Virtual Private Network (VPN)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for VPN skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited VPN over the 6 months to 20 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
20 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 148 194 257
Rank change year-on-year +46 +63 -8
Contract jobs citing VPN 692 775 983
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.63% 1.35% 1.11%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 12.80% 10.87% 10.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 427 479 699
10th Percentile £200 £160 £170
25th Percentile £275 £251 £322
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £430 £463 £475
Median % change year-on-year -7.03% -2.63% +11.76%
75th Percentile £575 £584 £580
90th Percentile £785 £688 £659
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £450 £400
% change year-on-year -5.56% +12.50% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 16 31
10th Percentile £12.75 £15.36 £16.00
25th Percentile £13.87 £18.01 £16.97
Median hourly rate £16.56 £21.61 £20.51
Median % change year-on-year -23.39% +5.36% +10.86%
75th Percentile £22.52 £62.31 £28.38
90th Percentile £24.43 £69.61 £53.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £14.27 £21.61 £18.88
% change year-on-year -33.97% +14.49% -3.21%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

VPN 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 5,406 7,129 9,690
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 12.71% 12.45% 10.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,227 4,606 6,336
10th Percentile £205 £235 £233
25th Percentile £350 £400 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £518 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.31% +3.50% +11.11%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £613
90th Percentile £690 £725 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £450
% change year-on-year - +5.56% +11.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 416 460 376
10th Percentile £13.50 £9.80 £15.25
25th Percentile £16.30 £10.63 £17.00
Median hourly rate £40.00 £18.50 £26.75
Median % change year-on-year +116.22% -30.84% +7.00%
75th Percentile £63.75 £59.09 £50.83
90th Percentile £70.00 £74.55 £65.77
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.88 £18.22 £21.50
% change year-on-year +151.88% -15.28% -5.49%

VPN
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Job vacancy trend for VPN in the UK

VPN
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

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

Daily rate trend for VPN in the UK

VPN
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing VPN over the 6 months to 20 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for VPN in the UK

VPN
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

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

Hourly rate trend for VPN in the UK

VPN
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing VPN over the 6 months to 20 May 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for VPN in the UK

VPN
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 VPN within the UK over the 6 months to 20 May 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 +58 628 £430 -9.47% 305
UK excluding London +62 440 £425 -5.56% 230
London +15 203 £400 -11.11% 99
Work from Home +30 181 £500 - 125
South East +32 116 £423 -15.50% 51
Midlands +28 108 £375 -25.00% 47
North of England +61 101 £601 +84.92% 61
West Midlands +28 88 £375 -27.88% 24
North West +48 75 £800 +146.15% 26
South West +10 46 £475 -2.56% 31
East of England +5 33 £450 -21.74% 21
Scotland +39 27 £240 +50.00% 18
Yorkshire +18 25 £300 -14.29% 27
East Midlands +20 20 £338 -3.57% 23
Wales +26 11 £425 -2.86% 3
North East +12 1 £600 +174.29% 8

