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 20 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 102 66
Rank change year-on-year -71 -36 +15
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 820 840 1,278
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.55% 2.56% 3.06%
As % of the General category 2.84% 4.07% 5.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 466 490 611
10th Percentile £213 £300 £200
25th Percentile £382 £395 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year - - -2.81%
75th Percentile £568 £587 £607
90th Percentile £681 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £455 £475
% change year-on-year -1.10% -4.21% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 47 107
10th Percentile £16.01 - £12.15
25th Percentile £17.70 £14.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £22.75 £20.75 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year +9.64% -57.27% -7.50%
75th Percentile £50.00 £53.63 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £48.56
% change year-on-year +35.48% -68.08% +94.24%

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 28,914 20,634 23,891
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.78% 62.91% 57.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,236 12,929 15,000
10th Percentile £313 £280 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £626 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £469 £490
% change year-on-year +6.61% -4.29% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,032 1,064 1,718
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.28 £13.18
25th Percentile £18.32 £16.25 £16.06
Median hourly rate £32.81 £25.75 £34.23
Median % change year-on-year +27.40% -24.77% +12.16%
75th Percentile £61.50 £51.58 £55.00
90th Percentile £81.05 £70.92 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.90 £22.50 £33.07
% change year-on-year +46.23% -31.95% +27.30%

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 20 July 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 20 July 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 20 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 -83 698 £475 -1.25% 506
UK excluding London -91 423 £450 -1.10% 433
London -35 301 £513 +7.89% 173
Work from Home -33 235 £475 - 178
South East -58 191 £460 -8.00% 159
North of England -55 68 £500 -2.44% 81
South West -63 47 £450 -14.29% 36
Scotland -7 43 £300 -7.69% 42
Midlands -50 40 £475 +20.63% 63
West Midlands -69 35 £460 +20.66% 40
East of England -11 34 £160 -58.71% 40
North West -51 32 £550 +4.76% 52
Yorkshire -33 31 £475 +22.58% 24
East Midlands -12 5 £500 - 23
North East -32 5 £500 - 7
Northern Ireland -2 3 £175 -51.05% 3
Wales -18 1 £500 +132.56% 19

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 13 (1.59%) Confluence
1 13 (1.59%) OpenStack
2 11 (1.34%) ArcGIS
3 7 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
4 5 (0.61%) SharePoint
5 4 (0.49%) Anypoint
5 4 (0.49%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Exchange
6 3 (0.37%) Appian
7 2 (0.24%) Apache
7 2 (0.24%) CMS
7 2 (0.24%) IIS
7 2 (0.24%) JBoss
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle Spatial
7 2 (0.24%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.24%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.12%) Camunda
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Smallworld
Applications
1 24 (2.93%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (2.80%) Microsoft Excel
3 18 (2.20%) MS Visio
4 9 (1.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.61%) AutoCAD
6 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.24%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.12%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.12%) Revit
8 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 19 (2.32%) SAP PSCD
2 10 (1.22%) SAP BRIM
3 9 (1.10%) Remedy ITSM
3 9 (1.10%) SAP Hybris
4 7 (0.85%) SAP FI
5 6 (0.73%) SAP FI-CA
6 5 (0.61%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.61%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.61%) Salesforce CRM
7 4 (0.49%) BambooHR
7 4 (0.49%) Remedy AR System
7 4 (0.49%) SAP S/4HANA
8 3 (0.37%) SAP ERP
9 2 (0.24%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
10 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
10 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
