Network Engineer Contract Job Trends

Network Engineer
UK

The median Network Engineer daily rate in the UK is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 2 April 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 148 115 89
Rank change year-on-year -33 -26 +57
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 824 682 1,074
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.84% 2.35% 2.43%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.00% 2.53% 2.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 552 422 650
10th Percentile £300 £313 £300
25th Percentile £406 £400 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year - +5.56% -4.91%
75th Percentile £544 £575 £535
90th Percentile £588 £625 £625
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +5.56% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 5 28
10th Percentile £37.11 £31.10 £22.50
25th Percentile £53.55 £50.00 £24.88
Median hourly rate £71.94 £57.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.10% +43.75% -36.74%
75th Percentile £74.26 £68.75 £73.75
90th Percentile £78.30 £73.25 £74.20
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.54 £45.75 £63.00
% change year-on-year +58.56% -27.38% +1.61%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 41,235 26,984 41,032
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.11% 92.84% 92.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,697 17,742 26,885
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.80% -1.00% -3.67%
75th Percentile £613 £629 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.11% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,576 945 2,527
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.07 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.75 £20.85 £16.25
Median hourly rate £38.63 £32.50 £32.90
Median % change year-on-year +18.86% -1.20% -25.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £71.87
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £31.76 £33.00
% change year-on-year +25.94% -3.76% -21.25%

Network Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Network Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Network Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Network Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Network Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Engineer over the 6 months to 2 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK

Network Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Network Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Engineer over the 6 months to 2 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK

Network Engineer
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 Network Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 2 April 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 -39 688 £500 +2.04% 279
UK excluding London -27 521 £475 +5.56% 264
Work from Home -6 221 £445 -6.32% 69
London -57 206 £500 - 60
South East -4 174 £495 -1.00% 72
North of England -51 157 £478 -1.04% 53
North West -16 136 £479 -0.65% 31
Midlands -2 97 £438 +2.94% 53
West Midlands +6 91 £429 +55.91% 31
Scotland +14 40 £415 +0.61% 19
South West -32 39 £513 +8.47% 31
East of England -11 36 £450 -10.00% 25
Wales -8 25 £425 +9.68% 10
Yorkshire -60 21 £440 -4.86% 16
East Midlands -47 3 £500 +11.11% 22
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 5
North East -14 1 - - 6

Network Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 2 April 2026, Network Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Network Engineer in the job title.

1 449 (54.49%) Cisco
2 384 (46.60%) Firewall
3 284 (34.47%) Security Cleared
4 228 (27.67%) WAN
5 216 (26.21%) BGP
5 216 (26.21%) Cisco Certification
6 200 (24.27%) SC Cleared
7 199 (24.15%) Palo Alto
8 198 (24.03%) LAN
9 184 (22.33%) VPN
10 180 (21.84%) CCNP
11 173 (21.00%) Network Security
12 155 (18.81%) F5
12 155 (18.81%) OSPF
13 144 (17.48%) DNS
14 130 (15.78%) Juniper
14 130 (15.78%) Load Balancing
15 116 (14.08%) VLAN
16 108 (13.11%) TCP/IP
17 94 (11.41%) DV Cleared
18 93 (11.29%) Wireless
19 91 (11.04%) Python
20 89 (10.80%) Azure
20 89 (10.80%) CCNA
21 86 (10.44%) Problem-Solving
22 85 (10.32%) VMware
23 83 (10.07%) Fortinet
24 82 (9.95%) Aruba
25 79 (9.59%) AWS
26 78 (9.47%) Ansible

