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

6 months to
1 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 16 5 4
Rank change year-on-year -11 -1 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 730 630 557
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 9.55% 15.66% 13.58%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.50% 17.62% 16.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 415 368 310
10th Percentile £282 £258 £298
25th Percentile £356 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £550 £560 £560
90th Percentile £638 £650 £622
England median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 57 11
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.81 £12.00
25th Percentile £15.63 £17.30 £26.25
Median hourly rate £19.00 £20.26 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.20% -66.24% +153.38%
75th Percentile £39.88 £34.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £81.38 £63.40 £79.17
England median hourly rate £19.48 £18.87 £16.23
% change year-on-year +3.23% +16.27% -69.42%

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 6,347 3,575 3,456
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 83.00% 88.86% 84.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,666 2,348 1,924
10th Percentile £310 £263 £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 £579
90th Percentile £675 £675 £675
England median daily rate £525 £512 £525
% change year-on-year +2.64% -2.57% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 541 203 179
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.13 £13.75
25th Percentile £19.00 £17.41 £16.68
Median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +94.26% -35.34% +28.68%
75th Percentile £67.50 £36.38 £51.91
90th Percentile £77.00 £64.75 £70.00
England median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +63.02% -41.51% -3.37%

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 1 October 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 1 October 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 1 October 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 -10 360 £450 -4.05% 941
Yorkshire -7 297 £475 -4.04% 628
North East -12 75 £375 -16.67% 278
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 (3.84%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.15%) Confluence
3 12 (1.64%) Apache
4 11 (1.51%) Apache Airflow
4 11 (1.51%) Apache Spark
5 7 (0.96%) CMS
5 7 (0.96%) 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%) IBM HTTP Server
9 2 (0.27%) nginx
9 2 (0.27%) Oracle HTTP Server
9 2 (0.27%) WebLogic Portal
9 2 (0.27%) WebSphere Application Server
9 2 (0.27%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 42 (5.75%) Microsoft Excel
2 41 (5.62%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.37%) MS Visio
4 8 (1.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.82%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.68%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.41%) Acrobat
7 3 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
8 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.27%) Navisworks
8 2 (0.27%) Revit
9 1 (0.14%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 18 (2.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.37%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.41%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.41%) SAP ERP
3 3 (0.41%) Teamcenter
3 3 (0.41%) Workday HCM
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.27%) SAP HCM
4 2 (0.27%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.27%) SAP R/3
5 1 (0.14%) CA PPM
5 1 (0.14%) ENOVIA
5 1 (0.14%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.14%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.14%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 122 (16.71%) Azure
2 101 (13.84%) Microsoft 365
3 98 (13.42%) AWS
4 51 (6.99%) Power Platform
5 49 (6.71%) GCP
6 35 (4.79%) Entra ID
7 28 (3.84%) GitHub
8 21 (2.88%) Serverless
9 17 (2.33%) Azure DevOps
