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

6 months to
1 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 707 669 560
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 9.35% 16.80% 13.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.24% 18.86% 15.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 396 379 322
10th Percentile £263 £270 £275
25th Percentile £354 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £443 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -6.74% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £538 £574 £550
90th Percentile £600 £644 £621
England median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 62 30
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.76 -
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £24.08 £20.68 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +16.46% +84.70% -59.29%
75th Percentile £56.18 £31.28 £49.16
90th Percentile £85.70 £63.36 £63.75
England median hourly rate £20.44 £19.00 £16.23
% change year-on-year +7.58% +17.07% -70.37%

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 6,291 3,547 3,515
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 83.19% 89.08% 84.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,713 2,292 2,080
10th Percentile £313 £268 £313
25th Percentile £405 £375 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.53% -7.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £553 £588
90th Percentile £675 £650 £675
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 515 205 207
10th Percentile £16.01 £13.04 £11.63
25th Percentile £21.33 £17.44 £15.09
Median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £31.00
Median % change year-on-year +94.26% -27.00% +12.73%
75th Percentile £70.00 £43.39 £51.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £70.93 £69.15
England median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.79% -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 1 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 1 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 1 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 -8 358 £445 -6.32% 802
Yorkshire -12 286 £450 -5.26% 450
North East -15 66 £375 -16.67% 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 25 (3.54%) SharePoint
2 20 (2.83%) Confluence
3 12 (1.70%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.41%) Apache Airflow
5 8 (1.13%) Apache
6 6 (0.85%) CMS
6 6 (0.85%) Jupyter
6 6 (0.85%) Microsoft Exchange
7 4 (0.57%) CICS
8 3 (0.42%) WordPress
9 2 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 2 (0.28%) Camunda
9 2 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.28%) WebLogic
10 1 (0.14%) Apache Superset
10 1 (0.14%) JBoss
10 1 (0.14%) Mule ESB
10 1 (0.14%) NetWeaver
10 1 (0.14%) Tomcat
10 1 (0.14%) WebSphere
Applications
1 38 (5.37%) Microsoft Excel
2 36 (5.09%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.27%) MS Visio
5 8 (1.13%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.71%) Chatbot
6 5 (0.71%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.42%) Acrobat
7 3 (0.42%) CATIA
8 2 (0.28%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.28%) Navisworks
8 2 (0.28%) Revit
9 1 (0.14%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 20 (2.83%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.56%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.57%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.42%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.42%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.28%) SAP HCM
5 2 (0.28%) SAP Payroll
5 2 (0.28%) Workday HCM
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 Applications
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
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%) VisionPLUS
Cloud Services
1 124 (17.54%) Azure
2 100 (14.14%) AWS
3 95 (13.44%) Microsoft 365
4 59 (8.35%) Power Platform
5 42 (5.94%) GCP
6 30 (4.24%) Entra ID
7 23 (3.25%) GitHub
8 20 (2.83%) OpenShift
9 16 (2.26%) Azure DevOps
10 15 (2.12%) Serverless
11 14 (1.98%) Power Automate
12 13 (1.84%) Microsoft Copilot
