WAN Contracts

Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring WAN skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited WAN over the 6 months leading up to 30 April 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Apr 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 175 117 137
Rank change year-on-year -58 +20 +50
Contract jobs citing WAN 471 848 1,143
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.61% 1.95% 1.92%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.60% 15.03% 15.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 311 488 714
10th Percentile £250 £263 £257
25th Percentile £368 £360 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% +5.56%
75th Percentile £575 £650 £575
90th Percentile £650 £745 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £434 £500 £440
% change year-on-year -13.25% +13.64% +10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 40 41
10th Percentile £15.33 £13.93 £19.50
25th Percentile £22.75 £19.59 £31.25
Median hourly rate £42.50 £24.69 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +72.17% -58.86% +130.77%
75th Percentile £68.13 £40.00 £80.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.24 £85.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.00 £24.87 £57.33
% change year-on-year +88.98% -56.62% +163.59%

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 3,739 5,643 7,361
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 12.79% 12.94% 12.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,297 3,382 4,789
10th Percentile £213 £205 £235
25th Percentile £363 £350 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £495 £519
Median % change year-on-year -1.52% -4.53% +3.70%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £638
90th Percentile £675 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -2.63% - +8.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 181 423 478
10th Percentile £14.20 £13.57 £9.80
25th Percentile £17.30 £17.35 £10.63
Median hourly rate £32.50 £38.50 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -15.58% +102.63% -31.84%
75th Percentile £58.75 £62.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £67.40 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.59 £45.88 £18.50
% change year-on-year -46.41% +148.00% -13.95%

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
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing WAN.

Daily rate trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Daily rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing WAN.

Hourly rate trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Top 16 Contract 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 30 April 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 -51 417 £475 -5.00% 359
UK excluding London -55 258 £434 -13.25% 271
London -10 163 £500 - 113
Work from Home +2 118 £500 -9.09% 176
South East -28 72 £450 -1.64% 65
North of England +18 71 £425 -10.53% 55
North West +23 54 £450 -2.70% 24
South West -20 34 £500 -23.08% 39
Midlands -62 31 £425 +13.33% 55
West Midlands -52 26 £400 +6.67% 31
Scotland +11 23 £425 -39.29% 21
East of England +34 22 £430 -18.10% 34
Yorkshire -8 14 £268 -47.03% 24
Wales +9 5 £400 - 6
East Midlands +6 5 £500 -20.63% 22
North East 0 2 £375 -6.25% 9

