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

6 months to
16 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 2 9
Rank change year-on-year -10 +7 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 371 395 322
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 10.12% 18.36% 11.93%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.08% 20.91% 14.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 206 222 189
10th Percentile £286 £263 £300
25th Percentile £375 £393 £393
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £490 £493
Median % change year-on-year -8.07% -0.71% +2.49%
75th Percentile £538 £580 £550
90th Percentile £626 £702 £638
England median daily rate £496 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -0.82% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 43 44
10th Percentile £14.62 £12.32 -
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.44 £10.95
Median hourly rate £37.50 £28.75 £11.07
Median % change year-on-year +30.43% +159.65% -59.74%
75th Percentile £75.00 £53.21 £26.98
90th Percentile £178.75 £70.00 £59.32
England median hourly rate £21.49 £21.28 £16.23
% change year-on-year +0.99% +31.12% -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 3,070 1,889 2,280
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 83.72% 87.78% 84.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,819 1,239 1,400
10th Percentile £300 £280 £300
25th Percentile £400 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £485 £450 £493
Median % change year-on-year +7.78% -8.72% -1.40%
75th Percentile £588 £564 £582
90th Percentile £675 £671 £672
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 292 121 256
10th Percentile £17.25 £13.50 £11.00
25th Percentile £25.38 £18.87 £15.50
Median hourly rate £53.00 £29.27 £27.25
Median % change year-on-year +81.07% +7.41% -7.00%
75th Percentile £76.00 £60.00 £46.18
90th Percentile £85.00 £77.50 £67.05
England median hourly rate £47.50 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +88.87% -34.02% -8.14%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 -12 186 £450 -5.26% 158
Cheshire -4 108 £447 -9.15% 76
Lancashire -5 33 £500 +11.11% 64
Cumbria +1 24 £488 +143.75% 8
Merseyside -30 11 £250 -50.00% 39
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 26 (7.01%) Confluence
2 8 (2.16%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.81%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.54%) Camunda
5 2 (0.54%) CMS
6 1 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.27%) JBoss
6 1 (0.27%) Mule
6 1 (0.27%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.27%) NetWeaver
6 1 (0.27%) nginx
6 1 (0.27%) WebLogic
Applications
1 20 (5.39%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (3.50%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.16%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.81%) CATIA
5 3 (0.81%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.54%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 24 (6.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (2.16%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.81%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.81%) Payment Gateway
3 3 (0.81%) SAP HCM
3 3 (0.81%) SAP Payroll
4 2 (0.54%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.27%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.27%) FIS Private Capital Suite
5 1 (0.27%) ResourceLink
Cloud Services
1 73 (19.68%) Azure
2 50 (13.48%) AWS
3 36 (9.70%) Microsoft 365
4 29 (7.82%) Power Platform
5 17 (4.58%) GCP
6 16 (4.31%) Entra ID
7 12 (3.23%) GitHub
8 8 (2.16%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (2.16%) Power Automate
9 6 (1.62%) OpenShift
10 5 (1.35%) Azure Monitor
10 5 (1.35%) GitHub Actions
11 4 (1.08%) Azure AKS
11 4 (1.08%) dbt
11 4 (1.08%) Google Sheets
11 4 (1.08%) Google Workspace
11 4 (1.08%) SaaS
12 3 (0.81%) Azure Data Factory
12 3 (0.81%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 3 (0.81%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 21 (5.66%) VPN
2 19 (5.12%) Firewall
3 17 (4.58%) DNS
