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

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 362 288 255
Rank change year-on-year -74 -33 -33
Contract jobs citing Wireless 297 250 399
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.61% 0.87% 0.93%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.24% 6.90% 7.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 191 156 255
10th Percentile £206 £219 £173
25th Percentile £338 £325 £254
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £413
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -2.94%
75th Percentile £528 £552 £529
90th Percentile £600 £594 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £400
% change year-on-year - +12.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 22 34
10th Percentile £12.98 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £37.50 £14.43 £15.88
Median hourly rate £52.43 £24.66 £19.35
Median % change year-on-year +112.59% +27.47% -61.31%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.38 £23.80
90th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £61.18
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £17.79 £17.69
% change year-on-year +194.69% +0.57% -11.55%

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 4,756 3,624 5,441
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.72% 12.60% 12.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,917 2,243 3,264
10th Percentile £263 £213 £206
25th Percentile £400 £362 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -2.44%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £463 £481
% change year-on-year +2.70% -3.90% +1.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 281 158 418
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.42 £16.30
Median hourly rate £28.88 £39.66 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -27.18% -0.85% +118.16%
75th Percentile £65.00 £58.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.50 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.86 £30.32 £45.88
% change year-on-year +11.68% -33.91% +162.17%

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 29 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 29 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 29 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 -70 275 £450 -5.26% 217
UK excluding London -64 195 £450 - 212
London -77 76 £438 -5.41% 44
Work from Home -21 74 £450 -2.70% 63
North of England -43 66 £450 +38.46% 43
South East -18 59 £513 +2.50% 79
North West -7 53 £515 +58.46% 26
Midlands -46 29 £380 +16.48% 25
West Midlands -47 28 £403 +87.21% 14
East of England -45 21 £325 -35.96% 30
South West -29 14 £516 +25.03% 26
Yorkshire -54 8 £450 +104.55% 14
Scotland -13 5 £381 -4.57% 10
North East -23 5 £420 -23.64% 6
Northern Ireland - 2 £245 - 1
East Midlands -27 1 £235 -46.29% 11

