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 5 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 168 98 69
Rank change year-on-year -70 -29 +11
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 839 844 1,165
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.58% 2.56% 2.97%
As % of the General category 2.87% 4.06% 5.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 478 495 559
10th Percentile £225 £300 £213
25th Percentile £400 £400 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year - - -2.81%
75th Percentile £575 £579 £600
90th Percentile £694 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -5.26% - +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 46 105
10th Percentile £16.06 - £12.15
25th Percentile £17.73 £14.00 £15.17
Median hourly rate £24.50 £20.66 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +18.59% -62.44% -15.38%
75th Percentile £50.00 £50.88 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year +35.48% -71.82% +4.76%

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 29,244 20,793 22,469
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.98% 63.19% 57.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,402 12,994 14,143
10th Percentile £313 £278 £290
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,147 1,115 1,399
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.25 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.75 £16.19 £16.96
Median hourly rate £32.50 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +29.22% -34.02% +27.07%
75th Percentile £60.00 £50.75 £57.75
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.81 £22.14 £38.12
% change year-on-year +48.17% -41.92% +46.62%

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 5 August 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 5 August 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 5 August 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 -90 704 £475 -3.06% 954
UK excluding London -90 422 £450 -5.26% 667
London -27 313 £520 +8.79% 383
Work from Home -39 249 £475 -1.04% 402
South East -56 190 £460 -8.00% 232
North of England -49 58 £475 -9.52% 132
Scotland +5 50 £300 -7.69% 51
South West -80 46 £450 -14.29% 71
East of England -6 39 £175 -53.33% 58
Midlands -69 39 £475 +25.00% 88
West Midlands -70 35 £470 +23.68% 52
Yorkshire -26 32 £475 +22.58% 33
North West -60 25 £514 -3.02% 76
East Midlands -9 4 £500 +33.33% 36
Northern Ireland 0 3 £175 -51.05% 12
Wales -14 1 £500 +132.56% 33
North East -39 1 - - 26

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 16 (1.91%) Confluence
2 15 (1.79%) OpenStack
3 10 (1.19%) ArcGIS
3 10 (1.19%) SharePoint
4 8 (0.95%) Microsoft Exchange
5 7 (0.83%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.48%) Anypoint
6 4 (0.48%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.24%) Apache
7 2 (0.24%) Appian
7 2 (0.24%) CMS
8 1 (0.12%) Camunda
8 1 (0.12%) IIS
8 1 (0.12%) JBoss
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Smallworld
8 1 (0.12%) Tomcat
8 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
Applications
1 26 (3.10%) Microsoft Excel
2 24 (2.86%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (2.38%) MS Visio
4 9 (1.07%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.60%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.12%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.12%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.12%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.12%) Revit
7 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.38%) SAP PSCD
2 11 (1.31%) SAP BRIM
3 9 (1.07%) SAP Hybris
4 8 (0.95%) SAP FI
5 7 (0.83%) SAP FI-CA
6 6 (0.72%) Remedy ITSM
7 5 (0.60%) NetSuite
7 5 (0.60%) Sage X3
7 5 (0.60%) Salesforce CRM
7 5 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
8 4 (0.48%) BambooHR
9 3 (0.36%) Remedy AR System
9 3 (0.36%) SAP ERP
10 1 (0.12%) Oracle BRM
10 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
10 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
10 1 (0.12%) SAP FS
10 1 (0.12%) SAP IS-U
10 1 (0.12%) SAP SD
10 1 (0.12%) SAP SRM
Cloud Services
1 96 (11.44%) Azure
2 88 (10.49%) AWS
