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 29 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 9 18
Rank change year-on-year +6 +9 +4
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 394 294 243
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 20.25% 10.91% 7.93%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 22.48% 12.81% 8.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 234 177 121
10th Percentile £208 £300 £308
25th Percentile £391 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £488 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.92% +8.33% -0.55%
75th Percentile £584 £550 £575
90th Percentile £696 £638 £638
England median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 50 15
10th Percentile £17.44 - £18.06
25th Percentile £22.72 £10.95 £23.15
Median hourly rate £28.75 £11.20 £40.59
Median % change year-on-year +156.81% -72.42% +69.51%
75th Percentile £50.17 £43.75 £54.88
90th Percentile £63.40 £53.75 £66.41
England median hourly rate £21.39 £16.23 £50.75
% change year-on-year +31.79% -68.02% +111.46%

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 1,753 2,295 2,759
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 90.08% 85.19% 90.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,145 1,449 1,936
10th Percentile £300 £306 £313
25th Percentile £393 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £561 £588 £588
90th Percentile £662 £676 £675
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% +1.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 97 261 139
10th Percentile £13.88 £11.00 £16.24
25th Percentile £22.72 £14.00 £22.27
Median hourly rate £30.40 £26.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +16.92% -25.71% +52.17%
75th Percentile £63.40 £46.18 £48.38
90th Percentile £84.80 £66.61 £66.00
England median hourly rate £28.00 £37.18 £37.32
% change year-on-year -24.69% -0.38% +49.28%

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 29 May 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 29 May 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 29 May 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 +10 149 £463 -5.13% 1,345
Cheshire +10 136 £505 +12.22% 716
Lancashire +21 50 £519 -7.78% 563
Merseyside +11 39 £475 +82.69% 325
Cumbria -13 19 £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 25 (6.35%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (5.33%) SharePoint
3 12 (3.05%) IBM Domino
4 10 (2.54%) Skype for Business
5 8 (2.03%) Mattermost
6 7 (1.78%) Confluence
7 5 (1.27%) ArcGIS
7 5 (1.27%) CICS
7 5 (1.27%) WebSphere
8 4 (1.02%) WebSphere Application Server
9 3 (0.76%) Apache Spark
10 2 (0.51%) Apache
10 2 (0.51%) SAS
11 1 (0.25%) Appian
11 1 (0.25%) CMS
11 1 (0.25%) IIS
11 1 (0.25%) JBoss
11 1 (0.25%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.25%) Umbraco
Applications
1 20 (5.08%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (4.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 18 (4.57%) MS Visio
4 13 (3.30%) Microsoft Office
5 10 (2.54%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.25%) Revit
7 1 (0.25%) Trello
Business Applications
1 9 (2.28%) Oracle EBS
2 7 (1.78%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (1.52%) SAP HR
4 5 (1.27%) SAP Payroll
5 4 (1.02%) Remedy ITSM
5 4 (1.02%) SAP CO
5 4 (1.02%) SAP FI
5 4 (1.02%) SAP FI/CO
6 2 (0.51%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.51%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.51%) SAP EWM
6 2 (0.51%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.25%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.25%) SAP PP
7 1 (0.25%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.25%) SAP QM
7 1 (0.25%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 72 (18.27%) Azure
2 41 (10.41%) AWS
3 40 (10.15%) Microsoft 365
4 24 (6.09%) GCP
4 24 (6.09%) Power Platform
5 21 (5.33%) Entra ID
6 12 (3.05%) Serverless
7 11 (2.79%) SaaS
8 9 (2.28%) AWS Lambda
9 8 (2.03%) Amazon S3
9 8 (2.03%) IaaS
10 7 (1.78%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 7 (1.78%) OneDrive
10 7 (1.78%) PowerApps
11 6 (1.52%) dbt
11 6 (1.52%) Power Automate
12 5 (1.27%) Amazon Kinesis
