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

6 months to
17 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 2 6
Rank change year-on-year -11 +4 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 716 675 623
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 10.44% 19.55% 12.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.41% 21.77% 15.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 424 393 348
10th Percentile £297 £251 £247
25th Percentile £360 £367 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £483
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -1.55% -5.62%
75th Percentile £537 £565 £550
90th Percentile £613 £663 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 55 59 71
10th Percentile £14.62 £12.65 -
25th Percentile £17.00 £19.56 £10.95
Median hourly rate £32.23 £25.00 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year +28.90% +85.19% -50.91%
75th Percentile £74.26 £45.25 £34.83
90th Percentile £141.65 £64.72 £62.50
England median hourly rate £21.68 £21.39 £16.23
% change year-on-year +1.33% +31.79% -67.54%

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 5,771 3,100 4,066
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 84.15% 89.80% 83.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,493 1,999 2,408
10th Percentile £313 £276 £300
25th Percentile £400 £378 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.23% -7.00% -
75th Percentile £586 £550 £585
90th Percentile £675 £650 £669
England median daily rate £518 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -0.48% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 402 161 397
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.82 £11.10
25th Percentile £22.68 £17.88 £12.55
Median hourly rate £50.00 £25.15 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year +98.81% +14.32% -12.00%
75th Percentile £71.50 £52.50 £46.18
90th Percentile £80.90 £77.50 £63.75
England median hourly rate £47.00 £27.45 £37.75
% change year-on-year +71.22% -27.28% +7.09%

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 June 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 June 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 June 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 -11 345 £441 -7.11% 577
Yorkshire -7 327 £451 -5.16% 390
North East -15 50 £370 -17.78% 206
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 44 (6.15%) Confluence
2 21 (2.93%) Apache Spark
3 14 (1.96%) SharePoint
4 9 (1.26%) Apache Airflow
4 9 (1.26%) Microsoft Exchange
5 8 (1.12%) Apache
6 6 (0.84%) Jupyter
7 3 (0.42%) CICS
8 2 (0.28%) Camunda
8 2 (0.28%) CMS
8 2 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.28%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 1 (0.14%) JBoss
9 1 (0.14%) Mule
9 1 (0.14%) Mule ESB
9 1 (0.14%) NetWeaver
9 1 (0.14%) nginx
9 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
Applications
1 35 (4.89%) Microsoft Excel
2 21 (2.93%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.40%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.70%) Chatbot
5 5 (0.70%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.56%) Acrobat
6 4 (0.56%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.42%) CATIA
Business Applications
1 38 (5.31%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.84%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.42%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.42%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.28%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.14%) Actimize
6 1 (0.14%) Elite 3E
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%) SAP BPC
6 1 (0.14%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.14%) SAP HCM
6 1 (0.14%) SAP Payroll
6 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.14%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 125 (17.46%) Azure
2 93 (12.99%) AWS
3 52 (7.26%) Microsoft 365
4 49 (6.84%) Power Platform
5 43 (6.01%) GCP
6 38 (5.31%) GitHub
6 38 (5.31%) OpenShift
7 22 (3.07%) Entra ID
8 17 (2.37%) SaaS
9 16 (2.23%) Azure DevOps
10 13 (1.82%) Serverless
