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

6 months to
20 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 349 283 257
Rank change year-on-year -66 -26 -43
Contract jobs citing Wireless 319 265 398
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.89% 0.91%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.61% 7.14% 7.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 207 162 240
10th Percentile £258 £243 £168
25th Percentile £383 £362 £252
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £465 £400
Median % change year-on-year -3.23% +16.25% -5.88%
75th Percentile £536 £550 £525
90th Percentile £597 £588 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £471 £396
% change year-on-year -4.51% +19.00% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 27 37
10th Percentile £12.98 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £38.75 £15.23 £16.24
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% +19.76% -58.00%
75th Percentile £61.88 £34.25 £23.80
90th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £57.35
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £24.83 £17.69
% change year-on-year +111.14% +40.36% -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 4,827 3,712 5,433
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.53% 12.43% 12.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,970 2,280 3,213
10th Percentile £250 £225 £210
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £484 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.31% -3.20% -1.48%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £471 £488
% change year-on-year +1.91% -3.38% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 296 171 425
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.69 £20.93 £17.69
Median hourly rate £27.94 £45.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -37.91% +12.50% +110.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.69 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.13 £80.00 £72.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.72 £32.77 £47.50
% change year-on-year -18.46% -31.01% +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 20 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 20 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 20 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 -53 290 £450 -5.26% 228
UK excluding London -61 212 £450 -4.51% 226
London -78 77 £450 -2.70% 56
Work from Home -35 75 £463 -1.33% 81
North of England -43 74 £500 +11.11% 38
North West -10 59 £525 +61.54% 22
South East -30 56 £515 +3.00% 93
Midlands -49 33 £425 +66.67% 29
West Midlands -49 32 £425 +66.67% 13
East of England -49 24 £325 -38.10% 27
Scotland -7 12 £381 -7.58% 8
South West -29 12 £513 +24.24% 17
Yorkshire -64 10 £450 -4.20% 13
North East -31 5 £420 -23.64% 5
Northern Ireland - 2 £245 - 12
East Midlands -18 1 £235 -46.29% 16

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 (2.51%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.31%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 17 (5.33%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (4.39%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (4.08%) MS Visio
4 5 (1.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.31%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 48 (15.05%) Azure
2 29 (9.09%) AWS
3 18 (5.64%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (4.39%) Entra ID
5 7 (2.19%) Azure ExpressRoute
5 7 (2.19%) GitHub
6 6 (1.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 4 (1.25%) GCP
7 4 (1.25%) SaaS
8 3 (0.94%) Google Workspace
8 3 (0.94%) Route 53
9 2 (0.63%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (0.63%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.63%) PaaS
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 1 (0.31%) AWS Direct Connect
10 1 (0.31%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.31%) Google Ads
10 1 (0.31%) OCI
10 1 (0.31%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 146 (45.77%) Firewall
2 107 (33.54%) LAN
3 106 (33.23%) WAN
4 83 (26.02%) Network Security
5 77 (24.14%) Wi-Fi
6 67 (21.00%) VPN
7 53 (16.61%) DNS
8 49 (15.36%) VLAN
9 47 (14.73%) BGP
10 45 (14.11%) DHCP
11 44 (13.79%) SD-WAN
12 43 (13.48%) OSPF
13 41 (12.85%) Cisco ISE
14 40 (12.54%) WLAN
15 30 (9.40%) Cisco Wireless
16 28 (8.78%) Structured Cabling
17 27 (8.46%) IPsec
18 23 (7.21%) TCP/IP
19 22 (6.90%) Cisco IOS
20 19 (5.96%) NAS
Development Applications
1 9 (2.82%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (2.19%) Burp Suite
3 6 (1.88%) Metasploit
4 5 (1.57%) JIRA
5 2 (0.63%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.31%) MSI
General
1 90 (28.21%) Social Skills
2 18 (5.64%) Documentation Skills
3 16 (5.02%) Analytical Skills
4 14 (4.39%) Aerospace
5 13 (4.08%) Finance
6 12 (3.76%) Public Sector
7 11 (3.45%) Retail
8 5 (1.57%) Legal
9 4 (1.25%) Billing
9 4 (1.25%) Law
9 4 (1.25%) Manufacturing
9 4 (1.25%) Telecoms
10 3 (0.94%) Banking
10 3 (0.94%) Investment Banking
11 2 (0.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 2 (0.63%) Organisational Skills
