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

6 months to
22 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 180 174 130
Rank change year-on-year -6 -44 -9
Contract jobs citing WAN 742 481 771
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.46% 1.61% 1.76%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.38% 12.94% 14.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 496 308 423
10th Percentile £313 £241 £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 £585 £585 £644
90th Percentile £675 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +8.89% -5.26% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 16 37
10th Percentile £18.09 £19.54 £14.00
25th Percentile £20.56 £27.00 £18.50
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.00 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -10.93% +20.63% -57.61%
75th Percentile £42.80 £40.81 £40.00
90th Percentile £76.72 £55.63 £70.21
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -25.00% +20.63% -52.70%

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 4,825 3,717 5,422
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.51% 12.41% 12.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,970 2,283 3,197
10th Percentile £250 £225 £212
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £483 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.52% -3.40% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £473 £488
% change year-on-year +1.59% -3.08% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 296 172 429
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.69 £21.00 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.94 £45.00 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year -37.91% +4.65% +126.32%
75th Percentile £65.00 £61.50 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.13 £79.50 £72.58
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.72 £35.75 £47.50
% change year-on-year -25.26% -24.74% +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 22 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 22 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 22 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 -15 632 £500 +2.35% 194
UK excluding London -5 456 £490 +8.89% 194
London -27 212 £518 -3.45% 53
Work from Home +8 180 £500 - 98
South East +12 169 £500 +11.11% 56
North of England -28 115 £490 +8.89% 39
North West -20 67 £532 +25.06% 21
Midlands -48 53 £375 -11.76% 30
Scotland +14 52 £500 +17.65% 21
Yorkshire -26 43 £450 -8.07% 15
West Midlands -57 42 £338 -15.63% 20
East of England -2 41 £425 -1.16% 12
South West -41 23 £561 +24.56% 18
North East -29 11 £650 +73.33% 5
Wales -19 7 £468 +133.75% 10
East Midlands -17 6 £488 -2.50% 10
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 13
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 (4.04%) Microsoft Exchange
2 25 (3.37%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.43%) Confluence
4 9 (1.21%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.94%) 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 24 (3.23%) MS Visio
2 17 (2.29%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.89%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.48%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 4 (0.54%) Acrobat
7 3 (0.40%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.27%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 226 (30.46%) Azure
2 113 (15.23%) AWS
3 77 (10.38%) Microsoft 365
4 49 (6.60%) Entra ID
5 40 (5.39%) SaaS
6 27 (3.64%) GCP
7 26 (3.50%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 23 (3.10%) OCI
9 16 (2.16%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (2.02%) OneDrive
11 14 (1.89%) PaaS
12 13 (1.75%) Azure Sentinel
12 13 (1.75%) Serverless
13 12 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
14 11 (1.48%) AWS CloudFormation
15 10 (1.35%) AWS Direct Connect
16 9 (1.21%) Azure Monitor
17 8 (1.08%) Power Platform
18 7 (0.94%) Amazon CloudWatch
18 7 (0.94%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 483 (65.09%) LAN
2 382 (51.48%) Firewall
3 284 (38.27%) SD-WAN
4 239 (32.21%) BGP
5 200 (26.95%) VPN
6 184 (24.80%) OSPF
7 156 (21.02%) Network Security
8 138 (18.60%) DNS
9 134 (18.06%) Wi-Fi
10 120 (16.17%) MPLS
11 106 (14.29%) Wireless
12 91 (12.26%) VLAN
13 87 (11.73%) DHCP
14 81 (10.92%) VXLAN
15 75 (10.11%) TCP/IP
16 72 (9.70%) IPsec
17 63 (8.49%) Ethernet VPN
18 61 (8.22%) BIG-IP
18 61 (8.22%) WLAN
19 48 (6.47%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.67%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.67%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.40%) NoSQL
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%) TimescaleDB
5 1 (0.13%) Power BI
5 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 33 (4.45%) JIRA
2 21 (2.83%) GitLab
3 11 (1.48%) Git
4 6 (0.81%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.67%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.54%) Browser DevTools
7 3 (0.40%) Chocolatey
8 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.27%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.13%) Fiddler
9 1 (0.13%) MSI
9 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 161 (21.70%) Social Skills
2 78 (10.51%) Finance
3 65 (8.76%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (8.49%) Public Sector
5 53 (7.14%) Telecoms
6 51 (6.87%) Legal
7 30 (4.04%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (2.56%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.29%) Financial Institution
10 13 (1.75%) Law
10 13 (1.75%) Retail
11 12 (1.62%) Military
12 9 (1.21%) Banking
12 9 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 8 (1.08%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (0.81%) Billing
15 5 (0.67%) Police
16 4 (0.54%) Influencing Skills
