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

6 months to
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 276 247 274
Rank change year-on-year -29 +27 -49
Contract jobs citing TCP/IP 483 357 343
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.91% 1.08% 0.85%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 9.72% 8.94% 6.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 265 208 229
10th Percentile £205 £200 £202
25th Percentile £313 £350 £262
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.00% +11.11% -5.26%
75th Percentile £550 £591 £575
90th Percentile £650 £653 £639
UK excluding London median daily rate £455 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +1.11% - +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 24 31
10th Percentile £22.00 £19.85 £20.00
25th Percentile £31.25 £44.68 £62.50
Median hourly rate £47.00 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -27.69% - +28.92%
75th Percentile £65.00 - -
90th Percentile £97.56 £87.64 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £49.75 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -23.46% - +94.38%

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 4,970 3,995 4,935
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.41% 12.12% 12.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,989 2,446 2,987
10th Percentile £250 £235 £213
25th Percentile £400 £374 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.41% -2.35% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £607
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.05% -5.00% +8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 333 194 348
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.15 £17.95
Median hourly rate £26.44 £48.75 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -45.76% +8.33% -10.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.70 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £44.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year -39.41% -12.00% -12.14%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -11 443 £475 -5.00% 264
UK excluding London -22 275 £455 +1.11% 206
London -32 180 £475 -5.00% 92
Work from Home -47 117 £500 -9.09% 92
North of England -40 88 £468 -6.50% 46
South East -34 79 £527 +26.44% 64
North West -9 57 £475 +11.71% 23
Midlands -34 39 £401 -19.80% 27
South West -10 36 £525 -15.15% 36
East of England -11 34 £250 -52.38% 24
West Midlands -34 31 £400 -0.50% 16
Yorkshire -52 28 £475 -6.17% 18
Scotland -7 12 £301 -32.30% 10
East Midlands -11 8 £402 -26.91% 11
Wales -10 7 £408 +126.39% 4
North East -38 3 £413 +65.00% 7

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 (8.49%) SharePoint
2 24 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (2.48%) Confluence
4 9 (1.86%) nginx
5 7 (1.45%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.83%) FactoryTalk
6 4 (0.83%) WebSphere
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 34 (7.04%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (2.90%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (1.45%) 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 (1.45%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 153 (31.68%) Azure
2 111 (22.98%) AWS
3 105 (21.74%) Microsoft 365
4 63 (13.04%) Entra ID
5 36 (7.45%) GCP
6 31 (6.42%) OneDrive
7 28 (5.80%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 19 (3.93%) GitHub
9 16 (3.31%) Route 53
10 15 (3.11%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (2.28%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (2.28%) Azure Monitor
11 11 (2.28%) Google Workspace
12 10 (2.07%) Amazon EKS
13 9 (1.86%) Azure DevOps
