Firewall Contract Job Trends

Firewall
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Firewall skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 8 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 87 52 51
Rank change year-on-year -35 -1 +6
Contract jobs citing Firewall 1,336 1,206 1,563
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.82% 4.14% 3.62%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 29.30% 32.39% 28.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 868 722 986
10th Percentile £329 £319 £303
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £509 £515
Median % change year-on-year -1.72% -1.21% -1.90%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £625
90th Percentile £650 £688 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £495 £500
% change year-on-year +1.01% -1.00% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 19 43
10th Percentile £19.90 - £16.00
25th Percentile £37.25 £14.20 £23.92
Median hourly rate £52.36 £27.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +90.40% -54.17% -3.23%
75th Percentile £71.64 £41.50 £86.32
90th Percentile £85.10 £50.75 £87.52
UK excluding London median hourly rate £56.00 £26.25 £83.77
% change year-on-year +113.33% -68.66% +35.10%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

Firewall falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,560 3,723 5,506
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.61% 12.79% 12.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,831 2,290 3,296
10th Percentile £250 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.54% -2.50% -3.75%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £601
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £463 £475
% change year-on-year +2.70% -2.63% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 235 173 417
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.13 £16.30
Median hourly rate £40.54 £36.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.07% -8.75% +111.92%
75th Percentile £66.75 £57.50 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.75 £68.21
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £24.66 £45.88
% change year-on-year +92.62% -46.25% +148.00%

Firewall
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Firewall relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Firewall job vacancy trend in the UK

Firewall
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Firewall.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Firewall

Firewall
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Firewall over the 6 months to 8 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Firewall in the UK

Firewall
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Firewall.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Firewall

Firewall
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Firewall over the 6 months to 8 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Firewall in the UK

Firewall
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 Firewall within the UK over the 6 months to 8 May 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 -37 1,114 £500 -3.51% 502
UK excluding London -19 746 £500 +1.01% 422
London -55 418 £508 -3.19% 140
Work from Home -26 397 £515 +3.00% 210
South East -2 240 £500 - 142
North of England -22 211 £500 +5.26% 121
North West -14 139 £525 +10.53% 72
Midlands -52 87 £420 -24.32% 58
West Midlands -31 73 £413 -21.43% 37
East of England -8 64 £500 -2.44% 40
Yorkshire -26 63 £425 -10.53% 31
Scotland +14 57 £425 +1.19% 18
South West -56 57 £525 -3.67% 41
Wales -14 30 £425 +11.11% 14
North East -8 11 £585 +6.36% 19
East Midlands -43 10 £488 -14.10% 21
Northern Ireland +2 2 £385 -

