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

6 months to
18 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 353 305 267
Rank change year-on-year -48 -38 -57
Contract jobs citing Wireless 363 262 337
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.68% 0.80% 0.87%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.19% 6.75% 7.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 225 147 204
10th Percentile £250 £243 £211
25th Percentile £385 £338 £267
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £438 £400
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% +9.38% -5.88%
75th Percentile £534 £525 £525
90th Percentile £588 £588 £646
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £388
% change year-on-year - +16.13% -3.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 40 30
10th Percentile £13.59 £14.20 £15.20
25th Percentile £30.06 £25.11 £17.69
Median hourly rate £52.43 £25.15 £21.50
Median % change year-on-year +108.45% +16.98% -35.71%
75th Percentile £60.00 £41.13 £51.91
90th Percentile £70.00 £83.66 £54.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £48.56
% change year-on-year +74.75% -38.22% +152.26%

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 5,052 3,881 4,738
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.43% 11.81% 12.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,987 2,350 2,889
10th Percentile £250 £245 £221
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 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £487 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +2.58% -5.00% +9.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 363 203 315
10th Percentile £15.18 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.00
Median hourly rate £26.14 £46.25 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year -43.48% -5.61% -10.91%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.95 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.14 £45.00 £54.88
% change year-on-year -41.91% -18.00% -2.86%

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 18 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 18 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 18 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 -53 326 £450 +5.88% 254
UK excluding London -27 241 £450 - 235
North of England -16 93 £498 +10.56% 53
London -60 91 £463 +8.82% 53
Work from Home -14 88 £450 -2.70% 69
North West +11 71 £520 +60.00% 30
South East -54 60 £480 +12.94% 97
Midlands -51 34 £425 +11.84% 35
East of England -21 32 £363 -24.87% 30
West Midlands -45 32 £438 +15.13% 21
Yorkshire -42 17 £450 -4.20% 13
Scotland -6 13 £381 +1.67% 5
South West -44 6 £363 -27.50% 22
North East -36 5 £420 -23.64% 12
Northern Ireland +6 2 £265 -44.32%
East Midlands -18 2 £235 -46.29% 14
Wales -21 2 £363 -20.33% 3

