Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in the City of London

Problem Solving
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the City of London requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 4 9
Rank change year-on-year -17 +5 +15
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 236 330 288
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 10.50% 18.82% 13.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.79% 20.00% 14.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 162 218 187
10th Percentile £283 £315 £344
25th Percentile £419 £406 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% -4.35% -
75th Percentile £650 £683 £688
90th Percentile £725 £816 £755
Central London median daily rate £520 £544 £565
% change year-on-year -4.37% -3.76% +2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 4 1
10th Percentile £17.29 £16.23 -
25th Percentile - £21.06 £14.00
Median hourly rate £17.60 £26.00 £15.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.31% +73.33% -60.00%
75th Percentile - £37.50 £16.00
90th Percentile £21.01 £53.25 -
Central London median hourly rate £17.60 £34.48 £20.78
% change year-on-year -48.96% +65.93% -44.59%

All Process & Methodology Skills
City of London

Problem-Solving falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the City of London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,001 1,650 1,936
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 89.05% 94.12% 91.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,381 1,099 1,222
10th Percentile £368 £324 £375
25th Percentile £456 £415 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year - -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £675 £675 £688
90th Percentile £775 £763 £788
Central London median daily rate £550 £550 £575
% change year-on-year - -4.35% -4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 21 16
10th Percentile - £17.08 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.60 £23.75 £20.00
Median hourly rate £21.75 £28.15 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.74% +4.26% +8.00%
75th Percentile £32.57 £56.75 £82.19
90th Percentile £51.54 £63.75 £137.50
Central London median hourly rate £26.13 £28.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -8.32% -18.57% +34.62%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the City of London

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in the City of London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the City of London over the 6 months to 18 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the City of London

