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 22 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
22 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 103 65 68
Rank change year-on-year -38 +3 -5
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,106 1,033 1,292
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.29% 3.59% 3.04%
As % of the Vendors category 5.59% 7.52% 7.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 758 643 794
10th Percentile £300 £304 £242
25th Percentile £400 £413 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £572 £588 £588
90th Percentile £643 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £494 £455
% change year-on-year -3.75% +8.46% +1.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 22 38
10th Percentile £28.00 £17.82 £13.29
25th Percentile £44.00 £20.04 £16.63
Median hourly rate £55.00 £37.07 £26.25
Median % change year-on-year +48.36% +41.23% -47.50%
75th Percentile £73.13 £57.81 £41.25
90th Percentile £79.50 £74.88 £55.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £27.70 £24.38
% change year-on-year +98.56% +13.64% -50.00%

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 19,789 13,745 17,954
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 40.95% 47.70% 42.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,517 8,566 11,223
10th Percentile £313 £281 £263
25th Percentile £413 £406 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £513
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% - -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £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 997 560 1,093
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.84 £12.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.42 £14.48
Median hourly rate £32.23 £26.18 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +23.09% +19.00% -48.24%
75th Percentile £58.75 £56.00 £57.33
90th Percentile £75.84 £73.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.07 £22.50 £21.42
% change year-on-year +29.20% +5.07% -44.38%

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 22 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 22 May 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 22 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 -42 929 £477 -5.07% 569
UK excluding London -35 688 £475 -3.75% 557
Work from Home -19 292 £450 -10.00% 128
London -59 288 £500 - 164
North of England -42 198 £480 -4.00% 128
South East -19 196 £500 - 148
North West -4 164 £481 -3.88% 53
Midlands -27 134 £401 -10.89% 72
West Midlands -7 126 £400 -8.57% 47
Scotland +12 64 £450 +12.78% 48
South West -63 53 £513 -6.82% 72
East of England -2 42 £495 +15.45% 52
Yorkshire -79 33 £478 -4.40% 50
Wales -15 25 £468 +11.64% 26
Northern Ireland +6 8 £385 +10.00% 20
East Midlands -46 4 £458 -10.73% 24
North East -35 2 £425 +30.77% 27

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 27 (2.44%) SharePoint
2 22 (1.99%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.36%) Confluence
4 8 (0.72%) Apache
5 5 (0.45%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.36%) IIS
7 2 (0.18%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.18%) CMS
8 1 (0.090%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.090%) nginx
8 1 (0.090%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.090%) Tomcat
Applications
1 40 (3.62%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (2.98%) MS Visio
3 15 (1.36%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (0.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.36%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.090%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 12 (1.08%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.090%) Actimize
Cloud Services
1 200 (18.08%) Azure
2 146 (13.20%) AWS
3 67 (6.06%) Microsoft 365
4 33 (2.98%) Entra ID
5 24 (2.17%) GCP
6 15 (1.36%) SaaS
7 14 (1.27%) Nutanix
8 13 (1.18%) OpenShift
9 12 (1.08%) GitHub
10 11 (0.99%) Azure Sentinel
