Problem-Solving Job Trends in the North West

Problem Solving
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 25 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -6 0 +8
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 884 1,005 1,120
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.26% 19.25% 13.28%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.07% 21.36% 17.19%
Number of salaries quoted 677 483 518
10th Percentile £27,000 £25,000 £27,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £60,000 £61,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £76,250 £76,250
England median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.56% -10.00% -9.09%

All Process & Methodology Skills
North West

Problem-Solving falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 8,777 4,705 6,516
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.13% 90.10% 77.24%
Number of salaries quoted 6,676 2,269 4,236
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,449 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £39,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -1.96% -7.27%
75th Percentile £75,000 £66,250 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £56,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -1.79% -10.40%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the North West

Problem-Solving
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the North West region over the 6 months to 25 August 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
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester -11 475 £50,000 - 216
Cheshire -9 151 £41,750 +4.38% 81
Merseyside -5 148 £42,500 -7.61% 45
Lancashire 0 72 £42,500 +26.46% 90
Cumbria -9 31 £32,500 -8.96% 11
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 79 (8.94%) SharePoint
2 57 (6.45%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.24%) IIS
4 5 (0.57%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.45%) Confluence
6 2 (0.23%) Apache
6 2 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.23%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.23%) CMS
6 2 (0.23%) Exchange Server 2013
6 2 (0.23%) nginx
6 2 (0.23%) WordPress
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.11%) Sitecore CMS
7 1 (0.11%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.11%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.11%) WebSphere
Applications
1 46 (5.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 44 (4.98%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.70%) MS Visio
4 6 (0.68%) Spreadsheet
5 4 (0.45%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 2 (0.23%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.23%) Windchill
8 1 (0.11%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 20 (2.26%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.24%) SAP ERP
3 10 (1.13%) Dynamics CRM
4 5 (0.57%) Magento
5 4 (0.45%) NEC Housing
5 4 (0.45%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.34%) Dynamics AX
6 3 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.23%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.23%) Oracle ERP
7 2 (0.23%) Payment Gateway
8 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.11%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.11%) Odoo
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.11%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 194 (21.95%) Azure
2 165 (18.67%) Microsoft 365
3 108 (12.22%) Power Platform
4 102 (11.54%) AWS
5 47 (5.32%) PowerApps
6 41 (4.64%) GCP
7 36 (4.07%) Entra ID
7 36 (4.07%) SaaS
8 35 (3.96%) Power Automate
9 30 (3.39%) GitHub
9 30 (3.39%) OneDrive
10 29 (3.28%) Azure DevOps
10 29 (3.28%) Microsoft Copilot
11 28 (3.17%) Dynamics 365
12 21 (2.38%) Microsoft Purview
13 16 (1.81%) Serverless
14 12 (1.36%) Boomi
14 12 (1.36%) Google Analytics
15 11 (1.24%) Snowflake
16 10 (1.13%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 63 (7.13%) Firewall
2 57 (6.45%) DNS
3 53 (6.00%) DHCP
4 43 (4.86%) TCP/IP
5 39 (4.41%) VPN
6 32 (3.62%) VLAN