VPN
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 50 (7.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 30 (4.34%) SharePoint
3 17 (2.46%) Confluence
4 11 (1.59%) Apache
4 11 (1.59%) Apache Airflow
5 7 (1.01%) IIS
6 5 (0.72%) Skype for Business
7 4 (0.58%) CMS
7 4 (0.58%) MQSeries
8 3 (0.43%) WordPress
9 2 (0.29%) nginx
10 1 (0.14%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.14%) OpenStack
10 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
Applications
1 82 (11.85%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.72%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.29%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (0.43%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.29%) Dynamics NAV
2 2 (0.29%) Eikon
3 1 (0.14%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 153 (22.11%) Azure
2 106 (15.32%) AWS
3 85 (12.28%) Microsoft 365
4 45 (6.50%) GCP
5 33 (4.77%) PaaS
6 31 (4.48%) Entra ID
7 25 (3.61%) IaaS
8 17 (2.46%) GitHub
9 16 (2.31%) OneDrive
10 15 (2.17%) Cloud Computing
10 15 (2.17%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 13 (1.88%) SaaS
12 12 (1.73%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 10 (1.45%) Azure DevOps
14 9 (1.30%) Kong
15 8 (1.16%) Amazon EC2
15 8 (1.16%) AWS CloudFormation
16 7 (1.01%) Cloudflare
17 6 (0.87%) Apigee
17 6 (0.87%) Mimecast
Communications & Networking
1 350 (50.58%) Firewall
2 217 (31.36%) WAN
3 153 (22.11%) LAN
4 135 (19.51%) DNS
5 132 (19.08%) BGP
6 119 (17.20%) MPLS
7 101 (14.60%) IPsec
8 92 (13.29%) Network Security
9 90 (13.01%) OSPF
9 90 (13.01%) Wireless
10 83 (11.99%) TCP/IP
11 71 (10.26%) DHCP
12 64 (9.25%) VLAN
12 64 (9.25%) Wi-Fi
13 50 (7.23%) Junos
14 49 (7.08%) SD-WAN
15 43 (6.21%) Cisco ASA
16 42 (6.07%) Cisco Nexus
17 33 (4.77%) VoIP
18 31 (4.48%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.88%) Elasticsearch
2 10 (1.45%) MongoDB
2 10 (1.45%) NoSQL
2 10 (1.45%) PostgreSQL
3 8 (1.16%) SQL Server
4 7 (1.01%) Amazon RDS
5 6 (0.87%) MySQL
6 4 (0.58%) Amazon QuickSight
6 4 (0.58%) Azure SQL Database
6 4 (0.58%) MariaDB
7 3 (0.43%) Amazon Aurora
7 3 (0.43%) Data Lake
8 2 (0.29%) Power BI
8 2 (0.29%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.29%) Relational Database
9 1 (0.14%) BusinessObjects
9 1 (0.14%) InfluxDB
9 1 (0.14%) Redis
Development Applications
1 40 (5.78%) JIRA
2 24 (3.47%) Git
3 23 (3.32%) GitLab
4 12 (1.73%) Jenkins
5 11 (1.59%) Robot Framework
5 11 (1.59%) TestRail
6 9 (1.30%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 9 (1.30%) CircleCI
6 9 (1.30%) Travis CI
7 7 (1.01%) Sonatype Nexus
8 5 (0.72%) Bitbucket
8 5 (0.72%) Spinnaker
9 4 (0.58%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.58%) Snyk
10 3 (0.43%) Postman
10 3 (0.43%) Visual Studio
11 2 (0.29%) Visual Studio Code
12 1 (0.14%) MSI
12 1 (0.14%) Subversion
General
1 169 (24.42%) Social Skills
2 77 (11.13%) Finance
3 72 (10.40%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (7.80%) Public Sector
5 34 (4.91%) Telecoms
6 23 (3.32%) Banking
7 18 (2.60%) Legal
8 14 (2.02%) Investment Banking
9 13 (1.88%) Organisational Skills
10 12 (1.73%) Documentation Skills
10 12 (1.73%) Retail
11 11 (1.59%) Manufacturing
12 10 (1.45%) Financial Institution
13 9 (1.30%) Electronics
13 9 (1.30%) Marketing
14 8 (1.16%) Mandarin Language
14 8 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
15 5 (0.72%) Automotive
15 5 (0.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 4 (0.58%) Law
Job Titles
1 171 (24.71%) Network Engineer
2 105 (15.17%) Architect
3 70 (10.12%) Support Engineer
4 56 (8.09%) Lead
5 47 (6.79%) Technical Architect
6 41 (5.92%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 37 (5.35%) Analyst
7 37 (5.35%) Network Architect
7 37 (5.35%) Senior
8 35 (5.06%) 3rd Line Support
8 35 (5.06%) Desktop Engineer
8 35 (5.06%) Lead Architect
8 35 (5.06%) Technical Leader
9 34 (4.91%) Desktop Support
10 33 (4.77%) IT Support
11 32 (4.62%) Network Support
12 26 (3.76%) Network Specialist
12 26 (3.76%) WAN Engineer
13 25 (3.61%) Cisco Engineer
13 25 (3.61%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (6.36%) Node.js
2 25 (3.61%) JSON
3 18 (2.60%) HTML
3 18 (2.60%) LDAP
3 18 (2.60%) React
4 17 (2.46%) CSS
5 16 (2.31%) NETCONF
6 15 (2.17%) XML
6 15 (2.17%) YAML
6 15 (2.17%) YANG
7 14 (2.02%) .NET
8 13 (1.88%) Elastic Stack
8 13 (1.88%) Web Services
8 13 (1.88%) XMPP
9 11 (1.59%) REST
9 11 (1.59%) RESTCONF
9 11 (1.59%) SAML
9 11 (1.59%) SOAP
10 6 (0.87%) OAuth
10 6 (0.87%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 77 (11.13%) PKI
2 56 (8.09%) Public Cloud
3 44 (6.36%) Data Centre
4 26 (3.76%) Video Conferencing