10 1 (0.12%) SAP IS-U
10 1 (0.12%) SAP SRM
10 1 (0.12%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 88 (10.73%) Azure
2 82 (10.00%) AWS
3 56 (6.83%) GCP
4 20 (2.44%) Power Platform
5 16 (1.95%) Microsoft 365
5 16 (1.95%) SaaS
6 11 (1.34%) SAP Commerce Cloud
7 10 (1.22%) GitHub
7 10 (1.22%) Snowflake
8 9 (1.10%) dbt
8 9 (1.10%) Entra ID
9 8 (0.98%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (0.98%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (0.73%) Datadog
10 6 (0.73%) OpenShift
10 6 (0.73%) Serverless
11 5 (0.61%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (0.61%) Cloud Functions
11 5 (0.61%) Fivetran
11 5 (0.61%) Prefect
Communications & Networking
1 88 (10.73%) WAN
2 74 (9.02%) LAN
3 69 (8.41%) MPLS
4 66 (8.05%) 5G
5 47 (5.73%) Firewall
6 46 (5.61%) 4G
7 44 (5.37%) Radio Access Network
8 33 (4.02%) SD-WAN
9 30 (3.66%) BGP
10 23 (2.80%) DNS
10 23 (2.80%) VPN
11 22 (2.68%) 3G
12 21 (2.56%) Network Security
12 21 (2.56%) VoIP
13 20 (2.44%) OSPF
13 20 (2.44%) SDH
14 18 (2.20%) LTE
14 18 (2.20%) Wi-Fi
15 17 (2.07%) 3GPP
15 17 (2.07%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.32%) Power BI
2 17 (2.07%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (1.71%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.46%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.46%) Looker
5 11 (1.34%) GIS
6 10 (1.22%) Tableau
7 7 (0.85%) Big Data
8 5 (0.61%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.49%) MySQL
10 3 (0.37%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.37%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.37%) Data Lake
10 3 (0.37%) InfluxDB
10 3 (0.37%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.37%) Oracle Database
10 3 (0.37%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.37%) SAP BW
10 3 (0.37%) SAP Data Services
10 3 (0.37%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 27 (3.29%) JIRA
2 11 (1.34%) Git
3 5 (0.61%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.37%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.24%) GitLab
5 2 (0.24%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.12%) Selenium
6 1 (0.12%) TestRail
General
1 234 (28.54%) Social Skills
2 125 (15.24%) Finance
3 108 (13.17%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (7.56%) Public Sector
5 38 (4.63%) Billing
6 31 (3.78%) Documentation Skills
7 25 (3.05%) Retail
8 22 (2.68%) Organisational Skills
9 21 (2.56%) Legal
10 20 (2.44%) Marketing
11 19 (2.32%) Influencing Skills
12 12 (1.46%) Presentation Skills
13 10 (1.22%) Aerospace
14 8 (0.98%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 8 (0.98%) Police
15 7 (0.85%) Manufacturing
15 7 (0.85%) Publishing
16 6 (0.73%) Electronics
17 4 (0.49%) Military
18 3 (0.37%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 130 (15.85%) Architect
2 70 (8.54%) Senior
3 65 (7.93%) Analyst
3 65 (7.93%) Lead
4 64 (7.80%) Consultant
5 47 (5.73%) Project Manager
5 47 (5.73%) Solutions Architect
6 42 (5.12%) Network Engineer
7 39 (4.76%) Telecoms Manager
8 33 (4.02%) Designer
9 31 (3.78%) ServiceNow Architect
10 30 (3.66%) Telecoms Engineer
11 29 (3.54%) Developer
11 29 (3.54%) Field Engineer
12 26 (3.17%) Data Engineer
13 23 (2.80%) Business Analyst
13 23 (2.80%) Enterprise Architect
14 21 (2.56%) Delivery Manager
14 21 (2.56%) Telecoms Architect
15 20 (2.44%) SAP Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (5.98%) REST
2 35 (4.27%) SOAP
3 13 (1.59%) Kafka
3 13 (1.59%) Middleware
3 13 (1.59%) ONVIF
4 12 (1.46%) XML
5 10 (1.22%) NETCONF
5 10 (1.22%) YANG
6 8 (0.98%) .NET
6 8 (0.98%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (0.98%) OpenAPI
6 8 (0.98%) Swagger
7 7 (0.85%) JSON
7 7 (0.85%) RESTful
8 6 (0.73%) HTML
9 5 (0.61%) 802.1X
9 5 (0.61%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.61%) CSS
9 5 (0.61%) React
9 5 (0.61%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 51 (6.22%) CMDB
2 48 (5.85%) Data Centre
3 34 (4.15%) Onboarding
4 32 (3.90%) Cloud Native
5 27 (3.29%) Driving Licence
6 20 (2.44%) Data Protection Act
7 19 (2.32%) Analytical Mindset
7 19 (2.32%) Virtual Team
8 18 (2.20%) Product Ownership
9 16 (1.95%) Management Information System
10 15 (1.83%) Hybrid Cloud
11 13 (1.59%) Video\Live Streaming
12 11 (1.34%) Distributed Systems
12 11 (1.34%) Self-Motivation
13 9 (1.10%) Private Cloud
