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 28 July 2026.

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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 135 132 94
Rank change year-on-year -3 -38 +24
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 1,065 709 954
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.01% 2.16% 2.38%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.17% 2.37% 2.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 676 447 596
10th Percentile £313 £325 £286
25th Percentile £413 £400 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year - - +5.56%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £550
90th Percentile £616 £638 £634
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £485 £475
% change year-on-year -2.06% +2.11% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 12 15
10th Percentile £29.00 £22.08 £17.98
25th Percentile £69.08 £30.00 £21.57
Median hourly rate £77.50 £53.75 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year +44.19% +10.69% -21.68%
75th Percentile £86.03 £70.63 £70.00
90th Percentile £92.53 £82.33 £75.24
UK excluding London median hourly rate £77.50 £38.25 £50.53
% change year-on-year +102.61% -24.30% -18.50%

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 48,972 29,978 37,340
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.64% 91.54% 93.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,547 19,070 24,184
10th Percentile £331 £285 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.87%
75th Percentile £625 £623 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,337 1,464 2,247
10th Percentile £15.75 £13.71 £13.86
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £18.32
Median hourly rate £43.50 £25.15 £42.03
Median % change year-on-year +72.96% -40.16% -2.97%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.02 £73.75 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -41.51% +8.59%

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 28 July 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 28 July 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 28 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 -11 878 £475 -3.46% 248
UK excluding London -13 623 £475 -2.06% 210
London -28 303 £483 +1.58% 83
Work from Home -39 230 £463 - 54
North of England -4 224 £500 +1.63% 58
North West +2 164 £500 -0.25% 31
South East -29 149 £463 -7.50% 45
Midlands -2 107 £475 +9.51% 32
West Midlands -1 101 £475 +35.71% 16
Scotland +22 73 £400 -8.57% 20
South West -28 56 £550 - 25
Yorkshire -35 47 £450 -8.54% 19
East of England -6 42 £470 +17.50% 20
Wales -5 21 £425 -5.56% 9
North East -31 13 £600 +84.62% 8
East Midlands -21 3 £475 -13.64% 16
Northern Ireland -1 1 £550 -4.35% 3

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

For the 6 months to 28 July 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.

1 571 (53.62%) Cisco
2 471 (44.23%) Firewall
3 296 (27.79%) WAN
4 268 (25.16%) Security Cleared
5 259 (24.32%) BGP
6 245 (23.00%) LAN
6 245 (23.00%) Network Security
7 244 (22.91%) Cisco Certification
8 242 (22.72%) VPN
9 225 (21.13%) Palo Alto
10 190 (17.84%) F5
11 188 (17.65%) CCNP
11 188 (17.65%) DNS
11 188 (17.65%) Wireless
12 176 (16.53%) SC Cleared
13 175 (16.43%) OSPF
14 161 (15.12%) Fortinet
15 150 (14.08%) Load Balancing
16 144 (13.52%) Azure
16 144 (13.52%) VLAN
17 127 (11.92%) Migration
18 122 (11.46%) Juniper
19 119 (11.17%) Python
20 114 (10.70%) TCP/IP
21 109 (10.23%) SD-WAN
22 105 (9.86%) Wi-Fi
23 98 (9.20%) Problem-Solving
24 96 (9.01%) CCNA
24 96 (9.01%) High Availability
25 95 (8.92%) Terraform

