Telecoms Contract Job Trends

Telecommunications
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Telecoms in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Telecoms over the 6 months leading up to 25 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 182 93 63
Rank change year-on-year -89 -30 +18
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 742 791 1,345
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.46% 2.63% 3.09%
As % of the General category 2.68% 4.13% 5.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 440 454 638
10th Percentile £207 £307 £200
25th Percentile £386 £400 £320
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £480 £450
Median % change year-on-year -1.04% +6.67% -7.12%
75th Percentile £567 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £459 £468 £450
% change year-on-year -1.82% +3.89% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 38 105
10th Percentile £16.01 - £12.15
25th Percentile £19.93 £14.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.40 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.49% -50.18% +4.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £62.24 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £60.00
% change year-on-year +35.48% -74.17% +54.84%

All General Skills
UK

Telecoms falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 27,698 19,134 24,851
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.43% 63.53% 57.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,710 12,053 15,562
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £490
% change year-on-year +6.38% -4.08% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,885 916 2,005
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.41 £12.78
25th Percentile £18.00 £16.47 £15.62
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.50 £31.50
Median % change year-on-year +16.36% -12.70% +5.00%
75th Percentile £61.18 £53.75 £53.75
90th Percentile £80.03 £72.50 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.46 £23.10 £30.00
% change year-on-year +36.19% -23.00% +17.19%

Telecoms
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Telecoms job vacancy trend in the UK

Telecoms
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Telecoms.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Telecoms

Telecoms
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Telecoms over the 6 months to 25 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Telecoms in the UK

Telecoms
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Telecoms.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Telecoms

Telecoms
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Telecoms over the 6 months to 25 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Telecoms in the UK

Telecoms
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Telecoms within the UK over the 6 months to 25 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 -91 644 £475 -3.06% 426
UK excluding London -100 377 £459 -1.82% 412
London -25 286 £500 +2.04% 102
Work from Home -47 207 £475 - 144
South East -66 162 £466 -5.86% 137
North of England -58 69 £500 -4.76% 84
South West -69 49 £475 +11.76% 37
Midlands -58 38 £475 +5.56% 67
North West -44 35 £506 -3.57% 46
East of England -18 32 £190 -52.50% 52
West Midlands -59 32 £460 +6.67% 49
Scotland -15 27 £305 -6.15% 39
Yorkshire -42 24 £515 +0.49% 29
North East -26 10 £500 - 12
East Midlands -14 6 £500 -20.00% 18
Northern Ireland -4 3 £175 -51.05% 5
Wales -14 1 £500 +90.48% 8

