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

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 187 174 128
Rank change year-on-year -13 -46 -11
Contract jobs citing WAN 738 486 772
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.45% 1.61% 1.78%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.29% 13.05% 14.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 490 309 426
10th Percentile £307 £238 £263
25th Percentile £400 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% +2.63%
75th Percentile £588 £585 £650
90th Percentile £675 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £438 £475
% change year-on-year +12.00% -7.89% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 18 40
10th Percentile £18.09 £21.22 £14.00
25th Percentile £20.56 £27.50 £19.59
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.00 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -10.93% +20.63% -56.62%
75th Percentile £42.80 £39.69 £40.25
90th Percentile £76.72 £53.38 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year -25.00% -20.00% -21.60%

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 4,826 3,725 5,407
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.48% 12.32% 12.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,956 2,268 3,192
10th Percentile £250 £225 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £470 £493
% change year-on-year +2.77% -4.57% +3.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 297 177 430
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.87
25th Percentile £20.50 £21.00 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.88 £44.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.64% -2.22% +136.84%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.13 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.10 £77.00 £73.30
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £33.89 £47.50
% change year-on-year -21.32% -28.66% +150.00%

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 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 26 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 26 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 -16 625 £500 +4.17% 187
UK excluding London -12 454 £490 +12.00% 176
London -24 210 £520 -2.99% 54
Work from Home -7 180 £510 +2.00% 93
South East +14 167 £505 +12.22% 50
North of England -25 111 £498 +13.71% 36
North West -28 64 £536 +26.12% 20
Scotland +13 55 £500 +17.65% 20
Midlands -58 54 £378 -5.63% 31
West Midlands -59 43 £339 -15.31% 22
Yorkshire -21 42 £450 -5.76% 14
East of England -7 41 £438 +1.74% 13
South West -41 23 £556 +23.56% 18
North East -22 11 £650 +73.33% 4
Wales -18 7 £468 +133.75% 6
East Midlands -8 6 £488 -2.50% 9
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 6
Channel Islands -2 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 (4.07%) Microsoft Exchange
2 25 (3.39%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.44%) Confluence
4 10 (1.36%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.95%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.27%) IIS
7 1 (0.14%) CMS
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 27 (3.66%) MS Visio
2 17 (2.30%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.90%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (1.36%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (1.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.41%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.27%) Acrobat
7 2 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.14%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 223 (30.22%) Azure
2 117 (15.85%) AWS
3 73 (9.89%) Microsoft 365
4 48 (6.50%) Entra ID
5 38 (5.15%) SaaS
6 29 (3.93%) GCP
7 26 (3.52%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 23 (3.12%) OCI
9 18 (2.44%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (2.03%) OneDrive
11 14 (1.90%) PaaS
12 13 (1.76%) Azure Sentinel
12 13 (1.76%) Serverless
13 12 (1.63%) Azure DevOps
14 11 (1.49%) AWS CloudFormation
