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 27 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 210 221 164
Rank change year-on-year +11 -57 -15
Contract jobs citing LAN 590 352 633
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.21% 1.23% 1.48%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.51% 9.73% 11.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 369 208 373
10th Percentile £225 £250 £200
25th Percentile £350 £362 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £456 £450
Median % change year-on-year -1.37% +1.39% -5.26%
75th Percentile £537 £563 £638
90th Percentile £605 £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 28 9 41
10th Percentile £12.43 £14.65 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.36 £23.75 £15.75
Median hourly rate £22.50 £27.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +20.00% -65.65%
75th Percentile £52.94 £40.00 £40.00
90th Percentile £79.13 £50.40 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £13.62 £22.50
% change year-on-year +65.20% -39.47% -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 4,715 3,618 5,402
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.67% 12.66% 12.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,897 2,244 3,234
10th Percentile £263 £213 £206
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £486 £490
Median % change year-on-year +2.83% -0.77% -4.39%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £465 £475
% change year-on-year +2.15% -2.11% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 274 153 414
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.93 £17.30 £16.30
Median hourly rate £28.96 £40.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -27.60% - +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.66 £60.13 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £79.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.22 £30.70 £46.14
% change year-on-year +14.72% -33.46% +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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -9 507 £450 -5.26% 187
UK excluding London +7 413 £445 +1.71% 168
South East +25 180 £460 -8.00% 72
Work from Home -5 122 £450 -7.79% 81
London -59 122 £500 - 53
North of England -50 66 £450 +12.43% 27
Midlands -36 60 £275 -42.86% 21
West Midlands -35 46 £318 -27.43% 17
East of England -2 43 £350 -18.60% 11
Scotland +17 39 £450 +12.78% 13
Yorkshire -26 33 £382 -4.68% 13
North West -42 33 £498 +17.06% 12
South West -44 15 £500 +21.21% 18
East Midlands -26 11 £200 -61.90% 4
Wales -19 8 £475 +61.70% 14
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 (5.25%) SharePoint
2 21 (3.56%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (2.54%) Confluence
4 5 (0.85%) OpenStack
4 5 (0.85%) Skype for Business
5 2 (0.34%) IIS
6 1 (0.17%) CMS
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 23 (3.90%) MS Visio
2 15 (2.54%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.02%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.68%) Acrobat
4 4 (0.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.34%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 140 (23.73%) Azure
2 85 (14.41%) Microsoft 365
3 61 (10.34%) AWS
4 36 (6.10%) Entra ID
5 18 (3.05%) SaaS
6 15 (2.54%) OneDrive
7 12 (2.03%) PaaS
8 11 (1.86%) GCP
9 8 (1.36%) Power Platform
10 7 (1.19%) PowerApps
10 7 (1.19%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 6 (1.02%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (0.85%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 5 (0.85%) Google Ads
12 5 (0.85%) IaaS
12 5 (0.85%) 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
1 487 (82.54%) WAN
2 285 (48.31%) Firewall
3 161 (27.29%) VPN
4 157 (26.61%) BGP
5 143 (24.24%) OSPF
6 134 (22.71%) Wi-Fi
7 130 (22.03%) SD-WAN
8 120 (20.34%) Network Security
9 113 (19.15%) DNS
10 99 (16.78%) Wireless
11 87 (14.75%) DHCP
12 75 (12.71%) VLAN
13 74 (12.54%) WLAN
14 68 (11.53%) MPLS
15 66 (11.19%) TCP/IP
16 61 (10.34%) IPsec
17 47 (7.97%) Cisco ISE
18 46 (7.80%) BIG-IP
19 43 (7.29%) Cisco Nexus
19 43 (7.29%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.19%) 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 33 (5.59%) JIRA
2 4 (0.68%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (0.51%) 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
1 150 (25.42%) Social Skills
2 47 (7.97%) Public Sector
3 43 (7.29%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (6.44%) Finance
5 35 (5.93%) Documentation Skills
6 34 (5.76%) Telecoms
7 28 (4.75%) Manufacturing
8 21 (3.56%) Legal
9 17 (2.88%) Financial Institution
10 13 (2.20%) Military
11 12 (2.03%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (1.53%) Banking
12 9 (1.53%) Law
13 7 (1.19%) Retail
14 6 (1.02%) Police
15 4 (0.68%) Local Government
16 3 (0.51%) Influencing Skills
17 2 (0.34%) Billing
17 2 (0.34%) German Language
17 2 (0.34%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 238 (40.34%) Network Engineer
2 88 (14.92%) Architect
3 63 (10.68%) Network Architect
3 63 (10.68%) Senior
4 44 (7.46%) IT Support
5 39 (6.61%) Support Engineer
