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

 6 months to
9 Mar 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 190 198 125
Rank change year-on-year +8 -73 +54
Permanent jobs citing WAN 223 255 775
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.35% 1.81% 2.59%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 13.13% 14.33% 19.49%
Number of salaries quoted 143 184 667
10th Percentile £35,557 £34,825 £29,250
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,813 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £77,500 £70,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £89,750 £85,000 £83,750
UK median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £47,500
% change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -5.00%

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 1,698 1,780 3,977
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.26% 12.67% 13.31%
Number of salaries quoted 929 1,185 3,445
10th Percentile £28,250 £29,000 £30,750
25th Percentile £32,500 £37,500 £39,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,445 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -11.92% +4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £71,500 £71,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £85,000 £81,250
UK median annual salary £42,000 £53,391 £48,000
% change year-on-year -21.33% +11.23% -8.57%

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 9 March 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 50 (22.42%) Microsoft Exchange
2 44 (19.73%) SharePoint
3 3 (1.35%) IIS
4 2 (0.90%) Apache
4 2 (0.90%) Confluence
4 2 (0.90%) nginx
Applications
1 11 (4.93%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.79%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.35%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.35%) SOLIDWORKS
3 3 (1.35%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (0.90%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 133 (59.64%) Azure
2 79 (35.43%) Microsoft 365
3 53 (23.77%) AWS
4 42 (18.83%) Entra ID
5 17 (7.62%) Google Workspace
6 16 (7.17%) OneDrive
7 12 (5.38%) AWS Direct Connect
7 12 (5.38%) SaaS
8 9 (4.04%) GCP
8 9 (4.04%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 4 (1.79%) Azure Monitor
10 3 (1.35%) Azure Storage
10 3 (1.35%) IaaS
11 2 (0.90%) Azure DevOps
11 2 (0.90%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (0.90%) Dynamics 365
11 2 (0.90%) Microsoft Purview
11 2 (0.90%) PaaS
11 2 (0.90%) Power Platform
11 2 (0.90%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 144 (64.57%) LAN
2 123 (55.16%) SD-WAN
3 102 (45.74%) Firewall
4 92 (41.26%) VPN
5 65 (29.15%) DNS
6 62 (27.80%) Wi-Fi
7 58 (26.01%) DHCP
8 55 (24.66%) TCP/IP
9 39 (17.49%) Wireless
10 32 (14.35%) BGP
11 31 (13.90%) MPLS
11 31 (13.90%) VLAN
12 29 (13.00%) WLAN
13 28 (12.56%) Network Security
14 26 (11.66%) VoIP
15 23 (10.31%) Cisco Firepower
15 23 (10.31%) OSPF
16 21 (9.42%) Cisco ASA
16 21 (9.42%) Cisco ISE
17 18 (8.07%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.90%) Power BI
2 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.45%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 5 (2.24%) JIRA
General
1 83 (37.22%) Social Skills
2 55 (24.66%) Finance
3 23 (10.31%) Telecoms
4 17 (7.62%) Public Sector
5 14 (6.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 14 (6.28%) Retail
6 13 (5.83%) Manufacturing
7 12 (5.38%) Analytical Skills
8 11 (4.93%) Banking
9 10 (4.48%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (2.69%) Law
11 4 (1.79%) Marketing
12 3 (1.35%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.35%) Automotive
12 3 (1.35%) Police
13 2 (0.90%) Documentation Skills
13 2 (0.90%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.90%) Retail Banking
14 1 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
14 1 (0.45%) Legal
Job Titles
1 70 (31.39%) Network Engineer
2 54 (24.22%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 43 (19.28%) Senior
4 41 (18.39%) IT Engineer
5 29 (13.00%) Support Engineer
6 28 (12.56%) IT Support
7 23 (10.31%) Architect
7 23 (10.31%) IT Support Engineer
7 23 (10.31%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
8 20 (8.97%) 2nd Line Support
8 20 (8.97%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
8 20 (8.97%) Operations Engineer
9 19 (8.52%) Senior Network Engineer
10 17 (7.62%) 2nd Line Engineer
10 17 (7.62%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
10 17 (7.62%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 14 (6.28%) Network Operations Engineer
12 12 (5.38%) Cisco Engineer
12 12 (5.38%) Cisco Network Engineer
13 11 (4.93%) Technical Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.35%) XMPP
