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 28 May 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
28 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 104 66 64
Rank change year-on-year -38 -2 -3
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,137 1,042 1,323
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.33% 3.64% 3.10%
As % of the Vendors category 5.68% 7.62% 7.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 782 646 818
10th Percentile £300 £300 £250
25th Percentile £403 £408 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £573 £588 £588
90th Percentile £643 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £465
% change year-on-year -5.00% +7.53% +3.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 21 36
10th Percentile £26.44 £17.79 £13.29
25th Percentile £44.00 £24.66 £16.00
Median hourly rate £55.00 £36.65 £26.25
Median % change year-on-year +50.09% +39.60% -47.50%
75th Percentile £74.26 £47.50 £41.25
90th Percentile £79.28 £68.75 £55.70
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £27.50 £19.00
% change year-on-year +100.00% +44.74% -62.00%

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 20,001 13,678 18,096
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 40.95% 47.74% 42.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,624 8,506 11,301
10th Percentile £313 £281 £263
25th Percentile £413 £406 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £515
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -0.49% -1.90%
75th Percentile £600 £615 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £493 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +0.10% -1.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,034 573 1,107
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.84 £12.01
25th Percentile £18.55 £17.30 £14.48
Median hourly rate £32.50 £25.30 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +28.46% +12.44% -47.06%
75th Percentile £58.75 £56.00 £57.41
90th Percentile £76.62 £70.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.75 £22.50 £21.46
% change year-on-year +32.22% +4.85% -45.74%

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 28 May 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 28 May 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 28 May 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 -45 951 £480 -4.05% 647
UK excluding London -33 706 £475 -5.00% 620
London -57 297 £500 - 180
Work from Home -29 296 £455 -9.00% 146
North of England -39 206 £480 -4.00% 140
South East -21 196 £500 - 161
North West -3 166 £481 -3.75% 59
Midlands -30 136 £401 -10.89% 89
West Midlands -15 128 £400 -8.57% 53
Scotland +20 72 £450 +12.78% 47
South West -57 53 £513 -6.82% 89
East of England -7 41 £495 +15.45% 64
Yorkshire -78 39 £477 -4.70% 52
Wales -19 22 £468 +13.33% 28
Northern Ireland +12 11 £275 -21.43% 15
East Midlands -48 4 £458 -10.73% 35
North East -35 2 £425 +30.77% 31
Channel Islands -1 1 £550 +22.22%

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 30 (2.64%) SharePoint
2 18 (1.58%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (1.23%) Confluence
4 10 (0.88%) Apache
5 6 (0.53%) IIS
5 6 (0.53%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.26%) nginx
6 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.18%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.18%) CMS
8 1 (0.088%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.088%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 41 (3.61%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (2.90%) MS Visio
3 16 (1.41%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (0.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.35%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.088%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 12 (1.06%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 210 (18.47%) Azure
2 150 (13.19%) AWS
3 69 (6.07%) Microsoft 365
4 33 (2.90%) Entra ID
5 21 (1.85%) GCP
6 16 (1.41%) SaaS
7 15 (1.32%) Nutanix
7 15 (1.32%) OpenShift
8 12 (1.06%) GitHub
