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

6 months to
4 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 199 197 129
Rank change year-on-year -2 -68 +46
Permanent jobs citing WAN 229 246 785
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.26% 1.77% 2.42%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.60% 15.19% 15.30%
Number of salaries quoted 161 192 630
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £39,188
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% -4.76% -0.28%
75th Percentile £77,500 £66,563 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £89,750 £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 1,974 1,620 5,132
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.86% 11.65% 15.81%
Number of salaries quoted 947 1,191 3,409
10th Percentile £29,700 £25,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £35,767 £32,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £88,750 £85,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £45,000 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -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 4 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 47 (20.52%) Microsoft Exchange
2 44 (19.21%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.87%) Apache
3 2 (0.87%) Confluence
3 2 (0.87%) nginx
4 1 (0.44%) IIS
4 1 (0.44%) OpenStack
Applications
1 12 (5.24%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.75%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.75%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.31%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.31%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.87%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.44%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 134 (58.52%) Azure
2 85 (37.12%) Microsoft 365
3 70 (30.57%) AWS
4 44 (19.21%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.99%) OneDrive
6 15 (6.55%) GCP
6 15 (6.55%) Google Workspace
7 14 (6.11%) AWS Direct Connect
7 14 (6.11%) SaaS
7 14 (6.11%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 6 (2.62%) Azure Monitor
9 4 (1.75%) Azure Sentinel
9 4 (1.75%) OCI
10 2 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
10 2 (0.87%) IaaS
10 2 (0.87%) Microsoft Purview
10 2 (0.87%) PaaS
10 2 (0.87%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.87%) SuccessFactors
11 1 (0.44%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 157 (68.56%) LAN
2 109 (47.60%) Firewall
3 108 (47.16%) SD-WAN
4 97 (42.36%) VPN
5 73 (31.88%) DNS
6 60 (26.20%) DHCP
7 58 (25.33%) TCP/IP
8 54 (23.58%) Wi-Fi
9 39 (17.03%) MPLS
10 38 (16.59%) VLAN
11 37 (16.16%) BGP
12 35 (15.28%) WLAN
13 32 (13.97%) Cisco Firepower
14 31 (13.54%) Network Security
15 28 (12.23%) Cisco ISE
15 28 (12.23%) Wireless
16 26 (11.35%) Cisco ASA
17 24 (10.48%) OSPF
18 22 (9.61%) VoIP
19 16 (6.99%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.87%) Power BI
1 2 (0.87%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.44%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.44%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.44%) MySQL
2 1 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.44%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.44%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.31%) JIRA
2 1 (0.44%) Jenkins
General
1 66 (28.82%) Social Skills
2 45 (19.65%) Finance
3 32 (13.97%) Public Sector
4 17 (7.42%) Retail
5 15 (6.55%) Banking
5 15 (6.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 14 (6.11%) Organisational Skills
7 13 (5.68%) Telecoms
8 11 (4.80%) Manufacturing
9 9 (3.93%) Marketing
10 8 (3.49%) Analytical Skills
11 6 (2.62%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (2.18%) Law
13 4 (1.75%) Electronics
14 3 (1.31%) Police
15 2 (0.87%) Aerospace
15 2 (0.87%) Legal
15 2 (0.87%) Military
15 2 (0.87%) Retail Banking
16 1 (0.44%) Fire and Rescue
Job Titles
1 62 (27.07%) Network Engineer
2 60 (26.20%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 52 (22.71%) Senior
4 40 (17.47%) IT Engineer
5 32 (13.97%) Architect
6 30 (13.10%) Support Engineer
7 28 (12.23%) IT Support
8 26 (11.35%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 23 (10.04%) IT Support Engineer
10 21 (9.17%) 2nd Line Support
11 20 (8.73%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
12 18 (7.86%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 18 (7.86%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 18 (7.86%) Senior Network Engineer
13 17 (7.42%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
13 17 (7.42%) Operations Engineer
14 13 (5.68%) Network Architect
14 13 (5.68%) Solutions Architect
15 12 (5.24%) Analyst
16 11 (4.80%) Network Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (3.49%) XMPP
2 4 (1.75%) LDAP
3 2 (0.87%) ARM Templates
