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 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 197 157 102
Rank change year-on-year -40 -55 +59
Contract jobs citing WAN 523 582 1,094
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.46% 1.61% 2.36%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.93% 13.32% 16.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 348 353 651
10th Percentile £207 £250 £250
25th Percentile £325 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% - +6.38%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £638
90th Percentile £675 £675 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £450 £450
% change year-on-year -11.11% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 16 39
10th Percentile £14.49 £19.64 £17.16
25th Percentile £15.50 £29.04 £20.88
Median hourly rate £30.00 £40.00 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +73.91% -
75th Percentile £33.00 £74.06 £65.00
90th Percentile £52.85 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.50 £67.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -57.78% +193.48% +4.55%

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 4,045 4,371 6,526
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 11.33% 12.06% 14.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,614 2,522 4,068
10th Percentile £206 £225 £213
25th Percentile £358 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £686 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -5.26% - +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 206 164 343
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.17 £17.72
25th Percentile £20.77 £24.42 £22.88
Median hourly rate £35.50 £45.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.11% -18.18% +30.72%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £66.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £75.67
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £49.00 £56.49
% change year-on-year -13.27% -13.26% +25.53%

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 November 2025.

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 November 2025.

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 November 2025. 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 -52 430 £450 -10.00% 409
UK excluding London -51 293 £400 -11.11% 322
London +2 176 £525 -4.55% 147
Work from Home -30 120 £500 -3.85% 147
Midlands -26 82 £400 +6.67% 50
West Midlands +2 78 £400 -4.76% 36
North of England -62 69 £363 -17.61% 48
North West -31 49 £335 -25.56% 25
South East -45 48 £438 -12.50% 118
Scotland +35 44 £343 -14.38% 28
East of England -29 24 £388 -31.11% 40
Yorkshire -65 18 £393 +44.70% 15
South West -19 15 £481 +14.58% 36
Wales +6 7 £225 -41.94% 7
East Midlands -41 4 £315 -16.00% 14
Channel Islands - 4 £743 -
North East -7 2 £550 +57.14% 8
Northern Ireland -10 2 £600 - 6

