Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in the North of England

Problem Solving
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North of England requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 25 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 15 6 5
Rank change year-on-year -9 -1 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 733 631 553
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 9.63% 15.70% 13.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.61% 17.67% 15.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 411 366 307
10th Percentile £275 £257 £271
25th Percentile £351 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £447 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.89% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £538 £557 £551
90th Percentile £626 £647 £623
England median daily rate £500 £489 £500
% change year-on-year +2.25% -2.20% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 55 12
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.79 £13.43
25th Percentile £16.66 £17.30 £26.25
Median hourly rate £19.00 £20.26 £54.28
Median % change year-on-year -6.20% -62.68% +129.22%
75th Percentile £40.00 £32.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £85.50 £63.40 £77.63
England median hourly rate £19.48 £18.86 £16.23
% change year-on-year +3.29% +16.20% -69.76%

All Process & Methodology Skills
North of England

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 North of England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 6,315 3,571 3,487
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 82.97% 88.83% 84.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,653 2,334 1,963
10th Percentile £313 £265 £300
25th Percentile £406 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £581
90th Percentile £675 £671 £675
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 533 204 180
10th Percentile £14.04 £13.85 £13.63
25th Percentile £19.69 £17.42 £16.44
Median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £35.18
Median % change year-on-year +94.26% -35.67% +29.34%
75th Percentile £69.50 £35.50 £51.91
90th Percentile £77.00 £66.20 £70.00
England median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +67.00% -41.51% -2.05%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

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

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the North of England

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in the North of England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North of England over the 6 months to 25 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the North of England

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in the North of England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North of England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North of England over the 6 months to 25 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the North of England

