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

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 186 98 64
Rank change year-on-year -88 -34 +18
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 750 798 1,339
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.46% 2.61% 3.10%
As % of the General category 2.68% 4.12% 5.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 440 457 631
10th Percentile £208 £306 £200
25th Percentile £393 £400 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £459
Median % change year-on-year - +3.49% -5.36%
75th Percentile £567 £577 £607
90th Percentile £688 £700 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £460 £465 £450
% change year-on-year -1.08% +3.33% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 37 109
10th Percentile £16.01 - £12.15
25th Percentile £18.28 £14.00 £14.00
Median hourly rate £27.25 £27.40 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.55% -50.18% +4.76%
75th Percentile £50.00 £62.24 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £65.25 £75.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.00 £15.50 £51.78
% change year-on-year +35.48% -70.07% +107.12%

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 27,939 19,359 24,652
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.44% 63.27% 57.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,796 12,166 15,404
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £516 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.27% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £626 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £490
% change year-on-year +6.38% -4.08% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,916 953 1,974
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.47 £12.79
25th Percentile £18.14 £16.41 £15.62
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.50 £31.61
Median % change year-on-year +16.36% -12.99% +5.35%
75th Percentile £60.00 £53.50 £53.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.50 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.53 £23.55 £30.37
% change year-on-year +33.87% -22.46% +20.88%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -88 653 £475 -3.06% 467
UK excluding London -99 386 £460 -1.08% 412
London -39 283 £500 +2.30% 147
Work from Home -45 208 £475 - 157
South East -59 168 £467 -5.66% 129
North of England -56 69 £500 -4.76% 82
South West -51 49 £475 +11.76% 37
Midlands -60 39 £478 +10.87% 67
North West -46 35 £506 -3.57% 45
East of England -16 34 £190 -52.50% 53
West Midlands -58 33 £470 +13.94% 45
Scotland -17 27 £305 -6.15% 40
Yorkshire -40 25 £515 +0.49% 29
North East -26 9 £500 - 11
East Midlands -13 6 £500 -20.00% 22
Northern Ireland -3 3 £175 -51.05% 6
Wales -16 1 £500 +90.48% 14

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 10 (1.33%) OpenStack
2 9 (1.20%) Confluence
3 6 (0.80%) Apache Airflow
3 6 (0.80%) Appian
4 4 (0.53%) Anypoint
4 4 (0.53%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.53%) ArcGIS
4 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.53%) SharePoint
5 3 (0.40%) IIS
5 3 (0.40%) JBoss
5 3 (0.40%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 3 (0.40%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.40%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.27%) Apache
6 2 (0.27%) CMS
6 2 (0.27%) Oracle Spatial
7 1 (0.13%) Camunda
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Smallworld
Applications
1 23 (3.07%) Microsoft Excel
1 23 (3.07%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.73%) MS Visio
3 9 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.67%) AutoCAD
4 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) MicroStation
6 1 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.13%) Revit
6 1 (0.13%) SOLIDWORKS
6 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.67%) SAP PSCD
2 14 (1.87%) Remedy ITSM
3 13 (1.73%) SAP BRIM
4 12 (1.60%) SAP Hybris
5 5 (0.67%) NetSuite
5 5 (0.67%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 5 (0.67%) Sage X3
5 5 (0.67%) SAP FI
6 4 (0.53%) BambooHR
6 4 (0.53%) Remedy AR System
6 4 (0.53%) SAP FI-CA
7 3 (0.40%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.40%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.13%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.13%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.13%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
