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 17 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 4 6
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 736 692 617
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 10.25% 18.23% 13.36%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.19% 20.55% 15.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 418 395 353
10th Percentile £297 £258 £256
25th Percentile £363 £369 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £485
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -2.06% -7.62%
75th Percentile £538 £558 £550
90th Percentile £600 £655 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 63 70 59
10th Percentile £16.20 £12.71 -
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.55 £10.95
Median hourly rate £32.23 £22.14 £11.50
Median % change year-on-year +45.55% +92.52% -58.18%
75th Percentile £74.26 £33.16 £26.39
90th Percentile £89.00 £63.40 £62.75
England median hourly rate £21.75 £21.28 £16.23
% change year-on-year +2.19% +31.12% -69.09%

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 6,037 3,368 3,890
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 84.12% 88.72% 84.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,620 2,164 2,349
10th Percentile £313 £268 £297
25th Percentile £403 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £469 £493
Median % change year-on-year +5.02% -4.97% -1.40%
75th Percentile £588 £553 £580
90th Percentile £675 £650 £663
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 446 196 338
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.82 £11.40
25th Percentile £22.63 £17.44 £13.00
Median hourly rate £45.00 £22.63 £22.25
Median % change year-on-year +98.85% +1.71% -9.46%
75th Percentile £71.91 £45.13 £46.11
90th Percentile £83.75 £72.50 £66.61
England median hourly rate £47.00 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +86.88% -34.02% -8.14%

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 17 July 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 17 July 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 17 July 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 -11 368 £450 -7.98% 306
Yorkshire -7 324 £450 -5.26% 200
North East -20 50 £366 -18.61% 94
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 38 (5.16%) Confluence
2 22 (2.99%) Apache Spark
3 18 (2.45%) SharePoint
4 11 (1.49%) Apache Airflow
5 9 (1.22%) Apache
6 8 (1.09%) Microsoft Exchange
7 6 (0.82%) Jupyter
8 4 (0.54%) CMS
9 3 (0.41%) CICS
10 2 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 2 (0.27%) Camunda
10 2 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
11 1 (0.14%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.14%) JBoss
11 1 (0.14%) Mule
11 1 (0.14%) Mule ESB
11 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
11 1 (0.14%) WordPress
Applications
1 35 (4.76%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.53%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (1.49%) MS Visio
5 6 (0.82%) Chatbot
5 6 (0.82%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.41%) CATIA
6 3 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.27%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.14%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 33 (4.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.22%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.54%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.41%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.41%) Payment Gateway
4 3 (0.41%) SAP HCM
4 3 (0.41%) SAP Payroll
5 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.27%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.14%) Actimize
6 1 (0.14%) FIS Private Capital Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.14%) ResourceLink
6 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.14%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 122 (16.58%) Azure
2 87 (11.82%) AWS
3 60 (8.15%) Microsoft 365
4 54 (7.34%) Power Platform
5 39 (5.30%) GCP
6 38 (5.16%) GitHub
6 38 (5.16%) OpenShift
7 24 (3.26%) Entra ID
8 15 (2.04%) Azure DevOps
9 12 (1.63%) Microsoft Copilot
