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 19 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 3 11
Rank change year-on-year -5 +8 +9
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 381 367 299
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 11.98% 18.94% 10.88%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.37% 20.92% 12.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 230 218 177
10th Percentile £213 £208 £312
25th Percentile £350 £379 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £488 £500
Median % change year-on-year -12.82% -2.50% +11.11%
75th Percentile £513 £584 £575
90th Percentile £583 £691 £659
England median daily rate £492 £500 £513
% change year-on-year -1.60% -2.44% -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 29 47
10th Percentile £15.18 £17.13 -
25th Percentile £29.99 £22.50 £10.95
Median hourly rate £63.50 £27.13 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +134.10% +142.30% -59.29%
75th Percentile £74.82 £30.63 £35.07
90th Percentile £113.83 £56.06 £51.91
England median hourly rate £22.80 £22.14 £17.50
% change year-on-year +2.97% +26.51% -59.71%

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 2,652 1,754 2,382
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.40% 90.51% 86.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,646 1,132 1,537
10th Percentile £263 £300 £306
25th Percentile £375 £393 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.63% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £650 £665 £689
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 236 111 244
10th Percentile £20.91 £16.25 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.38 £22.72 £13.20
Median hourly rate £45.46 £32.00 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +42.06% +52.38% -40.00%
75th Percentile £72.81 £60.00 £45.00
90th Percentile £85.00 £83.41 £52.78
England median hourly rate £41.86 £31.64 £35.00
% change year-on-year +32.29% -9.60% -6.17%

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 19 April 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 19 April 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 19 April 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 -5 179 £450 -2.70% 182
Cheshire -8 96 £402 -20.40% 61
Lancashire -3 53 £550 +6.28% 76
Merseyside -12 33 £200 -56.76% 39
Cumbria +3 16 £504 +20.24% 13
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 27 (7.09%) Confluence
2 15 (3.94%) SharePoint
3 14 (3.67%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (1.57%) Apache
5 4 (1.05%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.79%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 2 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.52%) JBoss
8 1 (0.26%) Camunda
8 1 (0.26%) CMS
8 1 (0.26%) Mule
8 1 (0.26%) Mule ESB
8 1 (0.26%) nginx
8 1 (0.26%) SAS
8 1 (0.26%) Tomcat
8 1 (0.26%) WebLogic
Applications
1 23 (6.04%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (2.62%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (1.84%) MS Visio
4 5 (1.31%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (1.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.79%) CATIA
6 3 (0.79%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.52%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.26%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 32 (8.40%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (1.05%) Payment Gateway
3 3 (0.79%) iTrent
3 3 (0.79%) SAP SCM
4 2 (0.52%) Advent Geneva
4 2 (0.52%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.52%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.26%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.26%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.26%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.26%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.26%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.26%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.26%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.26%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 78 (20.47%) Azure
2 69 (18.11%) AWS
3 33 (8.66%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (7.35%) Power Platform
5 21 (5.51%) GCP
6 19 (4.99%) Entra ID
7 14 (3.67%) GitHub
