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

6 months to
30 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 15 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -11 +4 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 351 384 306
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 9.37% 17.79% 12.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.29% 20.19% 14.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 189 208 176
10th Percentile £270 £264 £300
25th Percentile £380 £398 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £485 £490
Median % change year-on-year -7.12% -1.17% +2.14%
75th Percentile £538 £584 £550
90th Percentile £613 £706 £638
England median daily rate £495 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +0.61% -1.60% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 49 45 38
10th Percentile £14.71 £12.43 -
25th Percentile £24.00 £17.44 -
Median hourly rate £40.00 £28.43 £10.95
Median % change year-on-year +40.70% +159.63% -73.02%
75th Percentile £75.00 £47.12 £24.29
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.00 £62.50
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.10 £16.23
% change year-on-year +1.18% +30.01% -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 3,108 1,902 2,075
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 82.99% 88.10% 84.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,814 1,228 1,268
10th Percentile £281 £274 £300
25th Percentile £400 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £460 £500
Median % change year-on-year +6.96% -8.00% -
75th Percentile £594 £575 £588
90th Percentile £675 £671 £675
England median daily rate £525 £512 £525
% change year-on-year +2.54% -2.48% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 312 123 194
10th Percentile £17.25 £13.50 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.38 £18.87 £16.06
Median hourly rate £50.00 £28.75 £32.00
Median % change year-on-year +73.91% -10.16% +4.78%
75th Percentile £74.45 £56.88 £51.91
90th Percentile £85.00 £74.75 £70.90
England median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £41.50
% change year-on-year +78.93% -39.40% -2.35%

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 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 30 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 30 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 -14 183 £450 -10.00% 176
Cheshire -5 95 £450 -7.98% 86
Lancashire -6 34 £356 -20.95% 69
Cumbria +2 23 £481 +140.63% 7
Merseyside -31 7 £250 -47.37% 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 (5.41%) Confluence
2 8 (2.28%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.42%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.85%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.57%) Camunda
5 2 (0.57%) CMS
6 1 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.28%) JBoss
6 1 (0.28%) Mule
6 1 (0.28%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.28%) NetWeaver
6 1 (0.28%) nginx
6 1 (0.28%) WebLogic
Applications
1 20 (5.70%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (4.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.28%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.14%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.85%) Acrobat
5 3 (0.85%) CATIA
5 3 (0.85%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 22 (6.27%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (2.85%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.85%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.85%) SAP HCM
3 3 (0.85%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.57%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.28%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.28%) ResourceLink
Cloud Services
1 63 (17.95%) Azure
2 50 (14.25%) AWS
3 42 (11.97%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (7.69%) Power Platform
5 16 (4.56%) GCP
6 11 (3.13%) GitHub
7 10 (2.85%) Entra ID
8 9 (2.56%) Power Automate
9 8 (2.28%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.71%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.71%) OpenShift
11 5 (1.42%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (1.14%) Azure AKS
