Hybrid/Remote WAN Job Trends

Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK > Work from Home

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for remote or hybrid work requiring WAN skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 24 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 194 199 144
Rank change year-on-year +5 -55 -18
Permanent jobs citing WAN 324 271 573
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.40% 1.63% 2.31%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 13.76% 13.94% 15.01%
Number of salaries quoted 198 198 397
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,000 £33,643
25th Percentile £42,000 £39,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £50,000 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -7.41% +8.00%
75th Percentile £76,613 £70,000 £68,750
90th Percentile £85,000 £90,000 £82,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £42,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +29.41% -15.00% +5.26%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Work from Home

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 with remote or hybrid options requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 2,355 1,944 3,817
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.21% 11.71% 15.41%
Number of salaries quoted 1,337 1,170 1,938
10th Percentile £29,000 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £52,750
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -9.95% -8.26%
75th Percentile £73,750 £67,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £86,250 £83,875 £81,250
UK median annual salary £47,500 £41,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.85% -18.00% -2.91%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing WAN and offering remote or hybrid work options relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

WAN job vacancy trend for remote/hybrid jobs

WAN
Salary Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing WAN.

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing WAN

WAN
Salary Histogram for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing WAN over the 6 months to 24 August 2026.

WAN salary histogram for jobs with remote/hybrid work options

WAN
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs 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 28 (8.64%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (7.41%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.62%) Confluence
4 1 (0.31%) IIS
4 1 (0.31%) OpenStack
Applications
1 8 (2.47%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.31%) AutoCAD
3 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.31%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.31%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 187 (57.72%) Azure
2 104 (32.10%) Microsoft 365
3 65 (20.06%) AWS
4 62 (19.14%) Cloud Computing
5 45 (13.89%) Entra ID
6 31 (9.57%) Power Platform
7 19 (5.86%) GCP
8 9 (2.78%) OneDrive
9 8 (2.47%) OCI
10 7 (2.16%) Azure Sentinel
11 6 (1.85%) IaaS
11 6 (1.85%) PaaS
11 6 (1.85%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 5 (1.54%) SaaS
13 4 (1.23%) AWS Direct Connect
13 4 (1.23%) Mimecast
14 3 (0.93%) Azure Monitor
14 3 (0.93%) Google Workspace
15 2 (0.62%) Datadog
15 2 (0.62%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 277 (85.49%) LAN
2 161 (49.69%) Firewall
3 89 (27.47%) SD-WAN
4 83 (25.62%) VPN
5 82 (25.31%) Network Security
6 67 (20.68%) DNS
7 61 (18.83%) DHCP
8 57 (17.59%) VLAN
9 51 (15.74%) Wireless
10 49 (15.12%) Wi-Fi
11 48 (14.81%) BGP
12 43 (13.27%) TCP/IP
13 40 (12.35%) MPLS
14 39 (12.04%) WLAN
15 32 (9.88%) OSPF
16 21 (6.48%) Cisco ISE
17 20 (6.17%) Cisco ASA
17 20 (6.17%) Cisco Nexus
18 18 (5.56%) Cisco Firepower
19 16 (4.94%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.47%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.31%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.31%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.31%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.31%) MySQL
2 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.31%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.31%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 5 (1.54%) JIRA
2 3 (0.93%) Git
3 2 (0.62%) GitLab
3 2 (0.62%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.31%) Jenkins
General
1 154 (47.53%) Social Skills
2 79 (24.38%) Finance
3 66 (20.37%) Presentation Skills
4 48 (14.81%) Telecoms
5 40 (12.35%) Public Sector
6 31 (9.57%) Law
7 20 (6.17%) Banking
8 19 (5.86%) Retail
9 18 (5.56%) Marketing
10 13 (4.01%) Analytical Skills
11 8 (2.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (2.47%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.23%) Electronics
12 4 (1.23%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.93%) Legal
13 3 (0.93%) Military
14 2 (0.62%) French Language
14 2 (0.62%) German Language
14 2 (0.62%) Local Government
15 1 (0.31%) Italian Language
Job Titles
1 108 (33.33%) Architect
2 87 (26.85%) Network Engineer
3 58 (17.90%) Systems Architect
4 51 (15.74%) Senior
5 36 (11.11%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 32 (9.88%) Network Architect
7 25 (7.72%) Support Engineer
8 23 (7.10%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 22 (6.79%) IT Support
10 21 (6.48%) Senior Network Engineer
