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

6 months to
2 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 183 96 65
Rank change year-on-year -87 -31 +17
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 693 756 1,329
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.42% 2.61% 3.09%
As % of the General category 2.64% 4.13% 5.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 421 433 647
10th Percentile £213 £307 £200
25th Percentile £400 £400 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £488 £459
Median % change year-on-year -1.28% +6.21% -6.09%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £600
90th Percentile £681 £700 £733
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £480 £450
% change year-on-year -3.65% +6.67% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 33 101
10th Percentile £17.67 - £12.15
25th Percentile £21.00 £14.00 £13.25
Median hourly rate £23.83 £27.40 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.05% -50.18% +4.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £62.24 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £18.31 £45.00
% change year-on-year +30.16% -59.32% +16.13%

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 26,229 18,322 24,753
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 53.78% 63.32% 57.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,867 11,611 15,550
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £756 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.58% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,742 819 1,984
10th Percentile £13.72 £13.50 £12.78
25th Percentile £17.69 £16.95 £15.50
Median hourly rate £30.08 £28.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.41% -6.67% -7.12%
75th Percentile £60.00 £55.00 £52.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £67.38
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.50 £24.34 £28.42
% change year-on-year +21.20% -14.36% +2.08%

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 2 June 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 2 June 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 2 June 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 -100 607 £478 -3.48% 729
UK excluding London -97 355 £463 -3.65% 535
London -23 267 £500 +1.52% 281
Work from Home -41 186 £500 +5.26% 257
South East -70 141 £450 -6.25% 181
North of England -63 70 £481 -9.20% 102
South West -55 45 £511 -2.67% 53
Midlands -44 42 £500 -20.00% 74
East of England -25 34 £198 -49.03% 57
North West -50 33 £463 -12.74% 55
West Midlands -53 32 £475 -18.28% 45
Yorkshire -48 23 £481 -8.33% 38
Scotland -11 19 £305 -6.15% 52
North East -15 14 £500 -11.50% 9
East Midlands -22 10 £500 -20.00% 29
Northern Ireland 0 4 £163 -54.55% 13
Wales -15 1 £500 +90.48% 14

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 9 (1.30%) Confluence
1 9 (1.30%) OpenStack
2 6 (0.87%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (0.87%) Appian
3 4 (0.58%) Anypoint
3 4 (0.58%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.43%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.43%) IIS
4 3 (0.43%) JBoss
4 3 (0.43%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.43%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 3 (0.43%) SharePoint
4 3 (0.43%) Tomcat
4 3 (0.43%) WebLogic
5 2 (0.29%) Apache
5 2 (0.29%) Oracle Spatial
6 1 (0.14%) Camunda
6 1 (0.14%) CMS
6 1 (0.14%) Smallworld
Applications
1 21 (3.03%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.88%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.15%) MS Visio
4 7 (1.01%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.58%) AutoCAD
5 4 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.29%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.14%) FrameMaker
7 1 (0.14%) MadCap Flare
7 1 (0.14%) Revit
7 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 12 (1.73%) SAP PSCD
2 11 (1.59%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (1.59%) SAP BRIM
3 10 (1.44%) SAP Hybris
4 6 (0.87%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.58%) BambooHR
6 3 (0.43%) SAP FI
7 2 (0.29%) SAP FI-CA
8 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.14%) Remedy AR System
8 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SD
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SRM
