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 3 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -6 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 835 1,037 1,163
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.17% 20.04% 13.89%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.02% 22.06% 17.91%
Number of salaries quoted 655 513 583
10th Percentile £26,700 £25,017 £27,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £46,000 £46,250
Median % change year-on-year -2.17% -0.54% -2.63%
75th Percentile £60,250 £61,250 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £76,250
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -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 8,332 4,700 6,495
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 71.58% 90.82% 77.59%
Number of salaries quoted 6,366 2,297 4,459
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -3.85% -5.45%
75th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £65,603
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -11.29%

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 3 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 3 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 -10 440 £50,000 - 229
Merseyside -5 146 £42,500 -7.61% 47
Cheshire -9 139 £41,000 +9.33% 92
Lancashire +1 72 £40,000 +18.64% 67
Cumbria -9 32 £32,500 -4.83% 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 74 (8.86%) SharePoint
2 56 (6.71%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.32%) IIS
4 5 (0.60%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.60%) Confluence
5 3 (0.36%) Moodle
5 3 (0.36%) Totara
6 2 (0.24%) Apache
6 2 (0.24%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.24%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.24%) nginx
6 2 (0.24%) WordPress
7 1 (0.12%) CMS
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.12%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 49 (5.87%) Microsoft Excel
2 35 (4.19%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.92%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.60%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.24%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.24%) Windchill
7 1 (0.12%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.12%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 22 (2.63%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.56%) SAP ERP
3 8 (0.96%) Dynamics CRM
4 6 (0.72%) Magento
5 4 (0.48%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.48%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.36%) NEC Housing
6 3 (0.36%) Shopify
7 2 (0.24%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.12%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.12%) Odoo
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.12%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 189 (22.63%) Azure
2 163 (19.52%) Microsoft 365
3 98 (11.74%) AWS
3 98 (11.74%) Power Platform
4 43 (5.15%) PowerApps
5 35 (4.19%) GCP
6 34 (4.07%) Power Automate
7 32 (3.83%) SaaS
8 29 (3.47%) Dynamics 365
8 29 (3.47%) Entra ID
9 28 (3.35%) Azure DevOps
9 28 (3.35%) GitHub
9 28 (3.35%) Microsoft Copilot
10 26 (3.11%) OneDrive
11 22 (2.63%) Microsoft Purview
12 15 (1.80%) Serverless
13 12 (1.44%) Boomi
14 11 (1.32%) Snowflake
15 10 (1.20%) Copilot Studio
16 9 (1.08%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 66 (7.90%) Firewall
2 52 (6.23%) DNS
3 48 (5.75%) DHCP
4 39 (4.67%) TCP/IP
5 36 (4.31%) VPN
6 30 (3.59%) VLAN
7 29 (3.47%) Wireless
8 27 (3.23%) Wi-Fi
9 26 (3.11%) VoIP
10 21 (2.51%) Network Security
11 19 (2.28%) WAN
12 18 (2.16%) LAN
13 17 (2.04%) Broadband
14 11 (1.32%) SD-WAN
14 11 (1.32%) Structured Cabling
15 6 (0.72%) BGP
15 6 (0.72%) IP Telephony
15 6 (0.72%) OSPF
15 6 (0.72%) SAN
