WAN Contracts

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 1 June 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 127 121 179
Rank change year-on-year -6 +58 +8
Contract jobs citing WAN 774 1,198 1,380
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.80% 2.14% 1.58%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.26% 16.82% 14.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 430 715 910
10th Percentile £262 £263 £225
25th Percentile £363 £350 £320
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.63% +5.56% +5.88%
75th Percentile £650 £588 £568
90th Percentile £726 £675 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £412
% change year-on-year +11.76% +3.22% +2.93%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 45 55
10th Percentile £13.40 £16.40 £13.00
25th Percentile £16.00 £22.00 £19.88
Median hourly rate £24.87 £57.33 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year -56.62% +101.16% +39.02%
75th Percentile £40.00 £78.75 £55.50
90th Percentile £62.82 £84.53 £60.93
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.87 £54.83 £22.50
% change year-on-year -54.64% +143.69% +12.50%

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 5,426 7,124 9,720
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 12.60% 12.71% 11.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,234 4,603 6,376
10th Percentile £206 £240 £240
25th Percentile £350 £400 £399
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% +2.50% +11.11%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £613
90th Percentile £688 £719 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £450
% change year-on-year +0.95% +5.56% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 417 443 367
10th Percentile £13.50 £9.80 £15.25
25th Percentile £16.30 £10.63 £16.75
Median hourly rate £40.00 £18.24 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +119.30% -29.85% +4.00%
75th Percentile £63.75 £59.54 £50.77
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £65.54
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.88 £18.00 £21.50
% change year-on-year +154.89% -16.28% -1.15%

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 1 June 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 1 June 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 1 June 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 +2 719 £488 +2.63% 358
UK excluding London -3 506 £475 +11.76% 286
London -2 214 £500 -9.09% 96
South East -9 170 £450 - 59
Work from Home -69 147 £550 +10.00% 172
Midlands +18 144 £375 +3.45% 55
West Midlands +23 134 £375 +7.14% 40
South West +2 89 £650 +35.06% 31
North of England -30 68 £400 - 90
Yorkshire +36 36 £463 +34.45% 31
North West -50 30 £350 -17.65% 52
East of England -27 18 £525 +52.73% 30
Scotland +9 15 £550 +7.32% 15
East Midlands 0 9 £543 +55.00% 15
Wales -3 4 £263 -19.23% 10
North East +11 2 £400 +190.91% 7

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 26 (3.36%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (1.68%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.26%) Confluence
3 2 (0.26%) OpenStack
3 2 (0.26%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.13%) Apache
4 1 (0.13%) IIS
Applications
1 38 (4.91%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (1.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.68%) MS Visio
4 9 (1.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.13%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 3 (0.39%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.13%) Dynamics NAV
2 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 118 (15.25%) Azure
2 69 (8.91%) AWS
3 56 (7.24%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (5.04%) IaaS
5 38 (4.91%) Cloud Computing
6 36 (4.65%) PaaS
7 34 (4.39%) SaaS
8 24 (3.10%) GCP
9 12 (1.55%) Entra ID
