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 18 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 134 130 99
Rank change year-on-year -4 -31 +1
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 854 625 1,002
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.11% 2.04% 2.26%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.25% 6.16% 7.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 547 372 662
10th Percentile £278 £351 £300
25th Percentile £400 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -7.77% -1.90% -4.55%
75th Percentile £575 £627 £638
90th Percentile £675 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £469 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -6.20% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 24 45
10th Percentile £21.46 £21.54 £17.95
25th Percentile £25.15 - £22.00
Median hourly rate £26.50 £24.18 £25.12
Median % change year-on-year +9.59% -3.72% -54.83%
75th Percentile £72.69 £28.88 £41.25
90th Percentile £74.26 £41.25 £74.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £71.33 £24.18 £23.50
% change year-on-year +195.00% +2.89% +8.44%

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 13,667 10,151 13,539
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.70% 33.09% 30.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,629 6,111 8,707
10th Percentile £275 £263 £258
25th Percentile £403 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £531
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.13% -3.45%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £768 £753
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 659 310 824
10th Percentile £15.25 £18.51 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £23.59 £16.67
Median hourly rate £30.50 £34.50 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -11.59% +6.15% +44.54%
75th Percentile £63.75 £65.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.28 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -7.69% -7.14% +59.09%

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 18 February 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 18 February 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 18 February 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 -13 701 £478 -8.56% 388
UK excluding London +3 492 £469 -6.20% 280
Work from Home +39 246 £475 -11.21% 120
London -37 244 £515 -1.44% 146
North of England +6 169 £474 -2.52% 67
South East +2 123 £445 - 119
North West +11 99 £500 - 38
Midlands -20 77 £465 -21.19% 29
West Midlands -21 62 £472 -20.00% 16
Scotland +30 56 £456 +1.39% 15
Yorkshire -25 56 £454 +8.10% 22
South West -34 33 £550 -1.79% 26
East of England -20 29 £478 +13.14% 36
Wales +2 20 £350 -12.50% 6
North East +1 17 £175 - 7
East Midlands -16 15 £158 -70.70% 13
Northern Ireland - 3 £425 - 2

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 27 (3.16%) SharePoint
2 21 (2.46%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (2.11%) Confluence
4 7 (0.82%) Apache Airflow
4 7 (0.82%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.70%) CICS
6 5 (0.59%) Apache
6 5 (0.59%) Apache Spark
7 4 (0.47%) WebLogic
8 3 (0.35%) GeoServer
8 3 (0.35%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.35%) nginx
8 3 (0.35%) Smallworld
9 2 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
10 1 (0.12%) Mendix
10 1 (0.12%) Tomcat
Applications
1 49 (5.74%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.04%) MS Visio
3 24 (2.81%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (2.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.64%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.35%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.12%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.70%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.47%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.23%) DELMIA
4 2 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.12%) Epicor iScala
5 1 (0.12%) Maximo
5 1 (0.12%) Primavera
5 1 (0.12%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 156 (18.27%) Azure
2 123 (14.40%) AWS
3 66 (7.73%) Microsoft 365
4 49 (5.74%) GCP
5 19 (2.22%) SaaS
5 19 (2.22%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 17 (1.99%) IaaS
6 17 (1.99%) Power Platform
7 15 (1.76%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 15 (1.76%) Entra ID
8 14 (1.64%) OpenShift
