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

6 months to
1 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 97 62
Rank change year-on-year -87 -35 +20
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 753 796 1,339
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.47% 2.59% 3.10%
As % of the General category 2.69% 4.09% 5.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 442 457 631
10th Percentile £208 £306 £200
25th Percentile £395 £400 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £459
Median % change year-on-year - +3.49% -5.85%
75th Percentile £565 £577 £607
90th Percentile £688 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £459 £463 £450
% change year-on-year -0.76% +2.78% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 37 109
10th Percentile £16.01 - £12.15
25th Percentile £18.28 £14.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £27.25 £27.40 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.55% -50.18% +4.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £62.24 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £51.78
% change year-on-year +35.48% -70.07% +107.12%

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 27,992 19,445 24,647
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.46% 63.23% 57.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,814 12,226 15,403
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £401 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.34% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £490
% change year-on-year +6.38% -4.08% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,924 958 1,974
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.46 £12.79
25th Percentile £18.23 £16.50 £15.62
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.39 £31.61
Median % change year-on-year +16.84% -13.34% +4.48%
75th Percentile £60.00 £53.25 £53.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.50 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.53 £23.00 £30.37
% change year-on-year +37.08% -24.27% +20.88%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 -85 655 £475 -3.06% 773
UK excluding London -93 389 £459 -0.76% 620
London -36 282 £500 +2.30% 272
Work from Home -45 209 £475 - 286
South East -57 172 £465 -6.53% 188
North of England -56 68 £500 -3.38% 124
South West -55 48 £463 +8.82% 49
Midlands -59 39 £478 +15.91% 91
North West -39 35 £506 -3.57% 74
East of England -11 34 £190 -52.50% 73
West Midlands -56 33 £470 +23.28% 61
Scotland -9 28 £305 -6.15% 73
Yorkshire -39 24 £558 +23.82% 39
North East -24 9 £500 - 14
East Midlands -9 6 £500 -20.00% 30
Northern Ireland -3 3 £175 -51.05% 6
Wales -16 1 £500 +90.48% 33

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 10 (1.33%) OpenStack
2 9 (1.20%) Confluence
3 6 (0.80%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (0.80%) Appian
4 5 (0.66%) SharePoint
5 4 (0.53%) Anypoint
5 4 (0.53%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.53%) ArcGIS
5 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
6 3 (0.40%) IIS
6 3 (0.40%) JBoss
6 3 (0.40%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.40%) Tomcat
6 3 (0.40%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.27%) Apache
7 2 (0.27%) CMS
7 2 (0.27%) Oracle Spatial
8 1 (0.13%) Camunda
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
Applications
1 23 (3.05%) Microsoft Excel
1 23 (3.05%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.73%) MS Visio
3 9 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.66%) AutoCAD
4 5 (0.66%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) MicroStation
6 1 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.13%) Revit
6 1 (0.13%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 21 (2.79%) SAP PSCD
2 14 (1.86%) Remedy ITSM
3 13 (1.73%) SAP BRIM
4 12 (1.59%) SAP Hybris
5 6 (0.80%) SAP FI
6 5 (0.66%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.66%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 5 (0.66%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.66%) SAP FI-CA
7 4 (0.53%) BambooHR
7 4 (0.53%) Remedy AR System
8 3 (0.40%) Salesforce CRM
8 3 (0.40%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.13%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.13%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.13%) SAP IBP
9 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
9 1 (0.13%) SAP SD
