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 24 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 271 245 286
Rank change year-on-year -26 +41 -61
Contract jobs citing TCP/IP 487 357 349
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.92% 1.09% 0.85%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 9.79% 8.97% 6.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 269 209 231
10th Percentile £204 £200 £203
25th Percentile £313 £356 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.00% +11.11% -5.26%
75th Percentile £550 £600 £560
90th Percentile £651 £654 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £455 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +1.11% - +5.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 24 31
10th Percentile £21.63 £19.85 £20.00
25th Percentile £31.25 £44.68 £62.50
Median hourly rate £49.75 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -23.46% - +28.92%
75th Percentile £65.00 - -
90th Percentile £98.19 £87.64 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.50 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -19.23% - +15.06%

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 4,976 3,981 5,061
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.43% 12.18% 12.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,993 2,436 3,038
10th Percentile £250 £235 £213
25th Percentile £400 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £489 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.25% -2.20% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £602
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.63% -5.00% +8.81%
Number of hourly rates quoted 330 195 368
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £14.00
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.15 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.22 £47.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -44.80% +5.56% -10.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.60 £74.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £43.25 £48.56
% change year-on-year -38.36% -10.93% -14.42%

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 24 July 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 24 July 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 24 July 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 -18 445 £475 -5.00% 295
UK excluding London -27 279 £455 +1.11% 240
London -51 180 £475 -5.00% 94
Work from Home -50 118 £500 -8.00% 106
North of England -27 90 £460 -8.00% 48
South East -28 79 £527 +17.17% 76
North West -3 58 £475 +26.60% 25
Midlands -33 40 £401 -19.80% 28
South West -11 36 £525 -15.15% 50
East of England -10 34 £250 -52.38% 25
West Midlands -43 32 £400 -0.50% 17
Yorkshire -50 28 £475 -6.17% 19
Scotland -12 14 £425 -3.41% 14
East Midlands -10 8 £402 -26.91% 11
Wales -11 7 £408 - 4
North East -32 4 £306 +22.50% 6

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 41 (8.42%) SharePoint
2 24 (4.93%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (2.46%) Confluence
4 9 (1.85%) nginx
5 7 (1.44%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.82%) WebSphere
7 3 (0.62%) FactoryTalk
7 3 (0.62%) IIS
8 2 (0.41%) CICS
8 2 (0.41%) IBM HTTP Server
8 2 (0.41%) Oracle HTTP Server
8 2 (0.41%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.41%) WebSphere Portal
9 1 (0.21%) Traefik
Applications
1 35 (7.19%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (2.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (1.44%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.41%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.41%) Houdini
5 2 (0.41%) NUKE
6 1 (0.21%) Weka
Business Applications
1 7 (1.44%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 153 (31.42%) Azure
2 111 (22.79%) AWS
3 105 (21.56%) Microsoft 365
4 63 (12.94%) Entra ID
5 36 (7.39%) GCP
6 31 (6.37%) OneDrive
7 28 (5.75%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 19 (3.90%) GitHub
9 16 (3.29%) Route 53
10 15 (3.08%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (2.26%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (2.26%) Azure Monitor
