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 31 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
31 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 93 59 56
Rank change year-on-year -34 -3 +37
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,017 1,196 1,568
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.75% 3.58% 3.65%
As % of the Vendors category 5.85% 7.81% 8.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 686 729 930
10th Percentile £263 £275 £255
25th Percentile £363 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £562 £580 £593
90th Percentile £608 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £470
% change year-on-year -3.06% +4.26% +2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 24 89
10th Percentile £21.40 £16.09 £14.16
25th Percentile £25.15 £19.63 £23.63
Median hourly rate £58.00 £23.58 £34.00
Median % change year-on-year +145.97% -30.65% +32.73%
75th Percentile £74.26 £61.25 £65.98
90th Percentile £90.38 £75.00 £76.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £21.44 £43.90
% change year-on-year +246.40% -51.17% +72.16%

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 17,381 15,312 19,156
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 46.93% 45.86% 44.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,108 9,124 12,146
10th Percentile £300 £284 £252
25th Percentile £409 £409 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -2.33%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £703 £717 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.58% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 827 450 657
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.60 £14.26
25th Percentile £17.96 £18.51 £19.76
Median hourly rate £23.83 £27.43 £46.06
Median % change year-on-year -13.13% -40.45% +77.13%
75th Percentile £44.94 £61.13 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £76.38 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.48 £25.00 £46.18
% change year-on-year -14.08% -45.86% +101.48%

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 31 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 31 December 2025.

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 31 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 -40 845 £500 - 444
UK excluding London -18 674 £475 -3.06% 341
Work from Home -32 266 £450 -10.00% 137
London -60 255 £450 -11.76% 177
South East -8 203 £500 -0.99% 107
Midlands +9 153 £380 -13.14% 61
North of England -52 142 £476 +0.26% 72
West Midlands +18 132 £380 -18.50% 48
North West -14 104 £481 -0.26% 39
Scotland +43 76 £425 +9.68% 25
South West -36 48 £550 +16.40% 29
East of England -16 33 £460 +2.22% 37
Yorkshire -74 29 £450 +5.88% 22
East Midlands -15 20 £158 -58.00% 13
Wales -1 17 £170 -56.13% 13
Northern Ireland +3 12 £475 - 7
North East -4 11 £175 -64.10% 12

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 49 (4.82%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.03%) Microsoft Exchange
3 20 (1.97%) Confluence
4 19 (1.87%) Apache
5 14 (1.38%) Skype for Business
5 14 (1.38%) WebLogic
6 10 (0.98%) OpenStack
7 7 (0.69%) Appian
7 7 (0.69%) Mattermost
8 5 (0.49%) SharePoint Server
9 4 (0.39%) IIS
10 3 (0.29%) WebSphere
11 2 (0.20%) CICS
11 2 (0.20%) Tomcat
12 1 (0.098%) Exchange Server 2010
12 1 (0.098%) Exchange Server 2013
12 1 (0.098%) JBoss
12 1 (0.098%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 80 (7.87%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (3.64%) MS Visio
3 19 (1.87%) Microsoft Excel
4 14 (1.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.29%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.098%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.098%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 19 (1.87%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.098%) Actimize
3 1 (0.098%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 166 (16.32%) Azure
2 150 (14.75%) AWS
3 94 (9.24%) Microsoft 365
4 43 (4.23%) GCP
5 33 (3.24%) Entra ID
6 19 (1.87%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 15 (1.47%) Azure Monitor
