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

6 months to
30 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 4 14
Rank change year-on-year -3 +10 +4
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 381 334 278
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 14.40% 15.97% 9.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 16.49% 18.08% 11.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 246 219 169
10th Percentile £194 £203 £324
25th Percentile £322 £325 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £430 £463 £500
Median % change year-on-year -7.03% -7.50% +13.64%
75th Percentile £500 £550 £583
90th Percentile £600 £638 £700
England median daily rate £500 £500 £513
% change year-on-year - -2.50% -5.03%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 16 22
10th Percentile £15.18 £14.80 £11.30
25th Percentile £15.40 £22.72 £18.36
Median hourly rate £20.04 £27.13 £34.45
Median % change year-on-year -26.12% -21.25% -18.65%
75th Percentile £62.66 £34.83 £46.18
90th Percentile £74.26 £46.63 £52.12
England median hourly rate £18.50 £22.50 £23.50
% change year-on-year -17.78% -4.26% -27.59%

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 2,311 1,847 2,473
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 87.34% 88.29% 87.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,520 1,073 1,660
10th Percentile £213 £278 £306
25th Percentile £358 £385 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +1.01%
75th Percentile £551 £565 £588
90th Percentile £650 £656 £683
England median daily rate £501 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.67% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 192 99 200
10th Percentile £16.37 £16.05 £12.50
25th Percentile £22.58 £21.98 £16.25
Median hourly rate £41.94 £31.50 £33.16
Median % change year-on-year +33.14% -5.01% -11.57%
75th Percentile £57.50 £51.75 £46.18
90th Percentile £73.63 £75.30 £55.02
England median hourly rate £25.15 £34.31 £36.34
% change year-on-year -26.69% -5.59% +3.81%

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 30 January 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 30 January 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 30 January 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 -5 155 £450 - 193
Cheshire -1 139 £402 -18.47% 76
Merseyside -6 41 £225 -10.00% 32
Lancashire 0 38 £550 +5.01% 87
Cumbria -7 5 £475 +15.15% 12
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 25 (6.56%) Confluence
2 23 (6.04%) SharePoint
3 20 (5.25%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (2.10%) Apache
5 7 (1.84%) Exchange Server 2013
5 7 (1.84%) Skype for Business
6 4 (1.05%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.79%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 2 (0.52%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.52%) JBoss
8 2 (0.52%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.26%) CMS
9 1 (0.26%) Moodle
9 1 (0.26%) Mule
9 1 (0.26%) Mule ESB
9 1 (0.26%) SAS
9 1 (0.26%) WebLogic
Applications
1 31 (8.14%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (5.77%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (4.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 13 (3.41%) MS Visio
5 4 (1.05%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.52%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.26%) Siemens NX
7 1 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 36 (9.45%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (1.05%) Payment Gateway
2 4 (1.05%) SAP EHS
3 3 (0.79%) iTrent
3 3 (0.79%) Kondor
3 3 (0.79%) SAP EWM
3 3 (0.79%) SAP SCM
4 2 (0.52%) Advent Geneva
4 2 (0.52%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.52%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.52%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.26%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.26%) Finacle
5 1 (0.26%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.26%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.26%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.26%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.26%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.26%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 79 (20.73%) Azure