10 16 (2.19%) OpenShift
11 12 (1.64%) SaaS
12 11 (1.51%) AWS Lambda
12 11 (1.51%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 11 (1.51%) Power Automate
13 10 (1.37%) IaaS
14 9 (1.23%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 9 (1.23%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (1.23%) OneDrive
14 9 (1.23%) PowerApps
15 8 (1.10%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.30%) VPN
2 41 (5.62%) Firewall
3 30 (4.11%) DNS
4 27 (3.70%) Network Security
5 25 (3.42%) WAN
6 24 (3.29%) LAN
7 21 (2.88%) Wi-Fi
8 18 (2.47%) Wireless
9 16 (2.19%) VoIP
10 15 (2.05%) DHCP
10 15 (2.05%) VLAN
11 14 (1.92%) TCP/IP
12 11 (1.51%) Cisco Nexus
13 10 (1.37%) BGP
13 10 (1.37%) BIG-IP
13 10 (1.37%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 10 (1.37%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
13 10 (1.37%) OSPF
14 9 (1.23%) WLAN
15 8 (1.10%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (4.79%) Power BI
2 28 (3.84%) SQL Server
3 21 (2.88%) Data Warehouse
4 19 (2.60%) MongoDB
5 15 (2.05%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.51%) Db2
7 10 (1.37%) PostgreSQL
8 9 (1.23%) Tableau
9 8 (1.10%) Big Data
9 8 (1.10%) DataStage
9 8 (1.10%) Metadata
10 7 (0.96%) NoSQL
11 6 (0.82%) Oracle Database
12 5 (0.68%) Amazon Athena
12 5 (0.68%) Amazon Redshift
12 5 (0.68%) Data Lake
12 5 (0.68%) DynamoDB
12 5 (0.68%) MySQL
12 5 (0.68%) Neo4j
13 4 (0.55%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 55 (7.53%) JIRA
2 36 (4.93%) Git
3 33 (4.52%) Jenkins
4 22 (3.01%) GitLab
5 8 (1.10%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.10%) Selenium
6 7 (0.96%) 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%) LoadRunner
10 3 (0.41%) Serenity BDD
10 3 (0.41%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.27%) Ant
11 2 (0.27%) JUnit
11 2 (0.27%) Subversion
General
1 370 (50.68%) Social Skills
2 294 (40.27%) Analytical Skills
3 161 (22.05%) Finance
4 76 (10.41%) Banking
5 57 (7.81%) Public Sector
6 45 (6.16%) Manufacturing
7 38 (5.21%) Organisational Skills
8 27 (3.70%) Documentation Skills
9 26 (3.56%) Legal
10 21 (2.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 18 (2.47%) Influencing Skills
12 15 (2.05%) Law
13 13 (1.78%) Retail
14 11 (1.51%) Marketing
14 11 (1.51%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.37%) Automotive
16 9 (1.23%) Aerospace
17 8 (1.10%) Presentation Skills
18 7 (0.96%) Financial Institution
19 6 (0.82%) Police
Job Titles
1 100 (13.70%) Analyst
2 85 (11.64%) Developer
3 68 (9.32%) Senior
4 57 (7.81%) Lead
5 47 (6.44%) IT Support
6 35 (4.79%) Support Engineer
7 32 (4.38%) Architect
8 26 (3.56%) IT Engineer
9 25 (3.42%) Business Analyst
9 25 (3.42%) Network Engineer
10 24 (3.29%) Administrator
11 22 (3.01%) IT Support Engineer
12 21 (2.88%) Consultant
13 19 (2.60%) Data Engineer
13 19 (2.60%) Java Developer
14 17 (2.33%) Data Analyst
14 17 (2.33%) DevOps Engineer
14 17 (2.33%) Service Analyst
15 16 (2.19%) Python Developer
15 16 (2.19%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (7.26%) Terraform
2 46 (6.30%) REST
3 26 (3.56%) Spring
4 25 (3.42%) Kafka
5 22 (3.01%) Spring Boot
6 21 (2.88%) Node.js
7 18 (2.47%) HTML
8 17 (2.33%) React
9 16 (2.19%) CSS
10 14 (1.92%) Playwright
11 11 (1.51%) .NET
12 10 (1.37%) OpenTelemetry
12 10 (1.37%) RESTful
12 10 (1.37%) Web Services
13 9 (1.23%) FastAPI
13 9 (1.23%) JSON
13 9 (1.23%) OAuth
13 9 (1.23%) XML
14 8 (1.10%) SOAP
15 7 (0.96%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 58 (7.95%) Cloud Native
2 49 (6.71%) Product Ownership
3 42 (5.75%) Onboarding
4 35 (4.79%) Data Centre
5 33 (4.52%) Data Protection Act
5 33 (4.52%) Self-Motivation
6 31 (4.25%) Enterprise Software
7 27 (3.70%) Driving Licence
8 23 (3.15%) Distributed Systems
9 20 (2.74%) Analytical Mindset
10 19 (2.60%) PKI
11 16 (2.19%) Data Structures
11 16 (2.19%) Management Information System
12 14 (1.92%) Legacy Systems
13 12 (1.64%) NHS
13 12 (1.64%) Public Cloud
14 11 (1.51%) AI Agents
14 11 (1.51%) Mainframe
15 10 (1.37%) Mobile App
