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

6 months to
4 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 200 189 173
Rank change year-on-year -11 -16 -60
Permanent jobs citing WAN 321 264 442
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.29% 1.57% 1.98%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.52% 14.95% 13.10%
Number of salaries quoted 192 167 270
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,500 £35,900
25th Percentile £37,750 £40,750 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% +10.00%
75th Percentile £76,201 £86,250 £70,188
90th Percentile £83,750 £97,500 £84,964
UK median annual salary £55,000 £45,000 £51,500
% change year-on-year +22.22% -12.62% +7.29%

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 2,210 1,766 3,374
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 8.89% 10.48% 15.15%
Number of salaries quoted 1,352 998 1,505
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 £74,475 £70,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £86,250 £87,500 £82,500
UK median annual salary £50,000 £39,500 £51,500
% change year-on-year +26.58% -23.30% +0.39%

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 4 October 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 31 (9.66%) Microsoft Exchange
2 29 (9.03%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.62%) Confluence
4 1 (0.31%) IIS
Applications
1 6 (1.87%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.56%) 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
1 184 (57.32%) Azure
2 105 (32.71%) Microsoft 365
3 64 (19.94%) Cloud Computing
4 54 (16.82%) Entra ID
5 48 (14.95%) AWS
6 31 (9.66%) Power Platform
7 12 (3.74%) OneDrive
8 11 (3.43%) GCP
9 6 (1.87%) Azure Monitor
9 6 (1.87%) Azure Sentinel
9 6 (1.87%) IaaS
9 6 (1.87%) OCI
9 6 (1.87%) PaaS
9 6 (1.87%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 5 (1.56%) SaaS
11 4 (1.25%) AWS Direct Connect
11 4 (1.25%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
12 3 (0.93%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 3 (0.93%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 269 (83.80%) LAN
2 154 (47.98%) Firewall
3 86 (26.79%) Network Security
4 82 (25.55%) SD-WAN
5 81 (25.23%) VPN
6 66 (20.56%) DNS
7 64 (19.94%) DHCP
8 54 (16.82%) VLAN
8 54 (16.82%) Wi-Fi
9 53 (16.51%) Wireless
10 50 (15.58%) BGP
11 44 (13.71%) WLAN
12 43 (13.40%) TCP/IP
13 36 (11.21%) OSPF
14 34 (10.59%) MPLS
15 24 (7.48%) Cisco Nexus
16 19 (5.92%) Cisco ISE
17 16 (4.98%) VXLAN
18 15 (4.67%) Cisco ASA
18 15 (4.67%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (2.80%) 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 (1.87%) Git
1 6 (1.87%) JIRA
2 5 (1.56%) Sonatype Nexus
3 2 (0.62%) GitLab
4 1 (0.31%) Jenkins
General
1 161 (50.16%) Social Skills
2 77 (23.99%) Finance
3 64 (19.94%) Presentation Skills
4 45 (14.02%) Telecoms
5 36 (11.21%) Public Sector
6 32 (9.97%) Law
7 22 (6.85%) Retail
8 16 (4.98%) Marketing
9 15 (4.67%) Analytical Skills
9 15 (4.67%) Banking
10 9 (2.80%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (2.49%) Organisational Skills
12 6 (1.87%) 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 97 (30.22%) Architect
2 95 (29.60%) Network Engineer
3 58 (18.07%) Systems Architect
4 51 (15.89%) Senior
5 29 (9.03%) Network Architect
6 28 (8.72%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 25 (7.79%) Senior Network Engineer
7 25 (7.79%) Support Engineer
8 24 (7.48%) IT Support
9 21 (6.54%) Lead
10 20 (6.23%) IT Engineer
11 19 (5.92%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 14 (4.36%) Analyst
13 13 (4.05%) IT Support Engineer
14 12 (3.74%) Network Manager
15 11 (3.43%) 2nd Line Support
15 11 (3.43%) IT Manager
15 11 (3.43%) Network Support
15 11 (3.43%) Network Support Engineer
15 11 (3.43%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (6.23%) Terraform
2 10 (3.12%) OAuth
2 10 (3.12%) SAML
3 8 (2.49%) 802.1X
4 4 (1.25%) XMPP
4 4 (1.25%) YAML
5 3 (0.93%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.93%) LDAP
6 1 (0.31%) Jinja
6 1 (0.31%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 55 (17.13%) Data Centre
