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

6 months to
17 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 186 100 61
Rank change year-on-year -86 -39 +21
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 715 772 1,368
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.42% 2.60% 3.14%
As % of the General category 2.63% 4.10% 5.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 428 441 653
10th Percentile £213 £310 £200
25th Percentile £400 £400 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £481 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.05% +6.89% -7.69%
75th Percentile £575 £586 £600
90th Percentile £688 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £468 £480 £450
% change year-on-year -2.50% +6.67% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 38 102
10th Percentile £17.14 - £12.15
25th Percentile £21.00 £14.00 £13.89
Median hourly rate £36.13 £27.98 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +29.13% -37.83% -14.29%
75th Percentile £53.38 £62.81 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £68.18 £76.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £16.90 £45.00
% change year-on-year +24.24% -62.44% +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 27,204 18,850 24,852
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.06% 63.51% 57.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,432 11,891 15,566
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £514 £504 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.98% -4.00% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £768
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £473 £488
% change year-on-year +5.82% -3.08% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,828 900 2,007
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.46 £12.78
25th Percentile £18.24 £16.67 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.85 £31.00
Median % change year-on-year +14.90% -10.16% +1.51%
75th Percentile £60.71 £53.96 £52.78
90th Percentile £80.07 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.48 £24.34 £29.75
% change year-on-year +29.33% -18.18% +12.26%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -99 627 £481 -2.76% 837
UK excluding London -106 359 £468 -2.50% 810
London -24 281 £500 +2.04% 202
Work from Home -43 204 £481 +1.32% 556
South East -65 150 £465 -5.97% 218
North of England -47 74 £496 -5.97% 165
South West -55 47 £505 +6.32% 60
Midlands -55 37 £500 -1.23% 112
North West -47 34 £506 -4.03% 81
East of England -21 31 £198 -47.33% 114
West Midlands -55 31 £475 +15.15% 64
Yorkshire -40 26 £487 -7.31% 59
Scotland -22 20 £305 -6.15% 90
North East -20 14 £500 -11.50% 27
East Midlands -17 6 £500 -20.00% 48
Northern Ireland -2 3 £175 -51.05% 41
Wales -14 1 £500 +90.48% 28

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 (1.26%) Confluence
1 9 (1.26%) OpenStack
2 6 (0.84%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (0.84%) Appian
3 4 (0.56%) Anypoint
3 4 (0.56%) Apache Spark
3 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (0.56%) SharePoint
4 3 (0.42%) ArcGIS
4 3 (0.42%) IIS
4 3 (0.42%) JBoss
4 3 (0.42%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 3 (0.42%) Tomcat
4 3 (0.42%) WebLogic
5 2 (0.28%) Apache
5 2 (0.28%) Oracle Spatial
6 1 (0.14%) Camunda
6 1 (0.14%) CMS
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Smallworld
Applications
1 21 (2.94%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.12%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.70%) AutoCAD
6 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.28%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.14%) Revit
8 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 16 (2.24%) SAP PSCD
2 13 (1.82%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.82%) SAP BRIM
3 12 (1.68%) SAP Hybris
4 6 (0.84%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.56%) BambooHR
5 4 (0.56%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.42%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.42%) Remedy AR System
6 3 (0.42%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.42%) Salesforce CRM
6 3 (0.42%) SAP FI-CA
7 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.14%) SAP IBP
7 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
7 1 (0.14%) SAP SD
7 1 (0.14%) SAP SRM
