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 12 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
12 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 94 59 56
Rank change year-on-year -35 -3 +36
Contract jobs citing Cisco 988 1,123 1,552
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.73% 3.56% 3.61%
As % of the Vendors category 5.90% 7.79% 8.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 670 680 921
10th Percentile £263 £300 £252
25th Percentile £362 £404 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.10% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £550 £580 £595
90th Percentile £609 £650 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £475
% change year-on-year - - +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 23 91
10th Percentile £21.46 £15.80 £14.16
25th Percentile £25.15 £19.25 £23.31
Median hourly rate £65.00 £22.50 £34.00
Median % change year-on-year +188.87% -33.82% +32.24%
75th Percentile £74.26 £62.50 £65.98
90th Percentile £92.25 £75.00 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £20.38 £43.90
% change year-on-year +264.47% -53.59% +61.04%

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 16,759 14,424 19,000
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 46.24% 45.77% 44.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,764 8,535 12,034
10th Percentile £300 £285 £253
25th Percentile £411 £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 £700 £713 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £496 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -0.88% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 793 422 684
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.96 £19.60 £17.75
Median hourly rate £23.83 £27.13 £43.79
Median % change year-on-year -12.17% -38.06% +60.71%
75th Percentile £47.50 £60.00 £63.29
90th Percentile £74.26 £79.75 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.50 £24.83 £44.50
% change year-on-year -13.41% -44.20% +80.27%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -40 817 £481 -3.75% 636
UK excluding London -17 663 £475 - 613
Work from Home -22 269 £450 -11.33% 270
London -62 240 £475 -8.65% 136
South East -6 198 £500 -0.50% 193
Midlands +3 148 £380 -18.50% 90
North of England -55 144 £475 - 117
West Midlands +11 128 £380 -20.00% 43
North West -21 107 £481 -1.79% 54
Scotland +43 79 £425 +13.33% 30
South West -51 46 £550 +16.40% 75
East of England -15 30 £445 +11.25% 91
Yorkshire -62 29 £450 +5.88% 48
East Midlands -20 19 £158 -58.00% 46
Wales +4 17 £170 -56.83% 25
Northern Ireland +6 12 £475 - 12
North East -5 10 £175 -64.10% 16

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 51 (5.16%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 21 (2.13%) Confluence
4 20 (2.02%) Apache
5 14 (1.42%) Skype for Business
5 14 (1.42%) WebLogic
6 8 (0.81%) OpenStack
7 7 (0.71%) Appian
7 7 (0.71%) Mattermost
8 5 (0.51%) IIS
8 5 (0.51%) SharePoint Server
9 3 (0.30%) WebSphere
10 2 (0.20%) CICS
10 2 (0.20%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.10%) Exchange Server 2010
11 1 (0.10%) Exchange Server 2013
11 1 (0.10%) JBoss
11 1 (0.10%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 75 (7.59%) Microsoft Office
2 39 (3.95%) MS Visio
3 21 (2.13%) Microsoft Excel
4 15 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.51%) Acrobat
5 5 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.10%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.10%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 20 (2.02%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.30%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.10%) Actimize
3 1 (0.10%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 171 (17.31%) Azure
2 150 (15.18%) AWS
3 91 (9.21%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (4.25%) GCP
5 32 (3.24%) Entra ID
6 19 (1.92%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 15 (1.52%) Azure Monitor
8 14 (1.42%) Datadog
9 12 (1.21%) SaaS
10 11 (1.11%) AWS CloudFormation
10 11 (1.11%) Azure Sentinel
