WAN Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring WAN skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 194 142 130
Rank change year-on-year -52 -12 +26
Permanent jobs citing WAN 572 687 1,494
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.87% 2.39% 2.18%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 8.56% 13.94% 16.16%
Number of salaries quoted 453 524 1,196
10th Percentile £28,250 £27,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £47,500 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +11.76% -
75th Percentile £65,000 £61,250 £53,750
90th Percentile £77,500 £69,625 £65,000
UK median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.00% +5.26% -

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK excluding London

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 UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 6,680 4,927 9,243
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.16% 17.15% 13.47%
Number of salaries quoted 2,890 2,638 7,052
10th Percentile £26,500 £25,750 £25,750
25th Percentile £29,750 £31,194 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £43,500
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +3.45% -3.33%
75th Percentile £60,000 £60,000 £58,750
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £68,750
UK median annual salary £45,000 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -5.00%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

WAN job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

WAN
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing WAN.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing WAN

WAN
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing WAN in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 15 May 2026.

Salary histogram for WAN in the UK excluding London

WAN
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 15 May 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
North of England -16 152 £45,000 -5.26% 56
South East -41 140 £40,000 -5.88% 72
Midlands -89 115 £54,068 +8.14% 32
West Midlands -86 83 £55,500 +12.25% 25
South West -47 79 £36,423 -27.15% 19
Yorkshire -26 74 £33,500 -9.46% 23
North West -13 68 £50,000 - 25
East of England -26 41 £42,500 - 18
East Midlands -21 32 £37,500 -30.56% 7
Wales -9 27 £65,000 +48.60% 15
Scotland 0 15 £70,000 +40.00% 9
North East -31 10 £42,500 +16.12% 8
Northern Ireland -32 4 £31,500 -37.00% 1
WAN
UK

