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 10 August 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
10 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 119 74 66
Rank change year-on-year -45 -8 -10
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,170 1,096 1,179
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.19% 3.31% 3.04%
As % of the Vendors category 5.28% 6.99% 6.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 766 673 734
10th Percentile £300 £301 £255
25th Percentile £400 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £479 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.20% - +5.54%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £581
90th Percentile £642 £638 £655
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 37 33
10th Percentile £26.98 £25.09 £15.43
25th Percentile £42.68 £25.15 £22.40
Median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +83.33% +9.09% -45.00%
75th Percentile £72.87 £57.50 £55.00
90th Percentile £78.70 £85.65 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year +83.33% -40.00% -11.75%

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 22,146 15,674 16,938
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.52% 47.28% 43.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,674 9,588 10,606
10th Percentile £313 £280 £287
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £506 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +1.25% -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £606 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.28% -4.10% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,158 798 841
10th Percentile £14.94 £14.50 £13.69
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £32.50 £25.15 £29.00
Median % change year-on-year +29.22% -13.28% -30.12%
75th Percentile £65.00 £48.75 £61.60
90th Percentile £83.36 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.00 £21.39 £28.00
% change year-on-year +49.60% -23.61% -18.84%

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 10 August 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 10 August 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 10 August 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 -49 994 £500 - 989
UK excluding London -44 692 £475 -5.00% 695
London -52 363 £500 - 431
Work from Home -16 286 £475 -1.55% 229
North of England -24 226 £499 +2.84% 182
South East -51 169 £500 -4.76% 171
North West -4 165 £485 +2.11% 95
Midlands -35 127 £423 -18.75% 87
West Midlands -23 121 £416 -19.17% 45
Scotland +29 91 £419 -1.47% 49
Yorkshire -56 58 £500 - 63
South West -61 54 £500 -9.09% 104
East of England -13 35 £500 -9.09% 75
Wales -15 16 £468 +16.88% 24
Northern Ireland +9 7 £110 -68.71% 15
North East -44 4 £425 +30.77% 24
East Midlands -29 3 £525 -4.55% 42
Channel Islands +1 1 £550 -24.14%

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 31 (2.65%) SharePoint
2 27 (2.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.03%) Confluence
4 10 (0.85%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.60%) Apache
6 5 (0.43%) JBoss
7 3 (0.26%) CloudStack
7 3 (0.26%) IIS
7 3 (0.26%) nginx
7 3 (0.26%) SAS
7 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.17%) CMS
9 1 (0.085%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.085%) FactoryTalk
9 1 (0.085%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 46 (3.93%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (2.22%) MS Visio
3 24 (2.05%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.26%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.085%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 2 (0.17%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 238 (20.34%) Azure
2 149 (12.74%) AWS
3 82 (7.01%) Microsoft 365
4 58 (4.96%) Entra ID
5 25 (2.14%) GitHub
6 24 (2.05%) OneDrive
7 23 (1.97%) GCP
8 21 (1.79%) OpenShift
9 18 (1.54%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 17 (1.45%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 14 (1.20%) Nutanix
12 12 (1.03%) SaaS
13 10 (0.85%) Azure DevOps
13 10 (0.85%) Azure Sentinel
