Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in the South West

Problem Solving
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 10 9 18
Rank change year-on-year -1 +9 +10
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 271 266 239
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 11.80% 12.48% 7.92%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.04% 14.39% 9.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 174 152 146
10th Percentile £227 £206 £303
25th Percentile £372 £356 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £506 £478 £575
Median % change year-on-year +6.02% -16.96% +9.52%
75th Percentile £625 £600 £675
90th Percentile £725 £736 £704
England median daily rate £483 £500 £503
% change year-on-year -3.50% -0.55% -6.90%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 12 27
10th Percentile - £11.75 £14.49
25th Percentile £6.00 £21.88 £49.11
Median hourly rate £14.12 £27.56 £59.50
Median % change year-on-year -48.77% -53.68% -3.29%
75th Percentile £18.09 £35.63 £65.00
90th Percentile £37.88 £52.50 £65.50
England median hourly rate £18.87 £20.00 £35.75
% change year-on-year -5.65% -44.06% +25.44%

All Process and Methodology Skills
South 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 South West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,930 1,849 2,631
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 84.06% 86.77% 87.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,134 1,137 1,758
10th Percentile £263 £284 £300
25th Percentile £413 £424 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £727 £725
England median daily rate £506 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -3.62% -3.67% -0.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 290 130 264
10th Percentile £15.25 £19.41 £20.65
25th Percentile £18.87 £47.63 £45.75
Median hourly rate £29.40 £65.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -54.78% +8.33% -7.69%
75th Percentile £65.00 £70.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £75.00 £83.40
England median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.25
% change year-on-year -28.14% -20.90% +18.63%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the South West

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the South West over the 6 months to 14 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the South West

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in the South West over the 6 months to 14 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the South West

