Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in Manchester

Problem Solving
North West > Manchester

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Manchester requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 30 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -12 0 +6
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 163 143 140
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 8.24% 14.40% 12.25%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.85% 16.01% 14.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 90 76 80
10th Percentile £250 £298 £261
25th Percentile £381 £395 £371
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £486 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.37% +5.56% -10.00%
75th Percentile £600 £576 £550
90th Percentile £713 £663 £641
North West median daily rate £450 £469 £475
% change year-on-year -4.05% -1.26% -4.04%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 16 4
10th Percentile £14.70 - £25.65
25th Percentile £24.00 £17.30 £46.13
Median hourly rate £40.00 £20.26 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +97.48% -66.24% +246.02%
75th Percentile £77.00 £21.77 £70.13
90th Percentile £178.75 £46.95 £83.85
North West median hourly rate £35.82 £20.26 £60.00
% change year-on-year +76.85% -66.24% +130.77%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Manchester

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 Manchester.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,654 893 996
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester 83.66% 89.93% 87.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 969 581 578
10th Percentile £313 £306 £313
25th Percentile £418 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £472 £498
Median % change year-on-year +7.42% -5.13% -0.50%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £594
90th Percentile £700 £678 £688
North West median daily rate £500 £452 £489
% change year-on-year +10.74% -7.67% -2.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 66 34
10th Percentile £19.00 £15.28 £15.94
25th Percentile £30.91 £19.07 £22.84
Median hourly rate £57.50 £22.63 £38.75
Median % change year-on-year +154.09% -41.60% +103.95%
75th Percentile £73.75 £35.50 £64.38
90th Percentile £77.25 £64.38 £87.45
North West median hourly rate £46.62 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +85.35% -40.82% +21.43%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester

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

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in Manchester

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in Manchester

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in Manchester over the 6 months to 30 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in Manchester

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Manchester citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Histogram in Manchester

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in Manchester over the 6 months to 30 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Problem-Solving in Manchester

Problem-Solving
Contract Job Locations in Manchester

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the Manchester region over the 6 months to 30 September 2026. 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
Bolton +7 14 £160 -13.51% 20
Rochdale - 3 - - 6
Oldham -3 2 - - 2
Bury -11 2 £634 - 1
Salford -1 1 - - 12
Stockport -2 1 £140 -76.67% 12
Altrincham - 1 - - 17
Problem-Solving
North West

