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 7 October 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
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 120 82 63
Rank change year-on-year -38 -19 -9
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,209 992 1,250
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.20% 3.00% 3.32%
As % of the Vendors category 5.30% 6.30% 7.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 776 633 742
10th Percentile £250 £280 £258
25th Percentile £398 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% +11.11%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £638 £660
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £490 £500
% change year-on-year -5.56% -2.05% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 47 35
10th Percentile £27.62 - £19.10
25th Percentile £44.00 £25.15 £20.34
Median hourly rate £55.50 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +85.00% +9.09% -42.11%
75th Percentile £68.75 £61.88 £51.88
90th Percentile £78.75 £85.65 £74.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £35.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year +57.14% -6.67% -21.33%

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 22,820 15,743 16,754
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.56% 47.68% 44.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,785 9,682 9,864
10th Percentile £310 £275 £288
25th Percentile £413 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £620 £613 £625
90th Percentile £710 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,386 808 607
10th Percentile £13.91 £14.75 £14.84
25th Percentile £16.25 £17.79 £16.00
Median hourly rate £25.00 £25.11 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -0.44% -22.74% -23.98%
75th Percentile £57.50 £40.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.00 £21.30 £30.00
% change year-on-year +12.68% -29.00% -28.83%

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 7 October 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 7 October 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 7 October 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 -48 998 £494 -1.30% 1,295
UK excluding London -37 715 £463 -5.56% 909
London -40 371 £500 +5.26% 492
Work from Home -33 288 £475 +2.43% 291
North of England +2 234 £485 +2.11% 200
North West +18 158 £483 +1.68% 89
Midlands -40 128 £450 - 128
South East -78 127 £441 -11.75% 237
West Midlands -26 125 £450 -2.70% 67
Scotland +15 98 £400 -5.88% 48
Yorkshire -19 69 £500 +2.15% 76
East of England +1 60 £500 +3.63% 122
South West -44 58 £525 -4.55% 125
Wales +12 28 £376 +88.13% 34
Northern Ireland +4 9 £115 -75.79% 24
North East -36 9 £375 +50.00% 35
Channel Islands -4 3 £600 -17.24%
East Midlands -34 2 £525 +233.33% 61

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 38 (3.14%) SharePoint
2 34 (2.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.16%) CMS
4 11 (0.91%) Confluence
5 10 (0.83%) OpenStack
6 8 (0.66%) IIS
6 8 (0.66%) SAS
7 7 (0.58%) Apache
8 6 (0.50%) JBoss
9 4 (0.33%) nginx
10 3 (0.25%) CloudStack
10 3 (0.25%) Tomcat
11 2 (0.17%) Skype for Business
12 1 (0.083%) Apache Spark
12 1 (0.083%) FactoryTalk
12 1 (0.083%) Mendix
12 1 (0.083%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 45 (3.72%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 22 (1.82%) MS Visio
4 7 (0.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.25%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.083%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 1 (0.083%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.083%) Monis
1 1 (0.083%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.083%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
1 1 (0.083%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 237 (19.60%) Azure
2 152 (12.57%) AWS
3 95 (7.86%) Microsoft 365
4 68 (5.62%) Entra ID
5 37 (3.06%) GitHub
6 32 (2.65%) OneDrive
7 30 (2.48%) GCP
8 21 (1.74%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 15 (1.24%) Nutanix
9 15 (1.24%) Power Platform
10 14 (1.16%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 13 (1.08%) OpenShift
