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 29 August 2026.

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

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 136 145 94
Rank change year-on-year +9 -51 +21
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 1,105 658 925
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.05% 2.00% 2.40%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.22% 2.19% 2.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 676 423 561
10th Percentile £313 £313 £300
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £490
Median % change year-on-year - -3.06% +8.89%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £551
90th Percentile £626 £638 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £472 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -0.63% - +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 46 13 16
10th Percentile £32.63 £22.12 £19.25
25th Percentile £62.81 £32.50 £20.60
Median hourly rate £75.75 £57.50 £50.53
Median % change year-on-year +31.74% +13.79% -12.37%
75th Percentile £91.00 £68.75 £75.00
90th Percentile £92.53 £81.65 £75.24
UK excluding London median hourly rate £77.50 £41.50 £50.53
% change year-on-year +86.75% -17.87% -15.78%

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 49,838 30,062 35,859
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.47% 91.24% 93.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,768 18,992 22,689
10th Percentile £325 £280 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.69%
75th Percentile £625 £621 £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 3,565 1,567 1,847
10th Percentile £14.96 £13.75 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.51 £17.04 £20.00
Median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +67.00% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.81 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £44.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -42.84% +10.00%

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 29 August 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 29 August 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 29 August 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 -6 897 £480 -1.94% 441
UK excluding London +1 641 £472 -0.63% 330
London -17 323 £500 +1.78% 176
North of England +16 253 £498 +1.63% 68
Work from Home -22 226 £475 +1.33% 98
North West +13 177 £500 +5.26% 32
South East -51 118 £475 -5.00% 63
Midlands -10 104 £475 +21.79% 50
West Midlands -7 95 £475 +31.03% 27
Scotland +19 82 £400 -5.88% 22
Yorkshire -17 63 £450 -8.54% 26
South West -16 58 £550 -7.95% 61
East of England -9 44 £465 +18.85% 48
Wales +12 31 £425 - 18
North East -27 13 £600 - 11
East Midlands -15 7 £500 -16.67% 23
Northern Ireland +1 2 £488 -7.14% 7

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

For the 6 months to 29 August 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.

1 608 (55.02%) Cisco
2 444 (40.18%) Firewall
3 317 (28.69%) WAN
4 268 (24.25%) BGP
5 261 (23.62%) Security Cleared
6 246 (22.26%) Network Security
7 245 (22.17%) VPN
8 242 (21.90%) LAN
9 236 (21.36%) Cisco Certification
10 226 (20.45%) Palo Alto
11 206 (18.64%) Wireless
12 181 (16.38%) CCNP
13 177 (16.02%) DNS
13 177 (16.02%) F5
14 176 (15.93%) SC Cleared
15 171 (15.48%) OSPF
16 160 (14.48%) Fortinet
17 153 (13.85%) VLAN
18 143 (12.94%) Azure
19 140 (12.67%) Load Balancing
20 136 (12.31%) Migration
21 129 (11.67%) Python
22 121 (10.95%) SD-WAN
23 117 (10.59%) Wi-Fi
24 108 (9.77%) TCP/IP
25 99 (8.96%) Ansible
25 99 (8.96%) Problem-Solving
26 96 (8.69%) Project Delivery
26 96 (8.69%) VMware
27 93 (8.42%) Juniper

