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

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 238 213 174
Rank change year-on-year -25 -39 -51
Contract jobs citing LAN 596 410 549
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.11% 1.24% 1.41%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.79% 10.53% 11.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 355 252 324
10th Percentile £233 £200 £250
25th Percentile £363 £312 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -
75th Percentile £540 £575 £617
90th Percentile £625 £636 £686
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £400 £475
% change year-on-year +18.75% -15.79% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 21 30
10th Percentile £12.71 £20.75 £15.43
25th Percentile £16.25 £27.00 £15.75
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.00 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -10.93% +26.05% -52.40%
75th Percentile £61.50 £43.25 £37.38
90th Percentile £75.88 £67.25 £75.02
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.75 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -30.83% +20.63% -48.00%

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 5,056 3,893 4,759
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.42% 11.81% 12.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,991 2,365 2,897
10th Percentile £250 £247 £220
25th Percentile £400 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.05% -5.00% +8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 366 201 321
10th Percentile £15.50 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.00
Median hourly rate £26.14 £46.25 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year -43.48% -4.76% -10.07%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.10 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.40 £45.00 £54.88
% change year-on-year -41.33% -18.00% -3.58%

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 August 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 August 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 15 August 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 -28 494 £500 +11.11% 273
UK excluding London +9 425 £475 +18.75% 196
South East +4 152 £520 -0.48% 65
London -92 123 £511 +10.54% 121
Work from Home -36 105 £520 +10.93% 92
North of England -34 85 £500 +104.08% 41
Scotland +25 64 £313 -19.35% 24
Midlands -30 55 £355 +1.43% 43
North West -46 48 £519 +291.74% 15
West Midlands -36 41 £406 +6.21% 28
East of England +1 39 £338 +14.89% 9
Yorkshire -12 37 £450 +20.00% 21
South West -50 24 £525 +69.35% 16
East Midlands -10 11 £255 +27.50% 15
Wales -17 8 £425 +83.78% 1
Northern Ireland +4 1 £550 +15.79% 3
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 22 (3.69%) SharePoint
2 19 (3.19%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.51%) OpenStack
4 7 (1.17%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.84%) Confluence
6 3 (0.50%) IIS
7 2 (0.34%) CMS
8 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 29 (4.87%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (4.36%) MS Visio
3 23 (3.86%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (1.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 124 (20.81%) Azure
2 79 (13.26%) Microsoft 365
3 58 (9.73%) AWS
4 33 (5.54%) Entra ID
5 13 (2.18%) SaaS
6 11 (1.85%) OneDrive
7 10 (1.68%) GCP
7 10 (1.68%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 7 (1.17%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (1.17%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 6 (1.01%) AWS Direct Connect
9 6 (1.01%) IaaS
9 6 (1.01%) PaaS
10 4 (0.67%) Microsoft Copilot
10 4 (0.67%) OpenShift
11 3 (0.50%) Azure Sentinel
11 3 (0.50%) Google Ads
11 3 (0.50%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.34%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.34%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 503 (84.40%) WAN
