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 20 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 236 181 115
Rank change year-on-year -55 -66 +77
Contract jobs citing LAN 391 522 1,045
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.18% 1.41% 2.17%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 10.32% 11.66% 15.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 250 294 700
10th Percentile £190 £223 £205
25th Percentile £289 £350 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £470
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +1.06% +4.44%
75th Percentile £575 £580 £588
90th Percentile £615 £674 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £368 £450 £445
% change year-on-year -18.33% +1.12% +4.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 22 35
10th Percentile £14.99 £18.65 £17.42
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.00 £18.50
Median hourly rate £30.00 £23.80 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +26.05% +8.18% -1.68%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.69 £63.75
90th Percentile £67.80 £68.15 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £22.40 £22.00
% change year-on-year +33.93% +1.82% -

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 3,790 4,475 6,550
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 11.42% 12.07% 13.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,427 2,568 4,101
10th Percentile £213 £225 £220
25th Percentile £357 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £676 £685 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £475 £465
% change year-on-year -5.26% +2.15% +3.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 188 173 327
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.33 £17.24
25th Percentile £19.35 £25.75 £22.75
Median hourly rate £34.00 £48.56 £56.40
Median % change year-on-year -29.98% -13.90% +39.99%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £67.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.75 £76.16
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.48 £52.50 £56.49
% change year-on-year -21.00% -7.06% +25.53%

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 20 October 2025.

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 20 October 2025.

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 20 October 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 -65 337 £450 -9.09% 273
UK excluding London -62 227 £368 -18.33% 246
London +2 136 £500 -3.85% 95
Work from Home -16 87 £469 -5.59% 127
South East -13 63 £538 +7.50% 80
North of England -67 43 £165 -64.05% 50
Midlands -50 41 £438 +16.67% 52
West Midlands -16 37 £475 +5.56% 38
North West -36 35 £133 -73.37% 15
Scotland +15 27 £360 -10.00% 23
East of England -10 25 £200 -63.80% 23
South West +4 19 £350 -20.00% 20
Wales +3 9 £200 -9.09% 6
Yorkshire -58 6 £238 +9.35% 22
East Midlands -42 4 £200 -46.67% 14
Northern Ireland -8 3 £475 -
North East -3 2 £550 +29.41% 16

