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

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 17 5 5
Rank change year-on-year -12 0 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 722 646 522
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 9.44% 16.22% 12.74%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.34% 18.24% 15.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 409 365 304
10th Percentile £263 £269 £243
25th Percentile £356 £369 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £445 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -6.32% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £538 £550 £550
90th Percentile £600 £645 £625
England median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 75 56 13
10th Percentile £13.59 £13.80 £21.84
25th Percentile £16.94 £17.30 £26.25
Median hourly rate £19.00 £20.26 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year -6.20% -58.29% +76.58%
75th Percentile £50.79 £32.13 £63.75
90th Percentile £85.60 £63.40 £76.09
England median hourly rate £19.57 £18.90 £16.23
% change year-on-year +3.57% +16.42% -69.76%

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 6,367 3,541 3,443
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 83.22% 88.90% 84.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,768 2,283 2,017
10th Percentile £313 £268 £310
25th Percentile £405 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £460 £500
Median % change year-on-year +8.70% -8.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £550 £588
90th Percentile £675 £650 £680
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.95% -2.87% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 529 199 182
10th Percentile £14.78 £13.26 £12.55
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.35 £17.08
Median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +94.26% -35.34% +27.27%
75th Percentile £70.00 £38.38 £51.66
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.75 £70.00
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +1.18%

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 10 September 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 10 September 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 10 September 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 -9 364 £445 -6.32% 722
Yorkshire -9 292 £450 -6.25% 438
North East -15 68 £375 -16.67% 178
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 27 (3.74%) SharePoint
2 22 (3.05%) Confluence
3 12 (1.66%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.39%) Apache Airflow
5 8 (1.11%) Apache
6 7 (0.97%) CMS
6 7 (0.97%) Microsoft Exchange
7 6 (0.83%) Jupyter
8 4 (0.55%) CICS
9 3 (0.42%) WordPress
10 2 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 2 (0.28%) Camunda
10 2 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.28%) WebLogic
11 1 (0.14%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.14%) JBoss
11 1 (0.14%) Mule
11 1 (0.14%) NetWeaver
11 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
Applications
1 38 (5.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 37 (5.12%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.25%) MS Visio
5 8 (1.11%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
7 4 (0.55%) Chatbot
8 3 (0.42%) Acrobat
8 3 (0.42%) CATIA
9 2 (0.28%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.28%) Navisworks
9 2 (0.28%) Revit
10 1 (0.14%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 17 (2.35%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.52%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.42%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.42%) Teamcenter
4 3 (0.42%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.28%) SAP HCM
5 2 (0.28%) SAP Payroll
6 1 (0.14%) Actimize
6 1 (0.14%) CA PPM
6 1 (0.14%) ENOVIA
6 1 (0.14%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.14%) ResourceLink
6 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.14%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.14%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 125 (17.31%) Azure
2 100 (13.85%) AWS
3 99 (13.71%) Microsoft 365
4 59 (8.17%) Power Platform
5 42 (5.82%) GCP
6 30 (4.16%) Entra ID
