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 15 October 2026.

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

6 months to
15 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 145 170 93
Rank change year-on-year +25 -77 +21
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 1,107 580 958
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.00% 1.75% 2.54%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.18% 1.92% 2.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 633 383 547
10th Percentile £303 £308 £316
25th Percentile £400 £400 £411
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £493
Median % change year-on-year - -3.65% +9.56%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £588
90th Percentile £619 £638 £649
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -2.63% - +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 13 18
10th Percentile £8.00 £21.01 £19.55
25th Percentile £49.00 £22.50 £20.00
Median hourly rate £68.75 £34.00 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +102.21% -18.07% -32.24%
75th Percentile £78.75 £58.75 £54.69
90th Percentile £92.53 £79.85 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £68.75 £35.00 £21.39
% change year-on-year +96.43% +63.65% -67.58%

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 50,841 30,184 35,017
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.94% 90.90% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,834 19,073 21,148
10th Percentile £325 £275 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £738 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4,158 1,652 1,437
10th Percentile £14.31 £13.80 £15.09
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.30 £20.50
Median hourly rate £41.56 £25.15 £41.27
Median % change year-on-year +65.23% -39.05% -8.30%
75th Percentile £67.50 £50.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.30 £68.52 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.06 £25.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year +64.24% -41.18% -4.49%

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 15 October 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 15 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK

Network Engineer
Top 18 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 15 October 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 +15 903 £475 -2.06% 188
UK excluding London +2 641 £463 -2.63% 175
London +24 343 £500 +5.26% 38
North of England +22 247 £499 +1.63% 36
Work from Home -37 220 £463 +2.89% 49
North West +25 169 £500 - 11
Midlands -14 105 £475 +18.75% 35
South East -77 84 £463 -7.50% 39
West Midlands -23 83 £475 +23.38% 18
Scotland +14 81 £390 -8.24% 10
Yorkshire -12 65 £450 -7.64% 19
East of England +5 61 £410 +7.19% 16
South West -7 59 £535 -14.06% 27
Wales +21 37 £363 - 12
East Midlands +5 22 £475 -26.92% 17
North East -25 13 £600 -4.00% 6
Northern Ireland 0 2 £425 -10.53% 2
Channel Islands -3 2 £600 +36.36%

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

For the 6 months to 15 October 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.

1 589 (53.21%) Cisco
2 433 (39.11%) Firewall
3 294 (26.56%) WAN
4 245 (22.13%) BGP
5 241 (21.77%) Security Cleared
6 239 (21.59%) Network Security
7 227 (20.51%) VPN
8 226 (20.42%) LAN
9 224 (20.23%) Cisco Certification
10 214 (19.33%) Palo Alto
10 214 (19.33%) Wireless
11 176 (15.90%) CCNP
12 161 (14.54%) DNS
13 160 (14.45%) OSPF
14 154 (13.91%) Fortinet
15 153 (13.82%) SC Cleared
16 147 (13.28%) VLAN
17 146 (13.19%) Python
18 136 (12.29%) F5
19 134 (12.10%) Migration
20 133 (12.01%) Azure
21 119 (10.75%) Load Balancing
22 117 (10.57%) Problem-Solving
23 115 (10.39%) TCP/IP
24 110 (9.94%) SD-WAN
25 106 (9.58%) Wi-Fi
26 100 (9.03%) Ansible
26 100 (9.03%) Project Delivery
27 91 (8.22%) Terraform
28 90 (8.13%) CCNA

