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

6 months to
19 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 169 100 71
Rank change year-on-year -69 -29 +7
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 884 846 1,159
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.65% 2.58% 2.98%
As % of the General category 3.00% 4.06% 5.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 499 491 564
10th Percentile £213 £293 £220
25th Percentile £396 £374 £358
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £468 £475
Median % change year-on-year +1.60% -1.58% -3.55%
75th Percentile £558 £575 £623
90th Percentile £670 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £453 £475
% change year-on-year -0.55% -4.74% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 49 105
10th Percentile £15.43 - £12.15
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.00 £16.92
Median hourly rate £21.00 £21.25 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.18% -59.52% -19.23%
75th Percentile £50.00 £52.00 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £67.70 £75.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £51.25
% change year-on-year +35.48% -69.76% -14.58%

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 29,481 20,839 22,293
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.04% 63.50% 57.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,497 12,935 13,967
10th Percentile £313 £275 £292
25th Percentile £415 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £626 £650
90th Percentile £738 £746 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,248 1,152 1,327
10th Percentile £13.98 £13.25 £14.06
25th Percentile £17.25 £16.25 £16.86
Median hourly rate £31.50 £25.15 £38.07
Median % change year-on-year +25.25% -33.94% +38.44%
75th Percentile £56.30 £50.75 £58.75
90th Percentile £79.13 £71.48 £70.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.00 £22.14 £38.12
% change year-on-year +44.53% -41.92% +52.48%

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 19 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 19 August 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 19 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 -75 732 £475 -1.14% 936
UK excluding London -78 437 £450 -0.55% 657
London -24 341 £513 +7.89% 420
Work from Home -30 264 £475 -1.04% 389
South East -52 193 £465 -7.00% 214
Scotland +10 58 £300 -7.69% 70
North of England -72 58 £469 -8.54% 142
South West -80 46 £450 -14.29% 58
East of England -11 45 £190 -49.33% 56
Yorkshire -25 32 £475 +22.58% 43
Midlands -62 32 £450 +18.42% 96
West Midlands -72 31 £450 +18.42% 59
North West -64 25 £463 -12.74% 71
Wales -11 8 £200 -6.98% 18
Northern Ireland +2 4 £300 +81.82% 15
East Midlands -18 1 - - 37
North East -38 1 - - 34

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 19 (2.15%) Confluence
2 16 (1.81%) OpenStack
3 13 (1.47%) SharePoint
4 10 (1.13%) ArcGIS
5 8 (0.90%) Microsoft Exchange
6 6 (0.68%) Apache Airflow
7 4 (0.45%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.23%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.23%) CMS
9 1 (0.11%) Camunda
9 1 (0.11%) IIS
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.11%) Smallworld
Applications
1 33 (3.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 28 (3.17%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (2.49%) MS Visio
4 12 (1.36%) Microsoft Project
5 10 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.57%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.34%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.23%) 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 (2.15%) SAP PSCD
2 10 (1.13%) SAP BRIM
3 8 (0.90%) SAP FI
3 8 (0.90%) SAP Hybris
4 7 (0.79%) SAP FI-CA
5 6 (0.68%) Remedy ITSM
6 5 (0.57%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.57%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.57%) Salesforce CRM
6 5 (0.57%) SAP S/4HANA
7 4 (0.45%) BambooHR
8 3 (0.34%) Remedy AR System
8 3 (0.34%) 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 IS-U
