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 28 June 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
28 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 113 66 69
Rank change year-on-year -47 +3 -12
Contract jobs citing Cisco 1,153 1,117 1,313
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.26% 3.66% 3.02%
As % of the Vendors category 5.53% 7.71% 7.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 790 685 794
10th Percentile £300 £304 £250
25th Percentile £400 £408 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £574 £588 £575
90th Percentile £638 £650 £663
UK excluding London median daily rate £477 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -4.60% +5.26% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 29 40
10th Percentile £26.72 £24.66 £16.00
25th Percentile £34.44 £25.15 £23.04
Median hourly rate £53.75 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +79.17% +9.09% -45.00%
75th Percentile £68.88 £43.25 £46.39
90th Percentile £76.50 £62.11 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £30.00 £41.95
% change year-on-year +83.33% -28.48% -12.30%

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 20,855 14,480 18,581
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 40.89% 47.40% 42.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,032 8,882 11,532
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £402 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year - -2.91% -1.90%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £715 £735
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,076 682 1,159
10th Percentile £15.75 £14.84 £12.26
25th Percentile £19.03 £17.30 £14.71
Median hourly rate £33.99 £25.15 £24.19
Median % change year-on-year +35.15% +3.97% -41.06%
75th Percentile £62.25 £53.75 £59.95
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £23.00 £23.58
% change year-on-year +41.30% -2.46% -27.45%

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 28 June 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 28 June 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 28 June 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 -52 970 £482 -3.58% 598
UK excluding London -41 709 £477 -4.60% 593
London -62 318 £500 - 146
Work from Home -38 291 £463 -7.50% 127
North of England -35 214 £483 -1.83% 142
South East -29 188 £500 - 151
North West -9 165 £482 +1.50% 68
Midlands -29 136 £413 -21.43% 77
West Midlands -20 129 £407 -22.43% 45
Scotland +26 87 £450 +12.50% 35
South West -69 54 £525 -4.55% 75
Yorkshire -66 46 £490 -2.00% 52
East of England -20 36 £500 +0.50% 76
Wales -21 19 £468 +61.21% 23
Northern Ireland +8 10 £175 -50.00% 23
East Midlands -32 4 £458 -3.68% 32
North East -39 4 £425 +30.77% 22
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 27 (2.34%) SharePoint
2 22 (1.91%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.04%) Confluence
4 8 (0.69%) Apache
5 7 (0.61%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.35%) IIS
7 3 (0.26%) CloudStack
7 3 (0.26%) nginx
7 3 (0.26%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.17%) CMS
9 1 (0.087%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.087%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 47 (4.08%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (2.69%) MS Visio
3 26 (2.25%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (0.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.17%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 6 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 215 (18.65%) Azure
2 148 (12.84%) AWS
3 70 (6.07%) Microsoft 365
4 41 (3.56%) Entra ID
5 21 (1.82%) GCP
6 16 (1.39%) GitHub
6 16 (1.39%) OpenShift
7 15 (1.30%) Nutanix
7 15 (1.30%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 14 (1.21%) OneDrive
8 14 (1.21%) SaaS
9 13 (1.13%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.13%) Azure Sentinel
10 9 (0.78%) IaaS
11 8 (0.69%) Microsoft Purview
