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 17 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -7 0 +13
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 720 993 1,486
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.64% 21.09% 13.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.54% 22.25% 16.95%
Number of salaries quoted 573 494 903
10th Percentile £26,300 £25,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £46,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.23% +3.33% -5.26%
75th Percentile £61,250 £63,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £77,250
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £49,500
% change year-on-year -5.00% +1.01% -10.00%

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 7,546 4,463 8,766
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 69.55% 94.80% 78.67%
Number of salaries quoted 5,781 2,026 6,618
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,625 £27,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.77% +4.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £73,750 £70,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £84,250 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%

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 17 June 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 17 June 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 -14 383 £50,000 - 329
Merseyside -6 117 £42,500 +6.25% 48
Cheshire -12 112 £41,000 +9.33% 82
Lancashire +5 70 £40,000 +15.94% 141
Cumbria -6 33 £32,500 -0.31% 19
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 64 (8.89%) SharePoint
2 49 (6.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.83%) Confluence
3 6 (0.83%) IIS
4 4 (0.56%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.56%) Moodle
4 4 (0.56%) Totara
5 2 (0.28%) Apache
5 2 (0.28%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.28%) nginx
5 2 (0.28%) WordPress
6 1 (0.14%) CMS
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Umbraco
Applications
1 45 (6.25%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.61%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.25%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.28%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.14%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.14%) Simulink
6 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 23 (3.19%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.81%) SAP ERP
3 7 (0.97%) Magento
4 6 (0.83%) Workday HCM
5 5 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
6 4 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
6 4 (0.56%) SAP PP
6 4 (0.56%) Shopify
7 2 (0.28%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.14%) Odoo
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 166 (23.06%) Azure
2 147 (20.42%) Microsoft 365
3 84 (11.67%) AWS
4 80 (11.11%) Power Platform
5 31 (4.31%) PowerApps
6 28 (3.89%) Dynamics 365
7 27 (3.75%) Entra ID
8 26 (3.61%) Azure DevOps
8 26 (3.61%) GitHub
9 25 (3.47%) Power Automate
9 25 (3.47%) SaaS
10 24 (3.33%) GCP
11 18 (2.50%) Microsoft Purview
11 18 (2.50%) OneDrive
12 17 (2.36%) Microsoft Copilot
13 15 (2.08%) Serverless
14 12 (1.67%) Boomi
15 8 (1.11%) Azure Logic Apps
15 8 (1.11%) GitHub Actions
16 7 (0.97%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 67 (9.31%) Firewall
2 43 (5.97%) DNS
3 40 (5.56%) DHCP
4 34 (4.72%) VLAN
5 33 (4.58%) VPN
6 29 (4.03%) Wi-Fi
7 28 (3.89%) TCP/IP
8 24 (3.33%) VoIP
9 20 (2.78%) Wireless
10 15 (2.08%) Network Security
10 15 (2.08%) WAN
11 13 (1.81%) LAN
12 12 (1.67%) Structured Cabling
13 10 (1.39%) Broadband
13 10 (1.39%) SD-WAN
14 8 (1.11%) Unified Communications
15 6 (0.83%) IP Telephony
15 6 (0.83%) SAN
15 6 (0.83%) Wireshark
16 4 (0.56%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 53 (7.36%) Power BI
