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 26 February 2026.

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

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 159 114 90
Rank change year-on-year -45 -24 +65
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 705 737 1,037
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.70% 2.40% 2.36%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.85% 2.59% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 469 438 607
10th Percentile £299 £313 £300
25th Percentile £400 £406 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £460
Median % change year-on-year - +3.26% -0.81%
75th Percentile £525 £575 £538
90th Percentile £588 £638 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £463 £450
% change year-on-year +2.59% +2.78% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 7 36
10th Percentile £21.98 £19.40 £23.75
25th Percentile £33.00 - £35.19
Median hourly rate £52.58 £20.00 £56.25
Median % change year-on-year +162.90% -64.44% -11.04%
75th Percentile £72.13 £29.00 £70.47
90th Percentile £74.09 £41.80 £73.75
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 38,045 28,496 40,781
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.80% 92.87% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,894 17,862 26,852
10th Percentile £309 £293 £275
25th Percentile £408 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £721 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.32% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,319 828 2,327
10th Percentile £14.61 £16.43 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.17 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.23% - -10.26%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.68 £75.00 £71.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.00 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -4.62% -7.14% -2.78%

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 26 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 26 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 26 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 -60 589 £478 -2.50% 265
UK excluding London -46 438 £475 +2.59% 271
Work from Home -22 214 £425 -10.53% 67
London -49 191 £500 - 73
South East +7 149 £498 -0.50% 79
North of England -64 144 £486 +0.91% 48
North West -23 122 £486 -0.89% 27
Midlands -13 77 £438 -2.78% 40
West Midlands +2 71 £395 -10.48% 22
Scotland +14 42 £418 +0.60% 29
East of England -16 27 £381 +26.03% 22
South West -62 22 £500 +6.95% 38
Yorkshire -75 22 £470 +17.50% 14
Wales -9 15 £550 +57.14% 15
East Midlands -40 4 £500 +11.11% 18
Northern Ireland - 2 £430 - 5
North East -15 1 - - 7

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

For the 6 months to 26 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.

1 397 (56.31%) Cisco
2 347 (49.22%) Firewall
3 250 (35.46%) Security Cleared
4 195 (27.66%) Cisco Certification
4 195 (27.66%) WAN
5 184 (26.10%) Palo Alto
5 184 (26.10%) SC Cleared
6 172 (24.40%) LAN
7 168 (23.83%) CCNP
8 163 (23.12%) BGP
9 155 (21.99%) VPN
10 150 (21.28%) Network Security
11 129 (18.30%) DNS
12 126 (17.87%) F5
13 116 (16.45%) OSPF
14 115 (16.31%) Juniper
15 106 (15.04%) TCP/IP
16 101 (14.33%) Load Balancing
17 98 (13.90%) VLAN
18 95 (13.48%) Python
19 86 (12.20%) CCNA
20 84 (11.91%) Problem-Solving
21 81 (11.49%) Wireless
22 80 (11.35%) Ansible
23 76 (10.78%) CheckPoint
24 75 (10.64%) Wi-Fi
25 74 (10.50%) Azure
26 73 (10.35%) VMware
27 72 (10.21%) MPLS
28 70 (9.93%) DV Cleared

