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

6 months to
11 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 187 174 130
Rank change year-on-year -13 -44 -12
Contract jobs citing WAN 768 519 780
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.45% 1.60% 1.81%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.26% 13.12% 14.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 499 336 439
10th Percentile £300 £238 £263
25th Percentile £400 £350 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.74% -5.00% +3.63%
75th Percentile £575 £581 £638
90th Percentile £650 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £425 £488
% change year-on-year +15.29% -12.82% +14.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 19 39
10th Percentile £16.94 £22.07 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £28.00 £19.23
Median hourly rate £24.61 £30.00 £24.87
Median % change year-on-year -17.97% +20.63% -50.26%
75th Percentile £42.38 £41.63 £40.13
90th Percentile £75.37 £63.03 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £30.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -25.00% +20.63% -37.83%

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 5,034 3,957 5,419
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.52% 12.19% 12.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,061 2,422 3,200
10th Percentile £238 £234 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £481 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.06% -3.90% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £471 £488
% change year-on-year +2.55% -3.53% +3.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 316 190 424
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.86
25th Percentile £19.34 £24.33 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.22 £46.25 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year -43.31% +11.45% +50.91%
75th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £81.05 £73.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.00 £41.48 £47.50
% change year-on-year -37.31% -12.68% +5.56%

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 11 July 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 11 July 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 11 July 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 -15 652 £500 +4.17% 222
UK excluding London -5 475 £490 +15.29% 198
London -38 211 £514 -2.14% 67
Work from Home -8 178 £514 +2.75% 90
South East +15 170 £520 +15.56% 66
North of England -31 117 £500 +17.65% 47
North West -32 69 £537 +53.43% 23
Midlands -49 60 £375 -6.25% 30
Scotland +17 57 £431 - 21
West Midlands -67 45 £358 -10.63% 23
East of England +1 43 £438 +2.94% 11
Yorkshire -23 43 £450 -5.76% 21
South West -41 25 £553 +22.89% 17
North East -24 11 £650 +73.33% 5
East Midlands -14 10 £275 -47.62% 7
Wales -19 7 £468 +133.75% 4
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 7
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 26 (3.39%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (3.13%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.34%) Confluence
4 13 (1.69%) OpenStack
5 7 (0.91%) Skype for Business
6 2 (0.26%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.26%) IIS
7 1 (0.13%) CMS
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 34 (4.43%) MS Visio
2 22 (2.86%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (2.60%) Microsoft Excel
4 12 (1.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 9 (1.17%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.39%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 213 (27.73%) Azure
2 119 (15.49%) AWS
3 69 (8.98%) Microsoft 365
4 48 (6.25%) Entra ID
5 36 (4.69%) SaaS
6 32 (4.17%) GCP
7 26 (3.39%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 23 (2.99%) OCI
9 18 (2.34%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 15 (1.95%) OneDrive
11 14 (1.82%) Azure Sentinel
11 14 (1.82%) PaaS
12 13 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
12 13 (1.69%) Serverless
13 11 (1.43%) AWS CloudFormation