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 8 (0.72%) SAS
2 6 (0.54%) SharePoint
3 5 (0.45%) Confluence
3 5 (0.45%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.090%) ArcGIS
4 1 (0.090%) CMS
4 1 (0.090%) FactoryTalk
4 1 (0.090%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.090%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 15 (1.36%) MS Visio
2 12 (1.09%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.36%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 143 (12.94%) Azure
2 88 (7.96%) AWS
3 47 (4.25%) GCP
4 37 (3.35%) GitHub
5 25 (2.26%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 16 (1.45%) Microsoft 365
7 14 (1.27%) AWS Direct Connect
8 12 (1.09%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 11 (1.00%) AWS CloudFormation
10 10 (0.90%) Entra ID
10 10 (0.90%) IaaS
11 8 (0.72%) GitHub Actions
11 8 (0.72%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 7 (0.63%) Nutanix
13 6 (0.54%) Azure DevOps
13 6 (0.54%) Azure Sentinel
13 6 (0.54%) OCI
14 5 (0.45%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 5 (0.45%) AWS Lambda
14 5 (0.45%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 444 (40.18%) Firewall
2 317 (28.69%) WAN
3 268 (24.25%) BGP
4 246 (22.26%) Network Security
5 245 (22.17%) VPN
6 242 (21.90%) LAN
7 206 (18.64%) Wireless
8 177 (16.02%) DNS
9 171 (15.48%) OSPF
10 153 (13.85%) VLAN
11 121 (10.95%) SD-WAN
12 117 (10.59%) Wi-Fi
13 108 (9.77%) TCP/IP
14 78 (7.06%) Cisco ASA
15 76 (6.88%) MPLS
16 75 (6.79%) DHCP
16 75 (6.79%) Multicast
17 74 (6.70%) Cisco ISE
18 73 (6.61%) Cisco Nexus
19 64 (5.79%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.27%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.18%) GIS
3 1 (0.090%) ClickHouse
3 1 (0.090%) Oracle Reports
3 1 (0.090%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 31 (2.81%) Git
2 26 (2.35%) Jenkins
3 23 (2.08%) JIRA
4 15 (1.36%) Fiddler
4 15 (1.36%) GitLab
5 6 (0.54%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.18%) Browser DevTools
6 2 (0.18%) Robot Framework
General
1 133 (12.04%) Social Skills
2 86 (7.78%) Finance
3 67 (6.06%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (5.97%) Telecoms
5 64 (5.79%) Banking
6 55 (4.98%) Public Sector
7 34 (3.08%) Investment Banking
8 30 (2.71%) Documentation Skills
9 22 (1.99%) Legal
9 22 (1.99%) Retail
10 19 (1.72%) Manufacturing
11 9 (0.81%) Aerospace
11 9 (0.81%) Police
12 7 (0.63%) Financial Institution
13 6 (0.54%) Pharmaceutical
14 5 (0.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 5 (0.45%) Organisational Skills
15 4 (0.36%) Automotive
15 4 (0.36%) Law
15 4 (0.36%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 92 (8.33%) Terraform
2 45 (4.07%) 802.1X
3 15 (1.36%) REST
4 8 (0.72%) NETCONF
4 8 (0.72%) SAML
5 5 (0.45%) JSON
5 5 (0.45%) YAML
6 3 (0.27%) Java RMI
6 3 (0.27%) LDAP
7 2 (0.18%) eBPF
7 2 (0.18%) Jinja
7 2 (0.18%) RFC 2544
8 1 (0.090%) AWS CDK
8 1 (0.090%) Django
8 1 (0.090%) ModSecurity
8 1 (0.090%) RESTCONF
8 1 (0.090%) XML
8 1 (0.090%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 195 (17.65%) Data Centre
2 40 (3.62%) Hybrid Cloud
3 28 (2.53%) PKI
4 25 (2.26%) Cloud Native
5 24 (2.17%) Driving Licence
6 19 (1.72%) Management Information System
6 19 (1.72%) Onboarding
7 16 (1.45%) Operational Technology
8 12 (1.09%) Data Protection Act
9 11 (1.00%) IoT
9 11 (1.00%) Public Cloud
9 11 (1.00%) Security Posture
10 10 (0.90%) Linux Command Line
10 10 (0.90%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (0.72%) Fibre Optics
12 7 (0.63%) CCTV
12 7 (0.63%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 7 (0.63%) Distributed Systems
13 6 (0.54%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 6 (0.54%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 71 (6.43%) Windows
2 54 (4.89%) Linux
3 13 (1.18%) Windows Server
4 6 (0.54%) VMS
5 5 (0.45%) Ubuntu
5 5 (0.45%) Unix
