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

6 months to
21 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 366 286 251
Rank change year-on-year -80 -35 -27
Contract jobs citing Wireless 285 260 394
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.59% 0.89% 0.93%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 6.18% 7.07% 7.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 184 168 246
10th Percentile £202 £220 £168
25th Percentile £313 £325 £252
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £439 £459 £400
Median % change year-on-year -4.36% +14.69% -5.88%
75th Percentile £523 £556 £536
90th Percentile £599 £600 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £400
% change year-on-year - +12.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 18 35
10th Percentile £12.98 - £12.75
25th Percentile £36.25 £14.20 £16.00
Median hourly rate £52.43 £24.66 £18.93
Median % change year-on-year +112.59% +30.27% -62.14%
75th Percentile £62.50 £58.94 £23.80
90th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £59.90
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 4,615 3,675 5,406
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.56% 12.63% 12.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,846 2,275 3,227
10th Percentile £263 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £359 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £497 £485 £490
Median % change year-on-year +2.51% -1.02% -5.31%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £690
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £456 £475
% change year-on-year +4.11% -3.95% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 257 157 416
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.82 £17.30 £16.30
Median hourly rate £32.50 £37.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.33% -6.25% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.88 £58.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.54 £27.97 £45.88
% change year-on-year +44.94% -39.04% +151.88%

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 21 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 21 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Wireless in the UK

Wireless
Top 15 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 21 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 -59 264 £438 -7.89% 274
UK excluding London -72 187 £450 - 259
London -69 71 £430 -9.55% 70
Work from Home -50 70 £450 -5.26% 72
South East -22 61 £492 -1.60% 79
North of England -49 58 £450 +38.46% 59
North West -20 46 £499 +53.46% 34
West Midlands -39 28 £390 +81.40% 18
Midlands -42 28 £390 +30.00% 27
East of England -40 20 £325 -35.96% 33
South West -34 15 £513 +29.01% 43
North East -18 6 £420 -23.64% 9
Yorkshire -55 6 £450 +104.55% 19
Scotland -10 5 £313 -21.78% 16
Northern Ireland - 1 £385 - 2

