Data Centre Contracts

Data Center
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Data Centre in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Data Centre over the 6 months leading up to 26 July 2024, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jul 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 103 91 100
Rank change year-on-year -12 +9 +38
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 873 1,412 2,293
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.17% 2.60% 2.57%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 7.10% 7.99% 7.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 583 983 1,626
10th Percentile £350 £344 £310
25th Percentile £440 £450 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £540 £514
Median % change year-on-year -0.37% +5.11% +5.38%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £600
90th Percentile £711 £745 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £545 £500 £480
% change year-on-year +9.05% +4.17% +6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 17 26
10th Percentile £12.00 £14.61 £16.63
25th Percentile £12.37 £17.72 £20.75
Median hourly rate £23.80 £20.00 £27.63
Median % change year-on-year +19.00% -27.60% -30.24%
75th Percentile £27.00 £25.00 £63.00
90th Percentile £37.11 £67.45 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.14 £18.86 £21.50
% change year-on-year -3.84% -12.28% -45.64%

All Generic Skills
UK

Data Centre falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 12,291 17,679 29,719
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 30.60% 32.53% 33.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,897 12,209 20,869
10th Percentile £300 £305 £325
25th Percentile £423 £438 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £543 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.36% - +10.00%
75th Percentile £675 £675 £675
90th Percentile £813 £788 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 690 445 640
10th Percentile £12.25 £14.09 £14.48
25th Percentile £16.65 £19.00 £17.50
Median hourly rate £40.00 £35.50 £26.74
Median % change year-on-year +12.68% +32.76% +13.79%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £54.00
90th Percentile £72.50 £79.19 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.00 £45.82 £21.50
% change year-on-year -8.34% +113.12% +5.68%

Data Centre
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Data Centre as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Data Centre.

Daily rate trend for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Data Centre over the 6 months to 26 July 2024.

Daily rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Data Centre.

Hourly rate trend for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Data Centre over the 6 months to 26 July 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Top 16 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Data Centre within the UK over the 6 months to 26 July 2024. 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 -9 733 £538 -2.18% 298
UK excluding London +7 520 £545 +9.05% 231
London -37 269 £535 -10.83% 107
Work from Home -49 243 £550 +3.53% 103
South East +2 144 £550 +10.00% 91
South West +36 127 £538 +6.49% 23
Midlands -1 87 £600 +13.74% 22
North of England -9 78 £488 -2.58% 47
West Midlands +3 70 £600 +14.29% 15
Scotland +4 53 £623 +22.22% 19
Yorkshire +21 44 £556 +1.14% 17
North West -10 29 £475 - 24
East of England -17 27 £425 -10.53% 37
Wales +9 21 £255 -27.25% 5
East Midlands +10 17 £445 -12.75% 7
North East -3 5 £425 -37.04% 7

