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 28 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 288 223 280
Rank change year-on-year -65 +57 -42
Contract jobs citing TCP/IP 435 356 347
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.85% 1.17% 0.80%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 9.00% 9.45% 6.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 234 223 228
10th Percentile £206 £214 £198
25th Percentile £341 £357 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -0.42%
75th Percentile £550 £623 £575
90th Percentile £639 £775 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £481
% change year-on-year - -6.49% +7.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 17 32
10th Percentile £21.25 £18.79 £18.65
25th Percentile £25.00 £41.45 £53.93
Median hourly rate £32.50 £62.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -48.00% -3.85% +17.49%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 -
90th Percentile - - £67.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.86 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -47.91% - +11.84%

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 4,836 3,768 5,421
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.48% 12.33% 12.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,961 2,296 3,192
10th Percentile £250 £225 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -1.43%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £472 £490
% change year-on-year +2.28% -3.62% +3.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 299 179 433
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.87
25th Percentile £19.83 £21.99 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.50 £45.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -38.89% - +114.29%
75th Percentile £65.00 £61.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.05 £80.20 £73.18
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £36.57 £47.50
% change year-on-year -27.10% -23.01% +115.91%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 -50 385 £470 +1.62% 216
UK excluding London -38 248 £450 - 197
London -64 152 £475 +2.70% 44
Work from Home -62 107 £500 -13.04% 81
North of England -24 88 £450 -0.11% 41
South East -30 63 £527 +17.17% 69
North West -4 56 £508 +79.65% 22
East of England -13 37 £175 -58.82% 34
Midlands -42 36 £407 -25.95% 29
West Midlands -39 31 £400 -20.00% 22
Yorkshire -50 28 £447 -10.60% 16
South West -29 21 £500 -18.70% 26
Scotland -6 16 £301 -33.06% 3
Wales -14 7 £408 - 3
East Midlands -16 5 £500 -9.09% 7
North East -34 4 £306 +6.52% 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 23 (5.29%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.45%) Confluence
3 14 (3.22%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (2.30%) nginx
5 5 (1.15%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.92%) WebSphere
7 3 (0.69%) IIS
8 2 (0.46%) CICS
8 2 (0.46%) IBM HTTP Server
8 2 (0.46%) Oracle HTTP Server
8 2 (0.46%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.46%) WebSphere Portal
9 1 (0.23%) Traefik
Applications
1 31 (7.13%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (2.53%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.84%) MS Visio
4 7 (1.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.46%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.23%) Weka
Business Applications
1 2 (0.46%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.23%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 107 (24.60%) Azure
2 96 (22.07%) AWS
3 84 (19.31%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (8.97%) Entra ID
5 32 (7.36%) GCP
6 30 (6.90%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 22 (5.06%) OneDrive
7 22 (5.06%) Route 53
8 16 (3.68%) Amazon EC2
9 15 (3.45%) Amazon EKS
9 15 (3.45%) Amazon S3
10 13 (2.99%) AWS Lambda
10 13 (2.99%) GitHub
10 13 (2.99%) Serverless
11 11 (2.53%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (2.53%) Google Workspace