11 11 (2.26%) Google Workspace
12 10 (2.05%) Amazon EKS
13 9 (1.85%) Azure DevOps
13 9 (1.85%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (1.85%) OpenShift
14 8 (1.64%) Amazon S3
14 8 (1.64%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (1.64%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 284 (58.32%) DNS
2 204 (41.89%) Firewall
3 161 (33.06%) DHCP
4 139 (28.54%) VPN
5 90 (18.48%) Network Security
6 88 (18.07%) WAN
7 78 (16.02%) LAN
8 75 (15.40%) BGP
8 75 (15.40%) VLAN
9 71 (14.58%) HTTP
10 62 (12.73%) SSL
11 49 (10.06%) BIG-IP
12 47 (9.65%) OSPF
13 43 (8.83%) Wi-Fi
14 39 (8.01%) Ethernet
14 39 (8.01%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
15 34 (6.98%) Wireless
16 28 (5.75%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
17 26 (5.34%) Wireshark
18 25 (5.13%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.67%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.23%) PostgreSQL
3 4 (0.82%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.62%) Amazon RDS
5 2 (0.41%) BigQuery
5 2 (0.41%) MySQL
5 2 (0.41%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.41%) SQLite
6 1 (0.21%) Cloud Spanner
6 1 (0.21%) KDB
6 1 (0.21%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 47 (9.65%) JIRA
2 24 (4.93%) Git
3 19 (3.90%) Fiddler
4 18 (3.70%) Jenkins
5 16 (3.29%) GitLab
6 14 (2.87%) Visual Studio
7 13 (2.67%) Eclipse
8 10 (2.05%) Browser DevTools
9 5 (1.03%) Sonatype Nexus
10 4 (0.82%) Artifactory
11 3 (0.62%) Bitbucket
12 2 (0.41%) Introscope
12 2 (0.41%) SonarQube
12 2 (0.41%) Subversion
13 1 (0.21%) MSI
13 1 (0.21%) Postman
General
1 191 (39.22%) Social Skills
2 68 (13.96%) Analytical Skills
3 64 (13.14%) Finance
4 42 (8.62%) Banking
5 33 (6.78%) Public Sector
6 22 (4.52%) Investment Banking
6 22 (4.52%) Presentation Skills
7 21 (4.31%) Telecoms
8 19 (3.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 17 (3.49%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (3.49%) Military
10 8 (1.64%) Front Office
11 5 (1.03%) Legal
11 5 (1.03%) Manufacturing
11 5 (1.03%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.03%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (0.82%) Police
13 3 (0.62%) Automotive
13 3 (0.62%) Retail
14 2 (0.41%) Law
Job Titles
1 114 (23.41%) Network Engineer
2 55 (11.29%) Support Engineer
3 48 (9.86%) Senior
4 45 (9.24%) Architect
5 43 (8.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 37 (7.60%) IT Support
7 35 (7.19%) Analyst
8 29 (5.95%) IT Engineer
9 26 (5.34%) Security Engineer
9 26 (5.34%) Web Engineer
10 23 (4.72%) IT Support Engineer
11 22 (4.52%) Technical Engineer
12 20 (4.11%) Systems Engineer
13 18 (3.70%) IP Network Engineer
13 18 (3.70%) Senior Network Engineer
14 17 (3.49%) Platform Engineer
15 16 (3.29%) Blue Coat Engineer
16 15 (3.08%) Software Engineer
17 14 (2.87%) C# Software Engineer
17 14 (2.87%) Network Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (3.90%) SAML
2 16 (3.29%) LDAP
3 15 (3.08%) JSON
4 13 (2.67%) Node.js
4 13 (2.67%) REST
4 13 (2.67%) Web Services
5 11 (2.26%) 802.1X
5 11 (2.26%) ARM Templates
6 8 (1.64%) .NET
7 6 (1.23%) NETCONF
7 6 (1.23%) OpenConfig
7 6 (1.23%) OpenID
7 6 (1.23%) RESTCONF
7 6 (1.23%) XML
7 6 (1.23%) YANG
8 5 (1.03%) OAuth
9 4 (0.82%) boto
9 4 (0.82%) eBPF
9 4 (0.82%) WinForms
10 3 (0.62%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 72 (14.78%) Data Centre
2 49 (10.06%) Onboarding
3 26 (5.34%) Management Information System
3 26 (5.34%) PKI
4 25 (5.13%) Hybrid Cloud
5 23 (4.72%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
6 19 (3.90%) Security Posture
7 18 (3.70%) Robotics
8 16 (3.29%) Driving Licence
8 16 (3.29%) Linux Command Line
9 15 (3.08%) Industry 4.0
10 14 (2.87%) Public Cloud
10 14 (2.87%) Self-Motivation
11 12 (2.46%) Cloud Native
11 12 (2.46%) Operational Technology
12 11 (2.26%) SCADA
13 10 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
13 10 (2.05%) Cyber Threat
13 10 (2.05%) Private Cloud
14 9 (1.85%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 210 (43.12%) Windows
2 114 (23.41%) Linux
3 60 (12.32%) Windows Server
