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

6 months to
6 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 222 203 125
Rank change year-on-year -19 -78 +41
Contract jobs citing LAN 503 409 828
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.18% 1.34% 1.87%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.63% 10.15% 13.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 326 259 502
10th Percentile £206 £223 £203
25th Percentile £313 £350 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £443 £458 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.28% -3.68% +5.56%
75th Percentile £538 £574 £637
90th Percentile £620 £673 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £434 £430 £475
% change year-on-year +0.87% -9.47% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 11 38
10th Percentile £12.43 £15.33 £15.33
25th Percentile £15.50 £19.25 £20.50
Median hourly rate £22.50 £20.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% -50.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.38 £49.38
90th Percentile £70.79 £43.75 £64.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.50 £20.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +7.50% -50.00% +20.30%

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 4,325 4,029 5,966
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.14% 13.22% 13.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,807 2,428 3,578
10th Percentile £205 £208 £205
25th Percentile £363 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £500 £480
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% +4.17% -7.69%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £680 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £467 £473 £475
% change year-on-year -1.16% -0.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 176 133 388
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.44 £14.27
25th Percentile £18.97 £21.46 £19.83
Median hourly rate £34.50 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -12.50% +108.88%
75th Percentile £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.75 £73.83
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £31.08 £47.50
% change year-on-year +34.94% -34.57% +151.19%

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 6 March 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 6 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for LAN in the UK

LAN
Top 16 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 6 March 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 -42 415 £450 -5.26% 178
UK excluding London -32 327 £434 +0.87% 155
Work from Home +7 131 £445 -11.00% 58
London -20 131 £475 -5.00% 54
South East +1 111 £448 +8.48% 63
North of England -76 58 £445 +1.14% 32
Scotland +42 46 £294 -26.56% 7
Midlands -49 44 £321 -35.75% 19
West Midlands -32 38 £423 -19.52% 14
East of England -21 37 £350 -33.33% 19
North West -38 30 £500 +11.11% 15
Yorkshire -54 28 £313 +30.42% 15
South West -49 16 £513 +24.24% 14
Wales +6 10 £425 +41.67% 7
East Midlands -34 6 £200 -40.30% 5
Northern Ireland - 4 £430 -

