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 26 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 134 137 99
Rank change year-on-year +3 -38 +2
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 761 667 1,044
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.05% 1.98% 2.39%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.90% 6.17% 7.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 490 402 708
10th Percentile £277 £358 £315
25th Percentile £405 £425 £416
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% +2.38%
75th Percentile £598 £600 £650
90th Percentile £700 £675 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £525
% change year-on-year -5.00% -4.76% +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 27 24
10th Percentile £20.65 £11.75 £17.98
25th Percentile - £21.74 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.01% +5.13% -64.06%
75th Percentile £35.00 £29.00 £68.75
90th Percentile £71.27 £41.25 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £46.00 £24.18 £23.00
% change year-on-year +90.23% +5.13% -65.15%

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 12,896 10,804 13,736
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.68% 32.02% 31.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,081 6,457 9,136
10th Percentile £278 £265 £263
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £530 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.19% -3.64% -
75th Percentile £625 £656 £668
90th Percentile £738 £775 £768
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 632 329 512
10th Percentile £13.94 £17.25 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.24 £23.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £27.27 £33.54 £42.19
Median % change year-on-year -18.69% -20.50% +20.54%
75th Percentile £60.65 £64.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.75 £76.73
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.36 £32.50 £44.75
% change year-on-year -15.83% -27.37% +50.57%

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 26 December 2025.

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 26 December 2025.

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 26 December 2025. 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 -8 660 £500 -4.76% 898
UK excluding London -5 421 £475 -5.00% 756
London +1 254 £525 - 219
Work from Home +35 208 £525 -1.87% 336
North of England -18 139 £481 -3.39% 169
South East -13 94 £453 -9.50% 232
Midlands -7 89 £465 -19.83% 111
North West +12 88 £537 +7.40% 74
West Midlands -3 69 £472 -18.62% 58
Yorkshire -32 46 £405 -3.57% 80
Scotland +11 38 £450 - 32
South West -25 36 £550 +0.18% 86
East of England -20 27 £600 +42.01% 106
East Midlands -7 20 £203 -61.81% 46
Wales -1 12 £276 -30.94% 20
North East -5 8 £175 - 16
Northern Ireland - 1 £425 - 14