2 31 (4.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 30 (4.17%) SQL Server
4 12 (1.67%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (1.39%) MySQL
5 10 (1.39%) NoSQL
6 9 (1.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 8 (1.11%) Big Data
7 8 (1.11%) PostgreSQL
8 5 (0.69%) Power Query
8 5 (0.69%) Tableau
9 4 (0.56%) Looker
9 4 (0.56%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (0.42%) Elasticsearch
10 3 (0.42%) PowerPivot
10 3 (0.42%) Redis
10 3 (0.42%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.42%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 31 (4.31%) Git
2 26 (3.61%) JIRA
3 7 (0.97%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.83%) GitLab
5 5 (0.69%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.28%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.28%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.28%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.28%) Rational DOORS
6 2 (0.28%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.14%) Gemini Tracker
7 1 (0.14%) gulp
7 1 (0.14%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.14%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.14%) webpack
General
1 289 (40.14%) Social Skills
2 203 (28.19%) Analytical Skills
3 115 (15.97%) Finance
4 63 (8.75%) Manufacturing
5 56 (7.78%) Organisational Skills
6 48 (6.67%) Law
7 36 (5.00%) Retail
8 35 (4.86%) Legal
9 32 (4.44%) Marketing
10 29 (4.03%) Public Sector
11 18 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (2.08%) Banking
12 15 (2.08%) Telecoms
13 14 (1.94%) Documentation Skills
14 10 (1.39%) Games
14 10 (1.39%) Investment Banking
15 8 (1.11%) French Language
15 8 (1.11%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.97%) Portuguese Language
16 7 (0.97%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 92 (12.78%) Senior
2 88 (12.22%) Developer
3 86 (11.94%) Analyst
4 80 (11.11%) IT Support
5 77 (10.69%) Support Engineer
6 51 (7.08%) IT Engineer
7 49 (6.81%) IT Support Engineer
8 41 (5.69%) Consultant
9 37 (5.14%) Lead
10 34 (4.72%) Support Technician
11 33 (4.58%) Software Engineer
12 31 (4.31%) Senior Developer
13 24 (3.33%) Business Analyst
14 19 (2.64%) Administrator
15 17 (2.36%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 16 (2.22%) IT Support Technician
16 16 (2.22%) IT Technician
16 16 (2.22%) Technical Analyst
17 15 (2.08%) 1st Line Support
17 15 (2.08%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (5.56%) .NET
2 37 (5.14%) React
3 34 (4.72%) REST
4 33 (4.58%) HTML
5 24 (3.33%) Spring
5 24 (3.33%) Spring Boot
6 22 (3.06%) EDI
7 21 (2.92%) AngularJS
7 21 (2.92%) CSS
8 19 (2.64%) Middleware
9 18 (2.50%) Vue
10 16 (2.22%) SOAP
11 14 (1.94%) XML
12 13 (1.81%) JSON
13 12 (1.67%) Node.js
14 10 (1.39%) RESTful
15 9 (1.25%) SAP Fiori
15 9 (1.25%) Web Services
16 8 (1.11%) Next.js
16 8 (1.11%) React Native
Miscellaneous
1 66 (9.17%) Driving Licence
2 51 (7.08%) Onboarding
3 33 (4.58%) Product Ownership
4 31 (4.31%) Cloud Native
5 23 (3.19%) Data Centre
6 20 (2.78%) Distributed Systems
7 19 (2.64%) Self-Motivation
8 15 (2.08%) Mobile App
9 13 (1.81%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.67%) CCTV
11 10 (1.39%) Management Information System
12 9 (1.25%) Enterprise Cloud
12 9 (1.25%) Security Posture
12 9 (1.25%) Social Media
13 8 (1.11%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 7 (0.97%) AI Agents
14 7 (0.97%) Low-Code
15 6 (0.83%) FMCG
15 6 (0.83%) Hybrid Cloud
15 6 (0.83%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 126 (17.50%) Windows
2 61 (8.47%) Windows Server
3 43 (5.97%) Windows 10
4 23 (3.19%) Apple iOS
5 20 (2.78%) Linux
6 16 (2.22%) Android
7 7 (0.97%) Windows 7
7 7 (0.97%) Windows 8
7 7 (0.97%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.83%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.69%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.42%) Unix