14 11 (1.49%) AWS Direct Connect
15 9 (1.22%) Azure Monitor
16 8 (1.08%) Power Platform
17 7 (0.95%) Amazon CloudWatch
17 7 (0.95%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 481 (65.18%) LAN
2 386 (52.30%) Firewall
3 287 (38.89%) SD-WAN
4 241 (32.66%) BGP
5 202 (27.37%) VPN
6 184 (24.93%) OSPF
7 157 (21.27%) Network Security
8 144 (19.51%) DNS
9 130 (17.62%) Wi-Fi
10 129 (17.48%) MPLS
11 106 (14.36%) Wireless
12 89 (12.06%) VLAN
13 88 (11.92%) DHCP
14 79 (10.70%) VXLAN
15 78 (10.57%) TCP/IP
16 69 (9.35%) IPsec
17 63 (8.54%) BIG-IP
18 61 (8.27%) Ethernet VPN
18 61 (8.27%) WLAN
19 52 (7.05%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.68%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.41%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.41%) 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 (0.14%) Power BI
5 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 33 (4.47%) JIRA
2 21 (2.85%) GitLab
3 11 (1.49%) Git
4 7 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
5 6 (0.81%) Jenkins
6 4 (0.54%) Browser DevTools
7 3 (0.41%) Chocolatey
8 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.14%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.14%) MSI
9 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
General
1 164 (22.22%) Social Skills
2 74 (10.03%) Finance
3 68 (9.21%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (8.54%) Telecoms
5 60 (8.13%) Public Sector
6 49 (6.64%) Legal
7 29 (3.93%) Documentation Skills
8 18 (2.44%) Financial Institution
9 16 (2.17%) Manufacturing
10 13 (1.76%) Retail
11 11 (1.49%) Law
11 11 (1.49%) Military
12 10 (1.36%) Banking
12 10 (1.36%) Organisational Skills
13 9 (1.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 8 (1.08%) Billing
15 7 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.68%) Police
17 3 (0.41%) German Language
17 3 (0.41%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 287 (38.89%) Network Engineer
2 118 (15.99%) Architect
3 102 (13.82%) Senior
4 67 (9.08%) Network Architect
5 45 (6.10%) Senior Network Engineer
6 43 (5.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 35 (4.74%) Cisco Engineer
8 34 (4.61%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 31 (4.20%) Cisco Network Engineer
9 31 (4.20%) Lead
10 26 (3.52%) Support Engineer
11 25 (3.39%) Security Engineer
12 24 (3.25%) Project Manager
13 23 (3.12%) IT Support
13 23 (3.12%) Technical Architect
14 21 (2.85%) Network Manager
15 20 (2.71%) Consultant
15 20 (2.71%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
16 19 (2.57%) IT Engineer
17 18 (2.44%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (7.32%) 802.1X
2 15 (2.03%) SAML
3 13 (1.76%) REST
4 10 (1.36%) LDAP
4 10 (1.36%) Microsoft Graph
4 10 (1.36%) NETCONF
4 10 (1.36%) YANG
5 4 (0.54%) Jinja
5 4 (0.54%) Middleware
6 3 (0.41%) ARM Templates
6 3 (0.41%) OpenConfig
6 3 (0.41%) RESTCONF
7 2 (0.27%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.27%) GraphQL
7 2 (0.27%) gRPC
7 2 (0.27%) Kafka
7 2 (0.27%) OpenAPI
7 2 (0.27%) RFC 2544
7 2 (0.27%) Swagger
7 2 (0.27%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 198 (26.83%) Data Centre
2 53 (7.18%) Hybrid Cloud
3 36 (4.88%) PKI
4 27 (3.66%) Cloud Native
4 27 (3.66%) Clustering
5 22 (2.98%) Security Posture
6 18 (2.44%) Onboarding
7 17 (2.30%) Driving Licence
8 16 (2.17%) Operational Technology
9 14 (1.90%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.49%) IoT
11 10 (1.36%) Data Protection Act
11 10 (1.36%) Public Cloud
12 9 (1.22%) Private Cloud
12 9 (1.22%) SCADA
13 8 (1.08%) NHS
14 7 (0.95%) Enterprise Software
14 7 (0.95%) Linux Command Line
15 5 (0.68%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 184 (24.93%) Windows
2 60 (8.13%) Windows Server
3 46 (6.23%) Linux
4 20 (2.71%) Windows Server 2019
5 17 (2.30%) Windows 10
6 10 (1.36%) Android
7 8 (1.08%) VMS
8 7 (0.95%) Apple iOS
9 6 (0.81%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.68%) Unix
