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

6 months to
13 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 3 7
Rank change year-on-year -11 +4 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 341 394 301
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 9.00% 17.84% 12.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.88% 20.11% 14.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 181 216 176
10th Percentile £220 £270 £300
25th Percentile £363 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £480 £493
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% -2.64% +2.71%
75th Percentile £538 £584 £550
90th Percentile £613 £703 £638
England median daily rate £495 £493 £500
% change year-on-year +0.51% -1.50% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 49 44 32
10th Percentile £14.71 £12.38 -
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.41 -
Median hourly rate £37.50 £26.19 £10.95
Median % change year-on-year +43.20% +139.16% -74.02%
75th Percentile £75.00 £47.12 £12.99
90th Percentile £178.75 £68.02 £61.44
England median hourly rate £21.00 £20.26 £16.23
% change year-on-year +3.68% +24.80% -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 3,134 1,959 2,011
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 82.73% 88.72% 84.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,825 1,273 1,207
10th Percentile £276 £282 £309
25th Percentile £400 £375 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £454 £500
Median % change year-on-year +10.25% -9.30% -
75th Percentile £599 £575 £588
90th Percentile £676 £665 £675
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 330 124 170
10th Percentile £16.01 £13.50 £10.95
25th Percentile £24.72 £18.87 £16.06
Median hourly rate £45.25 £27.00 £34.61
Median % change year-on-year +67.59% -21.98% -1.13%
75th Percentile £72.73 £53.25 £51.91
90th Percentile £85.00 £74.63 £70.90
England median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.79% -41.51% +3.24%

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 13 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 13 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 13 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 -13 173 £450 -9.95% 253
Cheshire -3 104 £450 -6.25% 92
Lancashire -10 32 £400 -11.11% 80
Cumbria -7 17 £475 +137.50% 12
Merseyside -32 8 £363 -27.50% 65
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 13 (3.81%) Confluence
2 9 (2.64%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.47%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.88%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.59%) Camunda
5 2 (0.59%) 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 24 (7.04%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (5.28%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.35%) MS Visio
4 6 (1.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (1.17%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.88%) Acrobat
6 3 (0.88%) CATIA
6 3 (0.88%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 16 (4.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (3.23%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.88%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.59%) SAP HCM
4 2 (0.59%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.29%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.29%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.29%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.29%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 63 (18.48%) Azure
2 51 (14.96%) Microsoft 365
3 50 (14.66%) AWS
4 27 (7.92%) Power Platform
5 17 (4.99%) GCP
6 12 (3.52%) Entra ID
7 11 (3.23%) GitHub
7 11 (3.23%) Power Automate
8 8 (2.35%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (1.76%) GitHub Actions
9 6 (1.76%) OpenShift
10 4 (1.17%) dbt
10 4 (1.17%) Google Sheets
10 4 (1.17%) Google Workspace
11 3 (0.88%) Azure Data Factory
11 3 (0.88%) Azure Monitor
11 3 (0.88%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 3 (0.88%) PowerApps
