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

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 16 7 8
Rank change year-on-year -9 +1 +13
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 706 859 538
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 11.46% 16.52% 13.84%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.80% 18.30% 15.43%
Number of salaries quoted 519 406 358
10th Percentile £26,750 £31,250 £26,000
25th Percentile £31,375 £36,250 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,683 £48,342 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -1.36% +1.77% -5.00%
75th Percentile £53,000 £60,750 £62,875
90th Percentile £64,578 £77,500 £73,750
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

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 5,116 4,694 3,486
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 83.01% 90.27% 89.71%
Number of salaries quoted 2,462 2,311 2,675
10th Percentile £28,000 £32,500 £31,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £41,227
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -5.45% -
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,320 £70,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £82,548
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 1 January 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 1 January 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 -16 271 £42,750 -14.50% 187
Cheshire -10 142 £53,000 +32.50% 75
Merseyside +4 141 £48,720 +49.91% 34
Lancashire -7 102 £45,249 -13.81% 88
Cumbria +7 48 £45,000 +9.76% 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 43 (6.09%) SharePoint
2 19 (2.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.99%) WordPress
4 5 (0.71%) Confluence
5 4 (0.57%) Camunda
6 3 (0.42%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.28%) Apache Solr
7 2 (0.28%) FactoryTalk
7 2 (0.28%) nginx
7 2 (0.28%) WinCC
8 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
8 1 (0.14%) Apache
8 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.14%) CMS
Applications
1 38 (5.38%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (5.10%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.42%) Simulink
5 2 (0.28%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.28%) Revit
6 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (1.13%) SAP Business One
2 2 (0.28%) NetSuite
2 2 (0.28%) Oracle Assets
2 2 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
2 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
2 2 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
2 2 (0.28%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.28%) SAP WM
2 2 (0.28%) Unit4 Business World
3 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.14%) Primavera
3 1 (0.14%) Shopify
3 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 114 (16.15%) Azure
2 79 (11.19%) Microsoft 365
3 67 (9.49%) AWS
4 53 (7.51%) Entra ID
5 46 (6.52%) Power Platform
6 37 (5.24%) GCP
7 33 (4.67%) SaaS
8 15 (2.12%) OneDrive
9 14 (1.98%) Microsoft Purview
10 12 (1.70%) Power Automate
10 12 (1.70%) Serverless
11 10 (1.42%) Azure Monitor
12 8 (1.13%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.13%) PaaS
13 7 (0.99%) Dynamics 365
13 7 (0.99%) IaaS
14 6 (0.85%) Adobe Analytics
14 6 (0.85%) Cloud Computing
14 6 (0.85%) Figma
14 6 (0.85%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 28 (3.97%) Firewall
2 20 (2.83%) DNS
3 18 (2.55%) DHCP
4 16 (2.27%) Unified Communications
4 16 (2.27%) VoIP
5 14 (1.98%) Telepresence
5 14 (1.98%) WebEx
6 12 (1.70%) TCP/IP
7 11 (1.56%) VPN
7 11 (1.56%) Wireless
8 10 (1.42%) VLAN
9 9 (1.27%) WAN