13 10 (0.85%) Power Platform
14 8 (0.68%) IaaS
15 7 (0.60%) Cloudflare
15 7 (0.60%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.60%) Rubrik
16 6 (0.51%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 519 (44.36%) Firewall
2 362 (30.94%) WAN
3 308 (26.32%) BGP
4 288 (24.62%) LAN
5 260 (22.22%) VPN
6 244 (20.85%) Network Security
7 214 (18.29%) OSPF
8 205 (17.52%) Wireless
9 198 (16.92%) DNS
10 178 (15.21%) VLAN
11 147 (12.56%) SD-WAN
12 129 (11.03%) MPLS
13 119 (10.17%) Wi-Fi
14 114 (9.74%) Cisco Nexus
14 114 (9.74%) DHCP
15 112 (9.57%) Cisco ISE
16 102 (8.72%) VXLAN
17 93 (7.95%) TCP/IP
18 86 (7.35%) Cisco ASA
19 83 (7.09%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (2.14%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.43%) Big Data
2 5 (0.43%) Hadoop
3 4 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.26%) MySQL
4 3 (0.26%) Power BI
5 2 (0.17%) Metadata
5 2 (0.17%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.085%) Apache Hive
6 1 (0.085%) ClickHouse
Development Applications
1 25 (2.14%) Git
2 23 (1.97%) JIRA
3 14 (1.20%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (0.94%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.60%) GitLab
6 1 (0.085%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.085%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.085%) Tricentis qTest
6 1 (0.085%) Zephyr
General
1 278 (23.76%) Social Skills
2 108 (9.23%) Finance
3 96 (8.21%) Telecoms
4 91 (7.78%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (5.30%) Banking
5 62 (5.30%) Public Sector
6 54 (4.62%) Documentation Skills
7 35 (2.99%) Legal
8 22 (1.88%) Financial Institution
8 22 (1.88%) Organisational Skills
9 19 (1.62%) Investment Banking
10 17 (1.45%) Law
11 16 (1.37%) Military
12 15 (1.28%) Retail
13 11 (0.94%) Police
14 10 (0.85%) Manufacturing
15 9 (0.77%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 6 (0.51%) Marketing
18 5 (0.43%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 578 (49.40%) Network Engineer
2 162 (13.85%) Senior
3 137 (11.71%) Architect
4 128 (10.94%) Cisco Engineer
5 118 (10.09%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 111 (9.49%) Senior Network Engineer
7 84 (7.18%) Security Engineer
8 76 (6.50%) Network Architect
9 67 (5.73%) Network Security Engineer
10 56 (4.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 47 (4.02%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 40 (3.42%) Data Network Engineer
13 34 (2.91%) Analyst
13 34 (2.91%) Field Engineer
14 32 (2.74%) Cisco Security Engineer
14 32 (2.74%) Data Engineer
15 30 (2.56%) Network Specialist
16 27 (2.31%) Automation Engineer
16 27 (2.31%) Lead
16 27 (2.31%) Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 79 (6.75%) 802.1X
2 18 (1.54%) REST
3 14 (1.20%) SAML
4 9 (0.77%) Flash
4 9 (0.77%) NETCONF
5 8 (0.68%) XMPP
6 7 (0.60%) JSON
6 7 (0.60%) OpenConfig
6 7 (0.60%) RESTCONF
6 7 (0.60%) YAML
6 7 (0.60%) YANG
7 6 (0.51%) Jinja
8 4 (0.34%) LDAP
9 3 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
9 3 (0.26%) Java RMI
9 3 (0.26%) LAMP
9 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
9 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
9 3 (0.26%) Middleware
10 2 (0.17%) Blazor
Miscellaneous
1 280 (23.93%) Data Centre
2 60 (5.13%) PKI
3 51 (4.36%) Hybrid Cloud
4 42 (3.59%) Clustering
5 40 (3.42%) Onboarding
6 37 (3.16%) Data Protection Act
7 34 (2.91%) Replication
8 33 (2.82%) Driving Licence
8 33 (2.82%) Operational Technology
9 31 (2.65%) Video Conferencing
10 21 (1.79%) Enterprise Storage
11 20 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
12 19 (1.62%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.54%) EMC VMAX
13 18 (1.54%) Linux Command Line
14 17 (1.45%) Public Cloud
15 15 (1.28%) SCADA
15 15 (1.28%) Self-Motivation
16 14 (1.20%) Security Posture
17 12 (1.03%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 220 (18.80%) Windows
2 130 (11.11%) Linux
3 75 (6.41%) Windows Server
4 18 (1.54%) Unix
5 17 (1.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.45%) Windows 10
6 16 (1.37%) Ubuntu
7 10 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
