BGP Contract Job Trends

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring BGP skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 329 205 230
Rank change year-on-year -124 +25 +139
Contract jobs citing BGP 316 385 470
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.30% 1.05%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 7.37% 9.77% 7.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 178 240 262
10th Percentile £300 £363 £313
25th Percentile £400 £425 £377
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £443 £516 £488
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% +5.90% -2.50%
75th Percentile £536 £630 £588
90th Percentile £588 £800 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £445 £500 £450
% change year-on-year -11.00% +11.11% -10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 3 10
10th Percentile £53.08 £21.05 £24.15
25th Percentile £70.67 £24.88 £24.44
Median hourly rate £74.26 £32.50 £46.25
Median % change year-on-year +128.49% -29.73% -40.32%
75th Percentile - £34.38 £69.38
90th Percentile - £34.75 £71.33
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £19.00 £44.00
% change year-on-year +290.84% -56.82% +31.34%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

BGP falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,285 3,941 6,037
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.10% 13.33% 13.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,780 2,409 3,619
10th Percentile £206 £209 £205
25th Percentile £363 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.88% +5.26% -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £469 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -1.26% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 171 141 400
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.33 £14.27
25th Percentile £20.41 £21.46 £18.98
Median hourly rate £40.54 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.83% -12.50% +110.53%
75th Percentile £67.25 £63.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.50 £75.00 £72.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.38 £32.50 £47.50
% change year-on-year +30.38% -31.58% +151.19%

BGP
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing BGP relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

BGP job vacancy trend in the UK

BGP
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing BGP.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing BGP

BGP
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing BGP over the 6 months to 10 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for BGP in the UK

BGP
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing BGP.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing BGP

BGP
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing BGP over the 6 months to 10 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for BGP in the UK

BGP
Top 15 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing BGP within the UK over the 6 months to 10 March 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -96 276 £445 -13.17% 48
UK excluding London -72 189 £445 -11.00% 38
Work from Home -63 97 £438 -20.45% 16
South East 0 92 £445 -25.83% 17
London -80 88 £418 -16.50% 13
West Midlands -21 49 £400 +10.34% 5
Midlands -30 49 £400 +10.34% 7
North of England -85 48 £550 +4.76% 3
North West -55 44 £550 +4.76%
Scotland +7 11 £425 - 3
South West -46 11 £525 +2.44% 3
Yorkshire -55 4 £545 +98.18% 3
Wales -7 3 £425 -5.56% 3
North East -11 3 £550 -
East of England -36 1 - - 4

