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 7 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 177 128 104
Rank change year-on-year -49 -24 +89
Permanent jobs citing WAN 766 990 1,939
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.20% 2.38% 2.71%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 8.32% 17.30% 19.67%
Number of salaries quoted 551 686 1,535
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,875 £27,200
25th Percentile £32,500 £40,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £54,750 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.68% +15.26% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £60,000
90th Percentile £93,500 £85,000 £75,000
UK median annual salary £51,000 £52,500 £47,500
% change year-on-year -2.86% +10.53% -5.00%

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 9,207 5,724 9,859
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 14.40% 13.76% 13.78%
Number of salaries quoted 3,544 3,344 8,115
10th Percentile £26,250 £30,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £29,000 £37,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £55,000 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year -22.73% +12.24% -4.58%
75th Percentile £65,000 £71,750 £63,750
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £80,000
UK median annual salary £41,000 £55,000 £48,500
% change year-on-year -25.45% +13.40% -7.62%

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 7 March 2026.

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 7 March 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +60 277 £75,000 +25.00% 52
North of England -38 143 £40,000 -15.79% 33
Midlands -48 111 £54,068 +1.54% 24
South East -56 107 £48,500 -3.00% 76
West Midlands -33 90 £55,500 +5.83% 15
North West -32 72 £47,500 -5.00% 16
South West -22 64 £32,500 -29.35% 15
Yorkshire -40 62 £33,000 -12.00% 13
East of England -29 39 £46,160 -16.07% 27
East Midlands -38 21 £35,000 -39.13% 9
North East -16 9 £65,000 +73.33% 5
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
1 125 (16.32%) Microsoft Exchange
2 85 (11.10%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.52%) nginx
4 3 (0.39%) Confluence
5 2 (0.26%) Apache
5 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.26%) IIS
Applications
1 53 (6.92%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (3.00%) MS Visio
3 18 (2.35%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.39%) AutoCAD
4 3 (0.39%) SOLIDWORKS
5 2 (0.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (0.52%) Exchequer
2 2 (0.26%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.13%) Carpe Diem
3 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.13%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 345 (45.04%) Azure
2 244 (31.85%) Microsoft 365
3 149 (19.45%) AWS
4 107 (13.97%) Entra ID
5 42 (5.48%) Google Workspace
6 37 (4.83%) OneDrive
7 29 (3.79%) GCP
8 22 (2.87%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 22 (2.87%) Azure Monitor
9 20 (2.61%) GitHub
10 18 (2.35%) Azure DevOps
10 18 (2.35%) SaaS
11 16 (2.09%) AWS Direct Connect
11 16 (2.09%) Datadog
12 15 (1.96%) Azure Sentinel
12 15 (1.96%) Power Platform
13 14 (1.83%) Nutanix
14 13 (1.70%) PaaS
14 13 (1.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 12 (1.57%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 554 (72.32%) LAN
2 408 (53.26%) Firewall
3 300 (39.16%) VPN
4 277 (36.16%) SD-WAN
5 204 (26.63%) Wi-Fi
6 161 (21.02%) DNS
7 143 (18.67%) DHCP
7 143 (18.67%) VLAN
8 139 (18.15%) TCP/IP
9 128 (16.71%) Wireless
10 126 (16.45%) Network Security
11 101 (13.19%) VoIP
12 98 (12.79%) BGP
13 88 (11.49%) OSPF
14 71 (9.27%) WLAN