11 11 (1.54%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 9 (1.26%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (1.26%) Microsoft Copilot
13 8 (1.12%) Power Automate
14 7 (0.98%) Azure Functions
14 7 (0.98%) Azure Monitor
14 7 (0.98%) Azure Storage
14 7 (0.98%) Google Workspace
15 6 (0.84%) Apigee
Communications & Networking
1 29 (4.05%) DNS
2 25 (3.49%) Firewall
3 18 (2.51%) WAN
4 15 (2.09%) LAN
5 14 (1.96%) TCP/IP
6 13 (1.82%) Network Security
6 13 (1.82%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (1.54%) SAN
8 10 (1.40%) VLAN
8 10 (1.40%) VPN
9 7 (0.98%) DHCP
9 7 (0.98%) Kerberos
9 7 (0.98%) Wireless
10 5 (0.70%) VoIP
11 4 (0.56%) Cisco Nexus
11 4 (0.56%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 4 (0.56%) NAS
11 4 (0.56%) SD-WAN
12 3 (0.42%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
12 3 (0.42%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (5.59%) Power BI
2 30 (4.19%) MongoDB
3 26 (3.63%) SQL Server
4 22 (3.07%) PostgreSQL
5 21 (2.93%) Data Warehouse
6 15 (2.09%) Relational Database
7 13 (1.82%) NoSQL
7 13 (1.82%) Tableau
8 12 (1.68%) Big Data
9 11 (1.54%) Hadoop
10 9 (1.26%) Metadata
11 8 (1.12%) MySQL
12 7 (0.98%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 6 (0.84%) Db2
13 6 (0.84%) Power Query
14 5 (0.70%) DataStage
14 5 (0.70%) Snowflake Schema
15 4 (0.56%) Data Vault
15 4 (0.56%) Neo4j
16 3 (0.42%) Amazon Athena
Development Applications
1 108 (15.08%) JIRA
2 42 (5.87%) Jenkins
3 31 (4.33%) Git
4 27 (3.77%) GitLab
5 13 (1.82%) Sonatype Nexus
6 11 (1.54%) Mockito
7 9 (1.26%) Postman
7 9 (1.26%) Selenium
8 6 (0.84%) Cucumber
8 6 (0.84%) JUnit
8 6 (0.84%) REST Assured
9 5 (0.70%) Gatling
10 3 (0.42%) Gradle
10 3 (0.42%) MSI
10 3 (0.42%) Serenity BDD
11 2 (0.28%) Burp Suite
11 2 (0.28%) JMeter
11 2 (0.28%) LoadRunner
11 2 (0.28%) Oracle Forms
11 2 (0.28%) SoapUI
General
1 356 (49.72%) Social Skills
2 300 (41.90%) Analytical Skills
3 215 (30.03%) Finance
4 87 (12.15%) Banking
5 55 (7.68%) Public Sector
6 37 (5.17%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.77%) Legal
8 24 (3.35%) Influencing Skills
9 22 (3.07%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (2.23%) Retail
11 15 (2.09%) Manufacturing
11 15 (2.09%) Telecoms
12 14 (1.96%) Law
13 9 (1.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 8 (1.12%) Presentation Skills
15 7 (0.98%) Financial Institution
15 7 (0.98%) Retail Banking
16 5 (0.70%) Automotive
16 5 (0.70%) Local Government
17 4 (0.56%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 145 (20.25%) Analyst
2 84 (11.73%) Developer
3 61 (8.52%) Lead
4 53 (7.40%) Business Analyst
5 44 (6.15%) Senior
6 37 (5.17%) Architect
7 34 (4.75%) Consultant
8 28 (3.91%) Project Manager
9 26 (3.63%) Java Developer
10 25 (3.49%) Administrator
10 25 (3.49%) Data Engineer
11 24 (3.35%) IT Support
12 22 (3.07%) Python Developer
13 21 (2.93%) DevOps Engineer
14 20 (2.79%) Data Analyst
15 17 (2.37%) Technical Analyst
16 16 (2.23%) IT Analyst
16 16 (2.23%) IT Engineer
16 16 (2.23%) Support Analyst
17 14 (1.96%) SAP Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (5.03%) Kafka
2 35 (4.89%) REST
3 32 (4.47%) OpenTelemetry
4 29 (4.05%) Spring
5 24 (3.35%) Spring Boot
6 21 (2.93%) React
7 19 (2.65%) FastAPI
7 19 (2.65%) RESTful
8 17 (2.37%) JSON
9 14 (1.96%) SOAP
10 13 (1.82%) HTML
10 13 (1.82%) XML
11 12 (1.68%) .NET
11 12 (1.68%) CSS
12 11 (1.54%) LDAP
12 11 (1.54%) YAML
13 10 (1.40%) OAuth
13 10 (1.40%) Playwright
13 10 (1.40%) Swagger
14 9 (1.26%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 60 (8.38%) Product Ownership
2 42 (5.87%) Cloud Native
3 31 (4.33%) Data Protection Act
3 31 (4.33%) Onboarding
4 25 (3.49%) Legacy Systems
5 21 (2.93%) Data Centre
6 20 (2.79%) Analytical Mindset
6 20 (2.79%) Management Information System
7 19 (2.65%) Self-Motivation
8 17 (2.37%) Hybrid Cloud
9 16 (2.23%) Mainframe
10 13 (1.82%) AI Agents
10 13 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
11 12 (1.68%) Distributed Systems
11 12 (1.68%) Driving Licence
12 10 (1.40%) Data Structures
12 10 (1.40%) Mobile App
12 10 (1.40%) Virtual Team
13 9 (1.26%) Public Cloud
14 8 (1.12%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 69 (9.64%) Windows
