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

6 months to
11 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 6 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 -2 +7
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 746 619 573
As % of all contract jobs in the North of England 9.78% 14.89% 13.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.74% 16.76% 16.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 422 358 319
10th Percentile £282 £256 £266
25th Percentile £356 £360 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £550 £550 £550
90th Percentile £640 £651 £613
England median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 59 14
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.83 £13.99
25th Percentile £15.19 £17.30 £26.25
Median hourly rate £19.00 £20.26 £49.14
Median % change year-on-year -6.20% -58.78% +98.09%
75th Percentile £40.00 £32.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £82.00 £63.47 £75.87
England median hourly rate £19.33 £18.86 £16.23
% change year-on-year +2.49% +16.20% -68.76%

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 6,354 3,693 3,509
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North of England 83.30% 88.84% 84.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,646 2,426 1,928
10th Percentile £313 £250 £294
25th Percentile £406 £369 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £470 £490
Median % change year-on-year +6.38% -4.08% -2.00%
75th Percentile £588 £563 £575
90th Percentile £675 £675 £655
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 570 209 180
10th Percentile £13.74 £14.20 £13.75
25th Percentile £18.49 £17.48 £17.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £24.26 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +81.20% -30.69% +20.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £40.00 £51.91
90th Percentile £78.88 £67.25 £70.00
England median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +59.05% -40.82% -5.56%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 -7 373 £450 -1.64% 800
Yorkshire -4 293 £475 -3.55% 560
North East -7 82 £375 -16.67% 263
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 30 (4.02%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.89%) Confluence
3 13 (1.74%) Apache
4 11 (1.47%) Apache Airflow
4 11 (1.47%) Apache Spark
5 7 (0.94%) CMS
5 7 (0.94%) Microsoft Exchange
6 6 (0.80%) Jupyter
7 4 (0.54%) CICS
8 3 (0.40%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 3 (0.40%) IBM HTTP Server
8 3 (0.40%) nginx
8 3 (0.40%) Oracle HTTP Server
8 3 (0.40%) Tomcat
8 3 (0.40%) WebLogic
8 3 (0.40%) WebLogic Portal
8 3 (0.40%) WebSphere
8 3 (0.40%) WebSphere Application Server
8 3 (0.40%) WebSphere Portal
8 3 (0.40%) WordPress
Applications
1 47 (6.30%) Microsoft Excel
2 46 (6.17%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.34%) MS Visio
4 8 (1.07%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.07%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (0.67%) Chatbot
6 3 (0.40%) Acrobat
6 3 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.27%) Navisworks
7 2 (0.27%) Revit
8 1 (0.13%) EngageOne
Business Applications
1 18 (2.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.21%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.54%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.40%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.40%) Teamcenter
4 3 (0.40%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.27%) SAP HCM
5 2 (0.27%) SAP Payroll
5 2 (0.27%) SAP R/3
6 1 (0.13%) CA PPM
6 1 (0.13%) ENOVIA
6 1 (0.13%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 1 (0.13%) Infor M3
6 1 (0.13%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.13%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 126 (16.89%) Azure
2 100 (13.40%) AWS
3 98 (13.14%) Microsoft 365
4 50 (6.70%) Power Platform
5 46 (6.17%) GCP
6 34 (4.56%) Entra ID
7 31 (4.16%) GitHub
8 22 (2.95%) Azure DevOps
9 21 (2.82%) Serverless
10 15 (2.01%) OpenShift
11 13 (1.74%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 12 (1.61%) SaaS
13 11 (1.47%) AWS Lambda
13 11 (1.47%) IaaS
14 10 (1.34%) Power Automate