Firewall
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 36 (2.69%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (2.32%) Confluence
3 16 (1.20%) SharePoint
4 13 (0.97%) Apache
4 13 (0.97%) nginx
5 10 (0.75%) CICS
6 6 (0.45%) SAS
7 5 (0.37%) IIS
8 3 (0.22%) Skype for Business
8 3 (0.22%) WebSphere
9 2 (0.15%) Apache Pulsar
9 2 (0.15%) CMS
9 2 (0.15%) IBM HTTP Server
9 2 (0.15%) Oracle HTTP Server
9 2 (0.15%) Tomcat
9 2 (0.15%) Umbraco
9 2 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
9 2 (0.15%) WebSphere Portal
10 1 (0.075%) JBoss
10 1 (0.075%) MTS
Applications
1 31 (2.32%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (1.72%) MS Visio
3 22 (1.65%) Microsoft Excel
4 17 (1.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.52%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.075%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 1 (0.075%) Payment Gateway
1 1 (0.075%) Primavera
1 1 (0.075%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.075%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 445 (33.31%) Azure
2 272 (20.36%) AWS
3 110 (8.23%) Entra ID
3 110 (8.23%) Microsoft 365
4 107 (8.01%) GCP
5 65 (4.87%) GitHub
6 54 (4.04%) IaaS
7 51 (3.82%) Azure DevOps
7 51 (3.82%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 44 (3.29%) PaaS
9 43 (3.22%) SaaS
10 42 (3.14%) Azure Sentinel
11 40 (2.99%) GitHub Actions
12 38 (2.84%) Azure Monitor
13 34 (2.54%) Serverless
14 32 (2.40%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 26 (1.95%) Amazon EKS
16 25 (1.87%) AWS CloudFormation
16 25 (1.87%) AWS Lambda
17 24 (1.80%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 362 (27.10%) Network Security
2 354 (26.50%) WAN
3 330 (24.70%) VPN
4 274 (20.51%) DNS
5 269 (20.13%) LAN
6 225 (16.84%) BGP
7 205 (15.34%) OSPF
8 158 (11.83%) VLAN
9 146 (10.93%) DHCP
10 145 (10.85%) TCP/IP
11 137 (10.25%) SD-WAN
12 128 (9.58%) Wireless
13 102 (7.63%) Wi-Fi
14 91 (6.81%) MPLS
15 88 (6.59%) IPsec
16 79 (5.91%) VXLAN
17 77 (5.76%) BIG-IP
18 73 (5.46%) Cisco ISE
19 69 (5.16%) Ethernet VPN
20 68 (5.09%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (1.95%) SQL Server
2 18 (1.35%) Elasticsearch
3 16 (1.20%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (0.97%) Power BI
5 10 (0.75%) DataStage
5 10 (0.75%) Oracle Database
6 8 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
7 7 (0.52%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (0.52%) Data Lake
7 7 (0.52%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (0.52%) MongoDB
8 6 (0.45%) MySQL
9 4 (0.30%) Amazon Athena
9 4 (0.30%) Amazon QuickSight
9 4 (0.30%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (0.30%) Metadata
9 4 (0.30%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.22%) Delta Lake
10 3 (0.22%) Oracle Exadata
Development Applications
1 80 (5.99%) JIRA
2 50 (3.74%) Jenkins
3 40 (2.99%) Git
4 36 (2.69%) GitLab
5 18 (1.35%) Sonatype Nexus
6 16 (1.20%) Burp Suite
6 16 (1.20%) Metasploit
7 14 (1.05%) Bitbucket
8 9 (0.67%) Chocolatey
8 9 (0.67%) Jaeger
9 7 (0.52%) SonarQube
10 6 (0.45%) Artifactory
11 5 (0.37%) Browser DevTools
12 4 (0.30%) CircleCI
13 2 (0.15%) Introscope
13 2 (0.15%) Postman
13 2 (0.15%) Team Foundation Server
14 1 (0.075%) Atlassian Bamboo
14 1 (0.075%) Maven
14 1 (0.075%) PVCS
General
1 319 (23.88%) Social Skills
2 162 (12.13%) Finance