11 2 (0.63%) Presentation Skills
12 1 (0.31%) German Language
12 1 (0.31%) Greek Language
12 1 (0.31%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 154 (48.28%) Network Engineer
2 33 (10.34%) Architect
3 22 (6.90%) Wireless Engineer
4 21 (6.58%) Senior
4 21 (6.58%) Software Engineer
5 20 (6.27%) Cisco Engineer
6 19 (5.96%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
6 19 (5.96%) Wireless Network Engineer
7 17 (5.33%) Network Architect
8 16 (5.02%) Embedded Engineer
8 16 (5.02%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 15 (4.70%) Cisco Network Engineer
10 13 (4.08%) Senior Network Engineer
11 11 (3.45%) Technical Architect
12 10 (3.13%) IT Support
12 10 (3.13%) Security Engineer
12 10 (3.13%) Support Engineer
13 9 (2.82%) Analyst
13 9 (2.82%) Desktop Support
13 9 (2.82%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (17.55%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.45%) SAML
3 6 (1.88%) LDAP
3 6 (1.88%) X-Windows
3 6 (1.88%) Yocto
4 5 (1.57%) Software Packaging
5 2 (0.63%) A2A Protocol
5 2 (0.63%) 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 (15.05%) Data Centre
2 16 (5.02%) Onboarding
3 12 (3.76%) Embedded Systems
3 12 (3.76%) IoT
4 10 (3.13%) Security Posture
5 9 (2.82%) FPGA
5 9 (2.82%) PCIe
5 9 (2.82%) Self-Motivation
6 7 (2.19%) Driving Licence
6 7 (2.19%) PKI
7 6 (1.88%) Device Driver
7 6 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.88%) Hybrid Cloud
7 6 (1.88%) iPad
7 6 (1.88%) MicroBlaze
7 6 (1.88%) RISC-V
8 5 (1.57%) BYOD
8 5 (1.57%) Public Cloud
8 5 (1.57%) Smartphone
8 5 (1.57%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 36 (11.29%) Windows
2 16 (5.02%) Linux
3 12 (3.76%) Windows 10
4 10 (3.13%) Apple iOS
5 9 (2.82%) FreeRTOS
6 8 (2.51%) Unix
7 7 (2.19%) Embedded Linux
8 6 (1.88%) Android
8 6 (1.88%) Mac OS X
8 6 (1.88%) Windows 7
9 5 (1.57%) Windows Server
10 4 (1.25%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.63%) CatOS
11 2 (0.63%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.31%) Kali Linux
12 1 (0.31%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 37 (11.60%) Network Segmentation
2 34 (10.66%) Problem-Solving
3 31 (9.72%) Technical Leadership
4 29 (9.09%) ITSM
4 29 (9.09%) Migration
5 27 (8.46%) High Availability
6 25 (7.84%) Zero Trust
7 24 (7.52%) ITIL
7 24 (7.52%) Project Delivery
8 23 (7.21%) Change Management
8 23 (7.21%) Validation
9 22 (6.90%) Software Engineering
10 21 (6.58%) Continuous Improvement
10 21 (6.58%) Cybersecurity
11 20 (6.27%) Load Balancing
11 20 (6.27%) Root Cause Analysis
11 20 (6.27%) User Experience
12 19 (5.96%) Agile
13 17 (5.33%) Network Design
14 16 (5.02%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 18 (5.64%) Python
2 17 (5.33%) C
3 7 (2.19%) C++
4 4 (1.25%) Embedded C
4 4 (1.25%) PowerShell
5 3 (0.94%) Lisp
6 2 (0.63%) Perl
7 1 (0.31%) Korn
7 1 (0.31%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 93 (29.15%) Cisco Certification
2 86 (26.96%) Security Cleared
3 78 (24.45%) CCNP
4 74 (23.20%) SC Cleared
5 58 (18.18%) CCNA
6 25 (7.84%) Degree
7 22 (6.90%) Network+ Certification
8 21 (6.58%) CCIE
9 17 (5.33%) Server+ Certification
10 6 (1.88%) CHECK Team Member
10 6 (1.88%) CREST Certified
10 6 (1.88%) Cyber Scheme
11 5 (1.57%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (1.57%) CWNA
11 5 (1.57%) Postgraduate
12 4 (1.25%) CWDP
12 4 (1.25%) CWNE
12 4 (1.25%) CWSP
12 4 (1.25%) PMI Certification
12 4 (1.25%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.45%) QA
2 10 (3.13%) SLA
3 9 (2.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 8 (2.51%) GDPR
5 7 (2.19%) PCI DSS
6 5 (1.57%) NIST
6 5 (1.57%) PMO
7 3 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.94%) NCSC
8 1 (0.31%) DICOM
8 1 (0.31%) HL7
System Software
1 38 (11.91%) Active Directory
2 11 (3.45%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (3.13%) Firmware
4 8 (2.51%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.88%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.63%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.63%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.31%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 25 (7.84%) Ansible
2 18 (5.64%) FortiGate
3 13 (4.08%) Microsoft Intune
4 7 (2.19%) Nmap
4 7 (2.19%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (2.19%) Terraform
5 6 (1.88%) Prometheus
6 5 (1.57%) Grafana
6 5 (1.57%) SCCM
7 4 (1.25%) Cisco Prime
7 4 (1.25%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.25%) Salt
8 2 (0.63%) CASB
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (0.31%) Nagios
9 1 (0.31%) Nessus
Vendors
1 179 (56.11%) Cisco
2 70 (21.94%) Aruba
3 65 (20.38%) Palo Alto
4 39 (12.23%) ServiceNow
5 36 (11.29%) Microsoft
6 34 (10.66%) F5
7 33 (10.34%) Meraki
8 30 (9.40%) CheckPoint
9 29 (9.09%) Fortinet
10 21 (6.58%) Juniper
11 20 (6.27%) Ekahau
12 17 (5.33%) ForeScout
13 14 (4.39%) VMware
14 11 (3.45%) Arista
15 10 (3.13%) Apple
15 10 (3.13%) SolarWinds
15 10 (3.13%) Splunk
16 7 (2.19%) Zscaler
17 5 (1.57%) BigPanda
17 5 (1.57%) Infoblox