Job Vacancy Trend Daily Rate Trend Daily Rate Histogram Hourly Rate Trend Hourly Rate Histogram Job Locations Skill Sets
Period
to 3 April 2020

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for MPLS skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited MPLS over the 6 months to 3 April 2020 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

Note that daily and hourly rates are treated separately in these statistics. When calculating contractor rate percentiles, daily rates are never derived from quoted hourly rates or vice versa.

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
UK
6 months to
3 Apr 2020		 Same period 2019 Same period 2018
Rank 354 410 447
Rank change year-on-year +56 +37 -72
Contract jobs citing MPLS 391 578 529
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.63% 0.60% 0.52%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 4.65% 4.75% 3.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 252 380 341
Median daily rate £423 £405 £425
Median daily rate % change year-on-year +4.32% -4.71% +7.26%
10th Percentile £255 £263 £228
90th Percentile £575 £575 £588
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £375 £408
% change year-on-year +6.67% -7.98% +5.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 24 13
Median hourly rate £32.50 £22.25 £42.42
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year +46.07% -47.55% +41.40%
10th Percentile £18.50 £14.58 £12.75
90th Percentile £51.75 £39.25 £47.83
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.00 £22.25 £32.50
% change year-on-year -10.11% -31.54% -27.78%

MPLS is in the Communications and Computer Networking category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills.

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK
Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 8,400 12,163 13,390
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 13.64% 12.62% 13.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,928 7,480 8,239
Median daily rate £425 £425 £413
Median daily rate % change year-on-year - +3.03% +1.85%
10th Percentile £175 £200 £200
90th Percentile £600 £606 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £400 £375
% change year-on-year - +6.67% -1.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 513 564 721
Median hourly rate £22.50 £18.70 £19.40
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year +20.32% -3.58% -9.79%
10th Percentile £13.25 £12.00 £11.25
90th Percentile £51.75 £48.75 £47.50
Median hourly rate £20.00 £17.25 £19.06
% change year-on-year +15.94% -9.50% -11.35%

MPLS
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing MPLS as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for MPLS in the UK

MPLS
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing MPLS.

Daily rate trend for MPLS in the UK

MPLS
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing MPLS over the 6 months to 3 April 2020.

Daily rate histogram for MPLS in the UK

MPLS
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing MPLS.

Hourly rate trend for MPLS in the UK

MPLS
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing MPLS over the 6 months to 3 April 2020.

Hourly rate histogram for MPLS in the UK

MPLS
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing MPLS within the UK over the 6 months to 3 April 2020. 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
Job
Vacancies
England +60 371 £425 +3.03% 96
UK excluding London +77 256 £400 +6.67% 75
London +35 127 £450 - 26
South East +49 91 £425 +13.33% 15
North of England +82 85 £325 -9.72% 28
Midlands +48 43 £438 -2.78% 13
Yorkshire +61 42 £329 -9.00% 13
North West +49 39 £305 -18.67% 12
West Midlands +52 35 £450 +12.50% 12
Work from Home +10 18 £405 +23.66% 5
East of England +41 17 £419 +11.67% 8
Scotland +17 9 - - 5
South West +25 8 £308 -12.14% 6
East Midlands +25 8 £413 -22.90% 1
North East +15 5 £475 +65.22% 3
Wales +23 2 £438 +25.00%
Northern Ireland +10 1 - -

For the 6 months to 3 April 2020, IT contractor jobs citing MPLS also mentioned the following skills in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads with a requirement for MPLS.

1 300 (76.73%) Cisco
2 233 (59.59%) BGP
3 210 (53.71%) WAN
4 179 (45.78%) Cisco Certification
5 176 (45.01%) LAN
6 170 (43.48%) Firewall
7 166 (42.46%) VPN
8 165 (42.20%) OSPF
9 142 (36.32%) CCNP
10 121 (30.95%) Juniper
11 93 (23.79%) TCP/IP
11 93 (23.79%) Data Centre
12 86 (21.99%) Cisco Nexus
13 79 (20.20%) Wireless
14 78 (19.95%) CCNA
15 70 (17.90%) Network Design
16 69 (17.65%) Security Cleared
17 68 (17.39%) Palo Alto
18 67 (17.14%) Internet
19 65 (16.62%) EIGRP
20 64 (16.37%) Migration
21 62 (15.86%) DNS
21 62 (15.86%) Cisco IOS
22 61 (15.60%) Telecoms
23 60 (15.35%) Ethernet
24 59 (15.09%) Microsoft
25 58 (14.83%) SC Cleared
25 58 (14.83%) Network Security
26 57 (14.58%) CCIE
26 57 (14.58%) IPsec

