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

6 months to
5 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 161 104 68
Rank change year-on-year -57 -36 +6
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 912 825 1,165
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 2.54% 3.07%
As % of the General category 3.06% 3.99% 5.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 512 489 545
10th Percentile £213 £263 £220
25th Percentile £380 £373 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £459 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.60% -8.30% -
75th Percentile £565 £575 £613
90th Percentile £675 £678 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 48 92
10th Percentile £14.68 £14.00 £12.75
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.56 £34.38
Median hourly rate £21.00 £20.66 £56.25
Median % change year-on-year +1.65% -63.27% -2.17%
75th Percentile £50.00 £51.44 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £68.93 £77.38
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.47 £16.00 £63.50
% change year-on-year +27.91% -74.80% +20.95%

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 29,820 20,685 21,873
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.26% 63.59% 57.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,611 12,817 13,410
10th Percentile £313 £275 £288
25th Percentile £419 £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 £738 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,319 1,170 1,158
10th Percentile £13.70 £13.50 £14.50
25th Percentile £16.76 £16.08 £17.25
Median hourly rate £30.73 £25.15 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +22.19% -32.93% +36.36%
75th Percentile £55.00 £50.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £68.75 £70.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.46 £21.47 £38.12
% change year-on-year +46.56% -43.69% +46.90%

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 September 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 September 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 5 September 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 -82 748 £488 +2.68% 1,107
UK excluding London -65 453 £450 - 652
London -39 349 £513 +7.89% 523
Work from Home -19 266 £475 -1.14% 380
South East -44 197 £470 -6.00% 228
Scotland +3 64 £300 +9.09% 40
North of England -56 57 £463 +14.20% 124
East of England 0 49 £195 -48.00% 89
South West -70 48 £479 -8.86% 67
Yorkshire -26 32 £475 +95.88% 46
Midlands -74 31 £450 +18.42% 100
West Midlands -67 30 £450 +18.42% 53
North West -65 24 £463 -2.63% 66
Wales -12 8 £200 -6.98% 8
Northern Ireland +1 5 £290 +152.17% 12
Channel Islands -1 2 £606 -
East Midlands -20 1 - - 47
North East -39 1 - - 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 19 (2.08%) Confluence
2 17 (1.86%) OpenStack
3 14 (1.54%) SharePoint
4 10 (1.10%) ArcGIS
5 8 (0.88%) Microsoft Exchange
6 4 (0.44%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.22%) CMS
9 1 (0.11%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.11%) Camunda
9 1 (0.11%) IIS
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.11%) Smallworld
Applications
1 36 (3.95%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (3.18%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (2.63%) MS Visio
4 10 (1.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (0.55%) AutoCAD
6 3 (0.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.11%) Adobe Illustrator
8 1 (0.11%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.11%) InDesign
8 1 (0.11%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.11%) Photoshop
8 1 (0.11%) Revit
8 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 19 (2.08%) SAP PSCD
2 10 (1.10%) SAP BRIM
3 8 (0.88%) SAP FI
3 8 (0.88%) SAP Hybris
4 7 (0.77%) SAP FI-CA
5 6 (0.66%) Remedy ITSM
6 5 (0.55%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.55%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.55%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.55%) SAP S/4HANA
7 3 (0.33%) Remedy AR System
7 3 (0.33%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.11%) BambooHR
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
8 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
8 1 (0.11%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.11%) SAP IS-U
8 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 94 (10.31%) Azure
