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

6 months to
16 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 132 132 97
Rank change year-on-year 0 -35 +5
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 832 623 1,018
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.09% 2.03% 2.27%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 6.20% 6.15% 7.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 534 371 670
10th Percentile £278 £350 £300
25th Percentile £400 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £518 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.21% -1.43% -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 29 24 45
10th Percentile £21.33 £21.54 £17.95
25th Percentile £25.15 - £22.00
Median hourly rate £25.77 £24.18 £25.12
Median % change year-on-year +6.58% -3.72% -54.17%
75th Percentile £73.38 £28.88 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.31 £41.25 £74.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £24.18 £23.50
% change year-on-year +207.11% +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 13,413 10,133 13,712
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.63% 33.03% 30.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,465 6,086 8,839
10th Percentile £271 £265 £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 £768 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £497 £500
% change year-on-year -4.39% -0.64% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 652 310 822
10th Percentile £15.25 £18.51 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £23.59 £16.54
Median hourly rate £30.05 £34.50 £31.75
Median % change year-on-year -12.89% +8.66% +41.21%
75th Percentile £63.75 £65.00 £58.74
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.25 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.74 £32.50 £32.75
% change year-on-year -8.49% -0.76% +49.82%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 -11 681 £478 -8.95% 376
UK excluding London -3 473 £469 -6.20% 252
London -29 242 £515 -1.90% 126
Work from Home +34 235 £475 -11.21% 114
North of England +3 163 £474 -4.72% 59
South East -6 112 £445 +1.14% 107
North West +10 94 £500 - 36
Midlands -24 74 £465 -21.19% 24
West Midlands -22 59 £474 -19.66% 14
Scotland +33 56 £456 +1.39% 15
Yorkshire -32 55 £438 +4.29% 15
South West -36 33 £550 -0.90% 26
East of England -16 29 £478 +13.14% 33
Wales +1 19 £338 -15.63% 6
North East +1 17 £175 - 8
East Midlands -14 15 £158 -70.70% 10
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 (3.25%) SharePoint
2 20 (2.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (2.04%) Confluence
4 7 (0.84%) Apache Airflow
4 7 (0.84%) OpenStack
5 6 (0.72%) CICS
6 5 (0.60%) Apache
6 5 (0.60%) Apache Spark
7 3 (0.36%) GeoServer
7 3 (0.36%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.36%) nginx
7 3 (0.36%) Smallworld
7 3 (0.36%) WebLogic
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Coherence
9 1 (0.12%) Mendix
9 1 (0.12%) Tomcat
Applications
1 49 (5.89%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (3.13%) MS Visio
3 24 (2.88%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (2.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.68%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.36%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.36%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.12%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 6 (0.72%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.48%) Oracle Financials
3 3 (0.36%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.24%) DELMIA
4 2 (0.24%) 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
1 151 (18.15%) Azure
2 119 (14.30%) AWS
3 63 (7.57%) Microsoft 365
4 48 (5.77%) GCP
5 18 (2.16%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 17 (2.04%) SaaS
7 16 (1.92%) Power Platform
8 15 (1.80%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 14 (1.68%) Entra ID
9 14 (1.68%) IaaS
10 13 (1.56%) OpenShift
10 13 (1.56%) PaaS
11 11 (1.32%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 11 (1.32%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (1.32%) AWS Direct Connect