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 32 (4.20%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.02%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (1.97%) Confluence
4 11 (1.45%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.92%) Apache Airflow
6 6 (0.79%) Apache
7 5 (0.66%) Apache Spark
8 4 (0.53%) HCL Notes
8 4 (0.53%) nginx
9 3 (0.39%) CICS
9 3 (0.39%) GeoServer
9 3 (0.39%) Smallworld
9 3 (0.39%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.26%) FileNet
10 2 (0.26%) Oracle Coherence
10 2 (0.26%) ThingWorx
10 2 (0.26%) WebSphere
11 1 (0.13%) IIS
11 1 (0.13%) OpenEdge
11 1 (0.13%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 55 (7.23%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (4.34%) Microsoft Excel
3 26 (3.42%) MS Visio
4 18 (2.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 12 (1.58%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.13%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.79%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.53%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.39%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.26%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.13%) DELMIA
5 1 (0.13%) Epicor iScala
5 1 (0.13%) Maximo
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.13%) Primavera
5 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 1 (0.13%) StreamServe
Cloud Services
1 145 (19.05%) Azure
2 113 (14.85%) AWS
3 70 (9.20%) Microsoft 365
4 45 (5.91%) GCP
5 24 (3.15%) Power Platform
6 20 (2.63%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 18 (2.37%) Entra ID
8 17 (2.23%) OpenShift
9 13 (1.71%) SaaS
9 13 (1.71%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 12 (1.58%) AWS Direct Connect
10 12 (1.58%) IaaS
10 12 (1.58%) PaaS
11 10 (1.31%) AWS CloudFormation
11 10 (1.31%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 9 (1.18%) GitHub
13 8 (1.05%) npm
14 7 (0.92%) OCI
15 6 (0.79%) Nutanix
16 5 (0.66%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 221 (29.04%) Firewall
2 139 (18.27%) WAN
3 91 (11.96%) Wireless
4 86 (11.30%) VPN
5 80 (10.51%) BGP
6 74 (9.72%) LAN
7 64 (8.41%) Network Security
8 57 (7.49%) DNS
8 57 (7.49%) OSPF
9 54 (7.10%) Wi-Fi
10 45 (5.91%) SD-WAN
11 43 (5.65%) VLAN
12 37 (4.86%) Cisco Nexus
13 36 (4.73%) SAN
14 35 (4.60%) Cisco ISE
15 34 (4.47%) DHCP
15 34 (4.47%) VXLAN
16 33 (4.34%) MPLS
17 30 (3.94%) IPsec
18 28 (3.68%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.76%) Power BI
2 17 (2.23%) Relational Database
3 10 (1.31%) RDBMS
3 10 (1.31%) SQL Server
4 9 (1.18%) GIS
5 6 (0.79%) NoSQL
6 5 (0.66%) Apache Hive
6 5 (0.66%) Hadoop
6 5 (0.66%) HBase
6 5 (0.66%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.53%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.53%) InfluxDB
7 4 (0.53%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.39%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.39%) Big Data
8 3 (0.39%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.39%) DataStage
8 3 (0.39%) PowerPivot
8 3 (0.39%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 22 (2.89%) Git
2 16 (2.10%) Jenkins
3 15 (1.97%) JIRA
3 15 (1.97%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (1.45%) Maven
5 9 (1.18%) GitLab
6 8 (1.05%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.39%) ER Studio
7 3 (0.39%) ERwin
7 3 (0.39%) Gradle
7 3 (0.39%) Selenium
8 2 (0.26%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.26%) ScriptRunner
9 1 (0.13%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.13%) Postman
General
1 191 (25.10%) Social Skills
2 132 (17.35%) Finance
3 86 (11.30%) Public Sector
4 83 (10.91%) Analytical Skills
5 67 (8.80%) Telecoms
6 64 (8.41%) Banking
7 40 (5.26%) Manufacturing
8 39 (5.12%) Documentation Skills
9 27 (3.55%) Marketing
10 25 (3.29%) Electronics
11 22 (2.89%) Presentation Skills
12 19 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 16 (2.10%) Organisational Skills
14 13 (1.71%) Retail
15 11 (1.45%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.92%) Front Office
16 7 (0.92%) Investment Banking
16 7 (0.92%) Law
16 7 (0.92%) Local Government
17 6 (0.79%) Legal
Job Titles
1 123 (16.16%) Architect
2 122 (16.03%) Network Engineer
3 67 (8.80%) Analyst
3 67 (8.80%) Project Manager
4 52 (6.83%) Senior
5 46 (6.04%) Network Architect
6 38 (4.99%) Data Centre Manager
7 36 (4.73%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 32 (4.20%) Consultant
8 32 (4.20%) Security Engineer
9 31 (4.07%) IT Support
9 31 (4.07%) Solutions Architect
10 29 (3.81%) Data Centre Engineer
11 27 (3.55%) Support Engineer
12 26 (3.42%) Infrastructure Manager
12 26 (3.42%) Lead
13 25 (3.29%) Desktop Support
14 24 (3.15%) Cisco Engineer
15 23 (3.02%) 2nd Line Support
15 23 (3.02%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.02%) 802.1X
2 19 (2.50%) Middleware
3 11 (1.45%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.66%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.53%) Jinja
5 4 (0.53%) LDAP
5 4 (0.53%) VML
6 3 (0.39%) REST
7 2 (0.26%) .NET
7 2 (0.26%) ARM Templates
7 2 (0.26%) eBPF
7 2 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
7 2 (0.26%) Java SE
7 2 (0.26%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.26%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.26%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.26%) OpenLayers