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 24 (4.59%) SharePoint
2 22 (4.21%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (2.29%) OpenStack
4 9 (1.72%) Confluence
5 6 (1.15%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.38%) nginx
7 1 (0.19%) Apache
7 1 (0.19%) CICS
7 1 (0.19%) IIS
7 1 (0.19%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.19%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.19%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 39 (7.46%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (2.29%) MS Visio
3 11 (2.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.72%) Microsoft Excel
5 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.19%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.19%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 116 (22.18%) Azure
2 74 (14.15%) AWS
3 43 (8.22%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (5.35%) Entra ID
5 25 (4.78%) GCP
6 14 (2.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 13 (2.49%) GitHub
7 13 (2.49%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 12 (2.29%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.34%) OneDrive
10 6 (1.15%) AWS Direct Connect
10 6 (1.15%) Azure Monitor
10 6 (1.15%) OpenShift
10 6 (1.15%) SaaS
11 5 (0.96%) Cloud Computing
11 5 (0.96%) IaaS
11 5 (0.96%) PaaS
12 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Purview
13 3 (0.57%) Microsoft Copilot
13 3 (0.57%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 323 (61.76%) LAN
2 243 (46.46%) Firewall
3 188 (35.95%) SD-WAN
4 166 (31.74%) VPN
5 114 (21.80%) BGP
6 98 (18.74%) MPLS
7 94 (17.97%) DNS
8 92 (17.59%) Network Security
9 89 (17.02%) Wi-Fi
10 84 (16.06%) Wireless
11 78 (14.91%) OSPF
12 71 (13.58%) DHCP
13 65 (12.43%) VLAN
14 64 (12.24%) TCP/IP
15 54 (10.33%) IPsec
16 42 (8.03%) Cisco Nexus
17 33 (6.31%) Cisco ISE
17 33 (6.31%) WLAN
18 30 (5.74%) EIGRP
19 27 (5.16%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.76%) MS Access
2 2 (0.38%) RDBMS
2 2 (0.38%) Relational Database
2 2 (0.38%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.19%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.19%) MySQL
3 1 (0.19%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.19%) Oracle Database
3 1 (0.19%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.19%) Power BI
3 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 12 (2.29%) JIRA
2 7 (1.34%) GitLab
3 6 (1.15%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.96%) Git
4 5 (0.96%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.38%) Bitbucket
General
1 140 (26.77%) Social Skills
2 56 (10.71%) Public Sector
3 54 (10.33%) Finance
4 52 (9.94%) Telecoms
5 35 (6.69%) Analytical Skills
6 25 (4.78%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (3.06%) Manufacturing
8 11 (2.10%) Local Government
9 9 (1.72%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (1.53%) Banking
10 8 (1.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.34%) Influencing Skills
11 7 (1.34%) Legal
12 6 (1.15%) Organisational Skills
13 5 (0.96%) Spanish Language
14 4 (0.76%) Aerospace
14 4 (0.76%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.76%) Law
14 4 (0.76%) Military
15 3 (0.57%) Retail
Job Titles
1 166 (31.74%) Network Engineer
2 105 (20.08%) Architect
3 71 (13.58%) Network Architect
4 47 (8.99%) Support Engineer
5 45 (8.60%) Senior
6 28 (5.35%) Analyst
6 28 (5.35%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 27 (5.16%) Senior Network Engineer
8 25 (4.78%) 2nd Line Support
8 25 (4.78%) Security Engineer
9 23 (4.40%) WAN Engineer
10 22 (4.21%) Consultant
10 22 (4.21%) Solutions Architect
11 21 (4.02%) 3rd Line Engineer
12 20 (3.82%) 3rd Line Support
12 20 (3.82%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
12 20 (3.82%) Field Engineer
12 20 (3.82%) Project Manager
13 19 (3.63%) 2nd Line Engineer
13 19 (3.63%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (5.16%) 802.1X
2 11 (2.10%) Middleware
3 8 (1.53%) NETCONF
3 8 (1.53%) YANG
4 6 (1.15%) REST
5 3 (0.57%) EDI
5 3 (0.57%) Jinja
6 2 (0.38%) ARM Templates
6 2 (0.38%) RESTCONF
7 1 (0.19%) Java RMI
7 1 (0.19%) JSON
7 1 (0.19%) LAMP
7 1 (0.19%) LDAP
7 1 (0.19%) Node.js
7 1 (0.19%) OpenConfig
7 1 (0.19%) RFC 2544
7 1 (0.19%) XML
7 1 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 118 (22.56%) Data Centre
2 35 (6.69%) Hybrid Cloud
3 27 (5.16%) PKI
4 22 (4.21%) Driving Licence
5 21 (4.02%) Cloud Native
6 16 (3.06%) Public Cloud
7 15 (2.87%) Virtual Team
8 13 (2.49%) CMDB
