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

6 months to
7 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 142 119 95
Rank change year-on-year -23 -24 +6
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 739 746 1,110
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.04% 2.09% 2.44%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 5.76% 6.62% 7.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 467 445 745
10th Percentile £261 £359 £328
25th Percentile £400 £445 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% +2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £610 £650
90th Percentile £711 £700 £735
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -9.52% - +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 46 36 24
10th Percentile £20.25 £11.85 £17.98
25th Percentile - £12.08 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £24.17 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.08% +5.07% -63.49%
75th Percentile £31.00 £25.50 £68.75
90th Percentile £68.62 £30.19 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £23.51 £23.00
% change year-on-year +6.96% +2.23% -55.51%

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 12,839 11,268 14,386
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 35.39% 31.55% 31.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,002 6,687 9,627
10th Percentile £275 £275 £270
25th Percentile £406 £410 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.51% -2.27% -
75th Percentile £630 £663 £669
90th Percentile £738 £775 £772
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 652 367 497
10th Percentile £13.50 £16.81 £16.67
25th Percentile £17.98 £22.50 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.50 £34.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.06% -20.00% +21.43%
75th Percentile £56.06 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.19 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.00 £32.50 £45.21
% change year-on-year -20.00% -28.11% +53.25%

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 7 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 7 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK

Data Centre
Top 16 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 7 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 -16 649 £509 -3.00% 344
UK excluding London -15 401 £475 -9.52% 282
London -9 267 £525 - 115
Work from Home +3 188 £525 -4.07% 98
North of England -9 140 £489 -2.30% 59
Midlands -1 91 £437 -24.66% 27
North West +19 82 £543 +8.50% 35
South East -44 73 £450 -10.00% 122
West Midlands -2 70 £470 -19.05% 17
Yorkshire -32 53 £422 +0.36% 18
Scotland +5 33 £438 -2.78% 9
South West -38 33 £550 +0.36% 30
East of England -16 29 £600 +50.00% 32
East Midlands -5 21 £203 -61.81% 9
Wales +10 16 £276 -19.34% 10
North East -1 8 £175 - 6