15 66 (8.62%) MPLS
16 60 (7.83%) Cisco ASA
17 57 (7.44%) Cisco ISE
18 50 (6.53%) Cisco Firepower
19 35 (4.57%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (3.13%) SQL Server
2 13 (1.70%) Power BI
3 6 (0.78%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (0.39%) MongoDB
4 3 (0.39%) MySQL
4 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
5 2 (0.26%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.26%) Metadata
6 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.13%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 18 (2.35%) Git
2 9 (1.17%) JIRA
3 8 (1.04%) LabVIEW
4 6 (0.78%) GitLab
5 2 (0.26%) Jaeger
5 2 (0.26%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.26%) MLflow
5 2 (0.26%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 250 (32.64%) Social Skills
2 96 (12.53%) Finance
3 70 (9.14%) Analytical Skills
4 48 (6.27%) Telecoms
5 44 (5.74%) Retail
6 43 (5.61%) Organisational Skills
7 35 (4.57%) Public Sector
8 32 (4.18%) Presentation Skills
9 30 (3.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 23 (3.00%) Marketing
11 20 (2.61%) Manufacturing
12 18 (2.35%) Banking
12 18 (2.35%) Law
13 12 (1.57%) Documentation Skills
13 12 (1.57%) Legal
14 11 (1.44%) Electronics
15 10 (1.31%) Retail Banking
16 8 (1.04%) Back Office
17 7 (0.91%) Influencing Skills
18 5 (0.65%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 201 (26.24%) Network Engineer
2 148 (19.32%) Senior
3 135 (17.62%) Support Engineer
4 120 (15.67%) IT Support
5 117 (15.27%) IT Engineer
6 83 (10.84%) IT Support Engineer
7 79 (10.31%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 74 (9.66%) Senior Network Engineer
9 67 (8.75%) 2nd Line Support
10 59 (7.70%) Cisco Engineer
11 52 (6.79%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 51 (6.66%) Architect
13 42 (5.48%) WAN Engineer
14 40 (5.22%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
14 40 (5.22%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 37 (4.83%) Firewall Engineer
16 35 (4.57%) LAN Engineer
16 35 (4.57%) LAN/WAN Engineer
17 33 (4.31%) Support Technician
18 32 (4.18%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.57%) ADO
1 12 (1.57%) OAuth
1 12 (1.57%) SAML
1 12 (1.57%) YAML
2 11 (1.44%) 802.1X
3 10 (1.31%) REST
4 8 (1.04%) pytest
5 4 (0.52%) CSS
5 4 (0.52%) JSON
5 4 (0.52%) Middleware
5 4 (0.52%) OpenTelemetry
5 4 (0.52%) XMPP
6 3 (0.39%) EDI
6 3 (0.39%) LDAP
7 2 (0.26%) FastAPI
7 2 (0.26%) Kafka
7 2 (0.26%) Keycloak
7 2 (0.26%) Web Services
7 2 (0.26%) WebRTC
Miscellaneous
1 150 (19.58%) Data Centre
2 66 (8.62%) Driving Licence
3 41 (5.35%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (2.87%) Onboarding
5 19 (2.48%) PKI
6 18 (2.35%) Enterprise Software
7 17 (2.22%) Hybrid Cloud
8 16 (2.09%) Management Information System
9 14 (1.83%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 14 (1.83%) Replication
9 14 (1.83%) Web Conferencing
10 13 (1.70%) Cloud Native
10 13 (1.70%) Video Conferencing
11 12 (1.57%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.57%) Self-Driving Car
12 10 (1.31%) EPoS
12 10 (1.31%) Social Media
13 9 (1.17%) Legacy Systems
14 8 (1.04%) Public Cloud
15 7 (0.91%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 323 (42.17%) Windows
2 184 (24.02%) Windows Server
3 79 (10.31%) Windows 10
4 50 (6.53%) Linux
5 42 (5.48%) Mac OS
6 38 (4.96%) Windows Server 2019
7 36 (4.70%) Windows Server 2016
8 22 (2.87%) Android
8 22 (2.87%) Apple iOS
8 22 (2.87%) Windows Server 2012
9 15 (1.96%) Windows 7
10 13 (1.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 13 (1.70%) VMS
11 10 (1.31%) Unix
11 10 (1.31%) Windows 8
12 8 (1.04%) CentOS
13 4 (0.52%) CoreOS