3 123 (9.21%) Analytical Skills
4 105 (7.86%) Public Sector
5 89 (6.66%) Documentation Skills
6 53 (3.97%) Banking
7 45 (3.37%) Telecoms
8 29 (2.17%) Legal
9 24 (1.80%) Financial Institution
9 24 (1.80%) Manufacturing
10 19 (1.42%) Military
11 16 (1.20%) Influencing Skills
12 15 (1.12%) Law
12 15 (1.12%) Retail
13 11 (0.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 10 (0.75%) Front Office
14 10 (0.75%) Investment Banking
14 10 (0.75%) Local Government
14 10 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (0.67%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 408 (30.54%) Network Engineer
2 211 (15.79%) Architect
3 160 (11.98%) Senior
4 106 (7.93%) Security Engineer
5 103 (7.71%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 73 (5.46%) Network Architect
7 63 (4.72%) Senior Network Engineer
8 60 (4.49%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 59 (4.42%) Azure Engineer
10 51 (3.82%) Cloud Engineer
11 43 (3.22%) Network Security Engineer
12 41 (3.07%) Lead
12 41 (3.07%) Technical Architect
13 39 (2.92%) Cisco Engineer
13 39 (2.92%) DevOps Engineer
14 37 (2.77%) Security Architect
15 36 (2.69%) Analyst
15 36 (2.69%) Cisco Network Engineer
16 32 (2.40%) Consultant
16 32 (2.40%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 69 (5.16%) 802.1X
2 42 (3.14%) LDAP
3 38 (2.84%) Middleware
4 28 (2.10%) SAML
5 25 (1.87%) OpenID
6 20 (1.50%) Kafka
7 13 (0.97%) REST
8 12 (0.90%) OAuth
8 12 (0.90%) OAuth2
9 11 (0.82%) OpenTelemetry
10 9 (0.67%) Elastic Stack
10 9 (0.67%) JSON
10 9 (0.67%) Spring Boot
11 8 (0.60%) ARM Templates
12 7 (0.52%) Node.js
13 6 (0.45%) LangChain
13 6 (0.45%) PyTorch
13 6 (0.45%) scikit-learn
13 6 (0.45%) XML
13 6 (0.45%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 302 (22.60%) Data Centre
2 75 (5.61%) Cloud Native
3 66 (4.94%) PKI
4 65 (4.87%) Security Posture
5 48 (3.59%) Hybrid Cloud
6 47 (3.52%) Onboarding
7 41 (3.07%) Operational Technology
8 39 (2.92%) Clustering
9 37 (2.77%) Management Information System
10 33 (2.47%) Public Cloud
11 27 (2.02%) Data Protection Act
11 27 (2.02%) IoT
12 22 (1.65%) SCADA
13 21 (1.57%) Cyber Threat
14 20 (1.50%) Enterprise Storage
15 19 (1.42%) Enterprise Software
16 17 (1.27%) Self-Motivation
17 16 (1.20%) Driving Licence
17 16 (1.20%) Replication
18 15 (1.12%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 312 (23.35%) Windows
2 181 (13.55%) Linux
3 120 (8.98%) Windows Server
4 35 (2.62%) Unix
5 28 (2.10%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 25 (1.87%) VMS
7 11 (0.82%) Solaris
8 10 (0.75%) AIX
8 10 (0.75%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (0.75%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
10 6 (0.45%) Windows 10
11 5 (0.37%) CatOS
11 5 (0.37%) Mac OS
11 5 (0.37%) Windows 7
11 5 (0.37%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.30%) SUSE
13 3 (0.22%) Data ONTAP
13 3 (0.22%) Ubuntu
14 2 (0.15%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 211 (15.79%) DevOps
2 199 (14.90%) Cybersecurity
3 181 (13.55%) CI/CD
4 179 (13.40%) Problem-Solving
5 177 (13.25%) Infrastructure as Code
6 170 (12.72%) Migration
7 169 (12.65%) Load Balancing
8 160 (11.98%) ITIL
9 159 (11.90%) High Availability
10 142 (10.63%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 128 (9.58%) Agile
11 128 (9.58%) Zero Trust
12 111 (8.31%) SIEM
