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

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 341 286 250
Rank change year-on-year -55 -36 -29
Contract jobs citing Wireless 362 284 396
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.87% 0.95%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.24% 7.13% 7.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 230 167 232
10th Percentile £249 £263 £184
25th Percentile £387 £363 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £413
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -2.94%
75th Percentile £525 £550 £533
90th Percentile £588 £588 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £471 £400
% change year-on-year +0.80% +17.81% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 38 38
10th Percentile £13.18 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £24.75 £24.75 £16.24
Median hourly rate £52.43 £27.58 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +90.12% +31.31% -58.00%
75th Percentile £60.00 £58.94 £25.45
90th Percentile £70.00 £84.99 £56.08
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £17.72
% change year-on-year +74.75% +69.30% -16.61%

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 4,999 3,981 5,202
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.47% 12.14% 12.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,017 2,427 3,100
10th Percentile £238 £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 £594 £600
90th Percentile £669 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £489 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +2.84% -5.00% +8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 327 193 395
10th Percentile £16.00 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.34 £25.00 £16.58
Median hourly rate £26.00 £47.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -45.26% +18.75% -11.11%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.80 £72.95
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.44 £42.50 £45.88
% change year-on-year -37.79% -7.37% -19.74%

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 20 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 20 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 20 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 -41 327 £453 -2.16% 225
UK excluding London -61 234 £475 +0.80% 193
London -65 91 £438 +2.94% 62
North of England -26 89 £499 +10.83% 44
Work from Home -19 85 £475 - 54
North West -3 68 £520 +22.35% 19
South East -45 58 £513 +2.50% 79
Midlands -35 33 £425 +22.74% 24
West Midlands -52 32 £438 +71.57% 13
East of England -26 29 £325 -38.10% 22
Yorkshire -52 16 £450 - 21
Scotland -15 13 £381 -4.45% 5
South West -36 12 £510 +23.64% 21
North East -32 5 £420 - 5
East Midlands -14 1 £235 -46.29% 11
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 12 (3.31%) SharePoint
2 3 (0.83%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.28%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 13 (3.59%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.21%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.21%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.55%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.28%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 55 (15.19%) Azure
2 26 (7.18%) Microsoft 365
3 24 (6.63%) AWS
4 20 (5.52%) Entra ID
5 10 (2.76%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 9 (2.49%) GitHub
7 6 (1.66%) OneDrive
8 4 (1.10%) GCP
8 4 (1.10%) SaaS
8 4 (1.10%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 2 (0.55%) PaaS
10 1 (0.28%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 1 (0.28%) AWS Direct Connect
10 1 (0.28%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.28%) Cloudflare
10 1 (0.28%) Google Ads
10 1 (0.28%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.28%) IaaS
10 1 (0.28%) Route 53
10 1 (0.28%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 171 (47.24%) Firewall
2 119 (32.87%) LAN
2 119 (32.87%) WAN
3 99 (27.35%) Network Security
4 95 (26.24%) VPN
5 87 (24.03%) Wi-Fi
6 66 (18.23%) DNS
7 62 (17.13%) BGP
8 58 (16.02%) VLAN
9 56 (15.47%) DHCP
10 52 (14.36%) OSPF
11 47 (12.98%) Cisco ISE
12 43 (11.88%) SD-WAN
12 43 (11.88%) WLAN
13 36 (9.94%) Cisco Wireless
14 35 (9.67%) Structured Cabling
15 34 (9.39%) TCP/IP
16 30 (8.29%) IPsec
17 23 (6.35%) Cisco IOS
17 23 (6.35%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.28%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 9 (2.49%) Rational DOORS
2 5 (1.38%) 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 (0.28%) MSI
General
1 103 (28.45%) Social Skills
2 26 (7.18%) Analytical Skills
3 23 (6.35%) Finance
4 19 (5.25%) Public Sector
5 17 (4.70%) Aerospace
5 17 (4.70%) Documentation Skills
6 15 (4.14%) Retail
7 10 (2.76%) Legal
8 7 (1.93%) Telecoms
9 6 (1.66%) Law
10 5 (1.38%) Banking
11 4 (1.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.10%) Manufacturing
11 4 (1.10%) Police
12 3 (0.83%) Billing
12 3 (0.83%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.83%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.28%) German Language
