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 17 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 218 213 165
Rank change year-on-year -5 -48 -32
Contract jobs citing LAN 576 378 612
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.14% 1.27% 1.40%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.05% 10.19% 11.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 360 223 342
10th Percentile £231 £208 £203
25th Percentile £358 £325 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £470
Median % change year-on-year - -4.26% -1.05%
75th Percentile £538 £563 £638
90th Percentile £619 £625 £724
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £425 £450
% change year-on-year +5.88% -5.56% +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 16 41
10th Percentile £12.43 £19.54 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.50 £27.00 £15.75
Median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +33.33% -65.65%
75th Percentile £40.79 £40.81 £40.00
90th Percentile £72.67 £51.00 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year -25.00% +33.33% -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 4,781 3,710 5,390
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.50% 12.50% 12.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,931 2,279 3,184
10th Percentile £258 £222 £210
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £481 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.95% -3.80% -1.96%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £470 £488
% change year-on-year +2.26% -3.59% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 291 174 422
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £19.81 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.88 £42.75 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -34.78% +6.88% +110.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.97 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £78.50 £71.19
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.00 £31.08 £47.50
% change year-on-year -6.69% -34.57% +150.46%

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 17 June 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 17 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for LAN in the UK

LAN
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 LAN within the UK over the 6 months to 17 June 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 -21 495 £450 -5.26% 191
UK excluding London +6 404 £450 +5.88% 196
South East +13 169 £475 -5.00% 63
London -63 118 £500 +4.17% 46
Work from Home -28 116 £450 -5.26% 82
North of England -38 74 £450 +24.14% 35
Midlands -34 58 £295 -26.25% 29
West Midlands -39 43 £335 -16.25% 19
Scotland +6 41 £450 +16.13% 18
East of England -5 41 £350 -18.60% 14
North West -36 38 £515 +58.46% 17
Yorkshire -26 36 £425 +6.18% 14
South West -43 14 £525 +31.25% 19
East Midlands -15 12 £200 -52.66% 10
Wales -17 7 £475 +105.41% 10
Northern Ireland - 3 £468 - 15
Channel Islands - 1 £575 -

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 27 (4.69%) SharePoint
2 20 (3.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.43%) Confluence
4 7 (1.22%) OpenStack
5 5 (0.87%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.35%) CMS
6 2 (0.35%) IIS
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 20 (3.47%) MS Visio
2 16 (2.78%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.56%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.69%) Acrobat
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.35%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 132 (22.92%) Azure
2 84 (14.58%) Microsoft 365
3 57 (9.90%) AWS
4 37 (6.42%) Entra ID
5 21 (3.65%) SaaS
6 16 (2.78%) OneDrive
7 12 (2.08%) PaaS
8 10 (1.74%) GCP
9 8 (1.39%) Power Platform
10 7 (1.22%) PowerApps
