WAN Contract Job Trends

Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring WAN skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 19 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 177 172 128
Rank change year-on-year -5 -44 -8
Contract jobs citing WAN 741 479 769
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.47% 1.61% 1.75%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.40% 12.89% 14.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 495 307 425
10th Percentile £310 £241 £263
25th Percentile £400 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year +4.74% -2.56% +2.63%
75th Percentile £578 £578 £638
90th Percentile £675 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £444 £475
% change year-on-year +10.42% -6.58% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 16 33
10th Percentile £18.50 £19.54 £14.00
25th Percentile £21.25 £27.00 £18.50
Median hourly rate £27.36 £30.00 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -8.80% +20.63% -57.61%
75th Percentile £43.64 £40.81 £40.00
90th Percentile £78.07 £55.63 £62.82
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -25.00% +20.63% -55.65%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

WAN falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,813 3,715 5,429
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.52% 12.46% 12.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,959 2,278 3,209
10th Percentile £250 £225 £210
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £484 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.31% -3.20% -1.96%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £471 £488
% change year-on-year +1.91% -3.38% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 291 173 422
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.79 £18.82 £17.69
Median hourly rate £28.00 £44.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.36% +10.00% +110.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £61.25 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £79.00 £71.81
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £30.32 £47.50
% change year-on-year -7.65% -36.17% +150.46%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing WAN relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

WAN job vacancy trend in the UK

WAN
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing WAN.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing WAN

WAN
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 19 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing WAN.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing WAN

WAN
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 19 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
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 WAN within the UK over the 6 months to 19 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 -8 628 £500 +4.17% 200
UK excluding London -5 453 £490 +10.42% 196
London -21 213 £520 -2.99% 56
Work from Home +12 180 £500 - 103
South East +6 167 £500 +11.11% 61
North of England -27 114 £490 +8.89% 37
North West -18 67 £532 +25.06% 21
Scotland +12 54 £500 +19.40% 20
Midlands -51 52 £340 -20.00% 27
Yorkshire -32 42 £450 -8.07% 13
West Midlands -58 42 £319 -20.31% 19
East of England -7 40 £425 -1.16% 14
South West -31 23 £561 +24.56% 19
North East -26 11 £650 +73.33% 4
Wales -20 7 £468 +133.75% 12
East Midlands -17 5 £500 - 8
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 12
Channel Islands -1 1 £575 -22.56%

