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 19 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 17 5 11
Rank change year-on-year -12 +6 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 173 164 135
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 8.77% 16.11% 11.19%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.56% 18.12% 12.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 89 87 78
10th Percentile £250 £308 £313
25th Percentile £363 £413 £401
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £451 £500 £469
Median % change year-on-year -9.90% +6.67% -6.25%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £550
90th Percentile £638 £703 £658
North West median daily rate £450 £480 £490
% change year-on-year -6.25% -2.09% +2.03%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 15 3
10th Percentile £15.79 - -
25th Percentile £24.18 £17.30 £57.50
Median hourly rate £40.00 £20.26 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +97.48% -66.24% +61.07%
75th Percentile £79.00 £22.10 £77.75
90th Percentile £178.75 £54.06 £86.90
North West median hourly rate £36.66 £25.00 £10.95
% change year-on-year +46.64% +128.31% -74.02%

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 1,638 905 1,045
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester 83.06% 88.90% 86.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 981 578 657
10th Percentile £310 £306 £335
25th Percentile £400 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £588 £600
90th Percentile £688 £672 £705
North West median daily rate £500 £450 £500
% change year-on-year +11.11% -10.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 162 55 47
10th Percentile £21.00 £17.17 £15.97
25th Percentile £29.24 £19.07 £24.43
Median hourly rate £50.00 £22.63 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +120.95% -35.34% +79.49%
75th Percentile £75.00 £57.75 £62.50
90th Percentile £84.50 £76.50 £87.00
North West median hourly rate £45.00 £27.19 £35.00
% change year-on-year +65.52% -22.32% +13.80%

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 19 August 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 19 August 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 19 August 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 +8 15 £160 - 12
Rochdale - 3 - - 4
Salford -1 2 £168 -79.06% 6
Bury -11 2 £634 - 3
Altrincham 0 1 - - 5
Oldham -3 1 - - 4
Stockport -3 1 £140 -76.67% 14
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 6 (3.47%) Confluence
2 2 (1.16%) Apache Spark
2 2 (1.16%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.58%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 1 (0.58%) CMS
3 1 (0.58%) SharePoint
Applications
1 13 (7.51%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (5.78%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (1.73%) Acrobat
3 3 (1.73%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (1.73%) MS Visio
4 2 (1.16%) Chatbot
4 2 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 5 (2.89%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (1.73%) SAP ERP
3 2 (1.16%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.58%) FIS Private Capital Suite
4 1 (0.58%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.58%) ResourceLink
4 1 (0.58%) SAP GRC
4 1 (0.58%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 28 (16.18%) AWS
1 28 (16.18%) Azure
2 25 (14.45%) Microsoft 365
3 16 (9.25%) Power Platform
4 8 (4.62%) GitHub
5 7 (4.05%) GCP
6 6 (3.47%) Azure DevOps
6 6 (3.47%) Power Automate
7 5 (2.89%) Entra ID
8 4 (2.31%) GitHub Actions
8 4 (2.31%) Google Sheets
8 4 (2.31%) Google Workspace
8 4 (2.31%) OpenShift
8 4 (2.31%) Serverless
