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

6 months to
17 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -5 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 874 1,018 1,120
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.32% 19.50% 13.41%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.16% 21.59% 17.30%
Number of salaries quoted 677 496 545
10th Percentile £26,800 £25,000 £27,500
25th Percentile £32,000 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,250 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year +0.56% - -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £60,000 £60,750
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £76,250
England median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.56% -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 8,602 4,716 6,474
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.04% 90.33% 77.53%
Number of salaries quoted 6,560 2,286 4,331
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,122 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £39,720
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -1.96% -7.27%
75th Percentile £75,000 £66,250 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -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 17 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 17 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 -11 468 £50,000 - 424
Cheshire -9 150 £41,750 +7.74% 94
Merseyside -7 149 £42,500 -7.61% 74
Lancashire -1 70 £42,500 +26.06% 93
Cumbria -10 30 £32,500 -8.96% 23
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 (8.47%) SharePoint
2 55 (6.29%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.26%) IIS
4 5 (0.57%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.57%) Confluence
5 2 (0.23%) Apache
5 2 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.23%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.23%) nginx
5 2 (0.23%) WordPress
6 1 (0.11%) CMS
6 1 (0.11%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.11%) Moodle
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.11%) Totara
6 1 (0.11%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.11%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.11%) WebSphere
Applications
1 44 (5.03%) Microsoft Excel
2 42 (4.81%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.72%) MS Visio
4 6 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
5 4 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 2 (0.23%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.23%) Windchill
8 1 (0.11%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 22 (2.52%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.49%) SAP ERP
3 9 (1.03%) Dynamics CRM
4 6 (0.69%) Magento
5 4 (0.46%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.46%) NEC Housing
5 4 (0.46%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.23%) Oracle ERP
8 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.11%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.11%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.11%) Odoo
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.11%) Payment Gateway
8 1 (0.11%) SAP ECC
8 1 (0.11%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 195 (22.31%) Azure
2 165 (18.88%) Microsoft 365
3 104 (11.90%) Power Platform
4 99 (11.33%) AWS
5 44 (5.03%) PowerApps
6 40 (4.58%) GCP
7 35 (4.00%) Power Automate
7 35 (4.00%) SaaS
8 33 (3.78%) Entra ID
9 29 (3.32%) Azure DevOps
9 29 (3.32%) Dynamics 365
9 29 (3.32%) GitHub
9 29 (3.32%) Microsoft Copilot
10 28 (3.20%) OneDrive
11 21 (2.40%) Microsoft Purview
12 16 (1.83%) Serverless
13 12 (1.37%) Boomi
14 11 (1.26%) Google Analytics
14 11 (1.26%) Snowflake
15 10 (1.14%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 65 (7.44%) Firewall
2 54 (6.18%) DNS
3 50 (5.72%) DHCP
4 41 (4.69%) TCP/IP
5 37 (4.23%) VPN
6 31 (3.55%) Wireless
