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 22 February 2026.

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

6 months to
22 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 166 114 87
Rank change year-on-year -52 -27 +71
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 693 727 1,054
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.70% 2.36% 2.36%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.85% 2.55% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 464 432 611
10th Percentile £293 £313 £300
25th Percentile £400 £405 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £477 £460
Median % change year-on-year -0.47% +3.75% -0.54%
75th Percentile £525 £575 £543
90th Percentile £586 £638 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £469 £465 £450
% change year-on-year +0.86% +3.33% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 7 42
10th Percentile £21.98 £19.40 £24.25
25th Percentile £33.00 - £36.70
Median hourly rate £52.58 £20.00 £62.75
Median % change year-on-year +162.90% -68.13% +1.21%
75th Percentile £72.13 £29.00 £73.75
90th Percentile £74.09 £41.80 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £56.44 £20.00 £65.98
% change year-on-year +182.20% -69.69% +6.42%

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 37,410 28,560 41,523
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.75% 92.90% 93.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,490 17,819 27,326
10th Percentile £306 £290 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,280 830 2,340
10th Percentile £14.63 £16.25 £13.16
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.50 £16.45
Median hourly rate £31.76 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -9.27% - -10.26%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.31 £60.06
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £32.50 £35.95
% change year-on-year -7.69% -9.60% +0.84%

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 22 February 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 22 February 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 22 February 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 -51 579 £475 -5.00% 302
UK excluding London -48 434 £469 +0.86% 298
Work from Home -12 211 £425 -10.99% 84
London -52 186 £500 - 86
South East +16 150 £485 -3.00% 86
North of England -66 137 £481 - 53
North West -26 115 £481 -1.79% 30
Midlands -6 79 £419 -7.71% 42
West Midlands -7 73 £400 -9.35% 22
Scotland +3 42 £418 +0.60% 36
East of England -22 27 £381 +26.03% 22
Yorkshire -73 22 £470 +17.50% 16
South West -60 21 £500 +5.82% 45
Wales -8 15 £550 +62.96% 13
East Midlands -38 4 £500 -2.44% 20
Northern Ireland - 3 £475 - 5
North East -22 1 - - 7

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

For the 6 months to 22 February 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.

1 396 (57.14%) Cisco
2 341 (49.21%) Firewall
3 244 (35.21%) Security Cleared
4 192 (27.71%) WAN
5 188 (27.13%) Cisco Certification
6 177 (25.54%) SC Cleared
7 176 (25.40%) Palo Alto
8 170 (24.53%) LAN
9 163 (23.52%) BGP
10 162 (23.38%) CCNP
11 152 (21.93%) Network Security
11 152 (21.93%) VPN
12 126 (18.18%) DNS
13 124 (17.89%) F5
14 115 (16.59%) OSPF
15 114 (16.45%) Juniper
16 102 (14.72%) TCP/IP
17 101 (14.57%) Load Balancing
18 92 (13.28%) VLAN
19 91 (13.13%) Python
20 83 (11.98%) CCNA
20 83 (11.98%) Problem-Solving
21 79 (11.40%) Ansible
22 77 (11.11%) CheckPoint
23 76 (10.97%) Wireless
24 73 (10.53%) MPLS
25 72 (10.39%) VMware
26 71 (10.25%) Azure
27 70 (10.10%) DV Cleared
27 70 (10.10%) Wi-Fi

