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 1 December 2025, 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
1 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 88 63 56
Rank change year-on-year -25 -7 +33
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,038 1,211 1,678
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.90% 3.37% 3.67%
As % of the Vendors category 6.13% 7.45% 8.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 691 713 1,018
10th Percentile £263 £277 £263
25th Percentile £366 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% +1.06%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £600 £650 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £450
% change year-on-year +3.11% +5.56% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 31 83
10th Percentile £24.04 £18.19 £18.19
25th Percentile £25.15 £20.00 £24.00
Median hourly rate £32.50 £27.50 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year +18.18% -37.14% +70.17%
75th Percentile £74.26 £57.50 £65.98
90th Percentile £91.13 £75.00 £77.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.00 £37.50 £47.50
% change year-on-year +92.00% -21.05% +42.86%

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 16,927 16,264 20,664
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 47.37% 45.20% 45.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,732 9,595 13,185
10th Percentile £288 £294 £256
25th Percentile £405 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -1.87%
75th Percentile £610 £625 £638
90th Percentile £700 £720 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.60% - +1.01%
Number of hourly rates quoted 847 515 670
10th Percentile £15.29 £15.55 £15.25
25th Percentile £18.22 £19.59 £20.00
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% -32.58% +73.08%
75th Percentile £43.23 £63.15 £64.24
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £76.83
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.35 £44.50
% change year-on-year -19.56% -38.54% +97.78%

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 1 December 2025.

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 1 December 2025.

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 1 December 2025. 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 -26 873 £500 - 358
UK excluding London -11 663 £490 +3.11% 362
London -38 293 £450 -11.76% 89
Work from Home -44 245 £450 -10.00% 124
South East +1 209 £500 - 156
Midlands +14 155 £411 -3.24% 41
West Midlands +28 134 £448 -10.50% 26
North of England -51 127 £476 +0.26% 76
North West -32 81 £492 +3.58% 47
Scotland +30 69 £425 +6.25% 32
South West -36 46 £550 +18.92% 25
East of England -10 37 £445 -15.24% 28
Yorkshire -58 37 £450 -10.00% 22
East Midlands -13 21 £158 -58.00% 15
Wales -1 17 £170 -56.13% 15
Northern Ireland +3 12 £438 -
North East -1 11 £175 -64.10% 8
Channel Islands - 2 £725 -

