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 11 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 364 269 244
Rank change year-on-year -95 -25 -7
Contract jobs citing Wireless 279 278 408
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.59% 0.95% 0.95%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.13% 7.41% 7.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 183 186 252
10th Percentile £190 £219 £170
25th Percentile £300 £325 £261
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £452 £413
Median % change year-on-year -5.97% +9.58% -2.94%
75th Percentile £516 £555 £538
90th Percentile £579 £594 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £420 £438 £400
% change year-on-year -4.00% +9.38% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 18 36
10th Percentile £18.07 - £12.75
25th Percentile £36.25 £14.20 £16.12
Median hourly rate £52.43 £24.66 £19.97
Median % change year-on-year +112.59% +23.52% -60.07%
75th Percentile £70.00 £58.94 £24.04
90th Percentile - £65.00 £58.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £15.25 £17.69
% change year-on-year +243.77% -13.79% -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 4,555 3,752 5,473
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.57% 12.76% 12.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,821 2,310 3,274
10th Percentile £250 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £489 £495
Median % change year-on-year +1.28% -1.26% -4.44%
75th Percentile £588 £598 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £466 £475
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 240 169 418
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.13 £16.44
Median hourly rate £41.24 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +26.89% -18.75% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.91 £58.69 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.11 £24.66 £46.14
% change year-on-year +95.09% -46.55% +149.85%

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 11 May 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 11 May 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 11 May 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 -93 255 £420 -10.16% 262
UK excluding London -77 178 £420 -4.00% 240
Work from Home -34 73 £438 -7.89% 70
London -66 73 £425 -10.53% 89
South East -33 59 £492 +17.14% 87
North of England -65 46 £420 +5.00% 49
North West -42 33 £418 +4.38% 30
West Midlands -38 30 £378 +79.76% 18
Midlands -46 30 £378 +46.60% 28
East of England -44 22 £325 -33.67% 29
South West -36 14 £513 +24.24% 28
North East -11 7 £316 -42.50% 8
Yorkshire -55 6 £450 +104.55% 14
Scotland -4 5 £313 -21.78% 19
Wales -23 2 £400 +8.11% 9
Northern Ireland - 1 £385 - 1

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 6 (2.15%) SharePoint
2 3 (1.08%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.36%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 22 (7.89%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (7.17%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (5.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (4.30%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.36%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 4 (1.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 42 (15.05%) Azure
2 33 (11.83%) AWS
3 21 (7.53%) Microsoft 365
4 8 (2.87%) Entra ID
5 5 (1.79%) GCP
5 5 (1.79%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 4 (1.43%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 4 (1.43%) Route 53
7 3 (1.08%) Google Workspace
7 3 (1.08%) SaaS
8 2 (0.72%) Azure Sentinel
8 2 (0.72%) Cloud Computing
8 2 (0.72%) GitHub
8 2 (0.72%) OneDrive
8 2 (0.72%) PaaS
8 2 (0.72%) Slack
9 1 (0.36%) Cloudflare
9 1 (0.36%) Google Ads
9 1 (0.36%) OCI
9 1 (0.36%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 128 (45.88%) Firewall
2 92 (32.97%) LAN
3 91 (32.62%) WAN
4 60 (21.51%) Wi-Fi
5 58 (20.79%) Network Security
6 51 (18.28%) VPN
7 44 (15.77%) DNS
8 42 (15.05%) BGP
8 42 (15.05%) OSPF
9 40 (14.34%) VLAN
10 39 (13.98%) SD-WAN
11 36 (12.90%) Cisco ISE
11 36 (12.90%) WLAN
12 34 (12.19%) DHCP
13 27 (9.68%) IPsec
14 25 (8.96%) Cisco Wireless
15 22 (7.89%) Cisco Nexus
16 20 (7.17%) Cisco ASA
16 20 (7.17%) TCP/IP
17 17 (6.09%) Ethernet
Development Applications
1 15 (5.38%) Burp Suite
2 14 (5.02%) Metasploit
3 9 (3.23%) Rational DOORS
4 6 (2.15%) JIRA
5 2 (0.72%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.36%) MSI
General
1 75 (26.88%) Social Skills
2 17 (6.09%) Analytical Skills
3 15 (5.38%) Retail
4 13 (4.66%) Public Sector
5 12 (4.30%) Finance
6 10 (3.58%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (3.23%) Aerospace
8 8 (2.87%) Telecoms
9 6 (2.15%) Banking
10 5 (1.79%) Law
10 5 (1.79%) Legal
10 5 (1.79%) Local Government
10 5 (1.79%) Manufacturing
11 3 (1.08%) Billing
12 2 (0.72%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.72%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.36%) German Language
