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 20 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 2 6
Rank change year-on-year -4 +4 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 769 610 615
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 13.51% 18.83% 12.69%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 15.64% 20.90% 14.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 494 377 342
10th Percentile £220 £230 £210
25th Percentile £350 £363 £369
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £489 £495
Median % change year-on-year -7.98% -1.21% +2.06%
75th Percentile £531 £573 £580
90th Percentile £612 £650 £688
England median daily rate £488 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -2.50% - -7.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 47 74
10th Percentile £15.18 £14.33 -
25th Percentile £17.00 £21.24 £10.95
Median hourly rate £41.86 £25.43 £13.75
Median % change year-on-year +64.59% +84.95% -70.35%
75th Percentile £74.26 £30.63 £21.77
90th Percentile £75.00 £60.42 £46.18
England median hourly rate £20.36 £25.00 £18.25
% change year-on-year -18.58% +36.99% -57.98%

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 4,916 2,919 4,171
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 86.37% 90.09% 86.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,202 1,847 2,591
10th Percentile £270 £263 £281
25th Percentile £382 £378 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £495
Median % change year-on-year - -4.04% -1.00%
75th Percentile £550 £572 £580
90th Percentile £643 £650 £675
England median daily rate £503 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.19% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 307 152 367
10th Percentile £15.57 £15.00 £11.04
25th Percentile £22.63 £20.14 £12.77
Median hourly rate £45.00 £28.75 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.52% +59.72% -37.61%
75th Percentile £67.96 £49.06 £44.74
90th Percentile £74.56 £77.38 £52.78
England median hourly rate £32.50 £33.26 £32.50
% change year-on-year -2.27% +2.32% -12.87%

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 20 March 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 20 March 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 20 March 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 -3 382 £425 -12.82% 358
Yorkshire -4 338 £475 -5.00% 230
North East -4 58 £438 -2.78% 90
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 49 (6.37%) Confluence
2 29 (3.77%) SharePoint
3 25 (3.25%) Microsoft Exchange
4 16 (2.08%) Apache Spark
5 8 (1.04%) Apache
6 3 (0.39%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 3 (0.39%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.13%) CMS
7 1 (0.13%) JBoss
7 1 (0.13%) Moodle
7 1 (0.13%) nginx
7 1 (0.13%) SAS
7 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 39 (5.07%) Microsoft Excel
2 38 (4.94%) Microsoft Office
3 23 (2.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.95%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.65%) Acrobat
5 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.39%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.13%) CATIA
7 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
7 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 40 (5.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.52%) Payment Gateway
3 3 (0.39%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.39%) iTrent
3 3 (0.39%) SAP Payroll
3 3 (0.39%) SAP SCM
4 2 (0.26%) Advent Geneva
4 2 (0.26%) Elite 3E
4 2 (0.26%) Kondor
4 2 (0.26%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.26%) SAP HCM
4 2 (0.26%) SystmOne
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.13%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.13%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.13%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.13%) SAP EHS
5 1 (0.13%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.13%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 129 (16.78%) Azure
2 101 (13.13%) AWS
3 61 (7.93%) Microsoft 365
4 52 (6.76%) GitHub
5 46 (5.98%) GCP
5 46 (5.98%) Power Platform
6 44 (5.72%) OpenShift