Data Centre
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 34 (3.89%) Confluence
2 18 (2.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (1.95%) SharePoint
4 16 (1.83%) WebLogic
5 10 (1.15%) IIS
6 6 (0.69%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.34%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
8 2 (0.23%) Exchange Server 2010
8 2 (0.23%) Oracle Self-Service HR
8 2 (0.23%) SharePoint 2013
9 1 (0.11%) Apache
9 1 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
9 1 (0.11%) Cloud Foundry
9 1 (0.11%) CMS
9 1 (0.11%) GeoServer
9 1 (0.11%) Tomcat
Applications
1 31 (3.55%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (1.95%) MS Visio
3 12 (1.37%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.23%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 16 (1.83%) Primavera
2 7 (0.80%) Elite 3E
3 6 (0.69%) Payment Gateway
4 3 (0.34%) Shopify
5 2 (0.23%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.11%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 156 (17.87%) Azure
2 92 (10.54%) AWS
3 53 (6.07%) SaaS
4 44 (5.04%) IaaS
5 37 (4.24%) Microsoft 365
5 37 (4.24%) PaaS
6 33 (3.78%) Cloud Computing
7 28 (3.21%) Entra ID
8 27 (3.09%) GCP
9 16 (1.83%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 15 (1.72%) GitHub
11 14 (1.60%) OCI
12 10 (1.15%) Amazon S3
13 9 (1.03%) AWS Direct Connect
14 8 (0.92%) Azure Sentinel
15 7 (0.80%) Amazon EC2
15 7 (0.80%) Mimecast
16 6 (0.69%) Azure DevOps
16 6 (0.69%) Dynamics 365
16 6 (0.69%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 195 (22.34%) Firewall
2 121 (13.86%) WAN
3 114 (13.06%) LAN
4 73 (8.36%) DNS
5 66 (7.56%) SAN
6 64 (7.33%) Network Security
6 64 (7.33%) Wireless
7 60 (6.87%) SD-WAN
8 58 (6.64%) DHCP
9 50 (5.73%) Cisco Nexus
10 48 (5.50%) BGP
11 44 (5.04%) MPLS
12 42 (4.81%) OSPF
12 42 (4.81%) VSAN
13 40 (4.58%) VPN
14 36 (4.12%) Wi-Fi
15 31 (3.55%) Internet
16 30 (3.44%) Cisco Firepower
17 28 (3.21%) IPsec
18 26 (2.98%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (2.86%) Oracle Database
2 15 (1.72%) SQL Server
3 12 (1.37%) Amazon RDS
3 12 (1.37%) Big Data
4 9 (1.03%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (0.80%) Oracle Exadata
6 5 (0.57%) MySQL
6 5 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.46%) Data Lake
7 4 (0.46%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.34%) Snowflake Schema
9 2 (0.23%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.23%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 1 (0.11%) NonStop SQL
10 1 (0.11%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle Database 11g
10 1 (0.11%) Power BI
10 1 (0.11%) Redis
10 1 (0.11%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 58 (6.64%) JIRA
2 22 (2.52%) Jenkins
3 8 (0.92%) GitLab
3 8 (0.92%) Sonatype Nexus
4 5 (0.57%) Git
5 3 (0.34%) Hudson
6 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.11%) CircleCI
7 1 (0.11%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.11%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 173 (19.82%) Social Skills
2 116 (13.29%) Finance
3 96 (11.00%) Public Sector
4 50 (5.73%) Telecoms
5 43 (4.93%) Analytical Skills
6 28 (3.21%) Banking
7 23 (2.63%) Law
8 21 (2.41%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (1.95%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (1.83%) Presentation Skills
11 13 (1.49%) Mandarin Language
12 9 (1.03%) Manufacturing
12 9 (1.03%) Marketing
13 7 (0.80%) Legal
13 7 (0.80%) Military
14 6 (0.69%) Billing
14 6 (0.69%) Financial Institution
15 5 (0.57%) French Language
15 5 (0.57%) Influencing Skills
16 4 (0.46%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 177 (20.27%) Architect
2 157 (17.98%) Network Engineer
3 75 (8.59%) Senior
4 70 (8.02%) Network Architect
5 68 (7.79%) Project Manager
6 66 (7.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 55 (6.30%) Support Engineer
8 45 (5.15%) Data Centre Engineer
9 39 (4.47%) Solutions Architect
10 36 (4.12%) Consultant
11 35 (4.01%) VMware Engineer
12 33 (3.78%) Applications Engineer
13 28 (3.21%) Applications Support
13 28 (3.21%) Applications Support Engineer
14 27 (3.09%) Infrastructure Manager
14 27 (3.09%) Lead
15 26 (2.98%) JIRA Engineer
16 23 (2.63%) Analyst
16 23 (2.63%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
17 20 (2.29%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (2.86%) Web Services
2 21 (2.41%) REST
3 16 (1.83%) YAML
4 9 (1.03%) JSON
4 9 (1.03%) LDAP
5 7 (0.80%) 802.1X
6 6 (0.69%) Middleware
6 6 (0.69%) Node.js
7 5 (0.57%) SAML
8 4 (0.46%) .NET
8 4 (0.46%) RFC 2544
8 4 (0.46%) SOAP
9 3 (0.34%) Snowpark
9 3 (0.34%) Software Packaging
9 3 (0.34%) VML
10 2 (0.23%) Elastic Stack
10 2 (0.23%) NETCONF
10 2 (0.23%) OpenID
10 2 (0.23%) RabbitMQ
10 2 (0.23%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 37 (4.24%) PKI
2 33 (3.78%) Private Cloud
3 24 (2.75%) Cloud Native
