Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in the North West

Problem Solving
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 10
Rank change year-on-year -7 +7 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 348 388 293
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.59% 19.80% 11.05%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.73% 21.98% 12.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 196 229 179
10th Percentile £216 £207 £300
25th Percentile £350 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £424 £492 £493
Median % change year-on-year -13.74% -0.20% +3.79%
75th Percentile £513 £584 £550
90th Percentile £603 £690 £640
England median daily rate £500 £500 £512
% change year-on-year - -2.41% -2.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 32 50
10th Percentile £13.95 £17.44 -
25th Percentile £17.35 £22.72 £10.95
Median hourly rate £40.00 £28.75 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +39.13% +156.81% -72.42%
75th Percentile £75.00 £46.35 £43.75
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £53.75
England median hourly rate £21.35 £22.14 £17.00
% change year-on-year -3.57% +30.24% -66.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
North West

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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,733 1,765 2,280
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.20% 90.05% 85.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,657 1,148 1,451
10th Percentile £299 £300 £308
25th Percentile £385 £390 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £584 £563 £588
90th Percentile £666 £663 £689
England median daily rate £513 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.38% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 232 105 255
10th Percentile £17.13 £15.34 £10.97
25th Percentile £25.38 £22.75 £13.50
Median hourly rate £55.00 £31.76 £25.60
Median % change year-on-year +73.17% +24.06% -26.89%
75th Percentile £74.26 £63.00 £46.03
90th Percentile £85.00 £84.06 £62.50
England median hourly rate £46.80 £28.75 £36.50
% change year-on-year +62.78% -21.23% -0.11%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the North West

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West over the 6 months to 21 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West over the 6 months to 21 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Contract Job Locations in the North West

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 West region over the 6 months to 21 May 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
Manchester -7 176 £450 -2.70% 208
Cheshire -7 88 £402 -20.40% 65
Lancashire -6 36 £435 -16.14% 79
Merseyside -23 22 £200 -56.76% 35
Cumbria -6 19 £488 +59.18% 9
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 26 (7.47%) Confluence
2 7 (2.01%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.15%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.86%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.86%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.57%) JBoss
6 1 (0.29%) Apache
6 1 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.29%) Camunda
6 1 (0.29%) CMS
6 1 (0.29%) Mule
6 1 (0.29%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.29%) nginx
6 1 (0.29%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 17 (4.89%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (3.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.72%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.86%) CATIA
4 3 (0.86%) Chatbot
4 3 (0.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.57%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.29%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 32 (9.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.72%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (1.15%) Payment Gateway
4 3 (0.86%) SAP SCM
5 1 (0.29%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.29%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.29%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.29%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.29%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.29%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.29%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 73 (20.98%) Azure