Network Engineer Skill Set
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 7 (0.85%) Confluence
1 7 (0.85%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.61%) Apache
2 5 (0.61%) IIS
3 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 17 (2.06%) MS Visio
2 8 (0.97%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.36%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 89 (10.80%) Azure
2 79 (9.59%) AWS
3 48 (5.83%) GCP
4 22 (2.67%) GitHub
5 15 (1.82%) Entra ID
6 14 (1.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 10 (1.21%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 10 (1.21%) Google Kubernetes Engine
7 10 (1.21%) Microsoft 365
8 8 (0.97%) Nutanix
9 7 (0.85%) AWS Direct Connect
10 6 (0.73%) Mimecast
10 6 (0.73%) Route 53
11 5 (0.61%) Google Compute Engine
12 4 (0.49%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (0.49%) Azure Sentinel
12 4 (0.49%) IaaS
12 4 (0.49%) SaaS
13 3 (0.36%) Catchpoint
13 3 (0.36%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 384 (46.60%) Firewall
2 228 (27.67%) WAN
3 216 (26.21%) BGP
4 198 (24.03%) LAN
5 184 (22.33%) VPN
6 173 (21.00%) Network Security
7 155 (18.81%) OSPF
8 144 (17.48%) DNS
9 116 (14.08%) VLAN
10 108 (13.11%) TCP/IP
11 93 (11.29%) Wireless
12 77 (9.34%) Wi-Fi
13 74 (8.98%) SD-WAN
14 73 (8.86%) MPLS
15 70 (8.50%) Cisco ISE
16 66 (8.01%) Cisco Nexus
17 58 (7.04%) BIG-IP
18 56 (6.80%) IPsec
19 54 (6.55%) SSL
20 52 (6.31%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.36%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.12%) Oracle Database
3 1 (0.12%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 29 (3.52%) Fiddler
2 21 (2.55%) Git
3 18 (2.18%) JIRA
4 15 (1.82%) Jenkins
5 9 (1.09%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.85%) GitLab
7 1 (0.12%) Browser DevTools
7 1 (0.12%) ClearCase
7 1 (0.12%) Jaeger
General
1 134 (16.26%) Social Skills
2 55 (6.67%) Banking
3 51 (6.19%) Public Sector
4 45 (5.46%) Documentation Skills
4 45 (5.46%) Finance
5 42 (5.10%) Analytical Skills
6 39 (4.73%) Investment Banking
7 33 (4.00%) Telecoms
8 22 (2.67%) Legal
9 21 (2.55%) Manufacturing
10 10 (1.21%) Law
11 9 (1.09%) Retail
12 6 (0.73%) Financial Institution
13 5 (0.61%) Local Government
13 5 (0.61%) Military
13 5 (0.61%) Police
14 4 (0.49%) Presentation Skills
15 3 (0.36%) Electronics
15 3 (0.36%) Marketing
15 3 (0.36%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (5.10%) 802.1X
2 9 (1.09%) LDAP
2 9 (1.09%) SAML
3 5 (0.61%) REST
4 4 (0.49%) VML
5 3 (0.36%) CSS
5 3 (0.36%) HTML
5 3 (0.36%) JSON
5 3 (0.36%) NETCONF
6 2 (0.24%) AWS CDK
6 2 (0.24%) Django
6 2 (0.24%) OpenTelemetry
6 2 (0.24%) RFC 2544
6 2 (0.24%) XML
6 2 (0.24%) YANG
7 1 (0.12%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.12%) Jinja
7 1 (0.12%) Loki
7 1 (0.12%) OpenConfig
Miscellaneous
1 175 (21.24%) Data Centre
2 24 (2.91%) Data Protection Act
2 24 (2.91%) Management Information System
3 19 (2.31%) Hybrid Cloud
3 19 (2.31%) Operational Technology
4 17 (2.06%) PKI
5 16 (1.94%) Security Posture
6 13 (1.58%) NHS
6 13 (1.58%) Onboarding
7 10 (1.21%) Public Cloud
7 10 (1.21%) Self-Motivation
8 9 (1.09%) Clustering
9 7 (0.85%) Cloud Native
10 5 (0.61%) IoT
11 4 (0.49%) CMDB
11 4 (0.49%) Enterprise Cloud
11 4 (0.49%) Mainframe
11 4 (0.49%) Virtual Team
12 3 (0.36%) Fibre Optics
12 3 (0.36%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 59 (7.16%) Windows
2 32 (3.88%) Linux
3 18 (2.18%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.61%) Unix
5 4 (0.49%) CatOS
5 4 (0.49%) zOS
6 1 (0.12%) Data ONTAP
6 1 (0.12%) Solaris
6 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.12%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (15.78%) Load Balancing
