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 15 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 227 182 131
Rank change year-on-year -45 -51 +41
Contract jobs citing LAN 470 446 837
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.18% 1.44% 1.87%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.37% 10.98% 13.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 309 274 503
10th Percentile £206 £223 £200
25th Percentile £309 £353 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £438 £471 £450
Median % change year-on-year -7.16% +4.72% -
75th Percentile £525 £575 £588
90th Percentile £600 £674 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £438 £450
% change year-on-year -2.86% -2.78% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 12 39
10th Percentile £12.56 £18.65 £15.67
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.00 £20.75
Median hourly rate £22.50 £20.19 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +11.46% -49.53% -12.33%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.06 £48.75
90th Percentile £63.03 £42.88 £63.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.38 £20.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -8.13% -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 4,135 4,062 6,014
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.35% 13.14% 13.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,717 2,404 3,588
10th Percentile £204 £210 £205
25th Percentile £355 £360 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £488
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +2.56% -5.89%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £680 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £470 £475
% change year-on-year -4.26% -1.05% +1.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 168 128 405
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.01 £14.41
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.46 £20.82
Median hourly rate £28.38 £32.50 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -12.68% -31.58% +143.59%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.47 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £70.38 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.54 £26.75 £51.89
% change year-on-year +51.55% -48.45% +160.23%

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 15 February 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 15 February 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 15 February 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 -58 392 £445 -6.32% 222
UK excluding London -50 300 £425 -2.86% 193
London -12 129 £475 -5.00% 71
Work from Home +1 124 £445 -11.00% 89
South East -11 92 £445 +7.88% 62
North of England -79 58 £378 -15.17% 37
Midlands -54 45 £340 -32.00% 23
Scotland +28 41 £275 -31.25% 21
West Midlands -31 38 £450 -12.20% 22
East of England -23 34 £350 -34.88% 19
North West -48 30 £483 +7.22% 22
Yorkshire -62 28 £275 +18.39% 12
South West -43 17 £506 +21.62% 27
Wales +3 7 £468 +55.83% 7
East Midlands -40 7 £200 -42.86% 1
Northern Ireland +1 5 £475 -

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 36 (7.66%) SharePoint
2 26 (5.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (2.77%) Confluence
4 10 (2.13%) Skype for Business
5 8 (1.70%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.21%) Apache
6 1 (0.21%) IIS
Applications
1 42 (8.94%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (5.11%) MS Visio
3 16 (3.40%) Microsoft Excel
4 15 (3.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (1.06%) Acrobat
6 4 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.43%) DELMIA
2 1 (0.21%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 99 (21.06%) Azure
2 67 (14.26%) Microsoft 365
3 53 (11.28%) AWS
4 34 (7.23%) Entra ID
5 19 (4.04%) GCP
6 15 (3.19%) SaaS
7 13 (2.77%) OneDrive
8 9 (1.91%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 7 (1.49%) PaaS
9 7 (1.49%) Power Platform
10 5 (1.06%) Nutanix
10 5 (1.06%) PowerApps