7 26 (3.38%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (3.12%) Entra ID
9 20 (2.60%) SaaS
9 20 (2.60%) Serverless
10 15 (1.95%) GitHub Actions
10 15 (1.95%) Google Workspace
11 11 (1.43%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.30%) Power Automate
13 9 (1.17%) Apigee
14 8 (1.04%) Azure AKS
14 8 (1.04%) Azure Functions
14 8 (1.04%) Azure Monitor
15 7 (0.91%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 45 (5.85%) Firewall
2 39 (5.07%) DNS
3 28 (3.64%) Network Security
4 18 (2.34%) TCP/IP
4 18 (2.34%) WAN
5 17 (2.21%) LAN
6 12 (1.56%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (1.43%) DHCP
7 11 (1.43%) VLAN
8 10 (1.30%) WebEx
9 8 (1.04%) BGP
10 7 (0.91%) VPN
11 6 (0.78%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 6 (0.78%) HTTP
11 6 (0.78%) Kerberos
11 6 (0.78%) SAN
11 6 (0.78%) Software-Defined Networking
12 5 (0.65%) DMZ
12 5 (0.65%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 4 (0.52%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (4.68%) Power BI
2 31 (4.03%) MongoDB
3 28 (3.64%) PostgreSQL
4 24 (3.12%) SQL Server
5 18 (2.34%) NoSQL
6 17 (2.21%) Data Warehouse
7 16 (2.08%) Relational Database
8 12 (1.56%) Power Query
9 11 (1.43%) Hadoop
9 11 (1.43%) MySQL
10 8 (1.04%) Metadata
10 8 (1.04%) PowerPivot
11 7 (0.91%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.91%) Oracle Database
11 7 (0.91%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 6 (0.78%) Big Data
12 6 (0.78%) BigQuery
13 5 (0.65%) Oracle Reports
13 5 (0.65%) Snowflake Schema
13 5 (0.65%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 104 (13.52%) JIRA
2 52 (6.76%) Jenkins
3 38 (4.94%) Git
4 33 (4.29%) GitLab
5 17 (2.21%) Sonatype Nexus
6 10 (1.30%) Mockito
7 9 (1.17%) Postman
7 9 (1.17%) Selenium
8 8 (1.04%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.65%) Cypress.io
10 4 (0.52%) CircleCI
10 4 (0.52%) JMeter
10 4 (0.52%) JUnit
10 4 (0.52%) Oracle Forms
11 3 (0.39%) Jasmine
11 3 (0.39%) REST Assured
12 2 (0.26%) Maven
12 2 (0.26%) SoapUI
12 2 (0.26%) Zephyr
13 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 393 (51.11%) Social Skills
2 278 (36.15%) Analytical Skills
3 220 (28.61%) Finance
4 89 (11.57%) Public Sector
5 87 (11.31%) Banking
6 32 (4.16%) Legal
7 25 (3.25%) Documentation Skills
8 20 (2.60%) Influencing Skills
9 14 (1.82%) Organisational Skills
10 11 (1.43%) Telecoms
11 10 (1.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 10 (1.30%) Manufacturing
11 10 (1.30%) Presentation Skills
12 9 (1.17%) Law
12 9 (1.17%) Retail
13 7 (0.91%) Retail Banking
14 6 (0.78%) Health Technology
15 5 (0.65%) Local Government
16 4 (0.52%) Military
17 3 (0.39%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 126 (16.38%) Analyst
2 111 (14.43%) Developer
3 67 (8.71%) Lead
4 62 (8.06%) Business Analyst
5 52 (6.76%) Senior
6 42 (5.46%) Project Manager
7 35 (4.55%) Consultant
8 34 (4.42%) IT Support
9 30 (3.90%) Administrator
9 30 (3.90%) Architect
9 30 (3.90%) Data Engineer
10 23 (2.99%) Java Developer
11 22 (2.86%) IT Engineer
11 22 (2.86%) Platform Engineer
12 21 (2.73%) Software Engineer
13 19 (2.47%) SAP Consultant
13 19 (2.47%) Technical Analyst
14 17 (2.21%) Technical Business Analyst
15 16 (2.08%) Support Engineer
16 15 (1.95%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (4.94%) REST
2 33 (4.29%) Spring
3 31 (4.03%) Kafka
3 31 (4.03%) OpenTelemetry
4 30 (3.90%) Spring Boot
5 27 (3.51%) RESTful
6 26 (3.38%) JSON
7 21 (2.73%) SOAP
8 20 (2.60%) .NET
8 20 (2.60%) XML
9 17 (2.21%) FastAPI
10 16 (2.08%) OAuth
11 15 (1.95%) React
12 14 (1.82%) Swagger
13 13 (1.69%) HTML
14 12 (1.56%) CSS
14 12 (1.56%) YAML
15 10 (1.30%) Elastic Stack
15 10 (1.30%) Node.js
15 10 (1.30%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 65 (8.45%) Product Ownership
2 33 (4.29%) Onboarding
3 28 (3.64%) Cloud Native
4 21 (2.73%) Data Protection Act
5 20 (2.60%) Hybrid Cloud
5 20 (2.60%) Legacy Systems
6 18 (2.34%) Data Centre
6 18 (2.34%) Management Information System
7 17 (2.21%) Self-Motivation
8 14 (1.82%) Data Structures
9 13 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.69%) CMDB