3 65 (7.75%) GCP
4 21 (2.50%) Power Platform
5 19 (2.26%) Microsoft 365
6 15 (1.79%) Entra ID
6 15 (1.79%) GitHub
6 15 (1.79%) SaaS
7 11 (1.31%) dbt
7 11 (1.31%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 10 (1.19%) Cloud Computing
8 10 (1.19%) Snowflake
9 9 (1.07%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (1.07%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (0.72%) Cloud Functions
10 6 (0.72%) Datadog
10 6 (0.72%) Serverless
11 5 (0.60%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (0.60%) Fivetran
11 5 (0.60%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 96 (11.44%) WAN
2 79 (9.42%) LAN
3 76 (9.06%) 5G
4 72 (8.58%) MPLS
5 57 (6.79%) 4G
6 50 (5.96%) Radio Access Network
7 47 (5.60%) Firewall
8 33 (3.93%) DNS
9 32 (3.81%) SD-WAN
10 26 (3.10%) BGP
11 25 (2.98%) 3G
11 25 (2.98%) Network Security
12 23 (2.74%) SDH
12 23 (2.74%) TCP/IP
12 23 (2.74%) Wi-Fi
13 22 (2.62%) LTE
13 22 (2.62%) VoIP
13 22 (2.62%) VPN
14 21 (2.50%) 3GPP
15 19 (2.26%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.38%) Power BI
2 19 (2.26%) Data Warehouse
3 15 (1.79%) BigQuery
4 13 (1.55%) Tableau
5 12 (1.43%) Amazon Redshift
5 12 (1.43%) Looker
6 11 (1.31%) NoSQL
7 10 (1.19%) GIS
8 8 (0.95%) Big Data
9 7 (0.83%) MySQL
10 6 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
10 6 (0.72%) SQL Server
11 5 (0.60%) Apache Cassandra
11 5 (0.60%) MongoDB
12 4 (0.48%) InfluxDB
12 4 (0.48%) Relational Database
13 3 (0.36%) Amazon Athena
13 3 (0.36%) Data Lake
13 3 (0.36%) Hazelcast
13 3 (0.36%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 30 (3.58%) JIRA
2 19 (2.26%) Git
3 10 (1.19%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.72%) GitLab
5 5 (0.60%) Selenium
6 3 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.24%) Robot Framework
8 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.12%) TestRail
General
1 237 (28.25%) Social Skills
2 130 (15.49%) Finance
3 105 (12.51%) Analytical Skills
4 61 (7.27%) Public Sector
5 37 (4.41%) Billing
6 29 (3.46%) Documentation Skills
7 25 (2.98%) Legal
7 25 (2.98%) Retail
8 23 (2.74%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (2.62%) Marketing
10 20 (2.38%) Influencing Skills
11 14 (1.67%) Aerospace
11 14 (1.67%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.43%) Manufacturing
13 10 (1.19%) Publishing
14 8 (0.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 8 (0.95%) Police
15 6 (0.72%) Electronics
16 4 (0.48%) Military
17 3 (0.36%) Games
Job Titles
1 131 (15.61%) Architect
2 79 (9.42%) Senior
3 66 (7.87%) Consultant
4 65 (7.75%) Lead
5 62 (7.39%) Analyst
6 51 (6.08%) Project Manager
7 49 (5.84%) Network Engineer
8 46 (5.48%) Solutions Architect
9 38 (4.53%) Telecoms Engineer
10 36 (4.29%) Designer
11 35 (4.17%) Field Engineer
11 35 (4.17%) Telecoms Manager
12 31 (3.69%) Developer
13 29 (3.46%) ServiceNow Architect
14 27 (3.22%) Data Engineer
15 26 (3.10%) Enterprise Architect
16 21 (2.50%) SAP Consultant
16 21 (2.50%) Telecoms Architect
17 20 (2.38%) Delivery Manager
17 20 (2.38%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (6.08%) REST
2 33 (3.93%) SOAP
3 18 (2.15%) Kafka
4 13 (1.55%) ONVIF
4 13 (1.55%) XML
5 12 (1.43%) Middleware
6 11 (1.31%) Elastic Stack
6 11 (1.31%) RESTful
7 10 (1.19%) AngularJS
7 10 (1.19%) HTML
7 10 (1.19%) NETCONF
7 10 (1.19%) React
7 10 (1.19%) YANG
8 9 (1.07%) CSS
8 9 (1.07%) OpenAPI
8 9 (1.07%) Swagger
9 7 (0.83%) JSON
10 6 (0.72%) .NET
10 6 (0.72%) FastAPI
10 6 (0.72%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 50 (5.96%) CMDB
2 46 (5.48%) Data Centre
3 36 (4.29%) Onboarding
4 32 (3.81%) Cloud Native
5 31 (3.69%) Driving Licence
6 19 (2.26%) Analytical Mindset
6 19 (2.26%) Data Protection Act
6 19 (2.26%) Virtual Team
7 18 (2.15%) Product Ownership
8 17 (2.03%) Hybrid Cloud
9 15 (1.79%) Management Information System
10 14 (1.67%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (1.55%) Video\Live Streaming
12 12 (1.43%) Distributed Systems
13 11 (1.31%) Algorithms
14 10 (1.19%) Data Structures
15 9 (1.07%) Private Cloud
15 9 (1.07%) TM Forum
16 8 (0.95%) Enterprise Software
16 8 (0.95%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 39 (4.65%) Windows
