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

6 months to
5 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 161 118 65
Rank change year-on-year -43 -53 +10
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 931 790 1,223
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.71% 2.39% 3.22%
As % of the General category 3.05% 3.78% 5.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 512 478 544
10th Percentile £256 £198 £248
25th Percentile £359 £369 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £455 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.08% -9.00% -
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £669 £675 £702
UK excluding London median daily rate £447 £450 £500
% change year-on-year -0.67% -10.00% +8.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 53 52 78
10th Percentile £13.96 £14.00 £20.43
25th Percentile £15.75 £14.75 £37.50
Median hourly rate £17.75 £23.00 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.83% -65.93% +50.00%
75th Percentile £31.00 £44.13 £72.50
90th Percentile £53.60 £65.25 £80.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.50 £20.75 £70.00
% change year-on-year -15.66% -70.36% +55.56%

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 30,564 20,888 22,244
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 56.20% 63.29% 58.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,765 12,979 13,159
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 £742 £738 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £485
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.06% -3.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,690 1,240 989
10th Percentile £13.48 £13.50 £14.73
25th Percentile £16.11 £16.17 £17.25
Median hourly rate £28.00 £25.08 £33.93
Median % change year-on-year +11.67% -26.10% +23.38%
75th Percentile £53.75 £45.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £71.30
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £21.39 £33.00
% change year-on-year +30.90% -35.18% +22.75%

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 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 5 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 5 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 -70 771 £470 -1.05% 1,689
UK excluding London -55 477 £447 -0.67% 1,026
London -40 348 £500 +5.26% 763
Work from Home -23 273 £480 -4.00% 586
South East -42 191 £469 -5.16% 315
East of England +29 80 £325 -35.64% 125
Scotland +22 63 £300 +9.09% 100
North of England -62 58 £463 +68.18% 188
South West -71 45 £503 -8.64% 92
Midlands -75 33 £478 +25.82% 159
Yorkshire -16 32 £469 +70.45% 57
West Midlands -74 31 £506 +33.06% 91
North West -52 24 £463 +58.12% 105
Wales -9 7 £200 +19.40% 25
Northern Ireland 0 6 £290 +75.76% 37
Channel Islands -4 2 £606 -
East Midlands -17 2 £475 +171.43% 68
North East -40 2 £298 +70.00% 30

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 23 (2.47%) Confluence
2 15 (1.61%) OpenStack
2 15 (1.61%) SharePoint
3 9 (0.97%) ArcGIS
4 7 (0.75%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.43%) Anypoint
6 3 (0.32%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.21%) Apache
7 2 (0.21%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.21%) CMS
8 1 (0.11%) IIS
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
Applications
1 37 (3.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (3.11%) MS Visio
3 27 (2.90%) Microsoft Office
4 12 (1.29%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.54%) 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 25 (2.69%) SAP PSCD
2 17 (1.83%) SAP BRIM
3 13 (1.40%) SAP Hybris
4 10 (1.07%) SAP FI
5 9 (0.97%) SAP FI-CA
6 8 (0.86%) SAP S/4HANA
7 6 (0.64%) Remedy ITSM
8 5 (0.54%) NetSuite
8 5 (0.54%) Sage X3
8 5 (0.54%) Salesforce CRM
9 3 (0.32%) OpenText VIM for SAP
9 3 (0.32%) Remedy AR System
9 3 (0.32%) SAP ERP
9 3 (0.32%) SAP MM
10 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
10 1 (0.11%) Primavera
10 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
10 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
