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 21 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 232 170 130
Rank change year-on-year -62 -40 +47
Contract jobs citing LAN 434 471 821
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.15% 1.50% 1.89%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.00% 11.60% 13.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 275 286 516
10th Percentile £213 £223 £201
25th Percentile £318 £350 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £450
75th Percentile £548 £569 £600
90th Percentile £638 £661 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £430 £445
% change year-on-year -1.16% -3.37% +2.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 12 34
10th Percentile £12.97 £18.65 £17.01
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.00 £20.50
Median hourly rate £22.50 £20.19 £33.72
Median % change year-on-year +11.46% -40.13% +26.86%
75th Percentile £35.00 £34.06 £50.00
90th Percentile £69.99 £42.88 £66.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.38 £20.00 £33.00
% change year-on-year -8.13% -39.39% +33.12%

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 3,945 4,062 5,921
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.47% 12.90% 13.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,602 2,363 3,623
10th Percentile £204 £213 £208
25th Percentile £356 £363 £359
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -2.91%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £468 £475
% change year-on-year -3.74% -1.58% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 164 138 364
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.95 £17.39
25th Percentile £18.97 £21.46 £23.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £35.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% -36.36% +158.82%
75th Percentile £65.00 £56.56 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £32.50 £57.50
% change year-on-year +29.05% -43.48% +204.07%

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 21 January 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 21 January 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 21 January 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 -73 360 £450 -1.80% 230
UK excluding London -60 272 £425 -1.16% 229
London -25 125 £500 - 50
Work from Home -7 115 £450 -13.88% 87
South East -18 83 £455 +10.30% 69
North of England -76 54 £425 -5.56% 51
Scotland +33 40 £273 -31.88% 17
Midlands -65 38 £450 -5.26% 33
North West -49 37 £420 -8.50% 20
West Midlands -36 34 £450 -10.00% 21
East of England -26 33 £350 -31.71% 24
Yorkshire -65 16 £445 +91.40% 24
South West -35 12 £513 +24.24% 28
Wales +4 6 £335 +67.50% 8
Northern Ireland +1 5 £475 - 4
East Midlands -51 4 £200 -42.86% 12
North East -14 1 £550 - 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 26 (5.99%) SharePoint
2 18 (4.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (3.23%) OpenStack
4 10 (2.30%) Skype for Business
5 8 (1.84%) Confluence
6 1 (0.23%) Apache
6 1 (0.23%) CICS
6 1 (0.23%) IIS
6 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.23%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.23%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 39 (8.99%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (6.22%) MS Visio
3 18 (4.15%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 17 (3.92%) Microsoft Excel
5 5 (1.15%) Acrobat
6 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.46%) DELMIA
2 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 96 (22.12%) Azure
2 60 (13.82%) AWS
3 46 (10.60%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (4.61%) Entra ID
5 19 (4.38%) GCP
6 9 (2.07%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 7 (1.61%) SaaS
8 6 (1.38%) OpenShift
9 4 (0.92%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (0.92%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Purview
10 3 (0.69%) AWS Direct Connect
10 3 (0.69%) Nutanix
10 3 (0.69%) Serverless
11 2 (0.46%) AWS IoT
11 2 (0.46%) Azure Functions