8 14 (1.64%) PaaS
9 11 (1.29%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 11 (1.29%) AWS CloudFormation
9 11 (1.29%) AWS Direct Connect
9 11 (1.29%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (1.29%) GitHub
10 10 (1.17%) Nutanix
11 9 (1.05%) Amazon S3
12 7 (0.82%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 246 (28.81%) Firewall
2 155 (18.15%) WAN
3 115 (13.47%) BGP
4 98 (11.48%) LAN
5 89 (10.42%) Network Security
5 89 (10.42%) VPN
6 84 (9.84%) OSPF
7 79 (9.25%) Wireless
8 60 (7.03%) DNS
9 53 (6.21%) VLAN
10 48 (5.62%) Structured Cabling
10 48 (5.62%) VXLAN
11 46 (5.39%) Wi-Fi
12 44 (5.15%) DHCP
13 42 (4.92%) SAN
14 40 (4.68%) Cisco ISE
15 39 (4.57%) SD-WAN
16 37 (4.33%) Cisco Nexus
17 33 (3.86%) IPsec
18 31 (3.63%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.76%) Power BI
2 14 (1.64%) Relational Database
3 8 (0.94%) DataStage
3 8 (0.94%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.82%) RDBMS
5 5 (0.59%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.59%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.59%) HBase
6 4 (0.47%) GIS
6 4 (0.47%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.47%) Power Query
6 4 (0.47%) PowerPivot
7 3 (0.35%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.35%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.35%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.35%) QGIS
8 2 (0.23%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.23%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.23%) Big Data
8 2 (0.23%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 27 (3.16%) Git
2 20 (2.34%) Jenkins
2 20 (2.34%) JIRA
3 16 (1.87%) GitLab
4 9 (1.05%) Maven
5 8 (0.94%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.47%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 3 (0.35%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.35%) JMeter
7 3 (0.35%) ScriptRunner
8 2 (0.23%) Eclipse
8 2 (0.23%) ER Studio
8 2 (0.23%) ERwin
8 2 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.23%) Subversion
9 1 (0.12%) AppScan
9 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.12%) Metasploit
General
1 227 (26.58%) Social Skills
2 142 (16.63%) Finance
3 99 (11.59%) Public Sector
4 96 (11.24%) Analytical Skills
5 60 (7.03%) Documentation Skills
6 52 (6.09%) Telecoms
7 44 (5.15%) Banking
8 43 (5.04%) Manufacturing
9 31 (3.63%) Marketing
10 24 (2.81%) Electronics
11 22 (2.58%) Legal
12 20 (2.34%) Presentation Skills
13 19 (2.22%) Influencing Skills
14 16 (1.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 13 (1.52%) Retail
16 12 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
17 11 (1.29%) Investment Banking
18 9 (1.05%) Military
19 7 (0.82%) Law
20 6 (0.70%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 152 (17.80%) Network Engineer
2 130 (15.22%) Architect
3 75 (8.78%) Project Manager
4 67 (7.85%) Analyst
5 66 (7.73%) Senior
6 45 (5.27%) Data Centre Engineer
6 45 (5.27%) Network Architect
7 43 (5.04%) Solutions Architect
8 41 (4.80%) Lead
9 34 (3.98%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 33 (3.86%) Data Centre Manager
11 32 (3.75%) Consultant
12 30 (3.51%) Cisco Engineer
12 30 (3.51%) IT Support
13 28 (3.28%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 26 (3.04%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 26 (3.04%) Infrastructure Manager
15 25 (2.93%) Desktop Support
15 25 (2.93%) Security Engineer
16 23 (2.69%) Data Centre Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.04%) 802.1X
2 25 (2.93%) Middleware
3 9 (1.05%) LDAP
4 7 (0.82%) RFC 2544
5 5 (0.59%) Spark Streaming
5 5 (0.59%) Spring
6 4 (0.47%) ADO
6 4 (0.47%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.47%) Spring Boot
6 4 (0.47%) VML
7 3 (0.35%) REST
7 3 (0.35%) Yocto
8 2 (0.23%) .NET
8 2 (0.23%) AWS CDK
8 2 (0.23%) CSS
8 2 (0.23%) Elastic Stack
8 2 (0.23%) HTML
8 2 (0.23%) Kafka
8 2 (0.23%) NETCONF
8 2 (0.23%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 46 (5.39%) Hybrid Cloud
2 24 (2.81%) Self-Motivation
3 20 (2.34%) Public Cloud
4 19 (2.22%) Driving Licence
5 18 (2.11%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.11%) Cloud Native
5 18 (2.11%) Onboarding
6 17 (1.99%) CMDB
7 16 (1.87%) PKI
8 15 (1.76%) Clustering
8 15 (1.76%) Fibre Optics
9 14 (1.64%) Management Information System
10 13 (1.52%) NHS
10 13 (1.52%) Replication
11 12 (1.41%) SCADA
12 11 (1.29%) Data Protection Act