13 9 (1.86%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (1.86%) OpenShift
14 8 (1.66%) Amazon S3
14 8 (1.66%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (1.66%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 281 (58.18%) DNS
2 202 (41.82%) Firewall
3 160 (33.13%) DHCP
4 138 (28.57%) VPN
5 89 (18.43%) Network Security
6 88 (18.22%) WAN
7 77 (15.94%) LAN
8 75 (15.53%) VLAN
9 73 (15.11%) BGP
10 70 (14.49%) HTTP
11 61 (12.63%) SSL
12 48 (9.94%) BIG-IP
13 45 (9.32%) OSPF
14 43 (8.90%) Wi-Fi
15 39 (8.07%) Ethernet
16 37 (7.66%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 33 (6.83%) Wireless
18 26 (5.38%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
19 24 (4.97%) SD-WAN
19 24 (4.97%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.69%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.24%) PostgreSQL
3 4 (0.83%) 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 (9.73%) JIRA
2 24 (4.97%) Git
3 18 (3.73%) Fiddler
3 18 (3.73%) Jenkins
4 16 (3.31%) GitLab
5 14 (2.90%) Visual Studio
6 13 (2.69%) Eclipse
7 10 (2.07%) Browser DevTools
8 5 (1.04%) Sonatype Nexus
9 4 (0.83%) Artifactory
10 3 (0.62%) Bitbucket
11 2 (0.41%) Introscope
11 2 (0.41%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.41%) Subversion
12 1 (0.21%) MSI
12 1 (0.21%) Postman
General
1 191 (39.54%) Social Skills
2 69 (14.29%) Analytical Skills
3 64 (13.25%) Finance
4 41 (8.49%) Banking
5 33 (6.83%) Public Sector
6 22 (4.55%) Presentation Skills
7 21 (4.35%) Investment Banking
8 20 (4.14%) Telecoms
9 19 (3.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 17 (3.52%) Documentation Skills
10 17 (3.52%) Military
11 8 (1.66%) Front Office
12 6 (1.24%) Manufacturing
12 6 (1.24%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (1.04%) Legal
13 5 (1.04%) Organisational Skills
14 4 (0.83%) Police
15 3 (0.62%) Automotive
15 3 (0.62%) Retail
16 2 (0.41%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 112 (23.19%) Network Engineer
2 56 (11.59%) Support Engineer
3 48 (9.94%) Senior
4 44 (9.11%) Architect
4 44 (9.11%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 38 (7.87%) IT Support
6 33 (6.83%) Analyst
7 30 (6.21%) IT Engineer
8 26 (5.38%) Security Engineer
9 25 (5.18%) Web Engineer
10 24 (4.97%) IT Support Engineer
11 22 (4.55%) Technical Engineer
12 20 (4.14%) Systems Engineer
13 18 (3.73%) Senior Network Engineer
14 17 (3.52%) IP Network Engineer
14 17 (3.52%) Platform Engineer
15 15 (3.11%) Blue Coat Engineer
15 15 (3.11%) Software Engineer
16 14 (2.90%) C# Software Engineer
16 14 (2.90%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (3.93%) SAML
2 16 (3.31%) LDAP
3 15 (3.11%) JSON
4 13 (2.69%) Node.js
4 13 (2.69%) REST
4 13 (2.69%) Web Services
5 11 (2.28%) 802.1X
5 11 (2.28%) ARM Templates
6 8 (1.66%) .NET
7 6 (1.24%) NETCONF
7 6 (1.24%) OpenConfig
7 6 (1.24%) OpenID
7 6 (1.24%) RESTCONF
7 6 (1.24%) XML
7 6 (1.24%) YANG
8 5 (1.04%) OAuth
9 4 (0.83%) boto
9 4 (0.83%) eBPF
9 4 (0.83%) WinForms
10 3 (0.62%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 71 (14.70%) Data Centre
2 50 (10.35%) Onboarding
3 26 (5.38%) PKI
4 25 (5.18%) Hybrid Cloud
5 24 (4.97%) Management Information System
6 23 (4.76%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
7 18 (3.73%) Robotics
7 18 (3.73%) Security Posture
8 16 (3.31%) Driving Licence
8 16 (3.31%) Linux Command Line
9 15 (3.11%) Industry 4.0
10 14 (2.90%) Public Cloud
10 14 (2.90%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (2.69%) Operational Technology
12 12 (2.48%) Cloud Native
12 12 (2.48%) SCADA
13 10 (2.07%) Analytical Mindset
13 10 (2.07%) Cyber Threat
13 10 (2.07%) Private Cloud
14 8 (1.66%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 211 (43.69%) Windows