11 2 (0.28%) Solaris
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.14%) VME
12 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 165 (22.92%) Continuous Improvement
2 158 (21.94%) Customer Service
3 109 (15.14%) Mentoring
4 85 (11.81%) Stakeholder Management
5 82 (11.39%) Agile
6 81 (11.25%) Decision-Making
7 79 (10.97%) AI
8 76 (10.56%) CI/CD
9 70 (9.72%) Roadmaps
10 69 (9.58%) CRM
11 65 (9.03%) DevOps
12 62 (8.61%) Analytics
13 59 (8.19%) Software Engineering
14 57 (7.92%) ERP
14 57 (7.92%) User Experience
15 52 (7.22%) Collaborative Working
16 48 (6.67%) Test Automation
17 44 (6.11%) Business Intelligence
17 44 (6.11%) Project Management
18 41 (5.69%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 116 (16.11%) SQL
2 90 (12.50%) Python
3 49 (6.81%) C#
4 44 (6.11%) JavaScript
5 40 (5.56%) Java
6 21 (2.92%) PowerShell
7 13 (1.81%) Bash
8 12 (1.67%) C++
9 11 (1.53%) PHP
9 11 (1.53%) TypeScript
10 9 (1.25%) T-SQL
11 8 (1.11%) Kotlin
11 8 (1.11%) Ruby
12 6 (0.83%) R
13 5 (0.69%) Bicep
13 5 (0.69%) C
14 4 (0.56%) Apex Code
14 4 (0.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 4 (0.56%) Scala
14 4 (0.56%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 84 (11.67%) Degree
2 35 (4.86%) Security Cleared
3 23 (3.19%) SC Cleared
4 20 (2.78%) DBS Check
5 17 (2.36%) Microsoft Certification
6 15 (2.08%) BPSS Clearance
7 12 (1.67%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (1.67%) Computer Science Degree
7 12 (1.67%) HNC
8 10 (1.39%) DV Cleared
9 8 (1.11%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.11%) CCNP
10 7 (0.97%) CCNA
10 7 (0.97%) MCSA
11 6 (0.83%) Network+ Certification
12 5 (0.69%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.56%) PMI Certification
13 4 (0.56%) PMP
13 4 (0.56%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (5.42%) Data Quality
2 27 (3.75%) SLA
3 26 (3.61%) QA
4 25 (3.47%) GDPR
5 19 (2.64%) Accessibility
6 14 (1.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 12 (1.67%) TickIT
8 8 (1.11%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.11%) ISO 9001
9 4 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 14443
9 4 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 7816
10 3 (0.42%) NIST
11 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.28%) WCAG
12 1 (0.14%) DICOM
12 1 (0.14%) GMP
12 1 (0.14%) IFRS
12 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.14%) PMO
12 1 (0.14%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 91 (12.64%) Active Directory
2 30 (4.17%) Docker
2 30 (4.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (2.78%) Hyper-V
4 7 (0.97%) VMware Workstation
5 3 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.28%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 31 (4.31%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (4.03%) Kubernetes
3 26 (3.61%) Terraform
4 17 (2.36%) SCCM
5 11 (1.53%) Ansible
6 10 (1.39%) Grafana
6 10 (1.39%) Prometheus
7 8 (1.11%) Autotask
8 7 (0.97%) FortiGate
9 4 (0.56%) Argo
9 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.42%) Cisco CUCM
10 3 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.42%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.28%) Nagios
11 2 (0.28%) Podman
12 1 (0.14%) Istio
12 1 (0.14%) McAfee ePO
12 1 (0.14%) SCVMM
12 1 (0.14%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 247 (34.31%) Microsoft
2 33 (4.58%) VMware
3 29 (4.03%) SAP
4 16 (2.22%) Google
5 13 (1.81%) Cisco
6 12 (1.67%) Oracle
7 11 (1.53%) HubSpot
8 10 (1.39%) Aruba
8 10 (1.39%) iManage
9 9 (1.25%) ServiceNow
10 8 (1.11%) Adobe
10 8 (1.11%) Apple
10 8 (1.11%) Meraki
10 8 (1.11%) Salesforce
11 7 (0.97%) ESET
11 7 (0.97%) SonicWALL
11 7 (0.97%) Sophos
11 7 (0.97%) Workday
12 6 (0.83%) Intapp
12 6 (0.83%) Juniper