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

6 months to
6 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 3 8
Rank change year-on-year -11 +5 +7
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 348 390 302
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 9.20% 17.78% 12.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.09% 20.14% 14.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 185 215 176
10th Percentile £228 £269 £300
25th Percentile £364 £401 £401
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £489 £488
Median % change year-on-year -7.98% +0.31% +1.56%
75th Percentile £538 £584 £550
90th Percentile £613 £703 £638
England median daily rate £492 £494 £500
% change year-on-year -0.34% -1.25% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 44 35
10th Percentile £13.95 £12.38 -
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.44 -
Median hourly rate £37.50 £27.90 £10.95
Median % change year-on-year +34.40% +154.82% -74.02%
75th Percentile £75.00 £50.17 £22.20
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.00 £62.50
England median hourly rate £21.00 £20.68 £16.23
% change year-on-year +1.56% +27.40% -69.76%

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 3,139 1,936 2,020
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 82.98% 88.24% 84.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,827 1,250 1,227
10th Percentile £275 £277 £301
25th Percentile £400 £375 £401
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £494 £454 £500
Median % change year-on-year +8.70% -9.20% -
75th Percentile £599 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £663 £675
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 326 126 179
10th Percentile £16.69 £13.50 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.10 £18.87 £16.06
Median hourly rate £48.32 £27.90 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +73.16% -14.15% -1.52%
75th Percentile £73.75 £57.57 £51.91
90th Percentile £85.00 £74.38 £70.90
England median hourly rate £44.23 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +75.86% -40.82% -

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 6 August 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 6 August 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 6 August 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 -13 180 £450 -10.00% 247
Cheshire -5 98 £450 -7.98% 96
Lancashire -7 35 £211 -53.02% 76
Cumbria -2 20 £447 +123.50% 13
Merseyside -30 6 £200 -60.00% 52
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 19 (5.46%) Confluence
2 8 (2.30%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.44%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.86%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.57%) Camunda
5 2 (0.57%) CMS
6 1 (0.29%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.29%) JBoss
6 1 (0.29%) Mule
6 1 (0.29%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.29%) NetWeaver
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 21 (6.03%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (4.60%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.30%) MS Visio
4 5 (1.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (1.15%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.86%) Acrobat
6 3 (0.86%) CATIA
6 3 (0.86%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 20 (5.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (3.16%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.86%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.57%) SAP HCM
4 2 (0.57%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.29%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.29%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.29%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 62 (17.82%) Azure
2 49 (14.08%) AWS
3 44 (12.64%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (7.76%) Power Platform
5 16 (4.60%) GCP
6 11 (3.16%) GitHub
7 10 (2.87%) Entra ID
7 10 (2.87%) Power Automate
8 8 (2.30%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (1.72%) GitHub Actions
9 6 (1.72%) OpenShift
