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 25 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 342 307 273
Rank change year-on-year -35 -34 -76
Contract jobs citing Wireless 364 258 338
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.68% 0.79% 0.87%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.19% 6.68% 7.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 150 207
10th Percentile £250 £204 £212
25th Percentile £380 £321 £267
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £425 £400
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +6.25% -5.88%
75th Percentile £525 £515 £525
90th Percentile £588 £588 £643
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £399 £388
% change year-on-year +12.78% +2.97% -3.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 39 28
10th Percentile £13.99 £14.20 £14.60
25th Percentile £34.19 - £17.69
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £21.50
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% +16.98% -39.84%
75th Percentile £60.00 £44.75 £51.91
90th Percentile £70.00 £84.33 £52.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £35.48
% change year-on-year +74.75% -15.45% +84.31%

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 5,060 3,865 4,675
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.43% 11.81% 12.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,979 2,358 2,811
10th Percentile £250 £243 £220
25th Percentile £400 £370 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £484 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.31% -3.20% -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £676 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £472 £500
% change year-on-year +0.58% -5.55% +10.80%
Number of hourly rates quoted 373 201 302
10th Percentile £15.18 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.00 £46.25 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -43.78% -7.50% -11.49%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.35 £74.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.84 £44.50 £54.94
% change year-on-year -41.93% -19.00% -4.32%

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 25 August 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 25 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Wireless in the UK