10 11 (0.99%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 10 (0.90%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 9 (0.81%) OneDrive
13 8 (0.72%) IaaS
14 7 (0.63%) Power Platform
15 6 (0.54%) Azure DevOps
15 6 (0.54%) Datadog
15 6 (0.54%) Microsoft Purview
16 5 (0.45%) Rubrik
17 4 (0.36%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 491 (44.39%) Firewall
2 369 (33.36%) WAN
3 286 (25.86%) LAN
4 283 (25.59%) BGP
5 244 (22.06%) VPN
6 229 (20.71%) Network Security
7 204 (18.44%) OSPF
8 158 (14.29%) DNS
9 154 (13.92%) Wireless
10 151 (13.65%) VLAN
11 148 (13.38%) SD-WAN
12 105 (9.49%) Cisco Nexus
13 99 (8.95%) MPLS
14 98 (8.86%) Wi-Fi
15 96 (8.68%) Cisco ISE
15 96 (8.68%) VXLAN
16 82 (7.41%) DHCP
17 80 (7.23%) IPsec
18 70 (6.33%) Multicast
19 67 (6.06%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (0.90%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.18%) MariaDB
2 2 (0.18%) Metadata
2 2 (0.18%) MySQL
3 1 (0.090%) Apache Hive
3 1 (0.090%) Big Data
3 1 (0.090%) ClickHouse
3 1 (0.090%) Hadoop
3 1 (0.090%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.090%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 25 (2.26%) JIRA
2 15 (1.36%) Sonatype Nexus
3 10 (0.90%) Git
4 8 (0.72%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.54%) GitLab
6 2 (0.18%) Bitbucket
General
1 229 (20.71%) Social Skills
2 117 (10.58%) Finance
3 65 (5.88%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (5.70%) Public Sector
5 60 (5.42%) Documentation Skills
6 59 (5.33%) Telecoms
7 54 (4.88%) Banking
8 51 (4.61%) Legal
9 25 (2.26%) Manufacturing
10 19 (1.72%) Investment Banking
11 17 (1.54%) Organisational Skills
12 15 (1.36%) Financial Institution
12 15 (1.36%) Retail
13 14 (1.27%) Law
14 11 (0.99%) Marketing
15 9 (0.81%) Military
16 8 (0.72%) Presentation Skills
17 7 (0.63%) Police
18 5 (0.45%) Electronics
19 4 (0.36%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 504 (45.57%) Network Engineer
2 133 (12.03%) Architect
3 117 (10.58%) Cisco Engineer
4 111 (10.04%) Cisco Network Engineer
5 107 (9.67%) Senior
6 85 (7.69%) Security Engineer
7 82 (7.41%) Network Architect
8 78 (7.05%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 61 (5.52%) Network Security Engineer
10 58 (5.24%) Senior Network Engineer
11 49 (4.43%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 46 (4.16%) Data Network Engineer
13 36 (3.25%) Analyst
14 35 (3.16%) Data Engineer
15 34 (3.07%) Cisco Security Engineer
16 27 (2.44%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
17 26 (2.35%) Lead
18 25 (2.26%) Solutions Architect
19 24 (2.17%) Network Specialist
20 23 (2.08%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 70 (6.33%) 802.1X
2 19 (1.72%) LDAP
3 16 (1.45%) Flash
4 14 (1.27%) SAML
5 8 (0.72%) REST
6 7 (0.63%) XMPP
7 6 (0.54%) Jinja
8 5 (0.45%) NETCONF
9 4 (0.36%) HTML
9 4 (0.36%) YANG
10 3 (0.27%) JSON
10 3 (0.27%) OpenConfig
10 3 (0.27%) RESTCONF
10 3 (0.27%) VML
11 2 (0.18%) Django
11 2 (0.18%) Elastic Stack
11 2 (0.18%) Kafka
11 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.18%) Middleware
11 2 (0.18%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 309 (27.94%) Data Centre
2 51 (4.61%) PKI
3 48 (4.34%) Replication
4 42 (3.80%) Clustering
5 35 (3.16%) Data Protection Act
6 33 (2.98%) Hybrid Cloud
7 31 (2.80%) Operational Technology
8 30 (2.71%) Onboarding
9 21 (1.90%) Linux Command Line
9 21 (1.90%) Video Conferencing
10 20 (1.81%) Security Posture
11 18 (1.63%) Cloud Native
12 16 (1.45%) SCADA
13 15 (1.36%) Driving Licence
14 14 (1.27%) EMC VMAX
14 14 (1.27%) Enterprise Storage
15 13 (1.18%) Self-Motivation
15 13 (1.18%) Virtual Team
16 12 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
17 9 (0.81%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 210 (18.99%) Windows
2 119 (10.76%) Linux
3 68 (6.15%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.90%) Unix
5 20 (1.81%) Windows 10
6 14 (1.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (0.99%) Mac OS
7 11 (0.99%) Ubuntu
8 8 (0.72%) Android
