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

6 months to
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 101 63
Rank change year-on-year -83 -38 +20
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 725 770 1,375
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.44% 2.59% 3.13%
As % of the General category 2.66% 4.07% 5.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 434 442 658
10th Percentile £213 £310 £200
25th Percentile £400 £400 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £484 £453
Median % change year-on-year -0.83% +7.02% -7.18%
75th Percentile £575 £587 £599
90th Percentile £686 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £465 £480 £450
% change year-on-year -3.13% +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 27,294 18,909 25,012
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.15% 63.53% 57.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,471 11,934 15,663
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £401 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £514 £503 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.29% -4.29% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £471 £488
% change year-on-year +6.27% -3.48% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,831 906 2,015
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.48 £12.78
25th Percentile £18.20 £16.73 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.70 £30.50
Median % change year-on-year +15.52% -9.18% -0.07%
75th Percentile £60.80 £53.95 £52.50
90th Percentile £80.09 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.46 £24.34 £29.50
% change year-on-year +29.25% -17.49% +11.36%

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 18 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 18 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 18 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 -83 635 £475 -4.04% 602
UK excluding London -101 363 £465 -3.13% 498
London -10 285 £500 +2.04% 195
Work from Home -41 205 £481 +1.32% 233
South East -62 151 £465 -6.06% 157
North of England -52 74 £496 -5.97% 108
South West -56 47 £505 +6.32% 38
Midlands -50 39 £488 -3.70% 72
North West -45 34 £506 -4.03% 53
West Midlands -50 33 £470 +13.94% 52
East of England -20 31 £198 -47.33% 59
Yorkshire -45 26 £487 -7.31% 42
Scotland -20 21 £305 -6.15% 44
North East -24 14 £500 -11.50% 15
East Midlands -19 6 £500 -20.00% 20
Northern Ireland -4 3 £175 -51.05% 23
Wales -16 1 £500 +90.48% 11

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 (1.24%) Confluence
2 8 (1.10%) OpenStack
3 6 (0.83%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (0.83%) Appian
4 4 (0.55%) Anypoint
4 4 (0.55%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.55%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.55%) SharePoint
5 3 (0.41%) ArcGIS
5 3 (0.41%) IIS
5 3 (0.41%) JBoss
5 3 (0.41%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 3 (0.41%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.41%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.28%) Apache
6 2 (0.28%) Oracle Spatial
7 1 (0.14%) Camunda
7 1 (0.14%) CMS
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.14%) Smallworld
Applications
1 21 (2.90%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.62%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.10%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.69%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.28%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.14%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.14%) Revit
7 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 18 (2.48%) SAP PSCD
2 13 (1.79%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.79%) SAP BRIM
3 12 (1.66%) SAP Hybris
4 6 (0.83%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.55%) BambooHR
5 4 (0.55%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.41%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.41%) Remedy AR System
6 3 (0.41%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.41%) Salesforce CRM
6 3 (0.41%) SAP FI-CA
7 2 (0.28%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SD
