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 30 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 201 194 130
Rank change year-on-year -7 -64 +14
Permanent jobs citing WAN 263 272 779
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.27% 1.72% 2.33%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.53% 14.19% 15.66%
Number of salaries quoted 195 191 588
10th Percentile £31,655 £28,000 £33,500
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £41,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -5.66% +0.95%
75th Percentile £77,500 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £84,919
UK median annual salary £55,000 £48,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +14.58% +1.05% -

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 2,281 1,917 4,976
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 11.03% 12.14% 14.88%
Number of salaries quoted 1,200 1,161 3,178
10th Percentile £29,738 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £39,563
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,000 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +13.68% -9.52% -8.70%
75th Percentile £73,750 £68,114 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £85,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -6.86%

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 30 June 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 39 (14.83%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (12.55%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.38%) Confluence
3 1 (0.38%) IIS
3 1 (0.38%) OpenStack
Applications
1 10 (3.80%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.14%) AutoCAD
2 3 (1.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (1.14%) MS Visio
2 3 (1.14%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.76%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 141 (53.61%) Azure
2 84 (31.94%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (28.52%) AWS
4 47 (17.87%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.08%) GCP
6 12 (4.56%) AWS Direct Connect
6 12 (4.56%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 11 (4.18%) OneDrive
7 11 (4.18%) SaaS
8 9 (3.42%) Google Workspace
9 6 (2.28%) Azure Sentinel
10 5 (1.90%) OCI
11 3 (1.14%) Azure Monitor
11 3 (1.14%) IaaS
11 3 (1.14%) PaaS
12 2 (0.76%) Azure AKS
12 2 (0.76%) Datadog
12 2 (0.76%) Dynamics 365
12 2 (0.76%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.76%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 199 (75.67%) LAN
2 148 (56.27%) Firewall
3 105 (39.92%) VPN
4 104 (39.54%) SD-WAN
5 83 (31.56%) DNS
6 70 (26.62%) DHCP
7 60 (22.81%) Network Security
8 55 (20.91%) TCP/IP
9 54 (20.53%) Wi-Fi
10 50 (19.01%) MPLS
11 48 (18.25%) BGP
12 41 (15.59%) VLAN
13 39 (14.83%) WLAN
14 33 (12.55%) Wireless
15 31 (11.79%) Cisco Firepower
16 29 (11.03%) Cisco ISE
17 28 (10.65%) OSPF
18 24 (9.13%) Cisco ASA
19 22 (8.37%) IPsec
20 20 (7.60%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.90%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.76%) Power BI
3 1 (0.38%) InfluxDB
3 1 (0.38%) MariaDB
3 1 (0.38%) MySQL
3 1 (0.38%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.38%) RDBMS
3 1 (0.38%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.14%) JIRA
2 1 (0.38%) GitLab
2 1 (0.38%) Jenkins
General
1 88 (33.46%) Social Skills
2 35 (13.31%) Finance
2 35 (13.31%) Public Sector
2 35 (13.31%) Telecoms
3 16 (6.08%) Banking
4 15 (5.70%) Retail
5 14 (5.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 13 (4.94%) Marketing
7 12 (4.56%) Analytical Skills
8 9 (3.42%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (2.28%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (1.52%) Electronics
11 3 (1.14%) Legal
12 2 (0.76%) Law
12 2 (0.76%) Local Government
12 2 (0.76%) Manufacturing
12 2 (0.76%) Military
12 2 (0.76%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.38%) Dutch Language
13 1 (0.38%) French Language
Job Titles
1 72 (27.38%) Network Engineer
2 56 (21.29%) Architect
3 52 (19.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 48 (18.25%) Senior
5 37 (14.07%) IT Engineer
6 33 (12.55%) Network Architect
7 30 (11.41%) Support Engineer
8 27 (10.27%) IT Support
9 26 (9.89%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 22 (8.37%) IT Support Engineer
11 17 (6.46%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 17 (6.46%) 2nd Line Support
11 17 (6.46%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
11 17 (6.46%) Solutions Architect
12 14 (5.32%) Analyst
13 13 (4.94%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
13 13 (4.94%) Network Manager
14 12 (4.56%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
14 12 (4.56%) Operations Engineer
14 12 (4.56%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.42%) OAuth
1 9 (3.42%) SAML
