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

 6 months to
12 Jan 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 171 178 121
Rank change year-on-year +7 -57 +61
Permanent jobs citing WAN 222 305 583
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 1.49% 1.86% 2.68%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 16.29% 14.00% 19.79%
Number of salaries quoted 144 204 498
10th Percentile £35,000 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £39,000 £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 £79,063 £72,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £97,500 £90,000 £75,000
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 1,363 2,178 2,946
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 9.12% 13.25% 13.54%
Number of salaries quoted 865 1,222 2,498
10th Percentile £27,900 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £31,500 £41,313 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £49,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.91% - -
75th Percentile £72,500 £72,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £88,750 £86,250 £84,056
UK median annual salary £38,500 £54,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -28.70% +8.00% -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 12 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 42 (18.92%) Microsoft Exchange
2 30 (13.51%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.70%) IIS
4 2 (0.90%) Apache
4 2 (0.90%) nginx
5 1 (0.45%) Confluence
Applications
1 6 (2.70%) Spreadsheet
2 5 (2.25%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 138 (62.16%) Azure
2 67 (30.18%) Microsoft 365
3 42 (18.92%) AWS
4 28 (12.61%) Entra ID
5 12 (5.41%) OneDrive
6 10 (4.50%) Google Workspace
7 9 (4.05%) Dynamics 365
7 9 (4.05%) GCP
8 8 (3.60%) Power Platform
9 7 (3.15%) GitHub
9 7 (3.15%) SaaS
10 6 (2.70%) Azure Storage
11 5 (2.25%) AWS Direct Connect
11 5 (2.25%) Mimecast
11 5 (2.25%) PowerApps
12 4 (1.80%) Azure DevOps
12 4 (1.80%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (1.80%) IaaS
12 4 (1.80%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 2 (0.90%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 154 (69.37%) LAN
2 127 (57.21%) SD-WAN
3 103 (46.40%) Firewall
4 88 (39.64%) VPN
5 53 (23.87%) Wi-Fi
6 51 (22.97%) DNS
6 51 (22.97%) Wireless
7 49 (22.07%) DHCP
8 43 (19.37%) TCP/IP
9 29 (13.06%) Wireshark
10 26 (11.71%) Network Security
10 26 (11.71%) VLAN
11 25 (11.26%) VoIP
12 22 (9.91%) BGP
13 20 (9.01%) WLAN
14 19 (8.56%) MPLS
15 18 (8.11%) OSPF
16 11 (4.95%) Cisco ISE
17 10 (4.50%) Cisco ASA
17 10 (4.50%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
1 1 (0.45%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 7 (3.15%) Git
2 3 (1.35%) JIRA
General
1 84 (37.84%) Social Skills
2 55 (24.77%) Finance
3 39 (17.57%) Telecoms
4 16 (7.21%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (5.86%) Manufacturing
6 11 (4.95%) Public Sector
7 10 (4.50%) Retail
8 8 (3.60%) Law
9 6 (2.70%) 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 63 (28.38%) 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 19 (8.56%) IT Support
7 19 (8.56%) Support Engineer
8 16 (7.21%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
9 14 (6.31%) Architect
9 14 (6.31%) Cisco Engineer
10 13 (5.86%) 2nd Line Support
10 13 (5.86%) 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
13 9 (4.05%) Cloud Engineer
13 9 (4.05%) Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
13 9 (4.05%) Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.35%) JSON
2 2 (0.90%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 56 (25.23%) Data Centre
