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 30 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 237 175 129
Rank change year-on-year -62 -46 +59
Contract jobs citing LAN 425 482 857
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.15% 1.45% 1.98%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 10.72% 11.37% 14.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 274 292 552
10th Percentile £209 £223 £205
25th Percentile £313 £350 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £450
75th Percentile £550 £575 £618
90th Percentile £638 £650 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £420 £425 £445
% change year-on-year -1.18% -4.49% +1.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 13 28
10th Percentile £12.97 £18.80 £17.59
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.00 £21.25
Median hourly rate £18.38 £20.38 £36.02
Median % change year-on-year -9.82% -43.43% +63.73%
75th Percentile £48.19 £35.00 £52.50
90th Percentile £74.49 £65.75 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £20.00 £33.22
% change year-on-year -20.00% -39.80% +51.00%

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 3,965 4,241 5,889
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.72% 12.74% 13.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,593 2,497 3,635
10th Percentile £206 £220 £209
25th Percentile £356 £365 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £474 £472
% change year-on-year -5.01% +0.42% +4.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 182 136 326
10th Percentile £15.50 £14.78 £17.72
25th Percentile £20.04 £21.13 £23.00
Median hourly rate £34.00 £35.00 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% -38.04% +61.40%
75th Percentile £65.00 £59.03 £65.98
90th Percentile £79.75 £70.63 £75.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £32.50 £57.99
% change year-on-year +30.77% -43.96% +42.92%

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 30 December 2025.

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 30 December 2025.

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 30 December 2025. 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 -74 351 £450 - 412
UK excluding London -66 254 £420 -1.18% 354
London -10 135 £488 -2.50% 114
Work from Home -19 109 £450 -10.00% 221
South East -14 76 £475 +15.15% 117
North of England -88 53 £289 -35.83% 69
Scotland +31 39 £265 -33.75% 11
North West -44 38 £275 -40.64% 38
Midlands -69 34 £438 +1.45% 60
West Midlands -29 31 £463 -7.50% 35
East of England -24 29 £350 -36.36% 36
Yorkshire -70 13 £339 +41.15% 28
South West -22 12 £506 +22.73% 41
Wales +4 6 £335 +67.50% 15
Northern Ireland -7 4 £475 - 11
East Midlands -46 3 £258 -23.13% 25
North East -5 2 £550 - 4

