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 26 January 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
26 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 92 59 57
Rank change year-on-year -33 -2 +32
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,016 1,134 1,577
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.69% 3.62% 3.56%
As % of the Vendors category 5.89% 7.89% 8.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 689 691 952
10th Percentile £244 £288 £252
25th Percentile £356 £406 £377
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £550 £588 £594
90th Percentile £612 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £461 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -2.89% - +1.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 25 86
10th Percentile £21.40 £16.38 £14.33
25th Percentile £25.15 £20.00 £23.06
Median hourly rate £63.00 £24.66 £33.25
Median % change year-on-year +155.46% -25.83% +29.33%
75th Percentile £74.26 £60.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £93.88 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.00 £20.38 £43.75
% change year-on-year +253.37% -53.43% +82.29%

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 17,258 14,374 19,434
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 45.75% 45.95% 43.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,131 8,482 12,254
10th Percentile £300 £284 £250
25th Percentile £412 £409 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £523 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.32% -0.36% -2.42%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £703 £711 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
Number of hourly rates quoted 816 424 854
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £13.08
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £23.83 £27.50 £32.41
Median % change year-on-year -13.36% -15.15% +11.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £60.94 £60.00
90th Percentile £73.75 £80.00 £71.97
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.46 £25.00 £30.50
% change year-on-year -14.16% -18.03% +20.74%

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 26 January 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 26 January 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 26 January 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 -40 837 £475 -5.00% 523
UK excluding London -17 683 £461 -2.89% 490
Work from Home -28 275 £450 -14.29% 149
London -65 239 £475 -7.32% 120
South East -4 197 £500 - 175
Midlands -2 153 £365 -17.75% 72
North of England -53 148 £475 -4.04% 94
West Midlands +12 132 £380 -14.37% 36
North West -19 118 £481 -2.78% 39
Scotland +46 85 £425 +13.33% 30
South West -47 50 £550 +16.09% 49
East of England -7 34 £445 +1.71% 60
Yorkshire -75 23 £450 -2.70% 43
East Midlands -27 20 £158 -61.82% 36
Wales -3 17 £170 -49.82% 14
Northern Ireland +6 13 £475 - 8
North East -15 9 £175 -64.10% 13

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 39 (3.84%) Microsoft Exchange
3 20 (1.97%) Confluence
4 14 (1.38%) Skype for Business
5 12 (1.18%) Apache
6 8 (0.79%) OpenStack
7 7 (0.69%) Appian
7 7 (0.69%) Mattermost
8 6 (0.59%) WebLogic
9 5 (0.49%) IIS
9 5 (0.49%) SharePoint Server
10 3 (0.30%) WebSphere
11 2 (0.20%) CICS
11 2 (0.20%) Tomcat
12 1 (0.098%) JBoss
12 1 (0.098%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 75 (7.38%) Microsoft Office
2 45 (4.43%) MS Visio
3 23 (2.26%) Microsoft Excel
4 15 (1.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.49%) Acrobat
5 5 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.098%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.098%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 20 (1.97%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.30%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.098%) Actimize
3 1 (0.098%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 162 (15.94%) Azure
2 147 (14.47%) AWS
3 89 (8.76%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (4.13%) GCP
5 30 (2.95%) Entra ID