8 8 (2.10%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (2.10%) Power Automate
9 7 (1.84%) Apigee
9 7 (1.84%) Kong
10 6 (1.57%) dbt
10 6 (1.57%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.57%) SaaS
10 6 (1.57%) Serverless
11 5 (1.31%) Azure Data Factory
12 4 (1.05%) AWS Step Functions
12 4 (1.05%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (1.05%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 4 (1.05%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 26 (6.82%) Firewall
2 21 (5.51%) DNS
3 13 (3.41%) Network Security
4 10 (2.62%) VLAN
5 9 (2.36%) DHCP
5 9 (2.36%) WebEx
6 8 (2.10%) BGP
7 7 (1.84%) Kerberos
7 7 (1.84%) TCP/IP
8 6 (1.57%) Software-Defined Networking
9 5 (1.31%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 5 (1.31%) HTTP
9 5 (1.31%) LAN
9 5 (1.31%) WAN
9 5 (1.31%) Wi-Fi
10 4 (1.05%) DMZ
10 4 (1.05%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 4 (1.05%) NetScaler
11 3 (0.79%) SAN
11 3 (0.79%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (4.72%) Power BI
2 16 (4.20%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.67%) Relational Database
4 12 (3.15%) MySQL
5 11 (2.89%) Data Warehouse
5 11 (2.89%) MongoDB
6 10 (2.62%) NoSQL
6 10 (2.62%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (1.05%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
7 4 (1.05%) Big Data
7 4 (1.05%) BigQuery
7 4 (1.05%) DynamoDB
7 4 (1.05%) Power Query
7 4 (1.05%) Snowflake Schema
7 4 (1.05%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (0.79%) Data Vault
8 3 (0.79%) Hadoop
8 3 (0.79%) Metadata
8 3 (0.79%) Oracle Database
9 2 (0.52%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 52 (13.65%) JIRA
2 27 (7.09%) Git
3 13 (3.41%) GitLab
4 10 (2.62%) Mockito
5 8 (2.10%) Postman
6 6 (1.57%) JUnit
7 4 (1.05%) Jenkins
7 4 (1.05%) Selenium
8 3 (0.79%) Jasmine
9 2 (0.52%) JMeter
9 2 (0.52%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.52%) Zephyr
10 1 (0.26%) CANoe
10 1 (0.26%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.26%) Eclipse
10 1 (0.26%) Gradle
10 1 (0.26%) IntelliJ
10 1 (0.26%) Maven
10 1 (0.26%) ScriptRunner
10 1 (0.26%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 164 (43.04%) Social Skills
2 154 (40.42%) Analytical Skills
3 129 (33.86%) Finance
4 42 (11.02%) Banking
5 40 (10.50%) Public Sector
6 18 (4.72%) Legal
7 14 (3.67%) Manufacturing
8 12 (3.15%) Organisational Skills
9 11 (2.89%) Law
10 10 (2.62%) Influencing Skills
11 9 (2.36%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.84%) Retail Banking
12 7 (1.84%) Telecoms
13 5 (1.31%) Retail
14 4 (1.05%) Local Government
14 4 (1.05%) Presentation Skills
15 3 (0.79%) Aerospace
15 3 (0.79%) Automotive
15 3 (0.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 2 (0.52%) Billing
Job Titles
1 69 (18.11%) Developer
2 66 (17.32%) Analyst
3 34 (8.92%) Business Analyst
4 29 (7.61%) Administrator
5 28 (7.35%) Senior
6 26 (6.82%) Java Developer
7 20 (5.25%) Lead
8 19 (4.99%) Consultant
9 18 (4.72%) IT Support
10 17 (4.46%) Platform Engineer
10 17 (4.46%) Project Manager
11 16 (4.20%) Architect
11 16 (4.20%) SAP Consultant
12 13 (3.41%) Data Engineer
12 13 (3.41%) Finance Manager
12 13 (3.41%) Finance Project Manager
12 13 (3.41%) Transformation Consultant
13 12 (3.15%) IT Analyst
13 12 (3.15%) Support Analyst
14 11 (2.89%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (8.14%) Spring
2 30 (7.87%) Spring Boot
3 28 (7.35%) REST
4 24 (6.30%) RESTful
5 20 (5.25%) OAuth
6 18 (4.72%) Kafka
7 17 (4.46%) HTML
7 17 (4.46%) JSON
7 17 (4.46%) SOAP
7 17 (4.46%) XML
8 14 (3.67%) CSS
8 14 (3.67%) React
9 13 (3.41%) Swagger
10 11 (2.89%) AngularJS
10 11 (2.89%) OAuth2
11 10 (2.62%) .NET
12 9 (2.36%) HTML5
12 9 (2.36%) ISPF
12 9 (2.36%) OpenAPI
12 9 (2.36%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 39 (10.24%) Product Ownership
2 19 (4.99%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.67%) Management Information System
4 13 (3.41%) Cloud Native
5 10 (2.62%) Analytical Mindset
6 9 (2.36%) Mainframe
6 9 (2.36%) Mobile App
7 8 (2.10%) Data Centre
7 8 (2.10%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.84%) Data Structures
8 7 (1.84%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.84%) SWIFT Messaging Network
9 6 (1.57%) Data Protection Act
10 5 (1.31%) AI Agents
10 5 (1.31%) Fat Client
