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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 174 101 67
Rank change year-on-year -73 -34 +15
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 831 836 1,210
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.57% 2.55% 3.01%
As % of the General category 2.86% 4.05% 5.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 470 488 591
10th Percentile £213 £300 £205
25th Percentile £400 £392 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £469 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.33% -1.32% -1.96%
75th Percentile £575 £582 £607
90th Percentile £694 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £455 £475
% change year-on-year -1.10% -4.21% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 47 106
10th Percentile £16.08 - £12.15
25th Percentile £17.73 £14.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £25.17 £20.75 £51.78
Median % change year-on-year +21.30% -59.93% -15.46%
75th Percentile £50.00 £53.63 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £48.56
% change year-on-year +35.48% -68.08% -7.50%

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 29,045 20,618 23,003
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.94% 62.96% 57.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,309 12,899 14,508
10th Percentile £313 £280 £287
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £493
% change year-on-year +6.38% -4.67% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,070 1,093 1,536
10th Percentile £14.09 £13.35 £13.66
25th Percentile £18.27 £16.25 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.00 £25.32 £36.33
Median % change year-on-year +30.33% -30.31% +18.97%
75th Percentile £61.18 £51.18 £57.50
90th Percentile £81.05 £70.13 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.25 £22.14 £37.50
% change year-on-year +50.18% -40.96% +38.89%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 -81 703 £475 -0.52% 644
UK excluding London -83 426 £450 -1.10% 508
London -32 306 £517 +8.74% 239
Work from Home -42 238 £475 - 256
South East -56 192 £460 -8.00% 172
North of England -57 65 £500 -2.44% 103
South West -64 48 £450 -14.29% 52
Scotland -2 47 £300 -7.69% 44
Midlands -57 40 £478 +27.50% 73
West Midlands -59 35 £470 +34.29% 48
East of England -16 34 £160 -57.33% 45
Yorkshire -21 32 £475 +22.58% 28
North West -55 28 £550 +4.76% 57
East Midlands -11 5 £500 +33.33% 25
North East -37 5 £500 - 20
Northern Ireland -5 3 £175 -51.05% 3
Wales -17 1 £500 +132.56% 26

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 13 (1.56%) Confluence
1 13 (1.56%) OpenStack
2 10 (1.20%) ArcGIS
2 10 (1.20%) SharePoint
3 8 (0.96%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (0.84%) Apache Airflow
5 4 (0.48%) Anypoint
5 4 (0.48%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.24%) Apache
6 2 (0.24%) Appian
6 2 (0.24%) CMS
7 1 (0.12%) Camunda
7 1 (0.12%) IIS
7 1 (0.12%) JBoss
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.12%) Smallworld
7 1 (0.12%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
Applications
1 27 (3.25%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (3.01%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (2.29%) MS Visio
4 10 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.60%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.60%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.24%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.12%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.12%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.12%) Revit
7 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.41%) SAP PSCD
2 11 (1.32%) SAP BRIM
3 9 (1.08%) SAP Hybris
4 8 (0.96%) Remedy ITSM
4 8 (0.96%) SAP FI
5 7 (0.84%) SAP FI-CA
6 5 (0.60%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.60%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.60%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
7 4 (0.48%) BambooHR
8 3 (0.36%) Remedy AR System
8 3 (0.36%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle BRM
9 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FS
9 1 (0.12%) SAP IS-U
9 1 (0.12%) SAP SRM
9 1 (0.12%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 97 (11.67%) Azure