Problem-Solving
Contract Job Locations in the North of England

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 North of England region over the 6 months to 25 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
North West -9 361 £445 -5.12% 897
Yorkshire -7 301 £454 -7.77% 582
North East -14 73 £375 -16.67% 240
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North of England 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 28 (3.82%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.14%) Confluence
3 11 (1.50%) Apache Airflow
3 11 (1.50%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.36%) Apache
5 7 (0.95%) CMS
5 7 (0.95%) Microsoft Exchange
6 6 (0.82%) Jupyter
7 4 (0.55%) CICS
7 4 (0.55%) WebLogic
8 3 (0.41%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 3 (0.41%) Tomcat
8 3 (0.41%) WebSphere
8 3 (0.41%) WordPress
9 2 (0.27%) Camunda
9 2 (0.27%) IBM HTTP Server
9 2 (0.27%) nginx
9 2 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.27%) WebLogic Portal
9 2 (0.27%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 43 (5.87%) Microsoft Excel
2 42 (5.73%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.23%) MS Visio
4 8 (1.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.82%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.68%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.55%) Spreadsheet
8 3 (0.41%) Acrobat
9 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.27%) Navisworks
9 2 (0.27%) Revit
10 1 (0.14%) CATIA
10 1 (0.14%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 19 (2.59%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.50%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.41%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.41%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.41%) Teamcenter
4 3 (0.41%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.27%) SAP HCM
5 2 (0.27%) SAP Payroll
5 2 (0.27%) SAP R/3
6 1 (0.14%) Actimize
6 1 (0.14%) CA PPM
6 1 (0.14%) ENOVIA
6 1 (0.14%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.14%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.14%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 120 (16.37%) Azure
2 100 (13.64%) Microsoft 365
3 98 (13.37%) AWS
4 57 (7.78%) Power Platform
5 44 (6.00%) GCP
6 32 (4.37%) Entra ID
7 27 (3.68%) GitHub
8 18 (2.46%) Serverless
9 17 (2.32%) Azure DevOps
9 17 (2.32%) OpenShift
10 12 (1.64%) Microsoft Copilot
10 12 (1.64%) SaaS
11 11 (1.50%) Power Automate
12 10 (1.36%) AWS Lambda
12 10 (1.36%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 9 (1.23%) IaaS
13 9 (1.23%) OneDrive
13 9 (1.23%) PowerApps
14 8 (1.09%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 7 (0.95%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 45 (6.14%) VPN
2 40 (5.46%) Firewall
3 29 (3.96%) DNS
4 25 (3.41%) Network Security
5 24 (3.27%) LAN
5 24 (3.27%) WAN
6 20 (2.73%) Wi-Fi
7 18 (2.46%) Wireless
8 15 (2.05%) DHCP
8 15 (2.05%) VLAN
8 15 (2.05%) VoIP
9 14 (1.91%) TCP/IP
10 11 (1.50%) Cisco Nexus
11 10 (1.36%) BGP
11 10 (1.36%) OSPF
12 9 (1.23%) BIG-IP
12 9 (1.23%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
12 9 (1.23%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
12 9 (1.23%) WLAN
13 8 (1.09%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (5.46%) Power BI
2 30 (4.09%) SQL Server
3 23 (3.14%) Data Warehouse
4 20 (2.73%) MongoDB
5 15 (2.05%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.50%) Db2
6 11 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
6 11 (1.50%) Tableau
7 8 (1.09%) DataStage
7 8 (1.09%) Metadata
8 7 (0.95%) Big Data
8 7 (0.95%) NoSQL
9 6 (0.82%) MySQL
9 6 (0.82%) Oracle Database
10 5 (0.68%) Data Lake
10 5 (0.68%) Neo4j
11 4 (0.55%) Amazon Athena
11 4 (0.55%) Amazon Redshift
11 4 (0.55%) DynamoDB
11 4 (0.55%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 58 (7.91%) JIRA
2 37 (5.05%) Git
3 31 (4.23%) Jenkins
4 21 (2.86%) GitLab
5 8 (1.09%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.09%) Selenium
6 7 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.82%) Cucumber
7 6 (0.82%) Gatling
8 5 (0.68%) Maven
9 4 (0.55%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.55%) Gradle
9 4 (0.55%) MSI
10 3 (0.41%) Claude Code
10 3 (0.41%) JUnit
10 3 (0.41%) LoadRunner
10 3 (0.41%) Serenity BDD
10 3 (0.41%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.27%) Burp Suite
11 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 373 (50.89%) Social Skills
2 305 (41.61%) Analytical Skills
3 167 (22.78%) Finance
4 80 (10.91%) Banking
5 57 (7.78%) Public Sector
6 45 (6.14%) Manufacturing
7 37 (5.05%) Organisational Skills
8 30 (4.09%) Legal
9 27 (3.68%) Documentation Skills
10 21 (2.86%) Influencing Skills
11 20 (2.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 17 (2.32%) Law
13 15 (2.05%) Retail
14 12 (1.64%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.36%) Automotive
16 9 (1.23%) Marketing
17 8 (1.09%) Aerospace
17 8 (1.09%) Presentation Skills
18 7 (0.95%) Financial Institution
19 6 (0.82%) Police
Job Titles
1 109 (14.87%) Analyst
2 88 (12.01%) Developer
3 66 (9.00%) Senior
4 55 (7.50%) Lead
5 49 (6.68%) IT Support
6 35 (4.77%) Support Engineer
7 34 (4.64%) Architect
8 26 (3.55%) IT Engineer
9 24 (3.27%) Administrator
9 24 (3.27%) Business Analyst
9 24 (3.27%) Network Engineer
10 22 (3.00%) IT Support Engineer
11 21 (2.86%) Java Developer
12 20 (2.73%) Consultant
13 19 (2.59%) Data Analyst
14 18 (2.46%) Data Engineer
14 18 (2.46%) Support Analyst
15 17 (2.32%) IT Analyst
