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

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 359 279 259
Rank change year-on-year -80 -20 -44
Contract jobs citing Wireless 327 278 397
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.64% 0.91% 0.92%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.70% 7.37% 7.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 208 170 236
10th Percentile £263 £261 £168
25th Percentile £397 £363 £254
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £400
Median % change year-on-year - +12.50% -5.88%
75th Percentile £536 £550 £525
90th Percentile £590 £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 29 31 39
10th Percentile £12.98 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £28.00 £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 £60.00 £31.00 £24.90
90th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £54.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £27.50 £17.69
% change year-on-year +90.64% +55.46% -20.96%

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 4,877 3,770 5,390
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.50% 12.32% 12.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,980 2,297 3,176
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% -1.19%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £473 £490
% change year-on-year +1.72% -3.57% +3.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 298 179 432
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.87
25th Percentile £19.34 £21.99 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.69 £45.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -40.69% - +113.17%
75th Percentile £65.00 £61.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.00 £80.20 £73.21
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.44 £36.57 £47.50
% change year-on-year -27.71% -23.01% +114.64%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -60 298 £450 -3.74% 213
UK excluding London -56 219 £450 -3.74% 193
North of England -41 77 £500 +11.11% 49
London -99 77 £450 +5.88% 50
Work from Home -34 73 £475 - 86
North West -10 61 £525 +40.00% 26
South East -35 56 £514 +2.75% 66
Midlands -49 36 £425 +22.74% 20
West Midlands -43 35 £425 +66.67% 12
East of England -41 25 £325 -38.10% 29
Scotland -12 12 £381 -6.04% 7
South West -30 12 £510 +23.64% 20
Yorkshire -57 11 £450 - 19
North East -30 5 £420 -23.64% 5
Northern Ireland - 2 £245 - 3
East Midlands -17 1 £235 -46.29% 8

