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 11 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
11 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 119 76 67
Rank change year-on-year -43 -9 -12
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,171 1,084 1,189
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.19% 3.29% 3.05%
As % of the Vendors category 5.28% 6.97% 6.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 763 665 734
10th Percentile £300 £302 £255
25th Percentile £400 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.40% - +6.95%
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% -43.78%
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% -9.62%

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 22,171 15,556 17,017
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.51% 47.24% 43.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,699 9,514 10,605
10th Percentile £313 £280 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +1.40% -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £606 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £479 £500
% change year-on-year +4.38% -4.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,153 794 841
10th Percentile £14.85 £14.46 £13.69
25th Percentile £18.33 £17.13 £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 £48.44 £61.60
90th Percentile £83.54 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.00 £21.39 £28.00
% change year-on-year +49.60% -23.61% -19.42%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 -49 993 £500 - 750
UK excluding London -45 697 £475 -5.00% 606
London -52 360 £500 - 266
Work from Home -25 289 £475 -2.51% 156
North of England -26 229 £497 +2.43% 159
South East -48 167 £500 -4.76% 148
North West -1 166 £485 +2.11% 77
Midlands -35 130 £425 -18.27% 77
West Midlands -28 124 £420 -18.45% 39
Scotland +25 92 £419 -1.47% 36
Yorkshire -56 59 £500 +0.81% 58
South West -53 54 £500 -9.09% 91
East of England -16 35 £500 -9.09% 66
Wales -8 16 £468 +49.60% 26
Northern Ireland +9 7 £110 -68.71% 13
North East -43 5 £388 +19.23% 25
East Midlands -31 3 £525 -4.55% 38
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 (1.02%) 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
1 239 (20.41%) Azure
2 149 (12.72%) AWS
3 82 (7.00%) Microsoft 365
4 57 (4.87%) Entra ID
5 25 (2.13%) GitHub
6 24 (2.05%) OneDrive
7 21 (1.79%) GCP
8 20 (1.71%) OpenShift
9 19 (1.62%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 18 (1.54%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 13 (1.11%) Nutanix
12 11 (0.94%) SaaS
13 10 (0.85%) Azure DevOps
13 10 (0.85%) Power Platform
14 9 (0.77%) Azure Sentinel
15 7 (0.60%) Cloudflare
15 7 (0.60%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.60%) IaaS
15 7 (0.60%) Rubrik
16 6 (0.51%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 522 (44.58%) Firewall
2 366 (31.26%) WAN
3 308 (26.30%) BGP
4 291 (24.85%) LAN
5 263 (22.46%) VPN
6 247 (21.09%) Network Security
7 213 (18.19%) OSPF
8 203 (17.34%) Wireless
9 199 (16.99%) DNS
10 179 (15.29%) VLAN
11 149 (12.72%) SD-WAN
12 131 (11.19%) MPLS
13 120 (10.25%) Wi-Fi
14 115 (9.82%) DHCP
15 113 (9.65%) Cisco Nexus
16 110 (9.39%) Cisco ISE
17 103 (8.80%) VXLAN
18 94 (8.03%) TCP/IP
19 87 (7.43%) Cisco ASA
20 86 (7.34%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (2.13%) 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 (2.13%) Git
2 22 (1.88%) JIRA
3 13 (1.11%) 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
1 279 (23.83%) Social Skills
2 108 (9.22%) Finance
3 98 (8.37%) Telecoms
4 91 (7.77%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (5.29%) Banking
5 62 (5.29%) Public Sector
6 54 (4.61%) Documentation Skills
7 36 (3.07%) 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 8 (0.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 6 (0.51%) Marketing
18 5 (0.43%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 581 (49.62%) Network Engineer
2 162 (13.83%) Senior
3 137 (11.70%) Architect
4 129 (11.02%) Cisco Engineer
5 119 (10.16%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 112 (9.56%) Senior Network Engineer
7 85 (7.26%) Security Engineer
8 75 (6.40%) Network Architect
9 68 (5.81%) Network Security Engineer
10 56 (4.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 48 (4.10%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 40 (3.42%) Data Network Engineer
13 35 (2.99%) Field Engineer
14 34 (2.90%) Analyst
15 32 (2.73%) Cisco Security Engineer
15 32 (2.73%) Data Engineer
16 30 (2.56%) Network Specialist
17 28 (2.39%) Telecoms Engineer
