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

6 months to
21 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 176 182 127
Rank change year-on-year +6 -55 +51
Permanent jobs citing WAN 224 308 611
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.45% 1.89% 2.54%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.66% 14.12% 18.75%
Number of salaries quoted 145 206 520
10th Percentile £35,000 £35,375 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £46,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £54,000 £49,250
Median % change year-on-year +6.48% +9.64% -6.19%
75th Percentile £77,500 £72,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £97,500 £90,000 £75,000
UK median annual salary £50,000 £54,000 £48,500
% change year-on-year -7.41% +11.34% -3.00%

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 1,430 2,182 3,259
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.27% 13.36% 13.55%
Number of salaries quoted 885 1,226 2,782
10th Percentile £27,900 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £32,000 £41,781 £41,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £49,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.91% - -
75th Percentile £71,500 £72,500 £69,800
90th Percentile £87,500 £86,250 £82,500
UK median annual salary £40,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -27.27% +10.00% -4.76%

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 21 January 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 42 (18.75%) Microsoft Exchange
2 34 (15.18%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.68%) IIS
4 2 (0.89%) Apache
4 2 (0.89%) Confluence
4 2 (0.89%) nginx
Applications
1 6 (2.68%) Microsoft Office
1 6 (2.68%) Spreadsheet
2 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.89%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 138 (61.61%) Azure
2 69 (30.80%) Microsoft 365
3 45 (20.09%) AWS
4 31 (13.84%) Entra ID
5 13 (5.80%) OneDrive
6 11 (4.91%) Google Workspace
7 9 (4.02%) GCP
8 8 (3.57%) SaaS
9 7 (3.13%) Dynamics 365
9 7 (3.13%) Power Platform
10 6 (2.68%) AWS Direct Connect
10 6 (2.68%) Azure Storage
11 5 (2.23%) GitHub
11 5 (2.23%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 4 (1.79%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (1.79%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (1.79%) IaaS
12 4 (1.79%) Mimecast
12 4 (1.79%) PowerApps
13 2 (0.89%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 153 (68.30%) LAN
2 131 (58.48%) SD-WAN
3 104 (46.43%) Firewall
4 88 (39.29%) VPN
5 54 (24.11%) DNS
5 54 (24.11%) Wi-Fi
6 51 (22.77%) DHCP
6 51 (22.77%) Wireless
7 43 (19.20%) TCP/IP
8 29 (12.95%) Wireshark
9 28 (12.50%) Network Security
9 28 (12.50%) VLAN
10 25 (11.16%) VoIP
11 23 (10.27%) BGP
12 22 (9.82%) WLAN
13 21 (9.38%) MPLS
14 19 (8.48%) OSPF
15 13 (5.80%) Cisco ISE
16 11 (4.91%) Cisco ASA
17 10 (4.46%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.89%) Power BI
2 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.45%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 5 (2.23%) Git
2 3 (1.34%) JIRA
General
1 84 (37.50%) Social Skills
2 57 (25.45%) Finance
3 39 (17.41%) Telecoms
4 14 (6.25%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (5.80%) Manufacturing
5 13 (5.80%) Public Sector
6 11 (4.91%) Retail
7 9 (4.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 9 (4.02%) Law
8 6 (2.68%) Banking
8 6 (2.68%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
10 3 (1.34%) Aerospace
10 3 (1.34%) Automotive
10 3 (1.34%) Police
11 1 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.45%) Legal
11 1 (0.45%) Marketing
11 1 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 68 (30.36%) Network Engineer
2 46 (20.54%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 39 (17.41%) Senior
4 26 (11.61%) IT Engineer
5 21 (9.38%) Analyst
5 21 (9.38%) Senior Network Engineer
6 20 (8.93%) IT Support
6 20 (8.93%) Support Analyst
7 19 (8.48%) Support Engineer
8 17 (7.59%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
9 15 (6.70%) Architect
10 14 (6.25%) 2nd Line Support
10 14 (6.25%) Cisco Engineer
10 14 (6.25%) IT Support Engineer
11 13 (5.80%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 11 (4.91%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 11 (4.91%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 11 (4.91%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
12 11 (4.91%) Operations Engineer
