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

6 months to
9 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 193 202 123
Rank change year-on-year +9 -79 +23
Permanent jobs citing WAN 297 273 771
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.40% 1.66% 2.37%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.53% 13.90% 15.83%
Number of salaries quoted 200 195 581
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,000 £33,500
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £50,000 £54,500
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -8.26% +4.13%
75th Percentile £77,500 £66,250 £70,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £84,919
UK median annual salary £55,000 £48,500 £47,500
% change year-on-year +13.40% +2.11% -

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 2,371 1,964 4,872
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 11.18% 11.97% 14.95%
Number of salaries quoted 1,267 1,203 3,084
10th Percentile £29,750 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,417 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +14.56% -9.52% -8.70%
75th Percentile £73,750 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £85,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -7.41%

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 July 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 38 (12.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (11.11%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.34%) Confluence
3 1 (0.34%) IIS
3 1 (0.34%) OpenStack
Applications
1 9 (3.03%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.35%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (1.01%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.01%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.01%) SOLIDWORKS
4 1 (0.34%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.67%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.34%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 174 (58.59%) Azure
2 116 (39.06%) Microsoft 365
3 74 (24.92%) AWS
4 51 (17.17%) Entra ID
5 33 (11.11%) Cloud Computing
5 33 (11.11%) Power Platform
6 16 (5.39%) GCP
7 11 (3.70%) AWS Direct Connect
7 11 (3.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 10 (3.37%) OneDrive
8 10 (3.37%) SaaS
9 8 (2.69%) Google Workspace
10 7 (2.36%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (1.68%) OCI
12 3 (1.01%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (1.01%) IaaS
12 3 (1.01%) PaaS
13 2 (0.67%) Datadog
13 2 (0.67%) Mimecast
13 2 (0.67%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 236 (79.46%) LAN
2 155 (52.19%) Firewall
3 107 (36.03%) VPN
4 102 (34.34%) SD-WAN
5 83 (27.95%) DNS
6 70 (23.57%) DHCP
7 62 (20.88%) Network Security
8 55 (18.52%) TCP/IP
9 53 (17.85%) Wi-Fi
10 52 (17.51%) MPLS
11 50 (16.84%) BGP
12 42 (14.14%) VLAN
13 38 (12.79%) WLAN
14 35 (11.78%) Wireless
15 30 (10.10%) Cisco Firepower
16 29 (9.76%) OSPF
17 28 (9.43%) Cisco ISE
18 23 (7.74%) Cisco ASA
19 22 (7.41%) IPsec
20 20 (6.73%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.68%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.67%) Power BI
3 1 (0.34%) InfluxDB
3 1 (0.34%) MariaDB
3 1 (0.34%) MySQL
3 1 (0.34%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.34%) RDBMS
3 1 (0.34%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.01%) JIRA
2 1 (0.34%) GitLab
2 1 (0.34%) Jenkins
General
1 122 (41.08%) Social Skills
2 65 (21.89%) Finance
3 40 (13.47%) Telecoms
4 38 (12.79%) Public Sector
5 37 (12.46%) Presentation Skills
6 33 (11.11%) Law
7 18 (6.06%) Banking
8 15 (5.05%) Marketing
8 15 (5.05%) Retail
9 14 (4.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 12 (4.04%) Analytical Skills
11 9 (3.03%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.35%) Electronics
13 3 (1.01%) Legal
13 3 (1.01%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.67%) Local Government
14 2 (0.67%) Military
14 2 (0.67%) Retail Banking
15 1 (0.34%) Dutch Language
15 1 (0.34%) French Language
Job Titles
1 89 (29.97%) Architect
2 70 (23.57%) Network Engineer
3 51 (17.17%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 47 (15.82%) Senior
5 35 (11.78%) IT Engineer
6 34 (11.45%) Network Architect
7 31 (10.44%) Systems Architect
8 30 (10.10%) Support Engineer
9 28 (9.43%) IT Support
10 25 (8.42%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 22 (7.41%) IT Support Engineer
12 17 (5.72%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 17 (5.72%) 2nd Line Support
12 17 (5.72%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 17 (5.72%) Solutions Architect
13 15 (5.05%) Analyst
14 13 (4.38%) Network Manager
15 12 (4.04%) Lead
15 12 (4.04%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
15 12 (4.04%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (3.37%) OAuth
1 10 (3.37%) SAML
2 9 (3.03%) XMPP
3 4 (1.35%) 802.1X
3 4 (1.35%) LDAP