2 46 (6.42%) Linux
3 20 (2.79%) Windows 10
4 17 (2.37%) Unix
5 16 (2.23%) Apple iOS
6 14 (1.96%) Mac OS
7 13 (1.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 11 (1.54%) Android
9 9 (1.26%) Ubuntu
9 9 (1.26%) Windows Server
10 8 (1.12%) CentOS
11 6 (0.84%) Mac OS X
11 6 (0.84%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.42%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.28%) AIX
13 2 (0.28%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.28%) HPUX
13 2 (0.28%) Oracle Linux
13 2 (0.28%) Solaris
13 2 (0.28%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (27.65%) Agile
2 155 (21.65%) CI/CD
3 141 (19.69%) Continuous Improvement
3 141 (19.69%) DevOps
4 107 (14.94%) Stakeholder Management
5 101 (14.11%) Migration
6 85 (11.87%) Project Management
7 82 (11.45%) Change Management
8 74 (10.34%) Analytics
9 69 (9.64%) Validation
10 67 (9.36%) ITIL
11 65 (9.08%) Test Automation
12 64 (8.94%) Containerisation
13 62 (8.66%) Customer Service
13 62 (8.66%) ERP
14 61 (8.52%) Decision-Making
15 56 (7.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 55 (7.68%) AI
16 55 (7.68%) Workshop Facilitation
17 54 (7.54%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 133 (18.58%) Python
2 99 (13.83%) SQL
3 60 (8.38%) Java
4 51 (7.12%) PowerShell
5 32 (4.47%) Bash
6 26 (3.63%) JavaScript
7 16 (2.23%) TypeScript
8 9 (1.26%) C#
8 9 (1.26%) Perl
8 9 (1.26%) PL/SQL
8 9 (1.26%) R
8 9 (1.26%) Ruby
9 8 (1.12%) COBOL
10 7 (0.98%) Go
10 7 (0.98%) Shell Script
11 6 (0.84%) Bicep
11 6 (0.84%) JCL
11 6 (0.84%) Kotlin
11 6 (0.84%) VBA
12 5 (0.70%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 73 (10.20%) Security Cleared
2 71 (9.92%) Degree
3 47 (6.56%) SC Cleared
4 42 (5.87%) BPSS Clearance
5 28 (3.91%) Computer Science Degree
6 26 (3.63%) Microsoft Certification
7 18 (2.51%) Cisco Certification
8 17 (2.37%) A+ Certification
9 16 (2.23%) CISSP
9 16 (2.23%) Network+ Certification
9 16 (2.23%) PMP
10 14 (1.96%) CCNA
11 12 (1.68%) PMI Certification
12 10 (1.40%) RHCE
13 8 (1.12%) AWS Certification
13 8 (1.12%) Azure Certification
13 8 (1.12%) CCNP
13 8 (1.12%) CompTIA Security+
14 7 (0.98%) MCSE
15 6 (0.84%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (5.59%) Data Quality
2 22 (3.07%) QA
3 16 (2.23%) GDPR
4 13 (1.82%) Accessibility
5 12 (1.68%) PMO
6 9 (1.26%) GRC
6 9 (1.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 9 (1.26%) NIST
6 9 (1.26%) SLA
7 8 (1.12%) PSD2
8 6 (0.84%) PCI DSS
9 5 (0.70%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.70%) ISO 20022
10 4 (0.56%) SEPA
11 3 (0.42%) ISO 8583
11 3 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.28%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.14%) GxP
System Software
1 63 (8.80%) Docker
2 48 (6.70%) Active Directory
3 24 (3.35%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (2.51%) vSphere
5 15 (2.09%) VMware NSX
6 8 (1.12%) Hyper-V
7 7 (0.98%) Virtual Machines
8 6 (0.84%) Firmware
9 4 (0.56%) ACF2
9 4 (0.56%) RACF
9 4 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.42%) Time Sharing Option
11 2 (0.28%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 2 (0.28%) NFS
11 2 (0.28%) SRDF
11 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 81 (11.31%) Kubernetes
2 56 (7.82%) Terraform
3 52 (7.26%) Ansible
4 41 (5.73%) Grafana
5 32 (4.47%) Prometheus
6 17 (2.37%) Microsoft Intune
7 16 (2.23%) Control-M
8 15 (2.09%) Argo
8 15 (2.09%) vCenter Server
9 14 (1.96%) IBM Guardium
9 14 (1.96%) Nessus
10 9 (1.26%) SCCM
11 8 (1.12%) Puppet
12 5 (0.70%) CA Endevor
12 5 (0.70%) Kustomize
13 4 (0.56%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 3 (0.42%) Istio
14 3 (0.42%) Kibana
14 3 (0.42%) Tivoli
14 3 (0.42%) Tivoli Storage Manager
Vendors
1 115 (16.06%) Microsoft
2 63 (8.80%) SAP
3 46 (6.42%) Splunk
4 38 (5.31%) ServiceNow
5 29 (4.05%) Oracle
5 29 (4.05%) VMware
6 26 (3.63%) Red Hat
7 24 (3.35%) Google
8 21 (2.93%) Workday
9 19 (2.65%) Cisco
10 15 (2.09%) Pure Storage
11 14 (1.96%) Sage
11 14 (1.96%) Tenable
12 11 (1.54%) Dell
13 9 (1.26%) F5
13 9 (1.26%) Veeam
14 8 (1.12%) Concur
14 8 (1.12%) Salesforce
14 8 (1.12%) Sonatype
15 7 (0.98%) Apple