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

6 months to
19 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 133 135 102
Rank change year-on-year +2 -33 -8
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 857 628 982
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.10% 2.04% 2.23%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.26% 6.14% 7.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 549 377 650
10th Percentile £278 £350 £300
25th Percentile £400 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -7.32% -2.38% -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 13,699 10,221 13,427
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.65% 33.18% 30.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,632 6,183 8,642
10th Percentile £275 £264 £258
25th Percentile £403 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £765 £752
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 663 313 823
10th Percentile £15.37 £18.51 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £23.59 £16.67
Median hourly rate £31.00 £34.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -8.82% +4.62% +44.54%
75th Percentile £63.75 £65.00 £58.73
90th Percentile £76.20 £82.25 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.05 £32.50 £34.61
% change year-on-year -7.53% -6.08% +57.30%

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 19 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 19 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 19 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 -8 703 £476 -8.85% 384
UK excluding London +6 492 £469 -6.20% 266
London -35 247 £515 -0.96% 152
Work from Home +34 244 £475 -11.21% 118
North of England 0 169 £474 -2.52% 63
South East +2 124 £445 -1.11% 113
North West +16 100 £500 - 34
Midlands -34 74 £465 -21.19% 31
West Midlands -33 59 £472 -20.00% 18
Scotland +31 56 £456 +1.39% 14
Yorkshire -31 55 £454 +8.10% 24
South West -32 33 £550 -1.79% 24
East of England -19 29 £478 +13.14% 30
Wales +2 21 £350 -12.50% 4
North East -1 17 £175 - 5
East Midlands -18 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 (3.15%) SharePoint
2 20 (2.33%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (2.22%) Confluence
4 7 (0.82%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.70%) CICS
6 4 (0.47%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.47%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.35%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.35%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.35%) nginx
7 3 (0.35%) Smallworld
8 2 (0.23%) Apache
8 2 (0.23%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.23%) Oracle Coherence
9 1 (0.12%) Mendix
9 1 (0.12%) Tomcat
Applications
1 49 (5.72%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.03%) MS Visio
3 24 (2.80%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (2.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.63%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.35%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.12%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 5 (0.58%) 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 (18.20%) Azure
2 123 (14.35%) AWS
3 65 (7.58%) Microsoft 365
4 49 (5.72%) GCP
5 19 (2.22%) SaaS
5 19 (2.22%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 17 (1.98%) IaaS
6 17 (1.98%) Power Platform
7 15 (1.75%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 15 (1.75%) Entra ID
8 14 (1.63%) OpenShift
8 14 (1.63%) PaaS
9 11 (1.28%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 11 (1.28%) AWS CloudFormation
9 11 (1.28%) AWS Direct Connect
9 11 (1.28%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (1.28%) GitHub
10 10 (1.17%) Nutanix
11 9 (1.05%) Amazon S3
12 7 (0.82%) AWS CloudTrail
Communications & Networking
1 247 (28.82%) Firewall
2 154 (17.97%) WAN
3 115 (13.42%) BGP
4 98 (11.44%) LAN