11 8 (0.69%) Power Platform
12 6 (0.52%) Azure DevOps
13 5 (0.43%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.43%) Rubrik
14 4 (0.35%) Cloudflare
Communications & Networking
1 494 (42.84%) Firewall
2 380 (32.96%) WAN
3 294 (25.50%) LAN
4 287 (24.89%) BGP
5 246 (21.34%) VPN
6 242 (20.99%) Network Security
7 198 (17.17%) OSPF
8 186 (16.13%) Wireless
9 182 (15.78%) DNS
10 165 (14.31%) SD-WAN
11 163 (14.14%) VLAN
12 121 (10.49%) MPLS
13 113 (9.80%) Cisco Nexus
14 106 (9.19%) Wi-Fi
15 101 (8.76%) Cisco ISE
16 99 (8.59%) VXLAN
17 98 (8.50%) DHCP
18 80 (6.94%) Cisco IOS
19 75 (6.50%) Multicast
20 73 (6.33%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (1.56%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.26%) MySQL
2 3 (0.26%) NoSQL
3 2 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (0.17%) Power BI
4 1 (0.087%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.087%) Apache Hive
4 1 (0.087%) Big Data
4 1 (0.087%) ClickHouse
4 1 (0.087%) Hadoop
4 1 (0.087%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 23 (1.99%) JIRA
2 15 (1.30%) Sonatype Nexus
3 12 (1.04%) Git
4 9 (0.78%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.26%) GitLab
6 2 (0.17%) Bitbucket
General
1 266 (23.07%) Social Skills
2 119 (10.32%) Finance
3 73 (6.33%) Analytical Skills
3 73 (6.33%) Telecoms
4 62 (5.38%) Public Sector
5 60 (5.20%) Documentation Skills
6 57 (4.94%) Legal
7 55 (4.77%) Banking
8 24 (2.08%) Organisational Skills
9 20 (1.73%) Investment Banking
10 18 (1.56%) Financial Institution
11 16 (1.39%) Manufacturing
11 16 (1.39%) Retail
12 15 (1.30%) Law
13 11 (0.95%) Military
14 9 (0.78%) Influencing Skills
15 8 (0.69%) Marketing
16 7 (0.61%) Police
16 7 (0.61%) Presentation Skills
17 5 (0.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 536 (46.49%) Network Engineer
2 140 (12.14%) Architect
3 123 (10.67%) Cisco Engineer
4 121 (10.49%) Senior
5 113 (9.80%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 87 (7.55%) Security Engineer
7 77 (6.68%) Network Architect
8 67 (5.81%) Senior Network Engineer
9 64 (5.55%) Network Security Engineer
10 61 (5.29%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 57 (4.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 47 (4.08%) Data Network Engineer
13 35 (3.04%) Data Engineer
14 34 (2.95%) Analyst
14 34 (2.95%) Cisco Security Engineer
15 29 (2.52%) Lead
16 28 (2.43%) Solutions Architect
17 27 (2.34%) Network Specialist
18 25 (2.17%) Field Engineer
19 24 (2.08%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 76 (6.59%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.21%) LDAP
2 14 (1.21%) SAML
3 13 (1.13%) Flash
3 13 (1.13%) REST
4 7 (0.61%) XMPP
5 6 (0.52%) Jinja
6 5 (0.43%) NETCONF
7 4 (0.35%) OpenConfig
7 4 (0.35%) RESTCONF
7 4 (0.35%) YANG
8 3 (0.26%) Django
8 3 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.26%) LAMP
8 3 (0.26%) LEMP Stack
8 3 (0.26%) YAML
9 2 (0.17%) .NET
9 2 (0.17%) ADO
9 2 (0.17%) ASP.NET
9 2 (0.17%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 302 (26.19%) Data Centre
2 57 (4.94%) PKI
3 44 (3.82%) Replication
4 42 (3.64%) Clustering
5 40 (3.47%) Hybrid Cloud
6 37 (3.21%) Data Protection Act
7 35 (3.04%) Onboarding
8 29 (2.52%) Operational Technology
9 27 (2.34%) Driving Licence
10 26 (2.25%) Video Conferencing
11 20 (1.73%) Security Posture
12 19 (1.65%) Enterprise Storage
13 18 (1.56%) EMC VMAX
14 17 (1.47%) Analytical Mindset
14 17 (1.47%) Cloud Native
14 17 (1.47%) Linux Command Line
15 15 (1.30%) Virtual Team
16 14 (1.21%) SCADA
17 13 (1.13%) Public Cloud
18 11 (0.95%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 225 (19.51%) Windows
2 124 (10.75%) Linux
3 74 (6.42%) Windows Server
4 19 (1.65%) Unix
5 15 (1.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 15 (1.30%) Ubuntu
5 15 (1.30%) Windows 10
6 10 (0.87%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (0.78%) Android
8 8 (0.69%) Mac OS
9 7 (0.61%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.52%) AIX
