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 21 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 146 68 63
Rank change year-on-year -78 -5 +17
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 786 1,006 1,386
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.92% 3.27% 3.10%
As % of the General category 3.28% 5.27% 5.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 499 486 804
10th Percentile £170 £282 £200
25th Percentile £315 £386 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £507 £463
Median % change year-on-year -11.20% +9.57% -2.63%
75th Percentile £550 £604 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £503 £450
% change year-on-year -10.45% +11.67% +3.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 26 42
10th Percentile £17.33 £18.20 £12.79
25th Percentile £20.50 £21.56 £22.69
Median hourly rate £23.83 £26.92 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.49% -51.06% +10.00%
75th Percentile £24.50 £59.38 £73.94
90th Percentile £45.10 £68.62 £94.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.75 £23.59 £60.00
% change year-on-year +0.68% -60.68% +43.71%

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 23,969 19,082 26,240
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 58.52% 62.09% 58.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,975 11,615 16,888
10th Percentile £300 £284 £265
25th Percentile £404 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £645 £650
90th Percentile £735 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £476 £500
% change year-on-year -0.21% -4.80% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,474 618 1,680
10th Percentile £13.70 £15.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £16.39 £20.27 £15.17
Median hourly rate £23.00 £29.90 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -23.08% +15.00% -5.80%
75th Percentile £51.53 £57.59 £52.50
90th Percentile £73.46 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.13 £25.00
% change year-on-year -18.89% +8.50% -

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 21 February 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 21 February 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 21 February 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 -84 694 £467 -8.43% 462
UK excluding London -72 450 £450 -10.45% 421
London -41 274 £460 -11.49% 105
Work from Home -58 183 £475 -7.32% 152
South East -43 160 £470 -6.10% 139
Midlands -41 79 £500 -2.44% 52
North of England -48 75 £375 -22.08% 87
South West -41 62 £525 -7.08% 48
West Midlands -52 55 £550 +7.32% 30
East of England -26 37 £513 - 65
North West -32 35 £310 -37.06% 50
Scotland +22 26 £330 -40.00% 25
East Midlands -10 24 £158 -60.63% 22
North East -8 23 £175 -51.72% 13
Yorkshire -61 16 £447 -10.63% 27
Northern Ireland +2 9 £150 - 5
Wales +1 9 £160 -56.16% 12

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 (1.65%) Confluence
2 11 (1.40%) Appian
2 11 (1.40%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (1.02%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.51%) Apache
5 4 (0.51%) IIS
5 4 (0.51%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.38%) JBoss
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.38%) Tomcat
6 3 (0.38%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.25%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.25%) CMS
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle Spatial
8 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.13%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 55 (7.00%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (3.18%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.65%) Microsoft Project
4 12 (1.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.89%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.51%) Autodesk Inventor
7 3 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
8 2 (0.25%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.25%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.13%) FrameMaker
9 1 (0.13%) MadCap Flare
9 1 (0.13%) MicroStation
9 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 18 (2.29%) SAP BRIM
1 18 (2.29%) SAP Hybris
1 18 (2.29%) SAP PSCD
2 10 (1.27%) Remedy ITSM
3 6 (0.76%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 3 (0.38%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.38%) Primavera