9 1 (0.11%) SAP SD
9 1 (0.11%) SAP SRM
Cloud Services
1 95 (10.75%) Azure
2 90 (10.18%) AWS
3 67 (7.58%) GCP
4 21 (2.38%) Microsoft 365
5 20 (2.26%) Power Platform
6 16 (1.81%) Entra ID
6 16 (1.81%) GitHub
7 14 (1.58%) SaaS
8 11 (1.24%) Azure DevOps
8 11 (1.24%) dbt
9 10 (1.13%) Cloud Computing
9 10 (1.13%) SAP Commerce Cloud
9 10 (1.13%) Snowflake
10 9 (1.02%) GitHub Actions
11 6 (0.68%) Cloud Functions
11 6 (0.68%) Datadog
11 6 (0.68%) OneDrive
12 5 (0.57%) Figma
12 5 (0.57%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.57%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 108 (12.22%) WAN
2 87 (9.84%) LAN
3 79 (8.94%) 5G
4 78 (8.82%) MPLS
5 58 (6.56%) 4G
6 52 (5.88%) Firewall
7 51 (5.77%) Radio Access Network
8 33 (3.73%) SD-WAN
9 32 (3.62%) DNS
10 28 (3.17%) BGP
10 28 (3.17%) Wi-Fi
11 26 (2.94%) SDH
12 25 (2.83%) Network Security
13 24 (2.71%) 3G
13 24 (2.71%) LTE
14 23 (2.60%) TCP/IP
14 23 (2.60%) VPN
15 22 (2.49%) VoIP
16 21 (2.38%) 3GPP
16 21 (2.38%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.15%) Power BI
2 18 (2.04%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (1.58%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.36%) Looker
5 11 (1.24%) Amazon Redshift
5 11 (1.24%) NoSQL
5 11 (1.24%) Tableau
6 10 (1.13%) GIS
7 8 (0.90%) Big Data
7 8 (0.90%) PostgreSQL
8 5 (0.57%) Apache Cassandra
8 5 (0.57%) MongoDB
8 5 (0.57%) MySQL
9 4 (0.45%) InfluxDB
9 4 (0.45%) Metadata
9 4 (0.45%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.34%) Redis
10 3 (0.34%) Semantic Layer
10 3 (0.34%) Tableau Desktop
10 3 (0.34%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 34 (3.85%) JIRA
2 23 (2.60%) Git
3 12 (1.36%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.68%) GitLab
5 5 (0.57%) Selenium
6 2 (0.23%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.11%) TestRail
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 246 (27.83%) Social Skills
2 135 (15.27%) Finance
3 114 (12.90%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (6.67%) Public Sector
5 37 (4.19%) Billing
6 31 (3.51%) Documentation Skills
7 30 (3.39%) Retail
8 25 (2.83%) Legal
8 25 (2.83%) Organisational Skills
9 20 (2.26%) Marketing
10 18 (2.04%) Influencing Skills
11 15 (1.70%) Aerospace
12 14 (1.58%) Presentation Skills
13 12 (1.36%) Manufacturing
14 10 (1.13%) Publishing
15 9 (1.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 8 (0.90%) Police
17 5 (0.57%) Electronics
18 4 (0.45%) Games
18 4 (0.45%) Military
Job Titles
1 133 (15.05%) Architect
2 80 (9.05%) Senior
3 69 (7.81%) Lead
4 67 (7.58%) Consultant
5 62 (7.01%) Analyst
6 60 (6.79%) Network Engineer
7 58 (6.56%) Project Manager
8 50 (5.66%) Field Engineer
9 45 (5.09%) Telecoms Engineer
10 44 (4.98%) Solutions Architect
11 39 (4.41%) Designer
12 35 (3.96%) Telecoms Manager
13 32 (3.62%) Developer
14 29 (3.28%) ServiceNow Architect
15 27 (3.05%) Enterprise Architect
16 25 (2.83%) Data Engineer
17 21 (2.38%) Telecoms Architect
18 20 (2.26%) Network Field Engineer
18 20 (2.26%) Platform Engineer
18 20 (2.26%) SAP Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (6.00%) REST
2 33 (3.73%) SOAP
3 17 (1.92%) Kafka
4 13 (1.47%) NETCONF
4 13 (1.47%) ONVIF
4 13 (1.47%) RESTful
4 13 (1.47%) YANG
5 12 (1.36%) Elastic Stack
5 12 (1.36%) Middleware
5 12 (1.36%) XML
6 10 (1.13%) AngularJS
6 10 (1.13%) HTML
6 10 (1.13%) React
7 9 (1.02%) CSS
7 9 (1.02%) OpenAPI
7 9 (1.02%) Swagger
8 8 (0.90%) JSON
9 7 (0.79%) 802.1X
10 6 (0.68%) Redux
10 6 (0.68%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 53 (6.00%) Data Centre
2 50 (5.66%) CMDB
3 43 (4.86%) Onboarding
4 40 (4.52%) Driving Licence
5 35 (3.96%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.49%) Analytical Mindset
7 20 (2.26%) Product Ownership
8 19 (2.15%) Virtual Team
9 18 (2.04%) Data Protection Act
10 17 (1.92%) Management Information System
10 17 (1.92%) Self-Motivation
11 16 (1.81%) Hybrid Cloud
12 13 (1.47%) Video\Live Streaming
13 11 (1.24%) TM Forum
14 10 (1.13%) Data Structures
14 10 (1.13%) Video Conferencing