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 (2.45%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.31%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 15 (4.59%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (3.98%) MS Visio
3 12 (3.67%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.31%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 49 (14.98%) Azure
2 28 (8.56%) AWS
3 15 (4.59%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (4.28%) Entra ID
5 8 (2.45%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 7 (2.14%) GitHub
7 5 (1.53%) GCP
7 5 (1.53%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 4 (1.22%) SaaS
9 2 (0.61%) Google Workspace
9 2 (0.61%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.61%) PaaS
9 2 (0.61%) Route 53
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.31%) AWS Direct Connect
10 1 (0.31%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.31%) Cloud Computing
10 1 (0.31%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 150 (45.87%) Firewall
2 111 (33.94%) LAN
3 110 (33.64%) WAN
4 90 (27.52%) Network Security
5 78 (23.85%) Wi-Fi
6 72 (22.02%) VPN
7 57 (17.43%) DNS
8 48 (14.68%) BGP
8 48 (14.68%) VLAN
9 47 (14.37%) DHCP
10 45 (13.76%) SD-WAN
11 44 (13.46%) Cisco ISE
12 43 (13.15%) OSPF
13 42 (12.84%) WLAN
14 33 (10.09%) Cisco Wireless
15 29 (8.87%) Structured Cabling
16 26 (7.95%) IPsec
17 25 (7.65%) TCP/IP
18 23 (7.03%) Cisco IOS
19 21 (6.42%) Cisco Nexus
Development Applications
1 9 (2.75%) Rational DOORS
2 5 (1.53%) Burp Suite
2 5 (1.53%) JIRA
3 4 (1.22%) Metasploit
4 2 (0.61%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.31%) Git
5 1 (0.31%) MSI
General
1 94 (28.75%) Social Skills
2 23 (7.03%) Analytical Skills
3 18 (5.50%) Documentation Skills
4 15 (4.59%) Aerospace
4 15 (4.59%) Finance
5 12 (3.67%) Public Sector
6 11 (3.36%) Retail
7 5 (1.53%) Legal
8 4 (1.22%) Banking
8 4 (1.22%) Billing
8 4 (1.22%) Law
8 4 (1.22%) Telecoms
9 3 (0.92%) Influencing Skills
9 3 (0.92%) Investment Banking
9 3 (0.92%) Manufacturing
9 3 (0.92%) Presentation Skills
10 2 (0.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.61%) Organisational Skills
11 1 (0.31%) German Language
11 1 (0.31%) Police
Job Titles
1 164 (50.15%) Network Engineer
2 33 (10.09%) Architect
3 23 (7.03%) Cisco Engineer
4 22 (6.73%) Senior
4 22 (6.73%) Wireless Engineer
5 21 (6.42%) Software Engineer
6 19 (5.81%) Wireless Network Engineer
7 18 (5.50%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 18 (5.50%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 17 (5.20%) Embedded Engineer
8 17 (5.20%) Embedded Software Engineer
8 17 (5.20%) Network Architect
9 15 (4.59%) Senior Network Engineer
10 11 (3.36%) Technical Architect
11 10 (3.06%) IT Support
11 10 (3.06%) Security Engineer
11 10 (3.06%) Support Engineer
12 9 (2.75%) Network Security Engineer
13 8 (2.45%) Analyst
13 8 (2.45%) Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (16.51%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.36%) SAML
3 6 (1.83%) LDAP
3 6 (1.83%) X-Windows
3 6 (1.83%) Yocto
4 5 (1.53%) Software Packaging
5 2 (0.61%) REST
6 1 (0.31%) A2A Protocol
6 1 (0.31%) Django
6 1 (0.31%) JSON
6 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.31%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.31%) ModSecurity
6 1 (0.31%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 50 (15.29%) Data Centre
2 15 (4.59%) Onboarding
3 12 (3.67%) IoT
4 11 (3.36%) Embedded Systems
5 9 (2.75%) FPGA
5 9 (2.75%) PCIe
5 9 (2.75%) Self-Motivation
6 8 (2.45%) Driving Licence
6 8 (2.45%) PKI
6 8 (2.45%) Security Posture
7 7 (2.14%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (1.83%) Device Driver
8 6 (1.83%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.83%) iPad
8 6 (1.83%) Management Information System
8 6 (1.83%) MicroBlaze
8 6 (1.83%) RISC-V
9 5 (1.53%) BYOD
9 5 (1.53%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.53%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 34 (10.40%) Windows
2 16 (4.89%) Linux
3 10 (3.06%) Apple iOS
3 10 (3.06%) Windows 10
4 9 (2.75%) FreeRTOS
5 8 (2.45%) Unix
6 6 (1.83%) Android
6 6 (1.83%) Embedded Linux
6 6 (1.83%) Mac OS X
6 6 (1.83%) Windows 7
7 5 (1.53%) Windows Server
8 4 (1.22%) Windows XP
9 2 (0.61%) CatOS
9 2 (0.61%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.31%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.31%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 40 (12.23%) Problem-Solving
2 37 (11.31%) Network Segmentation
3 31 (9.48%) ITSM
4 30 (9.17%) Migration
5 28 (8.56%) High Availability
5 28 (8.56%) Technical Leadership
6 27 (8.26%) Change Management
6 27 (8.26%) Project Delivery
7 26 (7.95%) ITIL
8 25 (7.65%) Zero Trust
9 24 (7.34%) Continuous Improvement
9 24 (7.34%) Cybersecurity
10 23 (7.03%) Validation
11 22 (6.73%) Software Engineering
12 20 (6.12%) Load Balancing
12 20 (6.12%) Root Cause Analysis
12 20 (6.12%) User Experience
13 19 (5.81%) Agile
14 17 (5.20%) Network Design
14 17 (5.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 19 (5.81%) Python
2 16 (4.89%) C
3 6 (1.83%) C++
4 4 (1.22%) Embedded C
4 4 (1.22%) PowerShell
5 3 (0.92%) Lisp
6 2 (0.61%) Perl
7 1 (0.31%) Korn
7 1 (0.31%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 101 (30.89%) Cisco Certification
2 85 (25.99%) CCNP
2 85 (25.99%) Security Cleared
3 73 (22.32%) SC Cleared
4 63 (19.27%) CCNA
5 28 (8.56%) Degree
6 23 (7.03%) CCIE
7 22 (6.73%) Network+ Certification
8 17 (5.20%) Server+ Certification
9 6 (1.83%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (1.53%) CCIE Wireless
10 5 (1.53%) CWNA
11 4 (1.22%) A+ Certification
11 4 (1.22%) CompTIA Security+
11 4 (1.22%) CWNE
11 4 (1.22%) CWSP
11 4 (1.22%) Microsoft Certification
11 4 (1.22%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 4 (1.22%) PMI Certification
11 4 (1.22%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.75%) QA
1 9 (2.75%) SLA
2 8 (2.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 6 (1.83%) GDPR
4 5 (1.53%) NIST
4 5 (1.53%) PCI DSS
5 4 (1.22%) Cyber Essentials
6 3 (0.92%) NCSC
6 3 (0.92%) PMO
7 1 (0.31%) Data Quality
System Software
1 38 (11.62%) Active Directory
2 12 (3.67%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (3.06%) Firmware
4 8 (2.45%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.83%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (0.92%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.61%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.31%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 27 (8.26%) Ansible
2 20 (6.12%) FortiGate
3 13 (3.98%) Microsoft Intune
4 8 (2.45%) Terraform
5 7 (2.14%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (1.83%) Prometheus
7 5 (1.53%) Grafana
7 5 (1.53%) Nmap
7 5 (1.53%) SCCM
8 4 (1.22%) Cisco Prime
8 4 (1.22%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (1.22%) Salt
9 2 (0.61%) CASB
9 2 (0.61%) Nessus
10 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
10 1 (0.31%) Nagios
10 1 (0.31%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 190 (58.10%) Cisco
2 72 (22.02%) Aruba
3 69 (21.10%) Palo Alto
4 39 (11.93%) ServiceNow
5 37 (11.31%) Microsoft
6 35 (10.70%) F5
6 35 (10.70%) Meraki
7 32 (9.79%) CheckPoint
8 31 (9.48%) Fortinet
9 22 (6.73%) Juniper
10 20 (6.12%) Ekahau
11 17 (5.20%) ForeScout
12 16 (4.89%) VMware
13 13 (3.98%) Arista
14 11 (3.36%) Splunk
15 10 (3.06%) SolarWinds
16 9 (2.75%) Apple
17 8 (2.45%) Zscaler
18 5 (1.53%) BigPanda
18 5 (1.53%) HP