TCP/IP Contract Job Trends

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring TCP/IP skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 289 223 295
Rank change year-on-year -66 +72 -59
Contract jobs citing TCP/IP 419 361 334
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.83% 1.21% 0.76%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 8.74% 9.69% 6.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 226 240 222
10th Percentile £206 £219 £188
25th Percentile £341 £362 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £481
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +3.90% +0.26%
75th Percentile £547 £625 £575
90th Percentile £638 £778 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £447 £455 £475
% change year-on-year -1.76% -4.21% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 14 27
10th Percentile £21.25 £18.29 £17.50
25th Percentile £25.63 £32.44 £34.75
Median hourly rate £32.50 £62.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -48.00% -3.85% +15.40%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 -
90th Percentile - - £66.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.86 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -47.91% - +10.35%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

TCP/IP falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,793 3,724 5,432
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.51% 12.51% 12.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,942 2,288 3,212
10th Percentile £250 £220 £210
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £470 £488
% change year-on-year +2.13% -3.59% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 291 175 422
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.04 £19.14 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.88 £44.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.64% +10.00% +110.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £61.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £78.00 £71.19
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £31.08 £47.50
% change year-on-year -9.91% -34.57% +150.46%

TCP/IP
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing TCP/IP relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

TCP/IP job vacancy trend in the UK

TCP/IP
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing TCP/IP.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing TCP/IP

TCP/IP
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing TCP/IP over the 6 months to 18 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for TCP/IP in the UK

TCP/IP
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing TCP/IP.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing TCP/IP

TCP/IP
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing TCP/IP over the 6 months to 18 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for TCP/IP in the UK

TCP/IP
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 TCP/IP within the UK over the 6 months to 18 June 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 -58 365 £465 -7.00% 195
UK excluding London -44 240 £447 -1.76% 190
London -46 144 £475 +2.70% 39
Work from Home -68 102 £463 -19.57% 64
North of England -28 91 £450 - 34
North West +4 54 £508 +35.33% 22
South East -41 51 £500 +11.11% 63
East of England -13 37 £263 -38.95% 24
Midlands -39 33 £406 -26.14% 31
Yorkshire -60 32 £450 -10.00% 8
West Midlands -32 29 £388 -29.55% 20
South West -24 22 £500 -18.70% 23
Scotland -4 19 £425 +2.41% 2
Wales -12 7 £408 +30.40% 3
North East -34 5 £306 +22.50% 6
East Midlands -26 4 £563 +2.27% 11

