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 1 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 224 190 122
Rank change year-on-year -34 -68 +45
Contract jobs citing LAN 494 418 841
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.19% 1.37% 1.88%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.70% 10.43% 14.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 321 266 511
10th Percentile £206 £223 £200
25th Percentile £313 £363 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £440 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -7.37% - +5.56%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £633
90th Percentile £613 £675 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £434 £438 £450
% change year-on-year -0.86% -2.78% +1.12%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 11 37
10th Percentile £12.43 £15.33 £15.34
25th Percentile £15.50 £19.25 £21.25
Median hourly rate £22.50 £20.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% -50.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.38 £50.00
90th Percentile £70.59 £43.75 £64.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.50 £20.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +7.50% -50.00% +21.21%

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 4,221 4,008 6,009
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.17% 13.17% 13.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,753 2,414 3,601
10th Percentile £204 £208 £205
25th Percentile £363 £360 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £500 £480
Median % change year-on-year -3.75% +4.17% -7.43%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £680 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £469 £470 £475
% change year-on-year -0.21% -1.05% +1.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 174 132 390
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.52 £14.27
25th Percentile £19.25 £21.46 £19.99
Median hourly rate £35.50 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +1.43% -12.50% +105.13%
75th Percentile £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.88 £74.10
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £31.79 £50.00
% change year-on-year +31.93% -36.42% +163.16%

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 1 March 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 1 March 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 1 March 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 -46 410 £450 -5.26% 244
UK excluding London -38 320 £434 -0.86% 215
Work from Home +9 131 £445 -11.00% 78
London -30 129 £475 -5.00% 79
South East +1 106 £450 +7.46% 85
North of England -69 60 £430 -2.27% 39
Scotland +42 45 £288 -28.13% 17
Midlands -46 43 £321 -38.81% 24
East of England -25 37 £350 -33.33% 23
West Midlands -33 37 £423 -19.52% 15
North West -52 31 £500 +10.01% 20
Yorkshire -59 29 £275 +14.69% 16
South West -48 16 £513 +24.24% 25
Wales -2 8 £335 +11.67% 9
East Midlands -36 6 £200 -42.86% 9
Northern Ireland - 4 £430 - 1

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 33 (6.68%) SharePoint
2 25 (5.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (2.63%) Confluence
4 10 (2.02%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.81%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.20%) Apache
6 1 (0.20%) IIS
Applications
1 38 (7.69%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (4.66%) MS Visio
3 14 (2.83%) Microsoft Excel
4 13 (2.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (1.01%) Acrobat
6 4 (0.81%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.40%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 107 (21.66%) Azure
2 70 (14.17%) Microsoft 365
3 51 (10.32%) AWS
4 35 (7.09%) Entra ID
5 21 (4.25%) GCP
6 15 (3.04%) SaaS
7 13 (2.63%) OneDrive
8 9 (1.82%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 8 (1.62%) PaaS
10 6 (1.21%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 6 (1.21%) Power Platform
11 5 (1.01%) Nutanix
11 5 (1.01%) PowerApps
12 4 (0.81%) AWS Direct Connect
12 4 (0.81%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (0.81%) IaaS