12 7 (1.61%) Azure DevOps
12 7 (1.61%) IaaS
12 7 (1.61%) SaaS
13 6 (1.38%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 240 (55.17%) DNS
2 163 (37.47%) Firewall
3 111 (25.52%) DHCP
4 106 (24.37%) VPN
5 80 (18.39%) WAN
6 77 (17.70%) Network Security
7 71 (16.32%) LAN
8 67 (15.40%) HTTP
9 63 (14.48%) BGP
9 63 (14.48%) SSL
10 60 (13.79%) VLAN
11 56 (12.87%) BIG-IP
12 42 (9.66%) OSPF
13 41 (9.43%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 37 (8.51%) Ethernet
14 37 (8.51%) Wi-Fi
15 30 (6.90%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
16 29 (6.67%) Wireshark
17 23 (5.29%) Wireless
18 22 (5.06%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.53%) Elasticsearch
1 11 (2.53%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.92%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.69%) Amazon RDS
4 2 (0.46%) MySQL
4 2 (0.46%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.23%) BigQuery
5 1 (0.23%) KDB
5 1 (0.23%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 48 (11.03%) JIRA
2 23 (5.29%) Fiddler
3 16 (3.68%) GitLab
4 14 (3.22%) Visual Studio
5 13 (2.99%) Eclipse
5 13 (2.99%) Jenkins
6 12 (2.76%) Git
7 9 (2.07%) Browser DevTools
8 7 (1.61%) Bitbucket
8 7 (1.61%) SonarQube
9 6 (1.38%) Sonatype Nexus
10 3 (0.69%) Artifactory
11 2 (0.46%) Introscope
11 2 (0.46%) Subversion
12 1 (0.23%) MSI
12 1 (0.23%) Postman
General
1 172 (39.54%) Social Skills
2 61 (14.02%) Finance
3 53 (12.18%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (8.97%) Banking
5 25 (5.75%) Investment Banking
6 23 (5.29%) Public Sector
7 22 (5.06%) Presentation Skills
8 21 (4.83%) Documentation Skills
9 20 (4.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 19 (4.37%) Military
11 13 (2.99%) Telecoms
12 9 (2.07%) Front Office
13 6 (1.38%) Organisational Skills
14 5 (1.15%) Legal
15 3 (0.69%) French Language
15 3 (0.69%) Marketing
15 3 (0.69%) Retail
16 2 (0.46%) Aviation
16 2 (0.46%) Japanese Language
16 2 (0.46%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 102 (23.45%) Network Engineer
2 47 (10.80%) Architect
3 45 (10.34%) Support Engineer
4 38 (8.74%) Analyst
5 34 (7.82%) IT Support
6 30 (6.90%) Web Engineer
7 26 (5.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 25 (5.75%) Security Engineer
9 24 (5.52%) IT Engineer
9 24 (5.52%) Senior
10 22 (5.06%) Technical Engineer
11 20 (4.60%) Systems Engineer
12 19 (4.37%) IP Network Engineer
13 18 (4.14%) IT Support Engineer
14 17 (3.91%) Blue Coat Engineer
15 14 (3.22%) Junior
15 14 (3.22%) Software Engineer
16 13 (2.99%) C# Software Engineer
16 13 (2.99%) Network Architect
16 13 (2.99%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (4.60%) LDAP
2 18 (4.14%) SAML
3 13 (2.99%) Node.js
3 13 (2.99%) Web Services
4 12 (2.76%) JSON
4 12 (2.76%) OpenID
5 11 (2.53%) REST
6 9 (2.07%) 802.1X
7 6 (1.38%) .NET
8 5 (1.15%) OAuth
8 5 (1.15%) XML
9 4 (0.92%) ARM Templates
9 4 (0.92%) NETCONF
9 4 (0.92%) OpenConfig
9 4 (0.92%) RESTCONF
9 4 (0.92%) YANG
10 3 (0.69%) HTML
10 3 (0.69%) Kafka
10 3 (0.69%) Middleware
10 3 (0.69%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 57 (13.10%) Data Centre
2 42 (9.66%) Onboarding
3 22 (5.06%) Management Information System
4 21 (4.83%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
5 18 (4.14%) Security Posture
6 15 (3.45%) Industry 4.0
6 15 (3.45%) Robotics
7 13 (2.99%) Driving Licence
7 13 (2.99%) Security Operations Centre
8 12 (2.76%) Cyber Threat
9 11 (2.53%) Cloud Native
9 11 (2.53%) Hybrid Cloud
10 10 (2.30%) Private Cloud
11 9 (2.07%) Cyberattack
12 8 (1.84%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (1.84%) Data Protection Act
12 8 (1.84%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (1.84%) Public Cloud
13 7 (1.61%) PKI
13 7 (1.61%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 181 (41.61%) Windows
2 80 (18.39%) Linux
3 46 (10.57%) Windows Server
4 35 (8.05%) Mac OS
5 25 (5.75%) Windows 10
6 17 (3.91%) Apple iOS
6 17 (3.91%) Unix