Telecoms
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 9 (1.21%) Confluence
1 9 (1.21%) OpenStack
2 6 (0.81%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (0.81%) Appian
3 5 (0.67%) SharePoint
4 4 (0.54%) Anypoint
4 4 (0.54%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.54%) ArcGIS
4 4 (0.54%) Microsoft Exchange
5 3 (0.40%) IIS
5 3 (0.40%) JBoss
5 3 (0.40%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 3 (0.40%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.40%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.27%) Apache
6 2 (0.27%) CMS
6 2 (0.27%) Oracle Spatial
7 1 (0.13%) Camunda
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
Applications
1 22 (2.96%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (2.70%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.62%) MS Visio
4 10 (1.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.67%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.27%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.13%) Revit
7 1 (0.13%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 19 (2.56%) SAP PSCD
2 14 (1.89%) Remedy ITSM
3 13 (1.75%) SAP BRIM
4 12 (1.62%) SAP Hybris
5 6 (0.81%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 5 (0.67%) SAP FI
7 4 (0.54%) BambooHR
7 4 (0.54%) NetSuite
7 4 (0.54%) Remedy AR System
7 4 (0.54%) Sage X3
7 4 (0.54%) SAP FI-CA
8 3 (0.40%) Salesforce CRM
9 2 (0.27%) SAP ERP
10 1 (0.13%) SAP CO
10 1 (0.13%) SAP FI/CO
10 1 (0.13%) SAP IBP
10 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
10 1 (0.13%) SAP SD
10 1 (0.13%) SAP SRM
10 1 (0.13%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 67 (9.03%) Azure
2 63 (8.49%) AWS
3 41 (5.53%) GCP
4 19 (2.56%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.43%) Microsoft 365
6 16 (2.16%) SaaS
7 14 (1.89%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 9 (1.21%) dbt
8 9 (1.21%) Snowflake
9 7 (0.94%) Entra ID
10 6 (0.81%) Datadog
10 6 (0.81%) GitHub
10 6 (0.81%) Serverless
11 5 (0.67%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (0.67%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (0.67%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (0.67%) Prefect
12 4 (0.54%) Dagster
12 4 (0.54%) Figma
12 4 (0.54%) Fivetran
Communications & Networking
1 62 (8.36%) WAN
2 60 (8.09%) MPLS
3 59 (7.95%) 5G
4 52 (7.01%) LAN
5 41 (5.53%) Firewall
6 37 (4.99%) 4G
6 37 (4.99%) Radio Access Network
7 30 (4.04%) BGP
8 29 (3.91%) SD-WAN
9 23 (3.10%) Network Security
10 21 (2.83%) LTE
11 20 (2.70%) 3GPP
11 20 (2.70%) OSPF
11 20 (2.70%) VoIP
11 20 (2.70%) VPN
12 19 (2.56%) DNS
13 18 (2.43%) VLAN
14 16 (2.16%) Internet
15 15 (2.02%) 3G
15 15 (2.02%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.43%) Power BI
2 15 (2.02%) Data Warehouse
3 13 (1.75%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.62%) Looker
4 12 (1.62%) Tableau
5 11 (1.48%) Amazon Redshift
6 7 (0.94%) Big Data
6 7 (0.94%) Relational Database
7 5 (0.67%) MySQL
8 4 (0.54%) GIS
8 4 (0.54%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.54%) SQL Server
9 3 (0.40%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.40%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.40%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.40%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.27%) Metadata
10 2 (0.27%) Power Query
10 2 (0.27%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 23 (3.10%) JIRA
2 9 (1.21%) Git
3 3 (0.40%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.27%) GitLab
4 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
5 1 (0.13%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.13%) JMeter
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.13%) TestRail
General
1 210 (28.30%) Social Skills
2 127 (17.12%) Finance
3 104 (14.02%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (9.03%) Public Sector
5 46 (6.20%) Billing
6 28 (3.77%) Marketing
6 28 (3.77%) Retail
7 24 (3.23%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (2.56%) Legal
9 18 (2.43%) Electronics
10 16 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
10 16 (2.16%) Organisational Skills
11 14 (1.89%) Manufacturing
12 10 (1.35%) Presentation Skills
13 7 (0.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (0.81%) Aerospace
15 5 (0.67%) Police
15 5 (0.67%) Publishing
16 4 (0.54%) Banking
16 4 (0.54%) Military
Job Titles
1 98 (13.21%) Architect
2 63 (8.49%) Lead
3 61 (8.22%) Consultant
4 58 (7.82%) Senior
5 57 (7.68%) Analyst
6 44 (5.93%) Network Engineer
7 40 (5.39%) Solutions Architect
8 39 (5.26%) Telecoms Manager
9 37 (4.99%) Project Manager
10 27 (3.64%) Designer
11 26 (3.50%) Developer
12 24 (3.23%) ServiceNow Architect
13 23 (3.10%) Data Engineer
14 21 (2.83%) Delivery Manager
15 20 (2.70%) SAP Consultant
16 19 (2.56%) Business Analyst
17 18 (2.43%) Enterprise Architect
18 17 (2.29%) Programme Manager
18 17 (2.29%) Sales Manager
18 17 (2.29%) Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (5.26%) REST
2 26 (3.50%) SOAP
3 12 (1.62%) Middleware
3 12 (1.62%) ONVIF
4 10 (1.35%) Kafka
5 9 (1.21%) .NET