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 (0.90%) Confluence
2 8 (0.72%) SAS
3 6 (0.54%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.54%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.18%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.090%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.090%) CMS
5 1 (0.090%) FactoryTalk
5 1 (0.090%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 14 (1.26%) MS Visio
2 11 (0.99%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.36%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.090%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.090%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 133 (12.01%) Azure
2 84 (7.59%) AWS
3 44 (3.97%) GCP
4 34 (3.07%) GitHub
5 26 (2.35%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 19 (1.72%) AWS Direct Connect
7 18 (1.63%) Microsoft 365
8 15 (1.36%) Entra ID
9 13 (1.17%) AWS CloudFormation
10 12 (1.08%) IaaS
11 9 (0.81%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 7 (0.63%) GitHub Actions
13 6 (0.54%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 6 (0.54%) Nutanix
13 6 (0.54%) OCI
14 5 (0.45%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 5 (0.45%) AWS Lambda
14 5 (0.45%) Azure DevOps
14 5 (0.45%) Datadog
14 5 (0.45%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 433 (39.11%) Firewall
2 294 (26.56%) WAN
3 245 (22.13%) BGP
4 239 (21.59%) Network Security
5 227 (20.51%) VPN
6 226 (20.42%) LAN
7 214 (19.33%) Wireless
8 161 (14.54%) DNS
9 160 (14.45%) OSPF
10 147 (13.28%) VLAN
11 115 (10.39%) TCP/IP
12 110 (9.94%) SD-WAN
13 106 (9.58%) Wi-Fi
14 90 (8.13%) MPLS
15 72 (6.50%) DHCP
16 71 (6.41%) Cisco ISE
17 69 (6.23%) Multicast
18 67 (6.05%) Cisco ASA
18 67 (6.05%) Cisco Nexus
19 53 (4.79%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.54%) GIS
2 3 (0.27%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.090%) BigQuery
3 1 (0.090%) ClickHouse
3 1 (0.090%) Metadata
3 1 (0.090%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 40 (3.61%) Git
2 26 (2.35%) Jenkins
2 26 (2.35%) JIRA
3 11 (0.99%) Fiddler
3 11 (0.99%) GitLab
4 7 (0.63%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.18%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.18%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.090%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.090%) Postman
General
1 133 (12.01%) Social Skills
2 105 (9.49%) Finance
3 75 (6.78%) Analytical Skills
4 71 (6.41%) Banking
5 67 (6.05%) Telecoms
6 51 (4.61%) Public Sector
7 31 (2.80%) Investment Banking
8 24 (2.17%) Documentation Skills
9 23 (2.08%) Legal
10 16 (1.45%) Retail
11 13 (1.17%) Manufacturing
12 9 (0.81%) Financial Institution
13 8 (0.72%) Pharmaceutical
14 6 (0.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (0.54%) Police
15 5 (0.45%) Military
15 5 (0.45%) Organisational Skills
16 4 (0.36%) Aerospace
16 4 (0.36%) Automotive
16 4 (0.36%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 91 (8.22%) Terraform
2 41 (3.70%) 802.1X
3 22 (1.99%) REST
4 13 (1.17%) JSON
4 13 (1.17%) NETCONF
5 10 (0.90%) YAML
6 6 (0.54%) SAML
7 5 (0.45%) XML
7 5 (0.45%) YANG
8 3 (0.27%) Java RMI
9 2 (0.18%) eBPF
9 2 (0.18%) LDAP
9 2 (0.18%) ModSecurity
9 2 (0.18%) pytest
9 2 (0.18%) RESTCONF
9 2 (0.18%) RFC 2544
10 1 (0.090%) Django
10 1 (0.090%) IDoc
10 1 (0.090%) OAuth
10 1 (0.090%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 186 (16.80%) Data Centre
2 37 (3.34%) Hybrid Cloud
3 26 (2.35%) Onboarding
3 26 (2.35%) PKI
4 25 (2.26%) Driving Licence
5 23 (2.08%) Cloud Native
5 23 (2.08%) Operational Technology
6 21 (1.90%) Management Information System
7 17 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
8 16 (1.45%) IoT
9 14 (1.26%) Public Cloud
9 14 (1.26%) Security Posture
10 10 (0.90%) Linux Command Line
10 10 (0.90%) SCADA
11 9 (0.81%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (0.81%) Fibre Optics
