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

6 months to
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 190 214 127
Rank change year-on-year +24 -87 +38
Permanent jobs citing WAN 243 234 772
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.28% 1.61% 2.35%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.78% 12.47% 15.31%
Number of salaries quoted 175 163 607
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £33,100
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £78,000 £62,875 £70,000
90th Percentile £86,500 £85,000 £84,919
UK median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year - +5.26% -

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 2,063 1,877 5,044
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.89% 12.90% 15.35%
Number of salaries quoted 1,019 1,121 3,318
10th Percentile £29,750 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,750 £86,250 £80,000
UK median annual salary £45,000 £48,875 £47,500
% change year-on-year -7.93% +2.89% -5.00%

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 26 May 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 43 (17.70%) Microsoft Exchange
2 38 (15.64%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.82%) Confluence
4 1 (0.41%) Apache
4 1 (0.41%) IIS
4 1 (0.41%) nginx
4 1 (0.41%) OpenStack
Applications
1 13 (5.35%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.65%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.65%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.23%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.23%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.82%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.41%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 133 (54.73%) Azure
2 80 (32.92%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (29.22%) AWS
4 40 (16.46%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.58%) GCP
6 15 (6.17%) AWS Direct Connect
6 15 (6.17%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (5.76%) Google Workspace
7 14 (5.76%) SaaS
8 12 (4.94%) OneDrive
9 5 (2.06%) Azure Sentinel
10 4 (1.65%) OCI
11 3 (1.23%) Azure Monitor
12 2 (0.82%) Dynamics 365
12 2 (0.82%) IaaS
12 2 (0.82%) PaaS
12 2 (0.82%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.82%) SuccessFactors
13 1 (0.41%) Cloudflare
13 1 (0.41%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 175 (72.02%) LAN
2 117 (48.15%) Firewall
3 111 (45.68%) SD-WAN
4 96 (39.51%) VPN
5 73 (30.04%) DNS
6 59 (24.28%) DHCP
7 55 (22.63%) TCP/IP
8 52 (21.40%) Wi-Fi
9 47 (19.34%) WLAN
10 43 (17.70%) MPLS
11 41 (16.87%) BGP
12 38 (15.64%) Network Security
13 36 (14.81%) VLAN
14 34 (13.99%) Cisco Firepower
15 33 (13.58%) Cisco ISE
16 30 (12.35%) Wireless
17 28 (11.52%) OSPF
18 27 (11.11%) Cisco ASA
19 21 (8.64%) VoIP
20 20 (8.23%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.82%) Power BI
1 2 (0.82%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.41%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.41%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.41%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.41%) MySQL
2 1 (0.41%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.41%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.41%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.23%) JIRA
2 1 (0.41%) Jenkins
General
1 71 (29.22%) Social Skills
2 42 (17.28%) Finance
3 37 (15.23%) Public Sector
4 18 (7.41%) Retail
4 18 (7.41%) Telecoms
5 16 (6.58%) Banking
6 15 (6.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 11 (4.53%) Marketing
7 11 (4.53%) Organisational Skills
8 8 (3.29%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (3.29%) Manufacturing
9 6 (2.47%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (1.65%) Electronics
11 3 (1.23%) Law
11 3 (1.23%) Legal
11 3 (1.23%) Police
12 2 (0.82%) Local Government
12 2 (0.82%) Military
12 2 (0.82%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.41%) Dutch Language
Job Titles
1 67 (27.57%) Network Engineer
2 54 (22.22%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 45 (18.52%) Architect
3 45 (18.52%) Senior
4 41 (16.87%) IT Engineer
5 33 (13.58%) Support Engineer
6 30 (12.35%) IT Support
7 25 (10.29%) Network Architect
8 24 (9.88%) IT Support Engineer
9 23 (9.47%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 21 (8.64%) 2nd Line Support
11 18 (7.41%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 18 (7.41%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 17 (7.00%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
12 17 (7.00%) Operations Engineer
13 16 (6.58%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
13 16 (6.58%) Solutions Architect
14 14 (5.76%) Senior Network Engineer
15 13 (5.35%) Network Manager
16 11 (4.53%) Network Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.70%) XMPP
2 4 (1.65%) 802.1X
2 4 (1.65%) LDAP
3 2 (0.82%) ARM Templates
3 2 (0.82%) OAuth
3 2 (0.82%) SAML
