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

6 months to
13 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 165 107 71
Rank change year-on-year -58 -36 +4
Contract jobs citing Telecoms 907 824 1,200
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.67% 2.50% 3.11%
As % of the General category 3.00% 3.93% 5.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 512 485 556
10th Percentile £214 £259 £225
25th Percentile £379 £373 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £473 £455 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.01% -9.00% -
75th Percentile £550 £573 £600
90th Percentile £668 £675 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 46 48 90
10th Percentile £14.40 £14.00 £12.75
25th Percentile £16.25 £14.75 £35.00
Median hourly rate £21.00 £21.00 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year - -63.48% +4.55%
75th Percentile £50.00 £48.44 £72.50
90th Percentile £178.75 £68.93 £77.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.84 £16.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +17.75% -75.38% +23.81%

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 30,205 20,961 22,292
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.56% 63.68% 57.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,737 12,993 13,480
10th Percentile £313 £275 £288
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 £497
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.45% -0.58%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,464 1,199 1,134
10th Percentile £13.50 £13.50 £14.69
25th Percentile £16.38 £16.17 £17.25
Median hourly rate £29.98 £25.15 £37.39
Median % change year-on-year +19.20% -32.74% +35.96%
75th Percentile £53.87 £49.13 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.50 £70.39
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £21.35 £37.50
% change year-on-year +40.55% -43.08% +44.23%

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 13 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 13 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 13 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 -84 748 £475 - 1,130
UK excluding London -62 457 £450 - 663
London -47 345 £507 +6.74% 519
Work from Home -20 265 £475 -5.00% 375
South East -45 197 £470 -5.05% 234
Scotland +15 64 £300 +14.29% 46
North of England -60 56 £463 +25.85% 110
East of England +6 54 £245 -34.60% 89
South West -73 48 £469 -10.67% 74
Yorkshire -22 31 £475 +95.88% 45
Midlands -65 31 £470 +23.68% 105
West Midlands -68 29 £460 +21.05% 56
North West -64 24 £463 +5.11% 56
Wales -9 8 £200 +19.40% 13
Northern Ireland 0 5 £290 +152.17% 8
Channel Islands -4 2 £606 -
East Midlands -17 2 £475 +26.67% 49
North East -41 1 - - 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 20 (2.21%) Confluence
2 15 (1.65%) 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 36 (3.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 28 (3.09%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (2.65%) 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 (2.43%) 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%) BambooHR
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle BRM
8 1 (0.11%) Primavera
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FS
8 1 (0.11%) SAP IBP
8 1 (0.11%) SAP IS-U
8 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 87 (9.59%) Azure
2 86 (9.48%) AWS
3 59 (6.50%) GCP
4 21 (2.32%) Microsoft 365
5 17 (1.87%) GitHub
6 16 (1.76%) Entra ID
7 13 (1.43%) Power Platform
7 13 (1.43%) SaaS
