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

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 3 9
Rank change year-on-year -8 +6 +9
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 345 394 294
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.36% 20.26% 10.91%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.45% 22.49% 12.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 193 234 177
10th Percentile £247 £208 £300
25th Percentile £355 £391 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £492 £488
Median % change year-on-year -13.62% +0.92% +8.33%
75th Percentile £519 £584 £550
90th Percentile £604 £696 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £510
% change year-on-year - -1.96% -2.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 32 50
10th Percentile £13.95 £17.44 -
25th Percentile £19.06 £22.72 £10.95
Median hourly rate £38.75 £28.75 £11.20
Median % change year-on-year +34.78% +156.81% -72.42%
75th Percentile £75.00 £50.17 £43.75
90th Percentile £178.75 £63.40 £53.75
England median hourly rate £21.35 £21.39 £16.23
% change year-on-year -0.19% +31.79% -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 2,772 1,752 2,298
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.27% 90.08% 85.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,656 1,145 1,449
10th Percentile £300 £300 £306
25th Percentile £395 £393 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £474 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.21% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £561 £588
90th Percentile £670 £662 £676
England median daily rate £514 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.10% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 238 97 263
10th Percentile £17.09 £13.88 £11.00
25th Percentile £25.38 £22.72 £14.00
Median hourly rate £55.00 £30.40 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +80.92% +16.92% -25.71%
75th Percentile £74.26 £63.40 £46.18
90th Percentile £85.00 £84.80 £66.61
England median hourly rate £47.00 £28.18 £36.84
% change year-on-year +66.78% -23.51% -1.29%

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 29 May 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 29 May 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 29 May 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 -11 172 £450 -2.70% 156
Cheshire -6 90 £402 -20.40% 47
Lancashire -5 35 £435 -16.14% 66
Cumbria -6 21 £495 +147.50% 12
Merseyside -26 19 £188 -60.53% 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 29 (8.41%) Confluence
2 7 (2.03%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.16%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.87%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.87%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.58%) Camunda
5 2 (0.58%) CMS
5 2 (0.58%) JBoss
6 1 (0.29%) Apache
6 1 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.29%) Mule
6 1 (0.29%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.29%) nginx
6 1 (0.29%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 17 (4.93%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (3.19%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.74%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.87%) CATIA
4 3 (0.87%) Chatbot
4 3 (0.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.58%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.29%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 32 (9.28%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.74%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (1.16%) Payment Gateway
4 3 (0.87%) SAP SCM
5 1 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.29%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.29%) ResourceLink
5 1 (0.29%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.29%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.29%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.29%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.29%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 74 (21.45%) Azure
2 63 (18.26%) AWS
3 26 (7.54%) Power Platform
4 25 (7.25%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (6.09%) GCP
6 14 (4.06%) Entra ID
7 12 (3.48%) GitHub