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 33 (7.01%) Microsoft Exchange
2 18 (3.82%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.85%) Skype for Business
4 2 (0.42%) Camunda
4 2 (0.42%) Confluence
5 1 (0.21%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
5 1 (0.21%) IIS
Applications
1 38 (8.07%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (2.76%) MS Visio
3 9 (1.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (1.27%) Microsoft Excel
5 5 (1.06%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.21%) Trello
Business Applications
1 5 (1.06%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 119 (25.27%) Azure
2 87 (18.47%) AWS
3 49 (10.40%) Microsoft 365
4 31 (6.58%) Entra ID
5 19 (4.03%) OneDrive
6 10 (2.12%) Amazon EC2
6 10 (2.12%) Cloudflare
6 10 (2.12%) Route 53
7 8 (1.70%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 6 (1.27%) GCP
9 5 (1.06%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (0.85%) Mimecast
11 3 (0.64%) Akamai
11 3 (0.64%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (0.64%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 2 (0.42%) Azure Data Factory
12 2 (0.42%) Cloud Computing
12 2 (0.42%) GitHub
12 2 (0.42%) SaaS
12 2 (0.42%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 295 (62.63%) LAN
2 236 (50.11%) Firewall
3 211 (44.80%) VPN
4 149 (31.63%) SD-WAN
5 113 (23.99%) BGP
5 113 (23.99%) Network Security
6 107 (22.72%) MPLS
7 94 (19.96%) Wi-Fi
7 94 (19.96%) Wireless
8 85 (18.05%) OSPF
9 84 (17.83%) DNS
10 61 (12.95%) DHCP
11 53 (11.25%) TCP/IP
12 49 (10.40%) IPsec
13 46 (9.77%) VLAN
14 38 (8.07%) Cisco Nexus
15 34 (7.22%) Cisco ISE
15 34 (7.22%) Internet
16 33 (7.01%) Cisco ASA
16 33 (7.01%) EIGRP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.49%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.42%) Data Lake
3 1 (0.21%) Data Warehouse
3 1 (0.21%) MySQL
3 1 (0.21%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (2.12%) Sonatype Nexus
2 5 (1.06%) GitLab
3 4 (0.85%) JIRA
4 2 (0.42%) Git
General
1 131 (27.81%) Social Skills
2 62 (13.16%) Finance
3 42 (8.92%) Telecoms
4 39 (8.28%) Analytical Skills
5 38 (8.07%) Public Sector
6 15 (3.18%) Banking
7 14 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
7 14 (2.97%) Legal
7 14 (2.97%) Manufacturing
8 13 (2.76%) Retail
9 11 (2.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 10 (2.12%) Electronics
11 7 (1.49%) Military
12 6 (1.27%) Law
13 5 (1.06%) Billing
13 5 (1.06%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (1.06%) Marketing
14 3 (0.64%) Games
14 3 (0.64%) Organisational Skills
14 3 (0.64%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 185 (39.28%) Network Engineer
2 77 (16.35%) Architect
3 47 (9.98%) Senior
4 39 (8.28%) Network Architect
5 32 (6.79%) Support Engineer
6 23 (4.88%) Senior Network Engineer
6 23 (4.88%) Technical Architect
7 22 (4.67%) Consultant
8 20 (4.25%) Project Manager
9 18 (3.82%) IP Engineer
10 17 (3.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 16 (3.40%) Cisco Engineer
11 16 (3.40%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 16 (3.40%) Field Engineer
11 16 (3.40%) WAN Engineer
12 14 (2.97%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 14 (2.97%) Test Engineer
13 13 (2.76%) 2nd Line Support
13 13 (2.76%) Analyst
13 13 (2.76%) Network Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (5.94%) 802.1X
2 7 (1.49%) Middleware
3 4 (0.85%) JSON
3 4 (0.85%) LDAP
3 4 (0.85%) NETCONF
4 3 (0.64%) XML
5 2 (0.42%) .NET
5 2 (0.42%) .NET Framework
5 2 (0.42%) RESTful
6 1 (0.21%) ADO
6 1 (0.21%) HTML
6 1 (0.21%) Java RMI
Miscellaneous
1 82 (17.41%) Data Centre
2 26 (5.52%) PKI
3 23 (4.88%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (4.25%) Public Cloud
5 18 (3.82%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (2.55%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.91%) Security Posture
8 8 (1.70%) CMDB
8 8 (1.70%) Management Information System
8 8 (1.70%) Video Conferencing
8 8 (1.70%) Virtual Team