8 14 (1.38%) Datadog
9 12 (1.18%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 12 (1.18%) Azure Sentinel
9 12 (1.18%) OpenShift
10 11 (1.08%) AWS CloudFormation
11 10 (0.98%) AWS Lambda
11 10 (0.98%) SaaS
11 10 (0.98%) Serverless
12 8 (0.79%) Nutanix
13 7 (0.69%) Akamai
13 7 (0.69%) PaaS
13 7 (0.69%) Power Platform
13 7 (0.69%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 412 (40.51%) Firewall
2 258 (25.37%) WAN
3 202 (19.86%) LAN
4 198 (19.47%) VPN
5 168 (16.52%) BGP
6 156 (15.34%) Wireless
7 146 (14.36%) Network Security
8 136 (13.37%) SD-WAN
9 125 (12.29%) OSPF
10 106 (10.42%) DNS
11 93 (9.14%) MPLS
12 87 (8.55%) Wi-Fi
13 83 (8.16%) VLAN
14 82 (8.06%) Cisco ISE
15 79 (7.77%) Cisco Nexus
16 74 (7.28%) Cisco IOS
17 66 (6.49%) IPsec
18 63 (6.19%) TCP/IP
19 59 (5.80%) DHCP
20 55 (5.41%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.49%) DynamoDB
2 5 (0.49%) Power BI
3 3 (0.29%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.29%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.20%) MariaDB
4 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.098%) Metadata
5 1 (0.098%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 20 (1.97%) JIRA
2 16 (1.57%) GitLab
3 13 (1.28%) Sonatype Nexus
4 9 (0.88%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.79%) Git
5 8 (0.79%) Robot Framework
6 7 (0.69%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.69%) Selenium
6 7 (0.69%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.20%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.098%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.098%) Hudson
General
1 232 (22.81%) Social Skills
2 174 (17.11%) Public Sector
3 129 (12.68%) Telecoms
4 128 (12.59%) Finance
5 74 (7.28%) Analytical Skills
6 60 (5.90%) Manufacturing
7 49 (4.82%) Documentation Skills
8 43 (4.23%) Electronics
8 43 (4.23%) Marketing
9 41 (4.03%) Banking
10 31 (3.05%) Legal
11 15 (1.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (1.38%) Organisational Skills
13 13 (1.28%) Presentation Skills
14 11 (1.08%) Aerospace
15 10 (0.98%) Investment Banking
16 8 (0.79%) Military
17 6 (0.59%) Influencing Skills
17 6 (0.59%) Retail
18 5 (0.49%) Law
Job Titles
1 357 (35.10%) Network Engineer
2 127 (12.49%) Architect
3 87 (8.55%) Network Architect
4 74 (7.28%) Cisco Engineer
5 61 (6.00%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 60 (5.90%) Consultant
6 60 (5.90%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
6 60 (5.90%) Senior
7 57 (5.60%) Analyst
8 53 (5.21%) IT Support
9 49 (4.82%) Support Engineer
10 48 (4.72%) Network Consultant
11 45 (4.42%) Security Engineer
12 38 (3.74%) Desktop Support
13 33 (3.24%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
14 30 (2.95%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 30 (2.95%) Senior Network Engineer
15 29 (2.85%) Network Security Engineer
16 28 (2.75%) Platform Engineer
17 27 (2.65%) 3rd Line Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (3.74%) 802.1X
2 16 (1.57%) XMPP
3 13 (1.28%) Flash
4 12 (1.18%) Jinja
5 11 (1.08%) JSON
5 11 (1.08%) NETCONF
5 11 (1.08%) RFC 2544
5 11 (1.08%) YANG
6 9 (0.88%) XML
7 8 (0.79%) LDAP
8 6 (0.59%) Node.js
9 4 (0.39%) REST
9 4 (0.39%) VML
10 3 (0.29%) HTML
10 3 (0.29%) OpenConfig
10 3 (0.29%) SAML
11 2 (0.20%) ARM Templates
11 2 (0.20%) eBPF
11 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.20%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 250 (24.58%) Data Centre
2 37 (3.64%) PKI
3 29 (2.85%) Data Protection Act
3 29 (2.85%) Linux Command Line
4 28 (2.75%) Cloud Native
5 27 (2.65%) Onboarding
6 26 (2.56%) Hybrid Cloud
6 26 (2.56%) Replication
7 24 (2.36%) Driving Licence
8 23 (2.26%) Operational Technology
9 16 (1.57%) Video Conferencing
10 15 (1.47%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (1.28%) NHS
11 13 (1.28%) Security Posture
12 12 (1.18%) Fibre Optics
12 12 (1.18%) Product Ownership
13 10 (0.98%) CMDB
13 10 (0.98%) Management Information System
14 9 (0.88%) Clustering
14 9 (0.88%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 180 (17.70%) Windows
2 111 (10.91%) Linux