14 10 (1.34%) PowerApps
15 9 (1.21%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 9 (1.21%) GitHub Actions
15 9 (1.21%) Microsoft Copilot
15 9 (1.21%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.17%) VPN
2 43 (5.76%) Firewall
3 33 (4.42%) DNS
4 29 (3.89%) Network Security
5 26 (3.49%) WAN
6 24 (3.22%) LAN
7 22 (2.95%) Wi-Fi
8 18 (2.41%) Wireless
9 17 (2.28%) VoIP
10 15 (2.01%) DHCP
10 15 (2.01%) VLAN
11 14 (1.88%) TCP/IP
12 11 (1.47%) BIG-IP
12 11 (1.47%) Cisco Nexus
12 11 (1.47%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
12 11 (1.47%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
13 10 (1.34%) BGP
13 10 (1.34%) OSPF
14 9 (1.21%) WLAN
15 8 (1.07%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (4.56%) Power BI
2 27 (3.62%) SQL Server
3 20 (2.68%) Data Warehouse
4 19 (2.55%) MongoDB
5 17 (2.28%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.47%) Db2
7 10 (1.34%) PostgreSQL
7 10 (1.34%) Tableau
8 8 (1.07%) Big Data
8 8 (1.07%) DataStage
8 8 (1.07%) Metadata
9 7 (0.94%) Data Lake
9 7 (0.94%) Oracle Database
10 6 (0.80%) Neo4j
10 6 (0.80%) NoSQL
11 5 (0.67%) Amazon Athena
11 5 (0.67%) Amazon Redshift
11 5 (0.67%) DynamoDB
11 5 (0.67%) MySQL
12 4 (0.54%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 58 (7.77%) JIRA
2 42 (5.63%) Git
3 36 (4.83%) Jenkins
4 23 (3.08%) GitLab
5 8 (1.07%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.07%) Selenium
6 7 (0.94%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.80%) Gatling
8 5 (0.67%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.67%) Maven
9 4 (0.54%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.54%) Gradle
9 4 (0.54%) MSI
10 3 (0.40%) Claude Code
10 3 (0.40%) LoadRunner
10 3 (0.40%) Serenity BDD
10 3 (0.40%) SonarQube
11 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
11 2 (0.27%) Burp Suite
11 2 (0.27%) Postman
General
1 378 (50.67%) Social Skills
2 295 (39.54%) Analytical Skills
3 157 (21.05%) Finance
4 76 (10.19%) Banking
5 59 (7.91%) Public Sector
6 47 (6.30%) Manufacturing
7 44 (5.90%) Organisational Skills
8 29 (3.89%) Documentation Skills
9 26 (3.49%) Legal
10 22 (2.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 20 (2.68%) Influencing Skills
12 13 (1.74%) Retail
13 12 (1.61%) Aerospace
13 12 (1.61%) Telecoms
14 11 (1.47%) Law
14 11 (1.47%) Marketing
15 10 (1.34%) Automotive
15 10 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
16 9 (1.21%) Financial Institution
17 6 (0.80%) Police
Job Titles
1 97 (13.00%) Analyst
2 93 (12.47%) Developer
3 69 (9.25%) Senior
4 61 (8.18%) Lead
5 46 (6.17%) IT Support
6 34 (4.56%) Support Engineer
7 33 (4.42%) Architect
8 27 (3.62%) Consultant
9 26 (3.49%) IT Engineer
9 26 (3.49%) Network Engineer
10 24 (3.22%) Administrator
11 23 (3.08%) Business Analyst
12 22 (2.95%) IT Support Engineer
13 19 (2.55%) Data Engineer
13 19 (2.55%) Senior Developer
14 18 (2.41%) DevOps Engineer
14 18 (2.41%) Java Developer
14 18 (2.41%) Project Manager
15 17 (2.28%) Data Analyst
15 17 (2.28%) Python Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (7.51%) Terraform
2 49 (6.57%) REST
3 27 (3.62%) Kafka
3 27 (3.62%) Spring
4 24 (3.22%) Node.js
5 23 (3.08%) Spring Boot
6 19 (2.55%) HTML
7 18 (2.41%) React
8 15 (2.01%) CSS
8 15 (2.01%) Playwright
9 12 (1.61%) .NET
9 12 (1.61%) OpenTelemetry
10 11 (1.47%) RESTful
11 10 (1.34%) Web Services
12 8 (1.07%) FastAPI
12 8 (1.07%) JSON
12 8 (1.07%) Middleware
12 8 (1.07%) OAuth
12 8 (1.07%) SOAP
13 7 (0.94%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 61 (8.18%) Cloud Native
2 46 (6.17%) Product Ownership
3 45 (6.03%) Onboarding
4 37 (4.96%) Self-Motivation
5 35 (4.69%) Data Centre
6 34 (4.56%) Data Protection Act
7 32 (4.29%) Enterprise Software
8 27 (3.62%) Driving Licence
9 24 (3.22%) Distributed Systems
10 19 (2.55%) Analytical Mindset
11 18 (2.41%) Management Information System
12 17 (2.28%) PKI
13 15 (2.01%) Data Structures
13 15 (2.01%) Public Cloud
14 13 (1.74%) Legacy Systems
14 13 (1.74%) NHS
15 12 (1.61%) Mainframe
16 11 (1.47%) Virtual Team
17 10 (1.34%) AI Agents
18 9 (1.21%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 123 (16.49%) Windows
2 32 (4.29%) Linux
2 32 (4.29%) Windows 10