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 (3.58%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.28%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 12 (3.31%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.48%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.20%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.83%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.28%) Simulink
6 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 54 (14.88%) Azure
2 37 (10.19%) Microsoft 365
3 22 (6.06%) Entra ID
4 20 (5.51%) AWS
5 10 (2.75%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 9 (2.48%) GitHub
7 7 (1.93%) OneDrive
8 4 (1.10%) GCP
8 4 (1.10%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 3 (0.83%) SaaS
10 2 (0.55%) Smartsheet
11 1 (0.28%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 1 (0.28%) AWS Direct Connect
11 1 (0.28%) Cloudflare
11 1 (0.28%) Google Ads
11 1 (0.28%) IBM Watson
11 1 (0.28%) OCI
11 1 (0.28%) Route 53
11 1 (0.28%) Rubrik
11 1 (0.28%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 166 (45.73%) Firewall
2 126 (34.71%) WAN
3 121 (33.33%) LAN
4 99 (27.27%) VPN
5 97 (26.72%) Network Security
6 84 (23.14%) Wi-Fi
7 73 (20.11%) DNS
8 67 (18.46%) BGP
9 64 (17.63%) VLAN
10 56 (15.43%) OSPF
11 55 (15.15%) DHCP
12 49 (13.50%) Cisco ISE
13 45 (12.40%) SD-WAN
14 44 (12.12%) WLAN
15 42 (11.57%) TCP/IP
16 32 (8.82%) Structured Cabling
17 31 (8.54%) IPsec
18 30 (8.26%) Cisco Wireless
19 25 (6.89%) Cisco Nexus
20 24 (6.61%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.55%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 9 (2.48%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.93%) JIRA
3 2 (0.55%) Git
4 1 (0.28%) Burp Suite
4 1 (0.28%) Metasploit
4 1 (0.28%) MSI
4 1 (0.28%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 109 (30.03%) Social Skills
2 30 (8.26%) Analytical Skills
3 29 (7.99%) Finance
4 19 (5.23%) Public Sector
5 18 (4.96%) Aerospace
6 17 (4.68%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (4.41%) Retail
8 12 (3.31%) Legal
8 12 (3.31%) Telecoms
9 10 (2.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.93%) Law
11 5 (1.38%) Banking
11 5 (1.38%) Manufacturing
11 5 (1.38%) Police
12 3 (0.83%) Billing
12 3 (0.83%) Front Office
12 3 (0.83%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.83%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 196 (53.99%) Network Engineer
2 37 (10.19%) Senior
3 26 (7.16%) Architect
3 26 (7.16%) Cisco Engineer
3 26 (7.16%) Software Engineer
4 25 (6.89%) Senior Network Engineer
5 22 (6.06%) Cisco Network Engineer
5 22 (6.06%) Embedded Engineer
5 22 (6.06%) Embedded Software Engineer
5 22 (6.06%) Wireless Engineer
6 20 (5.51%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 19 (5.23%) Wireless Network Engineer
8 18 (4.96%) Analyst
9 13 (3.58%) Network Architect
9 13 (3.58%) Security Engineer
10 12 (3.31%) Desktop Support
11 11 (3.03%) Implementation Engineer
12 10 (2.75%) Network Implementation Engineer
12 10 (2.75%) Network Security Engineer
12 10 (2.75%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 48 (13.22%) 802.1X
2 9 (2.48%) Yocto
3 7 (1.93%) Software Packaging
4 6 (1.65%) SAML
5 5 (1.38%) REST
6 3 (0.83%) JSON
6 3 (0.83%) LDAP
6 3 (0.83%) XML
7 2 (0.55%) Django
8 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Graph
8 1 (0.28%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 57 (15.70%) Data Centre
2 20 (5.51%) Onboarding
3 15 (4.13%) PKI
4 14 (3.86%) Driving Licence
4 14 (3.86%) Embedded Systems
5 10 (2.75%) Self-Motivation
6 9 (2.48%) Device Driver
6 9 (2.48%) FPGA
6 9 (2.48%) Management Information System
6 9 (2.48%) PCIe
7 8 (2.20%) Digital Signage
7 8 (2.20%) MicroBlaze
7 8 (2.20%) RISC-V
8 7 (1.93%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.93%) IoT
8 7 (1.93%) Smartphone
9 6 (1.65%) iPad
10 5 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
10 5 (1.38%) Video Conferencing
11 4 (1.10%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 45 (12.40%) Windows
2 13 (3.58%) Linux
3 11 (3.03%) Windows 10
4 10 (2.75%) Windows Server
5 9 (2.48%) Apple iOS
5 9 (2.48%) Embedded Linux
5 9 (2.48%) FreeRTOS
6 7 (1.93%) Mac OS
7 6 (1.65%) Android
8 3 (0.83%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.83%) Windows XP
9 2 (0.55%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (16.80%) Problem-Solving
2 42 (11.57%) ITIL
3 41 (11.29%) Project Delivery
4 36 (9.92%) ITSM
5 35 (9.64%) Change Management
6 32 (8.82%) High Availability
7 31 (8.54%) Migration
8 28 (7.71%) Continuous Improvement
9 27 (7.44%) Software Engineering
10 26 (7.16%) Network Segmentation
11 23 (6.34%) Load Balancing
11 23 (6.34%) Stakeholder Management
12 22 (6.06%) User Experience
13 21 (5.79%) Agile
13 21 (5.79%) Validation
13 21 (5.79%) Zero Trust
14 19 (5.23%) Cybersecurity
14 19 (5.23%) Network Design
14 19 (5.23%) Root Cause Analysis
14 19 (5.23%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 24 (6.61%) Python
2 19 (5.23%) C
3 9 (2.48%) C++
4 7 (1.93%) PowerShell
5 4 (1.10%) Embedded C
6 3 (0.83%) Lisp
6 3 (0.83%) SQL
6 3 (0.83%) VBScript
7 2 (0.55%) Perl
7 2 (0.55%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.28%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 104 (28.65%) Cisco Certification
2 87 (23.97%) Security Cleared
3 86 (23.69%) CCNP
4 73 (20.11%) SC Cleared
5 63 (17.36%) CCNA
6 30 (8.26%) Degree
7 23 (6.34%) Network+ Certification
8 22 (6.06%) CCIE
9 15 (4.13%) Server+ Certification
10 10 (2.75%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (1.93%) A+ Certification
11 7 (1.93%) Microsoft Certification
12 5 (1.38%) CCIE Wireless
12 5 (1.38%) CWNA
12 5 (1.38%) JNCIP
12 5 (1.38%) JNCIS
13 4 (1.10%) City & Guilds
13 4 (1.10%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (1.10%) CWDP
13 4 (1.10%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 8 (2.20%) SLA
3 7 (1.93%) NIST
4 6 (1.65%) QA
5 4 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
6 3 (0.83%) GDPR
7 2 (0.55%) Data Quality
7 2 (0.55%) NCSC
7 2 (0.55%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 44 (12.12%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.86%) Firmware
3 11 (3.03%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (2.48%) Embedded Firmware
5 5 (1.38%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (1.38%) VMware NSX
6 4 (1.10%) Hyper-V
6 4 (1.10%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.28%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 24 (6.61%) Ansible
1 24 (6.61%) FortiGate
2 20 (5.51%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (3.58%) Cisco Prime
4 10 (2.75%) Terraform
5 8 (2.20%) SCCM
6 4 (1.10%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.83%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.55%) Nagios
9 1 (0.28%) CASB
9 1 (0.28%) MobiControl
9 1 (0.28%) Nessus
9 1 (0.28%) Nmap
9 1 (0.28%) TrustSec
9 1 (0.28%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 199 (54.82%) Cisco
2 73 (20.11%) Palo Alto
3 68 (18.73%) Aruba
4 55 (15.15%) Microsoft
5 43 (11.85%) F5
6 36 (9.92%) Fortinet
6 36 (9.92%) ServiceNow
7 34 (9.37%) CheckPoint
7 34 (9.37%) Meraki
8 31 (8.54%) Juniper
9 19 (5.23%) Ekahau
10 17 (4.68%) VMware
11 14 (3.86%) SolarWinds
12 13 (3.58%) Zscaler
13 10 (2.75%) ForeScout
14 8 (2.20%) Citrix
14 8 (2.20%) Splunk
15 7 (1.93%) Apple
15 7 (1.93%) Arista
15 7 (1.93%) Blue Coat