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 22 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 140 134 92
Rank change year-on-year -6 -42 +8
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 772 619 1,006
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.04% 1.95% 2.33%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.97% 6.04% 7.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 501 371 669
10th Percentile £278 £350 £300
25th Percentile £400 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% -0.95% -4.55%
75th Percentile £588 £625 £638
90th Percentile £688 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £474 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.20% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 25 33
10th Percentile £22.20 £20.30 £17.10
25th Percentile £25.15 £24.15 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.77 £24.18 £24.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.58% +0.75% -61.75%
75th Percentile £67.25 £28.75 £41.25
90th Percentile £74.16 £41.25 £76.47
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.50 £24.18 £23.00
% change year-on-year +175.02% +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 12,937 10,249 13,290
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.22% 32.33% 30.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,187 6,069 8,702
10th Percentile £278 £263 £258
25th Percentile £406 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £531 £538
Median % change year-on-year -5.75% -1.39% -3.93%
75th Percentile £625 £663 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 621 316 669
10th Percentile £14.54 £18.51 £14.48
25th Percentile £18.28 £23.75 £17.72
Median hourly rate £27.54 £35.00 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year -21.31% -1.41% +57.88%
75th Percentile £61.50 £65.00 £60.39
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.50 £72.55
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.50 £32.50 £36.02
% change year-on-year -15.38% -9.78% +80.11%

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 22 January 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 22 January 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 22 January 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 +2 654 £492 -6.29% 530
UK excluding London -1 439 £474 -5.20% 461
London -30 235 £528 +1.44% 152
Work from Home +51 224 £492 -8.04% 220
North of England -8 148 £475 -4.52% 88
South East -12 102 £445 +1.14% 169
North West +12 89 £519 +3.70% 37
Midlands -15 79 £431 -25.69% 45
West Midlands -17 63 £474 -18.28% 21
Yorkshire -33 50 £438 +4.29% 32
Scotland +18 45 £456 +1.39% 36
South West -25 34 £550 - 42
East of England -14 30 £485 +14.79% 70
East Midlands -14 16 £158 -70.70% 23
Wales -7 13 £203 -49.38% 22
North East -4 12 £175 - 20
Northern Ireland - 3 £425 - 8

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 29 (3.76%) SharePoint
2 22 (2.85%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.42%) Confluence
4 9 (1.17%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.91%) Apache Airflow
6 6 (0.78%) Apache
7 5 (0.65%) Apache Spark
8 4 (0.52%) HCL Notes
8 4 (0.52%) nginx
9 3 (0.39%) GeoServer
9 3 (0.39%) Smallworld
9 3 (0.39%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.26%) CICS
10 2 (0.26%) Oracle Coherence
10 2 (0.26%) ThingWorx
10 2 (0.26%) WebSphere
11 1 (0.13%) FileNet
11 1 (0.13%) IIS
11 1 (0.13%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 50 (6.48%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (4.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 26 (3.37%) MS Visio
4 20 (2.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.81%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.13%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.78%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.52%) Oracle Financials
3 2 (0.26%) DELMIA
3 2 (0.26%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.13%) Epicor iScala
4 1 (0.13%) Maximo
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.13%) Primavera
4 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 136 (17.62%) Azure
2 114 (14.77%) AWS
3 62 (8.03%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (5.44%) GCP
5 24 (3.11%) Power Platform
6 17 (2.20%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 16 (2.07%) SaaS
8 14 (1.81%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.68%) AWS Direct Connect
