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 21 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 8 12
Rank change year-on-year -1 +4 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 262 274 241
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 14.05% 14.65% 9.97%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 15.75% 15.93% 11.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 195 164 171
10th Percentile £326 £341 £325
25th Percentile £406 £457 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -1.12%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £683
90th Percentile £765 £738 £825
Central London median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 3 0
10th Percentile £24.43 £33.60 -
25th Percentile £36.00 £63.00 -
Median hourly rate £41.02 £112.00 -
Median % change year-on-year -63.38% - -
75th Percentile £43.86 - -
90th Percentile £49.38 - -
Central London median hourly rate £40.78 £112.00 £41.50
% change year-on-year -63.59% +169.88% -22.43%

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 1,663 1,720 2,168
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 89.17% 91.98% 89.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,171 1,047 1,547
10th Percentile £350 £374 £363
25th Percentile £425 £463 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% - -3.36%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £688
90th Percentile £775 £789 £800
Central London median daily rate £540 £575 £570
% change year-on-year -6.09% +0.88% -2.98%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 9 11
10th Percentile £19.98 £13.45 £17.00
25th Percentile £20.66 £22.00 £17.97
Median hourly rate £27.75 £32.50 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -14.62% +30.00% -28.57%
75th Percentile £42.12 £43.75 £42.38
90th Percentile £45.08 £112.00 £73.75
Central London median hourly rate £26.11 £35.00 £27.66
% change year-on-year -25.40% +26.56% -20.99%

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 21 January 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
Hourly Rate Histogram in the City of London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in the City of London over the 6 months to 21 January 2026.

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

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 (5.34%) Confluence
2 5 (1.91%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.53%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.76%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.76%) Apache
4 2 (0.76%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.76%) CMS
5 1 (0.38%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.38%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.38%) SAS
Applications
1 28 (10.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (6.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 11 (4.20%) Microsoft Office
4 6 (2.29%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.38%) Trello
Business Applications
1 3 (1.15%) Oracle EBS
1 3 (1.15%) Oracle EBS R12
1 3 (1.15%) Oracle Financials
1 3 (1.15%) Payment Gateway
2 2 (0.76%) Aladdin
2 2 (0.76%) Oracle Cash Management
2 2 (0.76%) Oracle Payables
2 2 (0.76%) Summit
3 1 (0.38%) BASE24
3 1 (0.38%) Bloomberg AIM
3 1 (0.38%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.38%) Fidessa
3 1 (0.38%) ION MarketView
3 1 (0.38%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.38%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 52 (19.85%) Azure
2 37 (14.12%) AWS
3 25 (9.54%) Power Platform
4 18 (6.87%) GCP
5 13 (4.96%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (4.20%) Azure DevOps
7 7 (2.67%) GitHub
7 7 (2.67%) SaaS
7 7 (2.67%) Snowflake
8 5 (1.91%) Dynamics 365
8 5 (1.91%) IaaS
8 5 (1.91%) PaaS
9 4 (1.53%) GitHub Actions
10 3 (1.15%) Amazon S3
10 3 (1.15%) Entra ID
10 3 (1.15%) Google Gemini
10 3 (1.15%) Google Workspace
10 3 (1.15%) PowerApps