Wireless
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 Wireless within the UK over the 6 months to 25 August 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 -32 325 £450 +9.09% 299
UK excluding London -25 241 £450 +12.78% 247
North of England -2 97 £475 +22.58% 42
Work from Home -27 91 £450 - 101
London -61 91 £450 +5.88% 75
North West +18 71 £525 +61.54% 27
South East -52 57 £425 +34.39% 92
East of England -8 33 £400 -14.44% 35
Midlands -64 32 £450 +18.42% 39
West Midlands -48 30 £463 +21.71% 23
Yorkshire -35 20 £450 - 8
Scotland -7 13 £381 +1.67% 14
North East -35 6 £420 -23.64% 8
South West -44 5 £400 -12.33% 31
Wales -16 3 £409 -10.16% 3
Northern Ireland +2 2 £265 -44.32% 1
East Midlands -17 2 £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 13 (3.57%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.65%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.27%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 11 (3.02%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.20%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.82%) Acrobat
5 1 (0.27%) Simulink
5 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 55 (15.11%) Azure
2 40 (10.99%) Microsoft 365
3 23 (6.32%) Entra ID
4 19 (5.22%) AWS
5 9 (2.47%) Azure ExpressRoute
5 9 (2.47%) GitHub
6 7 (1.92%) OneDrive
7 4 (1.10%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 3 (0.82%) GCP
8 3 (0.82%) SaaS
9 2 (0.55%) Smartsheet
10 1 (0.27%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 1 (0.27%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.27%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.27%) IBM Watson
10 1 (0.27%) OCI
10 1 (0.27%) PaaS
10 1 (0.27%) Route 53
10 1 (0.27%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 166 (45.60%) Firewall
2 126 (34.62%) WAN
3 122 (33.52%) LAN
4 101 (27.75%) Network Security
5 100 (27.47%) VPN
6 87 (23.90%) Wi-Fi
7 75 (20.60%) DNS
8 71 (19.51%) BGP
9 66 (18.13%) VLAN
10 59 (16.21%) OSPF
11 58 (15.93%) DHCP
12 51 (14.01%) Cisco ISE
13 46 (12.64%) WLAN
14 44 (12.09%) SD-WAN
15 42 (11.54%) TCP/IP
16 31 (8.52%) Cisco Wireless
16 31 (8.52%) Structured Cabling
17 30 (8.24%) IPsec
18 27 (7.42%) Cisco ASA
18 27 (7.42%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.55%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 9 (2.47%) Rational DOORS
2 6 (1.65%) JIRA
3 2 (0.55%) Git
4 1 (0.27%) Burp Suite
4 1 (0.27%) Metasploit
4 1 (0.27%) MSI
4 1 (0.27%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 105 (28.85%) Social Skills
2 30 (8.24%) Analytical Skills
3 28 (7.69%) Finance
4 18 (4.95%) Aerospace
4 18 (4.95%) Documentation Skills
4 18 (4.95%) Public Sector
5 16 (4.40%) Retail
6 14 (3.85%) Legal
7 12 (3.30%) Telecoms
8 10 (2.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.92%) Law
10 6 (1.65%) Banking
11 5 (1.37%) Manufacturing
11 5 (1.37%) Police
12 3 (0.82%) Front Office
12 3 (0.82%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.82%) Multimedia
12 3 (0.82%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Billing
13 2 (0.55%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 202 (55.49%) Network Engineer
2 41 (11.26%) Senior
3 30 (8.24%) Senior Network Engineer
4 28 (7.69%) Software Engineer
5 26 (7.14%) Cisco Engineer
6 24 (6.59%) Embedded Engineer
6 24 (6.59%) Embedded Software Engineer
7 22 (6.04%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 22 (6.04%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 22 (6.04%) Wireless Engineer
8 21 (5.77%) Architect
9 19 (5.22%) Wireless Network Engineer
10 18 (4.95%) Analyst
11 12 (3.30%) Security Engineer
12 11 (3.02%) Desktop Support
12 11 (3.02%) Implementation Engineer
12 11 (3.02%) Network Architect
12 11 (3.02%) Network Implementation Engineer
13 10 (2.75%) Network Security Engineer
13 10 (2.75%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (11.81%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.02%) Yocto
3 10 (2.75%) Terraform
4 7 (1.92%) Software Packaging
5 6 (1.65%) SAML
6 5 (1.37%) REST
7 3 (0.82%) JSON
7 3 (0.82%) LDAP
7 3 (0.82%) XML
8 2 (0.55%) Django
9 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
9 1 (0.27%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 59 (16.21%) Data Centre
2 21 (5.77%) Onboarding
3 16 (4.40%) Embedded Systems
4 15 (4.12%) Driving Licence
4 15 (4.12%) PKI
5 11 (3.02%) Device Driver
6 10 (2.75%) Digital Signage
6 10 (2.75%) MicroBlaze
6 10 (2.75%) RISC-V
6 10 (2.75%) Self-Motivation
7 9 (2.47%) FPGA
7 9 (2.47%) Management Information System
7 9 (2.47%) PCIe
8 7 (1.92%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.92%) IoT
8 7 (1.92%) Smartphone
9 5 (1.37%) Data Protection Act
9 5 (1.37%) iPad
9 5 (1.37%) Video Conferencing
10 4 (1.10%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 47 (12.91%) Windows
2 15 (4.12%) Linux
3 12 (3.30%) Windows Server
4 11 (3.02%) Embedded Linux
5 10 (2.75%) Windows 10
6 9 (2.47%) FreeRTOS
7 8 (2.20%) Apple iOS
8 7 (1.92%) Mac OS
9 5 (1.37%) Android
10 3 (0.82%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.82%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.55%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 57 (15.66%) Problem-Solving
2 44 (12.09%) ITIL
3 42 (11.54%) Project Delivery
4 35 (9.62%) Change Management
5 34 (9.34%) ITSM
6 33 (9.07%) Migration
7 32 (8.79%) High Availability
8 29 (7.97%) Software Engineering
9 28 (7.69%) Continuous Improvement
10 26 (7.14%) Load Balancing
11 25 (6.87%) Network Segmentation
11 25 (6.87%) Stakeholder Management
12 23 (6.32%) Agile
13 22 (6.04%) User Experience
13 22 (6.04%) Validation
14 21 (5.77%) Zero Trust
15 20 (5.49%) Digital Signal Processing
15 20 (5.49%) Signal Processing
16 19 (5.22%) Network Design
16 19 (5.22%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 24 (6.59%) Python
2 21 (5.77%) C
3 11 (3.02%) C++
4 7 (1.92%) PowerShell
5 4 (1.10%) Embedded C
6 3 (0.82%) Lisp
6 3 (0.82%) SQL
6 3 (0.82%) VBScript
7 2 (0.55%) Perl
7 2 (0.55%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.27%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 103 (28.30%) Cisco Certification
2 86 (23.63%) CCNP
3 84 (23.08%) Security Cleared
4 70 (19.23%) SC Cleared
5 58 (15.93%) CCNA
6 28 (7.69%) Degree
7 22 (6.04%) CCIE
7 22 (6.04%) Network+ Certification
8 14 (3.85%) Server+ Certification
9 7 (1.92%) A+ Certification
9 7 (1.92%) Computer Science Degree
9 7 (1.92%) Microsoft Certification
10 6 (1.65%) CWNA
11 5 (1.37%) CCIE Wireless
11 5 (1.37%) JNCIP
11 5 (1.37%) JNCIS
12 4 (1.10%) City & Guilds
12 4 (1.10%) CompTIA Security+
12 4 (1.10%) CWDP
12 4 (1.10%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 8 (2.20%) SLA
3 6 (1.65%) QA
4 5 (1.37%) NIST
5 3 (0.82%) GDPR
6 2 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.55%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.55%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 46 (12.64%) Active Directory
2 16 (4.40%) Firmware
3 13 (3.57%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (3.02%) Embedded Firmware
5 6 (1.65%) Hyper-V
6 5 (1.37%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (1.37%) VMware NSX
7 4 (1.10%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.27%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 26 (7.14%) FortiGate
2 24 (6.59%) Ansible
3 20 (5.49%) Microsoft Intune
4 14 (3.85%) Cisco Prime
5 7 (1.92%) SCCM
6 4 (1.10%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.82%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.55%) Nagios
9 1 (0.27%) CASB
9 1 (0.27%) MobiControl
9 1 (0.27%) Nessus
9 1 (0.27%) Nmap
9 1 (0.27%) TrustSec
9 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 204 (56.04%) Cisco
2 73 (20.05%) Palo Alto
3 63 (17.31%) Aruba
4 56 (15.38%) Microsoft
5 45 (12.36%) F5
6 39 (10.71%) Fortinet
6 39 (10.71%) Meraki
7 33 (9.07%) ServiceNow
8 32 (8.79%) CheckPoint
9 30 (8.24%) Juniper
10 19 (5.22%) VMware
11 17 (4.67%) Ekahau
12 16 (4.40%) SolarWinds
13 14 (3.85%) Zscaler
14 10 (2.75%) ForeScout
15 9 (2.47%) Citrix
16 8 (2.20%) Splunk
17 7 (1.92%) Arista
18 6 (1.65%) Apple
18 6 (1.65%) Infoblox