8 1 (0.14%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 56 (8.08%) AWS
1 56 (8.08%) Azure
2 33 (4.76%) GCP
3 18 (2.60%) Power Platform
4 16 (2.31%) Microsoft 365
5 14 (2.02%) SaaS
6 11 (1.59%) SAP Commerce Cloud
7 9 (1.30%) dbt
8 6 (0.87%) Datadog
8 6 (0.87%) Serverless
9 5 (0.72%) AWS Lambda
9 5 (0.72%) Azure DevOps
9 5 (0.72%) Prefect
9 5 (0.72%) Snowflake
10 4 (0.58%) Amazon S3
10 4 (0.58%) Boomi
10 4 (0.58%) Dagster
10 4 (0.58%) Figma
11 3 (0.43%) Entra ID
11 3 (0.43%) Salesforce Service Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.64%) MPLS
2 43 (6.20%) 5G
2 43 (6.20%) WAN
3 38 (5.48%) Firewall
4 34 (4.91%) LAN
5 25 (3.61%) 4G
5 25 (3.61%) Network Security
6 24 (3.46%) Radio Access Network
7 22 (3.17%) BGP
7 22 (3.17%) VoIP
8 21 (3.03%) Internet
8 21 (3.03%) SD-WAN
9 18 (2.60%) LTE
10 17 (2.45%) 3GPP
10 17 (2.45%) OSPF
11 16 (2.31%) VPN
12 14 (2.02%) Broadband
12 14 (2.02%) DNS
12 14 (2.02%) VLAN
13 13 (1.88%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.60%) Power BI
2 12 (1.73%) Looker
2 12 (1.73%) Tableau
3 11 (1.59%) Data Warehouse
4 9 (1.30%) BigQuery
5 7 (1.01%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (1.01%) Big Data
5 7 (1.01%) Relational Database
6 6 (0.87%) SQL Server
7 5 (0.72%) MySQL
8 4 (0.58%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.43%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.43%) GIS
9 3 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.43%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.43%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.29%) Apache Cassandra
10 2 (0.29%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.29%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.29%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 20 (2.89%) JIRA
2 9 (1.30%) Git
3 3 (0.43%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.29%) GitLab
4 2 (0.29%) Robot Framework
5 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.14%) JMeter
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.14%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.14%) TestRail
General
1 188 (27.13%) Social Skills
2 121 (17.46%) Finance
3 93 (13.42%) Analytical Skills
4 82 (11.83%) Public Sector
5 47 (6.78%) Marketing
6 38 (5.48%) Billing
7 36 (5.19%) Electronics
8 33 (4.76%) Manufacturing
9 27 (3.90%) Retail
10 21 (3.03%) Organisational Skills
11 16 (2.31%) Legal
12 15 (2.16%) Documentation Skills
13 13 (1.88%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.01%) Presentation Skills
15 6 (0.87%) Banking
15 6 (0.87%) Military
16 5 (0.72%) Publishing
17 4 (0.58%) Aerospace
18 3 (0.43%) Financial Institution
18 3 (0.43%) Police
Job Titles
1 94 (13.56%) Architect
2 56 (8.08%) Analyst
3 51 (7.36%) Lead
4 50 (7.22%) Senior
5 41 (5.92%) Solutions Architect
6 38 (5.48%) Consultant
7 37 (5.34%) Network Engineer
8 36 (5.19%) Telecoms Manager
9 32 (4.62%) Project Manager
10 27 (3.90%) Designer
11 26 (3.75%) Developer
11 26 (3.75%) ServiceNow Architect
12 22 (3.17%) Business Analyst
13 20 (2.89%) Sales Manager
14 19 (2.74%) Data Engineer
14 19 (2.74%) Programme Manager
15 17 (2.45%) Enterprise Architect
16 16 (2.31%) Telecoms Architect
17 15 (2.16%) Delivery Manager
18 14 (2.02%) Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (5.48%) REST
2 24 (3.46%) SOAP
3 11 (1.59%) Middleware
4 10 (1.44%) Kafka
5 9 (1.30%) .NET
6 8 (1.15%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.15%) ONVIF
6 8 (1.15%) XML
7 6 (0.87%) JSON
7 6 (0.87%) OpenAPI
7 6 (0.87%) Swagger
8 5 (0.72%) RESTful
9 4 (0.58%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.58%) RAML
10 3 (0.43%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.43%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.43%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.43%) Web Services
11 2 (0.29%) SAP Basis
11 2 (0.29%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 31 (4.47%) Data Centre
2 30 (4.33%) Onboarding
3 25 (3.61%) Data Protection Act
4 24 (3.46%) CMDB
5 20 (2.89%) Cloud Native
6 19 (2.74%) Product Ownership
7 18 (2.60%) Driving Licence
8 16 (2.31%) Virtual Team
9 12 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.73%) Distributed Systems
10 8 (1.15%) EPoS
10 8 (1.15%) Management Information System
10 8 (1.15%) Self-Motivation
10 8 (1.15%) TM Forum
10 8 (1.15%) Video\Live Streaming