10 3 (1.15%) Serverless
10 3 (1.15%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.67%) DNS
2 4 (1.53%) Network Security
2 4 (1.53%) VPN
3 3 (1.15%) Cisco IPT
3 3 (1.15%) DHCP
3 3 (1.15%) Firewall
3 3 (1.15%) IP Telephony
3 3 (1.15%) TCP/IP
4 2 (0.76%) Softphone
4 2 (0.76%) SSL
4 2 (0.76%) Wireless
5 1 (0.38%) ATM
5 1 (0.38%) BGP
5 1 (0.38%) HTTP
5 1 (0.38%) HTTPS
5 1 (0.38%) Internet
5 1 (0.38%) Kerberos
5 1 (0.38%) LAN
5 1 (0.38%) OSPF
5 1 (0.38%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (7.63%) Power BI
2 14 (5.34%) Relational Database
3 10 (3.82%) Data Warehouse
3 10 (3.82%) Tableau
4 8 (3.05%) SQL Server
5 6 (2.29%) Metadata
5 6 (2.29%) MySQL
6 3 (1.15%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.76%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.76%) Big Data
7 2 (0.76%) Data Vault
7 2 (0.76%) Hadoop
7 2 (0.76%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.76%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.76%) RDBMS
7 2 (0.76%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 2 (0.76%) SQLite
8 1 (0.38%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.38%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 1 (0.38%) Redis
Development Applications
1 28 (10.69%) JIRA
2 19 (7.25%) Git
3 7 (2.67%) Jenkins
3 7 (2.67%) Selenium
4 4 (1.53%) Cucumber
4 4 (1.53%) Postman
5 3 (1.15%) Bitbucket
5 3 (1.15%) GitLab
5 3 (1.15%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.76%) CocoaPods
6 2 (0.76%) Crashlytics
6 2 (0.76%) fastlane
6 2 (0.76%) SoapUI
6 2 (0.76%) Xcode
7 1 (0.38%) Browser DevTools
7 1 (0.38%) Eclipse
7 1 (0.38%) ERwin
7 1 (0.38%) JUnit
7 1 (0.38%) TestRail
7 1 (0.38%) Toad
General
1 141 (53.82%) Social Skills
2 113 (43.13%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (37.79%) Finance
4 36 (13.74%) Banking
5 26 (9.92%) Front Office
6 17 (6.49%) Public Sector
7 11 (4.20%) Investment Banking
7 11 (4.20%) Presentation Skills
8 10 (3.82%) Legal
9 9 (3.44%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (3.44%) Financial Institution
9 9 (3.44%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (2.67%) Back Office
10 7 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (2.67%) Marketing
11 6 (2.29%) Retail
12 5 (1.91%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (1.15%) French Language
13 3 (1.15%) Spanish Language
14 2 (0.76%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 52 (19.85%) Analyst
2 39 (14.89%) Developer
3 26 (9.92%) Business Analyst
4 25 (9.54%) Senior
5 19 (7.25%) Lead
6 13 (4.96%) Architect
6 13 (4.96%) Consultant
6 13 (4.96%) Project Manager
7 9 (3.44%) Data Analyst
7 9 (3.44%) Java Developer
7 9 (3.44%) Programme Manager
8 7 (2.67%) Python Engineer
9 6 (2.29%) Data Engineer
10 5 (1.91%) Data Scientist
10 5 (1.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 5 (1.91%) Product Manager
10 5 (1.91%) Senior Developer
10 5 (1.91%) Technical Leader
10 5 (1.91%) Test Engineer
11 4 (1.53%) Salesforce Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (5.34%) REST
2 12 (4.58%) .NET
3 11 (4.20%) CSS
3 11 (4.20%) HTML
3 11 (4.20%) RESTful
4 7 (2.67%) SOAP
5 5 (1.91%) LangChain
5 5 (1.91%) Lightning Web Components
5 5 (1.91%) XML
6 4 (1.53%) HTML5
6 4 (1.53%) LangGraph
6 4 (1.53%) Node.js
6 4 (1.53%) Oracle Fusion
6 4 (1.53%) Spring
6 4 (1.53%) Web Services
7 3 (1.15%) jQuery
7 3 (1.15%) Middleware
7 3 (1.15%) PyTorch
7 3 (1.15%) Visualforce
7 3 (1.15%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 19 (7.25%) Product Ownership
2 15 (5.73%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
3 11 (4.20%) Algorithms
3 11 (4.20%) Data Structures
4 10 (3.82%) Virtual Team
5 9 (3.44%) Fixed Income
5 9 (3.44%) Management Information System
5 9 (3.44%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.67%) Derivative
7 6 (2.29%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (2.29%) Equities
7 6 (2.29%) PMI