14 3 (0.39%) OpenWrt
15 2 (0.26%) Oracle Linux
16 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 210 (27.42%) Problem-Solving
2 130 (16.97%) Customer Service
3 129 (16.84%) ITIL
4 104 (13.58%) Continuous Improvement
5 102 (13.32%) Disaster Recovery
6 97 (12.66%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 84 (10.97%) Service Delivery
8 72 (9.40%) Cybersecurity
9 67 (8.75%) Root Cause Analysis
10 63 (8.22%) Zero Trust
11 61 (7.96%) Presales
12 59 (7.70%) Network Monitoring
13 58 (7.57%) High Availability
14 54 (7.05%) Stakeholder Management
15 53 (6.92%) Kalman Filter
15 53 (6.92%) Migration
16 52 (6.79%) Technical Leadership
17 50 (6.53%) Project Delivery
17 50 (6.53%) Roadmaps
17 50 (6.53%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 71 (9.27%) Python
2 66 (8.62%) PowerShell
3 28 (3.66%) SQL
4 12 (1.57%) Bash
4 12 (1.57%) Kusto Query Language
5 8 (1.04%) MATLAB
6 3 (0.39%) C
6 3 (0.39%) C++
7 2 (0.26%) Bicep
7 2 (0.26%) Java
7 2 (0.26%) Perl
8 1 (0.13%) JavaScript
8 1 (0.13%) Korn
8 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 201 (26.24%) Cisco Certification
2 141 (18.41%) CCNP
3 111 (14.49%) Degree
4 106 (13.84%) CCNA
5 89 (11.62%) Security Cleared
6 65 (8.49%) SC Cleared
7 58 (7.57%) CCIE
8 40 (5.22%) Microsoft Certification
9 38 (4.96%) Computer Science Degree
10 27 (3.52%) DV Cleared
11 26 (3.39%) DBS Check
12 25 (3.26%) Azure Certification
13 22 (2.87%) JNCIA
14 16 (2.09%) CCSA
14 16 (2.09%) CCSE
15 14 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
16 12 (1.57%) CISSP
17 11 (1.44%) CISM
17 11 (1.44%) ITIL Certification
18 10 (1.31%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 59 (7.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 47 (6.14%) SLA
3 37 (4.83%) GDPR
4 32 (4.18%) Cyber Essentials
5 31 (4.05%) NIST
6 27 (3.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 19 (2.48%) PCI DSS
8 16 (2.09%) PMO
9 13 (1.70%) SOC 2
10 8 (1.04%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 6 (0.78%) QA
12 5 (0.65%) Accessibility
13 2 (0.26%) Basel III
13 2 (0.26%) MiFID
13 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.13%) ISO 9001
14 1 (0.13%) NCSC
System Software
1 242 (31.59%) Active Directory
2 103 (13.45%) VMware Infrastructure
3 92 (12.01%) Hyper-V
4 22 (2.87%) Virtual Machines
5 21 (2.74%) vSphere
6 17 (2.22%) Firmware
7 12 (1.57%) ProxySG
8 10 (1.31%) BitLocker
8 10 (1.31%) VMware ESXi
8 10 (1.31%) VMware Workstation
9 9 (1.17%) Docker
9 9 (1.17%) VMware NSX
10 6 (0.78%) Virtual Servers
10 6 (0.78%) XenApp
11 5 (0.65%) Virtual Desktop
12 4 (0.52%) KVM
12 4 (0.52%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 2 (0.26%) NFS
13 2 (0.26%) XenDesktop
14 1 (0.13%) RHEV
Systems Management
1 97 (12.66%) Microsoft Intune
2 62 (8.09%) Ansible
3 56 (7.31%) Terraform
4 54 (7.05%) FortiGate
5 36 (4.70%) SCCM
6 23 (3.00%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 19 (2.48%) Kubernetes
8 14 (1.83%) Autotask
9 11 (1.44%) CASB
10 9 (1.17%) Jamf Pro
11 8 (1.04%) Check_MK
11 8 (1.04%) Endace
12 7 (0.91%) Cisco CUCM
12 7 (0.91%) Grafana
13 6 (0.78%) McAfee ePO
13 6 (0.78%) SCVMM
13 6 (0.78%) SmoothWall
13 6 (0.78%) WSUS
14 5 (0.65%) Cisco Prime
14 5 (0.65%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 340 (44.39%) Cisco
2 316 (41.25%) Microsoft
3 142 (18.54%) Fortinet
4 134 (17.49%) VMware
5 110 (14.36%) Meraki
6 84 (10.97%) SolarWinds
7 83 (10.84%) Palo Alto
8 69 (9.01%) CheckPoint
8 69 (9.01%) Juniper
9 51 (6.66%) Google
10 44 (5.74%) Aruba
11 38 (4.96%) F5
12 33 (4.31%) Dell
13 29 (3.79%) ServiceNow
13 29 (3.79%) Zscaler
14 21 (2.74%) Veeam
15 19 (2.48%) McAfee
16 18 (2.35%) Infoblox
17 17 (2.22%) HP
18 16 (2.09%) Apple