5 9 (1.21%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.08%) XML
7 6 (0.81%) JSON
7 6 (0.81%) NETCONF
7 6 (0.81%) OpenAPI
7 6 (0.81%) Swagger
7 6 (0.81%) YANG
8 5 (0.67%) RESTful
9 4 (0.54%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.54%) RAML
10 3 (0.40%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.40%) Model Context Protocol
10 3 (0.40%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.40%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 40 (5.39%) CMDB
1 40 (5.39%) Data Centre
2 35 (4.72%) Onboarding
3 31 (4.18%) Cloud Native
4 23 (3.10%) Data Protection Act
5 20 (2.70%) Driving Licence
6 17 (2.29%) Virtual Team
7 16 (2.16%) Analytical Mindset
8 15 (2.02%) Product Ownership
9 13 (1.75%) Distributed Systems
10 12 (1.62%) Video\Live Streaming
11 11 (1.48%) Hybrid Cloud
12 9 (1.21%) Management Information System
13 8 (1.08%) EPoS
13 8 (1.08%) Self-Motivation
13 8 (1.08%) TM Forum
14 6 (0.81%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 6 (0.81%) NHS
14 6 (0.81%) Private Cloud
14 6 (0.81%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 30 (4.04%) Windows
2 23 (3.10%) Linux
3 15 (2.02%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.48%) Unix
5 4 (0.54%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.40%) Android
6 3 (0.40%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.40%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.27%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.27%) VMS
8 1 (0.13%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.13%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.13%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 120 (16.17%) Stakeholder Management
2 97 (13.07%) Agile
2 97 (13.07%) Problem-Solving
3 79 (10.65%) ITIL
4 71 (9.57%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 61 (8.22%) Decision-Making
6 60 (8.09%) Continuous Improvement
7 58 (7.82%) Project Delivery
8 54 (7.28%) CI/CD
8 54 (7.28%) Migration
9 51 (6.87%) CRM
9 51 (6.87%) Project Management
10 50 (6.74%) Service Management
11 49 (6.60%) Roadmaps
12 47 (6.33%) Customer Service
12 47 (6.33%) Validation
13 45 (6.06%) Analytics
13 45 (6.06%) ITSM
14 41 (5.53%) AI
15 40 (5.39%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 58 (7.82%) Python
2 34 (4.58%) SQL
3 16 (2.16%) Java
3 16 (2.16%) JavaScript
4 10 (1.35%) C#
5 8 (1.08%) Bash
6 7 (0.94%) C++
7 6 (0.81%) R
8 4 (0.54%) DataWeave
8 4 (0.54%) PowerShell
8 4 (0.54%) TypeScript
9 3 (0.40%) ABAP
9 3 (0.40%) Apex Code
9 3 (0.40%) LookML
10 2 (0.27%) C
10 2 (0.27%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.13%) Bicep
11 1 (0.13%) DCL
11 1 (0.13%) Go
Qualifications
1 125 (16.85%) Security Cleared
2 86 (11.59%) SC Cleared
3 75 (10.11%) Degree
4 49 (6.60%) Cisco Certification
5 32 (4.31%) CCNA
6 24 (3.23%) DV Cleared
7 23 (3.10%) CCNP
7 23 (3.10%) Microsoft Certification
8 22 (2.96%) A+ Certification
9 18 (2.43%) Computer Science Degree
10 17 (2.29%) PMP
11 15 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
12 13 (1.75%) PMI Certification
13 12 (1.62%) MCSA
14 11 (1.48%) Network+ Certification
15 9 (1.21%) Azure Certification
15 9 (1.21%) CCIE
16 8 (1.08%) AWS Certification
16 8 (1.08%) Master's Degree
17 6 (0.81%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.37%) SLA
2 22 (2.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 20 (2.70%) NCSC
4 18 (2.43%) GDPR
5 16 (2.16%) PMO
6 15 (2.02%) QA
7 13 (1.75%) Data Quality
8 11 (1.48%) GRC
9 8 (1.08%) NIST
10 5 (0.67%) RMADS
11 3 (0.40%) JSP 440
12 2 (0.27%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.13%) Accessibility
13 1 (0.13%) EU AI Act
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 31000
13 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.13%) SOC 1
13 1 (0.13%) WCAG
System Software
1 16 (2.16%) Active Directory
1 16 (2.16%) VMware Infrastructure
2 12 (1.62%) Docker
3 8 (1.08%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.67%) vSphere
5 3 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 40 (5.39%) Kubernetes
2 20 (2.70%) Terraform
3 17 (2.29%) Ansible
4 13 (1.75%) Grafana
4 13 (1.75%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.40%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (0.40%) Iperf
5 3 (0.40%) Jamf Pro
5 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.40%) vCenter Server
5 3 (0.40%) vRealize
6 2 (0.27%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.27%) Nmap
6 2 (0.27%) NSN NetAct
7 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.13%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.13%) Kibana
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle RMAN
7 1 (0.13%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 87 (11.73%) Microsoft
2 72 (9.70%) ServiceNow
3 71 (9.57%) Cisco
4 42 (5.66%) Nokia
5 35 (4.72%) SAP
6 28 (3.77%) Salesforce
7 23 (3.10%) BT
7 23 (3.10%) Oracle
7 23 (3.10%) VMware
8 20 (2.70%) Ericsson
9 18 (2.43%) Fortinet
10 17 (2.29%) Remedy
11 15 (2.02%) Juniper
12 14 (1.89%) F5
12 14 (1.89%) Huawei
13 13 (1.75%) Google
14 11 (1.48%) BMC
14 11 (1.48%) CheckPoint
14 11 (1.48%) MuleSoft
14 11 (1.48%) Palo Alto