Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies requiring WAN skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the annual salaries offered in vacancies that cited WAN over the 6 months leading up to 15 June 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jun 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 181 141 163
Rank change year-on-year -40 +22 +107
Permanent jobs citing WAN 1,004 2,164 2,094
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 1.79% 1.96% 2.28%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 9.52% 15.60% 13.89%
Number of salaries quoted 754 1,621 1,513
10th Percentile £27,750 £27,750 £30,725
25th Percentile £32,533 £35,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £47,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £65,000 £62,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £82,500 £77,500 £80,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £45,000 £42,500 £42,500
% change year-on-year +5.88% - -2.30%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

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.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 10,541 13,869 15,077
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 18.81% 12.55% 16.43%
Number of salaries quoted 4,732 9,425 7,594
10th Percentile £23,731 £26,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £25,087 £32,500 £35,885
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £39,000 £47,500 £51,350
Median % change year-on-year -17.89% -7.50% -2.19%
75th Percentile £61,250 £63,750 £70,750
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £86,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £32,500 £44,500 £45,000
% change year-on-year -26.97% -1.11% -5.26%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing WAN as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Salary Trend

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing WAN.

Salary trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 15 June 2025.

Salary histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Top 18 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the UK over the 6 months to 15 June 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
England -40 950 £48,000 +1.05% 779
UK excluding London -38 693 £45,000 +5.88% 606
Work from Home -103 275 £50,000 -9.09% 345
London -48 235 £60,000 +4.35% 299
Midlands -2 209 £47,500 +13.10% 82
South East +27 189 £41,500 -17.00% 209
West Midlands +11 170 £46,000 +12.20% 41
North of England -99 140 £44,500 -1.11% 129
South West +20 88 £50,000 +11.11% 64
North West -99 81 £47,500 +5.56% 65
East of England -46 56 £40,000 -5.88% 86
Yorkshire -40 52 £31,250 -43.18% 50
East Midlands +40 39 £55,000 +22.22% 41
North East +16 7 £40,000 +5.26% 14
Scotland +43 6 £41,250 -8.33% 49
Wales +12 4 £37,733 -6.83% 5
Northern Ireland +34 2 £50,000 +33.33% 8
Isle of Man +14 1 - -

