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 18 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 182 214 135
Rank change year-on-year +32 -79 +40
Permanent jobs citing WAN 237 250 768
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.27% 1.65% 2.36%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.66% 12.93% 15.20%
Number of salaries quoted 167 178 609
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £78,000 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £88,250 £84,919
UK median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.00% +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 2,032 1,934 5,053
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.88% 12.77% 15.52%
Number of salaries quoted 996 1,191 3,333
10th Percentile £29,875 £25,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,599 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £88,750 £86,250 £80,000
UK median annual salary £45,000 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -5.00%

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 18 May 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 43 (18.14%) Microsoft Exchange
2 39 (16.46%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.84%) Confluence
4 1 (0.42%) Apache
4 1 (0.42%) IIS
4 1 (0.42%) nginx
4 1 (0.42%) OpenStack
Applications
1 12 (5.06%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.69%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.27%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.27%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.84%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.42%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 133 (56.12%) Azure
2 81 (34.18%) Microsoft 365
3 73 (30.80%) AWS
4 40 (16.88%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.75%) GCP
6 15 (6.33%) AWS Direct Connect
6 15 (6.33%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (5.91%) Google Workspace
7 14 (5.91%) OneDrive
7 14 (5.91%) SaaS
8 5 (2.11%) Azure Monitor
8 5 (2.11%) OCI
9 4 (1.69%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.84%) Dynamics 365
10 2 (0.84%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.84%) SuccessFactors
11 1 (0.42%) Azure DevOps
11 1 (0.42%) Cloudflare
11 1 (0.42%) OpenShift
11 1 (0.42%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 166 (70.04%) LAN
2 116 (48.95%) Firewall
3 113 (47.68%) SD-WAN
4 98 (41.35%) VPN
5 71 (29.96%) DNS
6 57 (24.05%) DHCP
7 56 (23.63%) TCP/IP
8 52 (21.94%) Wi-Fi
9 41 (17.30%) BGP
9 41 (17.30%) MPLS
9 41 (17.30%) WLAN
10 36 (15.19%) Network Security
11 35 (14.77%) VLAN
12 34 (14.35%) Cisco Firepower
13 32 (13.50%) Cisco ISE
14 31 (13.08%) Wireless
15 28 (11.81%) Cisco ASA
16 27 (11.39%) OSPF
17 20 (8.44%) VoIP
18 19 (8.02%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.84%) Power BI
1 2 (0.84%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.42%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.42%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.42%) MySQL
2 1 (0.42%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.42%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.42%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 2 (0.84%) JIRA
2 1 (0.42%) Jenkins
General
1 68 (28.69%) Social Skills
2 44 (18.57%) Finance
3 37 (15.61%) Public Sector
4 18 (7.59%) Retail
5 17 (7.17%) Banking
6 16 (6.75%) Telecoms
7 15 (6.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 11 (4.64%) Marketing
8 11 (4.64%) Organisational Skills
9 10 (4.22%) Manufacturing
10 7 (2.95%) Analytical Skills
11 6 (2.53%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (2.11%) Law
13 4 (1.69%) Electronics
14 3 (1.27%) Police
15 2 (0.84%) Legal
15 2 (0.84%) Military
15 2 (0.84%) Retail Banking
16 1 (0.42%) Dutch Language
16 1 (0.42%) French Language
Job Titles
1 66 (27.85%) Network Engineer
2 53 (22.36%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 47 (19.83%) Senior
4 40 (16.88%) Architect
4 40 (16.88%) IT Engineer
5 32 (13.50%) Support Engineer
6 29 (12.24%) IT Support
7 23 (9.70%) IT Support Engineer
8 22 (9.28%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 21 (8.86%) Network Architect
10 20 (8.44%) 2nd Line Support
11 17 (7.17%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 17 (7.17%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
11 17 (7.17%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
11 17 (7.17%) Operations Engineer
12 16 (6.75%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
13 15 (6.33%) Network Manager
13 15 (6.33%) Senior Network Engineer
14 14 (5.91%) Solutions Architect
15 12 (5.06%) Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.80%) XMPP
2 4 (1.69%) LDAP
3 3 (1.27%) 802.1X
4 2 (0.84%) ARM Templates
4 2 (0.84%) Web Services
5 1 (0.42%) JSON
5 1 (0.42%) OAuth