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 19 (4.86%) SharePoint
2 12 (3.07%) OpenStack
3 8 (2.05%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (1.02%) Confluence
5 2 (0.51%) nginx
6 1 (0.26%) Apache
6 1 (0.26%) CICS
6 1 (0.26%) IBM HTTP Server
6 1 (0.26%) IIS
6 1 (0.26%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.26%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.26%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 37 (9.46%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (3.32%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (3.32%) MS Visio
3 12 (3.07%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.77%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (0.77%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.26%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 73 (18.67%) Azure
2 52 (13.30%) AWS
3 38 (9.72%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (4.60%) Entra ID
5 12 (3.07%) GCP
6 6 (1.53%) OpenShift
6 6 (1.53%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 5 (1.28%) Azure DevOps
7 5 (1.28%) GitHub
8 4 (1.02%) OneDrive
9 3 (0.77%) Microsoft Purview
10 2 (0.51%) Akamai
10 2 (0.51%) Cloud Computing
10 2 (0.51%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.51%) SaaS
10 2 (0.51%) Serverless
11 1 (0.26%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 1 (0.26%) Amazon EC2
11 1 (0.26%) Amazon S3
11 1 (0.26%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 302 (77.24%) WAN
2 162 (41.43%) Firewall
3 87 (22.25%) Wi-Fi
4 86 (21.99%) VPN
5 82 (20.97%) SD-WAN
6 76 (19.44%) DNS
6 76 (19.44%) Wireless
7 68 (17.39%) TCP/IP
8 60 (15.35%) DHCP
9 55 (14.07%) Cisco Nexus
10 52 (13.30%) BGP
11 50 (12.79%) Network Security
12 46 (11.76%) MPLS
13 40 (10.23%) OSPF
14 39 (9.97%) VLAN
15 36 (9.21%) WLAN
16 24 (6.14%) Cisco IOS
17 21 (5.37%) VoIP
18 15 (3.84%) Internet
18 15 (3.84%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (2.30%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.53%) Oracle Database
3 4 (1.02%) Apache Cassandra
3 4 (1.02%) MS Access
4 2 (0.51%) DB2
4 2 (0.51%) Power BI
4 2 (0.51%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
5 1 (0.26%) MySQL
5 1 (0.26%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.26%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (2.30%) JIRA
2 6 (1.53%) Git
3 4 (1.02%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.51%) Bitbucket
4 2 (0.51%) GitLab
5 1 (0.26%) Jenkins
General
1 118 (30.18%) Social Skills
2 45 (11.51%) Telecoms
3 37 (9.46%) Analytical Skills
4 34 (8.70%) Public Sector
5 33 (8.44%) Finance
6 20 (5.12%) Documentation Skills
7 13 (3.32%) Manufacturing
8 9 (2.30%) Legal
9 8 (2.05%) Banking
10 7 (1.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 6 (1.53%) Local Government
12 5 (1.28%) Military
12 5 (1.28%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (1.28%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (1.02%) Law
13 4 (1.02%) Retail
14 3 (0.77%) Aerospace
15 2 (0.51%) Electronics
15 2 (0.51%) Games
15 2 (0.51%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 109 (27.88%) Network Engineer
2 85 (21.74%) Architect
3 62 (15.86%) Network Architect
4 35 (8.95%) Support Engineer
5 34 (8.70%) Analyst
6 27 (6.91%) Technical Support
7 23 (5.88%) Senior
8 22 (5.63%) Support Analyst
9 19 (4.86%) 2nd Line Support
10 18 (4.60%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 17 (4.35%) Technical Analyst
12 16 (4.09%) Field Engineer
12 16 (4.09%) Technical Support Analyst
13 15 (3.84%) IT Technician
14 14 (3.58%) IT Engineer
14 14 (3.58%) IT Support
15 13 (3.32%) Project Manager
15 13 (3.32%) Technical Architect
16 12 (3.07%) Designer
16 12 (3.07%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (3.07%) Middleware
2 7 (1.79%) NETCONF
2 7 (1.79%) YANG
3 6 (1.53%) REST
4 4 (1.02%) XML
5 3 (0.77%) 802.1X
5 3 (0.77%) EDI
5 3 (0.77%) JSON
5 3 (0.77%) Node.js
6 2 (0.51%) HTML
6 2 (0.51%) React
6 2 (0.51%) RFC 2544
6 2 (0.51%) SOAP
6 2 (0.51%) Spring
6 2 (0.51%) Spring Boot
7 1 (0.26%) .NET
7 1 (0.26%) .NET Framework
7 1 (0.26%) Java RMI
7 1 (0.26%) LDAP
7 1 (0.26%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 58 (14.83%) Data Centre
2 20 (5.12%) Driving Licence
3 18 (4.60%) Virtual Team
4 16 (4.09%) Hybrid Cloud
5 15 (3.84%) NHS
6 13 (3.32%) Cloud Native
7 11 (2.81%) CMDB
7 11 (2.81%) Self-Motivation
