Data Centre Contract Job Trends

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 20 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 114 130 100
Rank change year-on-year +16 -30 -7
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 1,014 641 973
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.19% 2.18% 2.23%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.80% 6.44% 7.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 627 414 652
10th Percentile £318 £328 £295
25th Percentile £409 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £514 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.33% -2.14% -4.55%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £638
90th Percentile £725 £675 £724
UK excluding London median daily rate £469 £450 £538
% change year-on-year +4.22% -16.28% +7.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 27 44
10th Percentile £16.01 £24.17 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.07 £24.18 £21.25
Median hourly rate £21.46 £24.66 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -12.98% -0.84% +14.77%
75th Percentile £63.94 £41.25 £40.00
90th Percentile £77.93 £43.75 £41.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.34 £24.66 £24.00
% change year-on-year -21.57% +2.75% +11.81%

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 14,903 9,956 13,328
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.22% 33.82% 30.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,308 6,381 8,550
10th Percentile £300 £300 £263
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -3.94% -1.10% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 712 386 904
10th Percentile £16.01 £16.95 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.00 £22.33 £15.16
Median hourly rate £45.00 £32.50 £28.38
Median % change year-on-year +38.46% +14.54% +26.20%
75th Percentile £70.00 £64.51 £58.75
90th Percentile £85.40 £83.20 £68.84
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £32.50 £26.00
% change year-on-year +46.15% +25.00% +18.18%

Data Centre
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Data Centre relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Data Centre job vacancy trend in the UK

Data Centre
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Centre.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Centre

Data Centre
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Data Centre over the 6 months to 20 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Centre.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Centre

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Data Centre over the 6 months to 20 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
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 Data Centre within the UK over the 6 months to 20 April 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 +3 827 £482 -8.26% 452
UK excluding London -5 575 £469 +4.22% 299
London +8 295 £550 +4.76% 183
Work from Home +16 258 £475 -9.52% 159
North of England +22 181 £457 +17.05% 56
South East -2 179 £463 -6.80% 103
North West +2 84 £481 -3.75% 28
Yorkshire -7 84 £365 -3.31% 20
Midlands -48 55 £474 -18.63% 37
Scotland -1 53 £472 +11.06% 18
West Midlands -43 49 £474 -24.16% 31
South West -32 47 £513 -6.48% 43
East of England -19 36 £478 +13.14% 41
Wales +3 30 £450 +12.50% 9
North East -3 15 £175 +59.09% 8
East Midlands -31 5 £316 -42.50% 6
Northern Ireland - 3 £425 - 4

