WAN Job Trends in the Thames Valley
Wide Area Network (WAN)
South East > Thames Valley
The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the Thames Valley requiring WAN skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 20 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 20 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 148 | 117 | 116 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -31 | -1 | -11 |
| Permanent jobs citing WAN | 67 | 77 | 87 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley | 0.87% | 2.02% | 1.98% |
| As % of the Communications & Networking category | 12.59% | 14.47% | 15.13% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 55 | 73 | 42 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,250 | £22,750 | £35,000 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,625 | £28,000 | £36,563 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £52,000 | £36,000 | £44,588 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +44.44% | -19.26% | -1.46% |
| 75th Percentile | £70,625 | £43,750 | £55,094 |
| 90th Percentile | £73,750 | £65,000 | £67,500 |
| South East median annual salary | £55,000 | £40,500 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +35.80% | -19.00% | +7.53% |
All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Thames Valley
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 Thames Valley.
| 6 months to 20 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills | 532 | 532 | 575 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley | 6.92% | 13.97% | 13.09% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 373 | 256 | 268 |
| 10th Percentile | £29,000 | £28,000 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £32,500 | £35,000 | £38,438 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £45,000 | £45,000 | £50,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | -10.89% | -3.81% |
| 75th Percentile | £62,500 | £63,750 | £67,500 |
| 90th Percentile | £72,500 | £70,000 | £80,000 |
| South East median annual salary | £47,500 | £42,500 | £53,050 |
| % change year-on-year | +11.76% | -19.89% | +6.10% |
WAN Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing WAN relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.
WAN Salary Trend in the Thames Valley
Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing WAN.
WAN Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley
Salary distribution for jobs citing WAN in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 20 October 2026.
WAN Job Locations in the Thames Valley
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 20 October 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxfordshire | -38 | 27 | £52,500 | +26.51% | 9 |
| Berkshire | -15 | 25 | £46,750 | +50.81% | 11 |
| Buckinghamshire | +1 | 16 | £50,000 | -16.67% | 11 |
| WAN South East |
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WAN Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Communications & Networking
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LAN | 73.1% | 49 |
| 2 | VPN | 68.7% | 46 |
| 3 | Firewall | 62.7% | 42 |
| 4 | Network Security | 58.2% | 39 |
| 5 | VLAN | 53.7% | 36 |
| 6 | SD-WAN | 50.7% | 34 |
| 7 | DHCP | 47.8% | 32 |
| 7 | DNS | 47.8% | 32 |
| 9 | Wi-Fi | 37.3% | 25 |
| 9 | Wireless | 37.3% | 25 |
| 11 | TCP/IP | 31.3% | 21 |
| 12 | BGP | 22.4% | 15 |
| 13 | IPsec | 17.9% | 12 |
| 13 | SSL | 17.9% | 12 |
| 15 | FTP | 14.9% | 10 |
| 15 | HTTP | 14.9% | 10 |
| 15 | ICMP | 14.9% | 10 |
| 15 | MPLS | 14.9% | 10 |
| 15 | SNMP | 14.9% | 10 |
| 15 | SSH | 14.9% | 10 |