Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends
Problem Solving
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs citing Problem-Solving skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 28 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -5 | +2 | +4 |
| Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving | 6,190 | 5,155 | 4,613 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.29% | 15.20% | 12.61% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.20% | 16.80% | 14.64% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,416 | 3,082 | 2,672 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £250 | £263 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £383 | £384 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £495 | £485 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.06% | -3.00% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £600 | £600 |
| 90th Percentile | £700 | £700 | £700 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £463 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.70% | -2.63% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 674 | 344 | 194 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.04 | £14.55 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.50 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.63 | £20.02 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.97% | +17.76% | -64.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £33.91 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.10 | £59.37 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £18.00 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.36% | +15.96% | -64.63% |
All Process & Methodology Skills
UK
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 citing process or methodology skills.
| 6 months to 28 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 46,894 | 30,677 | 31,513 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.55% | 90.44% | 86.11% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,171 | 19,112 | 18,944 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £310 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £404 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | -2.33% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £620 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -5.00% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 3,573 | 1,962 | 1,136 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.56 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £37.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.19% | -32.04% | -15.60% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £42.78 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £79.80 | £66.95 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £35.00 | £22.27 | £36.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +57.20% | -38.15% | -15.29% |
Problem-Solving Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Problem-Solving Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Problem-Solving.
Problem-Solving Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving over the 6 months to 28 October 2026.
Problem-Solving Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Problem-Solving.
Problem-Solving Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving over the 6 months to 28 October 2026.
Problem-Solving Top 18 Contract Job Locations
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 UK over the 6 months to 28 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -5 | 5,313 | £500 | +2.56% | 2,656 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,320 | £450 | -2.70% | 2,407 |
| London | -10 | 2,271 | £520 | +4.00% | 560 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,649 | £500 | - | 1,136 |
| South East | -3 | 872 | £475 | +2.70% | 606 |
| North of England | -7 | 791 | £451 | -5.16% | 507 |
| Midlands | -5 | 632 | £447 | -0.67% | 471 |
| West Midlands | -8 | 461 | £450 | -7.69% | 253 |
| North West | -6 | 406 | £450 | -4.05% | 246 |
| South West | -4 | 322 | £500 | +5.26% | 389 |
| East of England | 0 | 318 | £420 | -16.00% | 304 |
| Scotland | -2 | 309 | £425 | -5.56% | 99 |
| Yorkshire | -6 | 297 | £487 | -1.32% | 168 |
| East Midlands | +1 | 169 | £375 | - | 217 |
| North East | -7 | 89 | £380 | -15.56% | 103 |
| Wales | -4 | 80 | £468 | +13.33% | 73 |
| Northern Ireland | -2 | 30 | £463 | -2.63% | 33 |
| Channel Islands | -2 | 5 | £600 | - |
Problem-Solving Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Processes & Methodologies
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 27.4% | 1,694 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.7% | 1,650 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.7% | 1,467 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.7% | 1,093 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.4% | 955 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 812 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.8% | 731 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.6% | 655 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.2% | 632 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.7% | 600 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 580 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.7% | 538 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.5% | 527 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.3% | 511 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 451 |
| 16 | Data Modelling | 7.0% | 432 |
| 16 | Software Engineering | 7.0% | 432 |
| 18 | Project Delivery | 6.9% | 425 |
| 19 | Collaborative Working | 6.6% | 411 |
| 19 | Technical Leadership | 6.6% | 411 |