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 April 2026.

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

6 months to
27 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 144 129 90
Rank change year-on-year -15 -39 +44
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 883 636 1,056
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.89% 2.17% 2.42%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.04% 2.34% 2.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 581 395 644
10th Percentile £300 £313 £300
25th Percentile £401 £392 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £460
Median % change year-on-year - +3.26% -3.16%
75th Percentile £538 £567 £538
90th Percentile £600 £614 £646
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +2.78% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 5 28
10th Percentile £43.14 £31.10 £20.07
25th Percentile £55.72 £50.00 £24.44
Median hourly rate £72.54 £57.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +26.16% +43.75% -36.74%
75th Percentile £78.75 £68.75 £73.75
90th Percentile - £73.25 £74.20
UK excluding London median hourly rate £75.02 £45.75 £66.50
% change year-on-year +63.98% -31.20% +7.26%

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 43,226 27,189 40,419
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.32% 92.58% 92.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,700 17,797 26,325
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £407 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £516 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.10% -1.71% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +2.63% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,791 1,031 2,653
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.50 £18.51 £16.30
Median hourly rate £43.00 £29.25 £35.96
Median % change year-on-year +47.01% -18.66% -20.09%
75th Percentile £65.88 £62.75 £60.25
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £28.75 £38.00
% change year-on-year +56.52% -24.34% -10.30%

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 April 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 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK

Network Engineer
Top 16 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 April 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 -16 730 £475 -3.06% 227
UK excluding London -9 551 £463 +2.78% 208
London -55 220 £500 - 63
Work from Home -10 213 £439 -7.63% 78
South East +6 182 £475 -5.00% 64
North of England -42 152 £474 -0.21% 55
North West -19 126 £474 -1.72% 32
Midlands +9 106 £438 +2.94% 35
West Midlands +17 99 £425 +54.55% 21
Scotland +20 46 £413 +3.13% 12
East of England -5 43 £463 -9.76% 23
South West -27 43 £529 +11.96% 13
Wales -4 27 £425 +13.33% 9
Yorkshire -61 26 £450 -2.70% 14
East Midlands -48 3 £500 +11.11% 14
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 3

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

For the 6 months to 27 April 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.

1 483 (54.70%) Cisco
2 394 (44.62%) Firewall
3 288 (32.62%) Security Cleared
4 238 (26.95%) WAN
5 226 (25.59%) Cisco Certification
6 223 (25.25%) BGP
7 217 (24.58%) Palo Alto
8 212 (24.01%) LAN
9 206 (23.33%) SC Cleared
10 195 (22.08%) Network Security
10 195 (22.08%) VPN
11 184 (20.84%) CCNP
12 170 (19.25%) F5
13 161 (18.23%) OSPF
14 156 (17.67%) DNS
15 125 (14.16%) Load Balancing
16 122 (13.82%) Juniper
16 122 (13.82%) VLAN
17 112 (12.68%) Wireless
18 102 (11.55%) Fortinet
18 102 (11.55%) TCP/IP
19 98 (11.10%) CCNA
20 96 (10.87%) DV Cleared
21 91 (10.31%) Azure
22 90 (10.19%) Python
23 89 (10.08%) SD-WAN
24 86 (9.74%) Problem-Solving
25 85 (9.63%) CheckPoint
26 84 (9.51%) Aruba
27 82 (9.29%) High Availability