2 35 (15.77%) Management Information System
3 18 (8.11%) Driving Licence
4 8 (3.60%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (3.15%) CMDB
5 7 (3.15%) Operational Technology
6 6 (2.70%) CCTV
6 6 (2.70%) Cloud Native
6 6 (2.70%) Onboarding
7 5 (2.25%) Enterprise Software
7 5 (2.25%) Public Cloud
7 5 (2.25%) Social Media
8 4 (1.80%) GNSS
8 4 (1.80%) Hybrid Cloud
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
Operating Systems
1 77 (34.68%) Windows
2 49 (22.07%) Windows Server
3 31 (13.96%) Windows 10
4 22 (9.91%) Apple iOS
4 22 (9.91%) Mac OS
5 20 (9.01%) Linux
6 13 (5.86%) Windows Server 2016
7 10 (4.50%) Windows Server 2019
8 9 (4.05%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 8 (3.60%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (2.25%) Android
11 3 (1.35%) OpenWrt
12 2 (0.90%) CentOS
12 2 (0.90%) Oracle Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 66 (29.73%) Problem-Solving
2 51 (22.97%) ITIL
3 46 (20.72%) Change Management
4 45 (20.27%) Customer Service
5 43 (19.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 42 (18.92%) Problem Management
7 39 (17.57%) Disaster Recovery
8 34 (15.32%) Capacity Planning
8 34 (15.32%) Continuous Improvement
8 34 (15.32%) Service Delivery
9 31 (13.96%) Load Balancing
10 30 (13.51%) Coaching
10 30 (13.51%) Network Monitoring
10 30 (13.51%) Network Virtualisation
11 29 (13.06%) Migration
12 27 (12.16%) Mentoring
13 24 (10.81%) Asset Management
13 24 (10.81%) DevOps
13 24 (10.81%) Network Planning
13 24 (10.81%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 22 (9.91%) Python
2 16 (7.21%) PowerShell
3 9 (4.05%) 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 48 (21.62%) Cisco Certification
2 31 (13.96%) Degree
3 30 (13.51%) CCNP
4 20 (9.01%) Azure Certification
5 17 (7.66%) CCNA
6 12 (5.41%) Microsoft Certification
6 12 (5.41%) Security Cleared
7 11 (4.95%) SC Cleared
8 10 (4.50%) AWS Certification
8 10 (4.50%) ITIL Certification
9 9 (4.05%) Master's Degree
10 8 (3.60%) CCIE
11 7 (3.15%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 7 (3.15%) PMI Certification
11 7 (3.15%) PMP
12 6 (2.70%) DBS Check
13 5 (2.25%) MCSA
14 4 (1.80%) Network+ Certification
15 3 (1.35%) BPSS Clearance
15 3 (1.35%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.76%) SLA
2 8 (3.60%) 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
6 2 (0.90%) GRC
6 2 (0.90%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.90%) PMO
6 2 (0.90%) QA
7 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
7 1 (0.45%) Basel III
7 1 (0.45%) MiFID
System Software
1 61 (27.48%) Active Directory
2 30 (13.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (13.06%) Hyper-V
4 9 (4.05%) Firmware
4 9 (4.05%) Virtual Machines
4 9 (4.05%) Virtual Servers
5 8 (3.60%) vSphere
6 6 (2.70%) NFS
7 4 (1.80%) Docker
7 4 (1.80%) VMware NSX
8 3 (1.35%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 45 (20.27%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (14.41%) Terraform
3 24 (10.81%) Ansible
4 14 (6.31%) FortiGate
5 13 (5.86%) Jamf Pro
6 12 (5.41%) 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
1 111 (50.00%) Cisco
2 78 (35.14%) Microsoft
3 44 (19.82%) Palo Alto
4 43 (19.37%) VMware
5 42 (18.92%) Meraki
6 40 (18.02%) Fortinet
7 38 (17.12%) CheckPoint
8 37 (16.67%) SolarWinds
9 13 (5.86%) Apple
9 13 (5.86%) Google
9 13 (5.86%) Juniper
10 11 (4.95%) Dell
11 9 (4.05%) Red Hat
12 8 (3.60%) HP
13 7 (3.15%) Aruba
13 7 (3.15%) Commvault
13 7 (3.15%) Pure Storage
14 6 (2.70%) F5
14 6 (2.70%) SonicWALL
14 6 (2.70%) Ubiquiti
133 hybrid/remote WAN jobs