10 5 (1.44%) Azure Monitor
11 4 (1.15%) Azure AKS
11 4 (1.15%) dbt
11 4 (1.15%) Google Sheets
11 4 (1.15%) Google Workspace
12 3 (0.86%) Azure Data Factory
12 3 (0.86%) PowerApps
12 3 (0.86%) SaaS
12 3 (0.86%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 29 (8.33%) VPN
2 15 (4.31%) Firewall
3 14 (4.02%) DNS
4 12 (3.45%) WAN
5 10 (2.87%) LAN
5 10 (2.87%) Wireless
6 8 (2.30%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.30%) VLAN
7 7 (2.01%) DHCP
7 7 (2.01%) Wi-Fi
8 5 (1.44%) Network Security
9 4 (1.15%) BGP
9 4 (1.15%) SAN
9 4 (1.15%) SD-WAN
9 4 (1.15%) SSL
10 3 (0.86%) Cisco Nexus
10 3 (0.86%) MPLS
10 3 (0.86%) OSPF
10 3 (0.86%) PABX
10 3 (0.86%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.61%) Power BI
2 20 (5.75%) SQL Server
3 14 (4.02%) Data Warehouse
4 12 (3.45%) MongoDB
5 9 (2.59%) Relational Database
6 6 (1.72%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.72%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (1.44%) Big Data
7 5 (1.44%) DataStage
7 5 (1.44%) MySQL
8 4 (1.15%) Db2
8 4 (1.15%) Snowflake Schema
8 4 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 3 (0.86%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
9 3 (0.86%) Data Vault
9 3 (0.86%) Tableau
10 2 (0.57%) DynamoDB
10 2 (0.57%) Metadata
10 2 (0.57%) Power Query
10 2 (0.57%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 37 (10.63%) JIRA
2 14 (4.02%) Git
3 9 (2.59%) Jenkins
4 8 (2.30%) Mockito
5 7 (2.01%) GitLab
6 5 (1.44%) Cucumber
7 4 (1.15%) Gatling
7 4 (1.15%) REST Assured
7 4 (1.15%) Selenium
7 4 (1.15%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.86%) JUnit
8 3 (0.86%) MSI
8 3 (0.86%) Postman
9 2 (0.57%) Claude Code
9 2 (0.57%) Gradle
9 2 (0.57%) LoadRunner
9 2 (0.57%) Serenity BDD
9 2 (0.57%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.57%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.57%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 162 (46.55%) Social Skills
2 145 (41.67%) Analytical Skills
3 90 (25.86%) Finance
4 37 (10.63%) Banking
5 21 (6.03%) Public Sector
6 19 (5.46%) Manufacturing
7 18 (5.17%) Organisational Skills
8 17 (4.89%) Legal
9 11 (3.16%) Law
10 9 (2.59%) Retail
11 8 (2.30%) Aerospace
11 8 (2.30%) Automotive
11 8 (2.30%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (2.01%) Influencing Skills
13 6 (1.72%) Telecoms
14 3 (0.86%) Games
14 3 (0.86%) Investment Banking
14 3 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
15 2 (0.57%) French Language
15 2 (0.57%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 64 (18.39%) Analyst
2 36 (10.34%) Developer
3 27 (7.76%) Lead
4 25 (7.18%) Senior
5 23 (6.61%) Architect
5 23 (6.61%) IT Support
6 21 (6.03%) Administrator
7 18 (5.17%) Consultant
7 18 (5.17%) Java Developer
8 15 (4.31%) Business Analyst
9 14 (4.02%) IT Analyst
10 13 (3.74%) Data Engineer
10 13 (3.74%) IT Engineer
10 13 (3.74%) Project Manager
10 13 (3.74%) Service Analyst
10 13 (3.74%) Support Analyst
10 13 (3.74%) Support Engineer
11 11 (3.16%) IT Support Analyst
11 11 (3.16%) Network Engineer
11 11 (3.16%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (4.89%) Kafka
2 16 (4.60%) Spring
3 14 (4.02%) React
3 14 (4.02%) Spring Boot
4 12 (3.45%) REST
5 9 (2.59%) OAuth
6 8 (2.30%) ActiveMQ
6 8 (2.30%) HTML
6 8 (2.30%) JAX-RS
7 7 (2.01%) JSON
7 7 (2.01%) RESTful
7 7 (2.01%) XML
8 6 (1.72%) CSS
8 6 (1.72%) Playwright
9 5 (1.44%) AngularJS
9 5 (1.44%) Node.js
10 4 (1.15%) Middleware
10 4 (1.15%) OpenID
10 4 (1.15%) SailPoint
10 4 (1.15%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 24 (6.90%) Onboarding
2 19 (5.46%) Product Ownership
3 15 (4.31%) Driving Licence
4 14 (4.02%) Analytical Mindset
4 14 (4.02%) Data Protection Act
5 11 (3.16%) Cloud Native
5 11 (3.16%) Data Centre
5 11 (3.16%) Management Information System
6 10 (2.87%) Enterprise Software
7 9 (2.59%) Data Structures
7 9 (2.59%) Distributed Systems
8 8 (2.30%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.72%) AI Agents
9 6 (1.72%) PKI
9 6 (1.72%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.44%) Virtual Team
11 4 (1.15%) Cyber Threat
11 4 (1.15%) Mobile App
