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

6 months to
16 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 279 235 180
Rank change year-on-year -44 -55 -66
Contract jobs citing LAN 528 388 531
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.95% 1.17% 1.41%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 10.38% 10.29% 11.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 308 249 303
10th Percentile £210 £190 £230
25th Percentile £322 £288 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% +5.56%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £580
90th Percentile £621 £618 £668
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £368 £445
% change year-on-year +27.35% -17.42% +4.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 27 23
10th Percentile £12.71 £14.49 £18.80
25th Percentile £16.25 £18.13 £20.00
Median hourly rate £25.16 £30.00 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -16.13% +26.05% +8.18%
75th Percentile £69.81 £36.88 £37.63
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.35 £73.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.25 £30.00 £22.45
% change year-on-year -29.17% +33.63% +2.05%

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 5,087 3,772 4,548
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.20% 11.34% 12.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,935 2,408 2,620
10th Percentile £235 £214 £225
25th Percentile £390 £358 £369
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £681 £678 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £485
% change year-on-year +5.56% -7.21% +4.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 447 189 178
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.50 £15.02
25th Percentile £19.50 £20.00 £24.39
Median hourly rate £32.50 £34.00 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year -4.41% -29.98% -14.04%
75th Percentile £68.75 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £93.52 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.00 £41.94 £52.50
% change year-on-year -38.01% -20.11% -8.56%

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 16 October 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 16 October 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 16 October 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 -61 428 £500 +11.11% 367
UK excluding London -2 374 £468 +27.35% 241
London -106 115 £500 +3.90% 121
South East -28 99 £500 -4.76% 78
Work from Home -66 98 £500 +6.67% 154
North of England -29 79 £500 +203.03% 54
Scotland +12 68 £260 -27.78% 10
Midlands -36 52 £375 -11.76% 44
North West -32 48 £519 +291.74% 28
East of England -8 42 £455 +127.50% 23
West Midlands -41 40 £450 -2.70% 27
Yorkshire -8 31 £483 +103.16% 18
South West -26 29 £425 +21.43% 22
East Midlands +2 12 £275 +37.50% 17
Wales -18 3 £200 - 6
Channel Islands - 3 £600 -
Northern Ireland +3 2 - - 7

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 24 (4.55%) Microsoft Exchange
2 20 (3.79%) SharePoint
3 9 (1.70%) OpenStack
4 8 (1.52%) CMS
5 7 (1.33%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.57%) Confluence
7 2 (0.38%) IIS
Applications
1 36 (6.82%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (4.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (4.73%) MS Visio
3 10 (1.89%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.19%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 104 (19.70%) Azure
2 77 (14.58%) Microsoft 365
3 52 (9.85%) AWS
4 31 (5.87%) Entra ID
5 13 (2.46%) GCP
6 11 (2.08%) OneDrive
7 10 (1.89%) AWS Direct Connect
7 10 (1.89%) SaaS
8 8 (1.52%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 7 (1.33%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 5 (0.95%) OpenShift
