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

6 months to
16 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 338 312 273
Rank change year-on-year -26 -39 -76
Contract jobs citing Wireless 414 270 324
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.75% 0.81% 0.86%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 8.14% 7.16% 7.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 228 163 197
10th Percentile £246 £170 £227
25th Percentile £356 £211 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £413 £440
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -6.25% -2.22%
75th Percentile £528 £490 £550
90th Percentile £588 £586 £625
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £380 £413
% change year-on-year +18.42% -7.88% -2.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 49 13
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.50 £22.68
25th Percentile £22.02 £18.50 £23.80
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% -48.21% +47.15%
75th Percentile £60.00 £31.00 £52.25
90th Percentile £63.75 £84.33 £53.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £48.56
% change year-on-year +74.75% -38.22% +111.13%

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 5,087 3,772 4,548
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.20% 11.34% 12.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,935 2,408 2,620
10th Percentile £235 £214 £225
25th Percentile £390 £358 £369
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £681 £678 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £485
% change year-on-year +5.56% -7.21% +4.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 447 189 178
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.50 £15.02
25th Percentile £19.50 £20.00 £24.39
Median hourly rate £32.50 £34.00 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year -4.41% -29.98% -14.04%
75th Percentile £68.75 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £93.52 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.00 £41.94 £52.50
% change year-on-year -38.01% -20.11% -8.56%

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 16 October 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 16 October 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 16 October 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 -36 364 £455 +15.19% 165
UK excluding London -17 283 £450 +18.42% 159
North of England -7 100 £500 +47.06% 38
London -64 96 £463 +12.12% 20
Work from Home -38 89 £480 +1.05% 68
North West +12 77 £525 +90.91% 18
South East -48 58 £380 +83.13% 49
Midlands -49 50 £425 +12.58% 20
West Midlands -46 45 £425 +11.84% 12
East of England -10 38 £435 -22.67% 22
Yorkshire -31 20 £463 +2.78% 15
Scotland -17 19 £313 -26.47% 8
South West -24 15 £338 -2.53% 18
East Midlands -6 5 £475 +201.59% 8
Wales - 5 £363 -
Northern Ireland +3 3 £425 -10.53% 5
North East -40 3 £400 +128.57% 6