10 11 (1.49%) SaaS
11 10 (1.36%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 10 (1.36%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.36%) Serverless
12 9 (1.22%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (1.22%) PowerApps
13 8 (1.09%) Copilot Studio
14 7 (0.95%) Azure Monitor
15 6 (0.82%) Azure Storage
15 6 (0.82%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 32 (4.35%) DNS
2 30 (4.08%) Firewall
3 29 (3.94%) VPN
4 18 (2.45%) WAN
5 17 (2.31%) Network Security
6 16 (2.17%) LAN
7 15 (2.04%) TCP/IP
8 14 (1.90%) VLAN
8 14 (1.90%) Wireless
9 13 (1.77%) Wi-Fi
10 11 (1.49%) DHCP
11 10 (1.36%) SAN
12 8 (1.09%) VoIP
13 7 (0.95%) BGP
13 7 (0.95%) Cisco Nexus
13 7 (0.95%) Kerberos
13 7 (0.95%) WLAN
14 6 (0.82%) OSPF
15 5 (0.68%) SD-WAN
16 4 (0.54%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (5.71%) Power BI
2 35 (4.76%) SQL Server
3 33 (4.48%) MongoDB
4 24 (3.26%) PostgreSQL
5 23 (3.13%) Data Warehouse
6 16 (2.17%) Relational Database
7 15 (2.04%) Tableau
8 13 (1.77%) NoSQL
9 12 (1.63%) Big Data
10 11 (1.49%) Hadoop
11 10 (1.36%) MySQL
12 9 (1.22%) Metadata
13 8 (1.09%) Db2
13 8 (1.09%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 6 (0.82%) DataStage
15 5 (0.68%) Oracle Database
15 5 (0.68%) Snowflake Schema
16 4 (0.54%) Data Lake
16 4 (0.54%) Data Vault
16 4 (0.54%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 98 (13.32%) JIRA
2 40 (5.43%) Jenkins
3 33 (4.48%) Git
4 26 (3.53%) GitLab
5 12 (1.63%) Mockito
5 12 (1.63%) Sonatype Nexus
6 10 (1.36%) Selenium
7 9 (1.22%) Postman
8 7 (0.95%) REST Assured
9 6 (0.82%) JUnit
10 5 (0.68%) Cucumber
10 5 (0.68%) Gatling
11 4 (0.54%) Cypress.io
12 3 (0.41%) Claude Code
12 3 (0.41%) Gradle
12 3 (0.41%) MSI
12 3 (0.41%) Serenity BDD
13 2 (0.27%) Burp Suite
13 2 (0.27%) SoapUI
13 2 (0.27%) SonarQube
General
1 347 (47.15%) Social Skills
2 321 (43.61%) Analytical Skills
3 207 (28.13%) Finance
4 79 (10.73%) Banking
5 60 (8.15%) Public Sector
6 36 (4.89%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.67%) Influencing Skills
8 26 (3.53%) Legal
8 26 (3.53%) Organisational Skills
9 18 (2.45%) Manufacturing
10 17 (2.31%) Retail
11 14 (1.90%) Law
12 9 (1.22%) Telecoms
13 8 (1.09%) Financial Institution
13 8 (1.09%) Presentation Skills
14 7 (0.95%) Aerospace
14 7 (0.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 7 (0.95%) Marketing
15 6 (0.82%) Automotive
16 4 (0.54%) Military
Job Titles
1 142 (19.29%) Analyst
2 90 (12.23%) Developer
3 64 (8.70%) Lead
4 53 (7.20%) Senior
5 44 (5.98%) Architect
6 42 (5.71%) Business Analyst
7 30 (4.08%) Consultant
8 29 (3.94%) IT Support
9 27 (3.67%) Data Engineer
9 27 (3.67%) Java Developer
10 25 (3.40%) Administrator
11 24 (3.26%) Project Manager
11 24 (3.26%) Python Developer
12 22 (2.99%) Data Analyst
12 22 (2.99%) DevOps Engineer
13 20 (2.72%) IT Engineer
14 19 (2.58%) Network Engineer
15 17 (2.31%) Support Engineer
16 16 (2.17%) IT Analyst
17 15 (2.04%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.03%) Kafka
2 33 (4.48%) OpenTelemetry
3 32 (4.35%) REST
4 29 (3.94%) Spring
5 24 (3.26%) Spring Boot
6 21 (2.85%) FastAPI
7 19 (2.58%) React
7 19 (2.58%) RESTful
8 16 (2.17%) JSON
9 13 (1.77%) .NET
9 13 (1.77%) HTML
9 13 (1.77%) Playwright
10 12 (1.63%) CSS
10 12 (1.63%) XML
11 10 (1.36%) LDAP
11 10 (1.36%) Node.js
11 10 (1.36%) OAuth
11 10 (1.36%) SOAP
12 9 (1.22%) JAX-RS
13 8 (1.09%) ActiveMQ
Miscellaneous
1 54 (7.34%) Product Ownership
2 41 (5.57%) Cloud Native
3 33 (4.48%) Data Protection Act
4 31 (4.21%) Onboarding
5 25 (3.40%) Data Centre
6 23 (3.13%) Analytical Mindset
6 23 (3.13%) Legacy Systems
7 22 (2.99%) Self-Motivation
8 18 (2.45%) Management Information System
9 17 (2.31%) Driving Licence
9 17 (2.31%) Hybrid Cloud
10 16 (2.17%) Enterprise Software
11 14 (1.90%) Mainframe
12 13 (1.77%) AI Agents
12 13 (1.77%) Data Structures
13 12 (1.63%) Distributed Systems
14 11 (1.49%) PKI
14 11 (1.49%) Virtual Team
15 9 (1.22%) Mobile App
15 9 (1.22%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 77 (10.46%) Windows
2 42 (5.71%) Linux
3 26 (3.53%) Windows 10
4 19 (2.58%) Unix
5 15 (2.04%) Apple iOS
6 12 (1.63%) Mac OS
7 10 (1.36%) Android
