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 28 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
28 Apr 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 188 174 117
Rank change year-on-year -14 -57 +22
Contract jobs citing WAN 667 470 844
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.42% 1.60% 1.95%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.73% 12.57% 15.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 428 311 485
10th Percentile £298 £250 £263
25th Percentile £400 £374 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year - -5.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £650
90th Percentile £675 £656 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £455 £430 £500
% change year-on-year +5.81% -14.00% +13.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 11 40
10th Percentile £19.59 £15.33 £13.93
25th Percentile £21.25 £22.75 £19.59
Median hourly rate £42.25 £42.50 £24.69
Median % change year-on-year -0.59% +72.17% -58.86%
75th Percentile £57.43 £68.13 £40.00
90th Percentile £83.03 £75.00 £75.24
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.25 £47.00 £24.87
% change year-on-year -10.11% +88.98% -56.62%

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 4,527 3,740 5,616
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.64% 12.74% 12.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,822 2,310 3,363
10th Percentile £250 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £489 £490
Median % change year-on-year +2.30% -0.26% -5.59%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £464 £475
% change year-on-year +2.43% -2.37% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 218 172 420
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.82 £20.22 £17.00
Median hourly rate £41.24 £37.50 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.97% -1.32% +100.00%
75th Percentile £68.44 £61.31 £62.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £67.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.72 £27.72 £45.88
% change year-on-year +75.76% -39.58% +148.00%

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 28 April 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 28 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Top 17 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 28 April 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 -27 571 £480 +1.05% 210
UK excluding London -5 411 £455 +5.81% 212
London -29 200 £500 - 39
South East +5 167 £480 +6.67% 70
Work from Home +14 164 £500 - 92
North of England -61 84 £450 +5.88% 47
North West -36 51 £515 +14.44% 18
Midlands -46 50 £339 -20.29% 43
Scotland +24 48 £500 +19.40% 7
West Midlands -43 42 £319 -22.73% 31
East of England -12 41 £440 +2.33% 21
Yorkshire -42 33 £450 +68.22% 19
South West -57 13 £495 -1.00% 14
Wales -7 9 £408 +1.88% 11
North East -19 2 - - 11
East Midlands -39 2 - - 12
Northern Ireland - 2 £468 - 9

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 38 (5.70%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (3.15%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.70%) Confluence
4 13 (1.95%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.45%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.30%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.30%) IIS
7 1 (0.15%) Apache
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 22 (3.30%) MS Visio
2 20 (3.00%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.50%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.50%) Microsoft Project
4 8 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.75%) Acrobat
Business Applications
1 2 (0.30%) DELMIA
Cloud Services
1 185 (27.74%) Azure
2 85 (12.74%) AWS
3 73 (10.94%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (5.85%) Entra ID
5 23 (3.45%) GCP
5 23 (3.45%) SaaS
6 15 (2.25%) PaaS
7 14 (2.10%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 13 (1.95%) Azure DevOps
9 12 (1.80%) OneDrive