5 18 (2.60%) Clustering
6 15 (2.17%) Product Ownership
6 15 (2.17%) Self-Motivation
7 13 (1.88%) BYOD
8 11 (1.59%) Cloud Native
8 11 (1.59%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (1.59%) iPad
9 9 (1.30%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.30%) Hedge funds
9 9 (1.30%) Management Information System
10 8 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
10 8 (1.16%) Blackberry
10 8 (1.16%) NHS
10 8 (1.16%) Onboarding
11 7 (1.01%) Data Protection Act
11 7 (1.01%) iPhone
Operating Systems
1 259 (37.43%) Windows
2 114 (16.47%) Windows Server
3 101 (14.60%) Windows 10
4 63 (9.10%) Linux
5 56 (8.09%) Windows 7
6 54 (7.80%) Android
7 53 (7.66%) Apple iOS
8 27 (3.90%) Mac OS
9 18 (2.60%) Windows Server 2019
10 16 (2.31%) Unix
11 11 (1.59%) Windows Server 2016
12 10 (1.45%) Windows Server 2012
13 6 (0.87%) VMS
14 3 (0.43%) Mac OS X
14 3 (0.43%) Ubuntu
14 3 (0.43%) Windows Server 2003
14 3 (0.43%) Windows XP
15 2 (0.29%) Windows Server 2008
16 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
16 1 (0.14%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 123 (17.77%) Problem-Solving
2 105 (15.17%) Agile
2 105 (15.17%) CI/CD
3 101 (14.60%) DevOps
4 98 (14.16%) Customer Service
5 78 (11.27%) Load Balancing
6 68 (9.83%) ITIL
7 63 (9.10%) Mobile Device Management
8 58 (8.38%) Migration
8 58 (8.38%) Zero Trust
9 54 (7.80%) Project Management
9 54 (7.80%) Risk Management
10 53 (7.66%) Security Architecture
11 51 (7.37%) Network Design
12 49 (7.08%) Project Delivery
13 46 (6.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 44 (6.36%) Design Patterns
14 44 (6.36%) High Availability
15 43 (6.21%) Infrastructure as Code
16 41 (5.92%) Threat Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 67 (9.68%) PowerShell
2 64 (9.25%) Python
3 29 (4.19%) SQL
4 24 (3.47%) Java
5 16 (2.31%) Bash
6 15 (2.17%) TypeScript
7 10 (1.45%) C#
8 7 (1.01%) PHP
9 5 (0.72%) JavaScript
10 4 (0.58%) Go
11 3 (0.43%) ActionScript
11 3 (0.43%) Bicep
11 3 (0.43%) Perl
11 3 (0.43%) Ruby
12 1 (0.14%) C
12 1 (0.14%) C++
12 1 (0.14%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 200 (28.90%) Security Cleared
2 115 (16.62%) SC Cleared
3 106 (15.32%) Cisco Certification
4 74 (10.69%) CCNP
5 62 (8.96%) Degree
6 46 (6.65%) CCNA
7 32 (4.62%) CCIE
8 19 (2.75%) DV Cleared
9 18 (2.60%) Computer Science Degree
9 18 (2.60%) Microsoft Certification
10 13 (1.88%) A+ Certification
11 12 (1.73%) AWS Certification
11 12 (1.73%) BPSS Clearance
11 12 (1.73%) JNCIA
11 12 (1.73%) MCSE
12 9 (1.30%) CCIE Data Center
13 7 (1.01%) MCSA
14 6 (0.87%) CCSA
15 5 (0.72%) CISSP
15 5 (0.72%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 50 (7.23%) SLA
2 24 (3.47%) QA
3 10 (1.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 8 (1.16%) PCI DSS
5 4 (0.58%) HIPAA
5 4 (0.58%) NIST
6 3 (0.43%) GDPR
6 3 (0.43%) NCSC
7 2 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.29%) Disclosure Scotland
7 2 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.14%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.14%) GRC
8 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
8 1 (0.14%) SOC 2
System Software
1 135 (19.51%) Active Directory
2 72 (10.40%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (5.78%) Docker
4 37 (5.35%) Hyper-V
5 23 (3.32%) Virtual Machines
6 14 (2.02%) Firmware
6 14 (2.02%) Terminal Services
6 14 (2.02%) vSphere
7 13 (1.88%) VMware NSX
8 12 (1.73%) VMware ESXi
9 11 (1.59%) BitLocker
10 9 (1.30%) Virtual Servers
11 8 (1.16%) Virtual Desktop
12 7 (1.01%) Microsoft App-V
13 5 (0.72%) VMware Workstation
14 4 (0.58%) NFS
14 4 (0.58%) Samba
15 2 (0.29%) Squid
16 1 (0.14%) Terminal Server
Systems Management
1 56 (8.09%) SCCM
2 45 (6.50%) Terraform
3 41 (5.92%) Ansible
4 37 (5.35%) Kubernetes
5 26 (3.76%) FortiGate
5 26 (3.76%) Microsoft Intune
6 18 (2.60%) Grafana
7 17 (2.46%) Prometheus
8 12 (1.73%) Puppet
9 9 (1.30%) Docker Swarm
9 9 (1.30%) Kibana
9 9 (1.30%) logstash
9 9 (1.30%) Progress Chef
10 8 (1.16%) Failover Clustering
10 8 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
10 8 (1.16%) Single Sign-On
11 6 (0.87%) Autotask
11 6 (0.87%) Istio
11 6 (0.87%) vCenter Server
12 5 (0.72%) vMotion
Vendors
1 231 (33.38%) Cisco
2 180 (26.01%) Microsoft
3 134 (19.36%) Juniper
4 90 (13.01%) VMware
5 72 (10.40%) Palo Alto
6 51 (7.37%) F5
7 50 (7.23%) Fortinet
8 45 (6.50%) CheckPoint
9 42 (6.07%) Citrix
10 34 (4.91%) ServiceNow
11 24 (3.47%) Apple
12 23 (3.32%) Zscaler
13 22 (3.18%) Google
14 20 (2.89%) Blue Coat
14 20 (2.89%) SolarWinds
14 20 (2.89%) Splunk
15 19 (2.75%) Infoblox
16 17 (2.46%) Aruba
17 14 (2.02%) HP
18 13 (1.88%) Meraki