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 32 (6.36%) SharePoint
2 25 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (2.58%) Confluence
4 10 (1.99%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.80%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.20%) Apache
6 1 (0.20%) IIS
Applications
1 37 (7.36%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (4.57%) MS Visio
3 14 (2.78%) Microsoft Excel
4 13 (2.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.99%) Acrobat
6 4 (0.80%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.40%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 108 (21.47%) Azure
2 71 (14.12%) Microsoft 365
3 52 (10.34%) AWS
4 35 (6.96%) Entra ID
5 21 (4.17%) GCP
6 16 (3.18%) SaaS
7 13 (2.58%) OneDrive
8 10 (1.99%) PaaS
9 9 (1.79%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (1.19%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 6 (1.19%) Nutanix
10 6 (1.19%) Power Platform
11 5 (0.99%) IaaS
11 5 (0.99%) PowerApps
12 4 (0.80%) AWS Direct Connect
12 4 (0.80%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (0.80%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (0.60%) Google Ads
13 3 (0.60%) Serverless
14 2 (0.40%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 413 (82.11%) WAN
2 216 (42.94%) Firewall
3 148 (29.42%) VPN
4 121 (24.06%) BGP
5 113 (22.47%) Wi-Fi
6 110 (21.87%) OSPF
7 97 (19.28%) SD-WAN
8 93 (18.49%) DNS
9 87 (17.30%) Network Security
10 77 (15.31%) DHCP
11 74 (14.71%) Wireless
12 72 (14.31%) TCP/IP
12 72 (14.31%) VLAN
13 68 (13.52%) MPLS
14 50 (9.94%) WLAN
15 42 (8.35%) IPsec
16 33 (6.56%) VXLAN
17 32 (6.36%) Cisco ASA
18 31 (6.16%) Cisco ISE
18 31 (6.16%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.39%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.80%) MS Access
3 2 (0.40%) MariaDB
3 2 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.20%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.20%) Apache Cassandra
4 1 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.20%) DynamoDB
4 1 (0.20%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.20%) MySQL
4 1 (0.20%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.20%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.20%) Power BI
4 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 24 (4.77%) JIRA
2 2 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
3 1 (0.20%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.20%) Git
3 1 (0.20%) GitLab
3 1 (0.20%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.20%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 147 (29.22%) Social Skills
2 50 (9.94%) Public Sector
3 48 (9.54%) Analytical Skills
4 44 (8.75%) Finance
5 37 (7.36%) Telecoms
6 34 (6.76%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (5.37%) Manufacturing
8 19 (3.78%) Legal
8 19 (3.78%) Military
9 14 (2.78%) Financial Institution
10 13 (2.58%) Banking
11 12 (2.39%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (1.79%) Presentation Skills
13 8 (1.59%) Law
14 7 (1.39%) Local Government
15 6 (1.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 5 (0.99%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.99%) Marketing
16 5 (0.99%) Retail
17 4 (0.80%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 177 (35.19%) Network Engineer
2 75 (14.91%) Architect
3 53 (10.54%) Network Architect
3 53 (10.54%) Senior
4 42 (8.35%) Analyst
5 39 (7.75%) IT Support
6 34 (6.76%) Support Engineer
7 29 (5.77%) IT Engineer
8 25 (4.97%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 24 (4.77%) IT Support Engineer
9 24 (4.77%) Senior Network Engineer
10 23 (4.57%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 22 (4.37%) Lead
12 21 (4.17%) Cisco Engineer
12 21 (4.17%) Project Manager
13 20 (3.98%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 19 (3.78%) Technical Architect
15 18 (3.58%) Field Engineer
15 18 (3.58%) Support Analyst
16 16 (3.18%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (5.57%) 802.1X
2 10 (1.99%) LDAP
3 8 (1.59%) Microsoft Graph
4 6 (1.19%) Middleware
4 6 (1.19%) SAML
5 3 (0.60%) NETCONF
5 3 (0.60%) REST
5 3 (0.60%) YANG
6 2 (0.40%) ARM Templates
6 2 (0.40%) CSS
6 2 (0.40%) Django
6 2 (0.40%) HTML
6 2 (0.40%) RFC 2544
6 2 (0.40%) XMPP
6 2 (0.40%) YAML
7 1 (0.20%) .NET
7 1 (0.20%) Apache NiFi
7 1 (0.20%) LAMP
7 1 (0.20%) Node.js
7 1 (0.20%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 100 (19.88%) Data Centre
2 23 (4.57%) PKI
3 19 (3.78%) Clustering
3 19 (3.78%) Driving Licence
3 19 (3.78%) Onboarding
4 17 (3.38%) Hybrid Cloud
5 15 (2.98%) CMDB
6 14 (2.78%) Data Protection Act
6 14 (2.78%) NHS
7 12 (2.39%) Security Posture
8 9 (1.79%) Management Information System