Data Centre
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 18 (1.78%) Confluence
2 17 (1.68%) SharePoint
3 14 (1.38%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (0.99%) CICS
5 4 (0.39%) nginx
5 4 (0.39%) OpenStack
5 4 (0.39%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.20%) HCL Notes
6 2 (0.20%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.099%) Mendix
Applications
1 24 (2.37%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (2.17%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.68%) MS Visio
4 15 (1.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 13 (1.28%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.30%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.20%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.20%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 6 (0.59%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.30%) Primavera
2 3 (0.30%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.20%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.20%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.099%) Maximo
4 1 (0.099%) Oracle Financials
4 1 (0.099%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 184 (18.15%) Azure
2 152 (14.99%) AWS
3 65 (6.41%) GCP
4 39 (3.85%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (2.07%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 19 (1.87%) Entra ID
7 17 (1.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 17 (1.68%) IaaS
7 17 (1.68%) SaaS
8 14 (1.38%) GitHub
8 14 (1.38%) Power Platform
9 13 (1.28%) OpenShift
10 12 (1.18%) Azure DevOps
10 12 (1.18%) PaaS
11 11 (1.08%) Amazon GuardDuty
12 10 (0.99%) AWS CloudFormation
12 10 (0.99%) AWS Direct Connect
13 9 (0.89%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (0.79%) Amazon S3
15 7 (0.69%) AWS KMS
Communications & Networking
1 289 (28.50%) Firewall
2 176 (17.36%) WAN
3 161 (15.88%) BGP
4 124 (12.23%) OSPF
5 114 (11.24%) LAN
6 110 (10.85%) Network Security
7 105 (10.36%) VPN
8 89 (8.78%) VXLAN
9 84 (8.28%) SAN
10 76 (7.50%) Structured Cabling
11 75 (7.40%) VLAN
12 74 (7.30%) DNS
13 60 (5.92%) DHCP
14 57 (5.62%) Ethernet VPN
15 52 (5.13%) SD-WAN
16 49 (4.83%) Cisco Nexus
16 49 (4.83%) Wireless
17 40 (3.94%) NX-OS
17 40 (3.94%) Wi-Fi
18 37 (3.65%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (0.99%) DataStage
2 9 (0.89%) Power BI
3 6 (0.59%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.59%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.49%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.39%) Big Data
5 4 (0.39%) MongoDB
5 4 (0.39%) Power Query
5 4 (0.39%) PowerPivot
5 4 (0.39%) SAP Data Services
6 3 (0.30%) InfluxDB
7 2 (0.20%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.20%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.20%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.20%) GIS
7 2 (0.20%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.20%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.099%) DB2
8 1 (0.099%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 36 (3.55%) JIRA
2 32 (3.16%) Git
3 21 (2.07%) Jenkins
4 18 (1.78%) GitLab
5 9 (0.89%) Maven
6 8 (0.79%) Sonatype Nexus
7 5 (0.49%) JMeter
8 4 (0.39%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 4 (0.39%) Eclipse
8 4 (0.39%) Subversion
9 3 (0.30%) Bitbucket
9 3 (0.30%) ScriptRunner
10 1 (0.099%) AppScan
10 1 (0.099%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.099%) LoadRunner
10 1 (0.099%) Metasploit
10 1 (0.099%) Postman
General
1 260 (25.64%) Social Skills
2 142 (14.00%) Finance
3 128 (12.62%) Analytical Skills
4 77 (7.59%) Public Sector
5 57 (5.62%) Documentation Skills
6 46 (4.54%) Banking
7 31 (3.06%) Legal
7 31 (3.06%) Telecoms
8 25 (2.47%) Manufacturing
9 22 (2.17%) Retail
10 21 (2.07%) Influencing Skills
11 15 (1.48%) Presentation Skills
12 13 (1.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 12 (1.18%) Marketing
14 9 (0.89%) Law
14 9 (0.89%) Military
14 9 (0.89%) Organisational Skills
15 8 (0.79%) Investment Banking
16 7 (0.69%) Aerospace
17 5 (0.49%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 183 (18.05%) Network Engineer
2 168 (16.57%) Architect
3 100 (9.86%) Senior
4 79 (7.79%) Project Manager
5 77 (7.59%) Data Centre Engineer
6 51 (5.03%) Network Architect
7 49 (4.83%) IT Engineer
8 47 (4.64%) Lead
9 46 (4.54%) Data Centre Manager
10 45 (4.44%) Analyst
10 45 (4.44%) Field Engineer
11 44 (4.34%) Solutions Architect
12 43 (4.24%) Field Service Engineer
13 41 (4.04%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 35 (3.45%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
15 34 (3.35%) Infrastructure Manager
16 31 (3.06%) Senior Network Engineer
17 28 (2.76%) Cisco Engineer
17 28 (2.76%) Support Engineer
18 27 (2.66%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (3.94%) Middleware
2 31 (3.06%) 802.1X
3 11 (1.08%) LDAP
4 7 (0.69%) Redfish
5 6 (0.59%) Elastic Stack
5 6 (0.59%) Spring
6 5 (0.49%) Jinja
6 5 (0.49%) NETCONF
6 5 (0.49%) REST
6 5 (0.49%) XML
7 4 (0.39%) ADO
7 4 (0.39%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.39%) OpenConfig
7 4 (0.39%) RESTCONF
