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 7 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 160 114 67
Rank change year-on-year -46 -47 +10
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 942 788 1,211
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.72% 2.39% 3.22%
As % of the General category 3.04% 3.77% 5.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 517 481 539
10th Percentile £258 £198 £248
25th Percentile £360 £368 £376
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £455 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.08% -9.00% -
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £669 £675 £701
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +7.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 55 50 78
10th Percentile £13.67 £14.00 £20.43
25th Percentile £15.75 £14.75 £37.50
Median hourly rate £17.72 £23.00 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.96% -65.93% +28.57%
75th Percentile £31.00 £42.37 £72.50
90th Percentile £50.00 £66.48 £80.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.50 £21.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year -16.67% -70.00% +33.33%

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 30,940 20,880 22,031
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 56.35% 63.24% 58.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,992 12,992 13,020
10th Percentile £313 £275 £280
25th Percentile £420 £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 £743 £738 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £486
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.31% -2.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,724 1,232 972
10th Percentile £13.50 £13.51 £14.76
25th Percentile £16.11 £16.17 £17.25
Median hourly rate £27.85 £25.08 £33.52
Median % change year-on-year +11.07% -25.19% +21.89%
75th Percentile £53.75 £45.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £71.48
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.74 £21.39 £32.50
% change year-on-year +29.69% -34.18% +25.00%

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 7 October 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 7 October 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 7 October 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 -60 782 £470 -0.53% 1,666
UK excluding London -54 485 £450 - 987
London -35 351 £500 +5.26% 775
Work from Home -24 273 £478 -4.50% 543
South East -40 195 £469 -4.77% 310
East of England +29 83 £325 -35.64% 129
Scotland +18 63 £300 -4.00% 91
North of England -61 59 £475 +72.73% 178
South West -73 45 £503 -8.64% 83
Yorkshire -14 34 £475 +72.73% 55
Midlands -77 33 £478 +25.82% 157
West Midlands -72 31 £506 +33.06% 93
North West -49 23 £500 +70.94% 101
Wales -7 7 £200 +19.40% 21
Northern Ireland +2 6 £290 +75.76% 35
Channel Islands -4 2 £606 -
East Midlands -25 2 £475 +171.43% 64
North East -42 2 £298 +70.00% 25

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 25 (2.65%) Confluence
2 15 (1.59%) OpenStack
2 15 (1.59%) SharePoint
3 9 (0.96%) ArcGIS
4 7 (0.74%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.42%) Anypoint
6 2 (0.21%) Apache
6 2 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.21%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.21%) CMS
7 1 (0.11%) IIS
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
Applications
1 39 (4.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (3.08%) MS Visio
3 26 (2.76%) Microsoft Office
4 14 (1.49%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.53%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.32%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.11%) Adobe Illustrator
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
Business Applications
1 26 (2.76%) SAP PSCD
2 18 (1.91%) SAP BRIM
3 13 (1.38%) SAP Hybris
4 11 (1.17%) SAP FI
5 10 (1.06%) SAP FI-CA
6 9 (0.96%) SAP S/4HANA
7 6 (0.64%) Remedy ITSM
8 5 (0.53%) NetSuite
8 5 (0.53%) Sage X3
8 5 (0.53%) Salesforce CRM
9 4 (0.42%) OpenText VIM for SAP
9 4 (0.42%) SAP MM
10 3 (0.32%) Remedy AR System
10 3 (0.32%) SAP ERP
11 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
11 1 (0.11%) Payment Gateway
11 1 (0.11%) Primavera
11 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
11 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
11 1 (0.11%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 92 (9.77%) Azure
