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 vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 197 167 98
Rank change year-on-year -30 -69 +67
Contract jobs citing WAN 485 578 1,193
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.47% 1.50% 2.42%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.78% 12.64% 18.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 323 336 711
10th Percentile £204 £255 £252
25th Percentile £333 £363 £341
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% +5.56%
75th Percentile £576 £600 £607
90th Percentile £694 £694 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £465 £440
% change year-on-year -13.98% +5.68% +2.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 18 32
10th Percentile £24.43 £17.91 £14.32
25th Percentile £28.50 £21.54 £20.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £55.25 £31.52
Median % change year-on-year -45.70% +75.29% +28.65%
75th Percentile £39.06 £75.00 £63.50
90th Percentile £65.45 £75.24 £69.62
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £55.25 £24.00
% change year-on-year -45.70% +130.21% +6.67%

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 3,796 4,572 6,520
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 11.52% 11.87% 13.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,354 2,662 4,158
10th Percentile £225 £225 £228
25th Percentile £363 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £588 £608 £613
90th Percentile £679 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £500 £453
% change year-on-year -10.00% +10.50% +0.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 200 254 300
10th Percentile £15.50 £14.16 £16.77
25th Percentile £25.15 £21.37 £22.94
Median hourly rate £43.00 £50.50 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -14.85% -10.60% +34.50%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £67.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £75.70
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £57.35 £57.50
% change year-on-year -25.89% -0.26% +27.78%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing WAN as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for WAN 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 18 September 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 18 September 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 18 September 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 -23 419 £450 -10.00% 281
UK excluding London -37 272 £400 -13.98% 245
London +9 166 £543 +1.50% 88
Work from Home -16 109 £519 -1.47% 106
Midlands -18 76 £400 +6.67% 42
West Midlands +3 72 £400 +6.67% 32
South East -25 69 £450 -14.29% 81
North of England -30 55 £330 -22.35% 59
North West -18 36 £250 -44.44% 25
Scotland +17 26 £425 +6.25% 24
South West +24 22 £400 -27.27% 14
Yorkshire -35 17 £458 +7.71% 28
East of England -9 13 £238 -57.49% 28
Wales +8 9 £200 -31.91% 3
East Midlands -25 4 £315 -16.00% 10
Channel Islands - 4 £743 -
North East -1 2 £550 +83.33% 9
Northern Ireland -8 1 £600 - 2

WAN
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 20 (4.12%) SharePoint
2 12 (2.47%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (2.47%) OpenStack
3 6 (1.24%) Confluence
4 2 (0.41%) Camunda
4 2 (0.41%) nginx
5 1 (0.21%) Apache
5 1 (0.21%) CICS
5 1 (0.21%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
5 1 (0.21%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 30 (6.19%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 7 (1.44%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.41%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (0.62%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 113 (23.30%) Azure
2 70 (14.43%) AWS
3 43 (8.87%) Microsoft 365
4 29 (5.98%) Entra ID
5 11 (2.27%) GCP
6 10 (2.06%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 9 (1.86%) OneDrive