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 66 (6.36%) Microsoft Exchange
2 46 (4.43%) SharePoint
3 17 (1.64%) Confluence
4 16 (1.54%) Apache
5 15 (1.45%) Skype for Business
6 14 (1.35%) WebLogic
7 8 (0.77%) OpenStack
8 7 (0.67%) Appian
8 7 (0.67%) Mattermost
9 5 (0.48%) SharePoint Server
10 3 (0.29%) WebSphere
11 2 (0.19%) CICS
11 2 (0.19%) IIS
11 2 (0.19%) Tomcat
12 1 (0.096%) Exchange Server 2010
12 1 (0.096%) Exchange Server 2013
12 1 (0.096%) JBoss
12 1 (0.096%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 88 (8.48%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (2.70%) MS Visio
3 20 (1.93%) Microsoft Excel
4 13 (1.25%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.096%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.096%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.096%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 14 (1.35%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.39%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.096%) Actimize
3 1 (0.096%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 162 (15.61%) Azure
2 136 (13.10%) AWS
3 116 (11.18%) Microsoft 365
4 40 (3.85%) GCP
5 37 (3.56%) Entra ID
6 15 (1.45%) Azure Monitor
6 15 (1.45%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (1.35%) Azure Sentinel
8 12 (1.16%) Akamai
8 12 (1.16%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 11 (1.06%) AWS CloudFormation
9 11 (1.06%) Datadog
10 10 (0.96%) AWS Lambda
10 10 (0.96%) OpenShift
10 10 (0.96%) Serverless
11 8 (0.77%) GitHub
11 8 (0.77%) Nutanix
11 8 (0.77%) Power Platform
11 8 (0.77%) SaaS
12 7 (0.67%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 422 (40.66%) Firewall
2 232 (22.35%) WAN
3 191 (18.40%) LAN
4 176 (16.96%) Wireless
5 165 (15.90%) BGP
6 163 (15.70%) VPN
7 133 (12.81%) Network Security
7 133 (12.81%) SD-WAN
8 121 (11.66%) OSPF
9 117 (11.27%) DNS
10 102 (9.83%) Cisco IOS
11 97 (9.34%) Cisco ISE
12 91 (8.77%) Cisco Nexus
13 87 (8.38%) Wi-Fi
14 85 (8.19%) MPLS
15 74 (7.13%) VLAN
16 73 (7.03%) DHCP
17 56 (5.39%) IPsec
18 54 (5.20%) TCP/IP
19 52 (5.01%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.06%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.48%) DynamoDB
2 5 (0.48%) Power BI
3 4 (0.39%) NoSQL
4 3 (0.29%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.29%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.19%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.096%) MariaDB
6 1 (0.096%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 20 (1.93%) JIRA
2 17 (1.64%) GitLab
3 13 (1.25%) Sonatype Nexus
4 10 (0.96%) Git
5 9 (0.87%) Jenkins
6 8 (0.77%) Robot Framework
7 7 (0.67%) Cucumber
7 7 (0.67%) Selenium
7 7 (0.67%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.19%) Snyk
8 2 (0.19%) Subversion
9 1 (0.096%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.096%) Hudson
9 1 (0.096%) Mercurial
General
1 227 (21.87%) Social Skills
2 175 (16.86%) Public Sector
3 132 (12.72%) Telecoms
4 128 (12.33%) Finance
5 74 (7.13%) Analytical Skills
6 66 (6.36%) Manufacturing
7 43 (4.14%) Electronics
7 43 (4.14%) Marketing
8 40 (3.85%) Banking
8 40 (3.85%) Documentation Skills
9 26 (2.50%) Legal
10 22 (2.12%) Games
11 21 (2.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
13 10 (0.96%) Aerospace
13 10 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
14 8 (0.77%) Investment Banking
14 8 (0.77%) Military
15 6 (0.58%) Influencing Skills
15 6 (0.58%) Retail
Job Titles
1 358 (34.49%) Network Engineer
2 122 (11.75%) Architect
3 80 (7.71%) Cisco Engineer
3 80 (7.71%) Network Architect
4 67 (6.45%) Analyst
5 65 (6.26%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 64 (6.17%) Consultant
7 63 (6.07%) Senior
8 56 (5.39%) Support Engineer
9 53 (5.11%) Security Engineer
10 52 (5.01%) IT Support
11 49 (4.72%) Network Consultant
12 46 (4.43%) Platform Engineer
12 46 (4.43%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 37 (3.56%) Desktop Support
13 37 (3.56%) Network Security Engineer
14 31 (2.99%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
14 31 (2.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 29 (2.79%) Juniper Engineer
15 29 (2.79%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.28%) 802.1X
2 18 (1.73%) RFC 2544
2 18 (1.73%) XMPP
3 12 (1.16%) Jinja
3 12 (1.16%) JSON
3 12 (1.16%) NETCONF
3 12 (1.16%) YANG
4 11 (1.06%) Flash
5 10 (0.96%) XML
6 8 (0.77%) REST
7 7 (0.67%) Node.js
8 4 (0.39%) LDAP
8 4 (0.39%) RESTCONF
9 3 (0.29%) OpenConfig
10 2 (0.19%) ARM Templates
10 2 (0.19%) eBPF
10 2 (0.19%) Kafka
10 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Graph
10 2 (0.19%) Regular Expression
10 2 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 241 (23.22%) Data Centre
2 36 (3.47%) PKI
3 30 (2.89%) Driving Licence
4 28 (2.70%) Onboarding
5 27 (2.60%) Data Protection Act