12 4 (0.81%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (0.61%) Google Ads
13 3 (0.61%) Serverless
14 2 (0.40%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 408 (82.59%) WAN
2 211 (42.71%) Firewall
3 149 (30.16%) VPN
4 116 (23.48%) BGP
5 114 (23.08%) Wi-Fi
6 105 (21.26%) OSPF
7 95 (19.23%) SD-WAN
8 92 (18.62%) DNS
9 86 (17.41%) Network Security
10 77 (15.59%) DHCP
11 74 (14.98%) VLAN
12 73 (14.78%) TCP/IP
13 72 (14.57%) Wireless
14 69 (13.97%) MPLS
15 49 (9.92%) WLAN
16 42 (8.50%) IPsec
17 33 (6.68%) Cisco Nexus
18 32 (6.48%) Cisco ASA
18 32 (6.48%) VXLAN
19 30 (6.07%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.42%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.81%) MS Access
3 2 (0.40%) MariaDB
3 2 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.20%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.20%) Apache Cassandra
4 1 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.20%) DynamoDB
4 1 (0.20%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.20%) MySQL
4 1 (0.20%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.20%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.20%) Power BI
4 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 24 (4.86%) JIRA
2 2 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
3 1 (0.20%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.20%) Git
3 1 (0.20%) GitLab
3 1 (0.20%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.20%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 146 (29.55%) Social Skills
2 49 (9.92%) Analytical Skills
2 49 (9.92%) Public Sector
3 43 (8.70%) Finance
4 37 (7.49%) Telecoms
5 34 (6.88%) Documentation Skills
6 27 (5.47%) Manufacturing
7 19 (3.85%) Legal
7 19 (3.85%) Military
8 13 (2.63%) Financial Institution
9 12 (2.43%) Banking
9 12 (2.43%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (1.82%) Law
10 9 (1.82%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.42%) Local Government
12 6 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.01%) Marketing
13 5 (1.01%) Retail
14 4 (0.81%) Electronics
14 4 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 176 (35.63%) Network Engineer
2 74 (14.98%) Architect
3 53 (10.73%) Network Architect
4 52 (10.53%) Senior
5 40 (8.10%) Analyst
5 40 (8.10%) IT Support
6 34 (6.88%) Support Engineer
7 28 (5.67%) IT Engineer
8 25 (5.06%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 24 (4.86%) IT Support Engineer
9 24 (4.86%) Senior Network Engineer
10 23 (4.66%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 21 (4.25%) Lead
12 20 (4.05%) Cisco Engineer
12 20 (4.05%) Project Manager
13 19 (3.85%) Cisco Network Engineer
13 19 (3.85%) Technical Architect
14 18 (3.64%) Support Analyst
15 17 (3.44%) 2nd Line Support
15 17 (3.44%) Field Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (5.06%) 802.1X
2 10 (2.02%) LDAP
3 8 (1.62%) Microsoft Graph
4 7 (1.42%) Middleware
5 6 (1.21%) SAML
6 3 (0.61%) NETCONF
6 3 (0.61%) REST
6 3 (0.61%) YANG
7 2 (0.40%) ARM Templates
7 2 (0.40%) CSS
7 2 (0.40%) Django
7 2 (0.40%) HTML
7 2 (0.40%) RFC 2544
7 2 (0.40%) XMPP
7 2 (0.40%) YAML
8 1 (0.20%) .NET
8 1 (0.20%) EDI
8 1 (0.20%) Java RMI
8 1 (0.20%) Node.js
8 1 (0.20%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 99 (20.04%) Data Centre
2 22 (4.45%) PKI
3 20 (4.05%) Onboarding
4 19 (3.85%) Driving Licence
5 18 (3.64%) Clustering
6 17 (3.44%) Hybrid Cloud
7 15 (3.04%) CMDB
8 14 (2.83%) Data Protection Act
9 13 (2.63%) NHS
10 12 (2.43%) Security Posture
11 9 (1.82%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.82%) Operational Technology
12 8 (1.62%) IoT
12 8 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.62%) Virtual Team
13 6 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
13 6 (1.21%) Public Cloud
14 5 (1.01%) CCTV
14 5 (1.01%) iPhone
14 5 (1.01%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 142 (28.74%) Windows
2 49 (9.92%) Windows Server
3 39 (7.89%) Windows 10
4 20 (4.05%) Linux
5 17 (3.44%) Windows Server 2019
6 11 (2.23%) Android
6 11 (2.23%) Windows 7