7 30 (3.43%) VLAN
8 27 (3.09%) VoIP
9 25 (2.86%) Wi-Fi
10 22 (2.52%) Network Security
11 20 (2.29%) LAN
12 18 (2.06%) WAN
13 16 (1.83%) Broadband
14 9 (1.03%) SD-WAN
14 9 (1.03%) Structured Cabling
15 8 (0.92%) Unified Communications
16 7 (0.80%) BGP
16 7 (0.80%) OSPF
17 6 (0.69%) IP Telephony
17 6 (0.69%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 62 (7.09%) Power BI
2 52 (5.95%) SQL Server
3 29 (3.32%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 23 (2.63%) MySQL
5 20 (2.29%) Data Warehouse
6 10 (1.14%) Big Data
6 10 (1.14%) BigQuery
6 10 (1.14%) NoSQL
7 9 (1.03%) Looker
7 9 (1.03%) PostgreSQL
7 9 (1.03%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (0.80%) Electronic Patient Records
8 7 (0.80%) MongoDB
8 7 (0.80%) Redis
9 6 (0.69%) Amazon Redshift
10 5 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.57%) MariaDB
10 5 (0.57%) Power Query
10 5 (0.57%) Tableau
11 4 (0.46%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 37 (4.23%) Git
2 33 (3.78%) JIRA
3 10 (1.14%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.80%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.57%) GitLab
6 4 (0.46%) Cucumber
6 4 (0.46%) Cypress.io
6 4 (0.46%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.34%) Claude Code
7 3 (0.34%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.11%) gulp
9 1 (0.11%) LabVIEW
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.11%) Rational Rhapsody
9 1 (0.11%) webpack
General
1 345 (39.47%) Social Skills
2 258 (29.52%) Analytical Skills
3 128 (14.65%) Finance
4 73 (8.35%) Manufacturing
5 66 (7.55%) Law
6 56 (6.41%) Organisational Skills
7 53 (6.06%) Legal
8 45 (5.15%) Retail
9 34 (3.89%) Marketing
10 30 (3.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 26 (2.97%) Telecoms
12 21 (2.40%) Public Sector
13 16 (1.83%) Banking
14 15 (1.72%) Games
15 14 (1.60%) Aerospace
16 11 (1.26%) Documentation Skills
17 10 (1.14%) Electronics
17 10 (1.14%) German Language
18 9 (1.03%) Billing
18 9 (1.03%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 119 (13.62%) Developer
2 117 (13.39%) Senior
3 115 (13.16%) Analyst
4 68 (7.78%) IT Support
5 62 (7.09%) Support Engineer
6 50 (5.72%) Lead
7 44 (5.03%) Senior Developer
8 43 (4.92%) Consultant
9 41 (4.69%) Software Engineer
10 38 (4.35%) Support Technician
11 33 (3.78%) IT Engineer
12 31 (3.55%) Support Analyst
13 30 (3.43%) IT Support Engineer
14 28 (3.20%) Administrator
15 27 (3.09%) IT Technician
16 24 (2.75%) Junior
17 23 (2.63%) IT Support Technician
18 20 (2.29%) Technical Analyst
18 20 (2.29%) Technical Support
19 19 (2.17%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (5.95%) .NET
2 45 (5.15%) HTML
3 43 (4.92%) React
4 36 (4.12%) REST
5 24 (2.75%) AngularJS
5 24 (2.75%) CSS
5 24 (2.75%) Middleware
6 22 (2.52%) Vue
7 21 (2.40%) Spring
8 19 (2.17%) Spring Boot
9 18 (2.06%) XML
10 17 (1.95%) EDI
10 17 (1.95%) SOAP
11 13 (1.49%) JSON
11 13 (1.49%) Node.js
12 11 (1.26%) Next.js
12 11 (1.26%) Web Services
13 10 (1.14%) Laravel
13 10 (1.14%) React Native
14 9 (1.03%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 62 (7.09%) Driving Licence
2 51 (5.84%) Onboarding
3 37 (4.23%) Product Ownership
4 32 (3.66%) Cloud Native
5 30 (3.43%) Self-Motivation
6 19 (2.17%) Distributed Systems
7 16 (1.83%) Management Information System
8 15 (1.72%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 14 (1.60%) Replication
9 14 (1.60%) Security Posture
10 13 (1.49%) Mobile App
11 12 (1.37%) IoT
12 11 (1.26%) CCTV
12 11 (1.26%) NHS
13 10 (1.14%) Data Centre
14 9 (1.03%) Enterprise Cloud
15 8 (0.92%) Analytical Mindset
15 8 (0.92%) CMDB
15 8 (0.92%) Cyberattack
15 8 (0.92%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 139 (15.90%) Windows
2 65 (7.44%) Windows Server
3 35 (4.00%) Linux
4 33 (3.78%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.95%) Apple iOS
6 11 (1.26%) Android
