LAN Contract Job Trends

Local Area Network (LAN)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring LAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 220 222 163
Rank change year-on-year +2 -59 -14
Contract jobs citing LAN 582 353 633
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.20% 1.23% 1.48%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.45% 9.74% 11.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 363 211 373
10th Percentile £225 £250 £200
25th Percentile £346 £362 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £463 £450
Median % change year-on-year -2.70% +2.78% -5.26%
75th Percentile £536 £563 £638
90th Percentile £611 £625 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £445 £438 £438
% change year-on-year +1.71% -0.11% +3.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 10 41
10th Percentile £12.43 £14.99 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.07 £19.81 £15.75
Median hourly rate £22.50 £27.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +20.00% -65.65%
75th Percentile £50.45 £39.69 £40.00
90th Percentile £65.00 £50.20 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £15.33 £22.50
% change year-on-year +46.77% -31.87% -65.91%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

LAN 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 4,676 3,625 5,399
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.63% 12.67% 12.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,874 2,244 3,232
10th Percentile £263 £213 £206
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £485 £490
Median % change year-on-year +3.09% -1.02% -4.39%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £463 £475
% change year-on-year +2.70% -2.63% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 269 156 414
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.82 £17.30 £16.30
Median hourly rate £28.88 £38.41 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -24.81% -3.98% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.00 £59.09 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.41 £77.50 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.52 £28.00 £46.14
% change year-on-year +26.86% -39.31% +156.31%

LAN
Job Vacancy Trend

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

LAN job vacancy trend in the UK

LAN
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

LAN
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing LAN over the 6 months to 26 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for LAN in the UK

LAN
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

LAN
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing LAN over the 6 months to 26 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for LAN in the UK

LAN
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing LAN within the UK over the 6 months to 26 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 +2 500 £450 -5.26% 191
UK excluding London +12 408 £445 +1.71% 167
South East +16 178 £456 -8.80% 75
Work from Home -7 121 £447 -10.55% 81
London -58 120 £500 - 54
North of England -55 65 £450 +12.50% 28
Midlands -29 59 £285 -43.00% 21
West Midlands -35 46 £318 -32.27% 17
East of England -10 42 £350 -18.60% 11
Scotland +15 39 £450 +12.78% 13
North West -38 33 £498 +17.06% 12
Yorkshire -32 32 £338 -15.50% 14
South West -43 15 £500 +21.21% 18
East Midlands -25 10 £200 -61.90% 4
Wales -14 8 £475 +61.70% 9
Northern Ireland - 3 £468 -