11 4 (0.85%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (0.85%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 4 (0.85%) Microsoft Purview
12 3 (0.64%) AWS Direct Connect
12 3 (0.64%) OpenShift
12 3 (0.64%) Serverless
12 3 (0.64%) WhatsApp
13 2 (0.43%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 384 (81.70%) WAN
2 181 (38.51%) Firewall
3 150 (31.91%) VPN
4 104 (22.13%) Wi-Fi
5 99 (21.06%) BGP
6 90 (19.15%) SD-WAN
7 86 (18.30%) OSPF
8 84 (17.87%) DNS
9 81 (17.23%) Network Security
10 75 (15.96%) TCP/IP
11 72 (15.32%) Wireless
12 69 (14.68%) MPLS
13 66 (14.04%) VLAN
14 64 (13.62%) DHCP
15 48 (10.21%) WLAN
16 42 (8.94%) IPsec
17 30 (6.38%) Cisco Nexus
18 29 (6.17%) Cisco ASA
18 29 (6.17%) Structured Cabling
19 20 (4.26%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.28%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.85%) MS Access
3 2 (0.43%) MariaDB
3 2 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (0.43%) Power BI
4 1 (0.21%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.21%) Apache Cassandra
4 1 (0.21%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.21%) DynamoDB
4 1 (0.21%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.21%) MySQL
4 1 (0.21%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 25 (5.32%) JIRA
2 2 (0.43%) Sonatype Nexus
3 1 (0.21%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.21%) Git
3 1 (0.21%) GitLab
3 1 (0.21%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.21%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 150 (31.91%) Social Skills
2 54 (11.49%) Public Sector
3 52 (11.06%) Analytical Skills
4 41 (8.72%) Finance
5 40 (8.51%) Telecoms
6 37 (7.87%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (5.74%) Manufacturing
8 17 (3.62%) Military
9 14 (2.98%) Legal
10 12 (2.55%) Organisational Skills
11 11 (2.34%) Banking
12 9 (1.91%) Financial Institution
12 9 (1.91%) Presentation Skills
13 7 (1.49%) Local Government
14 6 (1.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (1.28%) Law
14 6 (1.28%) Marketing
15 5 (1.06%) Electronics
15 5 (1.06%) Retail
16 4 (0.85%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 157 (33.40%) Network Engineer
2 75 (15.96%) Architect
3 54 (11.49%) Network Architect
4 43 (9.15%) Senior
5 39 (8.30%) Analyst
6 37 (7.87%) IT Support
7 35 (7.45%) Support Engineer
8 26 (5.53%) IT Engineer
9 25 (5.32%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 22 (4.68%) Lead
11 21 (4.47%) IT Support Engineer
11 21 (4.47%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 20 (4.26%) 2nd Line Support
12 20 (4.26%) Cisco Engineer
12 20 (4.26%) Project Manager
13 19 (4.04%) Cisco Network Engineer
13 19 (4.04%) Support Analyst
14 17 (3.62%) Field Engineer
14 17 (3.62%) Senior Network Engineer
14 17 (3.62%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.13%) LDAP
2 8 (1.70%) Microsoft Graph
3 7 (1.49%) Middleware
4 6 (1.28%) SAML
5 5 (1.06%) 802.1X
5 5 (1.06%) NETCONF
5 5 (1.06%) REST
5 5 (1.06%) YANG
6 2 (0.43%) ARM Templates
6 2 (0.43%) CSS
6 2 (0.43%) Django
6 2 (0.43%) HTML
6 2 (0.43%) RFC 2544
6 2 (0.43%) XMPP
6 2 (0.43%) YAML
7 1 (0.21%) .NET
7 1 (0.21%) EDI
7 1 (0.21%) Java RMI
7 1 (0.21%) Node.js
7 1 (0.21%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 90 (19.15%) Data Centre
2 21 (4.47%) Onboarding
3 19 (4.04%) Driving Licence
3 19 (4.04%) Hybrid Cloud
4 16 (3.40%) CMDB
5 14 (2.98%) Data Protection Act
5 14 (2.98%) NHS
6 9 (1.91%) Management Information System
6 9 (1.91%) Operational Technology
6 9 (1.91%) PKI
6 9 (1.91%) Virtual Team
7 8 (1.70%) IoT
7 8 (1.70%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.49%) Security Posture
9 6 (1.28%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.28%) SCADA
10 5 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.06%) Fibre Optics
10 5 (1.06%) iPhone
10 5 (1.06%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 127 (27.02%) Windows
2 45 (9.57%) Windows Server
3 42 (8.94%) Windows 10
4 19 (4.04%) Linux
5 16 (3.40%) Windows Server 2019
6 13 (2.77%) Windows Server 2016
7 12 (2.55%) Android
8 10 (2.13%) Windows 7
9 8 (1.70%) Apple iOS
10 7 (1.49%) Mac OS