9 11 (2.10%) Onboarding
10 10 (1.91%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.72%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (1.72%) NHS
11 9 (1.72%) Operational Technology
11 9 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.53%) Replication
13 6 (1.15%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (1.15%) SCADA
13 6 (1.15%) Security Posture
14 5 (0.96%) Private Cloud
15 4 (0.76%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 92 (17.59%) Windows
2 33 (6.31%) Windows Server
3 26 (4.97%) Windows 10
4 22 (4.21%) Linux
5 8 (1.53%) Windows Server 2016
5 8 (1.53%) Windows Server 2019
6 7 (1.34%) Windows 7
7 4 (0.76%) Android
7 4 (0.76%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.19%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.19%) MVS
10 1 (0.19%) Solaris
10 1 (0.19%) SUSE
10 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.19%) Unix
10 1 (0.19%) VMS
10 1 (0.19%) Windows 8
10 1 (0.19%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (16.63%) Network Design
2 76 (14.53%) Network Architecture
3 75 (14.34%) Migration
4 68 (13.00%) Problem-Solving
5 58 (11.09%) ITIL
6 49 (9.37%) Load Balancing
7 42 (8.03%) Stakeholder Management
8 41 (7.84%) Change Management
8 41 (7.84%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 40 (7.65%) Network Monitoring
10 38 (7.27%) Cybersecurity
11 36 (6.88%) Project Delivery
12 34 (6.50%) Zero Trust
13 33 (6.31%) Service Management
14 32 (6.12%) High Availability
14 32 (6.12%) Roadmaps
15 31 (5.93%) DevOps
16 30 (5.74%) Customer Service
16 30 (5.74%) Network Virtualisation
17 29 (5.54%) Network Management
Programming Languages
1 53 (10.13%) Python
2 20 (3.82%) PowerShell
3 7 (1.34%) Bicep
4 6 (1.15%) VBScript
5 5 (0.96%) VB
6 4 (0.76%) Bash
6 4 (0.76%) Perl
6 4 (0.76%) SQL
7 2 (0.38%) Java
8 1 (0.19%) C
8 1 (0.19%) C#
8 1 (0.19%) Go
Qualifications
1 135 (25.81%) Security Cleared
2 123 (23.52%) Cisco Certification
3 102 (19.50%) SC Cleared
4 89 (17.02%) CCNP
5 47 (8.99%) CCIE
6 37 (7.07%) CCNA
7 36 (6.88%) Degree
8 30 (5.74%) DV Cleared
9 20 (3.82%) JNCIE
10 13 (2.49%) AWS Certification
11 11 (2.10%) Computer Science Degree
12 10 (1.91%) Azure Certification
13 9 (1.72%) CISSP
13 9 (1.72%) JNCIP
14 8 (1.53%) BPSS Clearance
15 7 (1.34%) CCSA
15 7 (1.34%) Network+ Certification
16 6 (1.15%) CCDP
16 6 (1.15%) ECDL
16 6 (1.15%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.82%) SLA
2 18 (3.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (2.10%) NIST
4 9 (1.72%) PCI DSS
5 8 (1.53%) GDPR
6 4 (0.76%) PMO
7 3 (0.57%) NCSC
7 3 (0.57%) QA
8 2 (0.38%) GRC
9 1 (0.19%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 1 (0.19%) Def Stans
9 1 (0.19%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.19%) Government Security Classifications
9 1 (0.19%) MiFID
9 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 71 (13.58%) Active Directory
2 32 (6.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (3.63%) VMware NSX
4 13 (2.49%) Hyper-V
4 13 (2.49%) Virtual Machines
5 11 (2.10%) Firmware
6 8 (1.53%) Virtual Desktop
7 5 (0.96%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.96%) vSphere
8 2 (0.38%) Microsoft App-V
8 2 (0.38%) ProxySG
8 2 (0.38%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.19%) KVM
9 1 (0.19%) NFS
9 1 (0.19%) SRDF
9 1 (0.19%) Veritas Cluster Server
9 1 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.19%) Xen
Systems Management
1 52 (9.94%) Ansible
2 34 (6.50%) Terraform
3 25 (4.78%) SCCM
4 19 (3.63%) FortiGate
5 16 (3.06%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (1.91%) CASB
7 6 (1.15%) SCOrch
8 4 (0.76%) CA Spectrum
8 4 (0.76%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (0.76%) HP ALM
8 4 (0.76%) OpenView
9 3 (0.57%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.57%) Kubernetes
9 3 (0.57%) Nagios
9 3 (0.57%) SCOM
9 3 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.57%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.38%) AppManager
10 2 (0.38%) HAProxy
10 2 (0.38%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 230 (43.98%) Cisco
2 90 (17.21%) Microsoft
3 84 (16.06%) Palo Alto
4 83 (15.87%) Juniper
5 73 (13.96%) Fortinet
6 57 (10.90%) F5
7 53 (10.13%) VMware
8 48 (9.18%) Meraki
9 36 (6.88%) SolarWinds
10 34 (6.50%) CheckPoint
11 21 (4.02%) Aruba
12 20 (3.82%) ServiceNow
13 18 (3.44%) Zscaler
14 14 (2.68%) Citrix
15 13 (2.49%) Blue Coat
15 13 (2.49%) HP
16 11 (2.10%) Remedy
17 8 (1.53%) Infoblox
18 7 (1.34%) Arista
18 7 (1.34%) LogicMonitor