12 8 (0.72%) CMDB
12 8 (0.72%) Digital Signage
13 7 (0.63%) Cyber Threat
13 7 (0.63%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
Operating Systems
1 71 (6.41%) Windows
2 56 (5.06%) Linux
3 20 (1.81%) Windows Server
4 12 (1.08%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (0.45%) Ubuntu
5 5 (0.45%) VMS
5 5 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
5 5 (0.45%) zOS
6 4 (0.36%) Unix
7 3 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.090%) macOS
9 1 (0.090%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.090%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.090%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 134 (12.10%) Migration
2 119 (10.75%) Load Balancing
3 117 (10.57%) Problem-Solving
4 100 (9.03%) Project Delivery
5 84 (7.59%) Network Design
6 80 (7.23%) Validation
7 79 (7.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 77 (6.96%) Infrastructure as Code
9 72 (6.50%) ITIL
10 66 (5.96%) High Availability
11 64 (5.78%) Change Management
12 62 (5.60%) Zero Trust
13 61 (5.51%) Stakeholder Management
14 57 (5.15%) CI/CD
15 55 (4.97%) Network Monitoring
16 47 (4.25%) Network Segmentation
17 45 (4.07%) DevOps
18 42 (3.79%) Continuous Improvement
19 40 (3.61%) Technical Leadership
20 38 (3.43%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 146 (13.19%) Python
2 34 (3.07%) Bash
3 27 (2.44%) PowerShell
4 9 (0.81%) ActionScript
5 8 (0.72%) SQL
6 4 (0.36%) C++
6 4 (0.36%) Go
7 3 (0.27%) Perl
8 2 (0.18%) Groovy
8 2 (0.18%) Search Processing Language
8 2 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.090%) Bicep
9 1 (0.090%) C
9 1 (0.090%) Java
9 1 (0.090%) Lisp
Qualifications
1 241 (21.77%) Security Cleared
2 224 (20.23%) Cisco Certification
3 176 (15.90%) CCNP
4 153 (13.82%) SC Cleared
5 90 (8.13%) CCNA
6 77 (6.96%) DV Cleared
7 45 (4.07%) CCIE
8 29 (2.62%) Degree
9 15 (1.36%) CISSP
10 10 (0.90%) JNCIS
11 9 (0.81%) JNCIP
11 9 (0.81%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (0.72%) CCSE
13 6 (0.54%) BPSS Clearance
13 6 (0.54%) CCIE Security
13 6 (0.54%) DBS Check
14 5 (0.45%) CCSA
14 5 (0.45%) Computer Science Degree
15 4 (0.36%) CWNA
15 4 (0.36%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (2.26%) SLA
2 16 (1.45%) NIST
3 13 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 13 (1.17%) QA
4 8 (0.72%) PCI DSS
5 4 (0.36%) Disclosure Scotland
6 3 (0.27%) Data Quality
7 2 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.18%) GDPR
7 2 (0.18%) JSP 440
7 2 (0.18%) NIST 800
7 2 (0.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.090%) GRC
System Software
1 55 (4.97%) VMware Infrastructure
2 37 (3.34%) Active Directory
3 33 (2.98%) Firmware
4 23 (2.08%) VMware NSX
5 18 (1.63%) vSphere
6 10 (0.90%) VMware ESXi
7 8 (0.72%) Hyper-V
8 5 (0.45%) FreeRADIUS
9 4 (0.36%) Docker
9 4 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.18%) Squid
11 1 (0.090%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 100 (9.03%) Ansible
2 62 (5.60%) FortiGate
3 29 (2.62%) Kubernetes
4 18 (1.63%) Cisco Prime
5 12 (1.08%) Nagios
6 9 (0.81%) Istio
7 7 (0.63%) Grafana
7 7 (0.63%) Progress Chef
8 6 (0.54%) Cisco CUCM
8 6 (0.54%) Puppet
9 5 (0.45%) Cilium
9 5 (0.45%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.36%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.36%) Packer
10 4 (0.36%) systemd
10 4 (0.36%) vRealize
11 3 (0.27%) TrustSec
12 2 (0.18%) Avamar
12 2 (0.18%) SCCM
12 2 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 589 (53.21%) Cisco
2 214 (19.33%) Palo Alto
3 154 (13.91%) Fortinet
4 136 (12.29%) F5
5 86 (7.77%) VMware
6 83 (7.50%) Juniper
7 79 (7.14%) Arista
7 79 (7.14%) Meraki
8 73 (6.59%) CheckPoint
9 60 (5.42%) Microsoft
10 58 (5.24%) Aruba
11 50 (4.52%) Zscaler
12 42 (3.79%) SolarWinds
13 27 (2.44%) Nokia
13 27 (2.44%) ServiceNow
14 24 (2.17%) Google
15 20 (1.81%) Blue Coat
15 20 (1.81%) Infoblox
16 16 (1.45%) Splunk
17 15 (1.36%) NetApp