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

6 months to
5 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 7 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 -3 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,048 1,017 1,110
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 8.10% 19.39% 14.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.11% 21.67% 18.54%
Number of salaries quoted 756 504 387
10th Percentile £26,650 £26,288 £26,750
25th Percentile £32,642 £33,125 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £48,979 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.12% +8.84% -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £54,573 £58,943
90th Percentile £73,750 £67,500 £73,750
England median annual salary £46,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +2.22% -14.29% -4.55%

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 9,429 4,693 5,988
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.88% 89.49% 79.73%
Number of salaries quoted 7,013 2,205 3,186
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,346 £30,875
25th Percentile £41,250 £35,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -0.99% -8.18%
75th Percentile £75,000 £64,473 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £78,750 £78,750
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.64%

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 October 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 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
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester -4 594 £47,500 +5.56% 561
Merseyside -1 170 £42,500 -19.81% 117
Cheshire -9 155 £45,000 -15.09% 148
Lancashire +8 95 £42,500 -10.70% 158
Cumbria -9 22 £31,250 -12.84% 31
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 85 (8.11%) SharePoint
2 50 (4.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.15%) IIS
4 7 (0.67%) Apache Airflow
4 7 (0.67%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.38%) Apache
5 4 (0.38%) Confluence
6 3 (0.29%) CMS
6 3 (0.29%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
7 2 (0.19%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.19%) nginx
7 2 (0.19%) Sitecore CMS
8 1 (0.095%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.095%) SharePoint Server
8 1 (0.095%) Umbraco
8 1 (0.095%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.095%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.095%) WordPress
Applications
1 65 (6.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 61 (5.82%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.43%) MS Visio
4 6 (0.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.19%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.19%) Windchill
8 1 (0.095%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.095%) Revit
8 1 (0.095%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 18 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.67%) SAP ERP
4 4 (0.38%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.38%) NetSuite
4 4 (0.38%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.29%) Dynamics AX
5 3 (0.29%) Oracle Cash Management
5 3 (0.29%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.29%) Payment Gateway
5 3 (0.29%) Salesforce CRM
5 3 (0.29%) SAP PP
6 2 (0.19%) Elite 3E
6 2 (0.19%) Magento
6 2 (0.19%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.19%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.095%) Odoo
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Assets
7 1 (0.095%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 194 (18.51%) Azure
2 160 (15.27%) Microsoft 365
3 114 (10.88%) AWS
4 107 (10.21%) Power Platform
5 49 (4.68%) PowerApps
6 46 (4.39%) Entra ID
7 41 (3.91%) SaaS
8 38 (3.63%) GitHub
8 38 (3.63%) Microsoft Copilot
9 37 (3.53%) GCP
10 36 (3.44%) OneDrive
10 36 (3.44%) Power Automate
11 26 (2.48%) Azure DevOps
12 20 (1.91%) Serverless
13 19 (1.81%) Dynamics 365
13 19 (1.81%) Microsoft Purview
14 17 (1.62%) Copilot Studio
15 12 (1.15%) Azure Data Factory
16 11 (1.05%) GitHub Actions