9 3 (1.73%) Azure Data Factory
9 3 (1.73%) Azure Monitor
9 3 (1.73%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 3 (1.73%) dbt
10 2 (1.16%) AWS Lambda
10 2 (1.16%) Intacct
Communications & Networking
1 10 (5.78%) VPN
2 9 (5.20%) Firewall
3 5 (2.89%) Wireless
4 3 (1.73%) DHCP
4 3 (1.73%) DNS
4 3 (1.73%) Network Security
5 2 (1.16%) LAN
5 2 (1.16%) PABX
5 2 (1.16%) Software-Defined Networking
5 2 (1.16%) VLAN
5 2 (1.16%) VoIP
5 2 (1.16%) Wi-Fi
6 1 (0.58%) BGP
6 1 (0.58%) Cisco Nexus
6 1 (0.58%) Ethernet VPN
6 1 (0.58%) MPLS
6 1 (0.58%) OSPF
6 1 (0.58%) SSL
6 1 (0.58%) TCP/IP
6 1 (0.58%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (8.67%) Power BI
2 13 (7.51%) Data Warehouse
3 11 (6.36%) SQL Server
4 7 (4.05%) MongoDB
4 7 (4.05%) Relational Database
5 6 (3.47%) NoSQL
5 6 (3.47%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (2.89%) DataStage
6 5 (2.89%) MySQL
7 4 (2.31%) Big Data
7 4 (2.31%) Db2
7 4 (2.31%) Snowflake Schema
8 3 (1.73%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
8 3 (1.73%) Tableau
9 2 (1.16%) Data Vault
9 2 (1.16%) DynamoDB
9 2 (1.16%) Power Query
10 1 (0.58%) Amazon RDS
10 1 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
10 1 (0.58%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 19 (10.98%) JIRA
2 12 (6.94%) Git
3 6 (3.47%) Jenkins
4 4 (2.31%) Gatling
4 4 (2.31%) Mockito
4 4 (2.31%) REST Assured
5 3 (1.73%) Cucumber
5 3 (1.73%) GitLab
5 3 (1.73%) Selenium
5 3 (1.73%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (1.16%) Burp Suite
6 2 (1.16%) Gradle
6 2 (1.16%) LoadRunner
6 2 (1.16%) Serenity BDD
6 2 (1.16%) SonarQube
6 2 (1.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.58%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.58%) JUnit
7 1 (0.58%) Maven
7 1 (0.58%) MSI
General
1 87 (50.29%) Social Skills
2 75 (43.35%) Analytical Skills
3 38 (21.97%) Finance
4 19 (10.98%) Banking
5 13 (7.51%) Manufacturing
6 12 (6.94%) Organisational Skills
7 11 (6.36%) Law
7 11 (6.36%) Public Sector
8 7 (4.05%) Telecoms
9 6 (3.47%) Retail
10 5 (2.89%) Legal
11 4 (2.31%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (1.73%) Automotive
12 3 (1.73%) Games
12 3 (1.73%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (1.16%) Aerospace
13 2 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (1.16%) Marketing
14 1 (0.58%) Electronics
14 1 (0.58%) Retail Finance
Job Titles
1 36 (20.81%) Analyst
2 26 (15.03%) Developer
3 15 (8.67%) Architect
3 15 (8.67%) Senior
4 13 (7.51%) IT Support
5 12 (6.94%) Administrator
5 12 (6.94%) Data Engineer
5 12 (6.94%) Java Developer
6 11 (6.36%) Lead
7 9 (5.20%) Support Analyst
8 8 (4.62%) IT Analyst
8 8 (4.62%) Technical Administrator
9 7 (4.05%) IT Support Analyst
9 7 (4.05%) Senior Developer
9 7 (4.05%) Software Engineer
10 6 (3.47%) Consultant
10 6 (3.47%) Service Analyst
10 6 (3.47%) Test Engineer
11 5 (2.89%) Data Analyst
11 5 (2.89%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (8.67%) Spring
2 14 (8.09%) Spring Boot
3 11 (6.36%) React
4 10 (5.78%) Kafka
5 9 (5.20%) REST
6 6 (3.47%) HTML
7 5 (2.89%) CSS
7 5 (2.89%) Node.js
7 5 (2.89%) Playwright
8 4 (2.31%) ActiveMQ
8 4 (2.31%) AngularJS
8 4 (2.31%) JAX-RS
8 4 (2.31%) Lightning Web Components
8 4 (2.31%) RESTful
8 4 (2.31%) SOAP
8 4 (2.31%) XML
9 3 (1.73%) EDI
9 3 (1.73%) EDIFACT
9 3 (1.73%) OAuth
9 3 (1.73%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 16 (9.25%) Onboarding
2 9 (5.20%) Data Protection Act
3 7 (4.05%) Cloud Native
3 7 (4.05%) Driving Licence
4 6 (3.47%) Data Structures
4 6 (3.47%) Product Ownership
5 5 (2.89%) AI Agents
5 5 (2.89%) Management Information System
6 4 (2.31%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.73%) Blackberry