13 9 (4.02%) Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.34%) JSON
2 2 (0.89%) LDAP
2 2 (0.89%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 58 (25.89%) Data Centre
2 35 (15.63%) Management Information System
3 19 (8.48%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.57%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.13%) CMDB
5 7 (3.13%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.68%) CCTV
6 6 (2.68%) Cloud Native
6 6 (2.68%) Onboarding
6 6 (2.68%) Operational Technology
7 5 (2.23%) Public Cloud
7 5 (2.23%) Social Media
8 4 (1.79%) GNSS
8 4 (1.79%) iPad
8 4 (1.79%) iPhone
8 4 (1.79%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.79%) Product Ownership
8 4 (1.79%) Self-Driving Car
8 4 (1.79%) Video Conferencing
8 4 (1.79%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 74 (33.04%) Windows
2 51 (22.77%) Windows Server
3 30 (13.39%) Windows 10
4 20 (8.93%) Mac OS
5 19 (8.48%) Apple iOS
6 17 (7.59%) Linux
7 12 (5.36%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (4.46%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (4.02%) Windows Server 2012
10 7 (3.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (1.79%) Android
12 3 (1.34%) OpenWrt
13 2 (0.89%) CentOS
13 2 (0.89%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 67 (29.91%) Problem-Solving
2 47 (20.98%) Change Management
3 46 (20.54%) ITIL
4 45 (20.09%) Customer Service
5 43 (19.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 40 (17.86%) Problem Management
7 39 (17.41%) Disaster Recovery
8 36 (16.07%) Service Delivery
9 34 (15.18%) Capacity Planning
9 34 (15.18%) Continuous Improvement
10 32 (14.29%) Load Balancing
11 31 (13.84%) Network Monitoring
12 30 (13.39%) Coaching
12 30 (13.39%) Migration
12 30 (13.39%) Network Virtualisation
13 28 (12.50%) Mentoring
14 24 (10.71%) Asset Management
14 24 (10.71%) Network Planning
15 23 (10.27%) Stakeholder Management
16 22 (9.82%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 21 (9.38%) Python
2 15 (6.70%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.91%) SQL
4 6 (2.68%) Bash
5 3 (1.34%) C
5 3 (1.34%) C++
6 2 (0.89%) Java
6 2 (0.89%) Perl
Qualifications
1 48 (21.43%) Cisco Certification
2 30 (13.39%) CCNP
3 27 (12.05%) Degree
4 18 (8.04%) Azure Certification
4 18 (8.04%) CCNA
5 13 (5.80%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (5.80%) Security Cleared
6 12 (5.36%) SC Cleared
7 9 (4.02%) AWS Certification
8 8 (3.57%) CCIE
8 8 (3.57%) Master's Degree
9 7 (3.13%) ITIL Certification
10 6 (2.68%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 6 (2.68%) DBS Check
10 6 (2.68%) PMI Certification
10 6 (2.68%) PMP
11 5 (2.23%) MCSA
12 4 (1.79%) BPSS Clearance
12 4 (1.79%) Network+ Certification
13 3 (1.34%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.70%) SLA
2 7 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 7 (3.13%) NIST
3 6 (2.68%) Cyber Essentials
3 6 (2.68%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 3 (1.34%) NCSC
4 3 (1.34%) PCI DSS
4 3 (1.34%) QA
5 2 (0.89%) GRC
5 2 (0.89%) 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 60 (26.79%) Active Directory
2 29 (12.95%) Hyper-V
3 28 (12.50%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (4.02%) Firmware
4 9 (4.02%) Virtual Machines
4 9 (4.02%) Virtual Servers
5 6 (2.68%) vSphere
6 5 (2.23%) NFS
7 4 (1.79%) Docker
7 4 (1.79%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.45%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 42 (18.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (12.95%) Terraform
3 22 (9.82%) Ansible
4 14 (6.25%) FortiGate
5 10 (4.46%) Jamf Pro
5 10 (4.46%) Kubernetes
6 9 (4.02%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 6 (2.68%) Autotask
8 4 (1.79%) Dell DRAC
8 4 (1.79%) PaperCut
9 3 (1.34%) Endace
10 2 (0.89%) Red Hat Satellite
10 2 (0.89%) Red Hat Spacewalk
11 1 (0.45%) Cisco Prime
11 1 (0.45%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.45%) Kibana
11 1 (0.45%) OpenView
11 1 (0.45%) Proxmox
11 1 (0.45%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 114 (50.89%) Cisco
2 79 (35.27%) Microsoft
3 45 (20.09%) Meraki
4 44 (19.64%) Palo Alto
5 42 (18.75%) Fortinet
6 40 (17.86%) VMware
7 39 (17.41%) CheckPoint
7 39 (17.41%) SolarWinds
8 14 (6.25%) Google
9 13 (5.80%) Juniper
10 10 (4.46%) Apple
10 10 (4.46%) Dell
11 7 (3.13%) Aruba
11 7 (3.13%) F5
11 7 (3.13%) HP
11 7 (3.13%) Red Hat
12 6 (2.68%) SonicWALL
13 5 (2.23%) Commvault
13 5 (2.23%) ServiceNow
13 5 (2.23%) Sophos