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

6 months to
2 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 2 9
Rank change year-on-year -12 +7 +9
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 353 390 321
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 9.84% 18.97% 11.55%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.80% 21.37% 13.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 197 226 184
10th Percentile £282 £244 £300
25th Percentile £366 £390 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £446 £485 £488
Median % change year-on-year -8.05% -0.62% +1.35%
75th Percentile £535 £575 £550
90th Percentile £621 £701 £638
England median daily rate £492 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -1.54% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 38 47
10th Percentile £13.95 £12.21 -
25th Percentile £17.30 £18.71 £10.95
Median hourly rate £37.50 £28.75 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +30.43% +156.81% -59.29%
75th Percentile £75.00 £62.08 £36.25
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.05 £56.67
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.28 £16.23
% change year-on-year +0.33% +31.12% -68.02%

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 2,991 1,825 2,341
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.36% 88.76% 84.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,750 1,210 1,426
10th Percentile £300 £300 £306
25th Percentile £400 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £455 £495
Median % change year-on-year +4.40% -8.08% -1.00%
75th Percentile £588 £563 £585
90th Percentile £675 £665 £675
England median daily rate £520 £515 £525
% change year-on-year +0.97% -1.90% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 276 111 267
10th Percentile £17.25 £12.82 £11.00
25th Percentile £25.38 £19.13 £14.72
Median hourly rate £50.00 £31.76 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +57.43% +5.87% -1.77%
75th Percentile £76.00 £61.50 £46.18
90th Percentile £85.00 £81.00 £66.61
England median hourly rate £46.62 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +85.35% -34.02% +1.65%

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 2 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 2 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 2 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 -12 177 £441 -4.59% 235
Cheshire -5 98 £446 -9.30% 73
Lancashire -6 35 £500 +11.11% 66
Cumbria -1 24 £491 +145.63% 16
Merseyside -28 11 £200 -58.97% 27
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 24 (6.80%) Confluence
2 5 (1.42%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (1.42%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.85%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.57%) Camunda
4 2 (0.57%) CMS
5 1 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.28%) JBoss
5 1 (0.28%) Mule
5 1 (0.28%) Mule ESB
5 1 (0.28%) NetWeaver
5 1 (0.28%) nginx
5 1 (0.28%) WebLogic
Applications
1 18 (5.10%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (3.40%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.70%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.85%) CATIA
4 3 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.57%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 29 (8.22%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.70%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.85%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.85%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.28%) Elite 3E
4 1 (0.28%) FIS Private Capital Suite
4 1 (0.28%) ResourceLink
4 1 (0.28%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.28%) SAP HCM
4 1 (0.28%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 73 (20.68%) Azure
2 53 (15.01%) AWS
3 30 (8.50%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (7.65%) Power Platform
5 18 (5.10%) GCP
6 16 (4.53%) Entra ID
7 11 (3.12%) GitHub
8 8 (2.27%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.98%) Power Automate
10 6 (1.70%) OpenShift
11 5 (1.42%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (1.13%) Azure AKS
12 4 (1.13%) dbt