5 2 (0.25%) SAP CO
5 2 (0.25%) SAP FI
5 2 (0.25%) SAP FI/CO
5 2 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
6 1 (0.13%) Remedy AR System
6 1 (0.13%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 65 (8.27%) Azure
2 52 (6.62%) Microsoft 365
3 47 (5.98%) AWS
4 31 (3.94%) GCP
5 18 (2.29%) SAP Commerce Cloud
6 15 (1.91%) Power Platform
7 13 (1.65%) SaaS
8 10 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
9 9 (1.15%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (1.15%) GitHub
10 7 (0.89%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (0.64%) Tricentis Tosca
12 4 (0.51%) Entra ID
12 4 (0.51%) Miro
13 3 (0.38%) IaaS
13 3 (0.38%) Salesforce Service Cloud
13 3 (0.38%) Slack
13 3 (0.38%) Smartsheet
14 2 (0.25%) BlazeMeter
14 2 (0.25%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 48 (6.11%) Firewall
2 47 (5.98%) WAN
3 40 (5.09%) LAN
4 39 (4.96%) Wireless
5 34 (4.33%) MPLS
6 29 (3.69%) 5G
7 26 (3.31%) Network Security
7 26 (3.31%) VPN
8 23 (2.93%) 4G
8 23 (2.93%) Radio Access Network
8 23 (2.93%) SD-WAN
9 20 (2.54%) BGP
9 20 (2.54%) DNS
9 20 (2.54%) VoIP
10 19 (2.42%) Broadband
10 19 (2.42%) LTE
11 16 (2.04%) SDH
11 16 (2.04%) VLAN
12 15 (1.91%) 3GPP
13 14 (1.78%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.78%) Power BI
2 10 (1.27%) MySQL
3 7 (0.89%) Oracle Database
4 6 (0.76%) GIS
4 6 (0.76%) Relational Database
4 6 (0.76%) SQL Server
4 6 (0.76%) Tableau
5 5 (0.64%) Data Warehouse
5 5 (0.64%) Looker
6 4 (0.51%) Big Data
7 3 (0.38%) Electronic Patient Records
7 3 (0.38%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.38%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.25%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.25%) Data Lake
8 2 (0.25%) Metadata
9 1 (0.13%) Apache Hudi
9 1 (0.13%) Apache Iceberg
9 1 (0.13%) Geospatial Data
9 1 (0.13%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 29 (3.69%) JIRA
2 14 (1.78%) GitLab
3 8 (1.02%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.76%) Git
4 6 (0.76%) Selenium
5 5 (0.64%) Cucumber
5 5 (0.64%) Robot Framework
5 5 (0.64%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.51%) JUnit
7 3 (0.38%) Storybook
8 2 (0.25%) Appium
8 2 (0.25%) CircleCI
8 2 (0.25%) Cypress.io
8 2 (0.25%) JMeter
8 2 (0.25%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.13%) Maven
9 1 (0.13%) Mockito
9 1 (0.13%) Rational Rhapsody
9 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.13%) TestRail
General
1 252 (32.06%) Finance
2 243 (30.92%) Social Skills
3 222 (28.24%) Public Sector
4 176 (22.39%) Marketing
5 163 (20.74%) Electronics
6 158 (20.10%) Manufacturing
7 84 (10.69%) Analytical Skills
8 36 (4.58%) Billing
9 23 (2.93%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (2.54%) Documentation Skills
11 12 (1.53%) Retail
12 11 (1.40%) Banking
12 11 (1.40%) Legal
13 8 (1.02%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (0.89%) Military
15 6 (0.76%) Law
16 5 (0.64%) Presentation Skills
17 4 (0.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 2 (0.25%) Aviation
18 2 (0.25%) Health Technology
Job Titles
1 82 (10.43%) Analyst
2 78 (9.92%) Architect
3 48 (6.11%) Business Analyst
4 45 (5.73%) Lead
5 42 (5.34%) IT Support
6 41 (5.22%) Consultant
7 40 (5.09%) Project Manager
8 39 (4.96%) Senior
9 37 (4.71%) Network Engineer
10 36 (4.58%) Desktop Support
11 26 (3.31%) 2nd Line Support
11 26 (3.31%) Developer
12 25 (3.18%) 2nd Line Desktop Support
12 25 (3.18%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
12 25 (3.18%) Solutions Architect
13 20 (2.54%) Coordinator
13 20 (2.54%) Migration Engineer
13 20 (2.54%) Support Engineer
13 20 (2.54%) Telecoms Manager
14 19 (2.42%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.31%) REST
2 22 (2.80%) SOAP
3 9 (1.15%) .NET
4 8 (1.02%) Web Services
4 8 (1.02%) XML
5 7 (0.89%) React
6 6 (0.76%) JSON
6 6 (0.76%) Kafka
6 6 (0.76%) RESTful
7 5 (0.64%) 802.1X
7 5 (0.64%) Elastic Stack
7 5 (0.64%) Jinja
7 5 (0.64%) NETCONF
7 5 (0.64%) RFC 2544
7 5 (0.64%) SailPoint
8 4 (0.51%) HTML
8 4 (0.51%) Node.js
8 4 (0.51%) Spring
8 4 (0.51%) Spring Boot
8 4 (0.51%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 52 (6.62%) Data Centre
2 31 (3.94%) Driving Licence
3 30 (3.82%) Data Protection Act
4 26 (3.31%) Product Ownership
5 20 (2.54%) Onboarding
6 18 (2.29%) CMDB
7 17 (2.16%) NHS
8 15 (1.91%) IoT
9 14 (1.78%) Cloud Native
