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 4 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 4 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 | 6,308 | 5,196 | 4,607 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.46% | 15.05% | 12.69% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.38% | 16.69% | 14.75% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,477 | 3,129 | 2,678 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £253 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £383 | £391 |
| 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 | £462 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | -2.54% | -2.79% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 719 | 342 | 186 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.00 | £14.92 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.10 | £15.56 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.15 | £17.22 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.94% | +16.98% | -62.66% |
| 75th Percentile | £33.99 | £33.97 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.24 | £58.98 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £17.97 | £18.82 | £16.23 |
| % change year-on-year | -4.52% | +15.96% | -51.55% |
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 4 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 47,162 | 31,136 | 31,241 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.65% | 90.16% | 86.04% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,241 | 19,463 | 18,787 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £295 | £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 | £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 | 3,739 | 2,011 | 1,107 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.02 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.46 | £17.41 | £20.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £34.00 | £25.15 | £35.36 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +35.19% | -28.87% | -20.09% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £43.21 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £79.00 | £67.00 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £33.00 | £22.58 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +46.18% | -35.50% | -21.35% |
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 4 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 4 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 4 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 | 5,404 | £500 | +2.56% | 3,914 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,380 | £450 | -2.54% | 3,177 |
| London | -10 | 2,309 | £520 | +4.00% | 1,250 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,690 | £500 | - | 1,339 |
| South East | -2 | 895 | £475 | +2.70% | 885 |
| North of England | -5 | 806 | £450 | -5.26% | 653 |
| Midlands | -4 | 642 | £437 | -2.89% | 569 |
| West Midlands | -6 | 465 | £450 | -6.83% | 313 |
| North West | -4 | 412 | £450 | -1.64% | 341 |
| East of England | 0 | 326 | £425 | -15.00% | 421 |
| South West | -4 | 319 | £500 | +5.26% | 435 |
| Scotland | -1 | 313 | £425 | -5.56% | 144 |
| Yorkshire | -6 | 306 | £487 | -0.97% | 205 |
| East Midlands | +3 | 175 | £325 | -13.33% | 254 |
| North East | -3 | 89 | £375 | -16.67% | 116 |
| Wales | -2 | 85 | £446 | +8.18% | 87 |
| Northern Ireland | -3 | 30 | £463 | -2.63% | 59 |
| 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% | 1,732 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.9% | 1,696 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.8% | 1,504 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.6% | 1,112 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.3% | 964 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 824 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 12.0% | 757 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.7% | 678 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.1% | 638 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.8% | 619 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 593 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.8% | 554 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.7% | 549 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.1% | 508 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.4% | 466 |
| 16 | Project Delivery | 7.1% | 449 |
| 17 | Software Engineering | 7.1% | 446 |
| 18 | Collaborative Working | 7.0% | 440 |
| 19 | Data Modelling | 6.9% | 435 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.8% | 426 |