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

6 months to
30 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 335 294 266
Rank change year-on-year -41 -28 -59
Contract jobs citing Wireless 366 278 359
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.85% 0.90%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.35% 7.04% 7.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 228 162 211
10th Percentile £250 £251 £181
25th Percentile £385 £362 £266
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £410
Median % change year-on-year - +9.76% -3.53%
75th Percentile £525 £538 £525
90th Percentile £588 £588 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £455 £400
% change year-on-year -1.10% +13.75% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 39 30
10th Percentile £13.18 £14.20 £15.20
25th Percentile £24.75 £25.08 £17.69
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% +19.76% -47.50%
75th Percentile £60.00 £56.63 £30.33
90th Percentile £70.00 £84.33 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £17.72
% change year-on-year +74.75% +69.30% -25.39%

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 4,979 3,947 4,876
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.40% 12.03% 12.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,971 2,411 2,952
10th Percentile £250 £235 £213
25th Percentile £400 £375 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.16% -5.00% +8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 340 196 342
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.15 £18.01
Median hourly rate £26.29 £48.75 £45.44
Median % change year-on-year -46.07% +7.28% -9.12%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.50 £74.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.66 £44.00 £51.50
% change year-on-year -39.41% -14.56% -10.30%

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 July 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 July 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 July 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 -34 331 £450 - 231
UK excluding London -31 239 £450 -1.10% 196
North of England -13 93 £499 +10.83% 49
London -61 93 £438 +2.94% 49
Work from Home -28 85 £450 -4.00% 76
North West +3 72 £520 +60.00% 27
South East -40 62 £480 +3.78% 70
Midlands -51 33 £425 -2.86% 33
West Midlands -56 32 £438 +19.86% 18
East of England -21 31 £325 -37.50% 29
Yorkshire -47 16 £450 - 15
Scotland -12 13 £381 -4.45% 2
South West -41 7 £400 -3.03% 19
North East -41 5 £420 - 8
East Midlands -12 1 £235 -46.29% 15
Northern Ireland - 1 £104 - 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 13 (3.55%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.27%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 13 (3.55%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.19%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.82%) Acrobat
4 2 (0.55%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.27%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 57 (15.57%) Azure
2 33 (9.02%) Microsoft 365
3 25 (6.83%) AWS
4 23 (6.28%) Entra ID
5 10 (2.73%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 9 (2.46%) GitHub
7 7 (1.91%) OneDrive
8 5 (1.37%) GCP
9 4 (1.09%) SaaS
9 4 (1.09%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 2 (0.55%) PaaS
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon EC2
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon S3
11 1 (0.27%) AWS Direct Connect
11 1 (0.27%) Azure Sentinel
11 1 (0.27%) Google Workspace
11 1 (0.27%) IaaS
11 1 (0.27%) Route 53
11 1 (0.27%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 168 (45.90%) Firewall
2 123 (33.61%) WAN
3 120 (32.79%) LAN
4 100 (27.32%) VPN
5 96 (26.23%) Network Security
6 87 (23.77%) Wi-Fi
7 69 (18.85%) DNS
8 65 (17.76%) BGP
9 62 (16.94%) VLAN
10 55 (15.03%) OSPF
11 54 (14.75%) DHCP
12 50 (13.66%) Cisco ISE
13 46 (12.57%) SD-WAN
14 42 (11.48%) WLAN
15 36 (9.84%) Structured Cabling
16 34 (9.29%) TCP/IP
17 33 (9.02%) Cisco Wireless
18 30 (8.20%) IPsec
19 25 (6.83%) Cisco IOS
20 24 (6.56%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.55%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 9 (2.46%) Rational DOORS
2 5 (1.37%) JIRA
3 2 (0.55%) Burp Suite
3 2 (0.55%) Git
3 2 (0.55%) Metasploit
3 2 (0.55%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.27%) MSI
General
1 107 (29.23%) Social Skills
2 29 (7.92%) Analytical Skills
3 27 (7.38%) Finance
4 19 (5.19%) Public Sector
5 17 (4.64%) Aerospace
5 17 (4.64%) Documentation Skills
6 15 (4.10%) Retail
7 11 (3.01%) Legal
8 8 (2.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.91%) Law
9 7 (1.91%) Telecoms
10 5 (1.37%) Banking
11 4 (1.09%) Manufacturing
11 4 (1.09%) Police
12 3 (0.82%) Billing
12 3 (0.82%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.82%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.27%) German Language
Job Titles
1 193 (52.73%) Network Engineer
2 31 (8.47%) Architect
3 30 (8.20%) Senior
4 25 (6.83%) Cisco Engineer
5 23 (6.28%) Software Engineer
