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 8 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 8 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 | 6,316 | 5,236 | 4,662 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.42% | 14.96% | 12.74% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.35% | 16.62% | 14.79% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,464 | 3,164 | 2,707 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £255 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £385 | £393 |
| 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 | £462 | £470 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.54% | -1.76% | -1.05% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 732 | 344 | 188 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.00 | £14.95 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.56 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.26 | £17.22 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.43% | +17.61% | -62.46% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £34.12 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.22 | £58.59 |
| 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 8 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 47,308 | 31,511 | 31,511 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.56% | 90.05% | 86.12% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,263 | 19,722 | 18,976 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £294 | £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 | 3,800 | 2,047 | 1,115 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.01 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.46 | £17.32 | £20.06 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.17% | -28.14% | -20.08% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £43.75 | £64.73 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £66.50 | £73.68 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £34.00 | £22.50 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +51.11% | -35.71% | -20.14% |
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 8 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 8 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 8 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 | 5,412 | £500 | +2.56% | 3,265 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,405 | £450 | -2.54% | 2,599 |
| London | -10 | 2,295 | £520 | +4.00% | 1,046 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,688 | £500 | - | 1,109 |
| South East | -3 | 894 | £475 | +3.15% | 654 |
| North of England | -5 | 812 | £450 | -5.21% | 529 |
| Midlands | -3 | 642 | £447 | -0.67% | 491 |
| West Midlands | -6 | 464 | £450 | -6.54% | 258 |
| North West | -4 | 413 | £450 | -3.64% | 266 |
| East of England | +1 | 342 | £425 | -15.00% | 325 |
| South West | -4 | 327 | £503 | +5.79% | 389 |
| Scotland | -2 | 309 | £423 | -6.00% | 153 |
| Yorkshire | -5 | 306 | £488 | -0.91% | 179 |
| East Midlands | +2 | 176 | £325 | -13.33% | 232 |
| North East | -1 | 94 | £375 | -17.04% | 94 |
| Wales | -3 | 83 | £468 | +13.33% | 82 |
| Northern Ireland | -1 | 31 | £463 | -2.63% | 56 |
| 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 | 27.4% | 1,733 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 27.2% | 1,718 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.9% | 1,509 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.7% | 1,118 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.3% | 969 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 830 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 12.1% | 766 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.8% | 682 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.1% | 641 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 10.0% | 631 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.3% | 590 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.9% | 563 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.8% | 558 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.0% | 507 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.4% | 469 |
| 16 | Project Delivery | 7.1% | 450 |
| 17 | Software Engineering | 7.1% | 449 |
| 18 | Collaborative Working | 7.1% | 446 |
| 19 | Data Modelling | 6.8% | 431 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.8% | 429 |