8 9 (1.79%) Operational Technology
9 8 (1.59%) IoT
9 8 (1.59%) Self-Motivation
9 8 (1.59%) Virtual Team
10 6 (1.19%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.19%) Public Cloud
11 5 (0.99%) Analytical Mindset
11 5 (0.99%) CCTV
11 5 (0.99%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 145 (28.83%) Windows
2 50 (9.94%) Windows Server
3 38 (7.55%) Windows 10
4 22 (4.37%) Linux
5 16 (3.18%) Windows Server 2019
6 11 (2.19%) Android
6 11 (2.19%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.79%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (1.39%) Apple iOS
8 7 (1.39%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.99%) VMS
9 5 (0.99%) Windows Server 2012
10 4 (0.80%) CatOS
11 3 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.60%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.60%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.40%) AIX
13 1 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.20%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (16.70%) Problem-Solving
2 69 (13.72%) ITIL
3 61 (12.13%) Migration
4 54 (10.74%) High Availability
5 46 (9.15%) Network Design
5 46 (9.15%) Stakeholder Management
6 45 (8.95%) ITSM
7 41 (8.15%) Change Management
7 41 (8.15%) Network Architecture
8 40 (7.95%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 37 (7.36%) Cybersecurity
9 37 (7.36%) Load Balancing
10 34 (6.76%) Network Monitoring
10 34 (6.76%) Project Delivery
11 32 (6.36%) Service Management
12 30 (5.96%) Customer Service
13 27 (5.37%) Mentoring
14 26 (5.17%) Continuous Improvement
14 26 (5.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 26 (5.17%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 49 (9.74%) PowerShell
2 33 (6.56%) Python
3 12 (2.39%) SQL
4 11 (2.19%) VBScript
5 9 (1.79%) VB
6 3 (0.60%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.60%) Perl
7 2 (0.40%) Bash
7 2 (0.40%) Bicep
8 1 (0.20%) C#
8 1 (0.20%) Ruby
8 1 (0.20%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.20%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 164 (32.60%) Security Cleared
2 147 (29.22%) Cisco Certification
3 121 (24.06%) SC Cleared
4 114 (22.66%) CCNP
5 60 (11.93%) Degree
6 53 (10.54%) DV Cleared
7 48 (9.54%) CCNA
8 38 (7.55%) CCIE
9 18 (3.58%) JNCIP
9 18 (3.58%) JNCIS
10 13 (2.58%) Network+ Certification
11 12 (2.39%) Microsoft Certification
11 12 (2.39%) PMP
12 11 (2.19%) JNCIE
12 11 (2.19%) PMI Certification
13 10 (1.99%) Azure Certification
13 10 (1.99%) CCSE
13 10 (1.99%) JNCIA
14 9 (1.79%) AWS Certification
14 9 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (2.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 13 (2.58%) SLA
3 11 (2.19%) NIST
4 9 (1.79%) GDPR
4 9 (1.79%) QA
5 7 (1.39%) NCSC
6 5 (0.99%) PCI DSS
6 5 (0.99%) PMO
7 4 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.60%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.40%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.40%) RMADS
10 1 (0.20%) GRC
10 1 (0.20%) MiFID
10 1 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 93 (18.49%) Active Directory
2 37 (7.36%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (3.38%) VMware NSX
4 12 (2.39%) vSphere
5 9 (1.79%) BitLocker
6 5 (0.99%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.99%) Virtual Desktop
7 4 (0.80%) Docker
7 4 (0.80%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.40%) KVM
8 2 (0.40%) ProxySG
9 1 (0.20%) Ceph
9 1 (0.20%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.20%) iptables
9 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.20%) RHEV
9 1 (0.20%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.20%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.20%) Xen
Systems Management
1 40 (7.95%) FortiGate
2 37 (7.36%) Microsoft Intune
3 33 (6.56%) Ansible
4 27 (5.37%) Terraform
5 21 (4.17%) SCCM
6 11 (2.19%) Jamf Pro
7 9 (1.79%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.19%) Cisco Prime
8 6 (1.19%) Nagios
9 4 (0.80%) WSUS
10 3 (0.60%) Cisco CUCM
10 3 (0.60%) Endace
10 3 (0.60%) Grafana
10 3 (0.60%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.40%) Check_MK
11 2 (0.40%) Nessus
11 2 (0.40%) SCOM
12 1 (0.20%) Backup Exec
12 1 (0.20%) Norton AntiVirus
12 1 (0.20%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 239 (47.51%) Cisco
2 108 (21.47%) Microsoft
3 101 (20.08%) Palo Alto
4 70 (13.92%) Juniper
5 64 (12.72%) F5
6 60 (11.93%) CheckPoint
7 59 (11.73%) Aruba
8 51 (10.14%) Fortinet
9 50 (9.94%) VMware
10 44 (8.75%) SolarWinds
11 31 (6.16%) ServiceNow
12 30 (5.96%) Meraki
13 24 (4.77%) Extreme Networks
14 23 (4.57%) Zscaler
15 21 (4.17%) Splunk
16 14 (2.78%) Dell
16 14 (2.78%) Veeam
17 12 (2.39%) Citrix
18 11 (2.19%) Arista
19 7 (1.39%) SAP