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

6 months to
11 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 222 213 170
Rank change year-on-year -9 -43 -33
Contract jobs citing LAN 577 371 614
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.16% 1.26% 1.41%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.07% 10.11% 11.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 362 221 347
10th Percentile £226 £208 £200
25th Percentile £352 £325 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £450
Median % change year-on-year - - -5.26%
75th Percentile £537 £563 £600
90th Percentile £612 £625 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £445 £428 £450
% change year-on-year +4.09% -5.00% +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 15 41
10th Percentile £12.43 £18.70 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.07 £27.00 £15.75
Median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +33.33% -65.91%
75th Percentile £50.45 £41.63 £40.00
90th Percentile £75.37 £51.20 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £30.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year -26.67% +33.33% -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 4,781 3,671 5,438
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.58% 12.50% 12.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,930 2,271 3,228
10th Percentile £263 £220 £206
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £485 £498
Median % change year-on-year +3.09% -2.51% -2.93%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £476 £469 £483
% change year-on-year +1.39% -2.95% +1.74%
Number of hourly rates quoted 284 165 420
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.14 £18.13 £16.30
Median hourly rate £27.50 £44.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -37.50% +10.00% +113.73%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.13 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.18 £80.61 £70.72
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £31.79 £47.50
% change year-on-year +2.23% -33.07% +156.76%

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 11 June 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 11 June 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 11 June 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 -20 496 £450 -5.26% 171
UK excluding London +4 400 £445 +4.09% 178
South East +14 171 £475 -5.00% 58
London -67 124 £500 +4.17% 36
Work from Home -22 119 £450 -5.26% 65
North of England -57 67 £450 +20.00% 38
Midlands -36 59 £285 -28.75% 23
West Midlands -37 45 £335 -16.25% 16
East of England -2 41 £350 -18.60% 15
Scotland +5 40 £450 +14.43% 17
Yorkshire -24 34 £425 +6.18% 14
North West -47 33 £500 +42.86% 21
South West -38 15 £500 +25.00% 16
East Midlands -23 11 £200 -52.66% 7
Wales -18 7 £475 +105.41% 9
Northern Ireland - 3 £468 - 9
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 29 (5.03%) SharePoint
2 22 (3.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (2.43%) Confluence
4 6 (1.04%) OpenStack
5 5 (0.87%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.35%) IIS
7 1 (0.17%) CMS
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 20 (3.47%) MS Visio
2 16 (2.77%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.56%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.69%) Acrobat
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.35%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 133 (23.05%) Azure
2 86 (14.90%) Microsoft 365
3 58 (10.05%) AWS
4 37 (6.41%) Entra ID
5 21 (3.64%) SaaS
6 16 (2.77%) OneDrive
7 12 (2.08%) GCP
7 12 (2.08%) PaaS
8 8 (1.39%) Power Platform
9 7 (1.21%) PowerApps
9 7 (1.21%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 5 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