2 30 (3.58%) Linux
3 15 (1.79%) Windows 10
4 10 (1.19%) Windows Server
5 9 (1.07%) Unix
6 6 (0.72%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.48%) Android
8 3 (0.36%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.36%) VMS
9 2 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
9 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
10 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.12%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 155 (18.47%) Stakeholder Management
2 125 (14.90%) Agile
3 106 (12.63%) Problem-Solving
4 85 (10.13%) Project Delivery
5 82 (9.77%) ITIL
6 80 (9.54%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 71 (8.46%) AI
8 68 (8.10%) CI/CD
9 66 (7.87%) Roadmaps
10 63 (7.51%) Service Management
11 61 (7.27%) Continuous Improvement
11 61 (7.27%) Migration
12 60 (7.15%) Project Management
13 57 (6.79%) Decision-Making
14 56 (6.67%) Validation
15 53 (6.32%) Analytics
15 53 (6.32%) Change Management
16 52 (6.20%) CRM
17 50 (5.96%) Customer Service
17 50 (5.96%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 73 (8.70%) Python
2 48 (5.72%) SQL
3 32 (3.81%) JavaScript
4 15 (1.79%) Java
5 13 (1.55%) Bash
6 9 (1.07%) C#
6 9 (1.07%) PowerShell
7 7 (0.83%) Apex Code
7 7 (0.83%) R
8 5 (0.60%) C++
9 4 (0.48%) ABAP
9 4 (0.48%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.48%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.48%) SOQL
9 4 (0.48%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.36%) LookML
11 2 (0.24%) C
11 2 (0.24%) DCL
12 1 (0.12%) Ada
12 1 (0.12%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 151 (18.00%) Security Cleared
2 102 (12.16%) SC Cleared
3 83 (9.89%) Degree
4 58 (6.91%) Cisco Certification
5 41 (4.89%) CCNA
6 23 (2.74%) CCNP
6 23 (2.74%) Microsoft Certification
7 21 (2.50%) A+ Certification
7 21 (2.50%) DV Cleared
8 20 (2.38%) Computer Science Degree
8 20 (2.38%) PMP
9 16 (1.91%) BPSS Clearance
9 16 (1.91%) PMI Certification
10 13 (1.55%) MCSA
11 10 (1.19%) Azure Certification
12 9 (1.07%) AWS Certification
13 8 (0.95%) CCIE
13 8 (0.95%) CISSP
13 8 (0.95%) Master's Degree
13 8 (0.95%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 26 (3.10%) SLA
3 24 (2.86%) QA
4 23 (2.74%) GDPR
5 20 (2.38%) GRC
6 19 (2.26%) NCSC
7 16 (1.91%) PMO
8 15 (1.79%) Data Quality
9 9 (1.07%) NIST
10 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.36%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.24%) Accessibility
11 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.24%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.12%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 15288
12 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.12%) SOC 1
System Software
1 23 (2.74%) Docker
2 22 (2.62%) Active Directory
3 19 (2.26%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (0.95%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.60%) vSphere
6 4 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.36%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.12%) Ceph
8 1 (0.12%) KVM
8 1 (0.12%) NDS
8 1 (0.12%) NetIQ eDirectory
8 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 45 (5.36%) Kubernetes
2 24 (2.86%) Terraform
3 16 (1.91%) Ansible
4 14 (1.67%) Grafana
4 14 (1.67%) Prometheus
5 7 (0.83%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (0.36%) Amdocs OSS
7 3 (0.36%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.36%) Podman
7 3 (0.36%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.36%) vRealize
8 2 (0.24%) Cisco Prime
8 2 (0.24%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.24%) QRadar
8 2 (0.24%) SolarWinds Orion
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Kibana
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.12%) SCCM
Vendors
1 113 (13.47%) Microsoft
2 95 (11.32%) Cisco
3 83 (9.89%) ServiceNow
4 53 (6.32%) Nokia
5 41 (4.89%) Salesforce
6 33 (3.93%) VMware
7 29 (3.46%) SAP
8 24 (2.86%) BT
9 23 (2.74%) Ericsson
10 22 (2.62%) Google
11 20 (2.38%) Juniper
12 19 (2.26%) F5
12 19 (2.26%) Fortinet
13 18 (2.15%) MuleSoft
14 16 (1.91%) Huawei
15 12 (1.43%) BMC
15 12 (1.43%) Oracle
15 12 (1.43%) Palo Alto
16 11 (1.31%) CheckPoint
17 9 (1.07%) Zscaler