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 15 (3.62%) SharePoint
2 12 (2.90%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.48%) Confluence
4 1 (0.24%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 7 (1.69%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.45%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (0.97%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.72%) Acrobat
5 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.24%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.24%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 68 (16.43%) Azure
2 57 (13.77%) Microsoft 365
3 32 (7.73%) Entra ID
4 22 (5.31%) AWS
5 13 (3.14%) GitHub
6 8 (1.93%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 5 (1.21%) GCP
7 5 (1.21%) OneDrive
8 3 (0.72%) Smartsheet
8 3 (0.72%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 2 (0.48%) SaaS
10 1 (0.24%) Azure DevOps
10 1 (0.24%) Azure Monitor
10 1 (0.24%) GitHub Actions
10 1 (0.24%) GitHub Copilot
10 1 (0.24%) IaaS
10 1 (0.24%) IBM Watson
10 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Purview
10 1 (0.24%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 179 (43.24%) Firewall
2 142 (34.30%) WAN
3 126 (30.43%) LAN
4 117 (28.26%) VPN
5 100 (24.15%) Network Security
6 94 (22.71%) Wi-Fi
7 77 (18.60%) DNS
8 70 (16.91%) VLAN
9 64 (15.46%) BGP
10 57 (13.77%) DHCP
11 54 (13.04%) SD-WAN
12 52 (12.56%) Cisco ISE
13 50 (12.08%) OSPF
14 49 (11.84%) TCP/IP
15 47 (11.35%) WLAN
16 32 (7.73%) Cisco Nexus
16 32 (7.73%) Cisco Wireless
17 31 (7.49%) IPsec
18 29 (7.00%) Structured Cabling
19 26 (6.28%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.72%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 19 (4.59%) Git
2 15 (3.62%) JIRA
3 7 (1.69%) GitLab
4 4 (0.97%) Rational DOORS
5 3 (0.72%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 109 (26.33%) Social Skills
2 39 (9.42%) Analytical Skills
3 29 (7.00%) Finance
4 24 (5.80%) Public Sector
5 22 (5.31%) Telecoms
6 18 (4.35%) Legal
7 17 (4.11%) Documentation Skills
8 16 (3.86%) Aerospace
9 13 (3.14%) Retail
10 9 (2.17%) Banking
10 9 (2.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (1.93%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.21%) Investment Banking
12 5 (1.21%) Law
12 5 (1.21%) Police
13 4 (0.97%) Front Office
13 4 (0.97%) Multimedia
13 4 (0.97%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.72%) Automotive
14 3 (0.72%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 210 (50.72%) Network Engineer
2 46 (11.11%) Senior
3 31 (7.49%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
4 30 (7.25%) Cisco Engineer
5 29 (7.00%) Senior Network Engineer
5 29 (7.00%) Software Engineer
6 28 (6.76%) Embedded Engineer
7 27 (6.52%) Embedded Software Engineer
8 24 (5.80%) Cisco Network Engineer
9 23 (5.56%) Architect
10 18 (4.35%) Analyst
10 18 (4.35%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 18 (4.35%) Wireless Engineer
11 17 (4.11%) Wireless Network Engineer
12 16 (3.86%) IT Support
13 15 (3.62%) Support Engineer
14 14 (3.38%) Security Engineer
15 13 (3.14%) Desktop Support
16 12 (2.90%) Network Architect
17 11 (2.66%) Implementation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (10.39%) 802.1X
2 12 (2.90%) JSON
2 12 (2.90%) REST
2 12 (2.90%) Terraform
3 10 (2.42%) Yocto
4 7 (1.69%) Django
4 7 (1.69%) Software Packaging
5 5 (1.21%) Flask
6 4 (0.97%) SAML
6 4 (0.97%) YAML
7 3 (0.72%) XML
8 1 (0.24%) LDAP
8 1 (0.24%) Middleware
8 1 (0.24%) ModSecurity
8 1 (0.24%) OpenEmbedded
Miscellaneous
1 60 (14.49%) Data Centre
2 27 (6.52%) Onboarding
3 24 (5.80%) Driving Licence
4 14 (3.38%) Digital Signage
4 14 (3.38%) Embedded Systems
4 14 (3.38%) PKI
5 12 (2.90%) Management Information System
5 12 (2.90%) Self-Motivation
6 10 (2.42%) Device Driver
7 9 (2.17%) Hybrid Cloud
7 9 (2.17%) MicroBlaze
7 9 (2.17%) RISC-V
8 7 (1.69%) Operational Technology
8 7 (1.69%) Smartphone
8 7 (1.69%) Video Conferencing
9 6 (1.45%) IoT
9 6 (1.45%) NHS
9 6 (1.45%) Wiki
10 5 (1.21%) CCTV
11 4 (0.97%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 62 (14.98%) Windows
2 25 (6.04%) Linux
3 21 (5.07%) Windows Server
4 16 (3.86%) Windows 10
5 15 (3.62%) macOS
6 10 (2.42%) Embedded Linux
7 8 (1.93%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.93%) VMS
8 7 (1.69%) Android
9 4 (0.97%) FreeRTOS
10 3 (0.72%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.72%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.48%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.24%) OpenWrt
12 1 (0.24%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 71 (17.15%) Problem-Solving
2 52 (12.56%) Project Delivery
3 38 (9.18%) ITIL
4 37 (8.94%) Change Management
5 34 (8.21%) Load Balancing
6 32 (7.73%) Software Engineering
7 31 (7.49%) Stakeholder Management
8 30 (7.25%) Agile
8 30 (7.25%) ITSM
9 29 (7.00%) Migration
10 25 (6.04%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 24 (5.80%) High Availability
11 24 (5.80%) Network Design
11 24 (5.80%) Validation
12 23 (5.56%) Network Segmentation
12 23 (5.56%) Zero Trust
13 22 (5.31%) Infrastructure as Code
14 21 (5.07%) Continuous Improvement
15 20 (4.83%) CI/CD
15 20 (4.83%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 42 (10.14%) Python
2 17 (4.11%) C
3 15 (3.62%) PowerShell
4 11 (2.66%) C++
5 5 (1.21%) Search Processing Language
6 3 (0.72%) Embedded C
6 3 (0.72%) SQL
6 3 (0.72%) VBScript
7 2 (0.48%) Bash
7 2 (0.48%) Lisp
7 2 (0.48%) Perl
8 1 (0.24%) Bicep
8 1 (0.24%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 92 (22.22%) Security Cleared
2 91 (21.98%) Cisco Certification
3 76 (18.36%) SC Cleared
4 72 (17.39%) CCNP
5 51 (12.32%) CCNA
6 28 (6.76%) Degree
7 20 (4.83%) CCIE
8 17 (4.11%) Network+ Certification
9 9 (2.17%) Server+ Certification
10 7 (1.69%) A+ Certification
10 7 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.69%) Microsoft Certification
11 6 (1.45%) CCIE Wireless
12 5 (1.21%) CWNE
12 5 (1.21%) JNCIP
13 4 (0.97%) City & Guilds
13 4 (0.97%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (0.97%) CWNA
13 4 (0.97%) DV Cleared
13 4 (0.97%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 9 (2.17%) QA
3 8 (1.93%) SLA
4 6 (1.45%) NIST
5 5 (1.21%) Data Quality
6 4 (0.97%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.48%) GDPR
8 1 (0.24%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 57 (13.77%) Active Directory
2 19 (4.59%) Firmware
3 10 (2.42%) Embedded Firmware
3 10 (2.42%) VMware Infrastructure
4 7 (1.69%) Docker
4 7 (1.69%) Hyper-V
5 6 (1.45%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.97%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.97%) vSphere
7 3 (0.72%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 23 (5.56%) FortiGate
2 21 (5.07%) Ansible
2 21 (5.07%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (3.14%) Cisco Prime
4 8 (1.93%) SCCM
5 3 (0.72%) Jamf Pro
6 2 (0.48%) vCenter Server
7 1 (0.24%) CASB
7 1 (0.24%) Grafana
7 1 (0.24%) Iperf
7 1 (0.24%) MobiControl
7 1 (0.24%) Nagios
7 1 (0.24%) Nessus
7 1 (0.24%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.24%) TrustSec
Vendors
1 212 (51.21%) Cisco
2 73 (17.63%) Microsoft
3 70 (16.91%) Palo Alto
4 59 (14.25%) Aruba
5 56 (13.53%) Meraki
6 48 (11.59%) Fortinet
7 42 (10.14%) F5
7 42 (10.14%) Juniper
8 31 (7.49%) CheckPoint
9 24 (5.80%) ServiceNow
10 17 (4.11%) VMware
11 16 (3.86%) Zscaler
12 15 (3.62%) SolarWinds
13 10 (2.42%) Citrix
14 9 (2.17%) Blue Coat
14 9 (2.17%) Splunk
15 8 (1.93%) ForeScout
16 7 (1.69%) Arista
16 7 (1.69%) Ekahau
17 6 (1.45%) Infoblox