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

6 months to
5 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 192 154 100
Rank change year-on-year -38 -54 +70
Contract jobs citing WAN 526 597 1,108
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.52% 1.63% 2.39%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 13.35% 13.53% 17.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 353 354 654
10th Percentile £203 £250 £250
25th Percentile £325 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £493
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +1.42% +9.56%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £630
90th Percentile £685 £674 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £450 £450
% change year-on-year -11.11% - +1.12%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 16 36
10th Percentile £14.74 £19.64 £17.07
25th Percentile £15.50 £29.04 £20.44
Median hourly rate £30.00 £40.00 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +73.91% -2.13%
75th Percentile £32.00 £74.06 £64.28
90th Percentile £50.45 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.50 £67.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -57.78% +193.48% +2.22%

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 3,941 4,414 6,485
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 11.40% 12.09% 13.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,557 2,539 4,039
10th Percentile £213 £223 £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 £685 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -5.26% - +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 192 162 340
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.08 £17.72
25th Percentile £19.87 £26.25 £22.75
Median hourly rate £34.50 £48.03 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -28.17% -12.67% +34.05%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £66.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £76.12
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £52.50 £56.49
% change year-on-year -19.05% -7.06% +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 5 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 5 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 5 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 -36 438 £464 -7.20% 1,439
UK excluding London -46 302 £400 -11.11% 1,295
London -1 172 £536 -2.55% 509
Work from Home -43 115 £500 - 1,094
Midlands -12 83 £400 +6.67% 102
West Midlands +5 79 £400 -5.88% 50
North of England -57 72 £400 -11.11% 107
South East -53 51 £438 -12.50% 738
North West -35 48 £335 -27.02% 53
Scotland +31 40 £380 -5.00% 24
East of England -23 24 £388 -31.11% 251
Yorkshire -47 22 £440 +46.67% 35
South West -6 19 £450 +7.14% 58
Wales +6 10 £200 -23.81% 33
East Midlands -37 4 £315 -16.00% 43
Channel Islands - 4 £743 - 2
Northern Ireland -9 2 £600 - 11
North East -11 2 £550 +57.14% 19