7 10 (2.02%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (1.42%) Apple iOS
9 6 (1.21%) Mac OS
10 5 (1.01%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.81%) CatOS
11 4 (0.81%) VMS
12 3 (0.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 3 (0.61%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.61%) Windows Server 2003
13 2 (0.40%) AIX
14 1 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
14 1 (0.20%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (16.80%) Problem-Solving
2 68 (13.77%) ITIL
3 56 (11.34%) Migration
4 51 (10.32%) High Availability
5 50 (10.12%) Network Design
6 45 (9.11%) ITSM
7 44 (8.91%) Stakeholder Management
8 42 (8.50%) Network Architecture
9 40 (8.10%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 38 (7.69%) Change Management
11 37 (7.49%) Cybersecurity
11 37 (7.49%) Network Monitoring
12 35 (7.09%) Project Delivery
13 33 (6.68%) Load Balancing
14 31 (6.28%) Service Management
15 30 (6.07%) Customer Service
16 27 (5.47%) Zero Trust
17 26 (5.26%) Continuous Improvement
17 26 (5.26%) Mentoring
18 25 (5.06%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 49 (9.92%) PowerShell
2 33 (6.68%) Python
3 12 (2.43%) SQL
4 11 (2.23%) VBScript
5 9 (1.82%) VB
6 3 (0.61%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.61%) Perl
7 2 (0.40%) Bash
7 2 (0.40%) Bicep
8 1 (0.20%) C#
8 1 (0.20%) Ruby
8 1 (0.20%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.20%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 157 (31.78%) Security Cleared
2 145 (29.35%) Cisco Certification
3 116 (23.48%) SC Cleared
4 113 (22.87%) CCNP
5 61 (12.35%) Degree
6 49 (9.92%) CCNA
6 49 (9.92%) DV Cleared
7 37 (7.49%) CCIE
8 18 (3.64%) JNCIP
8 18 (3.64%) JNCIS
9 13 (2.63%) Network+ Certification
10 12 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
11 11 (2.23%) JNCIE
11 11 (2.23%) PMI Certification
11 11 (2.23%) PMP
12 10 (2.02%) Azure Certification
12 10 (2.02%) CCSE
12 10 (2.02%) JNCIA
13 9 (1.82%) AWS Certification
13 9 (1.82%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (2.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 12 (2.43%) SLA
3 11 (2.23%) NIST
4 9 (1.82%) GDPR
4 9 (1.82%) QA
5 7 (1.42%) NCSC
5 7 (1.42%) PCI DSS
6 5 (1.01%) PMO
7 4 (0.81%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.61%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.40%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.40%) RMADS
10 1 (0.20%) GRC
10 1 (0.20%) MiFID
10 1 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 92 (18.62%) Active Directory
2 36 (7.29%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (3.44%) VMware NSX
4 12 (2.43%) vSphere
5 9 (1.82%) BitLocker
6 6 (1.21%) Hyper-V
7 5 (1.01%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.81%) Docker
8 4 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.40%) KVM
9 2 (0.40%) ProxySG
10 1 (0.20%) Ceph
10 1 (0.20%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.20%) Firmware
10 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.20%) NFS
10 1 (0.20%) RHEV
10 1 (0.20%) Samba
10 1 (0.20%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.20%) Xen
Systems Management
1 40 (8.10%) FortiGate
2 36 (7.29%) Microsoft Intune
3 33 (6.68%) Ansible
4 27 (5.47%) Terraform
5 21 (4.25%) SCCM
6 11 (2.23%) Jamf Pro
7 9 (1.82%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (1.42%) Cisco Prime
9 6 (1.21%) Nagios
10 4 (0.81%) WSUS
11 3 (0.61%) Cisco CUCM
11 3 (0.61%) Endace
11 3 (0.61%) Grafana
11 3 (0.61%) vCenter Server
12 2 (0.40%) Check_MK
12 2 (0.40%) Nessus
12 2 (0.40%) SCOM
13 1 (0.20%) Backup Exec
13 1 (0.20%) Norton AntiVirus
13 1 (0.20%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 233 (47.17%) Cisco
2 107 (21.66%) Microsoft
3 103 (20.85%) Palo Alto
4 66 (13.36%) Juniper
5 61 (12.35%) CheckPoint
6 60 (12.15%) F5
7 58 (11.74%) Aruba
8 50 (10.12%) Fortinet
8 50 (10.12%) VMware
9 47 (9.51%) SolarWinds
10 31 (6.28%) ServiceNow
11 29 (5.87%) Meraki
12 22 (4.45%) Extreme Networks
12 22 (4.45%) Zscaler
13 20 (4.05%) Splunk
14 14 (2.83%) Veeam
15 13 (2.63%) Dell
16 12 (2.43%) Citrix
17 11 (2.23%) Arista
18 7 (1.42%) SAP