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester 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 2 (1.23%) Confluence
1 2 (1.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (0.61%) Adobe Experience Manager
2 1 (0.61%) Apache Airflow
2 1 (0.61%) CMS
2 1 (0.61%) SharePoint
Applications
1 12 (7.36%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (6.13%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (1.84%) Acrobat
4 1 (0.61%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.61%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (2.45%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (1.84%) SAP ERP
2 3 (1.84%) Workday HCM
3 2 (1.23%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.61%) FIS Private Capital Suite
4 1 (0.61%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.61%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 23 (14.11%) AWS
1 23 (14.11%) Azure
2 21 (12.88%) Microsoft 365
3 13 (7.98%) Power Platform
4 10 (6.13%) GitHub
5 9 (5.52%) GCP
6 5 (3.07%) Power Automate
7 4 (2.45%) AWS Lambda
7 4 (2.45%) Azure DevOps
7 4 (2.45%) Entra ID
7 4 (2.45%) IaaS
7 4 (2.45%) OpenShift
7 4 (2.45%) Serverless
8 3 (1.84%) Google Sheets
8 3 (1.84%) Google Workspace
8 3 (1.84%) PowerApps
9 2 (1.23%) Azure Stack
9 2 (1.23%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 2 (1.23%) dbt
9 2 (1.23%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 13 (7.98%) Firewall
2 10 (6.13%) VPN
3 7 (4.29%) DNS
3 7 (4.29%) Network Security
4 5 (3.07%) Wireless
5 4 (2.45%) BIG-IP
5 4 (2.45%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
5 4 (2.45%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 3 (1.84%) DHCP
6 3 (1.84%) LAN
6 3 (1.84%) VoIP
6 3 (1.84%) Wi-Fi
7 2 (1.23%) PABX
7 2 (1.23%) Software-Defined Networking
7 2 (1.23%) VLAN
7 2 (1.23%) WAN
8 1 (0.61%) Cisco Nexus
8 1 (0.61%) HTTP
8 1 (0.61%) SSL
8 1 (0.61%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (6.75%) Data Warehouse
2 10 (6.13%) Power BI
2 10 (6.13%) SQL Server
3 8 (4.91%) Relational Database
4 7 (4.29%) DataStage
5 6 (3.68%) Db2
6 3 (1.84%) MongoDB
6 3 (1.84%) NoSQL
6 3 (1.84%) Snowflake Schema
7 2 (1.23%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
7 2 (1.23%) DynamoDB
7 2 (1.23%) MySQL
7 2 (1.23%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (1.23%) Power Query
7 2 (1.23%) Tableau
8 1 (0.61%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.61%) Looker
8 1 (0.61%) Metadata
8 1 (0.61%) Semantic Layer
8 1 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 12 (7.36%) JIRA
2 10 (6.13%) Jenkins
3 9 (5.52%) Git
4 4 (2.45%) Gatling
4 4 (2.45%) REST Assured
5 3 (1.84%) Cucumber
5 3 (1.84%) GitLab
5 3 (1.84%) Selenium
5 3 (1.84%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (1.23%) Burp Suite
6 2 (1.23%) Gradle
6 2 (1.23%) LoadRunner
6 2 (1.23%) Serenity BDD
6 2 (1.23%) SonarQube
6 2 (1.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.61%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.61%) JUnit
7 1 (0.61%) Maven
7 1 (0.61%) Mockito
7 1 (0.61%) MSI
General
1 89 (54.60%) Social Skills
2 77 (47.24%) Analytical Skills
3 32 (19.63%) Finance
4 19 (11.66%) Banking
5 12 (7.36%) Manufacturing
6 10 (6.13%) Organisational Skills
7 9 (5.52%) Law
8 7 (4.29%) Legal
9 5 (3.07%) Public Sector
9 5 (3.07%) Telecoms
10 4 (2.45%) Retail
11 3 (1.84%) Automotive
11 3 (1.84%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (1.84%) Games
11 3 (1.84%) Influencing Skills
11 3 (1.84%) Marketing
12 2 (1.23%) Aerospace
12 2 (1.23%) Military
12 2 (1.23%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.61%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 25 (15.34%) Analyst
2 21 (12.88%) Developer
3 15 (9.20%) Administrator
4 13 (7.98%) Senior
5 12 (7.36%) Architect
6 11 (6.75%) Lead
7 10 (6.13%) IT Support
8 9 (5.52%) Consultant
8 9 (5.52%) Software Engineer
9 8 (4.91%) Data Engineer
9 8 (4.91%) Technical Administrator
10 7 (4.29%) Java Engineer
10 7 (4.29%) Support Analyst
11 6 (3.68%) AWS Engineer
11 6 (3.68%) IT Analyst
11 6 (3.68%) Senior Developer
11 6 (3.68%) Service Analyst
12 5 (3.07%) DataStage Developer
12 5 (3.07%) Solutions Architect
12 5 (3.07%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (6.75%) REST
2 10 (6.13%) Spring