7 10 (2.30%) Android
8 7 (1.61%) Ubuntu
8 7 (1.61%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (1.38%) zOS
10 3 (0.69%) Check Point GAiA
10 3 (0.69%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.69%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.46%) CentOS
11 2 (0.46%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.46%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2003
11 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 122 (28.05%) Problem-Solving
2 81 (18.62%) ITIL
3 58 (13.33%) Agile
4 54 (12.41%) Load Balancing
5 47 (10.80%) Incident Response
6 46 (10.57%) Customer Service
7 45 (10.34%) Migration
8 44 (10.11%) CI/CD
8 44 (10.11%) High Availability
9 42 (9.66%) DevOps
10 41 (9.43%) ITSM
11 39 (8.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 36 (8.28%) Infrastructure as Code
13 35 (8.05%) Root Cause Analysis
13 35 (8.05%) SIEM
14 34 (7.82%) Cybersecurity
15 33 (7.59%) Validation
16 31 (7.13%) Decision-Making
17 30 (6.90%) Stakeholder Management
18 28 (6.44%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 105 (24.14%) Python
2 47 (10.80%) PowerShell
3 46 (10.57%) Bash
4 28 (6.44%) JavaScript
5 22 (5.06%) C++
6 16 (3.68%) C#
7 12 (2.76%) SQL
8 9 (2.07%) VBA
9 5 (1.15%) ActionScript
9 5 (1.15%) C
10 4 (0.92%) Java
10 4 (0.92%) Perl
11 3 (0.69%) Go
12 2 (0.46%) Jython
12 2 (0.46%) Ruby
12 2 (0.46%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.23%) Groovy
13 1 (0.23%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 108 (24.83%) Security Cleared
2 86 (19.77%) SC Cleared
3 77 (17.70%) Degree
4 48 (11.03%) Cisco Certification
5 36 (8.28%) CCNP
6 26 (5.98%) CCNA
7 21 (4.83%) CISSP
7 21 (4.83%) Computer Science Degree
8 20 (4.60%) DV Cleared
9 18 (4.14%) CompTIA Security+
9 18 (4.14%) Microsoft Certification
10 13 (2.99%) CCIE
11 10 (2.30%) Azure Certification
11 10 (2.30%) MCSA
12 9 (2.07%) CompTIA CySA+
12 9 (2.07%) MCSE
13 8 (1.84%) Network+ Certification
14 4 (0.92%) CEH
14 4 (0.92%) GCIA
14 4 (0.92%) GCIH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.30%) NIST
2 9 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 8 (1.84%) NCSC
3 8 (1.84%) SLA
4 7 (1.61%) QA
5 5 (1.15%) GDPR
6 4 (0.92%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.46%) Government Security Classifications
7 2 (0.46%) RMADS
8 1 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.23%) GRC
8 1 (0.23%) ISO 8583
8 1 (0.23%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.23%) NIST 800
System Software
1 95 (21.84%) Active Directory
2 47 (10.80%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (4.14%) Firmware
4 13 (2.99%) Squid
5 12 (2.76%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (2.30%) Docker
7 9 (2.07%) Hyper-V
7 9 (2.07%) VMware NSX
8 6 (1.38%) vSphere
9 4 (0.92%) NFS
9 4 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.46%) KVM
10 2 (0.46%) RACF
10 2 (0.46%) VirtualBox
11 1 (0.23%) Citrix Presentation Server
11 1 (0.23%) GPFS
11 1 (0.23%) Lustre
11 1 (0.23%) Snort
11 1 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 67 (15.40%) Ansible
2 42 (9.66%) Terraform
3 30 (6.90%) Microsoft Intune
4 28 (6.44%) Kubernetes
5 25 (5.75%) FortiGate
5 25 (5.75%) Single Sign-On
6 21 (4.83%) Grafana
6 21 (4.83%) SCCM
7 16 (3.68%) Prometheus
8 11 (2.53%) Jamf Pro
9 10 (2.30%) WSUS
10 9 (2.07%) Consul
11 6 (1.38%) CASB
11 6 (1.38%) QRadar
12 5 (1.15%) Nessus
12 5 (1.15%) Suricata
13 4 (0.92%) Nagios
13 4 (0.92%) Tivoli NetView
14 3 (0.69%) Puppet
14 3 (0.69%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 145 (33.33%) Microsoft
2 73 (16.78%) Cisco
3 72 (16.55%) F5
4 58 (13.33%) VMware
5 45 (10.34%) ServiceNow
6 28 (6.44%) Blue Coat
6 28 (6.44%) Fortinet
7 27 (6.21%) Palo Alto
8 25 (5.75%) Google
9 24 (5.52%) Splunk
10 23 (5.29%) Citrix
11 22 (5.06%) McAfee
11 22 (5.06%) Zscaler
12 20 (4.60%) Infoblox
13 19 (4.37%) Juniper
13 19 (4.37%) NetApp
14 17 (3.91%) Siemens
15 16 (3.68%) CheckPoint
15 16 (3.68%) Red Hat
16 13 (2.99%) Bloomberg