8 10 (2.56%) Management Information System
9 9 (2.30%) Onboarding
10 7 (1.79%) Public Cloud
10 7 (1.79%) SCADA
11 5 (1.28%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.28%) Security Operations Centre
11 5 (1.28%) Video Conferencing
12 4 (1.02%) Data Protection Act
12 4 (1.02%) Fibre Optics
12 4 (1.02%) Replication
12 4 (1.02%) Security Posture
13 3 (0.77%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 96 (24.55%) Windows
2 29 (7.42%) Linux
3 28 (7.16%) Windows Server
4 20 (5.12%) Windows 10
5 12 (3.07%) Mac OS
6 10 (2.56%) Windows Server 2019
7 8 (2.05%) Android
8 7 (1.79%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (1.02%) Unix
9 4 (1.02%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.77%) Apple iOS
10 3 (0.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.77%) Windows Server 2003
11 2 (0.51%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.26%) AIX
12 1 (0.26%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.26%) Solaris
12 1 (0.26%) SUSE
12 1 (0.26%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.26%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (15.86%) Network Design
1 62 (15.86%) Problem-Solving
2 41 (10.49%) Migration
3 38 (9.72%) Network Architecture
4 37 (9.46%) ITIL
5 35 (8.95%) Customer Service
5 35 (8.95%) Network Monitoring
6 27 (6.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 27 (6.91%) Service Management
7 25 (6.39%) Cybersecurity
7 25 (6.39%) Project Delivery
8 24 (6.14%) Agile
9 22 (5.63%) High Availability
9 22 (5.63%) Load Balancing
9 22 (5.63%) Stakeholder Management
10 21 (5.37%) Change Management
10 21 (5.37%) Continuous Improvement
10 21 (5.37%) Roadmaps
11 20 (5.12%) Project Management
12 17 (4.35%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 41 (10.49%) Python
2 7 (1.79%) PowerShell
2 7 (1.79%) SQL
3 5 (1.28%) Java
3 5 (1.28%) VB
4 4 (1.02%) Perl
5 3 (0.77%) Shell Script
6 2 (0.51%) C
6 2 (0.51%) C++
7 1 (0.26%) Bash
7 1 (0.26%) Bicep
7 1 (0.26%) C#
7 1 (0.26%) Go
Qualifications
1 100 (25.58%) Cisco Certification
2 83 (21.23%) Security Cleared
3 67 (17.14%) CCNP
4 46 (11.76%) SC Cleared
5 43 (11.00%) CCNA
6 33 (8.44%) DV Cleared
7 28 (7.16%) Degree
8 27 (6.91%) CCIE
9 16 (4.09%) JNCIE
10 13 (3.32%) Microsoft Certification
11 9 (2.30%) AWS Certification
11 9 (2.30%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (2.05%) BPSS Clearance
12 8 (2.05%) MCSE
13 7 (1.79%) CCSA
13 7 (1.79%) HNC
13 7 (1.79%) MCP
14 6 (1.53%) ECDL
14 6 (1.53%) HND
14 6 (1.53%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (4.86%) SLA
2 6 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (0.77%) NIST
3 3 (0.77%) PMO
3 3 (0.77%) QA
4 2 (0.51%) Accessibility
4 2 (0.51%) Disclosure Scotland
4 2 (0.51%) GDPR
4 2 (0.51%) PCI DSS
5 1 (0.26%) California Consumer Privacy Act
5 1 (0.26%) COBIT
5 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.26%) MiFID
5 1 (0.26%) NCSC
System Software
1 62 (15.86%) Active Directory
2 19 (4.86%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (2.81%) VMware NSX
4 10 (2.56%) Firmware
4 10 (2.56%) Hyper-V
5 5 (1.28%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.51%) Docker
7 1 (0.26%) KVM
7 1 (0.26%) NFS
7 1 (0.26%) SRDF
7 1 (0.26%) Veritas Cluster Server
7 1 (0.26%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.26%) Xen
Systems Management
1 36 (9.21%) Ansible
2 22 (5.63%) Terraform
3 21 (5.37%) FortiGate
4 11 (2.81%) SCCM
5 10 (2.56%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (1.79%) Cisco Prime
7 5 (1.28%) Cisco CUCM
7 5 (1.28%) HP ALM
8 4 (1.02%) Kubernetes
8 4 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.77%) CA Spectrum
9 3 (0.77%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.51%) AppManager
10 2 (0.51%) Backup Exec
10 2 (0.51%) HAProxy
10 2 (0.51%) OpenView
10 2 (0.51%) SCOM
11 1 (0.26%) Nagios
11 1 (0.26%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.26%) Puppet
Vendors
1 195 (49.87%) Cisco
2 69 (17.65%) Microsoft
3 56 (14.32%) Fortinet
4 50 (12.79%) Juniper
5 40 (10.23%) Palo Alto
6 35 (8.95%) F5
7 33 (8.44%) VMware
8 27 (6.91%) Meraki
9 24 (6.14%) Citrix
10 20 (5.12%) ServiceNow
11 19 (4.86%) SolarWinds
12 16 (4.09%) CheckPoint
13 14 (3.58%) Aruba
14 13 (3.32%) HP
14 13 (3.32%) Oracle
14 13 (3.32%) Remedy
14 13 (3.32%) Zscaler
15 7 (1.79%) Peregrine
16 6 (1.53%) Arista
16 6 (1.53%) MuleSoft