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 18 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 124 63 72
Rank change year-on-year -61 +9 +12
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 812 1,205 1,379
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.29% 3.34% 2.95%
As % of the General category 3.64% 5.66% 4.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 517 553 882
10th Percentile £170 £265 £263
25th Percentile £320 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £625
90th Percentile £680 £700 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £500 £450
% change year-on-year -10.00% +11.11% +1.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 41 34
10th Percentile £14.75 £21.25 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.77 £32.50 £20.00
Median hourly rate £23.25 £50.00 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year -53.50% +51.52% -17.50%
75th Percentile £38.78 £72.50 £73.75
90th Percentile £65.25 £76.25 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.54 £55.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year -59.02% +46.67% -25.00%

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 common skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for common skills 22,292 21,276 27,859
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 62.98% 59.01% 59.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,958 12,530 18,588
10th Percentile £273 £289 £285
25th Percentile £400 £410 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £483 £500
% change year-on-year -1.66% -3.40% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,447 796 1,122
10th Percentile £13.80 £15.00 £14.25
25th Percentile £16.62 £17.25 £17.00
Median hourly rate £24.09 £29.50 £31.58
Median % change year-on-year -18.34% -6.59% +26.32%
75th Percentile £44.94 £55.00 £58.44
90th Percentile £68.20 £70.13 £70.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.44 £27.97
% change year-on-year -19.83% -1.89% +27.14%

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 18 November 2025.

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 18 November 2025.

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 18 November 2025. 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 -67 710 £475 -5.00% 872
UK excluding London -51 472 £450 -10.00% 666
London -39 267 £463 -7.50% 272
Work from Home -46 202 £500 - 327
South East -28 179 £500 -1.96% 252
South West -22 88 £550 +4.76% 78
Midlands -42 68 £375 -19.57% 91
North of England -36 60 £275 -32.10% 119
West Midlands -44 51 £380 -18.50% 73
North West -22 33 £208 -48.77% 69
Scotland +14 32 £288 -20.69% 52
East of England -38 30 £475 +8.57% 84
East Midlands -7 17 £158 -56.55% 17
Yorkshire -39 17 £365 -27.00% 42
Northern Ireland -1 11 £163 -12.16% 5
Wales +5 9 £160 - 7
North East -3 9 £175 -46.97% 8
Channel Islands -7 1 - -