6 24 (2.31%) Cloud Native
6 24 (2.31%) Linux Command Line
7 22 (2.12%) Hybrid Cloud
8 21 (2.02%) Replication
9 20 (1.93%) Operational Technology
10 18 (1.73%) Video Conferencing
11 16 (1.54%) Fibre Optics
12 13 (1.25%) Management Information System
12 13 (1.25%) NHS
13 12 (1.16%) Product Ownership
13 12 (1.16%) Security Posture
13 12 (1.16%) Self-Motivation
13 12 (1.16%) Virtual Team
14 11 (1.06%) Enterprise Storage
15 10 (0.96%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 183 (17.63%) Windows
2 110 (10.60%) Linux
3 87 (8.38%) Mac OS
4 83 (8.00%) Android
5 64 (6.17%) Windows Server
6 30 (2.89%) Windows 10
7 23 (2.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 20 (1.93%) Unix
9 7 (0.67%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.48%) CentOS
10 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.29%) VMS
12 3 (0.29%) Windows 7
12 3 (0.29%) Windows 8
13 2 (0.19%) Solaris
13 2 (0.19%) zOS
14 1 (0.096%) MVS
14 1 (0.096%) Oracle Linux
14 1 (0.096%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (11.66%) Problem-Solving
2 117 (11.27%) Migration
3 92 (8.86%) Service Management
4 85 (8.19%) Network Design
5 74 (7.13%) ITIL
5 74 (7.13%) Roadmaps
6 72 (6.94%) Agile
7 70 (6.74%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 62 (5.97%) Business Intelligence
8 62 (5.97%) Collaborative Working
8 62 (5.97%) ITSM
9 59 (5.68%) Change Management
10 58 (5.59%) Incident Response
10 58 (5.59%) Project Delivery
11 57 (5.49%) Network Architecture
12 56 (5.39%) Cybersecurity
13 52 (5.01%) Continuous Improvement
13 52 (5.01%) High Availability
14 51 (4.91%) Load Balancing
15 50 (4.82%) Performance Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 129 (12.43%) Python
2 84 (8.09%) PowerShell
3 40 (3.85%) Bash
4 32 (3.08%) SQL
5 25 (2.41%) Perl
6 13 (1.25%) JavaScript
7 9 (0.87%) C++
8 8 (0.77%) Lisp
9 6 (0.58%) Java
9 6 (0.58%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.29%) C
10 3 (0.29%) Go
11 2 (0.19%) PHP
11 2 (0.19%) VB
12 1 (0.096%) Ruby
12 1 (0.096%) VBA
Qualifications
1 431 (41.52%) Security Cleared
2 329 (31.70%) SC Cleared
3 261 (25.14%) Cisco Certification
4 194 (18.69%) CCNP
5 111 (10.69%) DV Cleared
6 101 (9.73%) CCNA
7 76 (7.32%) Degree
8 68 (6.55%) CCIE
9 24 (2.31%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.31%) Computer Science Degree
9 24 (2.31%) ITIL Certification
10 21 (2.02%) CISSP
10 21 (2.02%) Microsoft Certification
11 18 (1.73%) AWS Certification
11 18 (1.73%) JNCIE
12 17 (1.64%) Azure Certification
13 14 (1.35%) JNCIS
14 13 (1.25%) CCDP
14 13 (1.25%) JNCIA
15 11 (1.06%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (4.05%) SLA
2 32 (3.08%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (2.12%) GDPR
4 19 (1.83%) NIST
5 16 (1.54%) PCI DSS
6 14 (1.35%) Cyber Essentials
7 12 (1.16%) PMO
8 7 (0.67%) NCSC
9 4 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.29%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.29%) QA
11 2 (0.19%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.19%) Def Stans
11 2 (0.19%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.096%) Data Quality
12 1 (0.096%) GxP
12 1 (0.096%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.096%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.096%) JTAG
12 1 (0.096%) NIST 800
System Software
1 159 (15.32%) Active Directory
2 113 (10.89%) VMware Infrastructure
3 52 (5.01%) VMware NSX
4 31 (2.99%) vSphere
5 24 (2.31%) Firmware
6 23 (2.22%) VMware ESXi
7 21 (2.02%) Docker
8 16 (1.54%) Hyper-V
9 12 (1.16%) NFS
10 11 (1.06%) GPFS
10 11 (1.06%) Virtual Machines
11 7 (0.67%) Snort
11 7 (0.67%) Virtual Servers
12 5 (0.48%) KVM
12 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 5 (0.48%) Squid
13 3 (0.29%) BitLocker
14 2 (0.19%) Terminal Services
14 2 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
15 1 (0.096%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 89 (8.57%) Ansible
2 59 (5.68%) FortiGate
3 53 (5.11%) SCCM
4 46 (4.43%) Terraform
5 44 (4.24%) vCenter Server
6 42 (4.05%) Microsoft Intune
7 23 (2.22%) vRealize
8 22 (2.12%) Kubernetes
9 17 (1.64%) Cisco CUCM
10 11 (1.06%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 11 (1.06%) VxRail
11 10 (0.96%) EMC NetWorker
12 9 (0.87%) Nessus
12 9 (0.87%) WSUS
13 8 (0.77%) EMC VPLEX
14 7 (0.67%) HP SiteScope
14 7 (0.67%) SCOM
15 6 (0.58%) NetBackup
16 5 (0.48%) Nexpose
16 5 (0.48%) Suricata
Vendors
1 214 (20.62%) Microsoft
2 188 (18.11%) Juniper
3 165 (15.90%) Palo Alto
4 148 (14.26%) VMware
5 133 (12.81%) Fortinet
6 116 (11.18%) SolarWinds
7 112 (10.79%) Meraki
8 107 (10.31%) F5
9 88 (8.48%) Dell
10 80 (7.71%) CheckPoint
11 79 (7.61%) Splunk
12 69 (6.65%) HP
13 65 (6.26%) Aruba
14 61 (5.88%) ServiceNow
15 54 (5.20%) Apple
16 45 (4.34%) SAP
17 37 (3.56%) Zscaler
18 33 (3.18%) AppDynamics
19 32 (3.08%) Oracle
20 30 (2.89%) IBM