7 10 (1.36%) Windows Server
8 7 (0.95%) Mac OS X
9 5 (0.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.41%) Solaris
10 3 (0.41%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.41%) zOS
11 2 (0.27%) AIX
11 2 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
11 2 (0.27%) HPUX
11 2 (0.27%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.27%) SUSE
11 2 (0.27%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 192 (26.09%) Agile
2 154 (20.92%) CI/CD
2 154 (20.92%) Continuous Improvement
3 130 (17.66%) DevOps
4 113 (15.35%) Stakeholder Management
5 96 (13.04%) Migration
6 78 (10.60%) Analytics
7 77 (10.46%) Change Management
7 77 (10.46%) Project Management
8 70 (9.51%) ITIL
9 68 (9.24%) AI
9 68 (9.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 68 (9.24%) Test Automation
10 66 (8.97%) Containerisation
11 62 (8.42%) Validation
12 59 (8.02%) Customer Service
12 59 (8.02%) Decision-Making
13 57 (7.74%) Data Protection
14 55 (7.47%) ERP
15 54 (7.34%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 129 (17.53%) Python
2 99 (13.45%) SQL
3 58 (7.88%) PowerShell
4 57 (7.74%) Java
5 32 (4.35%) Bash
6 23 (3.13%) JavaScript
7 13 (1.77%) TypeScript
8 10 (1.36%) PL/SQL
9 9 (1.22%) C#
9 9 (1.22%) R
10 8 (1.09%) Shell Script
11 6 (0.82%) ABAP
11 6 (0.82%) Bicep
11 6 (0.82%) Kotlin
11 6 (0.82%) T-SQL
12 5 (0.68%) COBOL
12 5 (0.68%) Go
12 5 (0.68%) VBA
13 4 (0.54%) JCL
14 3 (0.41%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 92 (12.50%) Security Cleared
2 69 (9.38%) Degree
3 64 (8.70%) SC Cleared
4 34 (4.62%) BPSS Clearance
5 26 (3.53%) Computer Science Degree
6 24 (3.26%) Microsoft Certification
7 21 (2.85%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (2.45%) CISSP
9 14 (1.90%) A+ Certification
9 14 (1.90%) PMP
10 13 (1.77%) CCNA
10 13 (1.77%) Network+ Certification
11 12 (1.63%) PMI Certification
12 11 (1.49%) CCNP
13 9 (1.22%) CompTIA Security+
14 8 (1.09%) AWS Certification
14 8 (1.09%) Azure Certification
15 7 (0.95%) CEH
16 6 (0.82%) HNC
16 6 (0.82%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (6.52%) Data Quality
2 22 (2.99%) QA
3 19 (2.58%) Accessibility
4 14 (1.90%) GDPR
4 14 (1.90%) SLA
5 11 (1.49%) GRC
6 10 (1.36%) NIST
7 9 (1.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.22%) PMO
8 6 (0.82%) PCI DSS
9 5 (0.68%) PSD2
10 4 (0.54%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.41%) ISO 8583
11 3 (0.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.27%) ISO 20022
12 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.27%) SEPA
12 2 (0.27%) WCAG
System Software
1 62 (8.42%) Docker
2 54 (7.34%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 17 (2.31%) vSphere
5 15 (2.04%) VMware NSX
6 9 (1.22%) Virtual Machines
7 7 (0.95%) Firmware
8 4 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
9 2 (0.27%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.27%) KVM
9 2 (0.27%) NFS
9 2 (0.27%) SRDF
9 2 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.14%) ACF2
10 1 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.14%) RACF
10 1 (0.14%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.14%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 81 (11.01%) Kubernetes
2 57 (7.74%) Terraform
3 47 (6.39%) Ansible
4 45 (6.11%) Grafana
5 36 (4.89%) Prometheus
6 17 (2.31%) Control-M
7 15 (2.04%) Argo
7 15 (2.04%) IBM Guardium
7 15 (2.04%) Nessus
7 15 (2.04%) vCenter Server
8 13 (1.77%) Microsoft Intune
9 10 (1.36%) SCCM
10 5 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
11 4 (0.54%) Kustomize
12 3 (0.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 3 (0.41%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.41%) Istio
12 3 (0.41%) McAfee ePO
12 3 (0.41%) WMI
13 2 (0.27%) CA Endevor
Vendors
1 127 (17.26%) Microsoft
2 60 (8.15%) SAP
3 57 (7.74%) ServiceNow
4 47 (6.39%) Splunk
5 32 (4.35%) Oracle
6 25 (3.40%) Cisco
6 25 (3.40%) VMware
7 21 (2.85%) Google
8 19 (2.58%) Red Hat
8 19 (2.58%) Workday
9 15 (2.04%) Pure Storage
9 15 (2.04%) Tenable
10 12 (1.63%) Concur
11 11 (1.49%) Sage
12 10 (1.36%) Dell
12 10 (1.36%) F5
12 10 (1.36%) IBM
12 10 (1.36%) Palo Alto
13 9 (1.22%) Remedy
14 8 (1.09%) Databricks