8 9 (0.77%) AIX
8 9 (0.77%) Android
8 9 (0.77%) Mac OS
9 7 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.43%) Data ONTAP
10 5 (0.43%) VMS
11 4 (0.34%) CentOS
11 4 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.085%) CatOS
12 1 (0.085%) Check Point GAiA
12 1 (0.085%) Debian
12 1 (0.085%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (15.47%) Migration
2 136 (11.62%) Problem-Solving
3 134 (11.45%) ITIL
4 133 (11.37%) Load Balancing
5 131 (11.20%) Project Delivery
6 124 (10.60%) High Availability
7 96 (8.21%) Change Management
8 89 (7.61%) Network Design
9 82 (7.01%) Continuous Improvement
9 82 (7.01%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 80 (6.84%) ITSM
11 71 (6.07%) Stakeholder Management
12 69 (5.90%) Technical Leadership
13 68 (5.81%) Infrastructure as Code
14 67 (5.73%) CI/CD
15 63 (5.38%) Network Monitoring
15 63 (5.38%) Validation
16 56 (4.79%) Service Management
16 56 (4.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 54 (4.62%) Agile
Programming Languages
1 139 (11.88%) Python
2 57 (4.87%) PowerShell
3 30 (2.56%) Bash
4 24 (2.05%) SQL
5 5 (0.43%) Shell Script
6 4 (0.34%) C
6 4 (0.34%) Java
7 3 (0.26%) C++
7 3 (0.26%) Lisp
8 2 (0.17%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.17%) Perl
9 1 (0.085%) Bicep
9 1 (0.085%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 336 (28.72%) Cisco Certification
2 305 (26.07%) Security Cleared
3 233 (19.91%) CCNP
4 207 (17.69%) SC Cleared
5 136 (11.62%) CCNA
6 94 (8.03%) DV Cleared
7 68 (5.81%) Degree
8 61 (5.21%) CCIE
9 27 (2.31%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.97%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 22 (1.88%) Network+ Certification
12 19 (1.62%) MCSE
13 17 (1.45%) Azure Certification
13 17 (1.45%) Server+ Certification
14 15 (1.28%) BPSS Clearance
15 13 (1.11%) Computer Science Degree
15 13 (1.11%) JNCIP
15 13 (1.11%) JNCIS
16 11 (0.94%) AWS Certification
16 11 (0.94%) CCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (3.93%) SLA
2 29 (2.48%) NIST
3 20 (1.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 20 (1.71%) QA
4 17 (1.45%) Cyber Essentials
5 16 (1.37%) NCSC
6 6 (0.51%) Disclosure Scotland
6 6 (0.51%) PMO
7 5 (0.43%) GDPR
7 5 (0.43%) JSP 440
7 5 (0.43%) PCI DSS
8 4 (0.34%) Data Quality
9 3 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 3 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 3 (0.26%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.17%) Accessibility
10 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.17%) ISA99
11 1 (0.085%) GRC
11 1 (0.085%) GxP
System Software
1 142 (12.14%) VMware Infrastructure
2 112 (9.57%) Active Directory
3 41 (3.50%) VMware ESXi
3 41 (3.50%) VMware NSX
3 41 (3.50%) vSphere
4 31 (2.65%) Firmware
5 29 (2.48%) Virtual Machines
6 28 (2.39%) Hyper-V
7 14 (1.20%) Docker
8 13 (1.11%) NFS
9 12 (1.03%) SRDF
10 9 (0.77%) GPFS
11 6 (0.51%) EMC RecoverPoint
12 5 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
12 5 (0.43%) Virtual Servers
13 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
13 3 (0.26%) Postfix
14 2 (0.17%) FreeRADIUS
14 2 (0.17%) Snort
14 2 (0.17%) UAG
Systems Management
1 140 (11.97%) Ansible
2 95 (8.12%) FortiGate
3 70 (5.98%) Terraform
4 30 (2.56%) Kubernetes
5 29 (2.48%) Microsoft Intune
6 22 (1.88%) Grafana
7 21 (1.79%) SCCM
8 20 (1.71%) Cisco CUCM
8 20 (1.71%) Prometheus
9 18 (1.54%) vCenter Server
10 17 (1.45%) Cisco Prime
11 10 (0.85%) Single Sign-On
12 9 (0.77%) Puppet
12 9 (0.77%) vRealize
13 8 (0.68%) WMI
13 8 (0.68%) WSUS
14 7 (0.60%) EMC VPLEX
14 7 (0.60%) Failover Clustering
14 7 (0.60%) Nagios
15 6 (0.51%) VxRail
Vendors
1 262 (22.39%) Palo Alto
2 231 (19.74%) F5
3 210 (17.95%) Microsoft
4 202 (17.26%) Fortinet
5 200 (17.09%) VMware
6 158 (13.50%) Juniper
7 102 (8.72%) CheckPoint
8 100 (8.55%) ServiceNow
9 97 (8.29%) Meraki
10 96 (8.21%) SolarWinds
11 94 (8.03%) Aruba
12 74 (6.32%) Arista
13 60 (5.13%) Splunk
14 53 (4.53%) Zscaler
15 38 (3.25%) Dell
16 34 (2.91%) Red Hat
17 29 (2.48%) Extreme Networks
18 25 (2.14%) Infoblox
19 24 (2.05%) Brocade
19 24 (2.05%) EMC