5 90 (10.50%) VPN
6 89 (10.39%) Network Security
7 84 (9.80%) OSPF
8 79 (9.22%) Wireless
9 59 (6.88%) DNS
10 53 (6.18%) VLAN
11 48 (5.60%) Structured Cabling
11 48 (5.60%) VXLAN
12 46 (5.37%) Wi-Fi
13 45 (5.25%) SAN
14 44 (5.13%) DHCP
15 40 (4.67%) Cisco ISE
16 38 (4.43%) SD-WAN
17 37 (4.32%) Cisco Nexus
18 33 (3.85%) IPsec
19 31 (3.62%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.75%) Power BI
2 14 (1.63%) Relational Database
3 8 (0.93%) DataStage
3 8 (0.93%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.82%) RDBMS
5 4 (0.47%) GIS
5 4 (0.47%) MongoDB
5 4 (0.47%) Power Query
5 4 (0.47%) PowerPivot
6 3 (0.35%) Geospatial Data
6 3 (0.35%) InfluxDB
6 3 (0.35%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.35%) QGIS
7 2 (0.23%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.23%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.23%) Big Data
7 2 (0.23%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.23%) Data Vault
7 2 (0.23%) HBase
7 2 (0.23%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 27 (3.15%) Git
2 21 (2.45%) JIRA
3 20 (2.33%) Jenkins
4 16 (1.87%) GitLab
5 9 (1.05%) Maven
6 8 (0.93%) Sonatype Nexus
7 4 (0.47%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 3 (0.35%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.35%) JMeter
8 3 (0.35%) ScriptRunner
9 2 (0.23%) Eclipse
9 2 (0.23%) ER Studio
9 2 (0.23%) ERwin
9 2 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.23%) Subversion
10 1 (0.12%) AppScan
10 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.12%) Metasploit
General
1 226 (26.37%) Social Skills
2 142 (16.57%) Finance
3 100 (11.67%) Public Sector
4 98 (11.44%) Analytical Skills
5 60 (7.00%) Documentation Skills
6 52 (6.07%) Telecoms
7 44 (5.13%) Banking
8 43 (5.02%) Manufacturing
9 31 (3.62%) Marketing
10 24 (2.80%) Electronics
11 22 (2.57%) Legal
12 21 (2.45%) Presentation Skills
13 19 (2.22%) Influencing Skills
14 16 (1.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 13 (1.52%) Retail
16 12 (1.40%) Organisational Skills
17 11 (1.28%) Investment Banking
18 9 (1.05%) Military
19 7 (0.82%) Law
20 6 (0.70%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 152 (17.74%) Network Engineer
2 131 (15.29%) Architect
3 75 (8.75%) Project Manager
4 67 (7.82%) Analyst
5 66 (7.70%) Senior
6 46 (5.37%) Data Centre Engineer
7 45 (5.25%) Network Architect
8 43 (5.02%) Solutions Architect
9 41 (4.78%) Lead
10 34 (3.97%) Data Centre Manager
10 34 (3.97%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 33 (3.85%) IT Support
12 31 (3.62%) Consultant
13 30 (3.50%) Cisco Engineer
14 28 (3.27%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 26 (3.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 26 (3.03%) Infrastructure Manager
16 25 (2.92%) Desktop Support
16 25 (2.92%) Security Engineer
17 24 (2.80%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.03%) 802.1X
1 26 (3.03%) Middleware
2 9 (1.05%) LDAP
3 7 (0.82%) RFC 2544
4 5 (0.58%) Spring
5 4 (0.47%) ADO
5 4 (0.47%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.47%) Spring Boot
5 4 (0.47%) VML
6 3 (0.35%) REST
6 3 (0.35%) Yocto
7 2 (0.23%) .NET
7 2 (0.23%) CSS
7 2 (0.23%) Elastic Stack
7 2 (0.23%) HTML
7 2 (0.23%) Kafka
7 2 (0.23%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.23%) Spark Streaming
7 2 (0.23%) XML
7 2 (0.23%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 45 (5.25%) Hybrid Cloud
2 24 (2.80%) Self-Motivation
3 21 (2.45%) Analytical Mindset
4 20 (2.33%) Public Cloud
5 19 (2.22%) Driving Licence
5 19 (2.22%) Onboarding
6 18 (2.10%) Cloud Native
7 17 (1.98%) CMDB
8 16 (1.87%) PKI
9 15 (1.75%) Fibre Optics
9 15 (1.75%) Management Information System
10 14 (1.63%) Clustering
11 13 (1.52%) NHS
11 13 (1.52%) Replication
12 12 (1.40%) Data Protection Act
12 12 (1.40%) SCADA
13 10 (1.17%) Mainframe
13 10 (1.17%) Private Cloud
14 8 (0.93%) Virtual Team