7 9 (1.86%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 6 (1.24%) Azure DevOps
8 6 (1.24%) Azure Monitor
8 6 (1.24%) OpenShift
9 4 (0.82%) AWS Direct Connect
9 4 (0.82%) Cloud Computing
9 4 (0.82%) GitHub
9 4 (0.82%) SaaS
10 3 (0.62%) IaaS
10 3 (0.62%) PaaS
10 3 (0.62%) Serverless
11 2 (0.41%) AWS CloudFormation
11 2 (0.41%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 304 (62.68%) LAN
2 226 (46.60%) Firewall
3 169 (34.85%) SD-WAN
4 161 (33.20%) VPN
5 115 (23.71%) BGP
6 95 (19.59%) Network Security
7 93 (19.18%) Wireless
8 90 (18.56%) MPLS
9 84 (17.32%) DNS
10 83 (17.11%) OSPF
11 82 (16.91%) Wi-Fi
12 58 (11.96%) DHCP
13 56 (11.55%) TCP/IP
14 55 (11.34%) Cisco Nexus
15 49 (10.10%) IPsec
16 44 (9.07%) VLAN
17 33 (6.80%) WLAN
18 27 (5.57%) Cisco ISE
19 25 (5.15%) EIGRP
20 24 (4.95%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.62%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.41%) Data Lake
2 2 (0.41%) RDBMS
2 2 (0.41%) Relational Database
3 1 (0.21%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.21%) MySQL
3 1 (0.21%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.21%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 8 (1.65%) Sonatype Nexus
2 6 (1.24%) JIRA
3 5 (1.03%) Git
4 4 (0.82%) GitLab
5 2 (0.41%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.21%) Jenkins
General
1 146 (30.10%) Social Skills
2 59 (12.16%) Finance
3 47 (9.69%) Public Sector
4 43 (8.87%) Telecoms
5 22 (4.54%) Documentation Skills
6 20 (4.12%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (3.09%) Legal
8 14 (2.89%) Manufacturing
9 10 (2.06%) Banking
10 9 (1.86%) Local Government
11 8 (1.65%) Law
12 6 (1.24%) Organisational Skills
13 5 (1.03%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (0.82%) Aerospace
14 4 (0.82%) Electronics
14 4 (0.82%) Games
14 4 (0.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (0.82%) Retail
15 3 (0.62%) Military
15 3 (0.62%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 171 (35.26%) Network Engineer
2 95 (19.59%) Architect
3 58 (11.96%) Network Architect
4 48 (9.90%) Support Engineer
5 35 (7.22%) Senior
6 21 (4.33%) 2nd Line Support
6 21 (4.33%) Analyst
6 21 (4.33%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 21 (4.33%) WAN Engineer
7 20 (4.12%) Senior Network Engineer
8 19 (3.92%) 3rd Line Engineer
8 19 (3.92%) Consultant
8 19 (3.92%) Security Engineer
9 18 (3.71%) 3rd Line Support
9 18 (3.71%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
10 17 (3.51%) 2nd Line Engineer
10 17 (3.51%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 17 (3.51%) Technical Architect
10 17 (3.51%) Test Engineer
11 16 (3.30%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (4.95%) 802.1X
2 17 (3.51%) Middleware
3 7 (1.44%) NETCONF
3 7 (1.44%) YANG
4 6 (1.24%) REST
5 3 (0.62%) EDI
5 3 (0.62%) Jinja
5 3 (0.62%) XML
6 2 (0.41%) .NET
6 2 (0.41%) .NET Framework
6 2 (0.41%) JSON
6 2 (0.41%) RFC 2544
7 1 (0.21%) Java RMI
7 1 (0.21%) LAMP
7 1 (0.21%) LDAP
7 1 (0.21%) Node.js
7 1 (0.21%) RESTCONF
Miscellaneous
1 123 (25.36%) Data Centre
2 28 (5.77%) Hybrid Cloud
3 22 (4.54%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (4.33%) PKI
5 20 (4.12%) Cloud Native
6 14 (2.89%) Public Cloud
6 14 (2.89%) Virtual Team
7 11 (2.27%) Driving Licence
8 10 (2.06%) Onboarding
8 10 (2.06%) Security Posture
9 9 (1.86%) Operational Technology
10 8 (1.65%) Legacy Systems
10 8 (1.65%) SCADA
11 7 (1.44%) CMDB
11 7 (1.44%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.44%) Management Information System
12 6 (1.24%) Data Protection Act
12 6 (1.24%) Private Cloud
12 6 (1.24%) Replication
12 6 (1.24%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 85 (17.53%) Windows
2 37 (7.63%) Linux
3 22 (4.54%) Windows 10
3 22 (4.54%) Windows Server
4 11 (2.27%) Unix
