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

6 months to
26 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -17 +4 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 651 718 1,110
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.59% 19.59% 13.18%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.04% 20.72% 15.72%
Number of salaries quoted 492 534 807
10th Percentile £27,025 £29,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,000 £35,574 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,500 £48,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -14.43% +2.11% -
75th Percentile £53,188 £65,706 £61,875
90th Percentile £68,742 £80,875 £76,250
England median annual salary £47,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -14.55% +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 6,483 3,465 7,062
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 75.59% 94.54% 83.86%
Number of salaries quoted 3,622 2,138 5,654
10th Percentile £28,500 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,620 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £54,793 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.75% +9.59% -9.09%
75th Percentile £69,390 £70,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 26 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 26 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 -19 303 £50,000 -6.98% 221
Merseyside -2 105 £32,500 - 37
Cheshire -13 100 £41,000 +9.33% 56
Lancashire -15 91 £36,500 -28.28% 89
Cumbria +8 51 £45,000 +12.50% 14
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 48 (7.37%) SharePoint
2 33 (5.07%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.69%) Confluence
4 4 (0.61%) Moodle
4 4 (0.61%) Totara
5 3 (0.46%) WordPress
6 2 (0.31%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.15%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.15%) Apache Solr
7 1 (0.15%) ArcGIS
7 1 (0.15%) CMS
Applications
1 38 (5.84%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (3.84%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.46%) Simulink
4 2 (0.31%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.31%) Revit
5 1 (0.15%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (1.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.92%) SAP ERP
2 6 (0.92%) Workday HCM
3 5 (0.77%) Shopify
4 4 (0.61%) Magento
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Receivables
5 2 (0.31%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 141 (21.66%) Azure
2 127 (19.51%) Microsoft 365
3 62 (9.52%) AWS
4 50 (7.68%) Entra ID
5 48 (7.37%) Power Platform
6 35 (5.38%) GCP
7 31 (4.76%) SaaS
8 16 (2.46%) Microsoft Purview
9 14 (2.15%) Serverless
10 12 (1.84%) Power Automate
11 11 (1.69%) Google Workspace
11 11 (1.69%) OneDrive
12 10 (1.54%) Azure Monitor
12 10 (1.54%) PowerApps
13 9 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (1.23%) Microsoft Copilot
14 8 (1.23%) PaaS
15 7 (1.08%) IaaS
15 7 (1.08%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 58 (8.91%) Firewall
2 36 (5.53%) DNS
3 34 (5.22%) DHCP
4 29 (4.45%) VLAN
5 26 (3.99%) VPN
6 25 (3.84%) Wi-Fi
7 23 (3.53%) VoIP
8 21 (3.23%) TCP/IP
8 21 (3.23%) WAN
9 18 (2.76%) Wireless
10 16 (2.46%) Unified Communications
11 14 (2.15%) Structured Cabling
11 14 (2.15%) Telepresence
11 14 (2.15%) WebEx
12 11 (1.69%) LAN
12 11 (1.69%) SD-WAN
13 10 (1.54%) Broadband
14 6 (0.92%) Network Security
15 5 (0.77%) Ethernet
16 4 (0.61%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (5.22%) Power BI
2 21 (3.23%) SQL Server
3 16 (2.46%) NoSQL
4 12 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
4 12 (1.84%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 10 (1.54%) MongoDB
6 8 (1.23%) MySQL
7 6 (0.92%) Azure SQL Database
7 6 (0.92%) Tableau
8 5 (0.77%) Elasticsearch
8 5 (0.77%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.61%) DynamoDB
10 2 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.31%) Big Data
10 2 (0.31%) Crystal Reports
10 2 (0.31%) Hadoop
10 2 (0.31%) Looker
11 1 (0.15%) Data Warehouse
11 1 (0.15%) DB2
11 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 25 (3.84%) Git
2 16 (2.46%) JIRA
3 7 (1.08%) GitLab
4 3 (0.46%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.15%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.15%) LabVIEW
5 1 (0.15%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
General
1 307 (47.16%) Social Skills
2 161 (24.73%) Analytical Skills
3 140 (21.51%) Finance
4 63 (9.68%) Organisational Skills
5 35 (5.38%) Manufacturing
6 29 (4.45%) Public Sector
7 27 (4.15%) Legal
8 25 (3.84%) Automotive
9 24 (3.69%) Retail
10 22 (3.38%) Telecoms
11 20 (3.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 20 (3.07%) Law
12 19 (2.92%) Presentation Skills
13 14 (2.15%) Electronics
13 14 (2.15%) Marketing
14 13 (2.00%) Advertising
15 12 (1.84%) Banking
16 11 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
17 9 (1.38%) French Language
17 9 (1.38%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 91 (13.98%) Support Engineer
2 89 (13.67%) IT Support
3 84 (12.90%) Analyst
4 65 (9.98%) Senior
5 48 (7.37%) IT Engineer
5 48 (7.37%) IT Support Engineer
6 43 (6.61%) Lead
7 36 (5.53%) Developer
8 35 (5.38%) Support Technician
9 33 (5.07%) Business Analyst
10 24 (3.69%) Architect
11 23 (3.53%) Consultant
11 23 (3.53%) Trainee
11 23 (3.53%) Trainee Analyst
11 23 (3.53%) Trainee Business Analyst
12 21 (3.23%) Solutions Architect
13 20 (3.07%) IT Support Technician
13 20 (3.07%) IT Technician
14 18 (2.76%) Team Leader
14 18 (2.76%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (3.07%) .NET