6 34 (5.76%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 33 (5.59%) IT Engineer
8 32 (5.42%) Cisco Engineer
9 29 (4.92%) Analyst
9 29 (4.92%) Cisco Network Engineer
9 29 (4.92%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 29 (4.92%) IT Support Engineer
9 29 (4.92%) Lead
10 28 (4.75%) Senior Network Engineer
11 20 (3.39%) Technical Architect
12 14 (2.37%) Firewall Specialist
12 14 (2.37%) Network Specialist
12 14 (2.37%) Test Engineer
13 13 (2.20%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (7.80%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.20%) LDAP
2 13 (2.20%) SAML
3 10 (1.69%) Microsoft Graph
4 7 (1.19%) Middleware
5 5 (0.85%) NETCONF
5 5 (0.85%) REST
5 5 (0.85%) YANG
6 3 (0.51%) 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%) ARM Templates
8 1 (0.17%) Node.js
8 1 (0.17%) React
8 1 (0.17%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 125 (21.19%) Data Centre
2 30 (5.08%) PKI
3 26 (4.41%) Clustering
4 25 (4.24%) Onboarding
5 23 (3.90%) Hybrid Cloud
6 16 (2.71%) Security Posture
7 13 (2.20%) Self-Motivation
8 12 (2.03%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (2.03%) Public Cloud
9 11 (1.86%) Operational Technology
10 10 (1.69%) Driving Licence
10 10 (1.69%) Virtual Team
11 9 (1.53%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (1.36%) NHS
13 7 (1.19%) Cloud Native
13 7 (1.19%) CMDB
13 7 (1.19%) IoT
14 6 (1.02%) Smartphone
14 6 (1.02%) Video Conferencing
15 5 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 177 (30.00%) Windows
2 50 (8.47%) Windows Server
3 41 (6.95%) Linux
4 32 (5.42%) Windows 10
5 16 (2.71%) Windows Server 2019
6 13 (2.20%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.53%) Android
8 8 (1.36%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.19%) Apple iOS
10 5 (0.85%) CatOS
10 5 (0.85%) VMS
10 5 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.68%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.51%) Unix
12 3 (0.51%) 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 91 (15.42%) ITIL
2 86 (14.58%) High Availability
3 82 (13.90%) Problem-Solving
4 64 (10.85%) Load Balancing
5 57 (9.66%) Migration
6 49 (8.31%) ITSM
7 46 (7.80%) Change Management
8 45 (7.63%) Stakeholder Management
9 43 (7.29%) Continuous Improvement
10 42 (7.12%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 41 (6.95%) Network Architecture
11 41 (6.95%) Project Delivery
12 40 (6.78%) Network Monitoring
12 40 (6.78%) Technical Leadership
13 37 (6.27%) Network Design
13 37 (6.27%) Roadmaps
14 32 (5.42%) Agile
14 32 (5.42%) Disaster Recovery
14 32 (5.42%) Service Management
15 31 (5.25%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 37 (6.27%) PowerShell
2 36 (6.10%) Python
3 13 (2.20%) SQL
4 5 (0.85%) VBScript
5 4 (0.68%) VB
6 3 (0.51%) 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
1 215 (36.44%) Security Cleared
2 183 (31.02%) Cisco Certification
3 148 (25.08%) SC Cleared
4 130 (22.03%) CCNP
5 63 (10.68%) DV Cleared
6 57 (9.66%) CCNA
7 54 (9.15%) Degree
8 47 (7.97%) CCIE
9 15 (2.54%) PMP
10 14 (2.37%) JNCIP
10 14 (2.37%) JNCIS
11 13 (2.20%) Microsoft Certification
12 12 (2.03%) Azure Certification
12 12 (2.03%) JNCIA
13 11 (1.86%) CCSE
13 11 (1.86%) PMI Certification
14 10 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
14 10 (1.69%) JNCIE
15 6 (1.02%) AWS Certification
15 6 (1.02%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.39%) QA
2 13 (2.20%) SLA
3 10 (1.69%) NIST
4 8 (1.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (1.19%) Disclosure Scotland
6 6 (1.02%) NCSC
7 4 (0.68%) GDPR
7 4 (0.68%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.34%) PMO
8 2 (0.34%) RMADS
9 1 (0.17%) DICOM
9 1 (0.17%) GRC
9 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 105 (17.80%) Active Directory
2 54 (9.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (3.90%) VMware NSX
4 18 (3.05%) vSphere
5 9 (1.53%) Hyper-V
6 7 (1.19%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.85%) Firmware
8 4 (0.68%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.51%) Virtual Servers
9 3 (0.51%) 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 (8.31%) FortiGate
2 33 (5.59%) Microsoft Intune
3 32 (5.42%) Ansible
4 19 (3.22%) Terraform
5 14 (2.37%) SCCM
5 14 (2.37%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (1.86%) Jamf Pro
7 7 (1.19%) Nagios
8 6 (1.02%) Cisco Prime
9 5 (0.85%) Endace
10 4 (0.68%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.68%) vRealize Orchestrator
10 4 (0.68%) WSUS
11 3 (0.51%) Cisco CUCM
11 3 (0.51%) vCenter Server
12 2 (0.34%) AirWatch
12 2 (0.34%) Backup Exec
12 2 (0.34%) Grafana
13 1 (0.17%) Nessus
13 1 (0.17%) SCOM
Vendors
1 295 (50.00%) Cisco
2 119 (20.17%) Microsoft
2 119 (20.17%) Palo Alto
3 92 (15.59%) F5
4 84 (14.24%) Juniper
5 76 (12.88%) Aruba
5 76 (12.88%) CheckPoint
6 69 (11.69%) VMware
7 63 (10.68%) Fortinet
7 63 (10.68%) SolarWinds
8 33 (5.59%) ServiceNow
9 29 (4.92%) Extreme Networks
10 28 (4.75%) Splunk
11 26 (4.41%) Meraki
12 22 (3.73%) Zscaler
13 16 (2.71%) Dell
14 15 (2.54%) Ekahau
14 15 (2.54%) Veeam
15 9 (1.53%) Arista
15 9 (1.53%) Citrix