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 27 February 2026.

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

6 months to
27 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 159 115 87
Rank change year-on-year -44 -28 +69
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 717 724 1,043
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.73% 2.36% 2.36%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.88% 2.54% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 477 431 611
10th Percentile £297 £313 £300
25th Percentile £400 £403 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £460
Median % change year-on-year - +3.26% -1.08%
75th Percentile £525 £575 £538
90th Percentile £588 £638 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £474 £458 £450
% change year-on-year +3.61% +1.67% -
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 38,124 28,451 41,052
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.79% 92.87% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,974 17,854 27,035
10th Percentile £309 £290 £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 £720 £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 2,315 836 2,340
10th Percentile £14.64 £16.38 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.49 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.50 £34.31 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.35% -1.99% -12.50%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £72.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.50 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -3.08% -7.14% -6.67%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -38 602 £478 -2.50% 173
UK excluding London -40 448 £474 +3.61% 171
Work from Home -8 216 £425 -10.53% 56
London -55 194 £500 - 43
South East +11 153 £495 -1.00% 39
North of England -57 149 £486 +2.24% 27
North West -21 126 £490 - 16
Midlands -8 80 £429 -4.72% 30
West Midlands +10 75 £400 -9.35% 21
Scotland +17 42 £418 +0.60% 21
East of England -26 28 £381 +26.03% 10
Yorkshire -77 23 £440 +10.00% 8
South West -59 22 £500 +5.82% 28
Wales -8 15 £550 +57.14% 13
East Midlands -39 3 £500 +11.11% 9
Northern Ireland - 2 £430 - 4
North East -18 1 - - 3

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

For the 6 months to 27 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.