13 108 (8.08%) Change Management
14 103 (7.71%) Cloud Security
15 91 (6.81%) Technical Leadership
16 90 (6.74%) Project Delivery
17 89 (6.66%) Observability
18 88 (6.59%) Network Segmentation
19 87 (6.51%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 182 (13.62%) Python
2 153 (11.45%) PowerShell
3 74 (5.54%) Bash
4 56 (4.19%) SQL
5 37 (2.77%) Bicep
6 29 (2.17%) Java
7 13 (0.97%) Perl
8 10 (0.75%) COBOL
8 10 (0.75%) JavaScript
8 10 (0.75%) Kusto Query Language
9 8 (0.60%) Rust
10 6 (0.45%) PL/SQL
11 5 (0.37%) Ruby
11 5 (0.37%) Shell Script
12 4 (0.30%) C#
12 4 (0.30%) Go
13 3 (0.22%) C++
13 3 (0.22%) Groovy
14 2 (0.15%) Jython
14 2 (0.15%) PHP
Qualifications
1 478 (35.78%) Security Cleared
2 351 (26.27%) SC Cleared
3 262 (19.61%) Cisco Certification
4 202 (15.12%) CCNP
5 110 (8.23%) Degree
5 110 (8.23%) DV Cleared
6 106 (7.93%) CCNA
7 58 (4.34%) CISSP
8 54 (4.04%) Azure Certification
9 39 (2.92%) CCIE
10 36 (2.69%) AWS Certification
11 33 (2.47%) CISM
12 26 (1.95%) Microsoft Certification
13 23 (1.72%) JNCIS
14 22 (1.65%) CompTIA Security+
15 20 (1.50%) Computer Science Degree
15 20 (1.50%) JNCIP
16 19 (1.42%) JNCIA
17 18 (1.35%) Network+ Certification
18 17 (1.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (6.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (4.19%) GDPR
3 54 (4.04%) NIST
4 38 (2.84%) PCI DSS
5 31 (2.32%) SLA
6 30 (2.25%) NCSC
7 25 (1.87%) QA
8 23 (1.72%) Cyber Essentials
9 17 (1.27%) PMO
10 7 (0.52%) Data Quality
10 7 (0.52%) Disclosure Scotland
10 7 (0.52%) JSP 440
11 6 (0.45%) Actionable Recommendations
11 6 (0.45%) GRC
11 6 (0.45%) RMADS
12 5 (0.37%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 5 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 5 (0.37%) SOC 2
13 4 (0.30%) GxP
13 4 (0.30%) NIST 800
System Software
1 221 (16.54%) Active Directory
2 164 (12.28%) VMware Infrastructure
3 70 (5.24%) VMware NSX
4 61 (4.57%) Docker
5 42 (3.14%) Hyper-V
6 35 (2.62%) Virtual Machines
7 33 (2.47%) vSphere
8 30 (2.25%) VMware ESXi
9 22 (1.65%) Firmware
9 22 (1.65%) Virtual Desktop
10 11 (0.82%) Squid
11 10 (0.75%) BitLocker
12 8 (0.60%) Microsoft App-V
13 4 (0.30%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.22%) DFS Replication
14 3 (0.22%) KVM
14 3 (0.22%) NFS
14 3 (0.22%) Oracle RAC
15 2 (0.15%) Samba
15 2 (0.15%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 211 (15.79%) Terraform
2 163 (12.20%) Ansible
3 105 (7.86%) Kubernetes
4 101 (7.56%) FortiGate
5 53 (3.97%) Grafana
5 53 (3.97%) Microsoft Intune
6 47 (3.52%) Prometheus
7 33 (2.47%) Single Sign-On
8 30 (2.25%) SCCM
9 28 (2.10%) vCenter Server
10 18 (1.35%) Nmap
11 15 (1.12%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 14 (1.05%) QRadar
13 13 (0.97%) CASB
13 13 (0.97%) Nagios
14 12 (0.90%) Cisco Prime
14 12 (0.90%) Puppet
15 11 (0.82%) VxRail
15 11 (0.82%) WSUS
16 10 (0.75%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 485 (36.30%) Cisco
2 303 (22.68%) Palo Alto
3 280 (20.96%) Microsoft
4 209 (15.64%) VMware
5 173 (12.95%) Fortinet
6 171 (12.80%) F5
7 149 (11.15%) Juniper
8 137 (10.25%) CheckPoint
9 89 (6.66%) Aruba
10 83 (6.21%) Splunk
11 69 (5.16%) SolarWinds
12 61 (4.57%) ServiceNow
13 56 (4.19%) Arista
14 53 (3.97%) Google
15 45 (3.37%) Meraki
16 44 (3.29%) Zscaler
17 41 (3.07%) Citrix
18 32 (2.40%) Oracle
18 32 (2.40%) Red Hat
19 27 (2.02%) Extreme Networks