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 7 (0.79%) Confluence
2 5 (0.57%) Apache
2 5 (0.57%) IIS
2 5 (0.57%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.45%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.11%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 16 (1.81%) MS Visio
2 7 (0.79%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 2 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 91 (10.31%) Azure
2 76 (8.61%) AWS
3 50 (5.66%) GCP
4 23 (2.60%) GitHub
5 16 (1.81%) Entra ID
6 14 (1.59%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 10 (1.13%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 10 (1.13%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 9 (1.02%) Nutanix
9 8 (0.91%) Microsoft 365
10 6 (0.68%) AWS Direct Connect
10 6 (0.68%) Route 53
11 5 (0.57%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (0.57%) Google Compute Engine
11 5 (0.57%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.34%) AWS IoT
12 3 (0.34%) Catchpoint
12 3 (0.34%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (0.34%) Google Ads
12 3 (0.34%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 394 (44.62%) Firewall
2 238 (26.95%) WAN
3 223 (25.25%) BGP
4 212 (24.01%) LAN
5 195 (22.08%) Network Security
5 195 (22.08%) VPN
6 161 (18.23%) OSPF
7 156 (17.67%) DNS
8 122 (13.82%) VLAN
9 112 (12.68%) Wireless
10 102 (11.55%) TCP/IP
11 89 (10.08%) SD-WAN
12 76 (8.61%) Wi-Fi
13 74 (8.38%) Cisco Nexus
14 67 (7.59%) MPLS
15 65 (7.36%) Cisco ISE
16 63 (7.13%) IPsec
17 61 (6.91%) BIG-IP
18 57 (6.46%) DHCP
18 57 (6.46%) Multicast
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.34%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.11%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 28 (3.17%) Fiddler
2 18 (2.04%) Git
3 17 (1.93%) JIRA
4 15 (1.70%) Jenkins
5 10 (1.13%) Sonatype Nexus
6 6 (0.68%) GitLab
7 2 (0.23%) Browser DevTools
8 1 (0.11%) Jaeger
General
1 127 (14.38%) Social Skills
2 54 (6.12%) Banking
3 46 (5.21%) Public Sector
4 42 (4.76%) Documentation Skills
5 40 (4.53%) Analytical Skills
6 39 (4.42%) Finance
7 38 (4.30%) Investment Banking
8 34 (3.85%) Telecoms
9 27 (3.06%) Manufacturing
10 21 (2.38%) Legal
11 15 (1.70%) Retail
12 10 (1.13%) Law
13 9 (1.02%) Aerospace
14 5 (0.57%) Financial Institution
14 5 (0.57%) Local Government
14 5 (0.57%) Military
14 5 (0.57%) Police
15 4 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
16 3 (0.34%) Influencing Skills
16 3 (0.34%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (4.98%) 802.1X
2 11 (1.25%) SAML
3 10 (1.13%) LDAP
4 6 (0.68%) REST
5 4 (0.45%) VML
6 3 (0.34%) CSS
6 3 (0.34%) HTML
6 3 (0.34%) JSON
7 2 (0.23%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.23%) Django
7 2 (0.23%) Jinja
7 2 (0.23%) NETCONF
7 2 (0.23%) OpenTelemetry
7 2 (0.23%) RFC 2544
8 1 (0.11%) ARM Templates
8 1 (0.11%) Loki
8 1 (0.11%) XML
8 1 (0.11%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 188 (21.29%) Data Centre
2 27 (3.06%) Data Protection Act
3 23 (2.60%) Management Information System
3 23 (2.60%) PKI
4 22 (2.49%) Hybrid Cloud
5 18 (2.04%) Operational Technology
6 15 (1.70%) Security Posture
7 13 (1.47%) Onboarding
8 12 (1.36%) NHS
8 12 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
9 9 (1.02%) Clustering
10 8 (0.91%) Cloud Native
10 8 (0.91%) Public Cloud
11 6 (0.68%) IoT
12 4 (0.45%) CCTV
12 4 (0.45%) CMDB
12 4 (0.45%) Distributed Systems
12 4 (0.45%) Enterprise Cloud
12 4 (0.45%) Enterprise Software
12 4 (0.45%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 59 (6.68%) Windows
2 35 (3.96%) Linux
3 14 (1.59%) Windows Server
4 7 (0.79%) Unix
5 4 (0.45%) CatOS
5 4 (0.45%) zOS
6 3 (0.34%) VMS
7 1 (0.11%) Data ONTAP