7 24 (3.32%) GitHub
8 19 (2.63%) OpenShift
9 17 (2.35%) Azure DevOps
10 14 (1.94%) Microsoft Copilot
10 14 (1.94%) Serverless
11 13 (1.80%) Power Automate
12 10 (1.39%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 10 (1.39%) PowerApps
13 9 (1.25%) OneDrive
13 9 (1.25%) SaaS
14 8 (1.11%) Copilot Studio
15 7 (0.97%) AWS Lambda
16 6 (0.83%) Google Workspace
16 6 (0.83%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 45 (6.23%) VPN
2 33 (4.57%) Firewall
3 30 (4.16%) DNS
4 24 (3.32%) LAN
4 24 (3.32%) WAN
5 21 (2.91%) Network Security
6 19 (2.63%) Wi-Fi
7 18 (2.49%) Wireless
8 15 (2.08%) DHCP
8 15 (2.08%) VLAN
9 14 (1.94%) TCP/IP
9 14 (1.94%) VoIP
10 11 (1.52%) Cisco Nexus
11 10 (1.39%) BGP
11 10 (1.39%) OSPF
12 9 (1.25%) WLAN
13 8 (1.11%) Cisco ASA
14 7 (0.97%) IPsec
14 7 (0.97%) SAN
15 6 (0.83%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (5.96%) Power BI
2 32 (4.43%) SQL Server
3 26 (3.60%) Data Warehouse
4 20 (2.77%) MongoDB
5 15 (2.08%) Relational Database
6 14 (1.94%) PostgreSQL
6 14 (1.94%) Tableau
7 11 (1.52%) Db2
8 10 (1.39%) Big Data
9 9 (1.25%) NoSQL
10 8 (1.11%) DataStage
10 8 (1.11%) Metadata
10 8 (1.11%) MySQL
11 6 (0.83%) Oracle Database
12 5 (0.69%) Neo4j
13 4 (0.55%) Data Lake
13 4 (0.55%) Power Query
14 3 (0.42%) Amazon Athena
14 3 (0.42%) Amazon Redshift
14 3 (0.42%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 59 (8.17%) JIRA
2 35 (4.85%) Git
3 32 (4.43%) Jenkins
4 21 (2.91%) GitLab
5 8 (1.11%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.11%) Selenium
6 7 (0.97%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.83%) Cucumber
7 6 (0.83%) Gatling
8 5 (0.69%) Maven
9 4 (0.55%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.55%) Gradle
9 4 (0.55%) MSI
10 3 (0.42%) Claude Code
10 3 (0.42%) JUnit
10 3 (0.42%) LoadRunner
10 3 (0.42%) Serenity BDD
10 3 (0.42%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.28%) Postman
11 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 357 (49.45%) Social Skills
2 289 (40.03%) Analytical Skills
3 173 (23.96%) Finance
4 84 (11.63%) Banking
5 60 (8.31%) Public Sector
6 40 (5.54%) Manufacturing
7 35 (4.85%) Organisational Skills
8 30 (4.16%) Legal
9 28 (3.88%) Documentation Skills
10 20 (2.77%) Influencing Skills
11 18 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (2.22%) Law
12 16 (2.22%) Retail
13 10 (1.39%) Aerospace
13 10 (1.39%) Automotive
14 9 (1.25%) Financial Institution
14 9 (1.25%) Presentation Skills
14 9 (1.25%) Telecoms
15 8 (1.11%) Marketing
16 6 (0.83%) Police
Job Titles
1 115 (15.93%) Analyst
2 86 (11.91%) Developer
3 57 (7.89%) Senior
4 53 (7.34%) Lead
5 50 (6.93%) IT Support
6 40 (5.54%) Architect
7 35 (4.85%) Support Engineer
8 27 (3.74%) IT Engineer
9 25 (3.46%) Business Analyst
10 24 (3.32%) Java Developer
11 22 (3.05%) Consultant
11 22 (3.05%) IT Support Engineer
11 22 (3.05%) Network Engineer
12 21 (2.91%) Data Analyst
13 20 (2.77%) Administrator
14 18 (2.49%) IT Analyst
14 18 (2.49%) Service Analyst
14 18 (2.49%) Support Analyst
15 17 (2.35%) Data Engineer
16 16 (2.22%) DevOps Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (6.79%) Terraform
2 41 (5.68%) REST
3 32 (4.43%) Spring
4 27 (3.74%) Kafka
4 27 (3.74%) Spring Boot
5 20 (2.77%) React
6 18 (2.49%) HTML
7 16 (2.22%) CSS
7 16 (2.22%) Node.js
8 14 (1.94%) .NET
8 14 (1.94%) OAuth
8 14 (1.94%) OpenTelemetry
8 14 (1.94%) Playwright
9 13 (1.80%) RESTful
10 10 (1.39%) FastAPI
10 10 (1.39%) XML
11 9 (1.25%) SOAP
12 8 (1.11%) AngularJS
12 8 (1.11%) OAuth2
12 8 (1.11%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 50 (6.93%) Product Ownership
2 48 (6.65%) Cloud Native
3 37 (5.12%) Onboarding
4 33 (4.57%) Data Protection Act
5 29 (4.02%) Enterprise Software
6 28 (3.88%) Self-Motivation
7 27 (3.74%) Data Centre
8 25 (3.46%) Driving Licence
9 22 (3.05%) Analytical Mindset
10 20 (2.77%) Data Structures
11 19 (2.63%) Distributed Systems
12 17 (2.35%) Management Information System
13 15 (2.08%) Mainframe
13 15 (2.08%) PKI
14 13 (1.80%) AI Agents
14 13 (1.80%) Legacy Systems
15 12 (1.66%) Mobile App
15 12 (1.66%) NHS
16 10 (1.39%) CMDB
17 9 (1.25%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 125 (17.31%) Windows
2 32 (4.43%) Linux
3 31 (4.29%) Windows 10
