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

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 168 114 68
Rank change year-on-year -54 -46 +7
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 911 801 1,219
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.68% 2.45% 3.18%
As % of the General category 3.01% 3.86% 5.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 512 470 555
10th Percentile £225 £250 £239
25th Percentile £376 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £453 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.87% -9.50% -
75th Percentile £550 £572 £600
90th Percentile £669 £675 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +8.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 47 89
10th Percentile £14.04 £14.00 £12.75
25th Percentile £16.01 £14.75 £35.00
Median hourly rate £21.00 £21.25 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.18% -63.04% +9.52%
75th Percentile £50.00 £49.38 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.15 £77.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.72 £16.88 £66.25
% change year-on-year +5.01% -74.53% +26.19%

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 30,275 20,755 22,289
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.71% 63.55% 58.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,736 12,845 13,341
10th Percentile £313 £275 £283
25th Percentile £419 £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 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £498
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.52% -0.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,554 1,207 1,089
10th Percentile £13.50 £13.50 £14.70
25th Percentile £16.25 £16.17 £17.00
Median hourly rate £29.60 £25.15 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +17.69% -28.14% +27.27%
75th Percentile £54.36 £47.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.25 £70.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £21.10 £35.00
% change year-on-year +42.18% -39.71% +27.27%

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 September 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 September 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 21 September 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 -70 755 £475 +2.15% 1,833
UK excluding London -59 462 £450 - 1,007
London -39 346 £500 +5.26% 919
Work from Home -20 268 £475 -5.00% 726
South East -44 194 £470 -2.84% 333
Scotland +9 62 £300 +20.00% 91
East of England +7 59 £325 -18.75% 136
North of England -56 58 £463 +43.97% 195
South West -66 49 £488 -7.05% 96
Yorkshire -21 32 £475 +95.88% 64
Midlands -69 32 £475 +25.00% 127
West Midlands -68 30 £476 +25.16% 71
North West -56 25 £463 +25.85% 116
Wales -7 8 £200 +19.40% 14
Northern Ireland +2 6 £358 +155.36% 33
Channel Islands -4 2 £606 -
East Midlands -15 2 £475 +26.67% 56
North East -40 1 - - 23

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 22 (2.41%) Confluence
2 16 (1.76%) OpenStack
3 14 (1.54%) SharePoint
4 9 (0.99%) ArcGIS
5 8 (0.88%) Microsoft Exchange
6 4 (0.44%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.22%) CMS
9 1 (0.11%) Camunda
9 1 (0.11%) IIS
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
Applications
1 37 (4.06%) Microsoft Excel
2 28 (3.07%) Microsoft Office
3 25 (2.74%) 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%) 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 22 (2.41%) SAP PSCD
2 14 (1.54%) SAP BRIM
3 12 (1.32%) SAP Hybris
4 7 (0.77%) SAP FI
5 6 (0.66%) Remedy ITSM
5 6 (0.66%) SAP FI-CA
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 3 (0.33%) Remedy AR System
7 3 (0.33%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
8 1 (0.11%) Primavera
8 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
8 1 (0.11%) SAP IS-U
8 1 (0.11%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 91 (9.99%) Azure
2 89 (9.77%) AWS
3 61 (6.70%) GCP
4 20 (2.20%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (2.09%) GitHub
6 16 (1.76%) Entra ID
7 14 (1.54%) Power Platform
7 14 (1.54%) SaaS
