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

6 months to
27 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 220 128
Rank change year-on-year +36 -92 +36
Permanent jobs citing WAN 252 235 773
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.32% 1.62% 2.35%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.05% 12.59% 15.32%
Number of salaries quoted 183 164 608
10th Percentile £31,400 £31,250 £33,200
25th Percentile £42,000 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £78,000 £63,250 £70,000
90th Percentile £87,000 £85,000 £84,919
UK median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.00% +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 2,091 1,866 5,046
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 10.97% 12.85% 15.35%
Number of salaries quoted 1,044 1,112 3,318
10th Percentile £29,750 £25,087 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £31,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,068 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +8.14% -4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,500 £86,250 £80,000
UK median annual salary £45,500 £48,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -5.21% +1.05% -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 27 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 45 (17.86%) Microsoft Exchange
2 39 (15.48%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.79%) Confluence
4 1 (0.40%) Apache
4 1 (0.40%) IIS
4 1 (0.40%) nginx
4 1 (0.40%) OpenStack
Applications
1 13 (5.16%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.59%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.19%) AutoCAD
3 3 (1.19%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.79%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.40%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 138 (54.76%) Azure
2 84 (33.33%) Microsoft 365
3 72 (28.57%) AWS
4 44 (17.46%) Entra ID
5 16 (6.35%) GCP
6 15 (5.95%) AWS Direct Connect
6 15 (5.95%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 14 (5.56%) Google Workspace
7 14 (5.56%) SaaS
8 12 (4.76%) OneDrive
9 6 (2.38%) Azure Sentinel
10 4 (1.59%) OCI
11 3 (1.19%) Azure Monitor
11 3 (1.19%) IaaS
11 3 (1.19%) PaaS
12 2 (0.79%) Datadog
12 2 (0.79%) Dynamics 365
12 2 (0.79%) Power Platform
12 2 (0.79%) SuccessFactors
13 1 (0.40%) Cloudflare
Communications & Networking
1 181 (71.83%) LAN
2 122 (48.41%) Firewall
3 114 (45.24%) SD-WAN
4 100 (39.68%) VPN
5 77 (30.56%) DNS
6 63 (25.00%) DHCP
7 57 (22.62%) TCP/IP
8 53 (21.03%) Wi-Fi
9 49 (19.44%) WLAN
10 44 (17.46%) MPLS
11 42 (16.67%) BGP
12 41 (16.27%) Network Security
13 39 (15.48%) VLAN
14 34 (13.49%) Cisco Firepower
15 33 (13.10%) Cisco ISE
16 31 (12.30%) Wireless
17 28 (11.11%) OSPF
18 27 (10.71%) Cisco ASA
19 21 (8.33%) VoIP
20 20 (7.94%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.79%) Power BI
1 2 (0.79%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.40%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.40%) InfluxDB
2 1 (0.40%) MariaDB
2 1 (0.40%) MySQL
2 1 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.40%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.40%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 3 (1.19%) JIRA
2 1 (0.40%) Jenkins
General
1 76 (30.16%) Social Skills
2 42 (16.67%) Finance
3 38 (15.08%) Public Sector
4 18 (7.14%) Retail
4 18 (7.14%) Telecoms
5 16 (6.35%) Banking
6 15 (5.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 11 (4.37%) Marketing
7 11 (4.37%) Organisational Skills
8 8 (3.17%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (3.17%) Manufacturing
9 6 (2.38%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (1.59%) Electronics
10 4 (1.59%) Legal
11 3 (1.19%) Law
11 3 (1.19%) Police
12 2 (0.79%) Local Government
12 2 (0.79%) Military
12 2 (0.79%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.40%) Dutch Language
Job Titles
1 68 (26.98%) Network Engineer
2 55 (21.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 48 (19.05%) Architect
4 46 (18.25%) Senior
5 42 (16.67%) IT Engineer
6 34 (13.49%) Support Engineer
7 31 (12.30%) IT Support
8 27 (10.71%) Network Architect
9 25 (9.92%) IT Support Engineer
10 24 (9.52%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 22 (8.73%) 2nd Line Support
12 19 (7.54%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 19 (7.54%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
13 17 (6.75%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
13 17 (6.75%) Operations Engineer
13 17 (6.75%) Solutions Architect
14 16 (6.35%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
15 15 (5.95%) Network Manager
16 14 (5.56%) Senior Network Engineer
17 11 (4.37%) Network Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.57%) XMPP
2 4 (1.59%) 802.1X
2 4 (1.59%) LDAP
3 3 (1.19%) OAuth
3 3 (1.19%) SAML
4 2 (0.79%) ARM Templates
4 2 (0.79%) Web Services