2 10 (6.13%) Spring Boot
2 10 (6.13%) Terraform
3 9 (5.52%) React
4 8 (4.91%) Kafka
5 5 (3.07%) Node.js
5 5 (3.07%) Playwright
6 4 (2.45%) HTML
6 4 (2.45%) Lightning Web Components
6 4 (2.45%) SOAP
7 3 (1.84%) .NET
7 3 (1.84%) CSS
7 3 (1.84%) Next.js
8 2 (1.23%) A2A Protocol
8 2 (1.23%) Model Context Protocol
8 2 (1.23%) ODBC
8 2 (1.23%) PySpark
8 2 (1.23%) Quarkus
8 2 (1.23%) Spring Cloud
Miscellaneous
1 18 (11.04%) Onboarding
2 11 (6.75%) Cloud Native
3 9 (5.52%) Data Protection Act
4 8 (4.91%) Public Cloud
5 7 (4.29%) Distributed Systems
5 7 (4.29%) Driving Licence
5 7 (4.29%) Product Ownership
6 6 (3.68%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (3.68%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (3.07%) Data Structures
8 4 (2.45%) Data Centre
8 4 (2.45%) Management Information System
8 4 (2.45%) Self-Motivation
9 3 (1.84%) Blackberry
9 3 (1.84%) Private Cloud
9 3 (1.84%) Smartphone
10 2 (1.23%) Enterprise Storage
10 2 (1.23%) Hybrid Cloud
10 2 (1.23%) iPad
10 2 (1.23%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 25 (15.34%) Windows
2 12 (7.36%) Windows 10
3 8 (4.91%) Linux
3 8 (4.91%) Unix
4 6 (3.68%) Windows Server
5 1 (0.61%) Android
5 1 (0.61%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.61%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 35 (21.47%) CI/CD
2 34 (20.86%) Agile
2 34 (20.86%) Stakeholder Management
3 29 (17.79%) Continuous Improvement
4 22 (13.50%) Software Engineering
5 21 (12.88%) Data Modelling
6 19 (11.66%) DevOps
7 18 (11.04%) ITIL
8 17 (10.43%) Test Automation
8 17 (10.43%) Validation
9 16 (9.82%) AI
10 15 (9.20%) Analytics
10 15 (9.20%) Change Management
10 15 (9.20%) Customer Service
10 15 (9.20%) Decision-Making
11 14 (8.59%) ERP
11 14 (8.59%) Microservices
11 14 (8.59%) Performance Tuning
11 14 (8.59%) Technical Leadership
12 13 (7.98%) ETL
Programming Languages
1 32 (19.63%) SQL
2 27 (16.56%) Python
3 18 (11.04%) Java
4 8 (4.91%) PowerShell
5 6 (3.68%) JavaScript
5 6 (3.68%) PL/SQL
5 6 (3.68%) Shell Script
6 5 (3.07%) T-SQL
7 4 (2.45%) ActionScript
7 4 (2.45%) Apex Code
7 4 (2.45%) Bash
8 3 (1.84%) TypeScript
9 2 (1.23%) C#
9 2 (1.23%) Go
9 2 (1.23%) VBScript
10 1 (0.61%) Bicep
10 1 (0.61%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.61%) Perl
10 1 (0.61%) Rust
Qualifications
1 22 (13.50%) Security Cleared
2 16 (9.82%) Degree
3 14 (8.59%) SC Cleared
4 10 (6.13%) BPSS Clearance
5 9 (5.52%) Computer Science Degree
6 7 (4.29%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (3.07%) A+ Certification
7 5 (3.07%) Network+ Certification
8 4 (2.45%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (2.45%) CISSP
9 3 (1.84%) CCIE
9 3 (1.84%) CCNP
10 2 (1.23%) CCIE Security
10 2 (1.23%) CCSP
10 2 (1.23%) CISM
10 2 (1.23%) CompTIA Security+
10 2 (1.23%) HNC
10 2 (1.23%) Microsoft Certified Professional
10 2 (1.23%) PMI Certification
10 2 (1.23%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (15.34%) Data Quality
2 5 (3.07%) Accessibility
3 3 (1.84%) GRC
3 3 (1.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (1.84%) NIST
4 2 (1.23%) PCI DSS
4 2 (1.23%) QA
5 1 (0.61%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.61%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.61%) NCSC
5 1 (0.61%) PMO
5 1 (0.61%) SLA
System Software
1 16 (9.82%) Active Directory
2 8 (4.91%) Docker
3 2 (1.23%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.61%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.61%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.61%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 11 (6.75%) Kubernetes
2 4 (2.45%) Grafana
2 4 (2.45%) Single Sign-On
3 3 (1.84%) Ansible
3 3 (1.84%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (1.84%) Prometheus
4 2 (1.23%) Istio
5 1 (0.61%) Data Guard
5 1 (0.61%) Progress Chef
5 1 (0.61%) Puppet
5 1 (0.61%) SCCM
5 1 (0.61%) SCOM
Vendors
1 37 (22.70%) Microsoft
2 18 (11.04%) SAP
2 18 (11.04%) ServiceNow
3 11 (6.75%) Oracle
4 8 (4.91%) Google
5 7 (4.29%) IBM
6 6 (3.68%) Splunk
6 6 (3.68%) Teradata
7 5 (3.07%) Adobe
7 5 (3.07%) F5
7 5 (3.07%) Salesforce
8 4 (2.45%) Cisco
8 4 (2.45%) CyberArk
8 4 (2.45%) DocuSign
8 4 (2.45%) Dynatrace
8 4 (2.45%) Workday
9 3 (1.84%) Concur
9 3 (1.84%) iManage
9 3 (1.84%) Intapp
9 3 (1.84%) Litera