1 9 (3.42%) XMPP
2 4 (1.52%) 802.1X
2 4 (1.52%) LDAP
3 3 (1.14%) ARM Templates
4 2 (0.76%) Web Services
5 1 (0.38%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 44 (16.73%) Data Centre
2 25 (9.51%) Hybrid Cloud
3 14 (5.32%) Security Posture
4 13 (4.94%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 12 (4.56%) PKI
6 11 (4.18%) Onboarding
7 10 (3.80%) Video Conferencing
8 9 (3.42%) Cloud Native
8 9 (3.42%) FlexPod
8 9 (3.42%) Replication
9 8 (3.04%) Driving Licence
10 7 (2.66%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
11 6 (2.28%) Management Information System
12 4 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (1.52%) Clustering
12 4 (1.52%) Cyber Defence
12 4 (1.52%) Cyber Threat
12 4 (1.52%) Virtual Team
13 3 (1.14%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 69 (26.24%) Windows
2 58 (22.05%) Windows Server
3 22 (8.37%) Linux
4 20 (7.60%) Mac OS
5 15 (5.70%) Windows 10
6 12 (4.56%) Windows Server 2016
7 11 (4.18%) Windows Server 2019
8 9 (3.42%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (1.90%) Apple iOS
10 4 (1.52%) Unix
11 2 (0.76%) CentOS
11 2 (0.76%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.38%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.38%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.38%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 74 (28.14%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (23.57%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 45 (17.11%) Continuous Improvement
4 44 (16.73%) Cybersecurity
5 43 (16.35%) Stakeholder Management
6 41 (15.59%) Disaster Recovery
7 31 (11.79%) Presales
8 30 (11.41%) Mentoring
9 29 (11.03%) ITIL
10 27 (10.27%) Incident Response
10 27 (10.27%) Zero Trust
11 25 (9.51%) Service Delivery
12 24 (9.13%) Project Delivery
12 24 (9.13%) Technical Leadership
13 22 (8.37%) Collaborative Culture
13 22 (8.37%) Network Segmentation
14 21 (7.98%) Network Architecture
15 19 (7.22%) Migration
16 18 (6.84%) High Availability
16 18 (6.84%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 27 (10.27%) Python
2 17 (6.46%) PowerShell
3 3 (1.14%) SQL
4 2 (0.76%) Bash
5 1 (0.38%) PL/SQL
5 1 (0.38%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 53 (20.15%) Cisco Certification
2 42 (15.97%) CCNP
3 32 (12.17%) CCNA
4 30 (11.41%) Security Cleared
5 23 (8.75%) SC Cleared
6 20 (7.60%) Degree
7 18 (6.84%) CCIE
8 14 (5.32%) Azure Certification
9 13 (4.94%) DV Cleared
10 11 (4.18%) Microsoft Certification
11 9 (3.42%) Computer Science Degree
12 7 (2.66%) BPSS Clearance
13 5 (1.90%) CCSA
13 5 (1.90%) CCSE
14 4 (1.52%) DBS Check
14 4 (1.52%) JNCIE
14 4 (1.52%) PMP
15 3 (1.14%) AWS Certification
15 3 (1.14%) CCIE Security
15 3 (1.14%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (9.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 12 (4.56%) SLA
3 11 (4.18%) NIST
4 9 (3.42%) Cyber Essentials
5 7 (2.66%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 4 (1.52%) GDPR
6 4 (1.52%) QA
7 3 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.38%) ISO 14001
8 1 (0.38%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.38%) NCSC
8 1 (0.38%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 70 (26.62%) Active Directory
2 34 (12.93%) VMware Infrastructure
3 32 (12.17%) Hyper-V
4 14 (5.32%) vSphere
5 7 (2.66%) Virtual Servers
6 6 (2.28%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 6 (2.28%) VMware NSX
7 4 (1.52%) Firmware
7 4 (1.52%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.38%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.38%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 1 (0.38%) Docker
8 1 (0.38%) KVM
8 1 (0.38%) QEMU
8 1 (0.38%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.38%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.38%) Xen
Systems Management
1 24 (9.13%) Ansible
1 24 (9.13%) FortiGate
1 24 (9.13%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (6.84%) Terraform
3 10 (3.80%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 9 (3.42%) CASB
4 9 (3.42%) Cisco CUCM
4 9 (3.42%) Grafana
5 5 (1.90%) Endace
5 5 (1.90%) vCenter Server
6 4 (1.52%) Kubernetes
6 4 (1.52%) QRadar
7 3 (1.14%) Failover Clustering
8 2 (0.76%) Autotask
8 2 (0.76%) OpenView
8 2 (0.76%) SCCM
8 2 (0.76%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.76%) Tivoli
8 2 (0.76%) WhatsUp Gold
9 1 (0.38%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 130 (49.43%) Cisco
2 113 (42.97%) Microsoft
3 60 (22.81%) Palo Alto
4 54 (20.53%) Fortinet
5 47 (17.87%) VMware
6 39 (14.83%) Meraki
7 24 (9.13%) Juniper
8 22 (8.37%) SolarWinds
9 19 (7.22%) CheckPoint
10 17 (6.46%) Splunk
11 12 (4.56%) Aruba
11 12 (4.56%) Dynatrace
11 12 (4.56%) Zscaler
12 10 (3.80%) F5
13 9 (3.42%) Google
14 7 (2.66%) ServiceNow
15 6 (2.28%) ArcSight
15 6 (2.28%) NetApp
16 4 (1.52%) EMC
17 3 (1.14%) Red Hat