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 31 (4.19%) SharePoint
2 22 (2.98%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (2.44%) Confluence
4 11 (1.49%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.81%) Apache
5 6 (0.81%) Apache Airflow
6 5 (0.68%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.54%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.41%) CICS
8 3 (0.41%) GeoServer
8 3 (0.41%) Smallworld
8 3 (0.41%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.27%) FileNet
9 2 (0.27%) nginx
9 2 (0.27%) Oracle Coherence
9 2 (0.27%) ThingWorx
9 2 (0.27%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.14%) IIS
10 1 (0.14%) OpenEdge
10 1 (0.14%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 59 (7.98%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (4.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 24 (3.25%) MS Visio
4 18 (2.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 16 (2.17%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.14%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.81%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.54%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.41%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.14%) Epicor iScala
5 1 (0.14%) Maximo
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.14%) Primavera
5 1 (0.14%) StreamServe
Cloud Services
1 128 (17.32%) Azure
2 103 (13.94%) AWS
3 71 (9.61%) Microsoft 365
4 41 (5.55%) GCP
5 23 (3.11%) Power Platform
6 20 (2.71%) Entra ID
7 17 (2.30%) OpenShift
8 15 (2.03%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 13 (1.76%) SaaS
10 12 (1.62%) IaaS
10 12 (1.62%) PaaS
10 12 (1.62%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 11 (1.49%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 7 (0.95%) AWS Direct Connect
12 7 (0.95%) npm
12 7 (0.95%) OCI
13 6 (0.81%) Akamai
13 6 (0.81%) GitHub
13 6 (0.81%) Nutanix
14 5 (0.68%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 203 (27.47%) Firewall
2 128 (17.32%) WAN
3 103 (13.94%) Wireless
4 76 (10.28%) BGP
5 68 (9.20%) VPN
6 61 (8.25%) DNS
7 60 (8.12%) LAN
8 52 (7.04%) OSPF
9 51 (6.90%) Wi-Fi
10 45 (6.09%) SD-WAN
11 43 (5.82%) Cisco ISE
11 43 (5.82%) Cisco Nexus
12 42 (5.68%) Network Security
13 38 (5.14%) SAN
14 36 (4.87%) DHCP
15 35 (4.74%) MPLS
16 34 (4.60%) VLAN
17 33 (4.47%) VXLAN
18 30 (4.06%) TCP/IP
19 27 (3.65%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.71%) Power BI
2 19 (2.57%) Relational Database
3 12 (1.62%) RDBMS
4 9 (1.22%) GIS
4 9 (1.22%) SQL Server
5 6 (0.81%) NoSQL
5 6 (0.81%) Oracle Database
5 6 (0.81%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (0.68%) Apache Hive
6 5 (0.68%) Hadoop
6 5 (0.68%) HBase
7 4 (0.54%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.54%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.41%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.41%) Big Data
8 3 (0.41%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.41%) Data Vault
8 3 (0.41%) Geospatial Data
8 3 (0.41%) Metadata
8 3 (0.41%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 20 (2.71%) Git
2 18 (2.44%) JIRA
3 15 (2.03%) Jenkins
3 15 (2.03%) Sonatype Nexus
4 11 (1.49%) Maven
5 9 (1.22%) GitLab
5 9 (1.22%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.54%) Gradle
6 4 (0.54%) Selenium
7 3 (0.41%) ER Studio
7 3 (0.41%) ERwin
8 2 (0.27%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.14%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.14%) Postman
9 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 179 (24.22%) Social Skills
2 132 (17.86%) Finance
3 82 (11.10%) Public Sector
4 77 (10.42%) Analytical Skills
5 69 (9.34%) Banking
6 68 (9.20%) Telecoms
7 36 (4.87%) Documentation Skills
8 35 (4.74%) Manufacturing
9 27 (3.65%) Marketing
10 25 (3.38%) Electronics
11 22 (2.98%) Presentation Skills
12 19 (2.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 16 (2.17%) Organisational Skills
14 12 (1.62%) Influencing Skills
15 11 (1.49%) Retail
16 7 (0.95%) Investment Banking
16 7 (0.95%) Legal
16 7 (0.95%) Local Government
17 6 (0.81%) Front Office
17 6 (0.81%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 116 (15.70%) Network Engineer
2 108 (14.61%) Architect
3 72 (9.74%) Analyst
4 63 (8.53%) Project Manager
5 45 (6.09%) Senior
6 36 (4.87%) Data Centre Manager
7 34 (4.60%) Network Architect
8 33 (4.47%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 33 (4.47%) IT Support
9 32 (4.33%) Consultant
9 32 (4.33%) Security Engineer
10 30 (4.06%) Support Engineer
11 29 (3.92%) Infrastructure Manager
12 26 (3.52%) Solutions Architect
13 25 (3.38%) Data Centre Engineer
13 25 (3.38%) Desktop Support
14 24 (3.25%) Business Analyst
15 23 (3.11%) 2nd Line Support
15 23 (3.11%) Cisco Engineer
15 23 (3.11%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.11%) 802.1X
2 18 (2.44%) Middleware
3 14 (1.89%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.68%) Spark Streaming
5 4 (0.54%) Jinja
6 3 (0.41%) LDAP
6 3 (0.41%) REST
6 3 (0.41%) VML
7 2 (0.27%) ARM Templates
7 2 (0.27%) eBPF
7 2 (0.27%) EJB
7 2 (0.27%) Java SE
7 2 (0.27%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.27%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.27%) OpenConfig
7 2 (0.27%) OpenLayers