4 38 (7.80%) Mac OS
5 32 (6.57%) Windows 10
6 20 (4.11%) Unix
7 17 (3.49%) Apple iOS
8 15 (3.08%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 14 (2.87%) Android
10 12 (2.46%) Ubuntu
11 5 (1.03%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.82%) zOS
13 3 (0.62%) CentOS
13 3 (0.62%) Check Point GAiA
13 3 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
14 2 (0.41%) Oracle Linux
14 2 (0.41%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 2 (0.41%) Windows Server 2016
15 1 (0.21%) Data ONTAP
15 1 (0.21%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 132 (27.10%) Problem-Solving
2 101 (20.74%) ITIL
3 70 (14.37%) CI/CD
4 64 (13.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 61 (12.53%) Agile
6 58 (11.91%) Load Balancing
7 56 (11.50%) Infrastructure as Code
8 55 (11.29%) Customer Service
8 55 (11.29%) DevOps
9 51 (10.47%) Cybersecurity
10 50 (10.27%) Migration
11 48 (9.86%) ITSM
12 47 (9.65%) High Availability
12 47 (9.65%) Incident Response
13 43 (8.83%) SIEM
14 42 (8.62%) Service Management
15 41 (8.42%) Validation
16 38 (7.80%) Continuous Improvement
16 38 (7.80%) Stakeholder Management
17 35 (7.19%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 131 (26.90%) Python
2 80 (16.43%) PowerShell
3 70 (14.37%) Bash
4 27 (5.54%) JavaScript
5 26 (5.34%) C++
6 17 (3.49%) C#
7 16 (3.29%) SQL
8 10 (2.05%) Java
9 9 (1.85%) VBA
10 7 (1.44%) Bicep
10 7 (1.44%) Perl
11 5 (1.03%) ActionScript
11 5 (1.03%) C
12 4 (0.82%) Shell Script
13 3 (0.62%) Go
14 2 (0.41%) Jython
14 2 (0.41%) Korn
14 2 (0.41%) Kusto Query Language
14 2 (0.41%) Objective-C
14 2 (0.41%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 131 (26.90%) Security Cleared
2 90 (18.48%) SC Cleared
3 75 (15.40%) Degree
4 59 (12.11%) Cisco Certification
5 44 (9.03%) CCNP
6 42 (8.62%) DV Cleared
7 27 (5.54%) CCNA
8 26 (5.34%) Microsoft Certification
9 21 (4.31%) CISSP
10 17 (3.49%) CCIE
11 16 (3.29%) Computer Science Degree
12 14 (2.87%) Network+ Certification
13 12 (2.46%) CompTIA Security+
14 10 (2.05%) Azure Certification
14 10 (2.05%) MCSA
15 9 (1.85%) MCSE
16 8 (1.64%) A+ Certification
17 7 (1.44%) CompTIA CySA+
17 7 (1.44%) VCAP
18 6 (1.23%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.49%) SLA
2 13 (2.67%) NIST
3 11 (2.26%) NCSC
4 10 (2.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (1.44%) QA
6 5 (1.03%) GDPR
7 4 (0.82%) NIST 800
7 4 (0.82%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.62%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 3 (0.62%) GxP
9 2 (0.41%) Government Security Classifications
9 2 (0.41%) JSP 440
10 1 (0.21%) GRC
10 1 (0.21%) ISO 8583
10 1 (0.21%) RMADS
System Software
1 132 (27.10%) Active Directory
2 77 (15.81%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (4.72%) Docker
3 23 (4.72%) Hyper-V
4 20 (4.11%) vSphere
5 19 (3.90%) VMware NSX
6 17 (3.49%) Firmware
7 11 (2.26%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (1.64%) Squid
9 6 (1.23%) Virtual Machines
10 5 (1.03%) NFS
11 4 (0.82%) VMware ESXi
12 2 (0.41%) KVM
12 2 (0.41%) RACF
12 2 (0.41%) VirtualBox
13 1 (0.21%) Citrix Presentation Server
13 1 (0.21%) GPFS
13 1 (0.21%) iptables
13 1 (0.21%) Snort
13 1 (0.21%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 94 (19.30%) Ansible
2 68 (13.96%) Terraform
3 48 (9.86%) Microsoft Intune
4 39 (8.01%) Kubernetes
5 26 (5.34%) SCCM
6 25 (5.13%) Single Sign-On
7 20 (4.11%) Grafana
8 19 (3.90%) FortiGate
9 11 (2.26%) Jamf Pro
9 11 (2.26%) Prometheus
10 10 (2.05%) VxRail
11 9 (1.85%) WSUS
12 6 (1.23%) CASB
13 5 (1.03%) Nessus
13 5 (1.03%) QRadar
13 5 (1.03%) Suricata
13 5 (1.03%) systemd
14 4 (0.82%) Consul
15 3 (0.62%) Puppet
15 3 (0.62%) SELinux
Vendors
1 176 (36.14%) Microsoft
2 91 (18.69%) Cisco
3 88 (18.07%) VMware
4 67 (13.76%) F5
5 59 (12.11%) ServiceNow
6 30 (6.16%) Fortinet
7 28 (5.75%) Google
8 26 (5.34%) Palo Alto
8 26 (5.34%) Zscaler
9 24 (4.93%) Blue Coat
9 24 (4.93%) Juniper
10 21 (4.31%) Citrix
10 21 (4.31%) Infoblox
11 20 (4.11%) CheckPoint
11 20 (4.11%) NetApp
11 20 (4.11%) Splunk
12 18 (3.70%) McAfee
13 17 (3.49%) Siemens
14 15 (3.08%) Red Hat
15 13 (2.67%) Remedy