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 24 July 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
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 118 73 67
Rank change year-on-year -45 -6 -10
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,162 1,118 1,261
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.20% 3.42% 3.09%
As % of the Vendors category 5.33% 7.21% 7.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 772 690 778
10th Percentile £300 £302 £249
25th Percentile £400 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £479
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +4.44% +0.79%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £575
90th Percentile £638 £638 £652
UK excluding London median daily rate £479 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -4.20% +5.26% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 36 36
10th Percentile £26.72 £25.08 £16.81
25th Percentile £37.53 £25.15 £23.45
Median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +83.33% +9.09% -49.39%
75th Percentile £70.96 £57.81 £50.94
90th Percentile £78.58 £86.32 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £46.39
% change year-on-year +83.33% -35.33% -22.55%

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 21,793 15,510 17,748
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.29% 47.45% 43.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,545 9,496 11,147
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £402 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year - -2.91% -1.90%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,079 767 959
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.73 £13.17
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.30 £15.56
Median hourly rate £35.22 £25.15 £26.97
Median % change year-on-year +40.04% -6.75% -35.01%
75th Percentile £65.00 £50.25 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £34.19 £22.50 £25.00
% change year-on-year +51.94% -10.00% -22.60%

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 24 July 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 24 July 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 24 July 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 -46 991 £495 -1.00% 660
UK excluding London -44 695 £479 -4.20% 592
London -52 349 £500 - 198
Work from Home -36 291 £475 -5.00% 118
North of England -37 222 £493 +0.28% 133
South East -40 181 £510 -7.27% 144
North West -8 166 £485 +2.11% 59
Midlands -30 128 £425 -12.82% 67
West Midlands -25 122 £420 -6.67% 38
Scotland +16 82 £425 - 37
South West -69 55 £500 -9.09% 133
Yorkshire -57 53 £500 - 57
East of England -18 33 £500 -9.09% 60
Wales -15 19 £468 +16.88% 18
Northern Ireland +9 8 £115 -67.14% 15
North East -37 4 £425 +30.77% 19
East Midlands -29 3 £500 -11.11% 28
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 31 (2.67%) SharePoint
2 26 (2.24%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (0.77%) Confluence
3 9 (0.77%) OpenStack
4 7 (0.60%) Apache
5 3 (0.26%) CloudStack
5 3 (0.26%) IIS
5 3 (0.26%) nginx
5 3 (0.26%) SAS
5 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.17%) CMS
7 1 (0.086%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.086%) JBoss
7 1 (0.086%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 50 (4.30%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (2.07%) Microsoft Excel
2 24 (2.07%) MS Visio
3 10 (0.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.26%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 5 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 231 (19.88%) Azure
2 148 (12.74%) AWS
3 81 (6.97%) Microsoft 365
4 53 (4.56%) Entra ID
5 23 (1.98%) GCP
5 23 (1.98%) GitHub
6 21 (1.81%) OpenShift
7 20 (1.72%) OneDrive
8 18 (1.55%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 18 (1.55%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 12 (1.03%) Azure Sentinel
9 12 (1.03%) Nutanix
10 11 (0.95%) SaaS
11 10 (0.86%) Power Platform
12 9 (0.77%) Azure DevOps
13 8 (0.69%) IaaS
