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 9 September 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
9 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 78 68
Rank change year-on-year -39 -10 -13
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,223 1,004 1,193
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.25% 3.07% 3.13%
As % of the Vendors category 5.36% 6.50% 7.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 807 626 717
10th Percentile £295 £300 £250
25th Percentile £400 £400 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £477 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.60% - +8.11%
75th Percentile £575 £575 £580
90th Percentile £650 £638 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £492 £500
% change year-on-year -4.93% -1.60% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 42 33
10th Percentile £26.72 - £18.80
25th Percentile £42.06 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £53.75 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +79.17% +9.09% -42.11%
75th Percentile £67.84 £58.44 £55.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £81.58 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £32.50 £43.75
% change year-on-year +69.23% -25.71% -8.21%

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 22,818 15,440 16,812
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.89% 47.16% 44.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,031 9,437 10,155
10th Percentile £313 £275 £289
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £627
90th Percentile £700 £700 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,217 780 691
10th Percentile £14.07 £14.69 £14.16
25th Percentile £16.83 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £28.00 £25.15 £31.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.33% -18.87% -27.49%
75th Percentile £63.75 £43.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £81.70 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.72 £21.28 £30.00
% change year-on-year +25.56% -29.07% -25.00%

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 9 September 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 9 September 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 9 September 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 -43 1,020 £500 - 880
UK excluding London -33 721 £468 -4.93% 588
London -43 385 £500 - 387
Work from Home -17 297 £475 - 219
North of England -2 245 £490 +3.16% 127
North West +13 170 £483 +1.68% 63
South East -67 149 £468 -9.95% 154
Midlands -40 127 £425 -16.05% 83
West Midlands -23 121 £425 -17.07% 38
Scotland +13 97 £413 -2.94% 32
Yorkshire -21 68 £500 +1.88% 48
South West -43 63 £525 -4.55% 89
East of England -17 35 £465 -10.58% 86
Wales +4 29 £390 +95.00% 19
Northern Ireland +3 8 £115 -72.12% 13
North East -43 8 £375 -31.82% 19
Channel Islands -2 3 £600 -17.24%
East Midlands -30 3 £525 +5.00% 45

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 39 (3.19%) SharePoint
2 35 (2.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (0.98%) Confluence
4 10 (0.82%) OpenStack
5 8 (0.65%) SAS
6 7 (0.57%) Apache
7 6 (0.49%) JBoss
8 5 (0.41%) IIS
9 4 (0.33%) nginx
10 3 (0.25%) CloudStack
10 3 (0.25%) Tomcat
11 2 (0.16%) CMS
11 2 (0.16%) Skype for Business
12 1 (0.082%) Apache Spark
12 1 (0.082%) FactoryTalk
12 1 (0.082%) Mendix
12 1 (0.082%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 49 (4.01%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.21%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.88%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.25%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.082%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 1 (0.082%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.082%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 251 (20.52%) Azure
2 158 (12.92%) AWS
3 103 (8.42%) Microsoft 365
4 66 (5.40%) Entra ID
5 33 (2.70%) GitHub
6 30 (2.45%) OneDrive
7 25 (2.04%) GCP
8 18 (1.47%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 18 (1.47%) OpenShift
9 17 (1.39%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (1.23%) Power Platform
11 13 (1.06%) Nutanix
12 12 (0.98%) SaaS
