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

6 months to
26 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 4 5
Rank change year-on-year -9 +1 +11
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 754 699 574
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 10.36% 17.80% 13.17%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.37% 20.05% 15.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 433 392 333
10th Percentile £282 £263 £255
25th Percentile £363 £367 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £485
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -2.06% -4.67%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £551
90th Percentile £611 £652 £638
England median daily rate £495 £495 £500
% change year-on-year - -1.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 67 73 50
10th Percentile £15.11 £12.96 -
25th Percentile £17.13 £17.48 £10.95
Median hourly rate £32.23 £22.14 £11.35
Median % change year-on-year +45.55% +95.11% -62.18%
75th Percentile £74.26 £30.63 £28.16
90th Percentile £87.50 £63.40 £63.75
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.24 £16.23
% change year-on-year +0.52% +30.87% -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 6,093 3,486 3,667
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 83.73% 88.79% 84.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,637 2,227 2,228
10th Percentile £313 £268 £300
25th Percentile £403 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.81% -7.00% -0.08%
75th Percentile £588 £551 £585
90th Percentile £675 £650 £669
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 459 203 283
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.82 £11.15
25th Percentile £22.68 £17.46 £13.50
Median hourly rate £45.00 £22.63 £22.88
Median % change year-on-year +98.85% -1.07% -16.82%
75th Percentile £71.70 £43.39 £47.50
90th Percentile £83.35 £72.29 £68.50
England median hourly rate £47.00 £25.15 £40.33
% change year-on-year +86.88% -37.63% -5.12%

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 26 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 26 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 26 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 -9 367 £450 -7.98% 333
Yorkshire -7 333 £450 -5.26% 228
North East -16 60 £373 -17.22% 119
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 36 (4.77%) Confluence
2 22 (2.92%) Apache Spark
3 21 (2.79%) SharePoint
4 11 (1.46%) Apache Airflow
5 9 (1.19%) Apache
6 8 (1.06%) Microsoft Exchange
7 6 (0.80%) Jupyter
8 5 (0.66%) CMS
9 3 (0.40%) CICS
10 2 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 2 (0.27%) Camunda
10 2 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.27%) WebLogic
10 2 (0.27%) WordPress
11 1 (0.13%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.13%) Mule
11 1 (0.13%) Mule ESB
11 1 (0.13%) nginx
11 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 35 (4.64%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.45%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.33%) MS Visio
5 7 (0.93%) Microsoft Project
6 6 (0.80%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.40%) Acrobat
7 3 (0.40%) CATIA
7 3 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.13%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 33 (4.38%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.19%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.53%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.53%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.40%) SAP HCM
4 3 (0.40%) SAP Payroll
5 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.27%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.13%) Actimize
6 1 (0.13%) FIS Private Capital Suite
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
6 1 (0.13%) ResourceLink
6 1 (0.13%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.13%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 127 (16.84%) Azure
2 96 (12.73%) AWS
3 69 (9.15%) Microsoft 365
4 56 (7.43%) Power Platform
5 42 (5.57%) GCP
6 38 (5.04%) OpenShift
7 37 (4.91%) GitHub