WAN
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 112 (11.16%) Microsoft Exchange
2 70 (6.97%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2013
3 7 (0.70%) IBM Domino
4 2 (0.20%) Confluence
4 2 (0.20%) Skype for Business
4 2 (0.20%) Tomcat
4 2 (0.20%) WebSphere
4 2 (0.20%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 79 (7.87%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (2.49%) MS Visio
3 7 (0.70%) Blender
4 3 (0.30%) AutoCAD
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.20%) Acrobat
5 2 (0.20%) Revit
5 2 (0.20%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 6 (0.60%) Dynamics NAV
1 6 (0.60%) SAP ERP
2 5 (0.50%) Exchequer
2 5 (0.50%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.100%) Carpe Diem
3 1 (0.100%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.100%) Elite 3E
Cloud Services
1 458 (45.62%) Azure
2 282 (28.09%) Microsoft 365
3 142 (14.14%) AWS
4 110 (10.96%) Entra ID
5 39 (3.88%) GCP
6 38 (3.78%) IaaS
7 29 (2.89%) Azure Sentinel
8 28 (2.79%) OneDrive
9 27 (2.69%) PaaS
10 24 (2.39%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 20 (1.99%) Azure Monitor
11 20 (1.99%) Power Platform
11 20 (1.99%) SaaS
12 19 (1.89%) GitHub
13 17 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
14 16 (1.59%) Azure AI
14 16 (1.59%) Azure Key Vault
14 16 (1.59%) Azure Service Bus
14 16 (1.59%) Power Automate
15 13 (1.29%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 715 (71.22%) LAN
2 444 (44.22%) Firewall
3 290 (28.88%) SD-WAN
4 272 (27.09%) VPN
5 164 (16.33%) TCP/IP
6 162 (16.14%) DNS
7 144 (14.34%) Wi-Fi
8 130 (12.95%) Network Security
9 126 (12.55%) BGP
10 124 (12.35%) Wireless
11 114 (11.35%) MPLS
12 107 (10.66%) DHCP
13 96 (9.56%) VLAN
14 95 (9.46%) OSPF
15 90 (8.96%) VoIP
16 72 (7.17%) Internet
17 57 (5.68%) WLAN
18 55 (5.48%) IPsec
19 46 (4.58%) 5G
19 46 (4.58%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (5.18%) SQL Server
2 20 (1.99%) Power BI
3 16 (1.59%) Data Lake
3 16 (1.59%) MySQL
4 8 (0.80%) Relational Database
5 7 (0.70%) QGIS
6 3 (0.30%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.20%) EDMS
7 2 (0.20%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.100%) DB2
8 1 (0.100%) MS Access
8 1 (0.100%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 38 (3.78%) Git
2 17 (1.69%) Sonatype Nexus
3 8 (0.80%) Visual Studio
4 6 (0.60%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.50%) GitLab
6 4 (0.40%) JIRA
6 4 (0.40%) Subversion
7 3 (0.30%) LabVIEW
General
1 351 (34.96%) Social Skills
2 105 (10.46%) Finance
3 85 (8.47%) Analytical Skills
4 72 (7.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 54 (5.38%) Retail
6 50 (4.98%) Presentation Skills
7 33 (3.29%) Manufacturing
7 33 (3.29%) Public Sector
8 31 (3.09%) Organisational Skills
9 28 (2.79%) Banking
9 28 (2.79%) Telecoms
10 20 (1.99%) Advertising
11 19 (1.89%) Aerospace
12 16 (1.59%) Electronics
13 15 (1.49%) Legal
13 15 (1.49%) Marketing
14 13 (1.29%) Automotive
15 11 (1.10%) Police
16 10 (1.00%) Documentation Skills
17 8 (0.80%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 194 (19.32%) Network Engineer
2 144 (14.34%) Architect
2 144 (14.34%) IT Support
3 127 (12.65%) Support Engineer
4 99 (9.86%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 94 (9.36%) Network Architect
6 91 (9.06%) Senior
7 83 (8.27%) Lead
8 70 (6.97%) Analyst
9 60 (5.98%) 2nd Line Support
10 47 (4.68%) Infrastructure Support
11 46 (4.58%) 3rd Line Support
12 45 (4.48%) 3rd Line Engineer
13 44 (4.38%) Support Analyst
14 43 (4.28%) IT Engineer
14 43 (4.28%) Technical Support
15 41 (4.08%) Junior
16 39 (3.88%) Senior Network Engineer
17 35 (3.49%) Cisco Engineer
18 34 (3.39%) Support Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (2.69%) JSON
2 21 (2.09%) 802.1X
3 13 (1.29%) LDAP
4 5 (0.50%) Middleware
4 5 (0.50%) YAML
5 4 (0.40%) EDI
6 3 (0.30%) pytest
7 2 (0.20%) gRPC
7 2 (0.20%) Jinja
7 2 (0.20%) XMPP
8 1 (0.100%) .NET
8 1 (0.100%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 127 (12.65%) Data Centre
2 75 (7.47%) Driving Licence
3 41 (4.08%) Self-Motivation
4 39 (3.88%) Public Cloud
5 37 (3.69%) Self-Driving Car
6 35 (3.49%) Onboarding
7 32 (3.19%) CCTV
8 29 (2.89%) Client/Server
9 24 (2.39%) Hybrid Cloud
10 23 (2.29%) Virtual Team
11 22 (2.19%) Management Information System
12 21 (2.09%) NHS
12 21 (2.09%) Video Conferencing
13 20 (1.99%) GNSS
14 19 (1.89%) Operational Technology