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 (1.42%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.99%) Confluence
3 6 (0.85%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.71%) Apache
4 5 (0.71%) IIS
Applications
1 20 (2.84%) MS Visio
2 7 (0.99%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.43%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 74 (10.50%) Azure
2 68 (9.65%) AWS
3 34 (4.82%) GCP
4 16 (2.27%) Entra ID
5 14 (1.99%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 13 (1.84%) GitHub
7 10 (1.42%) Microsoft 365
8 7 (0.99%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 7 (0.99%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 7 (0.99%) Nutanix
9 5 (0.71%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 5 (0.71%) Amazon EC2
9 5 (0.71%) Amazon ELB
9 5 (0.71%) Amazon S3
9 5 (0.71%) IaaS
9 5 (0.71%) Mimecast
9 5 (0.71%) SaaS
10 4 (0.57%) AWS Direct Connect
10 4 (0.57%) Cohesity
10 4 (0.57%) Google Compute Engine
Communications & Networking
1 347 (49.22%) Firewall
2 195 (27.66%) WAN
3 172 (24.40%) LAN
4 163 (23.12%) BGP
5 155 (21.99%) VPN
6 150 (21.28%) Network Security
7 129 (18.30%) DNS
8 116 (16.45%) OSPF
9 106 (15.04%) TCP/IP
10 98 (13.90%) VLAN
11 81 (11.49%) Wireless
12 75 (10.64%) Wi-Fi
13 72 (10.21%) MPLS
14 66 (9.36%) Cisco ISE
15 64 (9.08%) SSL
16 61 (8.65%) Cisco Nexus
16 61 (8.65%) SD-WAN
17 52 (7.38%) IPsec
18 49 (6.95%) Wireshark
19 48 (6.81%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.43%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 30 (4.26%) Fiddler
2 22 (3.12%) Git
3 15 (2.13%) Jenkins
4 14 (1.99%) JIRA
5 10 (1.42%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.28%) GitLab
7 1 (0.14%) ClearCase
7 1 (0.14%) Jaeger
General
1 139 (19.72%) Social Skills
2 54 (7.66%) Public Sector
3 43 (6.10%) Banking
3 43 (6.10%) Documentation Skills
4 42 (5.96%) Finance
5 38 (5.39%) Telecoms
6 36 (5.11%) Investment Banking
7 32 (4.54%) Analytical Skills
8 22 (3.12%) Manufacturing
9 19 (2.70%) Legal
10 8 (1.13%) Law
10 8 (1.13%) Local Government
11 6 (0.85%) Military
11 6 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.71%) Financial Institution
12 5 (0.71%) Retail
13 4 (0.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (0.43%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.43%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.43%) Spanish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.25%) 802.1X
2 11 (1.56%) SAML
3 8 (1.13%) LDAP
4 5 (0.71%) RFC 2544
5 4 (0.57%) Middleware
5 4 (0.57%) VML
6 3 (0.43%) CSS
6 3 (0.43%) HTML
6 3 (0.43%) JSON
6 3 (0.43%) REST
7 2 (0.28%) Django
7 2 (0.28%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.28%) OpenTelemetry
7 2 (0.28%) XML
7 2 (0.28%) YANG
8 1 (0.14%) AWS CDK
8 1 (0.14%) FIX Protocol
8 1 (0.14%) Loki
8 1 (0.14%) OpenConfig
8 1 (0.14%) Ultra Messaging
Miscellaneous
1 156 (22.13%) Data Centre
2 24 (3.40%) Data Protection Act
2 24 (3.40%) Management Information System
3 20 (2.84%) Onboarding
3 20 (2.84%) Operational Technology
4 17 (2.41%) PKI
4 17 (2.41%) Security Posture
5 13 (1.84%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (1.70%) NHS
7 11 (1.56%) Self-Motivation
8 8 (1.13%) Public Cloud
9 7 (0.99%) Clustering
9 7 (0.99%) Fibre Optics
9 7 (0.99%) Hedge funds
10 5 (0.71%) Cloud Native
10 5 (0.71%) IoT
11 4 (0.57%) CMDB
11 4 (0.57%) Mainframe
11 4 (0.57%) SCADA
11 4 (0.57%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 56 (7.94%) Windows
2 32 (4.54%) Linux
3 27 (3.83%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.57%) CatOS
