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

6 months to
3 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 177 125
Rank change year-on-year -4 -52 +52
Permanent jobs citing WAN 223 310 700
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.41% 1.94% 2.54%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.84% 14.86% 18.61%
Number of salaries quoted 142 207 602
10th Percentile £35,000 £35,450 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £45,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,800 £54,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.04% +8.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £77,500 £72,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £92,500 £90,000 £82,500
UK median annual salary £50,000 £54,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -7.41% +13.68% -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 1,503 2,086 3,762
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.49% 13.05% 13.66%
Number of salaries quoted 900 1,179 3,248
10th Percentile £27,860 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £31,500 £42,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,445 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.92% - -
75th Percentile £71,250 £72,500 £67,968
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 3 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 45 (20.18%) Microsoft Exchange
2 39 (17.49%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.69%) IIS
4 2 (0.90%) Apache
4 2 (0.90%) Confluence
4 2 (0.90%) nginx
Applications
1 7 (3.14%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (2.69%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.90%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 138 (61.88%) Azure
2 72 (32.29%) Microsoft 365
3 44 (19.73%) AWS
4 36 (16.14%) Entra ID
5 15 (6.73%) OneDrive
6 12 (5.38%) Google Workspace
7 10 (4.48%) AWS Direct Connect
7 10 (4.48%) SaaS
8 9 (4.04%) GCP
9 7 (3.14%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (2.69%) Azure Storage
11 5 (2.24%) Dynamics 365
11 5 (2.24%) Power Platform
12 4 (1.79%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (1.79%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (1.35%) GitHub
13 3 (1.35%) IaaS
14 2 (0.90%) Mimecast
14 2 (0.90%) PaaS
14 2 (0.90%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 144 (64.57%) LAN
2 132 (59.19%) SD-WAN
3 106 (47.53%) Firewall
4 90 (40.36%) VPN
5 59 (26.46%) DNS
6 57 (25.56%) Wi-Fi
7 55 (24.66%) DHCP
8 48 (21.52%) TCP/IP
8 48 (21.52%) Wireless
9 30 (13.45%) VLAN
10 27 (12.11%) Wireshark
11 26 (11.66%) BGP
11 26 (11.66%) Network Security
12 24 (10.76%) MPLS
12 24 (10.76%) WLAN
13 23 (10.31%) VoIP
14 21 (9.42%) OSPF
15 18 (8.07%) Cisco ISE
16 16 (7.17%) Cisco ASA
17 14 (6.28%) IPsec
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 3 (1.35%) Git
1 3 (1.35%) JIRA
General
1 86 (38.57%) Social Skills
2 63 (28.25%) Finance
3 33 (14.80%) Telecoms
4 14 (6.28%) Public Sector
5 13 (5.83%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (5.83%) Manufacturing
6 11 (4.93%) Retail
7 10 (4.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 9 (4.04%) Law
9 8 (3.59%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (2.69%) Banking
11 4 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (1.35%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.35%) Automotive
12 3 (1.35%) Police
13 1 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.45%) Legal
13 1 (0.45%) Marketing
13 1 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 69 (30.94%) Network Engineer
2 52 (23.32%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 39 (17.49%) Senior
4 32 (14.35%) IT Engineer
5 23 (10.31%) IT Support
6 22 (9.87%) Support Engineer
7 21 (9.42%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
8 18 (8.07%) Analyst
8 18 (8.07%) Architect
8 18 (8.07%) Senior Network Engineer
8 18 (8.07%) Support Analyst
9 17 (7.62%) IT Support Engineer
10 15 (6.73%) 2nd Line Support
10 15 (6.73%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
10 15 (6.73%) Operations Engineer
10 15 (6.73%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 14 (6.28%) Cisco Engineer
12 12 (5.38%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 12 (5.38%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 12 (5.38%) Network Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.35%) JSON