12 11 (1.29%) Private Cloud
13 10 (1.17%) Mainframe
14 7 (0.82%) BYOD
14 7 (0.82%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 111 (13.00%) Windows
2 109 (12.76%) Linux
3 40 (4.68%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 32 (3.75%) Android
5 32 (3.75%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.99%) Unix
7 11 (1.29%) CentOS
8 7 (0.82%) Solaris
8 7 (0.82%) VMS
9 6 (0.70%) AIX
9 6 (0.70%) Windows Server 2019
10 5 (0.59%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.35%) Embedded Linux
11 3 (0.35%) Windows 10
12 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
13 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (17.21%) Migration
2 141 (16.51%) Problem-Solving
3 100 (11.71%) Stakeholder Management
4 69 (8.08%) ITIL
5 66 (7.73%) Project Management
6 64 (7.49%) Agile
7 62 (7.26%) Project Delivery
8 60 (7.03%) CI/CD
9 58 (6.79%) High Availability
9 58 (6.79%) Infrastructure as Code
10 55 (6.44%) Roadmaps
11 54 (6.32%) Continuous Improvement
12 53 (6.21%) Load Balancing
13 51 (5.97%) DevOps
14 50 (5.85%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 48 (5.62%) Change Management
16 45 (5.27%) Change Control
17 41 (4.80%) Cybersecurity
17 41 (4.80%) Network Design
18 40 (4.68%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 82 (9.60%) Python
2 57 (6.67%) PowerShell
3 35 (4.10%) SQL
4 27 (3.16%) Bash
5 19 (2.22%) Java
6 17 (1.99%) Shell Script
7 16 (1.87%) Perl
8 9 (1.05%) Lisp
9 7 (0.82%) Bicep
9 7 (0.82%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.70%) COBOL
11 5 (0.59%) VBA
12 4 (0.47%) C++
13 3 (0.35%) C
13 3 (0.35%) JavaScript
14 2 (0.23%) Go
14 2 (0.23%) Korn
14 2 (0.23%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.23%) Ruby
15 1 (0.12%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 288 (33.72%) Security Cleared
2 229 (26.81%) SC Cleared
3 150 (17.56%) Cisco Certification
4 117 (13.70%) CCNP
5 63 (7.38%) Degree
6 56 (6.56%) CCNA
7 55 (6.44%) DV Cleared
8 26 (3.04%) CCIE
9 22 (2.58%) AWS Certification
10 20 (2.34%) PMP
11 18 (2.11%) PMI Certification
12 14 (1.64%) Network+ Certification
13 13 (1.52%) JNCIS
13 13 (1.52%) Microsoft Certification
14 12 (1.41%) A+ Certification
14 12 (1.41%) Azure Certification
14 12 (1.41%) CISSP
14 12 (1.41%) MCSE
15 11 (1.29%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
16 10 (1.17%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (2.93%) PMO
2 20 (2.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 20 (2.34%) SLA
3 19 (2.22%) NIST
4 18 (2.11%) PCI DSS
5 15 (1.76%) GDPR
6 14 (1.64%) QA
7 9 (1.05%) Data Quality
8 7 (0.82%) NCSC
9 4 (0.47%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (0.47%) Disclosure Scotland
9 4 (0.47%) GRC
10 2 (0.23%) ISO 22301
10 2 (0.23%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.23%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.12%) COBIT
11 1 (0.12%) RMADS
System Software
1 80 (9.37%) VMware Infrastructure
2 59 (6.91%) Active Directory
3 49 (5.74%) VMware NSX
4 25 (2.93%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (2.22%) Hyper-V
5 19 (2.22%) vSphere
6 14 (1.64%) Docker
7 12 (1.41%) Firmware
7 12 (1.41%) KVM
8 9 (1.05%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.59%) HDFS
10 3 (0.35%) SRDF
10 3 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.23%) Ceph
11 2 (0.23%) Lustre
11 2 (0.23%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.23%) vCloud
12 1 (0.12%) Microsoft App-V
12 1 (0.12%) RHEV
12 1 (0.12%) UAG
Systems Management
1 89 (10.42%) Ansible
2 76 (8.90%) Terraform
3 48 (5.62%) FortiGate
4 28 (3.28%) Kubernetes
5 24 (2.81%) Grafana
6 21 (2.46%) SCCM
7 13 (1.52%) Prometheus
8 10 (1.17%) Microsoft Intune
9 9 (1.05%) Puppet
9 9 (1.05%) SCOM
10 8 (0.94%) Check_MK
11 7 (0.82%) CASB
11 7 (0.82%) Podman
11 7 (0.82%) Red Hat Satellite
11 7 (0.82%) vCenter Server
12 6 (0.70%) PowerCLI
12 6 (0.70%) SCOrch
13 5 (0.59%) Hadoop YARN
13 5 (0.59%) vMotion
14 4 (0.47%) vRealize
Vendors
1 275 (32.20%) Cisco
2 116 (13.58%) Palo Alto
3 108 (12.65%) VMware
4 87 (10.19%) Microsoft
5 74 (8.67%) Dell
5 74 (8.67%) Juniper
6 60 (7.03%) F5
7 46 (5.39%) ServiceNow
8 45 (5.27%) CheckPoint
9 44 (5.15%) HP
10 43 (5.04%) Aruba
11 37 (4.33%) Meraki
12 36 (4.22%) Fortinet
13 32 (3.75%) Apple
14 29 (3.40%) Oracle
14 29 (3.40%) SAP
15 27 (3.16%) Arista
16 25 (2.93%) SolarWinds
17 24 (2.81%) Citrix
17 24 (2.81%) Red Hat