10 5 (0.68%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.68%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.54%) Windows 7
12 3 (0.41%) CatOS
13 1 (0.14%) CentOS
13 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (14.50%) ITIL
1 107 (14.50%) Load Balancing
2 105 (14.23%) Problem-Solving
3 104 (14.09%) High Availability
4 84 (11.38%) Zero Trust
5 76 (10.30%) Migration
6 73 (9.89%) Network Design
7 71 (9.62%) Network Architecture
7 71 (9.62%) Stakeholder Management
8 66 (8.94%) Infrastructure as Code
9 61 (8.27%) Change Management
9 61 (8.27%) Roadmaps
10 59 (7.99%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 59 (7.99%) Project Delivery
11 58 (7.86%) Agile
12 53 (7.18%) Network Monitoring
13 51 (6.91%) Technical Leadership
14 48 (6.50%) DevOps
15 46 (6.23%) Continuous Improvement
15 46 (6.23%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 112 (15.18%) Python
2 58 (7.86%) PowerShell
3 22 (2.98%) SQL
4 12 (1.63%) Bash
5 5 (0.68%) VBScript
6 4 (0.54%) C++
6 4 (0.54%) VB
7 3 (0.41%) Java
8 2 (0.27%) C
8 2 (0.27%) Groovy
8 2 (0.27%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.27%) Perl
9 1 (0.14%) Bicep
9 1 (0.14%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 222 (30.08%) Security Cleared
2 214 (29.00%) Cisco Certification
3 152 (20.60%) SC Cleared
4 139 (18.83%) CCNP
5 73 (9.89%) CCNA
6 63 (8.54%) DV Cleared
7 55 (7.45%) CCIE
8 51 (6.91%) Degree
9 21 (2.85%) PMP
10 15 (2.03%) PMI Certification
11 14 (1.90%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.76%) AWS Certification
12 13 (1.76%) JNCIE
12 13 (1.76%) JNCIP
13 12 (1.63%) JNCIS
14 11 (1.49%) JNCIA
15 10 (1.36%) BPSS Clearance
15 10 (1.36%) Computer Science Degree
16 7 (0.95%) CISSP
16 7 (0.95%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.85%) SLA
2 18 (2.44%) QA
3 16 (2.17%) NIST
4 12 (1.63%) NCSC
5 11 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (0.68%) GDPR
7 4 (0.54%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.54%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.54%) PMO
8 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 2 (0.27%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.14%) Data Quality
9 1 (0.14%) DICOM
9 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 1 (0.14%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.14%) RMADS
9 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 103 (13.96%) Active Directory
2 72 (9.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 35 (4.74%) VMware NSX
4 21 (2.85%) vSphere
5 18 (2.44%) Virtual Machines
6 14 (1.90%) Firmware
6 14 (1.90%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.49%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.54%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.41%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.27%) Squid
11 1 (0.14%) Docker
11 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.14%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.14%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 91 (12.33%) Ansible
2 83 (11.25%) Terraform
3 82 (11.11%) FortiGate
4 27 (3.66%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (2.98%) Grafana
6 19 (2.57%) Prometheus
7 16 (2.17%) Single Sign-On
8 15 (2.03%) SCCM
9 8 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
10 6 (0.81%) Cisco Prime
11 5 (0.68%) Kubernetes
12 4 (0.54%) CASB
12 4 (0.54%) Cisco CUCM
12 4 (0.54%) Packer
12 4 (0.54%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.54%) Puppet
12 4 (0.54%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.41%) Endace
13 3 (0.41%) Nagios
14 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
Vendors
1 375 (50.81%) Cisco
2 171 (23.17%) Palo Alto
3 155 (21.00%) Microsoft
4 119 (16.12%) F5
5 99 (13.41%) Fortinet
6 92 (12.47%) VMware
7 89 (12.06%) Juniper
8 87 (11.79%) Aruba
9 69 (9.35%) SolarWinds
10 60 (8.13%) CheckPoint
11 59 (7.99%) Arista
12 48 (6.50%) Zscaler
13 41 (5.56%) Meraki
14 35 (4.74%) ServiceNow
14 35 (4.74%) Splunk
15 28 (3.79%) Extreme Networks
16 16 (2.17%) Dell
17 13 (1.76%) Ekahau
18 10 (1.36%) Veeam
19 8 (1.08%) BT