3 26 (3.49%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.08%) Apple iOS
5 19 (2.55%) Android
6 14 (1.88%) Unix
7 11 (1.47%) macOS
8 5 (0.67%) Solaris
8 5 (0.67%) zOS
9 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.27%) VMS
10 1 (0.13%) AIX
10 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
10 1 (0.13%) HPUX
10 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
10 1 (0.13%) SUSE
10 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 185 (24.80%) Continuous Improvement
2 181 (24.26%) Agile
3 161 (21.58%) CI/CD
4 149 (19.97%) Stakeholder Management
5 112 (15.01%) DevOps
6 92 (12.33%) AI
7 82 (10.99%) Customer Service
8 75 (10.05%) Test Automation
9 74 (9.92%) ITIL
10 71 (9.52%) Migration
11 66 (8.85%) Observability
12 64 (8.58%) Infrastructure as Code
13 63 (8.45%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 62 (8.31%) Analytics
14 62 (8.31%) Decision-Making
15 61 (8.18%) Software Engineering
16 60 (8.04%) Data Protection
17 57 (7.64%) Microservices
17 57 (7.64%) Validation
18 56 (7.51%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 114 (15.28%) Python
2 98 (13.14%) SQL
3 57 (7.64%) Java
4 52 (6.97%) PowerShell
5 29 (3.89%) JavaScript
6 15 (2.01%) TypeScript
7 14 (1.88%) Bash
8 10 (1.34%) C#
9 9 (1.21%) Shell Script
10 8 (1.07%) ActionScript
10 8 (1.07%) PL/SQL
11 7 (0.94%) R
12 6 (0.80%) Apex Code
12 6 (0.80%) COBOL
12 6 (0.80%) Kotlin
13 5 (0.67%) JCL
13 5 (0.67%) PHP
14 4 (0.54%) ABAP
14 4 (0.54%) Go
14 4 (0.54%) Scala
Qualifications
1 112 (15.01%) Security Cleared
2 89 (11.93%) SC Cleared
3 60 (8.04%) Degree
4 34 (4.56%) BPSS Clearance
5 24 (3.22%) Computer Science Degree
6 18 (2.41%) Cisco Certification
6 18 (2.41%) CISSP
7 16 (2.14%) Microsoft Certification
8 13 (1.74%) CCNP
9 10 (1.34%) AWS Certification
9 10 (1.34%) HNC
9 10 (1.34%) PMI Certification
9 10 (1.34%) PMP
10 8 (1.07%) A+ Certification
11 7 (0.94%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.94%) CISM
11 7 (0.94%) Network+ Certification
12 6 (0.80%) CCNA
12 6 (0.80%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.80%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (7.24%) Data Quality
2 31 (4.16%) QA
3 24 (3.22%) Accessibility
4 20 (2.68%) SLA
5 14 (1.88%) GDPR
6 10 (1.34%) NIST
7 8 (1.07%) GRC
7 8 (1.07%) PMO
8 7 (0.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 6 (0.80%) WCAG
10 5 (0.67%) PCI DSS
11 4 (0.54%) NCSC
12 2 (0.27%) COSHH
12 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.27%) Def Stans
12 2 (0.27%) IEC 61508
12 2 (0.27%) MiFID
13 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.13%) HL7
System Software
1 74 (9.92%) Active Directory
2 51 (6.84%) Docker
3 30 (4.02%) VMware Infrastructure
4 12 (1.61%) Hyper-V
4 12 (1.61%) Virtual Desktop
5 9 (1.21%) vSphere
6 8 (1.07%) Firmware
7 6 (0.80%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.67%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 5 (0.67%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.67%) XenApp
8 5 (0.67%) XenDesktop
9 4 (0.54%) Oracle RAC
9 4 (0.54%) Virtual Servers
9 4 (0.54%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.27%) KVM
11 1 (0.13%) ACF2
11 1 (0.13%) HDFS
11 1 (0.13%) SRDF
11 1 (0.13%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 65 (8.71%) Kubernetes
2 28 (3.75%) Grafana
3 26 (3.49%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.49%) Prometheus
4 23 (3.08%) SCCM
5 21 (2.82%) Ansible
6 10 (1.34%) Nessus
7 9 (1.21%) Control-M
8 7 (0.94%) IBM Guardium
9 6 (0.80%) McAfee ePO
10 5 (0.67%) Data Guard
10 5 (0.67%) FortiGate
11 4 (0.54%) Kustomize
11 4 (0.54%) Single Sign-On
12 3 (0.40%) Argo
12 3 (0.40%) Failover Clustering
12 3 (0.40%) Istio
12 3 (0.40%) Oracle RMAN
12 3 (0.40%) vCenter Server
12 3 (0.40%) VxRail
Vendors
1 183 (24.53%) Microsoft
2 58 (7.77%) ServiceNow
3 41 (5.50%) SAP
4 37 (4.96%) Oracle
5 32 (4.29%) VMware
6 31 (4.16%) Cisco
7 24 (3.22%) Google
8 18 (2.41%) F5
8 18 (2.41%) Splunk
9 16 (2.14%) IBM
10 14 (1.88%) Palo Alto
11 13 (1.74%) Salesforce
11 13 (1.74%) Workday
12 12 (1.61%) Fortinet
13 11 (1.47%) Concur
14 10 (1.34%) Dell
14 10 (1.34%) Tenable
15 9 (1.21%) Apple
15 9 (1.21%) Red Hat
15 9 (1.21%) Remedy