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 5 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -16 +4 +16
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 732 781 966
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 9.28% 18.73% 13.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.04% 19.89% 15.62%
Number of salaries quoted 565 471 715
10th Percentile £27,250 £30,500 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,780 £36,250 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £53,000 £65,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £65,000 £78,750 £73,350
England median annual salary £45,497 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -17.28% +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 6,078 3,927 6,183
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 77.03% 94.20% 85.40%
Number of salaries quoted 3,286 2,059 5,007
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,620 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £53,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.66% +6.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £67,500 £67,750 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,550 £81,250
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 5 March 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 5 March 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 -19 304 £47,500 -9.52% 198
Merseyside +2 136 £41,000 +26.15% 36
Cheshire -12 132 £48,720 +21.80% 72
Lancashire -11 113 £40,000 -23.81% 68
Cumbria +5 46 £45,000 +11.11% 17
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 49 (6.69%) SharePoint
2 25 (3.42%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.37%) Confluence
4 6 (0.82%) WordPress
5 4 (0.55%) Moodle
5 4 (0.55%) Totara
6 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.14%) Apache Solr
7 1 (0.14%) CMS
7 1 (0.14%) nginx
Applications
1 41 (5.60%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (3.42%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.41%) Simulink
4 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.27%) Revit
5 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (1.09%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.82%) SAP Business One
2 6 (0.82%) Workday HCM
3 5 (0.68%) Shopify
4 4 (0.55%) SAP ERP
5 2 (0.27%) Magento
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.14%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.14%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.14%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.14%) Primavera
6 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 140 (19.13%) Azure
2 119 (16.26%) Microsoft 365
3 66 (9.02%) AWS
4 55 (7.51%) Entra ID
5 52 (7.10%) Power Platform
6 34 (4.64%) GCP
7 32 (4.37%) SaaS
8 14 (1.91%) OneDrive
8 14 (1.91%) Power Automate
9 13 (1.78%) Microsoft Purview
9 13 (1.78%) Serverless
10 10 (1.37%) Azure Monitor
10 10 (1.37%) Google Workspace
11 9 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
11 9 (1.23%) Dynamics 365
12 8 (1.09%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.09%) PaaS
12 8 (1.09%) PowerApps
13 7 (0.96%) Adobe Analytics
13 7 (0.96%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 49 (6.69%) Firewall
2 33 (4.51%) DNS
3 31 (4.23%) DHCP
4 23 (3.14%) VLAN
5 22 (3.01%) VPN
6 21 (2.87%) Wi-Fi
7 18 (2.46%) VoIP
8 17 (2.32%) TCP/IP
8 17 (2.32%) WAN
9 16 (2.19%) Unified Communications
10 14 (1.91%) Telepresence
10 14 (1.91%) WebEx
11 13 (1.78%) Wireless
12 11 (1.50%) Structured Cabling
13 10 (1.37%) SD-WAN
14 9 (1.23%) Broadband
15 8 (1.09%) LAN
16 5 (0.68%) Ethernet
17 4 (0.55%) Internet
17 4 (0.55%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (5.19%) Power BI
2 18 (2.46%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.05%) NoSQL
4 11 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (1.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 11 (1.50%) Tableau
5 10 (1.37%) MongoDB
6 8 (1.09%) MySQL
7 6 (0.82%) Crystal Reports
8 5 (0.68%) Amazon Redshift
8 5 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
8 5 (0.68%) Elasticsearch
8 5 (0.68%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.55%) DynamoDB
10 3 (0.41%) BigQuery
10 3 (0.41%) Data Warehouse
10 3 (0.41%) Looker
11 2 (0.27%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.27%) Data Mart
11 2 (0.27%) Hadoop
Development Applications
1 24 (3.28%) Git
2 13 (1.78%) JIRA
3 7 (0.96%) GitLab
4 3 (0.41%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.14%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 309 (42.21%) Social Skills
2 174 (23.77%) Analytical Skills
3 149 (20.36%) Finance
4 58 (7.92%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.15%) Automotive
6 29 (3.96%) Legal
7 28 (3.83%) Manufacturing
7 28 (3.83%) Public Sector
8 24 (3.28%) Retail
8 24 (3.28%) Telecoms
9 22 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 22 (3.01%) Presentation Skills
10 16 (2.19%) Banking
10 16 (2.19%) Electronics
11 15 (2.05%) Law
12 14 (1.91%) Marketing
13 12 (1.64%) Advertising
14 11 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.50%) Influencing Skills
15 9 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 96 (13.11%) Analyst
2 90 (12.30%) IT Support
3 89 (12.16%) Support Engineer
4 70 (9.56%) Senior
5 46 (6.28%) IT Engineer
5 46 (6.28%) IT Support Engineer
6 36 (4.92%) Lead
7 34 (4.64%) Business Analyst
8 33 (4.51%) Developer
