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

6 months to
28 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 176 177 133
Rank change year-on-year +1 -44 +43
Permanent jobs citing WAN 227 313 651
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.45% 1.92% 2.53%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.38% 14.42% 18.69%
Number of salaries quoted 145 209 557
10th Percentile £35,000 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £46,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £54,000 £48,500
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% +11.34% -7.62%
75th Percentile £77,500 £72,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £90,000 £76,250
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 1,476 2,170 3,484
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.40% 13.32% 13.54%
Number of salaries quoted 896 1,213 2,995
10th Percentile £27,500 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £31,500 £41,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,445 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.92% - -
75th Percentile £72,500 £72,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £87,500 £86,250 £82,500
UK median annual salary £40,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -27.27% +10.00% -4.76%

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 28 January 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 (18.94%) Microsoft Exchange
2 36 (15.86%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.64%) IIS
4 2 (0.88%) Apache
4 2 (0.88%) Confluence
4 2 (0.88%) nginx
Applications
1 6 (2.64%) Microsoft Office
1 6 (2.64%) Spreadsheet
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.44%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.88%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 138 (60.79%) Azure
2 70 (30.84%) Microsoft 365
3 44 (19.38%) AWS
4 33 (14.54%) Entra ID
5 14 (6.17%) OneDrive
6 11 (4.85%) Google Workspace
7 9 (3.96%) GCP
7 9 (3.96%) SaaS
8 8 (3.52%) AWS Direct Connect
9 6 (2.64%) Azure Storage
9 6 (2.64%) Dynamics 365
9 6 (2.64%) Power Platform
9 6 (2.64%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 4 (1.76%) Azure DevOps
10 4 (1.76%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (1.76%) GitHub
11 3 (1.32%) IaaS
11 3 (1.32%) Mimecast
11 3 (1.32%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.88%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 152 (66.96%) LAN
2 134 (59.03%) SD-WAN
3 108 (47.58%) Firewall
4 92 (40.53%) VPN
5 56 (24.67%) DNS
5 56 (24.67%) Wi-Fi
6 53 (23.35%) DHCP
7 51 (22.47%) Wireless
8 46 (20.26%) TCP/IP
9 30 (13.22%) VLAN
10 29 (12.78%) Wireshark
11 27 (11.89%) Network Security
12 26 (11.45%) BGP
13 24 (10.57%) WLAN
14 23 (10.13%) MPLS
14 23 (10.13%) VoIP
15 21 (9.25%) OSPF
16 16 (7.05%) Cisco ISE
17 14 (6.17%) Cisco ASA
18 12 (5.29%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.88%) Power BI
2 1 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.44%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 4 (1.76%) Git
2 3 (1.32%) JIRA
General
1 85 (37.44%) Social Skills
2 62 (27.31%) Finance
3 36 (15.86%) Telecoms
4 14 (6.17%) Public Sector
5 13 (5.73%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (5.73%) Manufacturing
6 11 (4.85%) Retail
7 10 (4.41%) Law
8 9 (3.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (3.08%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (2.64%) Banking
11 4 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (1.32%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.32%) Automotive
12 3 (1.32%) Police
13 1 (0.44%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.44%) Legal
13 1 (0.44%) Marketing
13 1 (0.44%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 71 (31.28%) Network Engineer
2 49 (21.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 40 (17.62%) Senior
4 29 (12.78%) IT Engineer
5 21 (9.25%) IT Support
5 21 (9.25%) Senior Network Engineer
6 20 (8.81%) Support Engineer
7 19 (8.37%) Analyst
7 19 (8.37%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
7 19 (8.37%) Support Analyst
8 17 (7.49%) Architect
9 15 (6.61%) IT Support Engineer
10 14 (6.17%) 2nd Line Support
10 14 (6.17%) Cisco Engineer
10 14 (6.17%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 13 (5.73%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
11 13 (5.73%) Operations Engineer
12 11 (4.85%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 11 (4.85%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 11 (4.85%) Network Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.32%) JSON
2 2 (0.88%) LDAP
