Wireless Contract Job Trends

Wireless
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Wireless skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 359 285 264
Rank change year-on-year -74 -21 -51
Contract jobs citing Wireless 323 272 397
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.90% 0.91%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.69% 7.30% 7.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 208 165 239
10th Percentile £263 £255 £168
25th Percentile £391 £363 £254
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £455 £400
Median % change year-on-year -1.10% +13.75% -5.88%
75th Percentile £537 £550 £525
90th Percentile £597 £588 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £468 £396
% change year-on-year -3.74% +18.06% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 31 37
10th Percentile £12.98 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £34.19 £16.56 £16.24
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% +19.76% -58.00%
75th Percentile £60.94 £31.00 £23.80
90th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £57.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £27.50 £17.69
% change year-on-year +90.64% +55.46% -20.53%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

Wireless 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 4,826 3,725 5,407
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.48% 12.32% 12.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,956 2,268 3,192
10th Percentile £250 £225 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £470 £493
% change year-on-year +2.77% -4.57% +3.68%
Number of hourly rates quoted 297 177 430
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.87
25th Percentile £20.50 £21.00 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.88 £44.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -36.64% -2.22% +136.84%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.13 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.10 £77.00 £73.30
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £33.89 £47.50
% change year-on-year -21.32% -28.66% +150.00%

Wireless
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Wireless relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Wireless job vacancy trend in the UK

Wireless
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Wireless.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Wireless

Wireless
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Wireless over the 6 months to 26 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Wireless in the UK

Wireless
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Wireless.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Wireless

Wireless
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Wireless over the 6 months to 26 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Wireless in the UK

Wireless
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Wireless within the UK over the 6 months to 26 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 -70 294 £450 -5.26% 234
UK excluding London -67 217 £450 -3.74% 222
London -76 76 £450 - 60
Work from Home -40 74 £475 - 89
North of England -35 73 £508 +12.78% 49
North West -10 58 £530 +41.33% 29
South East -24 57 £514 +2.75% 85
Midlands -52 36 £425 +22.74% 27
West Midlands -46 35 £425 +66.67% 14
East of England -42 25 £325 -38.10% 27
South West -33 13 £510 +23.64% 21
Scotland -10 12 £381 -6.04% 12
Yorkshire -53 10 £450 - 17
North East -27 5 £420 -23.64% 5
Northern Ireland - 2 £245 - 3
East Midlands -10 1 £235 -46.29% 13