LAN
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 31 (5.33%) SharePoint
2 21 (3.61%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.58%) Confluence
4 5 (0.86%) OpenStack
4 5 (0.86%) Skype for Business
5 2 (0.34%) IIS
6 1 (0.17%) CMS
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 22 (3.78%) MS Visio
2 15 (2.58%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.03%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.69%) Acrobat
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.34%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 137 (23.54%) Azure
2 83 (14.26%) Microsoft 365
3 59 (10.14%) AWS
4 36 (6.19%) Entra ID
5 18 (3.09%) SaaS
6 15 (2.58%) OneDrive
7 12 (2.06%) PaaS
8 11 (1.89%) GCP
9 8 (1.37%) Power Platform
10 7 (1.20%) PowerApps
10 7 (1.20%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 6 (1.03%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (0.86%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 5 (0.86%) Google Ads
12 5 (0.86%) IaaS
12 5 (0.86%) Nutanix
13 2 (0.34%) AWS Direct Connect
13 2 (0.34%) IBM Watson
14 1 (0.17%) Azure Monitor
14 1 (0.17%) Google Docs
Communications & Networking
1 479 (82.30%) WAN
2 279 (47.94%) Firewall
3 158 (27.15%) VPN
4 155 (26.63%) BGP
5 142 (24.40%) OSPF
6 134 (23.02%) Wi-Fi
7 129 (22.16%) SD-WAN
8 117 (20.10%) Network Security
9 110 (18.90%) DNS
10 97 (16.67%) Wireless
11 85 (14.60%) DHCP
12 75 (12.89%) VLAN
13 72 (12.37%) WLAN
14 66 (11.34%) MPLS
15 65 (11.17%) TCP/IP
16 58 (9.97%) IPsec
17 46 (7.90%) BIG-IP
17 46 (7.90%) Cisco ISE
18 43 (7.39%) Cisco Nexus
19 41 (7.04%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.20%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.17%) Amazon RDS
2 1 (0.17%) Data Warehouse
2 1 (0.17%) DynamoDB
2 1 (0.17%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.17%) MongoDB
2 1 (0.17%) NoSQL
2 1 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
2 1 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.17%) Power BI
2 1 (0.17%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 32 (5.50%) JIRA
2 4 (0.69%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (0.52%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.34%) GitLab
4 2 (0.34%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.17%) Git
5 1 (0.17%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 149 (25.60%) Social Skills
2 47 (8.08%) Public Sector
3 43 (7.39%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (6.70%) Finance
5 35 (6.01%) Documentation Skills
6 34 (5.84%) Telecoms
7 28 (4.81%) Manufacturing
8 21 (3.61%) Legal
9 17 (2.92%) Financial Institution
10 13 (2.23%) Military
10 13 (2.23%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.55%) Banking
11 9 (1.55%) Law
12 7 (1.20%) Retail
13 6 (1.03%) Police
14 4 (0.69%) Local Government
15 3 (0.52%) Influencing Skills
16 2 (0.34%) German Language
16 2 (0.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 2 (0.34%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 235 (40.38%) Network Engineer
2 85 (14.60%) Architect
3 62 (10.65%) Senior
4 60 (10.31%) Network Architect
5 43 (7.39%) IT Support
6 38 (6.53%) Support Engineer
7 34 (5.84%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 32 (5.50%) Cisco Engineer
8 32 (5.50%) IT Engineer
9 29 (4.98%) Cisco Network Engineer
9 29 (4.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 29 (4.98%) Lead
10 28 (4.81%) Analyst
10 28 (4.81%) IT Support Engineer
11 27 (4.64%) Senior Network Engineer
12 20 (3.44%) Technical Architect
13 14 (2.41%) Firewall Specialist
13 14 (2.41%) Network Specialist
13 14 (2.41%) Project Manager
13 14 (2.41%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (7.73%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.23%) LDAP
2 13 (2.23%) SAML
3 10 (1.72%) Microsoft Graph
4 7 (1.20%) Middleware
5 5 (0.86%) NETCONF
5 5 (0.86%) REST
5 5 (0.86%) YANG
6 3 (0.52%) XMPP
7 2 (0.34%) .NET
7 2 (0.34%) CSS
7 2 (0.34%) Django
7 2 (0.34%) HTML
7 2 (0.34%) RFC 2544
7 2 (0.34%) Software Packaging
8 1 (0.17%) Apache NiFi
8 1 (0.17%) Java RMI
8 1 (0.17%) Node.js
8 1 (0.17%) React
8 1 (0.17%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 123 (21.13%) Data Centre
2 29 (4.98%) PKI
3 26 (4.47%) Clustering
4 24 (4.12%) Onboarding
5 22 (3.78%) Hybrid Cloud
6 16 (2.75%) Security Posture
7 13 (2.23%) Data Protection Act
7 13 (2.23%) Self-Motivation
8 12 (2.06%) Public Cloud
9 11 (1.89%) Operational Technology
10 10 (1.72%) Driving Licence
11 9 (1.55%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (1.55%) Virtual Team