11 10 (1.01%) AWS Lambda
11 10 (1.01%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 10 (1.01%) OpenShift
11 10 (1.01%) Serverless
12 7 (0.71%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 7 (0.71%) GitHub
12 7 (0.71%) IaaS
12 7 (0.71%) Mimecast
12 7 (0.71%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 393 (39.78%) Firewall
2 266 (26.92%) WAN
3 196 (19.84%) VPN
4 185 (18.72%) LAN
5 166 (16.80%) BGP
6 150 (15.18%) Wireless
7 149 (15.08%) Network Security
8 129 (13.06%) SD-WAN
9 122 (12.35%) OSPF
10 102 (10.32%) DNS
11 88 (8.91%) MPLS
12 87 (8.81%) VLAN
13 78 (7.89%) Cisco ISE
14 72 (7.29%) Wi-Fi
15 69 (6.98%) Cisco IOS
16 66 (6.68%) IPsec
17 65 (6.58%) TCP/IP
18 64 (6.48%) Cisco Nexus
19 55 (5.57%) DHCP
20 50 (5.06%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.11%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.51%) DynamoDB
2 5 (0.51%) Power BI
3 3 (0.30%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.20%) MariaDB
4 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.10%) Metadata
5 1 (0.10%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 23 (2.33%) JIRA
2 16 (1.62%) GitLab
3 12 (1.21%) Sonatype Nexus
4 9 (0.91%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.81%) Git
5 8 (0.81%) Robot Framework
6 7 (0.71%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.71%) Selenium
6 7 (0.71%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.20%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.10%) Bitbucket
General
1 231 (23.38%) Social Skills
2 167 (16.90%) Public Sector
3 136 (13.77%) Finance
4 123 (12.45%) Telecoms
5 76 (7.69%) Analytical Skills
6 63 (6.38%) Manufacturing
7 51 (5.16%) Documentation Skills
8 45 (4.55%) Electronics
8 45 (4.55%) Marketing
9 41 (4.15%) Banking
10 36 (3.64%) Legal
11 14 (1.42%) Organisational Skills
11 14 (1.42%) Presentation Skills
12 13 (1.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 11 (1.11%) Aerospace
13 11 (1.11%) Investment Banking
14 6 (0.61%) Influencing Skills
14 6 (0.61%) Law
14 6 (0.61%) Military
14 6 (0.61%) Retail
Job Titles
1 351 (35.53%) Network Engineer
2 117 (11.84%) Architect
3 78 (7.89%) Network Architect
4 76 (7.69%) Cisco Engineer
5 64 (6.48%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 63 (6.38%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 61 (6.17%) Senior
8 56 (5.67%) Analyst
8 56 (5.67%) Consultant
9 53 (5.36%) IT Support
10 47 (4.76%) Network Consultant
10 47 (4.76%) Support Engineer
11 44 (4.45%) Security Engineer
12 38 (3.85%) Desktop Support
13 35 (3.54%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
14 32 (3.24%) Senior Network Engineer
15 30 (3.04%) Network Security Engineer
15 30 (3.04%) Solutions Architect
16 27 (2.73%) 3rd Line Engineer
17 26 (2.63%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (3.74%) 802.1X
2 16 (1.62%) XMPP
3 14 (1.42%) Flash
4 12 (1.21%) Jinja
5 11 (1.11%) JSON
5 11 (1.11%) NETCONF
5 11 (1.11%) YANG
6 9 (0.91%) RFC 2544
6 9 (0.91%) XML
7 8 (0.81%) LDAP
8 5 (0.51%) Node.js
9 4 (0.40%) HTML
9 4 (0.40%) REST
9 4 (0.40%) VML
10 3 (0.30%) OpenConfig
10 3 (0.30%) SAML
11 2 (0.20%) CSS
11 2 (0.20%) Middleware
11 2 (0.20%) Regular Expression
11 2 (0.20%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 251 (25.40%) Data Centre
2 37 (3.74%) PKI
3 30 (3.04%) Linux Command Line
4 27 (2.73%) Data Protection Act
4 27 (2.73%) Hybrid Cloud
4 27 (2.73%) Replication
5 26 (2.63%) Cloud Native
6 25 (2.53%) Onboarding
7 24 (2.43%) Driving Licence
8 23 (2.33%) Operational Technology
9 16 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
10 13 (1.32%) NHS
10 13 (1.32%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.21%) Fibre Optics
11 12 (1.21%) Product Ownership
11 12 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
12 11 (1.11%) CMDB
13 10 (1.01%) Management Information System
14 9 (0.91%) Clustering
14 9 (0.91%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 179 (18.12%) Windows
2 111 (11.23%) Linux
3 74 (7.49%) Windows Server
4 60 (6.07%) Mac OS
5 55 (5.57%) Android
6 36 (3.64%) Windows 10