11 3 (0.88%) Serverless
11 3 (0.88%) Zapier
Communications & Networking
1 30 (8.80%) VPN
2 15 (4.40%) DNS
3 14 (4.11%) Firewall
4 13 (3.81%) WAN
5 11 (3.23%) LAN
6 10 (2.93%) Wireless
7 8 (2.35%) TCP/IP
8 7 (2.05%) DHCP
8 7 (2.05%) VLAN
8 7 (2.05%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (1.17%) Network Security
9 4 (1.17%) SAN
9 4 (1.17%) SD-WAN
9 4 (1.17%) SSL
10 3 (0.88%) Cisco Nexus
10 3 (0.88%) DMZ
10 3 (0.88%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 3 (0.88%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 3 (0.88%) MPLS
10 3 (0.88%) PABX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.74%) Power BI
2 17 (4.99%) SQL Server
3 14 (4.11%) Data Warehouse
4 10 (2.93%) Relational Database
5 9 (2.64%) MongoDB
6 7 (2.05%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (1.76%) NoSQL
8 5 (1.47%) Big Data
8 5 (1.47%) DataStage
8 5 (1.47%) MySQL
9 4 (1.17%) Db2
9 4 (1.17%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.88%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.88%) Data Vault
10 3 (0.88%) Tableau
11 2 (0.59%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.59%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.59%) Metadata
11 2 (0.59%) Power Query
11 2 (0.59%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 30 (8.80%) JIRA
2 15 (4.40%) Git
3 10 (2.93%) Jenkins
4 8 (2.35%) GitLab
5 5 (1.47%) Cucumber
5 5 (1.47%) Mockito
6 4 (1.17%) Gatling
6 4 (1.17%) MSI
6 4 (1.17%) REST Assured
6 4 (1.17%) Selenium
6 4 (1.17%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.88%) JUnit
7 3 (0.88%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.59%) Burp Suite
8 2 (0.59%) Claude Code
8 2 (0.59%) Gradle
8 2 (0.59%) LoadRunner
8 2 (0.59%) Maven
8 2 (0.59%) Serenity BDD
8 2 (0.59%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 168 (49.27%) Social Skills
2 140 (41.06%) Analytical Skills
3 86 (25.22%) Finance
4 35 (10.26%) Banking
5 24 (7.04%) Manufacturing
6 18 (5.28%) Organisational Skills
7 16 (4.69%) Legal
8 14 (4.11%) Public Sector
9 11 (3.23%) Law
10 9 (2.64%) Aerospace
10 9 (2.64%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (2.35%) Retail
12 7 (2.05%) Automotive
12 7 (2.05%) Telecoms
13 6 (1.76%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (1.17%) Presentation Skills
15 3 (0.88%) Games
15 3 (0.88%) Investment Banking
16 2 (0.59%) French Language
16 2 (0.59%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 58 (17.01%) Analyst
2 31 (9.09%) Developer
3 28 (8.21%) IT Support
4 26 (7.62%) Lead
5 22 (6.45%) Architect
5 22 (6.45%) Senior
6 17 (4.99%) Administrator
7 16 (4.69%) Consultant
7 16 (4.69%) Java Developer
8 15 (4.40%) IT Analyst
8 15 (4.40%) Support Analyst
8 15 (4.40%) Support Engineer
9 14 (4.11%) Data Engineer
9 14 (4.11%) IT Engineer
10 12 (3.52%) IT Support Analyst
10 12 (3.52%) Service Analyst
11 11 (3.23%) IT Support Engineer
11 11 (3.23%) Network Engineer
11 11 (3.23%) Project Manager
12 10 (2.93%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (4.99%) Spring
2 15 (4.40%) Spring Boot
3 14 (4.11%) Kafka
4 13 (3.81%) React
4 13 (3.81%) REST
5 9 (2.64%) OAuth
6 8 (2.35%) HTML
6 8 (2.35%) XML
7 6 (1.76%) JSON
7 6 (1.76%) Playwright
7 6 (1.76%) RESTful
8 5 (1.47%) ActiveMQ
8 5 (1.47%) AngularJS
8 5 (1.47%) CSS
8 5 (1.47%) JAX-RS
8 5 (1.47%) Node.js
9 4 (1.17%) .NET
9 4 (1.17%) Middleware
9 4 (1.17%) OpenID
9 4 (1.17%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 25 (7.33%) Onboarding
2 16 (4.69%) Product Ownership
3 15 (4.40%) Driving Licence
4 14 (4.11%) Analytical Mindset
5 13 (3.81%) Data Protection Act
6 11 (3.23%) Cloud Native
6 11 (3.23%) Data Centre
6 11 (3.23%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (3.23%) Management Information System
7 9 (2.64%) Data Structures
8 7 (2.05%) Distributed Systems
9 6 (1.76%) AI Agents
9 6 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.76%) PKI
10 5 (1.47%) CMDB
10 5 (1.47%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.47%) Virtual Team
11 4 (1.17%) Cyber Threat
11 4 (1.17%) Mobile App