7 1 (0.14%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 62 (8.67%) Azure
2 58 (8.11%) AWS
3 38 (5.31%) GCP
4 21 (2.94%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.52%) Microsoft 365
6 15 (2.10%) SaaS
7 14 (1.96%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 9 (1.26%) dbt
9 8 (1.12%) Snowflake
10 6 (0.84%) Datadog
10 6 (0.84%) Serverless
11 5 (0.70%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (0.70%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (0.70%) Entra ID
11 5 (0.70%) GitHub
11 5 (0.70%) Prefect
12 4 (0.56%) Boomi
12 4 (0.56%) Dagster
12 4 (0.56%) Figma
12 4 (0.56%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 50 (6.99%) WAN
2 49 (6.85%) 5G
2 49 (6.85%) MPLS
3 38 (5.31%) LAN
4 37 (5.17%) Firewall
5 28 (3.92%) 4G
5 28 (3.92%) Radio Access Network
6 26 (3.64%) SD-WAN
7 25 (3.50%) BGP
8 24 (3.36%) Network Security
9 20 (2.80%) 3GPP
9 20 (2.80%) Internet
9 20 (2.80%) VoIP
10 19 (2.66%) LTE
11 17 (2.38%) OSPF
12 16 (2.24%) VPN
13 15 (2.10%) DNS
14 14 (1.96%) Structured Cabling
14 14 (1.96%) VLAN
15 13 (1.82%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.80%) Power BI
2 14 (1.96%) Data Warehouse
3 12 (1.68%) BigQuery
3 12 (1.68%) Looker
3 12 (1.68%) Tableau
4 10 (1.40%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (0.98%) Big Data
5 7 (0.98%) Relational Database
6 6 (0.84%) SQL Server
7 5 (0.70%) MySQL
8 4 (0.56%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.42%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.42%) GIS
9 3 (0.42%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.42%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.42%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.42%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.28%) Metadata
10 2 (0.28%) Power Query
10 2 (0.28%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 23 (3.22%) JIRA
2 12 (1.68%) Git
3 3 (0.42%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.28%) GitLab
4 2 (0.28%) 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
1 201 (28.11%) Social Skills
2 124 (17.34%) Finance
3 104 (14.55%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (9.37%) Public Sector
5 45 (6.29%) Billing
6 31 (4.34%) Marketing
7 27 (3.78%) Retail
8 21 (2.94%) Electronics
9 20 (2.80%) Documentation Skills
10 19 (2.66%) Legal
11 17 (2.38%) Manufacturing
12 13 (1.82%) Influencing Skills
13 11 (1.54%) Organisational Skills
14 9 (1.26%) Presentation Skills
15 6 (0.84%) Aerospace
15 6 (0.84%) Banking
15 6 (0.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 5 (0.70%) Publishing
17 4 (0.56%) Military
17 4 (0.56%) Police
Job Titles
1 95 (13.29%) Architect
2 59 (8.25%) Senior
3 56 (7.83%) Lead
4 55 (7.69%) Analyst
5 54 (7.55%) Consultant
6 42 (5.87%) Solutions Architect
7 39 (5.45%) Telecoms Manager
8 38 (5.31%) Network Engineer
9 37 (5.17%) Project Manager
10 29 (4.06%) Designer
11 27 (3.78%) Developer
12 25 (3.50%) ServiceNow Architect
13 23 (3.22%) Data Engineer
14 21 (2.94%) Sales Manager
15 20 (2.80%) Business Analyst
15 20 (2.80%) Delivery Manager
16 17 (2.38%) Enterprise Architect
16 17 (2.38%) Programme Manager
16 17 (2.38%) SAP Consultant
16 17 (2.38%) Telecoms Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (5.31%) REST
2 25 (3.50%) SOAP
3 12 (1.68%) Middleware
4 10 (1.40%) Kafka
4 10 (1.40%) ONVIF
5 9 (1.26%) .NET
6 8 (1.12%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.12%) XML
7 6 (0.84%) JSON
7 6 (0.84%) OpenAPI
7 6 (0.84%) Swagger
8 5 (0.70%) RESTful
9 4 (0.56%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.56%) NETCONF
9 4 (0.56%) RAML
9 4 (0.56%) YANG
10 3 (0.42%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.42%) OpenTelemetry
10 3 (0.42%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.42%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 37 (5.17%) Data Centre
2 36 (5.03%) CMDB
3 33 (4.62%) Onboarding
4 26 (3.64%) Cloud Native
5 23 (3.22%) Data Protection Act
6 18 (2.52%) Product Ownership
7 17 (2.38%) Driving Licence
8 16 (2.24%) Virtual Team
9 15 (2.10%) Analytical Mindset
10 13 (1.82%) Distributed Systems
11 10 (1.40%) Video\Live Streaming
12 8 (1.12%) EPoS
12 8 (1.12%) Self-Motivation
13 7 (0.98%) Hybrid Cloud
13 7 (0.98%) Management Information System
13 7 (0.98%) NHS
13 7 (0.98%) TM Forum
14 6 (0.84%) Web Conferencing
15 5 (0.70%) AI Agents