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 5 (1.68%) SharePoint
2 2 (0.67%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.34%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 17 (5.72%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (5.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (4.71%) MS Visio
4 9 (3.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.34%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 1 (0.34%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 44 (14.81%) Azure
2 32 (10.77%) AWS
3 19 (6.40%) Microsoft 365
4 9 (3.03%) Entra ID
5 6 (2.02%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 5 (1.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 5 (1.68%) GCP
7 4 (1.35%) Route 53
7 4 (1.35%) SaaS
8 3 (1.01%) GitHub
8 3 (1.01%) Google Workspace
9 2 (0.67%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (0.67%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (0.67%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.67%) PaaS
9 2 (0.67%) Slack
10 1 (0.34%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.34%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.34%) OCI
10 1 (0.34%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 140 (47.14%) Firewall
2 102 (34.34%) LAN
3 99 (33.33%) WAN
4 69 (23.23%) Network Security
5 68 (22.90%) Wi-Fi
6 59 (19.87%) VPN
7 55 (18.52%) DNS
8 46 (15.49%) VLAN
9 45 (15.15%) DHCP
10 44 (14.81%) BGP
11 41 (13.80%) Cisco ISE
11 41 (13.80%) OSPF
12 39 (13.13%) SD-WAN
13 38 (12.79%) WLAN
14 29 (9.76%) Cisco Wireless
15 28 (9.43%) IPsec
16 24 (8.08%) Structured Cabling
17 22 (7.41%) Cisco Nexus
18 21 (7.07%) TCP/IP
19 20 (6.73%) Cisco IOS
Development Applications
1 11 (3.70%) Burp Suite
2 10 (3.37%) Metasploit
3 9 (3.03%) Rational DOORS
4 6 (2.02%) JIRA
5 2 (0.67%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.34%) MSI
General
1 88 (29.63%) Social Skills
2 16 (5.39%) Analytical Skills
2 16 (5.39%) Documentation Skills
3 12 (4.04%) Aerospace
3 12 (4.04%) Finance
3 12 (4.04%) Public Sector
4 9 (3.03%) Retail
5 5 (1.68%) Legal
5 5 (1.68%) Telecoms
6 4 (1.35%) Banking
6 4 (1.35%) Law
6 4 (1.35%) Manufacturing
7 3 (1.01%) Billing
7 3 (1.01%) Investment Banking
8 2 (0.67%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (0.34%) German Language
9 1 (0.34%) Greek Language
9 1 (0.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.34%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.34%) Military
Job Titles
1 133 (44.78%) Network Engineer
2 32 (10.77%) Architect
3 21 (7.07%) Cisco Engineer
3 21 (7.07%) Senior
4 19 (6.40%) Software Engineer
5 18 (6.06%) Wireless Engineer
6 17 (5.72%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 17 (5.72%) Network Architect
6 17 (5.72%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 15 (5.05%) Wireless Network Engineer
8 14 (4.71%) Embedded Engineer
8 14 (4.71%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 13 (4.38%) Senior Network Engineer
10 11 (3.70%) Penetration Tester
10 11 (3.70%) Technical Architect
10 11 (3.70%) Tester
11 10 (3.37%) Analyst
11 10 (3.37%) IT Support
12 9 (3.03%) Security Engineer
13 8 (2.69%) DSP Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (17.85%) 802.1X
2 12 (4.04%) SAML
3 9 (3.03%) LDAP
4 6 (2.02%) X-Windows
4 6 (2.02%) Yocto
5 2 (0.67%) A2A Protocol
5 2 (0.67%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.34%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.34%) Qt
6 1 (0.34%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 44 (14.81%) Data Centre
2 14 (4.71%) Onboarding
3 12 (4.04%) Embedded Systems
3 12 (4.04%) IoT
3 12 (4.04%) Security Posture
4 9 (3.03%) FPGA
4 9 (3.03%) PCIe
5 8 (2.69%) Self-Motivation
6 7 (2.36%) Driving Licence
6 7 (2.36%) PKI
7 6 (2.02%) Device Driver
7 6 (2.02%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (2.02%) iPad
7 6 (2.02%) MicroBlaze
7 6 (2.02%) RISC-V
8 5 (1.68%) BYOD
8 5 (1.68%) Public Cloud
8 5 (1.68%) Virtual Team
9 4 (1.35%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (1.35%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 40 (13.47%) Windows
2 17 (5.72%) Linux
2 17 (5.72%) Windows 10
3 9 (3.03%) FreeRTOS
3 9 (3.03%) Unix
4 7 (2.36%) Embedded Linux
5 6 (2.02%) Apple iOS
5 6 (2.02%) Mac OS X
5 6 (2.02%) Windows Server
6 5 (1.68%) Mac OS
7 4 (1.35%) Android
7 4 (1.35%) CatOS
8 3 (1.01%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.34%) Kali Linux
9 1 (0.34%) VMS
9 1 (0.34%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 36 (12.12%) Network Segmentation
2 34 (11.45%) Problem-Solving
3 30 (10.10%) ITSM
3 30 (10.10%) Technical Leadership
4 26 (8.75%) Zero Trust
5 25 (8.42%) High Availability
6 24 (8.08%) Cybersecurity
7 22 (7.41%) Migration
8 21 (7.07%) ITIL
9 20 (6.73%) Software Engineering
10 18 (6.06%) Continuous Improvement
10 18 (6.06%) Project Delivery
10 18 (6.06%) Regulatory Compliance
10 18 (6.06%) Root Cause Analysis
11 17 (5.72%) Change Management
12 16 (5.39%) Agile
12 16 (5.39%) Incident Management
12 16 (5.39%) User Experience
13 15 (5.05%) Cloud Security
13 15 (5.05%) Network Design
Programming Languages
1 17 (5.72%) C
2 12 (4.04%) Python
3 7 (2.36%) C++
4 4 (1.35%) Embedded C
5 3 (1.01%) Lisp
6 2 (0.67%) PowerShell
7 1 (0.34%) Korn
7 1 (0.34%) MATLAB
7 1 (0.34%) Perl
Qualifications
1 86 (28.96%) Security Cleared
2 82 (27.61%) Cisco Certification
3 76 (25.59%) SC Cleared
4 73 (24.58%) CCNP
5 48 (16.16%) CCNA
6 26 (8.75%) Degree
7 23 (7.74%) Network+ Certification
8 19 (6.40%) CCIE
9 17 (5.72%) Server+ Certification
10 10 (3.37%) CHECK Team Member
11 9 (3.03%) CREST Certified
11 9 (3.03%) Cyber Scheme
12 8 (2.69%) Postgraduate
13 7 (2.36%) Computer Science Degree
14 5 (1.68%) CWNA
15 4 (1.35%) CWDP
15 4 (1.35%) CWNE
15 4 (1.35%) CWSP
15 4 (1.35%) DV Cleared
15 4 (1.35%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (4.71%) QA
2 13 (4.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.70%) GDPR
4 10 (3.37%) PCI DSS
5 8 (2.69%) PMO
6 7 (2.36%) SLA
7 5 (1.68%) NIST
8 3 (1.01%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (1.01%) NCSC
9 1 (0.34%) DICOM
9 1 (0.34%) HL7
System Software
1 36 (12.12%) Active Directory
2 14 (4.71%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (3.70%) VMware NSX
4 9 (3.03%) Firmware
5 6 (2.02%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (1.01%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.67%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.34%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 20 (6.73%) Ansible
2 14 (4.71%) FortiGate
3 11 (3.70%) Microsoft Intune
3 11 (3.70%) Nmap
4 10 (3.37%) Single Sign-On
5 7 (2.36%) Prometheus
6 6 (2.02%) Grafana
7 5 (1.68%) Salt
7 5 (1.68%) SCCM
7 5 (1.68%) Terraform
8 4 (1.35%) Cisco Prime
9 2 (0.67%) CASB
10 1 (0.34%) Cisco CUCM
10 1 (0.34%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.34%) Nagios
10 1 (0.34%) Nessus
Vendors
1 166 (55.89%) Cisco
2 66 (22.22%) Aruba
2 66 (22.22%) Palo Alto
3 41 (13.80%) ServiceNow
4 36 (12.12%) Microsoft
5 35 (11.78%) F5
6 34 (11.45%) CheckPoint
7 31 (10.44%) Meraki
8 26 (8.75%) Fortinet
9 22 (7.41%) Ekahau
10 19 (6.40%) Juniper
11 17 (5.72%) ForeScout
11 17 (5.72%) VMware
12 11 (3.70%) Splunk
13 10 (3.37%) Arista
14 9 (3.03%) SolarWinds
15 8 (2.69%) Apple
16 6 (2.02%) BigPanda
16 6 (2.02%) HP
17 5 (1.68%) Infoblox