Problem-Solving Contracts in the North West

Problem Solving
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North West requiring Problem-Solving skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Problem-Solving over the 6 months leading up to 6 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 2 10 18
Rank change year-on-year +8 +8 +8
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 397 322 252
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 18.82% 11.69% 8.15%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 21.26% 13.84% 9.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 227 186 130
10th Percentile £230 £300 £315
25th Percentile £387 £375 £392
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £490 £483
Median % change year-on-year -2.09% +1.50% +1.68%
75th Percentile £575 £550 £586
90th Percentile £701 £638 £682
England median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 47 18
10th Percentile £12.21 - £17.21
25th Percentile £17.44 £10.95 £20.55
Median hourly rate £28.75 £11.20 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +156.81% -59.29% +10.00%
75th Percentile £59.30 £36.25 £54.59
90th Percentile £70.00 £56.67 £68.48
England median hourly rate £21.25 £16.23 £52.00
% change year-on-year +30.93% -68.79% +108.00%

All Process and 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 1,867 2,327 2,779
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 88.53% 84.46% 89.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,231 1,419 1,929
10th Percentile £296 £300 £313
25th Percentile £375 £400 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £493 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.72% -1.40% +2.04%
75th Percentile £563 £585 £588
90th Percentile £669 £675 £675
England median daily rate £515 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -1.90% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 115 263 151
10th Percentile £13.09 £11.00 £15.75
25th Percentile £19.03 £15.36 £20.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £30.00 £30.54
Median % change year-on-year - -1.77% +29.71%
75th Percentile £60.00 £46.18 £44.78
90th Percentile £81.00 £67.32 £59.25
England median hourly rate £25.15 £38.12 £39.55
% change year-on-year -34.02% -3.62% +54.01%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings citing Problem-Solving as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West.

Daily rate trend for Problem-Solving in the North West

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 July 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West.

Hourly rate trend for Problem-Solving in the North West

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 July 2025.

