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

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 3 9
Rank change year-on-year -10 +6 +9
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 371 382 316
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.06% 17.78% 12.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.06% 20.27% 14.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 204 208 188
10th Percentile £282 £266 £300
25th Percentile £379 £398 £398
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £490 £490
Median % change year-on-year -8.07% -0.15% +1.50%
75th Percentile £538 £585 £550
90th Percentile £626 £706 £638
England median daily rate £495 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.00% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 44 40
10th Percentile £14.62 £12.38 -
25th Percentile £17.33 £17.44 -
Median hourly rate £38.75 £28.75 £10.95
Median % change year-on-year +34.78% +162.56% -60.18%
75th Percentile £75.50 £50.17 £26.39
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.00 £62.50
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.25 £16.23
% change year-on-year +0.49% +30.90% -69.09%

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 3,076 1,885 2,162
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.38% 87.72% 84.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,812 1,224 1,333
10th Percentile £295 £272 £300
25th Percentile £400 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £450 £493
Median % change year-on-year +8.33% -8.72% -1.40%
75th Percentile £594 £575 £585
90th Percentile £675 £671 £674
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 295 123 216
10th Percentile £17.25 £13.50 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.38 £18.97 £15.98
Median hourly rate £55.00 £28.75 £29.00
Median % change year-on-year +91.30% -0.86% -1.02%
75th Percentile £76.00 £58.94 £48.00
90th Percentile £85.00 £74.75 £70.33
England median hourly rate £47.50 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +88.87% -37.13% -6.43%

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 23 July 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 23 July 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 23 July 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 -12 190 £450 -7.64% 195
Cheshire -4 105 £462 -6.05% 74
Lancashire -4 35 £356 -20.95% 63
Cumbria +3 24 £488 +143.75% 6
Merseyside -28 8 £250 -48.72% 38
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 22 (5.93%) Confluence
2 8 (2.16%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.81%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.54%) Camunda
5 2 (0.54%) CMS
6 1 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.27%) JBoss
6 1 (0.27%) Mule
6 1 (0.27%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.27%) NetWeaver
6 1 (0.27%) nginx
6 1 (0.27%) WebLogic
Applications
1 20 (5.39%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (3.77%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.16%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.81%) Acrobat
5 3 (0.81%) CATIA
5 3 (0.81%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 24 (6.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (2.43%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.81%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.81%) SAP HCM
3 3 (0.81%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.54%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.27%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.27%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.27%) ResourceLink
Cloud Services
1 74 (19.95%) Azure
2 54 (14.56%) AWS
3 41 (11.05%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (7.55%) Power Platform
5 18 (4.85%) GCP
6 17 (4.58%) Entra ID
7 13 (3.50%) GitHub
8 9 (2.43%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (2.43%) Power Automate
9 6 (1.62%) GitHub Actions
9 6 (1.62%) OpenShift
10 5 (1.35%) Azure Monitor
11 4 (1.08%) Azure AKS
11 4 (1.08%) dbt
11 4 (1.08%) Google Sheets
11 4 (1.08%) Google Workspace
11 4 (1.08%) SaaS
12 3 (0.81%) Azure Data Factory