10 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
10 1 (0.11%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 91 (9.77%) Azure
2 88 (9.45%) AWS
3 58 (6.23%) GCP
4 20 (2.15%) GitHub
4 20 (2.15%) Microsoft 365
5 18 (1.93%) Entra ID
6 16 (1.72%) Power Platform
6 16 (1.72%) SAP Commerce Cloud
7 15 (1.61%) SaaS
8 12 (1.29%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
9 10 (1.07%) GitHub Actions
10 9 (0.97%) Microsoft Purview
11 8 (0.86%) OneDrive
12 7 (0.75%) dbt
12 7 (0.75%) Miro
12 7 (0.75%) Snowflake
13 6 (0.64%) Cloud Functions
14 5 (0.54%) Fivetran
14 5 (0.54%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 118 (12.67%) WAN
2 92 (9.88%) 5G
3 91 (9.77%) LAN
4 89 (9.56%) MPLS
5 66 (7.09%) 4G
6 65 (6.98%) Radio Access Network
7 55 (5.91%) Firewall
8 49 (5.26%) Wi-Fi
9 43 (4.62%) Broadband
10 36 (3.87%) SD-WAN
10 36 (3.87%) VoIP
11 32 (3.44%) BGP
11 32 (3.44%) SDH
12 30 (3.22%) DNS
12 30 (3.22%) Network Security
13 28 (3.01%) 3GPP
13 28 (3.01%) Wireshark
14 27 (2.90%) TCP/IP
15 23 (2.47%) LTE
15 23 (2.47%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.40%) Data Warehouse
1 13 (1.40%) NoSQL
1 13 (1.40%) Power BI
2 12 (1.29%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.07%) BigQuery
4 9 (0.97%) GIS
4 9 (0.97%) Metadata
5 8 (0.86%) MongoDB
5 8 (0.86%) MySQL
5 8 (0.86%) Tableau
6 7 (0.75%) Amazon Redshift
6 7 (0.75%) Redis
7 4 (0.43%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.32%) Apache Cassandra
8 3 (0.32%) Big Data
8 3 (0.32%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.32%) Cloud Spanner
8 3 (0.32%) Hazelcast
8 3 (0.32%) SAP BW
8 3 (0.32%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 47 (5.05%) JIRA
2 40 (4.30%) Git
3 23 (2.47%) GitLab
4 17 (1.83%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.86%) Selenium
6 5 (0.54%) 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
1 257 (27.60%) Social Skills
2 144 (15.47%) Finance
3 112 (12.03%) Analytical Skills
4 61 (6.55%) Public Sector
5 39 (4.19%) Billing
6 34 (3.65%) Documentation Skills
7 31 (3.33%) Organisational Skills
8 28 (3.01%) Retail
9 21 (2.26%) Legal
9 21 (2.26%) Manufacturing
10 19 (2.04%) Influencing Skills
11 16 (1.72%) Aerospace
12 15 (1.61%) Marketing
13 14 (1.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 13 (1.40%) Banking
14 13 (1.40%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (0.97%) Publishing
16 7 (0.75%) Police
17 6 (0.64%) Aviation
18 4 (0.43%) Games
Job Titles
1 141 (15.15%) Architect
2 73 (7.84%) Lead
2 73 (7.84%) Senior
3 69 (7.41%) Consultant
3 69 (7.41%) Network Engineer
4 64 (6.87%) Analyst
5 57 (6.12%) Field Engineer
6 54 (5.80%) Project Manager
7 53 (5.69%) Telecoms Engineer
8 39 (4.19%) Developer
9 38 (4.08%) Solutions Architect
10 32 (3.44%) Designer
11 28 (3.01%) Business Analyst
11 28 (3.01%) ServiceNow Architect
12 26 (2.79%) Enterprise Architect
13 25 (2.69%) SAP Consultant
13 25 (2.69%) Telecoms Manager
14 22 (2.36%) Field Telecoms Engineer
14 22 (2.36%) Telecoms Architect
15 21 (2.26%) Network Field Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (5.69%) REST
2 31 (3.33%) SOAP
3 21 (2.26%) Terraform
4 18 (1.93%) Kafka
5 17 (1.83%) RESTful
6 16 (1.72%) NETCONF
6 16 (1.72%) YANG
7 14 (1.50%) HTML
8 13 (1.40%) CSS
8 13 (1.40%) Elastic Stack
8 13 (1.40%) ONVIF
9 12 (1.29%) JSON
9 12 (1.29%) XML
10 10 (1.07%) AngularJS
10 10 (1.07%) FastAPI
10 10 (1.07%) React
11 9 (0.97%) Middleware
12 8 (0.86%) OpenAPI
12 8 (0.86%) Swagger
13 7 (0.75%) 802.1X
Miscellaneous
1 55 (5.91%) Data Centre
2 46 (4.94%) Driving Licence
3 44 (4.73%) CMDB
4 41 (4.40%) Onboarding
5 33 (3.54%) Cloud Native
6 19 (2.04%) Management Information System
6 19 (2.04%) Product Ownership
7 18 (1.93%) Analytical Mindset
8 17 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
9 15 (1.61%) Video\Live Streaming
10 13 (1.40%) Enterprise Software
11 12 (1.29%) Data Structures
11 12 (1.29%) Hybrid Cloud
11 12 (1.29%) TM Forum
12 11 (1.18%) AI Agents
12 11 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