4 23 (2.63%) Public Cloud
5 18 (2.06%) Linux Command Line
5 18 (2.06%) Management Information System
5 18 (2.06%) Replication
6 16 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
6 16 (1.83%) Hybrid Cloud
7 12 (1.37%) Clustering
8 10 (1.15%) Driving Licence
9 8 (0.92%) Analytical Mindset
9 8 (0.92%) Self-Motivation
9 8 (0.92%) Virtual Team
10 7 (0.80%) Onboarding
11 6 (0.69%) EMC VMAX
11 6 (0.69%) SCADA
11 6 (0.69%) Security Posture
11 6 (0.69%) Symmetrix
11 6 (0.69%) VxBlock/Vblock
Operating Systems
1 142 (16.27%) Linux
1 142 (16.27%) Windows
2 49 (5.61%) Windows Server
3 33 (3.78%) Unix
4 26 (2.98%) Windows 10
4 26 (2.98%) Windows Server 2016
5 19 (2.18%) Windows Server 2019
6 17 (1.95%) Windows Server 2012
7 13 (1.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 13 (1.49%) VMS
7 13 (1.49%) Windows XP
8 12 (1.37%) zOS
9 6 (0.69%) Mac OS X
10 5 (0.57%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.46%) Windows Server 2008
12 3 (0.34%) CentOS
12 3 (0.34%) Data ONTAP
12 3 (0.34%) Mac OS
12 3 (0.34%) Windows 2000
12 3 (0.34%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (22.68%) Migration
2 116 (13.29%) Problem-Solving
3 94 (10.77%) Project Management
4 89 (10.19%) Agile
5 87 (9.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 83 (9.51%) ITIL
7 64 (7.33%) Cybersecurity
8 61 (6.99%) Project Delivery
9 58 (6.64%) Stakeholder Management
10 52 (5.96%) Disaster Recovery
11 51 (5.84%) Computer Science
12 46 (5.27%) Service Management
13 45 (5.15%) Converged Infrastructure
14 44 (5.04%) Data Migration
15 43 (4.93%) Business Strategy
16 41 (4.70%) Network Management
16 41 (4.70%) Roadmaps
17 40 (4.58%) Zero Trust
18 39 (4.47%) Network Virtualisation
19 37 (4.24%) Storage Management
Programming Languages
1 65 (7.45%) Python
2 59 (6.76%) PowerShell
3 28 (3.21%) SQL
4 15 (1.72%) Bash
5 12 (1.37%) JCL
5 12 (1.37%) REXX
6 10 (1.15%) Java
7 5 (0.57%) Ruby
7 5 (0.57%) Shell Script
8 4 (0.46%) ActionScript
8 4 (0.46%) Perl
9 3 (0.34%) C
9 3 (0.34%) C#
9 3 (0.34%) C++
9 3 (0.34%) Go
10 2 (0.23%) Groovy
10 2 (0.23%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.11%) JavaScript
11 1 (0.11%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.11%) VBA
Qualifications
1 253 (28.98%) Security Cleared
2 162 (18.56%) SC Cleared
3 115 (13.17%) Cisco Certification
4 104 (11.91%) DV Cleared
5 90 (10.31%) Degree
6 71 (8.13%) CCNA
7 60 (6.87%) CCNP
8 27 (3.09%) Computer Science Degree
9 22 (2.52%) Microsoft Certification
10 21 (2.41%) CCIE
11 18 (2.06%) Network+ Certification
12 14 (1.60%) MCSE
13 13 (1.49%) A+ Certification
14 12 (1.37%) AWS Certification
14 12 (1.37%) Azure Certification
15 11 (1.26%) PMI Certification
16 9 (1.03%) ITIL Certification
16 9 (1.03%) PMP
17 7 (0.80%) ISACA
18 6 (0.69%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.01%) SLA
2 16 (1.83%) GDPR
2 16 (1.83%) QA
3 14 (1.60%) NIST
4 13 (1.49%) COBIT
5 8 (0.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 7 (0.80%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.34%) NCSC
7 3 (0.34%) PMO
8 2 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.11%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.11%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.11%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.11%) FINRA
9 1 (0.11%) IASME
9 1 (0.11%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.11%) PMBOK
System Software
1 132 (15.12%) VMware Infrastructure
2 80 (9.16%) vSphere
3 79 (9.05%) Active Directory
4 70 (8.02%) VMware NSX
5 54 (6.19%) VMware ESXi
6 31 (3.55%) Hyper-V
7 22 (2.52%) Firmware
8 16 (1.83%) Virtual Machines
9 15 (1.72%) NFS
10 12 (1.37%) Time Sharing Option
11 11 (1.26%) Docker
12 10 (1.15%) vCloud
13 8 (0.92%) Virtual Servers
14 7 (0.80%) KVM
15 6 (0.69%) SRDF
16 3 (0.34%) BitLocker
16 3 (0.34%) Lustre
16 3 (0.34%) Microsoft App-V
16 3 (0.34%) VMware Workstation
16 3 (0.34%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 55 (6.30%) Ansible
2 51 (5.84%) vCenter Server
3 38 (4.35%) Terraform
4 37 (4.24%) SCCM
5 31 (3.55%) Kubernetes
6 29 (3.32%) SCOM
7 22 (2.52%) FortiGate
8 19 (2.18%) NetBackup
9 16 (1.83%) Puppet
10 15 (1.72%) CSIRT
11 14 (1.60%) EMC NetWorker
11 14 (1.60%) VxRail
11 14 (1.60%) WSUS
12 13 (1.49%) Microsoft Intune
13 11 (1.26%) Nagios
13 11 (1.26%) Progress Chef
13 11 (1.26%) Tivoli Storage Manager
14 8 (0.92%) OpenView
15 7 (0.80%) Dell DRAC
16 6 (0.69%) EMC TimeFinder
Vendors
1 221 (25.32%) Cisco
2 201 (23.02%) VMware
3 118 (13.52%) Microsoft
4 96 (11.00%) Palo Alto
5 82 (9.39%) Dell
6 66 (7.56%) Juniper
7 57 (6.53%) F5
8 55 (6.30%) Oracle
9 37 (4.24%) HP
10 33 (3.78%) Fortinet
11 32 (3.67%) CheckPoint
12 27 (3.09%) Brocade
13 26 (2.98%) Aruba
13 26 (2.98%) Atlassian
14 22 (2.52%) Citrix
14 22 (2.52%) EMC
14 22 (2.52%) Meraki
15 20 (2.29%) Broadcom
15 20 (2.29%) Extreme Networks
16 19 (2.18%) Symantec