11 13 (1.08%) SaaS
12 11 (0.91%) AWS Direct Connect
13 9 (0.74%) Azure Sentinel
14 7 (0.58%) Azure DevOps
14 7 (0.58%) Cloudflare
14 7 (0.58%) OCI
14 7 (0.58%) Rubrik
15 6 (0.50%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 491 (40.61%) Firewall
2 355 (29.36%) WAN
3 291 (24.07%) BGP
4 278 (22.99%) LAN
5 267 (22.08%) Network Security
6 261 (21.59%) VPN
7 212 (17.54%) Wireless
8 184 (15.22%) OSPF
9 178 (14.72%) VLAN
10 174 (14.39%) DNS
11 150 (12.41%) SD-WAN
12 136 (11.25%) Wi-Fi
13 134 (11.08%) MPLS
14 110 (9.10%) Cisco Nexus
15 104 (8.60%) TCP/IP
16 103 (8.52%) DHCP
17 91 (7.53%) Cisco ISE
18 89 (7.36%) Cisco IOS
19 84 (6.95%) Cisco ASA
20 80 (6.62%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.23%) SQL Server
2 8 (0.66%) Power BI
3 6 (0.50%) Hadoop
4 5 (0.41%) Big Data
5 4 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (0.25%) Metadata
6 3 (0.25%) MySQL
7 2 (0.17%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.083%) Apache Hive
8 1 (0.083%) ClickHouse
Development Applications
1 36 (2.98%) Git
2 14 (1.16%) GitLab
2 14 (1.16%) JIRA
3 11 (0.91%) Sonatype Nexus
4 7 (0.58%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.17%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.083%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.083%) Tricentis qTest
6 1 (0.083%) Zephyr
General
1 280 (23.16%) Social Skills
2 134 (11.08%) Finance
3 125 (10.34%) Telecoms
4 106 (8.77%) Analytical Skills
5 70 (5.79%) Banking
6 64 (5.29%) Public Sector
7 59 (4.88%) Documentation Skills
8 46 (3.80%) Legal
9 23 (1.90%) Organisational Skills
10 22 (1.82%) Investment Banking
11 20 (1.65%) Retail
12 17 (1.41%) Financial Institution
13 15 (1.24%) Military
14 12 (0.99%) Law
15 10 (0.83%) Manufacturing
16 9 (0.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 9 (0.74%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (0.66%) Police
18 6 (0.50%) Presentation Skills
19 5 (0.41%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 598 (49.46%) Network Engineer
2 178 (14.72%) Senior
3 151 (12.49%) Architect
4 143 (11.83%) Cisco Engineer
5 132 (10.92%) Senior Network Engineer
6 120 (9.93%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 88 (7.28%) Security Engineer
8 79 (6.53%) Network Architect
9 66 (5.46%) Network Security Engineer
10 62 (5.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 45 (3.72%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 44 (3.64%) Lead
13 42 (3.47%) Analyst
13 42 (3.47%) Field Engineer
14 40 (3.31%) Support Engineer
15 36 (2.98%) Solutions Architect
16 35 (2.89%) Telecoms Engineer
17 29 (2.40%) Consultant
17 29 (2.40%) Data Network Engineer
18 26 (2.15%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 83 (6.87%) Terraform
2 56 (4.63%) 802.1X
3 33 (2.73%) REST
4 21 (1.74%) XMPP
4 21 (1.74%) YAML
5 19 (1.57%) JSON
6 12 (0.99%) NETCONF
6 12 (0.99%) SAML
7 9 (0.74%) YANG
8 7 (0.58%) Microsoft Graph
8 7 (0.58%) RESTCONF
9 6 (0.50%) Flash
10 5 (0.41%) OpenConfig
11 3 (0.25%) Elastic Stack
11 3 (0.25%) Java RMI
11 3 (0.25%) LAMP
11 3 (0.25%) LDAP
11 3 (0.25%) LEMP Stack
11 3 (0.25%) OpenID
11 3 (0.25%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 284 (23.49%) Data Centre
2 53 (4.38%) Hybrid Cloud
3 49 (4.05%) Video Conferencing
4 48 (3.97%) Onboarding
5 46 (3.80%) Driving Licence
6 40 (3.31%) PKI
7 37 (3.06%) Data Protection Act
8 36 (2.98%) Operational Technology
9 32 (2.65%) Management Information System
10 26 (2.15%) Public Cloud
11 25 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
12 22 (1.82%) Cloud Native
12 22 (1.82%) Replication
13 21 (1.74%) Clustering
14 19 (1.57%) Private Cloud
15 18 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
16 16 (1.32%) IoT
16 16 (1.32%) Linux Command Line
17 13 (1.08%) Enterprise Storage
17 13 (1.08%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 243 (20.10%) Windows
2 124 (10.26%) Linux
3 97 (8.02%) Windows Server
4 25 (2.07%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 23 (1.90%) Mac OS
6 18 (1.49%) Windows 10
7 17 (1.41%) Ubuntu
8 11 (0.91%) Android
9 10 (0.83%) Unix
10 8 (0.66%) Windows Server 2012