11 4 (1.15%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (1.15%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 59 (16.95%) Windows
2 21 (6.03%) Linux
3 19 (5.46%) Windows 10
4 18 (5.17%) Unix
5 11 (3.16%) Mac OS
6 8 (2.30%) Windows Server
7 7 (2.01%) Apple iOS
8 6 (1.72%) Mac OS X
9 4 (1.15%) Solaris
10 3 (0.86%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.57%) AIX
11 2 (0.57%) Android
11 2 (0.57%) HPUX
11 2 (0.57%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.57%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (21.84%) Continuous Improvement
2 62 (17.82%) Agile
3 59 (16.95%) Stakeholder Management
4 49 (14.08%) CI/CD
5 45 (12.93%) ITIL
5 45 (12.93%) Migration
6 41 (11.78%) Customer Service
7 38 (10.92%) Change Management
8 36 (10.34%) DevOps
8 36 (10.34%) Project Management
8 36 (10.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 34 (9.77%) AI
10 31 (8.91%) Analytics
11 30 (8.62%) ERP
11 30 (8.62%) Validation
12 29 (8.33%) Data Protection
12 29 (8.33%) Microservices
12 29 (8.33%) Test Automation
13 28 (8.05%) Data Modelling
14 27 (7.76%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 47 (13.51%) SQL
2 42 (12.07%) Python
3 33 (9.48%) Java
4 29 (8.33%) PowerShell
5 12 (3.45%) JavaScript
6 9 (2.59%) Bash
7 6 (1.72%) Shell Script
7 6 (1.72%) T-SQL
8 5 (1.44%) PL/SQL
8 5 (1.44%) TypeScript
9 4 (1.15%) Bicep
10 3 (0.86%) Kotlin
11 2 (0.57%) ABAP
11 2 (0.57%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.57%) C#
11 2 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 2 (0.57%) Go
11 2 (0.57%) Korn
12 1 (0.29%) Perl
12 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 50 (14.37%) Security Cleared
2 45 (12.93%) Degree
3 37 (10.63%) SC Cleared
4 21 (6.03%) BPSS Clearance
4 21 (6.03%) Computer Science Degree
5 15 (4.31%) Cisco Certification
6 14 (4.02%) CISSP
6 14 (4.02%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (3.16%) A+ Certification
8 10 (2.87%) CCNA
8 10 (2.87%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (2.01%) AWS Certification
9 7 (2.01%) CompTIA Security+
9 7 (2.01%) HNC
10 6 (1.72%) CCNP
11 5 (1.44%) Azure Certification
11 5 (1.44%) CEH
11 5 (1.44%) CISM
11 5 (1.44%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 4 (1.15%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.62%) Data Quality
2 12 (3.45%) GRC
3 10 (2.87%) NIST
3 10 (2.87%) SLA
4 9 (2.59%) QA
5 7 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (1.15%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.15%) GDPR
6 4 (1.15%) PMO
7 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
8 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.29%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.29%) NCSC
8 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.29%) PSD2
8 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.29%) SEPA
8 1 (0.29%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 40 (11.49%) Active Directory
2 19 (5.46%) Docker
3 6 (1.72%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.44%) Firmware
5 4 (1.15%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.86%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.29%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 21 (6.03%) Kubernetes
2 16 (4.60%) Terraform
3 9 (2.59%) Grafana
4 8 (2.30%) Ansible
4 8 (2.30%) SCCM
5 6 (1.72%) Microsoft Intune
5 6 (1.72%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.86%) FortiGate
7 3 (0.86%) McAfee ePO
8 2 (0.57%) Argo
8 2 (0.57%) Istio
8 2 (0.57%) WMI
9 1 (0.29%) Data Guard
9 1 (0.29%) Failover Clustering
9 1 (0.29%) Functional Safety
9 1 (0.29%) HP ALM
9 1 (0.29%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.29%) Puppet
9 1 (0.29%) SCOM
Vendors
1 73 (20.98%) Microsoft
2 44 (12.64%) ServiceNow
3 40 (11.49%) SAP
4 19 (5.46%) Oracle
5 15 (4.31%) Cisco
6 14 (4.02%) Splunk
7 11 (3.16%) Remedy
8 10 (2.87%) Workday
9 9 (2.59%) Google
9 9 (2.59%) Sage
10 7 (2.01%) Palo Alto
11 6 (1.72%) BeyondTrust
11 6 (1.72%) Bomgar
11 6 (1.72%) CrowdStrike
11 6 (1.72%) Salesforce
11 6 (1.72%) VMware
12 5 (1.44%) Atlassian
12 5 (1.44%) Fortinet
12 5 (1.44%) IBM
12 5 (1.44%) Red Hat