9 6 (1.27%) CCTV
9 6 (1.27%) IVR
9 6 (1.27%) SCADA
10 5 (1.06%) Fibre Optics
10 5 (1.06%) NHS
10 5 (1.06%) Operational Technology
11 4 (0.85%) Distributed Computing
11 4 (0.85%) Onboarding
11 4 (0.85%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 89 (18.90%) Windows
2 49 (10.40%) Linux
3 29 (6.16%) Windows Server
4 23 (4.88%) Windows 10
5 19 (4.03%) Unix
6 6 (1.27%) Android
6 6 (1.27%) Windows 7
6 6 (1.27%) Windows Server 2016
7 5 (1.06%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.64%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.21%) Apple iOS
9 1 (0.21%) CentOS
9 1 (0.21%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (17.62%) Problem-Solving
2 60 (12.74%) Network Architecture
3 55 (11.68%) Network Design
4 53 (11.25%) Migration
5 52 (11.04%) ITIL
6 50 (10.62%) Project Management
7 46 (9.77%) Network Monitoring
8 45 (9.55%) Load Balancing
9 44 (9.34%) Network Management
10 36 (7.64%) Customer Service
11 30 (6.37%) Change Management
11 30 (6.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 30 (6.37%) Stakeholder Management
12 28 (5.94%) High Availability
13 23 (4.88%) Roadmaps
14 22 (4.67%) Mentoring
15 21 (4.46%) Agile
16 20 (4.25%) Technical Leadership
17 19 (4.03%) Project Delivery
17 19 (4.03%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 37 (7.86%) Python
2 30 (6.37%) PowerShell
3 15 (3.18%) Java
4 9 (1.91%) SQL
5 4 (0.85%) VB
5 4 (0.85%) VBScript
6 3 (0.64%) Bicep
6 3 (0.64%) Perl
7 2 (0.42%) Bash
7 2 (0.42%) C#
Qualifications
1 128 (27.18%) Cisco Certification
2 127 (26.96%) Security Cleared
3 97 (20.59%) SC Cleared
4 93 (19.75%) CCNP
5 52 (11.04%) CCNA
6 46 (9.77%) Degree
7 28 (5.94%) CCIE
8 16 (3.40%) AWS Certification
8 16 (3.40%) Azure Certification
8 16 (3.40%) DV Cleared
8 16 (3.40%) ISTQB
8 16 (3.40%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 15 (3.18%) ISEB
10 9 (1.91%) CCSA
10 9 (1.91%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (1.91%) JNCIA
11 8 (1.70%) JNCIS
11 8 (1.70%) Microsoft Certification
12 6 (1.27%) PMI Certification
12 6 (1.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (3.40%) SLA
2 13 (2.76%) NIST
3 11 (2.34%) QA
4 7 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.06%) Cyber Essentials
5 5 (1.06%) NCSC
6 4 (0.85%) GRC
6 4 (0.85%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.42%) DICOM
7 2 (0.42%) HL7
8 1 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.21%) GDPR
8 1 (0.21%) GxP
8 1 (0.21%) HIPAA
System Software
1 65 (13.80%) Active Directory
2 38 (8.07%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (2.55%) VMware NSX
4 6 (1.27%) Firmware
4 6 (1.27%) Hyper-V
4 6 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (1.06%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (0.85%) BitLocker
6 4 (0.85%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 3 (0.64%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.21%) Docker
8 1 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.21%) vSphere
8 1 (0.21%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 40 (8.49%) Ansible
2 37 (7.86%) Terraform
3 31 (6.58%) FortiGate
4 27 (5.73%) SCCM
5 13 (2.76%) AppManager
6 9 (1.91%) Cisco Prime
6 9 (1.91%) Microsoft Intune
7 5 (1.06%) CASB
7 5 (1.06%) SCOM
8 4 (0.85%) CA Spectrum
9 3 (0.64%) Progress Chef
9 3 (0.64%) vRealize Orchestrator
10 2 (0.42%) AirWatch
10 2 (0.42%) Nagios
10 2 (0.42%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.42%) SolarWinds Orion
10 2 (0.42%) XenMobile
11 1 (0.21%) Netcool
11 1 (0.21%) OpenView
11 1 (0.21%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 247 (52.44%) Cisco
2 108 (22.93%) Palo Alto
3 107 (22.72%) Microsoft
4 75 (15.92%) Juniper
5 62 (13.16%) Fortinet
6 45 (9.55%) VMware
7 44 (9.34%) Meraki
8 42 (8.92%) F5
9 36 (7.64%) CheckPoint
10 31 (6.58%) SolarWinds
11 27 (5.73%) Aruba
12 20 (4.25%) Arista
13 17 (3.61%) ServiceNow
14 16 (3.40%) Zscaler
15 15 (3.18%) Ivanti
16 11 (2.34%) Citrix
16 11 (2.34%) Infoblox
17 7 (1.49%) Remedy
18 6 (1.27%) Apple
18 6 (1.27%) HP