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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -7 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 796 1,034 1,237
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.93% 20.09% 13.87%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.71% 22.04% 17.71%
Number of salaries quoted 627 511 662
10th Percentile £26,500 £25,000 £26,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,250 £46,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -1.63% -3.16% -
75th Percentile £60,875 £61,250 £62,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £74,875
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 8,195 4,691 6,984
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 71.34% 91.16% 78.33%
Number of salaries quoted 6,271 2,290 4,928
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £29,175
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £39,390
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,055 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.88% -1.85% -7.27%
75th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £65,603
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,325 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £56,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +6.19% +2.73% -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 28 July 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 28 July 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 -12 420 £50,000 - 168
Cheshire -10 135 £41,000 +9.33% 75
Merseyside -7 134 £42,500 -5.03% 46
Lancashire -3 71 £40,000 +18.64% 64
Cumbria -10 30 £32,500 -0.31% 9
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 71 (8.92%) SharePoint
2 54 (6.78%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.38%) IIS
4 5 (0.63%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.63%) Confluence
5 3 (0.38%) Moodle
5 3 (0.38%) Totara
6 2 (0.25%) Apache
6 2 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.25%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.25%) nginx
6 2 (0.25%) WordPress
7 1 (0.13%) CMS
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.13%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 48 (6.03%) Microsoft Excel
2 32 (4.02%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.88%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.63%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (0.25%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.25%) Windchill
7 1 (0.13%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.13%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 22 (2.76%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.63%) SAP ERP
3 7 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
4 6 (0.75%) Magento
5 4 (0.50%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.50%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.38%) Shopify
7 2 (0.25%) Dynamics NAV
7 2 (0.25%) NEC Housing
8 1 (0.13%) Odoo
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.13%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.13%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 186 (23.37%) Azure
2 162 (20.35%) Microsoft 365
3 97 (12.19%) AWS
4 95 (11.93%) Power Platform
5 43 (5.40%) PowerApps
6 33 (4.15%) Power Automate
7 31 (3.89%) GCP
8 30 (3.77%) SaaS
9 28 (3.52%) Dynamics 365
10 27 (3.39%) Entra ID
10 27 (3.39%) GitHub
10 27 (3.39%) Microsoft Copilot
11 26 (3.27%) Azure DevOps
12 24 (3.02%) OneDrive
13 21 (2.64%) Microsoft Purview
14 16 (2.01%) Serverless
15 12 (1.51%) Boomi
16 10 (1.26%) Copilot Studio
17 9 (1.13%) Azure Data Factory
17 9 (1.13%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 67 (8.42%) Firewall
2 51 (6.41%) DNS
3 47 (5.90%) DHCP
4 37 (4.65%) TCP/IP
5 36 (4.52%) VPN
6 31 (3.89%) VLAN
7 27 (3.39%) Wi-Fi
7 27 (3.39%) Wireless
8 25 (3.14%) VoIP
9 21 (2.64%) Network Security