4 24 (3.32%) Windows Server
5 23 (3.19%) Apple iOS
6 20 (2.77%) Android
7 15 (2.08%) Unix
8 12 (1.66%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.69%) Solaris
10 4 (0.55%) zOS
11 3 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 2 (0.28%) AIX
12 2 (0.28%) Data ONTAP
12 2 (0.28%) HPUX
12 2 (0.28%) Mac OS X
12 2 (0.28%) Oracle Linux
12 2 (0.28%) SUSE
13 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (25.07%) Continuous Improvement
2 159 (22.02%) Agile
3 141 (19.53%) CI/CD
4 127 (17.59%) Stakeholder Management
5 114 (15.79%) DevOps
6 84 (11.63%) Customer Service
7 83 (11.50%) AI
8 78 (10.80%) ITIL
9 73 (10.11%) Migration
10 64 (8.86%) Data Protection
10 64 (8.86%) Test Automation
11 63 (8.73%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 61 (8.45%) Analytics
13 58 (8.03%) Microservices
14 57 (7.89%) Validation
15 56 (7.76%) Change Management
15 56 (7.76%) Decision-Making
16 51 (7.06%) Project Management
17 50 (6.93%) Containerisation
17 50 (6.93%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 106 (14.68%) Python
1 106 (14.68%) SQL
2 60 (8.31%) Java
3 50 (6.93%) PowerShell
4 23 (3.19%) JavaScript
5 19 (2.63%) Bash
6 12 (1.66%) C#
7 11 (1.52%) PL/SQL
8 9 (1.25%) R
8 9 (1.25%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.25%) TypeScript
9 7 (0.97%) Kotlin
9 7 (0.97%) T-SQL
10 6 (0.83%) Apex Code
10 6 (0.83%) COBOL
11 5 (0.69%) ABAP
12 4 (0.55%) Go
12 4 (0.55%) JCL
13 3 (0.42%) Bicep
13 3 (0.42%) Scala
Qualifications
1 96 (13.30%) Security Cleared
2 72 (9.97%) SC Cleared
3 68 (9.42%) Degree
4 30 (4.16%) Computer Science Degree
5 27 (3.74%) BPSS Clearance
6 23 (3.19%) Microsoft Certification
7 20 (2.77%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (2.49%) CISSP
9 13 (1.80%) CCNP
10 12 (1.66%) PMP
11 11 (1.52%) A+ Certification
11 11 (1.52%) PMI Certification
12 10 (1.39%) Network+ Certification
13 9 (1.25%) AWS Certification
13 9 (1.25%) HNC
14 8 (1.11%) CompTIA Security+
15 7 (0.97%) Azure Certification
15 7 (0.97%) CEH
15 7 (0.97%) DBS Check
16 6 (0.83%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (7.48%) Data Quality
2 26 (3.60%) Accessibility
2 26 (3.60%) QA
3 23 (3.19%) SLA
4 14 (1.94%) GDPR
4 14 (1.94%) GRC
5 13 (1.80%) NIST
6 11 (1.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 7 (0.97%) PMO
8 6 (0.83%) WCAG
9 4 (0.55%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 2 (0.28%) COSHH
11 2 (0.28%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 2 (0.28%) MiFID
12 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
12 1 (0.14%) ISO 20022
12 1 (0.14%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 72 (9.97%) Active Directory
2 53 (7.34%) Docker
3 27 (3.74%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.52%) Hyper-V
5 10 (1.39%) vSphere
6 9 (1.25%) VMware NSX
7 8 (1.11%) Virtual Desktop
8 6 (0.83%) Firmware
8 6 (0.83%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.55%) Oracle RAC
10 3 (0.42%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 3 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
10 3 (0.42%) XenApp
10 3 (0.42%) XenDesktop
11 2 (0.28%) EMC RecoverPoint
11 2 (0.28%) KVM
11 2 (0.28%) NFS
11 2 (0.28%) SRDF
12 1 (0.14%) Time Sharing Option
12 1 (0.14%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 61 (8.45%) Kubernetes
2 29 (4.02%) Grafana
3 28 (3.88%) Ansible
4 24 (3.32%) Microsoft Intune
5 23 (3.19%) Prometheus
5 23 (3.19%) SCCM
6 9 (1.25%) Control-M
6 9 (1.25%) vCenter Server
7 8 (1.11%) Argo
8 7 (0.97%) IBM Guardium
8 7 (0.97%) Nessus
9 4 (0.55%) Data Guard
9 4 (0.55%) Kustomize
9 4 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.42%) CA Endevor
10 3 (0.42%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.42%) Istio
10 3 (0.42%) McAfee ePO
10 3 (0.42%) Oracle RMAN
10 3 (0.42%) WMI
Vendors
1 178 (24.65%) Microsoft
2 70 (9.70%) ServiceNow
3 50 (6.93%) SAP
4 41 (5.68%) Oracle
5 30 (4.16%) Cisco
6 28 (3.88%) VMware
7 25 (3.46%) Splunk
8 20 (2.77%) Google
9 14 (1.94%) Workday
10 13 (1.80%) IBM
10 13 (1.80%) Salesforce
11 12 (1.66%) F5
11 12 (1.66%) Palo Alto
12 11 (1.52%) Concur
12 11 (1.52%) Remedy
13 10 (1.39%) Red Hat
14 8 (1.11%) Apple
14 8 (1.11%) CheckPoint
14 8 (1.11%) CrowdStrike
14 8 (1.11%) Pure Storage