12 11 (1.18%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (1.07%) Fibre Optics
13 10 (1.07%) Video Conferencing
13 10 (1.07%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 57 (6.12%) Windows
2 54 (5.80%) Linux
3 13 (1.40%) Windows Server
4 12 (1.29%) Windows 10
5 11 (1.18%) Unix
6 9 (0.97%) Mac OS
7 7 (0.75%) VMS
8 4 (0.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.32%) Android
9 3 (0.32%) CentOS
10 2 (0.21%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.21%) Embedded Linux
10 2 (0.21%) OpenVMS
11 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
11 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 208 (22.34%) Stakeholder Management
2 121 (13.00%) Problem-Solving
3 120 (12.89%) Agile
4 90 (9.67%) AI
5 89 (9.56%) ITIL
6 83 (8.92%) Project Delivery
7 77 (8.27%) Migration
8 76 (8.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 73 (7.84%) CI/CD
10 71 (7.63%) Validation
11 70 (7.52%) Continuous Improvement
11 70 (7.52%) Service Management
12 69 (7.41%) Roadmaps
13 65 (6.98%) Project Management
14 61 (6.55%) Test Automation
15 57 (6.12%) Change Management
16 52 (5.59%) DevOps
17 51 (5.48%) Decision-Making
17 51 (5.48%) Technical Leadership
18 49 (5.26%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 86 (9.24%) Python
2 39 (4.19%) SQL
3 31 (3.33%) JavaScript
4 27 (2.90%) Bash
5 23 (2.47%) Java
6 10 (1.07%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.86%) Shell Script
8 6 (0.64%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.64%) C#
9 5 (0.54%) SOQL
10 4 (0.43%) ABAP
10 4 (0.43%) DataWeave
10 4 (0.43%) R
10 4 (0.43%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.32%) C
11 3 (0.32%) C++
12 2 (0.21%) Bicep
12 2 (0.21%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) Go
13 1 (0.11%) Rust
Qualifications
1 162 (17.40%) Security Cleared
2 100 (10.74%) SC Cleared
3 90 (9.67%) Degree
4 75 (8.06%) Cisco Certification
5 48 (5.16%) CCNA
6 29 (3.11%) CCNP
7 28 (3.01%) DV Cleared
8 27 (2.90%) BPSS Clearance
9 22 (2.36%) Microsoft Certification
10 20 (2.15%) A+ Certification
11 19 (2.04%) PMP
12 17 (1.83%) CCIE
12 17 (1.83%) PMI Certification
13 16 (1.72%) CISSP
13 16 (1.72%) Computer Science Degree
14 13 (1.40%) Master's Degree
14 13 (1.40%) MCSA
15 12 (1.29%) JNCIE
16 9 (0.97%) CISM
17 7 (0.75%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (4.83%) QA
2 23 (2.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 23 (2.47%) SLA
3 20 (2.15%) GRC
3 20 (2.15%) PMO
4 17 (1.83%) NCSC
5 14 (1.50%) GDPR
6 13 (1.40%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.64%) Actionable Recommendations
8 5 (0.54%) NIST
9 4 (0.43%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.32%) 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 35 (3.76%) Docker
2 23 (2.47%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.36%) Active Directory
4 11 (1.18%) VMware NSX
5 6 (0.64%) Firmware
6 5 (0.54%) VMware ESXi
7 4 (0.43%) 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 47 (5.05%) Kubernetes
2 23 (2.47%) Ansible
3 14 (1.50%) Grafana
3 14 (1.50%) Prometheus
4 8 (0.86%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (0.54%) Jamf Pro
5 5 (0.54%) Kibana
6 4 (0.43%) Cilium
6 4 (0.43%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.43%) Istio
6 4 (0.43%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.32%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.32%) Podman
7 3 (0.32%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.32%) vRealize
8 2 (0.21%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.21%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.11%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
Vendors
1 125 (13.43%) Cisco
2 124 (13.32%) Microsoft
3 78 (8.38%) ServiceNow
4 63 (6.77%) Nokia
5 43 (4.62%) Salesforce
6 37 (3.97%) VMware
7 36 (3.87%) SAP
8 27 (2.90%) Ericsson
9 21 (2.26%) Juniper
10 18 (1.93%) Fortinet
10 18 (1.93%) Google
10 18 (1.93%) MuleSoft
11 17 (1.83%) BT
12 15 (1.61%) F5
13 14 (1.50%) Palo Alto
14 12 (1.29%) BMC
15 11 (1.18%) Arista
15 11 (1.18%) Splunk
15 11 (1.18%) Zscaler
16 10 (1.07%) Oracle