7 1 (0.11%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.11%) Solaris
7 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2012
7 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 125 (14.16%) Load Balancing
2 86 (9.74%) Problem-Solving
3 82 (9.29%) High Availability
4 80 (9.06%) Migration
5 62 (7.02%) Network Monitoring
6 60 (6.80%) Network Design
7 51 (5.78%) ITIL
8 50 (5.66%) Change Management
9 48 (5.44%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 47 (5.32%) Project Delivery
11 42 (4.76%) Validation
12 39 (4.42%) Infrastructure as Code
13 38 (4.30%) Network Management
14 37 (4.19%) Data Protection
14 37 (4.19%) ITSM
15 32 (3.62%) DevOps
15 32 (3.62%) Technical Leadership
16 31 (3.51%) Stakeholder Management
17 30 (3.40%) Collaborative Working
17 30 (3.40%) Data Loss Prevention
Programming Languages
1 90 (10.19%) Python
2 14 (1.59%) Bash
3 8 (0.91%) SQL
4 6 (0.68%) PowerShell
5 4 (0.45%) Java
6 3 (0.34%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.34%) Lisp
7 2 (0.23%) ActionScript
7 2 (0.23%) Bicep
7 2 (0.23%) C
7 2 (0.23%) C++
7 2 (0.23%) Go
8 1 (0.11%) Korn
8 1 (0.11%) Perl
8 1 (0.11%) PHP
8 1 (0.11%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 288 (32.62%) Security Cleared
2 226 (25.59%) Cisco Certification
3 206 (23.33%) SC Cleared
4 184 (20.84%) CCNP
5 98 (11.10%) CCNA
6 96 (10.87%) DV Cleared
7 35 (3.96%) Degree
8 33 (3.74%) CCIE
9 26 (2.94%) JNCIS
10 22 (2.49%) JNCIA
11 16 (1.81%) JNCIP
11 16 (1.81%) Network+ Certification
12 11 (1.25%) Computer Science Degree
13 6 (0.68%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (0.45%) AWS Certification
14 4 (0.45%) Azure Certification
14 4 (0.45%) CCSE
14 4 (0.45%) CWNA
14 4 (0.45%) DBS Check
15 3 (0.34%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (1.47%) SLA
2 8 (0.91%) NIST
3 7 (0.79%) QA
4 6 (0.68%) Disclosure Scotland
4 6 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (0.57%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.45%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (0.34%) GDPR
7 3 (0.34%) GRC
7 3 (0.34%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 2 (0.23%) NCSC
8 2 (0.23%) PMO
9 1 (0.11%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.11%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 60 (6.80%) VMware Infrastructure
2 44 (4.98%) VMware NSX
3 29 (3.28%) Firmware
4 24 (2.72%) Active Directory
5 8 (0.91%) VMware ESXi
5 8 (0.91%) vSphere
6 5 (0.57%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
7 3 (0.34%) ProxySG
7 3 (0.34%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.23%) KVM
8 2 (0.23%) vCloud
9 1 (0.11%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.11%) Docker
9 1 (0.11%) IAG
9 1 (0.11%) iptables
9 1 (0.11%) RHEV
9 1 (0.11%) Snort
9 1 (0.11%) Xen
Systems Management
1 81 (9.17%) Ansible
2 61 (6.91%) Terraform
3 58 (6.57%) FortiGate
4 10 (1.13%) Grafana
4 10 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
5 9 (1.02%) Prometheus
6 8 (0.91%) Cisco Prime
7 7 (0.79%) Microsoft Intune
8 6 (0.68%) Kubernetes
8 6 (0.68%) Nagios
8 6 (0.68%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.45%) Tivoli NetView
10 2 (0.23%) Salt
10 2 (0.23%) SCOM
10 2 (0.23%) WSUS
11 1 (0.11%) Cacti
11 1 (0.11%) Iperf
11 1 (0.11%) SCCM
11 1 (0.11%) WhatsUp Gold
11 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 483 (54.70%) Cisco
2 217 (24.58%) Palo Alto
3 170 (19.25%) F5
4 122 (13.82%) Juniper
5 102 (11.55%) Fortinet
6 85 (9.63%) CheckPoint
7 84 (9.51%) Aruba
8 82 (9.29%) VMware
9 51 (5.78%) Arista
10 50 (5.66%) SolarWinds
11 49 (5.55%) Meraki
12 38 (4.30%) Microsoft
13 36 (4.08%) Blue Coat
14 33 (3.74%) McAfee
15 25 (2.83%) Google
15 25 (2.83%) ServiceNow
16 24 (2.72%) Infoblox
17 23 (2.60%) NetApp
18 21 (2.38%) Zscaler
19 20 (2.27%) Ekahau