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 29 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 29 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -5 | +2 | +5 |
| Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving | 6,193 | 5,186 | 4,646 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 11.31% | 15.17% | 12.63% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 13.21% | 16.78% | 14.66% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,415 | 3,107 | 2,693 |
| 10th Percentile | £263 | £250 | £263 |
| 25th Percentile | £400 | £383 | £384 |
| 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 | 683 | 344 | 196 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.45 | £13.04 | £14.58 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.11 | £15.50 | £15.62 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.75 | £20.02 | £17.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -6.34% | +17.76% | -64.88% |
| 75th Percentile | £36.23 | £33.91 | £30.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.10 | £60.80 |
| 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 29 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 46,868 | 30,907 | 31,690 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 85.58% | 90.41% | 86.13% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 28,145 | 19,277 | 19,079 |
| 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 | 3,604 | 1,970 | 1,136 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.38 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.50 | £17.30 | £20.12 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £37.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.17% | -32.03% | -15.64% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £42.78 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £66.55 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £35.00 | £22.27 | £36.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +57.20% | -38.15% | -15.29% |
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 29 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 29 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 29 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 | -4 | 5,315 | £500 | +2.56% | 2,623 |
| UK excluding London | -2 | 3,324 | £450 | -2.70% | 2,388 |
| London | -9 | 2,268 | £520 | +4.00% | 547 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 1,652 | £500 | - | 896 |
| South East | -3 | 880 | £475 | +2.98% | 601 |
| North of England | -5 | 790 | £451 | -5.16% | 505 |
| Midlands | -5 | 630 | £446 | -0.89% | 461 |
| West Midlands | -8 | 458 | £450 | -6.54% | 243 |
| North West | -6 | 407 | £450 | -4.05% | 251 |
| South West | -4 | 321 | £500 | +5.26% | 386 |
| East of England | -1 | 318 | £420 | -16.00% | 301 |
| Scotland | -2 | 310 | £429 | -4.67% | 93 |
| Yorkshire | -6 | 297 | £487 | -1.32% | 166 |
| East Midlands | +1 | 170 | £375 | - | 217 |
| North East | -9 | 87 | £378 | -16.11% | 97 |
| Wales | -3 | 80 | £468 | +13.33% | 71 |
| Northern Ireland | -1 | 31 | £463 | -2.63% | 38 |
| 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% | 1,700 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 26.8% | 1,660 |
| 3 | Continuous Improvement | 23.7% | 1,470 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 17.6% | 1,092 |
| 5 | DevOps | 15.4% | 954 |
| 6 | AI | 13.1% | 810 |
| 7 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.9% | 739 |
| 8 | Decision-Making | 10.7% | 663 |
| 9 | Migration | 10.1% | 627 |
| 10 | Customer Service | 9.6% | 596 |
| 11 | Analytics | 9.4% | 581 |
| 12 | Test Automation | 8.7% | 538 |
| 13 | Validation | 8.6% | 532 |
| 14 | ITIL | 8.2% | 509 |
| 15 | Scrum | 7.3% | 451 |
| 16 | Data Modelling | 7.0% | 432 |
| 16 | Software Engineering | 7.0% | 432 |
| 18 | Project Delivery | 6.9% | 429 |
| 19 | Collaborative Working | 6.7% | 412 |
| 20 | Technical Leadership | 6.6% | 411 |