10 18 (2.26%) WAN
11 17 (2.14%) Broadband
11 17 (2.14%) LAN
12 11 (1.38%) SD-WAN
12 11 (1.38%) Structured Cabling
13 6 (0.75%) IP Telephony
13 6 (0.75%) SAN
14 5 (0.63%) BGP
14 5 (0.63%) OSPF
14 5 (0.63%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 57 (7.16%) Power BI
2 45 (5.65%) SQL Server
3 32 (4.02%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 19 (2.39%) Data Warehouse
4 19 (2.39%) MySQL
5 10 (1.26%) Big Data
5 10 (1.26%) NoSQL
5 10 (1.26%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 6 (0.75%) MongoDB
7 6 (0.75%) Redis
7 6 (0.75%) Tableau
8 5 (0.63%) Amazon Redshift
8 5 (0.63%) Power Query
9 4 (0.50%) BigQuery
9 4 (0.50%) Elasticsearch
9 4 (0.50%) Looker
9 4 (0.50%) MariaDB
9 4 (0.50%) Neo4j
10 3 (0.38%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 30 (3.77%) Git
2 28 (3.52%) JIRA
3 9 (1.13%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.75%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.63%) GitLab
6 4 (0.50%) Cucumber
6 4 (0.50%) Cypress.io
6 4 (0.50%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.38%) Claude Code
8 2 (0.25%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.25%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.13%) gulp
9 1 (0.13%) LabVIEW
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.13%) Rational Rhapsody
9 1 (0.13%) webpack
General
1 313 (39.32%) Social Skills
2 221 (27.76%) Analytical Skills
3 118 (14.82%) Finance
4 67 (8.42%) Manufacturing
5 62 (7.79%) Law
6 53 (6.66%) Organisational Skills
7 45 (5.65%) Legal
8 37 (4.65%) Retail
9 32 (4.02%) Marketing
10 26 (3.27%) Public Sector
11 18 (2.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 18 (2.26%) Telecoms
12 15 (1.88%) Banking
13 14 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
14 13 (1.63%) Games
15 10 (1.26%) Aerospace
16 9 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
16 9 (1.13%) Investment Banking
17 7 (0.88%) Advertising
17 7 (0.88%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 112 (14.07%) Senior
2 109 (13.69%) Developer
3 102 (12.81%) Analyst
4 75 (9.42%) IT Support
5 65 (8.17%) Support Engineer
6 44 (5.53%) Lead
7 41 (5.15%) Consultant
7 41 (5.15%) IT Engineer
7 41 (5.15%) Senior Developer
8 39 (4.90%) IT Support Engineer
8 39 (4.90%) Software Engineer
9 36 (4.52%) Support Technician
10 25 (3.14%) Support Analyst
11 21 (2.64%) Administrator
11 21 (2.64%) IT Technician
11 21 (2.64%) Technical Analyst
12 19 (2.39%) Business Analyst
12 19 (2.39%) IT Support Technician
13 18 (2.26%) Architect
13 18 (2.26%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (6.16%) .NET
2 42 (5.28%) React
3 41 (5.15%) HTML
4 33 (4.15%) REST
5 24 (3.02%) AngularJS
6 23 (2.89%) Middleware
6 23 (2.89%) Spring
7 22 (2.76%) CSS
7 22 (2.76%) Vue
8 21 (2.64%) Spring Boot
9 17 (2.14%) EDI
10 16 (2.01%) SOAP
10 16 (2.01%) XML
11 13 (1.63%) JSON
11 13 (1.63%) Node.js
12 11 (1.38%) Next.js
12 11 (1.38%) Web Services
13 10 (1.26%) React Native
14 9 (1.13%) Laravel
14 9 (1.13%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 61 (7.66%) Driving Licence
2 47 (5.90%) Onboarding
3 33 (4.15%) Product Ownership
4 32 (4.02%) Cloud Native
5 24 (3.02%) Self-Motivation
6 20 (2.51%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (1.88%) Data Centre
7 15 (1.88%) Mobile App
8 14 (1.76%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 13 (1.63%) Security Posture
10 12 (1.51%) Management Information System
11 11 (1.38%) CCTV
12 10 (1.26%) Replication
13 9 (1.13%) Enterprise Cloud
14 8 (1.01%) AI Agents
15 7 (0.88%) Analytical Mindset
15 7 (0.88%) Low-Code
15 7 (0.88%) Social Media
16 6 (0.75%) Hybrid Cloud
16 6 (0.75%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 135 (16.96%) Windows
2 66 (8.29%) Windows Server
3 39 (4.90%) Windows 10
4 28 (3.52%) Linux
5 18 (2.26%) Apple iOS
6 13 (1.63%) Android
7 6 (0.75%) Mac OS
7 6 (0.75%) Windows Server 2016