2 2 (0.90%) JSON
2 2 (0.90%) LDAP
2 2 (0.90%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 56 (25.11%) Data Centre
2 26 (11.66%) Management Information System
3 17 (7.62%) Driving Licence
4 10 (4.48%) Self-Motivation
5 8 (3.59%) Onboarding
6 7 (3.14%) Enterprise Software
6 7 (3.14%) Video Conferencing
7 6 (2.69%) Cloud Native
7 6 (2.69%) Hybrid Cloud
7 6 (2.69%) Social Media
8 5 (2.24%) CMDB
8 5 (2.24%) PKI
8 5 (2.24%) Replication
9 4 (1.79%) GNSS
9 4 (1.79%) iPad
9 4 (1.79%) iPhone
9 4 (1.79%) Mobile App
9 4 (1.79%) Product Ownership
9 4 (1.79%) Public Cloud
9 4 (1.79%) Self-Driving Car
Operating Systems
1 79 (35.43%) Windows
2 66 (29.60%) Windows Server
3 34 (15.25%) Windows 10
4 20 (8.97%) Mac OS
5 17 (7.62%) Linux
5 17 (7.62%) Windows Server 2016
6 15 (6.73%) Windows Server 2012
6 15 (6.73%) Windows Server 2019
7 12 (5.38%) Apple iOS
8 3 (1.35%) OpenWrt
9 2 (0.90%) CentOS
9 2 (0.90%) Oracle Linux
9 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.45%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.45%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.45%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (35.43%) Problem-Solving
2 57 (25.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 42 (18.83%) Customer Service
4 40 (17.94%) Disaster Recovery
4 40 (17.94%) ITIL
5 38 (17.04%) Change Management
6 35 (15.70%) Continuous Improvement
7 32 (14.35%) Migration
8 29 (13.00%) Mentoring
8 29 (13.00%) Problem Management
8 29 (13.00%) Service Delivery
8 29 (13.00%) Zero Trust
9 24 (10.76%) Cloud Security
9 24 (10.76%) Stakeholder Management
10 21 (9.42%) Capacity Planning
10 21 (9.42%) Coaching
10 21 (9.42%) Load Balancing
11 20 (8.97%) Kalman Filter
11 20 (8.97%) Network Virtualisation
11 20 (8.97%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 15 (6.73%) Python
2 13 (5.83%) PowerShell
3 8 (3.59%) SQL
4 4 (1.79%) Bash
5 3 (1.35%) C
5 3 (1.35%) C++
6 2 (0.90%) Java
6 2 (0.90%) Perl
Qualifications
1 37 (16.59%) Cisco Certification
2 24 (10.76%) CCNP
3 21 (9.42%) Security Cleared
4 20 (8.97%) SC Cleared
5 19 (8.52%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (8.07%) CCNA
6 18 (8.07%) Degree
7 11 (4.93%) Azure Certification
8 9 (4.04%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (4.04%) CCIE
9 7 (3.14%) DV Cleared
10 6 (2.69%) DBS Check
11 5 (2.24%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (2.24%) MCSA
12 4 (1.79%) AWS Certification
12 4 (1.79%) Network+ Certification
13 3 (1.35%) Master's Degree
13 3 (1.35%) MCSE
13 3 (1.35%) PMP
14 2 (0.90%) CCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (6.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 14 (6.28%) SLA
2 12 (5.38%) Cyber Essentials
2 12 (5.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 4 (1.79%) QA
4 3 (1.35%) NCSC
4 3 (1.35%) NIST
4 3 (1.35%) PCI DSS
5 2 (0.90%) GRC
5 2 (0.90%) PMO
6 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.45%) Basel III
6 1 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 1 (0.45%) MiFID
System Software
1 59 (26.46%) Active Directory
2 33 (14.80%) Hyper-V
3 24 (10.76%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (4.04%) Firmware
4 9 (4.04%) Virtual Machines
5 7 (3.14%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (1.79%) vSphere
7 3 (1.35%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 3 (1.35%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.90%) Docker
9 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 37 (16.59%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (7.17%) Terraform
3 15 (6.73%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 14 (6.28%) FortiGate
5 12 (5.38%) Ansible
6 6 (2.69%) Endace
7 5 (2.24%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (1.79%) Autotask
8 4 (1.79%) PaperCut
9 3 (1.35%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (1.35%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (1.35%) Grafana
9 3 (1.35%) Kubernetes
10 2 (0.90%) OpenView
10 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Satellite
10 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Spacewalk
10 2 (0.90%) Tivoli
11 1 (0.45%) Kibana
11 1 (0.45%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 112 (50.22%) Cisco
2 83 (37.22%) Microsoft
3 52 (23.32%) Fortinet
4 47 (21.08%) Meraki
5 37 (16.59%) Palo Alto
5 37 (16.59%) VMware
6 36 (16.14%) CheckPoint
7 32 (14.35%) SolarWinds
8 18 (8.07%) Google
9 13 (5.83%) Juniper
10 11 (4.93%) Dynatrace
11 9 (4.04%) F5
11 9 (4.04%) ServiceNow
12 7 (3.14%) Aruba
13 5 (2.24%) Apple
13 5 (2.24%) Dell
14 4 (1.79%) HP
14 4 (1.79%) Zscaler
15 3 (1.35%) Extreme Networks
15 3 (1.35%) NetApp
63 hybrid/remote WAN jobs