10 5 (0.87%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 5 (0.87%) IaaS
11 4 (0.69%) Nutanix
12 3 (0.52%) Google Ads
13 2 (0.35%) AWS Direct Connect
13 2 (0.35%) IBM Watson
13 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Copilot
14 1 (0.17%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 477 (82.67%) WAN
2 273 (47.31%) Firewall
3 152 (26.34%) VPN
4 146 (25.30%) BGP
5 144 (24.96%) Wi-Fi
6 134 (23.22%) SD-WAN
7 131 (22.70%) OSPF
8 117 (20.28%) Network Security
9 111 (19.24%) DNS
10 100 (17.33%) Wireless
11 88 (15.25%) DHCP
12 74 (12.82%) MPLS
13 73 (12.65%) VLAN
14 71 (12.31%) WLAN
15 64 (11.09%) TCP/IP
16 51 (8.84%) IPsec
17 47 (8.15%) Cisco ISE
18 42 (7.28%) BIG-IP
18 42 (7.28%) Cisco Nexus
19 41 (7.11%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.87%) SQL Server
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 31 (5.37%) JIRA
2 4 (0.69%) Browser DevTools
3 3 (0.52%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.35%) GitLab
4 2 (0.35%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.17%) Git
General
1 153 (26.52%) Social Skills
2 44 (7.63%) Public Sector
3 41 (7.11%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (6.76%) Telecoms
5 37 (6.41%) Finance
6 25 (4.33%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (3.99%) Legal
7 23 (3.99%) Manufacturing
8 17 (2.95%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.91%) Military
10 10 (1.73%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.56%) Law
12 8 (1.39%) Banking
13 7 (1.21%) Retail
14 6 (1.04%) Police
15 4 (0.69%) Local Government
16 3 (0.52%) German Language
16 3 (0.52%) Influencing Skills
17 2 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 2 (0.35%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 232 (40.21%) Network Engineer
2 82 (14.21%) Architect
3 64 (11.09%) Senior
4 58 (10.05%) Network Architect
5 41 (7.11%) IT Support
6 40 (6.93%) Support Engineer
7 34 (5.89%) IT Engineer
8 31 (5.37%) Cisco Engineer
9 30 (5.20%) Senior Network Engineer
10 29 (5.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 29 (5.03%) IT Support Engineer
10 29 (5.03%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 28 (4.85%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 27 (4.68%) Lead
13 25 (4.33%) Analyst
14 18 (3.12%) Technical Architect
15 15 (2.60%) Network Specialist
15 15 (2.60%) Test Engineer
16 14 (2.43%) Firewall Specialist
16 14 (2.43%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (8.49%) 802.1X
2 10 (1.73%) Microsoft Graph
2 10 (1.73%) SAML
3 9 (1.56%) LDAP
4 7 (1.21%) REST
5 6 (1.04%) NETCONF
5 6 (1.04%) YANG
6 5 (0.87%) Middleware
7 3 (0.52%) Software Packaging
7 3 (0.52%) XMPP
8 2 (0.35%) CSS
8 2 (0.35%) Django
8 2 (0.35%) HTML
8 2 (0.35%) RFC 2544
9 1 (0.17%) .NET
9 1 (0.17%) Apache NiFi
9 1 (0.17%) ARM Templates
9 1 (0.17%) Java RMI
9 1 (0.17%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 118 (20.45%) Data Centre
2 34 (5.89%) PKI
3 26 (4.51%) Clustering
4 25 (4.33%) Onboarding
5 23 (3.99%) Hybrid Cloud
6 16 (2.77%) Security Posture
7 14 (2.43%) Self-Motivation
8 10 (1.73%) Data Protection Act
8 10 (1.73%) Driving Licence
8 10 (1.73%) Operational Technology
8 10 (1.73%) Public Cloud
8 10 (1.73%) Virtual Team
9 9 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
10 8 (1.39%) Cloud Native
10 8 (1.39%) NHS
11 7 (1.21%) CMDB
11 7 (1.21%) IoT
12 6 (1.04%) Smartphone
13 5 (0.87%) Analytical Mindset
14 4 (0.69%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 174 (30.16%) Windows
2 47 (8.15%) Windows Server
3 40 (6.93%) Linux
4 29 (5.03%) Windows 10
5 17 (2.95%) Windows Server 2019
6 15 (2.60%) Mac OS
7 10 (1.73%) Android
8 8 (1.39%) Windows 7
9 7 (1.21%) Apple iOS
10 5 (0.87%) VMS