9 1 (0.13%) SAP SRM
9 1 (0.13%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 69 (9.16%) Azure
2 66 (8.76%) AWS
3 44 (5.84%) GCP
4 18 (2.39%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (2.39%) Power Platform
5 16 (2.12%) SaaS
6 14 (1.86%) SAP Commerce Cloud
7 10 (1.33%) Snowflake
8 9 (1.20%) dbt
9 8 (1.06%) GitHub
9 8 (1.06%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (0.93%) Entra ID
11 6 (0.80%) Datadog
11 6 (0.80%) Serverless
12 5 (0.66%) AWS Lambda
12 5 (0.66%) Cloud Functions
12 5 (0.66%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.66%) Prefect
13 4 (0.53%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 68 (9.03%) WAN
2 61 (8.10%) 5G
3 60 (7.97%) MPLS
4 58 (7.70%) LAN
5 41 (5.44%) 4G
5 41 (5.44%) Firewall
6 38 (5.05%) Radio Access Network
7 30 (3.98%) BGP
7 30 (3.98%) SD-WAN
8 22 (2.92%) Network Security
9 20 (2.66%) OSPF
9 20 (2.66%) VoIP
9 20 (2.66%) VPN
10 19 (2.52%) DNS
10 19 (2.52%) LTE
11 18 (2.39%) 3G
11 18 (2.39%) 3GPP
12 17 (2.26%) VLAN
13 15 (1.99%) Internet
13 15 (1.99%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.26%) Power BI
2 16 (2.12%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (1.86%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.59%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.59%) Looker
4 12 (1.59%) Tableau
5 7 (0.93%) Big Data
5 7 (0.93%) Relational Database
6 5 (0.66%) MySQL
7 4 (0.53%) GIS
7 4 (0.53%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.40%) Amazon Athena
8 3 (0.40%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.40%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.40%) SAP BW
8 3 (0.40%) SAP Data Services
8 3 (0.40%) Semantic Layer
8 3 (0.40%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.40%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 23 (3.05%) JIRA
2 9 (1.20%) Git
3 5 (0.66%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.27%) GitLab
5 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.13%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.13%) JMeter
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.13%) TestRail
General
1 214 (28.42%) Social Skills
2 126 (16.73%) Finance
3 103 (13.68%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (8.76%) Public Sector
5 47 (6.24%) Billing
6 27 (3.59%) Retail
7 24 (3.19%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.19%) Marketing
8 20 (2.66%) Legal
9 17 (2.26%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (2.12%) Influencing Skills
11 13 (1.73%) Electronics
12 11 (1.46%) Manufacturing
13 10 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
14 8 (1.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 7 (0.93%) Publishing
16 6 (0.80%) Aerospace
17 5 (0.66%) Police
18 4 (0.53%) Military
19 3 (0.40%) Banking
Job Titles
1 100 (13.28%) Architect
2 64 (8.50%) Lead
3 63 (8.37%) Consultant
4 62 (8.23%) Senior
5 57 (7.57%) Analyst
6 43 (5.71%) Network Engineer
7 42 (5.58%) Solutions Architect
8 40 (5.31%) Project Manager
9 39 (5.18%) Telecoms Manager
10 28 (3.72%) Developer
11 27 (3.59%) Designer
12 24 (3.19%) ServiceNow Architect
13 23 (3.05%) Data Engineer
14 22 (2.92%) SAP Consultant
15 21 (2.79%) Delivery Manager
16 18 (2.39%) Enterprise Architect
16 18 (2.39%) Field Engineer
17 17 (2.26%) Business Analyst
17 17 (2.26%) Programme Manager
17 17 (2.26%) Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (5.58%) REST
2 29 (3.85%) SOAP
3 13 (1.73%) Middleware
3 13 (1.73%) ONVIF
4 10 (1.33%) Kafka
5 9 (1.20%) .NET
5 9 (1.20%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.06%) OpenAPI
6 8 (1.06%) Swagger
6 8 (1.06%) XML
7 7 (0.93%) NETCONF
7 7 (0.93%) RESTful
7 7 (0.93%) YANG
8 6 (0.80%) JSON
9 4 (0.53%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.53%) RAML
10 3 (0.40%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.40%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.40%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.40%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 44 (5.84%) Data Centre
2 43 (5.71%) CMDB
3 34 (4.52%) Onboarding
4 31 (4.12%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.92%) Data Protection Act
6 20 (2.66%) Driving Licence
7 19 (2.52%) Virtual Team
8 17 (2.26%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.73%) Video\Live Streaming
10 12 (1.59%) Distributed Systems
10 12 (1.59%) Hybrid Cloud
10 12 (1.59%) Product Ownership