11 11 (1.32%) Azure DevOps
11 11 (1.32%) GitHub
12 9 (1.08%) Nutanix
13 8 (0.96%) Amazon S3
14 7 (0.84%) AWS CloudTrail
Communications & Networking
1 236 (28.37%) Firewall
2 146 (17.55%) WAN
3 106 (12.74%) BGP
4 90 (10.82%) LAN
5 89 (10.70%) Network Security
5 89 (10.70%) VPN
6 79 (9.50%) Wireless
7 76 (9.13%) OSPF
8 53 (6.37%) VLAN
9 52 (6.25%) DNS
10 48 (5.77%) Structured Cabling
11 46 (5.53%) Wi-Fi
12 40 (4.81%) SAN
13 39 (4.69%) SD-WAN
13 39 (4.69%) VXLAN
14 37 (4.45%) Cisco Nexus
15 36 (4.33%) DHCP
16 34 (4.09%) Cisco ISE
17 33 (3.97%) IPsec
18 28 (3.37%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.80%) Power BI
2 14 (1.68%) Relational Database
3 8 (0.96%) DataStage
3 8 (0.96%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.84%) RDBMS
5 5 (0.60%) Apache Hive
5 5 (0.60%) Hadoop
5 5 (0.60%) HBase
6 4 (0.48%) GIS
6 4 (0.48%) Power Query
6 4 (0.48%) PowerPivot
7 3 (0.36%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.36%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.36%) MongoDB
7 3 (0.36%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.36%) QGIS
8 2 (0.24%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.24%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 26 (3.13%) Git
2 19 (2.28%) Jenkins
2 19 (2.28%) JIRA
3 15 (1.80%) GitLab
4 9 (1.08%) Maven
5 8 (0.96%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.36%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 3 (0.36%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.36%) ScriptRunner
7 2 (0.24%) Eclipse
7 2 (0.24%) ER Studio
7 2 (0.24%) ERwin
7 2 (0.24%) JMeter
7 2 (0.24%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.24%) Subversion
8 1 (0.12%) AppScan
8 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Metasploit
General
1 221 (26.56%) Social Skills
2 140 (16.83%) Finance
3 98 (11.78%) Public Sector
4 96 (11.54%) Analytical Skills
5 59 (7.09%) Documentation Skills
6 52 (6.25%) Telecoms
7 43 (5.17%) Manufacturing
8 42 (5.05%) Banking
9 31 (3.73%) Marketing
10 24 (2.88%) Electronics
11 21 (2.52%) Legal
12 18 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
12 18 (2.16%) Presentation Skills
13 16 (1.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 13 (1.56%) Retail
15 11 (1.32%) Organisational Skills
16 9 (1.08%) Investment Banking
17 7 (0.84%) Law
17 7 (0.84%) Military
18 6 (0.72%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 147 (17.67%) Network Engineer
2 125 (15.02%) Architect
3 74 (8.89%) Project Manager
4 64 (7.69%) Analyst
5 62 (7.45%) Senior
6 45 (5.41%) Data Centre Engineer
7 44 (5.29%) Network Architect
8 40 (4.81%) Solutions Architect
9 39 (4.69%) Lead
10 34 (4.09%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 33 (3.97%) Data Centre Manager
12 32 (3.85%) Consultant
13 30 (3.61%) Cisco Engineer
13 30 (3.61%) IT Support
14 28 (3.37%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 26 (3.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 25 (3.00%) Desktop Support
16 25 (3.00%) Infrastructure Manager
16 25 (3.00%) Security Engineer
17 23 (2.76%) Data Centre Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.00%) Middleware
2 18 (2.16%) 802.1X
3 9 (1.08%) LDAP
4 7 (0.84%) RFC 2544
5 5 (0.60%) Spark Streaming
6 4 (0.48%) ADO
6 4 (0.48%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.48%) Spring
6 4 (0.48%) VML
7 3 (0.36%) REST
7 3 (0.36%) Spring Boot
7 3 (0.36%) Yocto
8 2 (0.24%) AWS CDK
8 2 (0.24%) CSS
8 2 (0.24%) Elastic Stack
8 2 (0.24%) Kafka
8 2 (0.24%) NETCONF
8 2 (0.24%) OpenConfig
8 2 (0.24%) RESTCONF
8 2 (0.24%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 46 (5.53%) Hybrid Cloud
2 24 (2.88%) Self-Motivation
3 20 (2.40%) Public Cloud
4 19 (2.28%) Driving Licence
5 18 (2.16%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.16%) Cloud Native
5 18 (2.16%) Onboarding
6 17 (2.04%) CMDB
7 15 (1.80%) Fibre Optics
8 14 (1.68%) Management Information System
9 13 (1.56%) Replication
10 12 (1.44%) NHS
10 12 (1.44%) SCADA
11 11 (1.32%) Data Protection Act
11 11 (1.32%) Private Cloud
12 10 (1.20%) Mainframe
13 8 (0.96%) PKI
14 7 (0.84%) BYOD
14 7 (0.84%) Clustering
14 7 (0.84%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 106 (12.74%) Linux