11 5 (0.43%) Data ONTAP
11 5 (0.43%) VMS
12 4 (0.35%) CentOS
13 3 (0.26%) CatOS
13 3 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.17%) Solaris
15 1 (0.087%) Debian
15 1 (0.087%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 179 (15.52%) Migration
2 131 (11.36%) Load Balancing
3 124 (10.75%) High Availability
4 120 (10.41%) Problem-Solving
5 104 (9.02%) ITIL
6 102 (8.85%) Project Delivery
7 93 (8.07%) Network Design
8 90 (7.81%) ITSM
9 76 (6.59%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 75 (6.50%) Continuous Improvement
11 73 (6.33%) Change Management
12 70 (6.07%) Agile
13 65 (5.64%) Stakeholder Management
14 64 (5.55%) Disaster Recovery
15 63 (5.46%) Infrastructure as Code
16 61 (5.29%) Cybersecurity
16 61 (5.29%) Technical Leadership
17 60 (5.20%) Network Monitoring
17 60 (5.20%) Validation
18 56 (4.86%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 134 (11.62%) Python
2 58 (5.03%) PowerShell
3 24 (2.08%) SQL
4 22 (1.91%) Bash
5 6 (0.52%) C
6 4 (0.35%) Perl
6 4 (0.35%) PHP
7 3 (0.26%) C++
7 3 (0.26%) Java
7 3 (0.26%) Lisp
8 2 (0.17%) ActionScript
8 2 (0.17%) Korn
8 2 (0.17%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.087%) Bicep
9 1 (0.087%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.087%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 343 (29.75%) Cisco Certification
2 328 (28.45%) Security Cleared
3 250 (21.68%) CCNP
4 234 (20.29%) SC Cleared
5 137 (11.88%) CCNA
6 103 (8.93%) DV Cleared
7 71 (6.16%) Degree
8 66 (5.72%) CCIE
9 28 (2.43%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 26 (2.25%) Microsoft Certification
11 22 (1.91%) Network+ Certification
12 18 (1.56%) MCSE
13 17 (1.47%) Azure Certification
13 17 (1.47%) Server+ Certification
14 16 (1.39%) BPSS Clearance
15 14 (1.21%) CCSE
16 13 (1.13%) VCAP
17 12 (1.04%) AWS Certification
17 12 (1.04%) JNCIP
17 12 (1.04%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (3.82%) SLA
2 32 (2.78%) NIST
3 29 (2.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 26 (2.25%) Cyber Essentials
5 21 (1.82%) QA
6 20 (1.73%) NCSC
7 9 (0.78%) PMO
8 7 (0.61%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 7 (0.61%) Disclosure Scotland
9 5 (0.43%) GDPR
9 5 (0.43%) JSP 440
9 5 (0.43%) PCI DSS
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%) Data Quality
11 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.17%) GRC
11 2 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 2 (0.17%) RMADS
System Software
1 153 (13.27%) VMware Infrastructure
2 104 (9.02%) Active Directory
3 58 (5.03%) VMware ESXi
4 56 (4.86%) vSphere
5 49 (4.25%) VMware NSX
6 35 (3.04%) Virtual Machines
7 29 (2.52%) Firmware
8 24 (2.08%) Hyper-V
9 17 (1.47%) NFS
10 13 (1.13%) GPFS
11 12 (1.04%) SRDF
12 7 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
13 6 (0.52%) Docker
13 6 (0.52%) EMC RecoverPoint
14 4 (0.35%) vCloud
14 4 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
15 3 (0.26%) Dovecot
15 3 (0.26%) Postfix
15 3 (0.26%) UAG
16 2 (0.17%) Snort
Systems Management
1 139 (12.06%) Ansible
2 103 (8.93%) FortiGate
3 55 (4.77%) Terraform
4 31 (2.69%) vCenter Server
5 28 (2.43%) Grafana
6 24 (2.08%) Microsoft Intune
7 23 (1.99%) SCCM
8 21 (1.82%) Kubernetes
8 21 (1.82%) Prometheus
9 17 (1.47%) vRealize
10 14 (1.21%) Cisco CUCM
10 14 (1.21%) Cisco Prime
11 13 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
12 9 (0.78%) VxRail
13 8 (0.69%) WMI
14 7 (0.61%) EMC VPLEX
14 7 (0.61%) WSUS
15 6 (0.52%) EMC TimeFinder
15 6 (0.52%) HAProxy
15 6 (0.52%) SCOM
Vendors
1 280 (24.28%) Palo Alto
2 215 (18.65%) F5
3 206 (17.87%) Microsoft
4 199 (17.26%) VMware
5 183 (15.87%) Fortinet
6 156 (13.53%) Juniper
7 111 (9.63%) Aruba
8 102 (8.85%) ServiceNow
9 100 (8.67%) CheckPoint
10 93 (8.07%) SolarWinds
11 87 (7.55%) Meraki
12 76 (6.59%) Arista
13 59 (5.12%) Splunk
14 47 (4.08%) Zscaler
15 43 (3.73%) Dell
16 31 (2.69%) EMC
17 30 (2.60%) Extreme Networks
17 30 (2.60%) IBM
18 28 (2.43%) Brocade
19 25 (2.17%) Infoblox