2 69 (18.11%) AWS
3 42 (11.02%) Microsoft 365
4 26 (6.82%) GCP
5 22 (5.77%) Power Platform
6 21 (5.51%) GitHub
7 15 (3.94%) Entra ID
7 15 (3.94%) Serverless
8 11 (2.89%) Amazon ECS
8 11 (2.89%) Apigee
8 11 (2.89%) SaaS
9 10 (2.62%) AWS Lambda
9 10 (2.62%) Datadog
9 10 (2.62%) OneDrive
10 9 (2.36%) Amazon SQS
10 9 (2.36%) GitHub Actions
11 8 (2.10%) Azure DevOps
12 7 (1.84%) Amazon EventBridge
12 7 (1.84%) AWS Step Functions
13 6 (1.57%) AWS Fargate
Communications & Networking
1 23 (6.04%) Firewall
2 17 (4.46%) DNS
3 16 (4.20%) Network Security
4 8 (2.10%) BGP
4 8 (2.10%) DHCP
4 8 (2.10%) LAN
4 8 (2.10%) WAN
5 7 (1.84%) Skype
5 7 (1.84%) VLAN
6 6 (1.57%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 6 (1.57%) Kerberos
6 6 (1.57%) Software-Defined Networking
6 6 (1.57%) WebEx
7 5 (1.31%) DMZ
7 5 (1.31%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
7 5 (1.31%) TCP/IP
8 4 (1.05%) HTTP
9 3 (0.79%) NetScaler
10 2 (0.52%) VoIP
10 2 (0.52%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.46%) Relational Database
2 15 (3.94%) NoSQL
3 14 (3.67%) MySQL
3 14 (3.67%) Power BI
4 13 (3.41%) DynamoDB
5 12 (3.15%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (2.36%) BigQuery
6 9 (2.36%) SQL Server
7 8 (2.10%) Amazon Aurora
8 7 (1.84%) Data Warehouse
9 6 (1.57%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.57%) RDBMS
9 6 (1.57%) Redis
10 5 (1.31%) MongoDB
11 4 (1.05%) MS Access
11 4 (1.05%) Oracle Database
11 4 (1.05%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 3 (0.79%) Power Query
12 3 (0.79%) Snowflake Schema
13 2 (0.52%) BusinessObjects
Development Applications
1 45 (11.81%) JIRA
2 35 (9.19%) Git
3 16 (4.20%) GitLab
3 16 (4.20%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.57%) Gradle
4 6 (1.57%) Maven
4 6 (1.57%) Postman
4 6 (1.57%) SonarQube
5 5 (1.31%) JUnit
5 5 (1.31%) Selenium
5 5 (1.31%) SonarLint
6 3 (0.79%) Jasmine
6 3 (0.79%) Mockito
7 2 (0.52%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.52%) JMeter
8 1 (0.26%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.26%) gulp
8 1 (0.26%) LSMW
8 1 (0.26%) MLflow
8 1 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
General
1 180 (47.24%) Social Skills
2 136 (35.70%) Analytical Skills
3 117 (30.71%) Finance
4 50 (13.12%) Banking
5 36 (9.45%) Public Sector
6 18 (4.72%) Legal
7 10 (2.62%) Manufacturing
8 9 (2.36%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (1.84%) Organisational Skills
9 7 (1.84%) Telecoms
10 6 (1.57%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.57%) Law
10 6 (1.57%) Local Government
10 6 (1.57%) Presentation Skills
11 5 (1.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 5 (1.31%) Retail Banking
12 4 (1.05%) Automotive
12 4 (1.05%) Games
12 4 (1.05%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.79%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 67 (17.59%) Analyst
2 65 (17.06%) Developer
3 31 (8.14%) Business Analyst
4 27 (7.09%) Consultant
5 21 (5.51%) Administrator
6 20 (5.25%) Senior
7 19 (4.99%) Architect
7 19 (4.99%) Platform Engineer
8 15 (3.94%) IT Support
8 15 (3.94%) Java Developer
8 15 (3.94%) SAP Consultant
8 15 (3.94%) Support Analyst
9 14 (3.67%) Lead
9 14 (3.67%) Project Manager
10 12 (3.15%) Full-Stack Developer
11 11 (2.89%) Service Analyst
12 10 (2.62%) Data Engineer
13 9 (2.36%) IT Analyst
13 9 (2.36%) Software Engineer
14 8 (2.10%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (10.24%) Spring Boot
2 36 (9.45%) REST
3 33 (8.66%) Spring
4 24 (6.30%) RESTful
5 18 (4.72%) JSON
6 17 (4.46%) SOAP
7 15 (3.94%) XML
8 14 (3.67%) OAuth
8 14 (3.67%) React
9 13 (3.41%) HTML
9 13 (3.41%) JWT
9 13 (3.41%) Kafka
9 13 (3.41%) Swagger
10 12 (3.15%) JMS
11 11 (2.89%) CSS
12 9 (2.36%) AngularJS
12 9 (2.36%) ISPF
12 9 (2.36%) OpenAPI
13 8 (2.10%) Hibernate
13 8 (2.10%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 36 (9.45%) Product Ownership
2 22 (5.77%) Cloud Native
3 18 (4.72%) Onboarding
4 16 (4.20%) SWIFT Messaging Network
5 10 (2.62%) Mainframe
6 9 (2.36%) Management Information System
7 7 (1.84%) Mobile App
8 6 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (1.57%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.57%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.57%) Greenfield Project
8 6 (1.57%) N-Tier
9 5 (1.31%) CMDB
