Wide Area Network (WAN)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for WAN skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited WAN over the 6 months to 29 April 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
29 Apr 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 117 137 187
Rank change year-on-year +20 +50 -6
Contract jobs citing WAN 848 1,143 1,364
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.95% 1.92% 1.54%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.03% 15.53% 14.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 488 714 886
10th Percentile £263 £257 £213
25th Percentile £360 £350 £319
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% +5.56% +5.88%
75th Percentile £650 £575 £550
90th Percentile £745 £650 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £440 £400
% change year-on-year +13.64% +10.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 41 51
10th Percentile £13.93 £19.50 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.59 £31.25 £19.13
Median hourly rate £24.69 £60.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -58.86% +130.77% +33.33%
75th Percentile £40.00 £80.25 £47.60
90th Percentile £75.24 £85.05 £60.92
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.87 £57.33 £21.75
% change year-on-year -56.62% +163.59% +11.54%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

WAN is in the Communications and Computer Networking category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 5,643 7,361 9,669
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 12.94% 12.33% 10.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,382 4,789 6,330
10th Percentile £205 £235 £228
25th Percentile £350 £400 £385
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £519 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.53% +3.70% +11.11%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £606
90th Percentile £700 £725 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £438
% change year-on-year - +8.57% +9.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 423 478 360
10th Percentile £13.57 £9.80 £14.87
25th Percentile £17.35 £10.63 £17.00
Median hourly rate £38.50 £19.00 £27.88
Median % change year-on-year +102.63% -31.84% +1.36%
75th Percentile £62.50 £60.00 £50.77
90th Percentile £67.40 £75.00 £66.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.88 £18.50 £21.50
% change year-on-year +148.00% -13.95% -10.42%

WAN
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing WAN as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing WAN.

Daily rate trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 29 April 2024.

Daily rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing WAN.

Hourly rate trend for WAN in the UK

WAN
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing WAN over the 6 months to 29 April 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for WAN in the UK

WAN
Top 16 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing WAN within the UK over the 6 months to 29 April 2024. 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 +29 792 £500 +8.11% 417
UK excluding London +20 563 £500 +13.64% 325
London +11 232 £500 -0.25% 118
Work from Home -39 172 £550 +10.00% 171
South East +2 167 £458 +1.67% 77
Midlands +33 166 £375 +6.99% 72
West Midlands +32 155 £375 +7.07% 50
South West +27 108 £650 +33.33% 34
North of England +1 81 £475 +26.67% 79
North West -22 42 £463 +12.12% 55
Yorkshire +42 37 £505 +68.33% 19
Scotland +25 21 £700 +40.00% 20
East of England -8 21 £525 +54.41% 40
East Midlands +4 9 £630 +96.88% 21
North East +15 2 £400 -15.79% 5
Wales -11 1 - - 10