13 8 (0.69%) Microsoft Purview
14 7 (0.60%) Cloudflare
14 7 (0.60%) GitHub Actions
15 6 (0.52%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 522 (44.92%) Firewall
2 364 (31.33%) WAN
3 310 (26.68%) BGP
4 294 (25.30%) LAN
5 267 (22.98%) VPN
6 253 (21.77%) Network Security
7 218 (18.76%) OSPF
8 208 (17.90%) Wireless
9 192 (16.52%) DNS
10 175 (15.06%) VLAN
11 140 (12.05%) SD-WAN
12 129 (11.10%) MPLS
13 117 (10.07%) Wi-Fi
14 111 (9.55%) Cisco ISE
15 110 (9.47%) DHCP
16 108 (9.29%) Cisco Nexus
17 98 (8.43%) VXLAN
18 91 (7.83%) TCP/IP
19 88 (7.57%) Cisco ASA
20 80 (6.88%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (2.07%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
3 3 (0.26%) MySQL
3 3 (0.26%) Power BI
4 2 (0.17%) Metadata
4 2 (0.17%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.086%) Apache Hive
5 1 (0.086%) Big Data
5 1 (0.086%) ClickHouse
5 1 (0.086%) Hadoop
Development Applications
1 21 (1.81%) Git
2 19 (1.64%) JIRA
3 12 (1.03%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (0.95%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.34%) GitLab
6 1 (0.086%) Bitbucket
General
1 272 (23.41%) Social Skills
2 108 (9.29%) Finance
3 92 (7.92%) Telecoms
4 86 (7.40%) Analytical Skills
5 65 (5.59%) Banking
6 61 (5.25%) Documentation Skills
6 61 (5.25%) Public Sector
7 37 (3.18%) Legal
8 24 (2.07%) Organisational Skills
9 21 (1.81%) Financial Institution
10 19 (1.64%) Investment Banking
11 15 (1.29%) Retail
12 14 (1.20%) Law
12 14 (1.20%) Military
13 11 (0.95%) Manufacturing
13 11 (0.95%) Police
14 9 (0.77%) Influencing Skills
15 6 (0.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 6 (0.52%) Marketing
16 5 (0.43%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 572 (49.23%) Network Engineer
2 152 (13.08%) Senior
3 132 (11.36%) Architect
4 122 (10.50%) Cisco Engineer
5 112 (9.64%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 99 (8.52%) Senior Network Engineer
7 94 (8.09%) Security Engineer
8 73 (6.28%) Network Architect
9 70 (6.02%) Network Security Engineer
10 58 (4.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 55 (4.73%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 42 (3.61%) Data Network Engineer
13 35 (3.01%) Analyst
14 33 (2.84%) Data Engineer
15 32 (2.75%) Cisco Security Engineer
16 29 (2.50%) Field Engineer
17 27 (2.32%) Network Specialist
18 26 (2.24%) Automation Engineer
19 25 (2.15%) Lead
20 24 (2.07%) Data Centre Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 79 (6.80%) 802.1X
2 15 (1.29%) REST
3 14 (1.20%) SAML
4 9 (0.77%) Flash
5 7 (0.60%) LDAP
5 7 (0.60%) NETCONF
6 6 (0.52%) Jinja
6 6 (0.52%) OpenConfig
6 6 (0.52%) RESTCONF
6 6 (0.52%) XMPP
6 6 (0.52%) YANG
7 5 (0.43%) JSON
8 4 (0.34%) YAML
9 3 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
9 3 (0.26%) Java RMI
9 3 (0.26%) LAMP
9 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
9 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
10 2 (0.17%) .NET Core
10 2 (0.17%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 288 (24.78%) Data Centre
2 61 (5.25%) PKI
3 49 (4.22%) Hybrid Cloud
4 38 (3.27%) Clustering
4 38 (3.27%) Onboarding
5 37 (3.18%) Data Protection Act
6 35 (3.01%) Replication
7 33 (2.84%) Driving Licence
8 31 (2.67%) Video Conferencing
9 30 (2.58%) Operational Technology
10 20 (1.72%) Analytical Mindset
11 19 (1.64%) Cloud Native
11 19 (1.64%) Enterprise Storage
12 18 (1.55%) EMC VMAX
12 18 (1.55%) Linux Command Line
13 16 (1.38%) Public Cloud
13 16 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
14 15 (1.29%) Security Posture
15 14 (1.20%) SCADA
16 12 (1.03%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 212 (18.24%) Windows
2 128 (11.02%) Linux
3 67 (5.77%) Windows Server
4 19 (1.64%) Windows 10
5 18 (1.55%) Ubuntu
5 18 (1.55%) Unix
6 12 (1.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 9 (0.77%) AIX
7 9 (0.77%) Android
7 9 (0.77%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (0.69%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.52%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.43%) Data ONTAP