9 11 (0.97%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (0.97%) Azure Sentinel
9 11 (0.97%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 10 (0.88%) OneDrive
11 8 (0.70%) IaaS
12 7 (0.62%) Power Platform
13 6 (0.53%) Datadog
13 6 (0.53%) Microsoft Purview
14 5 (0.44%) Azure DevOps
14 5 (0.44%) GitHub Actions
14 5 (0.44%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 498 (43.80%) Firewall
2 374 (32.89%) WAN
3 294 (25.86%) LAN
4 285 (25.07%) BGP
5 244 (21.46%) VPN
6 236 (20.76%) Network Security
7 208 (18.29%) OSPF
8 168 (14.78%) DNS
9 166 (14.60%) Wireless
10 161 (14.16%) VLAN
11 154 (13.54%) SD-WAN
12 105 (9.23%) Cisco Nexus
13 102 (8.97%) MPLS
13 102 (8.97%) VXLAN
14 98 (8.62%) Cisco ISE
15 97 (8.53%) Wi-Fi
16 92 (8.09%) DHCP
17 80 (7.04%) IPsec
18 71 (6.24%) Multicast
19 68 (5.98%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (1.41%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.35%) MySQL
3 2 (0.18%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.088%) Apache Hive
4 1 (0.088%) Big Data
4 1 (0.088%) ClickHouse
4 1 (0.088%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.088%) MariaDB
4 1 (0.088%) Metadata
4 1 (0.088%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.088%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 24 (2.11%) JIRA
2 14 (1.23%) Sonatype Nexus
3 11 (0.97%) Git
4 8 (0.70%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.44%) GitLab
6 2 (0.18%) Bitbucket
General
1 241 (21.20%) Social Skills
2 119 (10.47%) Finance
3 66 (5.80%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (5.45%) Public Sector
5 60 (5.28%) Telecoms
6 58 (5.10%) Documentation Skills
7 55 (4.84%) Banking
8 52 (4.57%) Legal
9 22 (1.93%) Manufacturing
10 20 (1.76%) Organisational Skills
11 19 (1.67%) Investment Banking
12 16 (1.41%) Financial Institution
12 16 (1.41%) Law
12 16 (1.41%) Retail
13 9 (0.79%) Marketing
13 9 (0.79%) Military
14 8 (0.70%) Presentation Skills
15 7 (0.62%) Police
16 4 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 4 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 515 (45.29%) Network Engineer
2 141 (12.40%) Architect
3 121 (10.64%) Cisco Engineer
4 114 (10.03%) Senior
5 112 (9.85%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 85 (7.48%) Network Architect
7 83 (7.30%) Security Engineer
8 77 (6.77%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 63 (5.54%) Senior Network Engineer
10 60 (5.28%) Network Security Engineer
11 50 (4.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 47 (4.13%) Data Network Engineer
13 34 (2.99%) Cisco Security Engineer
13 34 (2.99%) Data Engineer
14 33 (2.90%) Analyst
15 28 (2.46%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
16 27 (2.37%) Solutions Architect
17 26 (2.29%) Network Specialist
18 25 (2.20%) Lead
19 23 (2.02%) Data Centre Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 72 (6.33%) 802.1X
2 18 (1.58%) LDAP
3 15 (1.32%) Flash
3 15 (1.32%) SAML
4 10 (0.88%) REST
5 7 (0.62%) XMPP
6 6 (0.53%) Jinja
7 4 (0.35%) NETCONF
8 3 (0.26%) HTML
8 3 (0.26%) LAMP
8 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
8 3 (0.26%) YAML
8 3 (0.26%) YANG
9 2 (0.18%) ADO
9 2 (0.18%) CSS
9 2 (0.18%) Django
9 2 (0.18%) JSON
9 2 (0.18%) Middleware
9 2 (0.18%) OpenID
9 2 (0.18%) VML
Miscellaneous
1 316 (27.79%) Data Centre
2 54 (4.75%) PKI
3 50 (4.40%) Replication
4 42 (3.69%) Clustering
5 36 (3.17%) Data Protection Act
6 34 (2.99%) Hybrid Cloud
7 33 (2.90%) Onboarding
8 31 (2.73%) Operational Technology
9 22 (1.93%) Video Conferencing
10 20 (1.76%) Linux Command Line
10 20 (1.76%) Security Posture
11 19 (1.67%) Enterprise Storage
12 18 (1.58%) Cloud Native
12 18 (1.58%) Driving Licence
13 17 (1.50%) EMC VMAX
14 16 (1.41%) SCADA
15 13 (1.14%) Analytical Mindset
15 13 (1.14%) Virtual Team
16 12 (1.06%) Self-Motivation
17 10 (0.88%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 221 (19.44%) Windows
2 124 (10.91%) Linux
3 72 (6.33%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.85%) Unix
5 20 (1.76%) Windows 10
6 13 (1.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (1.14%) Ubuntu
