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 3 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 3 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 | 6,286 | 5,152 | 4,605 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.43% | 15.03% | 12.68% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.35% | 16.67% | 14.74% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,459 | 3,099 | 2,675 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £250 | £264 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £381 | £392 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £495 | £483 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.48% | -3.40% | - |
| 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 | 715 | 338 | 186 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.00 | £14.92 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.52 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.02 | £17.22 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.34% | +16.24% | -62.71% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £33.97 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.25 | £58.98 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £17.99 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.44% | +15.96% | -59.43% |
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 3 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 47,090 | 30,910 | 31,249 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.63% | 90.15% | 86.06% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,197 | 19,307 | 18,789 |
| 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% | -1.87% |
| 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 | 3,717 | 1,997 | 1,107 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.39 | £15.02 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.46 | £17.45 | £20.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £34.87 | £25.15 | £35.36 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +38.65% | -28.87% | -19.64% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £43.20 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £79.00 | £67.00 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £33.64 | £22.63 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +48.65% | -35.34% | -20.36% |
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 3 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 3 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 3 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 | 5,384 | £500 | +2.56% | 4,879 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,372 | £450 | -2.70% | 3,596 |
| London | -9 | 2,298 | £520 | +4.00% | 1,868 |
| Work from Home | -2 | 1,676 | £500 | - | 1,729 |
| South East | -2 | 891 | £475 | +2.70% | 979 |
| North of England | -5 | 809 | £450 | -5.26% | 710 |
| Midlands | -4 | 639 | £447 | -0.67% | 621 |
| West Midlands | -6 | 460 | £450 | -7.26% | 360 |
| North West | -4 | 413 | £450 | -1.64% | 364 |
| East of England | 0 | 325 | £425 | -15.00% | 531 |
| South West | -5 | 317 | £500 | +5.26% | 490 |
| Scotland | -2 | 313 | £424 | -5.78% | 178 |
| Yorkshire | -5 | 307 | £488 | -0.91% | 227 |
| East Midlands | +3 | 177 | £375 | - | 259 |
| North East | -1 | 90 | £375 | -16.67% | 127 |
| Wales | -2 | 85 | £446 | +8.18% | 89 |
| Northern Ireland | -3 | 30 | £463 | -2.63% | 76 |
| 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 | 27.5% | 1,726 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.9% | 1,690 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.9% | 1,502 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.6% | 1,108 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.3% | 960 |
| 6 | AI | 13.0% | 820 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 12.0% | 754 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.7% | 670 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.1% | 635 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.8% | 613 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 592 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.7% | 550 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.7% | 544 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.1% | 508 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 462 |
| 16 | Project Delivery | 7.1% | 445 |
| 16 | Software Engineering | 7.1% | 445 |
| 18 | Collaborative Working | 6.9% | 436 |
| 18 | Data Modelling | 6.9% | 436 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.7% | 421 |