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 20 (2.46%) SharePoint
2 16 (1.97%) Confluence
3 12 (1.48%) Apache Spark
3 12 (1.48%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (1.23%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.86%) Appian
6 4 (0.49%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.37%) CMS
8 2 (0.25%) Apache
8 2 (0.25%) Gunicorn
8 2 (0.25%) Smallworld
9 1 (0.12%) Drupal
9 1 (0.12%) Headless CMS
9 1 (0.12%) IIS
9 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
Applications
1 47 (5.79%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (3.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.97%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (1.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 9 (1.11%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.49%) Autodesk Inventor
7 3 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
8 2 (0.25%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.12%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.12%) Sketch
9 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (1.35%) SAP BRIM
1 11 (1.35%) SAP Hybris
1 11 (1.35%) SAP PSCD
2 5 (0.62%) Endur
2 5 (0.62%) Primavera
3 4 (0.49%) Oracle Assets
3 4 (0.49%) Oracle EBS R12
3 4 (0.49%) Oracle ERP
3 4 (0.49%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.25%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.25%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.25%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.25%) SAP CO
4 2 (0.25%) SAP FI
4 2 (0.25%) SAP FI/CO
4 2 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
Cloud Services
1 68 (8.37%) Azure
2 62 (7.64%) AWS
3 56 (6.90%) Microsoft 365
4 42 (5.17%) GCP
5 31 (3.82%) SaaS
6 20 (2.46%) Power Platform
7 11 (1.35%) GitHub
7 11 (1.35%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 9 (1.11%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (1.11%) Dynamics 365
9 7 (0.86%) GitHub Actions
9 7 (0.86%) Miro
9 7 (0.86%) Tricentis Tosca
10 6 (0.74%) Entra ID
11 5 (0.62%) Cloud Computing
11 5 (0.62%) OpenShift
12 4 (0.49%) dbt
12 4 (0.49%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 4 (0.49%) Power Automate
12 4 (0.49%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 55 (6.77%) Firewall
2 52 (6.40%) WAN
3 51 (6.28%) LAN
4 47 (5.79%) Wireless
5 29 (3.57%) VPN
6 27 (3.33%) 4G
7 25 (3.08%) 5G
8 24 (2.96%) Radio Access Network
9 23 (2.83%) Broadband
9 23 (2.83%) SD-WAN
10 22 (2.71%) Network Security
11 21 (2.59%) MPLS
12 20 (2.46%) DNS
12 20 (2.46%) VoIP
12 20 (2.46%) Wi-Fi
13 17 (2.09%) BGP
13 17 (2.09%) Wireshark
14 16 (1.97%) LTE
15 13 (1.60%) 3GPP
15 13 (1.60%) SDH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.34%) Power BI
2 16 (1.97%) Tableau
3 11 (1.35%) Big Data
4 10 (1.23%) GIS
5 8 (0.99%) Data Warehouse
5 8 (0.99%) MySQL
5 8 (0.99%) Oracle Database
6 6 (0.74%) MongoDB
7 5 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (0.62%) Relational Database
8 4 (0.49%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.49%) Electronic Patient Records
8 4 (0.49%) Geospatial Data
8 4 (0.49%) SAP BW
9 3 (0.37%) Metadata
10 2 (0.25%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database 12c
10 2 (0.25%) Power Query
10 2 (0.25%) QGIS
10 2 (0.25%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 26 (3.20%) JIRA
2 20 (2.46%) GitLab
3 10 (1.23%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.11%) Git
4 9 (1.11%) Postman
5 8 (0.99%) Robot Framework
5 8 (0.99%) Selenium
6 7 (0.86%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.86%) SonarQube
7 4 (0.49%) Clang
7 4 (0.49%) Cypress.io
7 4 (0.49%) GCC
8 3 (0.37%) JUnit
8 3 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.37%) Storybook
9 2 (0.25%) Gradle
9 2 (0.25%) Maven
9 2 (0.25%) Mercurial
9 2 (0.25%) Subversion
10 1 (0.12%) Artifactory
General
1 320 (39.41%) Finance
2 269 (33.13%) Public Sector
3 265 (32.64%) Social Skills
4 219 (26.97%) Marketing
5 213 (26.23%) Manufacturing
6 207 (25.49%) Electronics
7 106 (13.05%) Analytical Skills
8 29 (3.57%) Documentation Skills
9 25 (3.08%) Legal
10 18 (2.22%) Organisational Skills
11 16 (1.97%) Billing
12 13 (1.60%) Law
13 11 (1.35%) Automotive
13 11 (1.35%) Retail
14 10 (1.23%) Banking
15 8 (0.99%) Back Office
15 8 (0.99%) French Language
16 7 (0.86%) Military
16 7 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
17 6 (0.74%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 90 (11.08%) Architect
2 82 (10.10%) Analyst
3 53 (6.53%) Consultant
4 49 (6.03%) Project Manager
5 47 (5.79%) IT Support
6 41 (5.05%) Business Analyst
6 41 (5.05%) Desktop Support
6 41 (5.05%) Senior
7 38 (4.68%) Network Engineer
8 35 (4.31%) Lead
9 30 (3.69%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
9 30 (3.69%) 2nd Line Support
10 29 (3.57%) Developer
11 28 (3.45%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
12 27 (3.33%) Solutions Architect
13 26 (3.20%) Support Engineer
14 23 (2.83%) Network Architect
14 23 (2.83%) Network Specialist
