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

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 244 221 186
Rank change year-on-year -23 -35 -67
Contract jobs citing LAN 568 414 536
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.06% 1.26% 1.39%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.21% 10.74% 11.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 343 258 300
10th Percentile £213 £190 £250
25th Percentile £333 £305 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -
75th Percentile £538 £575 £580
90th Percentile £625 £629 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £399 £450
% change year-on-year +12.78% -11.33% +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 21 30
10th Percentile £12.71 £20.75 £15.43
25th Percentile £16.25 £27.00 £16.23
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.00 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -10.93% +26.05% -39.01%
75th Percentile £73.00 £43.25 £37.38
90th Percentile £78.75 £67.25 £75.02
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.42 £30.00 £22.40
% change year-on-year -35.27% +33.93% -44.00%

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 5,069 3,853 4,615
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.45% 11.77% 11.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,982 2,359 2,742
10th Percentile £250 £238 £230
25th Percentile £400 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £469 £500
% change year-on-year +2.35% -6.20% +10.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 376 201 288
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.00 £45.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -42.22% -10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £65.22 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.81 £42.50 £55.75
% change year-on-year -39.28% -23.76% -1.32%

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 1 September 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 1 September 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 1 September 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 -46 461 £499 +10.83% 306
UK excluding London +3 401 £450 +12.78% 206
South East -21 125 £523 +2.20% 74
London -101 120 £510 +10.27% 136
Work from Home -37 100 £500 +6.67% 111
North of England -35 87 £500 +150.00% 43
Scotland +28 71 £275 -30.07% 13
Midlands -39 54 £335 -8.22% 34
North West -51 49 £519 +237.56% 25
West Midlands -42 40 £400 -5.88% 21
Yorkshire -3 38 £450 +28.57% 13
East of England -3 36 £350 +47.37% 20
South West -35 25 £525 +61.54% 18
East Midlands -9 11 £255 +27.50% 13
Wales -21 5 £425 +83.78% 4
Northern Ireland +3 1 £550 +15.79% 5
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 (3.87%) SharePoint
2 20 (3.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.58%) OpenStack
4 7 (1.23%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.88%) Confluence
6 3 (0.53%) IIS
7 2 (0.35%) CMS
8 1 (0.18%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 30 (5.28%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (4.75%) MS Visio
3 24 (4.23%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (1.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 118 (20.77%) Azure
2 82 (14.44%) Microsoft 365
3 55 (9.68%) AWS
4 33 (5.81%) Entra ID
5 12 (2.11%) SaaS
6 10 (1.76%) OneDrive
6 10 (1.76%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 8 (1.41%) GCP
8 7 (1.23%) Azure DevOps
9 5 (0.88%) AWS Direct Connect
9 5 (0.88%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Copilot
10 4 (0.70%) OpenShift
11 3 (0.53%) Azure Sentinel
11 3 (0.53%) IaaS
11 3 (0.53%) PaaS
11 3 (0.53%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.35%) Google Workspace
12 2 (0.35%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.35%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 483 (85.04%) WAN