16 11 (1.05%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 71 (6.77%) DNS
2 57 (5.44%) DHCP
3 55 (5.25%) Firewall
4 41 (3.91%) VPN
5 37 (3.53%) TCP/IP
6 29 (2.77%) Wireless
7 25 (2.39%) Network Security
7 25 (2.39%) VLAN
8 22 (2.10%) VoIP
9 21 (2.00%) Wi-Fi
10 18 (1.72%) LAN
11 16 (1.53%) WAN
12 12 (1.15%) Broadband
12 12 (1.15%) Unified Communications
13 10 (0.95%) BGP
13 10 (0.95%) SD-WAN
14 8 (0.76%) SNMP
15 7 (0.67%) OSPF
16 6 (0.57%) Cisco Firepower
17 5 (0.48%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 61 (5.82%) Power BI
2 53 (5.06%) SQL Server
3 23 (2.19%) MySQL
4 22 (2.10%) Data Warehouse
5 20 (1.91%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 14 (1.34%) BigQuery
7 11 (1.05%) Power Query
8 10 (0.95%) Amazon Redshift
8 10 (0.95%) Big Data
8 10 (0.95%) NoSQL
9 8 (0.76%) Looker
9 8 (0.76%) MongoDB
9 8 (0.76%) Redis
10 7 (0.67%) Data Lake
10 7 (0.67%) Electronic Patient Records
10 7 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
10 7 (0.67%) Relational Database
11 6 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
11 6 (0.57%) MariaDB
11 6 (0.57%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 41 (3.91%) Git
2 36 (3.44%) JIRA
3 16 (1.53%) GitLab
4 15 (1.43%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.67%) Bitbucket
5 7 (0.67%) Cypress.io
6 5 (0.48%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.38%) Claude Code
7 4 (0.38%) Robot Framework
8 3 (0.29%) Selenium
8 3 (0.29%) Visual Studio Code
9 2 (0.19%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.19%) Vagrant
10 1 (0.095%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.095%) Gemini Tracker
10 1 (0.095%) gulp
10 1 (0.095%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.095%) Rational Rhapsody
10 1 (0.095%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.095%) webpack
General
1 419 (39.98%) Social Skills
2 324 (30.92%) Analytical Skills
3 189 (18.03%) Finance
4 90 (8.59%) Law
5 84 (8.02%) Manufacturing
6 77 (7.35%) Organisational Skills
7 73 (6.97%) Retail
8 71 (6.77%) Legal
9 62 (5.92%) Telecoms
10 51 (4.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 38 (3.63%) Marketing
12 31 (2.96%) Public Sector
13 27 (2.58%) Military
14 18 (1.72%) Aerospace
14 18 (1.72%) Electronics
15 17 (1.62%) Banking
16 16 (1.53%) Documentation Skills
17 15 (1.43%) Automotive
17 15 (1.43%) Billing
18 13 (1.24%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 157 (14.98%) Analyst
2 137 (13.07%) Senior
3 117 (11.16%) Developer
4 66 (6.30%) IT Support
5 53 (5.06%) Support Engineer
6 49 (4.68%) Support Analyst
7 46 (4.39%) Lead
8 44 (4.20%) Senior Developer
9 42 (4.01%) Consultant
10 39 (3.72%) Software Engineer
11 32 (3.05%) Administrator
12 28 (2.67%) IT Engineer
12 28 (2.67%) Junior
13 26 (2.48%) Support Technician
14 25 (2.39%) Data Engineer
14 25 (2.39%) IT Manager
14 25 (2.39%) IT Support Engineer
15 24 (2.29%) Applications Support
16 23 (2.19%) Architect
16 23 (2.19%) IT Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (4.68%) .NET
2 46 (4.39%) React
3 43 (4.10%) HTML
4 37 (3.53%) REST
5 32 (3.05%) Terraform
6 22 (2.10%) Middleware
7 20 (1.91%) CSS
8 19 (1.81%) Vue
9 17 (1.62%) AngularJS
9 17 (1.62%) Spring
10 16 (1.53%) Kafka
10 16 (1.53%) Node.js
11 15 (1.43%) Spring Boot
11 15 (1.43%) XML
12 13 (1.24%) SOAP
13 12 (1.15%) EDI
14 11 (1.05%) JSON
14 11 (1.05%) Next.js
14 11 (1.05%) Web Services
15 10 (0.95%) Microsoft Graph
Miscellaneous
1 82 (7.82%) Driving Licence
2 68 (6.49%) Onboarding
3 49 (4.68%) Self-Motivation
4 38 (3.63%) Product Ownership
5 37 (3.53%) Management Information System
6 34 (3.24%) Cloud Native
7 26 (2.48%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 22 (2.10%) Enterprise Software
9 20 (1.91%) IoT
10 19 (1.81%) Security Posture
11 18 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
11 18 (1.72%) NHS
12 17 (1.62%) FMCG
13 14 (1.34%) Data Centre
13 14 (1.34%) Replication
14 13 (1.24%) Public Cloud
15 12 (1.15%) Mobile App
16 11 (1.05%) Low-Code
17 9 (0.86%) AI Agents
17 9 (0.86%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 131 (12.50%) Windows
2 58 (5.53%) Windows Server