6 32 (3.62%) Wireless
7 29 (3.28%) VoIP
8 25 (2.83%) Wi-Fi
9 22 (2.49%) Network Security
10 20 (2.26%) LAN
11 17 (1.92%) WAN
12 15 (1.70%) Broadband
13 10 (1.13%) Unified Communications
14 9 (1.02%) Structured Cabling
15 8 (0.90%) SD-WAN
16 7 (0.79%) BGP
16 7 (0.79%) OSPF
17 6 (0.68%) IP Telephony
17 6 (0.68%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (7.69%) Power BI
2 53 (6.00%) SQL Server
3 28 (3.17%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 24 (2.71%) MySQL
5 20 (2.26%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.24%) BigQuery
6 11 (1.24%) NoSQL
7 10 (1.13%) Big Data
7 10 (1.13%) Looker
8 9 (1.02%) PostgreSQL
8 9 (1.02%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (0.79%) Electronic Patient Records
9 7 (0.79%) MongoDB
9 7 (0.79%) Power Query
9 7 (0.79%) Redis
10 6 (0.68%) Amazon Redshift
11 5 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.57%) MariaDB
11 5 (0.57%) Tableau
12 4 (0.45%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 38 (4.30%) Git
2 34 (3.85%) JIRA
3 10 (1.13%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.79%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.57%) Cypress.io
5 5 (0.57%) GitLab
6 4 (0.45%) Cucumber
6 4 (0.45%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.34%) Claude Code
7 3 (0.34%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.11%) gulp
9 1 (0.11%) LabVIEW
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.11%) Rational Rhapsody
9 1 (0.11%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.11%) Selenium
9 1 (0.11%) webpack
General
1 360 (40.72%) Social Skills
2 269 (30.43%) Analytical Skills
3 132 (14.93%) Finance
4 69 (7.81%) Manufacturing
5 67 (7.58%) Law
6 58 (6.56%) Organisational Skills
7 56 (6.33%) Legal
8 45 (5.09%) Retail
9 34 (3.85%) Marketing
10 30 (3.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 26 (2.94%) Telecoms
12 22 (2.49%) Public Sector
13 16 (1.81%) Banking
14 14 (1.58%) Aerospace
15 13 (1.47%) Games
16 11 (1.24%) Documentation Skills
17 10 (1.13%) Electronics
17 10 (1.13%) German Language
18 9 (1.02%) Billing
18 9 (1.02%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 122 (13.80%) Analyst
2 119 (13.46%) Developer
3 117 (13.24%) Senior
4 67 (7.58%) IT Support
5 58 (6.56%) Support Engineer
6 48 (5.43%) Lead
7 42 (4.75%) Senior Developer
7 42 (4.75%) Software Engineer
8 41 (4.64%) Consultant
9 39 (4.41%) Support Technician
10 33 (3.73%) Support Analyst
11 30 (3.39%) IT Engineer
12 29 (3.28%) IT Technician
13 28 (3.17%) Administrator
14 27 (3.05%) IT Support Engineer
15 25 (2.83%) IT Support Technician
16 24 (2.71%) Junior
17 21 (2.38%) Technical Analyst
17 21 (2.38%) Technical Support
18 20 (2.26%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (6.00%) .NET
2 45 (5.09%) HTML
3 43 (4.86%) React
4 38 (4.30%) REST
5 24 (2.71%) AngularJS
5 24 (2.71%) CSS
5 24 (2.71%) Middleware
6 23 (2.60%) Terraform
7 22 (2.49%) Spring
7 22 (2.49%) Vue
8 20 (2.26%) Spring Boot
9 18 (2.04%) XML
10 17 (1.92%) SOAP
11 16 (1.81%) EDI
12 14 (1.58%) Node.js
13 13 (1.47%) JSON
14 11 (1.24%) Next.js
15 10 (1.13%) Laravel
15 10 (1.13%) React Native
15 10 (1.13%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 65 (7.35%) Driving Licence
2 54 (6.11%) Onboarding
3 36 (4.07%) Product Ownership
4 32 (3.62%) Cloud Native
4 32 (3.62%) Self-Motivation
5 21 (2.38%) Management Information System
6 20 (2.26%) Distributed Systems
7 17 (1.92%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 14 (1.58%) Replication
8 14 (1.58%) Security Posture
9 13 (1.47%) Mobile App
10 11 (1.24%) CCTV
10 11 (1.24%) IoT
10 11 (1.24%) NHS
11 10 (1.13%) Enterprise Software
12 9 (1.02%) Data Centre
12 9 (1.02%) Enterprise Cloud
12 9 (1.02%) Low-Code
13 8 (0.90%) Analytical Mindset
13 8 (0.90%) Cyberattack
Operating Systems
1 137 (15.50%) Windows
2 65 (7.35%) Windows Server
3 35 (3.96%) Linux
4 32 (3.62%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.81%) Apple iOS
6 11 (1.24%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.02%) Android