2 114 (23.60%) Linux
3 62 (12.84%) Windows Server
4 38 (7.87%) Mac OS
5 32 (6.63%) Windows 10
6 20 (4.14%) Unix
7 17 (3.52%) Apple iOS
8 15 (3.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 13 (2.69%) Android
10 12 (2.48%) Ubuntu
11 5 (1.04%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.83%) 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 (27.33%) Problem-Solving
2 100 (20.70%) ITIL
3 70 (14.49%) CI/CD
4 65 (13.46%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 60 (12.42%) Agile
6 57 (11.80%) Load Balancing
7 56 (11.59%) Infrastructure as Code
8 55 (11.39%) Customer Service
8 55 (11.39%) DevOps
9 51 (10.56%) Cybersecurity
10 49 (10.14%) Migration
11 48 (9.94%) ITSM
12 47 (9.73%) Incident Response
13 46 (9.52%) High Availability
14 42 (8.70%) Service Management
14 42 (8.70%) SIEM
15 41 (8.49%) Validation
16 38 (7.87%) Stakeholder Management
17 37 (7.66%) Continuous Improvement
18 34 (7.04%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 129 (26.71%) Python
2 81 (16.77%) PowerShell
3 69 (14.29%) Bash
4 27 (5.59%) JavaScript
5 26 (5.38%) C++
6 17 (3.52%) C#
7 16 (3.31%) SQL
8 10 (2.07%) Java
9 9 (1.86%) VBA
10 7 (1.45%) Bicep
10 7 (1.45%) Perl
11 5 (1.04%) ActionScript
11 5 (1.04%) C
12 4 (0.83%) 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
1 128 (26.50%) Security Cleared
2 87 (18.01%) SC Cleared
3 75 (15.53%) Degree
4 58 (12.01%) Cisco Certification
5 43 (8.90%) CCNP
6 41 (8.49%) DV Cleared
7 27 (5.59%) CCNA
8 26 (5.38%) Microsoft Certification
9 21 (4.35%) CISSP
10 16 (3.31%) CCIE
11 15 (3.11%) Computer Science Degree
12 14 (2.90%) Network+ Certification
13 11 (2.28%) CompTIA Security+
14 10 (2.07%) Azure Certification
14 10 (2.07%) MCSA
15 9 (1.86%) MCSE
16 8 (1.66%) A+ Certification
17 7 (1.45%) VCAP
18 6 (1.24%) AWS Certification
18 6 (1.24%) JNCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.52%) SLA
2 13 (2.69%) NIST
3 10 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (2.07%) NCSC
4 6 (1.24%) QA
5 5 (1.04%) GDPR
6 4 (0.83%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 4 (0.83%) GxP
6 4 (0.83%) NIST 800
6 4 (0.83%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.41%) Government Security Classifications
7 2 (0.41%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.21%) ISO 8583
8 1 (0.21%) RMADS
System Software
1 131 (27.12%) Active Directory
2 77 (15.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (4.76%) Docker
3 23 (4.76%) Hyper-V
4 20 (4.14%) vSphere
5 19 (3.93%) VMware NSX
6 16 (3.31%) Firmware
7 11 (2.28%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (1.66%) Squid
9 6 (1.24%) Virtual Machines
10 5 (1.04%) NFS
11 4 (0.83%) 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%) Lustre
13 1 (0.21%) Snort
13 1 (0.21%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 92 (19.05%) Ansible
2 68 (14.08%) Terraform
3 48 (9.94%) Microsoft Intune
4 39 (8.07%) Kubernetes
5 26 (5.38%) SCCM
6 25 (5.18%) Single Sign-On
7 20 (4.14%) Grafana
8 19 (3.93%) FortiGate
9 11 (2.28%) Jamf Pro
9 11 (2.28%) Prometheus
10 10 (2.07%) VxRail
11 9 (1.86%) WSUS
12 6 (1.24%) CASB
13 5 (1.04%) Nessus
13 5 (1.04%) QRadar
13 5 (1.04%) Suricata
13 5 (1.04%) systemd
14 4 (0.83%) Consul
15 3 (0.62%) Puppet
15 3 (0.62%) SELinux
Vendors
1 175 (36.23%) Microsoft
2 90 (18.63%) Cisco
3 88 (18.22%) VMware
4 65 (13.46%) F5
5 58 (12.01%) ServiceNow
6 29 (6.00%) Fortinet
7 28 (5.80%) Google
8 26 (5.38%) Zscaler
9 24 (4.97%) Juniper
9 24 (4.97%) Palo Alto
10 23 (4.76%) Blue Coat
11 21 (4.35%) Citrix
11 21 (4.35%) Infoblox
12 19 (3.93%) NetApp
12 19 (3.93%) Splunk
13 18 (3.73%) CheckPoint
14 17 (3.52%) McAfee
14 17 (3.52%) Siemens
15 15 (3.11%) Red Hat
16 13 (2.69%) Remedy