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 17 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 172 92 63
Rank change year-on-year -80 -29 +22
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 727 817 1,327
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.51% 2.78% 3.12%
As % of the General category 2.81% 4.40% 5.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 450 460 664
10th Percentile £212 £312 £200
25th Percentile £400 £395 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £488 £450
Median % change year-on-year -1.28% +8.33% -8.63%
75th Percentile £575 £589 £595
90th Percentile £681 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £484 £450
% change year-on-year -3.26% +7.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 37 96
10th Percentile £17.46 - £12.15
25th Percentile £20.81 £14.00 £13.25
Median hourly rate £23.83 £24.18 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.47% -56.04% +4.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £57.50 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £68.25 £85.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £23.00 £60.00
% change year-on-year +3.59% -61.67% +14.29%

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 25,858 18,578 24,698
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 53.74% 63.24% 58.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,802 11,813 15,587
10th Percentile £310 £285 £275
25th Percentile £410 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.88% -0.95% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +2.63% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,659 793 1,923
10th Percentile £13.90 £14.00 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.25 £15.44
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.50 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -7.96%
75th Percentile £60.52 £55.93 £52.64
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £66.74
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £24.54 £28.25
% change year-on-year +14.09% -13.12% -2.59%

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 17 May 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 17 May 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 17 May 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 -92 636 £481 -3.90% 584
UK excluding London -102 375 £468 -3.26% 470
London -24 276 £500 - 192
Work from Home -37 193 £500 +4.17% 374
South East -65 152 £456 -6.46% 164
North of England -58 71 £481 -8.33% 93
Midlands -41 57 £550 +7.32% 48
West Midlands -40 45 £550 +7.32% 27
South West -57 44 £511 -2.67% 52
North West -47 34 £463 -12.32% 52
East of England -24 32 £200 -50.00% 64
Yorkshire -46 23 £481 -12.50% 34
Scotland -11 14 £275 -18.52% 44
North East -13 14 £500 -0.25% 8
East Midlands -19 12 £500 +25.00% 20
Northern Ireland 0 6 £150 -58.04% 4
Wales -14 3 £160 -56.16% 18

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 11 (1.51%) OpenStack
2 8 (1.10%) Confluence
3 6 (0.83%) Appian
4 5 (0.69%) Apache Airflow
4 5 (0.69%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.69%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.55%) Anypoint
5 4 (0.55%) SharePoint
6 3 (0.41%) ArcGIS
6 3 (0.41%) IIS
6 3 (0.41%) JBoss
6 3 (0.41%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.41%) Tomcat
6 3 (0.41%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.28%) Apache
7 2 (0.28%) Oracle Spatial
8 1 (0.14%) Camunda
8 1 (0.14%) CMS
8 1 (0.14%) Smallworld
Applications
1 24 (3.30%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (1.93%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.69%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.41%) AutoCAD
6 2 (0.28%) MicroStation
6 2 (0.28%) Trello
7 1 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.14%) FrameMaker
7 1 (0.14%) MadCap Flare
7 1 (0.14%) Revit
7 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 13 (1.79%) SAP PSCD
2 12 (1.65%) SAP BRIM
3 11 (1.51%) SAP Hybris
4 10 (1.38%) Remedy ITSM
5 6 (0.83%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 4 (0.55%) BambooHR
7 2 (0.28%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.14%) Remedy AR System
8 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI-CA
8 1 (0.14%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SD
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SRM
8 1 (0.14%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 67 (9.22%) Azure
2 60 (8.25%) AWS