11 4 (1.17%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 68 (19.94%) Windows
2 22 (6.45%) Windows 10
3 18 (5.28%) Linux
4 15 (4.40%) Unix
5 10 (2.93%) Mac OS
5 10 (2.93%) Windows Server
6 7 (2.05%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.17%) Mac OS X
7 4 (1.17%) Solaris
8 2 (0.59%) AIX
8 2 (0.59%) Android
8 2 (0.59%) HPUX
8 2 (0.59%) Oracle Linux
8 2 (0.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.59%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (22.87%) Continuous Improvement
2 59 (17.30%) Stakeholder Management
3 54 (15.84%) Agile
4 49 (14.37%) CI/CD
4 49 (14.37%) ITIL
5 41 (12.02%) Customer Service
6 38 (11.14%) Migration
7 36 (10.56%) DevOps
8 34 (9.97%) AI
9 32 (9.38%) Change Management
9 32 (9.38%) Project Management
10 31 (9.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 30 (8.80%) Analytics
12 29 (8.50%) Computer Science
12 29 (8.50%) Data Protection
13 28 (8.21%) Root Cause Analysis
14 27 (7.92%) ERP
14 27 (7.92%) Test Automation
15 26 (7.62%) Validation
16 25 (7.33%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 45 (13.20%) SQL
2 43 (12.61%) Python
3 30 (8.80%) Java
4 29 (8.50%) PowerShell
5 11 (3.23%) JavaScript
6 8 (2.35%) Bash
7 6 (1.76%) Shell Script
7 6 (1.76%) T-SQL
8 5 (1.47%) Bicep
8 5 (1.47%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.88%) Apex Code
9 3 (0.88%) Kotlin
9 3 (0.88%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.59%) ABAP
10 2 (0.59%) C#
10 2 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.59%) Go
10 2 (0.59%) Korn
11 1 (0.29%) VBA
11 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 46 (13.49%) Security Cleared
2 45 (13.20%) Degree
3 32 (9.38%) SC Cleared
4 23 (6.74%) Computer Science Degree
5 17 (4.99%) BPSS Clearance
6 15 (4.40%) Microsoft Certification
7 14 (4.11%) Cisco Certification
7 14 (4.11%) CISSP
8 12 (3.52%) A+ Certification
9 11 (3.23%) Network+ Certification
10 9 (2.64%) CCNA
11 7 (2.05%) AWS Certification
11 7 (2.05%) CompTIA Security+
11 7 (2.05%) HNC
12 6 (1.76%) Azure Certification
12 6 (1.76%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 5 (1.47%) CCNP
13 5 (1.47%) CISM
13 5 (1.47%) PMI Certification
13 5 (1.47%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (8.50%) Data Quality
2 13 (3.81%) GRC
2 13 (3.81%) SLA
3 10 (2.93%) NIST
4 8 (2.35%) QA
5 7 (2.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (1.17%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.17%) GDPR
6 4 (1.17%) PMO
7 2 (0.59%) 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 43 (12.61%) Active Directory
2 18 (5.28%) Docker
3 8 (2.35%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.47%) Firmware
4 5 (1.47%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (1.47%) VMware NSX
5 3 (0.88%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.59%) vSphere
7 1 (0.29%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.29%) Microsoft App-V
7 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.29%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 21 (6.16%) Kubernetes
2 15 (4.40%) Terraform
3 14 (4.11%) SCCM
4 10 (2.93%) Microsoft Intune
5 8 (2.35%) Ansible
5 8 (2.35%) Grafana
6 6 (1.76%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.88%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.88%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.59%) Argo
9 2 (0.59%) Istio
9 2 (0.59%) WMI
10 1 (0.29%) Data Guard
10 1 (0.29%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.29%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.29%) Puppet
10 1 (0.29%) SCOM
10 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.29%) WSUS
Vendors
1 84 (24.63%) Microsoft
2 45 (13.20%) ServiceNow
3 37 (10.85%) SAP
4 19 (5.57%) Oracle
5 14 (4.11%) Cisco
5 14 (4.11%) Splunk
6 11 (3.23%) Remedy
7 10 (2.93%) Workday
8 9 (2.64%) Google
9 8 (2.35%) VMware
10 7 (2.05%) BeyondTrust
10 7 (2.05%) Palo Alto
10 7 (2.05%) Sage
10 7 (2.05%) Salesforce
11 6 (1.76%) Bomgar
11 6 (1.76%) CrowdStrike
11 6 (1.76%) F5
12 5 (1.47%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.47%) DocuSign
12 5 (1.47%) IBM