13 10 (1.41%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 10 (1.41%) PowerApps
14 9 (1.27%) SaaS
15 8 (1.13%) Copilot Studio
16 7 (0.99%) AWS Lambda
16 7 (0.99%) GitHub Actions
16 7 (0.99%) Google Workspace
16 7 (0.99%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 44 (6.22%) VPN
2 30 (4.24%) Firewall
3 27 (3.82%) DNS
4 24 (3.39%) LAN
4 24 (3.39%) WAN
5 19 (2.69%) Network Security
6 18 (2.55%) Wireless
7 17 (2.40%) Wi-Fi
8 15 (2.12%) DHCP
8 15 (2.12%) VLAN
9 14 (1.98%) TCP/IP
9 14 (1.98%) VoIP
10 11 (1.56%) Cisco Nexus
11 10 (1.41%) BGP
11 10 (1.41%) OSPF
12 9 (1.27%) WLAN
13 8 (1.13%) Cisco ASA
14 7 (0.99%) IPsec
14 7 (0.99%) SAN
15 6 (0.85%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (6.08%) Power BI
2 30 (4.24%) SQL Server
3 26 (3.68%) Data Warehouse
4 21 (2.97%) MongoDB
5 15 (2.12%) Relational Database
6 14 (1.98%) PostgreSQL
6 14 (1.98%) Tableau
7 11 (1.56%) Big Data
7 11 (1.56%) Db2
8 9 (1.27%) NoSQL
9 8 (1.13%) DataStage
9 8 (1.13%) Metadata
10 7 (0.99%) MySQL
11 6 (0.85%) Oracle Database
12 5 (0.71%) Neo4j
13 4 (0.57%) Data Lake
13 4 (0.57%) Power Query
13 4 (0.57%) Snowflake Schema
14 3 (0.42%) Amazon Athena
14 3 (0.42%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 57 (8.06%) JIRA
2 36 (5.09%) Git
3 31 (4.38%) Jenkins
4 22 (3.11%) GitLab
5 8 (1.13%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.13%) Selenium
6 7 (0.99%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.85%) Cucumber
7 6 (0.85%) Gatling
8 5 (0.71%) Maven
9 4 (0.57%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.57%) Gradle
9 4 (0.57%) 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%) Ant
11 2 (0.28%) Postman
General
1 344 (48.66%) Social Skills
2 283 (40.03%) Analytical Skills
3 174 (24.61%) Finance
4 83 (11.74%) Banking
5 57 (8.06%) Public Sector
6 38 (5.37%) Manufacturing
7 36 (5.09%) Organisational Skills
8 29 (4.10%) Legal
9 28 (3.96%) Documentation Skills
10 20 (2.83%) Influencing Skills
11 17 (2.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (2.26%) Law
13 15 (2.12%) Retail
14 10 (1.41%) Automotive
15 9 (1.27%) Aerospace
15 9 (1.27%) Financial Institution
15 9 (1.27%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (1.27%) Telecoms
16 8 (1.13%) Marketing
17 6 (0.85%) Police
Job Titles
1 114 (16.12%) Analyst
2 85 (12.02%) Developer
3 55 (7.78%) Senior
4 52 (7.36%) Lead
5 46 (6.51%) IT Support
6 39 (5.52%) Architect
7 33 (4.67%) Support Engineer
8 26 (3.68%) IT Engineer
9 24 (3.39%) Business Analyst
9 24 (3.39%) Java Developer
10 22 (3.11%) Consultant
10 22 (3.11%) Network Engineer
11 21 (2.97%) Data Analyst
11 21 (2.97%) IT Support Engineer
12 19 (2.69%) Administrator
12 19 (2.69%) Data Engineer
13 18 (2.55%) Service Analyst
14 17 (2.40%) DevOps Engineer
14 17 (2.40%) IT Analyst
14 17 (2.40%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (7.21%) Terraform
2 39 (5.52%) REST
3 32 (4.53%) Spring
4 27 (3.82%) Spring Boot
5 26 (3.68%) Kafka
6 20 (2.83%) React
7 17 (2.40%) HTML
8 15 (2.12%) CSS
8 15 (2.12%) Node.js
8 15 (2.12%) OpenTelemetry
9 14 (1.98%) OAuth
9 14 (1.98%) Playwright
10 13 (1.84%) .NET
10 13 (1.84%) RESTful
11 11 (1.56%) FastAPI
12 10 (1.41%) XML
13 8 (1.13%) AngularJS
13 8 (1.13%) OAuth2
13 8 (1.13%) Web Services
14 7 (0.99%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 48 (6.79%) Product Ownership
2 47 (6.65%) Cloud Native
3 36 (5.09%) Onboarding
4 33 (4.67%) Data Protection Act
5 27 (3.82%) Enterprise Software
5 27 (3.82%) Self-Motivation
6 25 (3.54%) Data Centre
7 24 (3.39%) Driving Licence
8 22 (3.11%) Analytical Mindset
9 19 (2.69%) Data Structures
10 17 (2.40%) Distributed Systems
11 16 (2.26%) Management Information System
12 15 (2.12%) Mainframe
12 15 (2.12%) PKI
13 14 (1.98%) AI Agents
13 14 (1.98%) Legacy Systems
14 11 (1.56%) Mobile App
14 11 (1.56%) NHS
15 9 (1.27%) CMDB
15 9 (1.27%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 117 (16.55%) Windows
2 30 (4.24%) Linux
2 30 (4.24%) Windows 10
3 22 (3.11%) Apple iOS
3 22 (3.11%) Windows Server
4 19 (2.69%) Android
5 15 (2.12%) Unix
6 12 (1.70%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.57%) Solaris