11 4 (0.76%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Copilot
12 3 (0.57%) Azure Sentinel
12 3 (0.57%) Smartsheet
13 2 (0.38%) Azure Monitor
13 2 (0.38%) GitHub
13 2 (0.38%) IaaS
13 2 (0.38%) WhatsApp
14 1 (0.19%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 438 (82.95%) WAN
2 238 (45.08%) Firewall
3 144 (27.27%) VPN
4 129 (24.43%) Network Security
5 126 (23.86%) Wireless
6 115 (21.78%) Wi-Fi
7 107 (20.27%) BGP
8 104 (19.70%) SD-WAN
9 101 (19.13%) MPLS
10 86 (16.29%) DNS
11 83 (15.72%) TCP/IP
12 76 (14.39%) OSPF
13 72 (13.64%) VLAN
14 71 (13.45%) DHCP
15 68 (12.88%) WLAN
16 50 (9.47%) IPsec
17 46 (8.71%) Cisco Nexus
18 37 (7.01%) Cisco ISE
19 34 (6.44%) Cisco ASA
20 24 (4.55%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.14%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.19%) DTS
2 1 (0.19%) Metadata
2 1 (0.19%) Power BI
2 1 (0.19%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 10 (1.89%) JIRA
2 5 (0.95%) Git
3 3 (0.57%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.19%) Browser DevTools
5 1 (0.19%) Fiddler
5 1 (0.19%) MSI
5 1 (0.19%) Visual Studio
General
1 178 (33.71%) Social Skills
2 90 (17.05%) Telecoms
3 56 (10.61%) Analytical Skills
4 47 (8.90%) Public Sector
5 35 (6.63%) Finance
6 29 (5.49%) Organisational Skills
7 26 (4.92%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (3.60%) Banking
9 14 (2.65%) Legal
10 13 (2.46%) Manufacturing
11 12 (2.27%) Retail
12 7 (1.33%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.33%) Police
13 5 (0.95%) Financial Institution
13 5 (0.95%) Local Government
14 3 (0.57%) Military
15 2 (0.38%) Billing
15 2 (0.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 2 (0.38%) Law
16 1 (0.19%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 224 (42.42%) Network Engineer
2 64 (12.12%) Senior
3 62 (11.74%) Architect
4 46 (8.71%) Support Engineer
5 43 (8.14%) IT Support
5 43 (8.14%) Network Architect
6 40 (7.58%) Senior Network Engineer
7 33 (6.25%) IT Engineer
8 31 (5.87%) Cisco Engineer
9 28 (5.30%) IT Support Engineer
10 26 (4.92%) Field Engineer
11 25 (4.73%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 25 (4.73%) Telecoms Engineer
12 22 (4.17%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 20 (3.79%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 17 (3.22%) Developer
14 17 (3.22%) Project Engineer
15 15 (2.84%) Consultant
15 15 (2.84%) Network Field Engineer
15 15 (2.84%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (4.17%) 802.1X
2 17 (3.22%) Terraform
3 13 (2.46%) NETCONF
4 10 (1.89%) REST
5 9 (1.70%) YANG
6 7 (1.33%) XMPP
7 4 (0.76%) OpenConfig
7 4 (0.76%) RESTCONF
8 3 (0.57%) Java RMI
8 3 (0.57%) RFC 2544
8 3 (0.57%) SAML
8 3 (0.57%) YAML
9 2 (0.38%) JSON
9 2 (0.38%) LDAP
9 2 (0.38%) Middleware
9 2 (0.38%) ODBC
9 2 (0.38%) Software Packaging
10 1 (0.19%) .NET
10 1 (0.19%) ModSecurity
10 1 (0.19%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 107 (20.27%) Data Centre
2 42 (7.95%) Driving Licence
3 27 (5.11%) Onboarding
3 27 (5.11%) Self-Motivation
4 26 (4.92%) Hybrid Cloud
5 25 (4.73%) Video Conferencing
6 18 (3.41%) Operational Technology
7 15 (2.84%) PKI
8 12 (2.27%) Cloud Native
8 12 (2.27%) Private Cloud
9 11 (2.08%) Data Protection Act
9 11 (2.08%) Management Information System
9 11 (2.08%) Security Posture
10 9 (1.70%) SCADA
10 9 (1.70%) Smartphone
11 8 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
11 8 (1.52%) IoT
11 8 (1.52%) NHS
12 7 (1.33%) Fibre Optics
12 7 (1.33%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 133 (25.19%) Windows
2 48 (9.09%) Windows Server
3 38 (7.20%) Windows 10
4 29 (5.49%) Linux
5 13 (2.46%) macOS
6 12 (2.27%) Windows 7
7 7 (1.33%) Android
7 7 (1.33%) Unix