10 5 (1.31%) Private Cloud
10 5 (1.31%) Public Cloud
10 5 (1.31%) Thin Client
11 4 (1.05%) Digital Wallet
11 4 (1.05%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 46 (12.07%) Windows
2 29 (7.61%) Linux
3 19 (4.99%) Windows Server
4 17 (4.46%) Windows 10
5 14 (3.67%) Unix
6 13 (3.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 10 (2.62%) Android
8 9 (2.36%) Apple iOS
9 7 (1.84%) Windows Server 2019
10 6 (1.57%) Mac OS
11 5 (1.31%) Mac OS X
12 4 (1.05%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.26%) AIX
13 1 (0.26%) HPUX
13 1 (0.26%) Oracle Linux
13 1 (0.26%) Solaris
13 1 (0.26%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (27.56%) Agile
2 70 (18.37%) Change Management
3 65 (17.06%) Continuous Improvement
4 60 (15.75%) CI/CD
5 57 (14.96%) Stakeholder Management
6 54 (14.17%) Migration
7 47 (12.34%) Microservices
7 47 (12.34%) Project Management
7 47 (12.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 47 (12.34%) Workshop Facilitation
8 46 (12.07%) Validation
9 43 (11.29%) DevOps
10 41 (10.76%) ERP
11 40 (10.50%) Requirements Gathering
12 39 (10.24%) Test Automation
13 37 (9.71%) Data Migration
14 34 (8.92%) Computer Science
15 33 (8.66%) Customer Service
16 29 (7.61%) Containerisation
17 28 (7.35%) Business Transformation
Programming Languages
1 62 (16.27%) SQL
2 54 (14.17%) Java
3 39 (10.24%) PowerShell
4 38 (9.97%) Python
5 22 (5.77%) JavaScript
6 16 (4.20%) TypeScript
7 14 (3.67%) Bash
8 9 (2.36%) CLIST
8 9 (2.36%) COBOL
8 9 (2.36%) JCL
8 9 (2.36%) REXX
9 8 (2.10%) C#
9 8 (2.10%) Kotlin
9 8 (2.10%) Perl
10 6 (1.57%) T-SQL
11 5 (1.31%) Go
12 4 (1.05%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 3 (0.79%) Bicep
13 3 (0.79%) Shell Script
13 3 (0.79%) VBA
Qualifications
1 65 (17.06%) Security Cleared
2 50 (13.12%) Degree
3 43 (11.29%) SC Cleared
4 31 (8.14%) BPSS Clearance
5 30 (7.87%) Computer Science Degree
6 17 (4.46%) Cisco Certification
7 15 (3.94%) CCNA
8 11 (2.89%) CCNP
8 11 (2.89%) Microsoft Certification
9 10 (2.62%) A+ Certification
9 10 (2.62%) Network+ Certification
10 8 (2.10%) CCDP
10 8 (2.10%) CISSP
11 5 (1.31%) AWS Certification
11 5 (1.31%) Azure Certification
11 5 (1.31%) PMI Certification
11 5 (1.31%) PMP
12 3 (0.79%) CompTIA Security+
12 3 (0.79%) DBS Check
12 3 (0.79%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.30%) Data Quality
2 17 (4.46%) QA
3 12 (3.15%) PSD2
4 8 (2.10%) ISO 20022
5 7 (1.84%) GRC
5 7 (1.84%) NIST
5 7 (1.84%) SEPA
6 6 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (1.31%) GDPR
7 5 (1.31%) PCI DSS
7 5 (1.31%) PMO
8 3 (0.79%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 2 (0.52%) SLA
10 1 (0.26%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.26%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.26%) WCAG
System Software
1 44 (11.55%) Active Directory
2 33 (8.66%) Docker
3 12 (3.15%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (2.36%) ACF2
4 9 (2.36%) RACF
4 9 (2.36%) Time Sharing Option
5 6 (1.57%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.57%) vSphere
6 5 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.79%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.79%) ISA Server
7 3 (0.79%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 36 (9.45%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.41%) Terraform
3 12 (3.15%) SCCM
4 9 (2.36%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 9 (2.36%) CA Endevor
4 9 (2.36%) Microsoft Intune
4 9 (2.36%) Tivoli
4 9 (2.36%) Tivoli Storage Manager
5 5 (1.31%) Grafana
6 3 (0.79%) Ansible
6 3 (0.79%) Norton AntiVirus
6 3 (0.79%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.52%) Argo
7 2 (0.52%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.26%) CA Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.26%) Functional Safety
8 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.26%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 75 (19.69%) Microsoft
2 51 (13.39%) SAP
3 26 (6.82%) Oracle
4 21 (5.51%) VMware
5 17 (4.46%) ServiceNow
6 14 (3.67%) Sage
7 13 (3.41%) Citrix
7 13 (3.41%) Red Hat
8 10 (2.62%) Cisco
9 9 (2.36%) F5
9 9 (2.36%) Splunk
10 8 (2.10%) Workday
11 7 (1.84%) MuleSoft
12 6 (1.57%) Databricks
12 6 (1.57%) Google
13 4 (1.05%) Aruba
13 4 (1.05%) Atlassian
13 4 (1.05%) Computacenter
13 4 (1.05%) Dell
13 4 (1.05%) Veeam