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 29 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 168 106 69
Rank change year-on-year -62 -37 +6
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 911 840 1,178
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 2.55% 3.06%
As % of the General category 3.07% 4.02% 5.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 511 500 562
10th Percentile £213 £275 £225
25th Percentile £392 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £464 £499
Median % change year-on-year +2.43% -7.02% -0.25%
75th Percentile £564 £575 £623
90th Percentile £675 £689 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £491
% change year-on-year - -8.40% +9.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 49 99
10th Percentile £14.68 £14.00 £12.15
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.75 £24.59
Median hourly rate £21.00 £20.75 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +1.20% -62.27% -4.35%
75th Percentile £50.00 £52.00 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £67.70 £76.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £16.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year +31.25% -70.91% +4.76%

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 29,707 20,917 22,155
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.12% 63.48% 57.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,543 13,012 13,683
10th Percentile £313 £275 £290
25th Percentile £416 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £650
90th Percentile £738 £740 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £496
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.30% -0.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,298 1,175 1,220
10th Percentile £13.79 £13.50 £14.27
25th Percentile £17.00 £16.17 £17.06
Median hourly rate £31.13 £25.15 £37.04
Median % change year-on-year +23.77% -32.10% +34.69%
75th Percentile £55.00 £50.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £68.75 £70.26
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.50 £22.05 £37.28
% change year-on-year +42.86% -40.85% +48.38%

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 29 August 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 29 August 2026.

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 29 August 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 -78 748 £482 +1.50% 1,193
UK excluding London -66 449 £450 - 732
London -31 351 £513 +7.89% 590
Work from Home -16 269 £475 -3.16% 476
South East -50 200 £470 -6.00% 233
Scotland +13 64 £300 +9.09% 59
North of England -59 58 £463 - 149
East of England -4 46 £190 -49.33% 80
South West -76 44 £469 -10.67% 88
Yorkshire -23 33 £475 +72.73% 54
Midlands -66 31 £460 +21.05% 100
West Midlands -55 30 £460 +21.05% 57
North West -69 24 £463 -2.63% 81
Wales -11 8 £200 -6.98% 18
Northern Ireland 0 5 £290 +152.17% 16
Channel Islands -1 1 £600 -
East Midlands -17 1 - - 43
North East -37 1 - - 22

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 18 (1.98%) Confluence
1 18 (1.98%) OpenStack
2 14 (1.54%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.10%) ArcGIS
4 8 (0.88%) Microsoft Exchange
5 6 (0.66%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.44%) Anypoint
7 2 (0.22%) CMS
8 1 (0.11%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.11%) Camunda
8 1 (0.11%) IIS
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.11%) Smallworld
Applications
1 35 (3.84%) Microsoft Excel
2 30 (3.29%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (2.63%) MS Visio
4 12 (1.32%) Microsoft Project
5 10 (1.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.55%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.11%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.11%) Autodesk Inventor
9 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.11%) InDesign
9 1 (0.11%) MicroStation
9 1 (0.11%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.11%) Revit
9 1 (0.11%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 19 (2.09%) SAP PSCD
2 10 (1.10%) SAP BRIM
3 8 (0.88%) SAP FI
3 8 (0.88%) SAP Hybris
4 7 (0.77%) SAP FI-CA
5 6 (0.66%) Remedy ITSM
6 5 (0.55%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.55%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.55%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.55%) SAP S/4HANA