7 2 (0.26%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.26%) Spring
7 2 (0.26%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 45 (5.91%) Hybrid Cloud
2 32 (4.20%) Cloud Native
3 24 (3.15%) Public Cloud
4 20 (2.63%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (2.37%) Driving Licence
5 18 (2.37%) Replication
6 16 (2.10%) Fibre Optics
6 16 (2.10%) Onboarding
7 15 (1.97%) Mainframe
7 15 (1.97%) Private Cloud
8 13 (1.71%) SCADA
9 12 (1.58%) PKI
10 11 (1.45%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.45%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (1.18%) CMDB
11 9 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.05%) Clustering
12 8 (1.05%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.05%) Product Ownership
13 7 (0.92%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 95 (12.48%) Windows
2 71 (9.33%) Linux
3 41 (5.39%) Mac OS
3 41 (5.39%) Windows Server
4 40 (5.26%) Android
5 18 (2.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 15 (1.97%) Unix
7 7 (0.92%) Windows Server 2019
8 6 (0.79%) CentOS
8 6 (0.79%) Windows 10
9 5 (0.66%) VMS
10 4 (0.53%) Solaris
10 4 (0.53%) Ubuntu
10 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2008
10 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.26%) AIX
11 2 (0.26%) zOS
12 1 (0.13%) Apple iOS
12 1 (0.13%) Embedded Linux
12 1 (0.13%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 131 (17.21%) Migration
2 112 (14.72%) Problem-Solving
3 88 (11.56%) Stakeholder Management
4 67 (8.80%) ITIL
5 63 (8.28%) Agile
6 56 (7.36%) Infrastructure as Code
7 54 (7.10%) Project Delivery
8 53 (6.96%) Project Management
9 49 (6.44%) CI/CD
10 47 (6.18%) Change Management
10 47 (6.18%) DevOps
10 47 (6.18%) Network Design
10 47 (6.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 45 (5.91%) Load Balancing
11 45 (5.91%) Service Management
12 44 (5.78%) Customer Service
12 44 (5.78%) Roadmaps
13 43 (5.65%) Business Intelligence
14 41 (5.39%) Cybersecurity
14 41 (5.39%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 79 (10.38%) Python
2 48 (6.31%) PowerShell
3 39 (5.12%) SQL
4 21 (2.76%) Java
5 20 (2.63%) Bash
6 10 (1.31%) Perl
7 8 (1.05%) Lisp
8 6 (0.79%) Go
8 6 (0.79%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.53%) C
9 4 (0.53%) VBA
10 3 (0.39%) Bicep
10 3 (0.39%) JavaScript
10 3 (0.39%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.26%) C#
11 2 (0.26%) C++
11 2 (0.26%) Ruby
12 1 (0.13%) COBOL
12 1 (0.13%) Groovy
12 1 (0.13%) Korn
Qualifications
1 237 (31.14%) Security Cleared
2 197 (25.89%) SC Cleared
3 107 (14.06%) Cisco Certification
4 81 (10.64%) CCNP
5 59 (7.75%) Degree
6 44 (5.78%) DV Cleared
7 35 (4.60%) CCNA
8 28 (3.68%) CCIE
9 22 (2.89%) AWS Certification
10 14 (1.84%) CISSP
10 14 (1.84%) JNCIE
11 12 (1.58%) PMP
12 11 (1.45%) PMI Certification
13 10 (1.31%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 9 (1.18%) Azure Certification
14 9 (1.18%) Computer Science Degree
14 9 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
15 8 (1.05%) BPSS Clearance
15 8 (1.05%) Network+ Certification
16 7 (0.92%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.76%) NIST
2 20 (2.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 18 (2.37%) PCI DSS
3 18 (2.37%) PMO
4 17 (2.23%) SLA
5 14 (1.84%) QA
6 13 (1.71%) GDPR
7 11 (1.45%) Data Quality
8 6 (0.79%) NCSC
9 4 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.26%) ISO 22301
10 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 2 (0.26%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.13%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.13%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.13%) GRC
11 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 78 (10.25%) VMware Infrastructure
2 53 (6.96%) Active Directory
3 45 (5.91%) VMware NSX
4 28 (3.68%) Docker
5 18 (2.37%) Virtual Machines
6 16 (2.10%) Hyper-V
6 16 (2.10%) vSphere
7 8 (1.05%) Firmware
8 7 (0.92%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.66%) HDFS
9 5 (0.66%) KVM
10 3 (0.39%) Lustre
11 2 (0.26%) Ceph
11 2 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
11 2 (0.26%) NFS
11 2 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.26%) SRDF
11 2 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.26%) Xen
12 1 (0.13%) Samba
Systems Management
1 79 (10.38%) Ansible
2 74 (9.72%) Terraform
3 33 (4.34%) FortiGate
4 25 (3.29%) Kubernetes
5 24 (3.15%) SCCM
6 16 (2.10%) Grafana
7 12 (1.58%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.31%) SCOM
8 10 (1.31%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.18%) Puppet
10 8 (1.05%) Prometheus
11 7 (0.92%) CASB
11 7 (0.92%) Single Sign-On
12 6 (0.79%) SCOrch
13 5 (0.66%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 5 (0.66%) Hadoop YARN
14 4 (0.53%) Control-M
15 3 (0.39%) Nagios
15 3 (0.39%) OPNET
15 3 (0.39%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 253 (33.25%) Cisco
2 96 (12.61%) VMware
3 92 (12.09%) Microsoft
4 87 (11.43%) Palo Alto
5 67 (8.80%) Dell
6 56 (7.36%) F5
6 56 (7.36%) Juniper
7 48 (6.31%) HP
8 40 (5.26%) Apple
8 40 (5.26%) CheckPoint
9 38 (4.99%) SAP
10 37 (4.86%) ServiceNow
11 33 (4.34%) Fortinet
11 33 (4.34%) Meraki
11 33 (4.34%) Oracle
12 29 (3.81%) Aruba
13 19 (2.50%) Arista
14 17 (2.23%) Citrix
15 14 (1.84%) NetApp
15 14 (1.84%) Remedy