15 6 (0.72%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 59 (7.07%) Power BI
2 47 (5.63%) SQL Server
3 31 (3.71%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 20 (2.40%) Data Warehouse
4 20 (2.40%) MySQL
5 11 (1.32%) NoSQL
6 10 (1.20%) Big Data
6 10 (1.20%) PostgreSQL
7 9 (1.08%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (0.84%) MongoDB
9 6 (0.72%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.72%) BigQuery
9 6 (0.72%) Redis
9 6 (0.72%) Tableau
10 5 (0.60%) Electronic Patient Records
10 5 (0.60%) Looker
10 5 (0.60%) Power Query
11 4 (0.48%) Elasticsearch
11 4 (0.48%) MariaDB
11 4 (0.48%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 34 (4.07%) Git
2 30 (3.59%) JIRA
3 10 (1.20%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.84%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.60%) GitLab
6 4 (0.48%) Cucumber
6 4 (0.48%) Cypress.io
6 4 (0.48%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.36%) Claude Code
7 3 (0.36%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.24%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 1 (0.12%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.12%) gulp
9 1 (0.12%) LabVIEW
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.12%) Rational Rhapsody
9 1 (0.12%) webpack
General
1 325 (38.92%) Social Skills
2 242 (28.98%) Analytical Skills
3 122 (14.61%) Finance
4 69 (8.26%) Manufacturing
5 66 (7.90%) Law
6 58 (6.95%) Organisational Skills
7 51 (6.11%) Legal
8 39 (4.67%) Retail
9 33 (3.95%) Marketing
10 25 (2.99%) Public Sector
11 24 (2.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 21 (2.51%) Telecoms
13 15 (1.80%) Banking
14 14 (1.68%) Games
15 13 (1.56%) Aerospace
15 13 (1.56%) Documentation Skills
16 9 (1.08%) Investment Banking
17 8 (0.96%) Advertising
17 8 (0.96%) Automotive
17 8 (0.96%) Billing
Job Titles
1 119 (14.25%) Senior
2 113 (13.53%) Developer
3 108 (12.93%) Analyst
4 72 (8.62%) IT Support
5 63 (7.54%) Support Engineer
6 45 (5.39%) Lead
7 43 (5.15%) Consultant
8 42 (5.03%) Senior Developer
9 41 (4.91%) Software Engineer
10 38 (4.55%) IT Engineer
10 38 (4.55%) Support Technician
11 35 (4.19%) IT Support Engineer
12 28 (3.35%) Support Analyst
13 24 (2.87%) Administrator
13 24 (2.87%) IT Technician
14 22 (2.63%) Technical Analyst
15 21 (2.51%) IT Support Technician
16 20 (2.40%) Junior
17 18 (2.16%) Business Analyst
17 18 (2.16%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (5.99%) .NET
2 43 (5.15%) React
3 42 (5.03%) HTML
4 35 (4.19%) REST
5 24 (2.87%) AngularJS
5 24 (2.87%) Middleware
6 22 (2.63%) CSS
6 22 (2.63%) Spring
6 22 (2.63%) Vue
7 20 (2.40%) Spring Boot
8 17 (2.04%) EDI
8 17 (2.04%) SOAP
8 17 (2.04%) XML
9 13 (1.56%) JSON
9 13 (1.56%) Node.js
10 11 (1.32%) Next.js
10 11 (1.32%) Web Services
11 10 (1.20%) React Native
11 10 (1.20%) RESTful
12 9 (1.08%) Laravel
Miscellaneous
1 61 (7.31%) Driving Licence
2 50 (5.99%) Onboarding
3 34 (4.07%) Product Ownership
4 32 (3.83%) Cloud Native
5 28 (3.35%) Self-Motivation
6 19 (2.28%) Distributed Systems
7 16 (1.92%) Management Information System
8 14 (1.68%) Data Centre
8 14 (1.68%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 14 (1.68%) Mobile App
9 13 (1.56%) Security Posture
10 12 (1.44%) Replication
11 11 (1.32%) CCTV
12 9 (1.08%) Enterprise Cloud
12 9 (1.08%) NHS
13 8 (0.96%) AI Agents
13 8 (0.96%) CMDB
13 8 (0.96%) IoT
14 7 (0.84%) Analytical Mindset
14 7 (0.84%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 136 (16.29%) Windows
2 65 (7.78%) Windows Server
3 36 (4.31%) Windows 10
4 31 (3.71%) Linux
5 17 (2.04%) Apple iOS
6 12 (1.44%) Android
7 8 (0.96%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.60%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.48%) Unix
9 4 (0.48%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.48%) Windows 8