12 5 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
12 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Purview
13 4 (1.02%) Google Gemini
Communications & Networking
1 22 (5.58%) Firewall
2 15 (3.81%) Network Security
3 14 (3.55%) VPN
4 12 (3.05%) Intrusion Detection
4 12 (3.05%) LAN
5 11 (2.79%) Unified Communications
5 11 (2.79%) WAN
6 10 (2.54%) Skype
7 9 (2.28%) DNS
7 9 (2.28%) Structured Cabling
7 9 (2.28%) TCP/IP
8 8 (2.03%) Softphone
8 8 (2.03%) WebEx
9 7 (1.78%) DHCP
10 6 (1.52%) Ethernet
10 6 (1.52%) Remote Desktop
10 6 (1.52%) SD-WAN
11 5 (1.27%) BGP
11 5 (1.27%) EIGRP
11 5 (1.27%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (6.09%) SQL Server
2 19 (4.82%) Power BI
3 16 (4.06%) Tableau
4 12 (3.05%) MySQL
5 11 (2.79%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (2.28%) MongoDB
7 8 (2.03%) Metadata
7 8 (2.03%) NoSQL
8 7 (1.78%) Data Warehouse
9 6 (1.52%) Relational Database
10 5 (1.27%) Hadoop
11 4 (1.02%) Airbyte
11 4 (1.02%) Apache Hive
11 4 (1.02%) DynamoDB
11 4 (1.02%) Neo4j
12 3 (0.76%) Amazon Redshift
12 3 (0.76%) DB2
12 3 (0.76%) SAP HANA
12 3 (0.76%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 2 (0.51%) Easytrieve
Development Applications
1 21 (5.33%) JIRA
2 18 (4.57%) Git
2 18 (4.57%) Jenkins
3 13 (3.30%) GitLab
4 7 (1.78%) Maven
5 3 (0.76%) Hudson
5 3 (0.76%) Selenium
6 2 (0.51%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.51%) Gradle
6 2 (0.51%) JUnit
6 2 (0.51%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.25%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.25%) ERwin
7 1 (0.25%) Flyway
7 1 (0.25%) gulp
7 1 (0.25%) Liquibase
7 1 (0.25%) Mocha
7 1 (0.25%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.25%) Subversion
7 1 (0.25%) Visual Studio
General
1 221 (56.09%) Social Skills
2 150 (38.07%) Analytical Skills
3 59 (14.97%) Finance
4 30 (7.61%) Banking
5 24 (6.09%) Documentation Skills
6 23 (5.84%) Legal
6 23 (5.84%) Manufacturing
7 22 (5.58%) Public Sector
8 16 (4.06%) Pharmaceutical
9 15 (3.81%) Presentation Skills
10 13 (3.30%) Telecoms
11 8 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (2.03%) Organisational Skills
11 8 (2.03%) Retail
12 7 (1.78%) Automotive
13 5 (1.27%) Billing
13 5 (1.27%) Financial Institution
13 5 (1.27%) Investment Banking
14 4 (1.02%) French Language
14 4 (1.02%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 69 (17.51%) Analyst
2 40 (10.15%) Architect
3 31 (7.87%) Developer
4 29 (7.36%) Senior
5 27 (6.85%) Data Engineer
6 26 (6.60%) Support Engineer
7 25 (6.35%) Administrator
8 24 (6.09%) Business Analyst
9 22 (5.58%) Microsoft 365 Administrator
10 20 (5.08%) Solutions Architect
11 15 (3.81%) Support Analyst
12 14 (3.55%) Consultant
13 12 (3.05%) IT Support
13 12 (3.05%) Lead
14 11 (2.79%) Coordinator
15 10 (2.54%) Change Manager
15 10 (2.54%) Service Analyst
15 10 (2.54%) Service Desk Analyst
16 9 (2.28%) Cabling Engineer
16 9 (2.28%) Migration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.79%) REST
2 10 (2.54%) HTML
3 8 (2.03%) .NET
3 8 (2.03%) CSS
3 8 (2.03%) RESTful
3 8 (2.03%) XMPP
4 7 (1.78%) AngularJS
4 7 (1.78%) TensorFlow
5 6 (1.52%) PyTorch
5 6 (1.52%) React
6 5 (1.27%) Kafka
7 4 (1.02%) ActiveMQ
7 4 (1.02%) FastAPI
7 4 (1.02%) Middleware
8 3 (0.76%) ASP.NET
8 3 (0.76%) HTML5
8 3 (0.76%) jQuery
8 3 (0.76%) Node.js
8 3 (0.76%) PySpark
8 3 (0.76%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 37 (9.39%) Management Information System
2 14 (3.55%) Algorithms
3 10 (2.54%) Legacy Systems
3 10 (2.54%) Onboarding
4 9 (2.28%) CMDB
4 9 (2.28%) Fibre Optics
4 9 (2.28%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.28%) Security Posture
5 7 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
5 7 (1.78%) Public Cloud
6 6 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
7 5 (1.27%) Cloud Native
7 5 (1.27%) Mainframe
7 5 (1.27%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (1.27%) Virtual Team
8 4 (1.02%) Data Structures
8 4 (1.02%) NHS
9 3 (0.76%) Data Centre
9 3 (0.76%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.76%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 45 (11.42%) Windows
2 28 (7.11%) Linux
3 19 (4.82%) Windows Server