13 10 (0.82%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (0.65%) Azure DevOps
14 8 (0.65%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.57%) AWS Direct Connect
15 7 (0.57%) IaaS
16 6 (0.49%) Amazon EC2
16 6 (0.49%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 519 (42.44%) Firewall
2 362 (29.60%) WAN
3 309 (25.27%) BGP
4 279 (22.81%) LAN
5 266 (21.75%) VPN
6 254 (20.77%) Network Security
7 213 (17.42%) Wireless
8 195 (15.94%) OSPF
9 191 (15.62%) VLAN
10 189 (15.45%) DNS
11 146 (11.94%) SD-WAN
12 141 (11.53%) Wi-Fi
13 121 (9.89%) MPLS
14 119 (9.73%) Cisco Nexus
15 106 (8.67%) DHCP
16 97 (7.93%) TCP/IP
17 96 (7.85%) Cisco ISE
18 95 (7.77%) Cisco ASA
19 90 (7.36%) VXLAN
20 79 (6.46%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.21%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.57%) Power BI
3 6 (0.49%) Big Data
3 6 (0.49%) Hadoop
4 4 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (0.25%) MySQL
6 2 (0.16%) Metadata
6 2 (0.16%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.16%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.082%) Apache Hive
7 1 (0.082%) ClickHouse
Development Applications
1 27 (2.21%) Git
2 19 (1.55%) JIRA
3 12 (0.98%) GitLab
3 12 (0.98%) Sonatype Nexus
4 8 (0.65%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.16%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.082%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.082%) Tricentis qTest
6 1 (0.082%) Zephyr
General
1 286 (23.39%) Social Skills
2 122 (9.98%) Finance
3 121 (9.89%) Telecoms
4 97 (7.93%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (5.07%) Public Sector
6 61 (4.99%) Banking
7 60 (4.91%) Documentation Skills
8 39 (3.19%) Legal
9 22 (1.80%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (1.64%) Investment Banking
11 18 (1.47%) Retail
12 15 (1.23%) Financial Institution
13 14 (1.14%) Law
14 13 (1.06%) Military
15 11 (0.90%) Manufacturing
15 11 (0.90%) Police
16 10 (0.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 9 (0.74%) Influencing Skills
18 6 (0.49%) Marketing
19 5 (0.41%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 613 (50.12%) Network Engineer
2 182 (14.88%) Senior
3 150 (12.26%) Architect
4 149 (12.18%) Cisco Engineer
5 133 (10.87%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 129 (10.55%) Senior Network Engineer
7 87 (7.11%) Security Engineer
8 78 (6.38%) Network Architect
9 66 (5.40%) Network Security Engineer
10 60 (4.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 54 (4.42%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 42 (3.43%) Field Engineer
13 37 (3.03%) Data Network Engineer
13 37 (3.03%) Lead
13 37 (3.03%) Support Engineer
14 35 (2.86%) Telecoms Engineer
15 34 (2.78%) Analyst
15 34 (2.78%) Solutions Architect
16 28 (2.29%) Cisco Security Engineer
16 28 (2.29%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 81 (6.62%) Terraform
2 60 (4.91%) 802.1X
3 27 (2.21%) REST
4 16 (1.31%) YAML
5 14 (1.14%) JSON
6 13 (1.06%) SAML
7 9 (0.74%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.57%) Microsoft Graph
8 7 (0.57%) RESTCONF
8 7 (0.57%) XMPP
9 6 (0.49%) Flash
10 5 (0.41%) OpenConfig
10 5 (0.41%) YANG
11 4 (0.33%) LDAP
12 3 (0.25%) .NET
12 3 (0.25%) Django
12 3 (0.25%) Java RMI
12 3 (0.25%) LAMP
12 3 (0.25%) Middleware
12 3 (0.25%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 299 (24.45%) Data Centre
2 52 (4.25%) Onboarding
3 51 (4.17%) Hybrid Cloud
4 49 (4.01%) PKI
5 39 (3.19%) Driving Licence
6 37 (3.03%) Data Protection Act
7 35 (2.86%) Operational Technology
8 29 (2.37%) Video Conferencing
9 25 (2.04%) Clustering
9 25 (2.04%) Replication
10 24 (1.96%) Cloud Native
11 21 (1.72%) Public Cloud
12 20 (1.64%) Analytical Mindset
13 19 (1.55%) Management Information System
14 17 (1.39%) Enterprise Storage
14 17 (1.39%) Private Cloud
14 17 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
15 16 (1.31%) Linux Command Line
16 14 (1.14%) IoT
16 14 (1.14%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 228 (18.64%) Windows
2 123 (10.06%) Linux
3 90 (7.36%) Windows Server
4 19 (1.55%) Mac OS
5 18 (1.47%) Ubuntu
6 17 (1.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 17 (1.39%) Windows 10
7 10 (0.82%) Android
8 9 (0.74%) Unix