11 7 (1.01%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.01%) NHS
12 6 (0.87%) Legacy Systems
12 6 (0.87%) Web Conferencing
13 5 (0.72%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 27 (3.90%) Windows
2 23 (3.32%) Linux
3 14 (2.02%) Windows 10
4 10 (1.44%) Unix
5 4 (0.58%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.43%) Debian
6 3 (0.43%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.43%) VMS
6 3 (0.43%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.29%) Android
7 2 (0.29%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (15.44%) Stakeholder Management
2 91 (13.13%) Problem-Solving
3 87 (12.55%) Agile
4 67 (9.67%) ITIL
5 61 (8.80%) Continuous Improvement
6 54 (7.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 53 (7.65%) Decision-Making
8 51 (7.36%) Project Management
9 50 (7.22%) Migration
10 48 (6.93%) Business Intelligence
10 48 (6.93%) Customer Service
11 46 (6.64%) Project Delivery
12 45 (6.49%) Analytics
12 45 (6.49%) Roadmaps
13 41 (5.92%) CRM
14 39 (5.63%) Data Protection
14 39 (5.63%) ITSM
15 37 (5.34%) Service Management
16 36 (5.19%) CI/CD
17 35 (5.05%) Programme Management
Programming Languages
1 46 (6.64%) Python
2 35 (5.05%) SQL
3 16 (2.31%) Java
4 15 (2.16%) JavaScript
5 10 (1.44%) C#
6 8 (1.15%) C++
7 6 (0.87%) Bash
7 6 (0.87%) R
8 4 (0.58%) DataWeave
9 3 (0.43%) Apex Code
9 3 (0.43%) C
9 3 (0.43%) LookML
10 2 (0.29%) Go
10 2 (0.29%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.29%) PowerShell
10 2 (0.29%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.29%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.14%) ABAP
11 1 (0.14%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.14%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 124 (17.89%) Security Cleared
2 91 (13.13%) SC Cleared
3 66 (9.52%) Degree
4 36 (5.19%) Cisco Certification
5 22 (3.17%) CCNA
5 22 (3.17%) DV Cleared
6 20 (2.89%) Microsoft Certification
7 18 (2.60%) A+ Certification
7 18 (2.60%) CCNP
7 18 (2.60%) Computer Science Degree
8 13 (1.88%) BPSS Clearance
9 12 (1.73%) PMP
10 9 (1.30%) Network+ Certification
11 8 (1.15%) Master's Degree
11 8 (1.15%) MCSA
11 8 (1.15%) PMI Certification
12 6 (0.87%) ACCA
12 6 (0.87%) CCIE
12 6 (0.87%) CIMA
13 5 (0.72%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (3.32%) SLA
2 18 (2.60%) GDPR
2 18 (2.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 15 (2.16%) PMO
4 14 (2.02%) NCSC
4 14 (2.02%) QA
5 13 (1.88%) Data Quality
6 9 (1.30%) GRC
6 9 (1.30%) NIST
7 6 (0.87%) RMADS
8 4 (0.58%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.14%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.14%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 1 (0.14%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.14%) SOC 1
9 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 13 (1.88%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.59%) Docker
3 9 (1.30%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.72%) vSphere
5 3 (0.43%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.43%) QEMU
5 3 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
5 3 (0.43%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.14%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 37 (5.34%) Kubernetes
2 13 (1.88%) Ansible
2 13 (1.88%) Grafana
2 13 (1.88%) Prometheus
3 11 (1.59%) Terraform
4 4 (0.58%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (0.43%) Iperf
5 3 (0.43%) Podman
5 3 (0.43%) vCenter Server
5 3 (0.43%) vRealize
6 2 (0.29%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.29%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.29%) Nmap
6 2 (0.29%) NSN NetAct
6 2 (0.29%) SCCM
7 1 (0.14%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.14%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.14%) Kibana
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle RMAN
7 1 (0.14%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 75 (10.82%) Microsoft
2 62 (8.95%) ServiceNow
3 59 (8.51%) Cisco
4 48 (6.93%) SAP
5 41 (5.92%) Nokia
6 23 (3.32%) Salesforce
7 21 (3.03%) BT
7 21 (3.03%) Oracle
8 20 (2.89%) Ericsson
9 16 (2.31%) Juniper
10 15 (2.16%) Fortinet
10 15 (2.16%) Huawei
11 14 (2.02%) Remedy
12 13 (1.88%) CheckPoint
12 13 (1.88%) Google
13 12 (1.73%) VMware
14 11 (1.59%) MuleSoft
15 10 (1.44%) F5
16 8 (1.15%) Databricks
16 8 (1.15%) Palo Alto