4 3 (1.01%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.67%) Web Services
6 1 (0.34%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 46 (15.49%) Data Centre
2 25 (8.42%) Hybrid Cloud
3 15 (5.05%) Security Posture
4 14 (4.71%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 12 (4.04%) Onboarding
5 12 (4.04%) PKI
6 10 (3.37%) Video Conferencing
7 9 (3.03%) Cloud Native
7 9 (3.03%) FlexPod
7 9 (3.03%) Replication
8 8 (2.69%) Driving Licence
9 7 (2.36%) Self-Motivation
10 6 (2.02%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.68%) Management Information System
12 4 (1.35%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (1.35%) Clustering
12 4 (1.35%) Cyber Defence
12 4 (1.35%) Cyber Threat
12 4 (1.35%) Virtual Team
13 3 (1.01%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
Operating Systems
1 70 (23.57%) Windows
2 58 (19.53%) Windows Server
3 22 (7.41%) Linux
4 19 (6.40%) Mac OS
5 13 (4.38%) Windows 10
6 11 (3.70%) Windows Server 2016
7 10 (3.37%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (2.69%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (1.35%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.35%) Unix
10 2 (0.67%) CentOS
10 2 (0.67%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.34%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.34%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.34%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (25.59%) Problem-Solving
2 63 (21.21%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 58 (19.53%) Project Delivery
4 52 (17.51%) Network Architecture
5 47 (15.82%) Cybersecurity
5 47 (15.82%) Infrastructure as Code
5 47 (15.82%) Roadmaps
6 45 (15.15%) Network Design
7 43 (14.48%) Continuous Improvement
8 41 (13.80%) Stakeholder Management
9 40 (13.47%) Disaster Recovery
10 37 (12.46%) Technical Architecture
11 35 (11.78%) Logistics
12 34 (11.45%) Information Security
13 33 (11.11%) Business Case
13 33 (11.11%) Risk Management
14 32 (10.77%) Business Strategy
14 32 (10.77%) Containerisation
14 32 (10.77%) Presales
15 31 (10.44%) Architecture Roadmap
Programming Languages
1 29 (9.76%) Python
2 19 (6.40%) PowerShell
3 3 (1.01%) SQL
4 2 (0.67%) Bash
5 1 (0.34%) PL/SQL
5 1 (0.34%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 55 (18.52%) Cisco Certification
2 44 (14.81%) CCNP
3 34 (11.45%) CCNA
4 30 (10.10%) Security Cleared
5 23 (7.74%) SC Cleared
6 20 (6.73%) Degree
7 18 (6.06%) CCIE
8 16 (5.39%) Azure Certification
9 13 (4.38%) DV Cleared
10 12 (4.04%) Microsoft Certification
11 9 (3.03%) Computer Science Degree
12 7 (2.36%) BPSS Clearance
13 5 (1.68%) CCSA
13 5 (1.68%) CCSE
13 5 (1.68%) PMP
14 4 (1.35%) DBS Check
14 4 (1.35%) JNCIE
15 3 (1.01%) AWS Certification
15 3 (1.01%) CCIE Security
15 3 (1.01%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (10.44%) GRC
2 25 (8.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (4.04%) NIST
4 10 (3.37%) SLA
5 9 (3.03%) Cyber Essentials
6 7 (2.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 4 (1.35%) GDPR
7 4 (1.35%) QA
8 3 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.34%) ISO 14001
9 1 (0.34%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.34%) NCSC
9 1 (0.34%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 68 (22.90%) Active Directory
2 36 (12.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 35 (11.78%) Hyper-V
4 15 (5.05%) vSphere
5 8 (2.69%) VMware NSX
6 7 (2.36%) Virtual Servers
7 6 (2.02%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 4 (1.35%) Firmware
8 4 (1.35%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.34%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.34%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 1 (0.34%) Docker
9 1 (0.34%) KVM
9 1 (0.34%) QEMU
9 1 (0.34%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.34%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.34%) Xen
Systems Management
1 26 (8.75%) Ansible
1 26 (8.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (8.42%) FortiGate
3 18 (6.06%) Terraform
4 10 (3.37%) CASB
5 9 (3.03%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 9 (3.03%) Cisco CUCM
5 9 (3.03%) Grafana
6 5 (1.68%) Endace
6 5 (1.68%) vCenter Server
7 4 (1.35%) Kubernetes
7 4 (1.35%) QRadar
8 3 (1.01%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (0.67%) OpenView
9 2 (0.67%) SCCM
9 2 (0.67%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.67%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 2 (0.67%) Tivoli
9 2 (0.67%) WhatsUp Gold
10 1 (0.34%) Cisco Prime
Vendors
1 145 (48.82%) Microsoft
2 133 (44.78%) Cisco
3 63 (21.21%) Palo Alto
4 52 (17.51%) Fortinet
5 51 (17.17%) VMware
6 38 (12.79%) Meraki
7 24 (8.08%) Juniper
8 21 (7.07%) SolarWinds
9 20 (6.73%) CheckPoint
10 17 (5.72%) Splunk
11 12 (4.04%) Aruba
11 12 (4.04%) F5
11 12 (4.04%) Zscaler
12 11 (3.70%) Dynatrace
13 8 (2.69%) Google
14 6 (2.02%) ArcSight
14 6 (2.02%) NetApp
14 6 (2.02%) ServiceNow
15 5 (1.68%) Citrix
16 4 (1.35%) EMC