5 1 (0.40%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 45 (17.86%) Data Centre
2 20 (7.94%) Hybrid Cloud
3 12 (4.76%) Driving Licence
4 11 (4.37%) PKI
5 10 (3.97%) Management Information System
5 10 (3.97%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.97%) Self-Motivation
5 10 (3.97%) Video Conferencing
6 9 (3.57%) FlexPod
6 9 (3.57%) Replication
7 8 (3.17%) Cloud Native
8 6 (2.38%) Cyber Kill Chain
8 6 (2.38%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (2.38%) Security Posture
9 5 (1.98%) Product Ownership
10 4 (1.59%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.59%) Public Cloud
10 4 (1.59%) Social Media
10 4 (1.59%) Virtual Team
11 3 (1.19%) Cyber Defence
Operating Systems
1 73 (28.97%) Windows
2 61 (24.21%) Windows Server
3 25 (9.92%) Windows 10
4 23 (9.13%) Linux
5 22 (8.73%) Mac OS
6 13 (5.16%) Windows Server 2012
6 13 (5.16%) Windows Server 2016
7 12 (4.76%) Windows Server 2019
8 9 (3.57%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.59%) Unix
10 3 (1.19%) CentOS
11 2 (0.79%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.40%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.40%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.40%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.40%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (30.95%) Problem-Solving
2 63 (25.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 45 (17.86%) Disaster Recovery
4 38 (15.08%) Continuous Improvement
5 35 (13.89%) ITIL
6 33 (13.10%) Mentoring
6 33 (13.10%) Stakeholder Management
7 30 (11.90%) Service Delivery
7 30 (11.90%) Zero Trust
8 28 (11.11%) Cybersecurity
8 28 (11.11%) Presales
9 23 (9.13%) Migration
9 23 (9.13%) Service Management
10 21 (8.33%) Cloud Security
10 21 (8.33%) Network Architecture
10 21 (8.33%) Technical Leadership
11 19 (7.54%) Roadmaps
12 18 (7.14%) Network Segmentation
13 17 (6.75%) Collaborative Culture
14 16 (6.35%) Incident Response
Programming Languages
1 21 (8.33%) Python
2 12 (4.76%) PowerShell
3 4 (1.59%) SQL
4 1 (0.40%) Bash
4 1 (0.40%) Java
4 1 (0.40%) Perl
4 1 (0.40%) PL/SQL
4 1 (0.40%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 43 (17.06%) Cisco Certification
2 31 (12.30%) CCNP
3 29 (11.51%) Security Cleared
4 24 (9.52%) SC Cleared
5 22 (8.73%) CCNA
6 18 (7.14%) Degree
7 17 (6.75%) CCIE
8 16 (6.35%) Microsoft Certification
9 12 (4.76%) DV Cleared
10 9 (3.57%) Azure Certification
10 9 (3.57%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (3.57%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (1.98%) CCSA
11 5 (1.98%) CCSE
12 4 (1.59%) JNCIE
13 3 (1.19%) CCIE Security
13 3 (1.19%) JNCIP
13 3 (1.19%) MCSE
13 3 (1.19%) PMP
13 3 (1.19%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (7.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 15 (5.95%) SLA
3 11 (4.37%) Cyber Essentials
4 10 (3.97%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 5 (1.98%) NIST
6 4 (1.59%) QA
7 3 (1.19%) GDPR
7 3 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 3 (1.19%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.40%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.40%) ISO 14001
8 1 (0.40%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.40%) NCSC
System Software
1 65 (25.79%) Active Directory
2 34 (13.49%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (9.92%) Hyper-V
4 13 (5.16%) vSphere
5 7 (2.78%) Firmware
5 7 (2.78%) Virtual Servers
6 6 (2.38%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (1.98%) VMware NSX
8 4 (1.59%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.79%) Docker
9 2 (0.79%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.40%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.40%) KVM
10 1 (0.40%) QEMU
10 1 (0.40%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.40%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.40%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.40%) Xen
Systems Management
1 23 (9.13%) Ansible
1 23 (9.13%) Microsoft Intune
2 21 (8.33%) FortiGate
3 16 (6.35%) Terraform
4 14 (5.56%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 9 (3.57%) Cisco CUCM
5 9 (3.57%) Grafana
6 5 (1.98%) Endace
6 5 (1.98%) vCenter Server
7 4 (1.59%) Kubernetes
8 3 (1.19%) CASB
8 3 (1.19%) QRadar
9 2 (0.79%) Dell DRAC
9 2 (0.79%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.79%) OpenView
9 2 (0.79%) PaperCut
9 2 (0.79%) SCCM
9 2 (0.79%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.79%) Tivoli
9 2 (0.79%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 124 (49.21%) Cisco
2 97 (38.49%) Microsoft
3 55 (21.83%) Fortinet
4 44 (17.46%) Palo Alto
4 44 (17.46%) VMware
5 41 (16.27%) Meraki
6 23 (9.13%) SolarWinds
7 22 (8.73%) CheckPoint
7 22 (8.73%) Juniper
8 16 (6.35%) Splunk
9 15 (5.95%) Dynatrace
10 14 (5.56%) Google
11 10 (3.97%) ServiceNow
12 8 (3.17%) F5
13 7 (2.78%) Aruba
13 7 (2.78%) Zscaler
14 6 (2.38%) NetApp
15 5 (1.98%) ArcSight
16 4 (1.59%) Dell
16 4 (1.59%) Red Hat