8 1 (0.14%) SAP SRM
8 1 (0.14%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 63 (8.69%) Azure
2 60 (8.28%) AWS
3 39 (5.38%) GCP
4 21 (2.90%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.48%) Microsoft 365
6 15 (2.07%) SaaS
7 14 (1.93%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 9 (1.24%) dbt
9 8 (1.10%) Snowflake
10 6 (0.83%) Datadog
10 6 (0.83%) Serverless
11 5 (0.69%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (0.69%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (0.69%) Entra ID
11 5 (0.69%) GitHub
11 5 (0.69%) Prefect
12 4 (0.55%) Boomi
12 4 (0.55%) Dagster
12 4 (0.55%) Figma
12 4 (0.55%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 51 (7.03%) 5G
1 51 (7.03%) WAN
2 50 (6.90%) MPLS
3 39 (5.38%) LAN
4 37 (5.10%) Firewall
5 30 (4.14%) 4G
5 30 (4.14%) Radio Access Network
6 26 (3.59%) SD-WAN
7 25 (3.45%) BGP
8 24 (3.31%) Network Security
9 20 (2.76%) 3GPP
9 20 (2.76%) Internet
9 20 (2.76%) VoIP
10 19 (2.62%) LTE
11 17 (2.34%) OSPF
12 16 (2.21%) VPN
13 15 (2.07%) DNS
13 15 (2.07%) Structured Cabling
14 14 (1.93%) VLAN
15 13 (1.79%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.76%) Power BI
2 14 (1.93%) Data Warehouse
3 12 (1.66%) BigQuery
3 12 (1.66%) Looker
3 12 (1.66%) Tableau
4 10 (1.38%) Amazon Redshift
5 7 (0.97%) Big Data
5 7 (0.97%) Relational Database
6 6 (0.83%) SQL Server
7 5 (0.69%) MySQL
8 4 (0.55%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.41%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.41%) GIS
9 3 (0.41%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.41%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.41%) Semantic Layer
9 3 (0.41%) Star Schema
10 2 (0.28%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.28%) Metadata
10 2 (0.28%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 23 (3.17%) JIRA
2 12 (1.66%) Git
3 3 (0.41%) 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
1 204 (28.14%) Social Skills
2 127 (17.52%) Finance
3 104 (14.34%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (9.52%) Public Sector
5 45 (6.21%) Billing
6 31 (4.28%) Marketing
7 27 (3.72%) Retail
8 21 (2.90%) Documentation Skills
8 21 (2.90%) Electronics
9 19 (2.62%) Legal
10 17 (2.34%) Manufacturing
11 13 (1.79%) Influencing Skills
12 12 (1.66%) Organisational Skills
13 9 (1.24%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (0.83%) Aerospace
14 6 (0.83%) Banking
14 6 (0.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 5 (0.69%) Publishing
16 4 (0.55%) Military
16 4 (0.55%) Police
Job Titles
1 95 (13.10%) Architect
2 59 (8.14%) Lead
2 59 (8.14%) Senior
3 57 (7.86%) Consultant
4 55 (7.59%) Analyst
5 41 (5.66%) Solutions Architect
6 40 (5.52%) Network Engineer
7 39 (5.38%) Telecoms Manager
8 37 (5.10%) Project Manager
9 29 (4.00%) Designer
10 27 (3.72%) Developer
11 25 (3.45%) ServiceNow Architect
12 23 (3.17%) Data Engineer
13 21 (2.90%) Sales Manager
14 20 (2.76%) Business Analyst
14 20 (2.76%) Delivery Manager
15 19 (2.62%) SAP Consultant
16 17 (2.34%) Enterprise Architect
16 17 (2.34%) Programme Manager
16 17 (2.34%) Telecoms Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (5.24%) REST
2 25 (3.45%) SOAP
3 12 (1.66%) Middleware
4 10 (1.38%) Kafka
4 10 (1.38%) ONVIF
5 9 (1.24%) .NET
5 9 (1.24%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.10%) XML
7 6 (0.83%) JSON
7 6 (0.83%) OpenAPI
7 6 (0.83%) Swagger
8 5 (0.69%) RESTful
9 4 (0.55%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.55%) NETCONF
9 4 (0.55%) RAML
9 4 (0.55%) YANG
10 3 (0.41%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.41%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.41%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.41%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 38 (5.24%) Data Centre
2 37 (5.10%) CMDB
3 34 (4.69%) Onboarding
4 26 (3.59%) Cloud Native
5 24 (3.31%) Data Protection Act
6 18 (2.48%) Driving Licence
6 18 (2.48%) Product Ownership
7 17 (2.34%) Virtual Team
8 15 (2.07%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.79%) Distributed Systems
10 10 (1.38%) Video\Live Streaming
11 8 (1.10%) EPoS
11 8 (1.10%) Self-Motivation
