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

6 months to
30 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 231 215 178
Rank change year-on-year -16 -37 -56
Contract jobs citing LAN 588 418 568
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.11% 1.27% 1.43%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.81% 10.59% 11.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 353 259 328
10th Percentile £227 £200 £210
25th Percentile £363 £318 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -
75th Percentile £538 £575 £628
90th Percentile £625 £625 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £401 £475
% change year-on-year +12.36% -15.68% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 19 33
10th Percentile £12.60 £23.15 £15.75
25th Percentile £16.25 £28.00 £15.76
Median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +26.05% -56.73%
75th Percentile £54.00 £41.63 £40.00
90th Percentile £75.30 £55.63 £74.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.00 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -33.33% +20.63% -58.55%

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 4,979 3,947 4,876
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.40% 12.03% 12.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,971 2,411 2,952
10th Percentile £250 £235 £213
25th Percentile £400 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.16% -5.00% +8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 340 196 342
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.15 £18.01
Median hourly rate £26.29 £48.75 £45.44
Median % change year-on-year -46.07% +7.28% -9.12%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.50 £74.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £44.00 £51.50
% change year-on-year -39.41% -14.56% -10.30%

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 July 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 30 July 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 30 July 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 -24 490 £475 +5.56% 187
UK excluding London +11 422 £450 +12.36% 161
South East +4 156 £513 -6.82% 47
London -101 116 £513 +12.33% 62
Work from Home -36 112 £505 +1.00% 67
North of England -41 78 £483 +56.91% 38
Scotland +22 60 £350 -11.00% 15
Midlands -42 55 £275 -23.08% 33
East of England +7 41 £325 -7.14% 8
North West -51 40 £525 +180.00% 14
West Midlands -59 39 £375 -1.96% 20
Yorkshire -16 38 £450 +12.50% 22
South West -37 26 £500 +25.00% 22
East Midlands -3 13 £220 +20.55% 13
Wales -22 7 £475 +80.95% 3
Northern Ireland - 2 £550 - 2
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 24 (4.08%) SharePoint
2 15 (2.55%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.53%) OpenStack
4 5 (0.85%) Confluence
5 2 (0.34%) CMS
5 2 (0.34%) IIS
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 24 (4.08%) MS Visio
2 20 (3.40%) Microsoft Office
3 17 (2.89%) Microsoft Excel
4 8 (1.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 127 (21.60%) Azure
2 83 (14.12%) Microsoft 365
3 59 (10.03%) AWS
4 34 (5.78%) Entra ID
5 15 (2.55%) OneDrive
6 13 (2.21%) SaaS
7 12 (2.04%) GCP
8 10 (1.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 8 (1.36%) PaaS
10 6 (1.02%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.02%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 5 (0.85%) AWS Direct Connect
11 5 (0.85%) IaaS
12 4 (0.68%) Microsoft Copilot
12 4 (0.68%) OpenShift
12 4 (0.68%) Power Platform
13 3 (0.51%) Azure Sentinel
13 3 (0.51%) Google Ads
13 3 (0.51%) Nutanix
13 3 (0.51%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 485 (82.48%) WAN
2 296 (50.34%) Firewall
3 149 (25.34%) BGP