MPLS
Co-occurring IT Skills by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same job type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 23 (5.88%) SharePoint
2 21 (5.37%) Skype for Business
3 15 (3.84%) MS Exchange
3 15 (3.84%) OpenStack
4 11 (2.81%) Confluence
5 10 (2.56%) IIS
6 5 (1.28%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.51%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.51%) Office Communications Server
7 2 (0.51%) Tomcat
8 1 (0.26%) CMS
8 1 (0.26%) Exchange Server 2007
8 1 (0.26%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 31 (7.93%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (3.07%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.77%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.26%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.26%) assyst
1 1 (0.26%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.26%) Dynamics NAV
1 1 (0.26%) Line 500
1 1 (0.26%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 41 (10.49%) Azure
2 35 (8.95%) Office 365
3 21 (5.37%) AWS
4 16 (4.09%) Cloud Computing
5 15 (3.84%) IaaS
6 13 (3.32%) PaaS
7 9 (2.30%) SaaS
8 7 (1.79%) OneDrive
9 6 (1.53%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 4 (1.02%) Azure Active Directory
10 4 (1.02%) GitHub
11 2 (0.51%) Akamai
11 2 (0.51%) Azure Data Factory
11 2 (0.51%) Mimecast
12 1 (0.26%) Dynamics 365
12 1 (0.26%) G Suite
12 1 (0.26%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 233 (59.59%) BGP
2 210 (53.71%) WAN
3 176 (45.01%) LAN
4 170 (43.48%) Firewall
5 166 (42.46%) VPN
6 165 (42.20%) OSPF
7 93 (23.79%) TCP/IP
8 86 (21.99%) Cisco Nexus
9 79 (20.20%) Wireless
10 67 (17.14%) Internet
11 65 (16.62%) EIGRP
12 62 (15.86%) Cisco IOS
12 62 (15.86%) DNS
13 60 (15.35%) Ethernet
14 58 (14.83%) Network Security
15 57 (14.58%) IPsec
16 52 (13.30%) Cisco ASA
17 50 (12.79%) Multicast
18 46 (11.76%) DHCP
18 46 (11.76%) SNMP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (4.60%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.79%) SQL Server 2012
3 6 (1.53%) SQL Server 2016
4 4 (1.02%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.51%) Cosmos DB
5 2 (0.51%) DB2
5 2 (0.51%) MySQL
5 2 (0.51%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.26%) Big Data
6 1 (0.26%) Crystal Reports
6 1 (0.26%) SQL Server 2008
6 1 (0.26%) SQL Server 2014
Development Applications
1 16 (4.09%) Sonatype Nexus
2 12 (3.07%) Git (software)
3 6 (1.53%) VSS/SourceSafe
4 2 (0.51%) Team Foundation Server
5 1 (0.26%) Hudson
5 1 (0.26%) Visual Studio
General
1 61 (15.60%) Telecoms
2 48 (12.28%) Finance
3 24 (6.14%) Banking
4 15 (3.84%) Investment Banking
5 14 (3.58%) Front Office
6 9 (2.30%) Retail
7 7 (1.79%) French Language
7 7 (1.79%) German Language
7 7 (1.79%) Public Sector
8 4 (1.02%) Manufacturing
9 3 (0.77%) Pharmaceutical
10 2 (0.51%) Italian Language
10 2 (0.51%) Law
10 2 (0.51%) Legal
10 2 (0.51%) Military
11 1 (0.26%) Automotive
11 1 (0.26%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.26%) Games
Job Titles
1 205 (52.43%) Network Engineer
2 44 (11.25%) Cisco Engineer
3 40 (10.23%) Cisco Network Engineer
4 37 (9.46%) Architect
5 24 (6.14%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 21 (5.37%) Network Architect
7 20 (5.12%) IP Network Engineer
7 20 (5.12%) Senior Network Engineer
8 19 (4.86%) Security Engineer
9 18 (4.60%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 18 (4.60%) IP Engineer
10 17 (4.35%) Designer
11 16 (4.09%) 3rd Line Network Engineer
11 16 (4.09%) Network Designer
12 15 (3.84%) Design Engineer
12 15 (3.84%) Juniper Engineer
13 14 (3.58%) Support Engineer
14 13 (3.32%) Consultant
14 13 (3.32%) Network Security Engineer
14 13 (3.32%) Network Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.14%) 802.1X
2 5 (1.28%) Jinja
3 4 (1.02%) Web Services
4 3 (0.77%) FIX Protocol
4 3 (0.77%) JSON
4 3 (0.77%) Rendezvous
4 3 (0.77%) YAML
5 2 (0.51%) LDAP
5 2 (0.51%) ModSecurity
6 1 (0.26%) HTML
6 1 (0.26%) REST
6 1 (0.26%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 93 (23.79%) Data Centre
