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

6 months to
6 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 189 128
Rank change year-on-year +19 -61 +42
Permanent jobs citing WAN 224 300 696
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.40% 1.88% 2.54%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.74% 14.50% 18.67%
Number of salaries quoted 143 201 598
10th Percentile £35,000 £36,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,500 £46,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £54,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.48% +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 1,520 2,069 3,727
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.51% 12.98% 13.59%
Number of salaries quoted 908 1,186 3,220
10th Percentile £27,900 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £32,000 £42,125 £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 6 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 46 (20.54%) Microsoft Exchange
2 40 (17.86%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.68%) IIS
4 2 (0.89%) Apache
4 2 (0.89%) Confluence
4 2 (0.89%) nginx
Applications
1 7 (3.13%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (2.68%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.89%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 139 (62.05%) Azure
2 74 (33.04%) Microsoft 365
3 43 (19.20%) AWS
4 38 (16.96%) Entra ID
5 15 (6.70%) OneDrive
6 12 (5.36%) Google Workspace
7 10 (4.46%) AWS Direct Connect
7 10 (4.46%) SaaS
8 9 (4.02%) GCP
9 7 (3.13%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (2.68%) Azure Storage
11 5 (2.23%) Dynamics 365
11 5 (2.23%) Power Platform
12 4 (1.79%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (1.79%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (1.34%) GitHub
13 3 (1.34%) IaaS
14 2 (0.89%) AWS CloudFormation
14 2 (0.89%) PaaS
14 2 (0.89%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 145 (64.73%) LAN
2 132 (58.93%) SD-WAN
3 107 (47.77%) Firewall
4 91 (40.63%) VPN
5 59 (26.34%) DNS
6 57 (25.45%) Wi-Fi
7 56 (25.00%) DHCP
8 48 (21.43%) TCP/IP
9 47 (20.98%) Wireless
10 30 (13.39%) VLAN
11 27 (12.05%) Wireshark
12 26 (11.61%) BGP
13 25 (11.16%) Network Security
14 24 (10.71%) MPLS
14 24 (10.71%) WLAN
15 23 (10.27%) VoIP
16 21 (9.38%) OSPF
17 18 (8.04%) Cisco ISE
18 16 (7.14%) Cisco ASA
19 14 (6.25%) 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 3 (1.34%) Git
1 3 (1.34%) JIRA
General
1 86 (38.39%) Social Skills
2 63 (28.13%) Finance
3 33 (14.73%) Telecoms
4 14 (6.25%) Public Sector
5 13 (5.80%) Manufacturing
6 12 (5.36%) Analytical Skills
7 11 (4.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 11 (4.91%) Retail
8 9 (4.02%) Law
9 8 (3.57%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (2.68%) Banking
11 4 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (1.34%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.34%) Automotive
12 3 (1.34%) 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 68 (30.36%) Network Engineer
2 53 (23.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 38 (16.96%) Senior
4 33 (14.73%) IT Engineer
5 23 (10.27%) IT Support
6 22 (9.82%) Support Engineer
7 21 (9.38%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
8 18 (8.04%) Analyst
8 18 (8.04%) Architect
8 18 (8.04%) Support Analyst
9 17 (7.59%) IT Support Engineer
9 17 (7.59%) Senior Network Engineer
10 16 (7.14%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
10 16 (7.14%) Operations Engineer
11 15 (6.70%) 2nd Line Support
11 15 (6.70%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 14 (6.25%) Cisco Engineer
13 12 (5.36%) 2nd Line Engineer
13 12 (5.36%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
13 12 (5.36%) Network Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.34%) JSON
2 2 (0.89%) LDAP
