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

6 months to
16 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 172 182 125
Rank change year-on-year +10 -57 +54
Permanent jobs citing WAN 222 306 573
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.45% 1.86% 2.64%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.77% 13.99% 19.51%
Number of salaries quoted 143 205 488
10th Percentile £35,000 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £39,500 £45,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £54,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.48% +8.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £78,188 £72,500 £62,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £90,000 £76,075
UK median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £49,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +7.14% -2.00%

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 1,408 2,188 2,937
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.21% 13.33% 13.51%
Number of salaries quoted 885 1,230 2,489
10th Percentile £27,500 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £31,500 £41,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.82% - -
75th Percentile £71,250 £72,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £86,250 £84,056
UK median annual salary £38,750 £54,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -28.90% +9.00% -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 16 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 41 (18.47%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (13.96%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.70%) IIS
4 2 (0.90%) Apache
4 2 (0.90%) Confluence
4 2 (0.90%) nginx
Applications
1 6 (2.70%) Spreadsheet
2 5 (2.25%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.45%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 136 (61.26%) Azure
2 66 (29.73%) Microsoft 365
3 43 (19.37%) AWS
4 28 (12.61%) Entra ID
5 12 (5.41%) OneDrive
6 10 (4.50%) Google Workspace
7 9 (4.05%) GCP
8 8 (3.60%) Dynamics 365
8 8 (3.60%) Power Platform
8 8 (3.60%) SaaS
9 6 (2.70%) AWS Direct Connect
9 6 (2.70%) Azure Storage
9 6 (2.70%) GitHub
10 5 (2.25%) PowerApps
10 5 (2.25%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 4 (1.80%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (1.80%) Azure Monitor
11 4 (1.80%) IaaS
11 4 (1.80%) Mimecast
12 2 (0.90%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 152 (68.47%) LAN
2 129 (58.11%) SD-WAN
3 103 (46.40%) Firewall
4 86 (38.74%) VPN
5 53 (23.87%) Wi-Fi
6 50 (22.52%) DNS
6 50 (22.52%) Wireless
7 48 (21.62%) DHCP
8 42 (18.92%) TCP/IP
9 29 (13.06%) Wireshark
10 27 (12.16%) Network Security
10 27 (12.16%) VLAN
11 24 (10.81%) VoIP
12 23 (10.36%) BGP
13 22 (9.91%) WLAN
14 20 (9.01%) MPLS
15 19 (8.56%) OSPF
16 12 (5.41%) Cisco ISE
17 11 (4.95%) Cisco ASA
18 10 (4.50%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
1 1 (0.45%) Power BI
1 1 (0.45%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 6 (2.70%) Git
2 3 (1.35%) JIRA
General
1 83 (37.39%) Social Skills
2 56 (25.23%) Finance
3 38 (17.12%) Telecoms
4 16 (7.21%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (5.86%) Manufacturing
6 12 (5.41%) Public Sector
7 10 (4.50%) Retail
8 8 (3.60%) Law
9 7 (3.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (2.25%) Banking
10 5 (2.25%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.80%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (1.35%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.35%) Automotive
12 3 (1.35%) Police
13 1 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.45%) Legal
13 1 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 66 (29.73%) Network Engineer
2 46 (20.72%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 37 (16.67%) Senior
4 22 (9.91%) Analyst
4 22 (9.91%) IT Engineer
5 21 (9.46%) Support Analyst
6 20 (9.01%) Senior Network Engineer
7 18 (8.11%) IT Support
7 18 (8.11%) Support Engineer
8 17 (7.66%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
9 15 (6.76%) Architect
9 15 (6.76%) Cisco Engineer
10 13 (5.86%) 2nd Line Support
11 12 (5.41%) IT Support Engineer
11 12 (5.41%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 10 (4.50%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 10 (4.50%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
12 10 (4.50%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
12 10 (4.50%) Operations Engineer
13 9 (4.05%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.35%) JSON
