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

6 months to
22 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 171 188 132
Rank change year-on-year +17 -56 +48
Permanent jobs citing WAN 230 276 702
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.40% 1.80% 2.53%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.20% 14.18% 18.81%
Number of salaries quoted 147 176 611
10th Percentile £35,500 £36,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £42,000 £45,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% +10.00% -5.03%
75th Percentile £77,500 £72,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £92,514 £84,919
UK median annual salary £51,500 £54,000 £48,500
% change year-on-year -4.63% +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 1,620 1,946 3,732
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.89% 12.69% 13.43%
Number of salaries quoted 937 1,153 3,241
10th Percentile £28,000 £30,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £32,500 £41,250 £39,375
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £55,000 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% +1.85% -2.70%
75th Percentile £70,000 £72,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £87,500 £82,500
UK median annual salary £40,000 £55,000 £49,000
% change year-on-year -27.27% +12.24% -6.67%

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 22 February 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 48 (20.87%) Microsoft Exchange
2 43 (18.70%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.61%) IIS
4 2 (0.87%) Apache
4 2 (0.87%) Confluence
4 2 (0.87%) nginx
Applications
1 9 (3.91%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (2.61%) Spreadsheet
3 2 (0.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.87%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.43%) AutoCAD
4 1 (0.43%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.87%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 141 (61.30%) Azure
2 80 (34.78%) Microsoft 365
3 52 (22.61%) AWS
4 42 (18.26%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.96%) OneDrive
6 15 (6.52%) Google Workspace
7 12 (5.22%) AWS Direct Connect
7 12 (5.22%) SaaS
8 10 (4.35%) GCP
9 9 (3.91%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (2.61%) Azure Storage
11 4 (1.74%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (1.30%) Azure DevOps
12 3 (1.30%) IaaS
13 2 (0.87%) AWS CloudFormation
13 2 (0.87%) Azure Sentinel
13 2 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
13 2 (0.87%) PaaS
13 2 (0.87%) Power Platform
13 2 (0.87%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 148 (64.35%) LAN
2 132 (57.39%) SD-WAN
3 108 (46.96%) Firewall
4 96 (41.74%) VPN
5 65 (28.26%) DNS
6 63 (27.39%) Wi-Fi
7 59 (25.65%) DHCP
8 54 (23.48%) TCP/IP
9 42 (18.26%) Wireless
10 32 (13.91%) BGP
11 31 (13.48%) MPLS
11 31 (13.48%) VLAN
12 29 (12.61%) Network Security
13 27 (11.74%) WLAN
14 26 (11.30%) VoIP
15 23 (10.00%) OSPF
15 23 (10.00%) Wireshark
16 21 (9.13%) Cisco ISE
17 20 (8.70%) Cisco Firepower
18 19 (8.26%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.87%) Power BI
2 1 (0.43%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.43%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 5 (2.17%) JIRA
2 1 (0.43%) Git
General
1 87 (37.83%) Social Skills
2 60 (26.09%) Finance
3 28 (12.17%) Telecoms
4 16 (6.96%) Public Sector
5 14 (6.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 13 (5.65%) Manufacturing
7 12 (5.22%) Analytical Skills
7 12 (5.22%) Retail
8 10 (4.35%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (3.91%) Law
10 8 (3.48%) Banking
11 3 (1.30%) Aerospace
11 3 (1.30%) Automotive
11 3 (1.30%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (1.30%) Police
12 2 (0.87%) Marketing
12 2 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.43%) Legal
13 1 (0.43%) Military
13 1 (0.43%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 71 (30.87%) Network Engineer
2 57 (24.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 40 (17.39%) Senior
4 39 (16.96%) IT Engineer
5 27 (11.74%) IT Support
5 27 (11.74%) Support Engineer
6 23 (10.00%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
7 21 (9.13%) IT Support Engineer
8 20 (8.70%) Architect
8 20 (8.70%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
8 20 (8.70%) Operations Engineer
9 18 (7.83%) 2nd Line Support
9 18 (7.83%) Senior Network Engineer
10 16 (6.96%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 15 (6.52%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 15 (6.52%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 14 (6.09%) Network Operations Engineer
13 13 (5.65%) Cisco Engineer