2 2 (0.89%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 62 (27.68%) Data Centre
2 35 (15.63%) Management Information System
3 18 (8.04%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.57%) Cloud Native
4 8 (3.57%) CMDB
4 8 (3.57%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.13%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.68%) Onboarding
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%) 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 (1.34%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 76 (33.93%) Windows
2 56 (25.00%) Windows Server
3 31 (13.84%) Windows 10
4 19 (8.48%) Mac OS
5 17 (7.59%) Apple iOS
6 16 (7.14%) Linux
7 13 (5.80%) Windows Server 2016
8 11 (4.91%) Windows Server 2019
9 10 (4.46%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (2.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (1.34%) OpenWrt
12 2 (0.89%) Android
12 2 (0.89%) CentOS
12 2 (0.89%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 68 (30.36%) Problem-Solving
2 53 (23.66%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 47 (20.98%) Customer Service
4 45 (20.09%) Change Management
5 44 (19.64%) Disaster Recovery
6 43 (19.20%) ITIL
7 40 (17.86%) Problem Management
8 36 (16.07%) Continuous Improvement
9 33 (14.73%) Migration
10 32 (14.29%) Capacity Planning
11 31 (13.84%) Service Delivery
12 29 (12.95%) Coaching
12 29 (12.95%) Load Balancing
13 28 (12.50%) Mentoring
13 28 (12.50%) Network Virtualisation
14 27 (12.05%) Network Monitoring
15 24 (10.71%) Asset Management
15 24 (10.71%) Network Planning
15 24 (10.71%) Zero Trust
16 22 (9.82%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 17 (7.59%) Python
2 15 (6.70%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.91%) SQL
4 5 (2.23%) Bash
5 3 (1.34%) C
5 3 (1.34%) C++
6 2 (0.89%) Java
6 2 (0.89%) Perl
Qualifications
1 40 (17.86%) Cisco Certification
2 26 (11.61%) CCNP
3 23 (10.27%) Degree
4 18 (8.04%) CCNA
4 18 (8.04%) Security Cleared
5 17 (7.59%) SC Cleared
6 16 (7.14%) Microsoft Certification
7 15 (6.70%) Azure Certification
8 7 (3.13%) AWS Certification
8 7 (3.13%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (3.13%) CCIE
9 6 (2.68%) DBS Check
9 6 (2.68%) Master's Degree
10 5 (2.23%) DV Cleared
10 5 (2.23%) 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 (6.25%) SLA
2 11 (4.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (4.46%) Cyber Essentials
3 10 (4.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 5 (2.23%) NIST
5 4 (1.79%) QA
6 3 (1.34%) NCSC
6 3 (1.34%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.89%) GRC
7 2 (0.89%) 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 60 (26.79%) Active Directory
2 30 (13.39%) Hyper-V
3 27 (12.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (4.91%) Firmware
5 9 (4.02%) Virtual Machines
5 9 (4.02%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (1.79%) Docker
6 4 (1.79%) VMware NSX
6 4 (1.79%) vSphere
7 3 (1.34%) NFS
8 1 (0.45%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 43 (19.20%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (10.71%) Terraform
3 15 (6.70%) Ansible
4 13 (5.80%) FortiGate
5 10 (4.46%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (3.57%) Jamf Pro
6 8 (3.57%) Kubernetes
7 5 (2.23%) Autotask
7 5 (2.23%) Dell DRAC
7 5 (2.23%) Endace
8 4 (1.79%) PaperCut
9 2 (0.89%) Red Hat Satellite
9 2 (0.89%) 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 (50.89%) Cisco
2 80 (35.71%) Microsoft
3 51 (22.77%) Meraki
4 48 (21.43%) Fortinet
5 43 (19.20%) CheckPoint
6 41 (18.30%) Palo Alto
6 41 (18.30%) SolarWinds
7 39 (17.41%) VMware
8 15 (6.70%) Google
9 14 (6.25%) Juniper
10 9 (4.02%) Dell
10 9 (4.02%) Dynatrace
11 8 (3.57%) Apple
12 7 (3.13%) Aruba
12 7 (3.13%) F5
12 7 (3.13%) ServiceNow
13 6 (2.68%) SonicWALL
14 5 (2.23%) HP
14 5 (2.23%) Red Hat
14 5 (2.23%) Zscaler