13 9 (1.10%) TM Forum
14 8 (0.98%) EPoS
15 7 (0.85%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
15 7 (0.85%) Video Conferencing
16 6 (0.73%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 34 (4.15%) Windows
2 26 (3.17%) Linux
3 16 (1.95%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.46%) Unix
5 6 (0.73%) Mac OS
5 6 (0.73%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.37%) Android
6 3 (0.37%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.37%) VMS
7 2 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
7 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.12%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (17.07%) Stakeholder Management
2 115 (14.02%) Agile
3 108 (13.17%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (10.24%) ITIL
5 82 (10.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 71 (8.66%) Project Delivery
7 63 (7.68%) CI/CD
7 63 (7.68%) Roadmaps
8 62 (7.56%) AI
8 62 (7.56%) Continuous Improvement
9 59 (7.20%) Service Management
10 57 (6.95%) Migration
11 56 (6.83%) Decision-Making
12 54 (6.59%) Validation
13 53 (6.46%) CRM
13 53 (6.46%) Customer Service
14 52 (6.34%) ITSM
15 51 (6.22%) Project Management
16 50 (6.10%) Analytics
17 48 (5.85%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 65 (7.93%) Python
2 37 (4.51%) SQL
3 27 (3.29%) JavaScript
4 15 (1.83%) Java
5 10 (1.22%) C#
6 8 (0.98%) Bash
7 7 (0.85%) R
8 6 (0.73%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.73%) C++
8 6 (0.73%) PowerShell
9 4 (0.49%) ABAP
9 4 (0.49%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.49%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.37%) LookML
10 3 (0.37%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.37%) SOQL
11 2 (0.24%) C
11 2 (0.24%) DCL
11 2 (0.24%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.12%) Ada
Qualifications
1 147 (17.93%) Security Cleared
2 100 (12.20%) SC Cleared
3 73 (8.90%) Degree
4 57 (6.95%) Cisco Certification
5 38 (4.63%) CCNA
6 25 (3.05%) CCNP
7 23 (2.80%) DV Cleared
8 22 (2.68%) Microsoft Certification
9 21 (2.56%) A+ Certification
10 18 (2.20%) PMP
11 17 (2.07%) Computer Science Degree
12 16 (1.95%) BPSS Clearance
13 14 (1.71%) PMI Certification
14 13 (1.59%) MCSA
15 11 (1.34%) CCIE
16 10 (1.22%) Azure Certification
17 9 (1.10%) AWS Certification
17 9 (1.10%) Network+ Certification
18 6 (0.73%) CISSP
18 6 (0.73%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 22 (2.68%) SLA
3 21 (2.56%) GDPR
3 21 (2.56%) QA
4 20 (2.44%) NCSC
5 19 (2.32%) GRC
6 16 (1.95%) Data Quality
7 13 (1.59%) PMO
8 11 (1.34%) NIST
9 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.37%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.24%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.24%) RMADS
10 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.12%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.12%) EU AI Act
11 1 (0.12%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.12%) SOC 1
System Software
1 18 (2.20%) VMware Infrastructure
2 16 (1.95%) Active Directory
3 15 (1.83%) Docker
4 8 (0.98%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.61%) vSphere
6 4 (0.49%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.24%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.12%) Ceph
8 1 (0.12%) KVM
8 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 46 (5.61%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.68%) Terraform
3 18 (2.20%) Ansible
4 13 (1.59%) Grafana
4 13 (1.59%) Prometheus
5 5 (0.61%) Jamf Pro
6 3 (0.37%) Amdocs OSS
6 3 (0.37%) Cisco Prime
6 3 (0.37%) Iperf
6 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (0.37%) vCenter Server
6 3 (0.37%) vRealize
7 2 (0.24%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.24%) Nmap
7 2 (0.24%) NSN NetAct
7 2 (0.24%) QRadar
8 1 (0.12%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.12%) Check_MK
8 1 (0.12%) Fluentd
8 1 (0.12%) Kibana
Vendors
1 104 (12.68%) Microsoft
2 86 (10.49%) Cisco
3 83 (10.12%) ServiceNow
4 44 (5.37%) Nokia
5 38 (4.63%) Salesforce
6 28 (3.41%) SAP
7 27 (3.29%) VMware
8 24 (2.93%) BT
8 24 (2.93%) Fortinet
9 22 (2.68%) Ericsson
10 21 (2.56%) Juniper
11 19 (2.32%) F5
12 17 (2.07%) Oracle
13 16 (1.95%) Google
13 16 (1.95%) Huawei
14 15 (1.83%) MuleSoft
14 15 (1.83%) Palo Alto
15 14 (1.71%) CheckPoint
16 13 (1.59%) BMC
17 10 (1.22%) Remedy