8 7 (0.79%) Windows Server 2016
9 5 (0.57%) Unix
10 3 (0.34%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.23%) Solaris
12 1 (0.11%) Embedded Linux
12 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.11%) VME
12 1 (0.11%) VMS
12 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.11%) Windows 8
Processes & Methodologies
1 240 (27.15%) Continuous Improvement
2 193 (21.83%) Customer Service
3 113 (12.78%) Agile
3 113 (12.78%) Mentoring
4 109 (12.33%) Stakeholder Management
5 108 (12.22%) AI
6 104 (11.76%) Decision-Making
7 96 (10.86%) CI/CD
8 95 (10.75%) CRM
9 85 (9.62%) Roadmaps
10 83 (9.39%) DevOps
10 83 (9.39%) Software Engineering
11 80 (9.05%) Analytics
12 74 (8.37%) ERP
13 64 (7.24%) Collaborative Working
13 64 (7.24%) User Experience
14 63 (7.13%) Business Intelligence
15 56 (6.33%) Cybersecurity
16 55 (6.22%) Project Delivery
16 55 (6.22%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 171 (19.34%) SQL
2 110 (12.44%) Python
3 66 (7.47%) C#
4 63 (7.13%) JavaScript
5 47 (5.32%) Java
6 34 (3.85%) PowerShell
7 23 (2.60%) TypeScript
8 20 (2.26%) PHP
9 16 (1.81%) Bash
9 16 (1.81%) C++
10 13 (1.47%) Shell Script
11 10 (1.13%) T-SQL
12 8 (0.90%) C
12 8 (0.90%) Ruby
13 7 (0.79%) Go
14 6 (0.68%) R
15 5 (0.57%) Apex Code
15 5 (0.57%) Bicep
15 5 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 3 (0.34%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 110 (12.44%) Degree
2 48 (5.43%) Security Cleared
3 27 (3.05%) Microsoft Certification
4 25 (2.83%) HNC
5 24 (2.71%) SC Cleared
6 23 (2.60%) DBS Check
7 18 (2.04%) DV Cleared
8 17 (1.92%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.81%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.58%) Computer Science Degree
11 13 (1.47%) CCNP
12 11 (1.24%) Azure Certification
13 9 (1.02%) HND
14 8 (0.90%) CCNA
14 8 (0.90%) Master's Degree
15 7 (0.79%) MCSA
15 7 (0.79%) Postgraduate
16 6 (0.68%) ACCA
16 6 (0.68%) ITIL Certification
16 6 (0.68%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (5.20%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.41%) QA
3 33 (3.73%) GDPR
4 32 (3.62%) Accessibility
5 22 (2.49%) SLA
6 12 (1.36%) TickIT
7 10 (1.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.90%) NIST
9 4 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 14443
9 4 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 7816
10 2 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.23%) PMO
10 2 (0.23%) WCAG
11 1 (0.11%) GMP
11 1 (0.11%) GxP
11 1 (0.11%) IFRS
11 1 (0.11%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.11%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.11%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 98 (11.09%) Active Directory
2 43 (4.86%) Docker
3 34 (3.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 22 (2.49%) Hyper-V
5 6 (0.68%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.45%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.23%) Firmware
8 1 (0.11%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 34 (3.85%) Kubernetes
2 32 (3.62%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (1.47%) Grafana
4 12 (1.36%) FortiGate
5 10 (1.13%) Prometheus
6 9 (1.02%) Ansible
7 7 (0.79%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.57%) SCCM
9 4 (0.45%) Argo
9 4 (0.45%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.34%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.23%) Autotask
11 2 (0.23%) Nagios
11 2 (0.23%) Nessus
11 2 (0.23%) Podman
12 1 (0.11%) Istio
12 1 (0.11%) linkerd
12 1 (0.11%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 1 (0.11%) vCenter Server
12 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 305 (34.50%) Microsoft
2 43 (4.86%) VMware
3 36 (4.07%) SAP
4 27 (3.05%) Google
5 19 (2.15%) Cisco
6 15 (1.70%) Salesforce
6 15 (1.70%) ServiceNow
7 13 (1.47%) Aruba
8 12 (1.36%) iManage
9 11 (1.24%) Oracle
10 10 (1.13%) Adobe
11 9 (1.02%) HubSpot
11 9 (1.02%) SonicWALL
11 9 (1.02%) Sophos
12 8 (0.90%) Juniper
12 8 (0.90%) Meraki
12 8 (0.90%) OpenAI
12 8 (0.90%) Tanium
13 7 (0.79%) Aderant
13 7 (0.79%) YouTube