7 4 (0.44%) BambooHR
8 3 (0.33%) Remedy AR System
8 3 (0.33%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
9 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
9 1 (0.11%) SAP IBP
9 1 (0.11%) SAP IS-U
9 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 97 (10.65%) Azure
2 92 (10.10%) AWS
3 66 (7.24%) GCP
4 21 (2.31%) Microsoft 365
5 16 (1.76%) Entra ID
5 16 (1.76%) GitHub
5 16 (1.76%) Power Platform
6 14 (1.54%) SaaS
7 11 (1.21%) Azure DevOps
7 11 (1.21%) dbt
8 10 (1.10%) Cloud Computing
8 10 (1.10%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 10 (1.10%) Snowflake
9 9 (0.99%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.77%) OneDrive
11 6 (0.66%) Cloud Functions
11 6 (0.66%) Datadog
12 5 (0.55%) Figma
12 5 (0.55%) OpenShift
12 5 (0.55%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 119 (13.06%) WAN
2 92 (10.10%) LAN
3 90 (9.88%) 5G
4 85 (9.33%) MPLS
5 64 (7.03%) 4G
6 60 (6.59%) Radio Access Network
7 56 (6.15%) Firewall
8 36 (3.95%) SD-WAN
9 34 (3.73%) DNS
10 32 (3.51%) Wi-Fi
11 30 (3.29%) BGP
12 29 (3.18%) SDH
13 28 (3.07%) Network Security
14 26 (2.85%) LTE
15 25 (2.74%) 3GPP
15 25 (2.74%) TCP/IP
16 24 (2.63%) VoIP
16 24 (2.63%) VPN
17 23 (2.52%) 3G
18 21 (2.31%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (1.98%) Data Warehouse
2 16 (1.76%) BigQuery
3 15 (1.65%) Power BI
4 13 (1.43%) NoSQL
5 11 (1.21%) Amazon Redshift
5 11 (1.21%) Tableau
6 10 (1.10%) GIS
6 10 (1.10%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (0.88%) Big Data
7 8 (0.88%) Looker
8 7 (0.77%) MongoDB
8 7 (0.77%) MySQL
9 6 (0.66%) Redis
10 5 (0.55%) Metadata
11 4 (0.44%) Apache Cassandra
11 4 (0.44%) SQL Server
12 3 (0.33%) BusinessObjects
12 3 (0.33%) SAP BW
12 3 (0.33%) SAP Data Services
12 3 (0.33%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 33 (3.62%) JIRA
2 27 (2.96%) Git
3 14 (1.54%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.88%) GitLab
5 7 (0.77%) Selenium
6 2 (0.22%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.11%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.11%) TestRail
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 263 (28.87%) Social Skills
2 140 (15.37%) Finance
3 123 (13.50%) Analytical Skills
4 61 (6.70%) Public Sector
5 36 (3.95%) Billing
6 34 (3.73%) Documentation Skills
7 30 (3.29%) Retail
8 27 (2.96%) Organisational Skills
9 25 (2.74%) Legal
10 19 (2.09%) Marketing
11 18 (1.98%) Influencing Skills
12 16 (1.76%) Presentation Skills
13 15 (1.65%) Aerospace
14 14 (1.54%) Manufacturing
15 11 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 10 (1.10%) Publishing
17 8 (0.88%) Police
18 7 (0.77%) Banking
19 5 (0.55%) Electronics
20 4 (0.44%) Games
Job Titles
1 138 (15.15%) Architect
2 80 (8.78%) Senior
3 68 (7.46%) Consultant
4 66 (7.24%) Lead
4 66 (7.24%) Network Engineer
5 64 (7.03%) Analyst
6 62 (6.81%) Project Manager
7 54 (5.93%) Field Engineer
8 52 (5.71%) Telecoms Engineer
9 43 (4.72%) Solutions Architect
10 38 (4.17%) Designer
11 35 (3.84%) Developer
12 33 (3.62%) Telecoms Manager
13 29 (3.18%) ServiceNow Architect
14 28 (3.07%) Enterprise Architect
15 25 (2.74%) Data Engineer
16 22 (2.41%) Telecoms Architect
17 21 (2.31%) Field Telecoms Engineer
17 21 (2.31%) Network Field Engineer
18 20 (2.20%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (6.15%) REST
2 34 (3.73%) SOAP
3 21 (2.31%) Terraform
4 18 (1.98%) Kafka
5 15 (1.65%) Elastic Stack
5 15 (1.65%) RESTful
6 14 (1.54%) NETCONF
6 14 (1.54%) YANG
7 13 (1.43%) HTML
7 13 (1.43%) Middleware
7 13 (1.43%) ONVIF
8 12 (1.32%) CSS
8 12 (1.32%) XML
9 10 (1.10%) AngularJS
9 10 (1.10%) React
10 9 (0.99%) FastAPI
11 8 (0.88%) JSON
11 8 (0.88%) OpenAPI
11 8 (0.88%) Swagger
12 7 (0.77%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 54 (5.93%) Data Centre
2 50 (5.49%) CMDB
3 45 (4.94%) Driving Licence
3 45 (4.94%) Onboarding
4 37 (4.06%) Cloud Native
5 23 (2.52%) Analytical Mindset
6 20 (2.20%) Product Ownership
7 19 (2.09%) Virtual Team
8 18 (1.98%) Management Information System
9 17 (1.87%) Data Protection Act
9 17 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
10 16 (1.76%) Hybrid Cloud
11 13 (1.43%) TM Forum
11 13 (1.43%) Video\Live Streaming
12 11 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
13 10 (1.10%) Data Structures
14 9 (0.99%) Algorithms
