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 24 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 24 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 | 6,146 | 5,116 | 4,657 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.16% | 15.21% | 12.56% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.08% | 16.82% | 14.58% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,396 | 3,050 | 2,700 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £245 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £395 | £382 | £381 |
| 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 | £461 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.44% | -2.89% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 665 | 342 | 202 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.14 | £14.52 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.13 | £15.50 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.49 | £20.00 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.55% | +17.65% | -64.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £33.75 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £64.90 | £61.60 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £18.00 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.36% | +15.96% | -64.74% |
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 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 46,983 | 30,411 | 31,936 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.28% | 90.44% | 86.15% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,218 | 18,943 | 19,207 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £299 | £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 | £622 | £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 | 3,560 | 1,942 | 1,180 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.65 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £38.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.17% | -33.82% | -10.59% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £42.79 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £78.75 | £67.00 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £35.00 | £22.27 | £37.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +57.20% | -40.63% | -11.76% |
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 24 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 24 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 24 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 | 5,279 | £500 | +2.56% | 8,719 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,302 | £450 | -2.44% | 5,568 |
| London | -10 | 2,249 | £520 | +4.00% | 3,531 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,642 | £500 | - | 3,649 |
| South East | -3 | 868 | £475 | +2.70% | 1,317 |
| North of England | -7 | 780 | £450 | -5.21% | 1,236 |
| Midlands | -5 | 631 | £450 | - | 888 |
| West Midlands | -8 | 456 | £450 | -7.69% | 498 |
| North West | -6 | 395 | £450 | -4.05% | 622 |
| South West | -5 | 325 | £505 | +6.32% | 655 |
| East of England | 0 | 317 | £423 | -15.50% | 716 |
| Scotland | -2 | 309 | £425 | -5.56% | 399 |
| Yorkshire | -6 | 298 | £488 | -1.52% | 398 |
| East Midlands | +1 | 173 | £413 | +10.00% | 389 |
| North East | -5 | 88 | £380 | -15.56% | 226 |
| Wales | -5 | 75 | £468 | +13.33% | 191 |
| Northern Ireland | -4 | 30 | £463 | -2.63% | 241 |
| Channel Islands | -2 | 5 | £600 | - | 5 |
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% | 1,690 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.5% | 1,628 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.4% | 1,440 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.8% | 1,091 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.5% | 951 |
| 6 | AI | 13.2% | 809 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.7% | 721 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.6% | 651 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.2% | 624 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.7% | 595 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.2% | 568 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.6% | 531 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.5% | 522 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.4% | 514 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.4% | 452 |
| 16 | Data Modelling | 6.9% | 424 |
| 17 | Software Engineering | 6.9% | 423 |
| 18 | Project Delivery | 6.8% | 417 |
| 19 | Technical Leadership | 6.6% | 407 |
| 20 | Collaborative Working | 6.6% | 405 |