2 2 (0.90%) LDAP
3 1 (0.45%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 57 (25.68%) Data Centre
2 36 (16.22%) Management Information System
3 18 (8.11%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.60%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.15%) CMDB
6 6 (2.70%) CCTV
6 6 (2.70%) Cloud Native
6 6 (2.70%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.70%) Onboarding
6 6 (2.70%) Operational Technology
7 5 (2.25%) Public Cloud
7 5 (2.25%) Social Media
8 4 (1.80%) GNSS
8 4 (1.80%) iPad
8 4 (1.80%) iPhone
8 4 (1.80%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.80%) Product Ownership
8 4 (1.80%) Self-Driving Car
8 4 (1.80%) Video Conferencing
9 3 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 73 (32.88%) Windows
2 48 (21.62%) Windows Server
3 30 (13.51%) Windows 10
4 20 (9.01%) Apple iOS
4 20 (9.01%) Mac OS
5 18 (8.11%) Linux
6 12 (5.41%) Windows Server 2016
7 9 (4.05%) Windows Server 2019
8 8 (3.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 8 (3.60%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (1.80%) Android
10 3 (1.35%) OpenWrt
11 2 (0.90%) CentOS
11 2 (0.90%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (29.28%) Problem-Solving
2 48 (21.62%) ITIL
3 46 (20.72%) Change Management
4 44 (19.82%) Customer Service
5 42 (18.92%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 41 (18.47%) Problem Management
7 37 (16.67%) Disaster Recovery
8 35 (15.77%) Continuous Improvement
9 34 (15.32%) Capacity Planning
9 34 (15.32%) Service Delivery
10 31 (13.96%) Load Balancing
10 31 (13.96%) Network Monitoring
11 30 (13.51%) Coaching
11 30 (13.51%) Network Virtualisation
12 29 (13.06%) Migration
13 27 (12.16%) Mentoring
14 24 (10.81%) Asset Management
14 24 (10.81%) Network Planning
15 23 (10.36%) Stakeholder Management
16 22 (9.91%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 22 (9.91%) Python
2 15 (6.76%) PowerShell
3 10 (4.50%) SQL
4 7 (3.15%) Bash
5 3 (1.35%) C
5 3 (1.35%) C++
6 2 (0.90%) Java
6 2 (0.90%) Perl
Qualifications
1 47 (21.17%) Cisco Certification
2 29 (13.06%) CCNP
2 29 (13.06%) Degree
3 18 (8.11%) Azure Certification
4 17 (7.66%) CCNA
5 12 (5.41%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (5.41%) Security Cleared
6 11 (4.95%) SC Cleared
7 9 (4.05%) AWS Certification
7 9 (4.05%) ITIL Certification
8 8 (3.60%) CCIE
8 8 (3.60%) Master's Degree
9 6 (2.70%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 6 (2.70%) DBS Check
9 6 (2.70%) PMI Certification
9 6 (2.70%) PMP
10 5 (2.25%) MCSA
11 4 (1.80%) Network+ Certification
12 3 (1.35%) BPSS Clearance
12 3 (1.35%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.76%) SLA
2 7 (3.15%) NIST
3 6 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (2.25%) Cyber Essentials
4 5 (2.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (1.35%) NCSC
5 3 (1.35%) PCI DSS
5 3 (1.35%) QA
6 2 (0.90%) GRC
6 2 (0.90%) PMO
7 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
7 1 (0.45%) Basel III
7 1 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.45%) MiFID
System Software
1 59 (26.58%) Active Directory
2 28 (12.61%) Hyper-V
2 28 (12.61%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (4.05%) Firmware
3 9 (4.05%) Virtual Machines
3 9 (4.05%) Virtual Servers
4 7 (3.15%) vSphere
5 6 (2.70%) NFS
6 4 (1.80%) Docker
6 4 (1.80%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.90%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 42 (18.92%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (13.51%) Terraform
3 23 (10.36%) Ansible
4 14 (6.31%) FortiGate
5 12 (5.41%) Jamf Pro
6 11 (4.95%) Kubernetes
7 8 (3.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 6 (2.70%) Autotask
9 4 (1.80%) Dell DRAC
9 4 (1.80%) PaperCut
10 3 (1.35%) Endace
11 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Satellite
11 2 (0.90%) Red Hat Spacewalk
12 1 (0.45%) Cisco Prime
12 1 (0.45%) Failover Clustering
12 1 (0.45%) Kibana
12 1 (0.45%) OpenView
12 1 (0.45%) Proxmox
12 1 (0.45%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 112 (50.45%) Cisco
2 76 (34.23%) Microsoft
3 44 (19.82%) Meraki
3 44 (19.82%) Palo Alto
4 42 (18.92%) Fortinet
5 40 (18.02%) VMware
6 39 (17.57%) CheckPoint
6 39 (17.57%) SolarWinds
7 13 (5.86%) Google
7 13 (5.86%) Juniper
8 12 (5.41%) Apple
9 10 (4.50%) Dell
10 8 (3.60%) Red Hat
11 7 (3.15%) Aruba
11 7 (3.15%) HP
12 6 (2.70%) Commvault
12 6 (2.70%) F5
12 6 (2.70%) Pure Storage
12 6 (2.70%) SonicWALL
13 5 (2.25%) Logitech