8 1 (0.13%) SAP SRM
8 1 (0.13%) SmartPlant
Cloud Services
1 68 (9.07%) Azure
2 65 (8.67%) AWS
3 43 (5.73%) GCP
4 19 (2.53%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.40%) Microsoft 365
6 16 (2.13%) SaaS
7 14 (1.87%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 10 (1.33%) Snowflake
9 9 (1.20%) dbt
10 7 (0.93%) Entra ID
10 7 (0.93%) GitHub
10 7 (0.93%) GitHub Actions
11 6 (0.80%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (0.80%) Datadog
11 6 (0.80%) Serverless
12 5 (0.67%) AWS Lambda
12 5 (0.67%) Cloud Functions
12 5 (0.67%) Fivetran
12 5 (0.67%) Prefect
13 4 (0.53%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 68 (9.07%) WAN
2 61 (8.13%) 5G
3 60 (8.00%) MPLS
4 58 (7.73%) LAN
5 42 (5.60%) Firewall
6 41 (5.47%) 4G
7 38 (5.07%) Radio Access Network
8 30 (4.00%) BGP
8 30 (4.00%) SD-WAN
9 23 (3.07%) Network Security
10 20 (2.67%) LTE
10 20 (2.67%) OSPF
10 20 (2.67%) VoIP
10 20 (2.67%) VPN
11 19 (2.53%) 3GPP
11 19 (2.53%) DNS
12 18 (2.40%) 3G
13 17 (2.27%) VLAN
14 15 (2.00%) Internet
14 15 (2.00%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.40%) Power BI
2 16 (2.13%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (1.87%) BigQuery
4 12 (1.60%) Amazon Redshift
4 12 (1.60%) Looker
4 12 (1.60%) Tableau
5 7 (0.93%) Big Data
5 7 (0.93%) Relational Database
6 5 (0.67%) MySQL
7 4 (0.53%) GIS
7 4 (0.53%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.53%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.40%) Amazon Athena
8 3 (0.40%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.40%) InfluxDB
8 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.40%) SAP BW
8 3 (0.40%) SAP Data Services
8 3 (0.40%) Semantic Layer
8 3 (0.40%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 23 (3.07%) JIRA
2 9 (1.20%) Git
3 4 (0.53%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.40%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.27%) GitLab
5 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.13%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.13%) JMeter
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.13%) TestRail
General
1 213 (28.40%) Social Skills
2 127 (16.93%) Finance
3 105 (14.00%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (8.93%) Public Sector
5 47 (6.27%) Billing
6 27 (3.60%) Retail
7 25 (3.33%) Documentation Skills
7 25 (3.33%) Marketing
8 20 (2.67%) Legal
9 17 (2.27%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (2.13%) Electronics
10 16 (2.13%) Influencing Skills
11 13 (1.73%) Manufacturing
12 10 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
13 8 (1.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (0.80%) Aerospace
14 6 (0.80%) Publishing
15 5 (0.67%) Police
16 4 (0.53%) Banking
16 4 (0.53%) Military
Job Titles
1 100 (13.33%) Architect
2 63 (8.40%) Lead
3 62 (8.27%) Consultant
4 61 (8.13%) Senior
5 56 (7.47%) Analyst
6 43 (5.73%) Network Engineer
7 42 (5.60%) Solutions Architect
8 39 (5.20%) Telecoms Manager
9 38 (5.07%) Project Manager
10 28 (3.73%) Designer
11 27 (3.60%) Developer
12 24 (3.20%) Data Engineer
12 24 (3.20%) ServiceNow Architect
13 21 (2.80%) Delivery Manager
13 21 (2.80%) SAP Consultant
14 18 (2.40%) Business Analyst
14 18 (2.40%) Enterprise Architect
14 18 (2.40%) Field Engineer
14 18 (2.40%) Telecoms Engineer
15 17 (2.27%) Programme Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (5.33%) REST
2 27 (3.60%) SOAP
3 13 (1.73%) Middleware
3 13 (1.73%) ONVIF
4 10 (1.33%) Kafka
5 9 (1.20%) .NET
5 9 (1.20%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.07%) XML
7 7 (0.93%) NETCONF
7 7 (0.93%) OpenAPI
7 7 (0.93%) Swagger
7 7 (0.93%) YANG
8 6 (0.80%) JSON
8 6 (0.80%) RESTful
9 4 (0.53%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.53%) RAML
10 3 (0.40%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.40%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.40%) RFC 2544
10 3 (0.40%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 43 (5.73%) Data Centre
2 41 (5.47%) CMDB
3 33 (4.40%) Onboarding
4 31 (4.13%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.93%) Data Protection Act
6 20 (2.67%) Driving Licence
7 19 (2.53%) Virtual Team
8 17 (2.27%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.73%) Product Ownership
9 13 (1.73%) Video\Live Streaming