TCP/IP
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 19 (4.53%) SharePoint
2 17 (4.06%) Confluence
3 12 (2.86%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (2.39%) nginx
5 4 (0.95%) WebSphere
6 3 (0.72%) IIS
6 3 (0.72%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.48%) CICS
7 2 (0.48%) IBM HTTP Server
7 2 (0.48%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 2 (0.48%) WebSphere Application Server
7 2 (0.48%) WebSphere Portal
8 1 (0.24%) Traefik
Applications
1 30 (7.16%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.91%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (1.67%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.95%) Acrobat
4 4 (0.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.24%) Weka
Business Applications
1 2 (0.48%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 96 (22.91%) Azure
2 86 (20.53%) AWS
3 80 (19.09%) Microsoft 365
4 34 (8.11%) Entra ID
5 28 (6.68%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 24 (5.73%) GCP
7 21 (5.01%) OneDrive
8 16 (3.82%) Amazon EC2
9 15 (3.58%) Amazon EKS
9 15 (3.58%) Amazon S3
9 15 (3.58%) GitHub
10 14 (3.34%) Route 53
11 13 (3.10%) AWS Lambda
11 13 (3.10%) Serverless
12 11 (2.63%) Google Workspace
13 8 (1.91%) SaaS
14 7 (1.67%) Azure DevOps
14 7 (1.67%) IaaS
15 6 (1.43%) Akamai
15 6 (1.43%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 226 (53.94%) DNS
2 151 (36.04%) Firewall
3 101 (24.11%) DHCP
4 98 (23.39%) VPN
5 72 (17.18%) WAN
6 71 (16.95%) Network Security
7 68 (16.23%) HTTP
8 65 (15.51%) SSL
9 64 (15.27%) LAN
10 56 (13.37%) BGP
10 56 (13.37%) VLAN
11 54 (12.89%) BIG-IP
12 39 (9.31%) OSPF
13 38 (9.07%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
13 38 (9.07%) Wi-Fi
14 35 (8.35%) Ethernet
15 31 (7.40%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
16 29 (6.92%) Wireshark
17 24 (5.73%) Wireless
18 17 (4.06%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.63%) Elasticsearch
1 11 (2.63%) SQL Server
2 5 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.72%) Amazon RDS
4 2 (0.48%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.48%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.24%) BigQuery
5 1 (0.24%) MySQL
5 1 (0.24%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 47 (11.22%) JIRA
2 23 (5.49%) Fiddler
3 18 (4.30%) GitLab
4 15 (3.58%) Jenkins
5 13 (3.10%) Eclipse
5 13 (3.10%) Git
5 13 (3.10%) Visual Studio
6 9 (2.15%) Browser DevTools
7 7 (1.67%) Bitbucket
7 7 (1.67%) SonarQube
8 4 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
9 3 (0.72%) Artifactory
10 2 (0.48%) Introscope
10 2 (0.48%) Subversion
11 1 (0.24%) Postman
General
1 160 (38.19%) Social Skills
2 59 (14.08%) Finance
3 44 (10.50%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (9.07%) Banking
5 26 (6.21%) Public Sector
6 25 (5.97%) Investment Banking
7 22 (5.25%) Presentation Skills
8 21 (5.01%) Military
9 20 (4.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 17 (4.06%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.91%) Front Office
11 8 (1.91%) Telecoms
12 4 (0.95%) Legal
13 3 (0.72%) French Language
13 3 (0.72%) Marketing
13 3 (0.72%) Organisational Skills
14 2 (0.48%) Aviation
14 2 (0.48%) Japanese Language
14 2 (0.48%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.48%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 104 (24.82%) Network Engineer
2 43 (10.26%) Analyst
3 39 (9.31%) Support Engineer
4 32 (7.64%) Architect
5 31 (7.40%) IT Support
5 31 (7.40%) Web Engineer
6 27 (6.44%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 26 (6.21%) Senior
8 24 (5.73%) Security Engineer
9 22 (5.25%) Technical Engineer
10 20 (4.77%) Systems Engineer
11 19 (4.53%) IP Network Engineer
11 19 (4.53%) IT Engineer
12 17 (4.06%) Blue Coat Engineer
13 15 (3.58%) IT Support Engineer
13 15 (3.58%) Junior
14 14 (3.34%) Software Engineer
15 13 (3.10%) C# Software Engineer
15 13 (3.10%) Technical Support
16 12 (2.86%) Integration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (4.77%) LDAP
2 18 (4.30%) SAML
3 13 (3.10%) Node.js
3 13 (3.10%) Web Services
4 12 (2.86%) OpenID
5 11 (2.63%) 802.1X
5 11 (2.63%) JSON
6 9 (2.15%) REST
7 5 (1.19%) .NET
7 5 (1.19%) OAuth
8 4 (0.95%) XML
9 3 (0.72%) ARM Templates
9 3 (0.72%) HTML
9 3 (0.72%) Middleware
9 3 (0.72%) WinForms
10 2 (0.48%) ASP.NET
10 2 (0.48%) eBPF
10 2 (0.48%) JMS
10 2 (0.48%) Software Packaging
10 2 (0.48%) WebSphere MQ
Miscellaneous
1 50 (11.93%) Data Centre
2 44 (10.50%) Onboarding
3 22 (5.25%) Management Information System