7 13 (1.43%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 10 (1.10%) GitHub Actions
9 9 (0.99%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (0.99%) Cloud Computing
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%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 119 (13.12%) WAN
2 93 (10.25%) 5G
3 92 (10.14%) LAN
4 86 (9.48%) MPLS
5 64 (7.06%) 4G
6 61 (6.73%) Radio Access Network
7 57 (6.28%) Firewall
8 37 (4.08%) SD-WAN
8 37 (4.08%) Wi-Fi
9 35 (3.86%) DNS
10 30 (3.31%) BGP
11 29 (3.20%) 3GPP
11 29 (3.20%) Network Security
12 28 (3.09%) SDH
12 28 (3.09%) VoIP
13 27 (2.98%) TCP/IP
14 26 (2.87%) Wireshark
15 25 (2.76%) Broadband
15 25 (2.76%) LTE
16 24 (2.65%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.43%) Data Warehouse
2 12 (1.32%) BigQuery
2 12 (1.32%) NoSQL
2 12 (1.32%) Power BI
3 9 (0.99%) GIS
3 9 (0.99%) PostgreSQL
4 8 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
4 8 (0.88%) Tableau
5 6 (0.66%) MongoDB
5 6 (0.66%) MySQL
5 6 (0.66%) Redis
6 4 (0.44%) Looker
6 4 (0.44%) Metadata
6 4 (0.44%) SQL Server
7 3 (0.33%) Apache Cassandra
7 3 (0.33%) Big Data
7 3 (0.33%) Cloud Spanner
7 3 (0.33%) Hazelcast
7 3 (0.33%) SAP Data Services
7 3 (0.33%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 40 (4.41%) JIRA
2 31 (3.42%) Git
3 15 (1.65%) Jenkins
4 13 (1.43%) GitLab
5 7 (0.77%) 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
1 266 (29.33%) Social Skills
2 140 (15.44%) Finance
3 116 (12.79%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (6.95%) Public Sector
5 36 (3.97%) Billing
5 36 (3.97%) Documentation Skills
6 30 (3.31%) Retail
7 29 (3.20%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (2.21%) Influencing Skills
9 19 (2.09%) Marketing
10 18 (1.98%) Legal
11 17 (1.87%) Manufacturing
12 15 (1.65%) Aerospace
13 14 (1.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 14 (1.54%) Presentation Skills
14 9 (0.99%) Publishing
15 7 (0.77%) Banking
15 7 (0.77%) Police
16 4 (0.44%) Games
17 3 (0.33%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 130 (14.33%) Architect
2 77 (8.49%) Senior
3 69 (7.61%) Analyst
4 68 (7.50%) Consultant
4 68 (7.50%) Lead
5 66 (7.28%) Network Engineer
6 61 (6.73%) Project Manager
7 56 (6.17%) Field Engineer
8 51 (5.62%) Telecoms Engineer
9 38 (4.19%) Designer
10 35 (3.86%) Developer
10 35 (3.86%) Solutions Architect
11 33 (3.64%) Telecoms Manager
12 29 (3.20%) ServiceNow Architect
13 28 (3.09%) Enterprise Architect
14 26 (2.87%) Business Analyst
15 24 (2.65%) Data Engineer
16 23 (2.54%) SAP Consultant
17 22 (2.43%) Telecoms Architect
18 21 (2.32%) Field Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (5.84%) REST
2 33 (3.64%) SOAP
3 21 (2.32%) Terraform
4 17 (1.87%) Kafka
5 16 (1.76%) NETCONF
5 16 (1.76%) YANG
6 14 (1.54%) RESTful
7 13 (1.43%) HTML
7 13 (1.43%) ONVIF
8 12 (1.32%) CSS
8 12 (1.32%) Elastic Stack
8 12 (1.32%) XML
9 10 (1.10%) AngularJS
9 10 (1.10%) React
10 9 (0.99%) FastAPI
11 8 (0.88%) JSON
11 8 (0.88%) Middleware
12 7 (0.77%) 802.1X
12 7 (0.77%) OpenAPI
12 7 (0.77%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 49 (5.40%) Data Centre
2 47 (5.18%) CMDB
2 47 (5.18%) Driving Licence
3 43 (4.74%) Onboarding
4 33 (3.64%) Cloud Native
5 22 (2.43%) Analytical Mindset
6 19 (2.09%) Management Information System
6 19 (2.09%) Product Ownership
7 16 (1.76%) Data Protection Act
7 16 (1.76%) Self-Motivation
8 15 (1.65%) Hybrid Cloud
8 15 (1.65%) Virtual Team
9 14 (1.54%) Video\Live Streaming
10 13 (1.43%) TM Forum
11 11 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
12 10 (1.10%) Data Structures
13 9 (0.99%) Algorithms
