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 1 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 1 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -4 | +1 | +4 |
| Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving | 6,218 | 5,162 | 4,632 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.37% | 15.04% | 12.66% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.29% | 16.67% | 14.70% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,416 | 3,099 | 2,693 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £251 | £264 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £381 | £385 |
| 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 | £463 | £473 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.70% | -2.12% | -0.53% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 707 | 344 | 190 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.00 | £14.64 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.55 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.26 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.43% | +19.15% | -63.19% |
| 75th Percentile | £34.25 | £34.12 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.10 | £60.16 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £17.99 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.44% | +15.96% | -63.93% |
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 1 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 46,795 | 30,975 | 31,502 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.55% | 90.24% | 86.12% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,010 | 19,344 | 18,963 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £299 | £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 | £619 | £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 | 3,688 | 2,001 | 1,124 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.46 | £17.33 | £20.09 |
| Median hourly rate | £34.58 | £25.15 | £36.08 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +37.48% | -30.30% | -17.81% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £43.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £79.00 | £67.00 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £33.81 | £22.50 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +50.26% | -35.71% | -19.22% |
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 1 November 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 1 November 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 1 November 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 | -3 | 5,331 | £500 | +2.56% | 4,262 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,345 | £450 | -2.70% | 3,834 |
| London | -10 | 2,268 | £520 | +4.00% | 1,166 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,657 | £500 | - | 1,608 |
| South East | -3 | 880 | £475 | +2.70% | 962 |
| North of England | -5 | 805 | £450 | -5.26% | 806 |
| Midlands | -5 | 632 | £441 | -2.00% | 654 |
| West Midlands | -7 | 454 | £450 | -7.26% | 383 |
| North West | -5 | 410 | £450 | -1.64% | 431 |
| East of England | 0 | 323 | £425 | -15.00% | 474 |
| South West | -4 | 319 | £500 | +5.26% | 537 |
| Scotland | -2 | 311 | £425 | -5.56% | 232 |
| Yorkshire | -4 | 307 | £488 | -0.91% | 250 |
| East Midlands | +3 | 176 | £350 | -6.67% | 270 |
| North East | -4 | 89 | £375 | -16.67% | 139 |
| Wales | -3 | 82 | £468 | +13.33% | 94 |
| Northern Ireland | -2 | 30 | £463 | -2.63% | 143 |
| 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% | 1,706 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.9% | 1,675 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.8% | 1,480 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.6% | 1,094 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.3% | 951 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 815 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.9% | 740 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.6% | 662 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.1% | 627 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.7% | 605 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 587 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.7% | 539 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.6% | 536 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.1% | 504 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 455 |
| 16 | Project Delivery | 7.0% | 437 |
| 17 | Software Engineering | 7.0% | 435 |
| 18 | Data Modelling | 6.9% | 431 |
| 19 | Collaborative Working | 6.8% | 424 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.7% | 416 |