15 5 (0.70%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 27 (3.78%) Windows
2 25 (3.50%) Linux
3 12 (1.68%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.54%) Unix
5 4 (0.56%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (0.56%) VMS
6 3 (0.42%) Android
6 3 (0.42%) Debian
6 3 (0.42%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.42%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.42%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.28%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.28%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.14%) OpenVMS
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
1 117 (16.36%) Stakeholder Management
2 94 (13.15%) Agile
2 94 (13.15%) Problem-Solving
3 72 (10.07%) ITIL
4 63 (8.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 60 (8.39%) Decision-Making
6 59 (8.25%) Continuous Improvement
7 52 (7.27%) Migration
8 51 (7.13%) Project Delivery
9 50 (6.99%) CI/CD
9 50 (6.99%) Project Management
10 48 (6.71%) CRM
11 46 (6.43%) Roadmaps
12 45 (6.29%) Customer Service
12 45 (6.29%) Validation
13 44 (6.15%) ITSM
13 44 (6.15%) Service Management
14 43 (6.01%) Analytics
15 40 (5.59%) Risk Management
16 37 (5.17%) AI
Programming Languages
1 52 (7.27%) Python
2 34 (4.76%) SQL
3 17 (2.38%) Java
4 15 (2.10%) JavaScript
5 10 (1.40%) C#
6 8 (1.12%) C++
7 6 (0.84%) Bash
7 6 (0.84%) R
8 4 (0.56%) DataWeave
9 3 (0.42%) Apex Code
9 3 (0.42%) C
9 3 (0.42%) LookML
9 3 (0.42%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.28%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.28%) PowerShell
10 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.14%) ABAP
11 1 (0.14%) DCL
11 1 (0.14%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.14%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 114 (15.94%) Security Cleared
2 81 (11.33%) SC Cleared
3 68 (9.51%) Degree
4 40 (5.59%) Cisco Certification
5 27 (3.78%) CCNA
6 20 (2.80%) A+ Certification
6 20 (2.80%) DV Cleared
6 20 (2.80%) Microsoft Certification
7 19 (2.66%) CCNP
8 18 (2.52%) Computer Science Degree
9 16 (2.24%) PMP
10 13 (1.82%) BPSS Clearance
11 12 (1.68%) PMI Certification
12 11 (1.54%) Network+ Certification
13 10 (1.40%) MCSA
14 8 (1.12%) Master's Degree
15 7 (0.98%) AWS Certification
15 7 (0.98%) Azure Certification
16 6 (0.84%) ACCA
16 6 (0.84%) CCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (3.08%) SLA
2 19 (2.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 17 (2.38%) GDPR
4 16 (2.24%) NCSC
4 16 (2.24%) PMO
5 14 (1.96%) QA
6 13 (1.82%) Data Quality
7 11 (1.54%) GRC
8 8 (1.12%) NIST
9 5 (0.70%) RMADS
10 3 (0.42%) JSP 440
11 1 (0.14%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.14%) IFRS
11 1 (0.14%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 22301
11 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.14%) SOC 1
11 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 15 (2.10%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.68%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (1.54%) Docker
4 5 (0.70%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.70%) vSphere
5 3 (0.42%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.42%) QEMU
5 3 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.14%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 40 (5.59%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.38%) Terraform
3 16 (2.24%) Ansible
4 14 (1.96%) Grafana
4 14 (1.96%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.42%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (0.42%) Iperf
5 3 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
5 3 (0.42%) Podman
5 3 (0.42%) vCenter Server
5 3 (0.42%) vRealize
6 2 (0.28%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.28%) Nmap
6 2 (0.28%) NSN NetAct
7 1 (0.14%) Argo
7 1 (0.14%) Failover Clustering
7 1 (0.14%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.14%) Rancher
7 1 (0.14%) SCCM
Vendors
1 78 (10.91%) Microsoft
2 68 (9.51%) ServiceNow
3 61 (8.53%) Cisco
4 38 (5.31%) Nokia
5 35 (4.90%) SAP
6 27 (3.78%) Salesforce
7 23 (3.22%) Oracle
8 22 (3.08%) BT
9 18 (2.52%) Ericsson
10 17 (2.38%) VMware
11 16 (2.24%) Fortinet
11 16 (2.24%) Remedy
12 15 (2.10%) Juniper
13 14 (1.96%) Huawei
14 13 (1.82%) Google
15 12 (1.68%) CheckPoint
16 11 (1.54%) F5
16 11 (1.54%) MuleSoft
17 10 (1.40%) BMC
18 8 (1.12%) Palo Alto