3 34 (4.68%) GCP
4 26 (3.58%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (2.61%) Power Platform
6 13 (1.79%) SaaS
7 12 (1.65%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 8 (1.10%) dbt
9 6 (0.83%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (0.83%) GitHub
10 5 (0.69%) Datadog
10 5 (0.69%) Salesforce Service Cloud
10 5 (0.69%) Serverless
11 4 (0.55%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (0.55%) Dagster
11 4 (0.55%) Entra ID
11 4 (0.55%) Figma
11 4 (0.55%) GitHub Actions
11 4 (0.55%) Prefect
11 4 (0.55%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 44 (6.05%) 5G
2 41 (5.64%) Firewall
3 37 (5.09%) MPLS
4 34 (4.68%) WAN
5 26 (3.58%) Network Security
6 25 (3.44%) LAN
7 24 (3.30%) 4G
8 23 (3.16%) Radio Access Network
9 22 (3.03%) DNS
10 21 (2.89%) BGP
10 21 (2.89%) Internet
10 21 (2.89%) SD-WAN
11 19 (2.61%) VoIP
12 17 (2.34%) 3GPP
12 17 (2.34%) LTE
13 15 (2.06%) VPN
14 14 (1.93%) Broadband
15 13 (1.79%) HTTP
15 13 (1.79%) OSPF
16 12 (1.65%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.48%) Power BI
2 12 (1.65%) Data Warehouse
2 12 (1.65%) Looker
3 11 (1.51%) Tableau
4 9 (1.24%) BigQuery
5 8 (1.10%) Big Data
6 7 (0.96%) Amazon Redshift
6 7 (0.96%) Relational Database
7 6 (0.83%) SQL Server
8 5 (0.69%) MySQL
8 5 (0.69%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.41%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.41%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.41%) GIS
9 3 (0.41%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.41%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.41%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.28%) Flink
10 2 (0.28%) InfluxDB
10 2 (0.28%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 23 (3.16%) JIRA
2 9 (1.24%) Git
3 7 (0.96%) GitLab
4 5 (0.69%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.28%) Appium
5 2 (0.28%) CircleCI
5 2 (0.28%) JMeter
5 2 (0.28%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.14%) JUnit
6 1 (0.14%) Maven
6 1 (0.14%) Mockito
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.14%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.14%) TestRail
General
1 198 (27.24%) Social Skills
2 140 (19.26%) Finance
3 99 (13.62%) Public Sector
4 91 (12.52%) Analytical Skills
5 61 (8.39%) Marketing
6 51 (7.02%) Electronics
7 47 (6.46%) Manufacturing
8 41 (5.64%) Billing
9 25 (3.44%) Retail
10 20 (2.75%) Organisational Skills
11 17 (2.34%) Documentation Skills
11 17 (2.34%) Legal
12 14 (1.93%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (0.96%) Banking
13 7 (0.96%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (0.83%) Military
15 5 (0.69%) Publishing
16 3 (0.41%) Aerospace
16 3 (0.41%) Financial Institution
16 3 (0.41%) Police
Job Titles
1 96 (13.20%) Architect
2 65 (8.94%) Analyst
3 55 (7.57%) Lead
4 52 (7.15%) Senior
5 43 (5.91%) Solutions Architect
6 38 (5.23%) Network Engineer
6 38 (5.23%) Telecoms Manager
7 37 (5.09%) Consultant
8 36 (4.95%) Project Manager
9 28 (3.85%) Business Analyst
10 26 (3.58%) Designer
10 26 (3.58%) Developer
11 25 (3.44%) ServiceNow Architect
12 21 (2.89%) Data Engineer
13 19 (2.61%) Programme Manager
14 18 (2.48%) Sales Manager
15 15 (2.06%) Enterprise Architect
16 14 (1.93%) Delivery Manager
16 14 (1.93%) Design Engineer
16 14 (1.93%) SAP Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.81%) REST
2 20 (2.75%) SOAP
3 13 (1.79%) Kafka
4 11 (1.51%) Elastic Stack
4 11 (1.51%) Middleware
5 8 (1.10%) .NET
5 8 (1.10%) XML
6 7 (0.96%) JSON
6 7 (0.96%) OpenAPI
6 7 (0.96%) Swagger
7 6 (0.83%) RabbitMQ
8 5 (0.69%) ONVIF
8 5 (0.69%) RESTful
9 4 (0.55%) RAML
10 3 (0.41%) .NET Framework
10 3 (0.41%) 802.1X
10 3 (0.41%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.41%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.41%) Spring
10 3 (0.41%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 30 (4.13%) Onboarding
2 28 (3.85%) Data Centre
3 27 (3.71%) Data Protection Act
4 23 (3.16%) Product Ownership
5 19 (2.61%) Driving Licence
6 17 (2.34%) Cloud Native
6 17 (2.34%) CMDB
7 16 (2.20%) Virtual Team
8 12 (1.65%) Distributed Systems
9 11 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
10 10 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
10 10 (1.38%) TM Forum
11 9 (1.24%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.10%) EPoS
12 8 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
13 7 (0.96%) Hybrid Cloud
13 7 (0.96%) Mobile App
13 7 (0.96%) NHS
14 6 (0.83%) IoT