11 5 (1.06%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.85%) CatOS
13 3 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 3 (0.64%) Ubuntu
13 3 (0.64%) VMS
14 2 (0.43%) Windows Server 2003
15 1 (0.21%) AIX
15 1 (0.21%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 74 (15.74%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (13.19%) ITIL
3 60 (12.77%) Migration
4 51 (10.85%) Network Design
5 48 (10.21%) Stakeholder Management
6 45 (9.57%) Network Architecture
7 41 (8.72%) Cybersecurity
8 40 (8.51%) ITSM
9 39 (8.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 36 (7.66%) Project Delivery
11 34 (7.23%) Change Management
11 34 (7.23%) High Availability
12 32 (6.81%) Network Monitoring
13 30 (6.38%) Customer Service
14 27 (5.74%) Continuous Improvement
15 26 (5.53%) Zero Trust
16 25 (5.32%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 24 (5.11%) Service Management
18 23 (4.89%) Agile
18 23 (4.89%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 44 (9.36%) PowerShell
2 37 (7.87%) Python
3 11 (2.34%) SQL
3 11 (2.34%) VBScript
4 9 (1.91%) VB
5 3 (0.64%) JavaScript
5 3 (0.64%) Perl
6 2 (0.43%) Bash
6 2 (0.43%) Bicep
7 1 (0.21%) C#
7 1 (0.21%) Ruby
7 1 (0.21%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.21%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 138 (29.36%) Security Cleared
2 129 (27.45%) Cisco Certification
3 111 (23.62%) SC Cleared
4 107 (22.77%) CCNP
5 59 (12.55%) Degree
6 44 (9.36%) CCNA
7 41 (8.72%) CCIE
8 38 (8.09%) DV Cleared
9 16 (3.40%) JNCIE
10 12 (2.55%) JNCIP
10 12 (2.55%) JNCIS
11 11 (2.34%) AWS Certification
11 11 (2.34%) Network+ Certification
11 11 (2.34%) PMI Certification
11 11 (2.34%) PMP
12 10 (2.13%) Azure Certification
12 10 (2.13%) CCSE
13 9 (1.91%) Microsoft Certification
14 7 (1.49%) CISSP
15 6 (1.28%) ECDL
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (2.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 10 (2.13%) NIST
2 10 (2.13%) SLA
3 9 (1.91%) GDPR
4 7 (1.49%) PCI DSS
4 7 (1.49%) QA
5 6 (1.28%) NCSC
6 5 (1.06%) PMO
7 4 (0.85%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.64%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.43%) RMADS
10 1 (0.21%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.21%) GRC
10 1 (0.21%) MiFID
10 1 (0.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 90 (19.15%) Active Directory
2 34 (7.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (4.04%) VMware NSX
4 9 (1.91%) BitLocker
5 8 (1.70%) vSphere
6 7 (1.49%) Hyper-V
7 6 (1.28%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.85%) Docker
9 3 (0.64%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.43%) KVM
10 2 (0.43%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.21%) Ceph
11 1 (0.21%) Firmware
11 1 (0.21%) iptables
11 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.21%) NFS
11 1 (0.21%) RHEV
11 1 (0.21%) Samba
11 1 (0.21%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.21%) Xen
Systems Management
1 36 (7.66%) Ansible
1 36 (7.66%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (5.96%) Terraform
3 23 (4.89%) SCCM
4 22 (4.68%) FortiGate
5 11 (2.34%) Jamf Pro
6 9 (1.91%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.06%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.85%) Nagios
9 3 (0.64%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.64%) Endace
9 3 (0.64%) Grafana
9 3 (0.64%) SCOM
9 3 (0.64%) WSUS
10 2 (0.43%) Check_MK
10 2 (0.43%) Nessus
10 2 (0.43%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.21%) HAProxy
11 1 (0.21%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.21%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 210 (44.68%) Cisco
2 105 (22.34%) Microsoft
3 92 (19.57%) Palo Alto
4 58 (12.34%) CheckPoint
5 54 (11.49%) Fortinet
6 51 (10.85%) Juniper
7 49 (10.43%) Aruba
7 49 (10.43%) VMware
8 41 (8.72%) F5
9 32 (6.81%) ServiceNow
10 31 (6.60%) Meraki
10 31 (6.60%) SolarWinds
11 20 (4.26%) Zscaler
12 14 (2.98%) Veeam
13 11 (2.34%) Arista
13 11 (2.34%) Citrix
14 10 (2.13%) Dell
14 10 (2.13%) Extreme Networks
15 8 (1.70%) SAP
16 7 (1.49%) CrowdStrike