WAN
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 33 (3.89%) Microsoft Exchange
2 16 (1.89%) SharePoint
3 6 (0.71%) IIS
4 5 (0.59%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.35%) nginx
6 2 (0.24%) Confluence
6 2 (0.24%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.12%) Apache
Applications
1 39 (4.60%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (1.89%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.77%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.12%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 3 (0.35%) Remedy ITSM
1 3 (0.35%) Sage X3
2 1 (0.12%) Dynamics NAV
2 1 (0.12%) Refinitiv Enterprise Platform
2 1 (0.12%) RMDS
2 1 (0.12%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 121 (14.27%) Azure
2 72 (8.49%) AWS
2 72 (8.49%) Microsoft 365
3 42 (4.95%) Cloud Computing
4 39 (4.60%) IaaS
5 36 (4.25%) PaaS
6 34 (4.01%) SaaS
7 24 (2.83%) GCP
8 14 (1.65%) Entra ID
9 7 (0.83%) OneDrive
10 6 (0.71%) Cloudflare
10 6 (0.71%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 5 (0.59%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.35%) GitHub
12 3 (0.35%) Google Workspace
12 3 (0.35%) iPaaS
12 3 (0.35%) Nutanix
13 2 (0.24%) Amazon EC2
13 2 (0.24%) Amazon S3
13 2 (0.24%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 569 (67.10%) LAN
2 278 (32.78%) Firewall
3 244 (28.77%) VPN
4 208 (24.53%) BGP
5 204 (24.06%) MPLS
6 170 (20.05%) SD-WAN
7 136 (16.04%) Wireless
8 132 (15.57%) Wi-Fi
9 125 (14.74%) IPsec
10 106 (12.50%) DNS
11 105 (12.38%) OSPF
12 87 (10.26%) Network Security
13 85 (10.02%) DHCP
14 71 (8.37%) WLAN
15 60 (7.08%) Junos
16 54 (6.37%) Cisco ASA
17 53 (6.25%) VoIP
18 47 (5.54%) Cisco Nexus
19 44 (5.19%) TCP/IP
19 44 (5.19%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (2.83%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.59%) MySQL
3 3 (0.35%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.12%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 7 (0.83%) Rational DOORS
2 6 (0.71%) Sonatype Nexus
3 4 (0.47%) JIRA
4 3 (0.35%) Git
5 1 (0.12%) GitLab
5 1 (0.12%) Hudson
5 1 (0.12%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.12%) Katalon Studio
General
1 185 (21.82%) Social Skills
2 133 (15.68%) Public Sector
3 108 (12.74%) Finance
4 66 (7.78%) Telecoms
5 58 (6.84%) Analytical Skills
6 20 (2.36%) Presentation Skills
7 17 (2.00%) Aerospace
8 14 (1.65%) Mandarin Language
9 13 (1.53%) Banking
9 13 (1.53%) Manufacturing
10 11 (1.30%) Documentation Skills
11 10 (1.18%) Legal
12 8 (0.94%) Electronics
12 8 (0.94%) Local Government
12 8 (0.94%) Marketing
12 8 (0.94%) Military
13 7 (0.83%) Aeronautics
13 7 (0.83%) Back Office
13 7 (0.83%) Influencing Skills
14 6 (0.71%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 242 (28.54%) Network Engineer
2 229 (27.00%) Architect
3 159 (18.75%) Network Architect
4 69 (8.14%) Senior
4 69 (8.14%) WAN Engineer
5 49 (5.78%) Support Engineer
6 44 (5.19%) Network Support
7 39 (4.60%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 37 (4.36%) 2nd Line Support
8 37 (4.36%) Senior Network Engineer
9 35 (4.13%) 3rd Line Engineer
10 31 (3.66%) Lead
11 30 (3.54%) 2nd Line Engineer
12 28 (3.30%) 3rd Line Support
12 28 (3.30%) Cisco Engineer
12 28 (3.30%) Cisco Network Engineer
13 27 (3.18%) Analyst
13 27 (3.18%) Consultant
14 24 (2.83%) Technical Architect
15 23 (2.71%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.42%) Web Services
2 11 (1.30%) LDAP
2 11 (1.30%) Middleware
3 6 (0.71%) 802.1X
3 6 (0.71%) EDI
3 6 (0.71%) JSON
4 5 (0.59%) XML
5 4 (0.47%) .NET
6 3 (0.35%) J2EE
6 3 (0.35%) Jinja
6 3 (0.35%) NETCONF
6 3 (0.35%) RESTful
6 3 (0.35%) XMPP
6 3 (0.35%) YANG
7 2 (0.24%) HTML
7 2 (0.24%) XSLT
8 1 (0.12%) Kafka
8 1 (0.12%) LAMP
8 1 (0.12%) libvirt
8 1 (0.12%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 143 (16.86%) Data Centre
2 113 (13.33%) PKI
3 41 (4.83%) Video Conferencing
4 27 (3.18%) Self-Motivation
5 24 (2.83%) Public Cloud
6 21 (2.48%) Clustering
7 20 (2.36%) Driving Licence
7 20 (2.36%) NHS
8 19 (2.24%) Management Information System
9 15 (1.77%) Data Protection Act
10 14 (1.65%) CCTV
10 14 (1.65%) Client/Server
10 14 (1.65%) Operational Technology
11 12 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
12 8 (0.94%) CMDB