2 266 (46.83%) Firewall
3 146 (25.70%) VPN
4 135 (23.77%) Wi-Fi
5 132 (23.24%) Network Security
6 125 (22.01%) BGP
7 122 (21.48%) SD-WAN
8 120 (21.13%) Wireless
9 104 (18.31%) MPLS
10 99 (17.43%) DNS
11 96 (16.90%) OSPF
12 80 (14.08%) TCP/IP
13 79 (13.91%) DHCP
14 71 (12.50%) VLAN
15 70 (12.32%) WLAN
16 54 (9.51%) IPsec
17 50 (8.80%) Cisco Nexus
18 43 (7.57%) Cisco ISE
19 42 (7.39%) Cisco ASA
20 29 (5.11%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.23%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.18%) DTS
2 1 (0.18%) Oracle Reports
2 1 (0.18%) Power BI
2 1 (0.18%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 18 (3.17%) JIRA
2 5 (0.88%) Browser DevTools
3 4 (0.70%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.35%) Git
4 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.18%) Fiddler
5 1 (0.18%) GitLab
5 1 (0.18%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.18%) MSI
5 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio
General
1 186 (32.75%) Social Skills
2 92 (16.20%) Telecoms
3 61 (10.74%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (9.51%) Public Sector
5 39 (6.87%) Finance
6 24 (4.23%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (4.05%) Organisational Skills
8 16 (2.82%) Banking
9 15 (2.64%) Retail
10 13 (2.29%) Legal
11 11 (1.94%) Financial Institution
12 10 (1.76%) Manufacturing
12 10 (1.76%) Police
13 8 (1.41%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.23%) Local Government
15 3 (0.53%) Billing
15 3 (0.53%) German Language
15 3 (0.53%) Law
16 2 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 1 (0.18%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 239 (42.08%) Network Engineer
2 76 (13.38%) Senior
3 74 (13.03%) Architect
4 52 (9.15%) Network Architect
5 44 (7.75%) Senior Network Engineer
6 38 (6.69%) Support Engineer
7 37 (6.51%) IT Support
8 28 (4.93%) IT Engineer
9 25 (4.40%) Cisco Engineer
9 25 (4.40%) Field Engineer
9 25 (4.40%) Telecoms Engineer
10 24 (4.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 23 (4.05%) IT Support Engineer
12 22 (3.87%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 21 (3.70%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 18 (3.17%) Lead
15 17 (2.99%) Consultant
15 17 (2.99%) Developer
15 17 (2.99%) Project Engineer
16 16 (2.82%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (4.93%) 802.1X
2 15 (2.64%) Terraform
3 13 (2.29%) NETCONF
4 9 (1.58%) YANG
5 8 (1.41%) SAML
6 7 (1.23%) REST
7 6 (1.06%) Middleware
8 5 (0.88%) LDAP
9 4 (0.70%) OpenConfig
9 4 (0.70%) RESTCONF
10 3 (0.53%) Java RMI
10 3 (0.53%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.53%) Software Packaging
11 2 (0.35%) .NET
11 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.35%) ODBC
12 1 (0.18%) ARM Templates
12 1 (0.18%) ModSecurity
12 1 (0.18%) SailPoint
12 1 (0.18%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 109 (19.19%) Data Centre
2 36 (6.34%) Driving Licence
3 29 (5.11%) Hybrid Cloud
4 25 (4.40%) Onboarding
5 21 (3.70%) PKI
6 17 (2.99%) Self-Motivation
7 15 (2.64%) Video Conferencing
8 14 (2.46%) Private Cloud
9 13 (2.29%) Cloud Native
9 13 (2.29%) Operational Technology
9 13 (2.29%) Public Cloud
10 12 (2.11%) Security Posture
11 11 (1.94%) Analytical Mindset
11 11 (1.94%) Data Protection Act
12 10 (1.76%) IoT
13 9 (1.58%) Smartphone
14 8 (1.41%) NHS
15 7 (1.23%) Clustering
15 7 (1.23%) Virtual Team
16 6 (1.06%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 152 (26.76%) Windows
2 42 (7.39%) Windows Server
3 37 (6.51%) Linux
4 33 (5.81%) Windows 10
5 16 (2.82%) Mac OS
6 12 (2.11%) Windows 7
7 7 (1.23%) Unix
8 6 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.70%) Android
10 3 (0.53%) Ubuntu
10 3 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.35%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.35%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.18%) CatOS