Wireless
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 8 (2.48%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.31%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 17 (5.26%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (4.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (4.02%) MS Visio
4 5 (1.55%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.31%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 49 (15.17%) Azure
2 29 (8.98%) AWS
3 16 (4.95%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (4.33%) Entra ID
5 7 (2.17%) Azure ExpressRoute
5 7 (2.17%) GitHub
6 5 (1.55%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 4 (1.24%) GCP
7 4 (1.24%) SaaS
8 2 (0.62%) Google Workspace
8 2 (0.62%) OneDrive
8 2 (0.62%) PaaS
8 2 (0.62%) Route 53
9 1 (0.31%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 1 (0.31%) AWS Direct Connect
9 1 (0.31%) Azure Sentinel
9 1 (0.31%) Google Ads
9 1 (0.31%) IBM Watson
9 1 (0.31%) OCI
9 1 (0.31%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 147 (45.51%) Firewall
2 109 (33.75%) LAN
3 106 (32.82%) WAN
4 87 (26.93%) Network Security
5 77 (23.84%) Wi-Fi
6 68 (21.05%) VPN
7 55 (17.03%) DNS
8 47 (14.55%) VLAN
9 46 (14.24%) DHCP
10 45 (13.93%) BGP
11 44 (13.62%) SD-WAN
12 42 (13.00%) Cisco ISE
13 41 (12.69%) WLAN
14 40 (12.38%) OSPF
15 32 (9.91%) Cisco Wireless
16 28 (8.67%) Structured Cabling
17 25 (7.74%) IPsec
18 22 (6.81%) Cisco IOS
18 22 (6.81%) TCP/IP
19 19 (5.88%) NAS
Development Applications
1 9 (2.79%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (2.17%) Burp Suite
3 6 (1.86%) Metasploit
4 5 (1.55%) JIRA
5 2 (0.62%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.31%) MSI
General
1 94 (29.10%) Social Skills
2 20 (6.19%) Analytical Skills
3 18 (5.57%) Documentation Skills
4 15 (4.64%) Finance
5 14 (4.33%) Aerospace
6 11 (3.41%) Public Sector
6 11 (3.41%) Retail
7 5 (1.55%) Legal
7 5 (1.55%) Telecoms
8 4 (1.24%) Billing
8 4 (1.24%) Law
8 4 (1.24%) Manufacturing
9 3 (0.93%) Banking
9 3 (0.93%) Influencing Skills
9 3 (0.93%) Investment Banking
9 3 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
10 2 (0.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.62%) Organisational Skills
11 1 (0.31%) German Language
11 1 (0.31%) Greek Language
Job Titles
1 159 (49.23%) Network Engineer
2 33 (10.22%) Architect
3 22 (6.81%) Wireless Engineer
4 21 (6.50%) Cisco Engineer
4 21 (6.50%) Senior
4 21 (6.50%) Software Engineer
5 19 (5.88%) Wireless Network Engineer
6 18 (5.57%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 17 (5.26%) Network Architect
8 16 (4.95%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 16 (4.95%) Embedded Engineer
8 16 (4.95%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (4.02%) Senior Network Engineer
10 11 (3.41%) Technical Architect
11 10 (3.10%) IT Support
11 10 (3.10%) Security Engineer
11 10 (3.10%) Support Engineer
12 9 (2.79%) Network Security Engineer
13 8 (2.48%) DSP Engineer
13 8 (2.48%) DSP Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (16.72%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.41%) SAML
3 6 (1.86%) LDAP
3 6 (1.86%) X-Windows
3 6 (1.86%) Yocto
4 5 (1.55%) Software Packaging
5 2 (0.62%) A2A Protocol
5 2 (0.62%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.31%) ModSecurity
6 1 (0.31%) Qt
6 1 (0.31%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 48 (14.86%) Data Centre
2 14 (4.33%) Onboarding
3 12 (3.72%) Embedded Systems
3 12 (3.72%) IoT
4 10 (3.10%) Security Posture
5 9 (2.79%) FPGA
5 9 (2.79%) PCIe
6 8 (2.48%) Self-Motivation
7 7 (2.17%) Driving Licence
7 7 (2.17%) Hybrid Cloud
7 7 (2.17%) PKI
8 6 (1.86%) Device Driver
8 6 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.86%) iPad
8 6 (1.86%) MicroBlaze
8 6 (1.86%) RISC-V
9 5 (1.55%) BYOD
9 5 (1.55%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.55%) Smartphone
10 4 (1.24%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 36 (11.15%) Windows
2 16 (4.95%) Linux
3 11 (3.41%) Windows 10
4 10 (3.10%) Apple iOS
5 9 (2.79%) FreeRTOS
6 8 (2.48%) Unix
7 7 (2.17%) Embedded Linux
8 6 (1.86%) Android
8 6 (1.86%) Mac OS X
8 6 (1.86%) Windows 7
9 5 (1.55%) Windows Server
10 4 (1.24%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.62%) CatOS
11 2 (0.62%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.31%) Kali Linux
12 1 (0.31%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 38 (11.76%) Problem-Solving
2 37 (11.46%) Network Segmentation
3 30 (9.29%) ITSM
3 30 (9.29%) Migration
4 28 (8.67%) High Availability
4 28 (8.67%) Technical Leadership
5 27 (8.36%) Project Delivery
6 25 (7.74%) Change Management
6 25 (7.74%) Zero Trust
7 24 (7.43%) Continuous Improvement
7 24 (7.43%) Cybersecurity
8 23 (7.12%) ITIL
8 23 (7.12%) Validation
9 22 (6.81%) Software Engineering
10 20 (6.19%) Load Balancing
10 20 (6.19%) User Experience
11 19 (5.88%) Agile
11 19 (5.88%) Root Cause Analysis
12 17 (5.26%) Network Design
12 17 (5.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 18 (5.57%) Python
2 17 (5.26%) C
3 7 (2.17%) C++
4 4 (1.24%) Embedded C
4 4 (1.24%) PowerShell
5 3 (0.93%) Lisp
6 2 (0.62%) Perl
7 1 (0.31%) Korn
7 1 (0.31%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 97 (30.03%) Cisco Certification
2 86 (26.63%) Security Cleared
3 81 (25.08%) CCNP
4 74 (22.91%) SC Cleared
5 62 (19.20%) CCNA
6 28 (8.67%) Degree
7 22 (6.81%) CCIE
7 22 (6.81%) Network+ Certification
8 17 (5.26%) Server+ Certification
9 6 (1.86%) CHECK Team Member
9 6 (1.86%) CREST Certified
9 6 (1.86%) Cyber Scheme
10 5 (1.55%) CCIE Wireless
10 5 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (1.55%) CWNA
10 5 (1.55%) Postgraduate
11 4 (1.24%) City & Guilds
11 4 (1.24%) CompTIA Security+
11 4 (1.24%) CWNE
11 4 (1.24%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.41%) QA
2 9 (2.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 9 (2.79%) SLA
3 8 (2.48%) GDPR
4 7 (2.17%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.55%) NIST
5 5 (1.55%) PMO
6 4 (1.24%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.93%) NCSC
8 1 (0.31%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.31%) DICOM
8 1 (0.31%) HL7
System Software
1 39 (12.07%) Active Directory
2 12 (3.72%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (3.10%) Firmware
4 8 (2.48%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.86%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (0.93%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.62%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.31%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 25 (7.74%) Ansible
2 20 (6.19%) FortiGate
3 13 (4.02%) Microsoft Intune
4 7 (2.17%) Nmap
4 7 (2.17%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (2.17%) Terraform
5 6 (1.86%) Prometheus
5 6 (1.86%) SCCM
6 5 (1.55%) Grafana
7 4 (1.24%) Cisco Prime
7 4 (1.24%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.24%) Salt
8 2 (0.62%) CASB
8 2 (0.62%) Nessus
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (0.31%) Nagios
9 1 (0.31%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 185 (57.28%) Cisco
2 71 (21.98%) Aruba
3 65 (20.12%) Palo Alto
4 38 (11.76%) ServiceNow
5 36 (11.15%) Microsoft
6 34 (10.53%) F5
6 34 (10.53%) Meraki
7 30 (9.29%) CheckPoint
7 30 (9.29%) Fortinet
8 21 (6.50%) Juniper
9 20 (6.19%) Ekahau
10 17 (5.26%) ForeScout
11 16 (4.95%) VMware
12 12 (3.72%) Arista
13 11 (3.41%) Splunk
14 10 (3.10%) SolarWinds
15 9 (2.79%) Apple
16 8 (2.48%) Zscaler
17 5 (1.55%) BigPanda
17 5 (1.55%) HP