WAN
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 84 (14.69%) Microsoft Exchange
2 72 (12.59%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.22%) IIS
4 4 (0.70%) Confluence
5 1 (0.17%) OpenStack
5 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 45 (7.87%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.75%) MS Visio
3 9 (1.57%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.17%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.17%) Oracle Payables
1 1 (0.17%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 221 (38.64%) Microsoft 365
2 213 (37.24%) Azure
3 83 (14.51%) AWS
4 77 (13.46%) Entra ID
5 28 (4.90%) Google Workspace
6 20 (3.50%) OneDrive
7 19 (3.32%) Azure Sentinel
8 13 (2.27%) GCP
9 9 (1.57%) GitHub
10 8 (1.40%) Mimecast
11 7 (1.22%) IaaS
11 7 (1.22%) PaaS
12 4 (0.70%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Purview
12 4 (0.70%) Power Platform
13 3 (0.52%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (0.52%) Microsoft Copilot
13 3 (0.52%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 2 (0.35%) Amazon EC2
14 2 (0.35%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 448 (78.32%) LAN
2 290 (50.70%) Firewall
3 245 (42.83%) VPN
4 141 (24.65%) SD-WAN
5 130 (22.73%) VLAN
6 124 (21.68%) DNS
7 109 (19.06%) DHCP
8 95 (16.61%) TCP/IP
9 83 (14.51%) Wi-Fi
10 82 (14.34%) Wireless
11 65 (11.36%) BGP
12 58 (10.14%) Network Security
13 54 (9.44%) WLAN
14 41 (7.17%) OSPF
15 39 (6.82%) MPLS
16 38 (6.64%) VoIP
17 27 (4.72%) Cisco ASA
18 24 (4.20%) Unified Communications
19 23 (4.02%) Cisco Firepower
20 21 (3.67%) Cisco Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (5.24%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.05%) Amazon RDS
3 3 (0.52%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.17%) Azure SQL Database
4 1 (0.17%) InfluxDB
4 1 (0.17%) MariaDB
4 1 (0.17%) MySQL
4 1 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.17%) Power BI
4 1 (0.17%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 11 (1.92%) Git
2 8 (1.40%) LabVIEW
3 5 (0.87%) GitLab
4 2 (0.35%) JIRA
5 1 (0.17%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.17%) Jenkins
General
1 147 (25.70%) Social Skills
2 59 (10.31%) Analytical Skills
3 58 (10.14%) Public Sector
4 33 (5.77%) Presentation Skills
5 25 (4.37%) Organisational Skills
6 24 (4.20%) Telecoms
7 23 (4.02%) Finance
8 22 (3.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 19 (3.32%) Manufacturing
9 19 (3.32%) Marketing
10 18 (3.15%) Retail
11 13 (2.27%) Electronics
12 12 (2.10%) Law
13 11 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
14 10 (1.75%) Back Office
15 9 (1.57%) Banking
16 7 (1.22%) Aerospace
17 6 (1.05%) Advertising
18 4 (0.70%) Police
19 3 (0.52%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 138 (24.13%) Network Engineer
2 126 (22.03%) IT Support
3 123 (21.50%) Support Engineer
4 108 (18.88%) IT Engineer
5 97 (16.96%) Senior
6 81 (14.16%) IT Support Engineer
7 77 (13.46%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 53 (9.27%) Senior Network Engineer
9 42 (7.34%) 2nd Line Support
10 36 (6.29%) Support Technician
11 34 (5.94%) Analyst
12 31 (5.42%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 31 (5.42%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
13 27 (4.72%) IT Support Technician
13 27 (4.72%) IT Technician
14 26 (4.55%) Architect
15 23 (4.02%) Firewall Engineer
15 23 (4.02%) WAN Engineer
16 22 (3.85%) Cisco Engineer
16 22 (3.85%) LAN Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.75%) XMPP
2 8 (1.40%) LDAP
2 8 (1.40%) pytest
2 8 (1.40%) REST
3 4 (0.70%) 802.1X
3 4 (0.70%) Middleware
3 4 (0.70%) ModSecurity
3 4 (0.70%) OpenTelemetry
4 1 (0.17%) .NET
4 1 (0.17%) OAuth
4 1 (0.17%) SAML
4 1 (0.17%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 74 (12.94%) Driving Licence
2 69 (12.06%) Data Centre
3 31 (5.42%) Self-Motivation
4 19 (3.32%) Onboarding
4 19 (3.32%) PKI
5 18 (3.15%) EPoS
6 17 (2.97%) Hybrid Cloud
7 16 (2.80%) Replication
8 15 (2.62%) Client/Server
9 14 (2.45%) Video Conferencing
10 10 (1.75%) Analytical Mindset
10 10 (1.75%) FlexPod
11 9 (1.57%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (1.57%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.57%) Social Media
11 9 (1.57%) Web Conferencing