15 22 (2.71%) Test Engineer
16 20 (2.46%) Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (2.71%) REST
2 15 (1.85%) SOAP
3 14 (1.72%) React
4 11 (1.35%) JSON
4 11 (1.35%) XML
5 10 (1.23%) RFC 2544
6 9 (1.11%) Jinja
6 9 (1.11%) Node.js
6 9 (1.11%) SailPoint
7 8 (0.99%) RESTful
8 7 (0.86%) 802.1X
8 7 (0.86%) CSS
8 7 (0.86%) HTML
8 7 (0.86%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.86%) Web Services
9 6 (0.74%) Kafka
9 6 (0.74%) PySpark
9 6 (0.74%) YANG
10 5 (0.62%) .NET
11 4 (0.49%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 71 (8.74%) Data Centre
2 31 (3.82%) Cloud Native
3 29 (3.57%) Driving Licence
4 27 (3.33%) Product Ownership
5 24 (2.96%) Legacy Systems
6 20 (2.46%) Fibre Optics
7 19 (2.34%) Onboarding
8 17 (2.09%) CMDB
8 17 (2.09%) Data Protection Act
9 15 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
9 15 (1.85%) NHS
10 13 (1.60%) IoT
11 11 (1.35%) Mobile App
11 11 (1.35%) Self-Motivation
11 11 (1.35%) Virtual Team
12 9 (1.11%) Algorithms
12 9 (1.11%) Cyber Threat
13 8 (0.99%) Management Information System
13 8 (0.99%) SCADA
14 7 (0.86%) Cyber Defence
Operating Systems
1 52 (6.40%) Windows
2 35 (4.31%) Android
3 30 (3.69%) Mac OS
4 23 (2.83%) Linux
5 12 (1.48%) Windows 10
6 11 (1.35%) Windows Server
7 6 (0.74%) Apple iOS
7 6 (0.74%) Unix
8 1 (0.12%) CentOS
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.12%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 228 (28.08%) Business Intelligence
2 214 (26.35%) Programme Management
3 206 (25.37%) Digital Marketing
4 144 (17.73%) Problem-Solving
5 126 (15.52%) Agile
6 114 (14.04%) Stakeholder Management
7 84 (10.34%) Migration
8 83 (10.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 75 (9.24%) Continuous Improvement
10 69 (8.50%) ITIL
11 59 (7.27%) DevOps
12 55 (6.77%) CI/CD
12 55 (6.77%) Service Delivery
13 53 (6.53%) AI
13 53 (6.53%) Customer Service
13 53 (6.53%) Project Management
14 52 (6.40%) Workflow
15 50 (6.16%) Change Management
16 48 (5.91%) Network Design
17 45 (5.54%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 75 (9.24%) Python
2 48 (5.91%) SQL
3 32 (3.94%) JavaScript
4 19 (2.34%) PowerShell
5 17 (2.09%) Java
6 13 (1.60%) TypeScript
7 10 (1.23%) Bash
7 10 (1.23%) C
7 10 (1.23%) C#
7 10 (1.23%) C++
8 5 (0.62%) Go
9 4 (0.49%) ABAP
9 4 (0.49%) PHP
10 3 (0.37%) BeanShell
10 3 (0.37%) PL/SQL
10 3 (0.37%) R
11 2 (0.25%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.12%) Bicep
12 1 (0.12%) Scala
12 1 (0.12%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 230 (28.33%) Security Cleared
2 184 (22.66%) SC Cleared
3 76 (9.36%) Degree
4 47 (5.79%) DV Cleared
5 28 (3.45%) Cisco Certification
6 17 (2.09%) CISSP
6 17 (2.09%) Master's Degree
7 16 (1.97%) CCNP
8 14 (1.72%) BPSS Clearance
8 14 (1.72%) CCNA
9 11 (1.35%) CCIE
9 11 (1.35%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.23%) PMP
11 9 (1.11%) CESG Certified Professional
11 9 (1.11%) CISM
11 9 (1.11%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.86%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (0.74%) ACCA
13 6 (0.74%) JNCIE
13 6 (0.74%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (4.43%) QA
1 36 (4.43%) SLA
2 18 (2.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (1.97%) GDPR
4 14 (1.72%) Data Quality
5 13 (1.60%) PMO
6 11 (1.35%) NIST
6 11 (1.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 9 (1.11%) Accessibility
7 9 (1.11%) GRC
7 9 (1.11%) RMADS
8 8 (0.99%) NCSC
9 7 (0.86%) JSP 440
10 3 (0.37%) GAAP
10 3 (0.37%) IFRS
10 3 (0.37%) ISO 9001
10 3 (0.37%) WCAG
11 2 (0.25%) ISO 26262
11 2 (0.25%) NEBOSH
11 2 (0.25%) P3O
System Software
1 28 (3.45%) Active Directory
1 28 (3.45%) Docker
2 8 (0.99%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (0.74%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (0.74%) vSphere
4 5 (0.62%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.25%) Ceph
5 2 (0.25%) Firmware
5 2 (0.25%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle RAC
6 1 (0.12%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 34 (4.19%) Ansible
2 29 (3.57%) Kubernetes
3 24 (2.96%) Terraform
4 5 (0.62%) Grafana
4 5 (0.62%) HP ALM
4 5 (0.62%) NSN NetAct
4 5 (0.62%) Puppet
5 4 (0.49%) SCCM
5 4 (0.49%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (0.37%) Argo
6 3 (0.37%) Data Guard
6 3 (0.37%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 3 (0.37%) Oracle RMAN
6 3 (0.37%) vCenter Server
6 3 (0.37%) vRealize
7 2 (0.25%) Cisco CUCM
7 2 (0.25%) Cisco Prime
7 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.25%) Nmap
7 2 (0.25%) OpenView
Vendors
1 241 (29.68%) SAP
2 134 (16.50%) Cisco
3 99 (12.19%) Microsoft
4 36 (4.43%) ServiceNow
5 32 (3.94%) Salesforce
6 30 (3.69%) Juniper
7 29 (3.57%) HP
8 28 (3.45%) Nokia
9 27 (3.33%) Dell
10 26 (3.20%) Oracle
11 24 (2.96%) Apple
12 20 (2.46%) Ericsson
13 19 (2.34%) F5
14 18 (2.22%) Fortinet
15 15 (1.85%) Google
15 15 (1.85%) Remedy
16 14 (1.72%) CheckPoint
17 13 (1.60%) VMware
18 10 (1.23%) Actix
18 10 (1.23%) Splunk