7 23 (2.33%) Unix
8 20 (2.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (0.61%) Solaris
9 6 (0.61%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.40%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.30%) VMS
11 3 (0.30%) Windows 7
11 3 (0.30%) Windows 8
11 3 (0.30%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.20%) CatOS
12 2 (0.20%) CentOS
12 2 (0.20%) zOS
13 1 (0.10%) MVS
13 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 127 (12.85%) Problem-Solving
2 124 (12.55%) Migration
3 82 (8.30%) Network Design
4 80 (8.10%) Service Management
5 79 (8.00%) Agile
5 79 (8.00%) ITIL
6 77 (7.79%) Roadmaps
7 75 (7.59%) Project Delivery
8 74 (7.49%) ITSM
9 66 (6.68%) Business Intelligence
10 64 (6.48%) High Availability
10 64 (6.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 62 (6.28%) Network Architecture
12 59 (5.97%) Change Management
12 59 (5.97%) Cybersecurity
13 54 (5.47%) Collaborative Working
13 54 (5.47%) Continuous Improvement
14 53 (5.36%) Incident Response
15 52 (5.26%) Load Balancing
16 50 (5.06%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 116 (11.74%) Python
2 61 (6.17%) PowerShell
3 39 (3.95%) Bash
4 32 (3.24%) SQL
5 23 (2.33%) Perl
6 15 (1.52%) JavaScript
7 8 (0.81%) Lisp
8 6 (0.61%) C++
9 5 (0.51%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.30%) Java
11 2 (0.20%) C
12 1 (0.10%) Go
12 1 (0.10%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 432 (43.72%) Security Cleared
2 343 (34.72%) SC Cleared
3 253 (25.61%) Cisco Certification
4 206 (20.85%) CCNP
5 100 (10.12%) DV Cleared
6 94 (9.51%) CCNA
7 75 (7.59%) Degree
8 68 (6.88%) CCIE
9 25 (2.53%) ITIL Certification
10 24 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
11 23 (2.33%) BPSS Clearance
12 18 (1.82%) AWS Certification
12 18 (1.82%) Azure Certification
13 17 (1.72%) JNCIE
14 16 (1.62%) JNCIS
15 15 (1.52%) CISSP
16 13 (1.32%) CCDP
16 13 (1.32%) CCSE
16 13 (1.32%) Computer Science Degree
16 13 (1.32%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (3.44%) SLA
2 28 (2.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (2.13%) GDPR
4 19 (1.92%) NIST
5 16 (1.62%) PCI DSS
6 15 (1.52%) PMO
7 14 (1.42%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (0.40%) NCSC
8 4 (0.40%) QA
9 3 (0.30%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
10 2 (0.20%) JSP 440
11 1 (0.10%) COBIT
11 1 (0.10%) Def Stans
11 1 (0.10%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.10%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 1 (0.10%) JTAG
11 1 (0.10%) MiFID
11 1 (0.10%) RMADS
System Software
1 134 (13.56%) VMware Infrastructure
2 122 (12.35%) Active Directory
3 67 (6.78%) VMware NSX
4 44 (4.45%) vSphere
5 25 (2.53%) VMware ESXi
6 20 (2.02%) Firmware
7 18 (1.82%) Docker
8 16 (1.62%) Hyper-V
9 15 (1.52%) NFS
9 15 (1.52%) Virtual Machines
10 14 (1.42%) GPFS
11 7 (0.71%) Virtual Servers
12 6 (0.61%) KVM
12 6 (0.61%) Snort
13 5 (0.51%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 4 (0.40%) Squid
15 3 (0.30%) BitLocker
16 2 (0.20%) vCloud
16 2 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
16 2 (0.20%) Xen
Systems Management
1 85 (8.60%) Ansible
2 65 (6.58%) FortiGate
3 47 (4.76%) vCenter Server
4 45 (4.55%) Terraform
5 30 (3.04%) vRealize
6 29 (2.94%) SCCM
7 19 (1.92%) Microsoft Intune
8 18 (1.82%) Kubernetes
9 14 (1.42%) VxRail
10 13 (1.32%) Cisco CUCM
11 11 (1.11%) WSUS
12 10 (1.01%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 9 (0.91%) EMC NetWorker
13 9 (0.91%) Nessus
14 8 (0.81%) SCOM
15 7 (0.71%) EMC VPLEX
15 7 (0.71%) HP SiteScope
15 7 (0.71%) Nagios
16 6 (0.61%) Single Sign-On
17 5 (0.51%) Cisco Prime
Vendors
1 220 (22.27%) Palo Alto
2 180 (18.22%) Microsoft
3 166 (16.80%) Juniper
4 163 (16.50%) VMware
5 107 (10.83%) SolarWinds
6 106 (10.73%) Fortinet
7 104 (10.53%) Aruba
8 101 (10.22%) F5
9 95 (9.62%) CheckPoint
10 93 (9.41%) Meraki
11 76 (7.69%) Dell
12 69 (6.98%) ServiceNow
13 64 (6.48%) HP
14 49 (4.96%) Splunk
15 46 (4.66%) Apple
16 45 (4.55%) SAP
17 38 (3.85%) IBM
17 38 (3.85%) Oracle
17 38 (3.85%) Zscaler
18 36 (3.64%) AppDynamics