7 4 (0.57%) zOS
8 3 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.28%) AIX
9 2 (0.28%) Data ONTAP
9 2 (0.28%) HPUX
9 2 (0.28%) Mac OS X
9 2 (0.28%) Oracle Linux
9 2 (0.28%) SUSE
10 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.14%) VMS
10 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 177 (25.04%) Continuous Improvement
2 154 (21.78%) Agile
3 137 (19.38%) CI/CD
4 118 (16.69%) Stakeholder Management
5 111 (15.70%) DevOps
6 80 (11.32%) AI
6 80 (11.32%) Customer Service
7 75 (10.61%) ITIL
8 74 (10.47%) Migration
9 64 (9.05%) Analytics
9 64 (9.05%) Data Protection
10 62 (8.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 61 (8.63%) Test Automation
12 57 (8.06%) Change Management
13 56 (7.92%) Microservices
14 55 (7.78%) Decision-Making
14 55 (7.78%) Validation
15 52 (7.36%) Containerisation
15 52 (7.36%) Project Management
16 49 (6.93%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 108 (15.28%) Python
2 105 (14.85%) SQL
3 60 (8.49%) Java
4 48 (6.79%) PowerShell
5 23 (3.25%) JavaScript
6 20 (2.83%) Bash
7 11 (1.56%) C#
7 11 (1.56%) PL/SQL
8 9 (1.27%) R
8 9 (1.27%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.27%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.13%) T-SQL
10 7 (0.99%) Kotlin
11 6 (0.85%) COBOL
12 5 (0.71%) ABAP
13 4 (0.57%) Apex Code
13 4 (0.57%) Bicep
13 4 (0.57%) JCL
14 3 (0.42%) Go
14 3 (0.42%) Scala
Qualifications
1 91 (12.87%) Security Cleared
2 69 (9.76%) SC Cleared
3 66 (9.34%) Degree
4 30 (4.24%) Computer Science Degree
5 24 (3.39%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (3.11%) Microsoft Certification
7 20 (2.83%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (2.55%) CISSP
9 13 (1.84%) CCNP
10 12 (1.70%) PMP
11 11 (1.56%) A+ Certification
11 11 (1.56%) PMI Certification
12 10 (1.41%) Network+ Certification
13 9 (1.27%) AWS Certification
14 8 (1.13%) Azure Certification
14 8 (1.13%) CompTIA Security+
14 8 (1.13%) HNC
15 7 (0.99%) CEH
15 7 (0.99%) DBS Check
16 6 (0.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (7.92%) Data Quality
2 26 (3.68%) Accessibility
3 25 (3.54%) QA
4 22 (3.11%) SLA
5 14 (1.98%) GDPR
5 14 (1.98%) GRC
6 13 (1.84%) NIST
7 11 (1.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 7 (0.99%) PMO
9 6 (0.85%) WCAG
10 4 (0.57%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.28%) COSHH
12 2 (0.28%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.28%) MiFID
13 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.14%) NCSC
13 1 (0.14%) PSD2
System Software
1 68 (9.62%) Active Directory
2 56 (7.92%) Docker
3 26 (3.68%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.41%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.41%) vSphere
5 9 (1.27%) VMware NSX
6 8 (1.13%) Virtual Desktop
7 6 (0.85%) Firmware
7 6 (0.85%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.57%) Oracle RAC
9 3 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.28%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 2 (0.28%) EMC RecoverPoint
10 2 (0.28%) KVM
10 2 (0.28%) NFS
10 2 (0.28%) SRDF
10 2 (0.28%) XenApp
10 2 (0.28%) XenDesktop
11 1 (0.14%) RACF
11 1 (0.14%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 63 (8.91%) Kubernetes
2 30 (4.24%) Grafana
3 29 (4.10%) Ansible
4 24 (3.39%) Prometheus
5 22 (3.11%) Microsoft Intune
6 20 (2.83%) SCCM
7 10 (1.41%) Control-M
8 9 (1.27%) vCenter Server
9 8 (1.13%) Argo
9 8 (1.13%) IBM Guardium
9 8 (1.13%) Nessus
10 4 (0.57%) Data Guard
10 4 (0.57%) Kustomize
10 4 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.42%) CA Endevor
11 3 (0.42%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.42%) Istio
11 3 (0.42%) McAfee ePO
11 3 (0.42%) Oracle RMAN
11 3 (0.42%) WMI
Vendors
1 169 (23.90%) Microsoft
2 68 (9.62%) ServiceNow
3 52 (7.36%) SAP
4 40 (5.66%) Oracle
5 30 (4.24%) Cisco
6 27 (3.82%) VMware
7 25 (3.54%) Splunk
8 21 (2.97%) Google
9 14 (1.98%) Workday
10 13 (1.84%) IBM
11 12 (1.70%) Concur
11 12 (1.70%) Palo Alto
12 11 (1.56%) Remedy
12 11 (1.56%) Salesforce
13 10 (1.41%) F5
13 10 (1.41%) Red Hat
14 8 (1.13%) Apple
14 8 (1.13%) CheckPoint
14 8 (1.13%) CrowdStrike
14 8 (1.13%) Tenable