15 17 (2.32%) Python Developer
15 17 (2.32%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (6.68%) Terraform
2 46 (6.28%) REST
3 28 (3.82%) Spring
4 26 (3.55%) Kafka
5 24 (3.27%) Spring Boot
6 21 (2.86%) Node.js
7 20 (2.73%) HTML
8 19 (2.59%) React
9 17 (2.32%) CSS
10 14 (1.91%) Playwright
11 10 (1.36%) .NET
11 10 (1.36%) FastAPI
11 10 (1.36%) OpenTelemetry
11 10 (1.36%) RESTful
11 10 (1.36%) XML
12 9 (1.23%) JSON
12 9 (1.23%) OAuth
12 9 (1.23%) SOAP
12 9 (1.23%) Web Services
13 8 (1.09%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 53 (7.23%) Cloud Native
2 49 (6.68%) Product Ownership
3 41 (5.59%) Onboarding
4 33 (4.50%) Data Centre
4 33 (4.50%) Data Protection Act
5 32 (4.37%) Self-Motivation
6 30 (4.09%) Enterprise Software
7 27 (3.68%) Driving Licence
8 21 (2.86%) Analytical Mindset
9 20 (2.73%) Distributed Systems
10 19 (2.59%) PKI
11 18 (2.46%) Data Structures
12 17 (2.32%) Management Information System
13 14 (1.91%) Mainframe
14 13 (1.77%) Legacy Systems
15 12 (1.64%) AI Agents
16 11 (1.50%) NHS
17 10 (1.36%) Public Cloud
17 10 (1.36%) Virtual Team
18 9 (1.23%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 126 (17.19%) Windows
2 34 (4.64%) Linux
3 32 (4.37%) Windows 10
4 26 (3.55%) Windows Server
5 23 (3.14%) Apple iOS
6 20 (2.73%) Android
7 15 (2.05%) Unix
8 13 (1.77%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.68%) Solaris
10 4 (0.55%) zOS
11 3 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 2 (0.27%) AIX
12 2 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
12 2 (0.27%) HPUX
12 2 (0.27%) Mac OS X
12 2 (0.27%) Oracle Linux
12 2 (0.27%) SUSE
12 2 (0.27%) VMS
13 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 177 (24.15%) Continuous Improvement
2 166 (22.65%) Agile
3 146 (19.92%) CI/CD
4 136 (18.55%) Stakeholder Management
5 106 (14.46%) DevOps
6 87 (11.87%) AI
7 84 (11.46%) Customer Service
8 79 (10.78%) ITIL
9 72 (9.82%) Migration
10 69 (9.41%) Test Automation
11 65 (8.87%) Analytics
12 63 (8.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 61 (8.32%) Data Protection
14 58 (7.91%) Validation
15 57 (7.78%) Decision-Making
16 55 (7.50%) Infrastructure as Code
16 55 (7.50%) Microservices
16 55 (7.50%) Software Engineering
17 54 (7.37%) Change Management
18 53 (7.23%) Observability
Programming Languages
1 113 (15.42%) Python
2 107 (14.60%) SQL
3 60 (8.19%) Java
4 53 (7.23%) PowerShell
5 28 (3.82%) JavaScript
6 15 (2.05%) Bash
7 11 (1.50%) PL/SQL
7 11 (1.50%) TypeScript
8 9 (1.23%) C#
8 9 (1.23%) Shell Script
9 8 (1.09%) R
10 6 (0.82%) ActionScript
10 6 (0.82%) Apex Code
10 6 (0.82%) COBOL
11 5 (0.68%) ABAP
11 5 (0.68%) Kotlin
11 5 (0.68%) PHP
11 5 (0.68%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.55%) Bicep
12 4 (0.55%) JCL
Qualifications
1 108 (14.73%) Security Cleared
2 82 (11.19%) SC Cleared
3 63 (8.59%) Degree
4 27 (3.68%) BPSS Clearance
4 27 (3.68%) Computer Science Degree
5 22 (3.00%) Microsoft Certification
6 21 (2.86%) CISSP
7 19 (2.59%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (1.77%) CCNP
9 11 (1.50%) A+ Certification
10 10 (1.36%) AWS Certification
10 10 (1.36%) HNC
10 10 (1.36%) Network+ Certification
10 10 (1.36%) PMP
11 9 (1.23%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.95%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.95%) CISM
12 7 (0.95%) CompTIA Security+
13 6 (0.82%) CEH
13 6 (0.82%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (7.64%) Data Quality
2 30 (4.09%) QA
3 24 (3.27%) Accessibility
4 21 (2.86%) SLA
5 12 (1.64%) GDPR
5 12 (1.64%) NIST
6 11 (1.50%) GRC
6 11 (1.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 6 (0.82%) PCI DSS
7 6 (0.82%) WCAG
8 5 (0.68%) PMO
9 2 (0.27%) COSHH
9 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.27%) IEC 61508
9 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 2 (0.27%) MiFID
9 2 (0.27%) NCSC
9 2 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 8583
System Software
1 76 (10.37%) Active Directory
2 50 (6.82%) Docker
3 30 (4.09%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (1.77%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.23%) vSphere
6 8 (1.09%) Virtual Desktop
7 7 (0.95%) Virtual Machines
8 6 (0.82%) Firmware
8 6 (0.82%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.68%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 5 (0.68%) XenApp
9 5 (0.68%) XenDesktop
10 4 (0.55%) Oracle RAC
10 4 (0.55%) Virtual Servers
10 4 (0.55%) VMware NSX
11 2 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 2 (0.27%) KVM
11 2 (0.27%) NFS
11 2 (0.27%) SRDF
12 1 (0.14%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 57 (7.78%) Kubernetes
2 26 (3.55%) Microsoft Intune
3 24 (3.27%) Grafana
4 23 (3.14%) Prometheus
4 23 (3.14%) SCCM
5 20 (2.73%) Ansible
6 10 (1.36%) Nessus
7 9 (1.23%) Control-M
8 7 (0.95%) IBM Guardium
9 6 (0.82%) McAfee ePO
10 4 (0.55%) Data Guard
10 4 (0.55%) Kustomize
10 4 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.55%) vCenter Server
11 3 (0.41%) Argo
11 3 (0.41%) Functional Safety
11 3 (0.41%) Istio
11 3 (0.41%) Oracle RMAN
11 3 (0.41%) VxRail
11 3 (0.41%) WMI
Vendors
1 179 (24.42%) Microsoft
2 64 (8.73%) ServiceNow
3 49 (6.68%) SAP
4 39 (5.32%) Oracle
5 32 (4.37%) VMware
6 30 (4.09%) Cisco
7 21 (2.86%) Google
8 20 (2.73%) Splunk
9 16 (2.18%) F5
10 15 (2.05%) IBM
11 13 (1.77%) Salesforce
11 13 (1.77%) Workday
12 12 (1.64%) Palo Alto
13 11 (1.50%) Concur
13 11 (1.50%) Remedy
14 10 (1.36%) Dell
14 10 (1.36%) Fortinet
14 10 (1.36%) Tenable
15 9 (1.23%) Red Hat
16 8 (1.09%) Apple