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 (4.56%) SharePoint
2 21 (3.99%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (2.28%) OpenStack
4 10 (1.90%) Confluence
5 6 (1.14%) 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 40 (7.60%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (2.28%) MS Visio
3 10 (1.90%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.71%) Microsoft Excel
5 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (0.57%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 120 (22.81%) Azure
2 76 (14.45%) AWS
3 44 (8.37%) Microsoft 365
4 30 (5.70%) Entra ID
5 25 (4.75%) GCP
6 13 (2.47%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 13 (2.47%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 12 (2.28%) GitHub
8 11 (2.09%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.33%) OneDrive
10 6 (1.14%) AWS Direct Connect
10 6 (1.14%) OpenShift
11 5 (0.95%) Azure Monitor
11 5 (0.95%) SaaS
12 4 (0.76%) Cloud Computing
12 4 (0.76%) IaaS
12 4 (0.76%) PaaS
13 3 (0.57%) Microsoft Copilot
14 2 (0.38%) Azure Sentinel
14 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 325 (61.79%) LAN
2 245 (46.58%) Firewall
3 184 (34.98%) SD-WAN
4 166 (31.56%) VPN
5 112 (21.29%) BGP
6 99 (18.82%) DNS
7 92 (17.49%) Wi-Fi
8 90 (17.11%) MPLS
9 88 (16.73%) Network Security
10 86 (16.35%) Wireless
11 80 (15.21%) OSPF
12 72 (13.69%) DHCP
13 62 (11.79%) VLAN
14 61 (11.60%) TCP/IP
15 55 (10.46%) IPsec
16 50 (9.51%) Cisco Nexus
17 33 (6.27%) Cisco ISE
17 33 (6.27%) WLAN
18 30 (5.70%) EIGRP
19 23 (4.37%) 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 13 (2.47%) JIRA
2 7 (1.33%) GitLab
3 6 (1.14%) Jenkins
3 6 (1.14%) Sonatype Nexus
4 5 (0.95%) Git
5 2 (0.38%) Bitbucket
General
1 142 (27.00%) Social Skills
2 54 (10.27%) Finance
3 52 (9.89%) Public Sector
4 49 (9.32%) Telecoms
5 31 (5.89%) Analytical Skills
6 28 (5.32%) Documentation Skills
7 14 (2.66%) Manufacturing
8 10 (1.90%) Banking
8 10 (1.90%) Local Government
9 9 (1.71%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.52%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.52%) Legal
10 8 (1.52%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (0.95%) Spanish Language
12 4 (0.76%) Aerospace
12 4 (0.76%) Law
12 4 (0.76%) Military
13 3 (0.57%) French Language
13 3 (0.57%) Retail
Job Titles
1 171 (32.51%) Network Engineer
2 104 (19.77%) Architect
3 69 (13.12%) Network Architect
4 51 (9.70%) Support Engineer
5 39 (7.41%) Senior
6 31 (5.89%) Analyst
7 27 (5.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 26 (4.94%) 2nd Line Support
9 24 (4.56%) Security Engineer
10 23 (4.37%) 3rd Line Engineer
10 23 (4.37%) WAN Engineer
11 22 (4.18%) 3rd Line Support
11 22 (4.18%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
11 22 (4.18%) Consultant
11 22 (4.18%) Senior Network Engineer
12 20 (3.80%) Solutions Architect
13 19 (3.61%) Field Engineer
14 18 (3.42%) 2nd Line Engineer
14 18 (3.42%) Network Security Engineer
14 18 (3.42%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (5.13%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.47%) Middleware
3 7 (1.33%) NETCONF
3 7 (1.33%) YANG
4 6 (1.14%) REST
5 3 (0.57%) EDI
5 3 (0.57%) Jinja
6 2 (0.38%) RFC 2544
7 1 (0.19%) ARM Templates
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%) RESTCONF
7 1 (0.19%) XML
7 1 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 129 (24.52%) Data Centre
2 34 (6.46%) Hybrid Cloud
3 26 (4.94%) PKI
4 21 (3.99%) Cloud Native
5 20 (3.80%) Driving Licence
6 18 (3.42%) Public Cloud
7 14 (2.66%) Virtual Team
8 12 (2.28%) CMDB
9 10 (1.90%) Management Information System
9 10 (1.90%) Onboarding
10 9 (1.71%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (1.52%) NHS
11 8 (1.52%) Operational Technology
11 8 (1.52%) Replication
12 6 (1.14%) Data Protection Act
12 6 (1.14%) Private Cloud
12 6 (1.14%) SCADA
12 6 (1.14%) Security Posture
13 5 (0.95%) Enterprise Software
13 5 (0.95%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 101 (19.20%) Windows
2 33 (6.27%) Windows Server
3 31 (5.89%) Windows 10
4 25 (4.75%) Linux
5 10 (1.90%) Mac OS
6 8 (1.52%) Android
6 8 (1.52%) Windows Server 2016
6 8 (1.52%) Windows Server 2019
7 7 (1.33%) Windows 7
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 90 (17.11%) Network Design
2 74 (14.07%) Migration
3 72 (13.69%) Network Architecture
4 67 (12.74%) Problem-Solving
5 61 (11.60%) ITIL
6 50 (9.51%) Load Balancing
7 43 (8.17%) Network Monitoring
8 41 (7.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 38 (7.22%) Project Delivery
9 38 (7.22%) Stakeholder Management
10 37 (7.03%) Cybersecurity
11 36 (6.84%) Change Management
12 35 (6.65%) Service Management
13 32 (6.08%) High Availability
13 32 (6.08%) Zero Trust
14 31 (5.89%) DevOps
15 30 (5.70%) Customer Service
15 30 (5.70%) Network Management
15 30 (5.70%) Network Virtualisation
15 30 (5.70%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 54 (10.27%) Python
2 20 (3.80%) PowerShell
3 6 (1.14%) Bicep
3 6 (1.14%) VBScript
4 5 (0.95%) SQL
4 5 (0.95%) VB
5 4 (0.76%) Bash
5 4 (0.76%) Perl
6 2 (0.38%) Java
7 1 (0.19%) C
7 1 (0.19%) C#
7 1 (0.19%) Go
Qualifications
1 137 (26.05%) Security Cleared
2 130 (24.71%) Cisco Certification
3 103 (19.58%) SC Cleared
4 91 (17.30%) CCNP
5 45 (8.56%) CCIE
6 40 (7.60%) CCNA
7 37 (7.03%) Degree
8 30 (5.70%) DV Cleared
9 19 (3.61%) JNCIE
10 14 (2.66%) AWS Certification
11 12 (2.28%) Computer Science Degree
12 10 (1.90%) JNCIP
13 9 (1.71%) CISSP
14 8 (1.52%) Azure Certification
15 7 (1.33%) BPSS Clearance
15 7 (1.33%) CCSA
15 7 (1.33%) JNCIS
16 6 (1.14%) ECDL
16 6 (1.14%) Microsoft Certification
17 5 (0.95%) CCDP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.99%) SLA
2 18 (3.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (2.09%) NIST
4 9 (1.71%) PCI DSS
5 8 (1.52%) GDPR
6 5 (0.95%) QA
7 4 (0.76%) PMO
8 3 (0.57%) NCSC
9 2 (0.38%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.38%) GRC
10 1 (0.19%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.19%) Def Stans
10 1 (0.19%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.19%) MiFID
10 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 77 (14.64%) Active Directory
2 31 (5.89%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (3.61%) VMware NSX
4 13 (2.47%) Hyper-V
4 13 (2.47%) Virtual Machines
5 11 (2.09%) Firmware
6 8 (1.52%) Virtual Desktop
7 5 (0.95%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.95%) 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 (9.89%) Ansible
2 33 (6.27%) Terraform
3 26 (4.94%) SCCM
4 17 (3.23%) FortiGate
5 16 (3.04%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (1.90%) CASB
7 6 (1.14%) SCOrch
8 5 (0.95%) Cisco Prime
8 5 (0.95%) HP ALM
9 4 (0.76%) CA Spectrum
9 4 (0.76%) Cisco CUCM
9 4 (0.76%) OpenView
10 3 (0.57%) HAProxy
10 3 (0.57%) Nagios
10 3 (0.57%) SCOM
10 3 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.57%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.38%) AppManager
11 2 (0.38%) Grafana
11 2 (0.38%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 235 (44.68%) Cisco
2 88 (16.73%) Microsoft
3 85 (16.16%) Juniper
3 85 (16.16%) Palo Alto
4 70 (13.31%) Fortinet
5 55 (10.46%) F5
6 52 (9.89%) VMware
7 49 (9.32%) Meraki
8 37 (7.03%) SolarWinds
9 30 (5.70%) CheckPoint
10 25 (4.75%) ServiceNow
11 21 (3.99%) Aruba
12 15 (2.85%) Citrix
12 15 (2.85%) Zscaler
13 14 (2.66%) HP
14 13 (2.47%) Remedy
15 12 (2.28%) Blue Coat
16 7 (1.33%) Arista
16 7 (1.33%) Nokia
16 7 (1.33%) Peregrine