8 27 (3.58%) Entra ID
9 17 (2.25%) Azure DevOps
10 14 (1.86%) Serverless
11 12 (1.59%) Microsoft Copilot
12 11 (1.46%) Power Automate
12 11 (1.46%) SaaS
13 10 (1.33%) GitHub Actions
13 10 (1.33%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 9 (1.19%) PowerApps
15 8 (1.06%) Copilot Studio
16 6 (0.80%) Azure Monitor
16 6 (0.80%) Google Workspace
17 5 (0.66%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 33 (4.38%) DNS
1 33 (4.38%) VPN
2 31 (4.11%) Firewall
3 18 (2.39%) WAN
4 17 (2.25%) LAN
5 16 (2.12%) Network Security
5 16 (2.12%) VLAN
5 16 (2.12%) Wireless
6 15 (1.99%) TCP/IP
7 14 (1.86%) DHCP
7 14 (1.86%) Wi-Fi
8 10 (1.33%) VoIP
9 9 (1.19%) BGP
9 9 (1.19%) SAN
10 8 (1.06%) Cisco Nexus
10 8 (1.06%) OSPF
10 8 (1.06%) WLAN
11 6 (0.80%) Kerberos
11 6 (0.80%) SD-WAN
12 5 (0.66%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (5.57%) Power BI
2 36 (4.77%) SQL Server
3 32 (4.24%) MongoDB
4 24 (3.18%) Data Warehouse
5 23 (3.05%) PostgreSQL
6 15 (1.99%) NoSQL
6 15 (1.99%) Tableau
7 14 (1.86%) Relational Database
8 13 (1.72%) Big Data
9 11 (1.46%) Hadoop
10 10 (1.33%) Metadata
11 8 (1.06%) Db2
11 8 (1.06%) MySQL
11 8 (1.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 7 (0.93%) Oracle Database
13 6 (0.80%) DataStage
14 5 (0.66%) Data Lake
14 5 (0.66%) Snowflake Schema
15 4 (0.53%) Data Vault
15 4 (0.53%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 94 (12.47%) JIRA
2 43 (5.70%) Jenkins
3 35 (4.64%) Git
4 23 (3.05%) GitLab
5 11 (1.46%) Sonatype Nexus
6 9 (1.19%) Mockito
6 9 (1.19%) Selenium
7 8 (1.06%) REST Assured
8 6 (0.80%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.66%) Gatling
9 5 (0.66%) Postman
10 4 (0.53%) Cypress.io
11 3 (0.40%) Claude Code
11 3 (0.40%) Gradle
11 3 (0.40%) JUnit
11 3 (0.40%) Maven
11 3 (0.40%) MSI
11 3 (0.40%) Serenity BDD
11 3 (0.40%) Subversion
12 2 (0.27%) Ant
General
1 353 (46.82%) Social Skills
2 318 (42.18%) Analytical Skills
3 206 (27.32%) Finance
4 81 (10.74%) Banking
5 69 (9.15%) Public Sector
6 33 (4.38%) Documentation Skills
7 28 (3.71%) Legal
7 28 (3.71%) Organisational Skills
8 27 (3.58%) Influencing Skills
9 18 (2.39%) Manufacturing
10 17 (2.25%) Retail
11 15 (1.99%) Law
12 11 (1.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 9 (1.19%) Financial Institution
14 8 (1.06%) Presentation Skills
14 8 (1.06%) Telecoms
15 7 (0.93%) Aerospace
15 7 (0.93%) Marketing
16 6 (0.80%) Automotive
17 5 (0.66%) Games
Job Titles
1 139 (18.44%) Analyst
2 92 (12.20%) Developer
3 69 (9.15%) Lead
4 57 (7.56%) Senior
5 45 (5.97%) Architect
6 37 (4.91%) Business Analyst
7 31 (4.11%) Consultant
7 31 (4.11%) IT Support
8 29 (3.85%) Java Developer
9 27 (3.58%) Data Engineer
10 25 (3.32%) Python Developer
11 24 (3.18%) Administrator
12 22 (2.92%) Data Analyst
12 22 (2.92%) DevOps Engineer
12 22 (2.92%) Project Manager
13 20 (2.65%) IT Engineer
13 20 (2.65%) Network Engineer
14 19 (2.52%) Support Engineer
15 16 (2.12%) Service Analyst
16 15 (1.99%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (5.17%) Kafka
2 35 (4.64%) REST
3 32 (4.24%) OpenTelemetry
4 29 (3.85%) Spring
5 24 (3.18%) Spring Boot
6 20 (2.65%) FastAPI
7 19 (2.52%) React
8 16 (2.12%) HTML
9 15 (1.99%) CSS
10 14 (1.86%) JSON
10 14 (1.86%) Node.js
10 14 (1.86%) Playwright
10 14 (1.86%) RESTful
11 13 (1.72%) .NET
12 12 (1.59%) OAuth
13 10 (1.33%) XML
14 9 (1.19%) ActiveMQ
14 9 (1.19%) AngularJS
14 9 (1.19%) JAX-RS
14 9 (1.19%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 55 (7.29%) Product Ownership
2 48 (6.37%) Cloud Native
3 32 (4.24%) Data Protection Act
3 32 (4.24%) Onboarding
4 25 (3.32%) Data Centre
5 24 (3.18%) Self-Motivation
6 23 (3.05%) Analytical Mindset
7 22 (2.92%) Legacy Systems
8 20 (2.65%) Enterprise Software
9 18 (2.39%) Driving Licence
9 18 (2.39%) Hybrid Cloud
10 16 (2.12%) Management Information System
11 15 (1.99%) Distributed Systems
12 14 (1.86%) AI Agents
12 14 (1.86%) Data Structures
12 14 (1.86%) Mainframe
13 12 (1.59%) PKI
13 12 (1.59%) Virtual Team
14 11 (1.46%) Replication
15 9 (1.19%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 83 (11.01%) Windows
2 42 (5.57%) Linux