2 295 (49.50%) Firewall
3 150 (25.17%) VPN
4 143 (23.99%) BGP
5 140 (23.49%) Wi-Fi
6 134 (22.48%) Network Security
7 130 (21.81%) SD-WAN
8 122 (20.47%) Wireless
9 120 (20.13%) DNS
10 114 (19.13%) OSPF
11 105 (17.62%) MPLS
12 98 (16.44%) DHCP
13 82 (13.76%) TCP/IP
14 76 (12.75%) VLAN
15 70 (11.74%) WLAN
16 54 (9.06%) IPsec
17 53 (8.89%) Cisco ISE
18 50 (8.39%) Cisco Nexus
19 40 (6.71%) Cisco ASA
20 38 (6.38%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.34%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.17%) DTS
2 1 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
2 1 (0.17%) Power BI
2 1 (0.17%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 18 (3.02%) JIRA
2 5 (0.84%) Browser DevTools
3 4 (0.67%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.34%) Git
4 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.17%) Fiddler
5 1 (0.17%) GitLab
5 1 (0.17%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.17%) MSI
5 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio
General
1 182 (30.54%) Social Skills
2 86 (14.43%) Telecoms
3 58 (9.73%) Analytical Skills
3 58 (9.73%) Public Sector
4 43 (7.21%) Finance
5 23 (3.86%) Organisational Skills
6 22 (3.69%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (2.68%) Banking
7 16 (2.68%) Financial Institution
8 14 (2.35%) Legal
9 12 (2.01%) Retail
10 10 (1.68%) Manufacturing
10 10 (1.68%) Police
11 8 (1.34%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.17%) Local Government
13 6 (1.01%) Law
14 3 (0.50%) Billing
14 3 (0.50%) German Language
14 3 (0.50%) Military
15 2 (0.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 249 (41.78%) Network Engineer
2 79 (13.26%) Architect
2 79 (13.26%) Senior
3 55 (9.23%) Network Architect
4 46 (7.72%) Senior Network Engineer
5 35 (5.87%) IT Support
6 32 (5.37%) Support Engineer
7 27 (4.53%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 26 (4.36%) IT Engineer
9 25 (4.19%) Cisco Engineer
10 23 (3.86%) Field Engineer
11 22 (3.69%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 22 (3.69%) Telecoms Engineer
12 20 (3.36%) Consultant
12 20 (3.36%) IT Support Engineer
12 20 (3.36%) Lead
12 20 (3.36%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 18 (3.02%) Network Specialist
14 17 (2.85%) Developer
14 17 (2.85%) Network Field Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (8.56%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.18%) NETCONF
3 9 (1.51%) YANG
4 8 (1.34%) SAML
5 7 (1.17%) REST
6 6 (1.01%) Middleware
7 5 (0.84%) LDAP
8 4 (0.67%) OpenConfig
8 4 (0.67%) RESTCONF
9 3 (0.50%) Java RMI
9 3 (0.50%) Software Packaging
10 2 (0.34%) .NET
10 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Graph
10 2 (0.34%) ODBC
10 2 (0.34%) RFC 2544
11 1 (0.17%) ARM Templates
11 1 (0.17%) ModSecurity
11 1 (0.17%) SailPoint
11 1 (0.17%) XMPP
11 1 (0.17%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 112 (18.79%) Data Centre
2 34 (5.70%) PKI
3 33 (5.54%) Driving Licence
4 30 (5.03%) Hybrid Cloud
5 24 (4.03%) Clustering
5 24 (4.03%) Onboarding
6 17 (2.85%) Security Posture
6 17 (2.85%) Self-Motivation
7 14 (2.35%) Private Cloud
8 13 (2.18%) Cloud Native
8 13 (2.18%) Public Cloud
8 13 (2.18%) Video Conferencing
9 11 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
9 11 (1.85%) Data Protection Act
9 11 (1.85%) Operational Technology
10 9 (1.51%) IoT
10 9 (1.51%) NHS
11 7 (1.17%) CCTV
11 7 (1.17%) Virtual Team
12 6 (1.01%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 169 (28.36%) Windows
2 49 (8.22%) Windows Server
3 40 (6.71%) Linux
4 28 (4.70%) Windows 10
5 14 (2.35%) Mac OS
6 12 (2.01%) Windows 7
7 10 (1.68%) Windows Server 2019
8 7 (1.17%) Unix
9 5 (0.84%) Android
10 4 (0.67%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.50%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.50%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.50%) VMS