10 6 (0.78%) Cloudflare
10 6 (0.78%) GitHub
11 5 (0.65%) OneDrive
11 5 (0.65%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 4 (0.52%) WhatsApp
13 3 (0.39%) Google Workspace
13 3 (0.39%) iPaaS
13 3 (0.39%) Mimecast
13 3 (0.39%) Nutanix
14 2 (0.26%) Azure Key Vault
14 2 (0.26%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 497 (64.21%) LAN
2 243 (31.40%) Firewall
3 217 (28.04%) VPN
4 194 (25.06%) MPLS
5 181 (23.39%) BGP
6 167 (21.58%) SD-WAN
7 123 (15.89%) Wi-Fi
8 109 (14.08%) Wireless
9 105 (13.57%) IPsec
10 93 (12.02%) DNS
11 90 (11.63%) OSPF
12 77 (9.95%) DHCP
13 76 (9.82%) Network Security
14 63 (8.14%) WLAN
15 60 (7.75%) Junos
16 45 (5.81%) Cisco Nexus
17 41 (5.30%) Cisco ASA
18 39 (5.04%) Cisco Firepower
18 39 (5.04%) TCP/IP
18 39 (5.04%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.07%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Azure SQL Database
2 1 (0.13%) MySQL
2 1 (0.13%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 7 (0.90%) JIRA
1 7 (0.90%) Rational DOORS
2 6 (0.78%) Sonatype Nexus
3 3 (0.39%) Git
4 1 (0.13%) GitLab
4 1 (0.13%) Hudson
4 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.13%) Katalon Studio
General
1 182 (23.51%) Social Skills
2 109 (14.08%) Public Sector
3 102 (13.18%) Finance
4 58 (7.49%) Telecoms
5 51 (6.59%) Analytical Skills
6 17 (2.20%) Presentation Skills
7 15 (1.94%) Aerospace
8 13 (1.68%) Documentation Skills
9 12 (1.55%) Banking
10 11 (1.42%) Mandarin Language
10 11 (1.42%) Manufacturing
11 10 (1.29%) Influencing Skills
12 8 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 7 (0.90%) Aeronautics
13 7 (0.90%) Legal
13 7 (0.90%) Military
14 6 (0.78%) Financial Institution
14 6 (0.78%) Pharmaceutical
15 5 (0.65%) Back Office
15 5 (0.65%) Retail
Job Titles
1 222 (28.68%) Network Engineer
2 203 (26.23%) Architect
3 150 (19.38%) Network Architect
4 67 (8.66%) Senior
5 59 (7.62%) WAN Engineer
6 46 (5.94%) Support Engineer
7 42 (5.43%) Network Support
8 40 (5.17%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 36 (4.65%) Consultant
10 35 (4.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 33 (4.26%) Analyst
11 33 (4.26%) Senior Network Engineer
12 31 (4.01%) 2nd Line Support
12 31 (4.01%) 3rd Line Support
13 27 (3.49%) Lead
14 22 (2.84%) Solutions Architect
14 22 (2.84%) Technical Architect
15 20 (2.58%) Cisco Engineer
15 20 (2.58%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 20 (2.58%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.55%) Middleware
1 12 (1.55%) Web Services
2 6 (0.78%) 802.1X
3 5 (0.65%) JSON
3 5 (0.65%) XML
4 4 (0.52%) EDI
4 4 (0.52%) LDAP
5 3 (0.39%) .NET
5 3 (0.39%) J2EE
5 3 (0.39%) Jinja
5 3 (0.39%) NETCONF
5 3 (0.39%) RESTful
5 3 (0.39%) XMPP
5 3 (0.39%) YANG
6 2 (0.26%) XSLT
7 1 (0.13%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.13%) HTML
7 1 (0.13%) LAMP
7 1 (0.13%) libvirt
7 1 (0.13%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 124 (16.02%) Data Centre
2 94 (12.14%) PKI
3 25 (3.23%) Video Conferencing
4 23 (2.97%) Public Cloud
5 20 (2.58%) Clustering
5 20 (2.58%) Self-Motivation
6 19 (2.45%) Driving Licence
7 16 (2.07%) Data Protection Act
8 15 (1.94%) Operational Technology
9 14 (1.81%) Management Information System
10 13 (1.68%) Client/Server
11 12 (1.55%) Hybrid Cloud
12 11 (1.42%) NHS
13 9 (1.16%) CMDB
14 8 (1.03%) CCTV
15 7 (0.90%) Replication
16 5 (0.65%) Cloud Native
16 5 (0.65%) Product Ownership
16 5 (0.65%) SCADA
17 4 (0.52%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 147 (18.99%) Windows
2 64 (8.27%) Linux
2 64 (8.27%) Windows Server
3 25 (3.23%) Mac OS
3 25 (3.23%) Windows 10
4 15 (1.94%) Unix
5 13 (1.68%) Windows Server 2012
6 10 (1.29%) Windows Server 2019
7 8 (1.03%) Android
7 8 (1.03%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.90%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.52%) CentOS