2 86 (10.35%) AWS
3 64 (7.70%) GCP
4 21 (2.53%) Power Platform
5 19 (2.29%) Microsoft 365
6 15 (1.81%) Entra ID
6 15 (1.81%) GitHub
6 15 (1.81%) SaaS
7 11 (1.32%) dbt
7 11 (1.32%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 10 (1.20%) Snowflake
9 9 (1.08%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (1.08%) GitHub Actions
10 8 (0.96%) Cloud Computing
11 6 (0.72%) Cloud Functions
11 6 (0.72%) Datadog
11 6 (0.72%) Serverless
12 5 (0.60%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.60%) OpenShift
12 5 (0.60%) Prefect
Communications & Networking
1 97 (11.67%) WAN
2 81 (9.75%) LAN
3 71 (8.54%) 5G
3 71 (8.54%) MPLS
4 51 (6.14%) 4G
4 51 (6.14%) Firewall
5 48 (5.78%) Radio Access Network
6 33 (3.97%) SD-WAN
7 29 (3.49%) DNS
8 28 (3.37%) BGP
9 27 (3.25%) Network Security
10 24 (2.89%) VPN
10 24 (2.89%) Wi-Fi
11 23 (2.77%) 3G
12 22 (2.65%) SDH
12 22 (2.65%) TCP/IP
13 21 (2.53%) VoIP
14 20 (2.41%) 3GPP
14 20 (2.41%) LTE
15 18 (2.17%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.41%) Power BI
2 19 (2.29%) Data Warehouse
3 15 (1.81%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.44%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.44%) Looker
4 12 (1.44%) Tableau
5 10 (1.20%) GIS
6 7 (0.84%) Big Data
7 6 (0.72%) NoSQL
7 6 (0.72%) SQL Server
8 4 (0.48%) Apache Cassandra
8 4 (0.48%) MySQL
8 4 (0.48%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.36%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.36%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.36%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.36%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.36%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.36%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.36%) Tableau Desktop
Development Applications
1 27 (3.25%) JIRA
2 14 (1.68%) Git
3 7 (0.84%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.36%) GitLab
4 3 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.24%) Robot Framework
5 2 (0.24%) Selenium
6 1 (0.12%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.12%) TestRail
General
1 239 (28.76%) Social Skills
2 126 (15.16%) Finance
3 105 (12.64%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (7.46%) Public Sector
5 37 (4.45%) Billing
6 31 (3.73%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (2.77%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (2.77%) Retail
8 21 (2.53%) Influencing Skills
9 20 (2.41%) Legal
9 20 (2.41%) Marketing
10 14 (1.68%) Presentation Skills
11 12 (1.44%) Aerospace
12 10 (1.20%) Manufacturing
12 10 (1.20%) Publishing
13 8 (0.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 8 (0.96%) Police
14 6 (0.72%) Electronics
15 4 (0.48%) Military
16 3 (0.36%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 133 (16.00%) Architect
2 78 (9.39%) Senior
3 66 (7.94%) Consultant
4 64 (7.70%) Lead
5 61 (7.34%) Analyst
6 49 (5.90%) Project Manager
7 48 (5.78%) Network Engineer
7 48 (5.78%) Solutions Architect
8 38 (4.57%) Telecoms Manager
9 34 (4.09%) Telecoms Engineer
10 33 (3.97%) Designer
10 33 (3.97%) Field Engineer
11 30 (3.61%) ServiceNow Architect
12 27 (3.25%) Data Engineer
12 27 (3.25%) Developer
13 26 (3.13%) Enterprise Architect
14 21 (2.53%) Delivery Manager
14 21 (2.53%) SAP Consultant
14 21 (2.53%) Telecoms Architect
15 20 (2.41%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (5.54%) REST
2 32 (3.85%) SOAP
3 14 (1.68%) Kafka
4 13 (1.56%) ONVIF
5 12 (1.44%) Middleware
5 12 (1.44%) XML
6 10 (1.20%) NETCONF
6 10 (1.20%) YANG
7 9 (1.08%) OpenAPI
7 9 (1.08%) Swagger
8 8 (0.96%) AngularJS
8 8 (0.96%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (0.96%) React
8 8 (0.96%) RESTful
9 7 (0.84%) JSON
10 6 (0.72%) .NET
10 6 (0.72%) HTML
11 5 (0.60%) 802.1X
11 5 (0.60%) CSS
12 4 (0.48%) RAML
Miscellaneous
1 50 (6.02%) CMDB
2 48 (5.78%) Data Centre
3 35 (4.21%) Onboarding
4 33 (3.97%) Cloud Native
5 29 (3.49%) Driving Licence
6 20 (2.41%) Data Protection Act
7 19 (2.29%) Analytical Mindset
7 19 (2.29%) Virtual Team
8 18 (2.17%) Product Ownership
9 17 (2.05%) Hybrid Cloud
10 15 (1.81%) Management Information System
11 13 (1.56%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (1.56%) Video\Live Streaming
12 11 (1.32%) Distributed Systems
13 9 (1.08%) Algorithms
