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 26 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 199 176 135
Rank change year-on-year -23 -41 -23
Contract jobs citing WAN 741 528 714
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.40% 1.60% 1.77%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.79% 13.22% 14.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 481 344 416
10th Percentile £300 £238 £263
25th Percentile £400 £350 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.47% -6.95% +4.05%
75th Percentile £575 £581 £625
90th Percentile £650 £675 £694
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +15.29% -10.53% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 18 28
10th Percentile £16.25 £26.03 £13.78
25th Percentile £17.77 £29.00 £17.22
Median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +20.63% -50.26%
75th Percentile £42.38 £42.44 £71.88
90th Percentile £74.70 £63.92 £75.07
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -25.00% +20.63% -43.15%

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 5,009 3,994 4,984
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.44% 12.13% 12.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,016 2,446 3,005
10th Percentile £250 £235 £215
25th Percentile £400 £374 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.41% -2.35% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £607
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.16% -5.00% +9.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 333 194 358
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £14.11
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.15 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.44 £48.75 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -45.76% +8.33% -10.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.70 £74.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £44.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year -39.41% -12.00% -11.49%

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 26 July 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 26 July 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 26 July 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 -29 628 £500 +5.26% 227
UK excluding London -8 456 £490 +15.29% 185
London -63 206 £520 +1.96% 77
Work from Home -7 176 £513 +2.50% 78
South East +4 167 £520 +15.56% 67
North of England -39 110 £498 +32.67% 45
North West -35 62 £528 +62.46% 19
Scotland +10 57 £406 -7.14% 17
Midlands -50 53 £406 -7.14% 29
Yorkshire -21 43 £450 -3.33% 25
East of England +1 39 £400 +6.67% 9
West Midlands -67 37 £406 -9.72% 21
South West -38 28 £550 +29.41% 22
East Midlands -4 11 £275 +66.67% 8
North East -34 11 £650 +225.00% 3
Wales -21 7 £468 +78.10% 2
Channel Islands -1 1 £575 -22.56%
Northern Ireland - 1 £550 -

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 25 (3.37%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (2.29%) Confluence
4 11 (1.48%) OpenStack
5 3 (0.40%) 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 27 (3.64%) MS Visio
2 18 (2.43%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (2.43%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.40%) AutoCAD
6 2 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 203 (27.40%) Azure
2 111 (14.98%) AWS
3 69 (9.31%) Microsoft 365
4 51 (6.88%) Entra ID
5 34 (4.59%) SaaS
6 31 (4.18%) GCP
7 27 (3.64%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 24 (3.24%) OCI
9 16 (2.16%) OneDrive
9 16 (2.16%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (2.02%) Azure DevOps
11 14 (1.89%) PaaS
12 13 (1.75%) Azure Sentinel
12 13 (1.75%) Serverless
13 10 (1.35%) AWS Direct Connect
14 9 (1.21%) AWS CloudFormation
14 9 (1.21%) Azure Monitor
15 8 (1.08%) GitHub
15 8 (1.08%) Power Platform
16 7 (0.94%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 494 (66.67%) LAN
