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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 198 132
Rank change year-on-year +14 -66 +6
Permanent jobs citing WAN 323 273 634
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.47% 1.66% 2.34%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 13.73% 13.86% 15.63%
Number of salaries quoted 203 198 462
10th Percentile £31,452 £28,000 £35,000
25th Percentile £42,000 £40,813 £42,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -9.09% +10.00%
75th Percentile £77,125 £67,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £84,750 £90,000 £84,919
UK median annual salary £55,000 £45,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +22.22% -10.00% +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 2,352 1,969 4,056
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.73% 11.96% 14.99%
Number of salaries quoted 1,287 1,205 2,338
10th Percentile £29,750 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -9.52% -8.70%
75th Percentile £73,750 £67,500 £67,968
90th Percentile £87,500 £85,000 £81,250
UK median annual salary £47,500 £42,500 £48,839
% change year-on-year +11.76% -12.98% -5.30%

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 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 35 (10.84%) Microsoft Exchange
2 29 (8.98%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.31%) IIS
3 1 (0.31%) OpenStack
Applications
1 10 (3.10%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.24%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.93%) AutoCAD
3 3 (0.93%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.93%) SOLIDWORKS
4 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 192 (59.44%) Azure
2 114 (35.29%) Microsoft 365
3 69 (21.36%) AWS
4 62 (19.20%) Cloud Computing
5 50 (15.48%) Entra ID
6 31 (9.60%) Power Platform
7 16 (4.95%) GCP
8 9 (2.79%) OneDrive
8 9 (2.79%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 8 (2.48%) AWS Direct Connect
9 8 (2.48%) SaaS
10 7 (2.17%) Google Workspace
11 6 (1.86%) Azure Sentinel
12 5 (1.55%) OCI
13 4 (1.24%) Mimecast
14 3 (0.93%) Azure Monitor
14 3 (0.93%) IaaS
14 3 (0.93%) PaaS
15 2 (0.62%) Azure AKS
15 2 (0.62%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 272 (84.21%) LAN
2 157 (48.61%) Firewall
3 94 (29.10%) VPN
4 89 (27.55%) SD-WAN
5 78 (24.15%) DNS
6 72 (22.29%) Network Security
7 67 (20.74%) DHCP
8 58 (17.96%) Wi-Fi
9 49 (15.17%) TCP/IP
9 49 (15.17%) VLAN
10 48 (14.86%) BGP
11 47 (14.55%) MPLS
12 43 (13.31%) Wireless
13 42 (13.00%) WLAN
14 28 (8.67%) OSPF
15 26 (8.05%) Cisco Firepower
16 22 (6.81%) Cisco ISE
17 20 (6.19%) Cisco ASA
18 19 (5.88%) IPsec
18 19 (5.88%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (2.17%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.31%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.31%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.31%) MySQL
2 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.31%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.31%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (0.93%) JIRA
2 1 (0.31%) Git
2 1 (0.31%) GitLab
2 1 (0.31%) Jenkins
General
1 156 (48.30%) Social Skills
2 83 (25.70%) Finance
3 65 (20.12%) Presentation Skills
4 41 (12.69%) Telecoms
5 36 (11.15%) Public Sector
6 31 (9.60%) Law
7 17 (5.26%) Banking
8 14 (4.33%) Marketing
8 14 (4.33%) Retail
9 12 (3.72%) Analytical Skills
10 11 (3.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (2.48%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.24%) Electronics
12 4 (1.24%) Military
13 3 (0.93%) Legal
13 3 (0.93%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.62%) French Language
14 2 (0.62%) German Language
14 2 (0.62%) Local Government
14 2 (0.62%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 113 (34.98%) Architect
2 74 (22.91%) Network Engineer
3 58 (17.96%) Systems Architect
4 51 (15.79%) Senior
5 45 (13.93%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 32 (9.91%) Network Architect
7 30 (9.29%) Support Engineer
8 29 (8.98%) IT Engineer
8 29 (8.98%) IT Support
9 24 (7.43%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 21 (6.50%) IT Support Engineer
11 19 (5.88%) Senior Network Engineer
12 18 (5.57%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 18 (5.57%) 2nd Line Support
12 18 (5.57%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
13 17 (5.26%) Analyst
14 15 (4.64%) Solutions Architect
15 13 (4.02%) Network Manager
16 12 (3.72%) Lead
17 11 (3.41%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (3.10%) OAuth
1 10 (3.10%) SAML
2 9 (2.79%) XMPP
3 4 (1.24%) 802.1X
3 4 (1.24%) LDAP
4 3 (0.93%) ARM Templates
5 1 (0.31%) Jinja
5 1 (0.31%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 41 (12.69%) Data Centre
2 24 (7.43%) Hybrid Cloud
3 15 (4.64%) Onboarding
3 15 (4.64%) Security Posture