2 69 (19.83%) AWS
3 25 (7.18%) Power Platform
4 24 (6.90%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (5.46%) GCP
6 14 (4.02%) Entra ID
7 13 (3.74%) GitHub
8 7 (2.01%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (1.72%) dbt
9 6 (1.72%) Power Automate
10 5 (1.44%) Azure Data Factory
10 5 (1.44%) GitHub Actions
10 5 (1.44%) SaaS
10 5 (1.44%) Serverless
11 4 (1.15%) AWS Step Functions
11 4 (1.15%) Azure AKS
11 4 (1.15%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 4 (1.15%) Google Sheets
11 4 (1.15%) Google Workspace
11 4 (1.15%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 19 (5.46%) DNS
2 17 (4.89%) Firewall
3 9 (2.59%) DHCP
4 7 (2.01%) Kerberos
4 7 (2.01%) TCP/IP
5 6 (1.72%) Network Security
5 6 (1.72%) WAN
5 6 (1.72%) Wi-Fi
6 5 (1.44%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 5 (1.44%) SAN
6 5 (1.44%) Wireless
7 4 (1.15%) DMZ
7 4 (1.15%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
7 4 (1.15%) LAN
7 4 (1.15%) NetScaler
7 4 (1.15%) VLAN
8 3 (0.86%) WebEx
9 2 (0.57%) SD-WAN
9 2 (0.57%) SSL
9 2 (0.57%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (5.75%) Power BI
2 14 (4.02%) SQL Server
3 12 (3.45%) Data Warehouse
3 12 (3.45%) MongoDB
3 12 (3.45%) Relational Database
4 8 (2.30%) NoSQL
5 7 (2.01%) MySQL
5 7 (2.01%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (1.15%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
6 4 (1.15%) Big Data
6 4 (1.15%) Snowflake Schema
6 4 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.86%) Data Vault
7 3 (0.86%) DataStage
7 3 (0.86%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.86%) Hadoop
7 3 (0.86%) Metadata
7 3 (0.86%) Power Query
8 2 (0.57%) BusinessObjects
8 2 (0.57%) DB2
Development Applications
1 47 (13.51%) JIRA
2 20 (5.75%) Git
3 12 (3.45%) GitLab
4 10 (2.87%) Mockito
5 8 (2.30%) Postman
6 7 (2.01%) Jenkins
6 7 (2.01%) JUnit
7 5 (1.44%) Selenium
8 3 (0.86%) Cucumber
8 3 (0.86%) Gatling
8 3 (0.86%) Jasmine
8 3 (0.86%) MSI
8 3 (0.86%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.57%) Gradle
9 2 (0.57%) JMeter
9 2 (0.57%) Serenity BDD
9 2 (0.57%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.57%) Sonatype Nexus
9 2 (0.57%) Zephyr
10 1 (0.29%) Cypress.io
General
1 151 (43.39%) Social Skills
2 144 (41.38%) Analytical Skills
3 112 (32.18%) Finance
4 40 (11.49%) Banking
5 30 (8.62%) Public Sector
6 14 (4.02%) Organisational Skills
7 13 (3.74%) Manufacturing
8 11 (3.16%) Law
8 11 (3.16%) Legal
9 9 (2.59%) Influencing Skills
9 9 (2.59%) Telecoms
10 8 (2.30%) Documentation Skills
11 7 (2.01%) Retail Banking
12 6 (1.72%) Retail
13 3 (0.86%) Aerospace
13 3 (0.86%) Automotive
13 3 (0.86%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.57%) Billing
14 2 (0.57%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 66 (18.97%) Analyst
2 56 (16.09%) Developer
3 30 (8.62%) Business Analyst
4 26 (7.47%) Senior
5 23 (6.61%) Java Developer
6 20 (5.75%) Administrator
7 18 (5.17%) Consultant
8 17 (4.89%) Lead
9 15 (4.31%) Architect
9 15 (4.31%) Data Engineer
9 15 (4.31%) IT Support
9 15 (4.31%) Project Manager
9 15 (4.31%) SAP Consultant
10 14 (4.02%) IT Analyst
11 13 (3.74%) Finance Manager
11 13 (3.74%) Finance Project Manager
11 13 (3.74%) Support Analyst
11 13 (3.74%) Transformation Consultant
12 12 (3.45%) Full-Stack Developer
12 12 (3.45%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (8.62%) Spring
2 28 (8.05%) Spring Boot
3 24 (6.90%) REST
4 20 (5.75%) RESTful
5 17 (4.89%) Kafka
5 17 (4.89%) React
6 16 (4.60%) HTML
7 15 (4.31%) OAuth
8 14 (4.02%) CSS
9 13 (3.74%) JSON
9 13 (3.74%) SOAP
9 13 (3.74%) XML
10 12 (3.45%) AngularJS
11 10 (2.87%) Swagger
12 9 (2.59%) HTML5
12 9 (2.59%) OAuth2
13 8 (2.30%) CSS3
14 7 (2.01%) ActiveMQ
14 7 (2.01%) JAX-RS
14 7 (2.01%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 30 (8.62%) Product Ownership
2 20 (5.75%) Onboarding
3 15 (4.31%) Management Information System
4 12 (3.45%) Analytical Mindset
5 11 (3.16%) Cloud Native
6 10 (2.87%) Data Centre
7 9 (2.59%) Mobile App
8 8 (2.30%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (2.30%) Driving Licence
9 7 (2.01%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.72%) AI Agents
10 6 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
10 6 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
11 5 (1.44%) Public Cloud