15 7 (0.82%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 111 (12.95%) Windows
2 106 (12.37%) Linux
3 40 (4.67%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 32 (3.73%) Android
5 32 (3.73%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.98%) Unix
7 11 (1.28%) 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 (0.58%) 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
1 146 (17.04%) Migration
2 144 (16.80%) Problem-Solving
3 102 (11.90%) Stakeholder Management
4 69 (8.05%) ITIL
5 66 (7.70%) Agile
5 66 (7.70%) Project Management
6 62 (7.23%) Project Delivery
7 58 (6.77%) High Availability
7 58 (6.77%) Infrastructure as Code
8 57 (6.65%) CI/CD
9 56 (6.53%) Continuous Improvement
9 56 (6.53%) Roadmaps
10 53 (6.18%) Load Balancing
11 51 (5.95%) DevOps
12 50 (5.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 48 (5.60%) Change Management
14 45 (5.25%) Change Control
15 43 (5.02%) Customer Service
16 41 (4.78%) Cybersecurity
16 41 (4.78%) Network Design
Programming Languages
1 79 (9.22%) Python
2 56 (6.53%) PowerShell
3 35 (4.08%) SQL
4 27 (3.15%) Bash
5 19 (2.22%) Java
6 16 (1.87%) Perl
7 14 (1.63%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.05%) Lisp
9 7 (0.82%) Bicep
9 7 (0.82%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.70%) COBOL
11 5 (0.58%) 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
1 289 (33.72%) Security Cleared
2 230 (26.84%) SC Cleared
3 153 (17.85%) Cisco Certification
4 117 (13.65%) CCNP
5 64 (7.47%) Degree
6 59 (6.88%) CCNA
7 55 (6.42%) DV Cleared
8 26 (3.03%) CCIE
9 22 (2.57%) AWS Certification
10 21 (2.45%) PMP
11 19 (2.22%) PMI Certification
12 17 (1.98%) Network+ Certification
13 16 (1.87%) Microsoft Certification
14 15 (1.75%) A+ Certification
14 15 (1.75%) MCSE
15 13 (1.52%) JNCIS
16 12 (1.40%) Azure Certification
16 12 (1.40%) CISSP
17 11 (1.28%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
18 10 (1.17%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.03%) PMO
2 20 (2.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 19 (2.22%) NIST
3 19 (2.22%) SLA
4 18 (2.10%) PCI DSS
5 15 (1.75%) GDPR
6 14 (1.63%) QA
7 9 (1.05%) Data Quality
8 7 (0.82%) NCSC
9 5 (0.58%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.47%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.47%) GRC
11 2 (0.23%) ISO 22301
11 2 (0.23%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.23%) SOC 2
12 1 (0.12%) COBIT
12 1 (0.12%) RMADS
System Software
1 79 (9.22%) VMware Infrastructure
2 58 (6.77%) Active Directory
3 49 (5.72%) VMware NSX
4 25 (2.92%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (2.22%) Hyper-V
5 19 (2.22%) vSphere
6 14 (1.63%) Docker
7 12 (1.40%) Firmware
7 12 (1.40%) KVM
8 9 (1.05%) VMware ESXi
9 3 (0.35%) SRDF
10 2 (0.23%) Ceph
10 2 (0.23%) HDFS
10 2 (0.23%) Lustre
10 2 (0.23%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.23%) vCloud
10 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.12%) Microsoft App-V
11 1 (0.12%) RHEV
11 1 (0.12%) UAG
Systems Management
1 86 (10.04%) Ansible
2 76 (8.87%) Terraform
3 48 (5.60%) FortiGate
4 28 (3.27%) Kubernetes
5 24 (2.80%) Grafana
6 21 (2.45%) SCCM
7 13 (1.52%) Prometheus
8 10 (1.17%) Microsoft Intune
9 8 (0.93%) Check_MK
9 8 (0.93%) SCOM
10 7 (0.82%) CASB
10 7 (0.82%) Podman
10 7 (0.82%) Red Hat Satellite
10 7 (0.82%) vCenter Server
11 6 (0.70%) PowerCLI
11 6 (0.70%) Puppet
11 6 (0.70%) SCOrch
12 5 (0.58%) vMotion
13 4 (0.47%) Single Sign-On
13 4 (0.47%) vRealize
Vendors
1 275 (32.09%) Cisco
2 116 (13.54%) Palo Alto
3 107 (12.49%) VMware
4 86 (10.04%) Microsoft
5 77 (8.98%) Dell
6 74 (8.63%) Juniper
7 60 (7.00%) F5
8 46 (5.37%) ServiceNow
9 45 (5.25%) CheckPoint
10 44 (5.13%) HP
11 43 (5.02%) Aruba
12 37 (4.32%) Meraki
13 36 (4.20%) Fortinet
14 32 (3.73%) Apple
15 29 (3.38%) Oracle
15 29 (3.38%) SAP
16 27 (3.15%) Arista
17 25 (2.92%) SolarWinds
18 24 (2.80%) Citrix
18 24 (2.80%) Red Hat