12 1 (0.18%) CentOS
12 1 (0.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.18%) Solaris
12 1 (0.18%) VMS
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (18.49%) Problem-Solving
2 98 (17.25%) ITIL
3 76 (13.38%) Project Delivery
4 73 (12.85%) High Availability
5 58 (10.21%) Continuous Improvement
6 56 (9.86%) Stakeholder Management
7 54 (9.51%) Load Balancing
8 50 (8.80%) Roadmaps
9 48 (8.45%) Network Architecture
10 44 (7.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 44 (7.75%) Migration
11 43 (7.57%) Technical Leadership
12 40 (7.04%) Customer Service
13 38 (6.69%) Change Management
14 36 (6.34%) Network Monitoring
15 34 (5.99%) Incident Management
15 34 (5.99%) Service Management
15 34 (5.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 32 (5.63%) Mentoring
16 32 (5.63%) Network Design
Programming Languages
1 31 (5.46%) Python
2 20 (3.52%) PowerShell
3 7 (1.23%) SQL
4 6 (1.06%) VB
4 6 (1.06%) VBScript
5 2 (0.35%) Bicep
5 2 (0.35%) C++
5 2 (0.35%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.18%) C
6 1 (0.18%) Java
6 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 181 (31.87%) Security Cleared
2 155 (27.29%) Cisco Certification
3 111 (19.54%) SC Cleared
4 97 (17.08%) CCNP
5 67 (11.80%) CCNA
6 53 (9.33%) DV Cleared
7 40 (7.04%) CCIE
8 35 (6.16%) Degree
9 15 (2.64%) Azure Certification
10 12 (2.11%) PMP
11 10 (1.76%) Microsoft Certification
12 9 (1.58%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.58%) JNCIE
12 9 (1.58%) PMI Certification
13 7 (1.23%) A+ Certification
13 7 (1.23%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (1.23%) JNCIS
14 6 (1.06%) BPSS Clearance
14 6 (1.06%) JNCIP
14 6 (1.06%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (4.40%) SLA
2 13 (2.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 13 (2.29%) QA
3 10 (1.76%) NIST
4 7 (1.23%) NCSC
5 6 (1.06%) Disclosure Scotland
6 4 (0.70%) GDPR
6 4 (0.70%) JSP 440
6 4 (0.70%) PMO
7 3 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.53%) GRC
8 2 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.35%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.18%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.18%) DICOM
9 1 (0.18%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.18%) NEBOSH
System Software
1 81 (14.26%) Active Directory
2 47 (8.27%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (4.05%) VMware NSX
4 13 (2.29%) Firmware
5 9 (1.58%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.58%) Virtual Desktop
6 8 (1.41%) vSphere
7 7 (1.23%) BitLocker
7 7 (1.23%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.70%) Virtual Servers
9 3 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.35%) FreeRADIUS
10 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.18%) NFS
11 1 (0.18%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 33 (5.81%) FortiGate
2 28 (4.93%) Ansible
3 25 (4.40%) Microsoft Intune
4 13 (2.29%) SCCM
5 11 (1.94%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (0.88%) Cisco Prime
7 4 (0.70%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (0.70%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.53%) Cisco CUCM
8 3 (0.53%) Progress Chef
8 3 (0.53%) vRealize Orchestrator
9 2 (0.35%) AirWatch
9 2 (0.35%) CASB
9 2 (0.35%) Endace
9 2 (0.35%) Nagios
9 2 (0.35%) VxRail
9 2 (0.35%) WSUS
10 1 (0.18%) Backup Exec
10 1 (0.18%) Grafana
10 1 (0.18%) Nessus
Vendors
1 276 (48.59%) Cisco
2 151 (26.58%) Microsoft
3 90 (15.85%) Palo Alto
4 76 (13.38%) VMware
5 65 (11.44%) Fortinet
6 63 (11.09%) F5
7 55 (9.68%) Juniper
8 50 (8.80%) SolarWinds
9 44 (7.75%) Aruba
10 38 (6.69%) CheckPoint
11 32 (5.63%) ServiceNow
12 29 (5.11%) Meraki
13 21 (3.70%) Nokia
14 20 (3.52%) Zscaler
15 13 (2.29%) Ekahau
15 13 (2.29%) Extreme Networks
15 13 (2.29%) Splunk
16 10 (1.76%) Google
16 10 (1.76%) HP
17 8 (1.41%) Citrix