5 9 (1.86%) Mac OS
5 9 (1.86%) Windows Server 2019
6 8 (1.65%) Windows Server 2016
7 5 (1.03%) Android
8 3 (0.62%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.41%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.21%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.21%) MVS
10 1 (0.21%) Solaris
10 1 (0.21%) SUSE
10 1 (0.21%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.21%) Windows 8
10 1 (0.21%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (16.29%) Network Design
2 63 (12.99%) Network Architecture
3 62 (12.78%) Migration
4 61 (12.58%) Problem-Solving
5 56 (11.55%) ITIL
6 49 (10.10%) Network Monitoring
7 45 (9.28%) Load Balancing
8 37 (7.63%) Change Management
9 35 (7.22%) High Availability
10 34 (7.01%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 32 (6.60%) Customer Service
11 32 (6.60%) Project Management
12 30 (6.19%) Service Management
13 29 (5.98%) Cybersecurity
14 28 (5.77%) Network Virtualisation
15 26 (5.36%) Roadmaps
15 26 (5.36%) Zero Trust
16 24 (4.95%) DevOps
16 24 (4.95%) Project Delivery
16 24 (4.95%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 46 (9.48%) Python
2 12 (2.47%) Java
3 8 (1.65%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.65%) SQL
4 6 (1.24%) Bicep
5 4 (0.82%) Bash
5 4 (0.82%) Perl
6 3 (0.62%) C#
7 1 (0.21%) C
7 1 (0.21%) Go
Qualifications
1 138 (28.45%) Cisco Certification
2 124 (25.57%) Security Cleared
3 98 (20.21%) CCNP
4 91 (18.76%) SC Cleared
5 43 (8.87%) CCNA
6 39 (8.04%) CCIE
7 36 (7.42%) Degree
8 24 (4.95%) DV Cleared
9 17 (3.51%) JNCIE
10 13 (2.68%) Computer Science Degree
11 11 (2.27%) ISTQB
11 11 (2.27%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 10 (2.06%) AWS Certification
12 10 (2.06%) ISEB
13 8 (1.65%) CCSA
14 7 (1.44%) JNCIA
15 6 (1.24%) Microsoft Certification
16 5 (1.03%) BPSS Clearance
16 5 (1.03%) JNCIP
17 4 (0.82%) CCIE Routing and Switching
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (2.47%) SLA
2 10 (2.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 7 (1.44%) NIST
3 7 (1.44%) QA
4 5 (1.03%) PCI DSS
5 3 (0.62%) NCSC
6 2 (0.41%) Disclosure Scotland
6 2 (0.41%) GDPR
6 2 (0.41%) GRC
7 1 (0.21%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 1 (0.21%) Def Stans
7 1 (0.21%) GxP
7 1 (0.21%) SOC 2
System Software
1 68 (14.02%) Active Directory
2 32 (6.60%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (2.68%) Firmware
3 13 (2.68%) VMware NSX
4 11 (2.27%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.86%) Virtual Machines
6 7 (1.44%) Virtual Desktop
7 4 (0.82%) vSphere
8 2 (0.41%) Microsoft App-V
9 1 (0.21%) KVM
9 1 (0.21%) NFS
9 1 (0.21%) SRDF
9 1 (0.21%) Veritas Cluster Server
9 1 (0.21%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.21%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.21%) Xen
9 1 (0.21%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 45 (9.28%) Ansible
2 23 (4.74%) Terraform
3 20 (4.12%) FortiGate
4 17 (3.51%) SCCM
5 11 (2.27%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (2.06%) Cisco Prime
7 7 (1.44%) CASB
8 5 (1.03%) CA Spectrum
8 5 (1.03%) HP ALM
9 4 (0.82%) AppManager
9 4 (0.82%) Cisco CUCM
9 4 (0.82%) OpenView
10 3 (0.62%) HAProxy
11 2 (0.41%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.41%) Kubernetes
11 2 (0.41%) SCOM
11 2 (0.41%) SCOrch
12 1 (0.21%) Nagios
12 1 (0.21%) Puppet
12 1 (0.21%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 237 (48.87%) Cisco
2 90 (18.56%) Juniper
3 82 (16.91%) Palo Alto
4 79 (16.29%) Microsoft
5 55 (11.34%) Fortinet
6 53 (10.93%) F5
7 46 (9.48%) VMware
8 45 (9.28%) Meraki
9 38 (7.84%) SolarWinds
10 30 (6.19%) CheckPoint
11 18 (3.71%) ServiceNow
12 16 (3.30%) Aruba
13 13 (2.68%) HP
13 13 (2.68%) Remedy
14 12 (2.47%) Citrix
15 11 (2.27%) Zscaler
16 9 (1.86%) Arista
16 9 (1.86%) Blue Coat
16 9 (1.86%) MuleSoft
17 7 (1.44%) Peregrine