8 5 (0.63%) Windows 7
8 5 (0.63%) Windows 8
9 4 (0.50%) Unix
9 4 (0.50%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.25%) Solaris
11 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.13%) VME
11 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 207 (26.01%) Continuous Improvement
2 179 (22.49%) Customer Service
3 108 (13.57%) Mentoring
4 100 (12.56%) Agile
4 100 (12.56%) Stakeholder Management
5 92 (11.56%) CI/CD
6 90 (11.31%) Decision-Making
7 89 (11.18%) AI
8 82 (10.30%) CRM
9 78 (9.80%) Roadmaps
10 75 (9.42%) DevOps
11 73 (9.17%) Software Engineering
12 68 (8.54%) Analytics
13 67 (8.42%) ERP
14 65 (8.17%) User Experience
15 55 (6.91%) Collaborative Working
16 51 (6.41%) Test Automation
17 50 (6.28%) Business Intelligence
18 47 (5.90%) Cybersecurity
19 45 (5.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 147 (18.47%) SQL
2 98 (12.31%) Python
3 63 (7.91%) C#
4 54 (6.78%) JavaScript
5 41 (5.15%) Java
6 27 (3.39%) PowerShell
7 18 (2.26%) TypeScript
8 16 (2.01%) PHP
9 15 (1.88%) Bash
10 13 (1.63%) C++
11 10 (1.26%) T-SQL
12 9 (1.13%) Shell Script
13 8 (1.01%) Ruby
14 6 (0.75%) C
14 6 (0.75%) Kotlin
14 6 (0.75%) R
15 5 (0.63%) Bicep
15 5 (0.63%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 4 (0.50%) Apex Code
16 4 (0.50%) Go
Qualifications
1 92 (11.56%) Degree
2 44 (5.53%) Security Cleared
3 23 (2.89%) SC Cleared
4 20 (2.51%) Microsoft Certification
5 16 (2.01%) Cisco Certification
5 16 (2.01%) DBS Check
5 16 (2.01%) DV Cleared
6 15 (1.88%) Computer Science Degree
7 14 (1.76%) BPSS Clearance
8 12 (1.51%) CCNP
8 12 (1.51%) HNC
9 10 (1.26%) Azure Certification
10 9 (1.13%) Master's Degree
11 8 (1.01%) CCNA
12 7 (0.88%) MCSA
12 7 (0.88%) Postgraduate
13 5 (0.63%) ACCA
13 5 (0.63%) PMI Certification
14 4 (0.50%) ITIL Certification
14 4 (0.50%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (5.40%) Data Quality
2 34 (4.27%) QA
3 33 (4.15%) GDPR
4 29 (3.64%) Accessibility
5 27 (3.39%) SLA
6 17 (2.14%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 12 (1.51%) TickIT
8 8 (1.01%) NIST
9 6 (0.75%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
11 4 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 14443
11 4 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 7816
12 2 (0.25%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.25%) PMO
12 2 (0.25%) WCAG
13 1 (0.13%) DICOM
13 1 (0.13%) IFRS
13 1 (0.13%) IFRS 9
13 1 (0.13%) NEBOSH
13 1 (0.13%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 96 (12.06%) Active Directory
2 38 (4.77%) Docker
3 37 (4.65%) VMware Infrastructure
4 23 (2.89%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.63%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.63%) VMware Workstation
6 4 (0.50%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.38%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.25%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 32 (4.02%) Kubernetes
2 31 (3.89%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (2.89%) Terraform
4 14 (1.76%) Grafana
5 13 (1.63%) SCCM
6 11 (1.38%) FortiGate
6 11 (1.38%) Prometheus
7 9 (1.13%) Ansible
8 6 (0.75%) Autotask
9 4 (0.50%) Argo
9 4 (0.50%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.38%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.25%) Nagios
11 2 (0.25%) Podman
12 1 (0.13%) linkerd
12 1 (0.13%) Nessus
12 1 (0.13%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 1 (0.13%) vCenter Server
12 1 (0.13%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 288 (36.18%) Microsoft
2 42 (5.28%) VMware
3 28 (3.52%) SAP
4 20 (2.51%) Google
5 15 (1.88%) Cisco
6 13 (1.63%) ServiceNow
7 12 (1.51%) iManage
8 10 (1.26%) Adobe
8 10 (1.26%) Aruba
8 10 (1.26%) Salesforce
9 9 (1.13%) HubSpot
9 9 (1.13%) Oracle
9 9 (1.13%) SonicWALL
9 9 (1.13%) Sophos
10 8 (1.01%) Meraki
10 8 (1.01%) Tanium
11 7 (0.88%) Aderant
11 7 (0.88%) Juniper
11 7 (0.88%) OpenAI
12 6 (0.75%) Apple