6 19 (1.87%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (1.38%) Datadog
8 11 (1.08%) AWS CloudFormation
8 11 (1.08%) SaaS
9 10 (0.98%) AWS Lambda
9 10 (0.98%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 10 (0.98%) OpenShift
9 10 (0.98%) Serverless
10 9 (0.89%) Azure Sentinel
10 9 (0.89%) Nutanix
11 8 (0.79%) OneDrive
12 7 (0.69%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 7 (0.69%) GitHub
12 7 (0.69%) Mimecast
12 7 (0.69%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 385 (37.89%) Firewall
2 281 (27.66%) WAN
3 201 (19.78%) VPN
4 196 (19.29%) LAN
5 174 (17.13%) BGP
6 158 (15.55%) Network Security
7 155 (15.26%) Wireless
8 130 (12.80%) SD-WAN
9 123 (12.11%) OSPF
10 108 (10.63%) DNS
11 92 (9.06%) MPLS
12 87 (8.56%) VLAN
13 82 (8.07%) Cisco ISE
14 71 (6.99%) IPsec
14 71 (6.99%) Wi-Fi
15 69 (6.79%) Cisco Nexus
16 67 (6.59%) Cisco IOS
17 63 (6.20%) TCP/IP
18 59 (5.81%) Cisco ASA
19 52 (5.12%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.49%) DynamoDB
2 5 (0.49%) Power BI
3 3 (0.30%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.30%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.20%) MariaDB
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 (0.89%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.79%) Robot Framework
6 7 (0.69%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.69%) Selenium
6 7 (0.69%) SonarQube
7 4 (0.39%) Git
8 2 (0.20%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.20%) Rational DOORS
General
1 225 (22.15%) Social Skills
2 172 (16.93%) Public Sector
3 146 (14.37%) Finance
4 120 (11.81%) Telecoms
5 75 (7.38%) Analytical Skills
6 63 (6.20%) Manufacturing
7 53 (5.22%) Documentation Skills
8 46 (4.53%) Legal
9 45 (4.43%) Electronics
9 45 (4.43%) Marketing
10 41 (4.04%) Banking
11 15 (1.48%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (1.18%) Investment Banking
13 9 (0.89%) Aerospace
13 9 (0.89%) Organisational Skills
14 8 (0.79%) Law
14 8 (0.79%) Retail
15 7 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
16 6 (0.59%) Military
Job Titles
1 361 (35.53%) Network Engineer
2 114 (11.22%) Architect
3 75 (7.38%) Cisco Engineer
4 72 (7.09%) Network Architect
5 62 (6.10%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 61 (6.00%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 59 (5.81%) Analyst
7 59 (5.81%) Senior
8 53 (5.22%) Consultant
8 53 (5.22%) IT Support
9 48 (4.72%) Security Engineer
10 45 (4.43%) Network Consultant
11 44 (4.33%) Support Engineer
12 37 (3.64%) Desktop Support
13 36 (3.54%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
14 32 (3.15%) Solutions Architect
15 31 (3.05%) Network Security Engineer
16 29 (2.85%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 28 (2.76%) Senior Network Engineer
18 26 (2.56%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (3.74%) 802.1X
2 17 (1.67%) Flash
3 16 (1.57%) XMPP
4 15 (1.48%) LDAP
5 11 (1.08%) JSON
5 11 (1.08%) NETCONF
5 11 (1.08%) YANG
6 9 (0.89%) Jinja
6 9 (0.89%) XML
7 7 (0.69%) RFC 2544
7 7 (0.69%) SAML
8 5 (0.49%) Node.js
9 4 (0.39%) HTML
9 4 (0.39%) VML
10 3 (0.30%) OpenConfig
10 3 (0.30%) REST
11 2 (0.20%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.20%) Middleware
11 2 (0.20%) Regular Expression
11 2 (0.20%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 262 (25.79%) Data Centre
2 41 (4.04%) PKI
3 34 (3.35%) Replication
4 33 (3.25%) Linux Command Line
5 29 (2.85%) Data Protection Act
6 28 (2.76%) Hybrid Cloud
6 28 (2.76%) Onboarding
7 27 (2.66%) Cloud Native
8 25 (2.46%) Driving Licence
9 21 (2.07%) Operational Technology
10 17 (1.67%) Security Posture
10 17 (1.67%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (1.28%) Clustering
11 13 (1.28%) NHS
12 12 (1.18%) Product Ownership
13 11 (1.08%) CMDB
13 11 (1.08%) Video Conferencing
14 10 (0.98%) Fibre Optics
14 10 (0.98%) Public Cloud
15 9 (0.89%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 181 (17.81%) Windows
2 114 (11.22%) Linux
3 79 (7.78%) Windows Server
4 55 (5.41%) Mac OS
5 53 (5.22%) Android
6 36 (3.54%) Windows 10
7 24 (2.36%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 16 (1.57%) Unix
9 6 (0.59%) Solaris