2 86 (10.44%) Problem-Solving
3 73 (8.86%) Migration
4 68 (8.25%) High Availability
4 68 (8.25%) Network Design
5 57 (6.92%) Network Monitoring
6 51 (6.19%) Change Management
7 50 (6.07%) ITIL
8 42 (5.10%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 41 (4.98%) Project Delivery
10 38 (4.61%) Network Architecture
11 37 (4.49%) ITSM
12 35 (4.25%) Validation
13 34 (4.13%) DevOps
13 34 (4.13%) Network Management
13 34 (4.13%) Stakeholder Management
14 33 (4.00%) Collaborative Working
14 33 (4.00%) Infrastructure as Code
15 32 (3.88%) Data Protection
16 29 (3.52%) Data Loss Prevention
Programming Languages
1 91 (11.04%) Python
2 18 (2.18%) Bash
3 10 (1.21%) PowerShell
3 10 (1.21%) SQL
4 7 (0.85%) Perl
5 5 (0.61%) Lisp
6 3 (0.36%) Java
6 3 (0.36%) JavaScript
7 2 (0.24%) ActionScript
7 2 (0.24%) Bicep
7 2 (0.24%) Go
8 1 (0.12%) C
8 1 (0.12%) C++
8 1 (0.12%) Korn
8 1 (0.12%) PHP
8 1 (0.12%) Ruby
8 1 (0.12%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 284 (34.47%) Security Cleared
2 216 (26.21%) Cisco Certification
3 200 (24.27%) SC Cleared
4 180 (21.84%) CCNP
5 94 (11.41%) DV Cleared
6 89 (10.80%) CCNA
7 34 (4.13%) CCIE
8 33 (4.00%) Degree
9 30 (3.64%) JNCIS
10 23 (2.79%) JNCIA
11 20 (2.43%) JNCIP
12 11 (1.33%) Network+ Certification
13 10 (1.21%) Computer Science Degree
14 5 (0.61%) AWS Certification
15 4 (0.49%) CCSE
15 4 (0.49%) CISSP
15 4 (0.49%) DBS Check
16 3 (0.36%) Azure Certification
16 3 (0.36%) CWNA
16 3 (0.36%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (1.21%) SLA
2 8 (0.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 8 (0.97%) NIST
3 5 (0.61%) GDPR
3 5 (0.61%) PCI DSS
4 4 (0.49%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (0.36%) Disclosure Scotland
5 3 (0.36%) GRC
5 3 (0.36%) QA
6 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.24%) NCSC
6 2 (0.24%) PMO
7 1 (0.12%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (0.12%) HMG Security Policy Framework
7 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.12%) JSP 440
System Software
1 59 (7.16%) VMware Infrastructure
2 48 (5.83%) VMware NSX
3 29 (3.52%) Firmware
4 28 (3.40%) Active Directory
5 7 (0.85%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (0.85%) vSphere
6 5 (0.61%) Docker
6 5 (0.61%) ProxySG
7 4 (0.49%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.24%) KVM
9 2 (0.24%) vCloud
9 2 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.12%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.12%) IAG
10 1 (0.12%) RHEV
10 1 (0.12%) Snort
10 1 (0.12%) Xen
Systems Management
1 78 (9.47%) Ansible
2 56 (6.80%) FortiGate
3 52 (6.31%) Terraform
4 13 (1.58%) Grafana
5 12 (1.46%) Prometheus
6 11 (1.33%) vCenter Server
7 8 (0.97%) Cisco Prime
7 8 (0.97%) Nagios
7 8 (0.97%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.73%) Kubernetes
8 6 (0.73%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.49%) Tivoli NetView
10 2 (0.24%) Salt
10 2 (0.24%) WSUS
11 1 (0.12%) Cacti
11 1 (0.12%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.12%) Iperf
11 1 (0.12%) SCOM
11 1 (0.12%) WhatsUp Gold
11 1 (0.12%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 449 (54.49%) Cisco
2 199 (24.15%) Palo Alto
3 155 (18.81%) F5
4 130 (15.78%) Juniper
5 85 (10.32%) VMware
6 83 (10.07%) Fortinet
7 82 (9.95%) Aruba
8 73 (8.86%) CheckPoint
9 54 (6.55%) SolarWinds
10 50 (6.07%) Meraki
11 47 (5.70%) Arista
12 41 (4.98%) Blue Coat
13 38 (4.61%) McAfee
14 36 (4.37%) Microsoft
15 24 (2.91%) Google
15 24 (2.91%) ServiceNow
16 23 (2.79%) NetApp
17 22 (2.67%) Infoblox
18 20 (2.43%) Ekahau
19 19 (2.31%) Splunk