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 9 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 9 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 | 6,284 | 5,203 | 4,671 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.41% | 14.95% | 12.80% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.35% | 16.61% | 14.86% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,442 | 3,142 | 2,715 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £255 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £384 | £395 |
| 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 | £470 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.70% | -1.60% | -1.05% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 732 | 344 | 190 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.00 | £14.98 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.56 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.26 | £18.32 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.43% | +10.58% | -60.08% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £34.48 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.25 | £54.18 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £17.97 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.52% | +15.96% | -49.78% |
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 9 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 47,088 | 31,333 | 31,443 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.51% | 90.02% | 86.16% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,106 | 19,604 | 18,932 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £297 | £310 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £404 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | -1.69% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £625 | £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 | 3,793 | 2,040 | 1,109 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.09 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.46 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.17% | -28.14% | -19.54% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £43.75 | £63.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £67.00 | £73.51 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £34.00 | £22.50 | £33.93 |
| % change year-on-year | +51.11% | -33.69% | -22.71% |
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 9 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 9 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 9 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 | 5,385 | £500 | +2.56% | 3,293 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,400 | £450 | -2.70% | 2,582 |
| London | -9 | 2,273 | £520 | +4.00% | 1,062 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,670 | £500 | - | 1,074 |
| South East | -3 | 892 | £477 | +3.36% | 661 |
| North of England | -5 | 813 | £451 | -5.16% | 522 |
| Midlands | -3 | 639 | £446 | -0.89% | 501 |
| West Midlands | -6 | 462 | £450 | -7.26% | 264 |
| North West | -4 | 412 | £450 | -3.23% | 268 |
| East of England | +1 | 343 | £425 | -15.00% | 327 |
| South West | -4 | 325 | £500 | +3.90% | 388 |
| Scotland | -2 | 308 | £419 | -6.89% | 133 |
| Yorkshire | -4 | 306 | £488 | -0.91% | 175 |
| East Midlands | +2 | 175 | £318 | -15.33% | 236 |
| North East | 0 | 96 | £378 | -16.48% | 88 |
| Wales | -2 | 83 | £468 | +13.33% | 78 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 | 31 | £463 | -2.63% | 50 |
| Channel Islands | -1 | 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 | 27.5% | 1,728 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 27.3% | 1,713 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.9% | 1,504 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.8% | 1,117 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.4% | 968 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 825 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 12.1% | 763 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.7% | 675 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.2% | 639 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 10.0% | 629 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 589 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.9% | 562 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.8% | 554 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.0% | 505 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.4% | 468 |
| 16 | Project Delivery | 7.1% | 448 |
| 16 | Software Engineering | 7.1% | 448 |
| 18 | Collaborative Working | 7.0% | 443 |
| 19 | Data Modelling | 6.8% | 427 |
| 19 | Technical Leadership | 6.8% | 427 |