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 10 (1.44%) SharePoint
2 8 (1.15%) Confluence
3 6 (0.87%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.72%) Apache
4 5 (0.72%) IIS
Applications
1 20 (2.89%) MS Visio
2 6 (0.87%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.58%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 71 (10.25%) Azure
2 67 (9.67%) AWS
3 30 (4.33%) GCP
4 16 (2.31%) Entra ID
5 13 (1.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 10 (1.44%) Microsoft 365
7 9 (1.30%) GitHub
8 7 (1.01%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 7 (1.01%) Nutanix
9 5 (0.72%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 5 (0.72%) Amazon EC2
9 5 (0.72%) Amazon ELB
9 5 (0.72%) Amazon S3
9 5 (0.72%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 5 (0.72%) IaaS
9 5 (0.72%) Mimecast
9 5 (0.72%) SaaS
10 4 (0.58%) AWS Direct Connect
10 4 (0.58%) Cohesity
10 4 (0.58%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 341 (49.21%) Firewall
2 192 (27.71%) WAN
3 170 (24.53%) LAN
4 163 (23.52%) BGP
5 152 (21.93%) Network Security
5 152 (21.93%) VPN
6 126 (18.18%) DNS
7 115 (16.59%) OSPF
8 102 (14.72%) TCP/IP
9 92 (13.28%) VLAN
10 76 (10.97%) Wireless
11 73 (10.53%) MPLS
12 70 (10.10%) Wi-Fi
13 66 (9.52%) Cisco ISE
14 63 (9.09%) SSL
15 62 (8.95%) SD-WAN
16 60 (8.66%) Cisco Nexus
17 53 (7.65%) IPsec
18 49 (7.07%) Wireshark
19 47 (6.78%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.43%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 30 (4.33%) Fiddler
2 19 (2.74%) Git
3 14 (2.02%) JIRA
4 12 (1.73%) Jenkins
5 10 (1.44%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.30%) GitLab
7 1 (0.14%) ClearCase
7 1 (0.14%) Jaeger
General
1 135 (19.48%) Social Skills
2 55 (7.94%) Public Sector
3 43 (6.20%) Banking
4 42 (6.06%) Documentation Skills
4 42 (6.06%) Finance
5 37 (5.34%) Telecoms
6 36 (5.19%) Investment Banking
7 33 (4.76%) Analytical Skills
8 22 (3.17%) Manufacturing
9 20 (2.89%) Legal
10 8 (1.15%) Law
10 8 (1.15%) Local Government
11 6 (0.87%) Military
11 6 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.72%) Financial Institution
12 5 (0.72%) Retail
13 4 (0.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (0.43%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.43%) Marketing
14 3 (0.43%) Spanish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (4.91%) 802.1X
2 11 (1.59%) SAML
3 8 (1.15%) LDAP
4 5 (0.72%) RFC 2544
5 4 (0.58%) Middleware
5 4 (0.58%) VML
6 3 (0.43%) CSS
6 3 (0.43%) HTML
6 3 (0.43%) JSON
7 2 (0.29%) Django
7 2 (0.29%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.29%) OpenTelemetry
7 2 (0.29%) REST
7 2 (0.29%) XML
7 2 (0.29%) YANG
8 1 (0.14%) ARM Templates
8 1 (0.14%) AWS CDK
8 1 (0.14%) Loki
8 1 (0.14%) OpenConfig
8 1 (0.14%) Ultra Messaging
Miscellaneous
1 151 (21.79%) Data Centre
2 23 (3.32%) Data Protection Act
2 23 (3.32%) Management Information System
3 20 (2.89%) Operational Technology
4 19 (2.74%) Onboarding
4 19 (2.74%) PKI
5 15 (2.16%) Security Posture
6 12 (1.73%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (1.73%) NHS
7 11 (1.59%) Self-Motivation
8 8 (1.15%) Public Cloud
9 7 (1.01%) Clustering
9 7 (1.01%) Fibre Optics
9 7 (1.01%) Hedge funds
10 5 (0.72%) Driving Licence
10 5 (0.72%) IoT
10 5 (0.72%) Virtual Team
11 4 (0.58%) Cloud Native
11 4 (0.58%) CMDB
11 4 (0.58%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 56 (8.08%) Windows
2 32 (4.62%) Linux
3 28 (4.04%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.58%) CatOS
4 4 (0.58%) Unix
5 3 (0.43%) zOS
6 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
6 1 (0.14%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (14.57%) Load Balancing
