WAN Job Trends in the South East

Wide Area Network (WAN)
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the South East requiring WAN skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 163 136 106
Rank change year-on-year -27 -30 +48
Permanent jobs citing WAN 108 185 231
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 1.04% 2.06% 2.62%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.17% 13.26% 18.73%
Number of salaries quoted 95 98 207
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £21,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £36,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,580 £50,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.84% +17.65% -10.53%
75th Percentile £77,500 £57,500 £57,500
90th Percentile £95,550 £66,250 £63,750
England median annual salary £50,000 £54,000 £49,000
% change year-on-year -7.41% +10.20% +3.16%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
South East

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 the South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 1,507 1,395 1,233
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 14.52% 15.54% 14.01%
Number of salaries quoted 675 722 1,038
10th Percentile £27,000 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £42,500 £34,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £59,500 £63,750 £61,738
90th Percentile £73,650 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £40,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -27.27% +10.00% -4.76%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

WAN job vacancy trend in the South East

WAN
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing WAN.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing WAN

WAN
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing WAN in the South East over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Salary histogram for WAN in the South East

WAN
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the South East region over the 6 months to 14 January 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
Hampshire +11 45 £55,000 - 15
Thames Valley -14 40 £36,000 -15.29% 24
Berkshire -19 26 £36,000 -20.00% 15
Oxfordshire +8 13 £36,000 -10.00% 4
Surrey +4 11 £95,000 +153.33% 5
East Sussex -1 7 £27,000 -55.00% 4
Kent -31 6 £48,500 -25.38% 6
Buckinghamshire +9 4 £36,000 -15.29% 5
Middlesex - 1 £37,500 -
WAN
England