14 12 (5.22%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 12 (5.22%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.30%) JSON
2 2 (0.87%) LDAP
2 2 (0.87%) Web Services
3 1 (0.43%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 60 (26.09%) Data Centre
2 31 (13.48%) Management Information System
3 18 (7.83%) Driving Licence
4 10 (4.35%) Self-Motivation
5 8 (3.48%) CMDB
6 7 (3.04%) Cloud Native
6 7 (3.04%) Enterprise Software
6 7 (3.04%) Onboarding
7 6 (2.61%) Social Media
8 5 (2.17%) PKI
8 5 (2.17%) Public Cloud
8 5 (2.17%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (1.74%) GNSS
9 4 (1.74%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (1.74%) iPad
9 4 (1.74%) iPhone
9 4 (1.74%) Mobile App
9 4 (1.74%) Product Ownership
9 4 (1.74%) Self-Driving Car
9 4 (1.74%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 80 (34.78%) Windows
2 64 (27.83%) Windows Server
3 32 (13.91%) Windows 10
4 18 (7.83%) Linux
4 18 (7.83%) Mac OS
5 15 (6.52%) Windows Server 2016
6 13 (5.65%) Windows Server 2012
6 13 (5.65%) Windows Server 2019
7 12 (5.22%) Apple iOS
8 3 (1.30%) OpenWrt
8 3 (1.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.87%) CentOS
9 2 (0.87%) Oracle Linux
10 1 (0.43%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.43%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.43%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (34.35%) Problem-Solving
2 59 (25.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 46 (20.00%) Customer Service
3 46 (20.00%) Disaster Recovery
4 43 (18.70%) ITIL
5 42 (18.26%) Change Management
6 37 (16.09%) Continuous Improvement
7 35 (15.22%) Migration
7 35 (15.22%) Problem Management
8 32 (13.91%) Service Delivery
9 29 (12.61%) Mentoring
10 28 (12.17%) Capacity Planning
11 27 (11.74%) Zero Trust
12 25 (10.87%) Coaching
12 25 (10.87%) Load Balancing
13 24 (10.43%) Cloud Security
13 24 (10.43%) Network Monitoring
13 24 (10.43%) Network Virtualisation
14 23 (10.00%) Stakeholder Management
15 22 (9.57%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 16 (6.96%) PowerShell
2 15 (6.52%) Python
3 11 (4.78%) SQL
4 4 (1.74%) Bash
5 3 (1.30%) C
5 3 (1.30%) C++
6 2 (0.87%) Java
6 2 (0.87%) Perl
Qualifications
1 39 (16.96%) Cisco Certification
2 27 (11.74%) CCNP
3 22 (9.57%) Security Cleared
4 21 (9.13%) SC Cleared
5 19 (8.26%) Degree
5 19 (8.26%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (7.83%) CCNA
7 13 (5.65%) Azure Certification
8 9 (3.91%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (3.91%) CCIE
9 6 (2.61%) AWS Certification
9 6 (2.61%) DBS Check
9 6 (2.61%) DV Cleared
10 5 (2.17%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (2.17%) Master's Degree
10 5 (2.17%) MCSA
10 5 (2.17%) PMP
11 4 (1.74%) Network+ Certification
12 3 (1.30%) MCSE
12 3 (1.30%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.52%) SLA
2 14 (6.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (5.22%) Cyber Essentials
3 12 (5.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 5 (2.17%) NIST
5 4 (1.74%) QA
6 3 (1.30%) NCSC
6 3 (1.30%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.87%) GRC
7 2 (0.87%) PMO
8 1 (0.43%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.43%) Basel III
8 1 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.43%) MiFID
System Software
1 60 (26.09%) Active Directory
2 34 (14.78%) Hyper-V
3 24 (10.43%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (4.35%) Firmware
4 10 (4.35%) Virtual Servers
5 9 (3.91%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (1.74%) Docker
6 4 (1.74%) VMware NSX
7 3 (1.30%) vSphere
8 1 (0.43%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 1 (0.43%) NFS
8 1 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 40 (17.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (9.57%) Terraform
3 14 (6.09%) Ansible
3 14 (6.09%) FortiGate
4 13 (5.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 6 (2.61%) Endace
5 6 (2.61%) Kubernetes
6 5 (2.17%) Autotask
6 5 (2.17%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (1.74%) Dell DRAC
7 4 (1.74%) PaperCut
8 2 (0.87%) OpenView
8 2 (0.87%) Red Hat Satellite
8 2 (0.87%) Red Hat Spacewalk
8 2 (0.87%) Tivoli
9 1 (0.43%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (0.43%) Cisco Prime
9 1 (0.43%) Grafana
9 1 (0.43%) Kibana
9 1 (0.43%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 118 (51.30%) Cisco
2 83 (36.09%) Microsoft
3 51 (22.17%) Fortinet
4 50 (21.74%) Meraki
5 41 (17.83%) CheckPoint
6 39 (16.96%) Palo Alto
7 38 (16.52%) SolarWinds
8 37 (16.09%) VMware
9 17 (7.39%) Google
10 14 (6.09%) Juniper
11 11 (4.78%) Dynatrace
12 10 (4.35%) F5
13 9 (3.91%) ServiceNow
14 7 (3.04%) Aruba
15 6 (2.61%) Dell
15 6 (2.61%) SonicWALL
16 5 (2.17%) Apple
17 4 (1.74%) HP
17 4 (1.74%) Zscaler
18 3 (1.30%) Extreme Networks