2 2 (0.90%) LDAP
2 2 (0.90%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 63 (28.25%) Data Centre
2 35 (15.70%) Management Information System
3 17 (7.62%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.59%) Cloud Native
4 8 (3.59%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.14%) CMDB
5 7 (3.14%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.69%) Onboarding
7 5 (2.24%) Public Cloud
7 5 (2.24%) 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%) Operational Technology
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
9 3 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 75 (33.63%) Windows
2 55 (24.66%) Windows Server
3 31 (13.90%) Windows 10
4 19 (8.52%) Mac OS
5 17 (7.62%) Apple iOS
6 16 (7.17%) Linux
7 13 (5.83%) Windows Server 2016
8 11 (4.93%) Windows Server 2019
9 10 (4.48%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (2.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (1.35%) OpenWrt
12 2 (0.90%) Android
12 2 (0.90%) CentOS
12 2 (0.90%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 68 (30.49%) Problem-Solving
2 52 (23.32%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 47 (21.08%) Customer Service
4 46 (20.63%) Change Management
5 42 (18.83%) Disaster Recovery
5 42 (18.83%) ITIL
6 40 (17.94%) Problem Management
7 36 (16.14%) Continuous Improvement
8 33 (14.80%) Capacity Planning
9 31 (13.90%) Migration
9 31 (13.90%) Service Delivery
10 30 (13.45%) Load Balancing
11 29 (13.00%) Coaching
11 29 (13.00%) Network Virtualisation
12 28 (12.56%) Mentoring
12 28 (12.56%) Network Monitoring
13 24 (10.76%) Asset Management
13 24 (10.76%) Network Planning
13 24 (10.76%) Zero Trust
14 22 (9.87%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 17 (7.62%) Python
2 14 (6.28%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.93%) SQL
4 5 (2.24%) Bash
5 3 (1.35%) C
5 3 (1.35%) C++
6 2 (0.90%) Java
6 2 (0.90%) Perl
Qualifications
1 41 (18.39%) Cisco Certification
2 27 (12.11%) CCNP
3 23 (10.31%) Degree
4 18 (8.07%) CCNA
5 17 (7.62%) Security Cleared
6 16 (7.17%) SC Cleared
7 15 (6.73%) Azure Certification
7 15 (6.73%) Microsoft Certification
8 7 (3.14%) AWS Certification
8 7 (3.14%) CCIE
9 6 (2.69%) BPSS Clearance
9 6 (2.69%) DBS Check
9 6 (2.69%) Master's Degree
10 5 (2.24%) DV Cleared
10 5 (2.24%) MCSA
11 4 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
11 4 (1.79%) ITIL Certification
11 4 (1.79%) Network+ Certification
11 4 (1.79%) PMI Certification
11 4 (1.79%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (6.28%) SLA
2 9 (4.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 8 (3.59%) Cyber Essentials
3 8 (3.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 5 (2.24%) NIST
5 4 (1.79%) QA
6 3 (1.35%) NCSC
6 3 (1.35%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.90%) GRC
7 2 (0.90%) PMO
8 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.45%) Basel III
8 1 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.45%) MiFID
System Software
1 59 (26.46%) Active Directory
2 30 (13.45%) Hyper-V
3 26 (11.66%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (4.93%) Firmware
5 9 (4.04%) Virtual Machines
5 9 (4.04%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (1.79%) Docker
6 4 (1.79%) VMware NSX
6 4 (1.79%) vSphere
7 3 (1.35%) NFS
8 1 (0.45%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 41 (18.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (11.21%) Terraform
3 16 (7.17%) Ansible
4 13 (5.83%) FortiGate
5 10 (4.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (3.59%) Jamf Pro
6 8 (3.59%) Kubernetes
7 5 (2.24%) Autotask
7 5 (2.24%) Dell DRAC
7 5 (2.24%) Endace
8 4 (1.79%) PaperCut
9 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Satellite
9 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Spacewalk
10 1 (0.45%) Cisco Prime
10 1 (0.45%) Kibana
10 1 (0.45%) OpenView
10 1 (0.45%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.45%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 114 (51.12%) Cisco
2 78 (34.98%) Microsoft
3 50 (22.42%) Meraki
4 48 (21.52%) Fortinet
5 43 (19.28%) CheckPoint
6 41 (18.39%) Palo Alto
6 41 (18.39%) SolarWinds
7 38 (17.04%) VMware
8 15 (6.73%) Google
9 14 (6.28%) Juniper
10 9 (4.04%) Dell
10 9 (4.04%) Dynatrace
11 8 (3.59%) Apple
12 7 (3.14%) Aruba
12 7 (3.14%) F5
12 7 (3.14%) ServiceNow
13 6 (2.69%) SonicWALL
14 5 (2.24%) HP
14 5 (2.24%) Red Hat
14 5 (2.24%) Zscaler