4 16 (3.82%) Security Operations Centre
4 16 (3.82%) Security Posture
5 15 (3.58%) Industry 4.0
5 15 (3.58%) Robotics
6 14 (3.34%) Cyber Threat
7 13 (3.10%) Cyberattack
8 10 (2.39%) Driving Licence
8 10 (2.39%) Enterprise Software
9 9 (2.15%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 8 (1.91%) Data Protection Act
11 7 (1.67%) Cloud Native
11 7 (1.67%) Linux Command Line
11 7 (1.67%) PKI
11 7 (1.67%) Public Cloud
12 6 (1.43%) NHS
12 6 (1.43%) Operational Technology
12 6 (1.43%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 175 (41.77%) Windows
2 84 (20.05%) Linux
3 45 (10.74%) Windows Server
4 34 (8.11%) Mac OS
5 20 (4.77%) Windows 10
6 16 (3.82%) Apple iOS
7 15 (3.58%) Unix
8 11 (2.63%) Android
9 8 (1.91%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (1.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 6 (1.43%) zOS
11 5 (1.19%) Ubuntu
12 4 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.72%) Check Point GAiA
13 3 (0.72%) Windows 7
14 2 (0.48%) CentOS
14 2 (0.48%) Oracle Linux
14 2 (0.48%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2003
14 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 114 (27.21%) Problem-Solving
2 73 (17.42%) ITIL
3 55 (13.13%) Agile
4 48 (11.46%) Incident Response
5 46 (10.98%) Load Balancing
6 45 (10.74%) DevOps
7 44 (10.50%) Customer Service
7 44 (10.50%) Migration
8 43 (10.26%) CI/CD
9 41 (9.79%) ITSM
10 40 (9.55%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 38 (9.07%) Cybersecurity
12 37 (8.83%) SIEM
13 35 (8.35%) High Availability
13 35 (8.35%) Validation
14 30 (7.16%) Root Cause Analysis
15 29 (6.92%) Decision-Making
16 28 (6.68%) Change Management
17 27 (6.44%) Risk Assessment
17 27 (6.44%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 89 (21.24%) Python
2 38 (9.07%) Bash
2 38 (9.07%) PowerShell
3 29 (6.92%) JavaScript
4 20 (4.77%) C++
5 16 (3.82%) C#
6 14 (3.34%) SQL
7 9 (2.15%) VBA
8 6 (1.43%) Java
9 5 (1.19%) ActionScript
9 5 (1.19%) C
10 4 (0.95%) Perl
11 2 (0.48%) Go
11 2 (0.48%) Jython
11 2 (0.48%) Ruby
11 2 (0.48%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.24%) Groovy
12 1 (0.24%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 103 (24.58%) Security Cleared
2 84 (20.05%) SC Cleared
3 75 (17.90%) Degree
4 43 (10.26%) Cisco Certification
5 33 (7.88%) CCNP
6 27 (6.44%) CCNA
7 24 (5.73%) Computer Science Degree
8 22 (5.25%) CompTIA Security+
9 21 (5.01%) CISSP
10 19 (4.53%) DV Cleared
11 16 (3.82%) Microsoft Certification
12 12 (2.86%) CompTIA CySA+
13 10 (2.39%) MCSA
14 9 (2.15%) Azure Certification
14 9 (2.15%) MCSE
15 8 (1.91%) CCIE
15 8 (1.91%) Network+ Certification
16 5 (1.19%) CISM
16 5 (1.19%) JNCIS
17 4 (0.95%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.39%) SLA
2 9 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 9 (2.15%) NIST
3 6 (1.43%) QA
4 5 (1.19%) GDPR
5 3 (0.72%) NCSC
5 3 (0.72%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.48%) Government Security Classifications
6 2 (0.48%) RMADS
7 1 (0.24%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.24%) GRC
System Software
1 90 (21.48%) Active Directory
2 47 (11.22%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (4.30%) Firmware
4 13 (3.10%) Docker
4 13 (3.10%) Squid
4 13 (3.10%) Virtual Desktop
5 9 (2.15%) Hyper-V
6 7 (1.67%) vSphere
7 6 (1.43%) VMware NSX
8 4 (0.95%) NFS
8 4 (0.95%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.48%) KVM
9 2 (0.48%) RACF
9 2 (0.48%) VirtualBox
10 1 (0.24%) Citrix Presentation Server
10 1 (0.24%) GPFS
10 1 (0.24%) iptables
10 1 (0.24%) Lustre
10 1 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 64 (15.27%) Ansible
2 33 (7.88%) Terraform
3 31 (7.40%) Kubernetes
4 30 (7.16%) Microsoft Intune
5 25 (5.97%) FortiGate
6 24 (5.73%) Single Sign-On
7 22 (5.25%) Grafana
8 21 (5.01%) SCCM
9 15 (3.58%) Prometheus
10 11 (2.63%) Jamf Pro
11 10 (2.39%) WSUS
12 9 (2.15%) Consul
13 6 (1.43%) CASB
13 6 (1.43%) QRadar
14 5 (1.19%) Nagios
14 5 (1.19%) Nessus
14 5 (1.19%) Suricata
15 4 (0.95%) Tivoli NetView
16 3 (0.72%) Puppet
16 3 (0.72%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 127 (30.31%) Microsoft
2 69 (16.47%) F5
3 68 (16.23%) Cisco
4 56 (13.37%) VMware
5 43 (10.26%) ServiceNow
6 29 (6.92%) Blue Coat
7 28 (6.68%) Splunk
8 26 (6.21%) Palo Alto
9 25 (5.97%) Fortinet
10 23 (5.49%) Citrix
10 23 (5.49%) McAfee
11 19 (4.53%) NetApp
11 19 (4.53%) Zscaler
12 17 (4.06%) Siemens
13 16 (3.82%) CheckPoint
13 16 (3.82%) Juniper
13 16 (3.82%) Red Hat
14 15 (3.58%) Google
15 13 (3.10%) Bloomberg
16 11 (2.63%) Netskope