7 4 (0.39%) Spring Boot
7 4 (0.39%) VML
7 4 (0.39%) YANG
8 3 (0.30%) Kafka
8 3 (0.30%) RFC 2544
8 3 (0.30%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 50 (4.93%) Analytical Mindset
2 46 (4.54%) Hybrid Cloud
3 28 (2.76%) Clustering
3 28 (2.76%) PKI
4 26 (2.56%) Management Information System
5 21 (2.07%) Cloud Native
5 21 (2.07%) Fibre Optics
5 21 (2.07%) Onboarding
5 21 (2.07%) Public Cloud
6 20 (1.97%) Driving Licence
7 19 (1.87%) Replication
7 19 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
8 18 (1.78%) CMDB
9 16 (1.58%) Enterprise Storage
9 16 (1.58%) Private Cloud
10 14 (1.38%) NHS
10 14 (1.38%) SCADA
11 13 (1.28%) Data Protection Act
11 13 (1.28%) Mainframe
12 10 (0.99%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 131 (12.92%) Windows
2 124 (12.23%) Linux
3 42 (4.14%) Windows Server
4 37 (3.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (2.07%) Unix
6 18 (1.78%) AIX
7 15 (1.48%) Solaris
8 11 (1.08%) CentOS
9 9 (0.89%) Android
9 9 (0.89%) Mac OS
10 8 (0.79%) VMS
11 7 (0.69%) Windows Server 2019
12 5 (0.49%) Ubuntu
13 3 (0.30%) Embedded Linux
13 3 (0.30%) HPUX
13 3 (0.30%) Oracle Linux
13 3 (0.30%) SUSE
13 3 (0.30%) Windows 10
14 2 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
14 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (17.85%) Problem-Solving
2 171 (16.86%) Migration
3 98 (9.66%) Stakeholder Management
4 88 (8.68%) ITIL
5 84 (8.28%) High Availability
6 83 (8.19%) Roadmaps
7 79 (7.79%) Continuous Improvement
8 72 (7.10%) Project Management
9 71 (7.00%) Infrastructure as Code
10 66 (6.51%) Change Management
11 64 (6.31%) Load Balancing
12 62 (6.11%) CI/CD
12 62 (6.11%) Project Delivery
13 59 (5.82%) Break/Fix
13 59 (5.82%) Validation
14 58 (5.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 57 (5.62%) Agile
15 57 (5.62%) Customer Service
16 55 (5.42%) Technical Leadership
17 53 (5.23%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 96 (9.47%) Python
2 46 (4.54%) PowerShell
3 27 (2.66%) SQL
4 25 (2.47%) Bash
5 23 (2.27%) Java
6 15 (1.48%) Perl
7 14 (1.38%) Shell Script
8 12 (1.18%) COBOL
9 9 (0.89%) MATLAB
10 8 (0.79%) Bicep
11 6 (0.59%) VBA
12 5 (0.49%) C
12 5 (0.49%) C++
12 5 (0.49%) Lisp
13 4 (0.39%) JavaScript
14 3 (0.30%) Korn
14 3 (0.30%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.099%) Groovy
15 1 (0.099%) Scala
15 1 (0.099%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 304 (29.98%) Security Cleared
2 224 (22.09%) SC Cleared
3 218 (21.50%) Cisco Certification
4 138 (13.61%) CCNP
5 94 (9.27%) CCNA
6 68 (6.71%) Degree
6 68 (6.71%) DV Cleared
7 49 (4.83%) Network+ Certification
8 42 (4.14%) Microsoft Certification
9 41 (4.04%) A+ Certification
9 41 (4.04%) MCSE
10 30 (2.96%) CCIE
11 24 (2.37%) PMP
12 22 (2.17%) PMI Certification
13 21 (2.07%) Azure Certification
14 19 (1.87%) AWS Certification
15 16 (1.58%) JNCIS
16 15 (1.48%) CISSP
17 14 (1.38%) City & Guilds
17 14 (1.38%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (3.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 28 (2.76%) NIST
3 27 (2.66%) SLA
4 26 (2.56%) GDPR
4 26 (2.56%) PMO
5 20 (1.97%) QA
6 17 (1.68%) PCI DSS
7 11 (1.08%) NCSC
8 7 (0.69%) Disclosure Scotland
8 7 (0.69%) GRC
9 5 (0.49%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (0.39%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.30%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.30%) RMADS
12 2 (0.20%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.20%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.099%) COBIT
13 1 (0.099%) NEBOSH
13 1 (0.099%) SOC 1
System Software
1 92 (9.07%) VMware Infrastructure
2 60 (5.92%) Active Directory
3 51 (5.03%) VMware NSX
4 23 (2.27%) Firmware
5 22 (2.17%) Virtual Machines
5 22 (2.17%) vSphere
6 19 (1.87%) VMware ESXi
7 18 (1.78%) Hyper-V
8 13 (1.28%) Docker
9 10 (0.99%) KVM
10 4 (0.39%) SRDF
10 4 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (0.30%) NFS
11 3 (0.30%) PowerHA
11 3 (0.30%) UAG
11 3 (0.30%) Veritas Cluster Server
12 2 (0.20%) Ceph
12 2 (0.20%) vCloud
12 2 (0.20%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.20%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 101 (9.96%) Ansible
2 80 (7.89%) Terraform
3 58 (5.72%) FortiGate
4 40 (3.94%) Kubernetes
5 33 (3.25%) Grafana
6 23 (2.27%) Prometheus
7 15 (1.48%) SCCM
8 14 (1.38%) Microsoft Intune
9 11 (1.08%) NetBackup
10 10 (0.99%) Check_MK
10 10 (0.99%) vCenter Server
11 9 (0.89%) Podman
11 9 (0.89%) Red Hat Satellite
12 7 (0.69%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 7 (0.69%) Dell DRAC
12 7 (0.69%) SCOM
13 6 (0.59%) EMC NetWorker
14 5 (0.49%) Endace
14 5 (0.49%) Nagios
14 5 (0.49%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 292 (28.80%) Cisco
2 133 (13.12%) VMware
3 119 (11.74%) Palo Alto
4 102 (10.06%) Microsoft
5 94 (9.27%) Dell
6 84 (8.28%) Juniper
7 79 (7.79%) F5
8 46 (4.54%) Arista
9 45 (4.44%) Fortinet
10 44 (4.34%) ServiceNow
11 43 (4.24%) Aruba
12 42 (4.14%) CheckPoint
13 38 (3.75%) SolarWinds
14 35 (3.45%) Red Hat
15 33 (3.25%) Google
16 30 (2.96%) Meraki
16 30 (2.96%) Splunk
17 29 (2.86%) IBM
18 25 (2.47%) Citrix
18 25 (2.47%) HP