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

6 months to
24 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 199 203 124
Rank change year-on-year +4 -79 +25
Permanent jobs citing WAN 259 273 795
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.27% 1.75% 2.32%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 11.44% 14.30% 15.69%
Number of salaries quoted 190 191 600
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,000 £33,400
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £40,563
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £53,750
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -6.98% +2.38%
75th Percentile £77,500 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £84,919
UK median annual salary £54,068 £48,500 £47,500
% change year-on-year +11.48% +2.11% -

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 2,263 1,909 5,066
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 11.09% 12.26% 14.78%
Number of salaries quoted 1,172 1,150 3,256
10th Percentile £29,638 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -9.52% -8.70%
75th Percentile £73,750 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £86,250 £86,303 £80,000
UK median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.56% -5.26% -6.86%

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 24 June 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 38 (14.67%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (11.97%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.39%) Confluence
3 1 (0.39%) IIS
3 1 (0.39%) OpenStack
Applications
1 10 (3.86%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.16%) AutoCAD
2 3 (1.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (1.16%) MS Visio
2 3 (1.16%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.77%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.39%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 136 (52.51%) Azure
2 79 (30.50%) Microsoft 365
3 75 (28.96%) AWS
4 44 (16.99%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.18%) GCP
6 13 (5.02%) AWS Direct Connect
6 13 (5.02%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 12 (4.63%) SaaS
8 10 (3.86%) Google Workspace
8 10 (3.86%) OneDrive
9 5 (1.93%) Azure Sentinel
9 5 (1.93%) OCI
10 3 (1.16%) IaaS
10 3 (1.16%) PaaS
11 2 (0.77%) Azure AKS
11 2 (0.77%) Azure Monitor
11 2 (0.77%) Datadog
11 2 (0.77%) Dynamics 365
11 2 (0.77%) Power Platform
11 2 (0.77%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 192 (74.13%) LAN
2 139 (53.67%) Firewall
3 107 (41.31%) SD-WAN
4 105 (40.54%) VPN
5 81 (31.27%) DNS
6 68 (26.25%) DHCP
7 54 (20.85%) Network Security
7 54 (20.85%) TCP/IP
8 53 (20.46%) Wi-Fi
9 50 (19.31%) MPLS
10 48 (18.53%) BGP
11 40 (15.44%) WLAN
12 39 (15.06%) VLAN
13 32 (12.36%) Cisco Firepower
14 29 (11.20%) Cisco ISE
14 29 (11.20%) OSPF
15 28 (10.81%) Wireless
16 25 (9.65%) Cisco ASA
17 22 (8.49%) IPsec
18 21 (8.11%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.16%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.77%) Power BI
3 1 (0.39%) InfluxDB
3 1 (0.39%) MariaDB
3 1 (0.39%) MySQL
3 1 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.39%) RDBMS
3 1 (0.39%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.16%) JIRA
2 1 (0.39%) GitLab
2 1 (0.39%) Jenkins
General
1 85 (32.82%) Social Skills
2 35 (13.51%) Finance
2 35 (13.51%) Public Sector
3 33 (12.74%) Telecoms
4 16 (6.18%) Banking
5 15 (5.79%) Retail
6 14 (5.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (5.02%) Marketing
8 11 (4.25%) Analytical Skills
9 9 (3.47%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (2.32%) Presentation Skills
11 4 (1.54%) Electronics
12 3 (1.16%) Legal
13 2 (0.77%) Law
13 2 (0.77%) Local Government
13 2 (0.77%) Manufacturing
13 2 (0.77%) Military
13 2 (0.77%) Retail Banking
14 1 (0.39%) Dutch Language
14 1 (0.39%) French Language
Job Titles
1 72 (27.80%) Network Engineer
2 54 (20.85%) Architect
3 51 (19.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 46 (17.76%) Senior
5 41 (15.83%) IT Engineer
6 32 (12.36%) Network Architect
7 31 (11.97%) Support Engineer
8 27 (10.42%) IT Support
9 24 (9.27%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 23 (8.88%) IT Support Engineer
11 18 (6.95%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 18 (6.95%) 2nd Line Support
11 18 (6.95%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 17 (6.56%) Solutions Architect
13 14 (5.41%) Analyst
14 13 (5.02%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
14 13 (5.02%) Network Manager
14 13 (5.02%) Operations Engineer
15 12 (4.63%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
16 11 (4.25%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.47%) XMPP
2 8 (3.09%) OAuth
2 8 (3.09%) SAML
3 4 (1.54%) 802.1X
3 4 (1.54%) LDAP
4 2 (0.77%) ARM Templates