9 6 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
10 5 (0.45%) CatOS
11 4 (0.36%) AIX
11 4 (0.36%) Solaris
11 4 (0.36%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
12 3 (0.27%) VMS
13 2 (0.18%) CentOS
13 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.090%) Windows 7
14 1 (0.090%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 159 (14.38%) Migration
2 128 (11.57%) Problem-Solving
3 125 (11.30%) Load Balancing
4 118 (10.67%) High Availability
5 94 (8.50%) ITIL
6 93 (8.41%) Network Design
7 82 (7.41%) ITSM
8 75 (6.78%) Project Delivery
9 72 (6.51%) Agile
10 68 (6.15%) Change Management
11 67 (6.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 65 (5.88%) Technical Leadership
13 61 (5.52%) Continuous Improvement
13 61 (5.52%) Disaster Recovery
14 60 (5.42%) Network Monitoring
15 58 (5.24%) Cybersecurity
16 55 (4.97%) Infrastructure as Code
17 53 (4.79%) Validation
17 53 (4.79%) Zero Trust
18 48 (4.34%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 111 (10.04%) Python
2 53 (4.79%) PowerShell
3 24 (2.17%) SQL
4 20 (1.81%) Bash
5 8 (0.72%) C
6 4 (0.36%) PHP
7 3 (0.27%) C++
7 3 (0.27%) Java
7 3 (0.27%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.18%) Korn
8 2 (0.18%) Perl
8 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.090%) Bicep
9 1 (0.090%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.090%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.090%) Lisp
Qualifications
1 368 (33.27%) Security Cleared
2 331 (29.93%) Cisco Certification
3 276 (24.95%) SC Cleared
4 254 (22.97%) CCNP
5 121 (10.94%) CCNA
6 107 (9.67%) DV Cleared
7 78 (7.05%) Degree
8 64 (5.79%) CCIE
9 31 (2.80%) Microsoft Certification
10 26 (2.35%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 23 (2.08%) MCSE
12 21 (1.90%) Network+ Certification
13 18 (1.63%) JNCIS
14 17 (1.54%) VCAP
15 16 (1.45%) Azure Certification
15 16 (1.45%) MCSA
16 15 (1.36%) BPSS Clearance
16 15 (1.36%) CCSE
17 14 (1.27%) JNCIP
17 14 (1.27%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (2.80%) SLA
2 30 (2.71%) NIST
3 28 (2.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 24 (2.17%) Cyber Essentials
5 17 (1.54%) NCSC
6 16 (1.45%) QA
7 10 (0.90%) PMO
8 7 (0.63%) Disclosure Scotland
8 7 (0.63%) GDPR
8 7 (0.63%) JSP 440
9 4 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (0.27%) NIST 800
10 3 (0.27%) RMADS
11 2 (0.18%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.18%) Data Quality
11 2 (0.18%) GRC
11 2 (0.18%) ISA99
11 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 2 (0.18%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 147 (13.29%) VMware Infrastructure
2 80 (7.23%) Active Directory
3 63 (5.70%) vSphere
4 60 (5.42%) VMware ESXi
5 51 (4.61%) VMware NSX
6 32 (2.89%) Virtual Machines
7 25 (2.26%) Firmware
8 19 (1.72%) NFS
9 16 (1.45%) GPFS
9 16 (1.45%) Hyper-V
10 9 (0.81%) SRDF
11 7 (0.63%) Docker
12 5 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
13 4 (0.36%) vCloud
13 4 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
14 3 (0.27%) Snort
14 3 (0.27%) UAG
15 2 (0.18%) KVM
16 1 (0.090%) RHEV
Systems Management
1 130 (11.75%) Ansible
2 100 (9.04%) FortiGate
3 51 (4.61%) Terraform
4 34 (3.07%) vCenter Server
5 27 (2.44%) Grafana
6 25 (2.26%) vRealize
7 20 (1.81%) Prometheus
8 18 (1.63%) Kubernetes
8 18 (1.63%) Microsoft Intune
9 15 (1.36%) SCCM
10 14 (1.27%) Cisco Prime
11 13 (1.18%) Single Sign-On
11 13 (1.18%) VxRail
12 11 (0.99%) Cisco CUCM
13 10 (0.90%) Nagios
14 7 (0.63%) SCOM
15 6 (0.54%) EMC TimeFinder
15 6 (0.54%) WMI
15 6 (0.54%) WSUS
16 5 (0.45%) EMC VPLEX
Vendors
1 298 (26.94%) Palo Alto
2 214 (19.35%) F5
3 187 (16.91%) Microsoft
3 187 (16.91%) VMware
4 158 (14.29%) Juniper
5 154 (13.92%) Fortinet
6 123 (11.12%) Aruba
7 122 (11.03%) CheckPoint
8 101 (9.13%) ServiceNow
9 86 (7.78%) Meraki
9 86 (7.78%) SolarWinds
10 69 (6.24%) Arista
11 56 (5.06%) Splunk
12 49 (4.43%) Zscaler
13 42 (3.80%) Dell
14 35 (3.16%) IBM
15 28 (2.53%) Extreme Networks
16 27 (2.44%) EMC
17 25 (2.26%) Brocade
18 23 (2.08%) Infoblox