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 6 (0.56%) Confluence
1 6 (0.56%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (0.38%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.28%) SAS
4 1 (0.094%) ArcGIS
4 1 (0.094%) CMS
4 1 (0.094%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.094%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 14 (1.31%) MS Visio
2 12 (1.13%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 144 (13.52%) Azure
2 88 (8.26%) AWS
3 57 (5.35%) GCP
4 42 (3.94%) GitHub
5 20 (1.88%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 16 (1.50%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (1.31%) Microsoft 365
8 13 (1.22%) Entra ID
8 13 (1.22%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 11 (1.03%) AWS CloudFormation
9 11 (1.03%) AWS Direct Connect
10 10 (0.94%) IaaS
11 8 (0.75%) GitHub Actions
12 7 (0.66%) Nutanix
13 6 (0.56%) Azure DevOps
13 6 (0.56%) Azure Sentinel
13 6 (0.56%) Cloudflare
13 6 (0.56%) Google Compute Engine
13 6 (0.56%) OCI
14 5 (0.47%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 471 (44.23%) Firewall
2 296 (27.79%) WAN
3 259 (24.32%) BGP
4 245 (23.00%) LAN
4 245 (23.00%) Network Security
5 242 (22.72%) VPN
6 188 (17.65%) DNS
6 188 (17.65%) Wireless
7 175 (16.43%) OSPF
8 144 (13.52%) VLAN
9 114 (10.70%) TCP/IP
10 109 (10.23%) SD-WAN
11 105 (9.86%) Wi-Fi
12 78 (7.32%) Cisco ISE
12 78 (7.32%) Multicast
13 74 (6.95%) DHCP
14 71 (6.67%) Cisco Nexus
14 71 (6.67%) MPLS
15 64 (6.01%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 62 (5.82%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.28%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.094%) ClickHouse
2 1 (0.094%) GIS
2 1 (0.094%) Oracle Reports
2 1 (0.094%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 32 (3.00%) Jenkins
2 28 (2.63%) JIRA
3 26 (2.44%) Git
4 18 (1.69%) Fiddler
5 12 (1.13%) GitLab
6 6 (0.56%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.19%) Browser DevTools
General
1 142 (13.33%) Social Skills
2 73 (6.85%) Finance
3 62 (5.82%) Banking
4 56 (5.26%) Analytical Skills
5 48 (4.51%) Public Sector
5 48 (4.51%) Telecoms
6 36 (3.38%) Investment Banking
7 34 (3.19%) Documentation Skills
8 22 (2.07%) Retail
9 20 (1.88%) Legal
10 19 (1.78%) Manufacturing
11 9 (0.85%) Aerospace
11 9 (0.85%) Police
12 7 (0.66%) Financial Institution
12 7 (0.66%) Law
12 7 (0.66%) Military
13 6 (0.56%) Pharmaceutical
14 5 (0.47%) Local Government
14 5 (0.47%) Organisational Skills
15 4 (0.38%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (4.79%) 802.1X
2 11 (1.03%) REST
3 10 (0.94%) SAML
4 6 (0.56%) NETCONF
5 5 (0.47%) LDAP
6 3 (0.28%) Java RMI
7 2 (0.19%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.19%) eBPF
7 2 (0.19%) Jinja
7 2 (0.19%) JSON
7 2 (0.19%) RFC 2544
8 1 (0.094%) CSS
8 1 (0.094%) HTML
8 1 (0.094%) ModSecurity
8 1 (0.094%) OpenTelemetry
8 1 (0.094%) XMPP
8 1 (0.094%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 189 (17.75%) Data Centre
2 35 (3.29%) Hybrid Cloud
3 32 (3.00%) PKI
4 22 (2.07%) Management Information System
5 21 (1.97%) Cloud Native
6 19 (1.78%) Security Posture
7 16 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
7 16 (1.50%) Onboarding
8 15 (1.41%) Driving Licence
8 15 (1.41%) Operational Technology
9 10 (0.94%) Linux Command Line
9 10 (0.94%) Self-Motivation
10 9 (0.85%) Clustering
10 9 (0.85%) IoT
11 8 (0.75%) CCTV
12 7 (0.66%) Enterprise Cloud
12 7 (0.66%) NHS
12 7 (0.66%) Public Cloud
13 6 (0.56%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 6 (0.56%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 73 (6.85%) Windows
2 48 (4.51%) Linux
3 12 (1.13%) Windows Server
4 7 (0.66%) Unix
5 6 (0.56%) VMS
6 5 (0.47%) Ubuntu
6 5 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
7 4 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.28%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.094%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.094%) Solaris