7 3 (1.73%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.73%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (1.73%) Mobile App
7 3 (1.73%) Private Cloud
7 3 (1.73%) Public Cloud
7 3 (1.73%) Smartphone
8 2 (1.16%) CMDB
8 2 (1.16%) Hybrid Cloud
8 2 (1.16%) iPad
8 2 (1.16%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 25 (14.45%) Windows
2 14 (8.09%) Windows 10
3 9 (5.20%) Unix
4 8 (4.62%) Linux
5 5 (2.89%) Windows Server
6 3 (1.73%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.58%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.58%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 36 (20.81%) Agile
2 34 (19.65%) CI/CD
3 32 (18.50%) Continuous Improvement
3 32 (18.50%) Stakeholder Management
4 24 (13.87%) Data Modelling
5 21 (12.14%) DevOps
6 20 (11.56%) Test Automation
7 19 (10.98%) Analytics
7 19 (10.98%) ITIL
7 19 (10.98%) Microservices
8 17 (9.83%) Business Intelligence
9 16 (9.25%) AI
9 16 (9.25%) Customer Service
9 16 (9.25%) ERP
10 15 (8.67%) Change Management
10 15 (8.67%) Data Pipeline
10 15 (8.67%) Software Engineering
10 15 (8.67%) Validation
11 14 (8.09%) ETL
11 14 (8.09%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 35 (20.23%) SQL
2 23 (13.29%) Python
3 22 (12.72%) Java
4 11 (6.36%) PowerShell
5 8 (4.62%) JavaScript
6 6 (3.47%) T-SQL
7 4 (2.31%) Apex Code
7 4 (2.31%) Bash
7 4 (2.31%) Kotlin
7 4 (2.31%) PL/SQL
7 4 (2.31%) Shell Script
8 3 (1.73%) Bicep
9 2 (1.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 2 (1.16%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.58%) VBA
10 1 (0.58%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 20 (11.56%) Degree
2 19 (10.98%) Security Cleared
3 12 (6.94%) SC Cleared
4 11 (6.36%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (5.78%) BPSS Clearance
5 10 (5.78%) Microsoft Certification
6 7 (4.05%) A+ Certification
6 7 (4.05%) Network+ Certification
7 4 (2.31%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (1.73%) CCIE
8 3 (1.73%) CCNP
8 3 (1.73%) CISSP
9 2 (1.16%) Azure Certification
9 2 (1.16%) CCIE Security
9 2 (1.16%) CCSP
9 2 (1.16%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (1.16%) HNC
9 2 (1.16%) Microsoft Certified Professional
9 2 (1.16%) PMI Certification
9 2 (1.16%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (15.03%) Data Quality
2 4 (2.31%) Accessibility
2 4 (2.31%) GRC
2 4 (2.31%) PMO
3 3 (1.73%) NIST
3 3 (1.73%) QA
4 2 (1.16%) GDPR
4 2 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (1.16%) PCI DSS
4 2 (1.16%) SLA
5 1 (0.58%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.58%) NCSC
5 1 (0.58%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 20 (11.56%) Active Directory
2 12 (6.94%) Docker
3 3 (1.73%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.58%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.58%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.58%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 13 (7.51%) Kubernetes
2 12 (6.94%) Terraform
3 4 (2.31%) Grafana
3 4 (2.31%) Microsoft Intune
3 4 (2.31%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.73%) Ansible
4 3 (1.73%) Prometheus
5 2 (1.16%) Istio
6 1 (0.58%) Data Guard
6 1 (0.58%) Progress Chef
6 1 (0.58%) Puppet
6 1 (0.58%) SCCM
6 1 (0.58%) SCOM
Vendors
1 39 (22.54%) Microsoft
2 20 (11.56%) SAP
3 19 (10.98%) ServiceNow
4 11 (6.36%) Oracle
5 8 (4.62%) Google
6 6 (3.47%) Splunk
7 5 (2.89%) Adobe
7 5 (2.89%) DocuSign
7 5 (2.89%) IBM
7 5 (2.89%) Salesforce
8 4 (2.31%) Cisco
8 4 (2.31%) Concur
8 4 (2.31%) CyberArk
8 4 (2.31%) Dynatrace
8 4 (2.31%) Teradata
9 3 (1.73%) iManage
9 3 (1.73%) Intapp
9 3 (1.73%) Litera
9 3 (1.73%) Workday
10 2 (1.16%) Moogsoft