10 8 (1.20%) OCI
10 8 (1.20%) Power Platform
10 8 (1.20%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 7 (1.05%) IaaS
11 7 (1.05%) PowerApps
12 5 (0.75%) AWS Direct Connect
12 5 (0.75%) Azure Sentinel
13 4 (0.60%) Azure Monitor
13 4 (0.60%) Google Ads
13 4 (0.60%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 460 (68.97%) LAN
2 351 (52.62%) Firewall
3 253 (37.93%) SD-WAN
4 206 (30.88%) BGP
5 204 (30.58%) VPN
6 173 (25.94%) OSPF
7 137 (20.54%) Network Security
8 132 (19.79%) Wi-Fi
9 120 (17.99%) DNS
10 96 (14.39%) MPLS
11 87 (13.04%) DHCP
11 87 (13.04%) Wireless
12 85 (12.74%) VLAN
13 82 (12.29%) TCP/IP
14 62 (9.30%) IPsec
14 62 (9.30%) VXLAN
15 50 (7.50%) Cisco ISE
15 50 (7.50%) WLAN
16 49 (7.35%) BIG-IP
16 49 (7.35%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.05%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.45%) MongoDB
3 3 (0.45%) MySQL
3 3 (0.45%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.30%) Apache Cassandra
4 2 (0.30%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (0.30%) Flink
4 2 (0.30%) InfluxDB
4 2 (0.30%) MariaDB
4 2 (0.30%) TimescaleDB
5 1 (0.15%) Amazon RDS
5 1 (0.15%) DynamoDB
5 1 (0.15%) Power BI
5 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 31 (4.65%) JIRA
2 6 (0.90%) Git
2 6 (0.90%) GitLab
3 5 (0.75%) Sonatype Nexus
4 4 (0.60%) Browser DevTools
5 3 (0.45%) Chocolatey
6 2 (0.30%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.30%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.15%) Bitbucket
General
1 149 (22.34%) Social Skills
2 77 (11.54%) Finance
3 62 (9.30%) Analytical Skills
3 62 (9.30%) Public Sector
4 46 (6.90%) Legal
5 38 (5.70%) Telecoms
6 37 (5.55%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.60%) Manufacturing
8 19 (2.85%) Financial Institution
9 15 (2.25%) Military
10 13 (1.95%) Retail
11 12 (1.80%) Law
12 9 (1.35%) Banking
13 7 (1.05%) Billing
14 6 (0.90%) Local Government
14 6 (0.90%) Organisational Skills
15 5 (0.75%) Police
16 4 (0.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 3 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
18 2 (0.30%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 242 (36.28%) Network Engineer
2 135 (20.24%) Architect
3 90 (13.49%) Senior
4 82 (12.29%) Network Architect
5 44 (6.60%) Senior Network Engineer
6 37 (5.55%) Lead
7 32 (4.80%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 29 (4.35%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 28 (4.20%) Technical Architect
10 25 (3.75%) Cisco Engineer
11 24 (3.60%) Project Manager
12 23 (3.45%) Cisco Network Engineer
12 23 (3.45%) IT Support
13 21 (3.15%) Analyst
13 21 (3.15%) Network Manager
13 21 (3.15%) Solutions Architect
13 21 (3.15%) Support Engineer
14 20 (3.00%) Security Engineer
15 17 (2.55%) IT Engineer
16 15 (2.25%) Network Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (7.95%) 802.1X
2 16 (2.40%) LDAP
3 14 (2.10%) SAML
4 10 (1.50%) Microsoft Graph
5 8 (1.20%) Middleware
6 7 (1.05%) NETCONF
6 7 (1.05%) YANG
7 6 (0.90%) REST
8 4 (0.60%) ARM Templates
8 4 (0.60%) Jinja
8 4 (0.60%) OpenConfig
8 4 (0.60%) RESTCONF
8 4 (0.60%) VML
9 2 (0.30%) AWS CDK
9 2 (0.30%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.30%) gRPC
9 2 (0.30%) Kafka
9 2 (0.30%) OpenAPI
9 2 (0.30%) RFC 2544
9 2 (0.30%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 174 (26.09%) Data Centre
2 36 (5.40%) Hybrid Cloud
3 34 (5.10%) PKI
4 26 (3.90%) Clustering
5 20 (3.00%) Onboarding
6 15 (2.25%) Cloud Native
6 15 (2.25%) IoT
7 14 (2.10%) Operational Technology
8 13 (1.95%) Data Protection Act
8 13 (1.95%) Public Cloud
8 13 (1.95%) Security Posture
9 12 (1.80%) Driving Licence
10 10 (1.50%) Analytical Mindset
10 10 (1.50%) Enterprise Software
11 8 (1.20%) Self-Motivation
12 7 (1.05%) NHS
13 6 (0.90%) CMDB
13 6 (0.90%) Virtual Team
14 5 (0.75%) SCADA
14 5 (0.75%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 178 (26.69%) Windows
2 61 (9.15%) Windows Server
3 46 (6.90%) Linux
4 29 (4.35%) Windows 10