11 5 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (0.87%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 5 (0.87%) IaaS
11 5 (0.87%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 4 (0.69%) Nutanix
13 3 (0.52%) AWS Direct Connect
13 3 (0.52%) Google Ads
14 2 (0.35%) IBM Watson
15 1 (0.17%) Amazon Bedrock
15 1 (0.17%) Google Gemini
Communications & Networking
1 477 (82.81%) WAN
2 276 (47.92%) Firewall
3 151 (26.22%) VPN
4 145 (25.17%) BGP
5 141 (24.48%) Wi-Fi
6 136 (23.61%) SD-WAN
7 128 (22.22%) OSPF
8 123 (21.35%) Network Security
9 114 (19.79%) DNS
10 105 (18.23%) Wireless
11 89 (15.45%) DHCP
12 76 (13.19%) MPLS
13 73 (12.67%) VLAN
13 73 (12.67%) WLAN
14 64 (11.11%) TCP/IP
15 50 (8.68%) IPsec
16 47 (8.16%) Cisco ISE
17 44 (7.64%) Cisco Nexus
18 42 (7.29%) BIG-IP
19 40 (6.94%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.87%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.17%) DTS
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 31 (5.38%) JIRA
2 4 (0.69%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (0.52%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.35%) Git
4 2 (0.35%) GitLab
4 2 (0.35%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
General
1 159 (27.60%) Social Skills
2 46 (7.99%) Public Sector
3 40 (6.94%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (6.60%) Telecoms
5 37 (6.42%) Finance
6 27 (4.69%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (3.99%) Legal
8 22 (3.82%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.95%) Financial Institution
10 10 (1.74%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.56%) Law
12 8 (1.39%) Banking
12 8 (1.39%) Military
13 7 (1.22%) Retail
14 6 (1.04%) Police
15 3 (0.52%) German Language
15 3 (0.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 3 (0.52%) Influencing Skills
15 3 (0.52%) Local Government
16 2 (0.35%) Billing
Job Titles
1 237 (41.15%) Network Engineer
2 79 (13.72%) Architect
3 63 (10.94%) Senior
4 55 (9.55%) Network Architect
5 41 (7.12%) IT Support
5 41 (7.12%) Support Engineer
6 34 (5.90%) IT Engineer
7 30 (5.21%) Cisco Engineer
7 30 (5.21%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 29 (5.03%) IT Support Engineer
8 29 (5.03%) Senior Network Engineer
9 27 (4.69%) Cisco Network Engineer
9 27 (4.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 25 (4.34%) Analyst
10 25 (4.34%) Lead
11 18 (3.13%) Technical Architect
12 15 (2.60%) Network Manager
12 15 (2.60%) Network Specialist
12 15 (2.60%) Test Engineer
13 14 (2.43%) Firewall Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (8.68%) 802.1X
2 10 (1.74%) Microsoft Graph
2 10 (1.74%) SAML
3 9 (1.56%) LDAP
4 8 (1.39%) REST
5 7 (1.22%) NETCONF
5 7 (1.22%) YANG
6 5 (0.87%) Middleware
7 3 (0.52%) Software Packaging
7 3 (0.52%) XMPP
8 2 (0.35%) Django
8 2 (0.35%) RFC 2544
9 1 (0.17%) .NET
9 1 (0.17%) Apache NiFi
9 1 (0.17%) ARM Templates
9 1 (0.17%) CSS
9 1 (0.17%) HTML
9 1 (0.17%) Java RMI
9 1 (0.17%) ModSecurity
9 1 (0.17%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 118 (20.49%) Data Centre
2 32 (5.56%) PKI
3 26 (4.51%) Clustering
4 25 (4.34%) Onboarding
5 23 (3.99%) Hybrid Cloud
6 17 (2.95%) Security Posture
7 14 (2.43%) Self-Motivation
8 12 (2.08%) Driving Licence
9 11 (1.91%) Operational Technology
10 10 (1.74%) Public Cloud
10 10 (1.74%) Virtual Team
11 9 (1.56%) Cloud Native
11 9 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (1.56%) NHS
12 7 (1.22%) CMDB
12 7 (1.22%) IoT
13 6 (1.04%) Smartphone
14 5 (0.87%) CCTV
14 5 (0.87%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 174 (30.21%) Windows
2 46 (7.99%) Windows Server
3 39 (6.77%) Linux
4 28 (4.86%) Windows 10
5 17 (2.95%) Windows Server 2019
6 15 (2.60%) Mac OS
7 10 (1.74%) Android
8 8 (1.39%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.22%) Apple iOS
10 5 (0.87%) VMS
10 5 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.52%) CatOS