2 100 (12.02%) Windows
3 40 (4.81%) Windows Server
4 32 (3.85%) Android
4 32 (3.85%) Mac OS
4 32 (3.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 15 (1.80%) Unix
6 11 (1.32%) CentOS
7 7 (0.84%) Solaris
7 7 (0.84%) VMS
8 6 (0.72%) AIX
8 6 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
9 5 (0.60%) Ubuntu
10 3 (0.36%) Embedded Linux
10 3 (0.36%) Windows 10
11 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 144 (17.31%) Migration
2 133 (15.99%) Problem-Solving
3 98 (11.78%) Stakeholder Management
4 65 (7.81%) Project Management
5 64 (7.69%) Agile
6 62 (7.45%) Project Delivery
7 61 (7.33%) ITIL
8 58 (6.97%) CI/CD
8 58 (6.97%) Infrastructure as Code
9 52 (6.25%) Continuous Improvement
9 52 (6.25%) Roadmaps
10 49 (5.89%) DevOps
10 49 (5.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 48 (5.77%) High Availability
12 46 (5.53%) Change Management
13 44 (5.29%) Change Control
13 44 (5.29%) Load Balancing
14 41 (4.93%) Cybersecurity
14 41 (4.93%) Network Design
15 40 (4.81%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 81 (9.74%) Python
2 56 (6.73%) PowerShell
3 34 (4.09%) SQL
4 27 (3.25%) Bash
5 18 (2.16%) Java
6 16 (1.92%) Shell Script
7 15 (1.80%) Perl
8 9 (1.08%) Lisp
9 7 (0.84%) Bicep
9 7 (0.84%) MATLAB
10 6 (0.72%) COBOL
11 5 (0.60%) VBA
12 4 (0.48%) C++
13 3 (0.36%) C
13 3 (0.36%) JavaScript
14 2 (0.24%) Go
14 2 (0.24%) Korn
14 2 (0.24%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.24%) Ruby
15 1 (0.12%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 277 (33.29%) Security Cleared
2 227 (27.28%) SC Cleared
3 140 (16.83%) Cisco Certification
4 115 (13.82%) CCNP
5 63 (7.57%) Degree
6 56 (6.73%) CCNA
7 48 (5.77%) DV Cleared
8 26 (3.13%) CCIE
9 22 (2.64%) AWS Certification
10 20 (2.40%) PMP
11 18 (2.16%) PMI Certification
12 14 (1.68%) Network+ Certification
13 13 (1.56%) Microsoft Certification
14 12 (1.44%) A+ Certification
14 12 (1.44%) CISSP
14 12 (1.44%) MCSE
15 11 (1.32%) Azure Certification
16 10 (1.20%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
17 9 (1.08%) JNCIE
17 9 (1.08%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.00%) PMO
2 19 (2.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 19 (2.28%) NIST
2 19 (2.28%) SLA
3 18 (2.16%) PCI DSS
4 15 (1.80%) GDPR
5 14 (1.68%) QA
6 9 (1.08%) Data Quality
7 7 (0.84%) NCSC
8 4 (0.48%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.48%) Disclosure Scotland
8 4 (0.48%) GRC
9 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.24%) ISO 22301
10 2 (0.24%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.24%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.12%) COBIT
11 1 (0.12%) RMADS
System Software
1 79 (9.50%) VMware Infrastructure
2 58 (6.97%) Active Directory
3 49 (5.89%) VMware NSX
4 24 (2.88%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (2.16%) Hyper-V
5 18 (2.16%) vSphere
6 14 (1.68%) Docker
7 12 (1.44%) Firmware
8 11 (1.32%) KVM
9 8 (0.96%) VMware ESXi
10 5 (0.60%) HDFS
11 3 (0.36%) SRDF
11 3 (0.36%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.24%) Ceph
12 2 (0.24%) Lustre
12 2 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 2 (0.24%) vCloud
13 1 (0.12%) Microsoft App-V
13 1 (0.12%) RHEV
13 1 (0.12%) UAG
Systems Management
1 87 (10.46%) Ansible
2 75 (9.01%) Terraform
3 40 (4.81%) FortiGate
4 26 (3.13%) Kubernetes
5 23 (2.76%) Grafana
6 21 (2.52%) SCCM
7 12 (1.44%) Prometheus
8 9 (1.08%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.08%) Puppet
8 9 (1.08%) SCOM
9 8 (0.96%) Check_MK
10 7 (0.84%) CASB
10 7 (0.84%) Podman
10 7 (0.84%) Red Hat Satellite
11 6 (0.72%) SCOrch
11 6 (0.72%) vCenter Server
12 5 (0.60%) Hadoop YARN
12 5 (0.60%) PowerCLI
12 5 (0.60%) vMotion
13 4 (0.48%) vRealize
Vendors
1 265 (31.85%) Cisco
2 115 (13.82%) Palo Alto
3 107 (12.86%) VMware
4 86 (10.34%) Microsoft
5 73 (8.77%) Dell
6 66 (7.93%) Juniper
7 51 (6.13%) F5
8 45 (5.41%) CheckPoint
8 45 (5.41%) ServiceNow
9 44 (5.29%) HP
10 43 (5.17%) Aruba
11 37 (4.45%) Meraki
12 35 (4.21%) Fortinet
13 32 (3.85%) Apple
14 30 (3.61%) SAP
15 28 (3.37%) Oracle
16 24 (2.88%) Arista
17 23 (2.76%) Citrix
17 23 (2.76%) Red Hat
18 19 (2.28%) Google