WAN Job Trends in England

Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in England requiring WAN skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 187 142 87
Rank change year-on-year -45 -55 +103
Permanent jobs citing WAN 692 1,019 1,492
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.33% 2.05% 3.30%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.77% 15.30% 22.51%
Number of salaries quoted 527 639 1,148
10th Percentile £27,500 £31,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £32,125 £40,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £54,000 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% +10.20% +2.62%
75th Percentile £71,875 £67,500 £61,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £90,000 £77,500
UK median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £49,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +7.14% -2.00%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
England

WAN falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 8,909 6,660 6,627
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 17.13% 13.38% 14.67%
Number of salaries quoted 3,517 3,534 5,350
10th Percentile £25,750 £31,250 £28,286
25th Percentile £28,697 £40,000 £36,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -27.27% +10.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £62,500 £71,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £87,500 £85,000
UK median annual salary £38,500 £54,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -28.70% +8.00% -4.76%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing WAN relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

WAN job vacancy trend in England

WAN
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing WAN.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing WAN

WAN
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing WAN in England over the 6 months to 31 December 2025.

Salary histogram for WAN in England

WAN
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the England region over the 6 months to 31 December 2025. 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +24 239 £70,000 +12.00% 128
North of England -22 123 £34,000 -21.84% 32
South East -38 109 £50,000 -4.76% 77
Midlands -14 104 £50,000 -2.91% 45
West Midlands +5 87 £52,000 +2.46% 35
North West -2 59 £45,000 -10.00% 17
South West +1 56 £38,500 +6.21% 27
Yorkshire -17 53 £28,000 -25.33% 15
East of England -48 42 £40,000 -25.93% 27
East Midlands -29 17 £49,479 -5.76% 10
North East +5 11 £46,000 +22.67% 1
WAN
UK