9 14 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
10 12 (1.53%) Mobile App
11 11 (1.40%) Fibre Optics
12 8 (1.02%) Virtual Team
13 7 (0.89%) Analytical Mindset
13 7 (0.89%) Enterprise Cloud
13 7 (0.89%) Management Information System
13 7 (0.89%) SCADA
13 7 (0.89%) Self-Motivation
14 6 (0.76%) Algorithms
14 6 (0.76%) TM Forum
Operating Systems
1 40 (5.09%) Windows
2 38 (4.83%) Android
3 31 (3.94%) Mac OS
4 18 (2.29%) Linux
4 18 (2.29%) Windows 10
5 7 (0.89%) Unix
6 6 (0.76%) Apple iOS
6 6 (0.76%) Windows Server
7 4 (0.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.38%) Debian
8 3 (0.38%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.38%) VMS
9 1 (0.13%) CentOS
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (21.25%) Business Intelligence
2 163 (20.74%) Programme Management
3 158 (20.10%) Digital Marketing
4 119 (15.14%) Stakeholder Management
5 117 (14.89%) Agile
6 113 (14.38%) Problem-Solving
7 90 (11.45%) Migration
8 78 (9.92%) Continuous Improvement
9 68 (8.65%) ITIL
10 65 (8.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 57 (7.25%) Logistics
12 55 (7.00%) Customer Service
13 53 (6.74%) Workflow
14 47 (5.98%) Project Management
15 41 (5.22%) Change Management
16 40 (5.09%) DevOps
17 39 (4.96%) CI/CD
18 38 (4.83%) Roadmaps
19 37 (4.71%) AI
19 37 (4.71%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 53 (6.74%) Python
2 34 (4.33%) SQL
3 32 (4.07%) JavaScript
4 18 (2.29%) Java
5 11 (1.40%) Bash
5 11 (1.40%) TypeScript
6 10 (1.27%) PowerShell
7 5 (0.64%) C#
7 5 (0.64%) Go
8 4 (0.51%) C++
8 4 (0.51%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.38%) C
9 3 (0.38%) PHP
9 3 (0.38%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.38%) R
10 2 (0.25%) BeanShell
11 1 (0.13%) Bicep
11 1 (0.13%) Cypher
11 1 (0.13%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.13%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 191 (24.30%) Security Cleared
2 159 (20.23%) SC Cleared
3 58 (7.38%) Degree
4 24 (3.05%) DV Cleared
5 19 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
5 19 (2.42%) Cisco Certification
6 14 (1.78%) CCNP
7 11 (1.40%) PMP
8 10 (1.27%) ACCA
8 10 (1.27%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.02%) CCIE
9 8 (1.02%) ITIL Certification
9 8 (1.02%) PMI Certification
10 7 (0.89%) CCNA
10 7 (0.89%) CIMA
10 7 (0.89%) Microsoft Certification
11 6 (0.76%) ISTQB
12 5 (0.64%) Azure Certification
12 5 (0.64%) JNCIP
13 4 (0.51%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (4.07%) QA
2 31 (3.94%) SLA
3 20 (2.54%) PMO
4 18 (2.29%) GDPR
5 15 (1.91%) Data Quality
6 11 (1.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.15%) GRC
7 9 (1.15%) NCSC
8 7 (0.89%) Accessibility
8 7 (0.89%) NIST
8 7 (0.89%) RMADS
9 5 (0.64%) JSP 440
10 4 (0.51%) IFRS
10 4 (0.51%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.38%) GAAP
12 2 (0.25%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.25%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.25%) WCAG
13 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.13%) IFRS 9
System Software
1 21 (2.67%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.53%) Docker
3 3 (0.38%) QEMU
3 3 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.25%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.25%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.13%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 19 (2.42%) Ansible
1 19 (2.42%) Kubernetes
2 9 (1.15%) Terraform
3 6 (0.76%) SCCM
4 5 (0.64%) Grafana
4 5 (0.64%) Iperf
4 5 (0.64%) Microsoft Intune
5 4 (0.51%) Argo
5 4 (0.51%) Nmap
6 3 (0.38%) Cisco Prime
6 3 (0.38%) Podman
7 2 (0.25%) EMC NetWorker
7 2 (0.25%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.25%) vRealize
8 1 (0.13%) Amdocs OSS
8 1 (0.13%) Consul
8 1 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.13%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.13%) Rancher
8 1 (0.13%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 185 (23.54%) SAP
2 115 (14.63%) Cisco
3 95 (12.09%) Microsoft
4 44 (5.60%) ServiceNow
5 31 (3.94%) Nokia
6 28 (3.56%) Juniper
7 25 (3.18%) HP
7 25 (3.18%) Oracle
8 24 (3.05%) Dell
9 23 (2.93%) Apple
9 23 (2.93%) Fortinet
10 16 (2.04%) CheckPoint
10 16 (2.04%) Remedy
10 16 (2.04%) Salesforce
11 15 (1.91%) Ericsson
12 14 (1.78%) F5
13 13 (1.65%) Palo Alto
14 11 (1.40%) Meraki
15 9 (1.15%) BT
15 9 (1.15%) Google