7 10 (0.88%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.62%) Android
8 7 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.44%) AIX
10 5 (0.44%) CatOS
10 5 (0.44%) Data ONTAP
10 5 (0.44%) VMS
11 4 (0.35%) CentOS
11 4 (0.35%) Solaris
12 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.088%) Windows 7
13 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 164 (14.42%) Migration
2 128 (11.26%) High Availability
2 128 (11.26%) Problem-Solving
3 125 (10.99%) Load Balancing
4 94 (8.27%) Network Design
5 93 (8.18%) ITIL
6 89 (7.83%) ITSM
7 80 (7.04%) Project Delivery
8 71 (6.24%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 70 (6.16%) Agile
10 67 (5.89%) Network Monitoring
10 67 (5.89%) Technical Leadership
11 66 (5.80%) Disaster Recovery
12 65 (5.72%) Change Management
13 63 (5.54%) Continuous Improvement
14 57 (5.01%) Cybersecurity
15 56 (4.93%) Infrastructure as Code
16 52 (4.57%) Network Segmentation
16 52 (4.57%) Zero Trust
17 50 (4.40%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 116 (10.20%) Python
2 57 (5.01%) PowerShell
3 23 (2.02%) Bash
3 23 (2.02%) SQL
4 7 (0.62%) C
5 4 (0.35%) PHP
6 3 (0.26%) C++
6 3 (0.26%) Java
6 3 (0.26%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.26%) Lisp
7 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
7 2 (0.18%) Korn
7 2 (0.18%) Perl
7 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.088%) Bicep
8 1 (0.088%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 371 (32.63%) Security Cleared
2 341 (29.99%) Cisco Certification
3 278 (24.45%) SC Cleared
4 264 (23.22%) CCNP
5 124 (10.91%) CCNA
6 108 (9.50%) DV Cleared
7 75 (6.60%) Degree
8 66 (5.80%) CCIE
9 32 (2.81%) Microsoft Certification
10 28 (2.46%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 24 (2.11%) Network+ Certification
12 23 (2.02%) MCSE
13 18 (1.58%) CCSE
14 17 (1.50%) Azure Certification
14 17 (1.50%) JNCIS
14 17 (1.50%) Server+ Certification
14 17 (1.50%) VCAP
15 16 (1.41%) MCSA
16 15 (1.32%) BPSS Clearance
17 14 (1.23%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (3.17%) SLA
2 32 (2.81%) NIST
3 28 (2.46%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 24 (2.11%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (1.58%) QA
6 17 (1.50%) NCSC
7 10 (0.88%) PMO
8 7 (0.62%) Disclosure Scotland
8 7 (0.62%) JSP 440
9 6 (0.53%) GDPR
10 5 (0.44%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 3 (0.26%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.26%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.26%) RMADS
12 2 (0.18%) Accessibility
12 2 (0.18%) GRC
12 2 (0.18%) ISA99
12 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 1 (0.088%) GxP
System Software
1 156 (13.72%) VMware Infrastructure
2 87 (7.65%) Active Directory
3 62 (5.45%) vSphere
4 60 (5.28%) VMware ESXi
5 53 (4.66%) VMware NSX
6 34 (2.99%) Virtual Machines
7 25 (2.20%) Firmware
8 19 (1.67%) NFS
9 18 (1.58%) Hyper-V
10 15 (1.32%) GPFS
11 12 (1.06%) SRDF
12 5 (0.44%) Docker
12 5 (0.44%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 5 (0.44%) Virtual Desktop
13 4 (0.35%) vCloud
13 4 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
14 3 (0.26%) Postfix
14 3 (0.26%) UAG
15 2 (0.18%) Snort
Systems Management
1 134 (11.79%) Ansible
2 101 (8.88%) FortiGate
3 53 (4.66%) Terraform
4 34 (2.99%) vCenter Server
5 28 (2.46%) Grafana
6 23 (2.02%) vRealize
7 21 (1.85%) Prometheus
8 20 (1.76%) Microsoft Intune
9 19 (1.67%) Kubernetes
10 16 (1.41%) SCCM
11 14 (1.23%) Cisco Prime
11 14 (1.23%) Single Sign-On
12 12 (1.06%) Cisco CUCM
12 12 (1.06%) VxRail
13 10 (0.88%) Nagios
14 7 (0.62%) EMC VPLEX
14 7 (0.62%) SCOM
15 6 (0.53%) EMC TimeFinder
15 6 (0.53%) HAProxy
15 6 (0.53%) WMI
Vendors
1 297 (26.12%) Palo Alto
2 217 (19.09%) F5
3 196 (17.24%) VMware
4 191 (16.80%) Microsoft
5 165 (14.51%) Fortinet
6 159 (13.98%) Juniper
7 127 (11.17%) Aruba
8 119 (10.47%) CheckPoint
9 105 (9.23%) ServiceNow
10 90 (7.92%) SolarWinds
11 82 (7.21%) Meraki
12 72 (6.33%) Arista
13 54 (4.75%) Splunk
14 48 (4.22%) Zscaler
15 47 (4.13%) Dell
16 34 (2.99%) IBM
17 33 (2.90%) EMC
18 28 (2.46%) Brocade
18 28 (2.46%) Extreme Networks
19 23 (2.02%) Infoblox