WAN
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 30 (4.05%) Microsoft Exchange
2 25 (3.37%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.43%) Confluence
4 9 (1.21%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.94%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.27%) IIS
7 1 (0.13%) CMS
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 24 (3.24%) MS Visio
2 17 (2.29%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.89%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.48%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 4 (0.54%) Acrobat
7 3 (0.40%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.27%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 224 (30.23%) Azure
2 110 (14.84%) AWS
3 76 (10.26%) Microsoft 365
4 49 (6.61%) Entra ID
5 40 (5.40%) SaaS
6 27 (3.64%) GCP
7 26 (3.51%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 23 (3.10%) OCI
9 15 (2.02%) OneDrive
10 14 (1.89%) PaaS
10 14 (1.89%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 13 (1.75%) Azure Sentinel
11 13 (1.75%) Serverless
12 12 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
13 11 (1.48%) AWS CloudFormation
14 10 (1.35%) AWS Direct Connect
15 9 (1.21%) Azure Monitor
16 8 (1.08%) Power Platform
17 7 (0.94%) Amazon CloudWatch
17 7 (0.94%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 482 (65.05%) LAN
2 378 (51.01%) Firewall
3 285 (38.46%) SD-WAN
4 240 (32.39%) BGP
5 199 (26.86%) VPN
6 184 (24.83%) OSPF
7 155 (20.92%) Network Security
8 137 (18.49%) DNS
9 134 (18.08%) Wi-Fi
10 119 (16.06%) MPLS
11 107 (14.44%) Wireless
12 89 (12.01%) VLAN
13 88 (11.88%) DHCP
14 82 (11.07%) VXLAN
15 73 (9.85%) TCP/IP
16 71 (9.58%) IPsec
17 64 (8.64%) Ethernet VPN
18 61 (8.23%) WLAN
19 60 (8.10%) BIG-IP
20 47 (6.34%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.67%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.67%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.40%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.27%) Apache Cassandra
4 2 (0.27%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (0.27%) Flink
4 2 (0.27%) InfluxDB
4 2 (0.27%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.27%) MySQL
4 2 (0.27%) TimescaleDB
5 1 (0.13%) Power BI
5 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 33 (4.45%) JIRA
2 21 (2.83%) GitLab
3 11 (1.48%) Git
4 6 (0.81%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.67%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.54%) Browser DevTools
7 3 (0.40%) Chocolatey
8 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.13%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.13%) MSI
9 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 163 (22.00%) Social Skills
2 78 (10.53%) Finance
3 65 (8.77%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (8.50%) Public Sector
5 52 (7.02%) Legal
6 51 (6.88%) Telecoms
7 30 (4.05%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (2.56%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.29%) Financial Institution
10 13 (1.75%) Law
10 13 (1.75%) Retail
11 12 (1.62%) Military
12 9 (1.21%) Banking
12 9 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 8 (1.08%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (0.81%) Billing
15 5 (0.67%) Police
16 4 (0.54%) Influencing Skills
17 3 (0.40%) German Language
17 3 (0.40%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 287 (38.73%) Network Engineer
2 116 (15.65%) Architect
3 101 (13.63%) Senior
4 66 (8.91%) Network Architect
5 45 (6.07%) Senior Network Engineer
6 44 (5.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 39 (5.26%) Cisco Engineer
8 36 (4.86%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 34 (4.59%) Cisco Network Engineer
10 30 (4.05%) Lead
11 25 (3.37%) Project Manager
11 25 (3.37%) Support Engineer
12 23 (3.10%) IT Support
12 23 (3.10%) Security Engineer
13 22 (2.97%) Technical Architect
14 21 (2.83%) Network Manager
15 20 (2.70%) Analyst
15 20 (2.70%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
16 19 (2.56%) IT Engineer
17 18 (2.43%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (7.69%) 802.1X
2 15 (2.02%) SAML
3 13 (1.75%) REST
4 10 (1.35%) LDAP
4 10 (1.35%) Microsoft Graph
5 9 (1.21%) NETCONF
5 9 (1.21%) YANG
6 5 (0.67%) Middleware
7 4 (0.54%) Jinja
8 3 (0.40%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.40%) XMPP
9 2 (0.27%) AWS CDK
9 2 (0.27%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.27%) gRPC
9 2 (0.27%) Kafka
9 2 (0.27%) OpenAPI
9 2 (0.27%) OpenConfig
9 2 (0.27%) RESTCONF
9 2 (0.27%) RFC 2544
9 2 (0.27%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 195 (26.32%) Data Centre
2 47 (6.34%) Hybrid Cloud
3 36 (4.86%) PKI
4 27 (3.64%) Clustering