13 11 (1.43%) AWS Direct Connect
14 9 (1.17%) Azure Monitor
15 8 (1.04%) Power Platform
16 7 (0.91%) Amazon CloudWatch
16 7 (0.91%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 505 (65.76%) LAN
2 402 (52.34%) Firewall
3 283 (36.85%) SD-WAN
4 253 (32.94%) BGP
5 205 (26.69%) VPN
6 185 (24.09%) OSPF
7 179 (23.31%) Network Security
8 147 (19.14%) MPLS
9 144 (18.75%) DNS
10 130 (16.93%) Wi-Fi
11 121 (15.76%) Wireless
12 92 (11.98%) VLAN
13 88 (11.46%) DHCP
14 86 (11.20%) TCP/IP
15 80 (10.42%) VXLAN
16 72 (9.38%) IPsec
17 65 (8.46%) WLAN
18 63 (8.20%) BIG-IP
18 63 (8.20%) Ethernet VPN
19 55 (7.16%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.04%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.65%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.39%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.26%) Apache Cassandra
4 2 (0.26%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (0.26%) Flink
4 2 (0.26%) InfluxDB
4 2 (0.26%) MongoDB
4 2 (0.26%) MySQL
4 2 (0.26%) TimescaleDB
5 1 (0.13%) Power BI
5 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (3.91%) JIRA
2 21 (2.73%) GitLab
3 14 (1.82%) Git
4 7 (0.91%) Sonatype Nexus
5 6 (0.78%) Jenkins
6 5 (0.65%) Browser DevTools
7 2 (0.26%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.26%) Chocolatey
7 2 (0.26%) Robot Framework
8 1 (0.13%) Fiddler
8 1 (0.13%) MSI
8 1 (0.13%) Subversion
8 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 180 (23.44%) Social Skills
2 83 (10.81%) Telecoms
3 74 (9.64%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (8.98%) Public Sector
5 65 (8.46%) Finance
6 34 (4.43%) Legal
7 32 (4.17%) Documentation Skills
8 19 (2.47%) Financial Institution
9 14 (1.82%) Manufacturing
9 14 (1.82%) Retail
10 12 (1.56%) Banking
10 12 (1.56%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.17%) Billing
11 9 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 9 (1.17%) Military
12 8 (1.04%) Law
13 7 (0.91%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.65%) Police
15 3 (0.39%) German Language
15 3 (0.39%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 300 (39.06%) Network Engineer
2 119 (15.49%) Architect
3 108 (14.06%) Senior
4 71 (9.24%) Network Architect
5 48 (6.25%) Senior Network Engineer
6 41 (5.34%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 33 (4.30%) Cisco Engineer
8 32 (4.17%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 30 (3.91%) Cisco Network Engineer
10 27 (3.52%) Consultant
11 26 (3.39%) Lead
11 26 (3.39%) Support Engineer
12 25 (3.26%) IT Support
12 25 (3.26%) Security Engineer
13 24 (3.13%) Project Manager
14 22 (2.86%) Network Manager
14 22 (2.86%) Technical Architect
15 20 (2.60%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
16 19 (2.47%) Field Engineer
16 19 (2.47%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (7.03%) 802.1X
2 16 (2.08%) SAML
3 15 (1.95%) REST
4 13 (1.69%) NETCONF
4 13 (1.69%) YANG
5 10 (1.30%) LDAP
5 10 (1.30%) Microsoft Graph
6 6 (0.78%) OpenConfig
6 6 (0.78%) RESTCONF
7 4 (0.52%) Django
7 4 (0.52%) Jinja
7 4 (0.52%) Middleware
8 3 (0.39%) ARM Templates
9 2 (0.26%) AWS CDK
9 2 (0.26%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.26%) gRPC
9 2 (0.26%) OpenAPI
9 2 (0.26%) RabbitMQ
9 2 (0.26%) RFC 2544
9 2 (0.26%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 202 (26.30%) Data Centre
2 56 (7.29%) Hybrid Cloud
3 37 (4.82%) PKI
4 29 (3.78%) Driving Licence
5 27 (3.52%) Cloud Native
5 27 (3.52%) Clustering
6 22 (2.86%) Security Posture
7 17 (2.21%) Onboarding
8 16 (2.08%) Operational Technology
8 16 (2.08%) Self-Motivation
9 15 (1.95%) IoT
10 14 (1.82%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.69%) Public Cloud
12 12 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
12 12 (1.56%) NHS
12 12 (1.56%) Private Cloud
13 10 (1.30%) Virtual Team
14 9 (1.17%) SCADA
15 7 (0.91%) Linux Command Line
16 6 (0.78%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
Operating Systems
1 175 (22.79%) Windows
2 54 (7.03%) Windows Server
3 48 (6.25%) Linux
4 17 (2.21%) Windows 10
4 17 (2.21%) Windows Server 2019