2 396 (53.44%) Firewall
3 254 (34.28%) SD-WAN
4 245 (33.06%) BGP
5 193 (26.05%) VPN
6 183 (24.70%) Network Security
7 176 (23.75%) OSPF
8 145 (19.57%) MPLS
9 137 (18.49%) DNS
10 132 (17.81%) Wi-Fi
11 120 (16.19%) Wireless
12 89 (12.01%) TCP/IP
13 88 (11.88%) DHCP
14 84 (11.34%) VLAN
15 80 (10.80%) VXLAN
16 74 (9.99%) IPsec
17 64 (8.64%) Ethernet VPN
17 64 (8.64%) WLAN
18 58 (7.83%) BIG-IP
19 50 (6.75%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.48%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.67%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.67%) Data Lake
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%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.27%) TimescaleDB
5 1 (0.13%) BigQuery
5 1 (0.13%) Cloud Spanner
5 1 (0.13%) Power BI
5 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (4.05%) JIRA
2 22 (2.97%) GitLab
3 15 (2.02%) Git
4 7 (0.94%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.81%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.67%) Browser DevTools
7 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
8 1 (0.13%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.13%) Fiddler
8 1 (0.13%) MSI
8 1 (0.13%) Subversion
8 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 177 (23.89%) Social Skills
2 96 (12.96%) Telecoms
3 70 (9.45%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (8.91%) Public Sector
5 54 (7.29%) Finance
6 30 (4.05%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.24%) Legal
8 18 (2.43%) Financial Institution
9 17 (2.29%) Retail
10 13 (1.75%) Manufacturing
11 12 (1.62%) Banking
11 12 (1.62%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (1.21%) Billing
12 9 (1.21%) Influencing Skills
13 8 (1.08%) Local Government
13 8 (1.08%) Military
14 7 (0.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 7 (0.94%) Law
15 5 (0.67%) Police
16 3 (0.40%) German Language
Job Titles
1 296 (39.95%) Network Engineer
2 117 (15.79%) Senior
3 108 (14.57%) Architect
4 68 (9.18%) Network Architect
5 53 (7.15%) Senior Network Engineer
6 42 (5.67%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 34 (4.59%) Cisco Engineer
7 34 (4.59%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 31 (4.18%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 31 (4.18%) Consultant
9 30 (4.05%) IT Support
10 26 (3.51%) Project Manager
10 26 (3.51%) Security Engineer
10 26 (3.51%) Support Engineer
11 23 (3.10%) Lead
12 22 (2.97%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
13 21 (2.83%) IT Engineer
14 20 (2.70%) Field Engineer
14 20 (2.70%) Network Manager
14 20 (2.70%) Telecoms Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (7.69%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.89%) REST
3 13 (1.75%) SAML
4 11 (1.48%) NETCONF
4 11 (1.48%) YANG
5 10 (1.35%) Microsoft Graph
6 6 (0.81%) LDAP
6 6 (0.81%) OpenConfig
6 6 (0.81%) RESTCONF
7 4 (0.54%) Jinja
7 4 (0.54%) Middleware
8 3 (0.40%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.40%) Java RMI
8 3 (0.40%) JSON
9 2 (0.27%) Django
9 2 (0.27%) Kafka
9 2 (0.27%) OpenAPI
9 2 (0.27%) RabbitMQ
9 2 (0.27%) Software Packaging
9 2 (0.27%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 197 (26.59%) Data Centre
2 55 (7.42%) Hybrid Cloud
3 35 (4.72%) PKI
4 33 (4.45%) Driving Licence
5 27 (3.64%) Clustering
6 26 (3.51%) Cloud Native
7 19 (2.56%) Security Posture
8 17 (2.29%) Onboarding
8 17 (2.29%) Self-Motivation
9 16 (2.16%) Operational Technology
10 14 (1.89%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.75%) IoT
12 12 (1.62%) Private Cloud
12 12 (1.62%) Public Cloud
13 10 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
14 9 (1.21%) NHS
15 7 (0.94%) CCTV
15 7 (0.94%) Linux Command Line
15 7 (0.94%) SCADA
15 7 (0.94%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 163 (22.00%) Windows
2 53 (7.15%) Windows Server
3 47 (6.34%) Linux
4 14 (1.89%) Windows Server 2019