10 5 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.52%) CatOS
11 3 (0.52%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.52%) Unix
11 3 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.35%) AIX
12 2 (0.35%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.17%) CentOS
13 1 (0.17%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.17%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 94 (16.29%) ITIL
2 85 (14.73%) High Availability
3 80 (13.86%) Problem-Solving
4 64 (11.09%) Load Balancing
5 56 (9.71%) Migration
6 49 (8.49%) Stakeholder Management
7 48 (8.32%) Continuous Improvement
8 47 (8.15%) ITSM
9 46 (7.97%) Change Management
9 46 (7.97%) Project Delivery
10 41 (7.11%) Network Architecture
11 40 (6.93%) Roadmaps
12 39 (6.76%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 38 (6.59%) Technical Leadership
14 37 (6.41%) Network Monitoring
15 35 (6.07%) Network Design
16 34 (5.89%) Agile
17 33 (5.72%) Service Management
18 32 (5.55%) Disaster Recovery
19 29 (5.03%) Observability
Programming Languages
1 37 (6.41%) PowerShell
2 36 (6.24%) Python
3 10 (1.73%) SQL
4 5 (0.87%) VBScript
5 4 (0.69%) VB
6 3 (0.52%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.17%) C
7 1 (0.17%) C++
7 1 (0.17%) Java
7 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 200 (34.66%) Security Cleared
2 171 (29.64%) Cisco Certification
3 135 (23.40%) SC Cleared
4 115 (19.93%) CCNP
5 63 (10.92%) DV Cleared
6 54 (9.36%) CCNA
7 49 (8.49%) Degree
8 45 (7.80%) CCIE
9 16 (2.77%) PMP
10 14 (2.43%) Azure Certification
10 14 (2.43%) JNCIP
10 14 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
11 13 (2.25%) PMI Certification
12 12 (2.08%) JNCIS
13 11 (1.91%) JNCIA
14 10 (1.73%) Computer Science Degree
14 10 (1.73%) JNCIE
15 8 (1.39%) AWS Certification
15 8 (1.39%) CCSE
16 4 (0.69%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.47%) QA
2 12 (2.08%) NIST
2 12 (2.08%) SLA
3 7 (1.21%) Disclosure Scotland
3 7 (1.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (1.04%) NCSC
5 5 (0.87%) GDPR
6 3 (0.52%) JSP 440
7 2 (0.35%) PMO
7 2 (0.35%) RMADS
8 1 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.17%) DICOM
8 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 101 (17.50%) Active Directory
2 51 (8.84%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (3.47%) VMware NSX
4 19 (3.29%) vSphere
5 9 (1.56%) Hyper-V
6 7 (1.21%) Firmware
6 7 (1.21%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.69%) BitLocker
8 3 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.35%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.17%) Docker
10 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.17%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 50 (8.67%) FortiGate
2 32 (5.55%) Ansible
2 32 (5.55%) Microsoft Intune
3 16 (2.77%) Terraform
4 15 (2.60%) SCCM
5 12 (2.08%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (1.91%) Jamf Pro
7 6 (1.04%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.69%) Cisco CUCM
8 4 (0.69%) Endace
8 4 (0.69%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.69%) vRealize Orchestrator
9 3 (0.52%) Nagios
10 2 (0.35%) AirWatch
10 2 (0.35%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.35%) WSUS
11 1 (0.17%) EMC VPLEX
11 1 (0.17%) Grafana
11 1 (0.17%) Iperf
11 1 (0.17%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 283 (49.05%) Cisco
2 125 (21.66%) Microsoft
3 106 (18.37%) Palo Alto
4 89 (15.42%) F5
5 77 (13.34%) Juniper
6 67 (11.61%) Aruba
7 65 (11.27%) VMware
8 63 (10.92%) CheckPoint
8 63 (10.92%) Fortinet
9 61 (10.57%) SolarWinds
10 33 (5.72%) ServiceNow
11 30 (5.20%) Extreme Networks
12 27 (4.68%) Meraki
12 27 (4.68%) Splunk
13 22 (3.81%) Zscaler
14 16 (2.77%) Dell
14 16 (2.77%) Ekahau
15 14 (2.43%) Veeam
16 10 (1.73%) Arista
16 10 (1.73%) Citrix