12 8 (1.37%) NHS
13 7 (1.20%) Cloud Native
13 7 (1.20%) CMDB
13 7 (1.20%) IoT
14 6 (1.03%) Smartphone
14 6 (1.03%) Video Conferencing
15 5 (0.86%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 174 (29.90%) Windows
2 49 (8.42%) Windows Server
3 40 (6.87%) Linux
4 32 (5.50%) Windows 10
5 16 (2.75%) Windows Server 2019
6 13 (2.23%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.55%) Android
8 8 (1.37%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.20%) Apple iOS
10 5 (0.86%) CatOS
10 5 (0.86%) VMS
10 5 (0.86%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.86%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.69%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.52%) Unix
12 3 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
13 2 (0.34%) AIX
13 2 (0.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 1 (0.17%) CentOS
14 1 (0.17%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (15.46%) ITIL
2 85 (14.60%) High Availability
3 82 (14.09%) Problem-Solving
4 64 (11.00%) Load Balancing
5 57 (9.79%) Migration
6 48 (8.25%) ITSM
7 46 (7.90%) Change Management
8 45 (7.73%) Stakeholder Management
9 42 (7.22%) Continuous Improvement
9 42 (7.22%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 42 (7.22%) Project Delivery
10 40 (6.87%) Network Architecture
11 38 (6.53%) Network Monitoring
12 37 (6.36%) Roadmaps
12 37 (6.36%) Technical Leadership
13 35 (6.01%) Network Design
14 32 (5.50%) Agile
14 32 (5.50%) Disaster Recovery
14 32 (5.50%) Service Management
15 31 (5.33%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 37 (6.36%) PowerShell
2 36 (6.19%) Python
3 13 (2.23%) SQL
4 5 (0.86%) VBScript
5 4 (0.69%) VB
6 3 (0.52%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.17%) Bash
7 1 (0.17%) C
7 1 (0.17%) C#
7 1 (0.17%) C++
7 1 (0.17%) Java
7 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.17%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 210 (36.08%) Security Cleared
2 180 (30.93%) Cisco Certification
3 145 (24.91%) SC Cleared
4 127 (21.82%) CCNP
5 61 (10.48%) DV Cleared
6 57 (9.79%) CCNA
7 53 (9.11%) Degree
8 46 (7.90%) CCIE
9 15 (2.58%) PMP
10 14 (2.41%) JNCIP
10 14 (2.41%) JNCIS
11 13 (2.23%) Microsoft Certification
12 12 (2.06%) Azure Certification
12 12 (2.06%) JNCIA
13 11 (1.89%) PMI Certification
14 10 (1.72%) CCSE
14 10 (1.72%) Computer Science Degree
14 10 (1.72%) JNCIE
15 6 (1.03%) AWS Certification
15 6 (1.03%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.44%) QA
2 13 (2.23%) SLA
3 9 (1.55%) NIST
4 8 (1.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (1.20%) Disclosure Scotland
6 6 (1.03%) NCSC
7 4 (0.69%) GDPR
7 4 (0.69%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.52%) PMO
9 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.34%) RMADS
10 1 (0.17%) DICOM
10 1 (0.17%) GRC
10 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 102 (17.53%) Active Directory
2 53 (9.11%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (3.78%) VMware NSX
4 18 (3.09%) vSphere
5 9 (1.55%) Hyper-V
6 7 (1.20%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.86%) Firmware
8 4 (0.69%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
9 3 (0.52%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.34%) Docker
10 2 (0.34%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
11 1 (0.17%) KVM
11 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.17%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.17%) RHEV
11 1 (0.17%) Xen
Systems Management
1 49 (8.42%) FortiGate
2 32 (5.50%) Ansible
2 32 (5.50%) Microsoft Intune
3 19 (3.26%) Terraform
4 14 (2.41%) SCCM
4 14 (2.41%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (1.89%) Jamf Pro
6 7 (1.20%) Nagios
7 6 (1.03%) Cisco Prime
8 5 (0.86%) Endace
9 4 (0.69%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.69%) vRealize Orchestrator
9 4 (0.69%) WSUS
10 3 (0.52%) Cisco CUCM
10 3 (0.52%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.34%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.34%) Backup Exec
11 2 (0.34%) Grafana
12 1 (0.17%) EMC VPLEX
12 1 (0.17%) Iperf
Vendors
1 289 (49.66%) Cisco
2 117 (20.10%) Microsoft
3 115 (19.76%) Palo Alto
4 92 (15.81%) F5
5 83 (14.26%) Juniper
6 74 (12.71%) Aruba
6 74 (12.71%) CheckPoint
7 68 (11.68%) VMware
8 61 (10.48%) SolarWinds
9 59 (10.14%) Fortinet
10 31 (5.33%) ServiceNow
11 29 (4.98%) Extreme Networks
12 28 (4.81%) Splunk
13 25 (4.30%) Meraki
14 22 (3.78%) Zscaler
15 16 (2.75%) Dell
16 15 (2.58%) Ekahau
16 15 (2.58%) Veeam
17 9 (1.55%) Arista
17 9 (1.55%) Citrix