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 8 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 163 117 68
Rank change year-on-year -46 -49 +8
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 945 795 1,215
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.73% 2.41% 3.21%
As % of the General category 3.07% 3.80% 5.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 517 486 541
10th Percentile £263 £198 £248
25th Percentile £360 £365 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.33% -10.00% -
75th Percentile £550 £574 £600
90th Percentile £669 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +6.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 53 50 78
10th Percentile £13.60 £14.00 £20.43
25th Percentile £15.75 £14.75 £37.50
Median hourly rate £17.50 £23.00 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year -23.91% -65.93% +28.57%
75th Percentile £31.00 £42.37 £72.50
90th Percentile £50.00 £66.48 £80.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.50 £21.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year -16.67% -70.00% +33.33%

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 30,759 20,913 22,159
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 56.39% 63.27% 58.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,866 13,017 13,104
10th Percentile £313 £275 £281
25th Percentile £420 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £650
90th Percentile £740 £738 £767
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £483
% change year-on-year +5.26% -1.66% -3.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,720 1,230 965
10th Percentile £13.48 £13.57 £14.73
25th Percentile £16.01 £16.19 £17.00
Median hourly rate £27.50 £25.08 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.67% -24.02% +20.00%
75th Percentile £53.75 £45.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £71.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.50 £21.39 £31.97
% change year-on-year +28.56% -33.09% +21.79%

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 8 October 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 8 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Telecoms in the UK

Telecoms
Top 18 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 8 October 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 -63 785 £470 +1.05% 1,607
UK excluding London -51 485 £450 - 955
London -37 353 £500 +6.38% 745
Work from Home -25 276 £475 -5.00% 525
South East -38 193 £469 -4.77% 299
East of England +25 85 £325 -35.64% 119
Scotland +19 63 £300 -5.88% 88
North of England -54 58 £475 +72.73% 174
South West -74 46 £503 -8.64% 79
Yorkshire -15 34 £475 +48.44% 54
Midlands -81 34 £475 +25.00% 156
West Midlands -69 32 £481 +25.00% 93
North West -54 22 £500 +70.94% 99
Wales -3 7 £200 +19.40% 21
Northern Ireland +4 5 £358 +116.67% 35
Channel Islands -4 2 £606 -
East Midlands -20 2 £475 +171.43% 63
North East -42 2 £298 +70.00% 24

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 25 (2.65%) Confluence
2 15 (1.59%) OpenStack
2 15 (1.59%) SharePoint
3 9 (0.95%) ArcGIS
4 7 (0.74%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.42%) Anypoint
6 2 (0.21%) Apache
6 2 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.21%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.21%) CMS
7 1 (0.11%) IIS
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
Applications
1 39 (4.13%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (3.07%) MS Visio
3 25 (2.65%) Microsoft Office
4 14 (1.48%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (0.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.53%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.32%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.11%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.11%) InDesign
9 1 (0.11%) MicroStation
9 1 (0.11%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.11%) Revit
9 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 26 (2.75%) SAP PSCD
2 18 (1.90%) SAP BRIM
3 13 (1.38%) SAP Hybris
4 11 (1.16%) SAP FI
5 10 (1.06%) SAP FI-CA
6 9 (0.95%) SAP S/4HANA
7 6 (0.63%) Remedy ITSM
8 5 (0.53%) NetSuite
8 5 (0.53%) Sage X3
8 5 (0.53%) Salesforce CRM
9 4 (0.42%) OpenText VIM for SAP
9 4 (0.42%) SAP MM
10 3 (0.32%) Remedy AR System
10 3 (0.32%) SAP ERP
11 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
11 1 (0.11%) Payment Gateway
11 1 (0.11%) Primavera
11 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