11 3 (0.52%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.52%) Unix
11 3 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.35%) AIX
12 2 (0.35%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.17%) CentOS
13 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 1 (0.17%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (16.49%) ITIL
2 86 (14.93%) High Availability
3 81 (14.06%) Problem-Solving
4 68 (11.81%) Load Balancing
5 57 (9.90%) Migration
6 51 (8.85%) Stakeholder Management
7 49 (8.51%) Continuous Improvement
8 48 (8.33%) Change Management
9 47 (8.16%) Project Delivery
10 45 (7.81%) ITSM
11 42 (7.29%) Network Architecture
11 42 (7.29%) Roadmaps
12 39 (6.77%) Network Monitoring
13 38 (6.60%) Technical Leadership
14 37 (6.42%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 37 (6.42%) Network Design
15 36 (6.25%) Agile
16 33 (5.73%) Service Management
17 31 (5.38%) Disaster Recovery
18 30 (5.21%) Observability
Programming Languages
1 38 (6.60%) PowerShell
1 38 (6.60%) Python
2 10 (1.74%) SQL
3 5 (0.87%) VBScript
4 4 (0.69%) VB
5 2 (0.35%) JavaScript
6 1 (0.17%) C
6 1 (0.17%) C++
6 1 (0.17%) Java
6 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 197 (34.20%) Security Cleared
2 173 (30.03%) Cisco Certification
3 131 (22.74%) SC Cleared
4 111 (19.27%) CCNP
5 63 (10.94%) DV Cleared
6 60 (10.42%) CCNA
7 46 (7.99%) CCIE
8 44 (7.64%) Degree
9 17 (2.95%) PMP
10 15 (2.60%) Azure Certification
11 14 (2.43%) JNCIP
11 14 (2.43%) PMI Certification
12 13 (2.26%) Microsoft Certification
13 12 (2.08%) JNCIS
14 11 (1.91%) JNCIA
14 11 (1.91%) JNCIE
15 9 (1.56%) AWS Certification
16 8 (1.39%) Computer Science Degree
17 7 (1.22%) CCSE
18 4 (0.69%) CWNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (2.95%) QA
2 12 (2.08%) NIST
2 12 (2.08%) SLA
3 7 (1.22%) Disclosure Scotland
3 7 (1.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (1.04%) NCSC
5 5 (0.87%) GDPR
6 3 (0.52%) JSP 440
7 2 (0.35%) PMO
7 2 (0.35%) RMADS
8 1 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.17%) DICOM
8 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.17%) NEBOSH
8 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 99 (17.19%) Active Directory
2 54 (9.38%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (3.82%) VMware NSX
4 19 (3.30%) vSphere
5 9 (1.56%) Firmware
6 8 (1.39%) Hyper-V
7 6 (1.04%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.69%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
9 3 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.35%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
11 1 (0.17%) Docker
11 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.17%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 50 (8.68%) FortiGate
2 32 (5.56%) Ansible
3 31 (5.38%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (2.60%) SCCM
4 15 (2.60%) Terraform
5 12 (2.08%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (1.91%) Jamf Pro
7 6 (1.04%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.69%) Cisco CUCM
8 4 (0.69%) Endace
8 4 (0.69%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.69%) vRealize Orchestrator
9 3 (0.52%) Nagios
10 2 (0.35%) AirWatch
10 2 (0.35%) Grafana
10 2 (0.35%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.35%) WSUS
11 1 (0.17%) EMC VPLEX
11 1 (0.17%) Iperf
11 1 (0.17%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 284 (49.31%) Cisco
2 122 (21.18%) Microsoft
3 102 (17.71%) Palo Alto
4 89 (15.45%) F5
5 77 (13.37%) Juniper
6 68 (11.81%) VMware
7 64 (11.11%) Aruba
8 62 (10.76%) SolarWinds
9 61 (10.59%) Fortinet
10 58 (10.07%) CheckPoint
11 33 (5.73%) ServiceNow
12 31 (5.38%) Extreme Networks
13 28 (4.86%) Meraki
14 27 (4.69%) Splunk
15 21 (3.65%) Zscaler
16 16 (2.78%) Dell
16 16 (2.78%) Ekahau
17 13 (2.26%) Veeam
18 10 (1.74%) Arista
19 9 (1.56%) Citrix