12 4 (1.13%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (1.13%) Google Sheets
12 4 (1.13%) Google Workspace
12 4 (1.13%) SaaS
13 3 (0.85%) Apigee
13 3 (0.85%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.85%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 18 (5.10%) Firewall
2 15 (4.25%) DNS
3 12 (3.40%) VPN
4 8 (2.27%) WAN
5 7 (1.98%) DHCP
5 7 (1.98%) Kerberos
5 7 (1.98%) TCP/IP
5 7 (1.98%) Wi-Fi
5 7 (1.98%) Wireless
6 6 (1.70%) LAN
6 6 (1.70%) Network Security
6 6 (1.70%) VLAN
7 4 (1.13%) SAN
7 4 (1.13%) SSL
8 3 (0.85%) BGP
8 3 (0.85%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 3 (0.85%) WebEx
9 2 (0.57%) Cisco Nexus
9 2 (0.57%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
9 2 (0.57%) NetScaler
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (6.80%) Power BI
2 19 (5.38%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.97%) MongoDB
4 12 (3.40%) Data Warehouse
5 11 (3.12%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.98%) MySQL
7 6 (1.70%) NoSQL
7 6 (1.70%) PostgreSQL
8 5 (1.42%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (1.13%) Big Data
9 4 (1.13%) DataStage
9 4 (1.13%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.85%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.85%) Data Vault
10 3 (0.85%) Db2
10 3 (0.85%) Hadoop
10 3 (0.85%) Metadata
10 3 (0.85%) Power Query
10 3 (0.85%) Tableau
11 2 (0.57%) BusinessObjects
Development Applications
1 48 (13.60%) JIRA
2 21 (5.95%) Git
3 13 (3.68%) GitLab
4 11 (3.12%) Mockito
5 8 (2.27%) Jenkins
5 8 (2.27%) Postman
6 6 (1.70%) JUnit
6 6 (1.70%) Selenium
7 5 (1.42%) Cucumber
8 4 (1.13%) Gatling
8 4 (1.13%) REST Assured
9 3 (0.85%) MSI
9 3 (0.85%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.57%) Burp Suite
10 2 (0.57%) Gradle
10 2 (0.57%) JMeter
10 2 (0.57%) LoadRunner
10 2 (0.57%) SoapUI
10 2 (0.57%) SonarQube
10 2 (0.57%) Zephyr
General
1 165 (46.74%) Social Skills
2 155 (43.91%) Analytical Skills
3 109 (30.88%) Finance
4 39 (11.05%) Banking
5 24 (6.80%) Public Sector
6 15 (4.25%) Manufacturing
7 13 (3.68%) Organisational Skills
8 12 (3.40%) Legal
9 11 (3.12%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (2.55%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (2.55%) Law
10 9 (2.55%) Telecoms
11 7 (1.98%) Automotive
12 6 (1.70%) Retail
13 4 (1.13%) Aerospace
14 3 (0.85%) Investment Banking
14 3 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.85%) Retail Banking
15 2 (0.57%) Billing
15 2 (0.57%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 66 (18.70%) Analyst
2 41 (11.61%) Developer
3 25 (7.08%) Lead
4 24 (6.80%) Administrator
5 23 (6.52%) Architect
6 22 (6.23%) Business Analyst
6 22 (6.23%) Senior
7 21 (5.95%) Java Developer
8 20 (5.67%) Consultant
8 20 (5.67%) IT Support
9 17 (4.82%) IT Analyst
9 17 (4.82%) Project Manager
10 16 (4.53%) Support Analyst
11 14 (3.97%) Data Engineer
11 14 (3.97%) IT Support Analyst
12 13 (3.68%) SAP Consultant
13 12 (3.40%) Finance Manager
13 12 (3.40%) Finance Project Manager
13 12 (3.40%) Transformation Consultant
14 9 (2.55%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (5.95%) REST
2 20 (5.67%) Spring
3 19 (5.38%) Kafka
4 18 (5.10%) Spring Boot
5 15 (4.25%) React
6 14 (3.97%) RESTful
7 11 (3.12%) JSON
7 11 (3.12%) XML
8 10 (2.83%) HTML
8 10 (2.83%) OAuth
9 9 (2.55%) SOAP
10 8 (2.27%) ActiveMQ
10 8 (2.27%) CSS
10 8 (2.27%) JAX-RS
11 7 (1.98%) LDAP
11 7 (1.98%) Swagger
12 6 (1.70%) AngularJS
12 6 (1.70%) Playwright
13 5 (1.42%) .NET
13 5 (1.42%) ARM Templates
Miscellaneous
1 24 (6.80%) Product Ownership
2 23 (6.52%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.97%) Cloud Native
3 14 (3.97%) Management Information System
4 12 (3.40%) Analytical Mindset
4 12 (3.40%) Data Protection Act
5 10 (2.83%) Data Centre
5 10 (2.83%) Driving Licence
6 8 (2.27%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (1.98%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.70%) AI Agents
8 6 (1.70%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.70%) PKI
8 6 (1.70%) Security Posture
9 5 (1.42%) Private Cloud
9 5 (1.42%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.42%) Replication
