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

6 months to
22 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 354 310 265
Rank change year-on-year -44 -45 -59
Contract jobs citing Wireless 370 263 341
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.80% 0.88%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.26% 6.79% 7.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 227 152 208
10th Percentile £250 £204 £212
25th Percentile £383 £325 £267
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £425 £403
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +5.59% -5.29%
75th Percentile £525 £515 £525
90th Percentile £588 £588 £641
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £419 £388
% change year-on-year +7.46% +8.06% -3.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 39 28
10th Percentile £13.99 £14.20 £14.60
25th Percentile £34.19 - £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 £44.75 £51.91
90th Percentile £70.00 £84.33 £52.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.43 £30.00 £35.48
% change year-on-year +74.75% -15.45% +84.31%

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 5,098 3,875 4,715
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.47% 11.81% 12.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,009 2,366 2,844
10th Percentile £250 £242 £225
25th Percentile £400 £369 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £484 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.31% -3.20% -
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £470 £500
% change year-on-year +2.77% -6.00% +9.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 375 201 309
10th Percentile £15.07 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £25.15 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.14 £46.25 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -43.48% -7.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.35 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.14 £44.50 £54.88
% change year-on-year -41.26% -18.91% -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 22 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 22 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 22 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 -29 331 £450 +5.88% 371
UK excluding London -37 246 £450 +7.46% 316
North of England +1 100 £475 +11.76% 51
London -69 92 £450 +5.88% 97
Work from Home -16 91 £463 +1.37% 110
North West +12 74 £515 +58.46% 28
South East -52 59 £453 +43.32% 130
East of England -13 33 £400 -14.44% 46
Midlands -50 32 £450 +18.42% 47
West Midlands -49 30 £463 +25.85% 31
Yorkshire -34 20 £450 - 13
Scotland -11 13 £381 +1.67% 13
North East -39 6 £420 -23.64% 12
South West -44 5 £400 -12.33% 36
Wales -21 3 £409 -10.16% 3
Northern Ireland +3 2 £265 -44.32% 1
East Midlands -16 2 £235 -46.29% 16