Job Titles
1 186 (51.38%) Network Engineer
2 33 (9.12%) Architect
3 25 (6.91%) Senior
4 24 (6.63%) Cisco Engineer
5 23 (6.35%) Software Engineer
6 21 (5.80%) Wireless Engineer
7 20 (5.52%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 20 (5.52%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 19 (5.25%) Embedded Engineer
8 19 (5.25%) Embedded Software Engineer
9 18 (4.97%) Senior Network Engineer
9 18 (4.97%) Wireless Network Engineer
10 17 (4.70%) Network Architect
11 13 (3.59%) Analyst
11 13 (3.59%) Security Engineer
12 11 (3.04%) Implementation Engineer
12 11 (3.04%) Network Security Engineer
12 11 (3.04%) Technical Architect
13 10 (2.76%) Network Implementation Engineer
14 9 (2.49%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 55 (15.19%) 802.1X
2 8 (2.21%) SAML
3 6 (1.66%) Yocto
4 5 (1.38%) X-Windows
5 4 (1.10%) Software Packaging
6 3 (0.83%) LDAP
6 3 (0.83%) REST
7 2 (0.55%) Django
7 2 (0.55%) JSON
7 2 (0.55%) XML
8 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Graph
8 1 (0.28%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 58 (16.02%) Data Centre
2 16 (4.42%) IoT
2 16 (4.42%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.87%) PKI
4 13 (3.59%) Driving Licence
5 11 (3.04%) Embedded Systems
6 10 (2.76%) Self-Motivation
7 9 (2.49%) FPGA
7 9 (2.49%) PCIe
8 8 (2.21%) Hybrid Cloud
9 7 (1.93%) Management Information System
10 6 (1.66%) Device Driver
10 6 (1.66%) Digital Signage
10 6 (1.66%) iPad
10 6 (1.66%) MicroBlaze
10 6 (1.66%) RISC-V
10 6 (1.66%) Smartphone
11 5 (1.38%) BYOD
11 5 (1.38%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.38%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 38 (10.50%) Windows
2 15 (4.14%) Linux
3 11 (3.04%) Windows 10
4 9 (2.49%) Apple iOS
4 9 (2.49%) FreeRTOS
5 7 (1.93%) Unix
5 7 (1.93%) Windows Server
6 6 (1.66%) Embedded Linux
7 5 (1.38%) Android
7 5 (1.38%) Mac OS
7 5 (1.38%) Mac OS X
8 4 (1.10%) Windows 7
9 3 (0.83%) Windows XP
10 1 (0.28%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 51 (14.09%) Problem-Solving
2 38 (10.50%) ITIL
3 36 (9.94%) Network Segmentation
4 35 (9.67%) ITSM
5 34 (9.39%) Project Delivery
6 33 (9.12%) Change Management
6 33 (9.12%) Migration
7 29 (8.01%) Zero Trust
8 28 (7.73%) High Availability
9 25 (6.91%) Validation
10 24 (6.63%) Continuous Improvement
10 24 (6.63%) Load Balancing
10 24 (6.63%) Software Engineering
11 23 (6.35%) Technical Leadership
12 20 (5.52%) User Experience
13 19 (5.25%) Agile
13 19 (5.25%) Cybersecurity
13 19 (5.25%) Service Management
14 18 (4.97%) Network Design
14 18 (4.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 20 (5.52%) Python
2 16 (4.42%) C
3 6 (1.66%) C++
4 4 (1.10%) Embedded C
4 4 (1.10%) PowerShell
5 3 (0.83%) Lisp
6 2 (0.55%) Perl
7 1 (0.28%) Korn
7 1 (0.28%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 103 (28.45%) Cisco Certification
2 90 (24.86%) Security Cleared
3 86 (23.76%) CCNP
4 77 (21.27%) SC Cleared
5 64 (17.68%) CCNA
6 25 (6.91%) Degree
6 25 (6.91%) Network+ Certification
7 21 (5.80%) CCIE
8 17 (4.70%) Server+ Certification
9 8 (2.21%) Microsoft Certification
10 7 (1.93%) A+ Certification
11 6 (1.66%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (1.38%) CCIE Wireless
12 5 (1.38%) CWNA
12 5 (1.38%) JNCIP
12 5 (1.38%) JNCIS
12 5 (1.38%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 5 (1.38%) PMP
13 4 (1.10%) CWNE
13 4 (1.10%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (3.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 7 (1.93%) NIST
2 7 (1.93%) QA
3 6 (1.66%) SLA
4 4 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
4 4 (1.10%) GDPR
5 3 (0.83%) NCSC
5 3 (0.83%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.28%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.28%) PMO
System Software
1 40 (11.05%) Active Directory
2 10 (2.76%) Firmware
2 10 (2.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (1.66%) Embedded Firmware
4 5 (1.38%) VMware NSX
5 4 (1.10%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.83%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.28%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 27 (7.46%) Ansible
2 21 (5.80%) FortiGate
3 16 (4.42%) Microsoft Intune
4 11 (3.04%) Cisco Prime
5 10 (2.76%) Terraform
6 5 (1.38%) Prometheus
6 5 (1.38%) SCCM
7 4 (1.10%) Grafana
7 4 (1.10%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.83%) Jamf Pro
8 3 (0.83%) Salt
9 2 (0.55%) CASB
9 2 (0.55%) Nmap
10 1 (0.28%) Cisco CUCM
10 1 (0.28%) Nagios
10 1 (0.28%) Nessus
10 1 (0.28%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 207 (57.18%) Cisco
2 82 (22.65%) Palo Alto
3 74 (20.44%) Aruba
4 46 (12.71%) F5
5 44 (12.15%) Microsoft
6 40 (11.05%) CheckPoint
6 40 (11.05%) Meraki
6 40 (11.05%) ServiceNow
7 33 (9.12%) Fortinet
8 31 (8.56%) Juniper
9 20 (5.52%) Ekahau
10 17 (4.70%) ForeScout
11 15 (4.14%) VMware
12 13 (3.59%) SolarWinds
12 13 (3.59%) Zscaler
13 12 (3.31%) Arista
14 10 (2.76%) Splunk
15 8 (2.21%) Citrix
16 7 (1.93%) Apple
17 6 (1.66%) Blue Coat