4 2 (0.77%) Web Services
5 1 (0.39%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 44 (16.99%) Data Centre
2 24 (9.27%) Hybrid Cloud
3 14 (5.41%) Security Posture
4 12 (4.63%) Cyber Kill Chain
4 12 (4.63%) PKI
5 11 (4.25%) Onboarding
6 9 (3.47%) Cloud Native
6 9 (3.47%) FlexPod
6 9 (3.47%) Replication
6 9 (3.47%) Video Conferencing
7 8 (3.09%) Driving Licence
8 7 (2.70%) Management Information System
8 7 (2.70%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (1.93%) Enterprise Software
10 4 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.54%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.54%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.54%) Virtual Team
11 3 (1.16%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 3 (1.16%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 68 (26.25%) Windows
2 57 (22.01%) Windows Server
3 22 (8.49%) Linux
4 21 (8.11%) Mac OS
5 17 (6.56%) Windows 10
6 12 (4.63%) Windows Server 2016
7 11 (4.25%) Windows Server 2019
8 10 (3.86%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (2.32%) Apple iOS
10 4 (1.54%) Unix
11 2 (0.77%) CentOS
11 2 (0.77%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.39%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.39%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.39%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 71 (27.41%) Problem-Solving
2 60 (23.17%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 42 (16.22%) Cybersecurity
3 42 (16.22%) Stakeholder Management
4 41 (15.83%) Continuous Improvement
5 40 (15.44%) Disaster Recovery
6 30 (11.58%) Mentoring
6 30 (11.58%) Presales
7 27 (10.42%) ITIL
7 27 (10.42%) Zero Trust
8 26 (10.04%) Service Delivery
9 25 (9.65%) Incident Response
10 24 (9.27%) Technical Leadership
11 22 (8.49%) Collaborative Culture
12 21 (8.11%) Network Architecture
12 21 (8.11%) Network Segmentation
13 19 (7.34%) Project Delivery
14 18 (6.95%) Service Management
15 17 (6.56%) Cloud Security
15 17 (6.56%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 25 (9.65%) Python
2 14 (5.41%) PowerShell
3 3 (1.16%) SQL
4 2 (0.77%) Bash
5 1 (0.39%) PL/SQL
5 1 (0.39%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 50 (19.31%) Cisco Certification
2 40 (15.44%) CCNP
3 30 (11.58%) Security Cleared
4 29 (11.20%) CCNA
5 23 (8.88%) SC Cleared
6 20 (7.72%) Degree
7 18 (6.95%) CCIE
8 13 (5.02%) DV Cleared
9 12 (4.63%) Azure Certification
10 10 (3.86%) Microsoft Certification
11 9 (3.47%) Computer Science Degree
12 7 (2.70%) BPSS Clearance
13 5 (1.93%) CCSA
13 5 (1.93%) CCSE
14 4 (1.54%) JNCIE
15 3 (1.16%) CCIE Security
15 3 (1.16%) DBS Check
15 3 (1.16%) JNCIP
15 3 (1.16%) PMP
15 3 (1.16%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (8.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 11 (4.25%) SLA
3 10 (3.86%) NIST
4 9 (3.47%) Cyber Essentials
5 7 (2.70%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 4 (1.54%) QA
7 3 (1.16%) GDPR
7 3 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.39%) ISO 14001
8 1 (0.39%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.39%) NCSC
8 1 (0.39%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 68 (26.25%) Active Directory
2 33 (12.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (11.58%) Hyper-V
4 13 (5.02%) vSphere
5 7 (2.70%) Virtual Servers
6 6 (2.32%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 6 (2.32%) VMware NSX
7 4 (1.54%) Firmware
7 4 (1.54%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.39%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.39%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 1 (0.39%) Docker
8 1 (0.39%) KVM
8 1 (0.39%) QEMU
8 1 (0.39%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.39%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.39%) Xen
Systems Management
1 24 (9.27%) Ansible
2 22 (8.49%) FortiGate
3 20 (7.72%) Microsoft Intune
4 17 (6.56%) Terraform
5 11 (4.25%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 9 (3.47%) Cisco CUCM
6 9 (3.47%) Grafana
7 8 (3.09%) CASB
8 5 (1.93%) Endace
8 5 (1.93%) vCenter Server
9 4 (1.54%) Kubernetes
9 4 (1.54%) QRadar
10 2 (0.77%) Autotask
10 2 (0.77%) Failover Clustering
10 2 (0.77%) OpenView
10 2 (0.77%) SCCM
10 2 (0.77%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.77%) Tivoli
10 2 (0.77%) WhatsUp Gold
11 1 (0.39%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 127 (49.03%) Cisco
2 108 (41.70%) Microsoft
3 58 (22.39%) Fortinet
3 58 (22.39%) Palo Alto
4 46 (17.76%) VMware
5 39 (15.06%) Meraki
6 24 (9.27%) Juniper
7 22 (8.49%) SolarWinds
8 19 (7.34%) CheckPoint
9 17 (6.56%) Splunk
10 13 (5.02%) Dynatrace
11 12 (4.63%) Aruba
12 10 (3.86%) Google
12 10 (3.86%) Zscaler
13 9 (3.47%) F5
14 8 (3.09%) ServiceNow
15 6 (2.32%) ArcSight
15 6 (2.32%) NetApp
16 4 (1.54%) EMC
17 3 (1.16%) Red Hat