18 27 (2.31%) Automation Engineer
18 27 (2.31%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 78 (6.66%) 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%) .NET Core
Miscellaneous
1 278 (23.74%) Data Centre
2 60 (5.12%) PKI
3 50 (4.27%) Hybrid Cloud
4 42 (3.59%) Clustering
5 40 (3.42%) Onboarding
6 37 (3.16%) Data Protection Act
7 35 (2.99%) Operational Technology
8 33 (2.82%) Driving Licence
9 32 (2.73%) Replication
10 31 (2.65%) Video Conferencing
11 20 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
12 19 (1.62%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.54%) Enterprise Storage
13 18 (1.54%) Linux Command Line
14 17 (1.45%) Public Cloud
15 16 (1.37%) SCADA
16 15 (1.28%) EMC VMAX
16 15 (1.28%) Self-Motivation
17 14 (1.20%) Security Posture
18 12 (1.02%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 220 (18.79%) Windows
2 127 (10.85%) Linux
3 76 (6.49%) Windows Server
4 17 (1.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 17 (1.45%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.37%) Ubuntu
5 16 (1.37%) Unix
6 10 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (0.77%) AIX
7 9 (0.77%) Android
7 9 (0.77%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (0.43%) Data ONTAP
10 4 (0.34%) CentOS
10 4 (0.34%) VMS
10 4 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.085%) CatOS
11 1 (0.085%) Check Point GAiA
11 1 (0.085%) Debian
11 1 (0.085%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 177 (15.12%) Migration
2 137 (11.70%) Problem-Solving
3 135 (11.53%) ITIL
4 132 (11.27%) Load Balancing
4 132 (11.27%) Project Delivery
5 125 (10.67%) High Availability
6 96 (8.20%) Change Management
7 91 (7.77%) Network Design
8 84 (7.17%) Continuous Improvement
9 82 (7.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 80 (6.83%) ITSM
11 73 (6.23%) Stakeholder Management
12 69 (5.89%) Infrastructure as Code
12 69 (5.89%) Technical Leadership
13 67 (5.72%) CI/CD
14 63 (5.38%) Network Monitoring
15 62 (5.29%) Validation
16 57 (4.87%) Service Management
16 57 (4.87%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 55 (4.70%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 134 (11.44%) 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
1 334 (28.52%) Cisco Certification
2 303 (25.88%) Security Cleared
3 231 (19.73%) CCNP
4 207 (17.68%) SC Cleared
5 136 (11.61%) CCNA
6 91 (7.77%) DV Cleared
7 68 (5.81%) Degree
8 61 (5.21%) CCIE
9 26 (2.22%) Microsoft Certification
10 23 (1.96%) 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%) CCSE
17 10 (0.85%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (3.93%) SLA
2 29 (2.48%) NIST
3 20 (1.71%) QA
4 19 (1.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 17 (1.45%) Cyber Essentials
6 15 (1.28%) NCSC
7 6 (0.51%) Disclosure Scotland
7 6 (0.51%) PMO
8 5 (0.43%) GDPR
8 5 (0.43%) JSP 440
8 5 (0.43%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.34%) Data Quality
10 3 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (0.26%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.17%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.17%) ISA99
12 1 (0.085%) GRC
12 1 (0.085%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 142 (12.13%) VMware Infrastructure
2 111 (9.48%) 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 9 (0.77%) GPFS
9 9 (0.77%) SRDF
10 6 (0.51%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 5 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
11 5 (0.43%) Virtual Servers
12 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
12 3 (0.26%) FreeRADIUS
12 3 (0.26%) Postfix
13 2 (0.17%) Snort
13 2 (0.17%) UAG
Systems Management
1 139 (11.87%) Ansible
2 97 (8.28%) FortiGate
3 70 (5.98%) Terraform
4 30 (2.56%) Kubernetes
5 29 (2.48%) Microsoft Intune
6 21 (1.79%) Grafana
6 21 (1.79%) SCCM
7 19 (1.62%) Cisco CUCM
8 18 (1.54%) Prometheus
8 18 (1.54%) vCenter Server
9 17 (1.45%) Cisco Prime
10 10 (0.85%) Single Sign-On
11 9 (0.77%) Puppet
11 9 (0.77%) vRealize
12 8 (0.68%) WMI
12 8 (0.68%) WSUS
13 7 (0.60%) EMC VPLEX
13 7 (0.60%) Failover Clustering
13 7 (0.60%) Nagios
14 6 (0.51%) VxRail
Vendors
1 259 (22.12%) Palo Alto
2 229 (19.56%) F5
3 212 (18.10%) Microsoft
4 206 (17.59%) Fortinet
5 200 (17.08%) VMware
6 155 (13.24%) Juniper
7 100 (8.54%) CheckPoint
8 99 (8.45%) ServiceNow
9 97 (8.28%) Meraki
9 97 (8.28%) SolarWinds
10 92 (7.86%) Aruba
11 72 (6.15%) Arista
12 60 (5.12%) Splunk
13 52 (4.44%) Zscaler
14 35 (2.99%) Dell
15 33 (2.82%) Red Hat
16 28 (2.39%) Extreme Networks
17 25 (2.13%) Infoblox
18 23 (1.96%) Citrix
18 23 (1.96%) Nokia