2 87 (9.24%) AWS
3 58 (6.16%) GCP
4 20 (2.12%) GitHub
5 19 (2.02%) Microsoft 365
6 18 (1.91%) Entra ID
7 17 (1.80%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 16 (1.70%) SaaS
9 14 (1.49%) Power Platform
10 13 (1.38%) Azure DevOps
11 10 (1.06%) Cloud Computing
11 10 (1.06%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (0.96%) Microsoft Purview
13 8 (0.85%) OneDrive
14 7 (0.74%) Miro
15 6 (0.64%) Cloud Functions
15 6 (0.64%) dbt
15 6 (0.64%) Snowflake
16 5 (0.53%) Fivetran
16 5 (0.53%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 118 (12.53%) WAN
2 93 (9.87%) 5G
3 91 (9.66%) LAN
4 89 (9.45%) MPLS
5 67 (7.11%) 4G
6 65 (6.90%) Radio Access Network
7 55 (5.84%) Firewall
8 52 (5.52%) Wi-Fi
9 47 (4.99%) Broadband
10 38 (4.03%) VoIP
11 36 (3.82%) SD-WAN
12 32 (3.40%) BGP
12 32 (3.40%) SDH
13 30 (3.18%) DNS
13 30 (3.18%) Network Security
14 28 (2.97%) 3GPP
14 28 (2.97%) TCP/IP
14 28 (2.97%) Wireshark
15 24 (2.55%) LTE
16 23 (2.44%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.38%) NoSQL
2 12 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
2 12 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.17%) Power BI
4 10 (1.06%) GIS
5 9 (0.96%) BigQuery
5 9 (0.96%) Metadata
6 8 (0.85%) MongoDB
6 8 (0.85%) MySQL
7 7 (0.74%) Redis
7 7 (0.74%) Tableau
8 5 (0.53%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (0.42%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.32%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.32%) Big Data
10 3 (0.32%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.32%) Cloud Spanner
10 3 (0.32%) Hazelcast
10 3 (0.32%) SAP BW
10 3 (0.32%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 52 (5.52%) JIRA
2 42 (4.46%) Git
3 25 (2.65%) GitLab
4 17 (1.80%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.85%) Selenium
6 5 (0.53%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.32%) JMeter
7 3 (0.32%) Locust
7 3 (0.32%) TestCafe
8 2 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.11%) JUnit
9 1 (0.11%) Maven
9 1 (0.11%) Mockito
9 1 (0.11%) Newman
9 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.11%) TestRail
9 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 259 (27.49%) Social Skills
2 146 (15.50%) Finance
3 113 (12.00%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (6.69%) Public Sector
5 40 (4.25%) Billing
6 34 (3.61%) Documentation Skills
7 33 (3.50%) Organisational Skills
8 28 (2.97%) Retail
9 22 (2.34%) Manufacturing
10 21 (2.23%) Influencing Skills
10 21 (2.23%) Legal
11 16 (1.70%) Aerospace
11 16 (1.70%) Marketing
12 14 (1.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 13 (1.38%) Banking
13 13 (1.38%) Presentation Skills
14 9 (0.96%) Publishing
15 7 (0.74%) Police
16 6 (0.64%) Aviation
17 5 (0.53%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 144 (15.29%) Architect
2 74 (7.86%) Lead
2 74 (7.86%) Senior
3 70 (7.43%) Consultant
4 69 (7.32%) Network Engineer
5 62 (6.58%) Analyst
6 57 (6.05%) Field Engineer
7 56 (5.94%) Project Manager
8 54 (5.73%) Telecoms Engineer
9 39 (4.14%) Developer
9 39 (4.14%) Solutions Architect
10 33 (3.50%) Designer
11 28 (2.97%) Business Analyst
11 28 (2.97%) ServiceNow Architect
12 26 (2.76%) Enterprise Architect
12 26 (2.76%) SAP Consultant
13 25 (2.65%) Telecoms Manager
14 22 (2.34%) Field Telecoms Engineer
14 22 (2.34%) Telecoms Architect
14 22 (2.34%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (5.63%) REST
2 31 (3.29%) SOAP
3 21 (2.23%) Terraform
4 18 (1.91%) Kafka
5 17 (1.80%) RESTful
6 16 (1.70%) NETCONF
6 16 (1.70%) YANG
7 14 (1.49%) HTML
8 13 (1.38%) CSS
8 13 (1.38%) Elastic Stack
8 13 (1.38%) ONVIF
9 12 (1.27%) JSON
9 12 (1.27%) XML
10 10 (1.06%) AngularJS
10 10 (1.06%) FastAPI
10 10 (1.06%) React
11 9 (0.96%) Middleware
12 8 (0.85%) OpenAPI
12 8 (0.85%) Swagger
13 7 (0.74%) 802.1X
Miscellaneous
1 55 (5.84%) Data Centre
2 46 (4.88%) Driving Licence
3 44 (4.67%) CMDB
4 40 (4.25%) Onboarding
5 33 (3.50%) Cloud Native
6 21 (2.23%) Management Information System
7 20 (2.12%) Product Ownership
8 18 (1.91%) Analytical Mindset
9 17 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
10 15 (1.59%) Video\Live Streaming
11 13 (1.38%) Enterprise Software
12 12 (1.27%) Data Structures
12 12 (1.27%) Fibre Optics
12 12 (1.27%) Hybrid Cloud
12 12 (1.27%) TM Forum
13 11 (1.17%) AI Agents
13 11 (1.17%) Legacy Systems
13 11 (1.17%) Social Media
14 10 (1.06%) Operational Technology