10 7 (0.99%) Ethernet
10 7 (0.99%) Wi-Fi
11 6 (0.85%) Broadband
11 6 (0.85%) LAN
12 5 (0.71%) Structured Cabling
13 4 (0.57%) SD-WAN
14 3 (0.42%) ATM
14 3 (0.42%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (5.10%) Power BI
2 21 (2.97%) SQL Server
3 14 (1.98%) NoSQL
4 13 (1.84%) Tableau
5 10 (1.42%) MongoDB
5 10 (1.42%) MySQL
6 9 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (1.13%) Crystal Reports
8 7 (0.99%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 6 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.85%) Oracle Reports
10 5 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.71%) Big Data
10 5 (0.71%) Data Warehouse
10 5 (0.71%) Elasticsearch
10 5 (0.71%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.57%) BigQuery
11 4 (0.57%) Looker
12 3 (0.42%) DynamoDB
12 3 (0.42%) Hadoop
Development Applications
1 19 (2.69%) Git
2 12 (1.70%) GitLab
3 7 (0.99%) Bitbucket
3 7 (0.99%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.99%) JIRA
4 5 (0.71%) SonarQube
4 5 (0.71%) Sonatype Nexus
5 4 (0.57%) LabVIEW
6 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 310 (43.91%) Social Skills
2 170 (24.08%) Analytical Skills
3 148 (20.96%) Finance
4 49 (6.94%) Automotive
5 44 (6.23%) Legal
6 31 (4.39%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (3.26%) Public Sector
7 23 (3.26%) Retail
7 23 (3.26%) Telecoms
8 20 (2.83%) Law
8 20 (2.83%) Manufacturing
9 19 (2.69%) Electronics
9 19 (2.69%) Presentation Skills
10 17 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 16 (2.27%) Banking
12 15 (2.12%) Marketing
13 14 (1.98%) Advertising
14 13 (1.84%) Pharmaceutical
15 11 (1.56%) French Language
15 11 (1.56%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 87 (12.32%) Analyst
2 67 (9.49%) IT Support
3 61 (8.64%) Support Engineer
4 59 (8.36%) Senior
5 47 (6.66%) Lead
6 43 (6.09%) Developer
7 31 (4.39%) Business Analyst
8 29 (4.11%) Trainee
9 26 (3.68%) Systems Engineer
10 25 (3.54%) Architect
10 25 (3.54%) Trainee Analyst
10 25 (3.54%) Trainee Business Analyst
11 22 (3.12%) Team Leader
12 21 (2.97%) Consultant
12 21 (2.97%) IT Engineer
12 21 (2.97%) IT Support Engineer
12 21 (2.97%) Solutions Architect
12 21 (2.97%) Support Technician
13 20 (2.83%) HR Advisor
14 18 (2.55%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (2.83%) React
2 15 (2.12%) HTML
3 12 (1.70%) .NET
4 11 (1.56%) RESTful
5 10 (1.42%) CSS
5 10 (1.42%) REST
6 9 (1.27%) Node.js
6 9 (1.27%) Spring
7 8 (1.13%) Oracle Fusion
7 8 (1.13%) Spring Boot
8 7 (0.99%) Hibernate
8 7 (0.99%) Vue
9 6 (0.85%) AngularJS
9 6 (0.85%) Laravel
10 5 (0.71%) Django
11 4 (0.57%) ASP.NET
11 4 (0.57%) Celery
11 4 (0.57%) JSON
11 4 (0.57%) RabbitMQ
11 4 (0.57%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 183 (25.92%) Driving Licence
2 59 (8.36%) Onboarding
3 30 (4.25%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (2.97%) Analytical Mindset
5 20 (2.83%) Enterprise Software
5 20 (2.83%) EPoS
6 14 (1.98%) Management Information System
7 13 (1.84%) CCTV
7 13 (1.84%) Cloud Native
8 12 (1.70%) Distributed Systems
9 10 (1.42%) IoT
9 10 (1.42%) Video Conferencing
10 7 (0.99%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (0.99%) SCADA
10 7 (0.99%) Virtual Team
11 6 (0.85%) Greenfield Project
11 6 (0.85%) Home Automation
11 6 (0.85%) Life Science
11 6 (0.85%) Operational Technology
11 6 (0.85%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 83 (11.76%) Windows
2 29 (4.11%) Windows Server
3 19 (2.69%) Linux
4 10 (1.42%) Windows 10
5 5 (0.71%) Android
6 4 (0.57%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.57%) Mac OS
6 4 (0.57%) Windows 7
6 4 (0.57%) Windows 8
7 2 (0.28%) Unix