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 (3.51%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.62%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.27%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 11 (2.97%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.16%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.81%) Acrobat
5 1 (0.27%) Simulink
5 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 56 (15.14%) Azure
2 41 (11.08%) Microsoft 365
3 23 (6.22%) Entra ID
4 20 (5.41%) AWS
5 10 (2.70%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 9 (2.43%) GitHub
7 7 (1.89%) OneDrive
8 4 (1.08%) GCP
8 4 (1.08%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 3 (0.81%) SaaS
10 2 (0.54%) Smartsheet
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 1 (0.27%) AWS Direct Connect
11 1 (0.27%) Google Ads
11 1 (0.27%) Google Workspace
11 1 (0.27%) IBM Watson
11 1 (0.27%) OCI
11 1 (0.27%) PaaS
11 1 (0.27%) Route 53
11 1 (0.27%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 171 (46.22%) Firewall
2 130 (35.14%) WAN
3 127 (34.32%) LAN
4 101 (27.30%) Network Security
5 100 (27.03%) VPN
6 90 (24.32%) Wi-Fi
7 75 (20.27%) DNS
8 71 (19.19%) BGP
9 70 (18.92%) VLAN
10 59 (15.95%) DHCP
10 59 (15.95%) OSPF
11 52 (14.05%) Cisco ISE
12 46 (12.43%) WLAN
13 45 (12.16%) SD-WAN
14 44 (11.89%) TCP/IP
15 32 (8.65%) Structured Cabling
16 31 (8.38%) Cisco Wireless
17 29 (7.84%) IPsec
18 27 (7.30%) Cisco ASA
18 27 (7.30%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.54%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 9 (2.43%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.89%) JIRA
3 2 (0.54%) Git
4 1 (0.27%) Burp Suite
4 1 (0.27%) Metasploit
4 1 (0.27%) MSI
4 1 (0.27%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 110 (29.73%) Social Skills
2 30 (8.11%) Analytical Skills
3 29 (7.84%) Finance
4 19 (5.14%) Public Sector
5 18 (4.86%) Aerospace
5 18 (4.86%) Documentation Skills
6 16 (4.32%) Retail
7 14 (3.78%) Legal
8 11 (2.97%) Telecoms
9 10 (2.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.89%) Law
11 6 (1.62%) Banking
12 5 (1.35%) Manufacturing
12 5 (1.35%) Police
13 3 (0.81%) Front Office
13 3 (0.81%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.81%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.54%) Billing
14 2 (0.54%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.54%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 204 (55.14%) Network Engineer
2 42 (11.35%) Senior
3 30 (8.11%) Senior Network Engineer
4 28 (7.57%) Software Engineer
5 26 (7.03%) Cisco Engineer
6 24 (6.49%) Architect
6 24 (6.49%) Embedded Engineer
6 24 (6.49%) Embedded Software Engineer
7 22 (5.95%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 22 (5.95%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 22 (5.95%) Wireless Engineer
8 19 (5.14%) Wireless Network Engineer
9 18 (4.86%) Analyst
10 12 (3.24%) Desktop Support
11 11 (2.97%) Implementation Engineer
11 11 (2.97%) Network Architect
11 11 (2.97%) Network Implementation Engineer
11 11 (2.97%) Security Engineer
12 10 (2.70%) Support Engineer
13 9 (2.43%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (12.43%) 802.1X
2 11 (2.97%) Yocto
3 10 (2.70%) Terraform
4 7 (1.89%) Software Packaging
5 6 (1.62%) SAML
6 5 (1.35%) REST
7 3 (0.81%) JSON
7 3 (0.81%) LDAP
7 3 (0.81%) XML
8 2 (0.54%) Django
9 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
9 1 (0.27%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 60 (16.22%) Data Centre
2 21 (5.68%) Onboarding
3 16 (4.32%) Embedded Systems
4 15 (4.05%) Driving Licence
4 15 (4.05%) PKI
5 11 (2.97%) Device Driver
6 10 (2.70%) MicroBlaze
6 10 (2.70%) RISC-V
6 10 (2.70%) Self-Motivation
7 9 (2.43%) Digital Signage
7 9 (2.43%) FPGA
7 9 (2.43%) Management Information System
7 9 (2.43%) PCIe
8 7 (1.89%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.89%) IoT
8 7 (1.89%) Smartphone
9 5 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
9 5 (1.35%) iPad
9 5 (1.35%) Video Conferencing
10 4 (1.08%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 47 (12.70%) Windows
2 15 (4.05%) Linux
3 12 (3.24%) Windows Server
4 11 (2.97%) Embedded Linux
4 11 (2.97%) Windows 10
5 9 (2.43%) FreeRTOS
6 8 (2.16%) Apple iOS
7 7 (1.89%) Mac OS
8 5 (1.35%) Android
9 3 (0.81%) Windows 7
9 3 (0.81%) Windows XP
10 2 (0.54%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (16.49%) Problem-Solving
2 44 (11.89%) ITIL
3 42 (11.35%) Project Delivery
4 36 (9.73%) ITSM
5 34 (9.19%) Change Management
6 33 (8.92%) Migration
7 32 (8.65%) High Availability
8 29 (7.84%) Software Engineering
9 28 (7.57%) Continuous Improvement
10 26 (7.03%) Load Balancing
10 26 (7.03%) Network Segmentation
11 25 (6.76%) Stakeholder Management
12 23 (6.22%) Agile
13 22 (5.95%) User Experience
13 22 (5.95%) Validation
14 21 (5.68%) Zero Trust
15 20 (5.41%) Digital Signal Processing
15 20 (5.41%) Signal Processing
16 19 (5.14%) Cybersecurity
16 19 (5.14%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 24 (6.49%) Python
2 21 (5.68%) C
3 11 (2.97%) C++
4 7 (1.89%) PowerShell
5 4 (1.08%) Embedded C
6 3 (0.81%) Lisp
6 3 (0.81%) SQL
6 3 (0.81%) VBScript
7 2 (0.54%) Perl
7 2 (0.54%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.27%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 108 (29.19%) Cisco Certification
2 90 (24.32%) CCNP
3 89 (24.05%) Security Cleared
4 75 (20.27%) SC Cleared
5 63 (17.03%) CCNA
6 30 (8.11%) Degree
7 23 (6.22%) Network+ Certification
8 22 (5.95%) CCIE
9 15 (4.05%) Server+ Certification
10 10 (2.70%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (1.89%) A+ Certification
11 7 (1.89%) Microsoft Certification
12 6 (1.62%) CWNA
13 5 (1.35%) CCIE Wireless
13 5 (1.35%) JNCIP
13 5 (1.35%) JNCIS
14 4 (1.08%) City & Guilds
14 4 (1.08%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (1.08%) CWDP
14 4 (1.08%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 8 (2.16%) SLA
3 6 (1.62%) QA
4 5 (1.35%) NIST
5 3 (0.81%) GDPR
6 2 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.54%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.54%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 45 (12.16%) Active Directory
2 16 (4.32%) Firmware
3 13 (3.51%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (2.97%) Embedded Firmware
5 6 (1.62%) Hyper-V
6 5 (1.35%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (1.35%) VMware NSX
7 4 (1.08%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.27%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 26 (7.03%) FortiGate
2 24 (6.49%) Ansible
3 21 (5.68%) Microsoft Intune
4 14 (3.78%) Cisco Prime
5 7 (1.89%) SCCM
6 4 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.81%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.54%) Nagios
9 1 (0.27%) CASB
9 1 (0.27%) MobiControl
9 1 (0.27%) Nessus
9 1 (0.27%) Nmap
9 1 (0.27%) TrustSec
9 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 206 (55.68%) Cisco
2 76 (20.54%) Palo Alto
3 67 (18.11%) Aruba
4 57 (15.41%) Microsoft
5 44 (11.89%) F5
6 39 (10.54%) Fortinet
6 39 (10.54%) Meraki
7 35 (9.46%) ServiceNow
8 34 (9.19%) CheckPoint
9 29 (7.84%) Juniper
10 20 (5.41%) Ekahau
11 19 (5.14%) VMware
12 16 (4.32%) SolarWinds
13 13 (3.51%) Zscaler
14 10 (2.70%) ForeScout
15 9 (2.43%) Citrix
16 8 (2.16%) Splunk
17 7 (1.89%) Arista
18 6 (1.62%) Apple
18 6 (1.62%) Infoblox