3 2 (0.82%) Web Services
4 1 (0.41%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 45 (18.52%) Data Centre
2 19 (7.82%) Hybrid Cloud
3 11 (4.53%) Driving Licence
3 11 (4.53%) PKI
4 10 (4.12%) Management Information System
4 10 (4.12%) Onboarding
4 10 (4.12%) Self-Motivation
4 10 (4.12%) Video Conferencing
5 9 (3.70%) FlexPod
6 8 (3.29%) Replication
7 6 (2.47%) Cloud Native
7 6 (2.47%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (2.06%) Cyber Kill Chain
8 5 (2.06%) Product Ownership
8 5 (2.06%) Security Posture
9 4 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (1.65%) Public Cloud
9 4 (1.65%) Social Media
10 3 (1.23%) Cyber Defence
10 3 (1.23%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 71 (29.22%) Windows
2 59 (24.28%) Windows Server
3 25 (10.29%) Windows 10
4 23 (9.47%) Linux
5 21 (8.64%) Mac OS
6 13 (5.35%) Windows Server 2012
6 13 (5.35%) Windows Server 2016
7 12 (4.94%) Windows Server 2019
8 9 (3.70%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.65%) Unix
10 3 (1.23%) CentOS
11 2 (0.82%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.41%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.41%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.41%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.41%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (30.86%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (25.51%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 42 (17.28%) Disaster Recovery
4 36 (14.81%) Continuous Improvement
5 35 (14.40%) ITIL
6 30 (12.35%) Mentoring
6 30 (12.35%) Zero Trust
7 29 (11.93%) Stakeholder Management
8 28 (11.52%) Service Delivery
9 25 (10.29%) Cybersecurity
9 25 (10.29%) Presales
10 23 (9.47%) Service Management
11 22 (9.05%) Migration
12 21 (8.64%) Cloud Security
12 21 (8.64%) Network Architecture
13 20 (8.23%) Technical Leadership
14 19 (7.82%) Roadmaps
15 17 (7.00%) Network Segmentation
16 16 (6.58%) Root Cause Analysis
17 15 (6.17%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 21 (8.64%) Python
2 12 (4.94%) PowerShell
3 4 (1.65%) SQL
4 1 (0.41%) Bash
4 1 (0.41%) Java
4 1 (0.41%) Perl
4 1 (0.41%) PL/SQL
4 1 (0.41%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 40 (16.46%) Cisco Certification
2 29 (11.93%) Security Cleared
3 28 (11.52%) CCNP
4 24 (9.88%) SC Cleared
5 20 (8.23%) CCNA
6 18 (7.41%) Degree
7 16 (6.58%) CCIE
7 16 (6.58%) Microsoft Certification
8 12 (4.94%) DV Cleared
9 9 (3.70%) Azure Certification
9 9 (3.70%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (3.70%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (2.06%) CCSA
10 5 (2.06%) CCSE
11 4 (1.65%) JNCIE
12 3 (1.23%) CCIE Security
12 3 (1.23%) JNCIP
12 3 (1.23%) MCSE
12 3 (1.23%) PMP
12 3 (1.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (7.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 14 (5.76%) SLA
3 11 (4.53%) Cyber Essentials
4 10 (4.12%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 4 (1.65%) NIST
5 4 (1.65%) QA
6 3 (1.23%) GDPR
6 3 (1.23%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 3 (1.23%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.41%) Accessibility
7 1 (0.41%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.41%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.41%) NCSC
System Software
1 60 (24.69%) Active Directory
2 31 (12.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (9.05%) Hyper-V
4 12 (4.94%) vSphere
5 7 (2.88%) Firmware
5 7 (2.88%) Virtual Servers
6 6 (2.47%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (2.06%) VMware NSX
8 4 (1.65%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.82%) Docker
9 2 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.41%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.41%) KVM
10 1 (0.41%) QEMU
10 1 (0.41%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.41%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.41%) Xen
Systems Management
1 23 (9.47%) Ansible
1 23 (9.47%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (8.23%) FortiGate
3 16 (6.58%) Terraform
4 14 (5.76%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 9 (3.70%) Cisco CUCM
5 9 (3.70%) Grafana
6 5 (2.06%) Endace
6 5 (2.06%) vCenter Server
7 4 (1.65%) Kubernetes
8 3 (1.23%) QRadar
9 2 (0.82%) Autotask
9 2 (0.82%) CASB
9 2 (0.82%) Dell DRAC
9 2 (0.82%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.82%) OpenView
9 2 (0.82%) PaperCut
9 2 (0.82%) SCCM
9 2 (0.82%) Tivoli
10 1 (0.41%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 119 (48.97%) Cisco
2 91 (37.45%) Microsoft
3 54 (22.22%) Fortinet
4 41 (16.87%) Palo Alto
5 40 (16.46%) Meraki
5 40 (16.46%) VMware
6 23 (9.47%) SolarWinds
7 22 (9.05%) CheckPoint
8 21 (8.64%) Juniper
9 16 (6.58%) Splunk
10 15 (6.17%) Dynatrace
11 14 (5.76%) Google
12 10 (4.12%) ServiceNow
13 8 (3.29%) F5
14 7 (2.88%) Zscaler
15 6 (2.47%) NetApp
16 5 (2.06%) ArcSight
16 5 (2.06%) Aruba
17 4 (1.65%) Dell
17 4 (1.65%) Red Hat