8 13 (1.43%) SAP Commerce Cloud
9 10 (1.10%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.10%) Cloud Computing
9 10 (1.10%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (0.77%) OneDrive
10 7 (0.77%) Snowflake
11 6 (0.66%) Cloud Functions
11 6 (0.66%) dbt
12 5 (0.55%) Figma
12 5 (0.55%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.55%) OpenShift
13 4 (0.44%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 120 (13.17%) WAN
2 94 (10.32%) 5G
3 92 (10.10%) LAN
4 86 (9.44%) MPLS
5 65 (7.14%) 4G
6 63 (6.92%) Radio Access Network
7 56 (6.15%) Firewall
8 41 (4.50%) Wi-Fi
9 37 (4.06%) SD-WAN
10 35 (3.84%) DNS
11 32 (3.51%) BGP
12 31 (3.40%) Broadband
12 31 (3.40%) VoIP
13 29 (3.18%) 3GPP
14 28 (3.07%) Network Security
14 28 (3.07%) SDH
14 28 (3.07%) TCP/IP
15 27 (2.96%) Wireshark
16 25 (2.74%) LTE
17 24 (2.63%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (1.54%) Data Warehouse
2 13 (1.43%) NoSQL
2 13 (1.43%) Power BI
3 12 (1.32%) BigQuery
4 10 (1.10%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (0.99%) GIS
6 8 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
6 8 (0.88%) Tableau
7 7 (0.77%) MongoDB
7 7 (0.77%) MySQL
7 7 (0.77%) Redis
8 5 (0.55%) Metadata
9 4 (0.44%) Looker
9 4 (0.44%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.33%) Apache Cassandra
10 3 (0.33%) Big Data
10 3 (0.33%) BusinessObjects
10 3 (0.33%) SAP BW
10 3 (0.33%) SAP Data Services
10 3 (0.33%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 44 (4.83%) JIRA
2 36 (3.95%) Git
3 18 (1.98%) GitLab
4 16 (1.76%) Jenkins
5 8 (0.88%) Selenium
6 2 (0.22%) JMeter
6 2 (0.22%) Locust
6 2 (0.22%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.22%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.22%) TestCafe
7 1 (0.11%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.11%) Newman
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
1 262 (28.76%) Social Skills
2 140 (15.37%) Finance
3 117 (12.84%) Analytical Skills
4 60 (6.59%) Public Sector
5 35 (3.84%) Billing
5 35 (3.84%) Documentation Skills
6 30 (3.29%) Organisational Skills
7 28 (3.07%) Retail
8 21 (2.31%) Influencing Skills
9 19 (2.09%) Legal
9 19 (2.09%) Marketing
10 18 (1.98%) Manufacturing
11 15 (1.65%) Aerospace
12 14 (1.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (1.54%) Presentation Skills
13 9 (0.99%) Banking
13 9 (0.99%) Publishing
14 7 (0.77%) Police
15 4 (0.44%) Aviation
15 4 (0.44%) Games
Job Titles
1 131 (14.38%) Architect
2 78 (8.56%) Senior
3 71 (7.79%) Lead
4 69 (7.57%) Network Engineer
5 68 (7.46%) Analyst
6 66 (7.24%) Consultant
7 56 (6.15%) Field Engineer
8 55 (6.04%) Project Manager
9 52 (5.71%) Telecoms Engineer
10 37 (4.06%) Designer
10 37 (4.06%) Developer
11 35 (3.84%) Solutions Architect
12 30 (3.29%) Telecoms Manager
13 28 (3.07%) ServiceNow Architect
14 26 (2.85%) Enterprise Architect
15 25 (2.74%) Business Analyst
16 23 (2.52%) Data Engineer
16 23 (2.52%) SAP Consultant
17 21 (2.31%) Field Telecoms Engineer
17 21 (2.31%) Network Field Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (5.93%) REST
2 32 (3.51%) SOAP
3 20 (2.20%) Terraform
4 18 (1.98%) Kafka
5 16 (1.76%) NETCONF
5 16 (1.76%) YANG
6 15 (1.65%) RESTful
7 14 (1.54%) HTML
8 13 (1.43%) CSS
8 13 (1.43%) Elastic Stack
8 13 (1.43%) ONVIF
9 12 (1.32%) XML
10 10 (1.10%) AngularJS
10 10 (1.10%) FastAPI
10 10 (1.10%) JSON
10 10 (1.10%) React
11 8 (0.88%) Middleware
12 7 (0.77%) Jinja
12 7 (0.77%) Pandas
12 7 (0.77%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 52 (5.71%) Data Centre
2 47 (5.16%) Driving Licence
3 46 (5.05%) Onboarding
4 45 (4.94%) CMDB
5 32 (3.51%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.41%) Analytical Mindset
7 19 (2.09%) Management Information System
7 19 (2.09%) Product Ownership
8 15 (1.65%) Data Protection Act
8 15 (1.65%) Video\Live Streaming
9 14 (1.54%) Hybrid Cloud
9 14 (1.54%) Virtual Team
10 13 (1.43%) Data Structures
10 13 (1.43%) Self-Motivation
11 12 (1.32%) TM Forum
12 10 (1.10%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.10%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.99%) AI Agents
