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 24 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 98 59 59
Rank change year-on-year -39 0 -11
Contract jobs citing Firewall 1,406 1,350 1,335
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.62% 4.09% 3.44%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.79% 34.64% 28.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 880 801 849
10th Percentile £350 £325 £313
25th Percentile £414 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £595 £622
90th Percentile £656 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £513
% change year-on-year +2.15% -4.49% +7.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 29 28
10th Percentile £29.00 £14.20 £21.74
25th Percentile £44.86 £15.33 £23.89
Median hourly rate £65.57 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +118.57% +9.09% -58.33%
75th Percentile £79.06 £43.25 £79.06
90th Percentile £98.82 £89.63 £87.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.57 £30.00 £47.50
% change year-on-year +118.57% -36.84% -28.02%

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 5,060 3,897 4,677
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.43% 11.81% 12.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,979 2,376 2,817
10th Percentile £250 £243 £221
25th Percentile £400 £368 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £483 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.52% -3.40% -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £478 £470 £500
% change year-on-year +1.70% -6.00% +10.19%
Number of hourly rates quoted 375 201 302
10th Percentile £15.18 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.14 £46.25 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -43.48% -7.50% -10.56%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.35 £74.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.14 £44.50 £54.94
% change year-on-year -41.26% -19.00% -4.32%

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 24 August 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 24 August 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 24 August 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 -39 1,224 £510 +2.00% 419
UK excluding London -31 792 £500 +2.15% 361
London -58 476 £504 +0.70% 114
Work from Home -40 390 £520 +4.00% 170
North of England -3 287 £500 +2.62% 65
South East -42 200 £523 +4.50% 145
North West +4 182 £517 +8.86% 32
Yorkshire -28 85 £450 -7.64% 22
South West -26 84 £550 +10.00% 39
East of England -8 76 £525 -4.55% 37
Midlands -78 72 £468 -1.47% 68
Scotland -3 63 £400 -13.51% 13
West Midlands -77 55 £450 -5.26% 49
North East -16 26 £500 -13.04% 13
Wales -16 17 £425 +61.90% 3
East Midlands -16 15 £500 +6.16% 19
Northern Ireland -8 1 - - 2

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 48 (3.41%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (2.28%) SharePoint
3 29 (2.06%) Confluence
4 14 (1.00%) Apache
5 11 (0.78%) nginx
5 11 (0.78%) SAS
6 4 (0.28%) CICS
6 4 (0.28%) FactoryTalk
6 4 (0.28%) IIS
6 4 (0.28%) Tomcat
7 3 (0.21%) CloudStack
8 2 (0.14%) CMS
8 2 (0.14%) IBM HTTP Server
8 2 (0.14%) Oracle HTTP Server
8 2 (0.14%) Skype for Business
8 2 (0.14%) Umbraco
8 2 (0.14%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.14%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.14%) WebSphere Portal
9 1 (0.071%) MTS
Applications
1 24 (1.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 23 (1.64%) MS Visio
3 22 (1.56%) Microsoft Office
4 10 (0.71%) Microsoft Project
5 6 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 1 (0.071%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 5 (0.36%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.14%) Bloomberg TOMS
2 2 (0.14%) Dynamics GP
2 2 (0.14%) Eikon
2 2 (0.14%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.071%) Oracle Retail
3 1 (0.071%) Primavera
3 1 (0.071%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 523 (37.20%) Azure
2 321 (22.83%) AWS
3 161 (11.45%) Entra ID
4 127 (9.03%) Microsoft 365
5 110 (7.82%) GCP
6 75 (5.33%) GitHub
7 69 (4.91%) Azure DevOps
8 64 (4.55%) IaaS
9 61 (4.34%) SaaS
10 55 (3.91%) Azure Monitor
11 50 (3.56%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 49 (3.49%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 41 (2.92%) Azure Sentinel
14 39 (2.77%) PaaS
15 38 (2.70%) OCI
16 37 (2.63%) Serverless
17 36 (2.56%) GitHub Actions