14 6 (0.83%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 35 (4.81%) Windows
2 25 (3.44%) Linux
3 17 (2.34%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.51%) Unix
5 8 (1.10%) Android
6 5 (0.69%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.55%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.41%) Debian
8 3 (0.41%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.41%) VMS
8 3 (0.41%) Windows Server
9 2 (0.28%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.14%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.14%) Oracle Linux
10 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 112 (15.41%) Stakeholder Management
2 100 (13.76%) Agile
3 93 (12.79%) Problem-Solving
4 66 (9.08%) Continuous Improvement
4 66 (9.08%) ITIL
5 62 (8.53%) Business Intelligence
6 57 (7.84%) Migration
6 57 (7.84%) Project Management
7 54 (7.43%) Decision-Making
7 54 (7.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 49 (6.74%) Programme Management
9 47 (6.46%) Analytics
10 46 (6.33%) Customer Service
10 46 (6.33%) Project Delivery
11 44 (6.05%) Roadmaps
12 43 (5.91%) Digital Marketing
13 42 (5.78%) Data Protection
14 41 (5.64%) CI/CD
15 40 (5.50%) CRM
16 39 (5.36%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 54 (7.43%) Python
2 37 (5.09%) SQL
3 18 (2.48%) JavaScript
4 17 (2.34%) Java
5 12 (1.65%) Bash
6 9 (1.24%) C#
7 8 (1.10%) C++
8 6 (0.83%) Go
8 6 (0.83%) PowerShell
8 6 (0.83%) R
9 4 (0.55%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.55%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.41%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.41%) C
10 3 (0.41%) LookML
10 3 (0.41%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.28%) PHP
11 2 (0.28%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.14%) ABAP
12 1 (0.14%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 128 (17.61%) Security Cleared
2 98 (13.48%) SC Cleared
3 67 (9.22%) Degree
4 26 (3.58%) Cisco Certification
5 23 (3.16%) DV Cleared
6 18 (2.48%) Computer Science Degree
7 17 (2.34%) Microsoft Certification
8 16 (2.20%) PMP
9 15 (2.06%) A+ Certification
9 15 (2.06%) CCNP
10 14 (1.93%) CCNA
11 13 (1.79%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.38%) PMI Certification
13 9 (1.24%) Network+ Certification
14 8 (1.10%) Master's Degree
15 7 (0.96%) ACCA
15 7 (0.96%) AWS Certification
15 7 (0.96%) Azure Certification
15 7 (0.96%) CIMA
16 6 (0.83%) CCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (3.03%) SLA
2 20 (2.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 19 (2.61%) QA
4 18 (2.48%) GDPR
5 16 (2.20%) PMO
6 13 (1.79%) Data Quality
7 11 (1.51%) NCSC
8 9 (1.24%) GRC
8 9 (1.24%) NIST
9 7 (0.96%) RMADS
10 5 (0.69%) JSP 440
11 2 (0.28%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.14%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 1 (0.14%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.14%) HIPAA
12 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.14%) SOC 1
12 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 16 (2.20%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.65%) Docker
3 8 (1.10%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (0.55%) vSphere
5 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.41%) QEMU
6 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.28%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.14%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 37 (5.09%) Kubernetes
2 16 (2.20%) Ansible
3 15 (2.06%) Grafana
4 12 (1.65%) Prometheus
5 11 (1.51%) Terraform
6 4 (0.55%) Argo
6 4 (0.55%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.55%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (0.55%) SCCM
7 3 (0.41%) Iperf
7 3 (0.41%) Podman
8 2 (0.28%) Amdocs OSS
8 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.28%) Kibana
8 2 (0.28%) Nmap
8 2 (0.28%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.28%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.28%) vRealize
9 1 (0.14%) Failover Clustering
9 1 (0.14%) Fluentd
Vendors
1 83 (11.42%) Microsoft
2 63 (8.67%) SAP
3 62 (8.53%) Cisco
4 61 (8.39%) ServiceNow
5 37 (5.09%) Nokia
6 25 (3.44%) Salesforce
7 21 (2.89%) Oracle
8 20 (2.75%) BT
9 19 (2.61%) Ericsson
10 17 (2.34%) Fortinet
11 16 (2.20%) Juniper
12 15 (2.06%) Google
13 14 (1.93%) CheckPoint
13 14 (1.93%) Huawei
14 12 (1.65%) Palo Alto
14 12 (1.65%) Remedy
15 11 (1.51%) F5
15 11 (1.51%) MuleSoft
15 11 (1.51%) VMware
16 10 (1.38%) Meraki