14 10 (1.06%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 56 (5.94%) Linux
1 56 (5.94%) Windows
2 13 (1.38%) Windows Server
3 11 (1.17%) Unix
3 11 (1.17%) Windows 10
4 9 (0.96%) Mac OS
5 8 (0.85%) VMS
6 4 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.32%) Android
7 3 (0.32%) CentOS
8 2 (0.21%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.21%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.21%) OpenVMS
9 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
9 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 213 (22.61%) Stakeholder Management
2 125 (13.27%) Agile
3 123 (13.06%) Problem-Solving
4 93 (9.87%) AI
5 87 (9.24%) ITIL
6 82 (8.70%) Project Delivery
7 77 (8.17%) Migration
7 77 (8.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 75 (7.96%) Continuous Improvement
9 73 (7.75%) CI/CD
10 72 (7.64%) Validation
11 70 (7.43%) Service Management
12 69 (7.32%) Roadmaps
13 68 (7.22%) Project Management
14 62 (6.58%) Test Automation
15 57 (6.05%) Change Management
16 53 (5.63%) DevOps
17 51 (5.41%) Technical Leadership
18 50 (5.31%) Decision-Making
18 50 (5.31%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 86 (9.13%) Python
2 37 (3.93%) SQL
3 31 (3.29%) JavaScript
4 27 (2.87%) Bash
5 23 (2.44%) Java
6 10 (1.06%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.85%) Shell Script
8 6 (0.64%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.64%) C#
9 5 (0.53%) SOQL
10 4 (0.42%) ABAP
10 4 (0.42%) DataWeave
10 4 (0.42%) R
10 4 (0.42%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.32%) C
11 3 (0.32%) C++
12 2 (0.21%) Bicep
12 2 (0.21%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) LookML
13 1 (0.11%) Rust
Qualifications
1 164 (17.41%) Security Cleared
2 101 (10.72%) SC Cleared
3 91 (9.66%) Degree
4 75 (7.96%) Cisco Certification
5 48 (5.10%) CCNA
6 29 (3.08%) BPSS Clearance
6 29 (3.08%) CCNP
7 28 (2.97%) DV Cleared
8 21 (2.23%) Microsoft Certification
9 19 (2.02%) A+ Certification
9 19 (2.02%) PMP
10 17 (1.80%) CCIE
10 17 (1.80%) PMI Certification
11 16 (1.70%) CISSP
12 15 (1.59%) Computer Science Degree
13 13 (1.38%) Master's Degree
13 13 (1.38%) MCSA
14 12 (1.27%) JNCIE
15 9 (0.96%) CISM
16 7 (0.74%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (5.10%) QA
2 23 (2.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (2.34%) SLA
4 20 (2.12%) GRC
4 20 (2.12%) PMO
5 17 (1.80%) NCSC
6 15 (1.59%) GDPR
7 12 (1.27%) Data Quality
8 6 (0.64%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.53%) NIST
9 5 (0.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.32%) Accessibility
10 3 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.32%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.11%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.11%) GAAP
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 22301
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 15288
System Software
1 36 (3.82%) Docker
2 23 (2.44%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.23%) Active Directory
4 11 (1.17%) VMware NSX
5 7 (0.74%) Firmware
6 5 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
7 4 (0.42%) vSphere
8 2 (0.21%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.11%) Ceph
9 1 (0.11%) KVM
9 1 (0.11%) NDS
9 1 (0.11%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 47 (4.99%) Kubernetes
2 23 (2.44%) Ansible
3 14 (1.49%) Grafana
3 14 (1.49%) Prometheus
4 8 (0.85%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
5 5 (0.53%) Kibana
6 4 (0.42%) Cilium
6 4 (0.42%) Cisco Prime
6 4 (0.42%) Istio
6 4 (0.42%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.32%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.32%) Podman
7 3 (0.32%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.32%) vRealize
8 2 (0.21%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.21%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) Amdocs OSS
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
9 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 125 (13.27%) Cisco
2 123 (13.06%) Microsoft
3 78 (8.28%) ServiceNow
4 63 (6.69%) Nokia
5 44 (4.67%) Salesforce
6 38 (4.03%) SAP
7 37 (3.93%) VMware
8 27 (2.87%) Ericsson
9 21 (2.23%) Juniper
10 18 (1.91%) BT
10 18 (1.91%) Fortinet
10 18 (1.91%) Google
10 18 (1.91%) MuleSoft
11 15 (1.59%) F5
12 14 (1.49%) Palo Alto
13 12 (1.27%) BMC
14 11 (1.17%) Arista
14 11 (1.17%) Splunk
14 11 (1.17%) Zscaler
15 10 (1.06%) Oracle