2 25 (7.79%) Hybrid Cloud
3 17 (5.30%) Security Posture
4 16 (4.98%) Onboarding
5 13 (4.05%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 13 (4.05%) Self-Motivation
6 9 (2.80%) Driving Licence
7 7 (2.18%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.87%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 6 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.56%) PKI
9 5 (1.56%) Replication
9 5 (1.56%) Video Conferencing
10 4 (1.25%) Clustering
10 4 (1.25%) FlexPod
11 3 (0.93%) Analytical Mindset
11 3 (0.93%) Cyber Defence
11 3 (0.93%) Cyber Threat
11 3 (0.93%) Enterprise Storage
11 3 (0.93%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 57 (17.76%) Windows
2 41 (12.77%) Windows Server
3 10 (3.12%) Linux
4 7 (2.18%) Mac OS
5 5 (1.56%) Windows Server 2016
5 5 (1.56%) 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 91 (28.35%) Project Delivery
2 79 (24.61%) Network Design
3 76 (23.68%) Problem-Solving
4 74 (23.05%) Roadmaps
5 73 (22.74%) Infrastructure as Code
5 73 (22.74%) Network Architecture
6 66 (20.56%) Logistics
7 64 (19.94%) Cybersecurity
7 64 (19.94%) Information Security
7 64 (19.94%) Technical Architecture
8 61 (19.00%) Risk Management
9 60 (18.69%) Business Strategy
9 60 (18.69%) Containerisation
10 58 (18.07%) Business Case
11 54 (16.82%) Continuous Improvement
12 44 (13.71%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 37 (11.53%) Stakeholder Management
14 36 (11.21%) Mentoring
15 35 (10.90%) ITIL
16 33 (10.28%) IT Strategy
Programming Languages
1 29 (9.03%) Python
2 25 (7.79%) PowerShell
3 2 (0.62%) Bash
3 2 (0.62%) SQL
4 1 (0.31%) Bicep
4 1 (0.31%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 67 (20.87%) Cisco Certification
2 54 (16.82%) CCNP
3 38 (11.84%) CCNA
4 20 (6.23%) Azure Certification
4 20 (6.23%) Security Cleared
5 19 (5.92%) Degree
6 12 (3.74%) CCIE
7 10 (3.12%) Microsoft Certification
7 10 (3.12%) SC Cleared
8 8 (2.49%) DV Cleared
8 8 (2.49%) PMP
9 6 (1.87%) DBS Check
9 6 (1.87%) Network+ Certification
10 4 (1.25%) CompTIA Security+
10 4 (1.25%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.93%) A+ Certification
11 3 (0.93%) CCDP
11 3 (0.93%) Computer Science Degree
12 2 (0.62%) HNC
12 2 (0.62%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 62 (19.31%) GRC
2 23 (7.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 17 (5.30%) SLA
4 15 (4.67%) NIST
5 12 (3.74%) GDPR
6 7 (2.18%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.25%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.93%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 14001
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.31%) QA
System Software
1 63 (19.63%) Active Directory
2 37 (11.53%) Hyper-V
3 36 (11.21%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (3.12%) vSphere
5 8 (2.49%) VMware NSX
6 7 (2.18%) Firmware
7 4 (1.25%) Virtual Servers
7 4 (1.25%) 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 31 (9.66%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (8.41%) FortiGate
3 21 (6.54%) Ansible
4 14 (4.36%) CASB
5 6 (1.87%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (1.56%) Cisco CUCM
6 5 (1.56%) Grafana
7 4 (1.25%) Kubernetes
7 4 (1.25%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
8 3 (0.93%) Failover Clustering
8 3 (0.93%) QRadar
8 3 (0.93%) vCenter Server
9 2 (0.62%) WhatsUp Gold
10 1 (0.31%) Check_MK
10 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
10 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCE
10 1 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.31%) Packer
10 1 (0.31%) Puppet
10 1 (0.31%) SCCM
Vendors
1 164 (51.09%) Microsoft
2 137 (42.68%) Cisco
3 59 (18.38%) Palo Alto
4 48 (14.95%) VMware
5 35 (10.90%) Fortinet
6 25 (7.79%) Aruba
7 21 (6.54%) Juniper
8 19 (5.92%) Meraki
9 14 (4.36%) CheckPoint
10 13 (4.05%) SolarWinds
10 13 (4.05%) Zscaler
11 9 (2.80%) Splunk
12 6 (1.87%) Citrix
12 6 (1.87%) Dell
12 6 (1.87%) F5
13 5 (1.56%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.56%) YouTube
14 4 (1.25%) Acronis
14 4 (1.25%) N-able
14 4 (1.25%) Netskope