17 3 (0.40%) German Language
17 3 (0.40%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 285 (38.41%) Network Engineer
2 121 (16.31%) Architect
3 102 (13.75%) Senior
4 69 (9.30%) Network Architect
5 45 (6.06%) Senior Network Engineer
6 44 (5.93%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 38 (5.12%) Cisco Engineer
8 36 (4.85%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 33 (4.45%) Cisco Network Engineer
10 30 (4.04%) Lead
11 25 (3.37%) Project Manager
11 25 (3.37%) Support Engineer
12 23 (3.10%) IT Support
12 23 (3.10%) Security Engineer
12 23 (3.10%) Technical Architect
13 21 (2.83%) Network Manager
14 20 (2.70%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 19 (2.56%) Analyst
15 19 (2.56%) IT Engineer
16 18 (2.43%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (7.55%) 802.1X
2 15 (2.02%) SAML
3 13 (1.75%) REST
4 10 (1.35%) LDAP
4 10 (1.35%) Microsoft Graph
5 9 (1.21%) NETCONF
5 9 (1.21%) YANG
6 5 (0.67%) Middleware
7 4 (0.54%) Jinja
8 3 (0.40%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.40%) XMPP
9 2 (0.27%) .NET
9 2 (0.27%) Django
9 2 (0.27%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.27%) gRPC
9 2 (0.27%) Kafka
9 2 (0.27%) RabbitMQ
9 2 (0.27%) RFC 2544
9 2 (0.27%) Software Packaging
9 2 (0.27%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 198 (26.68%) Data Centre
2 50 (6.74%) Hybrid Cloud
3 36 (4.85%) PKI
4 27 (3.64%) Clustering
5 25 (3.37%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.96%) Onboarding
7 21 (2.83%) Security Posture
8 16 (2.16%) Operational Technology
9 15 (2.02%) Driving Licence
10 14 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
11 11 (1.48%) IoT
12 10 (1.35%) Analytical Mindset
12 10 (1.35%) Public Cloud
13 9 (1.21%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
13 9 (1.21%) SCADA
14 8 (1.08%) NHS
15 7 (0.94%) Linux Command Line
16 6 (0.81%) Private Cloud
17 5 (0.67%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 188 (25.34%) Windows
2 60 (8.09%) Windows Server
3 47 (6.33%) Linux
4 19 (2.56%) Windows Server 2019
5 18 (2.43%) Windows 10
6 10 (1.35%) Android
7 8 (1.08%) VMS
8 7 (0.94%) Apple iOS
9 6 (0.81%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.54%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.40%) CatOS
11 3 (0.40%) Unix
12 1 (0.13%) CentOS
12 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 110 (14.82%) Problem-Solving
2 108 (14.56%) ITIL
3 105 (14.15%) High Availability
4 103 (13.88%) Load Balancing
5 83 (11.19%) Zero Trust
6 78 (10.51%) Migration
7 74 (9.97%) Network Design
8 67 (9.03%) Network Architecture
8 67 (9.03%) Stakeholder Management
9 64 (8.63%) Infrastructure as Code
10 61 (8.22%) Change Management
10 61 (8.22%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 58 (7.82%) Roadmaps
12 56 (7.55%) Agile
13 54 (7.28%) Project Delivery
14 52 (7.01%) Network Monitoring
15 51 (6.87%) Technical Leadership
16 48 (6.47%) Continuous Improvement
16 48 (6.47%) DevOps
17 46 (6.20%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 107 (14.42%) Python
2 57 (7.68%) PowerShell
3 23 (3.10%) SQL
4 12 (1.62%) Bash
5 5 (0.67%) VBScript
6 4 (0.54%) C++
6 4 (0.54%) VB
7 3 (0.40%) Java
8 2 (0.27%) C
8 2 (0.27%) Groovy
8 2 (0.27%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.27%) Perl
9 1 (0.13%) Bicep
9 1 (0.13%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 226 (30.46%) Security Cleared
2 210 (28.30%) Cisco Certification
3 157 (21.16%) SC Cleared
4 137 (18.46%) CCNP
5 71 (9.57%) CCNA
6 65 (8.76%) DV Cleared
7 51 (6.87%) CCIE
8 50 (6.74%) Degree
9 23 (3.10%) PMP
10 16 (2.16%) PMI Certification
11 15 (2.02%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.75%) AWS Certification
12 13 (1.75%) JNCIP
13 12 (1.62%) JNCIE
13 12 (1.62%) JNCIS
14 11 (1.48%) JNCIA
15 10 (1.35%) Computer Science Degree
16 8 (1.08%) BPSS Clearance
17 6 (0.81%) CISSP
17 6 (0.81%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (2.70%) SLA
2 19 (2.56%) QA
3 17 (2.29%) NIST
4 11 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 10 (1.35%) NCSC
6 6 (0.81%) 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 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.13%) DICOM
9 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.13%) RMADS
9 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 103 (13.88%) Active Directory
2 72 (9.70%) VMware Infrastructure
3 33 (4.45%) VMware NSX
4 20 (2.70%) vSphere
5 17 (2.29%) Virtual Machines
6 14 (1.89%) Firmware
6 14 (1.89%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.48%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.54%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.40%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.27%) Squid
11 1 (0.13%) Docker
11 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 87 (11.73%) Ansible
2 83 (11.19%) FortiGate
3 80 (10.78%) Terraform
4 30 (4.04%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (2.96%) Grafana
6 19 (2.56%) Prometheus
7 16 (2.16%) Single Sign-On
8 15 (2.02%) SCCM
9 8 (1.08%) Jamf Pro
10 6 (0.81%) Cisco Prime
11 5 (0.67%) Cisco CUCM
11 5 (0.67%) Kubernetes
12 4 (0.54%) Endace
12 4 (0.54%) Packer
12 4 (0.54%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.54%) Puppet
12 4 (0.54%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.40%) CASB
13 3 (0.40%) Nagios
14 2 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
Vendors
1 379 (51.08%) Cisco
2 173 (23.32%) Palo Alto
3 156 (21.02%) Microsoft
4 115 (15.50%) F5
5 95 (12.80%) Aruba
5 95 (12.80%) Fortinet
6 88 (11.86%) Juniper
6 88 (11.86%) VMware
7 68 (9.16%) SolarWinds
8 64 (8.63%) CheckPoint
9 59 (7.95%) Arista
10 48 (6.47%) Zscaler
11 43 (5.80%) Meraki
12 34 (4.58%) ServiceNow
13 32 (4.31%) Splunk
14 28 (3.77%) Extreme Networks
15 16 (2.16%) Dell
16 13 (1.75%) Ekahau
16 13 (1.75%) Veeam
17 8 (1.08%) BT