5 10 (1.30%) Android
6 8 (1.04%) VMS
7 7 (0.91%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.91%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.65%) Unix
9 5 (0.65%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (0.65%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.52%) Windows 7
11 3 (0.39%) CatOS
12 1 (0.13%) CentOS
12 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 113 (14.71%) Problem-Solving
2 109 (14.19%) ITIL
3 108 (14.06%) High Availability
3 108 (14.06%) Load Balancing
4 87 (11.33%) Zero Trust
5 78 (10.16%) Migration
6 73 (9.51%) Network Architecture
6 73 (9.51%) Stakeholder Management
7 71 (9.24%) Network Design
8 70 (9.11%) Infrastructure as Code
9 69 (8.98%) Project Delivery
10 64 (8.33%) Roadmaps
11 62 (8.07%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 58 (7.55%) Change Management
13 55 (7.16%) Network Monitoring
14 54 (7.03%) Agile
15 50 (6.51%) DevOps
15 50 (6.51%) Technical Leadership
16 47 (6.12%) CI/CD
17 46 (5.99%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 119 (15.49%) Python
2 56 (7.29%) PowerShell
3 20 (2.60%) SQL
4 13 (1.69%) Bash
5 5 (0.65%) VBScript
6 4 (0.52%) C++
6 4 (0.52%) Java
6 4 (0.52%) VB
7 2 (0.26%) C
7 2 (0.26%) Groovy
7 2 (0.26%) JavaScript
7 2 (0.26%) Perl
8 1 (0.13%) Bicep
8 1 (0.13%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 237 (30.86%) Security Cleared
2 223 (29.04%) Cisco Certification
3 154 (20.05%) SC Cleared
4 143 (18.62%) CCNP
5 80 (10.42%) CCNA
6 72 (9.38%) DV Cleared
7 59 (7.68%) CCIE
8 53 (6.90%) Degree
9 18 (2.34%) PMP
10 16 (2.08%) JNCIP
10 16 (2.08%) JNCIS
11 15 (1.95%) JNCIE
12 14 (1.82%) Azure Certification
13 13 (1.69%) AWS Certification
13 13 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
13 13 (1.69%) PMI Certification
14 12 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
15 11 (1.43%) JNCIA
16 8 (1.04%) CISSP
17 7 (0.91%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.73%) SLA
2 17 (2.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (2.21%) QA
3 16 (2.08%) NIST
4 12 (1.56%) NCSC
5 5 (0.65%) GDPR
5 5 (0.65%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.52%) Disclosure Scotland
6 4 (0.52%) PMO
7 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 2 (0.26%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.13%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.13%) DICOM
8 1 (0.13%) GRC
8 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
8 1 (0.13%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.13%) RMADS
System Software
1 99 (12.89%) Active Directory
2 72 (9.38%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (4.82%) VMware NSX
4 18 (2.34%) Virtual Machines
4 18 (2.34%) vSphere
5 16 (2.08%) Firmware
6 14 (1.82%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.43%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.52%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.26%) NFS
10 2 (0.26%) Squid
10 2 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.13%) Docker
11 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.13%) Samba
Systems Management
1 97 (12.63%) Ansible
2 84 (10.94%) Terraform
3 76 (9.90%) FortiGate
4 24 (3.13%) Microsoft Intune
5 22 (2.86%) Grafana
6 20 (2.60%) Prometheus
7 17 (2.21%) Single Sign-On
8 15 (1.95%) SCCM
9 8 (1.04%) Jamf Pro
10 6 (0.78%) Kubernetes
11 5 (0.65%) Cisco Prime
11 5 (0.65%) Nagios
11 5 (0.65%) Puppet
12 4 (0.52%) CASB
12 4 (0.52%) Packer
12 4 (0.52%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.52%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 3 (0.39%) Cisco CUCM
13 3 (0.39%) vCenter Server
14 2 (0.26%) McAfee ePO
Vendors
1 379 (49.35%) Cisco
2 176 (22.92%) Palo Alto
3 159 (20.70%) Microsoft
4 123 (16.02%) F5
5 110 (14.32%) Fortinet
6 99 (12.89%) Juniper
7 92 (11.98%) VMware
8 84 (10.94%) Aruba
9 70 (9.11%) SolarWinds
10 59 (7.68%) Arista
10 59 (7.68%) CheckPoint
11 49 (6.38%) Zscaler
12 39 (5.08%) Meraki
13 36 (4.69%) Splunk
14 33 (4.30%) ServiceNow
15 28 (3.65%) Extreme Networks
16 14 (1.82%) Dell
16 14 (1.82%) Ekahau
17 13 (1.69%) Nokia
18 9 (1.17%) Citrix