8 6 (1.14%) Apple iOS
9 5 (0.95%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.38%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.38%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.38%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.19%) CatOS
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (20.08%) Problem-Solving
2 83 (15.72%) Project Delivery
3 81 (15.34%) ITIL
4 59 (11.17%) Stakeholder Management
5 54 (10.23%) Continuous Improvement
6 49 (9.28%) Customer Service
6 49 (9.28%) High Availability
7 44 (8.33%) Roadmaps
8 43 (8.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 43 (8.14%) Load Balancing
9 42 (7.95%) Network Architecture
9 42 (7.95%) Network Design
10 38 (7.20%) Mentoring
10 38 (7.20%) Service Management
10 38 (7.20%) Technical Leadership
11 37 (7.01%) Zero Trust
12 36 (6.82%) ITSM
13 35 (6.63%) Migration
14 34 (6.44%) Network Monitoring
15 33 (6.25%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 31 (5.87%) Python
2 22 (4.17%) PowerShell
3 6 (1.14%) VB
3 6 (1.14%) VBScript
4 3 (0.57%) Bicep
4 3 (0.57%) SQL
5 2 (0.38%) Bash
5 2 (0.38%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.19%) C++
Qualifications
1 157 (29.73%) Security Cleared
2 142 (26.89%) Cisco Certification
3 97 (18.37%) SC Cleared
4 88 (16.67%) CCNP
5 65 (12.31%) CCNA
6 48 (9.09%) DV Cleared
7 37 (7.01%) CCIE
8 30 (5.68%) Degree
9 13 (2.46%) Azure Certification
9 13 (2.46%) Microsoft Certification
10 11 (2.08%) A+ Certification
11 9 (1.70%) AWS Certification
11 9 (1.70%) JNCIE
12 8 (1.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 8 (1.52%) PMI Certification
12 8 (1.52%) PMP
13 6 (1.14%) BPSS Clearance
13 6 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
13 6 (1.14%) JNCIP
13 6 (1.14%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (5.49%) SLA
2 10 (1.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 10 (1.89%) QA
3 8 (1.52%) NIST
4 7 (1.33%) NCSC
5 3 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
5 3 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
5 3 (0.57%) GRC
5 3 (0.57%) JSP 440
5 3 (0.57%) PMO
6 2 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (0.38%) GDPR
6 2 (0.38%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.19%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.19%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.19%) NEBOSH
System Software
1 86 (16.29%) Active Directory
2 50 (9.47%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (3.41%) VMware NSX
3 18 (3.41%) vSphere
4 14 (2.65%) Firmware
5 11 (2.08%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (1.89%) Virtual Desktop
7 9 (1.70%) Hyper-V
8 8 (1.52%) BitLocker
9 7 (1.33%) VMware ESXi
10 4 (0.76%) FreeRADIUS
11 3 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 1 (0.19%) NFS
13 1 (0.19%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 33 (6.25%) Ansible
2 27 (5.11%) FortiGate
3 24 (4.55%) Microsoft Intune
4 21 (3.98%) SCCM
5 9 (1.70%) Cisco CUCM
6 7 (1.33%) vCenter Server
7 6 (1.14%) Nagios
8 5 (0.95%) Cisco Prime
8 5 (0.95%) Grafana
8 5 (0.95%) Single Sign-On
9 4 (0.76%) WSUS
10 3 (0.57%) Prometheus
11 2 (0.38%) CASB
11 2 (0.38%) VxRail
12 1 (0.19%) AirWatch
12 1 (0.19%) Backup Exec
12 1 (0.19%) Jamf Pro
12 1 (0.19%) Kubernetes
12 1 (0.19%) Nessus
12 1 (0.19%) TrustSec
Vendors
1 271 (51.33%) Cisco
2 150 (28.41%) Microsoft
3 85 (16.10%) Palo Alto
4 77 (14.58%) Fortinet
5 76 (14.39%) VMware
6 50 (9.47%) Juniper
7 49 (9.28%) Aruba
8 45 (8.52%) SolarWinds
9 41 (7.77%) Meraki
10 40 (7.58%) F5
11 32 (6.06%) ServiceNow
12 30 (5.68%) CheckPoint
13 21 (3.98%) Nokia
14 17 (3.22%) Zscaler
15 10 (1.89%) Arista
16 9 (1.70%) Google
16 9 (1.70%) HP
17 8 (1.52%) Splunk
18 7 (1.33%) CyberArk
18 7 (1.33%) Extreme Networks