5 23 (3.10%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.97%) Onboarding
7 21 (2.83%) Security Posture
8 16 (2.16%) Operational Technology
9 15 (2.02%) Driving Licence
10 14 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
11 10 (1.35%) Analytical Mindset
11 10 (1.35%) IoT
11 10 (1.35%) Public Cloud
12 9 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
12 9 (1.21%) SCADA
13 8 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
14 7 (0.94%) Linux Command Line
14 7 (0.94%) NHS
15 5 (0.67%) CMDB
15 5 (0.67%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 186 (25.10%) Windows
2 58 (7.83%) Windows Server
3 48 (6.48%) Linux
4 19 (2.56%) Windows Server 2019
5 17 (2.29%) Windows 10
6 9 (1.21%) Android
7 8 (1.08%) VMS
8 6 (0.81%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.81%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 4 (0.54%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.40%) CatOS
10 3 (0.40%) Unix
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
11 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 110 (14.84%) Problem-Solving
2 107 (14.44%) ITIL
3 105 (14.17%) High Availability
4 104 (14.04%) Load Balancing
5 79 (10.66%) Migration
5 79 (10.66%) Zero Trust
6 74 (9.99%) Network Design
7 65 (8.77%) Stakeholder Management
8 64 (8.64%) Infrastructure as Code
8 64 (8.64%) Network Architecture
9 61 (8.23%) Change Management
10 60 (8.10%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 58 (7.83%) Roadmaps
12 55 (7.42%) Agile
13 54 (7.29%) Project Delivery
14 52 (7.02%) Network Monitoring
15 49 (6.61%) Technical Leadership
16 48 (6.48%) DevOps
17 47 (6.34%) Continuous Improvement
18 46 (6.21%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 107 (14.44%) Python
2 57 (7.69%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.24%) SQL
4 12 (1.62%) Bash
5 5 (0.67%) VBScript
6 4 (0.54%) C++
6 4 (0.54%) VB
7 3 (0.40%) Java
8 2 (0.27%) C
8 2 (0.27%) Groovy
8 2 (0.27%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.27%) Perl
9 1 (0.13%) Bicep
9 1 (0.13%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 224 (30.23%) Security Cleared
2 210 (28.34%) Cisco Certification
3 158 (21.32%) SC Cleared
4 136 (18.35%) CCNP
5 71 (9.58%) CCNA
6 62 (8.37%) DV Cleared
7 52 (7.02%) CCIE
8 50 (6.75%) Degree
9 23 (3.10%) PMP
10 16 (2.16%) PMI Certification
11 15 (2.02%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.75%) JNCIP
13 12 (1.62%) AWS Certification
13 12 (1.62%) JNCIE
13 12 (1.62%) JNCIS
14 11 (1.48%) Computer Science Degree
14 11 (1.48%) JNCIA
15 9 (1.21%) BPSS Clearance
16 5 (0.67%) CCSE
16 5 (0.67%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (2.70%) SLA
2 19 (2.56%) QA
3 17 (2.29%) NIST
4 11 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.08%) NCSC
6 6 (0.81%) GDPR
7 4 (0.54%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.54%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.54%) PMO
8 3 (0.40%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 2 (0.27%) RMADS
10 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.13%) DICOM
10 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 102 (13.77%) Active Directory
2 70 (9.45%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (4.05%) VMware NSX
4 20 (2.70%) vSphere
5 17 (2.29%) Virtual Machines
6 14 (1.89%) Firmware
6 14 (1.89%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.48%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.54%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.40%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.27%) Squid
11 1 (0.13%) Docker
11 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 87 (11.74%) Ansible
2 84 (11.34%) FortiGate
3 80 (10.80%) Terraform
4 30 (4.05%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (2.97%) Grafana
6 19 (2.56%) Prometheus
7 16 (2.16%) Single Sign-On
8 15 (2.02%) SCCM
9 8 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
10 6 (0.81%) Cisco Prime
11 5 (0.67%) Cisco CUCM
11 5 (0.67%) Kubernetes
12 4 (0.54%) Endace
12 4 (0.54%) Packer
12 4 (0.54%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.54%) Puppet
12 4 (0.54%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.40%) CASB
13 3 (0.40%) Nagios
14 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
Vendors
1 378 (51.01%) Cisco
2 172 (23.21%) Palo Alto
3 151 (20.38%) Microsoft
4 115 (15.52%) F5
5 96 (12.96%) Fortinet
6 95 (12.82%) Aruba
7 88 (11.88%) Juniper
8 84 (11.34%) VMware
9 66 (8.91%) SolarWinds
10 63 (8.50%) CheckPoint
11 60 (8.10%) Arista
12 49 (6.61%) Zscaler
13 42 (5.67%) Meraki
14 34 (4.59%) ServiceNow
15 32 (4.32%) Splunk
16 28 (3.78%) Extreme Networks
17 16 (2.16%) Dell
18 13 (1.75%) Ekahau
18 13 (1.75%) Veeam
19 8 (1.08%) Infoblox