9 13 (1.68%) OpenShift
10 12 (1.55%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (1.42%) GitHub
12 10 (1.30%) Entra ID
12 10 (1.30%) IaaS
12 10 (1.30%) PaaS
13 9 (1.17%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 8 (1.04%) Amazon GuardDuty
14 8 (1.04%) Azure DevOps
15 7 (0.91%) npm
15 7 (0.91%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 231 (29.92%) Firewall
2 148 (19.17%) WAN
3 92 (11.92%) BGP
4 86 (11.14%) Wireless
5 80 (10.36%) LAN
5 80 (10.36%) VPN
6 74 (9.59%) Network Security
7 65 (8.42%) OSPF
8 53 (6.87%) Wi-Fi
9 52 (6.74%) DNS
10 49 (6.35%) VLAN
11 44 (5.70%) SD-WAN
12 42 (5.44%) SAN
13 38 (4.92%) VXLAN
14 36 (4.66%) Cisco Nexus
15 35 (4.53%) Cisco ISE
15 35 (4.53%) Structured Cabling
16 32 (4.15%) IPsec
17 31 (4.02%) DHCP
18 29 (3.76%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.85%) Power BI
2 17 (2.20%) Relational Database
3 9 (1.17%) RDBMS
3 9 (1.17%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.78%) NoSQL
5 5 (0.65%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.65%) GIS
5 5 (0.65%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.65%) HBase
5 5 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (0.52%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database
6 4 (0.52%) Power Query
6 4 (0.52%) PowerPivot
7 3 (0.39%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.39%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.39%) DataStage
7 3 (0.39%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.39%) QGIS
7 3 (0.39%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 28 (3.63%) Git
2 25 (3.24%) Jenkins
3 17 (2.20%) GitLab
4 13 (1.68%) JIRA
5 12 (1.55%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.17%) Maven
7 7 (0.91%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.39%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.39%) ER Studio
8 3 (0.39%) ERwin
8 3 (0.39%) ScriptRunner
9 2 (0.26%) Gradle
9 2 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.26%) Selenium
General
1 192 (24.87%) Social Skills
2 134 (17.36%) Finance
3 98 (12.69%) Analytical Skills
4 92 (11.92%) Public Sector
5 57 (7.38%) Telecoms
6 53 (6.87%) Banking
7 50 (6.48%) Documentation Skills
8 42 (5.44%) Manufacturing
9 29 (3.76%) Marketing
10 25 (3.24%) Electronics
11 23 (2.98%) Presentation Skills
12 17 (2.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 13 (1.68%) Legal
13 13 (1.68%) Retail
14 12 (1.55%) Organisational Skills
15 10 (1.30%) Influencing Skills
16 8 (1.04%) Law
17 7 (0.91%) Front Office
17 7 (0.91%) Investment Banking
17 7 (0.91%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 144 (18.65%) Network Engineer
2 119 (15.41%) Architect
3 68 (8.81%) Project Manager
4 66 (8.55%) Analyst
5 57 (7.38%) Senior
6 42 (5.44%) Network Architect
7 36 (4.66%) Solutions Architect
8 34 (4.40%) Lead
9 32 (4.15%) Consultant
9 32 (4.15%) Data Centre Manager
9 32 (4.15%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 30 (3.89%) Cisco Engineer
11 29 (3.76%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 29 (3.76%) Security Engineer
12 28 (3.63%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 28 (3.63%) Data Centre Engineer
13 27 (3.50%) IT Support
14 25 (3.24%) Desktop Support
15 23 (2.98%) 2nd Line Support
15 23 (2.98%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (2.98%) 802.1X
1 23 (2.98%) Middleware
2 11 (1.42%) LDAP
3 8 (1.04%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.65%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.52%) ADO
5 4 (0.52%) Jinja
5 4 (0.52%) VML
6 3 (0.39%) ARM Templates
6 3 (0.39%) Yocto
7 2 (0.26%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
7 2 (0.26%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.26%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.26%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.26%) OpenLayers
7 2 (0.26%) REST
7 2 (0.26%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.26%) Spring
7 2 (0.26%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 43 (5.57%) Hybrid Cloud
2 25 (3.24%) Public Cloud
3 24 (3.11%) Cloud Native
4 22 (2.85%) Self-Motivation
5 19 (2.46%) Onboarding
6 16 (2.07%) Driving Licence
6 16 (2.07%) Fibre Optics
7 15 (1.94%) Analytical Mindset
7 15 (1.94%) Replication
7 15 (1.94%) SCADA
8 14 (1.81%) Mainframe
8 14 (1.81%) Private Cloud
9 13 (1.68%) CMDB
9 13 (1.68%) Management Information System
10 11 (1.42%) Data Protection Act
10 11 (1.42%) PKI