8 7 (2.03%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (2.03%) Power Automate
9 5 (1.45%) Azure Data Factory
9 5 (1.45%) dbt
9 5 (1.45%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (1.45%) OpenShift
9 5 (1.45%) SaaS
10 4 (1.16%) Apigee
10 4 (1.16%) Azure AKS
10 4 (1.16%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (1.16%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 4 (1.16%) Google Workspace
10 4 (1.16%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 19 (5.51%) DNS
2 17 (4.93%) Firewall
3 9 (2.61%) DHCP
4 7 (2.03%) Kerberos
4 7 (2.03%) TCP/IP
5 6 (1.74%) Network Security
5 6 (1.74%) WAN
5 6 (1.74%) Wi-Fi
5 6 (1.74%) Wireless
6 5 (1.45%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
6 5 (1.45%) SAN
7 4 (1.16%) DMZ
7 4 (1.16%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
7 4 (1.16%) LAN
7 4 (1.16%) NetScaler
7 4 (1.16%) VLAN
8 3 (0.87%) VPN
8 3 (0.87%) WebEx
9 2 (0.58%) SD-WAN
9 2 (0.58%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (6.09%) Power BI
2 15 (4.35%) SQL Server
3 12 (3.48%) Data Warehouse
3 12 (3.48%) MongoDB
4 11 (3.19%) Relational Database
5 6 (1.74%) MySQL
5 6 (1.74%) NoSQL
5 6 (1.74%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (1.16%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
6 4 (1.16%) Big Data
6 4 (1.16%) Snowflake Schema
6 4 (1.16%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.87%) Data Vault
7 3 (0.87%) DataStage
7 3 (0.87%) Hadoop
7 3 (0.87%) Metadata
7 3 (0.87%) Power Query
8 2 (0.58%) BusinessObjects
8 2 (0.58%) DB2
8 2 (0.58%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 50 (14.49%) JIRA
2 21 (6.09%) Git
3 12 (3.48%) GitLab
4 10 (2.90%) Mockito
5 9 (2.61%) Postman
6 8 (2.32%) Jenkins
7 7 (2.03%) JUnit
8 6 (1.74%) Selenium
9 4 (1.16%) Cucumber
10 3 (0.87%) Gatling
10 3 (0.87%) MSI
10 3 (0.87%) REST Assured
10 3 (0.87%) Sonatype Nexus
11 2 (0.58%) Gradle
11 2 (0.58%) Jasmine
11 2 (0.58%) JMeter
11 2 (0.58%) Maven
11 2 (0.58%) Serenity BDD
11 2 (0.58%) SoapUI
11 2 (0.58%) Zephyr
General
1 155 (44.93%) Social Skills
2 148 (42.90%) Analytical Skills
3 112 (32.46%) Finance
4 41 (11.88%) Banking
5 26 (7.54%) Public Sector
6 14 (4.06%) Manufacturing
7 13 (3.77%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (3.19%) Law
9 10 (2.90%) Legal
10 9 (2.61%) Telecoms
11 8 (2.32%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (2.32%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (2.03%) Retail Banking
13 6 (1.74%) Retail
14 4 (1.16%) Automotive
15 3 (0.87%) Aerospace
15 3 (0.87%) Investment Banking
15 3 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
16 2 (0.58%) Billing
16 2 (0.58%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 70 (20.29%) Analyst
2 47 (13.62%) Developer
3 31 (8.99%) Business Analyst
4 24 (6.96%) Senior
5 21 (6.09%) Administrator
5 21 (6.09%) Consultant
6 20 (5.80%) Java Developer
7 18 (5.22%) Architect
7 18 (5.22%) Lead
8 16 (4.64%) IT Analyst
8 16 (4.64%) Project Manager
9 15 (4.35%) SAP Consultant
10 14 (4.06%) Data Engineer
10 14 (4.06%) IT Support
10 14 (4.06%) Support Analyst
11 13 (3.77%) Finance Manager
11 13 (3.77%) Finance Project Manager
11 13 (3.77%) Transformation Consultant
12 12 (3.48%) IT Support Analyst
13 9 (2.61%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (6.38%) REST
1 22 (6.38%) Spring
2 20 (5.80%) Spring Boot
3 18 (5.22%) RESTful
4 17 (4.93%) React
5 15 (4.35%) HTML
5 15 (4.35%) Kafka
6 13 (3.77%) CSS
6 13 (3.77%) JSON
6 13 (3.77%) SOAP
6 13 (3.77%) XML
7 12 (3.48%) OAuth
8 10 (2.90%) Swagger
9 9 (2.61%) AngularJS
10 8 (2.32%) HTML5
11 7 (2.03%) ActiveMQ
11 7 (2.03%) CSS3
11 7 (2.03%) JAX-RS
11 7 (2.03%) LDAP
11 7 (2.03%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 30 (8.70%) Product Ownership
2 19 (5.51%) Onboarding
3 15 (4.35%) Management Information System
4 12 (3.48%) Analytical Mindset
4 12 (3.48%) Cloud Native
5 10 (2.90%) Data Centre
6 8 (2.32%) Data Protection Act
6 8 (2.32%) Driving Licence
7 7 (2.03%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (2.03%) Mobile App
7 7 (2.03%) Public Cloud
8 6 (1.74%) AI Agents
8 6 (1.74%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.74%) Private Cloud
8 6 (1.74%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (1.45%) Data Structures
10 4 (1.16%) Cyber Threat
10 4 (1.16%) Digital Wallet
10 4 (1.16%) PKI