8 9 (0.74%) Windows Server 2012
9 8 (0.65%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.57%) AIX
10 7 (0.57%) Data ONTAP
11 6 (0.49%) CentOS
12 4 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.25%) VMS
14 1 (0.082%) Debian
14 1 (0.082%) Oracle Linux
14 1 (0.082%) Windows 7
14 1 (0.082%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 192 (15.70%) Migration
2 155 (12.67%) Project Delivery
3 140 (11.45%) ITIL
4 131 (10.71%) Problem-Solving
5 120 (9.81%) High Availability
6 115 (9.40%) Load Balancing
7 98 (8.01%) Change Management
8 97 (7.93%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 95 (7.77%) Stakeholder Management
10 91 (7.44%) Network Design
11 82 (6.70%) Continuous Improvement
11 82 (6.70%) Validation
12 81 (6.62%) Infrastructure as Code
13 75 (6.13%) Technical Leadership
14 68 (5.56%) ITSM
15 66 (5.40%) Data Protection
16 63 (5.15%) Zero Trust
17 61 (4.99%) CI/CD
17 61 (4.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 60 (4.91%) Network Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 140 (11.45%) Python
2 61 (4.99%) PowerShell
3 31 (2.53%) Bash
4 27 (2.21%) SQL
5 5 (0.41%) Java
6 4 (0.33%) C
6 4 (0.33%) C++
7 3 (0.25%) Lisp
7 3 (0.25%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.16%) Go
8 2 (0.16%) Perl
9 1 (0.082%) Bicep
9 1 (0.082%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.082%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 332 (27.15%) Cisco Certification
2 308 (25.18%) Security Cleared
3 233 (19.05%) CCNP
4 229 (18.72%) SC Cleared
5 132 (10.79%) CCNA
6 82 (6.70%) DV Cleared
7 72 (5.89%) Degree
8 63 (5.15%) CCIE
9 28 (2.29%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.88%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 20 (1.64%) MCSE
12 16 (1.31%) AWS Certification
12 16 (1.31%) Azure Certification
13 14 (1.14%) CISSP
13 14 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
13 14 (1.14%) Network+ Certification
14 13 (1.06%) BPSS Clearance
14 13 (1.06%) CCSE
15 11 (0.90%) ISTQB
15 11 (0.90%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.35%) SLA
2 25 (2.04%) NIST
3 22 (1.80%) QA
4 20 (1.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 16 (1.31%) Cyber Essentials
6 11 (0.90%) NCSC
7 8 (0.65%) PCI DSS
8 7 (0.57%) GDPR
9 5 (0.41%) Disclosure Scotland
9 5 (0.41%) JSP 440
9 5 (0.41%) PMO
10 4 (0.33%) Data Quality
11 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.25%) GRC
11 3 (0.25%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.16%) Accessibility
12 2 (0.16%) ISA99
12 2 (0.16%) ISO 31000
12 2 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 2 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 149 (12.18%) VMware Infrastructure
2 123 (10.06%) Active Directory
3 43 (3.52%) VMware NSX
3 43 (3.52%) vSphere
4 40 (3.27%) VMware ESXi
5 36 (2.94%) Hyper-V
6 33 (2.70%) Firmware
7 29 (2.37%) Virtual Machines
8 16 (1.31%) Docker
9 10 (0.82%) NFS
10 6 (0.49%) EMC RecoverPoint
10 6 (0.49%) GPFS
11 5 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
12 4 (0.33%) SRDF
12 4 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
13 3 (0.25%) Dovecot
13 3 (0.25%) FreeRADIUS
13 3 (0.25%) Postfix
14 2 (0.16%) ISA Server
14 2 (0.16%) Snort
Systems Management
1 143 (11.69%) Ansible
2 77 (6.30%) FortiGate
3 33 (2.70%) Kubernetes
4 31 (2.53%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (1.80%) Cisco CUCM
5 22 (1.80%) SCCM
6 21 (1.72%) Cisco Prime
6 21 (1.72%) vCenter Server
7 12 (0.98%) Grafana
7 12 (0.98%) Prometheus
8 8 (0.65%) Failover Clustering
8 8 (0.65%) Puppet
8 8 (0.65%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (0.65%) WMI
8 8 (0.65%) WSUS
9 7 (0.57%) EMC VPLEX
10 6 (0.49%) Red Hat Satellite
10 6 (0.49%) vRealize
11 5 (0.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.41%) Avamar
Vendors
1 267 (21.83%) Palo Alto
2 238 (19.46%) Microsoft
3 207 (16.93%) Fortinet
4 205 (16.76%) VMware
5 201 (16.43%) F5
6 133 (10.87%) Juniper
7 121 (9.89%) Meraki
8 110 (8.99%) CheckPoint
9 88 (7.20%) Aruba
10 86 (7.03%) ServiceNow
11 79 (6.46%) SolarWinds
12 72 (5.89%) Arista
13 50 (4.09%) Zscaler
14 40 (3.27%) Splunk
15 37 (3.03%) Red Hat
16 34 (2.78%) Dell
17 29 (2.37%) Nokia
18 26 (2.13%) NetApp
19 21 (1.72%) Citrix
20 20 (1.64%) Infoblox