9 5 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.13%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.13%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 46 (13.03%) Windows
2 24 (6.80%) Linux
3 16 (4.53%) Windows 10
4 15 (4.25%) Unix
5 8 (2.27%) Mac OS
5 8 (2.27%) Windows Server
6 7 (1.98%) Apple iOS
7 6 (1.70%) Mac OS X
8 4 (1.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (0.85%) Solaris
10 2 (0.57%) AIX
10 2 (0.57%) Android
10 2 (0.57%) HPUX
10 2 (0.57%) Oracle Linux
10 2 (0.57%) SUSE
10 2 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 77 (21.81%) Agile
2 62 (17.56%) Continuous Improvement
2 62 (17.56%) Stakeholder Management
3 58 (16.43%) Migration
4 57 (16.15%) Change Management
5 51 (14.45%) CI/CD
6 45 (12.75%) Project Management
7 44 (12.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 43 (12.18%) ITIL
9 42 (11.90%) Validation
10 41 (11.61%) Workshop Facilitation
11 39 (11.05%) ERP
12 37 (10.48%) DevOps
13 36 (10.20%) Data Migration
14 33 (9.35%) Test Automation
15 31 (8.78%) Decision-Making
15 31 (8.78%) Microservices
16 30 (8.50%) Customer Service
17 29 (8.22%) Analytics
18 28 (7.93%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 47 (13.31%) SQL
2 42 (11.90%) Java
3 37 (10.48%) PowerShell
4 36 (10.20%) Python
5 16 (4.53%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.83%) TypeScript
7 8 (2.27%) Bash
8 6 (1.70%) Shell Script
9 4 (1.13%) Go
9 4 (1.13%) PL/SQL
9 4 (1.13%) T-SQL
10 3 (0.85%) Bicep
10 3 (0.85%) C#
10 3 (0.85%) CLIST
10 3 (0.85%) COBOL
10 3 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.85%) JCL
10 3 (0.85%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.85%) REXX
10 3 (0.85%) VBA
Qualifications
1 50 (14.16%) Security Cleared
2 46 (13.03%) Degree
3 36 (10.20%) SC Cleared
4 30 (8.50%) BPSS Clearance
5 23 (6.52%) Computer Science Degree
6 17 (4.82%) Microsoft Certification
7 15 (4.25%) CISSP
8 14 (3.97%) A+ Certification
9 13 (3.68%) Cisco Certification
9 13 (3.68%) Network+ Certification
10 9 (2.55%) CCNA
11 7 (1.98%) AWS Certification
11 7 (1.98%) CompTIA Security+
12 6 (1.70%) CISM
13 5 (1.42%) Azure Certification
13 5 (1.42%) CCNP
13 5 (1.42%) CEH
14 4 (1.13%) MCSE
14 4 (1.13%) PMI Certification
14 4 (1.13%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (8.22%) Data Quality
2 9 (2.55%) GRC
2 9 (2.55%) NIST
2 9 (2.55%) QA
3 7 (1.98%) PSD2
4 6 (1.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.42%) PMO
5 5 (1.42%) SLA
6 4 (1.13%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.13%) GDPR
6 4 (1.13%) ISO 20022
6 4 (1.13%) PCI DSS
6 4 (1.13%) SEPA
7 2 (0.57%) ISO 8583
7 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
8 1 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 40 (11.33%) Active Directory
2 23 (6.52%) Docker
3 7 (1.98%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (1.13%) Firmware
4 4 (1.13%) Virtual Desktop
4 4 (1.13%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.85%) ACF2
5 3 (0.85%) RACF
5 3 (0.85%) Time Sharing Option
5 3 (0.85%) VMware NSX
5 3 (0.85%) vSphere
6 2 (0.57%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 26 (7.37%) Kubernetes
2 16 (4.53%) Terraform
3 11 (3.12%) Grafana
4 9 (2.55%) SCCM
5 8 (2.27%) Ansible
6 7 (1.98%) Prometheus
7 6 (1.70%) Microsoft Intune
8 3 (0.85%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.85%) CA Endevor
8 3 (0.85%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.85%) Tivoli
8 3 (0.85%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 2 (0.57%) Argo
9 2 (0.57%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.57%) HP ALM
9 2 (0.57%) Istio
9 2 (0.57%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.57%) WMI
10 1 (0.28%) Functional Safety
10 1 (0.28%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 66 (18.70%) Microsoft
2 46 (13.03%) SAP
3 31 (8.78%) ServiceNow
4 18 (5.10%) Oracle
5 14 (3.97%) Sage
5 14 (3.97%) Splunk
6 9 (2.55%) Cisco
6 9 (2.55%) Google
6 9 (2.55%) VMware
6 9 (2.55%) Workday
7 7 (1.98%) F5
8 6 (1.70%) BeyondTrust
8 6 (1.70%) CrowdStrike
8 6 (1.70%) HP
8 6 (1.70%) Remedy
9 5 (1.42%) Dell
9 5 (1.42%) DocuSign
9 5 (1.42%) Palo Alto
9 5 (1.42%) Red Hat
9 5 (1.42%) Salesforce