10 4 (1.16%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 40 (11.59%) Windows
2 22 (6.38%) Linux
3 13 (3.77%) Unix
4 12 (3.48%) Windows 10
5 9 (2.61%) Apple iOS
5 9 (2.61%) Mac OS
6 8 (2.32%) Windows Server
7 7 (2.03%) Windows Server 2019
8 5 (1.45%) Mac OS X
9 4 (1.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 4 (1.16%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.87%) Android
11 2 (0.58%) AIX
11 2 (0.58%) HPUX
11 2 (0.58%) Oracle Linux
11 2 (0.58%) Solaris
11 2 (0.58%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (24.06%) Agile
2 59 (17.10%) Change Management
3 58 (16.81%) Stakeholder Management
4 57 (16.52%) Continuous Improvement
5 56 (16.23%) Migration
6 51 (14.78%) CI/CD
7 46 (13.33%) Project Management
7 46 (13.33%) Validation
8 43 (12.46%) Workshop Facilitation
9 39 (11.30%) ERP
10 38 (11.01%) DevOps
11 37 (10.72%) Data Migration
11 37 (10.72%) Microservices
11 37 (10.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 36 (10.43%) Test Automation
13 33 (9.57%) ITIL
14 29 (8.41%) Computer Science
14 29 (8.41%) Customer Service
14 29 (8.41%) Requirements Gathering
15 28 (8.12%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 46 (13.33%) Java
1 46 (13.33%) SQL
2 34 (9.86%) PowerShell
2 34 (9.86%) Python
3 21 (6.09%) JavaScript
4 15 (4.35%) TypeScript
5 6 (1.74%) Bash
6 5 (1.45%) Go
6 5 (1.45%) Kotlin
6 5 (1.45%) Shell Script
7 4 (1.16%) C#
7 4 (1.16%) PL/SQL
7 4 (1.16%) T-SQL
8 3 (0.87%) Apex Code
8 3 (0.87%) CLIST
8 3 (0.87%) COBOL
8 3 (0.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 3 (0.87%) JCL
8 3 (0.87%) REXX
8 3 (0.87%) VBA
Qualifications
1 48 (13.91%) Degree
2 47 (13.62%) Security Cleared
3 30 (8.70%) SC Cleared
4 29 (8.41%) BPSS Clearance
5 26 (7.54%) Computer Science Degree
6 16 (4.64%) Microsoft Certification
7 15 (4.35%) A+ Certification
7 15 (4.35%) CISSP
8 14 (4.06%) Network+ Certification
9 12 (3.48%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (2.90%) CCNA
11 8 (2.32%) AWS Certification
12 7 (2.03%) CompTIA Security+
13 6 (1.74%) Azure Certification
13 6 (1.74%) CISM
14 5 (1.45%) CEH
14 5 (1.45%) MCSE
15 4 (1.16%) CCNP
16 3 (0.87%) PMI Certification
16 3 (0.87%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (7.25%) Data Quality
2 11 (3.19%) QA
3 9 (2.61%) NIST
3 9 (2.61%) PSD2
4 8 (2.32%) GRC
5 6 (1.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (1.45%) GDPR
6 5 (1.45%) ISO 20022
6 5 (1.45%) PCI DSS
6 5 (1.45%) PMO
7 4 (1.16%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.16%) SEPA
7 4 (1.16%) SLA
8 3 (0.87%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.29%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.29%) WCAG
System Software
1 36 (10.43%) Active Directory
2 24 (6.96%) Docker
3 9 (2.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.74%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (1.45%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.45%) vSphere
6 3 (0.87%) ACF2
6 3 (0.87%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.87%) RACF
6 3 (0.87%) Time Sharing Option
6 3 (0.87%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.58%) Firmware
7 2 (0.58%) ISA Server
Systems Management
1 25 (7.25%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.77%) Terraform
3 9 (2.61%) SCCM
4 8 (2.32%) Microsoft Intune
5 7 (2.03%) Grafana
6 5 (1.45%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 5 (1.45%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.16%) Ansible
8 3 (0.87%) CA Endevor
8 3 (0.87%) Tivoli
8 3 (0.87%) Tivoli Storage Manager
9 2 (0.58%) Argo
9 2 (0.58%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.58%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.29%) CA Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.29%) Functional Safety
10 1 (0.29%) Istio
10 1 (0.29%) Norton AntiVirus
10 1 (0.29%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 56 (16.23%) Microsoft
2 49 (14.20%) SAP
3 19 (5.51%) Oracle
4 18 (5.22%) ServiceNow
5 15 (4.35%) Splunk
6 14 (4.06%) Sage
7 13 (3.77%) VMware
8 9 (2.61%) F5
8 9 (2.61%) Google
9 7 (2.03%) Cisco
10 6 (1.74%) BeyondTrust
10 6 (1.74%) CrowdStrike
10 6 (1.74%) Dell
10 6 (1.74%) Palo Alto
10 6 (1.74%) Remedy
11 5 (1.45%) DocuSign
11 5 (1.45%) Red Hat
11 5 (1.45%) Salesforce
12 4 (1.16%) Adobe
12 4 (1.16%) Citrix