13 6 (0.71%) Replication
14 5 (0.59%) Cloud Native
14 5 (0.59%) Product Ownership
14 5 (0.59%) SCADA
14 5 (0.59%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 169 (19.93%) Windows
2 77 (9.08%) Windows Server
3 62 (7.31%) Linux
4 29 (3.42%) Windows 10
5 27 (3.18%) Mac OS
6 18 (2.12%) Unix
7 15 (1.77%) Windows Server 2012
8 13 (1.53%) Windows Server 2019
9 10 (1.18%) Android
10 9 (1.06%) Ubuntu
11 6 (0.71%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 5 (0.59%) Windows Server 2008
12 5 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.35%) CentOS
13 3 (0.35%) Debian
14 2 (0.24%) Apple iOS
14 2 (0.24%) Mac OS X
14 2 (0.24%) Windows 7
14 2 (0.24%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (12.50%) Problem-Solving
2 93 (10.97%) ITIL
3 91 (10.73%) Network Design
4 83 (9.79%) Network Management
5 78 (9.20%) Load Balancing
6 76 (8.96%) Migration
7 71 (8.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 57 (6.72%) Change Management
9 55 (6.49%) Network Architecture
10 54 (6.37%) Project Delivery
10 54 (6.37%) Project Management
11 50 (5.90%) Customer Service
11 50 (5.90%) Cybersecurity
12 47 (5.54%) Technical Leadership
13 45 (5.31%) Agile
13 45 (5.31%) Business Strategy
13 45 (5.31%) Stakeholder Management
14 44 (5.19%) Customer Requirements
15 42 (4.95%) Zero Trust
16 32 (3.77%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 41 (4.83%) PowerShell
2 29 (3.42%) Python
3 16 (1.89%) SQL
4 6 (0.71%) Bash
5 5 (0.59%) Kusto Query Language
6 4 (0.47%) Java
7 2 (0.24%) C#
7 2 (0.24%) Perl
8 1 (0.12%) C
8 1 (0.12%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 353 (41.63%) Security Cleared
2 166 (19.58%) SC Cleared
3 154 (18.16%) Cisco Certification
4 101 (11.91%) CCNP
4 101 (11.91%) Degree
5 83 (9.79%) CCNA
6 82 (9.67%) DV Cleared
7 36 (4.25%) CCIE
8 18 (2.12%) Microsoft Certification
9 16 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
9 16 (1.89%) JNCIA
10 9 (1.06%) CCIE Data Center
10 9 (1.06%) ITIL Certification
11 8 (0.94%) BC Cleared
11 8 (0.94%) Computer Science Degree
11 8 (0.94%) HND
11 8 (0.94%) Network+ Certification
12 6 (0.71%) CCDP
12 6 (0.71%) JNCIS
13 5 (0.59%) CCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (5.19%) SLA
2 26 (3.07%) QA
3 19 (2.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.18%) ISO 9000
4 10 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
5 9 (1.06%) NCSC
6 4 (0.47%) GDPR
7 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.24%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.12%) COBIT
8 1 (0.12%) Disclosure Scotland
8 1 (0.12%) HL7
8 1 (0.12%) ISO 22301
8 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.12%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.12%) NIST
8 1 (0.12%) RMADS
System Software
1 110 (12.97%) Active Directory
2 83 (9.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 33 (3.89%) Hyper-V
4 21 (2.48%) Virtual Servers
5 19 (2.24%) VMware NSX
6 18 (2.12%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.18%) Firmware
7 10 (1.18%) Virtual Desktop
8 9 (1.06%) VMware Workstation
9 6 (0.71%) vSphere
10 5 (0.59%) Virtual Machines
11 4 (0.47%) XenApp
12 3 (0.35%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 2 (0.24%) Terminal Services
14 1 (0.12%) Ceph
14 1 (0.12%) Docker
14 1 (0.12%) iptables
14 1 (0.12%) KVM
14 1 (0.12%) Samba
14 1 (0.12%) VMware Server
Systems Management
1 44 (5.19%) SCCM
2 37 (4.36%) FortiGate
3 25 (2.95%) Endace
4 20 (2.36%) Microsoft Intune
5 19 (2.24%) Ansible
6 18 (2.12%) Terraform
7 10 (1.18%) Microsoft Clustering
8 9 (1.06%) Kubernetes
9 8 (0.94%) Failover Clustering
9 8 (0.94%) Jamf Pro
9 8 (0.94%) Nagios
9 8 (0.94%) NetBackup
9 8 (0.94%) SCOM
10 7 (0.83%) vCenter Server
11 6 (0.71%) Autotask
11 6 (0.71%) VxRail
12 5 (0.59%) Nessus
12 5 (0.59%) OpenView
13 3 (0.35%) AppManager
13 3 (0.35%) OPNET
Vendors
1 401 (47.29%) Cisco
2 230 (27.12%) Juniper
3 121 (14.27%) Microsoft
4 112 (13.21%) VMware
5 111 (13.09%) Palo Alto
6 81 (9.55%) F5
7 66 (7.78%) Fortinet
8 53 (6.25%) CheckPoint
9 44 (5.19%) Meraki
10 43 (5.07%) Aruba
11 33 (3.89%) Citrix
12 28 (3.30%) SolarWinds
13 24 (2.83%) HP
14 23 (2.71%) Zscaler
15 20 (2.36%) Infoblox
16 15 (1.77%) SAP
17 13 (1.53%) Veeam
18 12 (1.42%) Apple
18 12 (1.42%) Nokia
18 12 (1.42%) Splunk