4 13 (3.30%) Android
5 10 (2.54%) Apple iOS
6 9 (2.28%) Windows Server 2016
7 7 (1.78%) Windows 10
8 6 (1.52%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (1.27%) Windows 8
9 5 (1.27%) Windows Server 2003
9 5 (1.27%) Windows Server 2008
9 5 (1.27%) Windows XP
10 3 (0.76%) Mac OS
10 3 (0.76%) zOS
11 2 (0.51%) Unix
12 1 (0.25%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (21.32%) Agile
2 56 (14.21%) ITIL
3 54 (13.71%) Decision-Making
4 51 (12.94%) Stakeholder Management
5 45 (11.42%) CI/CD
6 43 (10.91%) Continuous Improvement
7 42 (10.66%) Migration
8 35 (8.88%) Process Improvement
8 35 (8.88%) Project Management
9 34 (8.63%) Change Management
9 34 (8.63%) Cybersecurity
10 33 (8.38%) Analytics
11 32 (8.12%) ITSM
12 31 (7.87%) ETL
12 31 (7.87%) User Acceptance Testing
13 30 (7.61%) DevOps
14 29 (7.36%) Business Intelligence
15 27 (6.85%) Cloud Security
15 27 (6.85%) Customer Service
16 26 (6.60%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 47 (11.93%) SQL
2 38 (9.64%) Python
3 32 (8.12%) PowerShell
4 13 (3.30%) Java
5 9 (2.28%) JavaScript
6 8 (2.03%) PL/SQL
7 7 (1.78%) Bash
7 7 (1.78%) C#
7 7 (1.78%) TypeScript
8 6 (1.52%) Shell Script
9 4 (1.02%) ABAP
9 4 (1.02%) JCL
9 4 (1.02%) SPARQL
10 3 (0.76%) COBOL
10 3 (0.76%) R
10 3 (0.76%) Scala
11 1 (0.25%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.25%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.25%) VBA
11 1 (0.25%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 54 (13.71%) Security Cleared
2 44 (11.17%) Degree
3 40 (10.15%) SC Cleared
4 28 (7.11%) Microsoft Certification
5 21 (5.33%) BPSS Clearance
6 16 (4.06%) ITIL Certification
7 12 (3.05%) Cisco Certification
8 10 (2.54%) Azure Certification
9 9 (2.28%) A+ Certification
9 9 (2.28%) CCNP
9 9 (2.28%) DV Cleared
10 8 (2.03%) CCNA
11 6 (1.52%) Computer Science Degree
11 6 (1.52%) PMI Certification
11 6 (1.52%) PMP
12 4 (1.02%) MCP
12 4 (1.02%) Network+ Certification
13 3 (0.76%) AWS Certification
13 3 (0.76%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 3 (0.76%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (4.57%) QA
2 11 (2.79%) Data Quality
3 10 (2.54%) GDPR
4 7 (1.78%) Accessibility
4 7 (1.78%) SLA
5 5 (1.27%) PMO
6 4 (1.02%) SEPA
7 3 (0.76%) AUTOSAR
7 3 (0.76%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 2 (0.51%) Actionable Recommendations
8 2 (0.51%) GRC
9 1 (0.25%) COBIT
9 1 (0.25%) GxP
9 1 (0.25%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 1 (0.25%) NCSC
9 1 (0.25%) NIST
9 1 (0.25%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.25%) WCAG
System Software
1 39 (9.90%) Active Directory
2 22 (5.58%) Docker
3 8 (2.03%) vSphere
4 7 (1.78%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.76%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 3 (0.76%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.25%) Firmware
6 1 (0.25%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.25%) Time Sharing Option
6 1 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.25%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 24 (6.09%) Kubernetes
2 15 (3.81%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (3.05%) SCCM
4 10 (2.54%) Single Sign-On
5 9 (2.28%) Ansible
5 9 (2.28%) Terraform
6 8 (2.03%) SCOM
7 4 (1.02%) Istio
8 3 (0.76%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 2 (0.51%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 2 (0.51%) Grafana
9 2 (0.51%) HP ALM
9 2 (0.51%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.25%) CASB
10 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Clustering
10 1 (0.25%) Nagios
10 1 (0.25%) NetApp OnCommand
10 1 (0.25%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.25%) vMotion
10 1 (0.25%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 109 (27.66%) Microsoft
2 29 (7.36%) ServiceNow
3 28 (7.11%) Oracle
4 24 (6.09%) SAP
5 17 (4.31%) Cisco
6 15 (3.81%) Splunk
7 13 (3.30%) Google
8 9 (2.28%) VMware
9 8 (2.03%) Red Hat
10 7 (1.78%) IBM
11 6 (1.52%) Remedy
12 5 (1.27%) Canon
12 5 (1.27%) Databricks
12 5 (1.27%) Fortinet
12 5 (1.27%) Infoblox
13 4 (1.02%) BMC
13 4 (1.02%) Cloudera
13 4 (1.02%) Informatica
13 4 (1.02%) Meraki
13 4 (1.02%) Workday