Problem-Solving
Contract Job Locations in the South 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 South West region over the 6 months to 14 December 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
Bristol +3 80 £530 +17.78% 104
Wiltshire -12 62 £625 +19.05% 60
Gloucestershire +1 61 £450 -14.29% 86
Somerset +6 31 £228 -9.00% 80
Devon +3 19 £275 -41.80% 77
Dorset +11 12 £525 -8.70% 49
Cornwall -5 3 £400 +90.48% 7
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South 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 25 (9.23%) SharePoint
2 21 (7.75%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (5.17%) Skype for Business
4 12 (4.43%) Confluence
5 2 (0.74%) Apache
5 2 (0.74%) Documentum
6 1 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.37%) IIS
Applications
1 28 (10.33%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (5.90%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.95%) MS Visio
4 7 (2.58%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 6 (2.21%) Adobe Captivate
6 2 (0.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 1 (0.37%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.37%) NASTRAN
7 1 (0.37%) Sketch
7 1 (0.37%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 6 (2.21%) Remedy ITSM
1 6 (2.21%) SAP EWM
1 6 (2.21%) SAP WM
2 4 (1.48%) NetSuite
3 3 (1.11%) assyst
3 3 (1.11%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.37%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.37%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 41 (15.13%) Azure
2 35 (12.92%) Microsoft 365
3 27 (9.96%) AWS
4 11 (4.06%) Power Platform
5 9 (3.32%) Azure DevOps
5 9 (3.32%) GCP
5 9 (3.32%) GitHub
6 8 (2.95%) Figma
6 8 (2.95%) OCI
7 7 (2.58%) Dynamics 365
7 7 (2.58%) Entra ID
7 7 (2.58%) Lucidchart
7 7 (2.58%) OpenShift
8 6 (2.21%) npm
9 5 (1.85%) Azure Sentinel
10 4 (1.48%) IaaS
10 4 (1.48%) Power Automate
11 3 (1.11%) Matillion
11 3 (1.11%) PaaS
11 3 (1.11%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 23 (8.49%) DNS
2 18 (6.64%) DHCP
2 18 (6.64%) TCP/IP
3 14 (5.17%) Firewall
3 14 (5.17%) Skype
4 8 (2.95%) VPN
5 6 (2.21%) AMQP
6 2 (0.74%) Intrusion Detection
6 2 (0.74%) LAN
6 2 (0.74%) tcpdump
6 2 (0.74%) Wireshark
7 1 (0.37%) DWDM
7 1 (0.37%) MPLS
7 1 (0.37%) PBX
7 1 (0.37%) SDH
7 1 (0.37%) VLAN
7 1 (0.37%) VoIP
7 1 (0.37%) WAN
7 1 (0.37%) Wi-Fi
7 1 (0.37%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (3.69%) SQL Server
2 9 (3.32%) Power BI
2 9 (3.32%) Relational Database
3 6 (2.21%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (1.48%) Data Warehouse
4 4 (1.48%) RDBMS
5 3 (1.11%) Big Data
5 3 (1.11%) ObjectStore
5 3 (1.11%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.74%) InfluxDB
6 2 (0.74%) KDB
6 2 (0.74%) Kdb+
6 2 (0.74%) MySQL
6 2 (0.74%) Oracle Database 12c
6 2 (0.74%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 1 (0.37%) Amazon Aurora
7 1 (0.37%) CockroachDB
7 1 (0.37%) Hadoop
7 1 (0.37%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 1 (0.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 23 (8.49%) JIRA
2 22 (8.12%) Git
3 12 (4.43%) Jenkins
4 10 (3.69%) GitLab
5 7 (2.58%) Maven
6 2 (0.74%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.74%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.37%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.37%) MSI
7 1 (0.37%) Postman
7 1 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.37%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.37%) REST Assured
7 1 (0.37%) Selenium
7 1 (0.37%) SonarQube
General
1 141 (52.03%) Social Skills
2 83 (30.63%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (15.13%) Public Sector
4 29 (10.70%) Finance
5 17 (6.27%) Organisational Skills
6 15 (5.54%) Influencing Skills
7 14 (5.17%) Military
8 12 (4.43%) Presentation Skills
9 9 (3.32%) Banking
9 9 (3.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (3.32%) Manufacturing
10 7 (2.58%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (2.21%) Legal
12 4 (1.48%) Marketing
13 2 (0.74%) Aerospace
13 2 (0.74%) Telecoms
14 1 (0.37%) Advertising
14 1 (0.37%) Back Office
14 1 (0.37%) Electronics
14 1 (0.37%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 34 (12.55%) Support Engineer
2 33 (12.18%) Analyst
2 33 (12.18%) Developer
3 16 (5.90%) Senior
4 15 (5.54%) Consultant
5 14 (5.17%) Microsoft Engineer
6 12 (4.43%) Lead
7 10 (3.69%) Designer
7 10 (3.69%) Desktop Engineer
7 10 (3.69%) Pricing Analyst
8 9 (3.32%) Administrator
8 9 (3.32%) Applications Support
8 9 (3.32%) Desktop Support
8 9 (3.32%) Desktop Support Engineer
8 9 (3.32%) Project Manager
9 8 (2.95%) Field Engineer
9 8 (2.95%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 8 (2.95%) IT Support
9 8 (2.95%) Junior
9 8 (2.95%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (5.17%) REST
2 10 (3.69%) CSS
2 10 (3.69%) HTML
2 10 (3.69%) Node.js