BGP
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 12 (3.80%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.27%) Confluence
3 2 (0.63%) OpenStack
Applications
1 17 (5.38%) MS Visio
2 8 (2.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 6 (1.90%) Microsoft Office
4 5 (1.58%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 48 (15.19%) AWS
2 42 (13.29%) Azure
3 24 (7.59%) GCP
4 19 (6.01%) Virtual Private Cloud
5 9 (2.85%) AWS Direct Connect
5 9 (2.85%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 7 (2.22%) Route 53
7 6 (1.90%) SaaS
8 4 (1.27%) Amazon EKS
8 4 (1.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
8 4 (1.27%) Azure Sentinel
8 4 (1.27%) IaaS
8 4 (1.27%) PaaS
9 3 (0.95%) Amazon S3
9 3 (0.95%) Catchpoint
9 3 (0.95%) Nutanix
10 2 (0.63%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 2 (0.63%) AWS CloudFormation
10 2 (0.63%) GitHub
10 2 (0.63%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 207 (65.51%) OSPF
2 201 (63.61%) Firewall
3 175 (55.38%) WAN
4 126 (39.87%) LAN
5 112 (35.44%) VPN
6 94 (29.75%) MPLS
7 90 (28.48%) Network Security
8 71 (22.47%) VXLAN
9 66 (20.89%) DNS
10 63 (19.94%) VLAN
11 58 (18.35%) IPsec
11 58 (18.35%) SD-WAN
12 55 (17.41%) Ethernet VPN
13 50 (15.82%) Cisco ASA
14 45 (14.24%) Multicast
15 44 (13.92%) Wireless
16 43 (13.61%) Cisco ISE
16 43 (13.61%) DHCP
17 42 (13.29%) EIGRP
18 40 (12.66%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.32%) Redis
1 1 (0.32%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 15 (4.75%) Git
2 8 (2.53%) Sonatype Nexus
3 5 (1.58%) GitLab
4 4 (1.27%) JIRA
5 3 (0.95%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.32%) AppScan
6 1 (0.32%) Burp Suite
6 1 (0.32%) Metasploit
General
1 61 (19.30%) Social Skills
2 37 (11.71%) Documentation Skills
3 35 (11.08%) Analytical Skills
4 34 (10.76%) Public Sector
5 29 (9.18%) Finance
6 25 (7.91%) Banking
7 19 (6.01%) Telecoms
8 17 (5.38%) Investment Banking
9 15 (4.75%) Financial Institution
9 15 (4.75%) Manufacturing
10 13 (4.11%) Military
11 6 (1.90%) Legal
11 6 (1.90%) Marketing
12 4 (1.27%) French Language
12 4 (1.27%) Influencing Skills
12 4 (1.27%) Retail
13 3 (0.95%) Electronics
14 2 (0.63%) Aviation
14 2 (0.63%) Pharmaceutical
14 2 (0.63%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 181 (57.28%) Network Engineer
2 42 (13.29%) Cisco Engineer
3 38 (12.03%) Architect
3 38 (12.03%) Cisco Network Engineer
4 32 (10.13%) Senior
5 29 (9.18%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
5 29 (9.18%) Security Engineer
6 27 (8.54%) Network Architect
7 24 (7.59%) Network Security Engineer
8 20 (6.33%) Data Network Engineer
9 19 (6.01%) Senior Network Engineer
10 18 (5.70%) Cisco Security Engineer
10 18 (5.70%) Data Engineer
11 17 (5.38%) Network Specialist
12 13 (4.11%) Juniper Engineer
13 11 (3.48%) Design Engineer
13 11 (3.48%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 11 (3.48%) WAN Engineer
14 10 (3.16%) Firewall Specialist
15 9 (2.85%) Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (10.76%) 802.1X
2 8 (2.53%) NETCONF
2 8 (2.53%) YANG
3 6 (1.90%) LDAP
4 5 (1.58%) OpenConfig
4 5 (1.58%) REST
5 4 (1.27%) Jinja
5 4 (1.27%) RESTCONF
5 4 (1.27%) VML
6 2 (0.63%) AWS CDK
6 2 (0.63%) CSS
6 2 (0.63%) HTML
6 2 (0.63%) JSON
6 2 (0.63%) RFC 2544
6 2 (0.63%) XML
7 1 (0.32%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.32%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 130 (41.14%) Data Centre
2 46 (14.56%) PKI
3 20 (6.33%) Clustering
4 11 (3.48%) Hybrid Cloud
5 9 (2.85%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.53%) Analytical Mindset
7 7 (2.22%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.90%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.90%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (1.58%) NHS