WAN
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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
1 106 (15.32%) Microsoft Exchange
2 69 (9.97%) SharePoint
3 17 (2.46%) IIS
4 5 (0.72%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.58%) nginx
6 2 (0.29%) Apache
6 2 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.29%) Confluence
7 1 (0.14%) Site Server
Applications
1 46 (6.65%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.88%) MS Visio
3 11 (1.59%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.87%) Exchequer
2 2 (0.29%) Carpe Diem
3 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.14%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.14%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 311 (44.94%) Azure
2 222 (32.08%) Microsoft 365
3 112 (16.18%) AWS
4 102 (14.74%) Entra ID
5 25 (3.61%) OneDrive
6 22 (3.18%) Google Workspace
7 19 (2.75%) GitHub
7 19 (2.75%) SaaS
8 17 (2.46%) GCP
8 17 (2.46%) Power Platform
9 15 (2.17%) Azure DevOps
10 13 (1.88%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 13 (1.88%) Nutanix
11 12 (1.73%) Azure Monitor
11 12 (1.73%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (1.45%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.45%) IaaS
12 10 (1.45%) PaaS
13 8 (1.16%) Datadog
13 8 (1.16%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 544 (78.61%) LAN
2 356 (51.45%) Firewall
3 249 (35.98%) VPN
4 220 (31.79%) SD-WAN
5 187 (27.02%) Wi-Fi
6 159 (22.98%) DNS
7 148 (21.39%) DHCP
8 133 (19.22%) TCP/IP
9 119 (17.20%) VLAN
10 116 (16.76%) Wireless
11 110 (15.90%) Network Security
12 103 (14.88%) VoIP
13 76 (10.98%) BGP
14 75 (10.84%) WLAN
15 70 (10.12%) OSPF
16 55 (7.95%) MPLS
17 35 (5.06%) Cisco ASA
18 34 (4.91%) Internet
18 34 (4.91%) Wireshark
19 29 (4.19%) EIGRP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.89%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.01%) MySQL
2 7 (1.01%) Power BI
3 5 (0.72%) Azure SQL Database
4 4 (0.58%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 4 (0.58%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 2 (0.29%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.29%) Metadata
5 2 (0.29%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.29%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 16 (2.31%) Git
2 5 (0.72%) LabVIEW
3 4 (0.58%) GitLab
3 4 (0.58%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.58%) JIRA
3 4 (0.58%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.29%) CircleCI
4 2 (0.29%) Jaeger
4 2 (0.29%) MLflow
General
1 262 (37.86%) Social Skills
2 99 (14.31%) Finance
3 61 (8.82%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (7.80%) Telecoms
5 39 (5.64%) Retail
6 30 (4.34%) Organisational Skills
7 27 (3.90%) Law
8 26 (3.76%) Public Sector
9 23 (3.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 23 (3.32%) Legal
9 23 (3.32%) Presentation Skills
10 22 (3.18%) Manufacturing
11 16 (2.31%) Marketing
12 11 (1.59%) Banking
12 11 (1.59%) Influencing Skills
13 10 (1.45%) Documentation Skills
13 10 (1.45%) Electronics
14 6 (0.87%) Back Office
15 5 (0.72%) Automotive
15 5 (0.72%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 145 (20.95%) Network Engineer
2 114 (16.47%) Senior
3 96 (13.87%) Support Engineer
4 88 (12.72%) IT Support
5 64 (9.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 64 (9.25%) IT Engineer
6 59 (8.53%) 2nd Line Support
7 58 (8.38%) Senior Network Engineer
8 57 (8.24%) Analyst
9 48 (6.94%) Support Analyst
10 45 (6.50%) Cisco Engineer
11 44 (6.36%) IT Support Engineer
12 40 (5.78%) Technical Support
13 37 (5.35%) 2nd Line Engineer
14 34 (4.91%) WAN Engineer
15 32 (4.62%) Architect
15 32 (4.62%) Support Technician
16 29 (4.19%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
16 29 (4.19%) 3rd Line Support
17 26 (3.76%) Firewall Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.02%) LDAP
2 12 (1.73%) 802.1X
3 7 (1.01%) ADO
3 7 (1.01%) EDI
3 7 (1.01%) OAuth
3 7 (1.01%) SAML
3 7 (1.01%) YAML
4 6 (0.87%) REST
5 5 (0.72%) pytest
6 4 (0.58%) .NET
6 4 (0.58%) JSON
7 3 (0.43%) Middleware
8 2 (0.29%) FastAPI
8 2 (0.29%) Kafka
8 2 (0.29%) Keycloak
8 2 (0.29%) WebRTC
9 1 (0.14%) WSH
Miscellaneous
1 129 (18.64%) Data Centre
2 62 (8.96%) Driving Licence
3 28 (4.05%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.32%) Enterprise Software
5 22 (3.18%) Onboarding
6 20 (2.89%) Management Information System
7 18 (2.60%) CCTV
7 18 (2.60%) PKI
8 15 (2.17%) Hybrid Cloud
9 14 (2.02%) Social Media
10 13 (1.88%) Replication
11 11 (1.59%) Hedge funds