13 9 (0.99%) Enterprise Software
13 9 (0.99%) Social Media
14 8 (0.88%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 52 (5.73%) Windows
2 49 (5.40%) 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 5 (0.55%) 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
1 204 (22.49%) Stakeholder Management
2 125 (13.78%) Agile
3 115 (12.68%) Problem-Solving
4 93 (10.25%) Project Delivery
5 89 (9.81%) ITIL
6 83 (9.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 81 (8.93%) AI
8 75 (8.27%) Roadmaps
8 75 (8.27%) Service Management
9 74 (8.16%) Project Management
10 72 (7.94%) Migration
11 67 (7.39%) CI/CD
12 65 (7.17%) Validation
13 64 (7.06%) Continuous Improvement
14 58 (6.39%) Decision-Making
15 56 (6.17%) Change Management
16 52 (5.73%) Customer Service
17 51 (5.62%) ITSM
18 50 (5.51%) CRM
18 50 (5.51%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 81 (8.93%) Python
2 39 (4.30%) SQL
3 31 (3.42%) JavaScript
4 25 (2.76%) Bash
5 14 (1.54%) Java
6 10 (1.10%) PowerShell
7 8 (0.88%) Apex Code
8 7 (0.77%) C#
8 7 (0.77%) R
9 6 (0.66%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.55%) SOQL
11 4 (0.44%) ABAP
11 4 (0.44%) DataWeave
11 4 (0.44%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.33%) C++
12 3 (0.33%) LookML
13 2 (0.22%) Bicep
13 2 (0.22%) C
13 2 (0.22%) DCL
14 1 (0.11%) Ada
Qualifications
1 164 (18.08%) Security Cleared
2 101 (11.14%) SC Cleared
3 92 (10.14%) Degree
4 72 (7.94%) Cisco Certification
5 47 (5.18%) CCNA
6 30 (3.31%) DV Cleared
7 27 (2.98%) CCNP
8 24 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
8 24 (2.65%) Microsoft Certification
8 24 (2.65%) PMP
9 22 (2.43%) A+ Certification
10 20 (2.21%) Computer Science Degree
11 18 (1.98%) PMI Certification
12 15 (1.65%) CCIE
13 14 (1.54%) CISSP
14 13 (1.43%) Master's Degree
14 13 (1.43%) MCSA
15 10 (1.10%) JNCIE
16 9 (0.99%) CISM
16 9 (0.99%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (4.30%) QA
2 24 (2.65%) SLA
3 23 (2.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 23 (2.54%) PMO
4 20 (2.21%) GRC
5 18 (1.98%) NCSC
6 14 (1.54%) GDPR
7 10 (1.10%) Data Quality
8 4 (0.44%) NIST
9 3 (0.33%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.33%) Actionable Recommendations
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%) 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 (2.76%) Docker
2 23 (2.54%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.32%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (0.88%) VMware NSX
5 5 (0.55%) VMware ESXi
5 5 (0.55%) vSphere
6 3 (0.33%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.22%) Firmware
8 1 (0.11%) Ceph
8 1 (0.11%) KVM
8 1 (0.11%) NDS
8 1 (0.11%) NetIQ eDirectory
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 43 (4.74%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.43%) Ansible
3 11 (1.21%) Grafana
3 11 (1.21%) 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
7 3 (0.33%) Check_MK
7 3 (0.33%) Kibana
7 3 (0.33%) Podman
7 3 (0.33%) SolarWinds Orion
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%) Amdocs OSS
9 1 (0.11%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
Vendors
1 122 (13.45%) Microsoft
2 121 (13.34%) Cisco
3 86 (9.48%) ServiceNow
4 62 (6.84%) Nokia
5 46 (5.07%) Salesforce
6 35 (3.86%) VMware
7 31 (3.42%) SAP
8 25 (2.76%) Ericsson
9 23 (2.54%) Juniper
10 21 (2.32%) BT
11 20 (2.21%) Google
12 19 (2.09%) F5
12 19 (2.09%) MuleSoft
13 17 (1.87%) Fortinet
14 13 (1.43%) Palo Alto
15 12 (1.32%) BMC
16 11 (1.21%) Splunk
17 10 (1.10%) Arista
17 10 (1.10%) Zscaler
18 9 (0.99%) CheckPoint