10 3 (0.36%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.24%) Solaris
12 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.12%) VME
12 1 (0.12%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 218 (26.11%) Continuous Improvement
2 183 (21.92%) Customer Service
3 115 (13.77%) Mentoring
4 106 (12.69%) Agile
4 106 (12.69%) Stakeholder Management
5 95 (11.38%) CI/CD
5 95 (11.38%) Decision-Making
6 93 (11.14%) AI
7 85 (10.18%) CRM
8 81 (9.70%) Roadmaps
9 80 (9.58%) DevOps
10 78 (9.34%) Software Engineering
11 72 (8.62%) Analytics
12 70 (8.38%) ERP
13 68 (8.14%) User Experience
14 60 (7.19%) Collaborative Working
15 54 (6.47%) Business Intelligence
16 52 (6.23%) Test Automation
17 49 (5.87%) Cybersecurity
18 46 (5.51%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 155 (18.56%) SQL
2 105 (12.57%) Python
3 64 (7.66%) C#
4 58 (6.95%) JavaScript
5 42 (5.03%) Java
6 28 (3.35%) PowerShell
7 20 (2.40%) TypeScript
8 17 (2.04%) PHP
9 15 (1.80%) Bash
9 15 (1.80%) C++
10 11 (1.32%) Shell Script
11 10 (1.20%) T-SQL
12 8 (0.96%) Ruby
13 7 (0.84%) C
14 6 (0.72%) R
15 5 (0.60%) Apex Code
15 5 (0.60%) Bicep
15 5 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 5 (0.60%) Go
15 5 (0.60%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 99 (11.86%) Degree
2 48 (5.75%) Security Cleared
3 25 (2.99%) SC Cleared
4 23 (2.75%) Microsoft Certification
5 18 (2.16%) BPSS Clearance
5 18 (2.16%) DBS Check
5 18 (2.16%) DV Cleared
6 16 (1.92%) Cisco Certification
6 16 (1.92%) HNC
7 15 (1.80%) Computer Science Degree
8 12 (1.44%) CCNP
9 11 (1.32%) Azure Certification
10 9 (1.08%) Master's Degree
11 8 (0.96%) CCNA
12 7 (0.84%) MCSA
12 7 (0.84%) Postgraduate
13 6 (0.72%) ACCA
13 6 (0.72%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.60%) CIMA
15 4 (0.48%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (5.27%) Data Quality
2 37 (4.43%) QA
3 34 (4.07%) GDPR
4 30 (3.59%) Accessibility
5 26 (3.11%) SLA
6 16 (1.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 12 (1.44%) TickIT
8 8 (0.96%) NIST
9 5 (0.60%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 14443
10 4 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 7816
11 2 (0.24%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.24%) PMO
11 2 (0.24%) WCAG
12 1 (0.12%) DICOM
12 1 (0.12%) GMP
12 1 (0.12%) IFRS
12 1 (0.12%) IFRS 9
12 1 (0.12%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 97 (11.62%) Active Directory
2 40 (4.79%) Docker
3 37 (4.43%) VMware Infrastructure
4 23 (2.75%) Hyper-V
5 6 (0.72%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.48%) VMware Workstation
7 3 (0.36%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.24%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 33 (3.95%) Kubernetes
2 32 (3.83%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (2.75%) Terraform
4 14 (1.68%) Grafana
5 12 (1.44%) FortiGate
6 11 (1.32%) Prometheus
6 11 (1.32%) SCCM
7 9 (1.08%) Ansible
8 5 (0.60%) Autotask
9 4 (0.48%) Argo
9 4 (0.48%) Microsoft Clustering
9 4 (0.48%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.36%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.24%) Nagios
11 2 (0.24%) Nessus
11 2 (0.24%) Podman
12 1 (0.12%) Istio
12 1 (0.12%) linkerd
12 1 (0.12%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 1 (0.12%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 295 (35.33%) Microsoft
2 43 (5.15%) VMware
3 29 (3.47%) SAP
4 23 (2.75%) Google
5 16 (1.92%) Cisco
6 15 (1.80%) ServiceNow
7 13 (1.56%) iManage
8 12 (1.44%) Salesforce
9 11 (1.32%) Aruba
10 10 (1.20%) Adobe
11 9 (1.08%) HubSpot
11 9 (1.08%) Oracle
11 9 (1.08%) SonicWALL
11 9 (1.08%) Sophos
12 8 (0.96%) Aderant
12 8 (0.96%) Meraki
12 8 (0.96%) Tanium
13 7 (0.84%) Juniper
13 7 (0.84%) OpenAI
14 6 (0.72%) Intapp