3 71 (6.98%) Windows Server
4 66 (6.49%) Mac OS
5 61 (6.00%) Android
6 35 (3.44%) Windows 10
7 21 (2.06%) Unix
8 20 (1.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 7 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.49%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.39%) Solaris
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 (0.20%) CatOS
13 2 (0.20%) CentOS
13 2 (0.20%) zOS
14 1 (0.098%) MVS
14 1 (0.098%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 129 (12.68%) Problem-Solving
2 125 (12.29%) Migration
3 87 (8.55%) Service Management
4 85 (8.36%) Network Design
5 81 (7.96%) ITIL
6 79 (7.77%) Roadmaps
7 74 (7.28%) Agile
8 72 (7.08%) Project Delivery
9 71 (6.98%) ITSM
10 68 (6.69%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 63 (6.19%) Business Intelligence
12 62 (6.10%) High Availability
13 60 (5.90%) Network Architecture
14 58 (5.70%) Cybersecurity
15 57 (5.60%) Change Management
16 54 (5.31%) Incident Response
17 53 (5.21%) Collaborative Working
17 53 (5.21%) Continuous Improvement
17 53 (5.21%) Load Balancing
18 48 (4.72%) Network Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 121 (11.90%) Python
2 67 (6.59%) PowerShell
3 39 (3.83%) Bash
4 32 (3.15%) SQL
5 23 (2.26%) Perl
6 14 (1.38%) JavaScript
7 8 (0.79%) Lisp
8 6 (0.59%) C++
9 5 (0.49%) Kusto Query Language
10 4 (0.39%) C
11 3 (0.29%) Java
12 1 (0.098%) Go
12 1 (0.098%) Ruby
12 1 (0.098%) VB
Qualifications
1 442 (43.46%) Security Cleared
2 347 (34.12%) SC Cleared
3 263 (25.86%) Cisco Certification
4 206 (20.26%) CCNP
5 105 (10.32%) DV Cleared
6 97 (9.54%) CCNA
7 74 (7.28%) Degree
8 72 (7.08%) CCIE
9 26 (2.56%) Microsoft Certification
10 25 (2.46%) BPSS Clearance
10 25 (2.46%) ITIL Certification
11 18 (1.77%) AWS Certification
11 18 (1.77%) Azure Certification
11 18 (1.77%) JNCIE
12 17 (1.67%) CISSP
13 15 (1.47%) CCDP
13 15 (1.47%) JNCIS
14 14 (1.38%) Computer Science Degree
14 14 (1.38%) JNCIA
15 12 (1.18%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (3.64%) SLA
2 31 (3.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (2.16%) GDPR
4 19 (1.87%) NIST
5 17 (1.67%) PCI DSS
6 16 (1.57%) Cyber Essentials
7 13 (1.28%) PMO
8 6 (0.59%) NCSC
9 4 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.29%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.29%) QA
11 2 (0.20%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
11 2 (0.20%) JSP 440
12 1 (0.098%) Data Quality
12 1 (0.098%) Def Stans
12 1 (0.098%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.098%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.098%) JTAG
12 1 (0.098%) RMADS
System Software
1 132 (12.98%) VMware Infrastructure
2 131 (12.88%) Active Directory
3 65 (6.39%) VMware NSX
4 43 (4.23%) vSphere
5 25 (2.46%) VMware ESXi
6 20 (1.97%) Firmware
7 18 (1.77%) Docker
8 16 (1.57%) Hyper-V
9 15 (1.47%) Virtual Machines
10 14 (1.38%) NFS
11 13 (1.28%) GPFS
12 7 (0.69%) Virtual Servers
13 6 (0.59%) KVM
13 6 (0.59%) Snort
14 5 (0.49%) Microsoft Virtual Server
15 4 (0.39%) Squid
16 3 (0.29%) BitLocker
17 2 (0.20%) Terminal Services
17 2 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
17 2 (0.20%) Xen
Systems Management
1 90 (8.85%) Ansible
2 65 (6.39%) FortiGate
3 48 (4.72%) Terraform
3 48 (4.72%) vCenter Server
4 33 (3.24%) SCCM
5 29 (2.85%) vRealize
6 23 (2.26%) Microsoft Intune
7 20 (1.97%) Kubernetes
8 16 (1.57%) Cisco CUCM
9 14 (1.38%) VxRail
10 11 (1.08%) WSUS
11 10 (0.98%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 9 (0.88%) EMC NetWorker
12 9 (0.88%) Nessus
13 8 (0.79%) SCOM
14 7 (0.69%) EMC VPLEX
14 7 (0.69%) HP SiteScope
15 6 (0.59%) Nagios
15 6 (0.59%) Single Sign-On
16 5 (0.49%) Cisco Prime
Vendors
1 210 (20.65%) Palo Alto
2 184 (18.09%) Microsoft
3 178 (17.50%) Juniper
4 163 (16.03%) VMware
5 128 (12.59%) Fortinet
6 107 (10.52%) SolarWinds
7 99 (9.73%) F5
8 97 (9.54%) Meraki
9 96 (9.44%) CheckPoint
10 95 (9.34%) Aruba
11 77 (7.57%) Dell
12 66 (6.49%) HP
12 66 (6.49%) ServiceNow
13 55 (5.41%) Splunk
14 49 (4.82%) Apple
15 44 (4.33%) SAP
16 37 (3.64%) Zscaler
17 36 (3.54%) AppDynamics
17 36 (3.54%) IBM
18 35 (3.44%) Oracle