8 1 (0.14%) CentOS
8 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Solaris
8 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (15.72%) Continuous Improvement
2 97 (13.74%) Agile
3 96 (13.60%) Decision-Making
4 77 (10.91%) Customer Service
5 73 (10.34%) Project Management
6 71 (10.06%) Mentoring
7 56 (7.93%) Stakeholder Management
8 55 (7.79%) AI
9 53 (7.51%) DevOps
10 49 (6.94%) CRM
10 49 (6.94%) Cybersecurity
11 45 (6.37%) ITIL
12 42 (5.95%) Analytics
12 42 (5.95%) Change Management
13 41 (5.81%) Coaching
14 40 (5.67%) Business Intelligence
14 40 (5.67%) CI/CD
14 40 (5.67%) Collaborative Culture
15 38 (5.38%) Service Delivery
16 36 (5.10%) Business Strategy
Programming Languages
1 75 (10.62%) SQL
2 38 (5.38%) Python
3 23 (3.26%) Java
4 19 (2.69%) JavaScript
5 14 (1.98%) PowerShell
6 11 (1.56%) C#
7 10 (1.42%) MATLAB
7 10 (1.42%) PHP
8 9 (1.27%) TypeScript
9 7 (0.99%) Go
10 5 (0.71%) Elixir
10 5 (0.71%) Ruby
11 4 (0.57%) Bash
11 4 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (0.57%) Kotlin
11 4 (0.57%) Scala
12 3 (0.42%) Ladder Logic
13 2 (0.28%) Bicep
13 2 (0.28%) R
13 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 145 (20.54%) Degree
2 32 (4.53%) BPSS Clearance
3 22 (3.12%) DBS Check
4 20 (2.83%) Master's Degree
5 17 (2.41%) Security Cleared
6 13 (1.84%) SC Cleared
7 10 (1.42%) Azure Certification
7 10 (1.42%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.13%) A+ Certification
8 8 (1.13%) HNC
8 8 (1.13%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (0.99%) ACCA
9 7 (0.99%) CIMA
9 7 (0.99%) Microsoft Certification
9 7 (0.99%) NVQ Level 4
10 5 (0.71%) CIPD
11 4 (0.57%) HND
11 4 (0.57%) ITIL Certification
11 4 (0.57%) Network+ Certification
12 3 (0.42%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (3.82%) QA
2 26 (3.68%) GDPR
3 21 (2.97%) Data Quality
4 10 (1.42%) Cyber Essentials
5 9 (1.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (1.13%) Accessibility
6 8 (1.13%) SLA
7 6 (0.85%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 5 (0.71%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 5 (0.71%) GLBA
8 5 (0.71%) PMO
9 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.28%) COBIT
9 2 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.28%) ITGC
9 2 (0.28%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
System Software
1 66 (9.35%) Active Directory
2 28 (3.97%) Docker
3 17 (2.41%) Hyper-V
4 5 (0.71%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.42%) Firmware
5 3 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.42%) VMware Workstation
6 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.14%) HDFS
Systems Management
1 42 (5.95%) BMC PATROL
2 33 (4.67%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (3.26%) Kubernetes
3 23 (3.26%) Terraform
4 14 (1.98%) Cisco CUCM
5 10 (1.42%) Single Sign-On
6 7 (0.99%) Ansible
6 7 (0.99%) SCCM
7 4 (0.57%) Autotask
7 4 (0.57%) Grafana
7 4 (0.57%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.42%) cPanel
8 3 (0.42%) Plesk
9 2 (0.28%) AssetCenter
9 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.28%) Rancher
10 1 (0.14%) Argo
10 1 (0.14%) AWS Copilot
10 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.14%) Podman
Vendors
1 128 (18.13%) Microsoft
2 29 (4.11%) Oracle
2 29 (4.11%) ServiceNow
3 28 (3.97%) Workday
4 19 (2.69%) Cisco
5 18 (2.55%) SAP
6 12 (1.70%) Google
7 11 (1.56%) Siemens
7 11 (1.56%) VMware
8 8 (1.13%) New Relic
8 8 (1.13%) Splunk
9 7 (0.99%) HubSpot
10 6 (0.85%) Adobe
10 6 (0.85%) BiZZdesign
10 6 (0.85%) iManage
10 6 (0.85%) Qualtrics
11 5 (0.71%) Apple
11 5 (0.71%) Facebook
11 5 (0.71%) SnapLogic
12 4 (0.57%) EXASOL