GSM Contracts

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring GSM skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited GSM over the 6 months leading up to 16 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 520 582 667
Rank change year-on-year +62 +85 +162
Contract jobs citing GSM 14 10 16
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.043% 0.023% 0.028%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 0.35% 0.19% 0.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 9 2 10
10th Percentile £350 £87 £313
25th Percentile - £141 £317
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £233 £345
Median % change year-on-year +92.93% -32.39% -22.47%
75th Percentile - £328 £508
90th Percentile £510 £382 £519
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £54 £330
% change year-on-year +733.33% -83.64% -22.35%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

GSM 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 4,009 5,336 7,172
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 12.32% 12.52% 12.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,406 3,154 4,663
10th Percentile £235 £213 £230
25th Percentile £365 £350 £378
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £484 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.20% - -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £625
90th Percentile £675 £688 £719
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £463
% change year-on-year -4.04% +7.03% +2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 200 420 350
10th Percentile £14.96 £13.50 £10.63
25th Percentile £23.06 £17.69 £14.00
Median hourly rate £46.25 £40.00 £33.75
Median % change year-on-year +15.63% +18.52% +17.39%
75th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £83.10 £73.75 £76.09
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.00 £47.50 £47.73
% change year-on-year -11.58% -0.48% +107.52%

GSM
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing GSM as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for GSM in the UK

GSM
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing GSM.

Daily rate trend for GSM in the UK

GSM
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing GSM over the 6 months to 16 July 2025.

Daily rate histogram for GSM in the UK

GSM
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing GSM.

Hourly rate trend for GSM in the UK

GSM
Top 6 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing GSM within the UK over the 6 months to 16 July 2025. 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 +40 14 £450 +733.33% 9
UK excluding London +40 13 £450 +733.33% 9
South East +45 12 £450 - 2
London +41 1 £750 -
Work from Home - 1 £750 - 9
East of England - 1 £375 - 1

GSM
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Communications & Networking
1 13 (92.86%) LTE
2 12 (85.71%) ATM
2 12 (85.71%) Ethernet
2 12 (85.71%) Frame Relay
2 12 (85.71%) GPRS
2 12 (85.71%) LAN
2 12 (85.71%) MPLS
2 12 (85.71%) SAN
2 12 (85.71%) SDH
2 12 (85.71%) UMTS
2 12 (85.71%) VPN
2 12 (85.71%) WAN
2 12 (85.71%) Wireshark
3 2 (14.29%) 5G
4 1 (7.14%) 2G
4 1 (7.14%) Packet Switching
4 1 (7.14%) WCDMA
General
1 14 (100.00%) Telecoms
2 12 (85.71%) Social Skills
3 1 (7.14%) Analytical Skills
Job Titles
1 11 (78.57%) IP Engineer
1 11 (78.57%) Test Engineer
2 5 (35.71%) IP Network Engineer
2 5 (35.71%) Network Engineer
3 2 (14.29%) Consultant
3 2 (14.29%) IP Consultant
3 2 (14.29%) IP Network Consultant
3 2 (14.29%) Network Consultant
4 1 (7.14%) Field Engineer
4 1 (7.14%) Field Test Engineer
4 1 (7.14%) Project Manager
4 1 (7.14%) Technical Manager
4 1 (7.14%) Technical Project Manager
Miscellaneous
1 12 (85.71%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (7.14%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 12 (85.71%) Linux
1 12 (85.71%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 12 (85.71%) Fault Management
1 12 (85.71%) Problem-Solving
1 12 (85.71%) Project Management
1 12 (85.71%) Regression Testing
1 12 (85.71%) Test Strategy
2 1 (7.14%) Agile
2 1 (7.14%) Project Delivery
2 1 (7.14%) SDLC
2 1 (7.14%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 12 (85.71%) Java
Qualifications
1 12 (85.71%) CCNP
1 12 (85.71%) Cisco Certification
1 12 (85.71%) ISEB
1 12 (85.71%) ISTQB
1 12 (85.71%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Vendors
1 12 (85.71%) Cisco
1 12 (85.71%) Juniper
1 12 (85.71%) Microsoft