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 (1.75%) SharePoint
2 2 (0.70%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.35%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 20 (7.02%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (6.67%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (4.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (4.21%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.35%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 2 (0.70%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 42 (14.74%) Azure
2 33 (11.58%) AWS
3 17 (5.96%) Microsoft 365
4 8 (2.81%) Entra ID
5 6 (2.11%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 5 (1.75%) GCP
7 4 (1.40%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 4 (1.40%) Route 53
8 3 (1.05%) GitHub
8 3 (1.05%) Google Workspace
8 3 (1.05%) SaaS
9 2 (0.70%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (0.70%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (0.70%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.70%) PaaS
9 2 (0.70%) Slack
10 1 (0.35%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.35%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.35%) IaaS
10 1 (0.35%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 136 (47.72%) Firewall
2 95 (33.33%) LAN
3 94 (32.98%) WAN
4 64 (22.46%) Network Security
5 62 (21.75%) Wi-Fi
6 56 (19.65%) VPN
7 48 (16.84%) DNS
8 44 (15.44%) VLAN
9 42 (14.74%) BGP
10 40 (14.04%) OSPF
11 38 (13.33%) DHCP
12 36 (12.63%) Cisco ISE
12 36 (12.63%) SD-WAN
13 35 (12.28%) WLAN
14 27 (9.47%) IPsec
15 25 (8.77%) Cisco Wireless
16 22 (7.72%) Cisco Nexus
17 19 (6.67%) Cisco ASA
17 19 (6.67%) Structured Cabling
17 19 (6.67%) TCP/IP
Development Applications
1 15 (5.26%) Burp Suite
2 14 (4.91%) Metasploit
3 9 (3.16%) Rational DOORS
4 6 (2.11%) JIRA
5 2 (0.70%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.35%) MSI
General
1 82 (28.77%) Social Skills
2 15 (5.26%) Analytical Skills
2 15 (5.26%) Documentation Skills
3 13 (4.56%) Retail
4 12 (4.21%) Finance
5 11 (3.86%) Public Sector
6 10 (3.51%) Aerospace
7 5 (1.75%) Banking
7 5 (1.75%) Legal
7 5 (1.75%) Manufacturing
7 5 (1.75%) Telecoms
8 4 (1.40%) Law
9 3 (1.05%) Billing
9 3 (1.05%) Investment Banking
10 2 (0.70%) Presentation Skills
11 1 (0.35%) German Language
11 1 (0.35%) Greek Language
11 1 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.35%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 123 (43.16%) Network Engineer
2 30 (10.53%) Architect
3 18 (6.32%) Cisco Engineer
4 17 (5.96%) Senior
4 17 (5.96%) Software Engineer
5 16 (5.61%) Network Architect
5 16 (5.61%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
5 16 (5.61%) Wireless Engineer
6 15 (5.26%) Cisco Network Engineer
6 15 (5.26%) Penetration Tester
6 15 (5.26%) Tester
7 13 (4.56%) Wireless Network Engineer
8 12 (4.21%) Embedded Engineer
8 12 (4.21%) Embedded Software Engineer
8 12 (4.21%) Senior Network Engineer
9 11 (3.86%) IT Support
9 11 (3.86%) Security Engineer
10 10 (3.51%) Technical Architect
11 9 (3.16%) Support Engineer
12 8 (2.81%) Network Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (17.54%) 802.1X
2 12 (4.21%) SAML
3 9 (3.16%) LDAP
4 6 (2.11%) X-Windows
4 6 (2.11%) Yocto
5 2 (0.70%) A2A Protocol
5 2 (0.70%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (0.35%) Qt
6 1 (0.35%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 38 (13.33%) Data Centre
2 17 (5.96%) IoT
3 15 (5.26%) Security Posture
4 14 (4.91%) Onboarding
5 12 (4.21%) Embedded Systems
6 9 (3.16%) FPGA
6 9 (3.16%) PCIe
7 8 (2.81%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (2.46%) Driving Licence
8 7 (2.46%) PKI
9 6 (2.11%) Device Driver
9 6 (2.11%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (2.11%) iPad
9 6 (2.11%) MicroBlaze
9 6 (2.11%) RISC-V
10 5 (1.75%) BYOD
10 5 (1.75%) Public Cloud
10 5 (1.75%) Virtual Team
11 4 (1.40%) Hybrid Cloud
11 4 (1.40%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 41 (14.39%) Windows
2 19 (6.67%) Linux
3 17 (5.96%) Windows 10
4 9 (3.16%) FreeRTOS
4 9 (3.16%) Unix
5 8 (2.81%) Embedded Linux
6 6 (2.11%) Mac OS
6 6 (2.11%) Mac OS X
7 5 (1.75%) Apple iOS
7 5 (1.75%) Windows Server
8 4 (1.40%) Android
8 4 (1.40%) CatOS
9 3 (1.05%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.35%) Debian
10 1 (0.35%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.35%) VMS
10 1 (0.35%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 33 (11.58%) Network Segmentation
2 30 (10.53%) Problem-Solving
2 30 (10.53%) Technical Leadership
3 28 (9.82%) Cybersecurity
3 28 (9.82%) ITSM
4 24 (8.42%) Zero Trust
5 22 (7.72%) High Availability
5 22 (7.72%) Regulatory Compliance
6 21 (7.37%) Migration
7 20 (7.02%) ITIL
8 18 (6.32%) Software Engineering
9 17 (5.96%) Change Management
9 17 (5.96%) Cloud Security
9 17 (5.96%) Root Cause Analysis
10 16 (5.61%) Agile
10 16 (5.61%) Penetration Testing
10 16 (5.61%) Project Delivery
10 16 (5.61%) Validation
11 15 (5.26%) Digital Signal Processing
11 15 (5.26%) Signal Processing
Programming Languages
1 17 (5.96%) C
2 14 (4.91%) Python
3 8 (2.81%) C++
4 4 (1.40%) Embedded C
5 1 (0.35%) Bash
5 1 (0.35%) Korn
5 1 (0.35%) Lisp
5 1 (0.35%) MATLAB
5 1 (0.35%) Perl
5 1 (0.35%) PowerShell
5 1 (0.35%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 86 (30.18%) Security Cleared
2 78 (27.37%) SC Cleared
3 73 (25.61%) Cisco Certification
4 64 (22.46%) CCNP
5 45 (15.79%) CCNA
6 27 (9.47%) Degree
7 19 (6.67%) Network+ Certification
8 15 (5.26%) CCIE
9 14 (4.91%) CHECK Team Member
9 14 (4.91%) Server+ Certification
10 12 (4.21%) CREST Certified
10 12 (4.21%) Cyber Scheme
11 11 (3.86%) Postgraduate
12 6 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
13 5 (1.75%) DV Cleared
14 4 (1.40%) City & Guilds
14 4 (1.40%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (1.40%) CWNA
14 4 (1.40%) JNCIA
14 4 (1.40%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (6.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 16 (5.61%) QA
3 15 (5.26%) GDPR
4 14 (4.91%) PCI DSS
5 10 (3.51%) PMO
6 7 (2.46%) SLA
7 6 (2.11%) NIST
8 3 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (1.05%) NCSC
9 1 (0.35%) DICOM
9 1 (0.35%) HL7
9 1 (0.35%) JTAG
System Software
1 31 (10.88%) Active Directory
2 14 (4.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (3.86%) Firmware
3 11 (3.86%) VMware NSX
4 7 (2.46%) Embedded Firmware
5 3 (1.05%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.70%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 19 (6.67%) Ansible
2 16 (5.61%) Nmap
3 12 (4.21%) FortiGate
4 10 (3.51%) Single Sign-On
5 8 (2.81%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (2.46%) Prometheus
7 6 (2.11%) Grafana
7 6 (2.11%) SCCM
8 5 (1.75%) Salt
8 5 (1.75%) Terraform
9 4 (1.40%) Cisco Prime
10 2 (0.70%) CASB
11 1 (0.35%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.35%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.35%) Nagios
11 1 (0.35%) Nessus
Vendors
1 154 (54.04%) Cisco
2 65 (22.81%) Palo Alto
3 62 (21.75%) Aruba
4 38 (13.33%) ServiceNow
5 35 (12.28%) CheckPoint
6 34 (11.93%) F5
6 34 (11.93%) Microsoft
7 28 (9.82%) Meraki
8 24 (8.42%) Fortinet
9 21 (7.37%) Ekahau
9 21 (7.37%) Juniper
10 17 (5.96%) ForeScout
10 17 (5.96%) VMware
11 10 (3.51%) Arista
11 10 (3.51%) Splunk
12 9 (3.16%) Apple
12 9 (3.16%) SolarWinds
13 7 (2.46%) HP
14 6 (2.11%) BigPanda
15 5 (1.75%) Infoblox