5 1 (0.42%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 45 (18.99%) Data Centre
2 19 (8.02%) Hybrid Cloud
3 14 (5.91%) Driving Licence
4 12 (5.06%) Onboarding
4 12 (5.06%) Video Conferencing
5 11 (4.64%) PKI
6 10 (4.22%) Management Information System
7 9 (3.80%) FlexPod
8 8 (3.38%) Enterprise Software
8 8 (3.38%) Self-Motivation
9 7 (2.95%) Replication
10 5 (2.11%) Cloud Native
10 5 (2.11%) Product Ownership
11 4 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
11 4 (1.69%) Cyber Kill Chain
11 4 (1.69%) Public Cloud
11 4 (1.69%) Security Posture
11 4 (1.69%) Social Media
12 3 (1.27%) iPad
12 3 (1.27%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 73 (30.80%) Windows
2 60 (25.32%) Windows Server
3 28 (11.81%) Windows 10
4 22 (9.28%) Linux
5 20 (8.44%) Mac OS
6 13 (5.49%) Windows Server 2012
6 13 (5.49%) Windows Server 2016
7 12 (5.06%) Windows Server 2019
8 11 (4.64%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.69%) Unix
10 3 (1.27%) CentOS
11 2 (0.84%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.42%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.42%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.42%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.42%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 69 (29.11%) Problem-Solving
2 61 (25.74%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 43 (18.14%) Disaster Recovery
4 37 (15.61%) Continuous Improvement
5 34 (14.35%) ITIL
6 32 (13.50%) Zero Trust
7 31 (13.08%) Mentoring
8 29 (12.24%) Service Delivery
9 25 (10.55%) Stakeholder Management
10 24 (10.13%) Cybersecurity
11 23 (9.70%) Migration
11 23 (9.70%) Presales
12 22 (9.28%) Cloud Security
12 22 (9.28%) Service Management
13 20 (8.44%) Technical Leadership
14 19 (8.02%) Network Architecture
14 19 (8.02%) Roadmaps
15 18 (7.59%) Root Cause Analysis
16 16 (6.75%) Network Segmentation
17 15 (6.33%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 22 (9.28%) Python
2 11 (4.64%) PowerShell
3 4 (1.69%) SQL
4 2 (0.84%) Bash
5 1 (0.42%) Java
5 1 (0.42%) Perl
5 1 (0.42%) PL/SQL
5 1 (0.42%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 37 (15.61%) Cisco Certification
2 30 (12.66%) Security Cleared
3 27 (11.39%) CCNP
4 25 (10.55%) SC Cleared
5 19 (8.02%) Degree
6 17 (7.17%) CCNA
7 15 (6.33%) CCIE
7 15 (6.33%) Microsoft Certification
8 12 (5.06%) DV Cleared
9 10 (4.22%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (3.80%) Azure Certification
10 9 (3.80%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (2.11%) CCSA
11 5 (2.11%) CCSE
12 4 (1.69%) JNCIE
13 3 (1.27%) CCIE Security
13 3 (1.27%) DBS Check
13 3 (1.27%) JNCIP
13 3 (1.27%) MCSE
13 3 (1.27%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (6.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 14 (5.91%) SLA
3 10 (4.22%) Cyber Essentials
3 10 (4.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 4 (1.69%) QA
5 3 (1.27%) GDPR
5 3 (1.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 3 (1.27%) NIST
5 3 (1.27%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.42%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.42%) Basel III
6 1 (0.42%) MiFID
6 1 (0.42%) NCSC
System Software
1 58 (24.47%) Active Directory
2 31 (13.08%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (9.70%) Hyper-V
4 11 (4.64%) vSphere
5 7 (2.95%) Firmware
5 7 (2.95%) Virtual Servers
6 6 (2.53%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (2.11%) VMware NSX
8 4 (1.69%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (1.69%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.84%) Docker
10 1 (0.42%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.42%) KVM
10 1 (0.42%) QEMU
10 1 (0.42%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.42%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.42%) Xen
Systems Management
1 25 (10.55%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (10.13%) Ansible
3 20 (8.44%) FortiGate
4 17 (7.17%) Terraform
5 14 (5.91%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 9 (3.80%) Cisco CUCM
6 9 (3.80%) Grafana
7 6 (2.53%) Endace
8 5 (2.11%) vCenter Server
9 4 (1.69%) Kubernetes
10 3 (1.27%) QRadar
11 2 (0.84%) Autotask
11 2 (0.84%) Dell DRAC
11 2 (0.84%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.84%) OpenView
11 2 (0.84%) PaperCut
11 2 (0.84%) SCCM
11 2 (0.84%) Tivoli
12 1 (0.42%) Check_MK
12 1 (0.42%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 116 (48.95%) Cisco
2 88 (37.13%) Microsoft
3 53 (22.36%) Fortinet
4 41 (17.30%) Meraki
5 40 (16.88%) Palo Alto
5 40 (16.88%) VMware
6 22 (9.28%) CheckPoint
6 22 (9.28%) SolarWinds
7 19 (8.02%) Juniper
8 16 (6.75%) Splunk
9 15 (6.33%) Dynatrace
10 14 (5.91%) Google
11 10 (4.22%) ServiceNow
12 8 (3.38%) F5
13 7 (2.95%) Zscaler
14 6 (2.53%) NetApp
15 5 (2.11%) ArcSight
15 5 (2.11%) Aruba
16 4 (1.69%) Dell
16 4 (1.69%) Red Hat