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

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 15 3 7
Rank change year-on-year -12 +4 +9
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 348 398 306
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 8.99% 17.98% 12.69%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.90% 20.24% 15.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 185 224 180
10th Percentile £228 £269 £298
25th Percentile £350 £389 £401
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £478 £493
Median % change year-on-year -5.76% -3.14% +2.60%
75th Percentile £538 £582 £550
90th Percentile £613 £702 £638
England median daily rate £500 £493 £500
% change year-on-year +1.52% -1.50% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 41 31
10th Percentile £14.52 £12.21 -
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.30 -
Median hourly rate £35.82 £21.10 £10.95
Median % change year-on-year +69.76% +92.69% -74.02%
75th Percentile £75.00 £47.12 £11.32
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.00 £62.50
England median hourly rate £20.52 £19.96 £16.23
% change year-on-year +2.83% +22.95% -70.49%

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 3,192 1,966 2,027
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 82.48% 88.84% 84.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,863 1,277 1,214
10th Percentile £281 £291 £313
25th Percentile £400 £375 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £454 £500
Median % change year-on-year +10.25% -9.30% -
75th Percentile £594 £575 £588
90th Percentile £676 £670 £680
England median daily rate £525 £510 £530
% change year-on-year +2.94% -3.77% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 330 127 164
10th Percentile £16.01 £13.23 £10.95
25th Percentile £25.10 £18.87 £16.06
Median hourly rate £45.00 £27.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +66.67% -22.86% +14.20%
75th Percentile £71.91 £55.25 £52.05
90th Percentile £85.00 £73.00 £70.90
England median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.79% -41.51% +4.83%

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 20 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 20 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 20 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 -14 171 £451 -9.90% 409
Cheshire -3 112 £446 -7.19% 99
Lancashire -7 31 £350 -22.22% 100
Cumbria -4 18 £448 +123.75% 21
Merseyside -30 9 £408 -18.50% 79
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 12 (3.45%) Confluence
2 10 (2.87%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.15%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.57%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.57%) Camunda
4 2 (0.57%) CMS
5 1 (0.29%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.29%) JBoss
5 1 (0.29%) Mule
5 1 (0.29%) Mule ESB
5 1 (0.29%) NetWeaver
5 1 (0.29%) WebLogic
Applications
1 27 (7.76%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (4.60%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (2.01%) MS Visio
4 6 (1.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (1.15%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.86%) Acrobat
6 3 (0.86%) CATIA
6 3 (0.86%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 15 (4.31%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (3.16%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.86%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.57%) SAP HCM
4 2 (0.57%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.57%) Teamcenter
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
5 1 (0.29%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 64 (18.39%) Azure
2 55 (15.80%) Microsoft 365
3 51 (14.66%) AWS
4 25 (7.18%) Power Platform
5 17 (4.89%) GCP
6 14 (4.02%) Entra ID
7 11 (3.16%) Power Automate
8 10 (2.87%) GitHub
9 8 (2.30%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.72%) OpenShift
11 5 (1.44%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (1.15%) Google Sheets
12 4 (1.15%) Google Workspace
12 4 (1.15%) Serverless
13 3 (0.86%) AWS Lambda
