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

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 197 191 173
Rank change year-on-year -6 -18 -61
Permanent jobs citing WAN 323 263 454
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.30% 1.57% 2.03%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.39% 14.98% 13.38%
Number of salaries quoted 192 169 273
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,500 £36,000
25th Percentile £37,750 £41,000 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% +11.68%
75th Percentile £76,201 £80,000 £70,625
90th Percentile £83,750 £97,500 £84,964
UK median annual salary £55,000 £45,000 £50,808
% change year-on-year +22.22% -11.43% +5.85%

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 2,244 1,756 3,392
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.00% 10.47% 15.16%
Number of salaries quoted 1,363 989 1,508
10th Percentile £29,000 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -9.09% -4.35%
75th Percentile £73,750 £70,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £86,000 £87,500 £82,500
UK median annual salary £50,000 £40,000 £51,000
% change year-on-year +25.00% -21.57% -0.78%

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 September 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 30 (9.29%) Microsoft Exchange
2 29 (8.98%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.62%) Confluence
4 1 (0.31%) IIS
Applications
1 6 (1.86%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 185 (57.28%) Azure
2 106 (32.82%) Microsoft 365
3 64 (19.81%) Cloud Computing
4 53 (16.41%) Entra ID
5 51 (15.79%) AWS
6 31 (9.60%) Power Platform
7 12 (3.72%) GCP
7 12 (3.72%) OneDrive
8 7 (2.17%) Azure Sentinel
9 6 (1.86%) Azure Monitor
9 6 (1.86%) IaaS
9 6 (1.86%) OCI
9 6 (1.86%) PaaS
9 6 (1.86%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 5 (1.55%) SaaS
11 4 (1.24%) AWS Direct Connect
11 4 (1.24%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
12 3 (0.93%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 3 (0.93%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 271 (83.90%) LAN
2 156 (48.30%) Firewall
3 84 (26.01%) Network Security
4 82 (25.39%) SD-WAN
5 80 (24.77%) VPN
6 66 (20.43%) DNS
7 63 (19.50%) DHCP
8 56 (17.34%) VLAN
9 54 (16.72%) Wi-Fi
10 52 (16.10%) Wireless
11 49 (15.17%) BGP
12 44 (13.62%) TCP/IP
13 42 (13.00%) WLAN
14 35 (10.84%) OSPF
15 34 (10.53%) MPLS
16 24 (7.43%) Cisco Nexus
17 19 (5.88%) Cisco ISE
18 16 (4.95%) Cisco ASA
18 16 (4.95%) VXLAN
19 15 (4.64%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (2.79%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.62%) Azure SQL Database
2 2 (0.62%) GIS
3 1 (0.31%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 6 (1.86%) Git
1 6 (1.86%) JIRA
2 5 (1.55%) Sonatype Nexus
3 2 (0.62%) GitLab
4 1 (0.31%) Jenkins
General
1 161 (49.85%) Social Skills
2 78 (24.15%) Finance
3 64 (19.81%) Presentation Skills
4 46 (14.24%) Telecoms
5 38 (11.76%) Public Sector
6 32 (9.91%) Law
7 22 (6.81%) Retail
8 17 (5.26%) Marketing
9 16 (4.95%) Analytical Skills
9 16 (4.95%) Banking
10 9 (2.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (2.48%) Organisational Skills
12 6 (1.86%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.93%) Legal
14 2 (0.62%) Automotive
14 2 (0.62%) French Language
14 2 (0.62%) German Language
14 2 (0.62%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.62%) Local Government
14 2 (0.62%) Military
Job Titles
1 98 (30.34%) Architect
2 95 (29.41%) Network Engineer
3 58 (17.96%) Systems Architect
4 50 (15.48%) Senior
5 29 (8.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 29 (8.98%) Network Architect
6 25 (7.74%) Support Engineer
7 24 (7.43%) IT Support
7 24 (7.43%) Senior Network Engineer
8 21 (6.50%) Lead
9 20 (6.19%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 19 (5.88%) IT Engineer
11 16 (4.95%) Analyst
12 13 (4.02%) IT Support Engineer
13 12 (3.72%) Network Manager
14 11 (3.41%) 2nd Line Support
14 11 (3.41%) IT Manager
14 11 (3.41%) Network Support
14 11 (3.41%) Network Support Engineer
14 11 (3.41%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (6.19%) Terraform
2 10 (3.10%) OAuth
2 10 (3.10%) SAML
3 8 (2.48%) 802.1X
4 5 (1.55%) XMPP
5 4 (1.24%) LDAP
5 4 (1.24%) YAML
6 3 (0.93%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.31%) Jinja
7 1 (0.31%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 55 (17.03%) Data Centre
2 26 (8.05%) Hybrid Cloud