4 10 (2.70%) WAN
5 9 (2.43%) TCP/IP
5 9 (2.43%) Wireless
6 8 (2.16%) DHCP
7 7 (1.89%) Kerberos
7 7 (1.89%) LAN
7 7 (1.89%) Network Security
7 7 (1.89%) Wi-Fi
8 6 (1.62%) VLAN
9 4 (1.08%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
9 4 (1.08%) SAN
9 4 (1.08%) SSL
10 3 (0.81%) BGP
10 3 (0.81%) DMZ
10 3 (0.81%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
10 3 (0.81%) SD-WAN
10 3 (0.81%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (6.74%) Power BI
2 20 (5.39%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.77%) MongoDB
4 13 (3.50%) Data Warehouse
5 12 (3.23%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.89%) MySQL
6 7 (1.89%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (1.62%) NoSQL
8 5 (1.35%) DataStage
8 5 (1.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (1.08%) Big Data
9 4 (1.08%) Db2
9 4 (1.08%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.81%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.81%) Data Vault
10 3 (0.81%) Hadoop
10 3 (0.81%) Metadata
10 3 (0.81%) Power Query
10 3 (0.81%) SAP HANA
10 3 (0.81%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 49 (13.21%) JIRA
2 19 (5.12%) Git
3 13 (3.50%) GitLab
4 11 (2.96%) Mockito
5 8 (2.16%) Jenkins
5 8 (2.16%) Postman
6 6 (1.62%) JUnit
6 6 (1.62%) Selenium
7 5 (1.35%) Cucumber
8 4 (1.08%) Gatling
8 4 (1.08%) REST Assured
9 3 (0.81%) MSI
9 3 (0.81%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.54%) Burp Suite
10 2 (0.54%) Gradle
10 2 (0.54%) JMeter
10 2 (0.54%) LoadRunner
10 2 (0.54%) Serenity BDD
10 2 (0.54%) SoapUI
10 2 (0.54%) SonarQube
General
1 174 (46.90%) Social Skills
2 163 (43.94%) Analytical Skills
3 104 (28.03%) Finance
4 39 (10.51%) Banking
5 24 (6.47%) Public Sector
6 18 (4.85%) Manufacturing
7 16 (4.31%) Legal
7 16 (4.31%) Organisational Skills
8 11 (2.96%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (2.96%) Law
9 10 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (1.89%) Aerospace
10 7 (1.89%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.62%) Automotive
11 6 (1.62%) Retail
12 3 (0.81%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.81%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.81%) Retail Banking
13 2 (0.54%) French Language
13 2 (0.54%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 70 (18.87%) Analyst
2 40 (10.78%) Developer
3 26 (7.01%) Lead
3 26 (7.01%) Senior
4 25 (6.74%) Architect
5 22 (5.93%) Business Analyst
5 22 (5.93%) IT Support
6 21 (5.66%) Administrator
7 20 (5.39%) Consultant
8 19 (5.12%) Java Developer
9 16 (4.31%) IT Analyst
9 16 (4.31%) Project Manager
10 15 (4.04%) Support Analyst
11 14 (3.77%) Data Engineer
12 13 (3.50%) IT Support Analyst
13 12 (3.23%) IT Engineer
13 12 (3.23%) SAP Consultant
14 11 (2.96%) Support Engineer
15 10 (2.70%) Finance Manager
15 10 (2.70%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (5.12%) Kafka
2 18 (4.85%) Spring
3 17 (4.58%) REST
4 16 (4.31%) Spring Boot
5 15 (4.04%) React
6 14 (3.77%) RESTful
7 10 (2.70%) HTML
7 10 (2.70%) JSON
7 10 (2.70%) XML
8 9 (2.43%) OAuth
9 8 (2.16%) ActiveMQ
9 8 (2.16%) CSS
9 8 (2.16%) JAX-RS
9 8 (2.16%) SOAP
10 7 (1.89%) LDAP
11 6 (1.62%) AngularJS
11 6 (1.62%) Playwright
11 6 (1.62%) Swagger
12 5 (1.35%) ARM Templates
12 5 (1.35%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.01%) Onboarding
2 24 (6.47%) Product Ownership
3 14 (3.77%) Data Protection Act
4 13 (3.50%) Analytical Mindset
4 13 (3.50%) Management Information System
5 12 (3.23%) Driving Licence
6 11 (2.96%) Cloud Native
6 11 (2.96%) Data Centre
7 8 (2.16%) Data Structures
7 8 (2.16%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (1.89%) Distributed Systems
9 6 (1.62%) AI Agents
9 6 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.62%) PKI
9 6 (1.62%) Security Posture
10 5 (1.35%) Private Cloud
10 5 (1.35%) Public Cloud
10 5 (1.35%) Replication
10 5 (1.35%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (1.08%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 52 (14.02%) Windows
2 23 (6.20%) Linux
3 19 (5.12%) Windows 10
4 16 (4.31%) Unix