4 4 (0.57%) 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 (14.33%) Load Balancing
2 84 (11.91%) Problem-Solving
3 65 (9.22%) Network Design
4 57 (8.09%) Migration
5 55 (7.80%) Network Monitoring
6 52 (7.38%) High Availability
7 42 (5.96%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 42 (5.96%) Project Delivery
8 40 (5.67%) Change Management
9 39 (5.53%) Network Architecture
10 35 (4.96%) ITIL
10 35 (4.96%) ITSM
11 33 (4.68%) DevOps
11 33 (4.68%) Network Management
12 32 (4.54%) Stakeholder Management
13 30 (4.26%) Root Cause Analysis
14 29 (4.11%) Collaborative Working
15 28 (3.97%) Cybersecurity
16 27 (3.83%) Data Loss Prevention
16 27 (3.83%) Malware Detection/Protection
Programming Languages
1 95 (13.48%) Python
2 26 (3.69%) Bash
3 13 (1.84%) PowerShell
4 10 (1.42%) Perl
5 8 (1.13%) Lisp
6 7 (0.99%) SQL
7 3 (0.43%) C++
7 3 (0.43%) Java
7 3 (0.43%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.28%) Go
9 1 (0.14%) ActionScript
9 1 (0.14%) Bicep
9 1 (0.14%) C
9 1 (0.14%) Korn
9 1 (0.14%) PHP
9 1 (0.14%) Ruby
9 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 250 (35.46%) Security Cleared
2 195 (27.66%) Cisco Certification
3 184 (26.10%) SC Cleared
4 168 (23.83%) CCNP
5 86 (12.20%) CCNA
6 70 (9.93%) DV Cleared
7 31 (4.40%) Degree
8 28 (3.97%) JNCIS
9 27 (3.83%) CCIE
10 22 (3.12%) JNCIA
11 19 (2.70%) JNCIP
12 14 (1.99%) Network+ Certification
13 9 (1.28%) Computer Science Degree
14 4 (0.57%) CISSP
14 4 (0.57%) 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 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 10 (1.42%) NIST
2 8 (1.13%) SLA
3 7 (0.99%) PCI DSS
4 6 (0.85%) GDPR
5 3 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (0.43%) GRC
5 3 (0.43%) QA
6 2 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.28%) NCSC
6 2 (0.28%) PMO
7 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (0.14%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.14%) HMG Security Policy Framework
7 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.14%) JSP 440
7 1 (0.14%) SOC 2
System Software
1 45 (6.38%) VMware NSX
2 43 (6.10%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (5.25%) Active Directory
4 29 (4.11%) Firmware
5 10 (1.42%) Docker
6 8 (1.13%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.71%) ProxySG
7 5 (0.71%) VMware ESXi
7 5 (0.71%) vSphere
8 3 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.28%) KVM
9 2 (0.28%) vCloud
9 2 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.14%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.14%) IAG
10 1 (0.14%) RACF
10 1 (0.14%) RHEV
10 1 (0.14%) Xen
Systems Management
1 80 (11.35%) Ansible
2 51 (7.23%) FortiGate
3 38 (5.39%) Terraform
4 19 (2.70%) vCenter Server
5 11 (1.56%) Grafana
6 10 (1.42%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.42%) Single Sign-On
7 8 (1.13%) Cisco Prime
7 8 (1.13%) Nagios
8 6 (0.85%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.57%) CASB
9 4 (0.57%) Tivoli NetView
10 3 (0.43%) Dell DRAC
10 3 (0.43%) Kubernetes
10 3 (0.43%) SCCM
10 3 (0.43%) SCOrch
11 2 (0.28%) Salt
11 2 (0.28%) WSUS
12 1 (0.14%) OMEGAMON
12 1 (0.14%) SCOM
Vendors
1 397 (56.31%) Cisco
2 184 (26.10%) Palo Alto
3 126 (17.87%) F5
4 115 (16.31%) Juniper
5 76 (10.78%) CheckPoint
6 73 (10.35%) VMware
7 69 (9.79%) Aruba
8 64 (9.08%) SolarWinds
9 63 (8.94%) Fortinet
10 54 (7.66%) Meraki
11 48 (6.81%) Blue Coat
12 41 (5.82%) McAfee
13 39 (5.53%) Microsoft
14 33 (4.68%) Arista
15 23 (3.26%) NetApp
15 23 (3.26%) ServiceNow
16 21 (2.98%) Splunk
17 19 (2.70%) Zscaler
18 18 (2.55%) Nokia
19 16 (2.27%) Ekahau