11 8 (1.04%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.04%) NHS
12 7 (0.91%) Operational Technology
12 7 (0.91%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 102 (13.21%) Windows
2 90 (11.66%) Linux
3 43 (5.57%) Windows Server
4 35 (4.53%) Android
4 35 (4.53%) Mac OS
5 29 (3.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (1.68%) Unix
7 11 (1.42%) CentOS
8 7 (0.91%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.78%) Windows 10
10 5 (0.65%) Ubuntu
10 5 (0.65%) VMS
11 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2008
11 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.39%) Embedded Linux
12 3 (0.39%) Solaris
13 2 (0.26%) zOS
14 1 (0.13%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 123 (15.93%) Migration
2 115 (14.90%) Problem-Solving
3 88 (11.40%) Stakeholder Management
4 72 (9.33%) ITIL
5 69 (8.94%) Agile
6 59 (7.64%) Infrastructure as Code
6 59 (7.64%) Project Management
7 57 (7.38%) Project Delivery
8 55 (7.12%) CI/CD
8 55 (7.12%) DevOps
9 44 (5.70%) Business Intelligence
9 44 (5.70%) Continuous Improvement
9 44 (5.70%) Network Design
9 44 (5.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 43 (5.57%) Customer Service
10 43 (5.57%) Service Management
11 42 (5.44%) Roadmaps
12 41 (5.31%) Change Management
12 41 (5.31%) Programme Management
13 40 (5.18%) Change Control
Programming Languages
1 81 (10.49%) Python
2 51 (6.61%) PowerShell
3 40 (5.18%) SQL
4 23 (2.98%) Bash
5 17 (2.20%) Java
6 13 (1.68%) Shell Script
7 11 (1.42%) Perl
8 8 (1.04%) Lisp
9 7 (0.91%) MATLAB
10 5 (0.65%) VBA
11 4 (0.52%) C++
12 3 (0.39%) Bicep
12 3 (0.39%) C
12 3 (0.39%) Go
12 3 (0.39%) JavaScript
12 3 (0.39%) PL/SQL
13 2 (0.26%) Korn
13 2 (0.26%) Ruby
14 1 (0.13%) Groovy
14 1 (0.13%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 260 (33.68%) Security Cleared
2 216 (27.98%) SC Cleared
3 121 (15.67%) Cisco Certification
4 96 (12.44%) CCNP
5 62 (8.03%) Degree
6 46 (5.96%) CCNA
6 46 (5.96%) DV Cleared
7 27 (3.50%) CCIE
8 24 (3.11%) AWS Certification
9 17 (2.20%) PMP
10 16 (2.07%) PMI Certification
11 12 (1.55%) JNCIE
12 11 (1.42%) CISSP
13 10 (1.30%) BPSS Clearance
14 9 (1.17%) A+ Certification
14 9 (1.17%) MCSE
14 9 (1.17%) Microsoft Certification
14 9 (1.17%) Network+ Certification
14 9 (1.17%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 8 (1.04%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.72%) PMO
2 20 (2.59%) SLA
3 17 (2.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 15 (1.94%) NIST
5 14 (1.81%) PCI DSS
5 14 (1.81%) QA
6 13 (1.68%) Data Quality
7 11 (1.42%) GDPR
8 6 (0.78%) NCSC
9 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.26%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.26%) GRC
9 2 (0.26%) ISO 22301
9 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 2 (0.26%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.13%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 82 (10.62%) VMware Infrastructure
2 58 (7.51%) Active Directory
3 49 (6.35%) VMware NSX
4 24 (3.11%) Docker
5 20 (2.59%) Virtual Machines
6 17 (2.20%) Hyper-V
7 13 (1.68%) vSphere
8 10 (1.30%) Firmware
9 8 (1.04%) KVM
9 8 (1.04%) VMware ESXi
10 5 (0.65%) HDFS
11 4 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
12 3 (0.39%) Lustre
13 2 (0.26%) Ceph
13 2 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
13 2 (0.26%) NFS
13 2 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
13 2 (0.26%) SRDF
13 2 (0.26%) vCloud
13 2 (0.26%) Xen
Systems Management
1 84 (10.88%) Ansible
2 74 (9.59%) Terraform
3 40 (5.18%) FortiGate
4 25 (3.24%) SCCM
5 23 (2.98%) Kubernetes
6 18 (2.33%) Grafana
7 10 (1.30%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.17%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.17%) Prometheus
8 9 (1.17%) Puppet
9 8 (1.04%) Check_MK
9 8 (1.04%) SCOM
10 7 (0.91%) Podman
10 7 (0.91%) Red Hat Satellite
11 6 (0.78%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 6 (0.78%) CASB
11 6 (0.78%) SCOrch
12 5 (0.65%) Hadoop YARN
13 4 (0.52%) Nagios
13 4 (0.52%) vMotion
Vendors
1 263 (34.07%) Cisco
2 108 (13.99%) VMware
3 104 (13.47%) Palo Alto
4 88 (11.40%) Microsoft
5 67 (8.68%) Dell
6 65 (8.42%) Juniper
7 54 (6.99%) F5
8 46 (5.96%) HP
9 44 (5.70%) CheckPoint
10 38 (4.92%) Aruba
10 38 (4.92%) ServiceNow
11 36 (4.66%) Meraki
12 35 (4.53%) Apple
13 33 (4.27%) SAP
14 32 (4.15%) Fortinet
14 32 (4.15%) Oracle
15 19 (2.46%) Arista
15 19 (2.46%) Citrix
16 18 (2.33%) Red Hat
17 15 (1.94%) Google