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 25 (5.88%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (2.82%) OpenStack
4 6 (1.41%) Skype for Business
5 5 (1.18%) Confluence
6 1 (0.24%) Apache
6 1 (0.24%) CICS
6 1 (0.24%) IIS
6 1 (0.24%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.24%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.24%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 33 (7.76%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (4.24%) MS Visio
3 15 (3.53%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (3.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.94%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.71%) Acrobat
6 2 (0.47%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.24%) DELMIA
1 1 (0.24%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 87 (20.47%) Azure
2 59 (13.88%) AWS
3 43 (10.12%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (4.47%) Entra ID
5 18 (4.24%) GCP
6 9 (2.12%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 6 (1.41%) OpenShift
8 5 (1.18%) Microsoft Purview
8 5 (1.18%) SaaS
9 4 (0.94%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (0.94%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 3 (0.71%) AWS Direct Connect
10 3 (0.71%) Nutanix
10 3 (0.71%) Power Platform
10 3 (0.71%) Serverless
11 2 (0.47%) AWS IoT
11 2 (0.47%) Azure Logic Apps
11 2 (0.47%) Azure Monitor
11 2 (0.47%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (0.47%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 335 (78.82%) WAN
2 182 (42.82%) Firewall
3 123 (28.94%) VPN
4 102 (24.00%) SD-WAN
5 98 (23.06%) Wi-Fi
6 78 (18.35%) BGP
7 69 (16.24%) TCP/IP
8 68 (16.00%) Wireless
9 66 (15.53%) Network Security
10 65 (15.29%) MPLS
11 62 (14.59%) DNS
12 61 (14.35%) OSPF
13 49 (11.53%) DHCP
14 48 (11.29%) VLAN
15 46 (10.82%) Cisco Nexus
16 40 (9.41%) WLAN
17 33 (7.76%) IPsec
18 23 (5.41%) Cisco ASA
19 21 (4.94%) Structured Cabling
19 21 (4.94%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (2.35%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.41%) Oracle Database
3 4 (0.94%) MS Access
4 3 (0.71%) Apache Cassandra
4 3 (0.71%) Power BI
5 2 (0.47%) MariaDB
5 2 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.24%) Amazon RDS
6 1 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.24%) DynamoDB
6 1 (0.24%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.24%) MySQL
6 1 (0.24%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.24%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 10 (2.35%) JIRA
2 2 (0.47%) Sonatype Nexus
3 1 (0.24%) Git
3 1 (0.24%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.24%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 129 (30.35%) Social Skills
2 53 (12.47%) Analytical Skills
3 50 (11.76%) Public Sector
4 45 (10.59%) Telecoms
5 33 (7.76%) Finance
6 30 (7.06%) Documentation Skills
7 19 (4.47%) Manufacturing
8 14 (3.29%) Military
9 9 (2.12%) Banking
9 9 (2.12%) Organisational Skills
10 8 (1.88%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.65%) Legal
12 6 (1.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 6 (1.41%) Local Government
12 6 (1.41%) Marketing
13 5 (1.18%) Electronics
14 4 (0.94%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.94%) Law
14 4 (0.94%) Retail
15 3 (0.71%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 132 (31.06%) Network Engineer
2 95 (22.35%) Architect
3 73 (17.18%) Network Architect
4 35 (8.24%) Analyst
5 32 (7.53%) Senior
6 25 (5.88%) Support Analyst
7 21 (4.94%) IT Support
7 21 (4.94%) Support Engineer
8 19 (4.47%) Project Manager
8 19 (4.47%) Technical Support
9 18 (4.24%) Field Engineer
9 18 (4.24%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 18 (4.24%) Senior Network Engineer
10 17 (4.00%) Lead
11 16 (3.76%) 2nd Line Support
11 16 (3.76%) Technical Analyst
11 16 (3.76%) Technical Support Analyst
12 14 (3.29%) IT Engineer
12 14 (3.29%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 13 (3.06%) Cisco Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.88%) Middleware
2 7 (1.65%) LDAP
3 6 (1.41%) NETCONF
3 6 (1.41%) REST
3 6 (1.41%) YANG
4 3 (0.71%) 802.1X
4 3 (0.71%) SAML
5 2 (0.47%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.47%) EDI
5 2 (0.47%) Node.js
5 2 (0.47%) YAML
6 1 (0.24%) .NET
6 1 (0.24%) CSS
6 1 (0.24%) HTML
6 1 (0.24%) Java RMI
6 1 (0.24%) LAMP
6 1 (0.24%) libvirt
6 1 (0.24%) React
6 1 (0.24%) SOAP
6 1 (0.24%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 73 (17.18%) Data Centre
2 21 (4.94%) Hybrid Cloud
3 20 (4.71%) Driving Licence
4 14 (3.29%) NHS
4 14 (3.29%) Onboarding
5 12 (2.82%) CMDB
6 11 (2.59%) Data Protection Act
7 10 (2.35%) Management Information System
8 8 (1.88%) Operational Technology