14 9 (0.99%) Enterprise Software
14 9 (0.99%) Private Cloud
14 9 (0.99%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 51 (5.60%) Windows
2 44 (4.83%) Linux
3 14 (1.54%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.21%) Unix
4 11 (1.21%) Windows Server
5 9 (0.99%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.33%) Android
6 3 (0.33%) VMS
7 2 (0.22%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.22%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.22%) OpenVMS
7 2 (0.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 191 (20.97%) Stakeholder Management
2 128 (14.05%) Agile
3 119 (13.06%) Problem-Solving
4 92 (10.10%) Project Delivery
5 89 (9.77%) ITIL
6 86 (9.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 78 (8.56%) AI
8 76 (8.34%) Roadmaps
8 76 (8.34%) Service Management
9 75 (8.23%) Project Management
10 73 (8.01%) CI/CD
11 72 (7.90%) Migration
12 70 (7.68%) Continuous Improvement
13 66 (7.24%) Validation
14 64 (7.03%) Decision-Making
15 57 (6.26%) Change Management
15 57 (6.26%) CRM
16 56 (6.15%) Technical Leadership
17 54 (5.93%) ITSM
18 53 (5.82%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 80 (8.78%) Python
2 45 (4.94%) SQL
3 32 (3.51%) JavaScript
4 24 (2.63%) Bash
5 13 (1.43%) Java
6 10 (1.10%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.88%) Apex Code
7 8 (0.88%) C#
8 7 (0.77%) R
9 6 (0.66%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.55%) SOQL
11 4 (0.44%) ABAP
11 4 (0.44%) C++
11 4 (0.44%) DataWeave
11 4 (0.44%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.33%) LookML
13 2 (0.22%) Bicep
13 2 (0.22%) C
13 2 (0.22%) DCL
14 1 (0.11%) Ada
Qualifications
1 169 (18.55%) Security Cleared
2 106 (11.64%) SC Cleared
3 93 (10.21%) Degree
4 69 (7.57%) Cisco Certification
5 47 (5.16%) CCNA
6 28 (3.07%) DV Cleared
7 26 (2.85%) PMP
8 24 (2.63%) CCNP
8 24 (2.63%) Computer Science Degree
8 24 (2.63%) Microsoft Certification
9 22 (2.41%) A+ Certification
10 20 (2.20%) BPSS Clearance
10 20 (2.20%) PMI Certification
11 13 (1.43%) MCSA
12 12 (1.32%) Azure Certification
12 12 (1.32%) CCIE
13 11 (1.21%) CISSP
14 10 (1.10%) AWS Certification
14 10 (1.10%) Master's Degree
15 9 (0.99%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (3.40%) QA
2 30 (3.29%) SLA
3 28 (3.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 23 (2.52%) GDPR
4 23 (2.52%) PMO
5 21 (2.31%) GRC
6 18 (1.98%) NCSC
7 14 (1.54%) Data Quality
8 9 (0.99%) NIST
9 3 (0.33%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.33%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.33%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.22%) EU AI Act
11 1 (0.11%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.11%) SOC 1
System Software
1 28 (3.07%) Docker
2 23 (2.52%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.31%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (0.88%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.55%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.55%) vSphere
6 3 (0.33%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.11%) Ceph
7 1 (0.11%) Firmware
7 1 (0.11%) KVM
7 1 (0.11%) NDS
7 1 (0.11%) NetIQ eDirectory
7 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 51 (5.60%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.41%) Ansible
3 17 (1.87%) Grafana
3 17 (1.87%) Prometheus
4 8 (0.88%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (0.55%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (0.44%) Cilium
6 4 (0.44%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.44%) Istio
7 3 (0.33%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.33%) Kibana
7 3 (0.33%) Podman
7 3 (0.33%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.33%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.33%) vRealize
8 2 (0.22%) Amdocs OSS
8 2 (0.22%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.22%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
Vendors
1 124 (13.61%) Microsoft
2 121 (13.28%) Cisco
3 90 (9.88%) ServiceNow
4 65 (7.14%) Nokia
5 47 (5.16%) Salesforce
6 35 (3.84%) VMware
7 29 (3.18%) Ericsson
8 28 (3.07%) SAP
9 25 (2.74%) Google
10 22 (2.41%) BT
11 21 (2.31%) Juniper
12 19 (2.09%) F5
12 19 (2.09%) MuleSoft
13 17 (1.87%) Fortinet
14 15 (1.65%) Huawei
15 13 (1.43%) Palo Alto
16 12 (1.32%) BMC
17 10 (1.10%) Arista
17 10 (1.10%) Splunk
17 10 (1.10%) Zscaler