4 146 (24.83%) VPN
5 136 (23.13%) Wi-Fi
6 135 (22.96%) Network Security
7 125 (21.26%) SD-WAN
8 121 (20.58%) OSPF
9 120 (20.41%) Wireless
10 118 (20.07%) DNS
11 105 (17.86%) MPLS
12 94 (15.99%) DHCP
13 77 (13.10%) TCP/IP
13 77 (13.10%) VLAN
14 72 (12.24%) WLAN
15 55 (9.35%) Cisco ISE
16 54 (9.18%) IPsec
17 47 (7.99%) Cisco Nexus
18 40 (6.80%) BIG-IP
19 37 (6.29%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.53%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.17%) DTS
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 19 (3.23%) JIRA
2 5 (0.85%) Browser DevTools
3 4 (0.68%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.34%) Git
4 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.17%) Fiddler
5 1 (0.17%) GitLab
5 1 (0.17%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.17%) MSI
5 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio
General
1 175 (29.76%) Social Skills
2 80 (13.61%) Telecoms
3 56 (9.52%) Public Sector
4 53 (9.01%) Analytical Skills
5 37 (6.29%) Finance
6 25 (4.25%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (3.91%) Documentation Skills
8 17 (2.89%) Financial Institution
9 14 (2.38%) Banking
10 13 (2.21%) Legal
11 12 (2.04%) Manufacturing
12 11 (1.87%) Retail
13 9 (1.53%) Police
14 8 (1.36%) Influencing Skills
14 8 (1.36%) Local Government
15 6 (1.02%) Law
16 5 (0.85%) Military
17 3 (0.51%) Billing
17 3 (0.51%) German Language
17 3 (0.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 244 (41.50%) Network Engineer
2 80 (13.61%) Architect
2 80 (13.61%) Senior
3 57 (9.69%) Network Architect
4 42 (7.14%) Senior Network Engineer
5 39 (6.63%) IT Support
6 34 (5.78%) Support Engineer
7 29 (4.93%) IT Engineer
8 26 (4.42%) Cisco Engineer
9 25 (4.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 23 (3.91%) Cisco Network Engineer
10 23 (3.91%) IT Support Engineer
11 21 (3.57%) Field Engineer
11 21 (3.57%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 20 (3.40%) Analyst
12 20 (3.40%) Telecoms Engineer
13 19 (3.23%) Consultant
13 19 (3.23%) Lead
14 16 (2.72%) Developer
14 16 (2.72%) LAN Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (8.84%) 802.1X
2 12 (2.04%) NETCONF
3 9 (1.53%) YANG
4 8 (1.36%) SAML
5 6 (1.02%) REST
6 5 (0.85%) LDAP
7 4 (0.68%) Microsoft Graph
7 4 (0.68%) Middleware
7 4 (0.68%) OpenConfig
7 4 (0.68%) RESTCONF
8 3 (0.51%) Java RMI
8 3 (0.51%) Software Packaging
9 2 (0.34%) .NET
9 2 (0.34%) ODBC
9 2 (0.34%) RFC 2544
10 1 (0.17%) .NET Framework
10 1 (0.17%) ARM Templates
10 1 (0.17%) ModSecurity
10 1 (0.17%) SailPoint
10 1 (0.17%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 114 (19.39%) Data Centre
2 35 (5.95%) PKI
3 31 (5.27%) Driving Licence
4 30 (5.10%) Hybrid Cloud
5 26 (4.42%) Clustering
6 20 (3.40%) Onboarding
7 17 (2.89%) Self-Motivation
8 15 (2.55%) Security Posture
9 13 (2.21%) Cloud Native
9 13 (2.21%) Video Conferencing
10 12 (2.04%) Private Cloud
10 12 (2.04%) Public Cloud
11 11 (1.87%) NHS
12 10 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
12 10 (1.70%) Data Protection Act
12 10 (1.70%) Operational Technology
13 9 (1.53%) CCTV
13 9 (1.53%) Virtual Team
14 8 (1.36%) IoT
15 7 (1.19%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 166 (28.23%) Windows
2 48 (8.16%) Windows Server
3 37 (6.29%) Linux
4 24 (4.08%) Windows 10
5 14 (2.38%) Mac OS
6 11 (1.87%) Windows Server 2019
7 8 (1.36%) Android
8 6 (1.02%) Unix
8 6 (1.02%) Windows 7
9 5 (0.85%) Apple iOS
9 5 (0.85%) VMS
10 4 (0.68%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.51%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.17%) AIX
13 1 (0.17%) CatOS
13 1 (0.17%) CentOS