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of London 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 14 (5.93%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (5.08%) Confluence
3 10 (4.24%) SharePoint
4 6 (2.54%) Apache Airflow
5 4 (1.69%) Apache Spark
6 3 (1.27%) Apache
7 2 (0.85%) CICS
7 2 (0.85%) SAS
8 1 (0.42%) CMS
8 1 (0.42%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.42%) IIS
8 1 (0.42%) MQSeries
8 1 (0.42%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 9 (3.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.97%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (1.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (1.27%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.42%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 5 (2.12%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (1.69%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (1.27%) Aladdin
3 3 (1.27%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.85%) SAP GRC
4 2 (0.85%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.42%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle Assets
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle E-Business Tax
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle FAH
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle Financials
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle General Ledger
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle Internet Expenses
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle iProcurement
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.42%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.42%) SAP BRIM
5 1 (0.42%) SAP CRM
5 1 (0.42%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 56 (23.73%) Azure
2 32 (13.56%) AWS
3 26 (11.02%) Microsoft 365
4 22 (9.32%) Power Platform
5 17 (7.20%) Entra ID
6 15 (6.36%) Azure DevOps
7 12 (5.08%) GitHub
8 11 (4.66%) GCP
8 11 (4.66%) Serverless
9 10 (4.24%) SaaS
10 7 (2.97%) Amazon S3
10 7 (2.97%) AWS Lambda
10 7 (2.97%) Azure Data Factory
10 7 (2.97%) dbt
11 6 (2.54%) Microsoft Copilot
11 6 (2.54%) PowerApps
12 5 (2.12%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (2.12%) GitHub Copilot
12 5 (2.12%) OneDrive
12 5 (2.12%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 15 (6.36%) DNS
2 14 (5.93%) VPN
3 10 (4.24%) TCP/IP
4 9 (3.81%) DHCP
5 7 (2.97%) Firewall
6 5 (2.12%) VLAN
7 4 (1.69%) Network Security
8 3 (1.27%) LAN
8 3 (1.27%) WAN
8 3 (1.27%) Wi-Fi
9 2 (0.85%) BGP
9 2 (0.85%) SSL
9 2 (0.85%) Structured Cabling
9 2 (0.85%) Unified Communications
10 1 (0.42%) DKIM
10 1 (0.42%) DMARC
10 1 (0.42%) Ethernet VPN
10 1 (0.42%) Multicast
10 1 (0.42%) NX-OS
10 1 (0.42%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (6.36%) Power BI
2 12 (5.08%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (3.39%) Metadata
4 7 (2.97%) NoSQL
5 6 (2.54%) SQL Server
6 4 (1.69%) Data Lake
6 4 (1.69%) Delta Lake
6 4 (1.69%) MongoDB
6 4 (1.69%) SAP BW
6 4 (1.69%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (1.27%) Db2
7 3 (1.27%) DynamoDB
7 3 (1.27%) Hadoop
7 3 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (1.27%) Power Query
7 3 (1.27%) Relational Database
7 3 (1.27%) Tableau
8 2 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.85%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.85%) Data Vault
Development Applications
1 35 (14.83%) JIRA
2 10 (4.24%) Git
3 9 (3.81%) Jenkins
4 6 (2.54%) GitLab
5 4 (1.69%) Bitbucket
5 4 (1.69%) JUnit
5 4 (1.69%) Selenium
6 3 (1.27%) Artifactory
6 3 (1.27%) Mockito
6 3 (1.27%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.85%) Appium
7 2 (0.85%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.85%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.85%) JDeveloper
7 2 (0.85%) JMeter
7 2 (0.85%) Maven
7 2 (0.85%) Visual Studio
7 2 (0.85%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.42%) HP UFT
8 1 (0.42%) LoadRunner
General
1 120 (50.85%) Social Skills
2 100 (42.37%) Analytical Skills
3 80 (33.90%) Finance
4 32 (13.56%) Banking
5 19 (8.05%) Public Sector
6 12 (5.08%) Front Office
7 11 (4.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 11 (4.66%) Influencing Skills
7 11 (4.66%) Marketing
8 9 (3.81%) Documentation Skills
8 9 (3.81%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (3.39%) Financial Institution
10 7 (2.97%) Presentation Skills
10 7 (2.97%) Retail
11 6 (2.54%) Telecoms
12 5 (2.12%) Investment Banking
12 5 (2.12%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (1.69%) Retail Banking
14 3 (1.27%) Law
14 3 (1.27%) Legal
Job Titles
1 42 (17.80%) Analyst
2 24 (10.17%) Developer
3 22 (9.32%) Architect
3 22 (9.32%) Senior
4 20 (8.47%) Business Analyst
5 15 (6.36%) Support Engineer
6 14 (5.93%) Lead
7 11 (4.66%) IT Support
7 11 (4.66%) Project Manager
8 10 (4.24%) Data Engineer
9 9 (3.81%) Consultant
9 9 (3.81%) Solutions Architect
10 8 (3.39%) IT Engineer
10 8 (3.39%) IT Support Engineer
10 8 (3.39%) Support Analyst
11 7 (2.97%) Applications Support
12 6 (2.54%) Applications Engineer