11 5 (1.44%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 4 (1.15%) CMDB
12 4 (1.15%) Mainframe
12 4 (1.15%) PKI
12 4 (1.15%) Private Cloud
12 4 (1.15%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 36 (10.34%) Windows
2 18 (5.17%) Linux
3 13 (3.74%) Unix
3 13 (3.74%) Windows 10
4 9 (2.59%) Apple iOS
4 9 (2.59%) Mac OS
5 8 (2.30%) Windows Server
6 7 (2.01%) Windows Server 2019
7 5 (1.44%) Mac OS X
8 4 (1.15%) Android
8 4 (1.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (1.15%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.57%) AIX
9 2 (0.57%) HPUX
9 2 (0.57%) Oracle Linux
9 2 (0.57%) Solaris
9 2 (0.57%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (24.43%) Agile
2 60 (17.24%) Change Management
3 58 (16.67%) Continuous Improvement
4 56 (16.09%) Migration
5 54 (15.52%) Stakeholder Management
6 51 (14.66%) CI/CD
7 45 (12.93%) Project Management
7 45 (12.93%) Validation
8 43 (12.36%) Workshop Facilitation
9 42 (12.07%) Microservices
10 38 (10.92%) Test Automation
11 37 (10.63%) Data Migration
11 37 (10.63%) DevOps
11 37 (10.63%) ERP
12 34 (9.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 32 (9.20%) Requirements Gathering
14 31 (8.91%) ITIL
15 29 (8.33%) Customer Service
16 28 (8.05%) Analytics
16 28 (8.05%) Business Transformation
Programming Languages
1 53 (15.23%) SQL
2 52 (14.94%) Java
3 33 (9.48%) PowerShell
4 32 (9.20%) Python
5 20 (5.75%) JavaScript
6 16 (4.60%) TypeScript
7 8 (2.30%) Kotlin
8 5 (1.44%) Bash
8 5 (1.44%) Go
8 5 (1.44%) Shell Script
9 4 (1.15%) C#
9 4 (1.15%) PL/SQL
9 4 (1.15%) T-SQL
10 3 (0.86%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.86%) CLIST
10 3 (0.86%) COBOL
10 3 (0.86%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.86%) JCL
10 3 (0.86%) REXX
10 3 (0.86%) VBA
Qualifications
1 49 (14.08%) Security Cleared
2 44 (12.64%) Degree
3 29 (8.33%) BPSS Clearance
4 28 (8.05%) SC Cleared
5 25 (7.18%) Computer Science Degree
6 16 (4.60%) Microsoft Certification
7 15 (4.31%) A+ Certification
8 14 (4.02%) Network+ Certification
9 12 (3.45%) Cisco Certification
9 12 (3.45%) CISSP
10 10 (2.87%) CCNA
11 8 (2.30%) AWS Certification
12 6 (1.72%) Azure Certification
13 5 (1.44%) MCSE
14 4 (1.15%) CCNP
14 4 (1.15%) CompTIA Security+
15 3 (0.86%) DBS Check
15 3 (0.86%) HNC
15 3 (0.86%) PMI Certification
15 3 (0.86%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (7.76%) Data Quality
2 13 (3.74%) QA
3 10 (2.87%) PSD2
4 9 (2.59%) NIST
5 8 (2.30%) GRC
6 6 (1.72%) ISO 20022
6 6 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.44%) GDPR
7 5 (1.44%) PCI DSS
7 5 (1.44%) PMO
7 5 (1.44%) SEPA
8 4 (1.15%) Accessibility
8 4 (1.15%) SLA
9 3 (0.86%) ISO 8583
10 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.29%) WCAG
System Software
1 36 (10.34%) Active Directory
2 25 (7.18%) Docker
3 9 (2.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.72%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (1.44%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.44%) vSphere
6 3 (0.86%) ACF2
6 3 (0.86%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.86%) ISA Server
6 3 (0.86%) RACF
6 3 (0.86%) Time Sharing Option
6 3 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.57%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 26 (7.47%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.45%) SCCM
3 11 (3.16%) Terraform
4 7 (2.01%) Grafana
4 7 (2.01%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (1.44%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 5 (1.44%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.15%) Ansible
7 3 (0.86%) CA Endevor
7 3 (0.86%) Tivoli
7 3 (0.86%) Tivoli Storage Manager
8 2 (0.57%) Argo
8 2 (0.57%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.57%) HP ALM
9 1 (0.29%) CA Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.29%) Functional Safety
9 1 (0.29%) Istio
9 1 (0.29%) Norton AntiVirus
9 1 (0.29%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 57 (16.38%) Microsoft
2 45 (12.93%) SAP
3 21 (6.03%) Oracle
4 19 (5.46%) ServiceNow
5 15 (4.31%) Splunk
6 13 (3.74%) Sage
6 13 (3.74%) VMware
7 9 (2.59%) F5
8 7 (2.01%) Cisco
9 6 (1.72%) BeyondTrust
9 6 (1.72%) CrowdStrike
9 6 (1.72%) Dell
9 6 (1.72%) Google
9 6 (1.72%) Palo Alto
9 6 (1.72%) Remedy
10 5 (1.44%) Databricks
10 5 (1.44%) DocuSign
10 5 (1.44%) Red Hat
11 4 (1.15%) Adobe
11 4 (1.15%) HP