13 1 (0.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.36%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.36%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 117 (41.94%) Network Engineer
2 23 (8.24%) Architect
3 17 (6.09%) Senior
4 16 (5.73%) Cisco Engineer
5 15 (5.38%) Penetration Tester
5 15 (5.38%) Software Engineer
5 15 (5.38%) Tester
5 15 (5.38%) Wireless Engineer
6 14 (5.02%) IT Support
7 13 (4.66%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 12 (4.30%) Network Architect
8 12 (4.30%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 12 (4.30%) Senior Network Engineer
8 12 (4.30%) Wireless Network Engineer
9 11 (3.94%) Security Engineer
9 11 (3.94%) Support Engineer
10 10 (3.58%) Embedded Engineer
10 10 (3.58%) Embedded Software Engineer
11 9 (3.23%) Analyst
12 8 (2.87%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (17.92%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.94%) SAML
3 9 (3.23%) LDAP
4 6 (2.15%) X-Windows
4 6 (2.15%) Yocto
5 2 (0.72%) A2A Protocol
5 2 (0.72%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.36%) Qt
6 1 (0.36%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 33 (11.83%) Data Centre
2 21 (7.53%) IoT
3 14 (5.02%) Onboarding
3 14 (5.02%) Security Posture
4 12 (4.30%) Embedded Systems
5 9 (3.23%) FPGA
5 9 (3.23%) PCIe
6 8 (2.87%) Self-Motivation
7 7 (2.51%) Driving Licence
7 7 (2.51%) PKI
8 6 (2.15%) Device Driver
8 6 (2.15%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (2.15%) MicroBlaze
8 6 (2.15%) RISC-V
8 6 (2.15%) Virtual Team
9 5 (1.79%) BYOD
9 5 (1.79%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.79%) Video Conferencing
10 4 (1.43%) Hybrid Cloud
10 4 (1.43%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 44 (15.77%) Windows
2 20 (7.17%) Linux
3 19 (6.81%) Windows 10
4 9 (3.23%) Embedded Linux
4 9 (3.23%) FreeRTOS
4 9 (3.23%) Mac OS
4 9 (3.23%) Unix
5 7 (2.51%) Android
5 7 (2.51%) Windows Server
6 6 (2.15%) Mac OS X
7 5 (1.79%) Apple iOS
8 4 (1.43%) CatOS
9 3 (1.08%) Windows 7
10 2 (0.72%) Debian
11 1 (0.36%) Kali Linux
11 1 (0.36%) VMS
11 1 (0.36%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 29 (10.39%) Cybersecurity
1 29 (10.39%) Problem-Solving
1 29 (10.39%) Technical Leadership
2 28 (10.04%) Network Segmentation
2 28 (10.04%) Zero Trust
3 25 (8.96%) ITSM
4 22 (7.89%) High Availability
4 22 (7.89%) Regulatory Compliance
5 20 (7.17%) ITIL
6 19 (6.81%) Migration
6 19 (6.81%) Root Cause Analysis
7 18 (6.45%) Change Management
8 17 (6.09%) Cloud Security
9 16 (5.73%) Customer Service
9 16 (5.73%) Penetration Testing
9 16 (5.73%) Software Engineering
9 16 (5.73%) Validation
10 15 (5.38%) Continuous Improvement
10 15 (5.38%) Digital Signal Processing
10 15 (5.38%) Signal Processing
Programming Languages
1 17 (6.09%) C
2 15 (5.38%) Python
3 9 (3.23%) C++
4 4 (1.43%) Embedded C
5 1 (0.36%) Bash
5 1 (0.36%) Korn
5 1 (0.36%) Lisp
5 1 (0.36%) MATLAB
5 1 (0.36%) Perl
5 1 (0.36%) PowerShell
5 1 (0.36%) Ruby
5 1 (0.36%) SQL
Qualifications
1 78 (27.96%) Security Cleared
2 72 (25.81%) SC Cleared
3 65 (23.30%) Cisco Certification
4 60 (21.51%) CCNP
5 39 (13.98%) CCNA
6 27 (9.68%) Degree
7 15 (5.38%) Network+ Certification
8 14 (5.02%) CCIE
8 14 (5.02%) CHECK Team Member
9 12 (4.30%) CREST Certified
9 12 (4.30%) Cyber Scheme
10 11 (3.94%) Postgraduate
11 9 (3.23%) Server+ Certification
12 7 (2.51%) DV Cleared
13 6 (2.15%) Computer Science Degree
13 6 (2.15%) JNCIA
13 6 (2.15%) JNCIS
14 4 (1.43%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (1.43%) DBS Check
14 4 (1.43%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (6.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 15 (5.38%) QA
3 14 (5.02%) GDPR
3 14 (5.02%) PCI DSS
4 10 (3.58%) PMO
5 7 (2.51%) SLA
6 5 (1.79%) NIST
7 4 (1.43%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (1.08%) NCSC
9 1 (0.36%) DICOM
9 1 (0.36%) HL7
9 1 (0.36%) JTAG
System Software
1 31 (11.11%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.02%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (4.66%) Firmware
4 11 (3.94%) VMware NSX
5 8 (2.87%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (1.08%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 18 (6.45%) Ansible
2 16 (5.73%) Nmap
3 12 (4.30%) FortiGate
4 10 (3.58%) Single Sign-On
5 9 (3.23%) SCCM
6 8 (2.87%) Microsoft Intune
7 7 (2.51%) Prometheus
8 6 (2.15%) Grafana
9 5 (1.79%) Salt
9 5 (1.79%) Terraform
10 4 (1.43%) Cisco Prime
11 1 (0.36%) CASB
11 1 (0.36%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.36%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.36%) Nagios
11 1 (0.36%) Nessus
Vendors
1 144 (51.61%) Cisco
2 64 (22.94%) Palo Alto
3 60 (21.51%) Aruba
4 36 (12.90%) CheckPoint
5 35 (12.54%) F5
6 34 (12.19%) Microsoft
6 34 (12.19%) ServiceNow
7 30 (10.75%) Meraki
8 24 (8.60%) Fortinet
8 24 (8.60%) Juniper
9 21 (7.53%) Ekahau
10 17 (6.09%) ForeScout
10 17 (6.09%) VMware
11 12 (4.30%) Apple
12 10 (3.58%) Arista
12 10 (3.58%) HP
12 10 (3.58%) Splunk
13 9 (3.23%) SolarWinds
14 6 (2.15%) Dell
14 6 (2.15%) Infoblox