15 18 (1.79%) IoT
16 14 (1.39%) Social Media
17 13 (1.29%) Algorithms
18 12 (1.20%) Security Operations Centre
19 11 (1.10%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 402 (40.04%) Windows
2 190 (18.92%) Windows Server
3 81 (8.07%) Linux
4 75 (7.47%) Windows 10
5 59 (5.88%) Windows Server 2016
6 48 (4.78%) Windows Server 2019
7 30 (2.99%) Mac OS
8 27 (2.69%) Windows Server 2012
9 22 (2.19%) Apple iOS
10 16 (1.59%) Android
11 8 (0.80%) Unix
12 7 (0.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 5 (0.50%) Windows 7
14 4 (0.40%) AIX
15 3 (0.30%) Mac OS X
15 3 (0.30%) VMS
15 3 (0.30%) Windows Server 2008
16 2 (0.20%) Solaris
17 1 (0.100%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 197 (19.62%) Problem-Solving
2 174 (17.33%) ITIL
3 116 (11.55%) Customer Service
4 113 (11.25%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 101 (10.06%) Cybersecurity
6 85 (8.47%) Migration
7 78 (7.77%) Mentoring
7 78 (7.77%) Network Management
8 74 (7.37%) Continuous Improvement
9 70 (6.97%) Network Design
10 63 (6.27%) Network Monitoring
11 59 (5.88%) Agile
12 57 (5.68%) B2B
13 56 (5.58%) Roadmaps
14 54 (5.38%) Disaster Recovery
14 54 (5.38%) Project Management
15 52 (5.18%) Project Delivery
16 51 (5.08%) Business Continuity
16 51 (5.08%) Presales
16 51 (5.08%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 113 (11.25%) PowerShell
2 111 (11.06%) Python
3 71 (7.07%) SQL
4 32 (3.19%) C++
5 19 (1.89%) MATLAB
6 17 (1.69%) C
7 16 (1.59%) Bicep
8 13 (1.29%) Bash
9 10 (1.00%) Perl
10 3 (0.30%) Java
11 2 (0.20%) Go
11 2 (0.20%) Progress 4GL
12 1 (0.100%) JavaScript
12 1 (0.100%) R
12 1 (0.100%) RPG
12 1 (0.100%) RPG IV
12 1 (0.100%) Scala
Qualifications
1 207 (20.62%) Cisco Certification
2 166 (16.53%) Degree
3 161 (16.04%) Security Cleared
4 149 (14.84%) CCNA
5 126 (12.55%) SC Cleared
6 125 (12.45%) CCNP
7 78 (7.77%) Microsoft Certification
8 55 (5.48%) Azure Certification
9 45 (4.48%) JNCIA
10 32 (3.19%) CCIE
11 31 (3.09%) DBS Check
12 29 (2.89%) DV Cleared
13 27 (2.69%) JNCIS
13 27 (2.69%) MCP
14 26 (2.59%) A+ Certification
15 24 (2.39%) MCSE
16 23 (2.29%) MCSA
17 17 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
17 17 (1.69%) Master's Degree
18 15 (1.49%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (6.97%) SLA
2 29 (2.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (1.59%) Cyber Essentials
3 16 (1.59%) PMO
4 10 (1.00%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 9 (0.90%) NIST
6 8 (0.80%) GDPR
6 8 (0.80%) QA
7 6 (0.60%) ISO 9000
7 6 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 6 (0.60%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.100%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.100%) Government Security Classifications
8 1 (0.100%) GRC
8 1 (0.100%) HIPAA
8 1 (0.100%) NCSC
8 1 (0.100%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 290 (28.88%) Active Directory
2 155 (15.44%) VMware Infrastructure
3 86 (8.57%) Hyper-V
4 37 (3.69%) VMware NSX
5 28 (2.79%) Virtual Machines
6 21 (2.09%) Firmware
7 18 (1.79%) Virtual Desktop
7 18 (1.79%) XenApp
8 12 (1.20%) VMware ESXi
9 9 (0.90%) vSphere
10 6 (0.60%) Embedded Firmware
10 6 (0.60%) Virtual Servers
11 5 (0.50%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 5 (0.50%) NFS
11 5 (0.50%) Terminal Services
12 3 (0.30%) KVM
13 2 (0.20%) Docker
13 2 (0.20%) VMware Workstation
13 2 (0.20%) Xen
13 2 (0.20%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 126 (12.55%) Microsoft Intune
2 81 (8.07%) Ansible
3 74 (7.37%) Terraform
4 45 (4.48%) SCCM
5 44 (4.38%) FortiGate
6 21 (2.09%) Single Sign-On
7 15 (1.49%) Kubernetes
8 14 (1.39%) WSUS
9 12 (1.20%) Jamf Pro
9 12 (1.20%) NetBackup
9 12 (1.20%) SCOM
10 10 (1.00%) QRadar
11 8 (0.80%) SmoothWall
12 7 (0.70%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 7 (0.70%) CASB
13 6 (0.60%) Proxmox
14 5 (0.50%) PaperCut
14 5 (0.50%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
14 5 (0.50%) vCenter Server
15 4 (0.40%) ZENworks
Vendors
1 470 (46.81%) Cisco
2 408 (40.64%) Microsoft
3 217 (21.61%) VMware
4 159 (15.84%) Juniper
5 141 (14.04%) Fortinet
6 122 (12.15%) Meraki
7 110 (10.96%) Palo Alto
8 97 (9.66%) CheckPoint
9 73 (7.27%) Aruba
10 65 (6.47%) SolarWinds
11 52 (5.18%) Citrix
12 48 (4.78%) F5
13 43 (4.28%) Google
14 28 (2.79%) Veeam
15 27 (2.69%) Apple
16 26 (2.59%) Blue Coat
17 25 (2.49%) Dell
18 23 (2.29%) ServiceNow
19 22 (2.19%) HP
19 22 (2.19%) SonicWALL