4 14 (4.33%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 11 (3.41%) PKI
6 10 (3.10%) Video Conferencing
7 9 (2.79%) FlexPod
7 9 (2.79%) Replication
8 8 (2.48%) Driving Licence
9 7 (2.17%) Cloud Native
9 7 (2.17%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.24%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.24%) Clustering
10 4 (1.24%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.24%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.24%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 4 (1.24%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (0.93%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.93%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 70 (21.67%) Windows
2 59 (18.27%) Windows Server
3 21 (6.50%) Linux
4 16 (4.95%) Mac OS
5 12 (3.72%) Windows Server 2016
6 11 (3.41%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (2.79%) Windows 10
8 7 (2.17%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (1.24%) Unix
10 2 (0.62%) CentOS
10 2 (0.62%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.31%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.31%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.31%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.31%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (26.93%) Project Delivery
2 82 (25.39%) Problem-Solving
3 75 (23.22%) Infrastructure as Code
3 75 (23.22%) Network Architecture
4 74 (22.91%) Roadmaps
5 69 (21.36%) Network Design
6 64 (19.81%) Technical Architecture
7 63 (19.50%) Logistics
8 61 (18.89%) Information Security
9 60 (18.58%) Risk Management
10 59 (18.27%) Business Strategy
10 59 (18.27%) Containerisation
10 59 (18.27%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 58 (17.96%) Business Case
12 48 (14.86%) Cybersecurity
13 45 (13.93%) Continuous Improvement
14 43 (13.31%) Stakeholder Management
15 34 (10.53%) Disaster Recovery
15 34 (10.53%) Presales
16 33 (10.22%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 27 (8.36%) Python
2 22 (6.81%) PowerShell
3 2 (0.62%) Bash
4 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
4 1 (0.31%) SQL
4 1 (0.31%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 64 (19.81%) Cisco Certification
2 50 (15.48%) CCNP
3 31 (9.60%) CCNA
4 28 (8.67%) Security Cleared
5 21 (6.50%) Degree
6 20 (6.19%) SC Cleared
7 19 (5.88%) Azure Certification
8 18 (5.57%) CCIE
9 15 (4.64%) DV Cleared
10 12 (3.72%) Microsoft Certification
11 8 (2.48%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (1.55%) PMP
13 4 (1.24%) BPSS Clearance
13 4 (1.24%) CCSA
13 4 (1.24%) CCSE
13 4 (1.24%) DBS Check
13 4 (1.24%) JNCIE
14 3 (0.93%) AWS Certification
14 3 (0.93%) CCIE Security
14 3 (0.93%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (18.58%) GRC
2 25 (7.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 14 (4.33%) NIST
4 13 (4.02%) SLA
5 8 (2.48%) Cyber Essentials
6 7 (2.17%) GDPR
7 6 (1.86%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 2 (0.62%) PCI DSS
8 2 (0.62%) QA
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 14001
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 66 (20.43%) Active Directory
2 42 (13.00%) Hyper-V
3 41 (12.69%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (4.95%) vSphere
5 8 (2.48%) VMware NSX
6 7 (2.17%) Virtual Servers
7 6 (1.86%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 6 (1.86%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (1.55%) Firmware
9 1 (0.31%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.31%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 1 (0.31%) Docker
9 1 (0.31%) KVM
9 1 (0.31%) QEMU
9 1 (0.31%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.31%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.31%) Xen
Systems Management
1 26 (8.05%) Ansible
1 26 (8.05%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (7.74%) FortiGate
3 16 (4.95%) Terraform
4 12 (3.72%) CASB
5 9 (2.79%) Cisco CUCM
5 9 (2.79%) Grafana
6 8 (2.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 5 (1.55%) vCenter Server
8 4 (1.24%) Endace
8 4 (1.24%) Kubernetes
8 4 (1.24%) QRadar
8 4 (1.24%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 3 (0.93%) Failover Clustering
9 3 (0.93%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.62%) OpenView
10 2 (0.62%) SCCM
10 2 (0.62%) Tivoli
10 2 (0.62%) WhatsUp Gold
11 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 171 (52.94%) Microsoft
2 136 (42.11%) Cisco
3 65 (20.12%) Palo Alto
4 57 (17.65%) VMware
5 46 (14.24%) Fortinet
6 31 (9.60%) Meraki
7 22 (6.81%) Juniper
8 21 (6.50%) Aruba
9 17 (5.26%) SolarWinds
9 17 (5.26%) Splunk
10 16 (4.95%) CheckPoint
11 14 (4.33%) Zscaler
12 9 (2.79%) F5
13 8 (2.48%) Dynatrace
14 6 (1.86%) ArcSight
14 6 (1.86%) Google
14 6 (1.86%) NetApp
15 5 (1.55%) Citrix
15 5 (1.55%) Netskope
16 4 (1.24%) Acronis