9 5 (1.58%) Onboarding
10 4 (1.27%) SCADA
11 3 (0.95%) CESG
11 3 (0.95%) Distributed Architecture
11 3 (0.95%) Linux Command Line
11 3 (0.95%) Private Cloud
11 3 (0.95%) Public Cloud
11 3 (0.95%) Security Posture
11 3 (0.95%) Virtual Team
12 2 (0.63%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 39 (12.34%) Windows
2 21 (6.65%) Linux
3 10 (3.16%) Windows Server
4 7 (2.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 7 (2.22%) Ubuntu
5 1 (0.32%) Kali Linux
5 1 (0.32%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 69 (21.84%) Load Balancing
2 51 (16.14%) Problem-Solving
3 42 (13.29%) High Availability
3 42 (13.29%) Network Design
4 35 (11.08%) Migration
5 31 (9.81%) Cybersecurity
6 29 (9.18%) Change Management
7 27 (8.54%) Network Monitoring
8 26 (8.23%) Observability
9 24 (7.59%) ITIL
10 23 (7.28%) Zero Trust
11 22 (6.96%) Stakeholder Management
12 21 (6.65%) Project Delivery
13 20 (6.33%) Identity Access Management
13 20 (6.33%) Network Segmentation
14 19 (6.01%) CI/CD
15 18 (5.70%) Agile
15 18 (5.70%) Continuous Improvement
15 18 (5.70%) Network Architecture
15 18 (5.70%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 60 (18.99%) Python
2 13 (4.11%) Bash
3 11 (3.48%) PowerShell
4 9 (2.85%) Lisp
5 8 (2.53%) Perl
6 4 (1.27%) PHP
7 3 (0.95%) SQL
8 2 (0.63%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 148 (46.84%) Cisco Certification
2 139 (43.99%) Security Cleared
3 117 (37.03%) CCNP
4 106 (33.54%) SC Cleared
5 47 (14.87%) CCIE
6 41 (12.97%) DV Cleared
7 28 (8.86%) CCNA
8 27 (8.54%) Degree
9 18 (5.70%) JNCIP
10 17 (5.38%) JNCIS
11 12 (3.80%) JNCIA
11 12 (3.80%) JNCIE
12 11 (3.48%) CISSP
13 10 (3.16%) AWS Certification
14 9 (2.85%) CCDP
15 7 (2.22%) GIAC
16 5 (1.58%) Azure Certification
16 5 (1.58%) CCIE Security
16 5 (1.58%) CompTIA Security+
16 5 (1.58%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (4.75%) NIST
2 14 (4.43%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.48%) NCSC
4 10 (3.16%) SLA
5 7 (2.22%) PCI DSS
6 6 (1.90%) GDPR
7 4 (1.27%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (0.95%) RMADS
9 2 (0.63%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.63%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.32%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.32%) COBIT
10 1 (0.32%) GRC
10 1 (0.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.32%) QA
System Software
1 25 (7.91%) VMware Infrastructure
2 15 (4.75%) VMware NSX
3 10 (3.16%) Active Directory
4 8 (2.53%) VMware ESXi
5 6 (1.90%) Docker
6 3 (0.95%) vSphere
7 2 (0.63%) Firmware
7 2 (0.63%) vCloud
8 1 (0.32%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.32%) KVM
8 1 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 54 (17.09%) Ansible
2 53 (16.77%) FortiGate
3 28 (8.86%) Terraform
4 12 (3.80%) Grafana
5 10 (3.16%) Prometheus
6 6 (1.90%) Kubernetes
6 6 (1.90%) vCenter Server
7 5 (1.58%) Nagios
8 3 (0.95%) SCOM
9 2 (0.63%) CASB
9 2 (0.63%) Cisco Prime
9 2 (0.63%) Iperf
9 2 (0.63%) Nmap
9 2 (0.63%) VxRail
10 1 (0.32%) Cisco CUCM
10 1 (0.32%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.32%) Microsoft Intune
10 1 (0.32%) Nessus
10 1 (0.32%) QRadar
10 1 (0.32%) vRealize
Vendors
1 236 (74.68%) Cisco
2 95 (30.06%) F5
3 93 (29.43%) Juniper
4 90 (28.48%) Palo Alto
5 50 (15.82%) CheckPoint
6 49 (15.51%) Fortinet
7 38 (12.03%) Aruba
8 35 (11.08%) SolarWinds
9 31 (9.81%) VMware
10 29 (9.18%) Meraki
11 28 (8.86%) Arista
12 24 (7.59%) Splunk
13 23 (7.28%) Extreme Networks
14 18 (5.70%) Zscaler
15 12 (3.80%) ServiceNow
16 11 (3.48%) Microsoft
16 11 (3.48%) Nokia
16 11 (3.48%) Remedy
17 10 (3.16%) Ekahau
18 7 (2.22%) NVIDIA