3 40 (3.82%) Linux
4 21 (2.00%) Windows 10
5 15 (1.43%) Apple iOS
6 9 (0.86%) Mac OS
6 9 (0.86%) Windows Server 2016
7 8 (0.76%) Android
8 7 (0.67%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.38%) Unix
10 1 (0.095%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.095%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.095%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.095%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 314 (29.96%) Continuous Improvement
2 194 (18.51%) Customer Service
3 158 (15.08%) Agile
3 158 (15.08%) AI
4 146 (13.93%) Stakeholder Management
5 140 (13.36%) Mentoring
6 118 (11.26%) CI/CD
6 118 (11.26%) Decision-Making
7 104 (9.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 101 (9.64%) Analytics
9 97 (9.26%) DevOps
10 96 (9.16%) CRM
10 96 (9.16%) ERP
11 95 (9.06%) Collaborative Working
12 93 (8.87%) Software Engineering
13 87 (8.30%) Project Delivery
14 80 (7.63%) Roadmaps
15 75 (7.16%) User Acceptance Testing
16 69 (6.58%) Cybersecurity
16 69 (6.58%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 170 (16.22%) SQL
2 130 (12.40%) Python
3 71 (6.77%) JavaScript
4 63 (6.01%) C#
5 50 (4.77%) Java
6 48 (4.58%) PowerShell
7 32 (3.05%) TypeScript
8 22 (2.10%) Bash
9 18 (1.72%) PHP
10 14 (1.34%) C++
11 13 (1.24%) Shell Script
12 11 (1.05%) T-SQL
13 8 (0.76%) C
13 8 (0.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 8 (0.76%) Go
13 8 (0.76%) Ruby
14 6 (0.57%) R
15 5 (0.48%) ActionScript
15 5 (0.48%) Apex Code
15 5 (0.48%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 144 (13.74%) Degree
2 66 (6.30%) Security Cleared
3 42 (4.01%) SC Cleared
4 37 (3.53%) HNC
5 35 (3.34%) DBS Check
6 24 (2.29%) DV Cleared
6 24 (2.29%) Microsoft Certification
7 22 (2.10%) Computer Science Degree
8 14 (1.34%) Azure Certification
8 14 (1.34%) CCNP
8 14 (1.34%) Cisco Certification
8 14 (1.34%) Master's Degree
9 13 (1.24%) BPSS Clearance
9 13 (1.24%) HND
10 9 (0.86%) ITIL Certification
11 8 (0.76%) ACCA
11 8 (0.76%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 7 (0.67%) CIMA
12 7 (0.67%) Postgraduate
13 6 (0.57%) Chartered Engineer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (5.25%) Data Quality
2 50 (4.77%) Accessibility
3 40 (3.82%) QA
4 35 (3.34%) GDPR
5 16 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 13 (1.24%) SLA
7 9 (0.86%) NIST
8 8 (0.76%) TickIT
9 6 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (0.48%) NEBOSH
10 5 (0.48%) PMO
11 4 (0.38%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 14443
11 4 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 7816
12 3 (0.29%) IFRS
13 2 (0.19%) Good Clinical Practice
13 2 (0.19%) WCAG
14 1 (0.095%) GxP
14 1 (0.095%) HIPAA
14 1 (0.095%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 102 (9.73%) Active Directory
2 48 (4.58%) Docker
3 26 (2.48%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (1.72%) Hyper-V
5 9 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.48%) Firmware
6 5 (0.48%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.095%) DFS Replication
Systems Management
1 41 (3.91%) Kubernetes
2 34 (3.24%) Microsoft Intune
3 20 (1.91%) BMC PATROL
4 13 (1.24%) FortiGate
5 12 (1.15%) Grafana
6 11 (1.05%) Single Sign-On
7 9 (0.86%) Prometheus
8 7 (0.67%) Ansible
9 5 (0.48%) Argo
10 4 (0.38%) Microsoft Clustering
11 2 (0.19%) Nagios
11 2 (0.19%) Nessus
11 2 (0.19%) Packer
11 2 (0.19%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.19%) SCCM
11 2 (0.19%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 1 (0.095%) Istio
12 1 (0.095%) linkerd
12 1 (0.095%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 1 (0.095%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 340 (32.44%) Microsoft
2 41 (3.91%) SAP
3 40 (3.82%) VMware
4 30 (2.86%) Google
5 24 (2.29%) Cisco
6 22 (2.10%) Sage
7 21 (2.00%) YouTube
8 16 (1.53%) Oracle
8 16 (1.53%) ServiceNow
9 15 (1.43%) Aruba
9 15 (1.43%) Civica
9 15 (1.43%) Salesforce
10 13 (1.24%) iManage
11 10 (0.95%) Databricks
11 10 (0.95%) Juniper
12 9 (0.86%) Aderant
12 9 (0.86%) OpenAI
13 8 (0.76%) Fortinet
13 8 (0.76%) HubSpot
13 8 (0.76%) Tanium