2 83 (11.98%) Problem-Solving
3 61 (8.80%) Network Design
4 57 (8.23%) Migration
5 53 (7.65%) High Availability
5 53 (7.65%) Network Monitoring
6 43 (6.20%) Project Delivery
7 42 (6.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 39 (5.63%) Change Management
9 38 (5.48%) Network Architecture
10 35 (5.05%) Network Management
11 33 (4.76%) ITSM
11 33 (4.76%) Stakeholder Management
12 32 (4.62%) ITIL
13 30 (4.33%) DevOps
14 29 (4.18%) Cybersecurity
15 28 (4.04%) Collaborative Working
16 27 (3.90%) Data Loss Prevention
16 27 (3.90%) Malware Detection/Protection
16 27 (3.90%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 91 (13.13%) Python
2 25 (3.61%) Bash
3 13 (1.88%) PowerShell
4 11 (1.59%) Perl
5 8 (1.15%) Lisp
6 5 (0.72%) SQL
7 4 (0.58%) C++
8 3 (0.43%) Java
8 3 (0.43%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.29%) Go
10 1 (0.14%) ActionScript
10 1 (0.14%) Bicep
10 1 (0.14%) C
10 1 (0.14%) Korn
10 1 (0.14%) PHP
10 1 (0.14%) Ruby
10 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 244 (35.21%) Security Cleared
2 188 (27.13%) Cisco Certification
3 177 (25.54%) SC Cleared
4 162 (23.38%) CCNP
5 83 (11.98%) CCNA
6 70 (10.10%) DV Cleared
7 28 (4.04%) JNCIS
8 27 (3.90%) CCIE
9 26 (3.75%) Degree
10 22 (3.17%) JNCIA
11 18 (2.60%) JNCIP
12 11 (1.59%) Network+ Certification
13 6 (0.87%) Computer Science Degree
14 4 (0.58%) CISSP
14 4 (0.58%) DBS Check
15 3 (0.43%) BPSS Clearance
15 3 (0.43%) CCDP
15 3 (0.43%) GIAC
15 3 (0.43%) Microsoft Certification
15 3 (0.43%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (1.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 10 (1.44%) NIST
2 7 (1.01%) PCI DSS
2 7 (1.01%) SLA
3 6 (0.87%) GDPR
4 3 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
4 3 (0.43%) GRC
4 3 (0.43%) QA
5 2 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (0.29%) NCSC
5 2 (0.29%) PMO
6 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 1 (0.14%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.14%) HMG Security Policy Framework
6 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 1 (0.14%) JSP 440
6 1 (0.14%) SOC 2
System Software
1 46 (6.64%) VMware NSX
2 43 (6.20%) VMware Infrastructure
3 38 (5.48%) Active Directory
4 30 (4.33%) Firmware
5 10 (1.44%) Docker
6 8 (1.15%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.72%) ProxySG
7 5 (0.72%) vSphere
8 4 (0.58%) VMware ESXi
9 3 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.29%) KVM
10 2 (0.29%) vCloud
10 2 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
10 2 (0.29%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.14%) Citrix Presentation Server
11 1 (0.14%) RACF
11 1 (0.14%) RHEV
11 1 (0.14%) Xen
Systems Management
1 79 (11.40%) Ansible
2 51 (7.36%) FortiGate
3 35 (5.05%) Terraform
4 20 (2.89%) vCenter Server
5 11 (1.59%) Grafana
6 10 (1.44%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.44%) Single Sign-On
7 8 (1.15%) Cisco Prime
8 7 (1.01%) Nagios
9 6 (0.87%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.58%) CASB
10 4 (0.58%) Tivoli NetView
11 3 (0.43%) Dell DRAC
11 3 (0.43%) Kubernetes
11 3 (0.43%) SCCM
11 3 (0.43%) SCOrch
12 2 (0.29%) Salt
12 2 (0.29%) WSUS
13 1 (0.14%) OMEGAMON
13 1 (0.14%) SCOM
Vendors
1 396 (57.14%) Cisco
2 176 (25.40%) Palo Alto
3 124 (17.89%) F5
4 114 (16.45%) Juniper
5 77 (11.11%) CheckPoint
6 72 (10.39%) VMware
7 68 (9.81%) Fortinet
7 68 (9.81%) SolarWinds
8 67 (9.67%) Aruba
9 54 (7.79%) Meraki
10 48 (6.93%) Blue Coat
11 41 (5.92%) McAfee
12 38 (5.48%) Microsoft
13 32 (4.62%) Arista
14 23 (3.32%) NetApp
15 21 (3.03%) Splunk
16 19 (2.74%) ServiceNow
16 19 (2.74%) Zscaler
17 18 (2.60%) Nokia
18 12 (1.73%) Remedy