18 27 (1.92%) Google Kubernetes Engine
19 26 (1.85%) Amazon EKS
19 26 (1.85%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 415 (29.52%) VPN
2 393 (27.95%) Network Security
3 384 (27.31%) WAN
4 367 (26.10%) DNS
5 279 (19.84%) LAN
6 254 (18.07%) BGP
7 216 (15.36%) TCP/IP
8 215 (15.29%) DHCP
9 200 (14.22%) VLAN
10 197 (14.01%) OSPF
11 170 (12.09%) Wireless
12 143 (10.17%) SD-WAN
13 133 (9.46%) Wi-Fi
14 86 (6.12%) Cisco ASA
15 84 (5.97%) MPLS
16 82 (5.83%) IPsec
17 81 (5.76%) BIG-IP
18 80 (5.69%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
19 71 (5.05%) Cisco Nexus
19 71 (5.05%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (2.28%) SQL Server
2 18 (1.28%) PostgreSQL
3 15 (1.07%) Amazon RDS
3 15 (1.07%) Power BI
4 10 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
4 10 (0.71%) Relational Database
5 9 (0.64%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (0.64%) Oracle Database
6 7 (0.50%) Data Lake
7 6 (0.43%) Amazon Aurora
7 6 (0.43%) MySQL
7 6 (0.43%) NoSQL
8 5 (0.36%) Delta Lake
9 4 (0.28%) Data Warehouse
9 4 (0.28%) DataStage
9 4 (0.28%) Db2
9 4 (0.28%) Metadata
10 3 (0.21%) Big Data
11 2 (0.14%) EDRMS
11 2 (0.14%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 94 (6.69%) JIRA
2 58 (4.13%) Jenkins
3 49 (3.49%) GitLab
4 45 (3.20%) Git
5 12 (0.85%) Sonatype Nexus
6 10 (0.71%) Bitbucket
7 7 (0.50%) Artifactory
8 6 (0.43%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 6 (0.43%) Browser DevTools
8 6 (0.43%) Chocolatey
9 4 (0.28%) MSI
9 4 (0.28%) SonarQube
10 3 (0.21%) Burp Suite
11 2 (0.14%) Gatling
11 2 (0.14%) Gradle
11 2 (0.14%) Introscope
11 2 (0.14%) LoadRunner
11 2 (0.14%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.14%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 2 (0.14%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 309 (21.98%) Social Skills
2 172 (12.23%) Finance
3 148 (10.53%) Analytical Skills
4 120 (8.53%) Public Sector
5 84 (5.97%) Banking
6 58 (4.13%) Documentation Skills
7 52 (3.70%) Telecoms
8 28 (1.99%) Manufacturing
9 26 (1.85%) Legal
10 20 (1.42%) Retail
11 18 (1.28%) Local Government
12 17 (1.21%) Financial Institution
12 17 (1.21%) Military
13 15 (1.07%) Influencing Skills
14 13 (0.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 13 (0.92%) Police
15 11 (0.78%) Investment Banking
15 11 (0.78%) Organisational Skills
16 10 (0.71%) Law
17 9 (0.64%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 453 (32.22%) Network Engineer
2 215 (15.29%) Senior
3 185 (13.16%) Architect
4 155 (11.02%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 102 (7.25%) Security Engineer
6 98 (6.97%) Senior Network Engineer
7 80 (5.69%) Cloud Engineer
8 64 (4.55%) Azure Engineer
9 60 (4.27%) Consultant
9 60 (4.27%) Network Architect
10 55 (3.91%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 52 (3.70%) Network Security Engineer
12 49 (3.49%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 48 (3.41%) DevOps Engineer
13 48 (3.41%) Lead
14 47 (3.34%) Security Architect
15 42 (2.99%) Cisco Engineer
16 41 (2.92%) Technical Architect
17 40 (2.84%) Cisco Network Engineer
18 38 (2.70%) Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 289 (20.55%) Terraform
2 54 (3.84%) 802.1X
3 37 (2.63%) Middleware
4 28 (1.99%) SAML
5 25 (1.78%) ARM Templates
6 19 (1.35%) OpenID
7 15 (1.07%) LDAP
7 15 (1.07%) REST
8 14 (1.00%) OAuth
9 11 (0.78%) Kafka
9 11 (0.78%) OAuth2
10 10 (0.71%) React
10 10 (0.71%) YAML
11 8 (0.57%) .NET
12 7 (0.50%) Elastic Stack
12 7 (0.50%) JSON
12 7 (0.50%) OpenTelemetry
12 7 (0.50%) SailPoint
13 5 (0.36%) Jinja
13 5 (0.36%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 308 (21.91%) Data Centre
2 96 (6.83%) Hybrid Cloud
3 84 (5.97%) PKI
4 80 (5.69%) Cloud Native
5 59 (4.20%) Onboarding
6 55 (3.91%) Management Information System
7 53 (3.77%) Security Posture
8 45 (3.20%) Operational Technology
9 31 (2.20%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 30 (2.13%) Data Protection Act
11 28 (1.99%) IoT
12 27 (1.92%) Public Cloud
13 25 (1.78%) Clustering
14 24 (1.71%) Driving Licence
14 24 (1.71%) Self-Motivation
15 22 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
15 22 (1.56%) Enterprise Storage
15 22 (1.56%) Replication
15 22 (1.56%) SCADA
16 20 (1.42%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 350 (24.89%) Windows
2 220 (15.65%) Linux
3 148 (10.53%) Windows Server