5 15 (2.25%) Windows Server 2019
6 10 (1.50%) Android
7 9 (1.35%) Windows 7
8 8 (1.20%) VMS
9 7 (1.05%) Apple iOS
10 6 (0.90%) Windows Server 2016
11 5 (0.75%) CatOS
12 4 (0.60%) Mac OS
12 4 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 4 (0.60%) Unix
12 4 (0.60%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.15%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 103 (15.44%) Problem-Solving
2 96 (14.39%) ITIL
3 83 (12.44%) High Availability
4 79 (11.84%) Migration
5 76 (11.39%) Load Balancing
6 68 (10.19%) Network Design
7 64 (9.60%) Stakeholder Management
8 63 (9.45%) Change Management
9 62 (9.30%) Network Architecture
10 51 (7.65%) ITSM
10 51 (7.65%) Technical Leadership
11 50 (7.50%) Zero Trust
12 46 (6.90%) Network Monitoring
12 46 (6.90%) Roadmaps
13 45 (6.75%) Agile
14 42 (6.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 41 (6.15%) Mentoring
16 40 (6.00%) Service Management
17 39 (5.85%) Cybersecurity
17 39 (5.85%) Observability
Programming Languages
1 68 (10.19%) Python
2 49 (7.35%) PowerShell
3 20 (3.00%) SQL
4 10 (1.50%) VBScript
5 9 (1.35%) VB
6 6 (0.90%) Bash
7 3 (0.45%) C++
7 3 (0.45%) Java
7 3 (0.45%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.30%) Perl
9 1 (0.15%) Bicep
9 1 (0.15%) C
9 1 (0.15%) C#
9 1 (0.15%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.15%) Ruby
9 1 (0.15%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.15%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 227 (34.03%) Security Cleared
2 195 (29.24%) Cisco Certification
3 170 (25.49%) SC Cleared
4 146 (21.89%) CCNP
5 62 (9.30%) DV Cleared
6 56 (8.40%) Degree
7 55 (8.25%) CCIE
8 51 (7.65%) CCNA
9 20 (3.00%) PMP
10 14 (2.10%) JNCIP
11 13 (1.95%) Computer Science Degree
11 13 (1.95%) JNCIS
12 12 (1.80%) Azure Certification
12 12 (1.80%) JNCIA
12 12 (1.80%) JNCIE
12 12 (1.80%) PMI Certification
13 10 (1.50%) AWS Certification
13 10 (1.50%) Network+ Certification
14 9 (1.35%) CCSE
14 9 (1.35%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.90%) SLA
2 19 (2.85%) QA
3 12 (1.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.50%) NIST
5 9 (1.35%) NCSC
6 6 (0.90%) GDPR
7 4 (0.60%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.60%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 2 (0.30%) PMO
9 2 (0.30%) RMADS
10 1 (0.15%) DICOM
10 1 (0.15%) GRC
10 1 (0.15%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 104 (15.59%) Active Directory
2 61 (9.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (4.20%) VMware NSX
4 15 (2.25%) vSphere
5 11 (1.65%) Hyper-V
6 9 (1.35%) BitLocker
6 9 (1.35%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.60%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.45%) Firmware
8 3 (0.45%) Virtual Servers
8 3 (0.45%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.30%) KVM
10 1 (0.15%) Ceph
10 1 (0.15%) Docker
10 1 (0.15%) iptables
10 1 (0.15%) Lustre
10 1 (0.15%) NFS
10 1 (0.15%) RHEV
10 1 (0.15%) Samba
10 1 (0.15%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 69 (10.34%) FortiGate
2 62 (9.30%) Ansible
3 46 (6.90%) Terraform
4 28 (4.20%) Microsoft Intune
5 21 (3.15%) SCCM
6 19 (2.85%) Grafana
7 15 (2.25%) Prometheus
8 13 (1.95%) Single Sign-On
9 8 (1.20%) Jamf Pro
10 7 (1.05%) Nagios
11 6 (0.90%) Cisco Prime
12 5 (0.75%) Endace
13 4 (0.60%) Kubernetes
13 4 (0.60%) Progress Chef
13 4 (0.60%) vCenter Server
13 4 (0.60%) vRealize Orchestrator
13 4 (0.60%) WSUS
14 3 (0.45%) CASB
14 3 (0.45%) Cisco CUCM
14 3 (0.45%) SCOM
Vendors
1 358 (53.67%) Cisco
2 165 (24.74%) Palo Alto
3 138 (20.69%) Microsoft
4 103 (15.44%) F5
5 100 (14.99%) Juniper
6 93 (13.94%) Aruba
7 88 (13.19%) Fortinet
8 86 (12.89%) CheckPoint
9 76 (11.39%) VMware
10 58 (8.70%) SolarWinds
11 46 (6.90%) Meraki
12 40 (6.00%) Arista
13 36 (5.40%) ServiceNow
14 34 (5.10%) Zscaler
15 30 (4.50%) Splunk
16 27 (4.05%) Extreme Networks
17 16 (2.40%) Dell
18 15 (2.25%) Ekahau
19 12 (1.80%) Veeam
20 8 (1.20%) MuleSoft
240 WAN jobs Nationwide