6 21 (5.74%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 21 (5.74%) Senior Network Engineer
6 21 (5.74%) Wireless Engineer
7 20 (5.46%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 19 (5.19%) Embedded Engineer
8 19 (5.19%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 18 (4.92%) Wireless Network Engineer
10 15 (4.10%) Analyst
10 15 (4.10%) Network Architect
11 13 (3.55%) Security Engineer
12 11 (3.01%) Implementation Engineer
12 11 (3.01%) Network Security Engineer
12 11 (3.01%) Technical Architect
13 10 (2.73%) Desktop Support
13 10 (2.73%) Network Implementation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (13.93%) 802.1X
2 8 (2.19%) SAML
3 6 (1.64%) Yocto
4 5 (1.37%) Software Packaging
5 4 (1.09%) X-Windows
6 3 (0.82%) LDAP
6 3 (0.82%) REST
7 2 (0.55%) Django
7 2 (0.55%) JSON
7 2 (0.55%) XML
8 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
8 1 (0.27%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 58 (15.85%) Data Centre
2 17 (4.64%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.83%) PKI
4 13 (3.55%) Driving Licence
5 11 (3.01%) Embedded Systems
5 11 (3.01%) IoT
6 10 (2.73%) Self-Motivation
7 9 (2.46%) FPGA
7 9 (2.46%) PCIe
8 8 (2.19%) Hybrid Cloud
8 8 (2.19%) Management Information System
9 7 (1.91%) Smartphone
10 6 (1.64%) Device Driver
10 6 (1.64%) Digital Signage
10 6 (1.64%) iPad
10 6 (1.64%) MicroBlaze
10 6 (1.64%) RISC-V
11 5 (1.37%) BYOD
11 5 (1.37%) Security Posture
12 4 (1.09%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 43 (11.75%) Windows
2 15 (4.10%) Linux
3 12 (3.28%) Windows 10
4 10 (2.73%) Windows Server
5 9 (2.46%) Apple iOS
5 9 (2.46%) FreeRTOS
6 7 (1.91%) Unix
7 6 (1.64%) Embedded Linux
8 5 (1.37%) Android
8 5 (1.37%) Mac OS
9 4 (1.09%) Mac OS X
10 3 (0.82%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.82%) Windows XP
11 1 (0.27%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (15.03%) Problem-Solving
2 40 (10.93%) ITIL
3 36 (9.84%) ITSM
4 35 (9.56%) Change Management
5 34 (9.29%) Project Delivery
6 33 (9.02%) Migration
7 32 (8.74%) Network Segmentation
8 28 (7.65%) Continuous Improvement
8 28 (7.65%) High Availability
9 24 (6.56%) Load Balancing
9 24 (6.56%) Software Engineering
9 24 (6.56%) Zero Trust
10 22 (6.01%) Technical Leadership
10 22 (6.01%) Validation
11 20 (5.46%) Agile
11 20 (5.46%) User Experience
12 19 (5.19%) Cybersecurity
12 19 (5.19%) Root Cause Analysis
12 19 (5.19%) Service Management
13 18 (4.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 22 (6.01%) Python
2 16 (4.37%) C
3 6 (1.64%) C++
4 5 (1.37%) PowerShell
5 4 (1.09%) Embedded C
6 3 (0.82%) Lisp
7 2 (0.55%) Perl
8 1 (0.27%) MATLAB
8 1 (0.27%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.27%) SQL
8 1 (0.27%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 105 (28.69%) Cisco Certification
2 92 (25.14%) Security Cleared
3 87 (23.77%) CCNP
4 77 (21.04%) SC Cleared
5 65 (17.76%) CCNA
6 27 (7.38%) Degree
7 25 (6.83%) Network+ Certification
8 21 (5.74%) CCIE
9 17 (4.64%) Server+ Certification
10 8 (2.19%) Computer Science Degree
10 8 (2.19%) Microsoft Certification
11 7 (1.91%) A+ Certification
12 5 (1.37%) CCIE Wireless
12 5 (1.37%) CWNA
12 5 (1.37%) JNCIP
12 5 (1.37%) JNCIS
12 5 (1.37%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 5 (1.37%) PMP
13 4 (1.09%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (1.09%) CWDP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (3.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 8 (2.19%) SLA
3 7 (1.91%) NIST
3 7 (1.91%) QA
4 4 (1.09%) Cyber Essentials
4 4 (1.09%) GDPR
5 3 (0.82%) NCSC
5 3 (0.82%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.55%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.27%) PMO
System Software
1 43 (11.75%) Active Directory
2 11 (3.01%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (2.73%) Firmware
4 6 (1.64%) Embedded Firmware
5 5 (1.37%) Hyper-V
5 5 (1.37%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.82%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.82%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.27%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 27 (7.38%) Ansible
2 21 (5.74%) FortiGate
3 18 (4.92%) Microsoft Intune
4 12 (3.28%) Cisco Prime
5 11 (3.01%) Terraform
6 6 (1.64%) SCCM
7 5 (1.37%) Prometheus
8 4 (1.09%) Grafana
8 4 (1.09%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.82%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.82%) Salt
10 2 (0.55%) CASB
10 2 (0.55%) Nagios
10 2 (0.55%) Nmap
11 1 (0.27%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.27%) Nessus
11 1 (0.27%) TrustSec
11 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 210 (57.38%) Cisco
2 80 (21.86%) Palo Alto
3 76 (20.77%) Aruba
4 50 (13.66%) Microsoft
5 46 (12.57%) F5
6 41 (11.20%) ServiceNow
7 39 (10.66%) CheckPoint
8 38 (10.38%) Meraki
9 35 (9.56%) Fortinet
10 32 (8.74%) Juniper
11 20 (5.46%) Ekahau
12 17 (4.64%) VMware
13 15 (4.10%) SolarWinds
14 13 (3.55%) Arista
14 13 (3.55%) Zscaler
15 12 (3.28%) ForeScout
16 11 (3.01%) Splunk
17 8 (2.19%) Citrix
18 7 (1.91%) Apple
19 6 (1.64%) Blue Coat