12 7 (0.97%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.97%) Management Information System
12 7 (0.97%) NHS
12 7 (0.97%) TM Forum
13 6 (0.83%) Web Conferencing
14 5 (0.69%) Algorithms
14 5 (0.69%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 27 (3.72%) Windows
2 25 (3.45%) Linux
3 12 (1.66%) Windows 10
4 11 (1.52%) Unix
5 4 (0.55%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (0.55%) VMS
6 3 (0.41%) Android
6 3 (0.41%) Debian
6 3 (0.41%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.41%) Ubuntu
6 3 (0.41%) 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
1 118 (16.28%) Stakeholder Management
2 96 (13.24%) Problem-Solving
3 94 (12.97%) Agile
4 72 (9.93%) ITIL
5 65 (8.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 62 (8.55%) Decision-Making
7 61 (8.41%) Continuous Improvement
8 53 (7.31%) Project Delivery
9 51 (7.03%) Migration
10 50 (6.90%) CI/CD
10 50 (6.90%) CRM
10 50 (6.90%) Project Management
11 47 (6.48%) Roadmaps
12 46 (6.34%) Service Management
13 45 (6.21%) Analytics
13 45 (6.21%) Customer Service
13 45 (6.21%) Validation
14 44 (6.07%) ITSM
15 41 (5.66%) Risk Management
16 38 (5.24%) AI
Programming Languages
1 53 (7.31%) Python
2 34 (4.69%) SQL
3 17 (2.34%) Java
4 16 (2.21%) JavaScript
5 10 (1.38%) C#
6 8 (1.10%) C++
7 7 (0.97%) Bash
8 6 (0.83%) R
9 4 (0.55%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.55%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.41%) ABAP
10 3 (0.41%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.41%) C
10 3 (0.41%) LookML
11 2 (0.28%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.28%) PowerShell
11 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) DCL
12 1 (0.14%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.14%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 117 (16.14%) Security Cleared
2 84 (11.59%) SC Cleared
3 68 (9.38%) Degree
4 40 (5.52%) Cisco Certification
5 27 (3.72%) CCNA
6 20 (2.76%) A+ Certification
6 20 (2.76%) DV Cleared
6 20 (2.76%) Microsoft Certification
7 19 (2.62%) CCNP
8 18 (2.48%) Computer Science Degree
9 16 (2.21%) PMP
10 14 (1.93%) BPSS Clearance
11 12 (1.66%) PMI Certification
12 11 (1.52%) Network+ Certification
13 10 (1.38%) MCSA
14 8 (1.10%) Master's Degree
15 7 (0.97%) AWS Certification
15 7 (0.97%) Azure Certification
16 6 (0.83%) CCIE
16 6 (0.83%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (3.03%) SLA
2 19 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 17 (2.34%) GDPR
4 16 (2.21%) NCSC
4 16 (2.21%) PMO
5 15 (2.07%) QA
6 13 (1.79%) Data Quality
7 11 (1.52%) GRC
8 8 (1.10%) NIST
9 5 (0.69%) RMADS
10 3 (0.41%) 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%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.14%) SOC 1
11 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 15 (2.07%) Active Directory
2 13 (1.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.66%) Docker
4 5 (0.69%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.69%) vSphere
5 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.41%) QEMU
5 3 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.14%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 40 (5.52%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.34%) Ansible
2 17 (2.34%) Terraform
3 13 (1.79%) Grafana
3 13 (1.79%) Prometheus
4 3 (0.41%) Cisco Prime
4 3 (0.41%) Iperf
4 3 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
4 3 (0.41%) Podman
4 3 (0.41%) vCenter Server
4 3 (0.41%) vRealize
5 2 (0.28%) Amdocs OSS
5 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
5 2 (0.28%) Nmap
5 2 (0.28%) NSN NetAct
6 1 (0.14%) Failover Clustering
6 1 (0.14%) Kibana
6 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.14%) SCCM
6 1 (0.14%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 78 (10.76%) Microsoft
2 69 (9.52%) ServiceNow
3 63 (8.69%) Cisco
4 38 (5.24%) Nokia
5 37 (5.10%) SAP
6 27 (3.72%) Salesforce
7 23 (3.17%) BT
7 23 (3.17%) Oracle
8 18 (2.48%) Ericsson
8 18 (2.48%) VMware
9 16 (2.21%) Fortinet
9 16 (2.21%) Remedy
10 15 (2.07%) Juniper
11 14 (1.93%) Huawei
12 13 (1.79%) Google
13 12 (1.66%) CheckPoint
14 11 (1.52%) F5
14 11 (1.52%) MuleSoft
15 10 (1.38%) BMC
16 8 (1.10%) Palo Alto