13 9 (0.99%) Algorithms
13 9 (0.99%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 56 (6.15%) Windows
2 51 (5.60%) Linux
3 14 (1.54%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.32%) Windows Server
5 11 (1.21%) Unix
6 9 (0.99%) Mac OS
7 6 (0.66%) VMS
8 3 (0.33%) Android
8 3 (0.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.22%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.22%) CentOS
9 2 (0.22%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.22%) OpenVMS
10 1 (0.11%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.11%) OpenWrt
10 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 205 (22.50%) Stakeholder Management
2 123 (13.50%) Agile
3 119 (13.06%) Problem-Solving
4 88 (9.66%) ITIL
4 88 (9.66%) Project Delivery
5 84 (9.22%) AI
6 79 (8.67%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 75 (8.23%) Migration
8 74 (8.12%) Service Management
9 72 (7.90%) Roadmaps
10 70 (7.68%) CI/CD
10 70 (7.68%) Project Management
10 70 (7.68%) Validation
11 67 (7.35%) Continuous Improvement
12 55 (6.04%) Change Management
13 53 (5.82%) Decision-Making
14 52 (5.71%) Customer Service
14 52 (5.71%) ITSM
14 52 (5.71%) Technical Leadership
14 52 (5.71%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 85 (9.33%) Python
2 39 (4.28%) SQL
3 31 (3.40%) JavaScript
4 26 (2.85%) Bash
5 17 (1.87%) Java
6 10 (1.10%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.88%) Apex Code
8 7 (0.77%) C#
8 7 (0.77%) R
8 7 (0.77%) Shell Script
9 5 (0.55%) SOQL
10 4 (0.44%) ABAP
10 4 (0.44%) C++
10 4 (0.44%) DataWeave
10 4 (0.44%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.33%) C
11 3 (0.33%) LookML
12 2 (0.22%) Bicep
12 2 (0.22%) DCL
13 1 (0.11%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 164 (18.00%) Security Cleared
2 100 (10.98%) SC Cleared
3 92 (10.10%) Degree
4 74 (8.12%) Cisco Certification
5 47 (5.16%) CCNA
6 32 (3.51%) DV Cleared
7 29 (3.18%) CCNP
8 24 (2.63%) Microsoft Certification
9 23 (2.52%) BPSS Clearance
9 23 (2.52%) PMP
10 22 (2.41%) A+ Certification
11 19 (2.09%) Computer Science Degree
12 18 (1.98%) PMI Certification
13 17 (1.87%) CCIE
14 15 (1.65%) CISSP
15 13 (1.43%) Master's Degree
15 13 (1.43%) MCSA
16 11 (1.21%) JNCIE
17 9 (0.99%) CISM
17 9 (0.99%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (4.39%) QA
2 24 (2.63%) SLA
3 23 (2.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 21 (2.31%) GRC
4 21 (2.31%) PMO
5 18 (1.98%) NCSC
6 14 (1.54%) GDPR
7 11 (1.21%) Data Quality
8 4 (0.44%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.44%) NIST
9 3 (0.33%) Accessibility
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%) GAAP
11 1 (0.11%) ISO 31000
11 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.11%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 30 (3.29%) Docker
2 23 (2.52%) Active Directory
2 23 (2.52%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.10%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.55%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (0.55%) vSphere
5 4 (0.44%) Firmware
6 3 (0.33%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.11%) Ceph
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 43 (4.72%) Kubernetes
2 23 (2.52%) Ansible
3 12 (1.32%) Grafana
3 12 (1.32%) 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
6 4 (0.44%) SolarWinds Orion
7 3 (0.33%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.33%) Kibana
7 3 (0.33%) Podman
7 3 (0.33%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.33%) vRealize
8 2 (0.22%) NSN NetAct
8 2 (0.22%) QRadar
9 1 (0.11%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.11%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
Vendors
1 127 (13.94%) Cisco
2 124 (13.61%) Microsoft
3 84 (9.22%) ServiceNow
4 63 (6.92%) Nokia
5 46 (5.05%) Salesforce
6 37 (4.06%) VMware
7 31 (3.40%) SAP
8 26 (2.85%) Ericsson
9 24 (2.63%) Juniper
10 21 (2.31%) Google
11 19 (2.09%) MuleSoft
12 18 (1.98%) BT
12 18 (1.98%) F5
12 18 (1.98%) Fortinet
13 14 (1.54%) Palo Alto
14 12 (1.32%) BMC
15 11 (1.21%) Arista
15 11 (1.21%) Splunk
16 10 (1.10%) Oracle
16 10 (1.10%) Zscaler