10 1 (0.094%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.094%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.094%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.094%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 150 (14.08%) Load Balancing
2 127 (11.92%) Migration
3 98 (9.20%) Problem-Solving
4 96 (9.01%) High Availability
5 89 (8.36%) Project Delivery
6 75 (7.04%) ITIL
7 70 (6.57%) Change Management
8 69 (6.48%) Network Design
9 66 (6.20%) Infrastructure as Code
10 64 (6.01%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 63 (5.92%) Validation
12 61 (5.73%) Network Monitoring
13 47 (4.41%) Zero Trust
14 46 (4.32%) Continuous Improvement
15 45 (4.23%) DevOps
16 43 (4.04%) Technical Leadership
17 42 (3.94%) CI/CD
18 38 (3.57%) Stakeholder Engagement
19 37 (3.47%) ITSM
20 36 (3.38%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 119 (11.17%) Python
2 21 (1.97%) Bash
3 13 (1.22%) PowerShell
4 9 (0.85%) ActionScript
5 8 (0.75%) SQL
6 4 (0.38%) C++
7 3 (0.28%) Bicep
7 3 (0.28%) C
7 3 (0.28%) Java
8 2 (0.19%) Groovy
8 2 (0.19%) Perl
9 1 (0.094%) Go
9 1 (0.094%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.094%) Lisp
9 1 (0.094%) PHP
9 1 (0.094%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 268 (25.16%) Security Cleared
2 244 (22.91%) Cisco Certification
3 188 (17.65%) CCNP
4 176 (16.53%) SC Cleared
5 96 (9.01%) CCNA
6 93 (8.73%) DV Cleared
7 42 (3.94%) CCIE
8 38 (3.57%) Degree
9 18 (1.69%) JNCIS
10 16 (1.50%) JNCIP
11 13 (1.22%) Network+ Certification
12 11 (1.03%) JNCIA
13 10 (0.94%) CISSP
14 9 (0.85%) Computer Science Degree
15 8 (0.75%) CCSE
16 6 (0.56%) Azure Certification
16 6 (0.56%) CompTIA Security+
17 5 (0.47%) AWS Certification
17 5 (0.47%) CCIE Wireless
17 5 (0.47%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (1.97%) SLA
2 12 (1.13%) NIST
3 10 (0.94%) QA
4 9 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (0.75%) Disclosure Scotland
6 4 (0.38%) GDPR
6 4 (0.38%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (0.28%) GRC
8 2 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.19%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.19%) NCSC
9 1 (0.094%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.094%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.094%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.094%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 71 (6.67%) VMware Infrastructure
2 32 (3.00%) Firmware
3 31 (2.91%) Active Directory
3 31 (2.91%) VMware NSX
4 16 (1.50%) VMware ESXi
5 13 (1.22%) vSphere
6 6 (0.56%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.47%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.38%) Docker
8 4 (0.38%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.19%) FreeRADIUS
9 2 (0.19%) Squid
10 1 (0.094%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.094%) IAG
10 1 (0.094%) iptables
10 1 (0.094%) KVM
10 1 (0.094%) Snort
10 1 (0.094%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 95 (8.92%) Terraform
2 88 (8.26%) Ansible
3 79 (7.42%) FortiGate
4 16 (1.50%) Kubernetes
5 13 (1.22%) Cisco Prime
6 9 (0.85%) Grafana
7 7 (0.66%) Prometheus
8 6 (0.56%) Cisco CUCM
9 5 (0.47%) Puppet
9 5 (0.47%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.38%) Istio
10 4 (0.38%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.38%) Packer
11 3 (0.28%) Nagios
11 3 (0.28%) systemd
12 2 (0.19%) CASB
12 2 (0.19%) Nessus
12 2 (0.19%) SCCM
12 2 (0.19%) SCOM
12 2 (0.19%) WSUS
Vendors
1 571 (53.62%) Cisco
2 225 (21.13%) Palo Alto
3 190 (17.84%) F5
4 161 (15.12%) Fortinet
5 122 (11.46%) Juniper
6 94 (8.83%) VMware
7 77 (7.23%) CheckPoint
8 69 (6.48%) Aruba
9 68 (6.38%) Arista
10 52 (4.88%) Microsoft
11 51 (4.79%) Meraki
12 47 (4.41%) Zscaler
13 38 (3.57%) SolarWinds
14 36 (3.38%) Google
15 32 (3.00%) Infoblox
16 29 (2.72%) Blue Coat
17 26 (2.44%) ServiceNow
18 22 (2.07%) McAfee
19 19 (1.78%) Extreme Networks
19 19 (1.78%) NetApp