11 1 (0.11%) SAP IS-U
11 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 89 (9.42%) Azure
2 84 (8.89%) AWS
3 58 (6.14%) GCP
4 19 (2.01%) Entra ID
4 19 (2.01%) GitHub
4 19 (2.01%) Microsoft 365
5 17 (1.80%) SAP Commerce Cloud
6 15 (1.59%) Power Platform
6 15 (1.59%) SaaS
7 11 (1.16%) Azure DevOps
8 10 (1.06%) Cloud Computing
9 9 (0.95%) GitHub Actions
9 9 (0.95%) Microsoft Purview
9 9 (0.95%) OneDrive
10 7 (0.74%) Miro
11 6 (0.63%) Cloud Functions
11 6 (0.63%) dbt
11 6 (0.63%) Snowflake
12 5 (0.53%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.53%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 119 (12.59%) WAN
2 96 (10.16%) 5G
3 91 (9.63%) LAN
4 90 (9.52%) MPLS
5 70 (7.41%) 4G
6 68 (7.20%) Radio Access Network
7 56 (5.93%) Firewall
8 54 (5.71%) Wi-Fi
9 49 (5.19%) Broadband
10 38 (4.02%) VoIP
11 37 (3.92%) SD-WAN
12 32 (3.39%) BGP
12 32 (3.39%) SDH
13 31 (3.28%) DNS
14 30 (3.17%) 3GPP
14 30 (3.17%) Network Security
14 30 (3.17%) Wireshark
15 29 (3.07%) TCP/IP
16 26 (2.75%) LTE
17 23 (2.43%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.38%) NoSQL
2 12 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
2 12 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.16%) Power BI
4 10 (1.06%) GIS
5 9 (0.95%) BigQuery
5 9 (0.95%) Metadata
6 8 (0.85%) MongoDB
6 8 (0.85%) MySQL
7 7 (0.74%) Redis
7 7 (0.74%) Tableau
8 5 (0.53%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (0.42%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.32%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.32%) Big Data
10 3 (0.32%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.32%) Cloud Spanner
10 3 (0.32%) Hazelcast
10 3 (0.32%) SAP BW
10 3 (0.32%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 52 (5.50%) JIRA
2 42 (4.44%) Git
3 24 (2.54%) GitLab
4 16 (1.69%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.85%) Selenium
6 5 (0.53%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.32%) JMeter
7 3 (0.32%) Locust
7 3 (0.32%) TestCafe
8 2 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.11%) JUnit
9 1 (0.11%) Maven
9 1 (0.11%) Mockito
9 1 (0.11%) Newman
9 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.11%) TestRail
9 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 260 (27.51%) Social Skills
2 147 (15.56%) Finance
3 117 (12.38%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (6.56%) Public Sector
5 40 (4.23%) Billing
6 34 (3.60%) Documentation Skills
7 33 (3.49%) Organisational Skills
8 27 (2.86%) Retail
9 22 (2.33%) Legal
9 22 (2.33%) Manufacturing
10 21 (2.22%) Influencing Skills
11 16 (1.69%) Aerospace
12 15 (1.59%) Marketing
13 14 (1.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 13 (1.38%) Banking
14 13 (1.38%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (0.95%) Publishing
16 7 (0.74%) Police
17 6 (0.63%) Aviation
18 5 (0.53%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 143 (15.13%) Architect
2 77 (8.15%) Senior
3 74 (7.83%) Lead
4 70 (7.41%) Consultant
5 69 (7.30%) Network Engineer
6 62 (6.56%) Analyst
7 58 (6.14%) Field Engineer
8 56 (5.93%) Project Manager
9 54 (5.71%) Telecoms Engineer
10 38 (4.02%) Developer
10 38 (4.02%) Solutions Architect
11 35 (3.70%) Designer
12 28 (2.96%) Business Analyst
12 28 (2.96%) ServiceNow Architect
13 26 (2.75%) Enterprise Architect
13 26 (2.75%) SAP Consultant
14 25 (2.65%) Telecoms Manager
15 23 (2.43%) Test Engineer
16 22 (2.33%) Field Telecoms Engineer
16 22 (2.33%) Telecoms Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (5.61%) REST
2 31 (3.28%) SOAP
3 19 (2.01%) Terraform
4 18 (1.90%) Kafka
5 17 (1.80%) RESTful
6 16 (1.69%) NETCONF
6 16 (1.69%) YANG
7 14 (1.48%) HTML
8 13 (1.38%) CSS
8 13 (1.38%) ONVIF
9 12 (1.27%) JSON
9 12 (1.27%) XML
10 11 (1.16%) Elastic Stack
11 10 (1.06%) AngularJS
11 10 (1.06%) FastAPI
11 10 (1.06%) React
12 9 (0.95%) Middleware
13 8 (0.85%) OpenAPI
13 8 (0.85%) Swagger
14 7 (0.74%) 802.1X
Miscellaneous
1 56 (5.93%) Data Centre
2 46 (4.87%) Driving Licence
3 44 (4.66%) CMDB
4 40 (4.23%) Onboarding
5 33 (3.49%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.33%) Product Ownership
7 21 (2.22%) Management Information System
8 19 (2.01%) Analytical Mindset
9 17 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
10 15 (1.59%) Video\Live Streaming
11 14 (1.48%) Enterprise Software
12 12 (1.27%) Data Structures
12 12 (1.27%) Fibre Optics
12 12 (1.27%) TM Forum
13 11 (1.16%) AI Agents
13 11 (1.16%) Hybrid Cloud