12 4 (1.14%) dbt
12 4 (1.14%) Google Sheets
12 4 (1.14%) Google Workspace
13 3 (0.85%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.85%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 3 (0.85%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.85%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 28 (7.98%) VPN
2 16 (4.56%) Firewall
3 14 (3.99%) DNS
4 11 (3.13%) WAN
5 10 (2.85%) Wireless
6 9 (2.56%) LAN
6 9 (2.56%) TCP/IP
7 8 (2.28%) DHCP
7 8 (2.28%) VLAN
8 7 (1.99%) Wi-Fi
9 5 (1.42%) Network Security
10 4 (1.14%) BGP
10 4 (1.14%) SAN
10 4 (1.14%) SD-WAN
10 4 (1.14%) SSL
11 3 (0.85%) Cisco Nexus
11 3 (0.85%) MPLS
11 3 (0.85%) OSPF
11 3 (0.85%) PABX
11 3 (0.85%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.55%) Power BI
2 20 (5.70%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.99%) Data Warehouse
4 12 (3.42%) MongoDB
5 10 (2.85%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.99%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (1.71%) NoSQL
8 5 (1.42%) Big Data
8 5 (1.42%) DataStage
8 5 (1.42%) MySQL
9 4 (1.14%) Db2
9 4 (1.14%) Snowflake Schema
9 4 (1.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (1.14%) Tableau
10 3 (0.85%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.85%) Data Vault
10 3 (0.85%) Hadoop
10 3 (0.85%) Metadata
10 3 (0.85%) SAP HANA
11 2 (0.57%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 38 (10.83%) JIRA
2 15 (4.27%) Git
3 9 (2.56%) Jenkins
4 8 (2.28%) GitLab
4 8 (2.28%) Mockito
5 5 (1.42%) Cucumber
6 4 (1.14%) Gatling
6 4 (1.14%) REST Assured
6 4 (1.14%) Selenium
6 4 (1.14%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.85%) JUnit
7 3 (0.85%) MSI
7 3 (0.85%) Postman
8 2 (0.57%) Burp Suite
8 2 (0.57%) Gradle
8 2 (0.57%) LoadRunner
8 2 (0.57%) Serenity BDD
8 2 (0.57%) SoapUI
8 2 (0.57%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.57%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 163 (46.44%) Social Skills
2 152 (43.30%) Analytical Skills
3 96 (27.35%) Finance
4 36 (10.26%) Banking
5 21 (5.98%) Public Sector
6 18 (5.13%) Manufacturing
6 18 (5.13%) Organisational Skills
7 16 (4.56%) Legal
8 11 (3.13%) Law
9 9 (2.56%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (1.99%) Aerospace
10 7 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
10 7 (1.99%) Retail
11 6 (1.71%) Automotive
11 6 (1.71%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.85%) Games
12 3 (0.85%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.57%) Marketing
13 2 (0.57%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 64 (18.23%) Analyst
2 36 (10.26%) Developer
3 27 (7.69%) Lead
4 25 (7.12%) Senior
5 23 (6.55%) Architect
6 22 (6.27%) IT Support
7 21 (5.98%) Administrator
8 20 (5.70%) Consultant
9 18 (5.13%) Java Developer
10 16 (4.56%) Business Analyst
11 14 (3.99%) IT Analyst
11 14 (3.99%) Project Manager
12 13 (3.70%) Data Engineer
12 13 (3.70%) Support Analyst
13 12 (3.42%) IT Engineer
13 12 (3.42%) SAP Consultant
13 12 (3.42%) Support Engineer
14 11 (3.13%) IT Support Analyst
14 11 (3.13%) Network Engineer
14 11 (3.13%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (4.84%) Kafka
2 16 (4.56%) Spring
3 14 (3.99%) React
3 14 (3.99%) Spring Boot
4 11 (3.13%) REST
5 9 (2.56%) HTML
5 9 (2.56%) OAuth
6 8 (2.28%) ActiveMQ
6 8 (2.28%) JAX-RS
6 8 (2.28%) RESTful
7 7 (1.99%) CSS
7 7 (1.99%) JSON
7 7 (1.99%) XML
8 6 (1.71%) AngularJS
8 6 (1.71%) Playwright
9 5 (1.42%) Node.js
10 4 (1.14%) .NET
10 4 (1.14%) ARM Templates
10 4 (1.14%) OAuth2
10 4 (1.14%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 24 (6.84%) Onboarding
2 19 (5.41%) Product Ownership
3 14 (3.99%) Data Protection Act
3 14 (3.99%) Driving Licence
4 13 (3.70%) Analytical Mindset
5 11 (3.13%) Cloud Native
5 11 (3.13%) Data Centre
5 11 (3.13%) Management Information System
6 9 (2.56%) Data Structures
6 9 (2.56%) Distributed Systems
6 9 (2.56%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (2.28%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (1.71%) AI Agents
8 6 (1.71%) PKI
8 6 (1.71%) Security Posture
9 5 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (1.42%) Virtual Team
10 4 (1.14%) Mobile App
10 4 (1.14%) Private Cloud