7 10 (1.14%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
9 5 (0.57%) Unix
10 3 (0.34%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.23%) Solaris
11 2 (0.23%) Windows 7
11 2 (0.23%) Windows 8
12 1 (0.11%) Embedded Linux
12 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.11%) VME
12 1 (0.11%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 235 (26.89%) Continuous Improvement
2 189 (21.62%) Customer Service
3 115 (13.16%) Mentoring
4 112 (12.81%) Agile
5 111 (12.70%) Stakeholder Management
6 103 (11.78%) Decision-Making
7 101 (11.56%) AI
8 95 (10.87%) CI/CD
9 93 (10.64%) CRM
10 86 (9.84%) Roadmaps
11 83 (9.50%) DevOps
12 79 (9.04%) Software Engineering
13 78 (8.92%) Analytics
14 74 (8.47%) ERP
15 66 (7.55%) User Experience
16 63 (7.21%) Collaborative Working
17 58 (6.64%) Business Intelligence
18 54 (6.18%) Cybersecurity
19 52 (5.95%) Service Delivery
20 51 (5.84%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 167 (19.11%) SQL
2 108 (12.36%) Python
3 65 (7.44%) C#
4 62 (7.09%) JavaScript
5 44 (5.03%) Java
6 30 (3.43%) PowerShell
7 21 (2.40%) TypeScript
8 19 (2.17%) PHP
9 16 (1.83%) Bash
9 16 (1.83%) C++
10 13 (1.49%) Shell Script
11 10 (1.14%) T-SQL
12 8 (0.92%) C
12 8 (0.92%) Ruby
13 7 (0.80%) Go
14 6 (0.69%) R
15 5 (0.57%) Apex Code
15 5 (0.57%) Bicep
15 5 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 4 (0.46%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 107 (12.24%) Degree
2 48 (5.49%) Security Cleared
3 25 (2.86%) HNC
3 25 (2.86%) Microsoft Certification
4 24 (2.75%) SC Cleared
5 23 (2.63%) DBS Check
6 17 (1.95%) BPSS Clearance
6 17 (1.95%) Cisco Certification
6 17 (1.95%) DV Cleared
7 14 (1.60%) Computer Science Degree
8 13 (1.49%) CCNP
9 11 (1.26%) Azure Certification
10 9 (1.03%) Master's Degree
11 8 (0.92%) CCNA
12 7 (0.80%) HND
12 7 (0.80%) MCSA
12 7 (0.80%) Postgraduate
13 6 (0.69%) ACCA
13 6 (0.69%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (0.69%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (5.03%) Data Quality
2 38 (4.35%) QA
3 32 (3.66%) GDPR
4 31 (3.55%) Accessibility
5 25 (2.86%) SLA
6 12 (1.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 12 (1.37%) TickIT
7 8 (0.92%) NIST
8 4 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 14443
8 4 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 7816
9 3 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.23%) PMO
10 2 (0.23%) WCAG
11 1 (0.11%) GMP
11 1 (0.11%) GxP
11 1 (0.11%) IFRS
11 1 (0.11%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.11%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.11%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 98 (11.21%) Active Directory
2 41 (4.69%) Docker
3 35 (4.00%) VMware Infrastructure
4 22 (2.52%) Hyper-V
5 6 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.46%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.23%) Firmware
7 2 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 33 (3.78%) Kubernetes
2 31 (3.55%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (2.63%) Terraform
4 13 (1.49%) Grafana
5 12 (1.37%) FortiGate
6 10 (1.14%) Prometheus
7 9 (1.03%) Ansible
8 8 (0.92%) SCCM
9 6 (0.69%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.46%) Argo
10 4 (0.46%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.34%) Autotask
11 3 (0.34%) Jamf Pro
12 2 (0.23%) Nagios
12 2 (0.23%) Nessus
12 2 (0.23%) Podman
13 1 (0.11%) Istio
13 1 (0.11%) linkerd
13 1 (0.11%) vCenter Server
13 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 304 (34.78%) Microsoft
2 43 (4.92%) VMware
3 34 (3.89%) SAP
4 27 (3.09%) Google
5 19 (2.17%) Cisco
6 15 (1.72%) Salesforce
6 15 (1.72%) ServiceNow
7 13 (1.49%) Aruba
8 12 (1.37%) iManage
9 11 (1.26%) Oracle
10 10 (1.14%) Adobe
11 9 (1.03%) HubSpot
11 9 (1.03%) Meraki
11 9 (1.03%) SonicWALL
11 9 (1.03%) Sophos
12 8 (0.92%) Juniper
12 8 (0.92%) OpenAI
12 8 (0.92%) Tanium
13 7 (0.80%) Aderant
14 5 (0.57%) Intapp