3 17 (5.26%) Onboarding
3 17 (5.26%) Security Posture
4 14 (4.33%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 13 (4.02%) Self-Motivation
6 9 (2.79%) Driving Licence
7 7 (2.17%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.86%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 6 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.86%) Video Conferencing
9 5 (1.55%) FlexPod
9 5 (1.55%) PKI
10 4 (1.24%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.24%) Clustering
10 4 (1.24%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.24%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.24%) Replication
11 3 (0.93%) Enterprise Storage
11 3 (0.93%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 57 (17.65%) Windows
2 41 (12.69%) Windows Server
3 10 (3.10%) Linux
4 7 (2.17%) Mac OS
5 5 (1.55%) Windows Server 2016
5 5 (1.55%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (0.93%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.62%) Android
7 2 (0.62%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.62%) Unix
8 1 (0.31%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (27.86%) Project Delivery
2 77 (23.84%) Network Design
3 74 (22.91%) Problem-Solving
3 74 (22.91%) Roadmaps
4 73 (22.60%) Infrastructure as Code
4 73 (22.60%) Network Architecture
5 66 (20.43%) Cybersecurity
5 66 (20.43%) Logistics
6 64 (19.81%) Technical Architecture
7 63 (19.50%) Information Security
8 61 (18.89%) Risk Management
9 60 (18.58%) Business Strategy
9 60 (18.58%) Containerisation
10 58 (17.96%) Business Case
11 55 (17.03%) Continuous Improvement
12 45 (13.93%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 38 (11.76%) Stakeholder Management
14 35 (10.84%) ITIL
14 35 (10.84%) Mentoring
15 33 (10.22%) IT Strategy
Programming Languages
1 30 (9.29%) Python
2 25 (7.74%) PowerShell
3 2 (0.62%) Bash
3 2 (0.62%) SQL
4 1 (0.31%) Bicep
4 1 (0.31%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 65 (20.12%) Cisco Certification
2 52 (16.10%) CCNP
3 37 (11.46%) CCNA
4 21 (6.50%) Security Cleared
5 20 (6.19%) Azure Certification
6 19 (5.88%) Degree
7 11 (3.41%) CCIE
8 10 (3.10%) SC Cleared
9 9 (2.79%) Microsoft Certification
10 8 (2.48%) DV Cleared
10 8 (2.48%) PMP
11 6 (1.86%) DBS Check
12 5 (1.55%) Network+ Certification
13 4 (1.24%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (1.24%) PMI Certification
14 3 (0.93%) CCDP
14 3 (0.93%) Computer Science Degree
15 2 (0.62%) A+ Certification
15 2 (0.62%) HNC
15 2 (0.62%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 62 (19.20%) GRC
2 23 (7.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (4.95%) SLA
4 15 (4.64%) NIST
5 12 (3.72%) GDPR
6 7 (2.17%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.24%) 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 62 (19.20%) Active Directory
2 36 (11.15%) Hyper-V
3 35 (10.84%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (3.10%) vSphere
5 8 (2.48%) VMware NSX
6 7 (2.17%) Firmware
7 4 (1.24%) Virtual Servers
7 4 (1.24%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (0.93%) BitLocker
8 3 (0.93%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 2 (0.62%) Docker
9 2 (0.62%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.62%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.31%) KVM
10 1 (0.31%) QEMU
10 1 (0.31%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.31%) Xen
Systems Management
1 30 (9.29%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (8.05%) FortiGate
3 22 (6.81%) Ansible
4 14 (4.33%) CASB
5 6 (1.86%) Cisco CUCM
5 6 (1.86%) Grafana
5 6 (1.86%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (1.24%) Kubernetes
6 4 (1.24%) QRadar
6 4 (1.24%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 3 (0.93%) Failover Clustering
7 3 (0.93%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.62%) WhatsUp Gold
9 1 (0.31%) Check_MK
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCE
9 1 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.31%) Packer
9 1 (0.31%) Puppet
9 1 (0.31%) SCCM
Vendors
1 165 (51.08%) Microsoft
2 137 (42.41%) Cisco
3 60 (18.58%) Palo Alto
4 48 (14.86%) VMware
5 36 (11.15%) Fortinet
6 25 (7.74%) Aruba
7 21 (6.50%) Juniper
8 18 (5.57%) Meraki
9 14 (4.33%) CheckPoint
9 14 (4.33%) SolarWinds
9 14 (4.33%) Zscaler
10 11 (3.41%) Splunk
11 6 (1.86%) Citrix
11 6 (1.86%) Dell
11 6 (1.86%) F5
12 5 (1.55%) Dynatrace
12 5 (1.55%) YouTube
13 4 (1.24%) ArcSight
13 4 (1.24%) N-able
13 4 (1.24%) Netskope