13 3 (0.86%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.86%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 3 (0.86%) dbt
13 3 (0.86%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.86%) Zapier
Communications & Networking
1 32 (9.20%) VPN
2 17 (4.89%) Firewall
3 14 (4.02%) DNS
3 14 (4.02%) WAN
4 12 (3.45%) LAN
5 11 (3.16%) Wireless
6 8 (2.30%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.30%) Wi-Fi
7 7 (2.01%) DHCP
7 7 (2.01%) Network Security
7 7 (2.01%) VLAN
8 4 (1.15%) SD-WAN
8 4 (1.15%) SSL
9 3 (0.86%) BGP
9 3 (0.86%) Cisco Nexus
9 3 (0.86%) DMZ
9 3 (0.86%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
9 3 (0.86%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 3 (0.86%) PABX
9 3 (0.86%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (6.32%) Power BI
2 16 (4.60%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.74%) Data Warehouse
4 10 (2.87%) Relational Database
5 8 (2.30%) MongoDB
6 7 (2.01%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (1.72%) NoSQL
8 5 (1.44%) DataStage
8 5 (1.44%) MySQL
9 4 (1.15%) Big Data
9 4 (1.15%) Db2
9 4 (1.15%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.86%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.86%) Tableau
11 2 (0.57%) Data Vault
11 2 (0.57%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.57%) Metadata
11 2 (0.57%) Power Query
11 2 (0.57%) SAP HANA
12 1 (0.29%) Amazon RDS
Development Applications
1 29 (8.33%) JIRA
2 15 (4.31%) Git
3 10 (2.87%) Jenkins
4 8 (2.30%) GitLab
5 5 (1.44%) Cucumber
6 4 (1.15%) Gatling
6 4 (1.15%) Mockito
6 4 (1.15%) MSI
6 4 (1.15%) REST Assured
6 4 (1.15%) Selenium
6 4 (1.15%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.86%) JUnit
7 3 (0.86%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.57%) Burp Suite
8 2 (0.57%) Claude Code
8 2 (0.57%) Gradle
8 2 (0.57%) LoadRunner
8 2 (0.57%) Maven
8 2 (0.57%) Serenity BDD
8 2 (0.57%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 176 (50.57%) Social Skills
2 141 (40.52%) Analytical Skills
3 85 (24.43%) Finance
4 37 (10.63%) Banking
5 28 (8.05%) Manufacturing
6 18 (5.17%) Organisational Skills
7 16 (4.60%) Legal
8 13 (3.74%) Public Sector
9 11 (3.16%) Law
10 9 (2.59%) Aerospace
10 9 (2.59%) Automotive
10 9 (2.59%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (2.30%) Retail
12 7 (2.01%) Telecoms
13 4 (1.15%) Influencing Skills
13 4 (1.15%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.86%) Games
14 3 (0.86%) Investment Banking
15 2 (0.57%) French Language
15 2 (0.57%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 58 (16.67%) Analyst
2 31 (8.91%) Developer
3 30 (8.62%) IT Support
4 23 (6.61%) Lead
5 21 (6.03%) Architect
5 21 (6.03%) Senior
6 18 (5.17%) Support Engineer
7 16 (4.60%) Administrator
7 16 (4.60%) Consultant
7 16 (4.60%) IT Analyst
8 15 (4.31%) Java Developer
8 15 (4.31%) Support Analyst
9 14 (4.02%) IT Engineer
10 13 (3.74%) Data Engineer
10 13 (3.74%) Network Engineer
10 13 (3.74%) Service Analyst
11 12 (3.45%) IT Support Analyst
12 11 (3.16%) IT Support Engineer
12 11 (3.16%) Security Engineer
12 11 (3.16%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (5.17%) Spring
2 16 (4.60%) Spring Boot
3 15 (4.31%) REST
3 15 (4.31%) Terraform
4 12 (3.45%) Kafka
4 12 (3.45%) React
5 9 (2.59%) OAuth
6 8 (2.30%) HTML
6 8 (2.30%) XML
7 6 (1.72%) JSON
7 6 (1.72%) Playwright
8 5 (1.44%) AngularJS
8 5 (1.44%) CSS
8 5 (1.44%) Node.js
8 5 (1.44%) RESTful
9 4 (1.15%) ActiveMQ
9 4 (1.15%) JAX-RS
9 4 (1.15%) Middleware
9 4 (1.15%) OpenID
9 4 (1.15%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.47%) Onboarding
2 16 (4.60%) Driving Licence
3 15 (4.31%) Product Ownership
4 14 (4.02%) Data Protection Act
5 12 (3.45%) Analytical Mindset
5 12 (3.45%) Management Information System
6 11 (3.16%) Cloud Native
6 11 (3.16%) Enterprise Software
7 10 (2.87%) Data Centre
7 10 (2.87%) Data Structures
8 9 (2.59%) Distributed Systems
9 7 (2.01%) CMDB
9 7 (2.01%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.72%) AI Agents
10 6 (1.72%) PKI
10 6 (1.72%) Security Posture
11 5 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
11 5 (1.44%) Virtual Team
12 4 (1.15%) Cyber Threat
12 4 (1.15%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 75 (21.55%) Windows