2 2 (0.88%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 61 (26.87%) Data Centre
2 35 (15.42%) Management Information System
3 19 (8.37%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.52%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.08%) Cloud Native
5 7 (3.08%) CMDB
5 7 (3.08%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.64%) Onboarding
7 5 (2.20%) CCTV
7 5 (2.20%) Operational Technology
7 5 (2.20%) Public Cloud
7 5 (2.20%) Social Media
8 4 (1.76%) GNSS
8 4 (1.76%) iPad
8 4 (1.76%) iPhone
8 4 (1.76%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.76%) Product Ownership
8 4 (1.76%) Self-Driving Car
8 4 (1.76%) Video Conferencing
8 4 (1.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 74 (32.60%) Windows
2 52 (22.91%) Windows Server
3 30 (13.22%) Windows 10
4 19 (8.37%) Mac OS
5 18 (7.93%) Apple iOS
6 16 (7.05%) Linux
7 12 (5.29%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (4.41%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (3.96%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (2.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (1.32%) Android
11 3 (1.32%) OpenWrt
12 2 (0.88%) CentOS
12 2 (0.88%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 68 (29.96%) Problem-Solving
2 47 (20.70%) Change Management
2 47 (20.70%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 46 (20.26%) Customer Service
4 43 (18.94%) ITIL
5 41 (18.06%) Disaster Recovery
6 40 (17.62%) Problem Management
7 34 (14.98%) Capacity Planning
7 34 (14.98%) Continuous Improvement
7 34 (14.98%) Service Delivery
8 32 (14.10%) Load Balancing
9 31 (13.66%) Migration
10 30 (13.22%) Coaching
10 30 (13.22%) Network Virtualisation
11 29 (12.78%) Mentoring
11 29 (12.78%) Network Monitoring
12 24 (10.57%) Asset Management
12 24 (10.57%) Network Planning
13 22 (9.69%) Service Management
13 22 (9.69%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 20 (8.81%) Python
2 14 (6.17%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.85%) SQL
4 5 (2.20%) Bash
5 3 (1.32%) C
5 3 (1.32%) C++
6 2 (0.88%) Java
6 2 (0.88%) Perl
Qualifications
1 45 (19.82%) Cisco Certification
2 29 (12.78%) CCNP
3 24 (10.57%) Degree
4 18 (7.93%) CCNA
5 16 (7.05%) Azure Certification
6 15 (6.61%) Security Cleared
7 14 (6.17%) Microsoft Certification
7 14 (6.17%) SC Cleared
8 8 (3.52%) AWS Certification
8 8 (3.52%) CCIE
9 7 (3.08%) Master's Degree
10 6 (2.64%) DBS Check
10 6 (2.64%) ITIL Certification
11 5 (2.20%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 5 (2.20%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (2.20%) MCSA
11 5 (2.20%) PMI Certification
11 5 (2.20%) PMP
12 4 (1.76%) DV Cleared
12 4 (1.76%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.61%) SLA
2 8 (3.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 7 (3.08%) Cyber Essentials
3 7 (3.08%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 6 (2.64%) NIST
5 4 (1.76%) QA
6 3 (1.32%) NCSC
6 3 (1.32%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.88%) GRC
7 2 (0.88%) PMO
8 1 (0.44%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.44%) Basel III
8 1 (0.44%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.44%) MiFID
System Software
1 59 (25.99%) Active Directory
2 29 (12.78%) Hyper-V
3 27 (11.89%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (4.85%) Firmware
5 9 (3.96%) Virtual Machines
5 9 (3.96%) Virtual Servers
6 5 (2.20%) vSphere
7 4 (1.76%) Docker
7 4 (1.76%) NFS
7 4 (1.76%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.44%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.44%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 41 (18.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (11.89%) Terraform
3 20 (8.81%) Ansible
4 14 (6.17%) FortiGate
5 9 (3.96%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 9 (3.96%) Jamf Pro
5 9 (3.96%) Kubernetes
6 6 (2.64%) Autotask
7 5 (2.20%) Dell DRAC
8 4 (1.76%) Endace
8 4 (1.76%) PaperCut
9 2 (0.88%) Red Hat Satellite
9 2 (0.88%) Red Hat Spacewalk
10 1 (0.44%) Cisco Prime
10 1 (0.44%) Kibana
10 1 (0.44%) OpenView
10 1 (0.44%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.44%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 117 (51.54%) Cisco
2 78 (34.36%) Microsoft
3 48 (21.15%) Meraki
4 46 (20.26%) Fortinet
5 43 (18.94%) Palo Alto
6 42 (18.50%) CheckPoint
7 41 (18.06%) SolarWinds
8 39 (17.18%) VMware
9 14 (6.17%) Google
9 14 (6.17%) Juniper
10 10 (4.41%) Dell
11 9 (3.96%) Apple
12 8 (3.52%) Aruba
12 8 (3.52%) F5
13 7 (3.08%) Dynatrace
14 6 (2.64%) HP
14 6 (2.64%) Red Hat
14 6 (2.64%) ServiceNow
14 6 (2.64%) SonicWALL
15 5 (2.20%) Zscaler