15 9 (1.02%) Algorithms
15 9 (1.02%) Distributed Systems
15 9 (1.02%) Private Cloud
16 8 (0.90%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 48 (5.43%) Windows
2 38 (4.30%) Linux
3 14 (1.58%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.24%) Unix
4 11 (1.24%) Windows Server
5 8 (0.90%) Mac OS
6 4 (0.45%) Android
7 3 (0.34%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.34%) VMS
8 2 (0.23%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.23%) OpenVMS
8 2 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (19.68%) Stakeholder Management
2 126 (14.25%) Agile
3 112 (12.67%) Problem-Solving
4 90 (10.18%) Project Delivery
5 86 (9.73%) ITIL
6 81 (9.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 73 (8.26%) Roadmaps
8 72 (8.14%) AI
9 70 (7.92%) CI/CD
10 69 (7.81%) Project Management
11 68 (7.69%) Migration
11 68 (7.69%) Service Management
12 66 (7.47%) Continuous Improvement
13 60 (6.79%) Decision-Making
14 59 (6.67%) Validation
15 56 (6.33%) Change Management
16 54 (6.11%) CRM
16 54 (6.11%) Technical Leadership
17 53 (6.00%) Customer Service
18 51 (5.77%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 76 (8.60%) Python
2 43 (4.86%) SQL
3 32 (3.62%) JavaScript
4 19 (2.15%) Bash
5 14 (1.58%) Java
6 10 (1.13%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.90%) Apex Code
7 8 (0.90%) C#
8 7 (0.79%) R
9 5 (0.57%) C++
9 5 (0.57%) SOQL
10 4 (0.45%) ABAP
10 4 (0.45%) DataWeave
10 4 (0.45%) Shell Script
10 4 (0.45%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.34%) LookML
12 2 (0.23%) Bicep
12 2 (0.23%) C
12 2 (0.23%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) Ada
Qualifications
1 159 (17.99%) Security Cleared
2 101 (11.43%) SC Cleared
3 87 (9.84%) Degree
4 61 (6.90%) Cisco Certification
5 42 (4.75%) CCNA
6 24 (2.71%) DV Cleared
6 24 (2.71%) Microsoft Certification
6 24 (2.71%) PMP
7 22 (2.49%) A+ Certification
7 22 (2.49%) Computer Science Degree
8 21 (2.38%) CCNP
9 18 (2.04%) PMI Certification
10 17 (1.92%) BPSS Clearance
11 13 (1.47%) MCSA
12 11 (1.24%) Azure Certification
13 10 (1.13%) CCIE
14 9 (1.02%) AWS Certification
14 9 (1.02%) CISSP
14 9 (1.02%) Network+ Certification
15 8 (0.90%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (3.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 29 (3.28%) SLA
2 27 (3.05%) QA
3 23 (2.60%) GDPR
4 21 (2.38%) GRC
5 20 (2.26%) PMO
6 18 (2.04%) NCSC
7 14 (1.58%) Data Quality
8 9 (1.02%) NIST
9 3 (0.34%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.34%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.34%) PCI DSS
9 3 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.23%) 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 25 (2.83%) Docker
2 23 (2.60%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.38%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (0.90%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.57%) vSphere
6 3 (0.34%) 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 50 (5.66%) Kubernetes
2 21 (2.38%) Terraform
3 20 (2.26%) Ansible
4 16 (1.81%) Grafana
4 16 (1.81%) Prometheus
5 8 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (0.57%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (0.34%) Amdocs OSS
7 3 (0.34%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.34%) Cilium
7 3 (0.34%) Cisco Prime
7 3 (0.34%) Istio
7 3 (0.34%) Kibana
7 3 (0.34%) Podman
7 3 (0.34%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.34%) vRealize
8 2 (0.23%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.23%) QRadar
8 2 (0.23%) SolarWinds Orion
9 1 (0.11%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 121 (13.69%) Microsoft
2 112 (12.67%) Cisco
3 90 (10.18%) ServiceNow
4 58 (6.56%) Nokia
5 46 (5.20%) Salesforce
6 35 (3.96%) VMware
7 29 (3.28%) SAP
8 26 (2.94%) Ericsson
9 25 (2.83%) Google
10 22 (2.49%) BT
10 22 (2.49%) Juniper
11 19 (2.15%) F5
12 18 (2.04%) Fortinet
12 18 (2.04%) MuleSoft
13 16 (1.81%) Huawei
14 12 (1.36%) BMC
14 12 (1.36%) Palo Alto
15 9 (1.02%) Arista
15 9 (1.02%) Oracle
15 9 (1.02%) Zscaler