10 8 (0.66%) Windows Server 2019
11 7 (0.58%) AIX
12 6 (0.50%) Data ONTAP
13 5 (0.41%) CentOS
14 4 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
15 3 (0.25%) VMS
16 1 (0.083%) Debian
16 1 (0.083%) Oracle Linux
16 1 (0.083%) Windows 7
16 1 (0.083%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (15.72%) Migration
2 162 (13.40%) Project Delivery
3 148 (12.24%) Problem-Solving
4 128 (10.59%) ITIL
5 121 (10.01%) Stakeholder Management
6 103 (8.52%) Load Balancing
7 101 (8.35%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 98 (8.11%) High Availability
9 92 (7.61%) Change Management
9 92 (7.61%) Continuous Improvement
10 91 (7.53%) Network Design
11 90 (7.44%) Validation
12 87 (7.20%) Infrastructure as Code
13 76 (6.29%) Zero Trust
14 73 (6.04%) Cybersecurity
14 73 (6.04%) Data Protection
14 73 (6.04%) Technical Leadership
15 63 (5.21%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 62 (5.13%) ITSM
17 61 (5.05%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 141 (11.66%) Python
2 55 (4.55%) PowerShell
3 31 (2.56%) Bash
4 28 (2.32%) SQL
5 5 (0.41%) Java
6 4 (0.33%) C++
7 3 (0.25%) C
7 3 (0.25%) Lisp
7 3 (0.25%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.17%) Bicep
8 2 (0.17%) Go
8 2 (0.17%) Perl
9 1 (0.083%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.083%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.083%) R
Qualifications
1 324 (26.80%) Cisco Certification
2 282 (23.33%) Security Cleared
3 233 (19.27%) CCNP
4 205 (16.96%) SC Cleared
5 126 (10.42%) CCNA
6 72 (5.96%) DV Cleared
7 71 (5.87%) Degree
8 68 (5.62%) CCIE
9 26 (2.15%) Microsoft Certification
10 22 (1.82%) CISSP
10 22 (1.82%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 17 (1.41%) MCSE
12 16 (1.32%) AWS Certification
13 15 (1.24%) Azure Certification
14 13 (1.08%) CCSE
14 13 (1.08%) Computer Science Degree
15 12 (0.99%) BPSS Clearance
15 12 (0.99%) Network+ Certification
16 11 (0.91%) ISTQB
17 10 (0.83%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.39%) SLA
2 31 (2.56%) NIST
3 23 (1.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 21 (1.74%) QA
5 15 (1.24%) PCI DSS
6 14 (1.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 9 (0.74%) GDPR
8 7 (0.58%) NCSC
9 6 (0.50%) GRC
10 5 (0.41%) Data Quality
10 5 (0.41%) ISO 31000
10 5 (0.41%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 4 (0.33%) Disclosure Scotland
11 4 (0.33%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.33%) NIST 800
11 4 (0.33%) PMO
12 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.17%) Accessibility
13 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 156 (12.90%) VMware Infrastructure
2 132 (10.92%) Active Directory
3 55 (4.55%) vSphere
4 40 (3.31%) VMware NSX
5 38 (3.14%) VMware ESXi
6 33 (2.73%) Hyper-V
7 29 (2.40%) Firmware
7 29 (2.40%) Virtual Machines
8 18 (1.49%) Docker
9 8 (0.66%) NFS
10 6 (0.50%) GPFS
11 5 (0.41%) FreeRADIUS
11 5 (0.41%) ISA Server
11 5 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
12 4 (0.33%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 4 (0.33%) SRDF
12 4 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
13 3 (0.25%) Dovecot
13 3 (0.25%) Postfix
14 2 (0.17%) IAG
Systems Management
1 140 (11.58%) Ansible
2 73 (6.04%) FortiGate
3 34 (2.81%) Cisco CUCM
4 28 (2.32%) Kubernetes
4 28 (2.32%) Microsoft Intune
5 21 (1.74%) SCCM
5 21 (1.74%) vCenter Server
6 18 (1.49%) Cisco Prime
7 12 (0.99%) Nagios
8 10 (0.83%) Grafana
9 9 (0.74%) WMI
10 8 (0.66%) Failover Clustering
10 8 (0.66%) Prometheus
10 8 (0.66%) Puppet
10 8 (0.66%) WSUS
11 7 (0.58%) CASB
11 7 (0.58%) Single Sign-On
12 6 (0.50%) Red Hat Satellite
12 6 (0.50%) vRealize
13 5 (0.41%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 266 (22.00%) Palo Alto
2 245 (20.26%) Microsoft
3 215 (17.78%) VMware
4 203 (16.79%) Fortinet
5 174 (14.39%) F5
6 131 (10.84%) Meraki
7 122 (10.09%) Juniper
8 105 (8.68%) CheckPoint
9 90 (7.44%) Aruba
10 85 (7.03%) SolarWinds
11 81 (6.70%) ServiceNow
12 70 (5.79%) Arista
13 58 (4.80%) Zscaler
14 39 (3.23%) Red Hat
15 38 (3.14%) Splunk
16 31 (2.56%) Dell
17 29 (2.40%) NetApp
18 28 (2.32%) Nokia
19 23 (1.90%) Infoblox
20 21 (1.74%) Citrix