1 399 (55.65%) Cisco
2 352 (49.09%) Firewall
3 253 (35.29%) Security Cleared
4 199 (27.75%) Cisco Certification
5 198 (27.62%) WAN
6 185 (25.80%) SC Cleared
7 183 (25.52%) Palo Alto
8 175 (24.41%) LAN
9 170 (23.71%) BGP
9 170 (23.71%) CCNP
10 161 (22.45%) VPN
11 149 (20.78%) Network Security
12 134 (18.69%) DNS
13 130 (18.13%) F5
14 120 (16.74%) OSPF
15 119 (16.60%) Juniper
16 109 (15.20%) TCP/IP
17 106 (14.78%) Load Balancing
18 99 (13.81%) VLAN
19 96 (13.39%) Python
20 88 (12.27%) CCNA
21 85 (11.85%) Problem-Solving
22 82 (11.44%) Wireless
23 80 (11.16%) Ansible
24 76 (10.60%) CheckPoint
24 76 (10.60%) Wi-Fi
25 75 (10.46%) Azure
25 75 (10.46%) VMware
26 72 (10.04%) MPLS
27 71 (9.90%) 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 (1.39%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.98%) Confluence
3 6 (0.84%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.70%) Apache
4 5 (0.70%) IIS
Applications
1 20 (2.79%) MS Visio
2 7 (0.98%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 75 (10.46%) Azure
2 70 (9.76%) AWS
3 37 (5.16%) GCP
4 16 (2.23%) Entra ID
4 16 (2.23%) Virtual Private Cloud
5 15 (2.09%) GitHub
6 10 (1.39%) Microsoft 365
7 8 (1.12%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 8 (1.12%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 7 (0.98%) Nutanix
9 5 (0.70%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 5 (0.70%) Amazon EC2
9 5 (0.70%) Amazon ELB
9 5 (0.70%) Amazon S3
9 5 (0.70%) AWS Direct Connect
9 5 (0.70%) IaaS
9 5 (0.70%) Mimecast
9 5 (0.70%) SaaS
10 4 (0.56%) Google Compute Engine
10 4 (0.56%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 352 (49.09%) Firewall
2 198 (27.62%) WAN
3 175 (24.41%) LAN
4 170 (23.71%) BGP
5 161 (22.45%) VPN
6 149 (20.78%) Network Security
7 134 (18.69%) DNS
8 120 (16.74%) OSPF
9 109 (15.20%) TCP/IP
10 99 (13.81%) VLAN
11 82 (11.44%) Wireless
12 76 (10.60%) Wi-Fi
13 72 (10.04%) MPLS
14 67 (9.34%) Cisco ISE
15 65 (9.07%) SSL
16 62 (8.65%) SD-WAN
17 61 (8.51%) Cisco Nexus
18 52 (7.25%) IPsec
19 50 (6.97%) BIG-IP
19 50 (6.97%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.42%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 31 (4.32%) Fiddler
2 22 (3.07%) Git
3 17 (2.37%) Jenkins
4 14 (1.95%) JIRA
5 10 (1.39%) GitLab
5 10 (1.39%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.14%) ClearCase
6 1 (0.14%) Jaeger
General
1 138 (19.25%) Social Skills
2 54 (7.53%) Public Sector
3 46 (6.42%) Banking
4 44 (6.14%) Documentation Skills
5 43 (6.00%) Finance
6 38 (5.30%) Investment Banking
6 38 (5.30%) Telecoms
7 33 (4.60%) Analytical Skills
8 22 (3.07%) Manufacturing
9 20 (2.79%) Legal
10 8 (1.12%) Law
10 8 (1.12%) Local Government
11 6 (0.84%) Military
11 6 (0.84%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.70%) Financial Institution
12 5 (0.70%) Retail
13 4 (0.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 3 (0.42%) Electronics
14 3 (0.42%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.42%) Spanish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (5.44%) 802.1X
2 11 (1.53%) SAML
3 8 (1.12%) LDAP
4 5 (0.70%) RFC 2544
5 4 (0.56%) Middleware
5 4 (0.56%) VML
6 3 (0.42%) CSS
6 3 (0.42%) HTML
6 3 (0.42%) JSON
6 3 (0.42%) 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%) 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
1 159 (22.18%) Data Centre
2 25 (3.49%) Management Information System
3 24 (3.35%) Data Protection Act
4 20 (2.79%) Onboarding
4 20 (2.79%) Operational Technology
5 18 (2.51%) PKI
6 17 (2.37%) Security Posture
7 13 (1.81%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (1.67%) NHS
9 11 (1.53%) Self-Motivation
10 8 (1.12%) Clustering
10 8 (1.12%) Public Cloud
11 7 (0.98%) Fibre Optics
11 7 (0.98%) Hedge funds
12 5 (0.70%) Cloud Native
12 5 (0.70%) IoT
13 4 (0.56%) CMDB
13 4 (0.56%) Mainframe
13 4 (0.56%) SCADA
13 4 (0.56%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 57 (7.95%) Windows
2 32 (4.46%) Linux
3 27 (3.77%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.56%) CatOS
4 4 (0.56%) Unix
5 3 (0.42%) zOS
6 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
6 1 (0.14%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (14.78%) Load Balancing
2 85 (11.85%) Problem-Solving
3 66 (9.21%) Network Design
4 57 (7.95%) Migration
5 55 (7.67%) Network Monitoring
6 54 (7.53%) High Availability
7 43 (6.00%) Project Delivery
8 42 (5.86%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 40 (5.58%) Change Management
10 37 (5.16%) Network Architecture
11 36 (5.02%) ITIL
11 36 (5.02%) ITSM
12 35 (4.88%) DevOps
13 33 (4.60%) Network Management
14 32 (4.46%) Stakeholder Management
15 31 (4.32%) Root Cause Analysis
16 29 (4.04%) Collaborative Working
16 29 (4.04%) Infrastructure as Code
17 28 (3.91%) Cybersecurity
17 28 (3.91%) Malware Detection/Protection
Programming Languages
1 96 (13.39%) Python
2 27 (3.77%) Bash
3 13 (1.81%) PowerShell
4 10 (1.39%) Perl
5 8 (1.12%) Lisp
6 7 (0.98%) SQL
7 3 (0.42%) C++
7 3 (0.42%) Java
7 3 (0.42%) 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
1 253 (35.29%) Security Cleared
2 199 (27.75%) Cisco Certification
3 185 (25.80%) SC Cleared
4 170 (23.71%) CCNP
5 88 (12.27%) CCNA
6 71 (9.90%) DV Cleared
7 31 (4.32%) Degree
8 29 (4.04%) JNCIS
9 28 (3.91%) CCIE
10 23 (3.21%) JNCIA
11 20 (2.79%) JNCIP
12 14 (1.95%) Network+ Certification
13 9 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
14 4 (0.56%) CISSP
14 4 (0.56%) DBS Check
15 3 (0.42%) BPSS Clearance
15 3 (0.42%) CCDP
15 3 (0.42%) GIAC
15 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Certification
15 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (1.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 10 (1.39%) NIST
2 8 (1.12%) SLA
3 7 (0.98%) PCI DSS
4 6 (0.84%) GDPR
5 3 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (0.42%) GRC
5 3 (0.42%) 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 46 (6.42%) VMware NSX
2 45 (6.28%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (5.16%) Active Directory
4 30 (4.18%) Firmware
5 11 (1.53%) Docker
6 8 (1.12%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.70%) ProxySG
7 5 (0.70%) VMware ESXi
7 5 (0.70%) vSphere
8 3 (0.42%) 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 (11.16%) Ansible
2 53 (7.39%) FortiGate
3 40 (5.58%) Terraform
4 19 (2.65%) vCenter Server
5 11 (1.53%) Grafana
6 10 (1.39%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.39%) Single Sign-On
7 8 (1.12%) Cisco Prime
7 8 (1.12%) Nagios
8 6 (0.84%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.56%) CASB
9 4 (0.56%) Kubernetes
9 4 (0.56%) Tivoli NetView
10 3 (0.42%) Dell DRAC
10 3 (0.42%) SCCM
10 3 (0.42%) SCOrch
11 2 (0.28%) Salt
11 2 (0.28%) WSUS
12 1 (0.14%) ITRS Geneos
12 1 (0.14%) OMEGAMON
Vendors
1 399 (55.65%) Cisco
2 183 (25.52%) Palo Alto
3 130 (18.13%) F5
4 119 (16.60%) Juniper
5 76 (10.60%) CheckPoint
6 75 (10.46%) VMware
7 70 (9.76%) Aruba
8 64 (8.93%) SolarWinds
9 63 (8.79%) Fortinet
10 54 (7.53%) Meraki
11 49 (6.83%) Blue Coat
12 42 (5.86%) McAfee
13 40 (5.58%) Microsoft
14 34 (4.74%) Arista
15 24 (3.35%) NetApp
16 23 (3.21%) ServiceNow
17 22 (3.07%) Splunk
18 18 (2.51%) Nokia
19 17 (2.37%) Ekahau
19 17 (2.37%) Zscaler