9 6 (0.59%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.39%) CatOS
10 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.30%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.30%) Windows 7
11 3 (0.30%) Windows 8
12 2 (0.20%) CentOS
12 2 (0.20%) VMS
12 2 (0.20%) zOS
13 1 (0.098%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 131 (12.89%) Migration
2 124 (12.20%) Problem-Solving
3 90 (8.86%) Agile
4 82 (8.07%) Network Design
5 80 (7.87%) Roadmaps
6 76 (7.48%) Project Delivery
7 73 (7.19%) ITIL
8 72 (7.09%) ITSM
9 69 (6.79%) High Availability
10 67 (6.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 66 (6.50%) Cybersecurity
12 63 (6.20%) Change Management
12 63 (6.20%) Network Architecture
13 62 (6.10%) Service Management
14 56 (5.51%) Business Intelligence
14 56 (5.51%) Collaborative Working
15 52 (5.12%) Load Balancing
15 52 (5.12%) Stakeholder Management
15 52 (5.12%) Zero Trust
16 51 (5.02%) Network Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 120 (11.81%) Python
2 65 (6.40%) PowerShell
3 38 (3.74%) Bash
4 25 (2.46%) Perl
4 25 (2.46%) SQL
5 15 (1.48%) JavaScript
6 8 (0.79%) Lisp
7 6 (0.59%) C++
8 5 (0.49%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.39%) C
10 3 (0.30%) Java
11 2 (0.20%) Korn
12 1 (0.098%) PHP
12 1 (0.098%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 430 (42.32%) Security Cleared
2 341 (33.56%) SC Cleared
3 254 (25.00%) Cisco Certification
4 209 (20.57%) CCNP
5 101 (9.94%) DV Cleared
6 97 (9.55%) CCNA
7 74 (7.28%) Degree
8 72 (7.09%) CCIE
9 24 (2.36%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.36%) ITIL Certification
10 23 (2.26%) Microsoft Certification
11 18 (1.77%) Azure Certification
11 18 (1.77%) JNCIS
12 17 (1.67%) AWS Certification
13 16 (1.57%) CISSP
14 15 (1.48%) JNCIE
14 15 (1.48%) MCSE
15 13 (1.28%) Computer Science Degree
15 13 (1.28%) JNCIA
15 13 (1.28%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (3.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 31 (3.05%) SLA
2 22 (2.17%) NIST
3 18 (1.77%) GDPR
4 16 (1.57%) PCI DSS
4 16 (1.57%) PMO
5 14 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials
6 6 (0.59%) NCSC
7 4 (0.39%) QA
8 3 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
8 3 (0.30%) HIPAA
8 3 (0.30%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.30%) RMADS
9 1 (0.098%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.098%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.098%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.098%) Def Stans
9 1 (0.098%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.098%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 155 (15.26%) VMware Infrastructure
2 125 (12.30%) Active Directory
3 81 (7.97%) VMware NSX
4 57 (5.61%) vSphere
5 35 (3.44%) VMware ESXi
6 21 (2.07%) Virtual Machines
7 20 (1.97%) Firmware
8 18 (1.77%) Docker
8 18 (1.77%) NFS
9 17 (1.67%) GPFS
10 16 (1.57%) Hyper-V
11 6 (0.59%) KVM
11 6 (0.59%) Snort
11 6 (0.59%) Virtual Servers
12 5 (0.49%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 4 (0.39%) Squid
13 4 (0.39%) vCloud
13 4 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
14 3 (0.30%) BitLocker
15 2 (0.20%) Xen
Systems Management
1 93 (9.15%) Ansible
2 67 (6.59%) FortiGate
3 54 (5.31%) vCenter Server
4 45 (4.43%) Terraform
5 36 (3.54%) vRealize
6 31 (3.05%) SCCM
7 18 (1.77%) Kubernetes
8 17 (1.67%) Microsoft Intune
9 15 (1.48%) VxRail
10 13 (1.28%) Cisco CUCM
11 11 (1.08%) WSUS
12 10 (0.98%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 10 (0.98%) Nessus
12 10 (0.98%) SCOM
13 9 (0.89%) EMC NetWorker
13 9 (0.89%) Single Sign-On
14 8 (0.79%) Grafana
15 7 (0.69%) EMC VPLEX
15 7 (0.69%) HP SiteScope
15 7 (0.69%) Nagios
Vendors
1 233 (22.93%) Palo Alto
2 189 (18.60%) VMware
3 186 (18.31%) Microsoft
4 164 (16.14%) Juniper
5 112 (11.02%) Aruba
5 112 (11.02%) SolarWinds
6 111 (10.93%) F5
7 102 (10.04%) Fortinet
8 99 (9.74%) Meraki
9 97 (9.55%) CheckPoint
10 77 (7.58%) Dell
11 69 (6.79%) ServiceNow
12 62 (6.10%) HP
13 46 (4.53%) IBM
14 44 (4.33%) Apple
14 44 (4.33%) SAP
14 44 (4.33%) Splunk
15 38 (3.74%) Zscaler
16 32 (3.15%) Oracle
16 32 (3.15%) Remedy