3 9 (3.32%) AngularJS
3 9 (3.32%) React
4 7 (2.58%) SOAP
5 6 (2.21%) OAuth
5 6 (2.21%) OAuth2
6 5 (1.85%) OpenID
6 5 (1.85%) SAML
7 4 (1.48%) JDO
7 4 (1.48%) Spring
7 4 (1.48%) Web Services
7 4 (1.48%) XML
8 3 (1.11%) .NET
8 3 (1.11%) Django
8 3 (1.11%) JSON
8 3 (1.11%) RESTful
8 3 (1.11%) Ruby on Rails
Miscellaneous
1 19 (7.01%) Management Information System
2 14 (5.17%) Onboarding
3 11 (4.06%) Mobile App
4 10 (3.69%) AS400
5 9 (3.32%) Driving Licence
6 7 (2.58%) Cloud Native
7 6 (2.21%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.85%) Product Ownership
9 4 (1.48%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.48%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (1.11%) CMDB
10 3 (1.11%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.11%) iPad
10 3 (1.11%) iPhone
10 3 (1.11%) Replication
10 3 (1.11%) Virtual Team
11 2 (0.74%) Analytical Mindset
11 2 (0.74%) Digital Currency
11 2 (0.74%) Operational Technology
11 2 (0.74%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 52 (19.19%) Windows
2 26 (9.59%) Windows 10
3 18 (6.64%) Linux
4 16 (5.90%) Windows Server
5 5 (1.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.48%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.48%) CentOS
6 4 (1.48%) VMS
7 3 (1.11%) Android
7 3 (1.11%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.74%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.37%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (22.88%) Agile
2 40 (14.76%) Continuous Improvement
2 40 (14.76%) DevOps
3 39 (14.39%) CI/CD
4 36 (13.28%) ERP
5 30 (11.07%) Stakeholder Management
6 29 (10.70%) ITIL
7 28 (10.33%) Knowledge Transfer
8 26 (9.59%) Migration
9 22 (8.12%) Customer Service
9 22 (8.12%) Decision-Making
9 22 (8.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 21 (7.75%) Service Delivery
11 19 (7.01%) ITSM
11 19 (7.01%) Mentoring
11 19 (7.01%) Microservices
12 17 (6.27%) Analytics
13 16 (5.90%) Project Management
14 15 (5.54%) Containerisation
14 15 (5.54%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 42 (15.50%) PowerShell
2 26 (9.59%) Python
3 23 (8.49%) SQL
4 21 (7.75%) Java
5 19 (7.01%) JavaScript
6 10 (3.69%) TypeScript
7 5 (1.85%) Bash
7 5 (1.85%) PL/SQL
8 3 (1.11%) C
8 3 (1.11%) Ruby
9 2 (0.74%) Bicep
9 2 (0.74%) C#
9 2 (0.74%) C++
9 2 (0.74%) PHP
9 2 (0.74%) Tcl
10 1 (0.37%) Assembly Language
10 1 (0.37%) Perl
10 1 (0.37%) Shell Script
10 1 (0.37%) SystemVerilog
10 1 (0.37%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 146 (53.87%) Security Cleared
2 106 (39.11%) SC Cleared
3 47 (17.34%) Degree
4 42 (15.50%) DV Cleared
5 16 (5.90%) Microsoft Certification
6 8 (2.95%) Computer Science Degree
7 7 (2.58%) A+ Certification
7 7 (2.58%) APMP
8 6 (2.21%) ITIL Certification
8 6 (2.21%) SAP Certification
9 4 (1.48%) Azure Certification
9 4 (1.48%) PRINCE2 Certification
10 3 (1.11%) AWS Certification
10 3 (1.11%) Master's Degree
10 3 (1.11%) PMI Certification
11 2 (0.74%) CISSP
11 2 (0.74%) OCA
11 2 (0.74%) OCP
11 2 (0.74%) Oracle Certification
11 2 (0.74%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (3.69%) Accessibility
2 9 (3.32%) QA
3 6 (2.21%) Data Quality
3 6 (2.21%) GDPR
3 6 (2.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 4 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.74%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (0.74%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 2 (0.74%) NEBOSH
5 2 (0.74%) SLA
5 2 (0.74%) WCAG
6 1 (0.37%) Def Stans
6 1 (0.37%) IEC 61508
6 1 (0.37%) NIST
System Software
1 32 (11.81%) Active Directory
2 21 (7.75%) Docker
3 13 (4.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (2.21%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.74%) Oracle RAC
5 2 (0.74%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.74%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.37%) Firmware
6 1 (0.37%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 21 (7.75%) Terraform
2 17 (6.27%) Ansible
3 13 (4.80%) Kubernetes
4 11 (4.06%) Grafana
5 10 (3.69%) SCCM
6 9 (3.32%) Microsoft Intune
7 7 (2.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 6 (2.21%) Norton AntiVirus
8 6 (2.21%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.85%) Prometheus
10 4 (1.48%) Packer
11 3 (1.11%) Argo
11 3 (1.11%) Podman
11 3 (1.11%) Proxmox
11 3 (1.11%) Puppet
12 2 (0.74%) Data Guard
12 2 (0.74%) NetBackup
12 2 (0.74%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.74%) WSUS
13 1 (0.37%) vMotion
Vendors
1 86 (31.73%) Microsoft
2 21 (7.75%) Oracle
3 16 (5.90%) VMware
4 11 (4.06%) Salesforce
5 9 (3.32%) McAfee
6 8 (2.95%) Adobe
6 8 (2.95%) SAP
7 7 (2.58%) ServiceNow
8 6 (2.21%) Google
8 6 (2.21%) Remedy
8 6 (2.21%) Symantec
9 5 (1.85%) Cisco
9 5 (1.85%) IFS
9 5 (1.85%) Red Hat
10 3 (1.11%) Dell
10 3 (1.11%) HP
10 3 (1.11%) Juniper
10 3 (1.11%) NEC
10 3 (1.11%) Palo Alto
10 3 (1.11%) Starlink