10 5 (0.43%) VMS
11 4 (0.34%) CentOS
12 3 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.086%) CatOS
13 1 (0.086%) Check Point GAiA
13 1 (0.086%) Windows 7
13 1 (0.086%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 178 (15.32%) Migration
2 136 (11.70%) Load Balancing
3 127 (10.93%) Problem-Solving
4 121 (10.41%) High Availability
4 121 (10.41%) Project Delivery
5 117 (10.07%) ITIL
6 90 (7.75%) Change Management
7 89 (7.66%) Network Design
8 82 (7.06%) Continuous Improvement
8 82 (7.06%) ITSM
9 78 (6.71%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 69 (5.94%) Stakeholder Management
11 67 (5.77%) Infrastructure as Code
12 65 (5.59%) CI/CD
13 63 (5.42%) Validation
14 60 (5.16%) Network Monitoring
15 59 (5.08%) Technical Leadership
16 57 (4.91%) Cybersecurity
17 56 (4.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 54 (4.65%) Agile
Programming Languages
1 140 (12.05%) Python
2 58 (4.99%) PowerShell
3 30 (2.58%) Bash
4 24 (2.07%) SQL
5 5 (0.43%) Shell Script
6 4 (0.34%) C
6 4 (0.34%) Java
7 3 (0.26%) C++
7 3 (0.26%) Lisp
7 3 (0.26%) PHP
8 2 (0.17%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.17%) Perl
9 1 (0.086%) Bicep
9 1 (0.086%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 338 (29.09%) Cisco Certification
2 313 (26.94%) Security Cleared
3 242 (20.83%) CCNP
4 216 (18.59%) SC Cleared
5 134 (11.53%) CCNA
6 102 (8.78%) DV Cleared
7 70 (6.02%) Degree
8 62 (5.34%) CCIE
9 25 (2.15%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.98%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 22 (1.89%) Network+ Certification
12 17 (1.46%) Azure Certification
12 17 (1.46%) MCSE
12 17 (1.46%) Server+ Certification
13 15 (1.29%) BPSS Clearance
14 13 (1.12%) JNCIP
15 12 (1.03%) AWS Certification
15 12 (1.03%) Computer Science Degree
15 12 (1.03%) JNCIS
16 11 (0.95%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (3.79%) SLA
2 32 (2.75%) NIST
3 28 (2.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 24 (2.07%) Cyber Essentials
5 20 (1.72%) QA
6 18 (1.55%) NCSC
7 6 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (0.52%) Disclosure Scotland
7 6 (0.52%) PMO
8 5 (0.43%) GDPR
8 5 (0.43%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.34%) Data Quality
9 4 (0.34%) JSP 440
10 3 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (0.26%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.17%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.17%) GRC
11 2 (0.17%) ISA99
12 1 (0.086%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 135 (11.62%) VMware Infrastructure
2 107 (9.21%) Active Directory
3 45 (3.87%) VMware ESXi
4 44 (3.79%) vSphere
5 41 (3.53%) VMware NSX
6 31 (2.67%) Firmware
7 29 (2.50%) Virtual Machines
8 23 (1.98%) Hyper-V
9 13 (1.12%) NFS
10 12 (1.03%) Docker
10 12 (1.03%) SRDF
11 9 (0.77%) GPFS
12 6 (0.52%) EMC RecoverPoint
13 5 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
13 5 (0.43%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
14 3 (0.26%) Postfix
14 3 (0.26%) UAG
15 2 (0.17%) FreeRADIUS
15 2 (0.17%) Snort
Systems Management
1 138 (11.88%) Ansible
2 92 (7.92%) FortiGate
3 69 (5.94%) Terraform
4 29 (2.50%) Kubernetes
5 27 (2.32%) Microsoft Intune
6 23 (1.98%) Grafana
6 23 (1.98%) vCenter Server
7 21 (1.81%) Prometheus
7 21 (1.81%) SCCM
8 18 (1.55%) Cisco Prime
9 16 (1.38%) Cisco CUCM
10 10 (0.86%) Single Sign-On
10 10 (0.86%) vRealize
11 8 (0.69%) VxRail
11 8 (0.69%) WMI
12 7 (0.60%) EMC VPLEX
12 7 (0.60%) WSUS
13 6 (0.52%) EMC TimeFinder
14 5 (0.43%) Jamf Pro
14 5 (0.43%) Puppet
Vendors
1 267 (22.98%) Palo Alto
2 230 (19.79%) F5
3 206 (17.73%) Microsoft
4 203 (17.47%) Fortinet
5 191 (16.44%) VMware
6 160 (13.77%) Juniper
7 109 (9.38%) CheckPoint
8 99 (8.52%) Aruba
9 94 (8.09%) ServiceNow
9 94 (8.09%) SolarWinds
10 93 (8.00%) Meraki
11 72 (6.20%) Arista
12 58 (4.99%) Splunk
13 51 (4.39%) Zscaler
14 38 (3.27%) Dell
15 29 (2.50%) Extreme Networks
16 27 (2.32%) Citrix
17 26 (2.24%) EMC
17 26 (2.24%) Red Hat
18 25 (2.15%) Brocade