12 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.17%) AIX
13 1 (0.17%) CatOS
13 1 (0.17%) CentOS
13 1 (0.17%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.17%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 109 (18.29%) Problem-Solving
2 104 (17.45%) ITIL
3 93 (15.60%) High Availability
4 70 (11.74%) Load Balancing
4 70 (11.74%) Project Delivery
5 57 (9.56%) Continuous Improvement
6 55 (9.23%) Roadmaps
6 55 (9.23%) Stakeholder Management
7 49 (8.22%) Network Architecture
8 46 (7.72%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 46 (7.72%) Migration
9 44 (7.38%) Technical Leadership
10 42 (7.05%) Change Management
11 41 (6.88%) Service Management
12 39 (6.54%) Network Monitoring
13 34 (5.70%) Network Design
14 33 (5.54%) Mentoring
14 33 (5.54%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 33 (5.54%) Zero Trust
15 32 (5.37%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 30 (5.03%) Python
2 25 (4.19%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.34%) SQL
4 6 (1.01%) VB
4 6 (1.01%) VBScript
5 2 (0.34%) Bicep
5 2 (0.34%) C++
5 2 (0.34%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.17%) C
6 1 (0.17%) Java
6 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 198 (33.22%) Security Cleared
2 171 (28.69%) Cisco Certification
3 110 (18.46%) SC Cleared
4 99 (16.61%) CCNP
5 71 (11.91%) CCNA
6 69 (11.58%) DV Cleared
7 41 (6.88%) CCIE
8 38 (6.38%) Degree
9 15 (2.52%) Azure Certification
10 13 (2.18%) JNCIS
10 13 (2.18%) Microsoft Certification
11 12 (2.01%) JNCIP
12 11 (1.85%) JNCIA
12 11 (1.85%) PMP
13 10 (1.68%) Computer Science Degree
14 9 (1.51%) AWS Certification
14 9 (1.51%) JNCIE
15 8 (1.34%) PMI Certification
16 6 (1.01%) BPSS Clearance
16 6 (1.01%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (4.53%) SLA
2 14 (2.35%) QA
3 13 (2.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 11 (1.85%) NIST
5 8 (1.34%) NCSC
6 7 (1.17%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.67%) GDPR
7 4 (0.67%) JSP 440
7 4 (0.67%) PMO
8 3 (0.50%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.50%) GRC
9 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.17%) DICOM
10 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.17%) NEBOSH
10 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 83 (13.93%) Active Directory
2 51 (8.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (3.86%) VMware NSX
4 12 (2.01%) Firmware
4 12 (2.01%) vSphere
5 9 (1.51%) Hyper-V
6 8 (1.34%) Virtual Desktop
7 7 (1.17%) BitLocker
7 7 (1.17%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.67%) Virtual Servers
9 3 (0.50%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.34%) FreeRADIUS
10 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
11 1 (0.17%) NFS
11 1 (0.17%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 54 (9.06%) FortiGate
2 28 (4.70%) Ansible
3 24 (4.03%) Microsoft Intune
4 16 (2.68%) Terraform
5 13 (2.18%) SCCM
6 11 (1.85%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (1.17%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.67%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (0.67%) Nagios
8 4 (0.67%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.67%) vCenter Server
8 4 (0.67%) vRealize Orchestrator
9 3 (0.50%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.50%) WSUS
10 2 (0.34%) AirWatch
10 2 (0.34%) CASB
10 2 (0.34%) Endace
10 2 (0.34%) VxRail
11 1 (0.17%) Iperf
11 1 (0.17%) TrustSec
Vendors
1 293 (49.16%) Cisco
2 149 (25.00%) Microsoft
3 97 (16.28%) Palo Alto
4 85 (14.26%) F5
5 78 (13.09%) VMware
6 76 (12.75%) Juniper
7 66 (11.07%) SolarWinds
8 65 (10.91%) Fortinet
9 54 (9.06%) Aruba
10 40 (6.71%) CheckPoint
11 28 (4.70%) Splunk
12 26 (4.36%) Extreme Networks
12 26 (4.36%) ServiceNow
13 24 (4.03%) Meraki
13 24 (4.03%) Zscaler
14 18 (3.02%) Nokia
15 16 (2.68%) Ekahau
16 11 (1.85%) HP
17 10 (1.68%) Citrix
18 9 (1.51%) Google