12 6 (2.54%) Digital Business Analyst
12 6 (2.54%) IT Analyst
12 6 (2.54%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (8.90%) REST
2 17 (7.20%) .NET
3 14 (5.93%) React
3 14 (5.93%) SOAP
4 10 (4.24%) Terraform
4 10 (4.24%) Web Services
5 9 (3.81%) JSON
6 8 (3.39%) Kafka
6 8 (3.39%) PySpark
7 7 (2.97%) AngularJS
7 7 (2.97%) RESTful
7 7 (2.97%) Spring
7 7 (2.97%) Spring Boot
8 6 (2.54%) XML
9 4 (1.69%) CSS
9 4 (1.69%) HTML
9 4 (1.69%) Middleware
9 4 (1.69%) Node.js
9 4 (1.69%) OAuth
10 3 (1.27%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 23 (9.75%) Onboarding
2 15 (6.36%) Cloud Native
2 15 (6.36%) Product Ownership
3 9 (3.81%) Distributed Systems
3 9 (3.81%) Enterprise Software
3 9 (3.81%) Video Conferencing
4 8 (3.39%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (2.97%) Data Centre
6 6 (2.54%) AI Agents
6 6 (2.54%) Data Structures
6 6 (2.54%) Fixed Income
6 6 (2.54%) Hybrid Cloud
7 5 (2.12%) Analytical Mindset
7 5 (2.12%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (2.12%) Virtual Team
8 4 (1.69%) CMDB
8 4 (1.69%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 4 (1.69%) Life Science
9 3 (1.27%) NHS
9 3 (1.27%) Reference Data
Operating Systems
1 33 (13.98%) Windows
2 11 (4.66%) Linux
2 11 (4.66%) Mac OS
3 8 (3.39%) Windows 10
4 7 (2.97%) Unix
5 6 (2.54%) Windows Server
6 3 (1.27%) Android
6 3 (1.27%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (0.85%) zOS
8 1 (0.42%) OpenVMS
8 1 (0.42%) VMS
8 1 (0.42%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.42%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.42%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 81 (34.32%) Agile
2 71 (30.08%) Stakeholder Management
3 48 (20.34%) AI
4 47 (19.92%) CI/CD
5 45 (19.07%) Continuous Improvement
6 38 (16.10%) DevOps
7 35 (14.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 29 (12.29%) Decision-Making
8 29 (12.29%) Migration
9 28 (11.86%) Analytics
10 24 (10.17%) ITIL
11 23 (9.75%) Data Governance
12 22 (9.32%) Data Engineering
12 22 (9.32%) Translating Business Requirements
12 22 (9.32%) Validation
13 21 (8.90%) Scrum
14 20 (8.47%) Microservices
14 20 (8.47%) User Stories
15 19 (8.05%) Service Delivery
15 19 (8.05%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 47 (19.92%) SQL
2 45 (19.07%) Python
3 20 (8.47%) Java
4 16 (6.78%) C#
5 15 (6.36%) PowerShell
5 15 (6.36%) TypeScript
6 14 (5.93%) JavaScript
7 5 (2.12%) PL/SQL
8 4 (1.69%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 4 (1.69%) Korn
8 4 (1.69%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.85%) Bash
9 2 (0.85%) Go
9 2 (0.85%) JCL
9 2 (0.85%) Perl
10 1 (0.42%) C++
10 1 (0.42%) COBOL
10 1 (0.42%) RPG
10 1 (0.42%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.42%) VBA
Qualifications
1 29 (12.29%) Security Cleared
2 21 (8.90%) SC Cleared
3 17 (7.20%) Degree
4 7 (2.97%) PMP
5 6 (2.54%) PMI Certification
6 5 (2.12%) Computer Science Degree
6 5 (2.12%) ITIL Certification
7 4 (1.69%) CISSP
7 4 (1.69%) DV Cleared
7 4 (1.69%) Microsoft Certification
8 3 (1.27%) BPSS Clearance
8 3 (1.27%) CISA
8 3 (1.27%) CRISC
8 3 (1.27%) TOGAF Certification
9 2 (0.85%) Azure Certification
9 2 (0.85%) CSPO
9 2 (0.85%) DBS Check
10 1 (0.42%) AWS Certification
10 1 (0.42%) Master's Degree
10 1 (0.42%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (8.05%) Data Quality
2 16 (6.78%) QA
3 7 (2.97%) PMO
4 6 (2.54%) GDPR
4 6 (2.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 4 (1.69%) GRC
5 4 (1.69%) NIST
5 4 (1.69%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 4 (1.69%) SLA
6 3 (1.27%) COBIT
6 3 (1.27%) ITGC
7 2 (0.85%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 2 (0.85%) Accessibility
7 2 (0.85%) GxP
7 2 (0.85%) PSD2
7 2 (0.85%) WCAG
8 1 (0.42%) IFRS
8 1 (0.42%) NCSC
8 1 (0.42%) SEPA
8 1 (0.42%) SOC 2
System Software
1 27 (11.44%) Active Directory
2 11 (4.66%) Docker
3 3 (1.27%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (1.27%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.85%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.85%) IAG
5 1 (0.42%) Firmware
5 1 (0.42%) Microsoft App-V
5 1 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.42%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 14 (5.93%) Microsoft Intune
2 11 (4.66%) Kubernetes
3 8 (3.39%) SCCM
4 5 (2.12%) Grafana
5 4 (1.69%) Ansible
5 4 (1.69%) ITRS Geneos
6 3 (1.27%) Jamf Pro
6 3 (1.27%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.85%) WSUS
8 1 (0.42%) HP Fortify
8 1 (0.42%) NetBackup
8 1 (0.42%) PingFederate
8 1 (0.42%) PowerCLI
8 1 (0.42%) RSA Archer
8 1 (0.42%) SCOM
8 1 (0.42%) SCOrch
8 1 (0.42%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 73 (30.93%) Microsoft
2 21 (8.90%) ServiceNow
3 16 (6.78%) Oracle
4 14 (5.93%) Databricks
5 13 (5.51%) Google
6 12 (5.08%) SAP
7 7 (2.97%) Bloomberg
8 6 (2.54%) Apple
8 6 (2.54%) Splunk
9 5 (2.12%) Cisco
9 5 (2.12%) Dynatrace
9 5 (2.12%) Remedy
9 5 (2.12%) Salesforce
10 4 (1.69%) IBM
10 4 (1.69%) Refinitiv
10 4 (1.69%) VMware
11 3 (1.27%) BMC
11 3 (1.27%) Citrix
11 3 (1.27%) ION Trading
11 3 (1.27%) Workday