3 27 (3.58%) Windows 10
4 20 (2.65%) Unix
5 17 (2.25%) Apple iOS
6 13 (1.72%) Android
6 13 (1.72%) Windows Server
7 12 (1.59%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.93%) Mac OS X
9 4 (0.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.40%) Solaris
10 3 (0.40%) 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%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 195 (25.86%) Agile
2 162 (21.49%) CI/CD
2 162 (21.49%) Continuous Improvement
3 138 (18.30%) DevOps
4 116 (15.38%) Stakeholder Management
5 95 (12.60%) Migration
6 76 (10.08%) Analytics
6 76 (10.08%) Project Management
7 74 (9.81%) AI
8 73 (9.68%) Change Management
9 71 (9.42%) Test Automation
10 70 (9.28%) Containerisation
11 69 (9.15%) ITIL
11 69 (9.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 61 (8.09%) Customer Service
12 61 (8.09%) Validation
13 60 (7.96%) Data Protection
13 60 (7.96%) Decision-Making
14 59 (7.82%) Microservices
15 55 (7.29%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 135 (17.90%) Python
2 106 (14.06%) SQL
3 59 (7.82%) Java
4 57 (7.56%) PowerShell
5 32 (4.24%) Bash
6 25 (3.32%) JavaScript
7 11 (1.46%) TypeScript
8 10 (1.33%) PL/SQL
9 9 (1.19%) C#
9 9 (1.19%) R
10 8 (1.06%) Shell Script
11 7 (0.93%) T-SQL
12 6 (0.80%) ABAP
12 6 (0.80%) Bicep
12 6 (0.80%) Kotlin
13 5 (0.66%) COBOL
14 4 (0.53%) JCL
14 4 (0.53%) VBA
15 3 (0.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 3 (0.40%) Go
Qualifications
1 101 (13.40%) Security Cleared
2 73 (9.68%) SC Cleared
3 71 (9.42%) Degree
4 31 (4.11%) BPSS Clearance
5 26 (3.45%) Computer Science Degree
6 23 (3.05%) Microsoft Certification
7 22 (2.92%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (2.39%) CISSP
9 15 (1.99%) PMP
10 13 (1.72%) PMI Certification
11 12 (1.59%) A+ Certification
11 12 (1.59%) CCNA
11 12 (1.59%) CCNP
12 11 (1.46%) Network+ Certification
13 9 (1.19%) CompTIA Security+
14 8 (1.06%) AWS Certification
14 8 (1.06%) Azure Certification
15 7 (0.93%) CEH
16 6 (0.80%) CISM
16 6 (0.80%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 51 (6.76%) Data Quality
2 29 (3.85%) QA
3 23 (3.05%) Accessibility
4 14 (1.86%) GDPR
4 14 (1.86%) SLA
5 11 (1.46%) GRC
6 10 (1.33%) NIST
7 9 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.19%) PMO
8 4 (0.53%) PCI DSS
8 4 (0.53%) WCAG
9 3 (0.40%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.40%) PSD2
9 3 (0.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.27%) ISO 20022
10 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 2 (0.27%) SEPA
11 1 (0.13%) GxP
System Software
1 68 (9.02%) Docker
2 56 (7.43%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.79%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.12%) vSphere
5 15 (1.99%) VMware NSX
6 8 (1.06%) Virtual Machines
7 7 (0.93%) Firmware
8 4 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
9 3 (0.40%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.40%) Oracle RAC
10 2 (0.27%) EMC RecoverPoint
10 2 (0.27%) KVM
10 2 (0.27%) NFS
10 2 (0.27%) SRDF
10 2 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.13%) ACF2
11 1 (0.13%) RACF
11 1 (0.13%) Terminal Services
11 1 (0.13%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 85 (11.27%) Kubernetes
2 62 (8.22%) Terraform
3 45 (5.97%) Ansible
4 43 (5.70%) Grafana
5 35 (4.64%) Prometheus
6 16 (2.12%) Control-M
7 15 (1.99%) Argo
7 15 (1.99%) vCenter Server
8 14 (1.86%) IBM Guardium
8 14 (1.86%) Microsoft Intune
8 14 (1.86%) Nessus
9 9 (1.19%) SCCM
10 5 (0.66%) Single Sign-On
11 4 (0.53%) Kustomize
12 3 (0.40%) Data Guard
12 3 (0.40%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.40%) Istio
12 3 (0.40%) McAfee ePO
12 3 (0.40%) WMI
13 2 (0.27%) CA Endevor
Vendors
1 135 (17.90%) Microsoft
2 60 (7.96%) SAP
3 58 (7.69%) ServiceNow
4 45 (5.97%) Splunk
5 37 (4.91%) Oracle
6 27 (3.58%) Cisco
7 24 (3.18%) VMware
8 22 (2.92%) Google
9 18 (2.39%) Red Hat
9 18 (2.39%) Workday
10 15 (1.99%) Pure Storage
11 14 (1.86%) Tenable
12 12 (1.59%) Concur
13 11 (1.46%) Palo Alto
13 11 (1.46%) Sage
14 10 (1.33%) IBM
15 9 (1.19%) Dell
15 9 (1.19%) F5
15 9 (1.19%) Remedy
16 8 (1.06%) SolarWinds