8 5 (1.91%) AI Agents
8 5 (1.91%) Cloud Native
8 5 (1.91%) Public Cloud
8 5 (1.91%) Self-Motivation
8 5 (1.91%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (1.53%) CMDB
9 4 (1.53%) Distributed Computing
9 4 (1.53%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 20 (7.63%) Windows
2 6 (2.29%) Unix
2 6 (2.29%) Windows Server
3 5 (1.91%) Linux
4 3 (1.15%) Apple iOS
4 3 (1.15%) Windows 10
5 1 (0.38%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.38%) Solaris
5 1 (0.38%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (26.72%) Agile
2 43 (16.41%) Stakeholder Management
3 40 (15.27%) Continuous Improvement
4 37 (14.12%) Analytics
5 36 (13.74%) CI/CD
6 33 (12.60%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 28 (10.69%) Migration
8 27 (10.31%) Scrum
9 25 (9.54%) Computer Science
9 25 (9.54%) Decision-Making
9 25 (9.54%) DevOps
9 25 (9.54%) Test Automation
9 25 (9.54%) User Acceptance Testing
10 24 (9.16%) Data Analysis
11 23 (8.78%) Business Intelligence
11 23 (8.78%) Process Improvement
11 23 (8.78%) Project Management
12 22 (8.40%) Data Modelling
13 21 (8.02%) AI
13 21 (8.02%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 51 (19.47%) SQL
2 50 (19.08%) Python
3 26 (9.92%) Java
4 19 (7.25%) C#
5 14 (5.34%) JavaScript
6 9 (3.44%) PowerShell
7 7 (2.67%) C++
8 5 (1.91%) R
9 4 (1.53%) Apex Code
9 4 (1.53%) Korn
10 3 (1.15%) Bash
10 3 (1.15%) Go
10 3 (1.15%) PHP
10 3 (1.15%) Swift
10 3 (1.15%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.76%) Objective-C
11 2 (0.76%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.76%) RPG
11 2 (0.76%) VB.NET
11 2 (0.76%) VBA
Qualifications
1 37 (14.12%) Degree
2 26 (9.92%) Security Cleared
3 20 (7.63%) SC Cleared
4 18 (6.87%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (3.82%) PMI Certification
6 6 (2.29%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (1.91%) Master's Degree
8 4 (1.53%) CISSP
8 4 (1.53%) PMP
9 3 (1.15%) Azure Certification
9 3 (1.15%) CBAP
9 3 (1.15%) CISM
9 3 (1.15%) CRISC
10 2 (0.76%) BPSS Clearance
10 2 (0.76%) CASP
10 2 (0.76%) CFA
10 2 (0.76%) GSEC
10 2 (0.76%) ISTQB
10 2 (0.76%) Network+ Certification
11 1 (0.38%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (9.92%) QA
2 17 (6.49%) Data Quality
3 6 (2.29%) Accessibility
4 4 (1.53%) ISO 8583
4 4 (1.53%) PMO
5 3 (1.15%) GDPR
5 3 (1.15%) GRC
5 3 (1.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (1.15%) MiFID
5 3 (1.15%) PSD2
6 2 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.76%) EMIR
6 2 (0.76%) IFRS
6 2 (0.76%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.76%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.76%) WCAG
7 1 (0.38%) GMP
7 1 (0.38%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.38%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 16 (6.11%) Docker
2 13 (4.96%) Active Directory
3 4 (1.53%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.38%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.38%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.38%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 15 (5.73%) Kubernetes
2 9 (3.44%) Ansible
3 7 (2.67%) Microsoft Intune
3 7 (2.67%) Terraform
4 3 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.15%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
5 2 (0.76%) HP ALM
5 2 (0.76%) SCCM
6 1 (0.38%) Grafana
6 1 (0.38%) PowerCLI
6 1 (0.38%) RSA Archer
6 1 (0.38%) vCenter Server
6 1 (0.38%) vRealize
6 1 (0.38%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 56 (21.37%) Microsoft
2 23 (8.78%) Oracle
3 14 (5.34%) Google
4 10 (3.82%) Salesforce
4 10 (3.82%) VMware
5 8 (3.05%) Databricks
6 7 (2.67%) ServiceNow
7 6 (2.29%) SAP
8 5 (1.91%) Cisco
8 5 (1.91%) Murex
9 4 (1.53%) Citrix
9 4 (1.53%) Informatica
9 4 (1.53%) Symantec
10 3 (1.15%) Altiris
10 3 (1.15%) Bloomberg
10 3 (1.15%) Charles River
10 3 (1.15%) HP
10 3 (1.15%) Ivanti
10 3 (1.15%) MuleSoft
10 3 (1.15%) Palo Alto