12 8 (1.40%) Self-Driving Car
12 8 (1.40%) Smartphone
13 5 (0.87%) Security Operations Centre
13 5 (0.87%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 274 (47.90%) Windows
2 152 (26.57%) Windows Server
3 66 (11.54%) Windows 10
4 40 (6.99%) Linux
5 15 (2.62%) Android
6 13 (2.27%) Windows Server 2016
7 12 (2.10%) Unix
7 12 (2.10%) Windows Server 2019
8 11 (1.92%) Mac OS
9 10 (1.75%) Apple iOS
10 8 (1.40%) Windows 7
11 7 (1.22%) Windows 8
12 6 (1.05%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.52%) CentOS
13 3 (0.52%) VMS
14 2 (0.35%) AIX
14 2 (0.35%) CoreOS
14 2 (0.35%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
15 1 (0.17%) Ubuntu
15 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 159 (27.80%) Problem-Solving
2 111 (19.41%) ITIL
3 110 (19.23%) Customer Service
4 92 (16.08%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 84 (14.69%) Continuous Improvement
6 70 (12.24%) Disaster Recovery
7 63 (11.01%) Cybersecurity
8 62 (10.84%) Service Delivery
9 53 (9.27%) Root Cause Analysis
10 48 (8.39%) ITSM
11 44 (7.69%) Service Management
12 41 (7.17%) SIEM
13 39 (6.82%) Mentoring
13 39 (6.82%) Network Monitoring
14 34 (5.94%) Presales
15 30 (5.24%) Computer Science
15 30 (5.24%) Proactive Monitoring
16 28 (4.90%) Kalman Filter
16 28 (4.90%) Migration
16 28 (4.90%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 57 (9.97%) PowerShell
2 53 (9.27%) Python
3 19 (3.32%) SQL
4 9 (1.57%) Bash
5 8 (1.40%) MATLAB
6 5 (0.87%) C++
6 5 (0.87%) JavaScript
6 5 (0.87%) Perl
7 2 (0.35%) Bicep
8 1 (0.17%) C#
8 1 (0.17%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.17%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 119 (20.80%) Cisco Certification
2 94 (16.43%) Security Cleared
3 93 (16.26%) Degree
4 75 (13.11%) CCNP
5 62 (10.84%) SC Cleared
6 60 (10.49%) CCNA
7 43 (7.52%) Microsoft Certification
8 34 (5.94%) DV Cleared
9 30 (5.24%) Computer Science Degree
10 23 (4.02%) CCIE
10 23 (4.02%) DBS Check
11 17 (2.97%) JNCIA
12 14 (2.45%) A+ Certification
13 13 (2.27%) BPSS Clearance
13 13 (2.27%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 13 (2.27%) Network+ Certification
14 11 (1.92%) CompTIA Security+
15 8 (1.40%) Azure Certification
15 8 (1.40%) HND
16 7 (1.22%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (5.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 33 (5.77%) SLA
3 21 (3.67%) Cyber Essentials
4 15 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 11 (1.92%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 10 (1.75%) GDPR
6 10 (1.75%) NIST
7 8 (1.40%) PMO
8 7 (1.22%) QA
9 4 (0.70%) Accessibility
9 4 (0.70%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 186 (32.52%) Active Directory
2 108 (18.88%) VMware Infrastructure
3 73 (12.76%) Hyper-V
4 23 (4.02%) vSphere
5 16 (2.80%) VMware NSX
6 13 (2.27%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.75%) BitLocker
7 10 (1.75%) Virtual Machines
8 8 (1.40%) ProxySG
9 7 (1.22%) Firmware
9 7 (1.22%) Virtual Servers
9 7 (1.22%) VMware Workstation
10 6 (1.05%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 4 (0.70%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.35%) Docker
13 1 (0.17%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.17%) KVM
13 1 (0.17%) QEMU
13 1 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
13 1 (0.17%) Xen
Systems Management
1 65 (11.36%) Microsoft Intune
2 41 (7.17%) Ansible
3 29 (5.07%) FortiGate
4 23 (4.02%) SCCM
5 20 (3.50%) Terraform
6 10 (1.75%) Cisco CUCM
6 10 (1.75%) Grafana
6 10 (1.75%) WSUS
7 9 (1.57%) Autotask
8 8 (1.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 8 (1.40%) Jamf Pro
8 8 (1.40%) QRadar
9 7 (1.22%) Endace
10 6 (1.05%) Kubernetes
10 6 (1.05%) VxRail
11 5 (0.87%) SmoothWall
12 4 (0.70%) vCenter Server
13 2 (0.35%) McAfee ePO
13 2 (0.35%) Netcool
13 2 (0.35%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 277 (48.43%) Microsoft
2 210 (36.71%) Cisco
3 124 (21.68%) VMware
4 82 (14.34%) Fortinet
5 56 (9.79%) Juniper
6 51 (8.92%) Meraki
7 36 (6.29%) Aruba
8 35 (6.12%) SolarWinds
9 34 (5.94%) Google
10 28 (4.90%) Palo Alto
11 27 (4.72%) Splunk
12 24 (4.20%) Dell
13 19 (3.32%) Veeam
14 17 (2.97%) F5
15 16 (2.80%) McAfee
15 16 (2.80%) Zscaler
16 15 (2.62%) Avaya
16 15 (2.62%) CheckPoint
16 15 (2.62%) ServiceNow
17 12 (2.10%) HP