7 2 (0.27%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.27%) Spring
7 2 (0.27%) YANG
8 1 (0.14%) ONNX
Miscellaneous
1 41 (5.55%) Hybrid Cloud
2 28 (3.79%) Cloud Native
3 24 (3.25%) Public Cloud
4 22 (2.98%) Replication
5 21 (2.84%) Driving Licence
6 20 (2.71%) Onboarding
7 17 (2.30%) Private Cloud
8 15 (2.03%) Fibre Optics
8 15 (2.03%) Mainframe
9 14 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.62%) SCADA
11 11 (1.49%) Data Protection Act
11 11 (1.49%) PKI
12 10 (1.35%) Clustering
12 10 (1.35%) CMDB
13 9 (1.22%) Legacy Systems
13 9 (1.22%) Product Ownership
14 8 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
14 8 (1.08%) Management Information System
15 7 (0.95%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 96 (12.99%) Windows
2 70 (9.47%) Linux
3 47 (6.36%) Android
4 45 (6.09%) Mac OS
5 40 (5.41%) Windows Server
6 18 (2.44%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 17 (2.30%) Unix
8 7 (0.95%) CentOS
9 6 (0.81%) Windows 10
10 5 (0.68%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.54%) Apple iOS
11 4 (0.54%) Solaris
11 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2008
12 3 (0.41%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.41%) VMS
13 2 (0.27%) AIX
13 2 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.27%) zOS
14 1 (0.14%) MVS
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (18.94%) Migration
2 95 (12.86%) Problem-Solving
3 85 (11.50%) Stakeholder Management
4 66 (8.93%) Agile
5 59 (7.98%) ITIL
6 52 (7.04%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 51 (6.90%) Infrastructure as Code
8 50 (6.77%) Change Management
9 48 (6.50%) Customer Service
10 47 (6.36%) CI/CD
10 47 (6.36%) Project Management
11 46 (6.22%) DevOps
11 46 (6.22%) Project Delivery
11 46 (6.22%) Service Management
12 45 (6.09%) Load Balancing
12 45 (6.09%) Roadmaps
13 44 (5.95%) Network Design
14 42 (5.68%) Business Intelligence
15 40 (5.41%) Cybersecurity
16 38 (5.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
Programming Languages
1 78 (10.55%) Python
2 49 (6.63%) PowerShell
3 38 (5.14%) SQL
4 21 (2.84%) Bash
5 19 (2.57%) Java
6 10 (1.35%) Perl
7 9 (1.22%) Shell Script
8 8 (1.08%) Lisp
9 7 (0.95%) Go
10 4 (0.54%) C
11 3 (0.41%) Bicep
11 3 (0.41%) JCL
11 3 (0.41%) Korn
11 3 (0.41%) VBA
12 2 (0.27%) AWK
12 2 (0.27%) C#
12 2 (0.27%) JavaScript
12 2 (0.27%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.27%) Ruby
12 2 (0.27%) sed
Qualifications
1 222 (30.04%) Security Cleared
2 185 (25.03%) SC Cleared
3 91 (12.31%) Cisco Certification
4 62 (8.39%) CCNP
5 57 (7.71%) Degree
6 44 (5.95%) DV Cleared
7 28 (3.79%) CCIE
8 26 (3.52%) CCNA
9 19 (2.57%) AWS Certification
10 13 (1.76%) CISSP
10 13 (1.76%) JNCIE
11 11 (1.49%) PMP
12 10 (1.35%) Computer Science Degree
12 10 (1.35%) PMI Certification
12 10 (1.35%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 7 (0.95%) Azure Certification
13 7 (0.95%) BPSS Clearance
13 7 (0.95%) VCAP
14 6 (0.81%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 6 (0.81%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (2.71%) SLA
2 19 (2.57%) NIST
3 18 (2.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 18 (2.44%) PCI DSS
3 18 (2.44%) PMO
4 14 (1.89%) QA
5 13 (1.76%) GDPR
6 11 (1.49%) Data Quality
7 5 (0.68%) NCSC
8 3 (0.41%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.27%) ISO 22301
9 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 2 (0.27%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.14%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.14%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.14%) GRC
10 1 (0.14%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 72 (9.74%) VMware Infrastructure
2 58 (7.85%) Active Directory
3 39 (5.28%) VMware NSX
4 27 (3.65%) Docker
5 17 (2.30%) Hyper-V
6 16 (2.17%) vSphere
7 15 (2.03%) Virtual Machines
8 9 (1.22%) VMware ESXi
9 7 (0.95%) Firmware
10 5 (0.68%) HDFS
11 4 (0.54%) KVM
11 4 (0.54%) NFS
12 3 (0.41%) GPFS
13 2 (0.27%) Lustre
13 2 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
13 2 (0.27%) SRDF
13 2 (0.27%) Virtual Desktop
14 1 (0.14%) Ceph
14 1 (0.14%) Veritas Cluster Server
14 1 (0.14%) Xen
Systems Management
1 70 (9.47%) Ansible
2 66 (8.93%) Terraform
3 31 (4.19%) FortiGate
4 26 (3.52%) SCCM
5 25 (3.38%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.89%) Grafana
7 13 (1.76%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.35%) SCOM
8 10 (1.35%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.22%) Puppet
10 8 (1.08%) Control-M
10 8 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
11 7 (0.95%) CASB
11 7 (0.95%) Prometheus
12 6 (0.81%) SCOrch
13 5 (0.68%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 5 (0.68%) Hadoop YARN
14 4 (0.54%) Argo
15 3 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
15 3 (0.41%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 241 (32.61%) Cisco
2 102 (13.80%) Microsoft
3 94 (12.72%) VMware
4 68 (9.20%) Dell
5 65 (8.80%) Palo Alto
6 62 (8.39%) F5
7 54 (7.31%) HP
8 50 (6.77%) Juniper
9 44 (5.95%) Apple
10 40 (5.41%) ServiceNow
11 38 (5.14%) SAP
12 34 (4.60%) Meraki
13 33 (4.47%) Oracle
14 32 (4.33%) Fortinet
15 27 (3.65%) CheckPoint
16 22 (2.98%) SolarWinds
17 20 (2.71%) Arista
18 18 (2.44%) Citrix
19 17 (2.30%) Remedy
20 16 (2.17%) IBM