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 23 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -5 | +2 | +5 |
| Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving | 6,127 | 5,091 | 4,653 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.11% | 15.19% | 12.52% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.03% | 16.80% | 14.53% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,391 | 3,039 | 2,698 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £243 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £395 | £381 | £382 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £495 | £483 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.59% | -3.50% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £600 | £600 |
| 90th Percentile | £700 | £700 | £700 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £458 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | -1.58% | -3.68% | -1.04% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 661 | 338 | 202 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.09 | £14.52 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.13 | £15.50 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.49 | £19.63 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -5.78% | +15.44% | -64.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £34.50 | £32.75 | £30.56 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £63.51 | £61.60 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £18.00 | £18.80 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.23% | +15.80% | -64.85% |
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 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 47,025 | 30,309 | 32,016 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.24% | 90.44% | 86.16% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,250 | 18,893 | 19,250 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £310 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £405 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | -2.33% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £745 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -5.00% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 3,553 | 1,929 | 1,190 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.72 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.82 | £25.08 | £38.75 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +42.85% | -35.29% | -10.23% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £42.50 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £79.00 | £65.25 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £35.11 | £22.27 | £39.68 |
| % change year-on-year | +57.67% | -43.89% | -6.64% |
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 23 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 23 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 23 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 | 5,265 | £500 | +2.56% | 8,626 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,295 | £450 | -1.58% | 5,552 |
| London | -10 | 2,245 | £520 | +4.00% | 3,468 |
| Work from Home | -4 | 1,637 | £500 | - | 3,607 |
| South East | -3 | 858 | £475 | +2.98% | 1,322 |
| North of England | -6 | 781 | £450 | -5.26% | 1,223 |
| Midlands | -5 | 632 | £450 | - | 880 |
| West Midlands | -8 | 456 | £450 | -7.74% | 499 |
| North West | -5 | 396 | £450 | - | 618 |
| South West | -5 | 326 | £503 | +5.79% | 658 |
| East of England | 0 | 315 | £423 | -15.50% | 731 |
| Scotland | -3 | 311 | £425 | -5.56% | 399 |
| Yorkshire | -5 | 297 | £488 | -2.01% | 388 |
| East Midlands | +1 | 173 | £418 | +11.33% | 380 |
| North East | -3 | 89 | £378 | -16.11% | 227 |
| Wales | -5 | 74 | £468 | +13.33% | 188 |
| Northern Ireland | -4 | 30 | £463 | -5.13% | 235 |
| Channel Islands | -2 | 5 | £600 | - | 4 |
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 | 27.5% | 1,682 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.4% | 1,618 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.2% | 1,424 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.7% | 1,086 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.4% | 946 |
| 6 | AI | 13.2% | 807 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.7% | 719 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.7% | 655 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.2% | 623 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.7% | 592 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.3% | 568 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.5% | 523 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.5% | 522 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.4% | 512 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 450 |
| 16 | Data Modelling | 7.0% | 427 |
| 17 | Software Engineering | 6.9% | 423 |
| 18 | Project Delivery | 6.8% | 419 |
| 19 | Technical Leadership | 6.6% | 406 |
| 20 | Business Intelligence | 6.6% | 405 |