11 3 (0.39%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.39%) Debian
11 3 (0.39%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.26%) Mac OS X
12 2 (0.26%) zOS
13 1 (0.13%) Windows 8
13 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (12.53%) Problem-Solving
2 90 (11.63%) Network Design
3 87 (11.24%) ITIL
4 78 (10.08%) Network Management
5 74 (9.56%) Load Balancing
6 65 (8.40%) Migration
7 59 (7.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 58 (7.49%) Project Delivery
9 55 (7.11%) Change Management
10 54 (6.98%) Project Management
11 53 (6.85%) Network Architecture
12 49 (6.33%) Cybersecurity
13 47 (6.07%) Business Strategy
14 45 (5.81%) Customer Requirements
15 44 (5.68%) Customer Service
16 43 (5.56%) Agile
16 43 (5.56%) Zero Trust
17 38 (4.91%) Technical Leadership
18 35 (4.52%) Stakeholder Management
19 32 (4.13%) Cloud Security
Programming Languages
1 37 (4.78%) PowerShell
2 27 (3.49%) Python
3 11 (1.42%) SQL
4 6 (0.78%) Bash
5 5 (0.65%) Kusto Query Language
6 3 (0.39%) Java
7 1 (0.13%) Bicep
7 1 (0.13%) C
7 1 (0.13%) C#
7 1 (0.13%) Perl
Qualifications
1 309 (39.92%) Security Cleared
2 149 (19.25%) Cisco Certification
3 124 (16.02%) SC Cleared
4 97 (12.53%) CCNP
5 86 (11.11%) Degree
6 82 (10.59%) DV Cleared
7 75 (9.69%) CCNA
8 42 (5.43%) CCIE
9 14 (1.81%) JNCIA
10 13 (1.68%) Microsoft Certification
11 12 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
12 11 (1.42%) Computer Science Degree
13 9 (1.16%) CCIE Data Center
14 8 (1.03%) HND
14 8 (1.03%) Network+ Certification
15 7 (0.90%) AWS Certification
16 6 (0.78%) BC Cleared
16 6 (0.78%) JNCIS
17 5 (0.65%) CCDP
17 5 (0.65%) CCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (4.65%) SLA
2 21 (2.71%) QA
3 20 (2.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.29%) ISO 9000
4 10 (1.29%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
4 10 (1.29%) NCSC
5 7 (0.90%) GDPR
6 5 (0.65%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.39%) COBIT
8 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.13%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.13%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.13%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.13%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.13%) NIST
9 1 (0.13%) PMO
9 1 (0.13%) RMADS
System Software
1 90 (11.63%) Active Directory
2 84 (10.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (3.88%) Hyper-V
4 25 (3.23%) VMware NSX
5 23 (2.97%) Virtual Servers
6 16 (2.07%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.29%) Firmware
7 10 (1.29%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (1.03%) Virtual Machines
8 8 (1.03%) VMware Workstation
8 8 (1.03%) vSphere
9 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 4 (0.52%) VMware Server
11 3 (0.39%) XenApp
12 2 (0.26%) Terminal Services
13 1 (0.13%) Ceph
13 1 (0.13%) iptables
13 1 (0.13%) NFS
13 1 (0.13%) Samba
13 1 (0.13%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 35 (4.52%) SCCM
2 27 (3.49%) FortiGate
3 26 (3.36%) Endace
4 19 (2.45%) Ansible
5 18 (2.33%) Terraform
6 12 (1.55%) Microsoft Intune
7 9 (1.16%) Microsoft Clustering
7 9 (1.16%) SCOM
7 9 (1.16%) vCenter Server
8 8 (1.03%) Failover Clustering
8 8 (1.03%) Jamf Pro
8 8 (1.03%) Nagios
8 8 (1.03%) NetBackup
9 7 (0.90%) Kubernetes
10 6 (0.78%) Autotask
11 5 (0.65%) Nessus
11 5 (0.65%) OpenView
11 5 (0.65%) VxRail
12 3 (0.39%) AppManager
12 3 (0.39%) OPNET
Vendors
1 367 (47.42%) Cisco
2 211 (27.26%) Juniper
3 112 (14.47%) Microsoft
4 106 (13.70%) VMware
5 102 (13.18%) Palo Alto
6 86 (11.11%) F5
7 60 (7.75%) Fortinet
8 51 (6.59%) CheckPoint
9 49 (6.33%) Aruba
10 43 (5.56%) Meraki
11 32 (4.13%) Citrix
12 28 (3.62%) Zscaler
13 19 (2.45%) HP
13 19 (2.45%) SolarWinds
14 18 (2.33%) Infoblox
15 12 (1.55%) Apple
15 12 (1.55%) ServiceNow
16 11 (1.42%) Dell
16 11 (1.42%) Nokia
16 11 (1.42%) Splunk