2 93 (10.20%) AWS
3 68 (7.46%) GCP
4 21 (2.30%) Microsoft 365
5 17 (1.86%) GitHub
6 16 (1.75%) Entra ID
7 14 (1.54%) Power Platform
7 14 (1.54%) SaaS
8 10 (1.10%) Cloud Computing
8 10 (1.10%) GitHub Actions
8 10 (1.10%) SAP Commerce Cloud
9 9 (0.99%) Azure DevOps
10 8 (0.88%) dbt
11 7 (0.77%) OneDrive
11 7 (0.77%) Snowflake
12 6 (0.66%) Cloud Functions
12 6 (0.66%) Datadog
13 5 (0.55%) Figma
13 5 (0.55%) Fivetran
13 5 (0.55%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 119 (13.05%) WAN
2 92 (10.09%) LAN
3 89 (9.76%) 5G
4 86 (9.43%) MPLS
5 61 (6.69%) Radio Access Network
6 60 (6.58%) 4G
7 56 (6.14%) Firewall
8 36 (3.95%) SD-WAN
9 35 (3.84%) DNS
10 33 (3.62%) Wi-Fi
11 30 (3.29%) BGP
12 29 (3.18%) Network Security
12 29 (3.18%) SDH
13 28 (3.07%) 3GPP
13 28 (3.07%) VoIP
14 26 (2.85%) LTE
14 26 (2.85%) TCP/IP
15 24 (2.63%) VPN
15 24 (2.63%) Wireshark
16 23 (2.52%) 3G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.64%) Data Warehouse
2 13 (1.43%) BigQuery
2 13 (1.43%) NoSQL
2 13 (1.43%) Power BI
3 10 (1.10%) GIS
3 10 (1.10%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (0.99%) Tableau
5 8 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
5 8 (0.88%) Big Data
6 7 (0.77%) MongoDB
6 7 (0.77%) MySQL
7 6 (0.66%) Redis
8 5 (0.55%) Looker
8 5 (0.55%) Metadata
9 4 (0.44%) Apache Cassandra
9 4 (0.44%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.33%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.33%) SAP BW
10 3 (0.33%) SAP Data Services
10 3 (0.33%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 35 (3.84%) JIRA
2 28 (3.07%) Git
3 15 (1.64%) Jenkins
4 10 (1.10%) GitLab
5 7 (0.77%) Selenium
6 3 (0.33%) Robot Framework
7 2 (0.22%) JMeter
7 2 (0.22%) Locust
7 2 (0.22%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.22%) TestCafe
8 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.11%) Newman
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.11%) TestRail
8 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 264 (28.95%) Social Skills
2 137 (15.02%) Finance
3 123 (13.49%) Analytical Skills
4 61 (6.69%) Public Sector
5 36 (3.95%) Documentation Skills
6 35 (3.84%) Billing
7 30 (3.29%) Retail
8 27 (2.96%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (2.41%) Legal
10 19 (2.08%) Influencing Skills
10 19 (2.08%) Marketing
11 16 (1.75%) Manufacturing
11 16 (1.75%) Presentation Skills
12 15 (1.64%) Aerospace
13 13 (1.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 10 (1.10%) Publishing
15 8 (0.88%) Police
16 7 (0.77%) Banking
17 4 (0.44%) Electronics
17 4 (0.44%) Games
Job Titles
1 137 (15.02%) Architect
2 80 (8.77%) Senior
3 69 (7.57%) Analyst
4 68 (7.46%) Consultant
5 67 (7.35%) Lead
6 66 (7.24%) Network Engineer
7 62 (6.80%) Project Manager
8 55 (6.03%) Field Engineer
9 52 (5.70%) Telecoms Engineer
10 42 (4.61%) Solutions Architect
11 39 (4.28%) Designer
12 35 (3.84%) Developer
13 33 (3.62%) Telecoms Manager
14 29 (3.18%) ServiceNow Architect
15 28 (3.07%) Enterprise Architect
16 25 (2.74%) Business Analyst
17 24 (2.63%) Data Engineer
18 22 (2.41%) Telecoms Architect
19 21 (2.30%) Field Telecoms Engineer
19 21 (2.30%) Network Field Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (6.14%) REST
2 34 (3.73%) SOAP
3 21 (2.30%) Terraform
4 18 (1.97%) Kafka
5 15 (1.64%) Elastic Stack
5 15 (1.64%) NETCONF
5 15 (1.64%) RESTful
5 15 (1.64%) YANG
6 13 (1.43%) HTML
6 13 (1.43%) Middleware
6 13 (1.43%) ONVIF
7 12 (1.32%) CSS
7 12 (1.32%) XML
8 10 (1.10%) AngularJS
8 10 (1.10%) React
9 9 (0.99%) FastAPI
10 8 (0.88%) JSON
10 8 (0.88%) OpenAPI
10 8 (0.88%) Swagger
11 7 (0.77%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 54 (5.92%) Data Centre
2 50 (5.48%) CMDB
3 46 (5.04%) Driving Licence
3 46 (5.04%) Onboarding
4 36 (3.95%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.41%) Analytical Mindset
6 21 (2.30%) Product Ownership
7 18 (1.97%) Management Information System
8 17 (1.86%) Virtual Team
9 16 (1.75%) Data Protection Act
9 16 (1.75%) Hybrid Cloud
9 16 (1.75%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.54%) Video\Live Streaming
11 13 (1.43%) TM Forum
12 11 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
13 10 (1.10%) Data Structures
14 9 (0.99%) Algorithms
14 9 (0.99%) Enterprise Software
14 9 (0.99%) Private Cloud
14 9 (0.99%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 53 (5.81%) Windows