12 10 (1.45%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 9 (1.30%) Cloud Native
13 9 (1.30%) Operational Technology
13 9 (1.30%) Public Cloud
13 9 (1.30%) Self-Driving Car
13 9 (1.30%) Video Conferencing
14 8 (1.16%) Clustering
14 8 (1.16%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 295 (42.63%) Windows
2 172 (24.86%) Windows Server
3 64 (9.25%) Windows 10
4 48 (6.94%) Linux
5 39 (5.64%) Windows Server 2019
6 36 (5.20%) Mac OS
7 34 (4.91%) Windows Server 2016
8 27 (3.90%) Apple iOS
9 24 (3.47%) Android
10 19 (2.75%) Windows Server 2012
11 14 (2.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 10 (1.45%) Unix
13 7 (1.01%) VMS
14 5 (0.72%) CentOS
15 4 (0.58%) Windows 7
16 3 (0.43%) OpenWrt
16 3 (0.43%) Windows 8
17 2 (0.29%) Oracle Linux
18 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
18 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (25.29%) Problem-Solving
2 133 (19.22%) ITIL
3 131 (18.93%) Customer Service
4 94 (13.58%) Continuous Improvement
5 84 (12.14%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 80 (11.56%) Cybersecurity
6 80 (11.56%) Disaster Recovery
7 74 (10.69%) Service Delivery
8 62 (8.96%) High Availability
9 52 (7.51%) Infrastructure as Code
10 51 (7.37%) Roadmaps
11 50 (7.23%) DevOps
12 49 (7.08%) Network Monitoring
13 45 (6.50%) Zero Trust
14 44 (6.36%) Data Protection
14 44 (6.36%) Network Design
14 44 (6.36%) Root Cause Analysis
14 44 (6.36%) Stakeholder Management
15 43 (6.21%) Presales
15 43 (6.21%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 82 (11.85%) PowerShell
2 71 (10.26%) Python
3 35 (5.06%) SQL
4 14 (2.02%) Bash
5 12 (1.73%) VB
6 7 (1.01%) Kusto Query Language
7 5 (0.72%) MATLAB
8 4 (0.58%) Java
9 3 (0.43%) C
9 3 (0.43%) C++
9 3 (0.43%) Perl
10 2 (0.29%) Bicep
10 2 (0.29%) R
11 1 (0.14%) JavaScript
11 1 (0.14%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 169 (24.42%) Cisco Certification
2 121 (17.49%) CCNP
3 113 (16.33%) Degree
4 85 (12.28%) CCNA
5 72 (10.40%) Security Cleared
6 63 (9.10%) SC Cleared
7 40 (5.78%) CCIE
8 36 (5.20%) Microsoft Certification
9 31 (4.48%) Azure Certification
10 28 (4.05%) Computer Science Degree
11 23 (3.32%) DV Cleared
11 23 (3.32%) JNCIA
12 22 (3.18%) DBS Check
13 19 (2.75%) AWS Certification
13 19 (2.75%) ITIL Certification
14 15 (2.17%) MCP
15 14 (2.02%) CISSP
16 11 (1.59%) CCSA
16 11 (1.59%) CompTIA Security+
17 10 (1.45%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (7.08%) SLA
2 41 (5.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (4.05%) GDPR
4 27 (3.90%) Cyber Essentials
4 27 (3.90%) NIST
5 22 (3.18%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 15 (2.17%) PCI DSS
7 12 (1.73%) PMO
8 8 (1.16%) SOC 2
9 5 (0.72%) Accessibility
10 4 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 4 (0.58%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.29%) Basel III
11 2 (0.29%) GxP
11 2 (0.29%) MiFID
11 2 (0.29%) QA
12 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 237 (34.25%) Active Directory
2 105 (15.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 78 (11.27%) Hyper-V
4 23 (3.32%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (2.60%) Firmware
6 15 (2.17%) BitLocker
7 12 (1.73%) Docker
8 11 (1.59%) vSphere
9 9 (1.30%) XenApp
10 8 (1.16%) NFS
10 8 (1.16%) ProxySG
11 7 (1.01%) Virtual Desktop
11 7 (1.01%) Virtual Servers
12 5 (0.72%) KVM
12 5 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
12 5 (0.72%) VMware NSX
12 5 (0.72%) XenDesktop
13 3 (0.43%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 3 (0.43%) VMware Workstation
14 2 (0.29%) Terminal Server
Systems Management
1 105 (15.17%) Microsoft Intune
2 64 (9.25%) Terraform
3 62 (8.96%) Ansible
4 44 (6.36%) FortiGate
4 44 (6.36%) SCCM
5 27 (3.90%) Kubernetes
6 18 (2.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 17 (2.46%) Jamf Pro
7 17 (2.46%) Single Sign-On
8 14 (2.02%) Autotask
8 14 (2.02%) CASB
8 14 (2.02%) WSUS
9 8 (1.16%) Endace
10 7 (1.01%) Nagios
10 7 (1.01%) SmoothWall
11 6 (0.87%) PaperCut
12 5 (0.72%) Dell DRAC
13 4 (0.58%) Grafana
14 3 (0.43%) Prometheus
14 3 (0.43%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 323 (46.68%) Microsoft
2 291 (42.05%) Cisco
3 128 (18.50%) VMware
4 108 (15.61%) Fortinet
5 92 (13.29%) Meraki
6 71 (10.26%) Juniper
7 62 (8.96%) Palo Alto
8 59 (8.53%) SolarWinds
9 56 (8.09%) CheckPoint
10 47 (6.79%) Aruba
11 30 (4.34%) F5
12 29 (4.19%) Apple
12 29 (4.19%) HP
13 28 (4.05%) Dell
14 26 (3.76%) Google
15 20 (2.89%) Zscaler
16 19 (2.75%) Citrix
17 14 (2.02%) Red Hat
17 14 (2.02%) Sage
17 14 (2.02%) Sophos