13 11 (1.16%) Legacy Systems
13 11 (1.16%) Social Media
13 11 (1.16%) Video Conferencing
14 10 (1.06%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 56 (5.93%) Windows
2 54 (5.71%) Linux
3 14 (1.48%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.16%) Unix
5 10 (1.06%) Mac OS
5 10 (1.06%) Windows 10
6 8 (0.85%) VMS
7 4 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.32%) CentOS
9 2 (0.21%) Android
9 2 (0.21%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.21%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.21%) OpenVMS
10 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
10 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 218 (23.07%) Stakeholder Management
2 127 (13.44%) Agile
3 126 (13.33%) Problem-Solving
4 93 (9.84%) AI
5 89 (9.42%) ITIL
6 83 (8.78%) Project Delivery
7 80 (8.47%) Migration
8 78 (8.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 76 (8.04%) Continuous Improvement
10 74 (7.83%) Validation
11 73 (7.72%) Service Management
12 71 (7.51%) CI/CD
12 71 (7.51%) Roadmaps
13 67 (7.09%) Project Management
14 62 (6.56%) Test Automation
15 57 (6.03%) Change Management
16 51 (5.40%) DevOps
17 50 (5.29%) Decision-Making
17 50 (5.29%) Service Delivery
17 50 (5.29%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 84 (8.89%) Python
2 37 (3.92%) SQL
3 31 (3.28%) JavaScript
4 26 (2.75%) Bash
5 23 (2.43%) Java
6 9 (0.95%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.85%) Shell Script
8 6 (0.63%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.63%) C#
9 5 (0.53%) SOQL
10 4 (0.42%) ABAP
10 4 (0.42%) DataWeave
10 4 (0.42%) R
10 4 (0.42%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.32%) C
11 3 (0.32%) C++
12 2 (0.21%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) Ada
13 1 (0.11%) Bicep
13 1 (0.11%) Rust
Qualifications
1 165 (17.46%) Security Cleared
2 100 (10.58%) SC Cleared
3 90 (9.52%) Degree
4 76 (8.04%) Cisco Certification
5 49 (5.19%) CCNA
6 29 (3.07%) BPSS Clearance
6 29 (3.07%) CCNP
7 28 (2.96%) DV Cleared
8 20 (2.12%) Microsoft Certification
9 19 (2.01%) PMP
10 18 (1.90%) A+ Certification
11 17 (1.80%) CCIE
11 17 (1.80%) PMI Certification
12 15 (1.59%) CISSP
12 15 (1.59%) Computer Science Degree
13 13 (1.38%) Master's Degree
13 13 (1.38%) MCSA
14 12 (1.27%) JNCIE
15 8 (0.85%) CISM
16 7 (0.74%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (5.19%) QA
2 21 (2.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 21 (2.22%) SLA
3 20 (2.12%) GRC
3 20 (2.12%) PMO
4 16 (1.69%) NCSC
5 15 (1.59%) GDPR
6 13 (1.38%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
8 5 (0.53%) NIST
8 5 (0.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 4 (0.42%) Accessibility
10 3 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.32%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.11%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.11%) GAAP
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 15288
System Software
1 36 (3.81%) Docker
2 22 (2.33%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.22%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.16%) VMware NSX
5 7 (0.74%) Firmware
6 5 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
7 4 (0.42%) vSphere
8 2 (0.21%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.11%) Ceph
9 1 (0.11%) KVM
9 1 (0.11%) NDS
9 1 (0.11%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 44 (4.66%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.33%) Ansible
3 13 (1.38%) Grafana
3 13 (1.38%) Prometheus
4 8 (0.85%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
5 5 (0.53%) Kibana
6 4 (0.42%) Cilium
6 4 (0.42%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.42%) Istio
6 4 (0.42%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.32%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.32%) NSN NetAct
7 3 (0.32%) Podman
7 3 (0.32%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.32%) vRealize
8 2 (0.21%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) Amdocs OSS
9 1 (0.11%) Proxmox
9 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 125 (13.23%) Cisco
1 125 (13.23%) Microsoft
2 79 (8.36%) ServiceNow
3 68 (7.20%) Nokia
4 43 (4.55%) Salesforce
5 38 (4.02%) SAP
6 35 (3.70%) VMware
7 32 (3.39%) Ericsson
8 21 (2.22%) Juniper
9 19 (2.01%) Fortinet
10 18 (1.90%) Google
10 18 (1.90%) MuleSoft
11 17 (1.80%) BT
12 15 (1.59%) F5
13 14 (1.48%) Palo Alto
14 12 (1.27%) BMC
15 11 (1.16%) Arista
15 11 (1.16%) Zscaler
16 10 (1.06%) Adobe
16 10 (1.06%) Oracle