) Service Management
13 60 (5.51%) Collaborative Working
14 59 (5.42%) Network Architecture
15 56 (5.14%) Stakeholder Management
16 54 (4.96%) Business Intelligence
17 53 (4.87%) Network Monitoring
18 52 (4.78%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 120 (11.02%) Python
2 59 (5.42%) PowerShell
3 32 (2.94%) Bash
4 18 (1.65%) Perl
4 18 (1.65%) SQL
5 12 (1.10%) JavaScript
6 8 (0.73%) Lisp
7 4 (0.37%) C
7 4 (0.37%) PHP
8 3 (0.28%) C++
8 3 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
9 2 (0.18%) Korn
9 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
10 1 (0.092%) ActionScript
10 1 (0.092%) Java
10 1 (0.092%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 446 (40.96%) Security Cleared
2 347 (31.86%) SC Cleared
3 289 (26.54%) Cisco Certification
4 239 (21.95%) CCNP
5 112 (10.28%) DV Cleared
6 107 (9.83%) CCNA
7 83 (7.62%) Degree
8 72 (6.61%) CCIE
9 24 (2.20%) Microsoft Certification
10 22 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
11 21 (1.93%) ITIL Certification
11 21 (1.93%) JNCIS
12 18 (1.65%) Network+ Certification
13 17 (1.56%) Azure Certification
14 15 (1.38%) AWS Certification
14 15 (1.38%) CISSP
14 15 (1.38%) JNCIA
14 15 (1.38%) JNCIP
14 15 (1.38%) MCSE
15 12 (1.10%) JNCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (3.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 30 (2.75%) NIST
3 28 (2.57%) SLA
4 23 (2.11%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (1.65%) GDPR
6 17 (1.56%) PMO
7 15 (1.38%) PCI DSS
8 14 (1.29%) NCSC
9 6 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 5 (0.46%) QA
11 3 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
11 3 (0.28%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.28%) JSP 440
11 3 (0.28%) RMADS
12 2 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.092%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.092%) Data Quality
13 1 (0.092%) Def Stans
13 1 (0.092%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.092%) JTAG
System Software
1 147 (13.50%) VMware Infrastructure
2 115 (10.56%) Active Directory
3 71 (6.52%) VMware NSX
4 57 (5.23%) vSphere
5 41 (3.76%) VMware ESXi
6 20 (1.84%) Virtual Machines
7 16 (1.47%) Firmware
8 15 (1.38%) Docker
8 15 (1.38%) GPFS
8 15 (1.38%) NFS
9 12 (1.10%) Hyper-V
10 8 (0.73%) SRDF
11 6 (0.55%) Virtual Servers
12 5 (0.46%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 4 (0.37%) vCloud
13 4 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
14 3 (0.28%) Snort
14 3 (0.28%) Squid
15 2 (0.18%) KVM
16 1 (0.092%) RHEV
Systems Management
1 97 (8.91%) Ansible
2 85 (7.81%) FortiGate
3 52 (4.78%) vCenter Server
4 41 (3.76%) Terraform
5 35 (3.21%) vRealize
6 26 (2.39%) SCCM
7 17 (1.56%) Microsoft Intune
7 17 (1.56%) VxRail
8 16 (1.47%) Grafana
9 13 (1.19%) Kubernetes
10 12 (1.10%) Cisco CUCM
11 11 (1.01%) Cisco Prime
11 11 (1.01%) Prometheus
11 11 (1.01%) Single Sign-On
11 11 (1.01%) WSUS
12 10 (0.92%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 9 (0.83%) Nagios
13 9 (0.83%) SCOM
14 8 (0.73%) Nessus
15 6 (0.55%) EMC TimeFinder
Vendors
1 271 (24.89%) Palo Alto
2 192 (17.63%) Microsoft
3 183 (16.80%) VMware
4 182 (16.71%) Juniper
5 136 (12.49%) F5
6 135 (12.40%) Aruba
7 115 (10.56%) SolarWinds
8 111 (10.19%) CheckPoint
9 105 (9.64%) Fortinet
10 99 (9.09%) Meraki
11 82 (7.53%) ServiceNow
12 76 (6.98%) Dell
13 64 (5.88%) HP
14 53 (4.87%) Splunk
15 44 (4.04%) IBM
15 44 (4.04%) SAP
16 41 (3.76%) Apple
16 41 (3.76%) Arista
17 39 (3.58%) Zscaler
18 33 (3.03%) Remedy