11 2 (0.46%) Azure Monitor
11 2 (0.46%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (0.46%) Azure Service Bus
11 2 (0.46%) Google Ads
Communications & Networking
1 361 (83.18%) WAN
2 170 (39.17%) Firewall
3 136 (31.34%) VPN
4 90 (20.74%) BGP
5 89 (20.51%) SD-WAN
6 85 (19.59%) Wi-Fi
7 74 (17.05%) Wireless
8 71 (16.36%) DNS
8 71 (16.36%) TCP/IP
9 70 (16.13%) Network Security
9 70 (16.13%) OSPF
10 65 (14.98%) MPLS
11 55 (12.67%) DHCP
12 54 (12.44%) VLAN
13 46 (10.60%) WLAN
14 38 (8.76%) IPsec
15 32 (7.37%) Cisco Nexus
16 25 (5.76%) Cisco ASA
17 24 (5.53%) Structured Cabling
18 20 (4.61%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.84%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.92%) MS Access
3 3 (0.69%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.46%) MariaDB
4 2 (0.46%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.46%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.46%) Power BI
5 1 (0.23%) Amazon RDS
5 1 (0.23%) Apache Cassandra
5 1 (0.23%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.23%) DynamoDB
5 1 (0.23%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.23%) MySQL
5 1 (0.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 10 (2.30%) JIRA
2 2 (0.46%) Jenkins
2 2 (0.46%) Sonatype Nexus
3 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.23%) Git
3 1 (0.23%) GitLab
3 1 (0.23%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 134 (30.88%) Social Skills
2 52 (11.98%) Public Sector
3 48 (11.06%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (8.76%) Telecoms
5 34 (7.83%) Finance
6 33 (7.60%) Documentation Skills
7 20 (4.61%) Manufacturing
8 17 (3.92%) Military
9 13 (3.00%) Legal
10 10 (2.30%) Banking
11 9 (2.07%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
12 6 (1.38%) Law
12 6 (1.38%) Local Government
12 6 (1.38%) Marketing
13 5 (1.15%) Electronics
13 5 (1.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (0.92%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.92%) Influencing Skills
15 3 (0.69%) Police
Job Titles
1 142 (32.72%) Network Engineer
2 90 (20.74%) Architect
3 64 (14.75%) Network Architect
4 35 (8.06%) Analyst
5 33 (7.60%) Senior
6 22 (5.07%) Support Analyst
7 21 (4.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 21 (4.84%) IT Support
7 21 (4.84%) Lead
8 20 (4.61%) Support Engineer
9 18 (4.15%) Project Manager
9 18 (4.15%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 18 (4.15%) Senior Network Engineer
9 18 (4.15%) Technical Architect
10 17 (3.92%) Field Engineer
10 17 (3.92%) Technical Support
11 16 (3.69%) 2nd Line Support
11 16 (3.69%) Cisco Engineer
11 16 (3.69%) Technical Analyst
12 15 (3.46%) Cisco Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.53%) LDAP
2 8 (1.84%) Middleware
2 8 (1.84%) NETCONF
2 8 (1.84%) REST
2 8 (1.84%) YANG
3 6 (1.38%) SAML
4 3 (0.69%) 802.1X
5 2 (0.46%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.46%) CSS
5 2 (0.46%) HTML
5 2 (0.46%) XMPP
5 2 (0.46%) YAML
6 1 (0.23%) .NET
6 1 (0.23%) EDI
6 1 (0.23%) Java RMI
6 1 (0.23%) LAMP
6 1 (0.23%) libvirt
6 1 (0.23%) Node.js
6 1 (0.23%) React
6 1 (0.23%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 79 (18.20%) Data Centre
2 24 (5.53%) Hybrid Cloud
3 20 (4.61%) Driving Licence
4 17 (3.92%) Onboarding
5 14 (3.23%) CMDB
6 13 (3.00%) NHS
7 12 (2.76%) Data Protection Act
8 10 (2.30%) Management Information System
9 9 (2.07%) Cloud Native
10 8 (1.84%) Operational Technology
11 7 (1.61%) PKI
11 7 (1.61%) Security Posture
11 7 (1.61%) Self-Motivation
12 6 (1.38%) SCADA
13 5 (1.15%) Analytical Mindset
13 5 (1.15%) Enterprise Software
13 5 (1.15%) iPhone
13 5 (1.15%) Public Cloud
13 5 (1.15%) Video Conferencing
13 5 (1.15%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 105 (24.19%) Windows
2 42 (9.68%) Windows Server
3 33 (7.60%) Windows 10
4 21 (4.84%) Linux
5 13 (3.00%) Windows Server 2016
5 13 (3.00%) Windows Server 2019
6 10 (2.30%) Windows 7
7 7 (1.61%) Android
8 5 (1.15%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (0.92%) Apple iOS