5 5 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
6 4 (0.36%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
7 3 (0.27%) zOS
8 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.090%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.090%) Solaris
9 1 (0.090%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.090%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.090%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (12.67%) Load Balancing
2 136 (12.31%) Migration
3 99 (8.96%) Problem-Solving
4 96 (8.69%) Project Delivery
5 89 (8.05%) High Availability
6 80 (7.24%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 77 (6.97%) Validation
8 75 (6.79%) ITIL
9 70 (6.33%) Infrastructure as Code
9 70 (6.33%) Network Design
10 66 (5.97%) Change Management
11 60 (5.43%) Network Monitoring
12 49 (4.43%) Zero Trust
13 46 (4.16%) Technical Leadership
14 43 (3.89%) CI/CD
15 41 (3.71%) Continuous Improvement
16 40 (3.62%) DevOps
17 37 (3.35%) Network Segmentation
17 37 (3.35%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 37 (3.35%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 129 (11.67%) Python
2 25 (2.26%) Bash
3 17 (1.54%) PowerShell
4 8 (0.72%) ActionScript
5 6 (0.54%) C++
5 6 (0.54%) SQL
6 3 (0.27%) C
6 3 (0.27%) Java
7 2 (0.18%) Bicep
7 2 (0.18%) Go
7 2 (0.18%) Groovy
7 2 (0.18%) Perl
7 2 (0.18%) Search Processing Language
7 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.090%) Lisp
Qualifications
1 261 (23.62%) Security Cleared
2 236 (21.36%) Cisco Certification
3 181 (16.38%) CCNP
4 176 (15.93%) SC Cleared
5 92 (8.33%) CCNA
6 82 (7.42%) DV Cleared
7 46 (4.16%) CCIE
8 32 (2.90%) Degree
9 13 (1.18%) CISSP
10 12 (1.09%) JNCIS
11 9 (0.81%) JNCIP
11 9 (0.81%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (0.72%) CCSE
12 8 (0.72%) Computer Science Degree
13 6 (0.54%) CCIE Security
13 6 (0.54%) CWNA
13 6 (0.54%) DBS Check
13 6 (0.54%) JNCIA
14 5 (0.45%) AWS Certification
14 5 (0.45%) CCSM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (2.26%) SLA
2 13 (1.18%) QA
3 10 (0.90%) NIST
4 7 (0.63%) Disclosure Scotland
4 7 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (0.27%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.18%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.18%) GDPR
6 2 (0.18%) JSP 440
7 1 (0.090%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.090%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.090%) GRC
7 1 (0.090%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.090%) NIST 800
System Software
1 71 (6.43%) VMware Infrastructure
2 31 (2.81%) Firmware
3 30 (2.71%) VMware NSX
4 28 (2.53%) Active Directory
5 12 (1.09%) vSphere
6 11 (1.00%) VMware ESXi
7 7 (0.63%) Hyper-V
8 5 (0.45%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.27%) Docker
9 3 (0.27%) FreeRADIUS
9 3 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.18%) Squid
11 1 (0.090%) iptables
11 1 (0.090%) Snort
11 1 (0.090%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 99 (8.96%) Ansible
2 73 (6.61%) FortiGate
3 28 (2.53%) Kubernetes
4 14 (1.27%) Cisco Prime
5 9 (0.81%) Istio
6 6 (0.54%) Cisco CUCM
6 6 (0.54%) Grafana
6 6 (0.54%) Prometheus
6 6 (0.54%) Puppet
7 5 (0.45%) Cilium
8 4 (0.36%) Microsoft Intune
8 4 (0.36%) Nagios
8 4 (0.36%) Packer
8 4 (0.36%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.36%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.36%) systemd
8 4 (0.36%) vRealize
9 3 (0.27%) TrustSec
10 2 (0.18%) SCCM
10 2 (0.18%) SCOM
Vendors
1 608 (55.02%) Cisco
2 226 (20.45%) Palo Alto
3 177 (16.02%) F5
4 160 (14.48%) Fortinet
5 96 (8.69%) VMware
6 93 (8.42%) Juniper
7 80 (7.24%) CheckPoint
8 73 (6.61%) Arista
9 66 (5.97%) Meraki
10 63 (5.70%) Aruba
11 56 (5.07%) Microsoft
12 45 (4.07%) Zscaler
13 36 (3.26%) SolarWinds
14 29 (2.62%) Google
15 28 (2.53%) Infoblox
16 25 (2.26%) Blue Coat
16 25 (2.26%) Nokia
17 24 (2.17%) ServiceNow
18 19 (1.72%) McAfee
18 19 (1.72%) NetApp