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 26 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 26 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 | 6,139 | 5,128 | 4,644 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.22% | 15.24% | 12.60% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.14% | 16.86% | 14.62% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,390 | 3,064 | 2,689 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £250 | £263 |
| 25th Percentile | £390 | £382 | £384 |
| 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 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.70% | -2.63% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 668 | 342 | 198 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.01 | £14.50 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.12 | £15.50 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.49 | £20.02 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.64% | +17.76% | -64.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.75 | £33.85 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £64.90 | £60.48 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £18.00 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.36% | +15.96% | -64.63% |
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 26 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 46,724 | 30,420 | 31,757 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.39% | 90.42% | 86.16% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,038 | 18,930 | 19,083 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £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 | £620 | £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 | 3,565 | 1,950 | 1,157 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.62 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £37.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.19% | -32.95% | -12.28% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £42.69 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £78.75 | £66.50 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £35.00 | £22.27 | £37.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +57.20% | -39.82% | -12.94% |
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 26 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 26 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 26 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 | 5,269 | £500 | +2.56% | 8,718 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,297 | £450 | -2.70% | 5,535 |
| London | -10 | 2,249 | £520 | +4.00% | 3,552 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,637 | £500 | - | 3,661 |
| South East | -3 | 867 | £475 | +3.26% | 1,307 |
| North of England | -7 | 776 | £450 | -5.21% | 1,207 |
| Midlands | -5 | 630 | £447 | -0.67% | 900 |
| West Midlands | -7 | 456 | £450 | -7.69% | 506 |
| North West | -6 | 395 | £450 | -4.05% | 614 |
| South West | -5 | 321 | £500 | +5.26% | 647 |
| East of England | 0 | 318 | £420 | -16.00% | 712 |
| Scotland | -2 | 310 | £425 | -5.56% | 403 |
| Yorkshire | -6 | 294 | £487 | -1.32% | 384 |
| East Midlands | +1 | 172 | £383 | +2.13% | 393 |
| North East | -7 | 88 | £380 | -15.56% | 219 |
| Wales | -4 | 79 | £468 | +13.33% | 195 |
| Northern Ireland | -3 | 30 | £463 | -5.13% | 237 |
| 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 | 27.4% | 1,685 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.5% | 1,626 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.5% | 1,445 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.7% | 1,087 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.5% | 953 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 803 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.7% | 720 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.6% | 652 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.2% | 625 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.7% | 597 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.3% | 570 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.6% | 531 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.5% | 524 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.4% | 516 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 451 |
| 16 | Software Engineering | 6.9% | 425 |
| 17 | Data Modelling | 6.8% | 420 |
| 18 | Project Delivery | 6.8% | 419 |
| 19 | Collaborative Working | 6.6% | 408 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.6% | 406 |