2 46 (5.04%) Linux
3 14 (1.54%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.32%) Windows Server
5 11 (1.21%) Unix
6 9 (0.99%) Mac OS
7 3 (0.33%) Android
7 3 (0.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.33%) VMS
8 2 (0.22%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.22%) CentOS
8 2 (0.22%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.22%) OpenVMS
9 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
9 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 199 (21.82%) Stakeholder Management
2 130 (14.25%) Agile
3 117 (12.83%) Problem-Solving
4 92 (10.09%) ITIL
4 92 (10.09%) Project Delivery
5 89 (9.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 82 (8.99%) AI
7 76 (8.33%) Roadmaps
7 76 (8.33%) Service Management
8 74 (8.11%) CI/CD
8 74 (8.11%) Project Management
9 73 (8.00%) Migration
10 70 (7.68%) Continuous Improvement
11 69 (7.57%) Validation
12 60 (6.58%) Decision-Making
13 57 (6.25%) Change Management
13 57 (6.25%) CRM
14 56 (6.14%) Technical Leadership
15 54 (5.92%) ITSM
16 53 (5.81%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 80 (8.77%) Python
2 42 (4.61%) SQL
3 32 (3.51%) JavaScript
4 24 (2.63%) Bash
5 15 (1.64%) Java
6 10 (1.10%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.88%) Apex Code
8 7 (0.77%) C#
8 7 (0.77%) R
9 6 (0.66%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.55%) SOQL
11 4 (0.44%) ABAP
11 4 (0.44%) C++
11 4 (0.44%) DataWeave
11 4 (0.44%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.33%) LookML
13 2 (0.22%) Bicep
13 2 (0.22%) C
13 2 (0.22%) DCL
14 1 (0.11%) Ada
Qualifications
1 168 (18.42%) Security Cleared
2 104 (11.40%) SC Cleared
3 96 (10.53%) Degree
4 71 (7.79%) Cisco Certification
5 47 (5.15%) CCNA
6 30 (3.29%) DV Cleared
7 26 (2.85%) CCNP
8 25 (2.74%) PMP
9 24 (2.63%) Computer Science Degree
9 24 (2.63%) Microsoft Certification
10 22 (2.41%) A+ Certification
10 22 (2.41%) BPSS Clearance
11 19 (2.08%) PMI Certification
12 14 (1.54%) CCIE
13 13 (1.43%) CISSP
13 13 (1.43%) MCSA
14 12 (1.32%) Master's Degree
15 11 (1.21%) Azure Certification
16 9 (0.99%) AWS Certification
16 9 (0.99%) JNCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (3.62%) QA
2 29 (3.18%) SLA
3 28 (3.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 23 (2.52%) PMO
5 21 (2.30%) GRC
6 20 (2.19%) GDPR
7 18 (1.97%) NCSC
8 11 (1.21%) Data Quality
9 9 (0.99%) NIST
10 3 (0.33%) Accessibility
10 3 (0.33%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.33%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.22%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 15288
12 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.11%) SOC 1
System Software
1 29 (3.18%) Docker
2 23 (2.52%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.30%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (0.88%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.55%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.55%) vSphere
6 3 (0.33%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.11%) Ceph
7 1 (0.11%) Firmware
7 1 (0.11%) KVM
7 1 (0.11%) NDS
7 1 (0.11%) NetIQ eDirectory
7 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 50 (5.48%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.41%) Ansible
3 17 (1.86%) Grafana
3 17 (1.86%) Prometheus
4 8 (0.88%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (0.55%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (0.44%) Cilium
6 4 (0.44%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.44%) Istio
7 3 (0.33%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.33%) Kibana
7 3 (0.33%) Podman
7 3 (0.33%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.33%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.33%) vRealize
8 2 (0.22%) Amdocs OSS
8 2 (0.22%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.22%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) Proxmox
9 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 123 (13.49%) Microsoft
2 121 (13.27%) Cisco
3 90 (9.87%) ServiceNow
4 62 (6.80%) Nokia
5 47 (5.15%) Salesforce
6 35 (3.84%) VMware
7 28 (3.07%) SAP
8 26 (2.85%) Google
9 25 (2.74%) Ericsson
10 22 (2.41%) Juniper
11 21 (2.30%) BT
12 19 (2.08%) F5
12 19 (2.08%) MuleSoft
13 17 (1.86%) Fortinet
14 13 (1.43%) Palo Alto
15 12 (1.32%) BMC
16 10 (1.10%) Arista
16 10 (1.10%) Huawei
16 10 (1.10%) Oracle
16 10 (1.10%) Splunk