13 9 (1.08%) Private Cloud
13 9 (1.08%) TM Forum
14 8 (0.96%) Data Structures
14 8 (0.96%) EPoS
15 7 (0.84%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
Operating Systems
1 38 (4.57%) Windows
2 25 (3.01%) Linux
3 15 (1.81%) Windows 10
4 10 (1.20%) Windows Server
5 9 (1.08%) Unix
6 6 (0.72%) Mac OS
7 3 (0.36%) Android
7 3 (0.36%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.36%) VMS
8 2 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.24%) OpenVMS
8 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.12%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.12%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (17.57%) Stakeholder Management
2 115 (13.84%) Agile
3 107 (12.88%) Problem-Solving
4 84 (10.11%) ITIL
5 82 (9.87%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 78 (9.39%) Project Delivery
7 68 (8.18%) AI
8 65 (7.82%) CI/CD
8 65 (7.82%) Roadmaps
9 63 (7.58%) Continuous Improvement
10 62 (7.46%) Service Management
11 60 (7.22%) Migration
12 57 (6.86%) Decision-Making
13 56 (6.74%) Project Management
14 54 (6.50%) Validation
15 52 (6.26%) Analytics
15 52 (6.26%) Customer Service
16 51 (6.14%) Change Management
16 51 (6.14%) CRM
17 50 (6.02%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 70 (8.42%) Python
2 40 (4.81%) SQL
3 30 (3.61%) JavaScript
4 15 (1.81%) Java
5 9 (1.08%) Bash
5 9 (1.08%) C#
5 9 (1.08%) PowerShell
6 7 (0.84%) R
7 6 (0.72%) Apex Code
8 5 (0.60%) C++
9 4 (0.48%) ABAP
9 4 (0.48%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.48%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.36%) LookML
10 3 (0.36%) SOQL
11 2 (0.24%) C
11 2 (0.24%) DCL
12 1 (0.12%) Ada
12 1 (0.12%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.12%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 149 (17.93%) Security Cleared
2 102 (12.27%) SC Cleared
3 76 (9.15%) Degree
4 58 (6.98%) Cisco Certification
5 40 (4.81%) CCNA
6 24 (2.89%) CCNP
7 23 (2.77%) Microsoft Certification
8 22 (2.65%) DV Cleared
9 21 (2.53%) A+ Certification
10 18 (2.17%) PMP
11 17 (2.05%) Computer Science Degree
12 15 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
13 14 (1.68%) PMI Certification
14 13 (1.56%) MCSA
15 10 (1.20%) Azure Certification
15 10 (1.20%) CCIE
16 9 (1.08%) AWS Certification
17 8 (0.96%) Network+ Certification
18 7 (0.84%) CISSP
19 6 (0.72%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.25%) SLA
2 26 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 20 (2.41%) GDPR
3 20 (2.41%) GRC
4 19 (2.29%) QA
5 18 (2.17%) NCSC
6 15 (1.81%) Data Quality
7 14 (1.68%) PMO
8 9 (1.08%) NIST
9 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.36%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.12%) IFRS
11 1 (0.12%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.12%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.12%) SOC 1
System Software
1 22 (2.65%) Active Directory
2 19 (2.29%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.17%) Docker
4 8 (0.96%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.60%) vSphere
6 4 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.36%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.12%) Ceph
8 1 (0.12%) KVM
8 1 (0.12%) NDS
8 1 (0.12%) NetIQ eDirectory
8 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 45 (5.42%) Kubernetes
2 24 (2.89%) Terraform
3 17 (2.05%) Ansible
4 12 (1.44%) Grafana
4 12 (1.44%) Prometheus
5 7 (0.84%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (0.36%) Amdocs OSS
7 3 (0.36%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.36%) vRealize
8 2 (0.24%) Check_MK
8 2 (0.24%) Cisco Prime
8 2 (0.24%) Iperf
8 2 (0.24%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.24%) Podman
8 2 (0.24%) QRadar
9 1 (0.12%) Nmap
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.12%) SCCM
9 1 (0.12%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 113 (13.60%) Microsoft
2 94 (11.31%) Cisco
3 81 (9.75%) ServiceNow
4 49 (5.90%) Nokia
5 38 (4.57%) Salesforce
6 32 (3.85%) VMware
7 30 (3.61%) SAP
8 24 (2.89%) BT
9 23 (2.77%) Ericsson
10 22 (2.65%) Fortinet
11 21 (2.53%) Google
11 21 (2.53%) Juniper
12 19 (2.29%) F5
13 16 (1.93%) Huawei
13 16 (1.93%) MuleSoft
14 14 (1.68%) Palo Alto
15 13 (1.56%) CheckPoint
16 12 (1.44%) BMC
16 12 (1.44%) Oracle
17 9 (1.08%) Remedy