9 4 (0.92%) CatOS
9 4 (0.92%) Mac OS
10 3 (0.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.69%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.23%) AIX
12 1 (0.23%) MVS
12 1 (0.23%) Solaris
12 1 (0.23%) VMS
12 1 (0.23%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 67 (15.44%) Problem-Solving
2 60 (13.82%) Network Design
3 59 (13.59%) ITIL
4 56 (12.90%) Migration
5 51 (11.75%) Network Architecture
6 44 (10.14%) Cybersecurity
7 40 (9.22%) Stakeholder Management
8 36 (8.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 36 (8.29%) Project Delivery
9 35 (8.06%) ITSM
10 31 (7.14%) High Availability
11 30 (6.91%) Change Management
11 30 (6.91%) Network Monitoring
12 27 (6.22%) Customer Service
13 26 (5.99%) Zero Trust
14 24 (5.53%) Roadmaps
14 24 (5.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 23 (5.30%) Continuous Improvement
16 22 (5.07%) Network Management
16 22 (5.07%) Network Segmentation
Programming Languages
1 37 (8.53%) Python
2 31 (7.14%) PowerShell
3 12 (2.76%) SQL
4 10 (2.30%) VBScript
5 9 (2.07%) VB
6 6 (1.38%) Perl
7 3 (0.69%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.46%) Bash
8 2 (0.46%) Bicep
9 1 (0.23%) C#
9 1 (0.23%) Java
9 1 (0.23%) Ruby
9 1 (0.23%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.23%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 132 (30.41%) Security Cleared
2 129 (29.72%) Cisco Certification
3 101 (23.27%) CCNP
4 99 (22.81%) SC Cleared
5 50 (11.52%) Degree
6 48 (11.06%) CCIE
7 44 (10.14%) DV Cleared
8 38 (8.76%) CCNA
9 24 (5.53%) JNCIE
10 14 (3.23%) AWS Certification
11 13 (3.00%) JNCIP
12 12 (2.76%) CCSE
13 11 (2.53%) Network+ Certification
14 10 (2.30%) Azure Certification
14 10 (2.30%) JNCIS
15 8 (1.84%) BPSS Clearance
15 8 (1.84%) PMI Certification
16 7 (1.61%) CCDP
16 7 (1.61%) CISSP
16 7 (1.61%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (3.23%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 12 (2.76%) SLA
3 10 (2.30%) NIST
4 9 (2.07%) GDPR
5 7 (1.61%) PCI DSS
5 7 (1.61%) QA
6 5 (1.15%) PMO
7 4 (0.92%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.69%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.69%) NCSC
9 2 (0.46%) RMADS
10 1 (0.23%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.23%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.23%) GRC
10 1 (0.23%) MiFID
10 1 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 68 (15.67%) Active Directory
2 34 (7.83%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (4.61%) VMware NSX
4 9 (2.07%) BitLocker
5 8 (1.84%) Hyper-V
6 6 (1.38%) Virtual Desktop
7 5 (1.15%) vSphere
8 4 (0.92%) Docker
9 3 (0.69%) KVM
9 3 (0.69%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.46%) Firmware
10 2 (0.46%) NFS
10 2 (0.46%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.46%) Xen
11 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.23%) RHEV
11 1 (0.23%) Samba
11 1 (0.23%) SRDF
11 1 (0.23%) Veritas Cluster Server
11 1 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 40 (9.22%) Ansible
2 33 (7.60%) Terraform
3 23 (5.30%) Microsoft Intune
4 19 (4.38%) FortiGate
5 18 (4.15%) SCCM
6 10 (2.30%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.15%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.92%) Nagios
8 4 (0.92%) SCOM
9 3 (0.69%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.69%) Endace
9 3 (0.69%) Grafana
9 3 (0.69%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.69%) WSUS
10 2 (0.46%) Check_MK
10 2 (0.46%) Kubernetes
10 2 (0.46%) Nessus
10 2 (0.46%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.23%) HAProxy
11 1 (0.23%) SELinux
Vendors
1 200 (46.08%) Cisco
2 90 (20.74%) Microsoft
3 83 (19.12%) Palo Alto
4 56 (12.90%) Fortinet
5 55 (12.67%) Juniper
6 49 (11.29%) CheckPoint
7 47 (10.83%) VMware
8 45 (10.37%) F5
9 43 (9.91%) Aruba
10 34 (7.83%) Meraki
11 29 (6.68%) ServiceNow
11 29 (6.68%) SolarWinds
12 23 (5.30%) Zscaler
13 14 (3.23%) Citrix
13 14 (3.23%) Veeam
14 8 (1.84%) Arista
14 8 (1.84%) Remedy
15 7 (1.61%) SAP
16 6 (1.38%) Nokia
16 6 (1.38%) Oracle