8 8 (1.88%) SCADA
9 6 (1.41%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.41%) Video Conferencing
10 5 (1.18%) Analytical Mindset
10 5 (1.18%) PKI
10 5 (1.18%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.18%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (0.94%) iPhone
11 4 (0.94%) Public Cloud
11 4 (0.94%) Replication
11 4 (0.94%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 97 (22.82%) Windows
2 36 (8.47%) Windows Server
3 27 (6.35%) Windows 10
4 22 (5.18%) Linux
5 13 (3.06%) Windows Server 2016
6 9 (2.12%) Windows Server 2019
7 8 (1.88%) Android
8 6 (1.41%) Windows 7
9 5 (1.18%) Apple iOS
9 5 (1.18%) Mac OS
10 4 (0.94%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.71%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.71%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.47%) CatOS
13 1 (0.24%) MVS
13 1 (0.24%) Solaris
13 1 (0.24%) VMS
13 1 (0.24%) Windows 8
13 1 (0.24%) Windows Server 2003
13 1 (0.24%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (16.94%) Problem-Solving
2 66 (15.53%) Network Design
3 49 (11.53%) ITIL
4 48 (11.29%) Migration
5 45 (10.59%) Network Architecture
6 38 (8.94%) Cybersecurity
6 38 (8.94%) Stakeholder Management
7 32 (7.53%) Project Delivery
8 31 (7.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 29 (6.82%) Network Monitoring
10 28 (6.59%) Customer Service
11 27 (6.35%) High Availability
12 24 (5.65%) Zero Trust
13 23 (5.41%) Change Management
13 23 (5.41%) ITSM
13 23 (5.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 22 (5.18%) Roadmaps
14 22 (5.18%) Service Management
15 21 (4.94%) Load Balancing
16 20 (4.71%) Network Management
Programming Languages
1 36 (8.47%) Python
2 20 (4.71%) PowerShell
3 12 (2.82%) SQL
4 6 (1.41%) Perl
4 6 (1.41%) VB
4 6 (1.41%) VBScript
5 2 (0.47%) Bash
5 2 (0.47%) Bicep
6 1 (0.24%) C#
6 1 (0.24%) Java
6 1 (0.24%) JavaScript
6 1 (0.24%) Ruby
6 1 (0.24%) Shell Script
6 1 (0.24%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 124 (29.18%) Security Cleared
2 118 (27.76%) Cisco Certification
3 93 (21.88%) CCNP
4 85 (20.00%) SC Cleared
5 44 (10.35%) Degree
5 44 (10.35%) DV Cleared
6 39 (9.18%) CCIE
7 37 (8.71%) CCNA
8 20 (4.71%) JNCIE
9 13 (3.06%) AWS Certification
10 11 (2.59%) Network+ Certification
11 10 (2.35%) BPSS Clearance
11 10 (2.35%) JNCIP
11 10 (2.35%) Microsoft Certification
12 9 (2.12%) Azure Certification
13 8 (1.88%) CCSE
13 8 (1.88%) JNCIS
14 7 (1.65%) CISSP
14 7 (1.65%) HNC
14 7 (1.65%) MCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (3.76%) SLA
2 14 (3.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (2.35%) NIST
4 9 (2.12%) GDPR
5 7 (1.65%) PCI DSS
6 5 (1.18%) PMO
6 5 (1.18%) QA
7 4 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.47%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.47%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.47%) NCSC
9 1 (0.24%) COBIT
9 1 (0.24%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.24%) GRC
9 1 (0.24%) MiFID
9 1 (0.24%) RMADS
9 1 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 62 (14.59%) Active Directory
2 26 (6.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (4.00%) VMware NSX
4 8 (1.88%) Hyper-V
5 5 (1.18%) BitLocker
5 5 (1.18%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.71%) Docker
6 3 (0.71%) Firmware
6 3 (0.71%) KVM
7 2 (0.47%) NFS
7 2 (0.47%) ProxySG
7 2 (0.47%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.47%) VMware Workstation
7 2 (0.47%) Xen
8 1 (0.24%) Ceph
8 1 (0.24%) iptables
8 1 (0.24%) RHEV
8 1 (0.24%) Samba
8 1 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.24%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 38 (8.94%) Ansible
2 31 (7.29%) Terraform
3 20 (4.71%) FortiGate
4 18 (4.24%) Microsoft Intune
5 14 (3.29%) SCCM
6 7 (1.65%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.18%) Cisco CUCM
8 4 (0.94%) Nagios
8 4 (0.94%) SCOM
9 3 (0.71%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.71%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.71%) WSUS
10 2 (0.47%) Check_MK
10 2 (0.47%) Endace
10 2 (0.47%) Grafana
10 2 (0.47%) Nessus
10 2 (0.47%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.24%) Norton AntiVirus
11 1 (0.24%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.24%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 209 (49.18%) Cisco
2 80 (18.82%) Microsoft
3 73 (17.18%) Palo Alto
4 71 (16.71%) Fortinet
5 56 (13.18%) Juniper
6 41 (9.65%) VMware
7 38 (8.94%) CheckPoint
7 38 (8.94%) F5
8 34 (8.00%) Aruba
9 33 (7.76%) Meraki
10 25 (5.88%) SolarWinds
11 21 (4.94%) ServiceNow
12 19 (4.47%) Zscaler
13 18 (4.24%) Citrix
14 11 (2.59%) Oracle
15 10 (2.35%) SAP
16 9 (2.12%) Veeam
17 7 (1.65%) Arista
17 7 (1.65%) LogicMonitor
18 6 (1.41%) Nokia