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 July 2025. 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 +5 156 £463 -2.63% 1,143
Cheshire +12 140 £492 -5.38% 307
Lancashire +18 52 £450 +12.50% 425
Merseyside +6 31 £488 +25.81% 165
Cumbria -13 15 £200 -59.43% 35
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 17 (4.28%) SharePoint
2 16 (4.03%) IBM Domino
3 15 (3.78%) Microsoft Exchange
4 10 (2.52%) Confluence
5 8 (2.02%) Mattermost
5 8 (2.02%) Skype for Business
6 5 (1.26%) CICS
6 5 (1.26%) JBoss
6 5 (1.26%) Tomcat
7 4 (1.01%) WebSphere
7 4 (1.01%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.50%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.50%) SAS
9 1 (0.25%) Apache
9 1 (0.25%) Appian
Applications
1 26 (6.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (4.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 18 (4.53%) MS Visio
4 8 (2.02%) Microsoft Office
5 6 (1.51%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.50%) Simulink
8 1 (0.25%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.27%) Oracle EBS
1 9 (2.27%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (1.01%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (1.01%) SAP HR
3 3 (0.76%) Maximo
3 3 (0.76%) SAP EWM
3 3 (0.76%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.50%) ContrOCC
4 2 (0.50%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.50%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.50%) SAP CO
4 2 (0.50%) SAP FI
4 2 (0.50%) SAP FI/CO
4 2 (0.50%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.25%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 1 (0.25%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.25%) SAP PP
5 1 (0.25%) SAP PS
5 1 (0.25%) SAP QM
5 1 (0.25%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 58 (14.61%) Azure
2 46 (11.59%) AWS
3 30 (7.56%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (7.05%) Power Platform
5 25 (6.30%) GCP
6 12 (3.02%) Entra ID
7 11 (2.77%) SaaS
8 10 (2.52%) Serverless
9 9 (2.27%) GitHub
10 8 (2.02%) Amazon S3
10 8 (2.02%) AWS Lambda
11 7 (1.76%) PowerApps
12 6 (1.51%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 6 (1.51%) Power Automate
13 5 (1.26%) Amazon Kinesis
13 5 (1.26%) dbt
13 5 (1.26%) Dynamics 365
13 5 (1.26%) IaaS
13 5 (1.26%) OneDrive
13 5 (1.26%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 17 (4.28%) Firewall
2 14 (3.53%) Network Security
2 14 (3.53%) VPN
3 11 (2.77%) LAN
3 11 (2.77%) Unified Communications
4 10 (2.52%) WAN
5 9 (2.27%) Intrusion Detection
6 8 (2.02%) Skype
6 8 (2.02%) Softphone
6 8 (2.02%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.02%) WebEx
7 7 (1.76%) DNS
8 6 (1.51%) Ethernet
8 6 (1.51%) SD-WAN
9 5 (1.26%) BGP
9 5 (1.26%) DHCP
9 5 (1.26%) EIGRP
9 5 (1.26%) OSPF
10 4 (1.01%) Calico
10 4 (1.01%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (5.54%) Power BI
2 18 (4.53%) SQL Server
3 16 (4.03%) Tableau
4 7 (1.76%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (1.51%) MongoDB
5 6 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (1.26%) MySQL
7 4 (1.01%) DynamoDB
7 4 (1.01%) Metadata
7 4 (1.01%) Neo4j
7 4 (1.01%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.76%) Amazon Redshift
8 3 (0.76%) BigQuery
8 3 (0.76%) DB2
8 3 (0.76%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.50%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.50%) Big Data
9 2 (0.50%) Easytrieve
9 2 (0.50%) Hadoop
9 2 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 31 (7.81%) JIRA
2 26 (6.55%) Jenkins
3 25 (6.30%) Git
4 18 (4.53%) GitLab
5 12 (3.02%) JUnit
6 10 (2.52%) Maven
7 6 (1.51%) Cucumber
7 6 (1.51%) Gradle
8 5 (1.26%) Sonatype Nexus
9 4 (1.01%) Selenium
10 3 (0.76%) Hudson
11 2 (0.50%) Bitbucket
11 2 (0.50%) SonarQube
12 1 (0.25%) Artifactory
12 1 (0.25%) Flyway
12 1 (0.25%) Grunt
12 1 (0.25%) gulp
12 1 (0.25%) Liquibase
12 1 (0.25%) Rational DOORS
12 1 (0.25%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 234 (58.94%) Social Skills
2 178 (44.84%) Analytical Skills
3 68 (17.13%) Finance
4 28 (7.05%) Banking
5 24 (6.05%) Documentation Skills
6 23 (5.79%) Manufacturing
7 21 (5.29%) Public Sector
8 20 (5.04%) Pharmaceutical
9 17 (4.28%) Legal
10 15 (3.78%) Presentation Skills
11 9 (2.27%) Telecoms
12 8 (2.02%) Retail
13 7 (1.76%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (1.51%) Automotive
14 6 (1.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (1.51%) Law
14 6 (1.51%) Local Government
15 5 (1.26%) Billing
15 5 (1.26%) Police
16 4 (1.01%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 66 (16.62%) Analyst
2 42 (10.58%) Developer
3 35 (8.82%) Architect
4 29 (7.30%) Senior
5 27 (6.80%) Administrator
6 25 (6.30%) Support Engineer
7 22 (5.54%) Microsoft 365 Administrator
8 21 (5.29%) Business Analyst
9 20 (5.04%) Consultant
10 18 (4.53%) Lead
11 15 (3.78%) Data Engineer
12 14 (3.53%) Solutions Architect
13 13 (3.27%) IT Support
13 13 (3.27%) Support Analyst
14 12 (3.02%) Java Developer
15 11 (2.77%) Coordinator
16 10 (2.52%) Migration Engineer
17 9 (2.27%) Operations Engineer