10 12 (1.60%) Distributed Systems
10 12 (1.60%) Hybrid Cloud
11 10 (1.33%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.07%) EPoS
12 8 (1.07%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.07%) TM Forum
13 7 (0.93%) Private Cloud
14 6 (0.80%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 6 (0.80%) Legacy Systems
15 5 (0.67%) Algorithms
Operating Systems
1 32 (4.27%) Windows
2 24 (3.20%) Linux
3 16 (2.13%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.60%) Unix
5 4 (0.53%) Mac OS
5 4 (0.53%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.40%) Android
6 3 (0.40%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.40%) VMS
7 2 (0.27%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.27%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.13%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.13%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (16.53%) Stakeholder Management
2 99 (13.20%) Agile
2 99 (13.20%) Problem-Solving
3 82 (10.93%) ITIL
4 69 (9.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 60 (8.00%) Decision-Making
5 60 (8.00%) Project Delivery
6 59 (7.87%) Continuous Improvement
7 55 (7.33%) CI/CD
8 54 (7.20%) CRM
8 54 (7.20%) Migration
9 52 (6.93%) Service Management
10 51 (6.80%) Project Management
10 51 (6.80%) Roadmaps
11 48 (6.40%) Customer Service
12 47 (6.27%) Validation
13 45 (6.00%) AI
13 45 (6.00%) Analytics
14 44 (5.87%) ITSM
15 40 (5.33%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 60 (8.00%) Python
2 35 (4.67%) SQL
3 17 (2.27%) JavaScript
4 16 (2.13%) Java
5 10 (1.33%) C#
6 8 (1.07%) Bash
7 7 (0.93%) C++
8 6 (0.80%) R
9 4 (0.53%) ABAP
9 4 (0.53%) DataWeave
9 4 (0.53%) PowerShell
9 4 (0.53%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.40%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.40%) LookML
11 2 (0.27%) C
11 2 (0.27%) DCL
11 2 (0.27%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.13%) Bicep
12 1 (0.13%) Go
Qualifications
1 127 (16.93%) Security Cleared
2 87 (11.60%) SC Cleared
3 74 (9.87%) Degree
4 53 (7.07%) Cisco Certification
5 35 (4.67%) CCNA
6 25 (3.33%) CCNP
7 24 (3.20%) DV Cleared
7 24 (3.20%) Microsoft Certification
8 23 (3.07%) A+ Certification
9 18 (2.40%) Computer Science Degree
10 17 (2.27%) PMP
11 16 (2.13%) BPSS Clearance
12 13 (1.73%) MCSA
12 13 (1.73%) PMI Certification
13 11 (1.47%) Network+ Certification
14 10 (1.33%) CCIE
15 9 (1.20%) Azure Certification
16 8 (1.07%) AWS Certification
17 7 (0.93%) Master's Degree
18 5 (0.67%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.33%) SLA
2 22 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 20 (2.67%) NCSC
4 18 (2.40%) GDPR
5 16 (2.13%) PMO
6 15 (2.00%) QA
7 13 (1.73%) Data Quality
8 11 (1.47%) GRC
9 8 (1.07%) NIST
10 5 (0.67%) RMADS
11 3 (0.40%) JSP 440
12 2 (0.27%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.13%) Accessibility
13 1 (0.13%) EU AI Act
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
13 1 (0.13%) ISO 31000
13 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.13%) SOC 1
13 1 (0.13%) WCAG
System Software
1 16 (2.13%) Active Directory
1 16 (2.13%) VMware Infrastructure
2 13 (1.73%) Docker
3 8 (1.07%) VMware NSX
4 5 (0.67%) vSphere
5 3 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 42 (5.60%) Kubernetes
2 21 (2.80%) Terraform
3 18 (2.40%) Ansible
4 13 (1.73%) Grafana
4 13 (1.73%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.40%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (0.40%) Iperf
5 3 (0.40%) Jamf Pro
5 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.40%) vCenter Server
5 3 (0.40%) vRealize
6 2 (0.27%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
6 2 (0.27%) Nmap
6 2 (0.27%) NSN NetAct
7 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.13%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.13%) Kibana
7 1 (0.13%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.13%) SolarWinds Orion
Vendors
1 92 (12.27%) Microsoft
2 73 (9.73%) Cisco
3 72 (9.60%) ServiceNow
4 40 (5.33%) Nokia
5 35 (4.67%) SAP
6 29 (3.87%) Salesforce
7 23 (3.07%) BT
7 23 (3.07%) VMware
8 22 (2.93%) Oracle
9 20 (2.67%) Ericsson
10 19 (2.53%) Fortinet
11 17 (2.27%) Remedy
12 16 (2.13%) Juniper
13 15 (2.00%) F5
14 14 (1.87%) Google
14 14 (1.87%) Huawei
15 12 (1.60%) MuleSoft
16 11 (1.47%) BMC
16 11 (1.47%) CheckPoint
16 11 (1.47%) Palo Alto