9 5 (1.31%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.31%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.05%) Data Centre
10 4 (1.05%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.05%) Digital Wallet
10 4 (1.05%) Private Cloud
10 4 (1.05%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 49 (12.86%) Windows
2 24 (6.30%) Linux
3 19 (4.99%) Windows 10
4 18 (4.72%) Windows Server
5 12 (3.15%) Android
6 11 (2.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 10 (2.62%) Apple iOS
8 9 (2.36%) Unix
9 6 (1.57%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.52%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.26%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (27.56%) Agile
2 67 (17.59%) Stakeholder Management
3 66 (17.32%) CI/CD
4 64 (16.80%) Continuous Improvement
5 61 (16.01%) Change Management
6 51 (13.39%) DevOps
7 44 (11.55%) Microservices
8 43 (11.29%) Project Management
9 42 (11.02%) Validation
10 41 (10.76%) Containerisation
11 40 (10.50%) Migration
11 40 (10.50%) Requirements Gathering
12 37 (9.71%) Test Automation
13 34 (8.92%) Workshop Facilitation
14 31 (8.14%) Customer Service
14 31 (8.14%) ERP
14 31 (8.14%) ITIL
14 31 (8.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 29 (7.61%) Computer Science
16 28 (7.35%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 57 (14.96%) Java
2 56 (14.70%) SQL
3 43 (11.29%) Python
4 29 (7.61%) PowerShell
5 20 (5.25%) JavaScript
6 17 (4.46%) Bash
7 14 (3.67%) TypeScript
8 9 (2.36%) C#
8 9 (2.36%) CLIST
8 9 (2.36%) COBOL
8 9 (2.36%) JCL
8 9 (2.36%) REXX
9 8 (2.10%) Perl
10 7 (1.84%) Go
11 5 (1.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 5 (1.31%) Kotlin
11 5 (1.31%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.79%) Apex Code
12 3 (0.79%) VBA
13 2 (0.52%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 65 (17.06%) Security Cleared
2 55 (14.44%) Degree
3 43 (11.29%) SC Cleared
4 24 (6.30%) BPSS Clearance
5 23 (6.04%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (2.89%) Cisco Certification
7 9 (2.36%) CCNA
7 9 (2.36%) CCNP
8 8 (2.10%) CCDP
8 8 (2.10%) Six Sigma Green Belt
9 6 (1.57%) A+ Certification
9 6 (1.57%) Microsoft Certification
10 4 (1.05%) Network+ Certification
11 3 (0.79%) AWS Certification
11 3 (0.79%) CISSP
11 3 (0.79%) DBS Check
11 3 (0.79%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.79%) PMP
12 2 (0.52%) CompTIA Security+
12 2 (0.52%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.30%) QA
2 17 (4.46%) PSD2
3 15 (3.94%) Data Quality
3 15 (3.94%) ISO 20022
4 13 (3.41%) SEPA
5 8 (2.10%) GDPR
5 8 (2.10%) PCI DSS
6 5 (1.31%) Accessibility
7 3 (0.79%) ISO 8583
8 2 (0.52%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (0.52%) NIST
8 2 (0.52%) SLA
9 1 (0.26%) GRC
9 1 (0.26%) HL7
9 1 (0.26%) IEC 61508
9 1 (0.26%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.26%) PMBOK
9 1 (0.26%) PMO
9 1 (0.26%) WCAG
System Software
1 44 (11.55%) Docker
2 40 (10.50%) Active Directory
3 10 (2.62%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (2.36%) ACF2
4 9 (2.36%) RACF
4 9 (2.36%) Time Sharing Option
5 7 (1.84%) VMware NSX
6 5 (1.31%) vSphere
7 4 (1.05%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.79%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.79%) ISA Server
Systems Management
1 49 (12.86%) Kubernetes
2 24 (6.30%) SCCM
3 21 (5.51%) Terraform
4 15 (3.94%) Microsoft Intune
5 9 (2.36%) CA Endevor
5 9 (2.36%) Tivoli
5 9 (2.36%) Tivoli Storage Manager
6 8 (2.10%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (1.84%) Grafana
7 7 (1.84%) Prometheus
8 6 (1.57%) Norton AntiVirus
9 2 (0.52%) Ansible
9 2 (0.52%) QRadar
10 1 (0.26%) Argo
10 1 (0.26%) Autotask
10 1 (0.26%) CA Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.26%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.26%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 88 (23.10%) Microsoft
2 50 (13.12%) SAP
3 27 (7.09%) Oracle
4 21 (5.51%) VMware
5 12 (3.15%) ServiceNow
6 10 (2.62%) Cisco
6 10 (2.62%) F5
6 10 (2.62%) Red Hat
7 9 (2.36%) Citrix
8 8 (2.10%) Splunk
9 7 (1.84%) Google
9 7 (1.84%) MuleSoft
9 7 (1.84%) Sage
9 7 (1.84%) Symantec
9 7 (1.84%) Workday
10 6 (1.57%) McAfee
11 5 (1.31%) Computacenter
11 5 (1.31%) Databricks
11 5 (1.31%) Gigya
12 4 (1.05%) IFS