1 20 (3.07%) React
2 17 (2.61%) HTML
3 14 (2.15%) CSS
3 14 (2.15%) RESTful
3 14 (2.15%) Spring
3 14 (2.15%) Spring Boot
4 13 (2.00%) Vue
5 10 (1.54%) Node.js
6 6 (0.92%) AngularJS
6 6 (0.92%) Django
6 6 (0.92%) EDI
6 6 (0.92%) FastAPI
6 6 (0.92%) Hibernate
6 6 (0.92%) OAuth
6 6 (0.92%) OAuth2
7 5 (0.77%) Celery
7 5 (0.77%) Flask
7 5 (0.77%) Laravel
8 4 (0.61%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 110 (16.90%) Driving Licence
2 52 (7.99%) Onboarding
3 27 (4.15%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (3.23%) EPoS
5 19 (2.92%) Analytical Mindset
6 18 (2.76%) CCTV
7 15 (2.30%) Data Centre
7 15 (2.30%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (2.30%) Enterprise Software
8 12 (1.84%) Product Ownership
9 11 (1.69%) Management Information System
9 11 (1.69%) Social Media
10 10 (1.54%) Cloud Native
11 9 (1.38%) CMDB
11 9 (1.38%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.23%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (1.08%) Security Posture
13 7 (1.08%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.92%) Greenfield Project
14 6 (0.92%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 131 (20.12%) Windows
2 58 (8.91%) Windows Server
3 33 (5.07%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.38%) Linux
5 20 (3.07%) Apple iOS
6 16 (2.46%) Android
7 11 (1.69%) Windows 7
7 11 (1.69%) Windows 8
8 10 (1.54%) Mac OS
9 8 (1.23%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.77%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.46%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 3 (0.46%) Unix
12 2 (0.31%) Solaris
13 1 (0.15%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) CoreOS
13 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.15%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 126 (19.35%) Customer Service
2 105 (16.13%) Continuous Improvement
3 87 (13.36%) Decision-Making
4 82 (12.60%) Mentoring
5 80 (12.29%) Stakeholder Management
6 79 (12.14%) Agile
7 64 (9.83%) AI
8 60 (9.22%) Project Management
9 53 (8.14%) Cybersecurity
10 48 (7.37%) Coaching
11 47 (7.22%) CI/CD
12 46 (7.07%) ITIL
13 43 (6.61%) Service Delivery
14 39 (5.99%) Business Intelligence
15 37 (5.68%) Analytics
15 37 (5.68%) Software Engineering
15 37 (5.68%) User Experience
16 36 (5.53%) Collaborative Culture
16 36 (5.53%) DevOps
17 35 (5.38%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 63 (9.68%) SQL
2 46 (7.07%) Python
3 24 (3.69%) JavaScript
4 23 (3.53%) Java
5 19 (2.92%) C#
6 10 (1.54%) PowerShell
6 10 (1.54%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.38%) Kotlin
7 9 (1.38%) PHP
8 5 (0.77%) Bash
9 4 (0.61%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.46%) C
10 3 (0.46%) Go
10 3 (0.46%) Ladder Logic
10 3 (0.46%) MATLAB
10 3 (0.46%) Swift
11 2 (0.31%) C++
11 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.31%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.31%) VBA
Qualifications
1 111 (17.05%) Degree
2 31 (4.76%) DBS Check
3 23 (3.53%) BPSS Clearance
4 17 (2.61%) Security Cleared
5 13 (2.00%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (1.54%) Computer Science Degree
6 10 (1.54%) HNC
6 10 (1.54%) SC Cleared
7 9 (1.38%) Master's Degree
8 8 (1.23%) Azure Certification
8 8 (1.23%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (1.08%) CCNA
9 7 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (0.92%) CompTIA Security+
10 6 (0.92%) NVQ Level 4
11 5 (0.77%) ITIL Certification
12 4 (0.61%) HND
12 4 (0.61%) MCSA
13 3 (0.46%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.46%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (4.45%) QA
2 23 (3.53%) SLA
3 21 (3.23%) GDPR
4 20 (3.07%) Data Quality
5 14 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 9 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials
7 8 (1.23%) ISO 9001
8 6 (0.92%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 3 (0.46%) GLBA
10 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
10 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) DICOM
11 1 (0.15%) GMP
11 1 (0.15%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.15%) PMO
System Software
1 91 (13.98%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.69%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.23%) Docker
4 19 (2.92%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (1.54%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.31%) Firmware
8 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 35 (5.38%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (4.15%) Terraform
3 22 (3.38%) BMC PATROL
3 22 (3.38%) SCCM
4 20 (3.07%) Kubernetes
5 14 (2.15%) Cisco CUCM
6 12 (1.84%) Autotask
7 11 (1.69%) Ansible
7 11 (1.69%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.77%) FortiGate
8 5 (0.77%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.46%) cPanel
9 3 (0.46%) Plesk
9 3 (0.46%) Rancher
10 2 (0.31%) Podman
11 1 (0.15%) Argo
11 1 (0.15%) Grafana
11 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.15%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.15%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 180 (27.65%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.53%) Oracle
3 21 (3.23%) VMware
4 20 (3.07%) Cisco
5 17 (2.61%) Google
5 17 (2.61%) SAP
6 13 (2.00%) Workday
7 11 (1.69%) Apple
7 11 (1.69%) ESET
8 9 (1.38%) ServiceNow
9 8 (1.23%) New Relic
9 8 (1.23%) Splunk
10 7 (1.08%) Adobe
10 7 (1.08%) Siemens
11 6 (0.92%) BiZZdesign
11 6 (0.92%) HubSpot
11 6 (0.92%) iManage
11 6 (0.92%) Meraki
12 5 (0.77%) Facebook
12 5 (0.77%) Qualtrics