11 11 (1.46%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.06%) EPoS
12 8 (1.06%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.06%) TM Forum
13 7 (0.93%) Private Cloud
14 6 (0.80%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 6 (0.80%) Legacy Systems
15 5 (0.66%) Algorithms
Operating Systems
1 32 (4.25%) Windows
2 24 (3.19%) Linux
3 16 (2.12%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.59%) Unix
5 4 (0.53%) Mac OS
5 4 (0.53%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.40%) Android
6 3 (0.40%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.40%) VMS
7 2 (0.27%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.27%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.13%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.13%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 126 (16.73%) Stakeholder Management
2 99 (13.15%) Agile
3 98 (13.01%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (11.16%) ITIL
5 69 (9.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 60 (7.97%) Project Delivery
7 59 (7.84%) Decision-Making
8 58 (7.70%) Continuous Improvement
9 56 (7.44%) Migration
10 55 (7.30%) CI/CD
11 53 (7.04%) CRM
11 53 (7.04%) Roadmaps
12 51 (6.77%) Project Management
12 51 (6.77%) Service Management
13 49 (6.51%) Validation
14 48 (6.37%) Customer Service
15 47 (6.24%) ITSM
16 46 (6.11%) Analytics
17 45 (5.98%) AI
18 38 (5.05%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 59 (7.84%) Python
2 35 (4.65%) SQL
3 19 (2.52%) JavaScript
4 15 (1.99%) Java
5 10 (1.33%) C#
6 8 (1.06%) Bash
7 6 (0.80%) C++
7 6 (0.80%) R
8 4 (0.53%) ABAP
8 4 (0.53%) Apex Code
8 4 (0.53%) DataWeave
8 4 (0.53%) PowerShell
8 4 (0.53%) TypeScript
9 3 (0.40%) LookML
10 2 (0.27%) DCL
10 2 (0.27%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.27%) SOQL
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) Go
Qualifications
1 126 (16.73%) Security Cleared
2 87 (11.55%) SC Cleared
3 73 (9.69%) Degree
4 53 (7.04%) Cisco Certification
5 35 (4.65%) CCNA
6 25 (3.32%) CCNP
7 24 (3.19%) Microsoft Certification
8 23 (3.05%) A+ Certification
8 23 (3.05%) DV Cleared
9 18 (2.39%) Computer Science Degree
10 17 (2.26%) PMP
11 15 (1.99%) BPSS Clearance
12 13 (1.73%) MCSA
12 13 (1.73%) PMI Certification
13 11 (1.46%) Network+ Certification
14 10 (1.33%) CCIE
15 9 (1.20%) Azure Certification
16 8 (1.06%) AWS Certification
17 7 (0.93%) Master's Degree
18 5 (0.66%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.32%) SLA
2 22 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 19 (2.52%) NCSC
4 17 (2.26%) GDPR
5 16 (2.12%) PMO
5 16 (2.12%) QA
6 14 (1.86%) Data Quality
7 13 (1.73%) GRC
8 8 (1.06%) NIST
9 4 (0.53%) RMADS
10 2 (0.27%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.27%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.13%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.13%) IFRS
11 1 (0.13%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
11 1 (0.13%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.13%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.13%) WCAG
System Software
1 16 (2.12%) Active Directory
1 16 (2.12%) VMware Infrastructure
2 14 (1.86%) Docker
3 8 (1.06%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.66%) vSphere
5 3 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 43 (5.71%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.92%) Terraform
3 18 (2.39%) Ansible
4 13 (1.73%) Grafana
4 13 (1.73%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.40%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (0.40%) Iperf
5 3 (0.40%) Jamf Pro
5 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.40%) vCenter Server
5 3 (0.40%) vRealize
6 2 (0.27%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.27%) Nmap
6 2 (0.27%) NSN NetAct
7 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.13%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.13%) Kibana
7 1 (0.13%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.13%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 93 (12.35%) Microsoft
2 73 (9.69%) Cisco
3 72 (9.56%) ServiceNow
4 40 (5.31%) Nokia
5 34 (4.52%) SAP
6 31 (4.12%) Salesforce
7 23 (3.05%) BT
7 23 (3.05%) VMware
8 22 (2.92%) Oracle
9 20 (2.66%) Ericsson
10 19 (2.52%) Fortinet
11 17 (2.26%) Remedy
12 16 (2.12%) Juniper
13 15 (1.99%) F5
13 15 (1.99%) Google
14 14 (1.86%) Huawei
15 13 (1.73%) BMC
15 13 (1.73%) MuleSoft
16 11 (1.46%) CheckPoint
16 11 (1.46%) Palo Alto