12 3 (0.81%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 3 (0.81%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 26 (7.01%) VPN
2 22 (5.93%) Firewall
3 17 (4.58%) DNS
4 11 (2.96%) WAN
5 10 (2.70%) TCP/IP
5 10 (2.70%) Wireless
6 9 (2.43%) DHCP
7 8 (2.16%) LAN
8 7 (1.89%) Kerberos
8 7 (1.89%) Network Security
8 7 (1.89%) VLAN
8 7 (1.89%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (1.08%) BGP
9 4 (1.08%) SAN
9 4 (1.08%) SD-WAN
9 4 (1.08%) SSL
10 3 (0.81%) Cisco Nexus
10 3 (0.81%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 3 (0.81%) MPLS
10 3 (0.81%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.20%) Power BI
2 20 (5.39%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.77%) Data Warehouse
3 14 (3.77%) MongoDB
4 11 (2.96%) Relational Database
5 8 (2.16%) NoSQL
6 7 (1.89%) MySQL
6 7 (1.89%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (1.35%) Big Data
7 5 (1.35%) DataStage
7 5 (1.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (1.08%) Db2
8 4 (1.08%) Snowflake Schema
8 4 (1.08%) Tableau
9 3 (0.81%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
9 3 (0.81%) Data Vault
9 3 (0.81%) Hadoop
9 3 (0.81%) Metadata
9 3 (0.81%) SAP HANA
10 2 (0.54%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 45 (12.13%) JIRA
2 19 (5.12%) Git
3 12 (3.23%) GitLab
4 9 (2.43%) Jenkins
4 9 (2.43%) Mockito
5 6 (1.62%) Postman
5 6 (1.62%) Selenium
6 5 (1.35%) Cucumber
7 4 (1.08%) Gatling
7 4 (1.08%) JUnit
7 4 (1.08%) REST Assured
7 4 (1.08%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.81%) MSI
9 2 (0.54%) Burp Suite
9 2 (0.54%) Gradle
9 2 (0.54%) JMeter
9 2 (0.54%) LoadRunner
9 2 (0.54%) Serenity BDD
9 2 (0.54%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.54%) SonarQube
General
1 169 (45.55%) Social Skills
2 157 (42.32%) Analytical Skills
3 102 (27.49%) Finance
4 38 (10.24%) Banking
5 24 (6.47%) Public Sector
6 18 (4.85%) Manufacturing
7 17 (4.58%) Legal
7 17 (4.58%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (2.96%) Law
9 10 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (2.43%) Documentation Skills
11 7 (1.89%) Aerospace
12 6 (1.62%) Automotive
12 6 (1.62%) Retail
12 6 (1.62%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.81%) Games
13 3 (0.81%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.81%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.54%) Billing
14 2 (0.54%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 64 (17.25%) Analyst
2 36 (9.70%) Developer
3 28 (7.55%) Lead
4 27 (7.28%) Senior
5 25 (6.74%) Architect
6 21 (5.66%) Administrator
6 21 (5.66%) Consultant
6 21 (5.66%) IT Support
7 19 (5.12%) Java Developer
8 17 (4.58%) Business Analyst
9 15 (4.04%) Project Manager
10 14 (3.77%) IT Analyst
11 13 (3.50%) Data Engineer
11 13 (3.50%) SAP Consultant
11 13 (3.50%) Support Analyst
12 12 (3.23%) IT Engineer
12 12 (3.23%) Support Engineer
13 11 (2.96%) IT Support Analyst
13 11 (2.96%) Network Engineer
14 10 (2.70%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (5.12%) Kafka
1 19 (5.12%) Spring
2 17 (4.58%) Spring Boot
3 15 (4.04%) React
4 13 (3.50%) REST
5 11 (2.96%) RESTful
6 9 (2.43%) HTML
6 9 (2.43%) OAuth
7 8 (2.16%) ActiveMQ
7 8 (2.16%) JAX-RS
7 8 (2.16%) JSON
7 8 (2.16%) XML
8 7 (1.89%) CSS
8 7 (1.89%) LDAP
9 6 (1.62%) AngularJS
9 6 (1.62%) Playwright
10 5 (1.35%) ARM Templates
10 5 (1.35%) Middleware
10 5 (1.35%) Node.js
11 4 (1.08%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.01%) Onboarding
2 22 (5.93%) Product Ownership
3 14 (3.77%) Data Protection Act
4 13 (3.50%) Analytical Mindset
4 13 (3.50%) Driving Licence
5 12 (3.23%) Cloud Native
6 11 (2.96%) Data Centre
6 11 (2.96%) Management Information System
7 9 (2.43%) Data Structures
7 9 (2.43%) Distributed Systems
8 8 (2.16%) Enterprise Software
8 8 (2.16%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.62%) AI Agents
9 6 (1.62%) PKI
9 6 (1.62%) Public Cloud
9 6 (1.62%) Security Posture
9 6 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
10 5 (1.35%) Private Cloud
10 5 (1.35%) Replication
10 5 (1.35%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 56 (15.09%) Windows
2 24 (6.47%) Linux
3 19 (5.12%) Windows 10
4 17 (4.58%) Unix