2 24 (6.90%) Windows 10
3 19 (5.46%) Linux
4 14 (4.02%) Unix
5 11 (3.16%) Windows Server
6 10 (2.87%) Mac OS
7 8 (2.30%) Apple iOS
8 4 (1.15%) Solaris
9 3 (0.86%) Mac OS X
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%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.57%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 81 (23.28%) Continuous Improvement
2 64 (18.39%) Stakeholder Management
3 53 (15.23%) ITIL
4 52 (14.94%) Agile
5 49 (14.08%) CI/CD
6 45 (12.93%) Customer Service
7 38 (10.92%) Migration
8 37 (10.63%) AI
9 36 (10.34%) Change Management
10 35 (10.06%) DevOps
11 32 (9.20%) Computer Science
12 31 (8.91%) Root Cause Analysis
13 30 (8.62%) Data Protection
13 30 (8.62%) Project Management
14 29 (8.33%) Analytics
15 27 (7.76%) ERP
15 27 (7.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 27 (7.76%) Validation
16 26 (7.47%) Data Modelling
16 26 (7.47%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 45 (12.93%) Python
2 44 (12.64%) SQL
3 32 (9.20%) Java
3 32 (9.20%) PowerShell
4 10 (2.87%) JavaScript
5 8 (2.30%) Bash
6 6 (1.72%) Shell Script
6 6 (1.72%) T-SQL
7 5 (1.44%) Bicep
7 5 (1.44%) PL/SQL
8 4 (1.15%) Apex Code
8 4 (1.15%) Kotlin
9 3 (0.86%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.57%) ABAP
10 2 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.57%) Go
10 2 (0.57%) Korn
11 1 (0.29%) Assembly Language
11 1 (0.29%) C#
11 1 (0.29%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 47 (13.51%) Degree
1 47 (13.51%) Security Cleared
2 33 (9.48%) SC Cleared
3 24 (6.90%) Computer Science Degree
4 17 (4.89%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (4.60%) CISSP
6 15 (4.31%) Cisco Certification
7 14 (4.02%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (3.16%) A+ Certification
9 10 (2.87%) Network+ Certification
10 8 (2.30%) AWS Certification
10 8 (2.30%) CCNA
11 7 (2.01%) CCNP
11 7 (2.01%) CompTIA Security+
11 7 (2.01%) HNC
12 6 (1.72%) Azure Certification
12 6 (1.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 5 (1.44%) CISM
13 5 (1.44%) PMI Certification
13 5 (1.44%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (8.91%) Data Quality
2 15 (4.31%) SLA
3 13 (3.74%) GRC
4 12 (3.45%) NIST
5 9 (2.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (2.30%) QA
7 4 (1.15%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.15%) GDPR
7 4 (1.15%) PMO
8 3 (0.86%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.29%) ISO 20022
10 1 (0.29%) NCSC
10 1 (0.29%) PSD2
10 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.29%) SEPA
10 1 (0.29%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 47 (13.51%) Active Directory
2 18 (5.17%) Docker
3 10 (2.87%) VMware Infrastructure
4 7 (2.01%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (1.44%) Firmware
5 5 (1.44%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.57%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.57%) vSphere
8 1 (0.29%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 1 (0.29%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.29%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.29%) XenApp
8 1 (0.29%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 21 (6.03%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.89%) SCCM
3 12 (3.45%) Microsoft Intune
4 8 (2.30%) Ansible
4 8 (2.30%) Grafana
5 6 (1.72%) Prometheus
6 4 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.86%) FortiGate
7 3 (0.86%) McAfee ePO
8 2 (0.57%) Argo
8 2 (0.57%) Istio
8 2 (0.57%) WMI
9 1 (0.29%) Data Guard
9 1 (0.29%) Failover Clustering
9 1 (0.29%) Functional Safety
9 1 (0.29%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.29%) Puppet
9 1 (0.29%) SCOM
9 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.29%) WSUS
Vendors
1 90 (25.86%) Microsoft
2 48 (13.79%) ServiceNow
3 36 (10.34%) SAP
4 19 (5.46%) Oracle
5 16 (4.60%) Splunk
6 14 (4.02%) Cisco
7 11 (3.16%) Remedy
7 11 (3.16%) Workday
8 10 (2.87%) VMware
9 9 (2.59%) Google
9 9 (2.59%) Palo Alto
10 8 (2.30%) Salesforce
11 7 (2.01%) BeyondTrust
11 7 (2.01%) F5
12 6 (1.72%) Bomgar
12 6 (1.72%) CrowdStrike
12 6 (1.72%) Sage
13 5 (1.44%) Adobe
13 5 (1.44%) Fortinet
13 5 (1.44%) IBM