9 26 (3.55%) Support Technician
9 26 (3.55%) Trainee
10 24 (3.28%) Consultant
10 24 (3.28%) Trainee Analyst
10 24 (3.28%) Trainee Business Analyst
11 23 (3.14%) Architect
12 20 (2.73%) Solutions Architect
13 19 (2.60%) 1st Line Support
13 19 (2.60%) Technical Engineer
13 19 (2.60%) Technical Support
13 19 (2.60%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.87%) React
2 16 (2.19%) HTML
3 15 (2.05%) .NET
4 13 (1.78%) CSS
5 12 (1.64%) RESTful
5 12 (1.64%) Spring
5 12 (1.64%) Spring Boot
6 10 (1.37%) Vue
7 8 (1.09%) Node.js
8 7 (0.96%) Hibernate
9 6 (0.82%) Django
9 6 (0.82%) EDI
9 6 (0.82%) FastAPI
9 6 (0.82%) Laravel
10 5 (0.68%) AngularJS
10 5 (0.68%) Celery
10 5 (0.68%) Flask
11 4 (0.55%) OAuth2
11 4 (0.55%) REST
11 4 (0.55%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 190 (25.96%) Driving Licence
2 52 (7.10%) Onboarding
3 28 (3.83%) Self-Motivation
4 23 (3.14%) EPoS
5 22 (3.01%) Analytical Mindset
6 19 (2.60%) Enterprise Software
7 16 (2.19%) Data Centre
8 15 (2.05%) CCTV
9 14 (1.91%) Distributed Systems
10 12 (1.64%) Cloud Native
10 12 (1.64%) Product Ownership
11 10 (1.37%) Social Media
12 8 (1.09%) CMDB
12 8 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.09%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.09%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (0.96%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.82%) Greenfield Project
14 6 (0.82%) Mobile App
14 6 (0.82%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 118 (16.12%) Windows
2 46 (6.28%) Windows Server
3 30 (4.10%) Windows 10
4 21 (2.87%) Linux
5 16 (2.19%) Android
6 15 (2.05%) Apple iOS
7 10 (1.37%) Windows 7
7 10 (1.37%) Windows 8
8 9 (1.23%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.82%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Unix
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (15.16%) Customer Service
2 103 (14.07%) Continuous Improvement
3 93 (12.70%) Decision-Making
4 87 (11.89%) Agile
5 84 (11.48%) Mentoring
6 74 (10.11%) Stakeholder Management
7 66 (9.02%) AI
8 61 (8.33%) Project Management
9 57 (7.79%) Cybersecurity
10 52 (7.10%) Coaching
11 45 (6.15%) CI/CD
12 43 (5.87%) Analytics
12 43 (5.87%) ITIL
13 42 (5.74%) Business Intelligence
14 41 (5.60%) Service Delivery
15 39 (5.33%) DevOps
15 39 (5.33%) Visualisation
16 38 (5.19%) Process Improvement
17 37 (5.05%) User Experience
18 36 (4.92%) Collaborative Culture
Programming Languages
1 63 (8.61%) SQL
2 45 (6.15%) Python
3 22 (3.01%) Java
4 20 (2.73%) JavaScript
5 15 (2.05%) C#
6 10 (1.37%) PowerShell
6 10 (1.37%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.23%) PHP
8 8 (1.09%) Kotlin
9 4 (0.55%) Bash
9 4 (0.55%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.55%) MATLAB
10 3 (0.41%) Go
10 3 (0.41%) Ladder Logic
11 2 (0.27%) Bicep
11 2 (0.27%) C
11 2 (0.27%) R
11 2 (0.27%) Scala
11 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.27%) Swift
Qualifications
1 124 (16.94%) Degree
2 33 (4.51%) DBS Check
3 23 (3.14%) BPSS Clearance
4 15 (2.05%) Master's Degree
4 15 (2.05%) Security Cleared
5 12 (1.64%) HNC
6 10 (1.37%) Computer Science Degree
7 9 (1.23%) Azure Certification
7 9 (1.23%) Microsoft Certification
7 9 (1.23%) SC Cleared
8 8 (1.09%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (0.96%) NVQ Level 4
10 6 (0.82%) CompTIA Security+
11 5 (0.68%) HND
12 4 (0.55%) A+ Certification
12 4 (0.55%) ACCA
12 4 (0.55%) CCNA
12 4 (0.55%) CIMA
12 4 (0.55%) Cisco Certification
12 4 (0.55%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.55%) QA
2 20 (2.73%) GDPR
3 17 (2.32%) Data Quality
4 16 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 15 (2.05%) SLA
6 13 (1.78%) Cyber Essentials
7 8 (1.09%) Accessibility
7 8 (1.09%) ISO 9001
8 4 (0.55%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 4 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 4 (0.55%) GLBA
9 2 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.27%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.27%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
10 1 (0.14%) PMO
System Software
1 82 (11.20%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.14%) Docker
3 22 (3.01%) Hyper-V
4 12 (1.64%) VMware Infrastructure
5 9 (1.23%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.27%) Firmware
8 1 (0.14%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 42 (5.74%) BMC PATROL
2 41 (5.60%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.55%) Terraform
4 22 (3.01%) Kubernetes
5 20 (2.73%) SCCM
6 14 (1.91%) Cisco CUCM
7 10 (1.37%) Ansible
7 10 (1.37%) Autotask
7 10 (1.37%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.41%) cPanel
8 3 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
8 3 (0.41%) Plesk
8 3 (0.41%) Rancher
9 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.27%) Grafana
9 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.14%) Argo
10 1 (0.14%) AWS Copilot
10 1 (0.14%) McAfee ePO
10 1 (0.14%) Podman
Vendors
1 164 (22.40%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.14%) Oracle
3 20 (2.73%) SAP
4 18 (2.46%) Cisco
5 15 (2.05%) Google
5 15 (2.05%) VMware
5 15 (2.05%) Workday
6 10 (1.37%) ESET
7 9 (1.23%) HubSpot
8 8 (1.09%) Apple
8 8 (1.09%) New Relic
8 8 (1.09%) ServiceNow
8 8 (1.09%) Siemens
8 8 (1.09%) Splunk
9 7 (0.96%) Adobe
9 7 (0.96%) Qualtrics
10 6 (0.82%) BiZZdesign
10 6 (0.82%) iManage
11 5 (0.68%) Epicor
11 5 (0.68%) Facebook