13 1 (0.17%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.17%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (17.18%) Problem-Solving
2 97 (16.50%) ITIL
3 88 (14.97%) High Availability
4 72 (12.24%) Load Balancing
5 67 (11.39%) Project Delivery
6 54 (9.18%) Continuous Improvement
7 50 (8.50%) Roadmaps
7 50 (8.50%) Stakeholder Management
8 48 (8.16%) Migration
9 47 (7.99%) Network Architecture
10 42 (7.14%) Change Management
11 41 (6.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 41 (6.97%) Technical Leadership
12 39 (6.63%) Network Monitoring
13 36 (6.12%) Service Management
14 32 (5.44%) Network Design
14 32 (5.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 31 (5.27%) Agile
15 31 (5.27%) Customer Service
15 31 (5.27%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 31 (5.27%) Python
2 24 (4.08%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.36%) SQL
4 2 (0.34%) C++
4 2 (0.34%) T-SQL
5 1 (0.17%) Bicep
5 1 (0.17%) C
5 1 (0.17%) Java
5 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
5 1 (0.17%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 195 (33.16%) Security Cleared
2 173 (29.42%) Cisco Certification
3 108 (18.37%) SC Cleared
4 104 (17.69%) CCNP
5 72 (12.24%) DV Cleared
6 70 (11.90%) CCNA
7 42 (7.14%) CCIE
8 39 (6.63%) Degree
9 14 (2.38%) JNCIP
9 14 (2.38%) JNCIS
9 14 (2.38%) Microsoft Certification
9 14 (2.38%) PMP
10 13 (2.21%) Azure Certification
11 11 (1.87%) PMI Certification
12 10 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
12 10 (1.70%) JNCIE
13 9 (1.53%) AWS Certification
13 9 (1.53%) JNCIA
14 6 (1.02%) BPSS Clearance
14 6 (1.02%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (4.59%) SLA
2 14 (2.38%) QA
3 12 (2.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 11 (1.87%) NIST
5 9 (1.53%) NCSC
6 7 (1.19%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.68%) GDPR
8 3 (0.51%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.51%) PMO
9 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.17%) DICOM
10 1 (0.17%) GRC
10 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.17%) JSP 440
10 1 (0.17%) NEBOSH
10 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 93 (15.82%) Active Directory
2 49 (8.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (4.08%) VMware NSX
4 13 (2.21%) vSphere
5 12 (2.04%) Firmware
6 8 (1.36%) Hyper-V
7 7 (1.19%) Virtual Machines
8 6 (1.02%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.34%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.34%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.17%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.17%) FreeRADIUS
10 1 (0.17%) NFS
10 1 (0.17%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 52 (8.84%) FortiGate
2 28 (4.76%) Ansible
3 27 (4.59%) Microsoft Intune
4 16 (2.72%) Terraform
5 11 (1.87%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.70%) SCCM
7 6 (1.02%) Cisco Prime
8 5 (0.85%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.68%) Nagios
9 4 (0.68%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.68%) vRealize Orchestrator
10 3 (0.51%) Cisco CUCM
10 3 (0.51%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.34%) AirWatch
11 2 (0.34%) CASB
11 2 (0.34%) Endace
11 2 (0.34%) VxRail
11 2 (0.34%) WSUS
12 1 (0.17%) Backup Exec
12 1 (0.17%) Nessus
Vendors
1 293 (49.83%) Cisco
2 137 (23.30%) Microsoft
3 98 (16.67%) Palo Alto
4 87 (14.80%) F5
5 80 (13.61%) Juniper
6 71 (12.07%) VMware
7 65 (11.05%) SolarWinds
8 64 (10.88%) Fortinet
9 54 (9.18%) Aruba
10 42 (7.14%) CheckPoint
11 30 (5.10%) Extreme Networks
12 28 (4.76%) Splunk
13 23 (3.91%) Meraki
14 22 (3.74%) ServiceNow
14 22 (3.74%) Zscaler
15 16 (2.72%) Ekahau
15 16 (2.72%) Nokia
16 11 (1.87%) Citrix
16 11 (1.87%) HP
17 8 (1.36%) Dell