5 10 (2.70%) Mac OS
6 9 (2.43%) Windows Server
7 7 (1.89%) Apple iOS
8 6 (1.62%) Mac OS X
9 3 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.81%) Solaris
10 2 (0.54%) AIX
10 2 (0.54%) Android
10 2 (0.54%) HPUX
10 2 (0.54%) Oracle Linux
10 2 (0.54%) SUSE
10 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 80 (21.56%) Continuous Improvement
2 75 (20.22%) Agile
3 70 (18.87%) Stakeholder Management
4 53 (14.29%) CI/CD
5 50 (13.48%) ITIL
6 49 (13.21%) Change Management
6 49 (13.21%) Migration
7 46 (12.40%) Project Management
8 41 (11.05%) DevOps
8 41 (11.05%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 34 (9.16%) AI
9 34 (9.16%) Customer Service
9 34 (9.16%) Decision-Making
9 34 (9.16%) ERP
9 34 (9.16%) Validation
10 33 (8.89%) Workshop Facilitation
11 32 (8.63%) Test Automation
12 31 (8.36%) Analytics
12 31 (8.36%) Microservices
12 31 (8.36%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 48 (12.94%) SQL
2 41 (11.05%) Python
3 39 (10.51%) PowerShell
4 37 (9.97%) Java
5 15 (4.04%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.70%) Bash
7 8 (2.16%) TypeScript
8 7 (1.89%) Shell Script
9 5 (1.35%) PL/SQL
9 5 (1.35%) T-SQL
10 4 (1.08%) Bicep
10 4 (1.08%) Go
11 3 (0.81%) ABAP
11 3 (0.81%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.54%) C#
12 2 (0.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.54%) Korn
12 2 (0.54%) VBA
13 1 (0.27%) Apex Code
13 1 (0.27%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 56 (15.09%) Security Cleared
2 44 (11.86%) Degree
3 39 (10.51%) SC Cleared
4 24 (6.47%) BPSS Clearance
5 19 (5.12%) Computer Science Degree
6 15 (4.04%) Cisco Certification
6 15 (4.04%) CISSP
7 14 (3.77%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (2.96%) A+ Certification
9 10 (2.70%) CCNA
9 10 (2.70%) Network+ Certification
10 7 (1.89%) AWS Certification
10 7 (1.89%) CompTIA Security+
11 6 (1.62%) CCNP
11 6 (1.62%) CISM
11 6 (1.62%) HNC
12 5 (1.35%) Azure Certification
12 5 (1.35%) CEH
12 5 (1.35%) PMI Certification
12 5 (1.35%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.09%) Data Quality
2 11 (2.96%) QA
3 10 (2.70%) GRC
3 10 (2.70%) NIST
4 9 (2.43%) SLA
5 7 (1.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (1.62%) PMO
7 4 (1.08%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.08%) GDPR
8 3 (0.81%) PSD2
9 2 (0.54%) ISO 20022
9 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 2 (0.54%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.54%) SEPA
10 1 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.27%) NCSC
10 1 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.27%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 44 (11.86%) Active Directory
2 24 (6.47%) Docker
3 7 (1.89%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.35%) Firmware
4 5 (1.35%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.08%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (1.08%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.81%) vSphere
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 27 (7.28%) Kubernetes
2 19 (5.12%) Terraform
3 11 (2.96%) Grafana
4 10 (2.70%) SCCM
5 9 (2.43%) Ansible
6 8 (2.16%) Microsoft Intune
6 8 (2.16%) Prometheus
7 5 (1.35%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.81%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.81%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.81%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.54%) Argo
9 2 (0.54%) Istio
9 2 (0.54%) WMI
10 1 (0.27%) Data Guard
10 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.27%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.27%) Puppet
10 1 (0.27%) SCOM
10 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 72 (19.41%) Microsoft
2 43 (11.59%) SAP
3 41 (11.05%) ServiceNow
4 20 (5.39%) Oracle
5 15 (4.04%) Cisco
6 14 (3.77%) Splunk
7 11 (2.96%) Sage
8 9 (2.43%) Google
8 9 (2.43%) Remedy
8 9 (2.43%) Workday
9 8 (2.16%) F5
9 8 (2.16%) VMware
10 7 (1.89%) Palo Alto
11 6 (1.62%) BeyondTrust
11 6 (1.62%) Bomgar
11 6 (1.62%) CrowdStrike
12 5 (1.35%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.35%) DocuSign
12 5 (1.35%) Red Hat
12 5 (1.35%) Salesforce