3 2 (0.87%) Web Services
4 1 (0.44%) 802.1X
4 1 (0.44%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 43 (18.78%) Data Centre
2 16 (6.99%) Hybrid Cloud
3 15 (6.55%) Driving Licence
4 12 (5.24%) Onboarding
4 12 (5.24%) Video Conferencing
5 11 (4.80%) PKI
6 10 (4.37%) Management Information System
7 9 (3.93%) Enterprise Software
8 8 (3.49%) FlexPod
9 7 (3.06%) Replication
9 7 (3.06%) Self-Motivation
10 6 (2.62%) Social Media
11 5 (2.18%) Product Ownership
12 4 (1.75%) Cloud Native
12 4 (1.75%) iPad
12 4 (1.75%) iPhone
12 4 (1.75%) Mobile App
12 4 (1.75%) Public Cloud
13 3 (1.31%) Private Cloud
13 3 (1.31%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 81 (35.37%) Windows
2 68 (29.69%) Windows Server
3 33 (14.41%) Windows 10
4 23 (10.04%) Linux
5 20 (8.73%) Mac OS
6 15 (6.55%) Windows Server 2016
7 14 (6.11%) Windows Server 2012
8 13 (5.68%) Windows Server 2019
9 12 (5.24%) Apple iOS
10 4 (1.75%) CentOS
10 4 (1.75%) Unix
11 2 (0.87%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.87%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.44%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.44%) OpenWrt
12 1 (0.44%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.44%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (31.88%) Problem-Solving
2 69 (30.13%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 43 (18.78%) Disaster Recovery
4 39 (17.03%) ITIL
5 38 (16.59%) Continuous Improvement
6 33 (14.41%) Zero Trust
7 29 (12.66%) Service Delivery
8 25 (10.92%) Mentoring
8 25 (10.92%) Migration
9 23 (10.04%) Cloud Security
9 23 (10.04%) Stakeholder Management
10 22 (9.61%) Presales
11 21 (9.17%) Customer Service
11 21 (9.17%) Cybersecurity
11 21 (9.17%) Service Management
12 19 (8.30%) Change Management
12 19 (8.30%) Root Cause Analysis
13 18 (7.86%) Roadmaps
13 18 (7.86%) Technical Leadership
14 17 (7.42%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 20 (8.73%) Python
2 11 (4.80%) PowerShell
3 5 (2.18%) SQL
4 2 (0.87%) Bash
4 2 (0.87%) Java
4 2 (0.87%) Perl
5 1 (0.44%) C
5 1 (0.44%) C++
5 1 (0.44%) PL/SQL
5 1 (0.44%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 39 (17.03%) Cisco Certification
2 30 (13.10%) Security Cleared
3 26 (11.35%) SC Cleared
4 23 (10.04%) CCNP
5 20 (8.73%) Degree
6 19 (8.30%) CCNA
7 18 (7.86%) Microsoft Certification
8 12 (5.24%) Azure Certification
8 12 (5.24%) DV Cleared
9 11 (4.80%) CCIE
9 11 (4.80%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (3.93%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (2.62%) DBS Check
12 5 (2.18%) MCSA
13 4 (1.75%) CCSA
13 4 (1.75%) CCSE
14 3 (1.31%) Master's Degree
14 3 (1.31%) MCSE
14 3 (1.31%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 2 (0.87%) CCIE Security
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 14 (6.11%) SLA
3 11 (4.80%) Cyber Essentials
3 11 (4.80%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 5 (2.18%) QA
5 3 (1.31%) GDPR
5 3 (1.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 3 (1.31%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.87%) NCSC
6 2 (0.87%) NIST
7 1 (0.44%) Accessibility
7 1 (0.44%) Basel III
7 1 (0.44%) GRC
7 1 (0.44%) MiFID
7 1 (0.44%) PMO
System Software
1 63 (27.51%) Active Directory
2 31 (13.54%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (11.79%) Hyper-V
4 10 (4.37%) vSphere
5 7 (3.06%) Firmware
6 6 (2.62%) Virtual Machines
6 6 (2.62%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (2.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (2.18%) VMware NSX
8 4 (1.75%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.87%) Docker
10 1 (0.44%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.44%) KVM
10 1 (0.44%) QEMU
10 1 (0.44%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.44%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.44%) Xen
Systems Management
1 31 (13.54%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (9.61%) Ansible
3 17 (7.42%) FortiGate
4 16 (6.99%) Terraform
5 15 (6.55%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (3.49%) Cisco CUCM
6 8 (3.49%) Grafana
7 6 (2.62%) Endace
8 5 (2.18%) Jamf Pro
8 5 (2.18%) Kubernetes
8 5 (2.18%) vCenter Server
9 4 (1.75%) PaperCut
10 2 (0.87%) Autotask
10 2 (0.87%) Dell DRAC
10 2 (0.87%) OpenView
10 2 (0.87%) QRadar
10 2 (0.87%) Red Hat Satellite
10 2 (0.87%) Red Hat Spacewalk
10 2 (0.87%) SCCM
10 2 (0.87%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 109 (47.60%) Cisco
2 91 (39.74%) Microsoft
3 54 (23.58%) Fortinet
4 45 (19.65%) VMware
5 41 (17.90%) Meraki
6 33 (14.41%) Palo Alto
7 21 (9.17%) SolarWinds
8 20 (8.73%) CheckPoint
9 19 (8.30%) Juniper
10 15 (6.55%) Google
11 14 (6.11%) Dynatrace
11 14 (6.11%) Splunk
12 10 (4.37%) ServiceNow
13 7 (3.06%) Aruba
13 7 (3.06%) F5
13 7 (3.06%) Zscaler
14 5 (2.18%) Apple
14 5 (2.18%) Dell
14 5 (2.18%) NetApp
14 5 (2.18%) Red Hat