WAN
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 3 (2.78%) Exchange Server 2013
1 3 (2.78%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.93%) SharePoint
Applications
1 6 (5.56%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.85%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.93%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 32 (29.63%) Azure
2 16 (14.81%) AWS
3 15 (13.89%) Microsoft 365
4 5 (4.63%) Google Workspace
4 5 (4.63%) Mimecast
5 2 (1.85%) Nutanix
5 2 (1.85%) Power Platform
6 1 (0.93%) Azure Sentinel
6 1 (0.93%) Dynamics 365
6 1 (0.93%) Entra ID
6 1 (0.93%) GCP
6 1 (0.93%) IaaS
6 1 (0.93%) OVHcloud
6 1 (0.93%) PaaS
6 1 (0.93%) PowerApps
6 1 (0.93%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 89 (82.41%) LAN
2 59 (54.63%) VPN
3 48 (44.44%) Firewall
4 37 (34.26%) VoIP
5 28 (25.93%) Wi-Fi
6 23 (21.30%) SD-WAN
7 22 (20.37%) Network Security
8 21 (19.44%) Wireless
9 17 (15.74%) VLAN
10 15 (13.89%) TCP/IP
10 15 (13.89%) Unified Communications
11 14 (12.96%) BGP
12 12 (11.11%) OSPF
13 11 (10.19%) MPLS
14 9 (8.33%) DNS
14 9 (8.33%) Wireshark
15 8 (7.41%) DECT
15 8 (7.41%) DHCP
15 8 (7.41%) DSL
15 8 (7.41%) PBX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (15.74%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.93%) Power BI
General
1 41 (37.96%) Social Skills
2 22 (20.37%) Telecoms
3 8 (7.41%) Marketing
4 6 (5.56%) Analytical Skills
5 5 (4.63%) Back Office
5 5 (4.63%) Finance
5 5 (4.63%) Organisational Skills
6 4 (3.70%) Retail
7 3 (2.78%) Electronics
8 2 (1.85%) Games
8 2 (1.85%) Manufacturing
9 1 (0.93%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.93%) Law
9 1 (0.93%) Pharmaceutical
9 1 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (0.93%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 18 (16.67%) Network Engineer
2 16 (14.81%) IT Support
3 14 (12.96%) Senior
4 13 (12.04%) 2nd Line Support
4 13 (12.04%) Consultant
5 12 (11.11%) Support Technician
6 11 (10.19%) IT Engineer
7 10 (9.26%) Senior Network Engineer
8 9 (8.33%) 3rd Line Support
8 9 (8.33%) Network Consultant
9 7 (6.48%) 1st/2nd Line Support
9 7 (6.48%) 1st/2nd Line Support Technician
9 7 (6.48%) 2nd Line Support Technician
9 7 (6.48%) Cisco Consultant
9 7 (6.48%) Cisco Network Consultant
9 7 (6.48%) Head of IT
9 7 (6.48%) Head of IT Operations
9 7 (6.48%) Head of Operations
9 7 (6.48%) Support Engineer
9 7 (6.48%) WAN Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (6.48%) REST
2 3 (2.78%) 802.1X
Miscellaneous
1 19 (17.59%) Data Centre
2 12 (11.11%) Driving Licence
3 9 (8.33%) EPoS
4 8 (7.41%) Web Conferencing
5 7 (6.48%) CCTV
5 7 (6.48%) Client/Server
5 7 (6.48%) Operational Technology
6 5 (4.63%) Social Media
7 3 (2.78%) Replication
8 2 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
8 2 (1.85%) BYOD
8 2 (1.85%) FMCG
8 2 (1.85%) IoT
9 1 (0.93%) CMDB
9 1 (0.93%) Enterprise Storage
9 1 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
9 1 (0.93%) PKI
9 1 (0.93%) Private Cloud
9 1 (0.93%) Security Posture
9 1 (0.93%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 35 (32.41%) Windows
2 19 (17.59%) Windows Server
3 7 (6.48%) Mac OS
4 5 (4.63%) Android
4 5 (4.63%) Apple iOS
5 3 (2.78%) Windows 10
6 2 (1.85%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 23 (21.30%) ITIL
2 22 (20.37%) Customer Service
3 16 (14.81%) Disaster Recovery
4 15 (13.89%) Data Protection
5 14 (12.96%) Business Continuity
5 14 (12.96%) Network Management
6 13 (12.04%) Network Design
6 13 (12.04%) Problem-Solving
7 12 (11.11%) High Availability
7 12 (11.11%) Presales
8 11 (10.19%) Infrastructure as Code
8 11 (10.19%) Requirements Gathering
8 11 (10.19%) Service Management
9 9 (8.33%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 9 (8.33%) ITSM
9 9 (8.33%) Logistics
9 9 (8.33%) Project Management
9 9 (8.33%) Service Delivery
10 8 (7.41%) Cybersecurity
10 8 (7.41%) Time Management
Programming Languages
1 9 (8.33%) PowerShell
2 8 (7.41%) SQL
3 7 (6.48%) Python
Qualifications
1 35 (32.41%) Cisco Certification
2 34 (31.48%) CCNP
3 18 (16.67%) Security Cleared
4 17 (15.74%) Degree
4 17 (15.74%) DV Cleared
5 16 (14.81%) SC Cleared
6 15 (13.89%) CCNA
7 8 (7.41%) Azure Certification
7 8 (7.41%) DBS Check
7 8 (7.41%) JNCIA
8 7 (6.48%) AWS Certification
8 7 (6.48%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 7 (6.48%) Master's Degree
8 7 (6.48%) PMI Certification
8 7 (6.48%) PMP
9 6 (5.56%) JNCIS
10 4 (3.70%) CCIE
11 2 (1.85%) MCSE
11 2 (1.85%) Microsoft Certification
12 1 (0.93%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (6.48%) NIST
2 5 (4.63%) SLA
3 4 (3.70%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (3.70%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 3 (2.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 22 (20.37%) Active Directory
2 16 (14.81%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (8.33%) Hyper-V
4 2 (1.85%) KVM
4 2 (1.85%) RHEV
4 2 (1.85%) Xen
5 1 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.93%) Virtual Servers
5 1 (0.93%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 16 (14.81%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (12.04%) Ansible
3 8 (7.41%) FortiGate
3 8 (7.41%) Terraform
4 6 (5.56%) Jamf Pro
5 5 (4.63%) Endace
5 5 (4.63%) SmoothWall
6 3 (2.78%) SCCM
7 2 (1.85%) Nagios
7 2 (1.85%) Proxmox
8 1 (0.93%) Dell DRAC
8 1 (0.93%) OpenView
8 1 (0.93%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 48 (44.44%) Cisco
2 43 (39.81%) Microsoft
3 18 (16.67%) Juniper
3 18 (16.67%) VMware
4 17 (15.74%) Meraki
5 8 (7.41%) Fortinet
5 8 (7.41%) HP
6 7 (6.48%) F5
7 6 (5.56%) Dell
7 6 (5.56%) Sophos
8 5 (4.63%) Barracuda Networks
8 5 (4.63%) Google
8 5 (4.63%) Ubiquiti
9 4 (3.70%) Adobe
10 3 (2.78%) arcserve
10 3 (2.78%) Palo Alto
10 3 (2.78%) SolarWinds
11 2 (1.85%) CheckPoint
11 2 (1.85%) Ruckus Wireless
12 1 (0.93%) NetApp