15 10 (1.37%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 127 (17.40%) Windows
2 34 (4.66%) Linux
3 33 (4.52%) Windows 10
4 26 (3.56%) Windows Server
5 25 (3.42%) Apple iOS
6 21 (2.88%) Android
7 15 (2.05%) Unix
8 11 (1.51%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.82%) Solaris
10 4 (0.55%) zOS
11 2 (0.27%) AIX
11 2 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
11 2 (0.27%) HPUX
11 2 (0.27%) Mac OS X
11 2 (0.27%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) SUSE
11 2 (0.27%) VMS
12 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (23.97%) Continuous Improvement
2 168 (23.01%) Agile
3 150 (20.55%) CI/CD
4 137 (18.77%) Stakeholder Management
5 108 (14.79%) DevOps
6 89 (12.19%) AI
7 82 (11.23%) Customer Service
8 77 (10.55%) ITIL
9 72 (9.86%) Migration
10 70 (9.59%) Test Automation
11 62 (8.49%) Analytics
11 62 (8.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 60 (8.22%) Data Protection
12 60 (8.22%) Software Engineering
13 57 (7.81%) Infrastructure as Code
13 57 (7.81%) Validation
14 56 (7.67%) Observability
15 55 (7.53%) Change Management
15 55 (7.53%) Decision-Making
15 55 (7.53%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 114 (15.62%) Python
2 101 (13.84%) SQL
3 59 (8.08%) Java
4 55 (7.53%) PowerShell
5 28 (3.84%) JavaScript
6 15 (2.05%) Bash
7 11 (1.51%) TypeScript
8 10 (1.37%) C#
9 9 (1.23%) PL/SQL
9 9 (1.23%) Shell Script
10 7 (0.96%) ActionScript
11 6 (0.82%) Apex Code
11 6 (0.82%) COBOL
11 6 (0.82%) Go
11 6 (0.82%) R
12 5 (0.68%) ABAP
12 5 (0.68%) Kotlin
12 5 (0.68%) PHP
12 5 (0.68%) T-SQL
13 4 (0.55%) JCL
Qualifications
1 109 (14.93%) Security Cleared
2 84 (11.51%) SC Cleared
3 62 (8.49%) Degree
4 28 (3.84%) BPSS Clearance
5 25 (3.42%) Computer Science Degree
6 20 (2.74%) CISSP
6 20 (2.74%) Microsoft Certification
7 19 (2.60%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (1.78%) CCNP
9 10 (1.37%) AWS Certification
10 9 (1.23%) A+ Certification
10 9 (1.23%) HNC
10 9 (1.23%) PMP
11 8 (1.10%) Network+ Certification
11 8 (1.10%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.96%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.96%) CISM
12 7 (0.96%) CompTIA Security+
13 6 (0.82%) CEH
13 6 (0.82%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 53 (7.26%) Data Quality
2 31 (4.25%) QA
3 24 (3.29%) Accessibility
4 20 (2.74%) SLA
5 12 (1.64%) NIST
6 11 (1.51%) GDPR
6 11 (1.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.23%) GRC
8 7 (0.96%) PMO
9 6 (0.82%) PCI DSS
9 6 (0.82%) WCAG
10 3 (0.41%) NCSC
11 2 (0.27%) COSHH
11 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.27%) IEC 61508
11 2 (0.27%) MiFID
11 2 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
12 1 (0.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
System Software
1 77 (10.55%) Active Directory
2 50 (6.85%) Docker
3 31 (4.25%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (1.78%) Hyper-V
5 11 (1.51%) Virtual Desktop
6 10 (1.37%) vSphere
7 7 (0.96%) Firmware
8 6 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
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 61 (8.36%) Kubernetes
2 28 (3.84%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.56%) Grafana
4 25 (3.42%) Prometheus
5 23 (3.15%) SCCM
6 21 (2.88%) Ansible
7 10 (1.37%) Nessus
8 9 (1.23%) Control-M
9 7 (0.96%) IBM Guardium
10 6 (0.82%) McAfee ePO
11 4 (0.55%) Data Guard
11 4 (0.55%) FortiGate
11 4 (0.55%) Kustomize
11 4 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
11 4 (0.55%) vCenter Server
12 3 (0.41%) Argo
12 3 (0.41%) Failover Clustering
12 3 (0.41%) Functional Safety
12 3 (0.41%) Istio
12 3 (0.41%) VxRail
Vendors
1 180 (24.66%) Microsoft
2 62 (8.49%) ServiceNow
3 46 (6.30%) SAP
4 37 (5.07%) Oracle
5 33 (4.52%) VMware
6 31 (4.25%) Cisco
7 22 (3.01%) Google
8 19 (2.60%) Splunk
9 17 (2.33%) F5
10 13 (1.78%) IBM
10 13 (1.78%) Palo Alto
10 13 (1.78%) Salesforce
10 13 (1.78%) Workday
11 11 (1.51%) Concur
11 11 (1.51%) Fortinet
12 10 (1.37%) Apple
12 10 (1.37%) Dell
12 10 (1.37%) Red Hat
12 10 (1.37%) Remedy
12 10 (1.37%) Tenable