5 11 (1.48%) Windows 10
6 10 (1.35%) Android
7 8 (1.08%) VMS
8 7 (0.94%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.94%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.94%) Unix
9 6 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.13%) CatOS
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
11 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 120 (16.19%) Problem-Solving
2 109 (14.71%) Load Balancing
3 107 (14.44%) High Availability
4 105 (14.17%) ITIL
5 91 (12.28%) Zero Trust
6 76 (10.26%) Stakeholder Management
7 74 (9.99%) Migration
7 74 (9.99%) Project Delivery
8 69 (9.31%) Infrastructure as Code
9 68 (9.18%) Network Architecture
10 66 (8.91%) Network Design
11 65 (8.77%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 64 (8.64%) Roadmaps
13 57 (7.69%) Change Management
14 54 (7.29%) Agile
15 51 (6.88%) Network Monitoring
16 50 (6.75%) Continuous Improvement
16 50 (6.75%) Technical Leadership
17 49 (6.61%) DevOps
18 47 (6.34%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 111 (14.98%) Python
2 50 (6.75%) PowerShell
3 19 (2.56%) SQL
4 14 (1.89%) Bash
5 4 (0.54%) C++
5 4 (0.54%) Java
6 2 (0.27%) C
6 2 (0.27%) Groovy
6 2 (0.27%) Perl
7 1 (0.13%) Bicep
7 1 (0.13%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 235 (31.71%) Security Cleared
2 208 (28.07%) Cisco Certification
3 143 (19.30%) SC Cleared
4 134 (18.08%) CCNP
5 76 (10.26%) DV Cleared
6 75 (10.12%) CCNA
7 53 (7.15%) CCIE
8 45 (6.07%) Degree
9 19 (2.56%) PMP
10 14 (1.89%) Azure Certification
10 14 (1.89%) JNCIP
11 13 (1.75%) JNCIS
11 13 (1.75%) PMI Certification
12 12 (1.62%) Computer Science Degree
12 12 (1.62%) JNCIE
13 11 (1.48%) BPSS Clearance
14 9 (1.21%) AWS Certification
15 8 (1.08%) CISSP
15 8 (1.08%) JNCIA
15 8 (1.08%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (3.24%) SLA
2 17 (2.29%) NIST
3 16 (2.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 15 (2.02%) QA
5 11 (1.48%) NCSC
6 5 (0.67%) GDPR
6 5 (0.67%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.54%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.54%) PMO
8 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.13%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.13%) DICOM
9 1 (0.13%) GRC
9 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.13%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
System Software
1 88 (11.88%) Active Directory
2 66 (8.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 34 (4.59%) VMware NSX
4 17 (2.29%) Virtual Machines
5 16 (2.16%) Firmware
5 16 (2.16%) vSphere
6 13 (1.75%) Hyper-V
7 8 (1.08%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.27%) Docker
8 2 (0.27%) NFS
8 2 (0.27%) Squid
8 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.13%) FreeRADIUS
9 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
9 1 (0.13%) Samba
9 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 88 (11.88%) Ansible
2 80 (10.80%) Terraform
3 71 (9.58%) FortiGate
4 26 (3.51%) Microsoft Intune
5 19 (2.56%) Grafana
6 18 (2.43%) Prometheus
7 14 (1.89%) Single Sign-On
8 9 (1.21%) SCCM
9 8 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
9 8 (1.08%) Kubernetes
10 6 (0.81%) Puppet
11 5 (0.67%) Cisco Prime
11 5 (0.67%) Nagios
11 5 (0.67%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.54%) CASB
12 4 (0.54%) Cisco CUCM
12 4 (0.54%) Packer
12 4 (0.54%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.40%) vCenter Server
14 2 (0.27%) Amdocs OSS
Vendors
1 364 (49.12%) Cisco
2 174 (23.48%) Palo Alto
3 148 (19.97%) Microsoft
4 120 (16.19%) F5
5 108 (14.57%) Fortinet
6 97 (13.09%) Juniper
7 86 (11.61%) VMware
8 80 (10.80%) Aruba
9 69 (9.31%) SolarWinds
10 55 (7.42%) Arista
11 54 (7.29%) CheckPoint
12 51 (6.88%) Zscaler
13 37 (4.99%) Meraki
14 35 (4.72%) Splunk
15 28 (3.78%) Extreme Networks
16 26 (3.51%) ServiceNow
17 17 (2.29%) Nokia
18 13 (1.75%) Ekahau
19 12 (1.62%) Dell
20 11 (1.48%) HP