10 4 (1.14%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 57 (16.24%) Windows
2 22 (6.27%) Linux
3 19 (5.41%) Windows 10
4 18 (5.13%) Unix
5 10 (2.85%) Mac OS
6 9 (2.56%) Windows Server
7 7 (1.99%) Apple iOS
8 6 (1.71%) Mac OS X
9 4 (1.14%) Solaris
10 3 (0.85%) 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
12 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (21.65%) Continuous Improvement
2 64 (18.23%) Agile
3 62 (17.66%) Stakeholder Management
4 49 (13.96%) CI/CD
5 48 (13.68%) Migration
6 44 (12.54%) ITIL
7 43 (12.25%) Project Management
8 40 (11.40%) Change Management
8 40 (11.40%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 38 (10.83%) DevOps
10 37 (10.54%) Customer Service
11 34 (9.69%) AI
12 32 (9.12%) Analytics
12 32 (9.12%) Decision-Making
12 32 (9.12%) ERP
12 32 (9.12%) Validation
13 30 (8.55%) Data Protection
13 30 (8.55%) Workshop Facilitation
14 29 (8.26%) Microservices
15 28 (7.98%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 48 (13.68%) SQL
2 43 (12.25%) Python
3 33 (9.40%) Java
4 30 (8.55%) PowerShell
5 13 (3.70%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.85%) Bash
7 7 (1.99%) Shell Script
8 6 (1.71%) T-SQL
8 6 (1.71%) TypeScript
9 5 (1.42%) PL/SQL
10 4 (1.14%) Bicep
11 3 (0.85%) ABAP
11 3 (0.85%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.57%) C#
12 2 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 2 (0.57%) Go
12 2 (0.57%) Korn
13 1 (0.28%) Apex Code
13 1 (0.28%) Groovy
13 1 (0.28%) Perl
Qualifications
1 54 (15.38%) Security Cleared
2 44 (12.54%) Degree
3 40 (11.40%) SC Cleared
4 22 (6.27%) BPSS Clearance
5 19 (5.41%) Computer Science Degree
6 15 (4.27%) Cisco Certification
6 15 (4.27%) CISSP
7 14 (3.99%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (3.13%) A+ Certification
9 10 (2.85%) CCNA
9 10 (2.85%) Network+ Certification
10 7 (1.99%) AWS Certification
10 7 (1.99%) CompTIA Security+
11 6 (1.71%) CCNP
11 6 (1.71%) CISM
11 6 (1.71%) HNC
12 5 (1.42%) Azure Certification
12 5 (1.42%) CEH
12 5 (1.42%) PMI Certification
12 5 (1.42%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.55%) Data Quality
2 10 (2.85%) GRC
2 10 (2.85%) NIST
2 10 (2.85%) QA
3 9 (2.56%) SLA
4 7 (1.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.42%) PMO
6 4 (1.14%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.14%) GDPR
7 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
8 1 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.28%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.28%) NCSC
8 1 (0.28%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.28%) PSD2
8 1 (0.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.28%) SEPA
8 1 (0.28%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 38 (10.83%) Active Directory
2 21 (5.98%) Docker
3 6 (1.71%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.42%) Firmware
5 4 (1.14%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.85%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.57%) vSphere
8 1 (0.28%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 22 (6.27%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.84%) Terraform
3 9 (2.56%) Grafana
3 9 (2.56%) SCCM
4 8 (2.28%) Ansible
5 7 (1.99%) Microsoft Intune
6 6 (1.71%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.14%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.85%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.85%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.57%) Argo
9 2 (0.57%) Istio
9 2 (0.57%) WMI
10 1 (0.28%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 1 (0.28%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.28%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.28%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.28%) Puppet
10 1 (0.28%) SCOM
10 1 (0.28%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 72 (20.51%) Microsoft
2 43 (12.25%) ServiceNow
3 41 (11.68%) SAP
4 19 (5.41%) Oracle
5 15 (4.27%) Cisco
6 14 (3.99%) Splunk
7 10 (2.85%) Remedy
7 10 (2.85%) Sage
7 10 (2.85%) Workday
8 9 (2.56%) Google
9 7 (1.99%) Palo Alto
10 6 (1.71%) Atlassian
10 6 (1.71%) BeyondTrust
10 6 (1.71%) Bomgar
10 6 (1.71%) CrowdStrike
10 6 (1.71%) VMware
11 5 (1.42%) Adobe
11 5 (1.42%) HP
11 5 (1.42%) IBM
11 5 (1.42%) Salesforce