5 9 (2.43%) Mac OS
6 7 (1.89%) Apple iOS
6 7 (1.89%) Windows Server
7 6 (1.62%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.81%) Solaris
8 3 (0.81%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.54%) AIX
9 2 (0.54%) Android
9 2 (0.54%) HPUX
9 2 (0.54%) Oracle Linux
9 2 (0.54%) SUSE
9 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (21.29%) Agile
2 78 (21.02%) Continuous Improvement
3 71 (19.14%) Stakeholder Management
4 53 (14.29%) Change Management
5 51 (13.75%) CI/CD
5 51 (13.75%) Migration
6 49 (13.21%) ITIL
7 47 (12.67%) Project Management
8 43 (11.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 37 (9.97%) DevOps
9 37 (9.97%) Validation
9 37 (9.97%) Workshop Facilitation
10 35 (9.43%) ERP
11 34 (9.16%) Decision-Making
12 33 (8.89%) Test Automation
13 32 (8.63%) Customer Service
14 30 (8.09%) Analytics
14 30 (8.09%) Data Migration
14 30 (8.09%) Data Protection
14 30 (8.09%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 47 (12.67%) SQL
2 39 (10.51%) Java
3 37 (9.97%) PowerShell
3 37 (9.97%) Python
4 16 (4.31%) JavaScript
5 10 (2.70%) TypeScript
6 9 (2.43%) Bash
7 7 (1.89%) Shell Script
8 5 (1.35%) PL/SQL
9 4 (1.08%) Go
9 4 (1.08%) T-SQL
10 3 (0.81%) ABAP
10 3 (0.81%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.81%) Bicep
10 3 (0.81%) C#
10 3 (0.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.81%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.81%) VBA
11 2 (0.54%) Korn
12 1 (0.27%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 55 (14.82%) Security Cleared
2 48 (12.94%) Degree
3 39 (10.51%) SC Cleared
4 27 (7.28%) BPSS Clearance
5 22 (5.93%) Computer Science Degree
6 15 (4.04%) CISSP
6 15 (4.04%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (3.50%) Cisco Certification
8 12 (3.23%) A+ Certification
9 11 (2.96%) Network+ Certification
10 9 (2.43%) CCNA
11 7 (1.89%) AWS Certification
11 7 (1.89%) CompTIA Security+
12 6 (1.62%) CISM
12 6 (1.62%) HNC
13 5 (1.35%) Azure Certification
13 5 (1.35%) CCNP
13 5 (1.35%) CEH
13 5 (1.35%) PMI Certification
13 5 (1.35%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.09%) Data Quality
2 10 (2.70%) GRC
2 10 (2.70%) NIST
3 9 (2.43%) QA
4 8 (2.16%) SLA
5 7 (1.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (1.62%) PMO
7 5 (1.35%) PSD2
8 4 (1.08%) Accessibility
8 4 (1.08%) GDPR
8 4 (1.08%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.54%) ISO 20022
9 2 (0.54%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 2 (0.54%) SEPA
10 1 (0.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 43 (11.59%) Active Directory
2 21 (5.66%) Docker
3 7 (1.89%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.35%) Firmware
5 4 (1.08%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.08%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (1.08%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.81%) vSphere
7 1 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 24 (6.47%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.58%) Terraform
3 11 (2.96%) Grafana
4 10 (2.70%) SCCM
5 8 (2.16%) Ansible
6 7 (1.89%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (1.89%) Prometheus
7 5 (1.35%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.81%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.81%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.81%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.54%) Argo
9 2 (0.54%) Istio
9 2 (0.54%) WMI
10 1 (0.27%) CA Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.27%) Data Guard
10 1 (0.27%) Functional Safety
10 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.27%) SCOM
10 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 70 (18.87%) Microsoft
2 43 (11.59%) SAP
3 39 (10.51%) ServiceNow
4 19 (5.12%) Oracle
5 14 (3.77%) Splunk
6 13 (3.50%) Cisco
7 11 (2.96%) Sage
8 9 (2.43%) VMware
8 9 (2.43%) Workday
9 8 (2.16%) F5
9 8 (2.16%) Google
9 8 (2.16%) Remedy
10 6 (1.62%) BeyondTrust
10 6 (1.62%) Bomgar
10 6 (1.62%) CrowdStrike
10 6 (1.62%) Palo Alto
11 5 (1.35%) Atlassian
11 5 (1.35%) CyberArk
11 5 (1.35%) DocuSign
11 5 (1.35%) Fortinet