17 9 (2.27%) SAP Consultant
18 8 (2.02%) Messaging Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (6.05%) REST
2 14 (3.53%) HTML
2 14 (3.53%) RESTful
3 13 (3.27%) React
3 13 (3.27%) Spring
4 11 (2.77%) CSS
4 11 (2.77%) Spring Boot
5 10 (2.52%) AngularJS
5 10 (2.52%) Kafka
6 8 (2.02%) SOAP
6 8 (2.02%) XMPP
7 7 (1.76%) .NET
7 7 (1.76%) TensorFlow
8 6 (1.51%) JSON
8 6 (1.51%) PyTorch
8 6 (1.51%) Web Services
9 4 (1.01%) ActiveMQ
9 4 (1.01%) FastAPI
9 4 (1.01%) Spring Cloud
10 3 (0.76%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 35 (8.82%) Management Information System
2 17 (4.28%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.02%) Algorithms
4 11 (2.77%) Virtual Team
5 10 (2.52%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.27%) Onboarding
7 8 (2.02%) Security Posture
7 8 (2.02%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.76%) Analytical Mindset
8 7 (1.76%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.51%) CMDB
9 6 (1.51%) Mobile App
9 6 (1.51%) Public Cloud
10 5 (1.26%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.26%) Mainframe
11 4 (1.01%) Cyberattack
11 4 (1.01%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (1.01%) Data Structures
11 4 (1.01%) Fibre Optics
12 3 (0.76%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 39 (9.82%) Windows
2 28 (7.05%) Linux
3 13 (3.27%) Windows Server
4 11 (2.77%) Android
5 10 (2.52%) Apple iOS
6 6 (1.51%) Unix
6 6 (1.51%) Windows 10
6 6 (1.51%) Windows Server 2016
7 5 (1.26%) Windows 8
7 5 (1.26%) Windows Server 2003
7 5 (1.26%) Windows Server 2008
7 5 (1.26%) Windows Server 2012
7 5 (1.26%) Windows XP
8 3 (0.76%) zOS
9 1 (0.25%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 92 (23.17%) Agile
2 56 (14.11%) ITIL
3 49 (12.34%) Continuous Improvement
3 49 (12.34%) Migration
4 48 (12.09%) CI/CD
4 48 (12.09%) Decision-Making
5 47 (11.84%) Stakeholder Management
6 44 (11.08%) Analytics
7 39 (9.82%) Project Management
8 38 (9.57%) User Acceptance Testing
9 37 (9.32%) Process Improvement
10 33 (8.31%) Change Management
11 32 (8.06%) Cybersecurity
12 31 (7.81%) ITSM
13 30 (7.56%) Business Intelligence
14 29 (7.30%) DevOps
15 26 (6.55%) Cloud Security
15 26 (6.55%) ETL
16 25 (6.30%) Customer Service
17 24 (6.05%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 50 (12.59%) SQL
2 37 (9.32%) Python
3 28 (7.05%) Java
4 25 (6.30%) PowerShell
5 15 (3.78%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.52%) Shell Script
7 8 (2.02%) PL/SQL
8 7 (1.76%) TypeScript
9 6 (1.51%) Bash
9 6 (1.51%) C#
10 4 (1.01%) JCL
11 3 (0.76%) COBOL
11 3 (0.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.76%) R
11 3 (0.76%) Scala
12 2 (0.50%) ABAP
12 2 (0.50%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.50%) SPARQL
13 1 (0.25%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.25%) VBA
Qualifications
1 55 (13.85%) Degree
2 45 (11.34%) Security Cleared
3 35 (8.82%) SC Cleared
4 28 (7.05%) BPSS Clearance
5 25 (6.30%) Microsoft Certification
6 15 (3.78%) Computer Science Degree
7 14 (3.53%) ITIL Certification
8 11 (2.77%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (2.27%) A+ Certification
9 9 (2.27%) CCNP
10 7 (1.76%) Azure Certification
10 7 (1.76%) CCNA
11 6 (1.51%) DBS Check
12 5 (1.26%) PMI Certification
12 5 (1.26%) PMP
13 4 (1.01%) DV Cleared
13 4 (1.01%) MCP
14 3 (0.76%) AWS Certification
14 3 (0.76%) Master's Degree
14 3 (0.76%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (5.29%) QA
2 13 (3.27%) Data Quality
3 11 (2.77%) GDPR
4 8 (2.02%) Accessibility
5 4 (1.01%) California Consumer Privacy Act
5 4 (1.01%) PMO
5 4 (1.01%) SEPA
6 3 (0.76%) AUTOSAR
6 3 (0.76%) COBIT
7 2 (0.50%) Actionable Recommendations
7 2 (0.50%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.25%) GRC
8 1 (0.25%) GxP
8 1 (0.25%) HIPAA
8 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.25%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.25%) SLA
System Software
1 27 (6.80%) Active Directory
2 20 (5.04%) Docker
3 5 (1.26%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (1.26%) vSphere
4 2 (0.50%) Firmware
5 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 1 (0.25%) Time Sharing Option
5 1 (0.25%) Virtual Servers
5 1 (0.25%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 20 (5.04%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.02%) SCCM
3 9 (2.27%) Ansible
3 9 (2.27%) Microsoft Intune
3 9 (2.27%) Single Sign-On
3 9 (2.27%) Terraform
4 8 (2.02%) SCOM
5 4 (1.01%) Istio
6 3 (0.76%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 2 (0.50%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.25%) CA Endevor
8 1 (0.25%) Grafana
Vendors
1 110 (27.71%) Microsoft
2 32 (8.06%) ServiceNow
3 28 (7.05%) SAP
4 21 (5.29%) Oracle
5 17 (4.28%) Cisco
6 16 (4.03%) Google
7 14 (3.53%) Splunk
8 9 (2.27%) IBM
9 8 (2.02%) Red Hat
10 6 (1.51%) Remedy
10 6 (1.51%) VMware
11 5 (1.26%) Canon
11 5 (1.26%) Fortinet
11 5 (1.26%) Infoblox
12 4 (1.01%) BMC
12 4 (1.01%) Meraki
13 3 (0.76%) Huawei
13 3 (0.76%) Nintex
14 2 (0.50%) CyberArk
14 2 (0.50%) F5