11 18 (5.56%) IT Engineer
12 17 (5.25%) Analyst
13 15 (4.63%) Lead
14 14 (4.32%) 2nd Line Engineer
14 14 (4.32%) 2nd Line Support
14 14 (4.32%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
14 14 (4.32%) IT Support Engineer
14 14 (4.32%) Solutions Architect
15 12 (3.70%) Network Manager
16 11 (3.40%) Network Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (6.48%) Terraform
2 10 (3.09%) OAuth
2 10 (3.09%) SAML
3 9 (2.78%) XMPP
4 7 (2.16%) 802.1X
5 4 (1.23%) LDAP
6 3 (0.93%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.31%) Jinja
7 1 (0.31%) REST
7 1 (0.31%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 48 (14.81%) Data Centre
2 27 (8.33%) Hybrid Cloud
3 17 (5.25%) Onboarding
4 15 (4.63%) Security Posture
5 14 (4.32%) Cyber Kill Chain
6 10 (3.09%) Self-Motivation
6 10 (3.09%) Video Conferencing
7 9 (2.78%) FlexPod
7 9 (2.78%) Replication
8 7 (2.16%) Cloud Native
8 7 (2.16%) PKI
9 6 (1.85%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 4 (1.23%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.23%) Clustering
10 4 (1.23%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.23%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.23%) Driving Licence
10 4 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (0.93%) Enterprise Storage
12 2 (0.62%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 61 (18.83%) Windows
2 51 (15.74%) Windows Server
3 17 (5.25%) Linux
4 10 (3.09%) Mac OS
5 8 (2.47%) Windows Server 2016
5 8 (2.47%) Windows Server 2019
6 4 (1.23%) Unix
7 3 (0.93%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.93%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.62%) CentOS
8 2 (0.62%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 91 (28.09%) Project Delivery
2 76 (23.46%) Infrastructure as Code
3 75 (23.15%) Network Architecture
3 75 (23.15%) Roadmaps
4 70 (21.60%) Network Design
4 70 (21.60%) Problem-Solving
5 64 (19.75%) Logistics
5 64 (19.75%) Technical Architecture
6 63 (19.44%) Information Security
7 59 (18.21%) Containerisation
7 59 (18.21%) Risk Management
8 58 (17.90%) Business Case
8 58 (17.90%) Business Strategy
8 58 (17.90%) Cybersecurity
9 50 (15.43%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 47 (14.51%) Continuous Improvement
11 42 (12.96%) Stakeholder Management
12 35 (10.80%) ITIL
13 34 (10.49%) Mentoring
14 33 (10.19%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 33 (10.19%) Python
2 22 (6.79%) PowerShell
3 2 (0.62%) Bash
4 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
4 1 (0.31%) Ruby
4 1 (0.31%) SQL
4 1 (0.31%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 70 (21.60%) Cisco Certification
2 53 (16.36%) CCNP
3 35 (10.80%) CCNA
4 23 (7.10%) Security Cleared
5 21 (6.48%) Azure Certification
6 20 (6.17%) Degree
7 16 (4.94%) CCIE
8 13 (4.01%) DV Cleared
8 13 (4.01%) SC Cleared
9 8 (2.47%) Microsoft Certification
10 7 (2.16%) PMP
11 6 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
12 4 (1.23%) AWS Certification
12 4 (1.23%) CompTIA Security+
12 4 (1.23%) DBS Check
12 4 (1.23%) JNCIE
13 3 (0.93%) CCSA
13 3 (0.93%) CCSE
13 3 (0.93%) Network+ Certification
13 3 (0.93%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 62 (19.14%) GRC
2 23 (7.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (4.94%) SLA
4 15 (4.63%) NIST
5 11 (3.40%) GDPR
6 7 (2.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.23%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.93%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 2 (0.62%) QA
10 1 (0.31%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 60 (18.52%) Active Directory
2 41 (12.65%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (12.35%) Hyper-V
4 16 (4.94%) vSphere
5 10 (3.09%) VMware NSX
6 7 (2.16%) Firmware
6 7 (2.16%) Virtual Servers
7 6 (1.85%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 6 (1.85%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.31%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.31%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 1 (0.31%) Docker
8 1 (0.31%) KVM
8 1 (0.31%) QEMU
8 1 (0.31%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.31%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.31%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.31%) Xen
Systems Management
1 28 (8.64%) Ansible
1 28 (8.64%) FortiGate
2 22 (6.79%) Microsoft Intune
3 14 (4.32%) CASB
4 9 (2.78%) Cisco CUCM
4 9 (2.78%) Grafana
5 5 (1.54%) Kubernetes
5 5 (1.54%) vCenter Server
6 4 (1.23%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 4 (1.23%) QRadar
6 4 (1.23%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (1.23%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 3 (0.93%) Failover Clustering
8 2 (0.62%) SCCM
8 2 (0.62%) WhatsUp Gold
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
9 1 (0.31%) OpenView
9 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.31%) Puppet
9 1 (0.31%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 164 (50.62%) Microsoft
2 140 (43.21%) Cisco
3 70 (21.60%) Palo Alto
4 57 (17.59%) VMware
5 40 (12.35%) Fortinet
6 25 (7.72%) Meraki
7 24 (7.41%) Aruba
8 20 (6.17%) Juniper
9 17 (5.25%) Splunk
9 17 (5.25%) Zscaler
10 16 (4.94%) CheckPoint
11 13 (4.01%) SolarWinds
12 7 (2.16%) Netskope
13 6 (1.85%) F5
13 6 (1.85%) NetApp
14 5 (1.54%) ArcSight
14 5 (1.54%) Citrix
14 5 (1.54%) Dell
15 4 (1.23%) Acronis
15 4 (1.23%) Dynatrace