2 20 (5.12%) Analytical Skills
3 18 (4.60%) PKI
4 14 (3.58%) Management Information System
4 14 (3.58%) Video Conferencing
5 8 (2.05%) Public Cloud
6 7 (1.79%) CCTV
6 7 (1.79%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (1.53%) Clustering
7 6 (1.53%) Replication
8 5 (1.28%) Driving Licence
9 4 (1.02%) CESG
9 4 (1.02%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 3 (0.77%) Fibre Optics
10 3 (0.77%) Hybrid Cloud
10 3 (0.77%) Social Media
10 3 (0.77%) SWIFT
11 2 (0.51%) Fat Client
11 2 (0.51%) Thin Client
11 2 (0.51%) User Experience
Operating Systems
1 53 (13.55%) Windows
2 27 (6.91%) Windows Server
3 19 (4.86%) Linux
4 18 (4.60%) Unix
5 12 (3.07%) Windows Server 2016
6 11 (2.81%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (1.79%) Windows 10
8 6 (1.53%) Windows Server 2008
9 5 (1.28%) Android
10 4 (1.02%) Windows 7
11 3 (0.77%) VMS
12 2 (0.51%) CatOS
12 2 (0.51%) Windows NT
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (17.90%) Network Design
2 64 (16.37%) Migration
3 46 (11.76%) Change Management
4 44 (11.25%) ITIL
5 42 (10.74%) Network Management
6 36 (9.21%) Project Management
7 32 (8.18%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 31 (7.93%) Problem-Solving
9 30 (7.67%) Load Balancing
10 28 (7.16%) DevOps
10 28 (7.16%) Service Delivery
11 24 (6.14%) Network Architecture
11 24 (6.14%) Project Delivery
12 21 (5.37%) Technical Leadership
13 20 (5.12%) Cybersecurity
14 17 (4.35%) Network Monitoring
14 17 (4.35%) PRINCE2
14 17 (4.35%) Service Management
15 16 (4.09%) Agile Software Development
15 16 (4.09%) Communications Security
Programming Languages
1 43 (11.00%) Python
2 22 (5.63%) Perl
3 20 (5.12%) SQL
4 12 (3.07%) Shell Script
5 6 (1.53%) C
6 5 (1.28%) Java
7 4 (1.02%) PHP
8 3 (0.77%) Bash Shell
8 3 (0.77%) PL/SQL
8 3 (0.77%) PowerShell
8 3 (0.77%) Ruby
9 1 (0.26%) VBA
Qualifications
1 179 (45.78%) Cisco Certification
2 142 (36.32%) CCNP
3 78 (19.95%) CCNA
4 69 (17.65%) Security Cleared
5 58 (14.83%) SC Cleared
6 57 (14.58%) CCIE
7 26 (6.65%) BC Cleared
7 26 (6.65%) BPSS Clearance
8 25 (6.39%) CCDP
9 14 (3.58%) CCIP
10 11 (2.81%) Degree
10 11 (2.81%) DV Cleared
11 10 (2.56%) CCIE Service Provider
11 10 (2.56%) JNCIE
12 9 (2.30%) CCDA
13 8 (2.05%) JNCIP
14 7 (1.79%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
15 5 (1.28%) CCSP
15 5 (1.28%) JNCIA
15 5 (1.28%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (3.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 11 (2.81%) SLA
3 8 (2.05%) GDPR
3 8 (2.05%) QA
4 6 (1.53%) RMADS
5 4 (1.02%) BS7799
6 3 (0.77%) COBIT
7 1 (0.26%) NIST
7 1 (0.26%) PMO
System Software
1 46 (11.76%) Active Directory
2 28 (7.16%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (3.32%) VMware ESXi
4 11 (2.81%) Hyper-V
4 11 (2.81%) VMware NSX
5 10 (2.56%) vSphere
6 8 (2.05%) XenDesktop
7 7 (1.79%) BitLocker
7 7 (1.79%) Docker
8 6 (1.53%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (1.28%) vCloud
10 3 (0.77%) NFS
10 3 (0.77%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.51%) VMware Server
11 2 (0.51%) XenApp
12 1 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 21 (5.37%) Cisco Prime
1 21 (5.37%) FortiGate
2 20 (5.12%) SCCM
3 19 (4.86%) Ansible
4 18 (4.60%) Opscode Chef
4 18 (4.60%) Puppet
5 17 (4.35%) Statseeker
6 16 (4.09%) Cacti
7 15 (3.84%) Nagios
7 15 (3.84%) NetMRI
7 15 (3.84%) SCOM
7 15 (3.84%) ZABBIX
8 11 (2.81%) Cisco CUCM
9 6 (1.53%) Cisco UCCX
9 6 (1.53%) Kubernetes
10 5 (1.28%) AirWatch
11 4 (1.02%) Opsview
11 4 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
12 3 (0.77%) DatAdvantage
12 3 (0.77%) Microsoft Clustering
Vendors
1 300 (76.73%) Cisco
2 121 (30.95%) Juniper
3 68 (17.39%) Palo Alto
4 59 (15.09%) Microsoft
5 52 (13.30%) CheckPoint
6 48 (12.28%) F5
6 48 (12.28%) VMware
7 36 (9.21%) Citrix
8 30 (7.67%) Fortinet
9 28 (7.16%) Huawei
10 25 (6.39%) Meraki
11 24 (6.14%) Nokia
12 19 (4.86%) NetScout
13 17 (4.35%) Solarflare
14 16 (4.09%) Aruba
14 16 (4.09%) Riverbed
14 16 (4.09%) SolarWinds
15 15 (3.84%) HP
16 13 (3.32%) Oracle
17 11 (2.81%) Ericsson