10 10 (1.30%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 9 (1.17%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (1.17%) Mainframe
11 9 (1.17%) Mobile App
11 9 (1.17%) NHS
11 9 (1.17%) Public Cloud
12 8 (1.04%) Algorithms
13 7 (0.91%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 83 (10.79%) Windows
2 74 (9.62%) Linux
3 23 (2.99%) Windows 10
4 22 (2.86%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (2.73%) Windows Server
6 19 (2.47%) Unix
7 11 (1.43%) Android
8 8 (1.04%) Apple iOS
8 8 (1.04%) CentOS
8 8 (1.04%) Mac OS
8 8 (1.04%) Ubuntu
9 7 (0.91%) Windows Server 2019
10 5 (0.65%) Mac OS X
11 4 (0.52%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.39%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 230 (29.91%) Agile
2 177 (23.02%) CI/CD
3 144 (18.73%) DevOps
4 143 (18.60%) Continuous Improvement
5 103 (13.39%) Stakeholder Management
6 97 (12.61%) Migration
7 95 (12.35%) Project Management
8 82 (10.66%) Change Management
9 76 (9.88%) Containerisation
10 75 (9.75%) Analytics
11 67 (8.71%) Validation
12 66 (8.58%) Test Automation
13 63 (8.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 62 (8.06%) Decision-Making
15 60 (7.80%) Mentoring
16 59 (7.67%) Customer Service
16 59 (7.67%) Workshop Facilitation
17 57 (7.41%) Microservices
18 56 (7.28%) Business Intelligence
19 55 (7.15%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 128 (16.64%) Python
2 102 (13.26%) SQL
3 69 (8.97%) Java
4 53 (6.89%) PowerShell
5 46 (5.98%) Bash
6 30 (3.90%) TypeScript
7 28 (3.64%) JavaScript
8 21 (2.73%) C#
9 17 (2.21%) Perl
10 12 (1.56%) Groovy
11 11 (1.43%) T-SQL
11 11 (1.43%) VBA
12 9 (1.17%) CLIST
12 9 (1.17%) COBOL
12 9 (1.17%) JCL
12 9 (1.17%) REXX
12 9 (1.17%) Ruby
13 8 (1.04%) Kotlin
14 7 (0.91%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 7 (0.91%) Go
Qualifications
1 93 (12.09%) Security Cleared
2 74 (9.62%) Degree
3 63 (8.19%) SC Cleared
4 42 (5.46%) BPSS Clearance
5 36 (4.68%) Computer Science Degree
6 23 (2.99%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (2.73%) CCNA
8 17 (2.21%) PMP
9 15 (1.95%) CCNP
10 10 (1.30%) Microsoft Certification
10 10 (1.30%) PMI Certification
11 9 (1.17%) CCDP
12 8 (1.04%) A+ Certification
12 8 (1.04%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (1.04%) RHCE
13 7 (0.91%) CISSP
13 7 (0.91%) DBS Check
14 6 (0.78%) Master's Degree
15 5 (0.65%) MCSE
16 4 (0.52%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (5.33%) QA
2 36 (4.68%) Data Quality
3 16 (2.08%) GDPR
4 15 (1.95%) PSD2
5 14 (1.82%) Accessibility
6 9 (1.17%) ISO 20022
6 9 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 9 (1.17%) PCI DSS
6 9 (1.17%) PMO
7 8 (1.04%) SEPA
8 6 (0.78%) SLA
9 5 (0.65%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.65%) HL7
9 5 (0.65%) NIST
10 3 (0.39%) ISO 8583
10 3 (0.39%) WCAG
11 1 (0.13%) GRC
11 1 (0.13%) GxP
11 1 (0.13%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 72 (9.36%) Docker
2 50 (6.50%) Active Directory
3 26 (3.38%) VMware Infrastructure
4 19 (2.47%) VMware NSX
5 18 (2.34%) vSphere
6 9 (1.17%) ACF2
6 9 (1.17%) RACF
6 9 (1.17%) Time Sharing Option
7 7 (0.91%) Hyper-V
8 6 (0.78%) Virtual Desktop
8 6 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.39%) ISA Server
10 2 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 99 (12.87%) Kubernetes
2 63 (8.19%) Terraform
3 59 (7.67%) Ansible
4 46 (5.98%) Grafana
5 33 (4.29%) Prometheus
6 17 (2.21%) Microsoft Intune
7 15 (1.95%) Control-M
8 14 (1.82%) Argo
8 14 (1.82%) IBM Guardium
8 14 (1.82%) Nessus
8 14 (1.82%) SCCM
9 12 (1.56%) vCenter Server
10 10 (1.30%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 10 (1.30%) Puppet
11 9 (1.17%) CA Endevor
11 9 (1.17%) Tivoli
11 9 (1.17%) Tivoli Storage Manager
12 4 (0.52%) EMC NetWorker
12 4 (0.52%) Kibana
12 4 (0.52%) Norton AntiVirus
Vendors
1 144 (18.73%) Microsoft
2 60 (7.80%) SAP
3 43 (5.59%) Splunk
4 40 (5.20%) Oracle
4 40 (5.20%) VMware
5 33 (4.29%) Red Hat
6 28 (3.64%) Google
7 27 (3.51%) ServiceNow
8 22 (2.86%) Workday
9 20 (2.60%) Cisco
10 14 (1.82%) Citrix
10 14 (1.82%) Sage
10 14 (1.82%) Tenable
11 13 (1.69%) Sonatype
12 12 (1.56%) Pure Storage
13 11 (1.43%) Databricks
14 10 (1.30%) F5
15 9 (1.17%) Adobe
15 9 (1.17%) Veeam
16 8 (1.04%) Dell