4 47 (3.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 27 (1.92%) Unix
6 22 (1.56%) Ubuntu
7 20 (1.42%) VMS
8 15 (1.07%) Mac OS
9 12 (0.85%) CentOS
9 12 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
10 9 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
11 8 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
12 7 (0.50%) Rocky
12 7 (0.50%) Windows 10
13 6 (0.43%) Amazon Linux
14 5 (0.36%) Android
14 5 (0.36%) Solaris
14 5 (0.36%) Windows Server 2003
15 4 (0.28%) AIX
15 4 (0.28%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 244 (17.35%) DevOps
2 242 (17.21%) Infrastructure as Code
3 230 (16.36%) CI/CD
4 219 (15.58%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 196 (13.94%) Cybersecurity
6 195 (13.87%) Load Balancing
7 192 (13.66%) Problem-Solving
8 187 (13.30%) ITIL
8 187 (13.30%) Migration
9 164 (11.66%) High Availability
10 161 (11.45%) Zero Trust
11 159 (11.31%) Agile
12 138 (9.82%) Project Delivery
13 133 (9.46%) Stakeholder Management
14 130 (9.25%) SIEM
15 127 (9.03%) Change Management
16 115 (8.18%) Validation
17 114 (8.11%) Technical Leadership
18 110 (7.82%) Continuous Improvement
19 109 (7.75%) Cloud Security
Programming Languages
1 273 (19.42%) Python
2 213 (15.15%) PowerShell
3 130 (9.25%) Bash
4 52 (3.70%) Bicep
5 46 (3.27%) SQL
6 35 (2.49%) Java
7 12 (0.85%) Perl
8 10 (0.71%) ActionScript
8 10 (0.71%) Kusto Query Language
9 9 (0.64%) Groovy
10 6 (0.43%) Go
10 6 (0.43%) Search Processing Language
11 5 (0.36%) Shell Script
12 4 (0.28%) COBOL
12 4 (0.28%) JavaScript
12 4 (0.28%) TypeScript
13 3 (0.21%) C++
13 3 (0.21%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.14%) Jython
14 2 (0.14%) PHP
Qualifications
1 479 (34.07%) Security Cleared
2 339 (24.11%) SC Cleared
3 258 (18.35%) Cisco Certification
4 198 (14.08%) CCNP
5 122 (8.68%) DV Cleared
6 115 (8.18%) Degree
7 105 (7.47%) CCNA
8 73 (5.19%) CISSP
9 70 (4.98%) Azure Certification
10 51 (3.63%) AWS Certification
11 38 (2.70%) CCIE
12 32 (2.28%) Microsoft Certification
13 30 (2.13%) CISM
13 30 (2.13%) Computer Science Degree
14 19 (1.35%) Network+ Certification
15 16 (1.14%) JNCIS
15 16 (1.14%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
16 15 (1.07%) Server+ Certification
17 14 (1.00%) CEH
17 14 (1.00%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 72 (5.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 61 (4.34%) NIST
3 44 (3.13%) GDPR
4 28 (1.99%) NCSC
5 25 (1.78%) PCI DSS
5 25 (1.78%) QA
6 23 (1.64%) SLA
7 19 (1.35%) Cyber Essentials
8 9 (0.64%) Data Quality
8 9 (0.64%) JSP 440
8 9 (0.64%) NIST 800
9 8 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 8 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
9 8 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 7 (0.50%) GxP
11 6 (0.43%) HIPAA
12 5 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 4 (0.28%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 4 (0.28%) SOC 2
14 3 (0.21%) RMADS
System Software
1 235 (16.71%) Active Directory
2 184 (13.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 70 (4.98%) Hyper-V
4 69 (4.91%) Docker
5 59 (4.20%) VMware NSX
6 48 (3.41%) vSphere
7 44 (3.13%) VMware ESXi
8 41 (2.92%) Virtual Machines
9 27 (1.92%) Firmware
10 15 (1.07%) Virtual Desktop
11 10 (0.71%) BitLocker
12 9 (0.64%) Squid
13 7 (0.50%) Microsoft App-V
14 6 (0.43%) NFS
15 4 (0.28%) Terminal Services
15 4 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
16 3 (0.21%) Dovecot
16 3 (0.21%) EMC RecoverPoint
16 3 (0.21%) Postfix
16 3 (0.21%) VirtualBox
Systems Management
1 208 (14.79%) Ansible
2 126 (8.96%) Kubernetes
3 98 (6.97%) FortiGate
4 72 (5.12%) Microsoft Intune
5 55 (3.91%) Grafana
6 53 (3.77%) Prometheus
7 39 (2.77%) SCCM
8 35 (2.49%) Single Sign-On
9 29 (2.06%) Progress Chef
10 25 (1.78%) vCenter Server
11 18 (1.28%) VxRail
12 16 (1.14%) Puppet
13 15 (1.07%) CASB
14 13 (0.92%) Cisco Prime
15 10 (0.71%) Argo
15 10 (0.71%) Packer
16 9 (0.64%) vMotion
17 8 (0.57%) NetBackup
17 8 (0.57%) QRadar
17 8 (0.57%) WSUS
Vendors
1 512 (36.42%) Cisco
2 340 (24.18%) Microsoft
3 308 (21.91%) Palo Alto
4 232 (16.50%) VMware
5 202 (14.37%) Fortinet
6 176 (12.52%) F5
7 129 (9.17%) Juniper
8 127 (9.03%) CheckPoint
9 73 (5.19%) ServiceNow
10 72 (5.12%) Splunk
11 67 (4.77%) Aruba
12 65 (4.62%) Google
13 64 (4.55%) Arista
14 60 (4.27%) Zscaler
15 56 (3.98%) SolarWinds
16 51 (3.63%) Meraki
17 43 (3.06%) Citrix
18 37 (2.63%) Red Hat
19 32 (2.28%) Infoblox
20 30 (2.13%) Dynatrace